The Ames Fan Club

Closed all their stores in 1997 not 1996 and most stores has became ames

Rich's closed many stores in 1996 and finally closed the remaining stores in 1997.    

At least five were acquired by Ames: Bangor and Falmouth ME, Manchester and Lebanon NH and St. Johnsbury VT.

This pictures shows the entrance of the Waterville ME store.
(july 2004)

QuoteOriginally posted by Zayre88
Rich's closed many stores in 1996 and finally closed the remaining stores in 1997.    

At least five were acquired by Ames: Bangor and Falmouth ME, Manchester and Lebanon NH and St. Johnsbury VT.

This pictures shows the entrance of the Waterville ME store.
(july 2004)

WOW COOL!:cool:

Here is a cool pic.  In Auburn ME, the Rich's was divided in two and half of it is now Big Lots.  Big Lots expanded their backstore by adding another back wall with another set of doors.  

You can still see the Rich's signage (Rugs, Furniture Domestics...) on the real back wall of the store wich is now inside the newly created storage area!

i always get bouth rich;s mixed up  cause theres a dept store names rich's too

Here is a Rich's sales circular

The Rich's logo is still ther on the sign of the JFK Plaza in Waterville.  It's just covered up with a white plate.  You can still see a  glimpse of the R and the right side of the S because the plate is a bit too small.  They spray painted the two letters.

I recreated the logo on the other pic :yup:

There was that Rich's, the discount department store chain that operated in New England.

The other Rich's department store is a division operated by Federated (Macy's)

A short list of Rich's location.  You can add:
Rochester, Concord, Manchester, Gorham, Gilford  NH
Falmouth ME
Berlin, St.Joshsbury VT
Fitchburg, Haverhill, Milford, Gardner, Middleborough, Plymouth, Greenfield MA
Wakefield RI

Yeah, i've read those signs.  It's funny :roll:  All that i know is that they were probably added by the actual tenant of the store wich is L.L.Bean.

the first store was in Salem MAss, opened in 1961. The 2nd one was in NAshua NH. The one in NAshua opened in 1965 and closed in June 1996, 9 months before the whole chain went. The one in Nashua was dirty and tiny. The one in Salem mass became wal-mart.

The chain closed stores like this: fall 1995: auburn and Calais Me and early 1996 Kingstown RI, NAshua NH closed june 1996, late 1996: waterville me, rochester and Portsmouth NH, and milford and plymouth mass closed.
Their stores were about the size of a Zayre or bigger ames like the 60s to 70s of thousands of square feet.

THESE WERE their stores in opening order: and known square feet and possible open date, and what the store once was and became after it closed.

