Big Star Markets

Big Star was an American supermarket chain founded in 1937 as part of the David Pender Grocery Company.

History

The Big Star stores were self-service supermarket operations which began to replace the small full-service stores Pender's had operated up to that point. By the late 1940s the entire company had rebranded under the Colonial Stores name. The Big Star name was revived around 1968 for a new discount chain owned by Colonial; eventually all stores were closed or converted to the Big Star name. Grand Union purchased the chain in 1982. The North Carolina, South Carolina, and Virginia stores were sold to Harris Teeter in 1988, while the Georgia store were sold in 1992, with most of the Atlanta locations going to The Great Atlantic and Pacific Tea Company. Stores currently operating under the Big Star name in places like Mississippi, Tennessee, and Arkansas were part of a franchise operation that was never connected to the Big Star chain.

Trivia

* The 70's power pop group Big Star is named after the chain.

* The song "Outside with Ma" by Love Tractor (from the 1986 album "This Ain't No Outerspace Ship") mentions a Big Star store in the refrain: "Outside the Big Star at five o'clock with Ma."

External links

* [http://www.groceteria.com/colonial/ History of Big Star/Colonial Markets]