Town & Country Discount Store

Something that has been very curious to me is the discovery of a defunct discount chain that apparently everyone forgot about: Town & Country.  In 1961, they were purchased by Lane Bryant, which quickly expanded the chain.  Prior to the purchase they were a Harrisburg-based operation with six small discount stores and a catalog service.  As they grew, they were mostly located in Pennsylvania, but they expanded to three locations were in Virginia, two in Maryland, and one in West Virginia.  Quite a few of the former locations still exist today, most repurposed in some form or another since they were generally smaller stores of around 30,000 square feet that were relatively easy to redevelop.  In all, it looks like the chain had at least 21 locations at its peak, and it catered to small and medium sized markets.

1969 photo of the Town & Country store located in Winchester, VA (Photo by Tim Legg)

It is not entirely clear how Town & Country was marketed, but judging by the ads they were a store that focused a bit more on hard lines than soft lines (although its parent company was a clothing store), and it sold a little of everything sort of like Kmart did at the time.  Its catchphrase was that it offered a "Golden Guarantee".  While the stores carried a wide variety of merchandise, they did not appear to offer any services such as a pharmacy, auto center, garden center, restaurant, optical, etc.  This explains how they could offer a wide variety of merchandise in only a 30,000 square feet store.  Perhaps this lack of services was a factor that led to their demise since it was not an all-in-one shopping experience.  It made it difficult to make them stand out against competitors like Woolworth/Woolco, Murphy's Mart, and Newberry's.  It seemed that Kmart's expansion into its territory was what led to its seemingly planned demise.  No mention was ever made that the store chain was actually unprofitable as a reason for its closure.  Most likely it was a corporate decision to focus on their core business: Lane Bryant.

Town & Country grand opening flyer at North Hanover Plaza in Hanover, PA in 1965.  It was the 12th in the chain.  Image from "The Evening Sun" from September 15, 1965.

Clearly the logo didn't match the exterior in the first iteration of the store.  It would be replaced with an awesome looking logo by the 1970's.  Image from The Evening Sun from September 15, 1965.

October 12, 1966 ad from The Evening Sun.

1970 saw the enclosure of North Hanover Plaza into North Hanover Mall.  The portion with Town & Country was fronted by an enclosed strip that ended at the former store.  Kmart looks to have greatly expanded the store in later years.  Image from April 1, 1970.

The 1971 reopening introduced us to that AMAZING "turbo" logo that was in use in the first part of the decade.  Note the update to the entrance to accommodate the enclosure of the strip in front of the store.  Image from The Evening Sun from June 29, 1971.

The interior of the updated Town & Country at North Hanover Mall.  It looks small and cluttered by today's standards, but this was apparently spacious for the time.  Image from The Evening Sun from June 29, 1971.

The store chain used three different logos, and the second generation logo was memorable...a mid-century turbo-style font.  Many of their stores featured a distinctive "hooded" canopy feature over the front entrance with sloping sides and a glass front that was quite similar to classic Mobil stations built during the same period.  Not much else is known about them except that they went out of business in 1977, and Kmart took over many locations as an attempt to expand into the Mid-Atlantic region.  Kmart locations that opened in these stores operated into the 1990's.  That means that most likely Kmart was willing to finish the leases on these stores considering that they likely operated on a 30 year lease with most locations open only around 10-15 years as Town & Country.

One more flyer from the grand reopening.  Image from The Evening Sun from June 29, 1971.

Constant logo changes could not have helped the bottom line of Town & Country.  This is the third and final version as shown in this ad from The Evening Standard from June 29, 1974.

Norman Rockwell dads are waiting to be showered with gifts on Fathers Day.  They also want you to make sure you shop the specials at Town & Country!  Image from The Evening Standard from June 29, 1974.

Maybe the Blues Brothers should have crashed into Town & Country instead of Dixie Square Mall, because "This place has everything!".  Image from The Evening Standard from June 29, 1974.

The New York influence comes out in this ad.  It was pretty clear that "Every day's a sale day at May's" was playing through their head when they came up with that slogan.  It's also a bit ironic to see bone thin cartoon women with no butts in a clothing ad from a store whose parent company is Lane Bryant.  Image from The Evening Standard from June 29, 1974.

Kmart has since closed or replaced every store that originally opened as Town & Country, all much smaller than the typical Kmart.  Along with J.M. Fields and others, it was one of the early casualties of the highly competitive discount store market that today is down to primarily just Wal-Mart and Target with no regional discount stores left in the Mid-Atlantic states.  Stores like Ames, Hill's, Murphy's, Jamesway, Clover, and others were all later casualties, but they lasted much longer than Town & Country and had a more significant footprint.