#1).Salem:Highland Plaza,Highland 1961 now wal-mart
#2).Nashua:Turnpike Plaza,Amherst st(Rt.101A)(Opened
65 Now BOB"s stores (it expanded space) and STaples
#3).West Lebonon:80,656 square feet.Upper Valley Plaza, Plainfield Ave(Rt.12) opened 68, added 30,000 square feet in 1991, now Ames, then kohl's.
#4).Gardner:67,000 square feet.Timpany Plaza,Timpany Blvd(Opened 1970) now subleased to Big Lots, DOllar Tre and cinema
#5).Plymouth:75,000 square feet.Standish Plaza,Samoset st(Rt.44)(Opened 1970 NOW staples
(#6).Rochester:Rochester Mall,North Main st(Rt.11)(Opened 70 ) NOW home depot
#7).Gorham:Mountain Valley Plaza,Berlin-Gorham Rd(Rt.16) op 73, now an expanded wal-mart, wal-mart relocates in 07
(#8).Portsmouth:75,000 square feet.Southgate Plaza, Lafayette Rd(Rt.1)(Opened ?) (WAS MAMMOTH MART) Now Big Lots and goodwill
#9).Biddeford:67,000 square feet.5 Points Shopping Center, Alfred Rd(Rt.111)opened 73 now Staples
#10).Marlboro:Rt.20(Post Road)Plaza,Boston Post Rd(Rt.20)opened 1979, now Ocean state job lots and marshalls
(#11).Concord:66,700 square feet.Fort Eddy Plaza,Fort Eddy Rd(Opened July 11,1979 ,expanded in 1983, now Borders and STaples.
#12).Fitchburg:Wallace Plaza,John Fitch Hwy(Opened
1981, NOW Family DOllar and BIg Lots
#13).Waterville:JFK Mall,Kennedy Memorial Rd(Opened
1982
#14).Bangor:77,352 square feet.Airport Mall,Union st(Opened May 1983) (WAS ORIGINALLY WOOLCO) NOW Ames, then MArshalls and DOllar tree
#15).Falmouth:68,000 square feet.Falmouth Shopping Center,Main st(Rt.1) op 1968 (WAS KING's BEfore and MAybe MAmmoth mart before), Now Ames, then a relocated Shaw's
(#16).Keene:72,714 square feet.West Street Shopping Center,West st(Opened 83, expanded in 1993, Now JCPENNY
(#17).Manchester:72,550 square feet.Eastside Plaza, Hanover st(Opened 1986) (WAS LORD's department store before this) NOW AMes (That closed)
#18).Berlin:66,300 square feet.Berlin Mall,Fisher Rd+ Rt.64+ Berlin mall Rd opened 1986, now wal-mart
#19).Greenfield:65,000 square feet.Greenfield Plaza, Mohawk Trail(Rt.2)(Opened 1987) Now staples)
#20).Danvers:Danvers Plaza,Newbury st(Rt.1)+Rt.62 (Opened 87) plaza was BUILT IN 1964) NOW a 77,700 square foot STop and shop that demolished the building
#21).Methuen:70,000 square feet.Merrimac Plaza,Haverhill
st(Rt.113)(Opened 88) (PLAZA BUILT IN 1970) Now Dollar Tree, AJ WRIGHT and DOts
#22).Middleboro:Middleboro Crossing Shopping Center, Grove st(Opened 89) HALF OF THE BUILDING NOW OCEAN STATE JOB LOTS
 #23).Auburn:72,000 square feet.Auburn Plaza,Center st(Rt. 4)(Opened 90) Now subleased to BIg Lots and crafts
#24).Calais:50,000 square feet.Main st(Opened 1990)(Closed December 1995)Now MArden's
#25).St.Johnsbury:60,526 square feet.Green Mountain Mall, Railroad st(Opened 91) (BEFORE IT WAS AMES AND BEFORE THAT IT WAS ZAYRE) NOW AMES
(#26).Gilford:70,250 square feet.Rich’s Plaza,Lake Shore
Rd(Rt.11)(Opened 1991) NOW wal-mart)
#27).Wakefield(South Kingston):71,520 square feet. Wakefield Mall,Old Tower opened 1994. (WAS WOOLWORTH BEFORE THIS) (CLosed MArch 1996) NOW Shaw's
#28).Milford:Fair Shopping Center,East Main st(Rt.146) (WAS FAIR DEPARTMENT STORE BEFORE THIS) NOW half of it is Big Lots
#29).Winchendon(Northbridge):62,000 square feet. Winchendon Plaza, (OPENED AUGUST 1995, AND LAST RICH's to open) (BEFORE IT WAS FAIR DEPARTMENT STORE) NOW Wal-mart, that will relocate next year

The one in Gilford NH was my closest and it opened October 1991. The store was around 70000 square feet and became a wal-mart in early 1998. here is the picture of Gilford. THE ONE IN MIDDLEBORO MASS LOOKED LIKE THAT!!!

this was the one in concord NH. It was 66,700 square feet, and opened July 1979 and is now Staples and Borders.

this was the one in West lebanon NH. THE LETTERING ALWAYS STAYED ON THE BUILDING.  It was the 3rd store and opened November 1968 and was then 50,000 square feet and got expanded to about 81,000 square feet in 1991 and was the biggest Rich's in the chain.

THE ONE IN NASHUA WAS KIND OF LIKE THIS ONE EXCEPT THE building was white (Ahove the entrence way) and the last 1/5 of the building (to the right) was brown) the one in NAshua had the lettering ontop. THE NASHUA STORE WAS THE 2nd store and that one opened in 1965, closed June 1996 (3 months after the company filed for bankrupy and 9 months before th chain closed) and is now an expanded Bobs stores and Staples.

This was the one in MAnchester NH. It waas lord's department store, it opened in 1986 and was 72,000 square feet and became Ames and is now Building 19.

this was the one in Portsmouth nh. IT is 75,000 square feet and opened in 1977 and was mammoth mart and was among the 5 the company closed around X-mas 1996.

this was the one in rochester nh. IT was in the ROchester MAll and it opened in like maybe 1970, and it closed with Portsmouth NH, Waterville Me, Plymouth and Milford Mass, in December 1996.

this was the one in bangor me. that was 77,000 square feet, opened in 1983 and was a woolco. it became Ames and is now Dollar Tree and Marshalls.

this was the one in Biddeford me. it opened `1974 and was 67,000 square feet. iut is now staples as you see.

this is the one in Calais maine. this was 50,000 square feet and opened in 1990 and closed in late 1995, due to the less and les of canadians crossing the border.

We can see part of the "S" from Rich's on the JFK Plaza sign in Waterville.  A board covers most of the logo and the rest was painted over...

A bit off of topic, but how big is the city of Bagor Maine?

