.jpg) Company logo in terrazzo floor at a former store in Los Angeles | |
| Company type | Variety store,Five and dime |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1911 (1911) inStroudsburg, Pennsylvania, U.S. |
| Founder | John Josiah Newberry |
| Defunct | 2002 (2002) |
| Fate | Bankrupt andLiquidated |
| Successor | Dollar Zone (2001–02) |
Area served | Northeast,Southwest,West Coast, United States,[1]Canada |
| Parent | McCrory Stores Corporation (1972–2002) |
| Subsidiaries | J. J. Newberry Canadian, Ltd. |
J. J. Newberry's was an Americanfive and dime store chain. It was founded inStroudsburg, Pennsylvania, United States, in 1911 by John Josiah Newberry (1877–1954). J. J. Newberry learned thevariety store business by working in stores for 17 years between 1894 and 1911. There were seven stores in the chain by 1918.
John Josiah Newberry (September 26, 1877 – March 6, 1954) was born inSunbury, Pennsylvania, Newberry first worked in the railroad business before joining retail store Fowler, Dick and Walker in 1894. In 1899, he joinedS. H. Kress & Co. where he stayed until 1911.
He founded the J. J. Newberry chain offive and dime stores inStroudsburg, Pennsylvania, in 1911. The first store was a success, and he opened a branch inFreeland, Pennsylvania in 1912. After 1919, he managed the company with his brothers Edgar A. Newberry and C.T. Newberry. At the time of Newberry's death (1954), the J. J. Newberry chain had 475 stores.
The company was afamily business. J. J. Newberry was joined in management by his brothers C.T. Newberry and Edgar A. Newberry in 1919, at which time there were 17 stores with yearly sales of $500,000.
.jpg)
Over the years, the Newberry chain acquired other stores including Hested inWyoming,Missouri,Ohio,North Dakota,Colorado, andNebraska, and Lee Stores inSouth Dakota,Minnesota,Maine, andIowa. At the time of founder J. J. Newberry's death (1954), the chain had 475 stores. By 1961, the company operated 565 stores with total yearly sales of $291 million. The chain also operated a larger department store calledBritt's Department Store.
McCrory Stores purchased the 439 unit J. J. Newberry Co. in 1972. McCrory Stores continued to operate it under the Newberry banner as a separate division. McCrory opened additional stores under the Newberry banner especially in the Northeast and California where the name had a strong presence. The company thrived throughout the 1980s but filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 1992.[2][3] In 1997, McCrory closed 300 stores including many in the Newberry's division.[4]
In 2000, most Newberry and McCrory stores had been converted to the Dollar Zone brand, as McCrory's attempted to radically change its business model.[5] The remaining Newberry stores closed and the company wasliquidated along with the whole McCrory's chain in February 2002.[5]
Early J. J. Newberry stores featured a recognizable logo composed of gold or white sans serif letters on a red background that usually occupied the entire width of the store facade.[6][7] This was similar to the early signage of competitorsWoolworth's,Neisner Brothers andS. S. Kresge.[8][9][10] Later stores featured a cursive 1960s modern logo style, dropping the "J. J." altogether.
PoetDonald Hall wrote a poem, "Beans and Franks", about the closing of a J. J. Newberry store inFranklin, New Hampshire.[11]
Britt's was a division of J. J. Newberry. Founded in the Pacific Northwest in the early 1900s, the J. J. Newberry chain acquired it in December 1928 and all Britt's stores were rebranded as J. J. Newberry locations. Newberry revived the Britt's name in the early 1960s as adiscount store division. During theBirmingham civil rights campaign, activists organizedsit-ins at the segregated lunch counters in Britt's Department Stores, which led to the arrest of 20 protesters.[12]
