Richway: The Discount Division of Rich's (Updated February 15, 2018)

"Everything under the sun" could be found at Richway if you believed the ads.  In the 1960's, discount stores were an explosive trend across the United States, and this was not lost on department stores.  These new discount stores were making a hit on department stores with their lower prices and wide selection of merchandise, but a few department stores saw an opportunity to expand their footprint and operations by diversifying into this then-new concept.  In 1968, Rich's decided that it, too, needed to enter the discount store business by opening its namesake Richway stores.  Like other similar stores, Richway was an "upscale" discount store that operated more like an actual department store with general merchandise than a discount store.  Their slogan in the 80's was "Richway doesn't look like a discount store, but our price tags give us away".  Richway would last until 1988 when the store was sold to Target.  At its peak, Richway had 31 stores.  While Richway had an interesting history, it was not the first of such "discount divisions" of their parent department stores.  Others included:

• Ayr-Way
• A division of L.S. Ayres in Indianapolis founded in 1961
• Purchased by Dayton-Hudson in 1980 and reopened as Target in 1981
• Target
• A division of Dayton's in Minneapolis founded in 1962 and the last of its kind today
• Almart/J.B. Hunter
• A division of Allied (Department) Stores founded in 1962 and liquidated around 1975
• Treasure Island/The Treasury
• A division of JCPenney founded in 1962 and liquidated in 1981
• Gold Circle
• A discount division of Lazarus/Federated Department Stores founded in 1967 and liquidated in 1988
• Most stores sold to Hills and some to Target
• Prange Way
• A division of Prange's founded in 1965 and dissolved in 1992 when parent company Prange's was sold to Younker's
• Venture
• A division of May Department Stores also founded in 1968 and liquidated in 1998
• Many locations became Kmart
• Clover
• A division of Strawbridge & Clothier founded in 1971
• Liquidated in 1995 and 1996 as part of sale to May Department Stores
• Jefferson Ward
• Purchased by Montgomery Ward in 1973 (originally Jefferson's in Florida)
• Divested and liquidated around 1988

This slide shows the very first Richway store opened located on Covington Highway in Decatur, GA.  (Photo by Stevens & Wilkinson used by permission)  

Richway opened its first stores in 1970 with four locations in Metro Atlanta: all near an interchange with the recently completed I-285.  These original stores were large for their time featuring very distinctive architectural detail with eight large alternating green and orange wedge skylights on the roof.  Inside, the ceiling featured canned sodium vapor lights giving the store an ethereal tone to match the unique effects of the skylights, which were positioned in every direction on the roof.  The store also featured high ceilings making the store feel more spacious.  The original stores also featured a Richway Foods, which was operated by Big Star (formerly Colonial Stores).  Richway Foods was notable for delivering groceries to customers on a conveyor belt for outside pickup.  The original stores also had an auto center in or next to every store, and they were larger than later stores.  The four original locations were located at:

• Decatur: 4000 Covington Highway (Opened in 1969)
• Store #1
• Now Peace Baptist Church
• Store was not replaced when Target vacated the site
• Smyrna: 2201 Cobb Parkway SE (Opened in 1970)
• Still operational as Target
• Last Richway operating as Target
• Richway Foods was later Big Star, A&P, then CompUSA
• Sandy Springs: 235 Johnson Ferry Road (Opening date unknown, probably 1971)
• Operated as Target until 2007
• Demolished in 2013 for Sandy Springs City Hall and Downtown
• Richway Foods was later successively Big Star, A&P, Harris Teeter, and Goodwill
• College Park: 5025 Old National Highway (Opened 1971)
• Operated as Target from 1989-1998
• Target roughly replaced by store at Fayette Pavilion 11 miles south
• Abandoned ever since

This bag carries the original Richway logo that was used from approximately 1970-1977.  Note that the sunrise is far more detailed with the logo in a mixed-case font in a pill shape.  The stores built with this logo had the signs accommodated to fit this logo.

