Fazio's Discount Drug

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pseudo3d
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Fazio's Discount Drug

Post by pseudo3d »

For several years now, I was aware that there was a sort of discount department store that closed around 2001 called Fazio's in Dallas, not to be confused with Fazio's of Cleveland, the same Fazio's/Fisher Foods that owned Dominick's for a while, bought and rebranded the A&P stores in SoCal for a while before they were sold to Albertsons, etc.

Turns out, it was the same namesake. John Fazio, who died a few years ago at the age of 99, had been forced out of Fisher Foods in 1979, and later moved to Dallas, where he established Fazio Discount Drug, mentioned in the article as "forerunners of [warehouse clubs]".

The article mentions three stores but according to tax records, I could only find two: 1735 N. Story Road in Irving (a former Leonard's/Dillard's at Plymouth Park Shopping Center, and demolished after years of vacancy) and 5101 Gus Thomasson Road in Mesquite (smaller stores today). The third store mentioned might actually be the Jote's mentioned in the article, as the Texas tax records (for some reason) has a Fazio's listed at 29700 Lakeshore Boulevard in Willowick, Ohio ("operational" from 1985 to 1988. This is now Marc's, and other sources also point to this Marc's being the former Jote's.

As mentioned before, both Fazio stores in Dallas closed around 2001.
rich
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Re: Fazio's Discount Drug

Post by rich »

Jote's is mentioned in the obit that's linked and John Fazio ran it with his second wife from Dallas after they relocated. The store on Lake Shore Blvd that is now a Marc's was, indeed, the Jote's. I've been to it in all its incarnations (even pre-Jote's). It was a former Sears store (one of their mail order pickup/hardlines/auto center locations--they built a bunch in the late 50s in suburban shopping centers).

As Jote's, it was a one-off and it was a sort of warehouse drug store, but with more than just health and beauty lines. It was a larger version of the kind of warehouse drug store (but with more varied merchandise), pioneered by Bernie Schulman's in the Cleveland area in the mid-70s. Schulman had been a one-time associate of Fazio and the original Bernie Schulman's was in a former Fisher Foods/later Fazio's super market in Mayfield Heights. Marc's is the successor of the Bernie Schulman's chain and still operates the original Bernie Schulman's location.

Fazio's had prior experience with a similar kind of non-foods store to Jote's---Carl's (named for his brother) which was a bit more of a scaled down discount store. I only know of one location----Euclid Avenue at the end of Green Road (the 18200 block) in Cleveland. It took over space that previously had been either a Woolworth or Pick-n-Pay super market and was in a shopping center that had a 1970s-vintage Fazio's super market. The shopping center is still there but with a very different lineup of stores.
GusTheGrinch
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Re: Fazio's Discount Drug

Post by GusTheGrinch »

I'm a bit late to this conversation but I have information to add. I was part of the managerial staff that opened the third Fazio's Discount Drug in Plano Texas. We were not as well received as we had been in Irving and Mesquite so the business did not last long there. We opened on the corner of Custer and Parker to a lukewarm reception in the early nineties.

Overall Fazio's was a very good company to work for, and I found that Mr and Mrs Fazio were very straightforward, down to earth people of business. When my first child was yet on the way, Mrs. Fazio bought him a crib and several other items. It was a great group to be a part of and a fantastic store for customers.

John Fazio Sr. can never be praised enough for his business sense. This was Big Lots before Big Lots. Dollar Tree before Dollar Tree. And this was Walmart after Walmart had forgotten who they were. The world needs a new Fazio's.
pseudo3d
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Re: Fazio's Discount Drug

Post by pseudo3d »

GusTheGrinch wrote: 15 Dec 2023 12:47 I'm a bit late to this conversation but I have information to add. I was part of the managerial staff that opened the third Fazio's Discount Drug in Plano Texas. We were not as well received as we had been in Irving and Mesquite so the business did not last long there. We opened on the corner of Custer and Parker to a lukewarm reception in the early nineties.

Overall Fazio's was a very good company to work for, and I found that Mr and Mrs Fazio were very straightforward, down to earth people of business. When my first child was yet on the way, Mrs. Fazio bought him a crib and several other items. It was a great group to be a part of and a fantastic store for customers.

John Fazio Sr. can never be praised enough for his business sense. This was Big Lots before Big Lots. Dollar Tree before Dollar Tree. And this was Walmart after Walmart had forgotten who they were. The world needs a new Fazio's.
Better late than never! I think I mentioned the Plano store on another thread, I did discover it later. (The space briefly held a Montgomery Ward, according to records). I can't find any ads or photos to see what the store was actually like, though do you have anything on that?
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