The Old, G. C. Murphy Store!

I

imp

Senior Member
Does anyone recall having a G C Murphy in their town, long ago? Almost sure QuickSilver will. Growing up in Berwyn (IL), a strip mall type line of stores went in when I was a kid at the west end of town, called Berwyn Plaza. Even Sears put in a free-standing store.

G C Murphy was one of the larger stores, maybe there were 10 or so total. A Hillmans Grocery store at one end. Murphy's was a classical "five and dime" type of store. I never knew how many there were, or how widespread they might be. A lot of the stores, products, even T-V shows, in Chicago, my wife growing up in Northeastern Indiana never heard of. imp
 

I don't think they were ever on the west coast imp. They sound like something I would have liked. Are they still around today? Has anyone heard of the Ben Franklin stores? I think they are gone. They were sort of like Woolworths but not as big. They sold me some of my first "how to" painting booklets, so they have a big place in my heart.
 
Lin, your heart is an admirable place to retain such memories!

They were exactly like Woolworths, and Ben Franklin. I remember no Ben Franklins in the Chicago area, though I was not totally enveloped in it as a suburban dweller. Woolworths had some sort of connection with Kreske's, I remember. We had both around Chicago.

Keep this stuff in your heart, eh? imp
 

We had four major dime stores in my childhood downtown: Kreske, Grant, Woolworth and Murphy. To me they were paradise on earth. Oh, the things you could buy for a dime or if you were really flush, a quarter. Yummy stuff at the lunch counter. You could get a squirt of perfume for free and sometimes they were handing out samples of stuff. Free was always good.
 
jujube said:
We had four major dime stores in my childhood downtown: Kreske, Grant, Woolworth and Murphy. To me they were paradise on earth. Oh, the things you could buy for a dime or if you were really flush, a quarter. Yummy stuff at the lunch counter. You could get a squirt of perfume for free and sometimes they were handing out samples of stuff. Free was always good.
Click to expand...
I only recall Grants and Woolworth and as I already mentioned Ben Franklin. How I loved those stores. :)
 
We had a G.C. Murphy store in the square in downtown York, PA. We also had a W.T Grants and a McCrorys store in the city.
 
Now that I see the name, I recall a McCrory's in my hometown. we did not go there often. imp
 


Back
Top