QuoteOriginally posted by HoJofan206
A bit off of topic, but how big is the city of Bagor Maine?

Bangor maine has 31,000 people and is 135 miles north of Portland maine and 183 miles north of Portsmouth NH.

THIS IS THE PICTURE OF THE Rich's in Auburn Maine. IT opened in 1990 and closed in late 1995. IT was 72,000 square feet.

I actually saw it vacant when it had the lettering on.

In fact, the Auburn Rich's always looked like this.  I think it was built in 1991 as a new store in a new plaza.  That same style can be found at the Waterville store but slightly different (brick and colors)

That store existed and was renovated with the new look.

THis was the RIch's in FAlmouth maine. it was I beleive store number 18, so it must have opened 1983 and was I think a King's before, The store was said to be 68,000 square feet. Ames replaced it in July 97 and closed march 02.

This will become Shaw's newer and more updated location

This was the rich's in St. Johnsbury Vt in the Green mountain mall. IT was 60,526 square feet and opened as Rich's in 1991. Before Rich's it was Ames that closed in early 1990 because there was an Ames down the road, and before Ames it was ZAYRE, which opened 1974. When Rich's closed, it became Ames.

another picture

the building at the very left end was Rich's. This Rich's was in Berlin Vermont. Berlin is near Montpiler. The stoer was in a small indoor mall. Teh Rich's was 66,300 square feet and opened 1986. Rich's closed in March 1997 and became WAl-mart in 1999.

This Rich's was in Whitinsville Massachusetts. The Rich's opened August 1995 and was the last Rich's to open, it closed MArch 1997. Before Rich's it was FAir Department store. The store was 62,980 square fet. Wal-mart replaced it in October 1997 and will move in 2006 to a bigger supercneter.  I went in this wal-mart last year and it was very small.

in post: posted on 13/7/2005 at 12:49 AM

I added the Rich's picture in Rochester NH and gave more description of it. COncord NH was going to close with ROchester, but they changed their minds in closing the one in Concord NH.

In like 1994, Rich's started to get very junky and the clothing got smelly, the lighting was getting dimmer and the merchandise was just junky. They filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy in March 1996 (I WAS NOT SURPRISED AT THE TIME), RICh's started to get better in fall 1996, BUT IT WAS TOO LITTLE TOO LATE, and they announced a shutdown in december 1996 (The week before christmas), and said bad christmas sales caused it to shut down.

Here's the former Rich's in Salem MA.  The entrance does look like the ones found at other Rich's...

QuoteOriginally posted by d_fife
The one in Gilford NH was my closest and it opened October 1991. The store was around 70000 square feet and became a wal-mart in early 1998. here is the picture of Gilford. THE ONE IN MIDDLEBORO MASS LOOKED LIKE THAT!!!

Here it is again...  The entrance has the same style found at other former Rich's.

I think it is funny seeing Wal-Mart in such "tiny" stores :insane:

QuoteOriginally posted by MBZ321
I think it is funny seeing Wal-Mart in such "tiny" stores :insane:

The Gilford store is very small.  I wonder why they haven't moved yet.  They usually don't stay too long in small stores especially in shopping centers like that.  I used to think that Rich's had big stores but today they are the smaller Wal-Mart

QuoteOriginally posted by Zayre88

QuoteOriginally posted by d_fife
The one in Gilford NH was my closest and it opened October 1991. The store was around 70000 square feet and became a wal-mart in early 1998. here is the picture of Gilford. THE ONE IN MIDDLEBORO MASS LOOKED LIKE THAT!!!

Here it is again...  The entrance has the same style found at other former Rich's.

ive nebvr seen a orange wal mart logo

QuoteOriginally posted by Zayre88
In fact, the Auburn Rich's always looked like this.  I think it was built in 1991 as a new store in a new plaza.  That same style can be found at the Waterville store but slightly different (brick and colors)

That store existed and was renovated with the new look.

Here is that Waterville store again...

Rich's in Auburn is now divided into three spaces.  Big Lots has half of the original space.  Craft-mania and another store have the rest.  

Big Lots is using the Rich's entrance.  They created a storefront and entrances for the two new stores and went on with the Rich's styling.

this Rich's in Waterville maine as of January 4, 2006 is still the L.L. bean outlet and there were yellow tape around it.

QuoteOriginally posted by d_fife
this Rich's in Waterville maine as of January 4, 2006 is still the L.L. bean outlet and there were yellow tape around it.

another pictuer of the old rich's in waterville.

