tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2047095566316955789.post587004753837151204..comments2024-03-26T21:06:08.519-07:00Comments on Sky City: Retail History: Town & Country Discount StoreJ.T.http://www.blogger.com/profile/04208881715255029485noreply@blogger.comBlogger9125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2047095566316955789.post-54860416272536874992021-02-10T05:33:13.902-08:002021-02-10T05:33:13.902-08:00My first job after high school was in the Chambers...My first job after high school was in the Chambersburg, PA Town & County Store. Then, worked in the shoe department, which was space in Town & Country leased to Karl's Shoes (owned by Harry Karl, husband of Debbie Reynolds).Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2047095566316955789.post-30262303302548289622020-12-15T12:41:36.416-08:002020-12-15T12:41:36.416-08:00The State College location in Westerly Parkway Sho...The State College location in Westerly Parkway Shopping Center was in the main strip plaza section(western side), between Weis market and Thrift Drugs(Rite Aid). That section of strip center had stores like Colonial Bakery (original home to State College's famous 'Diner' sticky buns. Robbin's Young World, Sherwin Williams, Joe the Motorist's friend (great holiday train display) Roaring River Mills, Radio Shack. 2020 this shopping center is in horrific shape(at least 1/2), and eastern half looks like it is soon to be demolished for mixed use redevelopment. this eastern elbow half had A&P, backfilled w/ Scot's lo-cost, then never filled, Ziffs, hiWay pizza, cattleCar cc peppers, pietro of little Italy, and most recently Goodwill, My Thai, Fuji Jade, frame shop. Westerly Parkway Plaza always had a hole in it, which was originally allocated for a JC Penney. years later Nichol's Dept store was going to build, didn't and center has always had that mid hole. Weis over the years expanded out(forward and sideways east), eating some of the old strip plaza sq' availability. good memories of healthier retail times of early suburban shopping centersSoundMindnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2047095566316955789.post-34971119914063301912018-10-18T19:57:12.998-07:002018-10-18T19:57:12.998-07:00I remember my Town & County and the Uniotown S...I remember my Town & County and the Uniotown Shopping Center. Was a great store! Kmart moved into the location from '77 until I think '92 when Kmart opened a Supercenter. Tractor Supply is indeed still at that location.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10462336025615698108noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2047095566316955789.post-32207894657656492932018-02-13T15:32:23.470-08:002018-02-13T15:32:23.470-08:00Very interesting. Glad you’re back with new posts....Very interesting. Glad you’re back with new posts.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2047095566316955789.post-43816350697959587312018-02-05T16:01:00.926-08:002018-02-05T16:01:00.926-08:00I'm not entirely sure where the Harrisburg sto...I'm not entirely sure where the Harrisburg store was. What you're thinking of (the empty shell to the right of Petsmart) was a movie theater originally. I'm thinking T&C may have been where Home Depot is now (it was a Channel Home Center previously--which was demolished)catnappedhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03209423169633580983noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2047095566316955789.post-21249760028419999032018-02-03T11:54:16.527-08:002018-02-03T11:54:16.527-08:00The Town & Country Store in the Greater Lewist...The Town & Country Store in the Greater Lewistown Shopping Plaza was located where JC Penney's currently is. Grants and then later Jamesway is where the Weis Store is now. The Weis store was where Ollie's is now.Coleenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01768278825097383669noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2047095566316955789.post-16033434979729104332018-01-19T13:05:39.976-08:002018-01-19T13:05:39.976-08:00My best guess is that the pre-Lane Bryant Town &am...My best guess is that the pre-Lane Bryant Town & Country stores were essentially five-and-dime type stores. You're probably right about that. If they were "small discount stores" by 1961 standards, they were probably pretty small. Maybe they were a short evolution away from the five-and-dime concept.<br /><br />While we typically think of 1962 as being the first year of discount stores (it was, after all, the first year for Kmart, Woolco, Target, and Wal-Mart), there were discounters who popped up slightly before 1962. Ayr-Way first opened in 1961, Caldor dates back to the 1950s, and Zayre had a 39,000 sq. ft. store by 1956. I can't really say for sure how similar that store was in concept to the later Zayre stores. There was Korvettes as well, but I'm not sure if I'd consider them to be a discount store the way we think of them today.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2047095566316955789.post-64760722303476749242018-01-19T10:57:36.993-08:002018-01-19T10:57:36.993-08:00Thanks for finding that! I edited the history per...Thanks for finding that! I edited the history per the information you found. I wondered if these were more like five-and-dime stores when the chain was purchased considering that the first discount stores were officially founded in 1962. If not, it may have been the first discount chain in the entire U.S.J.T.https://www.blogger.com/profile/04208881715255029485noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2047095566316955789.post-48625908897741881132018-01-19T03:29:56.605-08:002018-01-19T03:29:56.605-08:00Thanks for the information about this discount sto...Thanks for the information about this discount store chain. I had never heard of the Town & Country stores before. I did a little research and it seems that T&C was not founded by Lane Bryant, but rather purchased by Lane Bryant in 1961 when the chain had "six small discount stores and a mail order discount business." <a href="https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/141639873/" rel="nofollow">Source: https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/141639873/</a><br /><br />I love looking at those old stores. The thing that jumped out at me in the first image from 1965 is that they were advertising Christmas items in early September. I guess the so-called "Christmas creep" was alive and well in the 1960s! I also liked the joke about the thin women with no butts in the ads. Of course, what constituted "plus sized" back then was probably thinner than what we think of today. T&C probably served a wider demographic though, but it's hard to say whether they were a little more upscale like a Venture or Target or more mainstream like a Kmart or Wal-Mart. <br /><br />Anyway, thanks again for the post. I'm glad to see that the blog is alive and well here in 2018!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com