A Merry Christmas to You!

It’s early in the day, and the crowds haven’t formed yet at Macy’s famous flagship store on Herald Square in the heart of Manhattan. You can be sure that they will, though, because it’s Christmastime, and for many people, shopping at Macy’s has long been an integral part of the holiday. Macy’s was a national name long before they became a national chain, a notoriety that grew immensely with the

Walgreens at Christmastime, 1965

It’s a minute before 9am on a morning close to Christmas, as a Walgreens store manager opens up for business. All is quiet now, but things will get busy as the day rolls on. Then as now, Walgreens was super busy at Christmastime - and the perfect place to pick up that Old Spice or Jean Naté gift set for that special relative, so they could store it next to the one you got them last

I'll Be Home for Christmas...

...after I stop at the grocery store for the 17th time. Here are a few scenes of supermarket Christmas displays from the early and mid-1960’s, as pictured in Progressive Grocer magazine. The first is from a Stop & Shop store, with a “festive Christmas painting…executed by store personnel” below the store directory and above the meat display case. Had I worked at the store, I would have

When You Wish Upon a Sears

You know, it just wouldn’t be Christmastime around here without stopping in at Sears. So, in keeping with our age-old (ok, three year-old) tradition, here we go! And a welcome sight this is – the brand-new Sears at the Tri-County Shopping Center in Springdale (Cincinnati), Ohio, as it appeared during its first Christmas season in 1967. The store still exists in what is now called Tri-County Mall,

Being a Primer on A&P Centennials.

Anniversaries were always very important to the A&P. Every year for much of the 20th century, the company’s stores held a special anniversary sale, proclaimed with banners in the stores and trumpeted in newspaper ads. “Come celebrate A&P’s 87th Anniversary” – that sort of thing. Five year anniversaries were an even bigger deal. Ten year anniversaries – huge. Twenty-five or Fifty years,

Hear Ye, Hear Ye, it's A&P!

Okay, I'm sure that some of you who've been following our series on A&P have been thinking "Good grief, what's with all this black and white 1930's and 40's stuff? Where are the Centennials?" Well, my friends, not to worry! Your long national nightmare is almost over.For those who may not be familiar with the term "Centennial" as it applies to A&P, it refers to the colonial-styled stores that A&

Sol Price - The Founder of FedMart

Taking a brief detour from our current story to honor a true retail pioneer. It has been my plan to do a set of posts on FedMart early in the New Year, but I wanted to make note of the passing of Sol Price this past Monday at the age of 93.Price is probably best known as the founder of Price Club, a San Diego-based chain of stores that pioneered the membership warehouse store concept in 1976. In

A&P Goes to War!

Probably not the war you’re thinking of, although World War II fits in at roughly this point in the timeline. No, this was a war of A&P’s own – one that started earlier and ended much later. As far back as the mid-1920’s, there were grumblings about the growing power of “the chain stores”. Most of this concern, understandably, was on the part of independent grocers, who by the mid-1930’s

The A&P, Living There in Allentown

Two classic American institutions - one at the tail end of its run, and one with a few more miles to go. This photo was taken on April 26, 1953 at the intersection of Hamilton and Second streets in Allentown, Pennsylvania. Five weeks later, streetcar service would end for good in Allentown, as it would in most American cities before the close of the 1950’s. The overhead wires would be torn out,

Every Pound Custom Ground at A&P

Quick, name for me the one private label brand that through history has been most closely associated with A&P. Ah, “Ann Page Pickled Pigs Feet”, you say? Sorry, I’m afraid that’s not it. (Great guess, though!)Even though the company started out as solely a merchant of tea, and 150 years after its founding still features the word “tea” in its name, the answer, of course, is coffee - “Eight

A&P in the Flirty Thirties

The 1930’s were the setting of a notable paradox in American life. On the one hand, there was the Great Depression, which spanned the entire decade and left a tremendous amount of hardship and suffering in its wake. In extreme cases, people were forced to stand in soup lines or sell apples on street corners, scenes that were captured in a plethora of haunting film clips. Though the majority of

The Legend of the Great A&P Tea Co.

