Big Bear Stores

The headquarters and main warehouses of former regional grocery chain Big Bear Stores were located on Goodale Boulevard in Grandview Heights. Big Bear was founded in November 1933 by Wayne E. Brown, a dynamic individual with his own vision of the future of food distribution and retailing. Big Bear was the first self-serve supermarket in the Midwest, and was the first supermarket in the country to use cashier-operated motorized conveyor belts, and claimed several innovative services, including its own trolley line. Big Bear introduced shopping carts to their stores in 1937. Big Bear operated a farm north of Columbus, as well as Big Bear Bakery, 

In the 1950s, Big Bear became the first supermarket in the nation to use the new IBM 305 RAMAC mainframe computer. In 1954, a new prototype store was opened in Graceland Shopping Center in Columbus. With an interior store layout that became an industry standard, the store featured perishable items in the center of the store and lower displays to highlight products. 

Big Bear was bought in April 1989 by large supermarket holding company Penn Traffic. Big Bear’s demise was finalized in 2004 when the last Big Bear store closed its doors, following Penn Traffic's second Chapter 11 bankruptcy in a decade. The headquarters and warehouses between Goodale and Third Avenue were vacated. It is now the site of the Grandview Yard. 

(Logo owned by Penn Traffic)

 

Big Bear's Grandview Heights headquarters and warehouses were marked by a sign that was unmissable by drivers exiting State Route 315 onto Olentangy River Road.  

The first Big Bear Store opened in February 1934 on West Lane Avenue in Columbus in what was once a dance hall, a skating rink, and finally a tanbark ring for horse shows. Adjacent to the OSU campus, the location is now the site of Riverwatch Tower apartments. The store covered 47,000 square feet and included a candy store, shoe repair shop, restaurant, and drugstore, as well as butcher, baker, and grocer all in one place.

 

Like many other stores, Big Bear had a trading stamp program. For many years their orange and blue “Buckeye” stamps were a familiar sight for shoppers. The Buckeye stamps could be redeemed for merchandise or cash discounts. 

Big Bear often had a live bear at the grand opening of a new store to draw publicity, such as this store in German Village, OH. Big Bear utilized print and radio advertising from the beginning, along with in-store promotions. In 1936, shoppers could win $5 to $25 by mixing six words with “Big Bear”and “low prices” to create a store slogan. 

The Big Bear warehouses on Goodale Boulevard were highly organized, a hallmark duplicated in the chain's grocery stores.