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Show ;x: 0 x- xxX-'x x x -.4 - A s H I., i - i " " y- j .j-,-..,- .... J - ,i ijTTr ""tj i if I 1 lMjaw'iygiiiiM'ij . i tiiiii.iiKinm Umiiiwiiw'H I i , f - r" I ' i - n . l (T"; y f rZ f" . ' !i,v - vv.. f v;.:: "'7'Farewell,-'Mt.-'Air- : .'; - 1 Vith Park City seemingly in . the throws of economic prosperity, pros-perity, it seems almost incongruous incon-gruous that one of her retail giants will close : its doors for -good this week. ,; The Mt. Air Market, after serving. Park City , consumers for, oyer fifteen year, will most . Ukely be, closed by the time this- paper is distributed Thursday. . That announce-; ment was made Tuesday by., store. ' owner George Poly-chronis Poly-chronis looking out from this " :officeoveF :15,000 sq;ft..-of, ; empty selling space.' ; Mr; Polychronis 'i had been liquidating his stock since he made the decision to close the store early in March. By Tuesday the remaining inventory inven-tory had. been reduced to half price and was practically all goneA few customers scurried scur-ried through the store picking ' up what was left ' of the ' bargains, while many ' long ! time employees huddled tear- -fully in the back during their -breaks . It was evident by the dehrinishirig stock: ' that the store would remain open only ' a day, or maybe two longer. When Mt. Air 'Market closes its doors' this week; it . will mark the end of over 60-" years of Polychronis family involvement in the retail grocery trade in Park City. George's fatheW?Juiliy-l chronis, operated the Palace Meat Market' and - Grocery Store for over 50 years. ' The Palace Market prospered with Park City during times of high $ lYk 7 prices, and carried many a f esitfent oh credit during depression years of no work and little) money In 1965, George Polychronis opened the first Mt. Air . Market on Main Street in the building now ' housing offices for Sunn Classic. ' .;.:' " By 1974, the Main Street store had more business than George uldtiandle in the small space. Since the town had been growing northward, a new location' for Mt. Air Market was selected near the new offices of First Secu ;ty Bank. Work begun on Trk City's first super markei and in May yof 1974, the new market held its grand opening: open-ing: ' : :f ". ' The, hew store was the pillar of Park City's retail business community1 drawing many customers away' from its only competition X Day's Market, 'still on Main Street. ' The : Polychronis family prospered ' in their ' new V location, and in September of this year were left with no competition when Day's Market Mar-ket closed. rMt Air enjoyed two months of competition free existance during which filmed S2IO00addition was added to the store. The Village Pharmacy! was' incorporated into the Market's foyer and product lines were greatly ' expanded,, X' The measures were taken in an effort to anticipate the competition they would shortly short-ly be facing from the Alpha Beta Super Center less than a block, away. Alpha Beta opened in early November and, as anticipated by, George Polychronis, significantly drew business away from Mt. Air y. during , the first , few months. By February, Mt. Air had regained many of its old customers, but it was evident to Mr. Polychronis that the once very prosperous retail grocery , trade in Park City was now only marginally profitable,. profit-able,. and that it would remain so until the population grew significantly. After working long hours, seven days a week for fifteen; years. Mr. Polychronis Poly-chronis said he couldn't justify continuing to do so as long as the financial prospects remained re-mained limited. So in March, George Polychronis decided to sell the store and retire from the grocery business to take life a little easier and devote time to his many other interests. it; The store was sold to: Park City Realtor. Bill Coleman, and Washington Lobbyist , Tom Mathews! They apparently ap-parently plan to convert the store into office space. The Village Pharmacy will, however, how-ever, remain within the store until at least the fall, maybe : longer. - - .XXX The announcement that the store would close shocked the entire community; It seemed impossible that such : an established entity would soon be no longer. The , Market ! always offered competitive prices and owners always could be counted v on for support of many school and community events. The people of Park City will genuinely miss the Mt. Air Market. . |