Southwestern Ohio's Dayton Mall


The original DAYTON MALL logo, circa-1970.
Graphic from the Edward J. DeBartolo Corporation


The grand entry into the Gem City's gargantuan DAYTON MALL. Going through its glass doors, one came upon two sweeping semicircular stairways that ascended to a Mezzanine Level.


DAYTON MALL has been a poorly-documented shopping center. No vintage photos are available, so I created some images from memory. The mall's Center Court had 2 levels and fronted on Rike's. As originally built, DAYTON MALL was a spartan, no-frills structure with few interior embellishments and no natural lighting of any kind. The wavy ceiling treatment, spanning Center Court, was made of strips of paper.


The south-facing facade of Rike's. Two exterior entries brought customers into its Budget Basement Store (which wasn't in a basement). In its original state, Rike's Dayton Mall included The Amber Lantern, an upscale restaurant.


Penneys, which anchored the west end of the 1970 mall. It featured a coffee shop restaurant, beauty salon, lawn & garden center and freestanding Penneys Auto Center. 

A DAYTON MALL logo montage is composed of trademarks of seven charter stores and services. These opened for business in 1969 and 1970.


DAYTON MALL, circa-1970. To a budding mallophile such as myself, this 1.2 million square foot facility seemed huge. Of course -in the pre-internet age- I was unaware of larger complexes that existed in the 'burbs of Chicago, Denver, San Francisco-Oakland or New York City.

DAYTON MALL TENANTS 1970:

RIKE'S (with Amber Lantern Restaurant, Snack Bar, Budget Basement Store, Beauty Salon and freestanding Tire Center) / J.C. PENNEY (with Coffee Shop, Lawn & Garden Center, Beauty Salon and freestanding Auto Center) / SEARS (with Coffee House and freestanding Auto Center) / LIBERAL supermarket / Baker's Shoes / Baynham Shoes / Bernard's Wigs / Bresler's 33 Flavors Ice Cream / Brijette Fashions / Brooks Fashions / Birkhardts / Burt's Shoes / Butler's Shoes / Camelot Music / Card Cage / Carousel Snack Bar / Cassano Pizza King / Chess King / Craig's ladies' wear / Dayton Mall Cinema (single screen) / Docktor Pet Center / Dolly Madison Beauty Salon / Donenfeld's ladies' wear / Dunhill's men's wear / Fabric Mart Draperies / Fanny Farmer Candies / Firestone Tire & Appliance / First National Bank / Fitzharris Shoes / Florsheim Shoes / Forum Cafeteria / Foxmoor Casuals / Frederick's of Hollywood / Gallery Three / Ganz Custom Furriers / Gem City Savings / Giddings-Jenny / Gray Drug / Hanover Shoes / Harolde's sportswear / Harris' Beautiful Shoes / Hickory Farms of Ohio / Hobby Center Toys / Hot Sam Pretzels / House of Nine ladies' wear / J.G. McCrory 5 & 10 (with restaurant, snack bar & cafeteria) / Jaccard Jewelers / Joan Bari / Jo-Ann Fabrics / Kinney Shoes / Lane Bryant / Lerner Shops / Leroy's Keepsake Diamonds / London Bobby Fish & Chips / Marshalls Fashions / Mary Jane Shoes / Mayor Jewelers / Mayor Records / Merle Norman Cosmetic Studio / Miles Shoes / Miscellaneous, Incorporated / Mobil Shoes / National Shirt Shops / Parklane Hosiery / Partycard / Regal Shoes / Richman Brothers men's wear / Russell Stover Candies / Schiff Shoes / Spencer Gifts / Thal's ladies' wear / The Children's Photographer / The Fatted Calf restaurant / The Golden Razor barber shop / The Limited / The Metropolitan apparel / The Tie Bar / Thom McAn Shoes / Tobacco Village / Waldenbooks / Walker's men's wear / Wicker World 


The mall's second level Mezzanine, as it was configured during the early years. The area fronting on Rike's, and overlooking the Main Level Atrium, was a dark, empty dead zone for several years. It would be utilized as a Food Court in 1984.


