 |
Photos
Morgantown, W.Va., Store No. 197,
1987
 |
|
| This store at 222 High St.
in Morgantown, W.Va., home of West Virginia University, opened in the
1920s and survived the takeover of G.C. Murphy Co. by Ames Department
Stores in 1985. Its appearance is typical of a mid-1980s Murphy's
store. The location was among the variety stores spun off by Ames to
Murphy Co.’s old rival, McCrory Corp., in 1989. (Photo courtesy Ed
Kinter.) |
G.C. Murphy Co. home office, early
1980s
 |
|
| From this modest complex of
buildings on Fifth Avenue in McKeesport, Pa., activities of the G.C.
Murphy Co.’s 500 stores were coordinated. The three-story building in
the center of the photo was the location of the first store in the
modern Murphy chain. After J.S. Mack and W.C. Shaw took over the
company in 1911, its offices expanded to take over an old church, a
livery stable, and three neighboring buildings! The upper stories of
the building on the right housed the Murphy Company's real estate and
construction department. (Photo by John Barna.) |
McKeesport, Pa., ‘Old Store No.
1,’ 1906
 |
|
| Store No. 1 on Fifth Avenue
in McKeesport, Pa., was opened in 1906 by George Clinton Murphy on the
first floor of what had been known as the Ruben Building. Within a few
years, the store had relocated to a former church two doors away. By
the 1960s, all three of these buildings, plus the church, had become
part of the G.C. Murphy Co. home office complex. (Photo courtesy John
Barna.) |
Downtown Pittsburgh, Store No. 12,
1950s
 |
|
| A
crowd gathers to watch a Murphy’s restaurant employee make submarine
sandwiches in the window of the company’s flagship Downtown Pittsburgh
store. Date unknown. (Photo courtesy Ed Kinter.) |
G.C. Murphy Veterans’ Club
meeting, 1954
 |
|
| The
“veterans’ club” — an organization for Murphy Co. employees who had
been with the firm for 15 years or more — was an important part of
social life for the Murphy’s “family.” (Photo courtesy Ed Kinter.) |
Opening of Fond Du Lac, Wis., Store
No. 340
 |
|
| Managers of a new Murphy’s
store in Fond du Lac, Wis., in the 1970s gather for a group portrait
shortly before the first customers arrive. Even as smaller, inner-city
locations closed, G.C. Murphy Co. continued to open both new variety
stores and ”Murphy’s Marts” throughout the 1970s and early ’80s. (Photo
courtesy Ed Kinter.) |
Murphy’s Mart, 1979
 |
|
| As
discount stores began to play a larger role in retailing in the 1970s,
suburban “Murphy’s Marts” became more and more important to G.C. Murphy
Co.’s success. This unidentified location, pictured on the cover of one
of the corporation’s annual reports, is typical in appearance. (Photo
courtesy Robert Messner.) |
G.C. Murphy restaurant, late 1960s
 |
|
| Before
fast-food restaurants were common, G.C. Murphy Co. lunch counters and
cafeterias provided cheap, quick and nourishing meals — and enticed
shoppers to spend more time in the company’s stores. This location may
be the restaurant in Greengate Mall, Greensburg, Pa. (Photo courtesy Ed
Kinter.) |
More photos to come!
|
|
