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1914 - Sam Seelig launches a chain of 4 stores in CA named Seelig Grocers.
1915 - Samuel M. Skaggs moved his family from Missouri to Idaho and opened a grocery store (Skaggs Cash Stores).
1916 - S.M. Skaggs sells Skaggs Cash Stores to his son, M.B. Skaggs, and moves to Oregon.
1917 - M.B. Skaggs, with the help of his brothers, begins opening additional Skaggs Cash Stores.
1917 - American Stores Company (Acme Markets) is founded in Philadelphia.
1917 - Katz Drugs is founded when the Katz brothers add a pharmacy section to their confectionary store in Kansas City.
1918 - Another brother, L.J. Skaggs returns from the military and reenters the family business.
1919 - The Skaggs brothers form a partnership named Skaggs United Stores.  L.J. Skaggs launches the Pay 'n Takit chain
          in Utah.
1919 - Harry and Robert Borun and Norman Levin founded Borun Brothers (later Thrifty Drug), a Los Angeles-based drug
          wholesaler.
1925 - Seelig renames his stores Safeway.
1926 - There are 428 Skaggs Cash Stores in 10 states.  M.B. Skaggs brother, O.P. Skaggs begins opening Skaggs Cash
          Stores
in NV and CA.
1926 - Seelig has over 322 Safeway stores.
1926 - O.P. Skaggs sells many of his grocery stores to his brothers (but not most of his CA stores or his drugstores).
1926 - Charles Merrill, a co-founder of Merrill Lynch, handles the merger of Skaggs United Stores and Safeway.  M.B. Skaggs  
          is president of the merged company which takes the name Skaggs Safeway and shortly after named Safeway.
1928 - Pay 'n Takit stores become a part of SafewaySafeway has 2,020 stores.
1929 - Borun Brothers opens its first retail drug store in Los Angeles, CA named Thrifty Cut Rate (later Thrifty Drug).
1930 - Skaggs acquires McMarr Stores.
1931 - There are 3,527 Safeway stores in the U.S. and Canada.
1931 - Peninsula Stores (later Lucky Stores) is founded in Dublin, CA.
1932 - L.J. Skaggs opens his first self-service drugstore in Tacoma, WA named PayLess Drug.
1934 - Allen Rosenberg opens his first Thrifty Payless Drugs store in Arizona.
1937 - L.L. Skaggs and Harold Finch found Pay-Less Drug in Rochester, MN which is the Midwest's first self-service drug store.
1938 - MN-based Pay-Less Drug opens a 2nd store in Mason City, IO and renames the company Self-Service Drug.
1938 - Joe Albertson (Albertsons) enters into a partnership with L.S. Skaggs and opens a store in Boise, ID.
1938 - M.B. Skaggs' son-in-law launches Long Drugs.
1939 - L.S. Skaggs leaves Safeway and with 2 partners buy 4 Pay Less stores from L.J. Skaggs in UT and ID.
1939 - O.P. Skaggs sells some of his Nebraska O.P. Skaggs Cash Stores to George W. Martin.
1939 - PayLess Drug Stores is founded when Peyton Hawes and Wiliam Armitage acquire a controlling interest in
          5 drugstores in OR and WA.
1942 - L.L. Skaggs forms a partnership with 3 other men and name it Owners Service Company (Osco).  Osco headquarters
          are moved to Chicago, IL.
1942 - Skaggs acquires the AZ-based Payless Drug chain.  MN-based Self-Service Drug becomes a part of Osco Drug.
1942 - Thrifty Drug Stores has 58 stores.
1945 - C.J. Skaggs and a partner open the first Sav-on Drug Store in San Bernardino, CA.
1948 - Some PayLess Drug Stores are renamed Skaggs Drug Stores.
1949 - There are 11 Pay Less Drug Stores.
1956 - General Electric sues some western retailers for selling its products below the recommended price.
          Skaggs Companies counter-sues and wins, thus  overturning the "fair trade" laws in UT and other states.
1959 - George Martin launches Skagway combination supermarket/department stores in Nebraska.
1961 - With 31 Osco drug stores in 6 states, Jewel Companies acquires Osco Drug.
1964 - The Martin family sells its O.P. Skaggs Cash Stores but continues to own and operate its Skagway
          supermarket/department stores.
1965 - Skaggs Drug Stores incorporates as Skaggs Drug Centers and over the next few years acquires the following drug
          chains: Josco, Harts, Cook's, Katz and the non-Califronia PayLess stores.
1969 - Albertsons and Skaggs partner to form Skaggs-Albertsons combination food and drug stores.  The chain grows to 58
          stores in OK and the Southeast.
1976 - PayLess acquires 22 Value Giant stores in CA.
1977 - The Skaggs-Albertsons partnership is amicably dissolved, with Skaggs and Albertsons splitting the assets evenly.
1978 - There are 202 Pay Less Drug Stores and 39 Pay Less super centers in 21 states.
1979 - Skaggs Drug Centers acquires American Stores Company (Acme Markets, Alpha Beta) and the company retains
          the American Stores Company name.
          The American Stores Company acquisition adds 785 food centers and 139 drug stores to the 241 Skaggs stores.
1979 - Skaggs-Albertsons has 365 stores and sales of over $ 2 billion.
1980 - Safeway is the most profitable grocery chain in the U.S.
1980 - L.J. Skaggs sells Oakland,CA-based PayLess Drug Stores to Washington-Oregon PayLess Jewel Companies
        
