Although this advertisement is after the time period discussed here, it shows that such advertisement methods continued to be used, even with the Island Market. (Image provided by The Herald Journal) 

This instability was probably natural for the time period. The beginning of the Great Depression in the 1930s coincided with the rise of supermarkets, which drastically changed the landscape of grocery and food economies. Grocers themselves also often had unstable relationships with the communities they worked in.  

On one hand, grocers saw themselves as important members of the community that provided access to food and other essential products.[65] On the other hand, in times of economic hardship, grocers were often blamed for the steep prices and even compared to robbers.[66] Some grocery stores survived, often by relying on dramatic advertisements emphasizing cheapness, but many failed.[67] Grocery stores in Logan, Utah, seem to have also been subject to these trends. 

Time after time, the owners of the 400 East and Center Street market would switch location, handing the building off to the next owners who would try their luck in the corner market business. H. Cleve and Melva K. Hansen, likely in response to the manifest difficulties of operating a grocery store in the 40s, joined their store (at 400 East and Center Street) with the Independent Grocers Alliance (IGA) in 1946 or earlier.[68] 

"Chains were doing so well that in 1926, a group of independent grocers in the Northeast banded together to form the Independent Grocers Alliance (IGA), a national trade group that allowed the independents to obtain the same wholesale discounts as the large chains." 

—Jenny McTaggart[69] 

The IGA had entered the scene in Cache Valley around 1933, over a decade before the 400 East and Center Street grocery would join it. The first IGA store in the valley was a butcher’s shop, the name of which was not recorded.[70] While this store has nothing to do with the Island Market, it gives us an idea of when the IGA started to enter the Logan area. 

(Image provided by The Deseret News) 

While there are not many sources directly referencing the role of the IGA in Cache Valley at the time, the franchise was praised highly in the Deseret News in 1966, with Senator Mike Mansfield stating, “This organization has helped independent grocers in 46 states to increase their sales and modernize their stores.”[71]  

The Red and White Stores 

Other organizations such as “The Red and White” were created to provide similar help to independent grocers. The Red and White stores would have access to purchasing deals while still staying independent. The stores were asked to include the “Red and White” in their store name.[72] (Several of these Logan stores can be seen on the map feature in “Where Did the Corner Markets Go?” page.)