![]() ![]() Kresge's own foray into the field with their first K Mart, or Woolco came first. Woolworth variety chain's attempt to establish itself in the discount store field, though it isn't clear at this time whether Woolco followed on the heels of rival S.S. ![]() As with most of today's surviving discount stores, Woolco opened its first unit in 1962. I'd first heard of Woolco around 1966 or 1967 when they opened a Kansas City store, but I never entered one until 1972 when they made their debut in Des Moines. Most Woolco stores looked identical to this one in Des Moines (top), although later ones built in the late '70s, such as the Omaha location (bottom) sported a different look. Below that is a full-color close-up of a similar Woolco entryway. Directly below is an identical Woolco in Louisville, Kentucky whose parking lot served as a promotional arena for Sinclair gas stations, as noted by the presence of their huge Dino mascot. The very first Woolco ever built opened in Columbus, Ohio in 1962 what a great sign and entryway. ![]() It seems like every year these days they announce a round of store closings.Īcknowledement for this picture coming soon.īrain's and Hested's, two of the original tenants at The Center Mall in Omaha when it opened in the late '50s, weren't terribly big and their merchandise selection might not have been as diverse as the big guys back then, but I was able to get color vidcaps of their old storefronts.so I figured I'd include them here. Both this and the Riverside Red X were still in business as the 2000s continued, but Decemwas the last day of business for the Metcalf K Mart. Despite (or because of) the 1967 opening of Metcalf South Mall across the street from it, French Market threw in the towel in 1970 and became one of the fanciest-looking K Mart stores in the area later that year. It was owned by the founders of a more modest shopping emporium, Riverside Red X in Riverside, Missouri. Below it is an artist's rendering, an actual partial picture of the storefront, and finally, another photo of the same building as a K Mart as it looked from 1970 until the Big K logo switch.Ībout the same time that Ardan was going up on Merle Hay Road, this beautifully-designed discount store/supermarket opened down south in Overland Park, Kansas, and we discovered it in 1965 after we got settled into our new home elsewhere in the Kansas City area it was here that I saw Ideal's Tip-It and Fish Bait games for the first time. (Immeasurable thanks to Dave Aldrich for the two middle pics above)Īdobe Photodeluxe was here too in the first picture I used it to create a fairly-accurate reproduction of the French Market sign on the still-existent building. DISCOUNT STORES OF THE '60s-PAGE 3 DISCOUNT STORES OF THE '60s-PAGE 3 ![]()
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