First National Stores, Inc.
Hampton Union, January 8, 1959
[The following article is courtesy of the Hampton Union and Seacoast Online.]
One of the largest and most modern supermarkets in this section of New England is now being constructed in the plaza just north of Lamie’s Tavern by the Hampton Plaza corporation of which John P. Dunfey is president.
The new store, of simple colonial design, will be 150 feet long and 100 feet wide. It is the largest commercial building constructed in Hampton since the Casino was constructed at the Beach over fifty years ago.
The new supermarket will cost over a quarter of a million dollars and will contain 18,000 square feet of usable floor space, 15,000 on the ground level and 3,000 in a unique mezzanine constructed on three sides of the store. It will be considerably larger than the First National store in Portsmouth which contains only 10,000 square feet of merchandising space.
About 100,000 square feet of paved parking area will be constructed on the east and north sides of the new store, an area large enough to accommodate about 200 cars with necessary traffic lanes for entrance and exit.
It is expected that the new supermarket will be open for business in June of this year and that at least fifty people will be employed at the peak of business during the recreational season.
The architect of the new store is Sumner Schein of Boston and Lucien Geoffrion of Portsmouth has been appointed supervising architect. The general contractor is the Lilley Construction company of Boston, Mass.