Stephen P. Mugar

Stephen P. Mugar, 1901-1982, founder of the Star Market chain of supermarkets in New England, philanthropist and most prominent member of the Mugar family of Greater Boston, was born March 5, 1901, in Kharpert (Harput) in the Mamuret-ul-Aziz Vilayet of the Ottoman Empire (present-day Turkey), of Armenian parents and died October 16, 1982, in Boston, Massachusetts.

Stephen Pabken Mugar, his father, Sarkis, and mother, Vosgitel, and his two sisters, Alice and Mary, whose family name was shortened from Mugardichian, were Armenians who came to America from the Ottoman Empire in 1906 to join his father's brothers who owned a restaurant on Massachusetts Avenue in Boston. Another sister, Helen, was born after their arrival in Massachusetts. The 1910 United States Census shows the family in the 19th Ward of Boston and lists Sarkis Mugar's occupation as "waiter in restaurant." In 1916, Sarkis Mugar paid $800.00 for the Star Market, a small grocery store, at 28 Mt. Auburn Street in Watertown and Stephen eventually went to work for his father in the store.

In 1922, Stephen's father was killed at age 49 from complications from an automobile accident, leaving Stephen to take over the Star Market to support his mother, himself and his sisters. The second Star Market was opened in Newtonville in 1932 and the third one was opened in Wellesley in 1937.

After the war ended and wartime restrictions and shortages were over, Stephen worked with his younger cousin John M. Mugar to expand Star Market throughout Greater Boston to meet the increased affluence and consumer demand. The second Star Market in Newtonville opened in 1948 and was the Mugar's first supermarket. It was the prototype of the other modern supermarkets that Stephen and John opened during this period. Meats and produce were packaged in cellophane wrappers to make them more appealing to consumers. A conveyor belt carried bags of groceries to a central pickup station by the parking lot. Customers tired of no self-service at stores such as A&P or self-service but little else at First National Stores Finast came from miles around to patronize the new Star Market.

...
Wikipedia