In the early 1970s, an urban legend circulated saying that psychic Jeane Dixon had predicted that DAYTON MALL was going to come tumbling down. Of course, it never did. I have read that the same "prediction" was reputedly made for Georgia's CUMBERLAND MALL, North Carolina's FOUR SEASONS MALL and Tennessee's 100 OAKS MALL.
Photo from Wikipedia / http://paranormal-corner.blogspot.com


The very first renovation of DAYTON MALL was completed in October 1984. Shopping concourses were re-floored, fountains removed or replaced and an upper floor Food Court built. Center Court was also reconfigured with a glass elevator.  
Drawing from the JMB Property Management Corporation


In late 1984, the mall has just emerged from its first renovation. Interior spaces have been altered considerably. Liberal Markets pulled up stakes in January 1979, with its vacant store being divided 5-ways. McCrory's was downsized and sub-divided in 1982 (the store would close in 1991). The Metropolitan was shuttered in August 1983 and sectioned 7-ways. Moreover, there are now 8 cinematic auditoriums located throughout the mall.

The mall was given another makeover in the mid-1990s. Penney's relocated from the west end of the mall into a newly-built store at front center. On the periphery of DAYTON MALL, the grand Southland 75, a cool, Mid-Century Modern drive-in, had been bulldozed. The land became too valuable to waste as a lowly outdoor movie theater.


Elder-Beerman set up shop in the original J.C. Penney building in 1998. It is ironic that this chain ever operated in the complex. In 1968, Elder-Beerman (then Dayton-based) was blocked -by Federated Stores and Edward J. Debartolo- from being included as a mall anchor. A nasty lawsuit ensued...


A circa-2005 aerial, with a section of Elder-Beerman in the upper right. The mall's northwest parking area has been excavated in preparation for a new lifestyle addition.
Photo from www.glimcher.com / Glimcher Realty Trust


A bird's-eye view of the northwest corner of the complex, with the new VILLAGE AT DAYTON MALL in the foreground. Tenants in the 90,000 square foot lifestyle center opened for business between September 2006 and December 2007.
Photo from www.glimcher.com / Glimcher Realty Trust
Cleveland's The Village


Open-air in format, THE VILLAGE was Tennessee's very first mall-type shopping center. 
Graphic from Jafco, Incorporated


The Village Goes Modern in the Hills of Tennessee! The compact complex was officially dedicated in August 1961, an event heralded in this vintage full-page advertisement. As part of a 3-day grand opening celebration, savings bonds, cold cash and gallons of gas were awarded as prizes.
Advert from Jafco, Incorporated 

In a circa-2008 layout, the VILLAGE AT DAYTON MALL is shown in light gray. Its construction included new (freestanding) P.F. Chang's China Bistro and Jared The Galleria of Jewelry stores. The mall, excluding its outparcel VILLAGE, now spanned approximately 1,352,600 leasable square feet.


Ann Taylor Loft was a charter VILLAGE AT DAYTON MALL tenant. The store was in operation between October 2006 and January 2009.
Photo from www.glimcher.com / Glimcher Realty Trust


Bravo! Cucina Italiana was another original VILLAGE AT DAYTON MALL store. It is still in business to this day.
Photo from www.glimcher.com / Glimcher Realty Trust


Borders Books was located in an extension of space that had been occupied by The Metropolitan (a large apparel store) in the circa-'70 center. The (22,000 square foot) bookstore and cafe were shuttered in April 2011.
Photo from www.glimcher.com / Glimcher Realty Trust

Abercrombie & Fitch occupied space that was part of a large Donenfeld's apparel store in the circa-'70 center. Today, the A & F space houses City Gear.
Photo from www.glimcher.com / Glimcher Realty Trust


