Memco Store Locations

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Dave
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Memco Store Locations

Post by Dave »

There were two Memcos in Richmond, one on Midlothian Turnpike and one on West Broad Street (then called Broad Street Road). Both were bought from Wards Corporation (now Circuit City) in 1975. Wards had operated The Carousel discount stores at the locations; the Midlothian Pike store being opened in 1969 and the Broad Street store having been acquired by Wards in 1965 from Two Guys. I believe Two Guys had opened around 1962 or so. I remember going to their going out of business sale and noticing how little merchandise remained in the store.

There were grocery store operations at both locations operated by Farm Fresh. The gap in my information that I'm trying to close is that I'm not sure if the grocery operation was always run by Farm Fresh or if they were differently branded at one time or another.

The Broad Street location is now a Burlington Coat Factory and OfficeMax. The Midlothian Pike location is now a flea market and is probably more "preserved".

Incidentially, I've often seen it stated that the Memco locations were sold to Bradlees. The Richmond ones were not.
Last edited by Dave on 29 Mar 2007 18:09, edited 1 time in total.
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Post by Groceteria »

-- Greensboro NC (High Point Road): became a Hechinger and now a furnuture outlet.
-- Winston-Salem NC (North Point Boulevard): now some sort of postal facility.

<<Changed the subject line to open this to all Memco store locations.>>
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Post by Dave »

--Hyattsville, MD (Sargent & Riggs Road)
--Baltimore (Rt. 40, but I'm sure there were others)
--Suitland?, MD (across from Andrews AFB)
--Fairfax? Annandale?, VA (Little River Turnpike & Braddock Road)
--Reston, VA (Baron Cameron & Reston Avenues)

I've found that North Carolina usually seems to be omitted from the list of states where Lucky operated Memcos and Gemcos.
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Post by Groceteria »

Dave wrote:I've found that North Carolina usually seems to be omitted from the list of states where Lucky operated Memcos and Gemcos.
The ones in the Triad opened late in 1980, and were only open for about two to three years.
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Post by Transit Road »

I'm guessing that the Memco stores in Baltimore were om Merritt Boulevard in Dundalk where the current Giant Food-MD is located and on Route 40 in Catonsville where the Babies R US/Baby Superstore is located. Both are former Bradlees locations.
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Post by Transit Road »

Also, possible Memco locations are Route 175 & Dobbin Road in Columbia, MD (I pretty sure this was confirmed - it also was a former Bradlees, a former K-Mart, but is now Wal-Mart).

Also, possibly Liberty Road and Brenbrook in Randallstown, MD - this was a former Bradlees also. It later became became a Valu Food location and has been vacant for many years.
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Post by Groceteria »

3900 High Point Road, Greensboro NC, looks more like the Hechinger it later became than the Memco it once was:

Image

7840 North Point Boulvard, Winston-Salem NC, still has the ghost of its former Memco gas station too:

Image

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Both opened in 1980 and were gone by 1982-1983. In retrospect, the site selection obviously left something to be desired. Neither location had much retail success after Memco left, and neither was in a part of town that experienced much growth in the 1980s.
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Post by Groceteria »

A few posts moved from the Memco general thread that are really more appropriate here:
rich wrote:If they were in Rockville, then they probably were located on or near Rt. 355 (aka Rockville Pike through most of strip mall land, but also known as Hungerford Drive, and Frederick Road, just outside the corporate limits). Rockville is "land of the big boxes" and filled with strip malls small & large, some of which date back to the 1950s. Much of that real estate has been redeveloped, sometimes more than once, in the last 25 years. The Korvette's complex that has a Giant, Sport Authority, etc. is the most recognizable old discount store. One possibility for Memco might be the former Hechinger's (replaced by a Giant super market) which was on or near the site on an old drive-in. The Federal Plaza space that was subdivided into CompUSA is another possibility--I don't know how far back that complex goes.
TheQuestioner wrote:Sorry to diverge from the Memco topic a bit, but the mention of the CompUSA plaza on Rockville Pike piqued my curiosity. You mention it is "Federal Plaza", is that still the name of that center? What I would really like to know is what was in that part of the center before CompuUSA.

I first became aware of CompUSA around 1990, and before that time I very rarely went near that center. The main item of interest I recall is a Putt-Putt golf center adjacent to this center. When was the center built? What tenant(s) were in the large CompUSA space before them? Maybe Memco, but I really have no idea. The only Memco location I recall well was the Riggs Rd. store near Hyattsville. (unsure just what town that area is considered being part of) I heard that the Rockville CompUSA is closing/closed, I wonder what will take it's place...
rich wrote:There's a KMart on Riggs Road, N Of Queens Chapel--haven't been by there in years, but perhaps that was built as a Memco. It's an odd location, as it's not really that close to any major collection of stores (PG Plaza isn't that far away, but it's not like the retail hubs you find on Rockville Pike, Greenbelt Road, etc.).
TheQuestioner wrote:Yes, that's the location I was referring to. I always wondered why it was over there all alone. I believe that when it was new in the 1970's, there were no other buildings on the "outlot" portions. There has been a Wendy's and a Pizza Hut there since the mid 80's, back when the store was Bradlees. I think it was built as Memco, was vacant for a time, became Bradlees and then was KMart.

Until about ten years ago, it still had Memco's distinctive "overhanging fingernail" canopies coming out of the arched spaces in the front of the building. Does anyone know if Lucky used this architecture on any of their Gemco stores out west? I have only seen a couple of former Memco's like this, and they were in in the DC area.
DanniGirl wrote:Yes, this store was definitely a Memco in the early to mid-70s. It was located at 6411 Sargent Road in Hyattsville, MD. I grew up on the D.C. side of Sargent Road and frequented that store with my dad. Back then, the store sat alone on that site, the front facing Sargent Road, and the side facing Riggs Road. After it closed, it became Bradlees...then (and still is) KMart. This particular Memco did have a grocery store in the rear; it was located across from Electronics.
hockley91

Memco building next to Andrews AFB - Camp Springs Maryland

Post by hockley91 »

I used to go to Memco a lot with my parents when I was a kid. There was one right off of Andrews AFB in Camp Springs, Maryland. I got a lot of Star Wars stuff from there.

Just drove by there last week. It's been 24 years since I was in this area. Amazing how things have changed...

Image

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Post by Groceteria »

For everyone's information, there's been some good discussion of this at DC Grocery, starting here:

http://groups.msn.com/dcgrocery/general ... ssage=1760
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Re: Memco building next to Andrews AFB - Camp Springs Maryla

Post by Groceteria »

hockley91 wrote:I used to go to Memco a lot with my parents when I was a kid. There was one right off of Andrews AFB in Camp Springs, Maryland. I got a lot of Star Wars stuff from there.
Camp Springs (or Campsprings, as it's typed in a 1970 ad) was one of the first two Memco stores in the DC area, located at 5055 Allentown Road. The other was at 6555 Little River Turnpike, in Annandale VA.

There's apparently a Home Depot on the Annandale site now. I have no idea if it's the same building:

http://tinyurl.com/36hkc4
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