Cub Foods

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Shoppers crammed into the new Cub Foods for the store’s grand opening on
 July 22, 1990. The store’s 500-space parking lot was filled by early
 morning and by 2 p.m. the lines to its 17 checkout
 counters were 20-people deep.

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HUNTINGTON -- John Beckwith (1909-98) started in the food business in 1939 when he
 invested $500 to open a small open-air produce stand at 2651 5th Ave.

In 1946, at the same 5th Avenue site, Beckwith built the area's first supermarket. Lured
 by a combination of low prices and personal service, customers flocked to his B&B
Food Market. Over the years, it would be continuously remodeled and
expanded and become the region's largest independent food retailer.

Squeezed by growing competition from the chain supermarkets,
 B&B Food Market closed its doors in 1987.

In 1989, Mayor Bob Nelson and Gov. Gaston Caperton presided over a
groundbreaking ceremony for a new 64,700-square-foot store to be
 built at the site of the old B&B Market by Cub Foods,
 a discount chain operated by Super Valu Stores.

A Cub Foods spokesman said the new store would cost $6 million
to $8 million and when completed would stock $2 million
 worth of inventory and employ 300 people.

Shoppers crammed into the new Cub Foods for the store's
 grand opening on July 22, 1990.

The store's 500-space parking lot was filled by early morning and by
2 p.m. the lines to its 17 checkout counters were 20-people deep.

Taking note of the store's popularity with Huntington area shoppers,
 Kroger purchased it in 1994. Today, a Kroger supermarket
 stands where the B&B Food Market once stood.

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Note:  This Article and picture appeared in the Herald-Dispatch Newspaper on Apr. 15, 2019.

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