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when A. J. Bayless grocery failed Bashas' bought it out and gave all tenured employees the full benefits accrued at aj.  eddie basha was as close to a saint as the local economy has ever seen.  most of the remote stores started off as bayless.  everyone was surprised when eddie kept the A J fine foods line-it was 2 managers of A J Fine Foods that guided and packed my bull out of hells half acre in 2006.   johnny has had a tough time of it but they made it though the toughest stretch.  i spent a little time at work with Eddie circa 1984 and will always have respect for that family.

lee

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Back in the early 1900's they had a mercantile in Ray/Sonora.  I grew-up in Kearny, and there was still one of the Lebanese families doing business in town in the 60's, 70's, 80's......     I like the fact that Bashas is a local AZ success story.  Small town immigrants who made a great life here in the good ol' USA!  Really is a cool 'American' story!

Good stuff!

 

Edit:  Wanted to give props to the 'other' Lebanese family I referenced above.  Dick Haddad was his name.  He was an awesome guy, very active in Ray/Kearny civics, school, etc..  Raised a great family too!  Good folks.

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Shopped at bashas in Havasu when I was younger, Great store. Unfortunately live in communist California, but go to Havasu all the time & Bashas is are go to store every time before we go out on the boat.

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I had a Buddy who was Eddies neighbor , said was a great Guy, Lets help them locals all we can..And I have another buddy {thats right I have 2 Buddies} That His Wife has worked there over 20 years.Enjoys it........BOB!

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1 hour ago, Ohthatguy said:

Not unless Jimmy Choo makes work boots.

Depends what your do for work

EEE62BC0-603B-42DE-9E91-7A838095571F.png

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7 hours ago, bonecollector said:

AJ’s is pissing off my wife, starting to charge for sweetener for tea! 😂

 

Rich people problems! 🙄😂

In all seriousness though, I live right around the corner from AJ's here at Central/Camelback.  Large Arnold Palmer at Starbucks = $5.16    Large Arnold Palmer at AJ's = $1.68.  Best deal in the entire store!!! 😋 

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I might be mistaken,... but Basha's covers the spectrum: Food city, Bashas, and then AJ's

I remember as a kid in chandler it was bashas or safeway... then the city got bigger, and the competition moved in. My best friend works for Basha's still... it's neat to see the "ol' home town grocer"...

 

Hopefully they can keep rolling. I know they did a bunch of restructuring and have closed quite a few stores

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18 hours ago, biglakejake said:

when A. J. Bayless grocery failed they bought it out and gave all tenured employees the full benefits accrued at aj.  eddie was as close to a saint as the local economy has ever seen.  most of the remote stores started off as bayless.  everyone was surprised when eddie kept the A J fine foods line-it was 2 managers of A J Fine Foods that guided and packed my bull out of hells half acre in 2006.   johnny has had a tough time of it but they made it though the toughest stretch.  i spent a little time at work with Eddie circa 1984 and will always have respect for that family.

lee

There's some real history in this thread.  I worked at A.J. Bayless my Sr. year of H.S., and it was a good job - and good people.  Bought my first vehicle, a '56 Ford pickup from one of the produce clerks and drove it for a couple years.  It had a 292 that ran like a scalded cat.  Did a lot of prowling around the desert in that old pickup  Senator Carl Hayden used to come and sit on the bench outside while his family shopped.  He was a very ancient guy at that time (1969 - '70). 

I never worked at Basha's, but they were good too, and I always try to do some shopping there whenever I get back to AZ.

forepaw

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On 7/21/2019 at 9:08 PM, stanley said:

Edit:  Wanted to give props to the 'other' Lebanese family I referenced above.  Dick Haddad was his name.  He was an awesome guy, very active in Ray/Kearny civics, school, etc..  Raised a great family too!  Good folks.

how about Leo Hadad?  i worked as a statewide sales rep and driver for Leo's Farm and Home Foods 1980 till 1985.  i don't know if Leo was from Kearny.

lee

ps thats how i got to know Eddie Basha-he rode with me on a four day route through northern Arizona in a blizzard just to talk with people.

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On 7/22/2019 at 5:27 AM, stanley said:

 

Rich people problems! 🙄😂

In all seriousness though, I live right around the corner from AJ's here at Central/Camelback.  Large Arnold Palmer at Starbucks = $5.16    Large Arnold Palmer at AJ's = $1.68.  Best deal in the entire store!!! 😋 

In my younger days I worked at the skateboard shop right across the street. We would go to AJ's at least 3-4 times a week to get pizza. They sold it by the slice back then and it was delicious! No tsure if they still sell it like that now though, its probably been 10 years since I've been over there. 

 

 

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9 hours ago, biglakejake said:

how about Leo Hadad?  i worked as a statewide sales rep and driver for Leo's Farm and Home Foods 1980 till 1985.  i don't know if Leo was from Kearny.

lee

ps thats how i got to know Eddie Basha-he rode with me on a four day route through northern Arizona in a blizzard just to talk with people.

Do you know Allen Willis from the Chandler area? His dad had a farm where Cooper/202 exit!!!!

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2 hours ago, briant_az said:

In my younger days I worked at the skateboard shop right across the street. We would go to AJ's at least 3-4 times a week to get pizza. They sold it by the slice back then and it was delicious! No tsure if they still sell it like that now though, its probably been 10 years since I've been over there. 

 

 

I take my boys to bashas for pizza by the slice. Pretty good stuff.

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10 hours ago, biglakejake said:

how about Leo Hadad?  i worked as a statewide sales rep and driver for Leo's Farm and Home Foods 1980 till 1985.  i don't know if Leo was from Kearny.

lee

ps thats how i got to know Eddie Basha-he rode with me on a four day route through northern Arizona in a blizzard just to talk with people.

That name doesn't ring a bell.   I grew-up in Kearny in the 70s to early-80s.    Kelly was the Sr. Haddad's name.  I knew his children, but none were named Leo.   That being said, I know they had cousins/uncles around the southern part of the state so I wouldn't be surprised if there was a relationship. 

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