Memorabilia: Stop & Shop Garbage Can

I took these pictures back in spring 2016 and (because I took them on a family member's cell phone) later emailed them to myself. They have been sitting in my email inbox since July 2016. Now, they can finally see the light of day because they're worth seeing. The Stop & Shop in West Caldwell, NJ at 875 Bloomfield Ave opened in the 1980s as a Stop & Shop-MediMart combination store, which was later sold to local chain Kings Food Markets, occupying the space until 2007. Then, Stop & Shop (which still owned the property) didn't renew Kings' lease and instead moved back in themselves. This garbage can has been floating around the property since the original Stop & Shop opened...

Ah, it's beautiful (if more than a little faded, and possibly painted out at least once).

It does look like someone tried to paint out the logos, but they came back. Just like the Stop & Shop. Was that an intentional parallel? Absolutely not, but it's a nice coincidence.

Memorabilia: ShopRite Trucks

While passing through the Lehigh Valley, I stopped by the Starlite Diner in Allentown (and had an excellent dinner). To my surprise, though, immediately inside the diner was a display of several toy ShopRite trucks. The diner is just north of an approximately one million square foot Wakefern warehouse in Breinigsville, PA so it's not as strange as I had initially thought. It's probably a common stop for Wakefern truckers.

I've never seen the Price Rite one before! My local ShopRite usually carries these trucks only around the holidays, when they're probably handy impulse buy gift items. I, unfortunately, do not have any!

Memorabilia: ShopRite Price Plus Card

Although many stores have created a brand for their loyalty club, few are as recognizable as ShopRite's Price Plus club. It's an instantly-recognizable name and design, even in its newer version. Here's the pre-2002 version, most likely from the mid-1990s.

I still really like the older ShopRite logo and branding, although the script text is better than the old lettering.

And yes, this card still works. The account has existed for probably 25 years, and it still works to get a free turkey every Thanksgiving.

Memorabilia: Pathmark Slug

A common way to keep carts from wandering off on their own from many supermarkets is to require a $0.25 deposit, which is returned when you return the cart. ALDI, along with some ShopRite operators, use this system as an incentive to return your cart. Pathmark took a slightly different approach, instead giving customers slugs, which could be used in place of a quarter to get a cart.

This slug even came in its own custom plastic case, which could be attached to a keychain for safekeeping.

When the Elizabeth, NJ Pathmark opened (the location this slug is from), the store was built with columns around the entrance and exit area to prevent carts from leaving. Later, the columns were removed partially to allow customers to take their carts into the parking lot, but the quarter system was instituted to regulate the carts. Once the technology became available, the store began using the cart-locking technology to prevent people from taking the carts off of the property. Then A&P acquired Pathmark and began selling the carts to make extra money, according to an employee at the location. Go figure. The location has since become a Food Bazaar, and some of the cart corrals now still have the chains that you would insert into the quarter device to redeem your quarter.

What a great piece of memorabilia, and it's in fantastic condition!

Memorabilia: Pathmark Advantage Club Card

The crazy thing about today's memorabilia is that, after a fairly brief time off, you can once again get a Pathmark Advantage Club Card! I am definitely way too excited about this, but you can see more at pathmark.com.

This Pathmark Advantage Club card sure got a lot of use in its day.

Memorabilia: Kmart Fan

While staying in the Finger Lakes (there are lots more supermarkets to come from that region) over the summer of 2018, my family rented a house that included a great old Kmart fan. And let me tell you, that fan did a good job.

Pretty standard box fan.

But take a good look at that dial on top...

Memorabilia: Jiffy Food Stores Keychain

Today's memorabilia is a keychain for what I'm assuming is a chain of convenience stores, although I haven't been able to find any information on it. This also comes from my grandmother's collection, and although she's lived in Elizabeth, NJ for her whole life, there's no telling where she may have gotten this.

Anyone familiar with Jiffy Food Stores?

Memorabilia: Drug Fair and Cost Cutters Loyalty Card

Today's memorabilia comes to us courtesy of my grandmother, a loyal Cost Cutters shopper until the end. Technically, the end came when, well, her Cost Cutters closed, the Elizabeth location. But she still calls the Elmora Farmers Market that took half of the building "Cost Cutters." Why she doesn't call Dollar General, in the other half and nearly identical to it, Cost Cutters is beyond me. (She calls the nearby Food Bazaar "Pathmark" still, or on a good day "that new store where Pathmark was.")

Well I can't say this card's design is particularly exciting. Both of the stores' logos are pretty much the store's name in an all-caps sans serif font. But it's not overly unattractive either, although the white space in the bottom left corner is a little awkward.

Ah, the good old days when companies would include the word "online" in their URL. For a good long time, Kings Food Markets used "www.kingswebsite.com" which actually still redirects to the new website, kingsfoodmarkets.com.

Memorabilia: A&P Liquors Keychain

Kicking off our all-memorabilia week with a keychain from the A&P Wine & Spirits location in Summit, NJ, which we saw back in February. (I'm not entirely sure why it doesn't use the Best Cellars branding.)

I'm pretty sure A&P owned additional liquor stores, but this maybe is the northern New Jersey division? I don't know how Point Pleasant would fit in there, though.

Coming Soon!

Get ready for next week's...

That's right, a solid week of memorabilia! And to celebrate, we're going to have two posts a day! One will go up at midnight and one at noon, so check back frequently to see all the cool memorabilia and other items that we have.

OUT OF STOCK!

Unfortunately, ShopRite Week 3 will be postponed. Stay tuned for that content coming up soon. In the meantime, get ready for an all-out memorabilia week beginning on May 19th! Sorry about the delay, but check out our friends at A&P Preservation, Albertsons Florida Blog, and The Stoplight Blog!