W.T. Grant Co. - Life in America

[@gulfgypsy]

I remember the candy / cookie and hot nuts they sold in a kiosk near the front of the store. Grants, Woolworth's, TG&Y, Kresge's,Newberry's and Ben Franklin were all wonderful stores. When I lived in CA I had a darling apartment downtown not far from the office I worked in. I could stop in the Woolworth's on my way home and buy basic things like cleaning supplies and canned goods. Most of those 'five & dime' stores had lunch counters and almost all of them served good food for a fair price. Even wonderful milkshakes made with hand scooped ice cream. I miss those businesses - They're part of our vanishing America.

[@edgufler1122]

Yes , I was born in 1959 and my Mom would go to WT Grants for her shopping in the later 60s I remember the diner in them very well. They served up the best Hamburgers, fries and cokes around. Those were the best days around. Going to Woolworths and WT Grants.

[@carolynridlon3988]

We had many of those stores (Woolworths, Newberry's, Grant's, Ben Franklin, Gemco,...) in CA and still have fond memories of shopping or eating at them.

[@teresawilliams2158]

I think we had one in Forest Park, Georgia. I won a Christmas coloring contest..they gave me an orange bike. I loved it!!

[@balloons-burstbustburnandj4934]

I remember the Grants in the Bonanza Shopping Center in Clovis CA.It was located at the north west corner of Clovis Ave. and Shaw Ave. When I was a young boy, about 10 years old, I remember buying a "cheep" gift for my MOM for Mother's Day at Grants! I bought a little ceramic pitcher and basin. It had a blue flowers on it and ....well ...like all mothers....She Loved IT! Thank You GRANTS!

[@ronalddevine9587]

I have very fond memories of Grant's. I still have a Nativity set my mom purchased when I was 8 years old in 1955. I also have a knife, fork, and teaspoon from the Bradford House in New Haven, Connecticut.

[@pegs1659]

I bought all my jeans at Grants in the early 70's in the Decatur, Al store. They were only 10.00 and they lasted forever. It seems alot of things changed around 1976. Yep the good ol days.

[@carolyneverett762]

Loved WT Grants! Bought my back to school clothes there in jr. high school.

[@roadsscholar4012]

I remember Grant's very well. I was always taking my mom there. She's gone. W.T. Grant's is gone. But great memories.

[@tb0yp]

You hit the nail on the head. Great memories.

[@bryanmelton5538]

YES THERE ARE UNLIKE TODAY

[@mommyquackquack1825]

I love Grant's. I miss those days shopping with my Mom

[@VariedVids]

Back in the 60's I was always saying: "Hey mom, I' m going to Grant's!" . Those were great times.

[@schallrd1]

5 and 10 cents stores were great place to shop and find lots a of good stuff.

[@lousmith1107]

Does anyone remember M.E.Moses...?

[@cindy4964]

I agree. Miss those stores.

[@oldmanfromoc7684]

J.J. Newberry's was good too! The good ol days. The stuff was made in the U.S.A.!

[@ChrisDavis-ps8me]

I grew up in San Diego during the 50’s & 60’s. We had a Grants in near my home. I remember the greenish ceramic pillars outside the entrance. I even remember the smell inside! New clothing, fragrances, etc. Second only to Penny’s in Hillcrest! Thanks for your great work.

[@map3384]

As a kid I loved Grants lunch counter. Their burgers were second only to Bambergers restaurant. There was a store in my hometown of Haverstraw New York. It’s where I purchased my revell plastic model ship kits. They even sold pet birds. The building still exists but it was remodeled and divided into three separate commercial rental spaces.

[@joeheid4757]

I remember Grants. My mom loved that place. I was very young though so they were gone at a young age.

[@YAMISOOLD2009]

Same here. My mom was always shopping at Grants. Much of my early school clothing and toys came from there but it was gone by the time I was 8 or 9.