The Great Atlantic & Pacific Tea Company is a New Jersey-based, and for the last thirty years, German-owned supermarket chain. As of today, according to their website, they operate 435 stores in six Northeast and Mid-Atlantic states (including a lone Washington, D.C. unit) under a number of different banners, including Super Fresh, Food Basics, The Food Emporium, Waldbaum’s, Pathmark and of

A Real Early American A&P

A&P, celebrating its sesquicentennial in 2009, still officially goes by its full name – The Great Atlantic and Pacific Tea Company. Although the “Pacific” part applied for a relatively brief portion of that timeframe, roughly the 1930’s through the 1960’s, and the company’s current geographic footprint is far smaller yet, A&P’s status as an American business and cultural icon is beyond

Murphy's Mart By The Numbers

At the end of 1973 there were 22 Murphy’s Marts in operation, most of which were in G.C. Murphy’s western Pennsylvania home territory. Even in this core market - the “Heart of Murphyland” as it were, the company’s late entry into discounting had put them at a major competitive disadvantage, especially in relation to Kmart, whose presence in all of Murphy’s key areas now well established.

Night Falls On Manhattan, 1958

Totally changing the subject for a one-post break before I finish up the final installment of the Murphy’s Mart saga. Between just starting with a new company and the tons of stuff we’re busy with as a family right now, I’m just not feelin’ it. I value your readership too much to put something half-baked on here. Thanks for understanding.So instead, we’ll revisit E.J. Korvette, the beloved “

From Mayfair to Murphy's Mart

Seven long years after their largest variety store competitors had launched discount store formats, S.S. Kresge’s Kmart and F.W. Woolworth’s Woolco, the G.C. Murphy Company was now in the thick of planning for a discount store venture of its own. The following year, 1970, the first two “Murphy’s Marts” would open. One of the most interesting aspects of Murphy’s planning, as detailed in

G.C. Murphy - Dime Store Pioneer

From the moment of its founding in 1899 until the curtain came down nearly 90 years later, the G.C Murphy Company was first and foremost one thing – an operator of variety stores. Known colloquially as “five-and-tens” or “dime stores”, variety stores were giant forces in American retailing throughout most of the 20th century. Virtually every retail chain that sells general merchandise at “

Winter Sunset On Murphy's Mart

The sun sets on the Appalachian Mountains on a crisp, beautiful evening in early 1971. In the foreground is the Murphy’s Mart (yes, there’s an apostrophe-s in there, mind you) at Laurel Mall, which was located on Route 119 South between Uniontown and Connellsville, Pennsylvania. This store was the third Murphy’s Mart, opening on February 24th of that year.“Murphy” of course was the G.C. Murphy

Suburban Shopping in the 1970's!

…and now for something completely different! Here’s an overview of the chain retail scene from a single suburban town from the year 1976 – the town in this case being Addison, Illinois, a western suburb of Chicago. Since the majority of the chains shown in this post are (or were) national or at least multi-regional, many of you will probably get a kick out of this. If you’re from the Chicago

Expanding the Publix Domain

Our final look at Publix, for now. In the nearly 30 years since Publix celebrated its golden anniversary in 1980, it has not only continued to be one of the most respected companies in the supermarket business, but also has become one of the largest. Much of this can be credited to the carefully cultivated reputation for service the company has successfully maintained through the years.

Some 20th Century Publix Relics

No sooner had I hit the “publish” button on the last post than I received an email with these excellent Publix photos. Taken in 2002 and 2006, these photos show some of the classic 60’s and 70’s Publix style that was still kicking in the 21st century. Ironically, the storefront pictured, the Tallahassee, Florida Apalachee Parkway store, is a near match for the prototype pictured in the 1972

Publix - Shopping Pleasure in the 70's

Three decades removed, opinions are divided about the styles of the 1970’s. Some call it “the decade that taste forgot”, while others appear determined, consciously or unconsciously, to duplicate the 70’s look with every single outfit they wear. One thing I’m sure of based upon my memories of that time and on seeing these pictures (and other 70’s stuff on this site and elsewhere) today

