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Dr. Ronald P. Rogers CHIROPRACTOR Support for your body's natural healing capabilities 270-384-5554 Click here for details 
  
Columbia Gas Dept. GAS LEAK or GAS SMELL Contact Numbers 24 hrs/ 365 days 270-384-2006 or 9-1-1 Call before you dig 
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The Columbia Kroger Store, 1936 - 1959 By JIM After James T. Page died intestate, unmarried, and sine prole in the spring of 1926, it took years for his estate, consisting in great part of vast land holdings, to be settled among the four surviving collateral line heirs, to-wit: his brother, Dr. Lafayette Page; his sister, Mary Jane Blakeman; a niece, Elma Fraser; and a nephew, Paul Azbill. The land holdings included town lot 60, running from the exit corner of Campbellsville Street to the east corner of the square, and a part of the adjoining town lot 59, extending from the east corner to what is now called North Reed Street. In 1928, that piece of the estate was divided up, with Elma Fraser getting a 75 foot frontage (three building lots) fronting on the square, from Campbellsville Street toward the corner. Near the end of January 1931, Mrs. Fraser contracted with Mr. Wood Judd to erect for her a business house on her lot furthest from Campbellsville Street. Already, said The News, "Mr. M.L. Grissom, Undertaker, has leased the building and upon its completion will open a modern furniture store and undertaking establishment." (No additional mention appeared of the proposed furniture store part of Mr. Grissom's establishment.) Mr. Grissom moved there in late April or early May 1931 and remained there until the summer of 1936, when he purchased of C.M. Kelsay the nearby James T. Page residence, quickly announced his intent to convert it to his funeral parlor, and opened for business there on September first. Another tenant already waited in the wings for the just-vacated Fraser building. Incredibly, only ten days after Mr. Grissom moved out, a new Kroger store opened in the "completely redecorated" business house, freshly equipped with "modern and up-to-date fixtures." James Conover, an Adair native then working at the Kroger store in Campbellsville, served as the first manager. The first ad, a full page humdinger, offered a cornucopia of serious bargains for the astute shopper. These included a 24# bag of flour, 71 cents; a 1# can of Maxwell House coffee, 25 cents; and 10 "giant bars" of P & G brand soap, 33 cents. Over the next decade and a half, Kroger did well. After fire gutted the Paul Marshall Variety store in the adjoining building (the one next-nearest to Campbellsville Street) in June 1950, Mr. Marshall moved the business elsewhere on the square early the following year, Kroger took over that area as well. Shortly after Marshall vacated the premises, major (re)construction commenced. With Mason Judd as general contractor, the project essentially converted the former Variety Store building and the building Kroger already occupied into a single business area, thus allowing Kroger to double its retail space and earn the designation of a "Super Market" Kroger. An article in mid-August referred to the newly expanded space as "one of the most modern and imposing buildings erected in the business section of Columbia in recent years." Mr. Judd finished the work in a timely manner, and the Super Market Kroger held its grand opening on November 14, 1951. Among the up-to-date features were self-service dairy and frozen food sections, three conveyor-belt type checkout lanes, and a "Magic Carpet" (auto-open) exit door, and the store continued to thrive for several more years. However, just before Christmas 1959, came word that the store, by then a fixture on the Square for over three decades, would close permanently at the end of business Saturday evening, December 26th. The closing may have been effected -- or accelerated -- by a Houchens store opening in town the previous December two blocks off the square on Burkesville Street, and certainly, a lack of parking space for customers played a role in the decision to shutter the doors. In an open letter to the readers of the News, the Kroger Company expressed regret at the necessity of closing, along with the hope that "a large modern store with adequate parking to serve you can be a reality in the not too distant future." Some of the more notable Kroger managers in the earlier years included J.D. Harper (twice, his employment interrupted by a stint in the military during World War II), Crawford Loy (twice), and Lenwood "Dagwood" Gore. (Adapted from "Renaissance on the Square, Columbia, Ky., from Campbellsville Street to the Well Walk, 1929 - 1934;" copyright 2022; used with permission.) This story was posted on 2022-12-16 07:49:44
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Have comments or corrections for this story? Use our contact form and let us know. More articles from topic Jim: History:
IGA Super Market on the Columbia Square Early December 1942 Letter: A few notes on Willis Furniture The Mary Jane Blakeman lot (Patteson Building) New of Columbia from late November, 1932 Adair County odds and ends, mid-October, 1932 Some more information about The Columbia Bakery September 2 is the birthday of Adair Co. Hero Col. Frank Wolford 85 years ago: Grocery stores galore! Coffey & Stotts, 1931 View even more articles in topic Jim: History |
 
115 Jamestown St. Columbia, KY. 270-384-2496 
  
   
 Provided by the Adair Co Fiscal Court and the Adair Co. Emergency Mgt. Agency 
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