[@fredupstairs8234]

I vividly remember my grandmother taking me to Grants in Hempstead, NY. The store had huge photos of Charles Lindbergh and the Spirit of St. Louis on the walls (since we were close to Roosevelt Field). Going to the lunch counter was one of the special treats of my childhood.

[@DeKrampus]

My mom worked at Grant's in Pontiac Il., when I was little. The hot dogs! Oh, those hot dogs they sold were delicious! I have yet to find any near as good.

[@charles-y2z6c]

You can never do better than a great memory from childhood.

[@mikeis338]

I remember Grants very well as my mother used to work at one when I lived in CT as a kid.m

[@kattrakee]

My first job when I was 16. !!! I worked in the women’s wear, I filled out an application, And they hired me To start that next day. The human resource person was personable and wonderful and placed me in a department she thought I would do well in and I did. I thoroughly enjoyed my job ; I was still going to high school and only worked part time, but every minute there was pleasant, and my supervisors were kind and decent people. I loved working there ,Eventually moving on to another department store, other jobs, and then on to nursing school. So so sorry to have all the stores close in the years to come. I’ll always remember WT Grant it’s a wonderful working experience.!!!🤗👍🏼♥️♥️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

[@joyceanthony-huff2914]

me too....I started in Sept of 1972. I was 16. My friends and I worked there. My gram used to take me to the Bradford room once in awhile. Loved the place. Greatest hot pretzels served up front.

[@jfiorello68]

I remember the Grant's in my hometown when I was very young, just before it closed. One of the many places my mother shopped at.

[@Pistolpete147]

I remember going to Grants with my mother, early 70’s. New Hartford N.Y. We had one out by the old Nichols department store I think Grants was their competition back then. Wow. I can see it in my head driving up to it with those huge letters G R A N T S. Time stands still for no one that was almost 45 years ago

[@blayton999]

I ran grant stores in southern CA in the 70's, great company to work for. I really miss them, and those hot dogs were fantastic. Bill Layton, San Diego

[@LTRegulate]

I don't know if you knew my father Ed Summers, he managed Grant stores in Southern and Central California from 1960 to the early 70's.

[@lisalee2885]

Hi My grandmother was Rosary...she worked Grants for years 😁👍

[@photonotavailable7936]

It’s where I bought my first 45, “Puff The Magic Dragon” by Peter, Paul, and Mary. Still have it. Specific location: Lakewood Center, city of Lakewood, California, Los Angeles County. The store is long gone, but the shopping center, now a mall, is still there, not far from Long Beach and the Pacific Ocean. "Memories, pressed between the pages of my mind."

[@dennishough3709]

When we were kids we used to joke all the time the meaning of “puff the magic dragon”!! Fond memories!!

[@carolevans1710]

Did you go to POP? Pacific Ocean Park.

[@photonotavailable7936]

@@carolevans1710 Once with my dad.

[@TrainsFerriesFeet]

I still have that 45, too.

[@photonotavailable7936]

@@TrainsFerriesFeet Good for you.

[@stevedeleon8775]

My mother worked at a WT GRANTS here in Tucson,Arizona in the 1970's..She worked in the Housewares Dept. I bought my 45 rpm records there & ate at the Bradford House Restaurant..I remember a burger platter which had a Hamburger Fries & Drink for $1.25..Great Memories for us kids

[@charlielaudico3523]

I love that store in western New York when I was young!

[@Kinseydsp]

Always Loved Grants. as a young Fellow did my Christmas Shopping down town at Grant and other 6 and dime stores. Like JJ Newberry co Still have a framed Picture was Mother Bought for my Birthday called Roads end By Alfred Owles

[@BELCAN57]

Our Grant's was in downtown Thompsonville, CT and then moved to a brand new building in Enfield. They sold everything from clothes and shoes to lawnmowers and had a Bradford's too. I remember their "Going Out of Business" sale. Too bad, stores like Grant's, Zayre, Bradlees and the rest are all just pleasant memories.

[@scratchdog2216]

Born in '65. Grew up in Enfield. Great times.

