Wednesday, March 31, 2010

Memories of W.T.GRANTS at Belvedere Plaza



Comment from Tom:
In 1955, we moved to Decatur, GA and in the Belvedere Plaza Shopping Center there was a WT Grant store. It was originally one floor, but after Thanksgiving, they opened a stairway to the lower level that became Toyland along with Christmas merchandise. In the early 60s, the store was remodeled. They put in a lunch counter with booths, like Woolworth’s had and they made the lower level a permanent part of the store with appliances, plants and the pet department and stuff. One of the most outstanding things I remember seeing for sale at Grants were individual goldfish in 5″ by 4″ plastic bags that were attached to a display board. The top of each bag was folded over with a paper label stapled to it. The lunch counter cooked the frozen French fries on the grill, under a cover and when they were served, they were so hot you could not eat them. They made the coffee in old-fashion glass vacuum pots where the water gurgled up from the lower bowl to the top bowl and then after a minute or two, they turned off the heat and the coffee went back down. We moved before the store went into a decline and I don’t think I went into another Grants after that.

From: http://www.jpnearl.com/blog/?p=864

Roswell Boomer said:

This was one of my most favorite spots to check out Christmas Toys. I used to make my Christmas wish list from here.
"Pop-Guns", "Burp guns", "Flint-Lock Cap pistols".
I can still remember the smell of this basement
toyland.

3 comments:

  1. This was one of my most favorite spots to check out Christmas Toys. I used to make my Christmas wish list from here.
    "Pop-Guns", "Burp guns", "Flint-Lock Cap pistols".
    I can still remember the smell of this basement
    toyland.

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  2. Where exactly was this located?

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  3. You see the photo at top of page of F.W. Woolworth, that the building W.T. GRANTS took over, later Woolworth opened at the right side of the mall near Kroger.

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