Welcome to City-Data.com Forum!
U.S. CitiesCity-Data Forum Index
Go Back   City-Data Forum > U.S. Forums > Ohio > Cincinnati
 [Register]
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
View detailed profile (Advanced) or search
site with Google Custom Search

Search Forums  (Advanced)
 
 
Old 04-06-2011, 09:14 AM
 
Location: Mason, OH
9,259 posts, read 16,694,651 times
Reputation: 1954

Advertisements

I guess those of us old enough to remember can try and place Rinks, Van Leunans, and Swallens in the Cincinnati area. They are all names I remember very well.

From what I can tell, Gray Drugs bought out the interests of Cook United in Rinks. Then Gray Drugs began to sell off its interests. Apparently Gray Drugs was a predecessor of Rite Aid. I kind of enjoy researching some of the acquisition and sell-off activites over the years. Reminds me of the old Abbott & Costello routine of Who's On First?
Quick reply to this message

 
Old 04-06-2011, 02:22 PM
 
Location: A voice of truth, shouted down by fools.
1,086 posts, read 2,687,773 times
Reputation: 937
When I was growing up in Dayton in the 60s, Rinks was a synonym for cheap bargains and low quality.

Comparing it to a gag in the National Lampoon's Sunday Newspaper Parody from 1978, Rinks was sort of the "Swillmart" of the Miami Valley.

I remember my dad buying a UHF converter there that felt like a hollow plastic box, and performed about as well. Even as uber-cheap as my dad was, we almost never bought anything there.

There were urban legends floating around Dayton in the 60s such that the lowest rung retailers like Rinks sold chocolate candies with worms infesting them...
Quick reply to this message
 
Old 12-05-2011, 09:57 AM
 
2 posts, read 30,655 times
Reputation: 11
I worked at Rink's while I was in college and for a while after I graduated. To my knowledge, there were originally two independent companies. One was known as Rink's Bargain City (later known as Rink's Department Stores) that was founded in the Cincinnati area by Hy Ulner (AKA the Bargain City Kid). The name "Rink's" came from the fact that one of the first stores was opened in an old roller rink in Hamilton, Ohio. The corporate offices for Rink's were located on Crescentville Road in northern Hamilton County.

I know very little about the origins of the "Bargain City" chain that arose in the Toledo area. I do know that they operated as "Washington Distributors."

I do know that both chains thrived and grew in the 50's and 60's and that both were purchased by a company from Cleveland known as Gray Drug Strores in the mid 60's. Gray's allowed both Rink's and Bargain City to operate independent of each other until the early 70's when an economic downturn led Gray's to combine both operations under the name of "Rink's Bargain City." (More later)
Quick reply to this message
 
Old 12-05-2011, 10:00 AM
 
Location: Cincinnati
350 posts, read 875,285 times
Reputation: 97
My Dad worked at Rink's on Hamilton Ave in the early 80's. I remember it being dark and dirty!
Quick reply to this message
 
Old 12-05-2011, 10:08 AM
 
2 posts, read 30,655 times
Reputation: 11
Rink's Bargain City eventually was operated solely out of Toledo and the Cincinnati operation closed by the mid 70's.

Gray Drug sold its interest in Rink's in the nid to late 70's to Cook United Corporation (also from Cleveland . . they operated various department stores, Cooks and Ontario being the most familiar to me). It was a highly leveraged buyout that left Cooks with a lot of high-interest debt, a lot of stores that were geographically close to each other, and not much cash. The Ontario stores in Ohio were eventually converted to Rink's stores.

Cooks struggled to survive and eventually went bankrupt (chapter 11) in the early 80's. By the later 80's the company liquidated.
Quick reply to this message
 
Old 12-05-2011, 05:54 PM
 
205 posts, read 978,026 times
Reputation: 52
I remember Rink's sponsored Big Time Wrestling out of Dayton and The Kid and Willie Thall pitched products and interviewed wrestlers between matches. One time The Sheik took a bite out of Willie's trademark hat - the big jerk. LOL
Quick reply to this message
 
Old 12-06-2011, 06:19 AM
 
Location: Sunny Florida
7,136 posts, read 12,624,637 times
Reputation: 9547
Quote:
Originally Posted by franke01 View Post
I remember Rink's sponsored Big Time Wrestling out of Dayton and The Kid and Willie Thall pitched products and interviewed wrestlers between matches. One time The Sheik took a bite out of Willie's trademark hat - the big jerk. LOL
Oh yeah, I remember the Big Time Wrestling connection as well. Also remember Willie Thall saying, "Rink - a - dink - a - doo". It's weird the stuff you remember from your childhood.
Quick reply to this message
 
Old 12-06-2011, 07:14 AM
 
1,320 posts, read 3,686,846 times
Reputation: 961
We had a Rinks in Middletown too, and we went there sometimes after church...lol!!!!!!
Quick reply to this message
 
Old 03-22-2012, 12:21 PM
 
8 posts, read 42,346 times
Reputation: 19
Default Rinks bargain city

Yes, I remember the Rinks on Reading Road with fond memories. I grew up in Reading in the sixties and we did a lot of trading at this location including the grocery section. Mom worked down the road at Twin Fair and my dad would stop at the Burger Chef beside the store (Reading Road side) and purchase me those 15 cent hamburgers. Good times!
Quick reply to this message
 
Old 03-22-2012, 02:32 PM
 
Location: Cincinnati tri-state area
75 posts, read 119,154 times
Reputation: 53
I remember shopping at the Reading Road store to get cheap household stuff. I’ll bet many of you also remember “Kash’s Big Bargain Barn in South Leb-anon Ohio” and his hilarious ads on radio and TV.
Quick reply to this message
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.

Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.


 
Please update this thread with any new information or opinions. This open thread is still read by thousands of people, so we encourage all additional points of view.

Quick Reply
Message:

Settings
X
Data:
Loading data...
Based on 2000-2020 data
Loading data...

123
Hide US histogram

Over $104,000 in prizes was already given out to active posters on our forum and additional giveaways are planned!

Go Back   City-Data Forum > U.S. Forums > Ohio > Cincinnati
Similar Threads

All times are GMT -6.

© 2005-2024, Advameg, Inc. · Please obey Forum Rules · Terms of Use and Privacy Policy · Bug Bounty

City-Data.com - Contact Us - Archive 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37 - Top