Part of why I wrote a post on this store is that I kept bumping into these stores.  When I saw this former store in Harrisonburg, VA, I was DYING to know what store it used to be.  Needless to say, finding out it was an obscure discount chain nobody had ever heard of was pretty exciting.  Look closely and you can see the angled canopy, which has been largely covered up on the front with this detestable stucco update.

The unceremonious end of Town & Country usually ended up like this one: a single store subdivided into two or more stores.  Of course, this Big Lots has obviously been here awhile as it still sports the older logo.

Interior detail, including angled canopy, at the Big Lots (former Town & Country/Kmart) in Winchester, VA.

A complete list of former Town & Country locations (as of 1974) is below along with the present tenant (if the building still exists).  The known locations to have existed include the following:

1. Altoona, PA (3100 Pleasant Valley Blvd.)
• Now a Nissan dealership (Courtesy Motor Sales)
2. Beckley Plaza Mall: Beckley, WV
• Was later Kmart, currently Schewel's
• Kmart relocated in a new store to left of existing shopping center in the 1990's
3. Carlisle Plaza Mall: Carlisle, PA
• Opened 1964, closed 1977
• Was a mall anchor on the east end of the mall
• Was replaced by Kmart, which itself closed in 1995 and relocated
• Former location was demolished for Lowe's along with a portion of the mall
4. Chambersburg, PA (1363 Lincoln Way East)
• Subdivided between Napa Auto Parts & Essis & Sons Carpet One Floor & Home
5. White Oaks Shopping Center: Cumberland, MD
• Subdivided between Big Lots & Aaron Furniture Rental
• Aaron's was formerly Rite-Aid
• Larger Town & Country location
6. Hagerstown, MD (562 Northern Ave)
• Currently Gold's Gym
7. North Hanover Mall: Hanover, PA
• Opened 1965, became Kmart in 1977
• It was the 12th location opened
• Kmart closed and relocated to a Super Kmart in February 1995
• Was Black Diamond Antiques after Kmart closed
• Presently Dick's Sporting Goods
8. Harrisburg, PA (100 E. Park Shopping Center/4200 Derry St)
• Building gutted with only the roof and walls intact (unrecognizable) and in that state at least a decade
• Was the site of a spectacular fire in the 1970's that destroyed the original building
9. Cloverleaf Shopping Center: Harrisonburg, VA (131 S. Carlton St)
• Subdivided into three tenants, including Big Lots and a Chinese restaurant
10. Hazleton, PA (702 W. Broad Street)
• Free-standing store
• Was probably a Kmart location before Kmart opened in a former Ames at Laurel Mall in 1994
• Was Ollie's Bargain Outlet, now vacant
11. Latrobe Shopping Center (Latrobe 30 Plaza): Latrobe, PA
• Subdivided between Dunham Sports & Planet Fitness
12. Lemoyne, PA (1023 State Road)
• Road name appars to have been changed to Gettysburg Road
• Location unclear, but appears to be close to Capital City Mall
• Most likely where Big Lots and Aldi have subdivided a store next to AMC Camp Hill 12
• First location to close, closing in 1976
13. Greater Lewistown Plaza: Lewistown, PA
• Located either where Weis is currently or where Ollie's is currently (across the street from each other)
• Weis may have been in current Ollie's and relocated into the former Town & Country
14. Pottsville, PA (North Claude A. Lord Blvd/Rt. 61)
• Appears to be where Giant is currently located
15. Westerly Parkway Plaza: State College, PA (424 Westerly Pkwy)
• Unclear of where it was located in the shopping center
• May have been demolished
• Weis may also be present location
16. Staunton, VA (1106 Greenville Avenue)
• Current location of Goodwill & Super Shoes
• Appears to have been subdivided
17. Sunbury, PA (Shamokin Dam)
• Appears to be Orchard Hills Shopping Center
• Currently Tractor Supply
18. Uniontown Shopping Center: Uniontown, PA
• Currently Tractor Supply Company
19. West Chester, PA (1115 West Chester Pike)
• Appears to be current location of Shop-Rite
20. Williamsport, PA (3500 W. 4th St)
• No longer retail
• Now home to 3D Creative Services, a metal working shop
21. Winchester, VA (1090 Millwood Pike)
• Was previously as Kmart, currently Big Lots
• Kmart appears to have relocated in 1994
• Kmart's later location closed in 2014 and is today subdivided between Dick's Sporting Goods and The Fresh Market

