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Mary worked 12-16 hours a day, despite the fact she had 5 younger
children to raise. Abe and Mary operated the store until 1957 when
Dick bought Mary's share and became partners with Abe. Abe and
Dick continued in Nahmy's tradition of friendly and courteous
service and soon became the largest supermarket in Oak Harbor. At
one time in Oak Harbor there were 6 different markets, among them
Kroger and A&P, yet only Bassett's remained. In 1964 they built a
new 7,500 sq. ft. store at the now previous location, which was remodeled 9
times to a total of 33,000 sq. ft.
Abe retired in 1970, and Mike Bassett joined his father in 1974
after graduating from Ohio State University. Dick and Mike
operated the Oak Harbor store until 1986 when they opened their
second location in Port Clinton at 205 SE Catawba Road.
Dick retired in 1987 and still continues to consult with the
company. The one constant is the friendly and courteous service
that Nahmy started back around the turn of the century.
On July 29, 1997 Mike Bassett sold the Oak Harbor location and
simultaneously started construction on a new 58,000 sq. ft. store
in the Knoll Crest Shopping center to replace the existing store
at 205 SE Catawba Road. The new store includes expanded
services such as; full service travel agency, fresh fish
department, Coffee Express counter, in-store KeyBank , Pharmacy
department, 1 hour photo department, liquor department, full
service floral department, and of course our free popcorn, which
we have become famous for in the Port Clinton area.
The new store opened on May 12, 1997 and although it
is larger than any other previous store, it still has
the same old friendly and courteous service made famous by Nahmy,
Mary, Abe, Dick, and Mike. Bassett's IGA is recognized as one of
the more progressive independent supermarket operators in the
State of Ohio.
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