Publix - The Palm Beach Story

At the beginning of the 70’s, Publix had nearly 60 stores in its burgeoning Southeast Coast (Miami and surrounding counties) division, but none in oh-so exclusive Palm Beach, where retailers were only allowed to locate “by invitation”. When that invitation finally came in 1971, Publix rose to the occasion with a superb Spanish Rococo design, shown here in a photo taken shortly after opening, in

The Perfect Publix - Ft. Lauderdale 1962

By the early 1960’s, Publix’s reputation for elegance and service beyond the supermarket norm was widely known. Having established a strong trademark with the “winged” facades introduced a few years earlier, the interiors of the new Publix stores were becoming more opulent than ever. On top of that, the stores themselves were becoming larger, with new stores averaging well over 20,000

Publix Earns Its Wings

In the world of mid and late 20th century retail architecture, there are a number of store exterior designs that are indelibly, inextricably linked with one company. Where supermarkets are concerned, it’s a fairly small number. Two of those that immediately come to my mind are the Marina style stores (glass-front, arched roof design) of Safeway and the Centennial stores (Early American/Colonial

An Endearing Late Fifties Publix

A look at some of the colorful interior scenes (actually from several different locations) that would have greeted shoppers of the Publix stores featured in the previous post. By the time these pictures, from 1956 and 1958 promo pieces, were taken, Publix had a firmly established reputation for attractive decor and well-thought out displays, nearly as elaborate for their realm as the nicer

Publix - The Art Deco Super Markets

Nearly four years after the opening of the Winter Haven, Florida Publix market, “the most beautiful and most modern grocery establishment in Florida, and one of the finest in the United States”, it remained the company’s only store. Successful though it was, the economics of operating a single store were daunting, due to the inability to buy in volume and the very high cost of advertising per

Publix, Wonder of Winter Haven

America’s greatest business stories are the result of gigantic mergers and acquisitions. Just look at the titans of our time – AOL Time Warner, Daimler Chrysler, Suxco…an impressive group, don’t you think? These companies all were the product of grand executive vision – to create synergies, to optimize efficiencies, to be proactively active, maximizing core competencies and enhancing

In the Publix Interest

It never fails. Oh sure, ask almost anyone about a store chain they grew up with, and you’re likely to get a heartfelt, nostalgic response. This can be seen time and time again in the comments on this site and a multitude of other places. But if you mention the word “Publix” to someone who grew up in Florida and has since moved away, be prepared for a reaction that tops them all, in my

Woolco's "Fairly Fresh" New Look!

The early 1970’s found Woolco in serious need of an image makeover. The stores’ appearance had remained more or less static for years (the basic exterior design was now ten years old, and the main elements of the interior package had been in place since day one), despite the sea change in the American sense of style that was taking place.In 1973, Woolco embarked on a plan to change it all,

One Small Step For Woolco

By the end of the 1960’s, Woolco had finally picked up the pace of new store openings, with 33 stores opening in 1969 alone - adding up to 92 Woolco stores in the United States and 33 in Canada at the close of the decade. A few more multiple store markets, so critical for market presence and maximizing advertising dollars, were now part of the mix, including Atlanta and Houston (3

We're Woolco. Deal With It.

A more resolute group you’ll never find than this Woolco store crew from 1966. Focused on maximizing your discount shopping experience, they don’t suffer fools gladly. The “captain of the ship”, the store manager, stands at the fore, clipboard in hand. His look-alike deputy (hair excepted), who I like to call “the enforcer”, stands to his left, ready to address any Woolco playbook infractions.

Happy 5th of July!

