Groceteria.com

Steubenville (hometown of Dean Martin) has always seemed under-stored to me, particularly during its "boom years." Still interesting, though. And across the river in Weirton WV a remarkably intact 1950s Kroger operated until just a couple of years ago.

https://www.groceteria.com/place/ohio/steubenville/

Per Chain Store Age Kroger opened at 147 S 4th in 1933 and at 430 Adams in the 1950s. Any more info on this?

All I have is what was listed in the directories, and it’s possible that the lack of individual locations lasted even longer than I thought. I don’t currently have access to newspapers for Steubenville or to the full directories anymore so I don’t really have a backup source to check at present. I’ll add a note for now.

So...

My error on the 1933 locations; that column header should have read 1931. Apparently the 4th Street location started as A&P and became Kroger by 1933.

I can't really do much with the Adams Street location without newspapers or access to the actual directories as I'd need to look at the street-level listings. It WAS listed in the 1942 directory, though, and it "feels" 1940s in origin.

Maybe more at some later point.

I checked the Steubenville paper on NewspaperArchive. There was a "Fifth and Adams" Kroger that opened in August 1939, and then a new "Fifth and Adams" Kroger that opened in May 1950, my guess is that the original one was 430 Adams and the new one was 140 S 5th. By late 1953 there was a different food shop (B&M Provisions) operating at 430 Adams.

opacity wrote: ↑21 Aug 2024 21:38There was a "Fifth and Adams" Kroger that opened in August 1939, and then a new "Fifth and Adams" Kroger that opened in May 1950, my guess is that the original one was 430 Adams and the new one was 140 S 5th.

That would make perfect sense. And it would all be much easier if both buildings were not gone at this point. Sigh...

Interesting that Thorofare and it's ancestors (Butler and Streamline) were here for quite while but left by the 1950s. They had a store in East Liverpool which lasted mush longer, but otherwise don't seem to have gone further North or East in Ohio until they took over the former Loblaw/National Tea warehouse in Youngstown after a labor dispute at their Murryville, PA facility.

They bought the Evans chain (later called Penny Fare) further South along the Ohio River during the 1960s. Evans had been owned by the family of Bob Evans.