The First U.S. Grocery Store to Have Its Own Soda Fountain Was in Michigan

Here's another little slice of Michigan history for ya...Michigan was the first state where a grocery store installed a soda fountain (snack bar, if you will).

Joseph & Peter Chodoroff, along with Max Bachman, established B&C Grocery in the 1920s on Oakland Avenue in Detroit. Soon, their little business had become a chain, with more grocers opening in Royal Oak and another in Detroit. Thus, B&C Grocers became the first privately owned supermarket chain in the country. When two others were opened in Berkley and Clawson, they shut down the Detroit stores.

One particular B&C grocery building (photos below) was constructed from 1939-1940. In the 1940s, it was this location that became the first U.S. supermarket to have its very own soda fountain.

The B & C Grocery closed in the 1960s and the building became home to a number of businesses over the years: restaurant, clinic, wine bar, sporting goods shop, and office building. The area is now known as the “B & C Grocery Store Historic District”, located at 417-19 S. Main Street, Royal Oak.

To this day, it still sports the B&C logo.

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