I hope that everyone has had a great Independence Day weekend so far! There’s still a bit of it left – definitely time for another grocery store run. One of the great things about summer is being able to wear shorts nearly everywhere you go, just like these ladies hangin’ out at an L.A. area Market Basket store in the above photo, which was taken for a 1956 Saturday Evening Post article.Wait –

The Woolco Of Our Dreams

The photos above, dating from 1964 through 1966 and showing scenes from several different stores, paint a fairly complete picture of the typical Woolco store from the chain’s 1962 launch through the early 70’s, when they introduced a new image. When these publicity photos were taken, the look was fresh and clean, and although simple, was in keeping with the style of the times

Cruisin' The Strip To Woolco

The photos above provide an in-depth look at one corner of a typical Woolco store from the mid-1960’s. Pictured is the “Auto Center” portion of the brand new Woolco at the Southroads Mall in Tulsa, Oklahoma, which opened in 1966. This, of course, was during the peak of the American car culture. Auto Centers, then as now, typically consisted of an auto accessories section and

The First Woolco Stores

Within a five-month span in 1962, the modern discount store industry was born. In March, S.S. Kresge Co. opened the first Kmart store in Garden City, Michigan. In May, the first Target store was opened in Roseville, Minnesota by the Dayton Company, an old-line Minneapolis department store firm. In June, F.W. Woolworth Co. opened the first of its Woolco discount department stores in

Woolworth's - The Largest Variety Store

On an icy winter’s night in 1963, the downtown Denver, Colorado Woolworth’s provides a warm oasis for shivering Christmas shoppers. Newly expanded to a huge 174,000 square feet, this store scarcely fit the traditional five-and-ten/dime store image with gold-lettered “red front” signboards above a quaint storefront that the name Woolworth’s conjures up to this day. (This impression

...and now, a few words from Woolco

On this special occasion, we’ve asked the distinguished gentleman in the foreground to introduce a new series of posts about Woolco, that stalwart oak in the discount store forest. (Long since cut down, sad to say.) After his opening remarks, he will present the new Miss Woolco to the world. Look at her – she’s practically bowled over with the excitement of it all! Or maybe it's just nerves.I’ve

The Lifestyles of Winn-Dixie

Remember the early 1980’s? Big hair? Shoulder pads? Skinny ties? Huge eyeglass frames? New Wave music? Cellphones the size of cinderblocks (for the few who were lucky enough to own ‘em yet)? The smell of “Love’s Baby Soft” wafting through the air?Well, the 80’s brought about changes in many aspects of American life, and after a couple of years had begun to make their mark on the lowly

Winn-Dixie - Power to the (Beef) People

A billboard flies past as cars streak down the highway at night, sometime in 1970. Instead of the exit number for the nearest Holiday Inn, or a pitch for a tourist attraction such as Weeki Wachee Springs, we see a great big steak, the stock-in-trade of Winn-Dixie and Kwik Chek supermarkets. Uncooked, no less – a practice that thankfully is rarely (no pun intended) the case in supermarket

The Sixties Winn-Dixies

A set of views from the 1960’s, an exciting time in the history of Winn-Dixie. By the early sixties, Winn-Dixie was impressing the socks off of the financial community, and as Forbes magazine put it in 1962, was “the envy of the nation’s grocers”. In an industry that has always depended on gargantuan volume at a tiny profit percentage (typically 1 to 1.5 percent after taxes), Winn-Dixie, at

The Boomin' Winn-Dixie

“Not much time for banjo strummin’For the mills are busy hummin’Pine tree crops – citrus, cattle –And chemicals, too,Cover Dixie like the dew!Our food business, too, is zoomin’‘Cause this NEW Southland’sreally boomin’!”- advertising verse from 1955Up until the mid-20th century, it would be accurate to say that the industrial production of the Southern states lagged behind other parts of the

Winn-Dixie's Family Tree

The roots of Winn-Dixie’s “family tree” can be traced back to two small grocery stores in 1920’s Florida. The first of these was a wholesale grocery unit in northeast Florida, purchased by E.L. Winn and W.R. Lovett in 1920. From that humble start, Winn and Lovett built a chain of “small neighborhood-type” stores, reaching a total of 65 units by the end of 1928. On Christmas Eve of that

