TG&Y was named for its three founders; Rawdon Earl Tomlinson, Enoch Leslie Gosselin and Raymond Alfred Young. Each had operated variety stores in the Sooner State. The three men met at a trade show in 1932 and decided to pool their assets into the creation of the Central Merchandise Corporation, which became the TG&Y parent company.
The first TG&Y variety store opened, in Norman, Oklahoma, in July 1936. A headquarters was soon established in Oklahoma City. The business endeavor was incorporated, as the TG&Y Stores Company, in 1946. By 1957, there were 127 stores. The chain was acquired by Chicago-based Butler Brothers, a general merchandise distributor and operator of retail stores, in October. They ran the TG&Y division as an autonomous entity.
In turn, Butler Brothers was bought by the Chicago-based City Products Corporation in February 1960. Again, the TG&Y division remained an autonomous unit. In 1961, there were 230 stores. Expansion of the chain continued at a rapid clip. There were 460 stores in 1965, 477 in 1966 and 551 by 1967. The typical TG&Y variety store encompassed between 12,000 and 18,000 square feet.
In 1969, Scott Stores, another division of City Products, was merged into the TG&Y enterprise. By 1986, there were 236 standard TG&Y variety stores and 507 Family Centers (a discount mart division) These operated in twenty-nine states. The 743-store chain was acquired by the McCrory Corporation in January 1986. McCrory, through its Rapid American parent company, immediately closed 205 TG&Y stores. The remainder continued to operate under the TG&Y banner until the dissolution of the McCrory Corporation in April 2001.
*LAKESIDE CENTER, Jefferson Parish, LA (1960)
*ESCONDIDO VILLAGE MALL, Escondido, CA (1964)
*ALCOSTA MALL, San Ramon, CA (1968)