In this view, we see the center anchor and a bit of the mall's Atrium area. This store, originally the Rike's depicted above, had stints as Shillito Rikes, Lazarus and Lazarus-Macy's before receiving a Macy's nameplate, in early 2005.
Photo from https://www.flickr.com / "GameKing3"  


Sears, the mall's final original store, opened in September 1970 and closed for good in November 2018. Although J.C. Penney and Spencer Gifts were also charter DAYTON MALL tenants, they currently operate in relocated stores.
Photo from https://www.flickr.com / "GameKing3"  


Speaking of which, we have the present-day DAYTON MALL Penney's.
Photo from https://www.flickr.com / "GameKing3"  


This store welcomed first shoppers in March 1996.
Photo from https://www.flickr.com / "GameKing3"  

In a contemporary aerial view, J.C. Penney is at front center. Sears would have been on the left.
Photo from http://washingtonprime.com / Washington Prime Group


In December 2015, a 2.2 square mile area of retail stores surrounding (and including) DAYTON MALL was officially designated as the Miami Crossing District.
Graphic from http://miamicrossingdistrict.com 


DAYTON MALL, circa-2020. In September, the mall achieved its 50th year in business. At the time of this plan, it is saddled with vacant anchor spaces on its east and west ends. Still, the 1,442,600 square foot buying behemoth houses over 170 stores and services.

DAYTON MALL
Miamisburg-Centerville Road and Dayton-Springboro Pike
Montgomery County, Ohio

News of a major south Dayton shopping mall began to surface in August 1967. The complex would be built on a 102-acre site, located 8 miles south of downtown Dayton, in an unincorporated section of Montgomery County known as Miami Township. The land parcel was situated at the intersection of State Routes 725 and 741 and was adjacent to the Interstate 75 expressway.

Construction commenced on the DAYTON MALL project in September 1968. The complex, which was to encompass 1,270,000 leasable square feet, was developed by Youngstown, Ohio's Edward J. DeBartolo Corporation. Plans were drawn by the firm of Lorenz-Williams-Williams-Lively & Likens. Promoted as the "biggest enclosed mall in the Midwest," the shopping hub had a center section, with an upper level Mezzanine. Two single-level concourses extended toward the east and west, with a fountain situated at the center point of each.

Stores at DAYTON MALL opened in several stages. A 2-level (182,000 square foot), Dayton-based Rike's was dedicated on September 22, 1969. Cassano Pizza King, Hickory Farms of Ohio and The First National Bank were in business by December 1969. The single-screen Chakeres Dayton Mall Cinema showed its first feature on December 25th.

A 2-level (250,000 square foot) J.C. Penney opened its doors on February 11, 1970, with a 2-level (185,000 square foot) Sears dedicated on September 2nd. The Sears store had 2 levels, but only the main mall level was used for retail. A basement housed corporate offices. 

In March 1970, a Preview Opening for the mall was held. Twenty-five stores were up and running. A Formal Opening got underway on September 24th, with a total of 106 operational stores. When fully leased, the 18 million dollar complex contained 118.

Charter tenants included Chess King, Thal's ["thallz"] ladies' wear, Donenfeld's ladies' wear, Mayor's Jewelry & Records, Hot Sam Pretzels, Docktor Pet Center, Leroy's Keepsake Diamonds and Camelot Music. There were also a (20,400 square foot) Liberal supermarket, (60,000 square foot) J.G. McCrory 5 & 10 and (37,500 square foot) Metropolitan apparel.

Stores in the upper floor Mezzanine began opening on July 6, 1970. When fully-tenanted, the area housed twenty retail spaces. These were leased by Wicker World, Maternity Modes, Town & Country, Card Cage, Brendamour's Sporting Goods and Cassano's Commodore restaurant & Lounge.

The Southland 75 Drive-in, located directly west of DAYTON MALL on State Route 741, had opened July 13, 1964. At the time, the theater had the largest outdoor screen in the Buckeye State. It was twin-screened in the early 1980s, closed for good on July 13, 1986, and was bulldozed soon after. The Southland 75 was replaced by the fifteen-store SOUTHLAND 75 SHOPPING CENTER.

