8 defunct grocery chains you remember

Before chains like Walmart, Publix, Winn-Dixie and Whole Foods dominated the grocery business, these names once anchored shopping centers and street corners throughout our cities.

Food Fair & Pantry Pride

A Food Fair in Fernandina Beach, Florida in 1972. State Archives of Florida.

Food Fair was founded by Samuel Friedland as the Reading Giant Quality Price Cutter in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania during the late 1920s. By 1957, the chain had exanded to 275 stores. A year later, it purchased the Jacksonville, Florida-based Setzer’s Supermarket chain. During the 1960s, Food Fair acquired Philadelphia, Pennsylvania-based Best Markets. Riding the success of Best’s top private label brand, Food Fair had converted most of its stores into Pantry Pride by 1970. At its peak there were more than 500 stores in the chain.

The 456-store, $2.7 billion company entered bankruptcy in 1978, starting a slow streamlining process of closing and selling off locations to survive. By 1986, only 40 Florida locations remained. In 1993, all remaining locations were sold to Fleming Companies and were either closed or sold to other chains by 2000.

Setzer’s Supermarkets

Setzer’s in San Marco Square on April 19, 1939. This store later became a Pic N’ Save. (Courtesy of the State Archives of Florida)

Setzer’s Supermarkets was founded by Benjamin Setzer in 1922 in Jacksonville, Florida. By the end of the Great Depression, his store had expanded to become one of city’s early grocery chains, creating the need for a corporate headquarters and distribution hub in the Springfield Warehouse District. By the mid 1950’s, Setzer’s Supermarkets had expanded into a 40-unit chain with stores across North and Central Florida. In 1958, Setzer sold his grocery chain to Harrisburg, Pennsylvania-based Food Fair Stores.

Mary Lou Norwood shops in the produce section of Setzer’s Grocery in Tallahassee, Florida in 1960. (Courtesy of the State Archives of Florida)

Article by Ennis Davis, AICP. Davis is a certified senior planner and graduate of Florida A&M University. He is the author of the award winning books “Reclaiming Jacksonville,” “Cohen Brothers: The Big Store” and “Images of Modern America: Jacksonville.” Davis has served with various organizations committed to improving urban communities, including the American Planning Association and the Florida Trust for Historic Preservation. A 2013 Next City Vanguard, Davis is the co-founder of Metro Jacksonville.com and ModernCities.com — two websites dedicated to promoting fiscally sustainable communities — and Transform Jax, a tactical urbanist group. Contact Ennis at edavis@moderncities.com