QuoteOriginally posted by d_fife

QuoteOriginally posted by d_fife
this Rich's in Waterville maine as of January 4, 2006 is still the L.L. bean outlet and there were yellow tape around it.

another pictuer of the old rich's in waterville.

sign of rich's in waterville maine. This S can show on the sign.

thie Dots, former store (mar-lins that is now dollar tree) and AJ wright were once the Old RICH's. Rich's replaced Almy's in 1988 and was 70,000 square feet

from Carl Russo http://www.eagletribune.com/news/stories/20031117/BU_001.htm

here is what was rich's in gorham new hampshire. the store opened in late 1973 and was in the mountain valley plaza on rt. 16 on berlin-gohram road. the store was very small and smaller than the wal-mart. Wal-mart opened in the rich's in april 1998 and expanded the Rich's and the wal-mart is 60,000 squrae feet. the wal-mart will move.  that may have been the smallest rich's ever. where the lettering says wal-mart, before it was wal-mart, was dark green on the front (the dark green front stuck out and had squigly lines) where it is wal-mart and the Rich's lettering was metalic Red, the rest of the building was light brown. I last went into this rich's in 1988. MY northern new hampshire magazine issue shows a picture of this rich's, I have no photograph of it.

from http://www.kgiproperties.com/properties/location/31/

QuoteOriginally posted by d_fife
here is what was rich's in gorham new hampshire. the store opened in late 1973 and was in the mountain valley plaza on rt. 16 on berlin-gohram road. the store was very small and smaller than the wal-mart. Wal-mart opened in the rich's in april 1998 and expanded the Rich's and the wal-mart is 60,000 squrae feet. the wal-mart will move.  that may have been the smallest rich's ever. where the lettering says wal-mart, before it was wal-mart, was dark green on the front (the dark green front stuck out and had squigly lines) where it is wal-mart and the Rich's lettering was metalic Red, the rest of the building was light brown. I last went into this rich's in 1988. MY northern new hampshire magazine issue shows a picture of this rich's, I have no photograph of it.

from http://www.kgiproperties.com/properties/location/31/

outer view of the Rich's. Wal-mart added a little to the back of the old Rich's and expanded the width of the building (left side). the rich's msut have been in the 40,000 to 50,000 square feet range.

from http://www.kgiproperties.com/properties/location/31/

That must be one of the smallest still-operating wm's left

QuoteOriginally posted by MBZ321
That must be one of the smallest still-operating wm's left

Yeah probably.  Another Rich's became a Wal-Mart: Gilford NH.  That store is also 60,000 sf. if i remember right..

QuoteOriginally posted by Zayre88

QuoteOriginally posted by MBZ321
That must be one of the smallest still-operating wm's left

Yeah probably.  Another Rich's became a Wal-Mart: Gilford NH.  That store is also 60,000 sf. if i remember right..

I thought the RIch's / wal-mart was 69,700 or 70,000 square feet. the smallest wal-mart is in missouri and is said to be 29,000 square feet. I have been in the one in bennington vt and it is 51,000 square feet, they want to expand it to over twice the size. I bet when hannaford moves across the street in gilford, the wal-mart will revidialize the plaza and relocate existing tenants within the plaza and put a wal-mart super center in the plaza (in gilford)

BACK to rich's, the first one salem ma is a wal-mart and the largest store was in west lebanon, which was 81,000 square feet and opened late 1968 and became Ames aned then Kohl's and those stores had the lettering on top. The rich's had the lettering on top.

here is the rich's in middleboro mass and part of it is ocean state job lots. teh rich's opened in 1989

from http://www.kgiproperties.com/properties/location/21/

QuoteOriginally posted by d_fife
here is the rich's in middleboro mass and part of it is ocean state job lots. teh rich's opened in 1989

from http://www.kgiproperties.com/properties/location/21/

here is part of what was rich's in middleboro mass

from http://www.kgiproperties.com/properties/location/21/

A Rich's 8?x11" paper ad.

I'm almost sure that this picture of racks was taken inside a closed Rich's.  The lettering and stripes remind me of Rich's.

In the lower left corner is a picture of the lettering at the former Rich's in Auburn Maine.

Former Rich's in Fitchburg MA (Wallace Plaza).  We can clearly see the labelscar !!

QuoteOriginally posted by Zayre88
Former Rich's in Fitchburg MA (Wallace Plaza).  We can clearly see the labelscar !!

cool pic and yes u can se eteh lable scar to abd they didnet last long enoufe to expand:( btw that big lots logo looks alot like the old caldor logo

QuoteOriginally posted by Caldor1999

QuoteOriginally posted by Zayre88
Former Rich's in Fitchburg MA (Wallace Plaza).  We can clearly see the labelscar !!

cool pic and yes u can se eteh lable scar to abd they didnet last long enoufe to expand:( btw that big lots logo looks alot like the old caldor logo

when I went by that rich's 5 yeras ago, I too noticed the labelscar. In the one in gardner at the time I saw the doorhandle say Rich's!

here is the old 72,000 sq.ft. rich's in auburn maine that opened 1990 and closed in fall 1995. I have pictures of it when it was rich's when  I saw it vacant in spring 1998.

here is what was rich's in calais maine. it closed in 1995 and must have opened 1990. it was 59,000 sq.ft. I went in the marden's and it had the old rich's wallpaper and checkouts, I did not dare take a picture because I feared personell would catch me or a customer would report it.

