Happy Easter from LiveMalls.
Belk, Charlotte, North Carolina. Easter ad, 1970 (courtesy Pat Richardson.)
J B. Ivey & Company, Charlotte, North Carolina. Easter ad, 1970 (courtesy Pat Richardson.)
Coplon's, SouthPark mall, Charlotte, North Carolina. Easter ad, 1970 (courtesy Pat Richardson.)
SouthPark mall, Charlotte, North Carolina. Easter ad, 1970 (courtesy Pat Richardson.)
Sears Roebuck And Co., Charlotte, North Carolina. Easter ad, 1970 (courtesy Pat Richardson.)
JCPenney, Park Road Shopping Center, Charlotte, North Carolina. Easter ad, 1970 (courtesy Pat Richardson.)Previously on LiveMalls
Belk, SouthPark
The Belk Archive
The Ivey's Archive
SouthPark, The Early Tears
Would love to have been at Southpark for this Easter--the mall had only been opened for a little over a month and I imagine they went overboard with the decorations. Also at this time, a good number of the smaller stores (like Coplon's) and one of the anchors (Sears) were still in the process of preparing to open. There were only 17 smaller stores and 2 anchors open at this point.
ReplyDeleteAbout Penney's--I love the font used for the name. Does anyone know the history of this lettering style? It's got a cool look to it.
That's a great collection of ads, Steven. thanks for posting them.
ReplyDeleteIn response to Pat's question, that Penneys logo (definitely one of my all-time favorites)was only used from 1962 to 1971. The "Always First Quality" tag was used in print ads from the very start in '62. In 1971, they adopted the helvetica logo, which is still used today in slightly modified form. I'm guessing they added the "JC" back in to honor their founder, who passed away around that time.
Not much has been discussed of Belk's "Bargain Store". I assume it was a clearance area of the store.
ReplyDeletePat: I agree. I'll bet the Easter 1970 decorations at SouthPark were something to see. The novelty factor of the mall probably helped as much to get people through the doors that first year.
ReplyDeleteMost Belk stores had some kind of bargain basement operation in that era; most department stores did back then. There were even "Budget Store" - the preferred term at Leggett - up until the late '80s. They used to be immensely popular, kind of like the T.J. Maxxes of their day.
Eventually, bargain basements - at Belk and elsewhere - lost favor when off-price and discount stores became popular, but as you remember Belk briefly re-entered the off-price arena in the '90s with "Tags." Tags was a lot like what Belk/Leggett's basement stores were like.
Dave: Thanks. I'd love to take credit, but Pat is who unearthed all these gems.
What's interesting abut the Penney's logo is how widespread its use was even though it was only officially used for nine years.
Most American metro areas got at least one store with the Penney's logo, and because JCPenney only replaced the old signs as they remodeled into their beige and cinnamon '80s look, just about all the old Penney's signs stayed up into the late '80s, some beyond.