Although I have documented some history on Monterey Boulevard shops, Sunnyside also had many small stores on residential corners all throughout the neighborhood. Here is a great 1970s shot of the Sunnyside Groceteria on the corner of Detroit at Flood, courtesy of Doug daSilva. A slider comparison photo follows.
Sunnyside Groceteria, 301 Detroit Street at Flood. Photo courtesy Doug daSilva.
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There had been a shop here since the building was constructed in 1911, until the 1990s, when it was remodeled as a residence. A series of shopkeepers ran the little store, from Giuseppe Bianco in the 1920s-1940s, until Anna Kwong took it over in 1993.* Few did much to advertise, being oriented to local customers. It was called “Sunnyside Groceteria” from about 1950 until about 1981, when the name became simply Sunnyside Grocery.
Local resident Linda Horning (who herself lives in what was once Zemanek’s butcher shop on Detroit) recalls how the woman who ran it would sell individual Ritz crackers to hungry kids after school let out. As “Bianco’s” it was remembered by several of the oral history subjects interviewed by the Sunnyside History Project of 2006.
Do you recall this shop? Write me with your story.
My thanks to Doug daSilva for this photo. A graphic artist and photographer, Doug created a t-shirt to honor Bruno’s Creamery last year — read about that here.
* As reported in the Visitacion Valley Grapevine, Nov 1993. https://archive.org/details/visitacionvalley811unse/page/2/mode/2up
