John Graham McCrorey opened his first 5 & 10 store in Scottdale, Pennsylvania in late 1882. The enterprise was incorporated, as the McCrory Stores Company, in 1915. A corporate headquarters was established in New York City.  By 1925, 187 units were in operation. The Great Depression hit the chain especially hard, with a bankruptcy filed in January 1933. The company was dissolved, but it soon reformed.

The McCrory Stores Corporation was established. In 1946, it operated 199 stores, with the total rising to 213 by 1956. The company carried out an ambitious program of dime store chain acquisitions. On January 30, 1959, units in the McLellan Stores chain were taken under the McCrory umbrella. Stores in the H.L. Green chain merged with McCrory on March 10, 1961. A new corporate division, known as "MMG" (McCrory-McLellan-Green), was created. 

Meanwhile, the McCrory Stores enterprise had been engulfed by the Rapid American Corporation, of New York, New York, on July 16, 1960. The official moniker of the variety store chain of 445 units was now the McCrory Corporation. By 1966, the store count had climbed to 559. The 439-store J.J. Newberry chain was absorbed in September 1972. There were 837 McCrory-McLellans-H.L. Green and Newberrys stores by 1976. 

Chain store acquisitions continued.  Shuttered W.T. Grant units were bought in the late 1970s. On January 1, 1981, the 66-store S.H. Kress conglomerate was taken in. Various vacant Neisner's stores became McCrory Corporation property. T G & Y 5 & 10s joined the fold in January 1986, with selected S.S. Kresge, Kmart and G.C. Murphy stores purchased between 1987 and 1989. The McCrory enterprise now consisted of 1,300 variety stores in forty-six states.

The economic slump of the 1970s resulted in a loss of commerce for the McCrory Corporation. A downsizing and tightening of efficiency within the organization stabilized the company for a time. However, by the late 1980s, McCrory was, once again, in dire straits. The problems were exacerbated by the somewhat shifty dealings of Meshalum Riklis, who owned Rapid American.

As the 1990s rolled around, 229 out of 1,300 stores had been shuttered; these being operated under the McCrory, G.C. Murphy, T G & Y and J.J. Newberry nameplates. 300 of 460 stores shut down in 1997. By April 2001, the remaining 160 stores had gone out of business, bringing an end to the McCrory Stores story.

McCRORY JUNIOR-ANCHORED SHOPPING MALLS: 

*WALT WHITMAN CENTER, Suffolk County, NY (1962) 
*THOMAS MALL, Phoenix, AZ (1963) 
*DAYTON MALL, Montgomery County, OH (1970)