First National Stores was created in 1925, with the merger of three Boston-based firms; The Ginter Company, John T. O'Conner Company and O'Keefe Company. In 1927, the corporate HQ moved to Somerville, Massachusetts. Operating only in the Northeast, "The First National" expanded into one of the nation's largest grocers. New York Safeway stores were acquired in 1961. By 1964, stores were operating under the Finast banner. The chain was acquired by Cleveland's Pick 'N Pay in 1978, with the corporate HQ moved to Ohio. After several more acquisitions and mergers, the Finast name was retired in 1994.   

Graphics from First National Stores

FIRST NATIONAL / FINAST JUNIOR-ANCHORED SHOPPING MALLS:

*CROSS COUNTY CENTER, Yonkers, NY (1954) [outparcel]
*MID-ISLAND PLAZA, Nassau County, NY (1956)
*ROUTE 30 MALL, Framingham, MA (1970)

Chicago's National Tea Company came into being in 1899. By 1929, there were one thousand six hundred and twenty-seven National Food Stores in operation. The chain expanded by a series of acquisitions during the 1950s and 1960s. By 1965, there were National Food Stores in the Midwest, Southeast, Northeast and Great Plains. The chain had been absorbed by Brampton, Ontario-based Loblaws in 1956. All stores in the National division had been sold or shuttered by 1995.

Graphic from National Stores / Loblaws

NATIONAL FOOD JUNIOR-ANCHORED SHOPPING CENTERS:

*WOODMAR CENTER / MALL, Hammond, IN (1955)
*SPRINGDALE PLAZA. Mobile, AL (1959)

*APACHE PLAZA, St. Anthony, MN (1961)