Grand Opening of the A&P store on West Market Street

On June 28, 1937, the A & P opened a new “super-service food market” on West Market Street, opposite the Hotel Rieger. The Sandusky Star Journal reported that “the new store will operate as a self-service unit with every item on display on tables plainly price tagged and easily accessible to the customer. Customers entering the store will be provided with either a hand basket or a push-basket on wheels in which to gather their purchases.”

The 1937-1938 Sandusky City Directory listed a total of six A & P stores, located at 232 Columbus Avenue, 901 Columbus Avenue, 600 Hancock Street, 182 East Market Street, 231 West Market Street, and 933 West Washington Street. There were still over fifty small neighborhood grocery stores in Sandusky at this time, as well as a total of seven stores operated by the Kroger Grocery and Baking Company.
In the right corner of the photograph above, a portion of the theater marquis is visible. The Ohio Theater was playing “I Met Him in Paris” with Claudette Colbert and Robert Young. Area Boy Scouts were marching in a parade preceding their trip to the National Jamboree of 1937 (as reported in the previous blog entry).