San Fernando Valley Grocery Stores

by Becky Spiro, CSUN Cataloging and Metadata Specialist - May 06, 2025

Have you been grocery shopping in the San Fernando Valley recently? How’s the service? Do you know your neighborhood clerks? How is the merchandise displayed? Do you sometimes order delivery? Do you prefer farmers’ markets?

We always need to shop for food. Here, images from the CSUN University Library’s San Fernando Valley History Collection show a brief visual history of local grocery activity.

The San Fernando Valley History Collection includes photographs, maps, illustrations, and other historical documents from many collections, some on the CSUN campus and some from thirty-seven participating local historical societies. The images selected here include photographs contributed by Rancho Los Encinos, the Glendale Public Library, the Weddington Family Collection (North Hollywood), the Calabasas Historical Society, the Burbank Public Library, the Burbank Historical Society, the Little Landers Historical Society (Tujunga), Los Angeles Valley College Historical Museum, the Lopez Adobe, the International Association of Machinists District Lodge 727, Pacoima Revitalization Inc., and the CSUN's Robert and Betty Franklin Collection.

The images cover nearly a hundred years of history, dating from about 1885 to 1985, and were taken in areas of the Valley from Glendale to Calabasas, Tujunga to Woodland Hills. There are general stores, delivery trucks, indoor and outdoor markets, people working and shopping, and even some grocery prices. Delivery vehicles include trucks, horse-drawn wagons, and a dog cart.

Some markets are independent: Kramer’s, Weddington Brothers, Mercado de Valle, and a farmers’ market organized by the International Association of Machinists; some are parts of chains: Piggly Wiggly, Fazio’s, Shopping Bag. There is a Boys Market grand opening visit by Los Angeles Mayor Tom Bradley, one well-attended staff picnic, and, of course, a place to stop for a half-gallon of ice cream.
 

Image Gallery

Post tagged as: special collections, photographs, san fernando valley