Remembering Richway Stores (Atlanta, Forest Park, Decatur: lease, home, gated)

[Mal93]

My mom took us shopping to Richway (the current Scotts Antique location) all the time as kids (we also frequented the downtown Rich's, their parent company). I remember the snack bar (red slushies!), bright skylights, and color-coded departments. As for another iconic roofline discount store, the other Scott's building with the ////// roofline was a Treasure Island, later a Zayre's I think? and then Home Depot. I believe the Burlington Coat Factory on Roswell Rd in Marietta was also a Treasure Island then the 1st Home Depot. The old building (now used by an architectural antiques vendor) by Conley Rd next to the South Scott's building used to be a Pike's Nursery.

I remember when I was in primary school my mother let us pick out some china from Richway for our "hope chests" (hopefully not showing my age, but it was a family tradition!)-- I got a full set of Noritake china plates that I still use this day for about $20.

[neil0311]

I remember both Richway and Zayre. Not sure when they disappeared.

[wardwhirlboromarlpool1955]

I know Ames bought most Zayre stores in New England, except for ones that already overlapped with Ames stores and were therefore closed immediately in 1988 or 1989 when the merger happened, coincidentally at the same time as Target bought Richway. But Ames closed all their stores in 2002 anyway.

[Hypermiler]

Originally Posted by MathmanMathman

^ Yes, I remember that store and I'm pretty sure that is the same place.

[URL]https://maps.google.com/maps?q=Target,+Cobb+Parkway+Southeast,+Smyrna,+GA& hl=en&ll=33.896673,-84.481602&spn=0.02319,0.04446&sll=33.918221,-84.499283&sspn=0.046653,0.088921&oq=target+symrna& hq=Target,&hnear=Cobb+Pkwy+SE,+Smyrna,+Georgia+300 80&t=m&z=15&layer=c&cbll=33.896844,-84.481789&panoid=7b17ERGxU7Wzo6tjQu1OBw&cbp=12,43. 87,,0,-0.17[/URL]

I remember it was off of Cobb Parkway and you climbed up a hill through its parking lot. Richway was very similar to Target with a similar reputation for quality and price. Guess Target was better run as Richway failed years ago. There was also a Treasure Island further up the road towards Dobbins. Again, a similar type of store but not as good. Going the other way there was an Ellman's near Cumberland Mall. Ellman's was like a warehouse showroom. You pick your product in the lobby and they'd pull the box in the back. I think they were bought out by Zales. Now there's no trace of the place.

My Dad was the store manager for years at the Cobb Parkway location. It had a main entrance on Cobb Parkway by the clock tower, and a back entrance that came out on Windy Hill Rd. right near I-75. Great memory... when the store alarm would go off, my Dad would have to go check it out, talk to the police, etc. I remember driving down I-75 with my Dad late at night and going into the store when the lights were off and NOBODY was there. Totally quiet. It was kinda spooky. A couple times when I had a childhood friend spend the night at our house we both went down with my Dad and got to play in the store. We threw footballs and played hide and seek in all the racks of clothes while my Dad sorted out the alarm stuff. Fun stuff for a little kid.

[A-Town Down]

Originally Posted by Newsboy

The current Target store on Briarcliff Road in Atlanta was a Richway originally. There may be others left, but that's the only one I know of. Most have probably been abandoned or replaced by now with new Target buildings.

Richway buildings were / are notable for the large rectangular skylights on the roof. Though Target boarded most of them up, the rectangular structures were too large (or expensive) to remove and remained. There are quite a few vacant or repositioned Richway / Target big boxes across metro ATL that still have this obvious strutural feature.

BTW ... Richway was the discount brand of Atlanta-based Rich's department stores (thus the name) and a FANTASTIC operation --- decades ahead of its time! Not only were the stores physically very sleek and modern (for the disco-era 1970s) but they sold EVERYTHING, from full-service automotive to full-service groceries ... and everything in between! THIS WAS WAY AHEAD OF SUPER WALMARTS!