QuoteOriginally posted by d_fife
here is what was rich's in calais maine. it closed in 1995 and must have opened 1990. it was 59,000 sq.ft. I went in the marden's and it had the old rich's wallpaper and checkouts, I did not dare take a picture because I feared personell would catch me or a customer would report it.

former one in calais.

QuoteOriginally posted by d_fife

QuoteOriginally posted by d_fife
here is what was rich's in calais maine. it closed in 1995 and must have opened 1990. it was 59,000 sq.ft. I went in the marden's and it had the old rich's wallpaper and checkouts, I did not dare take a picture because I feared personell would catch me or a customer would report it.

former one in calais.

former one calais

QuoteOriginally posted by d_fife

QuoteOriginally posted by d_fife

QuoteOriginally posted by d_fife
here is what was rich's in calais maine. it closed in 1995 and must have opened 1990. it was 59,000 sq.ft. I went in the marden's and it had the old rich's wallpaper and checkouts, I did not dare take a picture because I feared personell would catch me or a customer would report it.

former one in calais.

former one calais

the old rich's sign in calais.

QuoteOriginally posted by d_fife
here is the old 72,000 sq.ft. rich's in auburn maine that opened 1990 and closed in fall 1995. I have pictures of it when it was rich's when  I saw it vacant in spring 1998.

cool u should post them

QuoteOriginally posted by Caldor1999

QuoteOriginally posted by d_fife
here is the old 72,000 sq.ft. rich's in auburn maine that opened 1990 and closed in fall 1995. I have pictures of it when it was rich's when  I saw it vacant in spring 1998.

cool u should post them

I will when I figure out how to set up my the thing to do it.

these picutres were digitized

1. st. johnsbury rich's. It was zayre and became ames in 1997-2002 and 60,000 sq.ft. and opened 1991. my dad took this picture in 1993 and I credit my dad douglas fife for this picture. this locations is the one in green mountain mall and the only entrance is indoors.

2. Concord Nh rich's. It opened in 1979 and is now borders and staples. it was 66,000 sq.ft. my dad took this picture in 1993 and I credit my dad douglas fife for this picture.

Obviously pictures of Rich's seem to be almost non-existant, but it was one of the favorite stores of my childhood.

I'd love to see pictures anyone might have of either the West Lebanon or Keene locations in New Hampshire. I currently work with a few people that worked at the Keene one, which turned in JC Penney in 1995.

When the West Lebanon one became Ames in 1997, the Rich's labelscar was still there for a while. It looked just like the Concord logo above. I had no idea it was the third Rich's ever, no wonder it was one of the last to close. I don't have memories of it before it was remodeled in 1991 though I was definitely there. The store was pretty big in the 90's and I can visualize the layout of it as both Rich's and Ames. I went into Kohl's once and it isn't even recognizable anymore. I'd love to see what it looked like pre-1991. One of my top memories in the 80's was hanging above the toys section they had enormous Lego posters hanging from the ceilings. Also the electronics dept I remember when they first got a Sega Genesis kiosk, it was the first place I played a genesis. I even get nostalgic about old videogame kiosks, they don't make them like they used to, and they are a big department store memory for me. I would love to own some of those old kiosks, but they are so expensive when they show up on ebay

 The Keene JC Penney has looked exactly the same since it opened in 1995 and has small signs that it used to be Rich's. Sun Foods was across the plaza and I think that changed to Hannafords in 1995 as well. Since then it's been totally remodeled.

I wish I knew things weren't always going to be the same, I regret not having photographs of a bunch of places back in the 80's and 90's

QuoteOriginally posted by TRJ22487
I'd love to see pictures anyone might have of either the West Lebanon or Keene locations in New Hampshire. I currently work with a few people that worked at the Keene one, which turned in JC Penney in 1995.

When the West Lebanon one became Ames in 1997, the Rich's labelscar was still there for a while. I wish I knew things weren't always going to be the same, I regret not having photographs of a bunch of places back in the 80's and 90's

I wish i had a camera back then...  i started collecting pictures from the web in 1997, used disposable cameras in 2000 and bought my first Digital camera in 2001.  So i missed many old stores now gone.  Anyway, here's one from my files of the Ames in West Lebanon.  Did the Rich's logo was installed on top of the store like Ames' ?  For some reason, i have a memory of the Rich's logo in Falmouth Maine installed the same way.

