White Front, the first Walmart
Re: White Front, the first Walmart
Whitefront had great glazed donuts and there was a grocery store attached to it. (Ran by Foodland stores) The opening didn't have Debbie Reynolds (Zody's did) as her ex-husband owned that chain.
Re: White Front, the first Walmart
No it didn't burn down. You may of been thinking of "Gemco" at first and Shields. Right before the grand opening it burned to the ground. They rebuilt it and they had a great run for many years.
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Re: White Front, the first Walmart
The name White Front was said to refer to the practice of lining up appliances like washers, dryers and stoves in front of the store, giving it a "White Front." Another feature of each store was that each had a separate key booth located in the parking lot.
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Re: White Front, the first Walmart
Im proud to say my Father James W Allred worked there doing store security after returning home from service in korea after the store opened later worked at Zodys too were they owned by the same company?
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Re: White Front, the first Walmart
I remember when they built White Front, and even then thinking it was the ugliest thing I'd ever seen.
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Re: White Front, the first Walmart
I was a child when this was in town, kind of a competitor to K-mart, if I remember right. That arch was scary as hell to a 3-year-old kid!
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Re: White Front, the first Walmart
It went from a White Front to a Mervyns and is now being remodeled as a Walmart (2014). I still remember the donut shop. We always bought donuts there. Loved the place.
Re: White Front, the first Walmart
I remember Whitefront well. They had a giant black and white photo of opening day. The place was jampacked. I remember going there with my Dad. Holding onto his hand. He purchased a Western Knives brand Bowie knife. He carried it with him when we went camping. This would have been 1966-7. I have the knife to this day.....
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Re: White Front, the first Walmart
Gemco burnt down.
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Re: White Front, the first Walmart
I remember White Front, it was on the SE corner of Blackstone and Ashlan. Recently it was a Mervyns. I remember the day the Beatles, 'Abbey Road' album was released I made a special trip to Fresno in my 1961 Corvair to buy it. White Front had it for sale for $2.25. One Christmas me, my mom and a friend went Christmas shopping and White Front was our last stop. At the time I was driving a 1970 VW bug. I parked at the back entrance and when we came out someone had bent the side wind wing window got in and ripped off everything. That really sucked!
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