Greenbrier Valley Mall: Fairlea/Lewisburg, WV

High on the Allegheny Plateau in West Virginia, Greenbrier Valley Mall is located in remote region lacking the population and growth to have much in the way of retail, but due to its position as a junction of an interstate and major US highway it has managed to create a small hub of development being located along I-64 in the city of Lewisburg.  While not large enough to support a major mall, the mall boom did not pass up this area with the mall opening along busy US 219 in 1979.  While tiny, the mall is surprisingly very striking architecturally compared to many rural malls built in the era.  In fact, the attention to detail and architecture is quite elegant with its gabled roof canopies over every store, wood shingles and faux doghouse windows on the canopies, triangular ceiling pitches around the high window skylights, colonial-style glass storefronts, old fashioned street lamps and brickwork.  It was as if they were attempting to re-create a colonial city street inside an enclosed mall.  It was probably helped by the fact that they initially drew West Virginia's best department store Stone & Thomas as the primary anchor tenant.

Curiously, most of the older retail development of Lewisburg did not locate near I-64.  This is probably because Lewisburg is actually the northermost of three populous areas in the county with the mall located in the middle.  To the immediate south is the unincorporated town of Fairlea where much of the retail development, including this mall, is located.  Further south is Ronceverte, which is the second most populated city in the county.  The mall is also located on US 219, which is the second most important transportation artery in the region connecting Lewisburg to I-77 in Princeton and Corridor H/US 48 in Elkins.  It also is just north of the WV State Fairgrounds designed capturing customers from traffic headed to and from the fair.  

The first photo shows the interior of the main entrance, which goes into center court.  The railing is not decorative since there are actually offices on that upper level.  It is the centerpiece of what is a pretty elegantly designed mall for 1979, especially for a small town in the coal belt.  The second photo is looking the other way towards the main entrance to Peeble's, which operated as Stone & Thomas until 1998.

A view of the left side of the mall looking toward Kmart.  Hibbett Sports has an outside entrance as well as mall access.

This angle is looking from the right side just shy of center court toward Kmart.

This is standing in front of the Kmart mall entrance back toward the east end of the mall.

Pitched "Star Wars" ceilings are found along two side corridors.  This one extends back between Kmart and the main entrance toward the movie theater.  The movie theater is detached from the mall via an outside breezeway.

The front north entrance wing has a similar design to the back theater wing.

Typical of many smaller community malls, Greenbrier Valley Mall is partially a strip center and partially an enclosed mall.  It has also seen many anchor changes over the years since it opened.  Along with Stone & Thomas, the mall was also anchored by a Heck's discount store and an Elliott's IGA supermarket.  Elliott's closed sometime in the 1980's to be replaced with Barnhart's IGA for a period of time.  That store today is Save-A-Lot.  The most dramatic changes came with the south anchor, however.  Opening as Heck's, Heck's was acquired by L.A. Joe in 1990.  L.A. Joe failed quickly as a chain closing two years later.  After L.A. Joe closed, the store was demolished and replaced with Kmart, which opened on May 6, 1993.  As part of Kmart, it appears that the mall was reconfigured for the Kmart adding ramps to the store suggesting that Heck's had been level with the mall while Kmart is lower than the mall itself.

Peeble's secondary mall entrance is misleading in that the entrance is actually facing the north entrance wing with nothing but windows facing the main mall.  Obviously Peeble's does not build stores like that, so it was clear that Stone & Thomas was a much more fashion-forward store than somewhat dowdy Peeble's.  I can only suspect that Elder-Beerman passed on this store due to its small size and the low population of the area around it.  Boutique department stores were rarely operated by large chain stores and rarely have been successful.

The east front entrance wing is very short, and it appears that Peeble's uses the entire store space on the east side of it.

The pitched ceilings give the mall an almost cathedral-like feel looking back from the theater entrance into the main mall.  Should I shop or should I pray?  Maybe I should pray that this mall doesn't get torn down any time soon?

The main entrance looks like an altar build to the god of shopping, but the tabernacle of ceiling tiles seems to be suffering from a decline in attendance and membership

Indoor faux street lamps.  These were only found in the golden age of malls.