Because of Winn-Dixie

It’s a beautiful, sunny day somewhere in the South, 1966. A pretty lady (with way-cool shades) and her two kids wait patiently as a courteous Winn-Dixie employee in black tie and Brylcreem is about to load their groceries into the family Buick.At time this photo was taken, the wonderfully profitable Winn-Dixie was the envy of the entire supermarket industry, with a greater return percentage on

Inside the New Wards Stores, Late 50's

These are some of the scenes that greeted customers of the new Montgomery Ward stores in the late 1950’s. A far cry from the stodgy interiors that shoppers had grown to associate with Wards, they represent nice examples of fifties modern design, color styling and craftsmanship.Just as the exterior design and materials differed from store to store, the new Wards interiors varied as well,

Montgomery Ward in Sacramento, 1956

The photos above, taken in 1956, show the large, newly remodeled Montgomery Ward store at the corner of 9th and K streets in Sacramento, California, just prior to its “grand reopening”. Originally opened in 1935 and designed to Ward’s Georgian architectural standard of the day, the Sacramento location was one of the company’s first units to be revamped after the tumultuous leadership

A New Day For Wards

Shown above are some Montgomery Ward stores from the late 1950’s. They are among the first stores the company opened after a 17-year moratorium on new construction. Radically different from the quaint, outdated stores that Wards shoppers (a steadily decreasing cohort through the 50’s) were familiar with, they represent a herculean effort to reintroduce and redefine Montgomery Ward in the eyes

Montgomery Ward's Georgian Period

Students of classic architecture are well familiar the Georgian Period. The term “Georgian” is used to describe a style of architecture that was originally popular from around 1720 to 1830, during the reigns of British monarchs George I, II, III (who was in power when America declared and fought for its independence) and IV. Some of the distinctive features of the Georgian style are a

Fiesta Days at Montgomery Ward, 1953

(With apologies for yesterday’s horrendous post.)Pictured above, in a circa 1953 photo, is the Montgomery Ward store in San Luis Obispo, California. This photo was taken during the La Fiesta de las Flores parade, an annual event in San Luis Obispo from 1925 to 1995. The clown/cowboy’s horse is equipped with a shovel, a necessary accessory depending on the length of the parade. At least he has a

A-Ward Winning Deals!

Hi, and welcome back to Pleasant Family Shopping, where we’re all about the “two RM’s” – Retail Memories and Revenue Maximizing! Time for another look at good old Montgomery Ward!You know, the crowd scene in that first photo reminds me of the scene that breaks out at my local Target whenever they introduce another one of their cool designer collections, like their great line-ups from Orla Keily

Wards - Fort Worth, Texas, Early 1930's

Pictured above is Montgomery Ward’s Fort Worth, Texas “Mail Order Catalog House”, opened in 1928, as it appeared in an early 1930’s photo. This was the company’s fourth major mail order plant, preceded by their Chicago, Oakland and Baltimore units. Wards, who claimed a customer base of “500,000 Texas families, or more than half the customers in the state”, according to a December 1927 Wall Street

Wards, America's Cheapest Cash House

The 1872 founding of Montgomery Ward & Co. was not just the beginning of a company, but of an entire industry – one that thrives today, years after Wards ceased to be a major part of it, or to exist at all. Mail order pioneer, Chicago legend, and nationwide department store fixture, Montgomery Ward is part of the American story – mention the name “Monkey Wards” and most folks will know what

Ready For Take-off With Wards, 1967

I’ve been more than a little swamped in this week leading up to spring break, and I’d hoped to have begun a decent history of Montgomery Ward on here by now. Sorry about that, but we’ll be ready for take-off soon!In the meantime, here’s a look at the height of Wards fashion, in a great circa 1967 scene. This photo was taken in the ticketing area of the United Air Lines terminal at Chicago’s

The Golden Age of Montgomery Ward

High on the list of late, lamented retail chains would have to be Montgomery Ward & Company. For nearly 130 years Americans shopped at Wards, both through their legendary mail-order catalog and at their store locations.The early years of Montgomery Ward are well documented in history books – a young entrepreneur starts a mail-order catalog business, supplying even the remotest areas with

Matchless Memories of Mammoth Mart

The word “mammoth” calls to mind something big, huge, out of the ordinary. So the giant new discount stores must have seemed to folks who were used to shopping at the traditional “five and ten” - type variety stores that were a fraction of their size. It only makes sense, then, that one of these new “discount houses”, the upstarts of the retailing world, would adopt a “mammoth” as its trademark.