Scan from an original credit card

Richway in Sandy Springs showing the updated logo in a the original pill shape, Richway Foods as Big Star, and the Richway Auto Center on the right.  This undated photo was most likely taken in the late 1970's.  (Photographer unknown)

The success of those four locations led to expansion across the Atlanta region, although the growth of the chain occurred mostly after Rich's was sold to Federated Department Stores.  The next stores that were constructed after the original four in 1970 within the Atlanta area were:

• Atlanta/Forest Park: 3650 Jonesboro Road SE (Opened 1974)
• Never re-opened as Target, now Atlanta Expo Center North
• Atlanta/Druid Hills: 2400 North Druid Hills Road (Opened 1974)
• Reconstructed in 2002 as Target Greatland, now Target
• Land still owned by Macy's/Federated
• Jonesboro: 6525-B Tara Blvd (Arrowhead Mall, Opened 1974)
• Target (now closed) relocated to Mt. Zion Road in 1996
• Was Burlington Coat Factory, now Southside Discount Mall
• Roswell: 610 Holcomb Bridge Road (Roswell Mall, opened 1974)
• Target closed store and relocated to Super Target on Woodstock Road in 1999
• Was a Value City up until chain liquidated
• Presently Home & Decor
• Tucker: 4136 Jimmy Carter Blvd (opening date unknown, probably 1975)
• Torn down in 2001 for Home Depot
• Replaced by current Target at I-285 and LaVista Road
• Doraville: 5766 Buford Highway (opening date unknown, probably 1977)
• Originally a Grant City location (opened 1968)
• Was later a Value City
• Currently a Burlington Coat Factory since 2013

The Atlanta Expo Center North on Jonesboro Road stands as the best preserved former Richway.  Because it was the only former Richway that did not reopen as Target, the skylights were not covered up with the original architecture left largely unchanged.  The orange exterior is original to when it was Richway.

This interior shot of the Atlanta Expo Center shows how all of the original Richway stores appeared inside.  Note the "canned" lights in the ceiling in the backgroung (Photo by J. Fillow).

All of the early Richway stores had an auto center just like Rich's suburban locations did (Photo by Stevens & Wilkinson used by permission)

Expansion of Richway in the 1970's did not, however, include just Atlanta.  Before the sale to Federated Department Stores, four Richway locations opened in the Carolinas.

• Charlotte [Northwest]: Freedom Mall [offsite link] (Opened 1974)
• Converted to government offices
• Charlotte [Southeast]: Independence Blvd (Opened 1974)
• Target relocated to Matthews in 1995
• Torn down for BJ's Wholesale in 2001
• BJ's that replaced it is now Hendrick Automotive Group
• Columbia: Woodhill Mall (Opened 1974)
• Redeveloped with Target on site

Image of Richway in Charlotte after the location closed as Target.  It is assumed this is the Independence Blvd location.  (Photo by J. Fillow)

The curious thing about Richway's expansion outside of the Atlanta metro area is that it did not tend to open in markets that its parent Rich's was located.  While Columbia did gain one Rich's location, Richway never opened a location in Greenville (where Rich's was located).  Likewise, neither Charlotte nor Gastonia ever had Rich's.  Of even greater curiosity is why Richway avoided Birmingham entirely.  A total of three Rich's operated in the Birmingham market, but no Richway ever opened in the city.  Memphis was also overlooked, which contained Rich's sister store Goldsmith's.

SALE TO FEDERATED DEPARTMENT STORES AND FURTHER EXPANSION

Richway was sold along with parent company Rich's to Federated Department Stores in 1976.  This sale resulted in several changes.  For one, the company got a more streamlined logo with a more simple sunrise and the same Helvetica font that was already in use on the Target logo.  In addition, an orange theme was employed throughout the store including orange fiber glass shopping carts, and orange smocks for employees.  Richway Food stores were sold off to Big Star, and new stores were smaller with less emphasis on hard lines.  The distinctive skylights were also dropped from eight to six then dropped altogether by 1980.  Auto centers, which were on all the stores built under Rich ownership, were dropped on newer stores.  However, growth of Richway was already in the works with four mall-based stores that opened in 1977 co-anchored by Kroger Sav-On.  These locations included:

• Columbia [Dentsville]: Decker Mall
• Closed in 1998 when Target relocated, now a storage facility
• Columbia [West]: Bush River Mall (twin store and mall to Decker)
• Closed in 1998 when Target relocated to Harbison Blvd.
• Mall and site demolished and rebuilt as Wal-Mart in 2004
• Charlotte [Northeast]: North Park Mall 
• Closed in 1998 and has since operated as Kimbrell's furniture
• Adjoining mall is abandoned and will soon be demolished for expansion of Charlotte transit lines
• Charlotte [Southwest]: West Park Mall (twin store and mall to North Park Mall)
• Target relocated to Carolina Pavilion
• Store and mall demolished around 2000
• Costco is currently on site today

The last store opened in the Carolinas opened in Gastonia in 1978.  Interestingly, it was not mall-based:

• Gastonia, NC: Akers Shopping Center
• Operated as Target until 2011 when Target relocated to Gaston Mall site
• Now subdivided between Gabe's and Conn's

Image of the Gastonia store prior to closure.  Photo is from 2010, and store closed/relocated in 2011.  The store was built in the parking lot of a previously established shopping center with Akers Shopping Center behind me in the photo.