 acquires Sav-On Drugs of Southern CA.
1984 - American Stores Company acquires Jewel Companies for $ 1.1 billion in a hostile takeover in order to create the first
          coast-to-coast drug store chain.  This returned the Sav-On Drugs and Osco drug chains to Skaggs.  Skaggs Drugs
          Centers
are renamed Osco.
1985 - With 183 stores, PayLess is acquired by K-Mart.
1986 - In order to avoid a hostile takeover by Herbert Hart, Safeway is acquired by investment firm Kohlberg, Kravis, Roberts &
          Co. for $ 5.3 billion and Safeway becomes a privately traded company.  Nearly half of Safeway's 2,200 stores are sold
          in order to pay off debt incurred by the takeover, including the Safeway stores in England and Australia.
1986 - Thrifty Drug begins opening its Wonder World discount department stores.
1986 - Thrifty Drug has 594 drugstores and 94 Big 5 Sporting Goods stores.
1987 - PayLess purchased 25 Osco stores in WA and ID.
1988 - American Stores Company acquires Dublin, CA-based Lucky Stores.
1990 - American Stores Company has 1,848 stores.
1990 - Safeway stores becomes a publicly-traded company once again and acquires Randalls in TX, Carrs in AK, Dominicks
         
 in IL and Vons in CA.
1991 - PayLess acquired 52 Osco stores in CO, WY and UT.

1992 - Albertsons purchases 74 Jewel-Osco food and drug combination stores from American Stores Company.
1992 - PayLess acquired the assets of 124 Pay 'n Save stores in AK, HI, WA and ID.
1994 - Los Angeles-based TCH Corp., the parent company of Thrifty Drugs purchased PayLess Drug Stores Northwest, Inc.
         (543 stores) which was then a wholly-owned subsidiary of K-Mart.  The company is renamed Thrifty PayLess Holdings.
1996 - American Stores Company is the nation's 2nd largest supermarket chain with 802 supermarkets and 773 stand-alone
          drugstores in 31 states.
1998 - Albertsons acquires American Stores Company for $ 12.7 billion and becomes the nation's largest supermarket chain.
1999 - All Lucky Stores are renamed Albertsons.
2000 - PayLess Drug is sold to Rite Aid.
2003 - There are over 600 Osco Drug stores in 19 states.
2003 - Safeway has over 1,700 stores in the U.S. and Canada which include 329 Vons stores in CA and NV, 132 Randalls and
          Tom Thumb stores in TX, 42 Genuardi's stores in the Philadelphia area and 21 Carr's stores in AK.  Albertsons
        
 operates over 2,500 stores in 38 states.
2006 - There are over 450 Long Drugs stores in 6 western states.
2006 - Albertsons is sold for $ 17.4 billion to SuperValu (1,124 stores), CVS (700 stand-alone Sav-On and Osco drugstores)
          and the remaining 655 Albertsons supermarkets to investors led by NY-based Cerberus.
2006 - With the Albertsons acquisition, SuperValu becomes the nation's 2nd largest supermarket chain behind Kroger.


Acme Markets     Albertsons     Alpha Beta Stores    American Stores Company     Jewel Stores
Lucky Stores    Payless Supermarkets   Safeway    Skagway


HELP!  Click here to e-mail your supermarket information and/or pictures
 

Sources:  Michael Strauch, Wikipedia

 
SKAGGS ALBERTSONS

Click on images below to enlarge:

Odessa, TX

Odessa, TX

 

KATZ DRUG STORES

Source: Discount Stores of the 60's

Source: Waldo Area Business Association

Source: Discount Stores of the 60's

Source: Rusty Cans

2006 - Kansas City

 

LONGS DRUGS

 

OSCO DRUG

Rockford, IL

Rockford, IL

1950's - Rockford, IL

2006 - An Osco during changeover to CVS

Albertsons-Osco

Jewel-Osco

Shaws-Osco

Hot Wheels - Source: Carl Cestaro

 

PAY 'N TAKIT STORES

1929 - Los Angeles, CA

1925 - Tempe, AZ - Source: Tempe Historical Museum

 

PAY LESS DRUG STORES

Converting to Rite Aid

Payless Supermarkets & Drugs

 

SAV-ON DRUGS

Sav-on Needlebook

2005 - Source: Roadside Pictures

2006 - Las Vegas, NV - Converting to CVS - Source: Roadside Pictures

2006 - Henderson, NV - Converting to CVS - Source: Roadside Pictures

2005 - Las Vegas, NV - Source: Roadside Pictures

Acme/Sav-on

2005 - Boulder City, NV - Source: Roadside Pictures

Source: Root Beer World

 

SKAGG'S CASH STORES

01/31/19 - American Falls Press

1970's - Ohama, NE - Source: Discount Stores of the 60's

 

SKAGG'S SAFEWAY

 

 

SKAGG'S FAMILY CENTERS

Source: Discount Stores of the 60's

 

THRIFTY DRUGS

1959 - Phoenix, AZ - Source: Ron Heberlee

 

 

WONDER WORLD
Click on photo below to enlarge:

Sacramento, CA

Fairfield, CA

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