Twin Valu was a U.S. hypermarket and was one of the first

hypermarket A hypermarket or superstore is a big-box store combining a supermarket and a department store. The result is an expansive retail facility carrying a wide range of products under one roof, including full grocery lines and general merchandise. In ...

s in the

Akron, Ohio Akron () is a city in Summit County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. It is the List of municipalities in Ohio, fifth-most populous city in Ohio, with a population of 190,469 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. The Akron metr ...

, area. The original Twin Valu store was located on Howe Avenue in

Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio Cuyahoga Falls ( or ) is a city in Summit County, Ohio, United States. The population was 51,114 at the 2020 census. The second-largest city in Summit County, it is located directly north of Akron and is a suburb in the Akron metropolitan ar ...

. The $10 million, store was open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. It boasted 52 checkout lanes, a full bakery, deli, meat department, smokehouse, food court, floral department, jewelry department, electronics department, photo department, vision center, and pharmacy in addition to groceries, clothing, housewares, and general merchandise. A Star Bank

branch A branch, also called a ramus in botany, is a stem that grows off from another stem, or when structures like veins in leaves are divided into smaller veins. History and etymology In Old English, there are numerous words for branch, includ ...

location was added later. The hypermarket opened to mass crowds and union pickets. Members of the

UFCW The United Food and Commercial Workers International Union (UFCW) is a labor union representing approximately 1.3 million workers in the United States and Canada in industries including retail; meatpacking, food processing and manufacturing; hosp ...

Local 880 picketed the nonunion store. The Cuyahoga Falls store opened on February 26, 1989, and closed on March 1, 1995. The building was sold and converted into a

Target Target may refer to: Warfare and shooting * Shooting target, used in marksmanship training and various shooting sports ** Bullseye (target), the goal one for which one aims in many of these sports ** Aiming point, in field artille ...

and

Best Buy Best Buy Co., Inc. is an American multinational consumer electronics retailer headquartered in Richfield, Minnesota. Originally founded by Richard M. Schulze and James Wheeler in 1966 as an audio specialty store called Sound of Music, it was r ...

location. A second location was opened in

Euclid, Ohio Euclid is a city in Cuyahoga County, Ohio, United States. Located on the southern shore of Lake Erie, it is an Inner suburb, inner ring suburb of Cleveland. The population was 49,692 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it the fo ...

, in 1990 and closed in 1995. The building became a Super Kmart around 1996, then closed in 2003. The building was briefly reopened as the Great Lakes Expo Center in 2009, which stole the Home and Garden Show from the IX Center in 2010. The concept failed and closed in 2011. Grocery-only locations were in

Maple Heights, Ohio Maple Heights is a city in Cuyahoga County, Ohio, United States. It is a suburb of Cleveland. The population was 23,701 at the 2020 census. History In 1935, the city created Maple Heights Transit to provide connections to Downtown Cleveland, c ...

, and Belden Village ( Jackson Township, Ohio; the latter, previously a

Zayre Zayre () was a chain of discount stores that operated in the eastern half of the United States from 1956 to 1990. The company's headquarters were in Framingham, Massachusetts. In October 1988, Zayre's parent company, Zayre Corp., sold the store ...

location (now home to

Burlington Coat Factory Burlington, formerly known as Burlington Coat Factory, is an American national off-price department store retailer, and a division of Burlington Coat Factory Warehouse Corporation with more than 1,100 stores in 47 states and Puerto Rico, with it ...

) closed on January 16, 1996. Twin Valu was a division of Supervalu Inc and Shopko Stores Inc. Television commercials for Twin Valu featured

Phil Hartman Philip Edward Hartman (; September 24, 1948 – May 28, 1998) was a Canadian-American comedian, actor, screenwriter and graphic designer. Hartman was born in Brantford, Ontario, and his family moved to the United States when he w ...

as the spokesman.

External links

Facebook page for former Twin Valu employees

Another Facebook page for former Twin Valu employees

References

Summit County, Ohio Retail buildings in Ohio Hypermarkets of the United States Defunct supermarkets of the United States {{Ohio-struct-stub

See also

External links

References