Way back in the 60's in LaCrosse, WI, before the momentous occasion when we got a KMart, we had Bell which later became Belscot. Altho I was very little at the time, I remember mountains of cheap TV-advertised toys the likes of which I hadn't seen at the other stores we had, like Grant's, Jupiter, McCory's, or Woolworth. The only thing like it was Treasure Island, but that was in Winona about 20 miles away. Plus Treasure Island had food, too.
Anybody else remember these? Apparently there were other Belscots in the midwest, not sure about Bell. From an interesting site, http://www.corporateaffiliations.com , it looks like Belscot or its corpse was bought by Albert Lechter, Inc. - could that be today's Lechter's?
I did kinda wonder why I didn't see Lechter's around any more. We didn't have one here, so I wouldn't have noticed it closing.
Yeah, I guess Belscot was sort of like a lesser version of Kmart but it seemed pretty special compared to nothing, especially to a pre-teen.
Notable, at least to LaCrustians, is that across the street from Belscot was Valley Farm Supply, later bought out by Farm & Fleet, and sort of in front of the parking lot was a junky lumberyard called Menard's Cashway. "Real" builders didn't go there because they didn't extend credit so it was just for do it yourselfers to buy panelling & carpet squares.
One flop & 2 midwestern successes...
Yeah, I guess Belscot was sort of like a lesser version of Kmart but it seemed pretty special compared to nothing, especially to a pre-teen.
Notable, at least to LaCrustians, is that across the street from Belscot was Valley Farm Supply, later bought out by Farm & Fleet, and sort of in front of the parking lot was a junky lumberyard called Menard's Cashway. "Real" builders didn't go there because they didn't extend credit so it was just for do it yourselfers to buy panelling & carpet squares.
One flop & 2 midwestern successes...