Additional Georgia locations opened included:

• Marietta: 805 Sandy Plains Road
• Opened in 1980
• Closed in 1998 when Target store relocated to current location on Cobb Place Blvd
• Has since been offices for Wellstar Medical
• Mableton: Austell Road (GA 5) & Hurt Road
• Opened in 1980
• Abandoned after Target closed in 1998 and relocated to East West Commons Shopping Center
• Snellville: Main St (US 78) & McGee Road (Fountain Square)
• Opened in 1983
• Target relocated in 1994 to current location at Presidential Market
• Conyers: 1618 GA 138 (free-standing)
• Opened in 1983
• Target relocated to Conyers Commons in 2006
• Part of store torn down for LA Fitness with about 1/3 of original building standing open and vacant
• Athens: 3505 Atlanta Highway (Clarke Crossing Shopping Center)
• Opened in 1984
• Now Academy Sports

Former Richway on Austell Road in Mableton

The Richway in Snellville featured an updated look that resembled 1980's Wal-Mart stores.

EXPANSION TO TENNESSEE AND FLORIDA

Federated Department Stores was seeing that they had a big success in Richway, so they sought to expand the chain elsewhere.  In Florida, Federated already had a presence with their ownership of Burdine's and the Gold Triangle chain.  In contrast to what was said before on this blog, Gold Triangle stores were not replaced by Richway.  However, they did go out of business in 1981 prior to the entry of Richway into the market in 1982.  It was curious that Richway was chosen considering that Rich's was never located anywhere near Florida, but it still functioned as the discount division of Burdine's, which had been part of Federated Department Stores since 1956.  The list of Richway stores that opened in South Florida in 1982 included:

• West Palm Beach: 1760 Palm Beach Lakes Blvd
• Operated as Target until 2008 when store was demolished and rebuilt as a two-story Target on the same site
• Plantation: 8201 SW 3rd St
• Original address was W. Federated Roadway
• Original store was torn down and rebuilt as Target on same site according to aerials
• Sources claim the store was located elsewhere
• Deerfield Beach: 1200 S. Federal Highway
• New store built just to the south with parking deck on site of original store
• Tamarac: 8399 N University Drive
• Now Renaissance Charter School at University
• Palm Springs: 1941 Military Trail
• Now Sunshine Flea Market

An additional location opened in 1983 in a former Woolco:

• Oakland Park: 5091 North Dixie Highway
• Originally constructed in 1973
• Partially demolished and subdivided with Publix the primary tenant currently
• Was the largest South Florida location for Richway

Richway in Florida had an updated look, but some of their stores featured this interesting sloped front look in lieu of the design used on the store shown in Snellville, GA.  This the Palm Springs location.  (Image from Google Street View, June 2017)

This 2007 Google Street View capture shows the West Palm Beach Store, which was identical to the Palm Springs Store, but it was demolished and rebuilt on site the following year.

Map of South Florida locations using Google Earth

Additionally, Richway saw an opportunity to enter the Tennessee market by acquiring two former Gibson's stores in Chattanooga that had opened originally as Jubilee City.  It is not certain when these stores opened, but it is believed to have been 1982.  These locations included:

• Chattanooga [Brainerd]: 5600 Lee Highway
• Store was torn down for expansion of Chattanooga's airport, but the parking lot remains
• Chattanooga [Hixson]: 600 Northgate Mall Drive
• Located on an outlot of Northgate Mall
• After Target closed and relocated, store was subdivided between Ross and T.J. Maxx

This was the Richway on 5600 Lee Highway in Chattanooga.  Since this store looked new in the image, apparently the front of the store was gutted and rebuilt when it was taken over from Gibson's.  (Image by Stevens & Wilkinson used by permission)

Map of Chattanooga locations using Google Earth

CONVERSION TO GOLD CIRCLE AND SALE

Federated Department Stores changed their corporate strategy and decided that they no longer wanted to operate their two discount stores separately, so the decision was made to merge Richway and Gold Circle in 1986.  In 1987, work began slowly to convert stores to the Gold Circle name.  However, things were not going well with Federated Department Stores as part of the Campeau takeover.  The debt that had been created from frenzied acquisitions and mismanagement by the French-Canadian financier's parent company had left Federated with a tough decision: save the department stores or save their discount stores.  The decision was made to focus on the department stores, thus the combined Richway-Gold Circle would have to be sold to a competitor.

These 1987 photos from Hank McNeely show the conversion of the Independence Blvd Richway in Charlotte to Gold circle.  The Richway logo was in a pill-shaped sign in an ice cream cone shaped support in some of their earlier stores supporting the older logo originally.  Target would again use this sign.

