McKeesport, Pennsylvania's G.C. Murphy 5 & 10 chain started its discount subsidiary, known as Murphy's Mart, at the same time that the first Venture store had opened for business in Missouri.
The first Murphy's Mart occupied a former Mayfair department store in Bethel Park, a Pittsburgh suburb, and opened on May 27, 1970.
Murphy's Mart stores spanned from 66,000 to 98,000 square feet and carried shoes, apparel, hardware, small appliances, furniture, housewares, candy, toys, hobbies, sporting goods, automotive goods and gardening supplies. All stores had a restaurant or snack bar. Some also featured an attached Auto Center.
The chain was expanded exponentially and, by 1980, there were 448 stores. These operated in Alabama, Florida, Indiana, Kentucky, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Texas, Virginia and West Virginia. Soon, trouble was brewing for the G.C. Murphy Company, resulting in the shuttering of some stores. Industry analysts opined that the chain had expanded so quickly that it was unable to manage itself. A campaign of downsizing and upgrading of merchandise, along with an updating of store interiors, brought an increase in profitability.
Unfortunately, hostile takeovers in the 1980s left much of the retail industry decimated, including G.C. Murphy / Murphy's Mart. Connecticut's Ames Department Stores, Incorporated engulfed G.C. Murphy enterprises in August 1985 and -in essence- ran the chain into the ground. Ames rebranded Murphy's Mart locations as Ames stores during 1986 and 1987. All Ames stores were shuttered by mid-September 2002.
MURPHY'S MART-ANCHORED SHOPPING MALLS:
*LAUREL MALL, Fayette County, PA (1971)
*CAPITAL CITY MALL, Cumberland County, PA (1974)
*RALEIGH MALL, Beckley, WV (1974)