[@BELCAN57]

@@scratchdog2216 "The All-American City"

[@talanigreywolf7110]

Oh wow, I remember Grants! They served the best open-faced hot turkey sandwich with gravy, only problem was they usually sold out by 5pm. I miss those days...

[@dianehaskins8640]

I remember going there with my mother in downtown Boston

[@thedreadtyger]

the one on Gay St in Knoxville had delicious fried fish.

[@waynejensen4150]

Open face sandwiches and mashed potatoes ! They used to be a big thing. I sure miss those simpler day's.

[@dangreene9846]

I forgot they had a lunch counter.

[@mikeincalifornia]

Menu at 2:33. Note the different offerings for moms and dads. Dinner steak for him, chopped steak for her. ;)

[@stephenspilker9334]

i still have some grants stuff from back in the day ans i loveed the bradford house restaurants to.

[@lisalee2885]

That's funny...I too have some things with the Grants price tag on it 👍😁👍

[@ChristopherSobieniak]

@@lisalee2885 Reminded of some vinyl LP's in my collection with dept. store stickers still on them from 50 years ago!

[@mo1240]

And restaurants, even diners, used to serve real food - vegetables, fruit, etc. Not just burgers.

[@MichaelRBrown-lh6kn]

My hometown had a Grants. We didn't have any big department stores at the time, so it was the only thing. They later expanded it into a Grants City. Afterwards we would get a K-Mart, WalMart, a Sears (we had only a Sears Catalog store before that), etc. If we wanted to shop at larger stores, we had to travel to nearby big cities at the time.

[@josephduray6331]

I was a 19 year old floor supervisor at the Cottage Grove, Minnesota W T Grant store during its closing and sale in 1974/5. It was a fine store, and Mr. Podlasek was a great boss.

[@deliveryguyrx]

Back in the day, we had a Grants store in the Security Shopping Center,not far from the (then new) Social Security Office in Woodlawn,Baltimore County, Maryland. My parents shopped there often.They carried their own brand of tennis shoes, a knock-off of the Chuck Taylor shoe.We called them 'fish-heads'. Us kids got one pair of those a year, and also a pair of cheapo 'dress shoes' for Sunday school,etc. My best memory of Grants was my green 'Dragster GT' bike I got for Christmas.Hi-rise handlebars and a banana seat! In 1974 or so, that location was a W. Bell store, where I bought a ring for my high school sweetheart.Good times!

[@blautens]

Back in the 1970's my retired grandfather went to work in the Grant's store in the garden department here in Boynton Beach, FL (he liked to stay busy). The plaza was literally waterfront property - that store's back (loading dock, etc) was only a few yards away from the intracoastal waterway, the second priciest real estate in south Florida (only beach front is pricier). It is mind boggling today to think of that today. I still remember dropping him off and picking him up from work, and I even had a lawnmower from Grant's up until about 1997 that he picked up as an employee discount item from a return. It became a K-Mart sometime in the 1980's, and of course today, that real estate is used for more upscale things (restaurants, mostly) but a bit of the old legacy plaza can still be seen.

[@gregoryevans8179]

Man I hadn’t heard this name in years. They were similar to Woolworth

[@jillbecker8651]

And Kresge’s

[@ChristopherSobieniak]

I got that impression, especially for the restaurants/food counters. Reminded my first regular CD player was a Woolworth brand!

[@dcasper8514]

And.. GC Murphy's.

[@robertsmith-dr5tm]

They were actually closer to Sears, at least the one that opened in my town. They has a selection of mens suits and a salesperson in suit and tie to help you out, and upscale shoe department with a salesperson to help you there. A big appliance department with washers and dryers and everything for the kitchen; my mother bought a freezer there and got a big gift certificate from the local First National to fill it up a big tv and stereo section, and my favorite was the toy department and the big selection of LP records. And my father did treat us to dinner at the Bradford Room, an exciting change from Howard Johnson’s

[@KSilentfilm]

I remember in the 1960's and early 70's in Phillipsburg, NJ. Ty for posting. I think I still have a few pillowcases packed away.