One of the unique things was the grocery departments, which were separate operations within the main store. When you made purchases, all your items were put into a plastic tub and you were given a claim ticket. Upon leaving the store you drove around to the side, gave a clerk your ticket and your merchandise was rolled out on a long conveyer belt and placed in your car. Pretty cool operation IMO.

Being the 1970s, early Richway stores used varying shades of neon green, orange, blue and golden yellow to identify departments, on signage, etc. The huge skylights let in tons of natural light. I think the ceilings might have been mirrored! It was one big retail disco party!

But the thing I'll never forget is the smell. All Richway stores had a snack bar right up front that sold, among other things, caramel corn and frozen coke slushies. The whole store smelled like caramel corn, and as a kid nothing was sweeter!

The fantastic website Skycity.com (about defunct southern retailers named for a defunct southern retailer) has an entire chapter on Richway and more! Sky City: Retail History: Ashley Plaza Mall: Charleston, SC

Thanks! I never heard of Richway, but this was pretty informative! It definitely does seem like it was ahead of its time. Shame it didn't last, same with Rich's... On another note, I always wondered about those particular Target stores with the rectangular boxes on the rooftop, now I know the origin behind the design. Pretty cool.

[JMatl]

Originally Posted by lorilove

So talking about Target - there used to be a standalone store (name started with a B but I can't remember it exactly).

It was before Bed Bath Beyond and those types of stores and it was the THE place to buy house stuff and was owned by the same group as Target. They closed down in the late 80's early 90's because Target decided to fold them into the Target stores and not have them as standalone.

The one we shopped at was next to Akers Mill. It was in the same building that is now LA Fitness - which used to be a Joann's Store which used to be a Levitz Furniture Store which used to be the store that I am thinking about.

I think they closed this down around the same time that Target moved into the Richway's on Cobb Parkway

You're thinking of Brandon's. It was a short-lived experiment by Federated Dept. Stores, the company that originally bought out Rich's. There was one in Northeast Plaza that was wonderful.

[Clayton white guy]

Richway WAS Rich's discount division (Treasure Island was J. C. Penny's, Gold Circle was the discount division of the old Lazarus Department store chain of Ohio, and even Target was once the discount division of the now defunct Dayton's chain!)

In the late 1960's and 1970's having a "discount division" was really in vogue.

Incidentally, in the "everything old is new again in retail" department, Macy's Backstage "store within a store" format that they have rolled out at many of their suburban stores around Metro Atlanta, including their Southlake store near me, is VERY reminiscent of Rich's Budget Store that they had Downtown and at most of their larger suburban locations. I can remember visiting Rich's Budget Store as a small child (probably in the early 1980's and ironically I think that the Macy's Backstage at Southlake is ironically in pretty close to the same spot at Southlake Rich's (Macy's).

[arjay57]

Originally Posted by Clayton white guy

In the late 1960's and 1970's having a "discount division" was really in vogue.

Were GEX and Arlan's subsidiaries of larger "regular" retailers?

[Clayton white guy]

I do not recall Arlan''s, but GEX, which once had a location between Forest Park and College Park, was a membership retail club (think Costco or Sam's Club) that specialized in government and military employees. (not sure if you HAD to be a government employee to join, or if it was just encouraged/ marketed toward them)

Interesting sub point:

It was due to GEX that I am here today:

My father, who was a teacher at the time like me, worked summers in the insurance department at GEX. He answered the phone one morning to a frantic woman who had her car damaged by a drunk driver while it was parked in front of her home on Ga 85 just south of the Fayetteville Square . His first question was, "Why did you park there?" The woman then burst into tears. He tried to calm her and thought she sounded very sincere over the phone. By the time he hung up the phone, my father had asked the lady out for a date! Long story made short, the lady was my mother, they married a little over five months after their first date and were married over forty years before they died within six months of one another in 2010. So you see I owe my very existence to GEX!

[Saintmarks]

Great memories. My nearest Richway was at Old National Highway. I think widening the freeway and separating 85 and 285 in that general area did it in. I remember one at Jonesboro Highway and 285 as well.

Great remembering Zayre and Treasure Island. Someone correct me on this if I am fuzzy, but I think the very first Home Depot went into an abandoned Treasure Island on Cobb Parkway near Terrell Mill.