$150,000 Big T Mart Opens Friday
The formal opening of the Big T food market on 950 West Parker street, will be Friday, climaxing a $150,000 building and modernization program that has been formulating for the past nine months. The market, owned and operated by Solon and Loren Thomas, father and son respectively, is the outgrowth of a store which was built adjacent to the new building in 1940. Prior to that time, the store was located in a 20 by 40 foot building on Burton avenue. . . .
The new building was dedicated in memory of Robert Ryan and James Bisbey, two former employes (sic) of Thomas who were killed while serving in the armed forces. Ryan was killed in 1943 at Corpus Christi, Tex., and Bisbey was killed in Holland in 1944. . . .
Thomas said a 14-lane bowling alley will be put in the basement of the store and a café will be opened in the old building. They are expected to open on or about May 1. The business will be cash and carry only with no delivery service, Thomas said.
Source: Waterloo Daily Courier, Waterloo, Iowa, Thursday, March 25, 1948, Page 6
NOTE: Naval Aviation Cadet Robert Lloyd Ryan was killed at Corpus Christi, Texas, September 10, 1943, and was interred at Fairview Cemetery, Waterloo, Iowa.
