Before and After Big Bear’s First Store

This edition of Before and After Big Bear’s First Store, we look at the chain’s original location. Big Bear grocery stores were founded in November, 1933 in Columbus. The first store in what would eventually become a significant regional chain, was located at 386 W. Lane Avenue.
The building was originally built as the “Crystal Slipper” ballroom, which opened in June, 1926. The ballroom was designed to hold 7,000 people and was called “America’s Most Beautiful Ballroom” by the developer, the Stadium Ovals Company. The ballroom itself was open less than a year, and the building was later used for various purposes into the early 1930s.

Before and After Big Bear's First Store The Crystal Slipper

The Crystal Slipper finishing construction in 1926.


Big Bear would purchase the building and renovate it into a grocery store over the winter of 1933-1934. The location subsequently opened on February 15, 1934. The 47,000 square foot store was said to have attracted 200,000 people on opening day, the success of which allowed the company to open a second store less than a year later.
Before: The first Big Bear store sometime in the late 1950s-early 1960s.
Before and After Big Bear's First Store
Big Bear was quite innovative for its time. It was the first self-serve supermarket in the Midwest and the first to use grocery conveyor belts for cashiers, for example.
The company eventually grew to include about 100 locations.
Ironically, a company that started as innovative ultimately failed because of a lack of innovation and maintenance of quality and service. In 1989, the company was purchased by Penn Traffic, a company that already owned several other chains in the Midwest. Unfortunately, it didn’t exactly have the cash to be buying the chain, and loaded Big Bear with debt. In 1993, newly-appointed CEO Philip Hawkins began cost-cutting measures. These measures included reducing staff and staff hours, and lowering product quality. Store conditions deteriorated and customers began choosing other supermarket chains.
By 2003, the company was being run into the ground. Customer volume had dropped to where the company could no longer pay vendors, so shelves were regularly empty of many products. This was the final death spiral. In 2004, Penn Traffic filed for bankruptcy and all remaining Big Bear stores were closed.
After: This 2021 image shows the site today.
Before and After Big Bear's First Store the location today
This particular location closed long before the company did- it closed in 1985 and the original building was demolished. Several years later, the current Riverwatch Tower was constructed on site.



Before and After Views from Franklinton




These before and after views from Franklinton show a snapshot in time of just how unattractive and people-unfriendly the riverfront once was.

Before: 1923
Before and after views from Franklinton in 1923
This view looks east from the Franklinton side of the Scioto River. At the time, Central High School was under construction, which is why the area looks like such a mess of materials. Central High School would be completed in 1924 and open on September 4th of that year. The school would remain open for 60 years before being shut down in the mid-1980s. The building sat empty for more than a decade before being renovated into the new COSI.
Beyond the river, a much shorter Downtown skyline can be seen. The image predates LeVeque Tower and most of the government buildings that now line the Scioto’s shores.

After: 2020
Before and after views from Franklinton in 2020.
The riverfront looks much different today. With the Scioto Greenways and park space added in more recent years, the view is much more pleasant, the bathroom not included.

Before: 1926
Before and after view from Franklinton in 1926.
In an image taken just 3 years after the one above, the Franklinton side of the riverfront looks much better. Additionally, LeVeque Tower is now well under construction.
After: 2021
before and after view from Franklinton in 2021
In the modern view, the parking and cars have been replaced with parklands and public space, while LeVeque has become the city’s most iconic skyline addition.

If you enjoy this series, the Historic Building Database page offers thousands of before and after photos of historic buildings and places in and around Columbus.