Three mini-cinemas were installed on the DAYTON MALL Mezzanine. Cinema 2 showed a first feature on August 4, 1972Cinema 3 and Cinema 4 opened on October 6, 1976. The McCrory 5 & 10, on the East Wing of the mall, was downsized. Cinemas 5-8, installed in former McCrory space, were officially dedicated on July 30, 1982.

Meanwhile, the Liberal supermarket became the first major mall tenant to be shuttered. This took place on January 20, 1979. Ownership of the mall changed soon after. The DeBartolo Corporation sold the complex to Chicago's JMB Property Management Corporation in January 1983. JMB announced plans for a 6 million dollar face lift in April 1984. 

As part of the project, new terra cotta tile was placed over original terrazzo flooring. A Food Court was built in unused space on the Mezzanine. Moreover, Center Court was refurbished with a glass elevator, reflecting pool and soft seating area. In other sections of the mall, new stairs, ceilings and skylights were installed. Lastly, mall entrances adjacent to Sears and Penney's were closed off, with new retail space created. The revitalized mall was re-dedicated on October 26, 1984.

Federated Department Stores had merged their Shillito's and Rike's divisions in April 1982, with Shillito-Rike's nameplates being installed on stores in June. Further consolidation merged Federated's Shillito-Rike's and Columbus-based Lazarus divisions. This merger was announced in January 1986, with Shillito-Rike's stores being rebranded in March. Stores morphed into Lazarus-Macy's in August 2003 and were fully "Macy-ated" on March 6, 2005.

Meanwhile, a second renovation of DAYTON MALL was underway by the mid-1990s. This 20 million dollar endeavor was done to keep the center competitive with the new MALL AT FAIRFIELD COMMONS (1993) {12.4 miles northeast, in Beavercreek}. A third floor was added to the DAYTON MALL Lazarus. Now encompassing 253,000 square feet, the expanded store held its grand re-opening on January 14, 1994. 

Sears' (35,000 square foot) lower level became an additional sales floor. When the store reconfiguration was completed, Sears encompassed 224,000 square feet. J.C. Penney moved into a new 2-level (179,000 square foot) unit. This was built in front of what had been the mall's Main Entrance. The new Penney's was dedicated on March 6, 1996. The original store, at the end of the West Wing, re-opened as a Cincinnati-based McAlpin's on October 30, 1996.

During the mid-'90s renovation, shopping concourses were refurbished, using a garden motif. New flooring, trellises, park benches, landscaping and a bird bath fountain were installed. Tenants such as Eddie Bauer, Pacific Sunwear, Men's Wearhouse and Rogers Jewelers were brought into the mall. Likewise, the Upper Level Food Court was doubled in size. New vendors included Bagel Cafe, Subway, Sweet Factory, Great Burger & Potato Company and Frullatli.

A revitalized DAYTON MALL was officially dedicated during a 3-day grand opening celebration. This commenced on November 3, 1995. The complex now encompassed approximately 1,221,900 leasable square feet and contained 160 stores and services under its roof. The Columbus-based Glimcher Realty Trust acquired DAYTON MALL in April 1997. McAlpin's was rebranded as a Dayton-based Elder-Beerman in July 1998.

By the early 21st century, several shopping complexes in the DAYTON MALL trade area were in decline. SALEM MALL, Middletown's CITY CENTRE MART and Franklin Township's TOWNE MALL were virtually vacant, or had been demolished all together. DAYTON MALL had to strive to keep a competitive edge. The latest thing in retail was trendy, upscale and open-air; this exemplified by THE GREENE TOWN CENTER {7.3 miles northeast, also in Beavercreek}, which opened in August 2006. News of this complex initiated plans for a open-air "lifestyle component" to be added to DAYTON MALL.

In June 2005, Glimcher initiated construction on the 20 million dollar (90,000 square foot) VILLAGE AT DAYTON MALL. This complex was built in the northwest parking area, along State Route 725. It was to add twenty-five tenants to the mall's retail roster.

