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Giant Open Air Market was a Norfolk, Virginia based supermarket chain. Its trademark stores were open 24 hours, and the entrance was framed with a giant arch. The arch over the store was massive and rose to over 30 feet, anchored in concrete. The chain grew to include 26 full line grocery stores and 43 "Tinee Giant" convenience stores. The stores were known for the vastness of the variety in the selections. The international line of groceries that they carried attracted national press at the time. Giant Open Air Markets would carry exotics like Chocolate Covered Ants from Japan, Pickled Eel, English Teas, Greek and French cheeses and Russian caviar as well as a huge array of Latin American foods. The sign over the front door read "Finest Foods of the World", reflecting their diverse selections. The first location was located at the foot of the Campostella Bridge in Norfolk Virginia's Berkley neighborhood. The market opened in 1939 was operated by business partners Wendall P.Rosso & Vincent. J. Mastraco. Later, a store was erected on the site in 1952. Giant Open Air's flagship store was located in the Ward's Corner section of Norfolk. The 150,000+ square foot Giant Open Air Market also included a large restaurant. There were banquet rooms upstairs that could host a thousand guests plus a huge balcony with a fountain. As a 24 hour store (only closed on Christmas Day) the "front door" was an "Air Curtain" with no real doors. A huge blower pushed air down as customers entered and a steel grate below captured the air and recycled it. The grate was always full of loose coins that were cleaned out once a year and donated to charity. The location was also known for massive decorations, such as was a 20' fall "waterfall" of ice in the seafood department. The stores had large bakeries that produced fresh bakery 24 hours a day. Other accommodations for shoppers was a large portico to have their groceries loaded into their cars out of the rain, and 24 hour laundromat. The "House of Flowers" floral department was one of the top ten FTD stores in the country at its time. In 1986 the 26 grocery stores and 43 "Tinee Giant" convenience stores that comprised Giant Open Air Market merged with Farm Fresh,〔()〕 another Hampton Roads grocery chain, and the name disappeared, though the giant arch still remains on the logo. Joseph A. Vita, former chief executive officer of Farm Fresh Inc., signed an agreement with Farm Fresh to buy its 50-store chain of Tinee Giant convenience stores for an undisclosed amount of money in 1989. Farm Fresh had acquired the stores in 1986 when it merged with the Giant Open Air Markets; Vita was president of Giant Open Air at that time. Most of the Tinee Giant convenience stores were located on the Southside; about two dozen of the stores were on the Peninsula. Farm Fresh was forced to sell the stores as part of the leveraged buyout agreement with Citicorp Venture Capital Ltd., completed in September 1989. 〔http://articles.dailypress.com/1989-03-10/business/8903100197_1_shop-workers-convenience-stores-giant-open-air-markets〕 The Tinee Giant convenience store chain still has several locations in Hampton Roads.〔()〕 In 1999, the wholesaler Supervalu purchased the company. ==References== 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Giant Open Air」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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