TG&Y

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luckysaver
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Post by luckysaver »

I heard from a friend of mine about TG&Y stores in the Los Angeles area.
Anybody remember TG&Y? I heard they helped pave the way for Walmart to enter California.

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jamcool
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Post by jamcool »

TG&Y was one of the "second tier" of variety stores, they were based in OKC and had stores allover the West. In a number of markets they had the larger "family centers", which had electronics, records, and books in addition to the regular dime store goods. In the 80s it was bought out by YDC, which had also acquired Newberry's, McCrorys, ans a number of other regional dime store operators.
Dean
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Post by Dean »

The former TG & Y on Main Street in Hesperia CA is FINALLY being subdivided into a few things.

It must've been sitting vacant for 15-20yrs.

The Industry CA site was next to Alpha Beta. Became Salvation Army Thrift Shop for a spell. Believe it is not vacant.
TenPoundHammer
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Post by TenPoundHammer »

I do know that TG&Y extended as far east as Michigan; there was one at the now-shuttered Fort Saginaw Mall in Saginaw, in a former Scott's 5&10. The space became a local sporting goods store called Norman's in the early 1990s before the mall was closed. (Anyone know anything about the Scott's chain? I know there was a Scott's->TG&Y conversion in Illinois, so evidently Scott's was a chain.)

There was also a TG&Y in Lewiston, Michigan if I'm not mistaken; a very, VERY small town that currently has nothing but a supermarket, Family Dollar, and Rite Aid.
jimbobga
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Post by jimbobga »

This is skipping from California to Michigan to Florida. In 1962, TG&Y opened a store at Village Green Shopping Center in Cocoa-Rockledge, FL. This area already had Woolworth's, W. T. Grant, Kresge, W. W. Mac, and Neisner's. There had to have been other TG&Y locations in Florida that time, as I can't imagine the only store in Florida being located in Rockledge. From what I remember, TG&Y was considered a "variety store," but it just didn't have the look of a "five-and-ten." I think the comment about TG&Y being a second-tier chain was right on the money. They would probably be compared to Family Dollar today.
Dean
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Post by Dean »

Dean wrote:The former TG & Y on Main Street in Hesperia CA is FINALLY being subdivided into a few things.

It must've been sitting vacant for 15-20yrs.

The Industry CA site was next to Alpha Beta. Became Salvation Army Thrift Shop for a spell. Believe it is not vacant.
It is now a pizza place.
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J-Mac
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Post by J-Mac »

There is a former TG&Y at 12491 Valley View, Garden Grove, CA. This store went through a vacancy following TG&Y's exit, follwed by drug store tenants, including, it appears Payless Drugs, Savon, and it is now operating as a Rite Aid. (As a Rite Aid, it has the "blue stripe" interior but a one-off layout due to the rectangular shape of the store.) A little off this topic however...

I do remember the closing days of TG&Y, there is a Conair phone that sits on my home office desk that came from the closing sale.

Oddly, the Vons that occupied the same center as TG&Y moved up the street and is now occupied by a 99cent store. Kinda similar, right?

Of note, the front of the TG&Y store remains pretty much unchanged. Edit: I seem to recall "Family Centers" being part of the signage on this store.
Last edited by J-Mac on 28 Nov 2007 16:35, edited 1 time in total.
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buckhead
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Post by buckhead »

jimbobga wrote:This is skipping from California to Michigan to Florida. In 1962, TG&Y opened a store at Village Green Shopping Center in Cocoa-Rockledge, FL. This area already had Woolworth's, W. T. Grant, Kresge, W. W. Mac, and Neisner's. There had to have been other TG&Y locations in Florida that time, as I can't imagine the only store in Florida being located in Rockledge. From what I remember, TG&Y was considered a "variety store," but it just didn't have the look of a "five-and-ten." I think the comment about TG&Y being a second-tier chain was right on the money. They would probably be compared to Family Dollar today.
I lived in Central Florida from 1979 until 1991. I remember that TG&Y. I also recall a few others, but for the life of me can't tell you where they were. TG&Y also operated stores in Georgia. Two that come to mind were in Monroe (west of downtown on Business US78) and Macon (Gray Highway, US 129). The Monroe location closed and later was remodeled into a nice Winn-Dixie. Of course Winn-Dixie bit the dust in this area, and I notice that now (at least part of) the location is operated by a Peeble's store. The Macon location was rather huge, comparable in size to K-Mart and Walmart stores of the day. It had many departments, but no grocery or auto center, IIRC. It operated as a TG&Y Family Center. It did not keep the name for very long; in later years it used the AIM name (also operated by the same company) and then shut down. I have not been by that location in over 10 years, so I'm not sure what is there now. In that same center at one time there was a grocery location that operated under several banners. I first recall it being a Big Apple Food Warehouse (Alterman Foods operation) and later a Bi-Lo (American Ahold) and then a Food World (Bruno's out of Birmingham). Anyway, I'm not sure if the TG&Y/AIM operated concurrently with the grocery operations, or later occupied part or all of the store. In other words I don't remember which came first. Maybe Edric Floyd can help out on this one.
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TG&Y

