NFT: The history of discount stores in the US ...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gibson%27s_Discount_Center

A non-retail commercial warehouse - which he turned into a retail store

was John's Bargain Store in Levittown. I was about 6 years old and the place smelled like 'old people'. Now, my bargain shopping is done online and I smell like an old person... that worm has turned.

Used to go into Caldor

Take my year old worn every single day boots off...put new ones one....

'Caldor Klien' someone said.

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Link - ( New Window )

Two Guys, Twin Fair, K-Mart, Ames, Weston's Shoppers City (with their mascot Thrifty Westie), Walmart, and a whole lot more, most of which have not survived.

I had a summer job as a stock boy in a Grand Way, a Grand Union owned discount store. Like most discounters, they sold about any kind of dry goods you could think of - clothes and shoes, housewares including bath goods, consumer appliances, records, sporting goods, indoor and outdoor furniture, lawnmowers and related products, basic pet goods, OTC medicines and health care products, pre-packaged food, and more.

I learned a lot about retailing from it. The first lesson was that the quality of the merchandise usually wasn't very good. Another lesson was that virtually no one who worked in this kind of store made much money, so it wasn't a good career choice. (I talked with some other employees, including department managers, who had worked in similar stores of other chains.)

And among other things, I learned that you should never buy anything with a gasoline engine, anything that might ever need service, or anything that even required any significant assembly from this kind of store unless you were well prepared to do it yourself. The people assembling things like bicycles, lawnmowers, and furniture were almost always simply incompetent at best, and it went down hill from there. And there simply was no service at all, and warranty was unknown. If it broke or needed warranty replacement, you were on your own.

And they failed like most of the rest of those stores.

Twin Fair, with dry goods on one side and food on the other, was actually way ahead of their time. Walmart's super centers are their spirtual successors.

on Rt 46 West, a mile or so what is now Willowbrook… seems to me I accompanied by dad to those stores almost every weekend in the late 1950s early 60s.

in East Hanover. 50 years later I still think I know the layout of the store. Bought a lot of records there in the teen years.

(Generic) Dollar Store

In comment 13975632 baadbill said:

Quote:

on Rt 46 West, a mile or so what is now Willowbrook… seems to me I accompanied by dad to those stores almost every weekend in the late 1950s early 60s.

The original Two Guys (1946) was truly a "big box" store; a warehouse specializing in furniture and large appliance seconds (scratch and dent) which were stacked in their cartons (no display). The procedure was for you to go to Bambergers etc and find the ser # for the item you liked and then see if Two Guys listed that item on their scrolls.
They had a forklift to get it to the dock, but it was your problem to get the refrigerator home.

They were located in Harrison, on McCarter Hwy (Rt 21), near my the plant my father managed that made toys (Remco).They approached Remco to buy their "seconds" but my dad refused, reasoning that would hurt their brand image.

My wife and I furnished our first home (furniture and appliances) from there. As noted everything they sold was "as is", buyer beware. Their 2nd store (Lyndhurst?) had room to put items on display.

For more, and a fun story about how they got their name:
=http://www.oldnewark.com/memories/newark/newmantwoguys.ht

In comment 13975881 KeoweeFan said:

Quote:

In comment 13975632 baadbill said: Quote: on Rt 46 West, a mile or so what is now Willowbrook… seems to me I accompanied by dad to those stores almost every weekend in the late 1950s early 60s. The original Two Guys (1946) was truly a "big box" store; a warehouse specializing in furniture and large appliance seconds (scratch and dent) which were stacked in their cartons (no display). The procedure was for you to go to Bambergers etc and find the ser # for the item you liked and then see if Two Guys listed that item on their scrolls. They had a forklift to get it to the dock, but it was your problem to get the refrigerator home. They were located in Harrison, on McCarter Hwy (Rt 21), near my the plant my father managed that made toys (Remco).They approached Remco to buy their "seconds" but my dad refused, reasoning that would hurt their brand image. My wife and I furnished our first home (furniture and appliances) from there. As noted everything they sold was "as is", buyer beware. Their 2nd store (Lyndhurst?) had room to put items on display. For more, and a fun story about how they got their name: =http://www.oldnewark.com/memories/newark/newmantwoguys.ht

The linked story mentions Kresge's … and oh boy, the memories just keep coming

grew up going there and Rockaway Sales.

the best thing about Disco becoming popular is that the bargain record bins at Two Guys would be filled with classic rock albums for dirt cheap.

so many I remember. Laneco out in Western NJ / Eastern PA. Could do your food shopping and get a pair of jeans.

Jamesway, Caldor, Two Guys (though a bit before my time) even the old Sears & KMart, although barely still alive, were much better back in the 80's & 90's.

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discount stores, but I fondly remember my pre-teen years getting a milkshake and buying my baseball cards at Woolworth's.

In comment 13976265 BamaBlue said:

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discount stores, but I fondly remember my pre-teen years getting a milkshake and buying my baseball cards at Woolworth's.

Wasn’t Woolworth’s also known as “the 5 & 10” ? I seem to remember a “5 & 10” in Styertowne (by Allwood Circle in Clifton)

The first discount department store I believe. Locations in the Bronx, Manhattan and at 4 and 17 in Paramus.

Five and Dime was generic like Dollar Store is today.

Like saying General Store (maybe DBA Joe's Merchandise or what have you)

Style to display style.

Used to be customer approached front desk/window, and inquired
' do you have a certain item certain size ', then someone would walk back and look.

Used to be certain Eastern long islanders would sail or steam right up to South Street with wify so she could shop 'uptown' which probably meant above wall Street or later 14th.

Road travel not really being much an option back then.

Growing up that was the go-to department store. The one I used to go to was near where the LIE and Cross Island intersect.

was the place to go in the 50's, 60's, 70's....

He would advertise something each week that you had to have, at a much lower price than you could find anywhere else....it was a warehouse atmosphere with no frills....you went in there to get one item, and came out with 10....

He would keep costs down by buying trailer loads of merchandise and sell them right out of the trailers in the parking lot...like I said, no frills....

in the mid to late-70's. I believe the store was in Springfield (MA). Their motto was, "no bags as spags" The place looked like a giant indoor flea market. He had a bunch of tractor trailers around the lot where he kept his inventory.

should be "no bags at Spags" Now that I remember, the store wasn't in Springfield, it was Shrewsbury...

In comment 13975570 BamaBlue said:

Quote:

was John's Bargain Store in Levittown. I was about 6 years old and the place smelled like 'old people'. Now, my bargain shopping is done online and I smell like an old person... that worm has turned.

Used to hit John's Bargain Store every Saturday morning while my mother went next store to Shop-Rite in Hazlet. Sundays were often a trip to Two Guys in Middletown Am I remembering right that they had a Pet section there that had monkeys?

(Bristol, CT)
The first one I remember was Bradlees. And then there was a Woolworths down the way. We got a shiny new store when I was a kid called Mammoth Mart. I sort of remember going to Southington on a trip to Caldor'ss and of course the awesome, upscale store called K-Mart. This was years before West Farms came into existence.

Jeepers...I just realized right now that I grew up trailer trash.

of discount stores were a Kresge's and Woolworth's about a block from each other on Main St. in Poughkeepsie.