Columbus Economy - All Columbus Data

The Housing Market Update January 2023 data, the first of the new year, from Columbus Realtors showed that home sales and overall supply continued to decline, helping to ensure most areas saw continued increases in median prices.

Note: LSD= Local School District, CSD= City School District. In both cases, school district boundaries differ from city boundaries.

Closed sales are those sales that were completed during the month. 7 of the 10 metro counties saw declines in January

Only 9 of more than 40 local markets were up year-over-year.

Not sure what was going on in Union County in January, but it was well above all other counties for the month. The market overall continued to be up on price year-over-year, except in Pickaway County.
Overall Market Median Sales Price in January 2023: $307,289
Based on the 10 Columbus Metro Area counties, the metro price saw a more than $39,000 increase over January, 2022.
Overall Market Median Sales Price % Change in January, 2023 vs. January, 2022: +14.6%
Continuing home sale declines had relatively little impact on home prices overall, which saw a strong increase over the year.

It seems the Intel project’s impact may finally be making an appearance in housing numbers, with the Johnstown district seeing a huge increase in median home prices versus January 2022, 2 months before the project became official. That said, New Albany had one of the areas largest declines, but that could be due to it generally being one of the most expensive markets last year.

New listings across most of the metro area were down, accounting for most of the median price increase as demand remains strong in the region. Most of the decrease came from Franklin County.
Total Metro New Listings in January, 2023: 1,612
Total Metro New Listings Change from January, 2022 to January, 2023: -316

Average # of Days Homes Remain on the Market Before Sale for the Metro Overall in January, 2023: 34.0
# of Days Homes Remain on the Market Before Sale for the Metro January, 2022 to January, 2023: +8.8
Homes continued to sell more slowly than they did a year ago, now more than a week more slowly on average.

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.

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.

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Housing Market Update January 2023

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Before and After Big Bear’s First Store

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