O.P. Skaggs
Before becoming Skagway, we were a chain of small town grocery stores dating back to 1939. We were known as O.P. Skaggs, named after Oscar Pepper Skaggs. We have carried on O.P.'s legacy and currently use "OPS" on our private label bread. O.P. is also the nickname of our bear who roams through the store aisles on weekends greeting children and adults alike!
Our First Store
George W. Martin purchased the O.P. Skaggs chain in 1939, and by 1959 the chain had grown to 17 stores. That same year the first Skagway store was opened in Grand Island, Nebraska. In 1964 the O.P. Skaggs stores were sold and another Skagway store was opened in Omaha, Nebraska.
In 1968, the Omaha store was sold leaving just the Grand Island store, but not for long. In 1991 the second Grand I Island store was opened. Bill Martin, son of George Martin, is the current President of Skagway and oversees the operation today.
A Man & An Idea
The original O.P. Skaggs grocery stores were 5,000 to 8,000 square feet. In the 1950's, George Martin started developing ideas about one-stop shopping and building a much bigger concept store. He traveled around the country to look at different store concepts, finally deciding on a completely new concept.
A Grand Opening!
In 1959, George opened a 25,000 square foot store in Grand Island that included greatly expanded grocery, meat and produce departments, plus a much bigger health and beauty aids department, assorted hardware, camera and housewares. This was one of the first "supercenters".

In 1964, Skagway opened a much larger store (over 100,000 square feet) in Omaha, Nebraska with many more non-food departments, including a gas station. This store was sold in 1968.


The Tradition Continues
Today there are two Skagway locations in Grand Island. The original Skagway store which is now over 100,000 square feet and a second store is about 75,000 square feet. Skagway is still dedicated to providing a wide variety of merchandise at competitive prices and providing our customers with outstanding service.
Skagway's Mission Statement
Skagway is a locally owned, family oriented store, established in 1939 by George W. Martin.
Our goal is to provide Central Nebraska with a wide variety of fresh, quality merchandise at competitive prices, in a one-stop shopping center.

We are dedicated to offering our employees job satisfaction through rewarding employment opportunities, thereby providing our customers with outstanding service.

Our future is dependent on our commitment to our employees, our customers, and our community.