Bravo! Cucina Italiana served first meals on September 22, 2006. Ann Taylor Loft began business October 3rd. As the VILLAGE was built, the north-facing facade of DAYTON MALL was remodeled and enlarged. A new Borders Books was created, which opened in May 2006. It was followed by the dedication of Orvis Sporting Trends, in November of the same year.

The mall and its peripheral open-air VILLAGE now housed 184 tenant spaces. The shuttering of Borders Books, in early 2011, created a vacancy that was filled when DSW, in the mall's East Wing, closed and moved. The new store held its grand opening on February 23, 2012. With the old DSW space now vacant, plans were finalized for a new Dick's Sporting Goods. The old DSW, and an adjacent space previously occupied by FYE, were expanded by an additional 19,000 square feet. The (50,000 square foot) Dick's opened for business on November 7, 2012.

DAYTON MALL and VILLAGE AT DAYTON MALL now encompassed around 1,442,600 leasable square feet. By this time, another potential competitor had come on the scene. AUSTIN LANDING {2 miles southwest, in Montgomery County} was an open-air, mixed-use complex. Segments of its retail component opened for business between 2011 and 2014.

Indiana's Simon Property Group created a spin-off Real Estate Investment Trust in May 2014. Known as the Washington Prime Group, it merged with the Glimcher Realty Trust in early 2015. As a result, DAYTON MALL was brought under the ownership and management of the Columbus, Ohio-based Washington Prime Group.

The mall lost one of its four anchors on August 29, 2018. Elder-Beerman, an operative of the Bon Ton Stores conglomerate since 2003, shuttered its 20-year-old DAYTON MALL store. Soon after, another anchor went dark. 
 
Sears, which had been in operation since 1970, closed for good on November 25, 2018. The abandoned Sears was acquired by a Belbrook, Ohio church. They repurposed Sears as the Crossroads Church, a facility that included a 1,500-seat auditorium, youth auditorium and day care center. Washington Prime sold DAYTON MALL in December 2021, with the Syracuse-based Spinoso Real Estate Group becoming the new proprietor. 

Sources:

The Journal Herald (Dayton, Ohio)
Personal recollection of the author
http://www.daytonmall.org
http://www.daytonmall.com
http://www.cinematour.com
http://www.glimcher.com / Glimcher Realty Trust
http://www.whio.com
http://www.fds.com / Federated Department Stores
http://www.thegreene.com
https://www.daytondailynews.com
http://www.daytonhistorybooks.citymax.com

DAYTON MALL MUSINGS:

My fascination with shopping malls began in the late "classic mall era," when I was still living in southwestern Ohio (between Dayton and Cincinnati). Until 1969, I had never visited an enclosed shopping mall. At this time, I was a wide-eyed kid, infatuated with drawing house plans, building plans and structural renderings. I didn't have a clue about shopping meccas in the nearby "big city."

This all changed when -in 1969- my stepfather took me on an insider tour of the site where he had been doing electrical wiring over the past year. When I first visited DAYTON MALL, construction was about three-quarters complete. The Rike's department store was ready to open. As I recall, it was a stipulation of Federated Stores, that their Rike's was to be the first store opened in the mall. Rike's originally had 2 levels. It was larger than its sibling shopping center store, which had opened, on Salem Avenue, 6 years before.  

What I recall most about the DAYTON MALL Rike's was the optical illusion-design carpeting in the men's clothing section. It could made you dizzy if you stared at its patterns while walking through the department, lol.

In keeping with the times, the DAYTON MALL Rike's was a full-service department store. There was a snack bar on the first level, and electronic / tv department on the second. This was back in "the day," before big box stores cornered the electronics / tv marketplace, and made such a retail section in a mid-tier department store obsolete.

I also recall venturing to (what would be) the DAYTON MALL Sears. The store was still under construction and didn't -yet- have walls. It wouldn't be opening for nearly a year. 

