Welcome to the largest mall and retail history site on the internet. The MALL HALL OF FAME is a vintage shopping mall scrapbook. Its focus is on shopping complexes built -in the USA- between 1946 and 1979. Don't forget to visit our four Shopping Mall Memory Lanes, which transport you through time to a mall in 1956, 1963, 1970 and 1977!


A (quote-unquote) "Ben Franklin Chain Store" is ready to welcome customers in Red Lodge, Montana. This November 1928 endeavor takes place just a year after Butler Brothers formed the Ben Franklin 5 & 10 chain.
Advert from the House of Butler Brothers

The Ben Franklin Stores logo for 1937.
Graphic from the House of Butler Brothers


The Butler Brothers company would often establish a Ben Franklin store in a new locale and then sell an operating franchise to a local businessman (or men), who would assume store's management. The Hansen's Ben Franklin store in Sag Harbor, Long Island may have had the same origin. It opened on March 15, 1941.
Advert from the House of Butler Brothers


The O'Neill, Nebraska Ben Franklin, circa-1949.
Photo and graphic from Butler Brothers

 
A Ben Franklin store in Middlebury, Vermont. This chain encompassed 2,500 stores at its peak. Today, its stores are geared toward craft-type merchandise.                                                                                    Photo from Wikipedia / "PenelopeIsMe"