Ahhhh the memories of my youth walking to Cedar and Shields to spend endless hours checking out the new stuff at Sprouse Ritz. Hell, you could buy things for 10 cents! Of course there were many more things there that cost a LOT more money which a 10 year old in 1959 didn't have. But there WAS hope that you could find something that you couldn't live without. The weekly allowance was 25 cents which seemed fair enough. Cleaning out the garage (sweeping) once a week was a requirement but the big money only came to those that worked hard.
As I remember, the store had many large but short tables that much brick-a-brack was spread out on. And everywhere in the air was the smell of plastic, a new thing back then. My only dismay was that an entire quarter of the store had given over to fabric supplies. The five and dime store was common in Fresno and there were many chains. But Sprouse-Ritz had the name by gosh. Nobody was ever able to explain to me what a Sprouse was but I was familiar with a Ritz.
Sprouse-Reitz Nickel and Dime store
Sprouse-Reitz Nickel and Dime store
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Re: Sprouse-Reitz Nickel and Dime store
My sister used to work there in the mid 70s, and one summer weekend I worked temporarily during the summer to help with inventory. I remember it was very hard work for a 13-14 yr old, and I complained alot. The manager of the store at that time, I think his name was Jim, was also my softball coach that summer for a "miss softball america" team.
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Re: Sprouse-Reitz Nickel and Dime store
It was right next door to Purity Market! That's the area I grew up in. Foster's Freeze was in the same shopping center.
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