Hechinger

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bobsjers
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Re: Hechinger

Post by bobsjers »

Perhaps junky is not the best word. Some were fancy, such as Lowe's and Hechinger, with nice displays. Others had a "stack it high and sell it low" philosophy.
Ephrata1966
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Re: Hechinger

Post by Ephrata1966 »

I heard a rumor that the Downingtown store was originally planned as a one-floor JCPenney to replace the very old "J. C. Penney Co." store down the road in Coatesville. Instead, they built an addition to Exton Square Mall along with a new Sears, Boscov's, and food court.
bobsjers
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Re: Hechinger

Post by bobsjers »

Ephrata1966 wrote:I heard a rumor that the Downingtown store was originally planned as a one-floor JCPenney to replace the very old "J. C. Penney Co." store down the road in Coatesville. Instead, they built an addition to Exton Square Mall along with a new Sears, Boscov's, and food court.
I never heard that. Although it seems that JC Penny's prefers mall locations. Probably in hindsight, not a good idea. It seems that retailers out of the malls such as Kohl's and Target are taking away the business from the mall department stores.
Ephrata1966
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Re: Hechinger

Post by Ephrata1966 »

Well, I was in upstate New York a few years back and I saw a JCPenney from the 80's/early 90's in a shopping center next to a Wal-Mart/Walmart! The store did remind me of certain stores they were building in the 50's before they adopted the traditional department store model and malls caught on.

Nothing to do with Hechinger here, but the third closest Home Depot from my home (Folsom/Ridley, PA) is unique. This store opened in 2001 (I was at their grand opening to prove it), but it has a "Pennsylvania's Home Improvement Warehouse" sign on the front. Excuse me but I thought that was only used on Home Depot's early stores in the 80's! A number of their stores in this area were built around 1994 or 1995 and it seems like they buried that tagline by then...
wrallen99
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Re: Hechinger

Post by wrallen99 »

I've seen some newer stores in California that have that line that were built in the 2000's.
Littleeddy

Re: Hechinger

Post by Littleeddy »

are you saying that the first store in Pa. opened in the early 80's? My mother in law thinks she remembers buying materials from the Woodlyn store in the late 60's.
bobsjers
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Re: Hechinger

Post by bobsjers »

Littleeddy wrote:are you saying that the first store in Pa. opened in the early 80's? My mother in law thinks she remembers buying materials from the Woodlyn store in the late 60's.
No, back in the late 60's, Hechinger was only in the Washington DC area. The first store outside of DC was Annapolis MD. And that was in the mid 70's. In the late 60's, the Falls Church store burned down, leaving Alexandria as the only Virginia location, until they opened Tyson's Corners. They had 3 stores in DC, and some in Maryland in the DC area. Fairfax City opened in 1976.

Hechinger opened stores in the central part of PA in the late '70's. Camp Hill, York and Lancaster. They also went to Tidewater Virginia at around that time. They sent me from the Washington area to help set up those stores.

But as the first employee to work in a Philadelphia area Hechinger, I can tell you Jenkintown in 1981 was definitely the first one.

Bob
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Re: Hechinger

Post by Bearhawke »

bobsjers wrote:
Littleeddy wrote:are you saying that the first store in Pa. opened in the early 80's? My mother in law thinks she remembers buying materials from the Woodlyn store in the late 60's.
No, back in the late 60's, Hechinger was only in the Washington DC area. The first store outside of DC was Annapolis MD. And that was in the mid 70's. In the late 60's, the Falls Church store burned down, leaving Alexandria as the only Virginia location, until they opened Tyson's Corners. They had 3 stores in DC, and some in Maryland in the DC area. Fairfax City opened in 1976.

Hechinger opened stores in the central part of PA in the late '70's. Camp Hill, York and Lancaster. They also went to Tidewater Virginia at around that time. They sent me from the Washington area to help set up those stores.

But as the first employee to work in a Philadelphia area Hechinger, I can tell you Jenkintown in 1981 was definitely the first one.

Bob
I remember Hechingers as well in the 1970's...........
Bearhawke in Arizona
Ephrata1966
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Re: Hechinger

Post by Ephrata1966 »

UPDATE: The Home Depot in Folsom/Ridley has removed the tagline from the front of their store, and installed a larger sign to fill the space.
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