During the conversion from Richway to Gold Circle, tags in the stores began to display Gold Circle logos, but only a few stores actually got the new name.  All seven of the stores in the Carolinas (Columbia, Charlotte, and Gastonia) were converted to the Gold Circle name, but the other stores remained Richway.  Gold Circle seemed like a strange fit at the time considering that the name was not known in the Southeast.  Gold Circle was primarily located around Pittsburgh, Northern Kentucky, Ohio, and New York.  However, no other Richway stores would ever see the Gold Circle name.  In fall of 1988, all of the Richway and Gold Circle stores would be liquidated.

Map of Charlotte area locations using Google Earth

Target, then part of Dayton-Hudson, was in aggressive expansion mode having already expanded massively in the Midwest, and the sale of Richway was the primary vehicle for their growth into the Southeast.  However, it was not Campeau Corporation via Federated Department Stores that sold Richway to Target.  Instead, the entire chain was sold to Kimco Development Corp. who then sold the chain in two chunks.  31 stores were sold to Target.  This included all of the Richway stores, including those converted to Gold Circle.  The most likely reason that the entire 67 store chain was not purchased was probably due to the fact that Target was a much smaller company then and was not capitalized to purchase that many stores.  The risk was great for a chain that was unknown outside of the Midwest at the time.

Maps of Atlanta area locations and Athens location using Google Earth

The remaining 35 Gold Circle stores, all located in the North, were leased to Hills Department Stores, a now defunct chain that had very little overlap with Richway.  Hills had two locations in the Chattanooga market, but nowhere else did they compete.  However, they were a major competitor to Gold Circle in Pennsylvania, New York, Kentucky, and Ohio giving them at the time a greater share of the market.  Had Target not purchased Richway, it is questionable if they would have expanded into the national chain they are today.  It is notable that nearly every major discount store we have today grew rapidly through a major acquisition or takeover of stores from a defunct chain.  This is true with both Wal-Mart (Kuhn's Big K/Edward's) and Kmart (Grant's).

Target reopened all the former Richway and Gold Circle stores it acquired in May of 1989 after extensive remodeling.  In the end, Target proved to be the perfect fit for Richway.  Like Richway, it was a division of a major regional department store, and it marketed to the same demographic.  Their acquired stores proved to be highly successful for them, thus allowing them to expand and modernize throughout the 1990's.  However, Target did not share the same love for the distinctive feel of Richway.  Green and orange skylights were painted black and boarded up with ceilings in the store dropped.  The canned lights were covered up and replaced with regular tube lights.  The orange decor was replaced with the usual Target red, and storefronts repainted with a dull gray cast.  Target had the stores in body, but not in soul.  A celebrated division of Rich's in Atlanta had likewise become a soon to be nationwide corporation operated by a distant company in Minneapolis.

One of the former Richway locations in the North Druid Hills community of Atlanta was rebuilt on-site as Target Greatland in 2002.  Target Greatland is a now canceled concept that was larger than a regular Target, but smaller than a Super Target.

RICHWAY FADES AWAY

As Target has grown, the company proved to have outgrown the old Richway stores.  One by one, the stores were either replaced with a newer location or rebuilt with the bulk of those stores relocated to newly built locations.  The last few stores still operating as Target in 2005 were in Gastonia, Sandy Springs, West Palm Beach, and Smyrna.  By 2011, only one original Richway was left operational as a Target: the Smyrna store.  That same store received likely its final renovation and update around 2009.  Even then, the store is likely on borrowed time as the area around it is rapidly urbanizing since the construction of the new SunTrust Park.  It is believed that Target is looking to relocate to Cumberland Mall at some point in the near future where Sears is currently.

The last operational Richway.  Photo from 2006.

Pictures of the same Richway store after Target updated it in 2009.  The update made the store look more in sync with its original design with the clean lines and large glass front than the rounded stucco.  Note that the wedge skylights are still there painted white.  This store had the distinction of having its auto center in an outlot (now demolished).

RICHWAY REMEMBERED

When this post was first written, almost nothing was available online about the once venerable chain.  As the first post ever written on Sky City, much has been learned about the store since then including former locations and events in the store's history.  Because of that, the original post has been completely rewritten and replaced with this much more detailed post that more accurately depicts the history of a discount store that started as an extension of Georgia's most famous store.  This rewrite includes extensive photos that were not available at the time with better information about former locations.  Hopefully this post this time gives an accurate and complete history of one of many stores that Sky City has not allowed to have been forgotten since this post and blog was first published in 2006.