The mall's three shopping concourses converged upon a 2-story Atrium, in front of Rike's. Upon my first visit to "The Mall," workmen were polishing new terrazzo floors. The huge ceiling fixture above had been completely installed. It extended the length and breadth of the area and was made of strips of PAPER (I don't know if many people visiting the original DAYTON MALL were aware of this).

In fact, the mall, as it was opened in 1969 and '70, was built in a very spartan fashion. There were no skylights anywhere. There were two rather basic, no frills, fountains at the midpoint of the East and West Wings, with no water feature in the Atrium.

It was as if the builders of the original mall wanted it to be BIG....really BIG. In order to do this, corners were apparently cut, in regard to architectural embellishment of the interior spaces. In 1970, the major feature of the brand-new DAYTON MALL was its physical SIZE. With nearly 120 stores, and over 1 million leasable square feet, it was larger than any of the malls that existed in the suburbs of Cincinnati or Dayton.

Although interiors were rather sterile and plain, the Main Entrance at DAYTON MALL was built on a grand scale. It was an imposing, 2-story edifice, something like a '70s Mod southern mansion. There was a sheet of glass across the entire front of the 2-level entry corridor, behind a stand of pillars. 

Upon entering through the main doors, one stood in a 2-story concourse. There was a hallway going off to the right, with a Liberal supermarket at its end. Looking ahead, there were two, sweeping, semi-circular stairways; one on either side of the mallway. Stores on this first level included Cassano Pizza King, Docktor Pet Center, Hot Sam Pretzels and Chess King (what major shopping mall in 1970 didn't have one?).

At the end of the entry concourse was the 2-level Atrium and an imposing, brick and stone, Rike's storefront. On the Upper Level / Mezzanine were lots of stores, but I can only recall a coin shop. The area in front of Rike's was a dark, dead zone. There was floor space enough for all sorts of kiosk-type retailers.......but, in 1970, such a "specialty leasing" concept was not being utilized.

Going off to the right of the Atrium, on the Lower Level, was the West Wing, which included the (single-screen) Dayton Mall Cinema. Farther on was a large Metropolitan apparel store, with a Spencer Gifts across the mall. At the end of the West Wing was a 2-level J.C. Penney.

The East Wing extended from the other end of the Atrium. Along its length were a Donenfeld's apparel store, McCrory 5 & 10, Hickory Farms of Ohio and -my favorite store out of the other 115- Camelot Music. Walking into this store in 1970, one would find no compact discs and no home video. The first major home video format, VHS (video home system), would come on the market 7 years later. Compact discs were not to be seen for another 7 years.

Camelot Music had lots of LP record albums (selling for around 5 to 6 dollars each). 45 rpm singles were going for 79 cents. One would also have seen several cases filled with 8-track cartridge tapes and pre-recorded cassettes.

Walking out of Camelot, and heading farther east in the mall, one would eventually come to Sears, which sat at the end of the East Wing. At this time, the retail area of this store had only 1 level. There was a basement (which had frontage on a lower level parking lot), but this was used as office space until the mid-'90s.

DAYTON MALL 2000 +

As one might expect, a trip to the DAYTON MALL in the new millennium would reveal quite a different shopping center. The blandly-built interior spaces were spruced up in the mid-1980s and (again) in 1994-1995, with a glass elevator installed in the Atrium area.

A 14-bay Food Court was built in the empty Upper Level / Mezzanine "dead zone." Of course, the Rike's store no longer goes by that name. After going through two nameplate changes, it was "Macy-ated" on March 6, 2005.

J.C. Penney, once at the end of the West Wing, moved into a brand new store. This was built in front of the original Main Entrance in 1995-1996. The previous Penney's became a McAlpin's and then operated, as an Elder-Beerman, for 20 years. The original cinema folded in 2001. With the shuttering of Sears, in late 2018, no original mall stores remain.  

