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From MLive
There once was a mom-and-pop grocery store on just about every neighborhood corner in Jackson.
They began to dwindle during the post-World War II building boom that saw families move out to the suburbs and into the supermarket age.
Jackson marked this burgeoning trend with the opening of two of its largest supermarkets of that time on Oct. 8, 1956.
On that day, two shiny new Wrigley's stores opened. One was on the city's east side - 1809 E. Michigan Ave. - the other on its west side - 1733 Spring Arbor Road.
Alas, nearly 25 years later, these stores were eclipsed by even bigger supercenters that offered 24-hour shopping. And they too eventually disappeared.
But that time wasn't in the foreseeable future of the ladies who donned hats and white gloves and the gentlemen who put on jackets and ties to attend public open houses celebrating the Wrigley's openings.
Weeklong festivities at the stores featured giveaways that included a Messerschmitt sports car filled with food, a junior fire engine and food baskets.
To further celebrate the "twin" store openings, Wrigley's promised automatic washers and dryers, a year's supply of baby food and twin baby buggies to the parents of twins born in Jackson County during the grand-opening week.
Folks lined out the door on opening day to see the stores' 6-foot-wide aisles, "Magic-eye" checkout stands, huge fresh meat and dairy departments and an array of pastries and baked goods that included oven-fresh pies.
The Spring Arbor Road store was the larger of the two at 21,600 square feet, of which 25 percent was devoted to fresh produce. It was one of Jackson's largest supermarkets at the time.
The Wrigley's stores were owned by Detroit-based Allied Supermarkets Inc. In 1974, Jackson's two stores celebrated grand re-openings to mark $100,000 worth of remodeling improvements that included speedier, single-belt checkout counters.
Two years later, Allied Supermarkets Inc. joined with Detroit-based Great Scott Super Markets Inc. and the Wrigley's stores' names changed to Great Scott-Wrigley. Jackson's Great Scott supermarket, 1090 W. Argyle St., also became part of the combined company.
A few months later, the company closed its E. Michigan Avenue store along with 12 others in Michigan and 37 stores in other states.