QuoteOriginally posted by Zayre88
I wish i had a camera back then...  i started collecting pictures from the web in 1997, used disposable cameras in 2000 and bought my first Digital camera in 2001.  So i missed many old stores now gone.

Off topic, but...how I would love to have a time machine...armed with a digital camera, imagine the visual treasures one could return with! Only in dreams, however...

At some point, when the weather is warmer, I am going to poke around in my attic...there's some fairly old stuff up there wrapped in newspaper, and newspaper means...advertisements!! (and possibly photos of local retail establishments...maybe some Rich's???) :D

QuoteOriginally posted by MBZ321
That must be one of the smallest still-operating wm's left

There is still a large number of Wal-Mart's small 1970's era stores operating in the South. In the Wal-Mart thread, I posted a pic of an incredibly small store that was about the size of a Big Lots today, and it was actually built by Wal-Mart themselves.

QuoteOriginally posted by kendra

Off topic, but...how I would love to have a time machine...armed with a digital camera, imagine the visual treasures one could return with! Only in dreams, however...

...and newspaper means...advertisements!! (and possibly photos of local retail establishments...maybe some Rich's???) :D

Off-topic but I know what you mean!  The Rich's flyer ad in page 2 is a scan of an original Rich's 8½"x11" ad that i picked up when exiting a Rich's store probably in 1995 or 1996.  For some reason, i held on to it and it's now a valuable piece of retail history, to me at least.

To show how hard it is to find original stuff from these chains, especially smaller chains like Rich's, here's an attempt by me to take a picture of a Rich's price tag in a Rich's bin-display at the Marden's store in Brewer, ME.

When i saw those displays, i recognized them from Rich's immediately so i looked around and found that price tag!!

QuoteOriginally posted by Zayre88

QuoteOriginally posted by kendra

Off topic, but...how I would love to have a time machine...armed with a digital camera, imagine the visual treasures one could return with! Only in dreams, however...

...and newspaper means...advertisements!! (and possibly photos of local retail establishments...maybe some Rich's???) :D

Off-topic but I know what you mean!  The Rich's flyer ad in page 2 is a scan of an original Rich's 8½"x11" ad that i picked up when exiting a Rich's store probably in 1995 or 1996.  For some reason, i held on to it and it's now a valuable piece of retail history, to me at least.

To show how hard it is to find original stuff from these chains, especially smaller chains like Rich's, here's an attempt by me to take a picture of a Rich's price tag in a Rich's bin-display at the Marden's store in Brewer, ME.

When i saw those displays, i recognized them from Rich's immediately so i looked around and found that price tag!!

Hmmm...I wonder if that's one of their semi-permanent displays or something that they were just using at the moment? I found myself wondering last time that I was in there what store the sewing tables used at that location were from, as they were obviously well-broken-in...

Thinking out loud, at any rate...when did you take that photo?

Last time I was at that Marden's, they gave me a LaVerdiere's bag...now if they'd given me Wellby Super Drug, that REALLY would have been something (but I took pics of the LaVerdiere's bag just the same...)

Zayre88 Wrote:I wish i had a camera back then... i started collecting pictures from the web in 1997, used disposable cameras in 2000 and bought my first Digital camera in 2001. So i missed many old stores now gone. Anyway, here's one from my files of the Ames in West Lebanon. Did the Rich's logo was installed on top of the store like Ames' ? For some reason, i have a memory of the Rich's logo in Falmouth Maine installed the same way.

No the Rich's logo was on the ledge below where the Ames logo is, it had the same logo that the Concord store has that d_fife gave us
At least you got it when it was still Ames, it looks terrible as Kohls
They totally defaced the building imo
I miss the days of going to Coconuts and K.B. Bought an original Nintendo at that K.B., I bought a few at different stores
Now the evil empire of videogame stores, Gamespot is in the plaza
I hate them for taking out Funcoland, I took that store for granted

Also the great thing about that West Leb picture, no Walmart in the background (though maybe that would be a bit too far down the street to get in that shot anyway)
I remember when the whole Walmart plaza was just a field

I took this picture yesterday (1/24/09)
As you can tell little has changed since 1995
(West Street Shopping Center built in 1984-5
Rich's, Sun Foods, VideoHeadquarters, Jo-Ann Fabrics original tennants
Jo-Ann Fabrics still in original condition)

Keene, NH Former Rich's
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v41/CorporateA/richs.jpg)

QuoteOriginally posted by DefunctStoreKing
what did rich's department store (not the discount store) sell in their stores?