This MALL HALL OF FAME feature will begin with a history of the American supermarket. As on other parts of this website, we present a visual picture and do not just talk about the subject matter.  Our fifteen Food Store Focus sections include all matter of retro grocery store ephemera. We also zero in on the supermarket as it related to early car culture shopping centers and shopping malls built in the USA. 

The supermarket story begins with the introduction of the so-called self-service grocery. Exactly who came up with this concept first is subjective. It is claimed that Hugh and Albert Gerrard opened the Triangle Groceteria -a self-service-type market- in Pomona, California, in 1915. Memphis, Tennessee's Clarence Saunders opened the first self-service Piggly Wiggly market on September 6, 1916. If Clarence Saunders wasn't the very first to operate a self-service food facility, he was the first to patent to idea.

Up to this time, customers at the typical grocery would have their orders filled by clerks. All merchandise was not individually packaged and priced and was stocked in shelves behind counters. The clerk filling a customer's order would have to measure out various quantities of foods and sack them up. Obviously, this was a very labor-intensive and time-consuming process.

At the self-service Piggly Wiggly, customers entered through a turnstile, grabbed a basket and walked through aisles of pre-packaged and price-marked merchandise. Items would be paid for at a checkout stand located near the store's exit. Clarence Saunders patented his self-service grocery format in 1917. Most of his competitors had converted to this store model by the late 1930s.

A fantastic, high-contrast snapshot of the 379-foot shopping concourse. Its concrete roof vaults provided protection from inclement weather, although the area was not enclosed and climate-controlled.
Photo from Architectural Forum / June 1962 / George Cserna


Knoxville-based Miller's of Tennessee anchored the north end of THE VILLAGE with a 1-level (30,000 square foot) department store. It would preside over the mall for more than 26 years.
Photo from Architectural Forum / June 1962 / George Cserna
Graphic from Miller's Department Stores


Obviously, THE VILLAGE was (and is) quite an ultra-modern architectural gem. Here, we see the southern facade of its Kresge dime store.
Photo from Architectural Forum / June 1962 / George Cserna


Unit number 723 was one of fifty-two new stores opened by the Kresge Company during 1961. At this time, the Detroit-based chain operated in forty-two states, and in Canada and Puerto Rico. In 1961, there were 784 operational Kresge 5 & 10s.
Graphic from the Kresge Company


Our first VILLAGE layout depicts the mall of August 1961. At this time, the complex covered a modest 190,500 leasable square feet and contained an eventual twenty-nine stores and services. A partial Lower Level housed a bowling alley and snack bar. There was free parking for 1,800 autos.

THE VILLAGE TENANTS 1961:

MILLER'S / S.S. KRESGE 5 & 10 (with luncheonette) / WHITE STORES supermarket / Anna Ball White ladies' wear / Butler's Shoes / Callaway Delicatessen / Cole Rexall Drugs (with luncheonette) / Cordie's Beauty Shop / Earl's Bakery & Catering Service / Eleanor Shops ladies' wear / Handcraft One-Hour Cleaners / Joe Rodgers Office Supply / Margaret's House of Fashions ladies' wear / Mary Trewhitt Stork Shop / Phillip's Shoes / Record Mart / Sears Catalog / The Village Barber Shop / The Village Book Shoppe / The Village Cafeteria / The Village Men's Shop / The Village Patio / The Village Scrub Board laundermat / Village Amoco service station (outparcel) / Village Hardware & Sporting Goods / Village Lanes bowling alley & Lunch 'n Bowl (Lower Level) / Village Shoe Repair 

VILLAGE OFFICE BUILDING
Abbott Paine & Proctor / Cleveland National Drive-In Bank / Jafco, Incorporated / J.C. Thames, Certified Public Accountant / J.F. Corn, Attorney At Law / J.M. Park & Sons / Marvin Rymer / Pegues & Patten Insurance / Village Merchants Association

This early Piggly Wiggly trademark was used to promote the rapidly-expanding grocery store chain in 1919. By 1922, there were 600 stores, with all being franchised -in opposition to company-run- operations. The store count in 1924 was 1,400 and had risen to 3,123 by 1929. The peak store number -in 1932- was 2,660. 
Graphic from Piggly Wiggly Stores, Incorporated