[@YAMISOOLD2009]

I remember seeing stickers on things like pillowcases my mom had bought and stored away in the 90s.

[@janeself9827]

Will never forget them. Great store.

[@chrisschmitt3860]

I lived across the street from a retired fellow who operated a Grants in Saugarties NY. Some very cool stories he has told me.

[@jehobden]

I remember Grant's in my hometown in Upstate NY, though I don't remember Bradford House or any restaurant inside of it. Like the rest, our local store closed down by the mid-1970s, and our neighbor, who managed the store, had to move to seek employment elsewhere. W.T. Grant lived almost as long as S.S. Kresge, who kept his legacy going awhile longer in K-Mart. My grandmother worked at a Grant's store around the mid-1950s, in or very close to the company's first store in Lynn, MA.

[@gregpreston9955]

Lived in Huntington, Indiana. W. T. Grants was the anchor store in the strip shopping center. In 1960's would hang out at the coin collecting area. Played football with Grant Girrard. His dad had a position at the company. Great memories!

[@havingfun3619]

I grew up with a Grants within walking distance that had a lunch counter. Loved that store.

[@elizabethcherry920]

I remember Grant's ,my real father was a manager for the one in Kinston NY. I can tell you as a child the hardships our family went through because of them closing. I remember a person buying a new truck thinking that they would have a job for a while. The closing started in 75, but I remember it took a better part of a year to fully shut down.

[@thomashernandez8700]

I seem to recall the Grant's in downtown Richmond closed on 12/31/74, my first year in Richmond.

[@WilliamThompson-X]

thanks for this. i was assistant store manager of Grants in Auburn, Alabama in the 70's.

[@highlife0586]

I will always remember the Grants store in St.Marys, PA back in the late 60's. They had the largest selection of rock records of any store in town. They had what they labeled an "Underground" section where I found many of today's iconic rock albums...Cream, Black Sabbath, Led Zeppelin, Jefferson Airplane, etc.

[@jandkhilbert]

There was a Grants in Louisville Kentucky. My Dad and Mom bought a calculator there for $25.00 in 1972. It was a hand held and she still uses it today.

[@soniaamos7471]

Yes, we had a W.T. Grant on Miami Gardens Blvd. (Florida). Grant's was in walking distance, about 2 blocks to the left. Or we could go to "Woolco," it was about half a mile the opposite way.

[@longagoandfaraway7868]

There was briefly a Grant City store on the east end of Rantoul, Illinois. I remember my parents taking us shopping quite a bit, until it abruptly closed down. My mom's first drip coffeemaker came from there and my grandparents had a 25" console TV they bought there. And as I recall all these appliances bore the Bradford name on them as well. After the store closed the building was divided in half and became a grocery store (Eisner's/later Diana Foods) on one side and another sorta big box store (Gibson's/later Pamida) on the other side. Now the building houses Rural King.

[@04straw]

I think it had just changed to Pamida when my husband was stationed at Chanute AFB in 1976.

[@GTVAlfaMan]

We also had a Grant’s store at Taylortown shopping center in Taylor, Michigan, not far from Detroit. I spent many hours there looking at the new bicycles and toys when I was a kid in the mid 1960’s.

[@voodookitchenmama]

I was a cashier at Grants when I was in high school in the early 1970's. It was a busy store, it was on the outside of a new mall, sort of attached to the mall. Loved the Bradford House and the candy counter had lots to choose from.

[@jobeLewOOH]

I grew up in the 70s in Escondido CA - we had a Grant store

[@photonotavailable7936]

I grew up in the '50s and '60s in Lakewood, CA. Ditto, at Lakewood Center.

[@bryanmelton5538]

@@photonotavailable7936 GREAT

[@Corgis175]

There was a W. T. Grant in my small home town of Freehold, NJ along with Newberry's thru 1970's.

