out of groceries

 

Just like this weathered sign on the closed store, the farming community of Wilson has seen better times.

 

Wilson, Texas

FM 400 and 211

6.10.2017

spot cash

 

Don't plan on buying your groceries at the Spot Cash - not only is it closed, it's only a shell of itself.  The grocery store served downtown Matador, according to newspaper ads, from the 1950s to the 1970s (they even gave Green Stamps).  But surely these elegant brick buildings housed other concerns during the heyday of the ranch town.  The owners proudly claimed the storefronts with their initials--their names probably lost to forgotten history.

 

Matador, Texas

2.19.2017

moose on a ladder

 

It's not elf on a shelf but rather a moose on a ladder.  Good seasonal help must be hard to find as evidenced by this scene from United Supermarket #551.

the butcher

 

One of my favorite characters is Louisiana was the butcher atop Cannata's Market.  These family-owned supermarkets have served south Louisiana since 1939 when Vince Cannata married Fannie Canale and they started a fruit stand in the French Quarter.  I think the butcher, although lesser known, is a stronger advertising presence than Colonel Sanders.

 

Cannata's Market

Morgan City, Louisiana

10.14.2015