An early store is depicted in this vintage image. Piggy Wiggly founder Clarence Sauders issued public stock in the company and eventually lost control of it. His later attempts to establish fully-automated supermarkets -such as Keedoozle and FoodElectric- were not successful.
Graphic from Piggly Wiggly Stores, Incorporated


Meanwhile, in September 1916, Clarence Saunders opened Piggly Wiggly Store Number One, in Memphis, Tennessee. 
Photo from Library of Congress


The Piggly Wiggly concept revolutionized the grocery industry. In addition to introducing the self-service format, the chain was also the first to provide check-out stands and customer shopping carts.
Photo from Library of Congress 

Circa-1921

Circa-1941

Circa-1951


As of mid-2023, there were 506 franchised Piggly Wiggly stores. These operate in Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia, West Virginia and Wisconsin. The corporate headquarters is located in Keane, New Hampshire. 
Graphic from Piggly Wiggly, Limited Liability Company

The self-service grocery was followed by the first supermarkets. Early models were somewhat larger than the standard 1,000 square foot grocery and offered items at discounted prices. The idea was to make money not so much by large profits made on individual items but from smaller profits garnered by selling en masse...or on a much larger scale.

The Smithsonian Institution has recognized New York City's King Kullen chain as "America's first supermarket." The first store opened, in the Queens borough, on August 4, 1930. Michael J. Cullen's 6,000 square foot units set a new standard in the industry. Five criteria were met; self- service shopping, discount pricing, individual departments, chain marketing and volume dealing. On-site parking was also provided for customers.

At first, King Cullen's retail rivals -such as A & P, Kroger and Safeway- balked at the adoption of the supermarket-style store. However, a severe economic depression necessitated their acceptance of the price-based format.



Long Island, New York's King Kullen chain was another merchandising maverick of the early 20th century. The first store, seen here, opened its doors in August 1930. It was located in the Jamaica neighborhood of New York City's Queens borough. The building had previously housed an auto repair garage. 
Photo from https://kingkullen.com

-Circa-1935-

-Circa-1950-


A mid-century King Cullen store holds its official grand opening. In 1932, there had been eight operational stores. Fourteen were in service in 1938. The chain had grown to thirty locations by 1952. 
Photo from https://kingkullen.com


Here, we see the check-out lines at a mid-century store. Early King Kullen units encompassed between 5,200 to 6,400 square feet. By the 1950s, stores fell within the 10,000 to 15,000 square foot range
Photo from https://kingkullen.com


In the 21st century, the King Kullen chain is still family-owned. The company oversees twenty-seven stores...all on Long Island. The corporate headquarters in located in Hauppauge (Suffolk County), New York
Graphic from King Kullen Grocery Company, Incorporated

The number of company-owned (and not franchised) stores operated by America's large grocery chains, i.e., A & P, Kroger, Safeway and Grand Union, peaked in the late 1920s. In the 1930s, as the supermarket-type store came into its own, grocery chains were consolidating several smaller grocery stores into single supermarket operations. Hence, a particular chain's actual number of stores tended to drop during this time.

As America became increasingly auto-oriented during the 1920s and '30s, the car culture shopping center was born. Among the earliest was Kansas City's, Missouri's COUNTRY CLUB PLAZA. One of its first tenants was Wolferman's, a local gourmet grocery chain that opened On The Plaza in January 1924. Another early car culture retail complex, Columbus, Ohio's GRANDVIEW AVENUE SHOPPING CENTER, began business in 1928. It featured four grocery stores; A & P, Kroger, Piggly Wiggly and a local chain known as Polumbos.

At the close of World War II, the budding supermarket industry, whose development had been delayed by The Great Depression and a global conflict, was poised for major expansion. The auto-oriented shopping center, which had evolved in the 1920s and '30s, began to be built in suburban locations.