[@efglux2425]

Was my favorite store for sure...even above sears and pennys... miss the quality merchandise

[@desireepeters7520]

My grandma worked there and my mom when she was a teenager worked there too, that was back in the 1950's in Michigan in USA . I use to hear about this place I wish I could show them this story of Grant's, but they have passed away years ago, it's nice to see where my mom and my grandma worked at, pretty cool.😊👍🏼💜🇺🇸

[@johntarka6903]

My Mom would take me to Grants in Norwich, CT every Wednesday. We would have lunch at the Bradford house. I would eat a hot dog and she would have a corn muffin. Sometimes we go just for the fish and chips. Grants was an exceptional store. My family really enjoyed shopping there.

[@RickStorni]

I remember our Grant’s store in San Luis Obispo, California was part of the original Madonna Road shopping center built in 1968. It was a huge store with everything under one roof, they had a Bradford restaurant inside along with a electronic department and a appliance department too, they had a clothing department a garden department where you could buy plants and garden equipment and also a automotive department where you could buy tires and batteries and have your car repaired or serviced while you shopped at Grant’s or any of the other stores in the Madonna Plaza shopping center. The store had everything and was a sad day when they closed in 1975. A Sears and Roebuck store took its place until a couple of years ago when they went bankrupt and the building was torn down and two new buildings were built into it’s place in the shopping center. Now a Michaels and a Ross Dress For Less occupy the site.

[@LTRegulate]

My dad was part of the management team at that store from 1968 to 1971. We lived in Santa Maria at the time, he did the drive everyday in his VW bug.

[@joepepi7394]

I remember them well,I would do my Christmas shopping there when I was just a boy.

[@mikesykes2578]

Can remember shopping with my mom in the 60s uptown plaza in Harrisburg pa.

[@joyceanthony-huff2914]

I worked at WT Grant in Clark NJ at age 16 - still remember the day I started - 9/29/1972 - until it closed inMarch of 1976. Loved working there part-time as a school girl. Loved my coworkers. Lots of wonderful & happy memories. I worked in Dept 35, Women's Wear. With old ladies Carol and Doris and our merchandise manager, Bud Kristofik (44, 44 please). Made many friends: Patty M, Georgina K, Carol Krohne, Barb, Ginny, Lou Varga (a trainee), "My Girl Bill", Patty L, Sue Lech, etc. RIP WT GRANTS!

[@williammastropieri2144]

I remember shopping at Grants on Frankford Avenue in Philly. Great place Great memories

[@randyjohnson6390]

We had a really nice Grants in a mall that opened in my hometown in 1969. I remember going there with my mom in the early 70's quite a lot. I found many of my favorite childhood toys there. It had a full service Bradford House restaurant - and it could just be nostalgia, but from what I can remember it was sooo good.

[@lisalee2885]

My grandmother worked there for years in NY 😁👍😁🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸

[@jpturner171]

I remember going to one in Florham Park New Jersey…Great memories thank you

[@neilschipper3741]

Growing up in small-town rule America we have a Woolworths and danner's with a lunch counter. A Val's department store and also a Ames department store. We always shopped at Grants if they didn't have what we needed we ordered it from the Montgomery Ward catalog. Thanks for the Memories!

[@tearosy]

I got my first full time job in 1976. W.T. Grant store in downtown Nashville was going strong. I shopped there on my lunch break. Don't recall exactly when it closed, but I know it was still open in 1979 when I started working a 3 day week, rotating shifts. Since I no longer had time to shop at lunchtime, I quit going downtown.

[@MikeBrown-ii3pt]

We had a Grants, Kresge and Woolworths all in my small hometown when I was growing up, all of them had lunch counters. To this day, our population is under 25,000 people and it was even lower then but, as the county seat, everyone shopped here. Kresge was downtown and went out first. It became a store called Jupiter which lasted until the early 80s. Woolworths was in a shopping center on the West side of town. It closed in the early-mid 80s. Grants was in a shopping center at the East end of town (closest to our farm). It became Murphys Mart then Ames. After Walmart built a store across the road, Ames went under and, most of the other tenants in the center either moved or closed all together. The shopping center stood mostly vacant and for sale until about 5 years ago when it was demolished. The land is still for sale.

