J.G. McCrory's or McCrory Stores is a defunct chain of five and dime stores in the United States based in York, Pennsylvania. The stores typically sold shoes, clothing, housewares , fabrics, penny candy, toys, cosmetics, and often possessed a lunch counter or snack bar .

John Graham McCrorey

John Graham McCrorey opened his first store in Scottdale, Pennsylvania, in 1882. By 1885, the chain had five stores in the Pennsylvania. Born with the last name "McCrorey", the owner legally changed his name, dropping the e, to save money by not paying the cost of the extra letter in store signs.

Sebastian Kresge

One of the early investors was Sebastian Spering Kresge, who later founded the S.S. Kresge chain, which became Kmart. In 1899, Kresge traded his interest in the McCrory's Memphis store for McCrory's interest in the Detroit, Michigan store, giving him control there.

Subsidiaries

At its height, McCrory's operated 1,300 stores under its own name as well as TG&Y, McLellan (merged in 1958), H.L. Green, G.C. Murphy and J.J. Newberry which it had acquired through the years. McCrory's parent Rapid-American also owned Lerner Stores and National Shirt (acquired by McCrory's in 1960).

Mesulam Riklis

Meshulam Riklis (later husband to Pia Zadora) purchased McCrory's in 1960, and moved its headquarters to Springettsbury Township, Pennsylvania in 1963. At the time it was the fourth largest retailer in the United States. Riklis controlled McCrory's through the Rapid-American holding company, which was managed by Samuel Neaman .

The decline of the five and dime

In 1987 it purchased the 76 remaining Kresge (and Jupiter ) stores from Kmart, reuniting the companies.

It was at this time controlled by E-II Holdings Inc. , which also owned Silver, Elmore, Britts, and Kittinger and Bargain Time .

As of 1989 they had some 1300 stores. In 1991 they closed 229 of 1000 remaining stores. The chain filed for bankruptcy in 1992. In 1997 it closed 300 of 460 remaining stores.

In the late 1990s, it converted some stores to the Dollar Zone format of dollar store, but these ultimately closed as well in 2001.

Competitors

• S.S. Kresge (now KMart),
• S.H. Kress
• F.W. Woolworth & Company
• Ben Franklin Stores
• W.T. Grant

See also

• Oriole Records

External links

• History of G.C. Murphy stores

References

Isadore Barmash (1976) For the Good of the Company: The History of the McCrory Corporation ISBN 1587982153