White Front, the first Walmart

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Do you remember the Country Boys Market with its wooden floors? Walter Smiths was the place to go for clothes on the Fulton Mall. Penny Candy had great blacklight posters and don't forget Whitie's Pet Store on Blackstone. What vintage retail do you remember growing up in Fresno?
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Guest

Re: White Front, the first Walmart

Post by Guest » Fri May 06, 2011 9:09 pm

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.

Mike Logan

Re: White Front, the first Walmart

Post by Mike Logan » Sat Jun 18, 2011 4:03 pm

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.

kim88
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Re: White Front, the first Walmart

Post by kim88 » Thu Sep 15, 2011 12:27 am

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.

jcred
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Re: White Front, the first Walmart

Post by jcred » Thu Oct 13, 2011 3:41 pm

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?

LisaMarquise
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Re: White Front, the first Walmart

Post by LisaMarquise » Tue Feb 12, 2013 4:27 pm

I remember when they built White Front, and even then thinking it was the ugliest thing I'd ever seen.
Attachments
White front page 1.jpg
white front page 2.jpg

Drakonyx
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Re: White Front, the first Walmart

Post by Drakonyx » Tue Sep 10, 2013 7:54 pm

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!

JWfresno
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Re: White Front, the first Walmart

Post by JWfresno » Tue Dec 30, 2014 12:28 pm

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.

guest

Re: White Front, the first Walmart

Post by guest » Mon Oct 05, 2015 3:23 am

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.....

vikkie58
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Re: White Front, the first Walmart

Post by vikkie58 » Thu Dec 03, 2015 1:31 pm

Gemco burnt down.

HempShoward
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Re: White Front, the first Walmart

Post by HempShoward » Wed Nov 16, 2016 8:21 pm

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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