In 1947, Sidney and Herbert Hubschman opened their first "Two Guys From Harrison" home appliance store. It primarily sold "scratch & dent" RCA televisions. In 1959, a merger with the O.A. Sutton Corporation was completed. They manufactured Vornado-brand heaters, fans and air conditioners. A parent company -Vornado, Incorporated- was created. Its home office was established in Garfield, New Jersey.
Food Giant Markets, Incorporated, a major west coast grocer, was acquired in September 1961. They owned the fifteen-store Unimart discount department store enterprise. Food Giant and Unimart became Vornado ventures.
At the same time, the Two Guys chain expanded throughout the Mid-Atlantic region. In 1965, there were twenty-five operating stores. By 1967, the count had risen to thirty-five. The typical Two Guys covered between 110,000 and 190,000 square feet. A large supermarket was included in the footprint.
In 1969, new Two Guys stores were opened in New York, New Jersey, Connecticut and Massachusetts, as well as in Southern California. The fortunes of the Vornado parent company began to decline in the late 1970s, with various stores being sold. As a result of a shift toward real estate development, the corporate moniker was changed to Vornado Realty Trust.
In March 1979, Vornado was acquired -in a hostile takeover- by New York City-based Interstate Properties, Incorporated. The remaining Two Guys locations were disposed of, with the final twelve stores shutting down in February 1982.
TWO GUYS-ANCHORED SHOPPING MALLS:
*NEW LONDON MALL, New London, CT (1968)
*DEL AMO CENTER, Torrance, CA (1972) [outparcel]
*TWIN CENTERS MALL, Oxnard, CA (1973) [previously UniMart]
Click on this link to view a vintage TWO GUYS commercial!
