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f/8 and Be There
Fred Lynch

Candies at W. T. Grant Co.

Posted Friday, July 8, 2011, at 6:00 AM

The candy department at W. T. Grant Co. in the Town Plaza Shopping Center in Cape Girardeau was photographed by G.D. Fronabarger, possibly on its grand opening day in August, 1960.

From the Southeast Missourian, June 12, 1973:

The W.T. Grant Co. store in Town Plaza was one of the original businesses when the shopping center was opened, and it has remained the largest in retail area with the exception of the Sears facility, which came later.

Opening in August, 1960, the store features soft lines of goods, carried in self-service type displays. Clothing of all types for all members of the family are carried, along with cosmetics, household goods, pets and pet supplies.

Customers, report the management, have come from all over the area -- Farmington to St. Marys, the Bootheel and southern Illinois. Also featured is a line of candies, lunch and soft drinks service and a range of garden supplies, in season.

The store here is one of 1,200 the company operates throughout the nation.

Editor's Note:

According to Wikipedia, William Thomas Grant, the store's founder, died in 1972 at age 96. The W.T. Grant story ended in 1976 with the then-second-biggest bankruptcy in U.S. history. The most apparent cause of the bankruptcy was the company's decision to extend store credit to all customers, with no attempt made to assess the customer's ability to repay.

Previous blog:

The Skillet lunch and soft drinks service at W.T. Grant

Santa Claus arrives by helicopter outside W.T. Grant

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