Happy July 4th, Plus One!

Yes, my friends, it’s that time again! The day after America’s
birthday comes Pleasant Family Shopping’s birthday, number 5 this year. It’s
the day I go scrambling through my files for a nice summer scene and try to
come up with something clever to say about it.



The scene is certainly nice enough  - a good old Piggly Wiggly, in this case a
Texas location operated by Shop Rite Foods of Texas

July 2, 1962 - The First Walmart Opens

Ben Franklin could’ve had it made. I’m not referring to the “founding
father”, of course – the one Americans will honor tomorrow, he of the long hair
and granny glasses, kites, keys and lightning bolts, Almanacks and The Saturday
Evening Post. I mean the famous variety store chain that borrowed its name from
ol’ Ben, the “Ben Franklin 5 and 10 cent stores” that dotted communities
nationwide

J.C. Penney, King of the Soft Goods

Reaching its silver anniversary in 1927, the J.C. Penney
Company found many reasons to celebrate. The amount of Penney stores had more
than doubled since 1920 to more than 750 locations “in practically every State
in the Union” according to the New York Times (close to it - 45 of the then 48 states),
and annual sales of nearly $116 million.  





By this time the founder himself, James Cash