Post by dooneyt63 »

There were TG&Y stores in many areas of Florida, usually in smaller towns. Their family centers (as opposed to the older, smaller variety stores) were often the first major discounter in the smaller towns. As for the Scott's 5&10's, they were indeed a chain. I don't have my information on the exact chronology at hand, but at one point, the Scott's chain was affiliated with Butler Brothers, the company that operated and franchised the Ben Franklin stores. I think, IIRC, that Scott's was a sister operation to Ben Franklin for a time. Over the years, there were conversions back and forth from TG&Y to Scott's and vice versa as well as from TG&Y to Ben Franklin. At one point shortly before Household International sold the TG&Y operation, many of the smaller TG&Y stores were converted to Ben Franklin...also controlled by Household at the time, I believe. Some switched back to TG&Y later. Some TG&Y stores retained the name after they were sold to McCrory; many (especially the family centers) did not make the transition for long. Some were rebranded McCrory. The family center concept was much more polished and advanced than the stores McCrory was operating at the time of the TG&Y acquisition especially in departments and selection.
TenPoundHammer
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Re: TG&Y

Post by TenPoundHammer »

I saw a 1960s map of Shepherd Mall in Oklahoma City; it showed a TG&Y Variety Store in one mall space, and at one of the anchor spots was a TG&Y Family Center/IGA combination. I don't know what the IGA became, but the TG&Y Family Center part became a McCrory's. There was also another TG&Y/IGA combo somewhere in OKC that later became a Phar-Mor, according to a forum post I read somewhere.
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Post by OldBlueValiant »

There was a TG&Y store in Ojai, CA which I seem to recall as a kid back in around '84. Today it is a Ben Franklin Variety/Craft store, man that store brings back memories because these days there are so few variety stores left.
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Re: TG&Y

Post by Brian Lutz »

Growing up in Los Alamos NM, TG&Y (My dad got us to start calling it "Toy Guns and Yoyos") was pretty much the only variety store in town. There was a locally owned department store named Clement and Benner (later CB Fox) which is still around, and a clothing store known as Anthony's which I believe was part of a chain, but I only ever remember seeing one other one, but those two places and TG&Y was the extent of your options for clothes shopping in town. They never bothered changing the signs even with all the mergers that the place went through, and eventually they added the Coast to Coast Hardware branding to the store. It lasted until some time after my family moved out of that town in 1994, and as far as I can tell its former space has a Bealls store now.
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Daniel
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Re: TG&Y

Post by Daniel »

There was a TG&Y store in Winter Garden, FL. My aunt was opening a store around the time they went out of business and bought some of their old shelving. I still have a roll of "YDC" (York Distribution Company) price tags that came from that store. That strip center was in a decline when I was there in 1990, Publix had relocated to a new store down the road and TG&Y closed, leaving the center with no anchors. I don't know what's in there today.
rich
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Re: TG&Y

Post by rich »

TG&Y owned Scott's, another second string dime store chain that had stores in the Midwest. Scott's stores were smaller than typical Woolworth or Kresge stores. Many Eastern and Midwestern chains followed their customers to Florida so that may explain the TG&Y presence there. TG&Y dropped the Scott's name somewhere in the late 60s or early 70s on existing stores. Two Scott's/TG&Y stores I rememeber in the Cleveland area were at Forest Hills Plaza in East Cleveland and Town Center in Wickliffe. I think there also was one in Euclid at Shore Center. Forest Hills Plaza dates from the 30s and Shore center from the late 40s, so they probably would have had a longstanding footprint if the stores had been original to those centers.
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Re: TG&Y

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