[@jayegees1554]

We had a Grants in Auburn, NY. Such good memories of the record section and the lunch counter for me.

[@mainaccount131]

Super excellent

[@hollyking2580]

I was not even kindergarten age, but I remember Grants in Mattituck, NY. My great grandmother worked there before I was born.

[@TacoTraveller]

I still have a Grants circular saw my grandfather bought in my hometown of Newnan, GA. I also have the original paperwork and price tag that was on it. Grants was long gone before I was born, but I remember the shopping center where it was located. The store Grants occupied stayed vacant until the whole area was demolished in 2002.

[@stillaboveground2470]

Ah, the good ol' days! Had a W.T. Grant, H.L. Green and Woolworth's all within spitting distance of each other. None (of course) are still around.

[@robertortiz8540]

If I'm correct or not I think the first Woolworth that opened was in 1879 and they were abolished in 2001.

[@buickinvicta288]

Same in Yonkers, all 3.

[@toddburgess6792]

Everybody spittin' on 'em, not s'prized!

[@bryanmelton5538]

YES SO TRUE AND WE HAD A REAL WALGREENS TOO

[@bryanmelton5538]

@@toddburgess6792 UR IGNORANT

[@justmike2944]

We had a Grants store in Wilkes-Barre PA.

[@scottr3484]

We had a Grants store in Allentown, Pa

[@maryamos]

We had a Grants Store in Roanoke, VA.

[@dcasper8514]

Had one in Jeannette, Pa.

[@scottonasch8819]

It was a really nice store, always clean, organized and well stocked. We bought a lot of things there, and I always got "tennis shoes" there similar to the ones known as "Chuck Taylors" today. They were inexpensive and lasted a long time. I liked the lunch counter, which had good food and behind which was a stacked conveyor belt. One direction came the food from the kitchen and the dishes went back in the other. It was fun to watch as a kid.

[@darylbauer5184]

Mom worked at the food counter in the 60's at the Grants on 183 st Carol City Fl. When I became a teenager I worked there a few nights a week and some weekends until we moved in 1969 . Lots of fond memories of Mom and I working at Grants at the same time . The only competition Grats had in the area at the time was from J M Field Dept stores and Eagle Army Navy stores .

[@hvacrmike]

My parents Bradford upright freezer died last year. They bought it at Grants when I was born, 50 yrs ago.

[@pegs1659]

They sure dont make things like they use to.

[@kkarllwt]

I'm still using a 1952 Hotpoint refrigerator the has been in continuous use. I have a spare 1953 GE ( same unit ) that has sitting as a backup. Purchased about 1995 for $ 5 at a garage sale.

[@brianmccarthy5557]

The motors in the older Maytag washing machines were far superior to the ones used a few years ago. This is obviously a choice by the management of the companies in all of these cases.

[@YAMISOOLD2009]

wow!

[@anthonylegore1517]

I was lucky enough to work at the Bradford Room at the WT Grants in Hanover PA, right at the end of the company's life. I made a large number of friends working there, and will always fondly recall the experience. The store closed in 1975, and someone purchased the assets of the restaurant, and tried to make a go of it for a few years more, but I think the Bradford Room finally closed before the end of 1977.

[@kitziewitty7281]

I remember this store. They had a wonderful little restaurant, and my parents used to frequent it a lot due to the low cost items.

[@billchambersmarquez2768]

We had a grants store in LA puente California back in the 60s there was a food giant grocery store and a thriftys drug store too sadly their all gone now I miss those stores!

[@billchambersmarquez2768]

It was on amar rd

[@LTRegulate]

@@billchambersmarquez2768 My late father managed that store from 1971 until he left the company a few years later when he saw the inevitable coming and left to open his own business. I still remember as a young teen going with him late at night several times when the burglar alarm went off to reset the alarm with the LA County Sheriff on scene.