I'd compare them closest to a Caldor or Bradlees probably
Just an average department store

This could be a big coincidence, but I'm thinking it isn't
Yesterday I was at work unloading a pallet, probably the 10,000th I ever have
When suddenly this caught my eye on the side of the pallet
And it made my jaw drop
This isn't written on the pallet, IT IS CARVED
I saved the pallet and went back the next day to take these pictures

(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v41/CorporateA/RichsPallet1.jpg)
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v41/CorporateA/RichsPallet2.jpg)
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v41/CorporateA/RichsPallet3.jpg)

I don't know why they would brand a pallet like that
But we DID have a Rich's in Keene, NH that closed 14 years ago
I don't know how likely it is a pallet would survive that long
But the font is perfect....
Someone I work with actually worked at the Rich's
I didn't get a chance to ask if it was actually likely for this pallet to come from Rich's

Probably not there is a richs recycling in PA and also a rich`s products company   The wood looks pretty new to be over 10 years old

As cool as that pallet being from Rich's-the-store would be, I think it is much more likely to have come from this place:

http://www.superpages.com/bp/Pittsburgh-PA/Bianco-Richs-Pallet-Recycling-Bianco-Richs-Pallet-Recycling-L0101314901.htm

QuoteOriginally posted by kendra
As cool as that pallet being from Rich's-the-store would be, I think it is much more likely to have come from this place:

http://www.superpages.com/bp/Pittsburgh-PA/Bianco-Richs-Pallet-Recycling-Bianco-Richs-Pallet-Recycling-L0101314901.htm

Right... it could also be from the Rich's food products company like retailfan said.

http://www.richs.com/business.cfm

I'm sure that some Rich's stuff is somewhere out there.  Where are all the Rich's carts for example?

I agree it's most likely not from the store, just by the age of the wood, but it would've been cool, and it was a nice picture anyway

Good question about the carts. It's as if they all got burned in a bonfire or something

QuoteOriginally posted by TRJ22487

Good question about the carts. It's as if they all got burned in a bonfire or something

Frankly, i don't remember how they looked like.  Were they in plastic or metal, what color, i don't know.

I really wanted to say they were similar to ames but grey with red richs logos and the handle had a red raised logo

QuoteOriginally posted by Zayre88

QuoteOriginally posted by TRJ22487

Good question about the carts. It's as if they all got burned in a bonfire or something

Frankly, i don't remember how they looked like.  Were they in plastic or metal, what color, i don't know.

I think the ones at my location at least were metal...and with red logos on the handles, as TRJ said...the style where it was, I think, a flat piece of plastic with the logo on it encased in a clear plastic handle, does that sound about right? I remember most of the carts from my childhood being like that. I do wonder if the later-built Rich's locations had different carts from the older ones. Seems to me plastic carts didn't really become preponderant at retailers in the Bangor area until this decade...certainly there were some, but it was not the norm, as I remember thinking them a bit strange when they first showed up. Of course, now everyone has plastic carts. But I think the ones at our Rich's location were almost certainly metal.

Heres a price tag
<a href="http://s621.photobucket.com/albums/tt295/jmcnamara96/?action=view&current=Copy2ofJoesPictures254.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i621.photobucket.com/albums/tt295/jmcnamara96/Copy2ofJoesPictures254.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>

so nashua one is turnpike plaza but wait stuarts was there how was richs you said its the staples bobs stuarts was the market basket so to big stores in one small plaza?:huh:

QuoteOriginally posted by jmcnamara96
so nashua one is turnpike plaza but wait stuarts was there how was richs you said its the staples bobs stuarts was the market basket so to big stores in one small plaza?:huh:

I shopped at both stores as a kid. Stuarts in Nashua was located on Daniel Webster Highway in south Nashua across from Toys R Us. The department store itself is where Market Basket is now, originally MB was at the other end of the plaza in what is now the closed Linens N Things.
Rich's was in the Turnpike Plaza right on Amherst Street at the very end of the Plaza and took up most of that shopping center. I also vaguely recall a Rich's "notions, crafts or fabrics" which was also part of the department store, but in a seperate retail store front next door.

The Keene, NH location (as well as the entire West Street Shopping Center Plaza) has finally started to be totally renovated on the outside since it last remodled in 1993 shortly before Rich's closed. This is the last store in the plaza to receive a renovation in 08/09

(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v41/CorporateA/richs.jpg)
I took this picture in January of this year before they began remodling for the first time since '93. It became JC Penney in 1995 from the Brattleboro VT location

In late 2009, it stands like this. Think you can see where it's going
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v41/CorporateA/more/pics006.jpg)

I'm sad this plaza got completely updated.
Caldor Rainbow did an article on this plaza a couple of years back luckily.
Still, I'd love to see some pictures of this plaza back in 83 when it first opened with Sun Foods and Rich's

QuoteOriginally posted by Zayre88

QuoteOriginally posted by TRJ22487
I'd love to see pictures anyone might have of either the West Lebanon or Keene locations in New Hampshire. I currently work with a few people that worked at the Keene one, which turned in JC Penney in 1995.