Stone & Thomas was the only true department store anchor.  However, the chain was bought out in 1998 by Elder-Beerman.  In that buyout, some stores were instead converted to Belk and Peebles.  In this case, Peeble's took over the location, which was likely the smallest store in the chain.  Stone & Thomas has a very odd configuration in the mall forming a backwards L shape on the NW corner of the mall situated within the bounds of the mall itself.  While the store entrance is in the middle of the mall, the store itself wraps around to the north end of the mall.  The mall also contains a theater on the back side connected to the mall via a rear wing.  Other tenants found in the mall in the 1980's included Shoe Show, Cato, a jewelry store and mostly local tenants.  Bonanza Steakhouse was also located on an outparcel.

Kmart's biggest fans, including someone I know, should find this place positively holy.  Kmart has the same elegant treatment as Peeble's, but it looks like the entrance was altered suggesting that possibly Heck's/L.A. Joe did not have this mall access.

Kmart's transition area from the main mall to the store is a strange little room with a ramp that appears to have been originally smaller tenants.

This is the back entrance from the theater to the back of the mall.  This is the only access to the mall from the rear.

In all, the geographic isolation and lack of interest in new retail development is what keeps this mall afloat.  Aside from Wal-Mart and Lowe's, most retail development is much older in the area.  However, the main Achilles heel of the mall is that its largest anchor tenant is Kmart.  With Kmart continuing to close stores, it will be difficult to fill this store when they close (UPDATE: Kmart announced it was closing this store in June 2017).  It is the third largest big-box tenant in the area with Wal-Mart and Lowe's both established on the other side of the city.  It is questionable if the demand is there in the market for any store in the area to relocate.  The most likely candidate would be Kroger, which operates an older greenhouse store at Red Oak Shopping Center not far away.  Kroger could simply renovate the Kmart space operating as either a large format Kroger or a Kroger Marketplace.  Otherwise, the store would likely be subdivided with something else (or nothing at all) taking the side of the store located furthest from the mall.  

Close-up shot of the main entrance to the mall.  Some outside tenants adjoining the main mall may not connect to the mall directly such as H&R Block.  

Exterior detail of the main entrance, east entrance (hidden under awning) and front-facing shops.

A broader angle of the mall looking toward Kmart

The strip portion of the center extends from the east mall entrance out further into the parking lot then turning back east as a strip with Save-A-Lot and Advance Auto Parts not connected to the mall.

Save-A-Lot, originally Elliott's IGA and later Barnhart's IGA flanks the strip portion of the mall on the east end.  It is unclear what Advance Auto Parts was originally.

What I would personally like to see happen if Kmart leaves is that Peeble's takes over the Save-A-Lot with the mall expanded to connect to the Save-A-Lot (cutting through the current store) and Kroger Marketplace takes over the current Kmart space.  I would imagine that if this alone was done that the popularity of Kroger and expansion of Peeble's would help boost the mall's fortunes helping it to draw a few more chain stores.  The front-facing tenants should also be reconfigured so that they can handle larger, most likely be junior anchor tenants in lieu of smaller stores.  If necessary, the stores should be expanded further into the parking lot to make this happen with possibly single large tenants taking up the entire side of a wing much like Peeble's does currently.  The back side tenants could remain smaller tenants including local shops and service-oriented stores with lower rent than the front-facing tenants.  This would be the best way to help an aging small town mall remain competitive in an era where most enclosed malls are no longer viable.  

A look back east at the main mall entrance and adjacent strip portion.

Kmart features a distinctive, special design for its exterior entrance vs. the typical Kmart of the era.

Overview of the Kmart, which opened in 1993 to replace Heck's/L.A. Joe.

The distinct trim extends to the garden shop, which otherwise has the typical 90's Kmart exterior.

Limestone boulders line up along the edge of the parking lot where the mall fronts US 219.  It appears that a ton of limestone had to be moved to build the mall.  A rock bluff was directly behind the mall.

Otherwise, the future of Greenbrier Valley Mall as an enclosed mall looks pretty doubtful.  Aside from the anchors, the mall has no chain stores other than Hibbett Sports.  Almost everything else in the mall is local in nature, which suggests that the rents are too low to continue operating as a mall without Peebles, which currently absorbs much of the mall space.  The mall has never been remodeled since the day it opened, and spaces within the mall will be difficult to fill.  I expect that more than likely the mall portion of the center will be demolished converting the back half of the mall into an open-air strip center.  However, I can see that a small portion of the mall would likely be kept intact to provide access to the theater if the theater stays where it is.  Nevertheless, I would like to see Greenbrier Valley Mall stay just like it is.  It is a very unique mall architecturally, and it is attractive inside and out.  It fits well with the natural beauty of the area as well.  Because of this, I hope that this mall survives the bad economy and mall death epidemic and comes back stronger when the American economy eventually revives in the future.

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