On Feb. 15, 1934, Wayne E. Brown brought the self-service grocery shopping experience to the Midwest when he opened the first Big Bear Store in Columbus.
The building at 386 West Lane Ave., formerly the Silver Slipper roller skating rink and dance hall, was retrofitted into a grocery store with 15 departments, including floral, bakery, meat, candy store, shoe repair, farm equipment and equipment repair, pottery and glassware, hardware and household appliances, and a delicatessen.
Brown owned a cattle farm which helped supply fresh beef to the store. Staff made fresh butter and buttermilk every hour. Shoppers could even grab a bite to eat at the store’s lunch counter restaurant, which offered a hot sandwich special that included a hot sandwich with
gravy, mashed potatoes, and a drink for 16 cents.
Other amenities for shoppers included a soda fountain, free parking, free bus services from the corner of Lane Avenue and High Street, and radio artist entertainment from live WBNS broadcasts from the store every day from 6:30-7 p.m.
Brown celebrated Big Bear’s opening weekend with free groceries and free hams every half hour, demonstrations, and samples. Two hundred thousand people visited the store during its opening weekend.
This success out of the gate marked the beginning of a beloved local chain. By 1940, Brown opened four other Big Bear locations in Columbus, and later added more in the central Ohio region.
In 1957, Big Bear headquarters began operations at 770 West Goodale Blvd., housing the company’s administrative and executive offices, warehouses, and Big Bear Credit Union for employees.
Over the decades, Big Bear expanded its footprint across Ohio and into West Virginia, acquiring Harts discount department stores along the way in 1954. Harts Stores had locations in the basements of two Big Bear supermarkets and Big Bear management thought that having Harts would provide a mix of nongrocery items in its inventory.
As Big Bear expanded, Harts stores were located adjacent to Big Bear grocery stores or were free-standing until Big Bear liquidated the stores in 1995 as competition from other chains like Meijer led to Big Bears' declining financial success.
See more photos of Big Bear stores over the years
Brown sold Big Bear to the New York investment firm Oppenheimer & Co. in 1976, and was sold to fellow Syracuse, New York-based Penn Traffic Co. in 1989. Unfortunately, this seemingly new breath of life only temporarily sustained Big Bear.
Ongoing financial problems plaguing Penn Traffic led to liquidations and the closure of all Big Bear locations by 2004. Big Bear employees, many who had worked there for decades, as well as longtime customers of the chain, lamented the end of a store which once had "Give 'Em A Big Bear Hug" on some employee uniforms.
Kristen Newby is Special Collections Manager with the Columbus Metropolitan Library.
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Brown's grocery was the Big Bear in Columbus area and beyond for decades
