Piedmont Grocery Meat Department - 1940 2The Piedmont Meat Market was located on Piedmont Avenue in Oakland, California, next door to the Piedmont Grocery Store. Owned and operated by the Guerra family, the Piedmont Meat Market merged with the Piedmont Grocery in 1964. 1
[JL]recalls: "This historical account is not accurate ... the meat market was located in the Monte Vista Market, a few doors down from the Piedmont Grocery Store, and as memory serves, the owner/butcher retired and closed the meat market. The Piedmont Grocery Store already had its own in-store meat market before 1964"]
[JL continued "I just love a good mystery! Monte Vista Market had a meat market in the store during the 1940's & 1950's (not sure what year it opened, but by the 1950's the meat department, which was independently owned, was already a neighborhood staple which had been there for years. They were in competition with the Piedmont Market meat market, but as prices at the Monte Vista meat market were lower more folks on a limited budget shopped there while residents of the City of Piedmont (which didn't have its own grocery store) shopped at the Piedmont Grocery meat department. It appears from the historical data that there was a third store selling meat on Piedmont Avenue, the Piedmont Meat Market, next door to the Piedmont Grocery. It must have been located between the Piedmont Grocery and Pearson's Hardware Store (that is now a comic book store). However, there still was a meat department in the Piedmont Grocery before the reported 1964 merger between the two stores ... I found a photo! And sometime after the mid-1960's the size of the Piedmont Grocery's meat department did grow larger. I realize probably no one cares about this minor bit of Oakland history, but enjoy exercising the little grey cells.]
[NAParish sez: I am nearly certain the OMCA item is correct. This 1969 Tribune article ( 35056746.pdf) states that the Piedmont Market was started by Billy Land in a location at 41st Street, and later moved to a site next to the Piedmont Grocery under the ownership of the Guerras. The 1941 Polks directory at http://archive.org/details/polksoaklandcali1941rlpo (page 758) lists the Piedmont Grocery Co. (groceries, deli, fruits, veggies) at 4038 Piedmont Ave and the Piedmont Market (meats, fish, poultry) at 4042 Piedmont Ave. A 1931 Tribune page celebrating the Piedmont Market's 33rd Anniversary (31554430.pdf) noted that the Piedmont Grocery and the Piedmont Market had been neighbors for 29 years. And then a 1959 obituary for Rene Guerra noted that he was an owner of the Piedmont Meat Market (32413696.pdf). Looks like the word "Meat" was added to the name of the store sometime between 1941 and 1964. Maybe the Monte Vista Market opened a separate meat market once Piedmont Meat and Piedmont Grocery merged?]
