Local finds Albertsons receipt from 33 years ago in Half Price Books buy

It’s been 19 years since the Boise, Idaho-based grocery chain closed its stores in the Alamo City, according to an article from the San Antonio Business Journal. Recently, San Antonian Stephanie Garza was reminded of her local Albertsons store after finding a 33-year-old receipt in a book she bought at Half Price Books in College Station.

Garza told MySA.com she was cleaning out her office at Texas A&M University in College Station on Saturday, May 8, when she discovered the receipt. Garza says she often looks for bookmarks in used books as a pastime, searching for any paper that sticks out of book spines.

The 32-year-old graduate student said she saves all the paper she finds and goes through it at a later date. Garza explained she can’t remember what the title of the book was named but can say it was a mass fiction novel.

The receipt dates back to October 21, 1988 — older than Garza herself — and is from the store on Loop 410 and Bandera, according to the picture she shared on San Antonio Reddit. The items bought included a Coke Classic for $1.59, buns for $1.09, wieners for $1.28, a 6-pack of Pepsi Cola for $2.29, and an Ozarka drink for .84 cents.

“It brought me back memories of my childhood since Albertsons is long gone, but then I realized it was my childhood Albertsons,” Garza said. “I have more memories of the H-E-B Marketplace than the Albertsons, but I do remember going there once or twice.”

Garza added she remembers the location being shut down and abandoned for such a long time, a sentiment echoed by others on the Reddit thread.

“I remember Albertsons, Handy Andy, and Kroger were around a lot in the 80s,” user bpfinsa wrote. “They either got converted to an H-E-B or shutdown.”

There are still nearly 400 Albertsons locations in the U.S. as of May 4, according to a report from scrapehero.com. In Texas, there are 44 locations, with most in Fort Worth and El Paso.