[@brianmccarthy5557]

Funny. Our W. T. Grant in Torrance was in a small mall, which still exists, with a Food Giant at one end of it, too. Food Giant went out in the 1970's?, probably about the same time yours did and it's been the site of several grocery chains (Lucky, Hughes Ranch Market, How's, etc.) since, the latest being a kind of crappy Mexican market. The other anchor store was a Sav-on Drug Store, which is now a CVS. I didn't realize it till now but the Grant's and Food Giants stores probably disappeared around the same time.

[@Foxonian]

My first bicycle came from Grants. My dad was a big shopper there. Buying his lawn tractors, home goods and other stuff.

[@davidsquires154]

I live in Detroit, Michigan and I remember W.T.GRANT store located in the Belmont Shopping Center located on East 8 Mile Road and Dequindre on the Detroit City Limits. When W.T.GRANT closed it store and Kroger took over the W.T.GRANT store. When Kroger closed it's Belmont Shopping Center store permanently and an inner city supermarket chain has taken the old W.T.GRANT/Kroger store named Imperial Supermarket took the W.T.GRANT/Kroger store. I also remember, a strip mall being built on Hoover Road and East 11 Mile Road in Warren, Michigan. The name of this strip mall was named the Hoover-Eleven Center. The anchor stores were a Kroger and a Grant City. When Grant City closed, they extended the strip mall and now the corner of Hoover Road and East 11 Mile Road is just like a small town.

[@edgufler1122]

Thank you very much for the video and sharing it with us. It's awesome.

[@MrPGC137]

I remember the Grant's stores when I was a little boy; I really liked them. There were a couple in my area, one in Sunnyvale, just a few blocks from my house, and then there was a larger one in Santa Clara & that one had the attached Bradford House restaurant; we sometimes had breakfast there on Sundays after church. And the one in Sunnyvale had a nice snack bar where they served the best hot dogs in the world, I remember. My mom would sometimes take me there, where she'd buy me a hot dog & an orange, after which she often bought me these "read along" book-and-record sets to take home. (I eventually had quite a collection of them after a few months; it was these book-and-record sets that helped me learn to read at a very young age...)

[@miket485]

Never realized they were that big. I used to go to the one in Sarasota FL as a teenager, they must have closed in 76 as I remember buying my first album there that year. I thought they were similar to Kmart.

[@happyjack880]

I was pretty young when our small town got an exciting new Grants store in the early 1970's. We shopped there a lot as they had just about everything. It eventually became a Kmart and it was all downhill from there. I miss stores like Grants.

[@georgelackey622]

I remember Grant's being a major store at our mall back then! The Bradford House was a very cool feature to us kids!

[@floralbouquets]

We had Woolworth's...Grants was in the plaza across the street.

[@DragonBlue68]

Brings back memories... My mom worked at their new store that was built in Freedom, California back in the early 70s. She was the last of the crew that stayed till the end. Back when I was about 5(ish) I was entered in one of their fashion shows. I still have those clothes tucked away in a closet somewhere. I think my mom finally retired our old Grant City refrigerator abound 2000. The store later became Kmart till the mid 90s. It then became Safeway when Kmart moved down the street to a newer building. Our local Kmart will soon close forever the end of August😐

[@jamesritter2976]

I bought my first TV set from Grants.

[@carolynridlon3988]

I remember our little town of Lodi had Woolworths and Grant's. We went to Woolworths for our underwear (my brother & I) but went to Grants for fabric and sewing supplies! I found a few years back on the back of an old puzzle my mom had in a closet the Grant's price sticker!

[@davidreed7481]

Had one in the little town of Calais Maine. Can still remember going there as a kid in the 60's

[@sfdanceron1]

A great part of American History.

[@bryanmelton5538]

I REMEMBER GRANTS WHEN I WAS LITTLE MAMA AND DADDY USED TO SHOP THERE SWEET MEMORIES

[@sonyajones]

Grant's was the greatest store here in West Texas. They had a wonderful variety of everything. Miss them.

