Kroger, which had operated on the east side of the square since 1948, opened Maryville’s first mall supermarket as the anchor tenant of the new Mary Mart Shopping Center in March 1957. It featured an 800-car parking lot, Value Stamps, and the introduction of Muzak (I think). Kroger would be replaced by Green Hills in 1959.
Maryville Daily Forum March 11, 1957
Kroger Store, Most Modern in Design and Equipment of Any in Rural U. S. Towns. You name it, and they’ll have it at the new giant Kroger’s store of the Mary Mart Shopping Center south of Maryville. The trend towards larger, roomier, and modern supermarkets peaks with the opening of the new store. Done in pleasing colors with easy lighting, the new store has a floor space of 921 feet by 1121 feet, roughly twice that of the old Maryville Kroger store.
Other changes point towards increased modernization in the Kroger service. Has Self-Service Meat Counter Joe Yeary, Manager. For one thing, a complete self- service meat counter stretches across the rear of the store. And the word “complete” is not applied loosely. For example, you can purchase a packaged fried rabbit or other delicacies. Secondly, the new store offers items not usually found in grocery stores.
For 29 cents, the shopper can take home a tulip plant, and for $1.69, he can cart away the makings of a rubber tree. Other potted plants and vines are also available. Another rack has a complete selection of popular records, all sizes, and including the old hip twister himself, Elvis Presley. There’s a gadget rack, as it’s called in the trade, that carries children’s clothes, socks for dad, a few undergarments, and a line of kitchen utensils. Greeting cards may be found at another spot, and still another rack has a complete line of magazines.
Or take popcorn — there’s a Kroger section where you can be completely equipped, including a popper, cooking oil, and popcorn. But the new lines do not occupy the majority of the floor space. Most of the room is devoted to groceries, including nationally advertised and Kroger brands. Joe Yeary is the manager. At the helm of this large array of goods is Joe Yeary, a Maryville grocery man for about 25 years. He was also the manager of the old downtown Kroger.
Yeary was born and reared at Ravenwood and is a graduate of Ravenwood High School. He and his wife have a son, Bill, 22, a student at Northwest State College. The family resides at 217 E. 5th St. Yeary has worked in the Kroger chain for about nine years.
He was the manager of the old Kroger store in Maryville when it closed in October. During the period while the new store was being prepared, Yeary was co-manager of the Kroger store at Lawrence, Kansas. His key personnel include Leroy Wilmes, head produce clerk; Lane Bransetter, head grocery clerk; Dennis Hood, head of the dairy and frozen food products department; and John Henry and Jack Devers, meat cutters. Departments Are Numbered. Nearly all of the servicing will be done by the shopper. There are eight rows of groceries, each numbered and labeled with signs indicating the items in each row.
The signs are on old lamppost-style posts, and the globes have the row numbers painted on the outside. The new Kroger supermarket features a 20-foot-long case with a full line of cheeses and other foods. The dairy department is shown above.
There are four checkout stands at the new east entrance, through the big front windows of the store—Kroger supermarket in the Mary Mart shopping center. The four checkout counters are visible. center.
I’ve shared above a view to the south- Here is where the shopper will appreciate the roominess. There’s plenty of room between rows, with no cramping. Two can pass easily. There’s plenty of room everywhere, and Yeary points out that at least one space may be filled up soon. That’s up front.
There are four checkout counters near the exit door, but at the end, there is a large space. Yeary says it’s for another check-out stall.
“And we hope we have to use it,” he said. “We can call up Kansas City and have one installed in two hours.” There are other small innovations designed to improve customer comfort. Pleasing Decor The walls are done in pleasing, if slightly confusing, colors. The south wall is green, the north wall grey. Across the front is a stretch of plate glass.
Heating and air conditioning come from a large metal pipe that stretches from north to south in the center of the room. And when the loaded-down shopper leaves the store, still another gadget is handy to help him out the door: An electric eye-controlled door that opens automatically.
Founded in 1883 by Barney Kroger in Cincinnati, Ohio, with $372, The Kroger Co. grew from a single grocery store into one of the world’s largest retailers. As of 2026, Kroger operates over 2,700 stores across 35 states.
Kroger Value Stamps, formally known as Top Value (TV) stamps, were yellow-colored trading stamps issued by Kroger supermarkets from the 1950s through the late 1970s as a customer loyalty program. Customers filled booklets with these stamps to redeem for merchandise, such as housewares, toys, or appliances, at dedicated redemption centers. Top Value Enterprises was owned by a consortium that included Kroger, Stop & Shop, and Giant Food. The program was largely phased out in the 1980s in favor of discounts and, eventually, loyalty cards.
Muzak, now branded as Mood Media, refers to background music designed to influence shopping behavior and is historically known for generic, easy-listening tunes. While popular from the 1950s to the 80s for fostering a calm, rhythmic environment, modern in-store music is tailored to boost sales, such as using specific genres to influence purchasing habits.
In 1957, Admiral produced portable television sets, such as the Model T102 and T103N, often featuring 17-inch screens, two-tone metal cabinets (like turquoise and white), and integrated radio capabilities. These sets were part of the early “portable” era, typically weighing 30-40 lbs and featuring top handles for portability. $130 in 1957 is equivalent in purchasing power to approximately $1,499.50 today (based on 2026 data). This reflects a total price increase of 1,053.46% over 69 years, or an average annual inflation rate of 3.61%. A dollar in 1957 had over 11 times the purchasing power of a dollar today.
The ad mentions it was closed on Sundays. Blue laws were 19th-century American statutes, including a 138-year-old law in Missouri, that prohibited retail sales and most commerce on Sundays to promote a day of rest and religious observance. The Missouri Supreme Court struck down these restrictions on March 10, 1963, as vague and unenforceable. I don’t
Maryville Daily Forum, March 21, 1957, Opening Ad
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Maryville’s Kroger opened in 1957 — finally a place where you could get value stamps and a faint sense of sophistication for the price of a loaf of bread.
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The new Kroger had muzak so calming shoppers forgot what they came for — which was perfect, because nobody could remember how many value stamps they’d collected.
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With 800-car parking, Kroger single-handedly ended Maryville’s debate about who owned the town square. Spoiler: it was now the parking lot.
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The grand opening featured value stamps — the only currency more exciting than the postwar economy and less useful than a jukebox in the frozen-food aisle.
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Muzak at Kroger: the only place where elevator music made buying canned peas feel like a classy night out.
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Maryville in 1957 finally had a modern supermarket. The town responded by driving around the 800-space lot for an hour — just to justify the muzak.
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Kroger introduced value stamps and suddenly everyone in Maryville had a new hobby: coupon archaeology.
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The parking lot held 800 cars. The rumor was half were customers and half were people who came to admire the muzak.
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“Modern supermarket” in Maryville meant fluorescent lights, value stamps, and a conveyor belt cashier who looked like a miracle worker.
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At Kroger’s opening, shoppers complained the muzak was too futuristic — so the manager turned it down to 1956.
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Maryville’s modern supermarket promised convenience. From the 800-car lot to the value stamps, convenience mainly meant you could drive farther to save a penny.
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They say Kroger brought the future to Maryville in 1957. The future answered back: “Do you accept value stamps?”