Search found 42 matches

by carolinatraveler
24 Jun 2011 23:57
Forum: History: USA Southeast
Topic: When/how did Kroger "conquer" the South?
Replies: 14
Views: 15163

Re: When/how did Kroger "conquer" the South?

Kroger's first move south was the purchase of the Jamison Stores in Roanoke, VA in the 1927-29 era, I believe 1928. They purchased 92 stores, including stores in Winston-Salem, Durham and Mt Airy, NC and in the Bluefield area of West Virginia, and in Johnson City, TN. The Jamison stores were convert...
by carolinatraveler
27 May 2011 21:25
Forum: History: Department Store Chains
Topic: JCPenney mall locations
Replies: 16
Views: 20836

Re: JCPenney mall locations

When Coliseum Mall opened in Hampton, VA in 1973, J.C. Penney was the center anchor - E.J. Korvette on one end, Nachman's (Newport News, VA based) on the other. Korvettes went to empty to Montgomery Ward to Burlington Coat Factory; Nachmans merged with Norfolk based Rice's then sold out to Hess, and...
by carolinatraveler
31 Dec 2010 21:29
Forum: History: Specialty Retail Chains
Topic: OT: Gas Stations
Replies: 2
Views: 8271

Re: OT: Gas Stations

Union's Truck Stop network was indeed inherited in the 1965 purchase of The Pure Oil Company. The Union 76 brand began replacing the Pure name in 1968, with a complete conversion by 1970. In turn, Pure had inherited the truck stop network from a Toledo based company known as Hickock Oil, operating u...
by carolinatraveler
17 Jan 2010 17:55
Forum: History: USA Southeast
Topic: Dixie Home Early History
Replies: 14
Views: 24571

Re: Dixie Home Early History

I recently ran across a couple of old Dixie Home related photos. The first shows Carolina Store #39 at 300 N. Main Street in Lenoir. This was the third location in Lenoir, and it opened in November 1929. The other photo shows a 1940s vintage Dixie Home supermarket, on South Main Street in Brevard, a...
by carolinatraveler
14 Jan 2010 20:10
Forum: History: Restaurant Chains
Topic: H. Salt, Esq.
Replies: 13
Views: 14473

Re: H. Salt, Esq.

I can confirm locations in Hampton and Newport News, VA in the early 1970s. That is all that I ever saw of the chain, and we traveled a great deal in Virginia and North Carolina in that era.

Wayne Henderson
by carolinatraveler
05 Jan 2010 22:19
Forum: History: Drugstore Chains
Topic: Goodbye Eckerd (Rite Aid buys Eckerd and Brooks Drugs)
Replies: 49
Views: 60151

Re: Goodbye Eckerd (Rite Aid buys Eckerd and Brooks Drugs)

Yes, Eckerd as it appeared in later years was actually the reassembly of several Eckerd chains, plus numerous purchases. IN 1898 Milton Eckerd opened his first "cut rate" drugstore in Erie, PA, and by all accounts it was a spectacular success. Other outlets were opened in the region, but w...
by carolinatraveler
16 Dec 2009 21:23
Forum: History: USA Southeast
Topic: Wilkesboro and North Wilkesboro NC
Replies: 8
Views: 9211

Re: Wilkesboro and North Wilkesboro NC

One correction to my most recent post about chain stores in North Wilkesboro. In my previous searches I simply did not go back far enough. It seems that A&P did operate there briefly in the mid-1920s, closing their store in June 1926. Carolina Stores opened the following week in the same buildin...
by carolinatraveler
30 Nov 2009 20:33
Forum: History: USA Southeast
Topic: Ketner and Milner Stores in North Carolina
Replies: 4
Views: 6252

Re: Ketner and Milner Stores in North Carolina

I would agree that the importance of the Ketner-Milner acquisition probably comes from a historical view, taking the Food Town / Food Lion rise into consideration. I would imagine that today's Winn Dixie management certainly wishes they had done something, anything, to contain Ralph and Brown Ketner...
by carolinatraveler
29 Nov 2009 12:57
Forum: History: Drugstore Chains
Topic: Chain Drugstores with Operating Lunch Counters
Replies: 6
Views: 12145

Re: Chain Drugstores with Operating Lunch Counters

The Eckerd's lunch counter that you discovered at Asheville's Grace Plaza isn't actually all that old. The shopping center opened in late 1972 or early 1973 and was home to Asheville's first large-floorplan Rose's Store (two small 5 &10 stores existed); a large Eckerd's with its coffee shop, and...
by carolinatraveler
27 Nov 2009 16:39
Forum: History: USA Southeast
Topic: Ketner and Milner Stores in North Carolina
Replies: 4
Views: 6252

Ketner and Milner Stores in North Carolina

In reading any official history of the Winn-Dixie stores, there seems to be a disproportionate amount of emphasis placed on the 1956 purchase of the Ketner-Milner stores in North Carolina. While that purchase certainly placed what became Winn-Dixie into several markets where they had not previously ...
by carolinatraveler
22 Nov 2009 23:20
Forum: History: USA Southeast
Topic: Wilkesboro and North Wilkesboro NC
Replies: 8
Views: 9211

Re: Wilkesboro and North Wilkesboro NC

Having been through Wilkes County on several recent occasions, I've had a chance to pin down addresses for the two buildings in question. Actually, there is only one building in question, since the site at 211 4th Street is displaying a sign on the side that reads Thrift Super Market. Tracing it as ...
by carolinatraveler
11 Nov 2009 00:01
Forum: History: USA Southeast
Topic: Dixie Home Early History
Replies: 14
Views: 24571

Re: Dixie Home Early History

A visit to the library in Lenoir last week has revealed some early history of the Carolina Stores: The Carolina Stores organization was founded in 1925 with a single store in Lenoir, NC. Expansion was immediate, with additional stores opened within months in Blowing Rock and Morganton. The operation...
by carolinatraveler
06 Sep 2009 12:30
Forum: History: Restaurant Chains
Topic: Long John Silver's freestanding stores
Replies: 30
Views: 28269

Re: Long John Silver's freestanding stores

A couple of recent observations of free standing Long John Silvers restaurants. An older unit, circa 1970s, exists on Cumberland Road in Bluefield, WV. And then, just yesterday, I saw a newer (90s) free standing LJS on Blowing Rock Road in Boone, NC. LJS is pretty thin in this part of the country, a...
by carolinatraveler
26 Aug 2009 23:05
Forum: History: USA Mid-Atlantic
Topic: Kroger (and ex-Kroger) stores in southern West Virginia
Replies: 15
Views: 23284

Re: Kroger (and ex-Kroger) stores in southern West Virginia

I have Bluefield area phone books from 1942, 1953, 1955, 1964 and some later. The Kroger in Pocahontas appears only in 1953 and 1955, with a simple "Main Street" listing. Last week, however, I found much of downtown Pocahontas, unfortunately, in ruins, and the Kroger building is likely los...
by carolinatraveler
21 Aug 2009 21:04
Forum: History: USA Mid-Atlantic
Topic: Kroger (and ex-Kroger) stores in southern West Virginia
Replies: 15
Views: 23284

Re: Kroger (and ex-Kroger) stores in southern West Virginia

FROM AN EARLIER POST "That "Kroger Co." sign has been up on that original Kroger building for 50 years now. I'm wondering if the old Kroger in Pocahontas still has any evidence of a sign from about the same time. It was there the last time I looked [about 2000], although the store mus...