[@RandallCarrierINC]

There were two stores on Van Nuys Blvd. One in Van Nuys and the other, our favorite, was in Panorama City. California.

[@daisycassidy2448]

We had a WT Grant store in Atlanta, my hometown. My mother and I would shop there a lot when I was a kid and I always loved going there with her.

[@tedmichaels1951]

I remember my mother used to take us to Grants in Jamaica in the 50’s. My brother and I loved the pizza they served at 15 cents per slice. I remember the wooden floors and all the merchandise which my mom loved to look through.

[@allen_p]

When I was very young in late 60's & early 70's there was a W.T. Grant store close to us in the semi-rural / suburb of Houston. It had a soda foutain with burgers. It closed after 8-10 years which we found strange as it did a good business. The only competition was TG&Y.

[@rdflatman5660]

I miss good ole Toy Guns Yoyos but Grants was always special for me

[@trentpettit6336]

Where in Houston was this Grants store? Do you know what building is at that site today?

[@edgufler1122]

They had the best Burgers around yes.

[@howardkerr8174]

In my very small, rural, farm town in Pennsylvania we had a W.T.Grant's across the street from J.J.Newberry's with a few 5 and 10 cent stores further down on Main Street including a Woolworths. Newberry's and Woolworths had a luncheonette but Grant's didn't, with most of the drugstores in town also having lunch counters. (At one time, my small town had 4-5 drugstores downtown. Now the 2 drugstores are in strip malls at the edge of town.) From the street, Grant's, Newberry's, and Woolworths appeared to be the same physical size. However, Grant's was only 1 story and while Woolworths had a mezzanine, it also had a small basement department while Newberry's had just a sort of mezzanine. Nowadays all are gone. The Woolworth's was a large furniture store before the building burned down one New Year's Eve. Newberry's is now an office building and Grant's was a Ben Franklin for decades before Ben Franklin disappeared. I used to think my town was so cheesy and small when I was younger. Now, it's just a shadow of a town with the courthouse being the SECOND biggest employer and banks being the biggest. Even the newspaper has moved out of town.

[@carlcushmanhybels8159]

I remember Grant's fondly, from when I was a little kid. I bought models. Mom bought 'OK,' (but not 'great' kids' clothes and underwear. A fine place to buy kids' underwear, or a broom, or lampshade, a plastic toy rifle, caps. Grant's was my first store to see Close Out bins and an "Everything Must Go" Sale. I remember: no one wanted a purple fluffy mat that goes around a toilet. The cashiers who had been happy in earlier years, looked sad and worried.

[@joyceanthony-huff2914]

most of their clothes stunk (disintegrated after one washing) but I sure loved my WT GRANT

[@pattydziak9970]

My first job when I was 16 was at the Bradford House Restaurant, the food came out on a conveyor belt and the dirty dishes went back in the kitchen on the return belt on the bottom. Made minimum wage $2.35/hour plus tips. 😀 Such great memories, tips were usually a quarter at the lunch counter.

[@robertm.4916]

I remember the Grants in Hempstead Long Island. Had a luncheonette and a separate hot dog stand. Hot dogs had these squared type pressed buttered buns. Awesome. Also had these huge murals of Mitchell Field Air Force Base.

[@robinj.9329]

1976???? That long ago! I shopped at Grant's from the 1950's onwards! Lunch specials were always an inexpensive treat!

[@SandraGarcia-ho4lb]

Our WT Grant was at the end of our Main St.Mom,sis and I would begin shopping in several stores then WTGrant. Can still see the basement of our store - home, plumbing,, kitchen gadgets.

[@LTRegulate]

My father, Ed Summers, managed several WT Grant stores from 1959 until about 1974. All stores were in California, including Oxnard, Santa Barbara, Santa Maria, downtown Los Angeles, Santa Fe Springs, San Luis Obispo and La Puente. Found memories growing up of the lunch counter and helping do inventory as a young man. He saw the writing on the wall and left before the company went under.