Remembering when downtown Huntington was home to a bevy of beloved discount stores.
By James E. Casto
HQ 125 | SPRING 2024
There was a time when no shopping trip to downtown Huntington was complete without a visit to one or more of the five-and-dime stores that lined Huntington’s Third Avenue. Four of the stores were located in the same 900 block of the avenue. Of course all are long gone today.
The five-and-dimes carried a wide assortment of simple items priced at little more than nickels and dimes. They were a far cry from the general stores of the past, where much of the stock had to be pulled from behind the counter or from bulk bins.
Many Huntingtonians have fond memories of the days when these large discount stores were a major part of the downtown shopping scene.
“I loved going to all the five-and-dime stores on Third Avenue,” said Patty Dudding, a lifelong resident of Huntington. “My dad would always take me shopping on Saturday afternoon and I would buy these little treasures. There was so much stuff you could buy with just 50 cents!”
“As a child I remember these stores having tables of different items for a nickel or dime, like small mirrors, rain bonnets, little writing tablets and other items for my purse,” recalled Huntington resident Opal Boling Sanders. “I bought my first 45 record at McCrory’s. I also liked seeing the small animals, birds, hamsters, fish and other creatures. And I loved the food counters!”
Due to economic changes in the 1970s and 1980s, the five-and-dime stores gradually faced more competition from more specialized discount stores. Eventually, five-and-dimes lost various sectors of their offerings to discount drug stores, home office stores and discount clothing stores. Also, shoppers began flocking to suburban areas to shop, spending less time in the downtown where many five-and-dime stores operated.
Frank W. Woolworth is credited with originating the concept of a store offering only inexpensive items. Before Woolworth, the thinking was that no store could long survive by selling only low-cost goods. His first store failed, but he persevered and later opened a successful store in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, in 1879. Woolworth went on to open more stores. By the time the company celebrated its centennial in 1979, it operated more than 2,299 stores in the United States, Canada, Britain, Ireland, Cuba and Germany. Huntington had a Woolworth’s store at 917 Third Ave. The store is thought to have opened about 1900.
“I remember as a kid that it was a big treat being downtown at lunchtime,” recalled Ron Hooser, a Huntington native who now lives in Isle of Palms, South Carolina. “My mom would take me to the Woolworth lunch counter which meant a cheeseburger and French fries. It was a treat because we never got French fries at home. What was also exciting about eating at any of the five-and-dimes was the potential of getting an ice cream cone or piece of pie, if I was good.”
Other businesses quickly copied Woolworth’s formula. John Graham McCrorey opened his first store in Scottsdale, Pennsylvania, in 1882. He quickly opened more, and to save money creating signs for the new stores he named them “McCrory’s,” eliminating the “e” from their names. Later, to avoid confusion, he legally changed his name to McCrory.
It’s said that Huntington’s McCrory’s store at 905-907 Third Ave. was one of the earliest opened as the company expanded to an eventual 1,300 stores. In addition to its main entrance on Third Avenue, McCrory’s had a side entrance on Ninth Street.
Sebastian S. Kresge was born in 1867 on a farm near Scranton, Pennsylvania. Determined not to follow in his father’s footsteps as a farmer, he would hold several different jobs. Ultimately, he became a traveling salesman for a hardware wholesale house. After five years in that job, he had saved $8,000 and used it to go into business with McCrory. Together, they opened two five-and-dime stores in 1897: one in Memphis and one in Detroit. In 1899, Kresge traded his half-interest in the Memphis store for full ownership of the Detroit store. The business quickly expanded. In 1912, when the chain had grown to 85 stores, it was incorporated for $7 million as the S.S. Kresge Company and stock was sold to the public. In 1915 Kresge opened a Huntington store at 943-945 Third Ave.
A native of Germany, Samuel Gideon came to Huntington in 1872 and opened a clothing store, believed to have been the city’s first. Around 1915, Gideon commissioned the construction of a new building to house his clothing business. He hired Edwin Alger, one of early Huntington’s best-known architects, who designed a handsome three-story building erected on the southwest corner of Third Avenue and 10th Street.
Following Gideon’s death in 1923, the store building was sold to the W.T. Grant Company, a nationwide chain of mass-merchandise shops founded by William Thomas Grant. Starting his sales career selling flower seeds at age 7, he opened his first store in Lynn, Massachusetts, in 1906. Believing his stores were a cut above the five-and-dimes of that day, Grant insisted on calling them “25 cent variety stores.”
Huntington’s W.T. Grant store initially occupied one storefront within the Gideon Building, while Mangel’s, a women’s clothing store, occupied the adjacent space. Around 1950, however, Grant’s expanded to occupy the entire ground floor space of the building. Grant’s continued to occupy the building until around 1976 when the company declared bankruptcy. In 1978, Amsbary & Johnson Clothiers moved into the Gideon Building from its former location at 321 10th St.
Another five-and-dime, H.L. Green, came along a bit later than its competitors. It opened its Huntington store at 833 Third Ave. in 1928. Like the McCrory’s store, it had a side entrance on Ninth Street. H.L. Green was the last surviving Huntington five-and-dime store when it closed in 1992.
“I remember going to H.L. Green when I was a kid and they had an ice cream bar that was so good,” recalled former Huntington resident Lára Prater. “I also bought all my charms for my charm necklace collection there. I have so many fond memories and really miss it. It was such a wonderful store.”
In recent years, Dr. Joseph B. Touma has purchased and painstakingly restored a number of downtown Huntington buildings, including the Woolworth, McCrory, Kresge and Grant store buildings.
