Company logo on a terrazzo floor at one of its former stores in Los Angeles.
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Variety store, Five and dime | |
Fate | Bankrupt |
Successor | Dollar Zone (2001–02) |
Founded | 1911Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania, United States | in
Founder | John Josiah Newberry |
Defunct | 2001 or early 2002 |
Area served
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Northeast, Southwest, West Coast, United States,Canada |
Parent | McCrory Stores Corporation (1972–2002) |
Subsidiaries | J.J. Newberry Canadian, Ltd. |
J.J. Newberry's was an American five and dime store chain in the 20th century. It was founded in Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania, United States, in 1911 by John Josiah Newberry (1877–1954). J.J. Newberry learned the variety store business by working in stores for 17 years between 1894 and 1911. There were seven stores in the chain by 1918.
John Josiah Newberry (September 26, 1877 – March 6, 1954) was born in Sunbury, Pennsylvania, Newberry first worked in the railroad business before joining retail store Fowler, Dick and Walker in 1894. In 1899 he joined S. H. Kress & Co. where he stayed until 1911.
He founded the J.J. Newberry chain of five and dime stores in Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania, USA in 1911. The first store was a success, and he opened a branch in Freeland, Pennsylvania in 1912. After 1919 he managed the company with his brothers Edgar A. Newberry and C.T. Newberry. At the time of Newberry's death (1954), the J.J. Newberry chain had 475 stores.
The company was a family business. J.J. Newberry was joined in management by his brothers C.T. Newberry and Edgar A. Newberry in 1919, at which time there were 17 stores with yearly sales of $500,000.
Over the years, the Newberry chain acquired other stores including Hested in Wyoming, Missouri Cincinnati, OH, North Dakota, Colorado, and Nebraska, and Lee Stores in South Dakota, Minnesota, and Iowa. At the time of founder J.J. Newberry's death (1954), the chain had 475 stores. By 1961, the company operated 565 stores with total yearly sales of $291 million. The chain also operated a larger department store called Britt's Department Store.