General Cinema's Feature Presentation

Here are a few scenes from various General Cinema theatres from 1976 through 1980. If you grew up going to any of their theatres during or around that era, these photos should resonate.General Cinemas were an appropriate fit for the “New Cinema” of the early 1970’s, meaning the Hollywood trend toward “relevant” films as opposed to the popular sugar-coated fantasies of the preceding decades.

General Cinema Refreshments, 1966

Prior to the 1960’s, concession sales in theatres were not a universal thing, and before the 1950’s, they were rare indeed. It was thought that eating or drinking inside a theatre violated a sense of decorum. General Cinema was no exception to this practice, selling refreshments in its drive-ins but not in its enclosed theatres, or “hardtops”, as they were nicknamed within the industry by that

The Premiere of General Cinema

I’m a fan of the old major-city movie palaces of the 1920’s and 30’s. Those majestic structures with ornate terra cotta facades, soaring marble-clad lobbies, gigantic auditoriums lined with sculptures, and huge stages with curtains that look like they were designed for royalty – you get the idea. In their early days, they often featured a complete, multi-act live show, featuring comedians,

The General Cinema Experience

“The movies” looked like a great place to be on this icy winter’s night in 1969. For many folks who grew up in the sixties or seventies (or even beyond), these scenes of a General Cinema theatre should be instantly recognizable. Boston-based General Cinema Corporation was the pioneer of the “shopping center theatre” concept. Originally a drive-in operator, General Cinema (called General Drive-In

The Kroger Superstores!

In the early 1970’s, Kroger was at the proverbial crossroads. The closing years of the sixties and early years of the seventies had brought about many changes in American life - the most obvious, of course, being political and social in nature. Far less obvious, but sweeping nonetheless, were the changes in the retail business environment. The supermarket industry, in particular,

A Tale of Kroger, Old and New

The photographs above depict the Kroger store at the Southland Shopping Center, located on the corner of Westnedge and Milham Avenues in Portage, Michigan. Portage is just south of Kalamazoo, and about 150 miles from Chicago. They were taken by the late John Todd, a Kalamazoo-based commercial photographer who extensively documented the area’s growth over a four decade career. They date

The SupeRx Files

In the latter years of the 1950’s, Kroger entertained the possibility of operating its own chain of drugstores. Having successfully expanded the company in the postwar era, America’s third largest grocery chain began to consider other avenues to employ their successful merchandising practices, preferably in a way that would complement their existing supermarkets while providing a means to enter

A Very Fashionable Kroger, 1966

These photos, taken in 1966, show the Kroger location at Dover Center and Oviatt Road in Bay Village, Ohio, an affluent suburb of Cleveland. The store had just reopened after a brief closure for remodeling. First is a color shot of the store’s façade, followed by alternating black-and-white and color photos that provide a “before and after” look at the various departments. The story of

A Family Affair at Kroger

As previously mentioned here, one of the most notable grocery industry trends of the 1960’s was the emergence of the supermarket/discount store combination. Usually the supermarket and discount store were separated by a wall and had their own checkstands, adjoining each other only via a common lobby area at the front. In some cases, the layout was open and both grocery and non-foods shared a

The Opening of Dixie Square Mall, 1966

The photos above were taken in the fall of 1968, two years after the grand opening of the Dixie Square Mall, located in Harvey, Illinois, a far south suburb of Chicago, on the Dixie Highway (Illinois Route 1) between 151st and 154th streets. Dixie Square, often referred to in its early years as “Dixie Square Shopping Center”, and later on occasionally as “Dixie Mall”, is undoubtedly the