When the West Lebanon one became Ames in 1997, the Rich's labelscar was still there for a while. I wish I knew things weren't always going to be the same, I regret not having photographs of a bunch of places back in the 80's and 90's

I wish i had a camera back then...  i started collecting pictures from the web in 1997, used disposable cameras in 2000 and bought my first Digital camera in 2001.  So i missed many old stores now gone.  Anyway, here's one from my files of the Ames in West Lebanon.  Did the Rich's logo was installed on top of the store like Ames' ?  For some reason, i have a memory of the Rich's logo in Falmouth Maine installed the same way.

I agree with TRJ22487 and Zayre88, when I got my license back in 1990 I started traveling around NH, VT and ME to check out different towns.
I look back now and wish I had taken pictures on my trips. Now 19 years later the retail landscape has greatly changed!!
At least I now have a great digital camera so when I travel I can snap some great shots of......

Former Rich's in Portsmouth NH.  This old style entrance has been remodeled in 2009.

Yes, I particularly wish we had more Rich's pictures. If not for d_fife and zayre88 this entire chain would seemingly have no photographic evidence of existing!
I'd love to have a picture of the West Lebanon and St Johnsbury electronics sections.
I have very fond memories playing Sega Genesis and gawking at original Gameboy games in the early 90's

I have a articale and pic of the nashua store from the 80s

I noticed recently that when the sun and the viewer are at a certain angle, one can see a considerably large all-caps R I C H ' S labelscar on the side of the former Bangor location (preceded by Woolco and followed by Ames). I am not sure if this is something I am capable of capturing digitally, as I can't find my proper camera and have been using a mobile phone camera for most of my photos as of late, but nevertheless it is really cool, and if you are looking at it the right way, really obvious.

QuoteOriginally posted by kendra
I noticed recently that when the sun and the viewer are at a certain angle, one can see a considerably large all-caps R I C H ' S labelscar on the side of the former Bangor location (preceded by Woolco and followed by Ames). I am not sure if this is something I am capable of capturing digitally, as I can't find my proper camera and have been using a mobile phone camera for most of my photos as of late, but nevertheless it is really cool, and if you are looking at it the right way, really obvious.

I'd like to see that!  Rich's was there from 1983 to 1997.  There's a good chance the sign left it's mark.

Here are a couple of items I found with Rich's price tags still on them!

(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v41/CorporateA/more/32110012.jpg)
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v41/CorporateA/more/32110015.jpg)
Receiving docks to Rich's in Keene, NH West Street Shopping Center.
They still have the old shingled roof that the entire plaza once had
Before 2010 (every store in the plaza had this shingled style facade since the plaza opened in 1983)
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v41/CorporateA/more/richs.jpg)
2010 (entire plaza now has facades of this style)
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v41/CorporateA/more/32110019.jpg)
Behind the building I found the old logos to JC Penney and Maurices
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v41/CorporateA/more/32110016.jpg)
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v41/CorporateA/more/32110018.jpg)

Quote from: gu4ever on March 10, 2010, 04:09:43 AM
Here are a couple of items I found with Rich's price tags still on them!

I got 5 of these from ribbions

I had dreams of this chain coming back and I remember going to this chain a lot when I was little. their 2nd store I think was in Nashua and why did they close that as soon as they filed for bankruptcy. bad Christmas sales was the last straw for the chain. my nearest one was in Gilford (near Laconia) and that one opened in 1991. I went to the one in COncord a lot. the only one in NH I never went into was in Rochester (Rochester wass always out of my way), but what was that one like? I never went to the original in Salem and what was that like?

WHAT stories, memories and info do you have of Rich's?

Quote from: d_fife on March 25, 2010, 04:54:49 PM
I had dreams of this chain coming back and I remember going to this chain a lot when I was little. their 2nd store I think was in Nashua and why did they close that as soon as they filed for bankruptcy. bad Christmas sales was the last straw for the chain. my nearest one was in Gilford (near Laconia) and that one opened in 1991. I went to the one in COncord a lot. the only one in NH I never went into was in Rochester (Rochester wass always out of my way), but what was that one like? I never went to the original in Salem and what was that like?

WHAT stories, memories and info do you have of Rich's?

I often think about it too, mostly for how it just disappeared into thin air and within a couple of years it felt like everyone entirely forgot the chain ever existed. It still urks me NOBODY can find a shopping cart.
What on earth happened to them all? West Lebanon was the store I visited most. The Nashua and Keene locations I went to a few times, and St Johnsbury mall I'd probably been to about 5 times as a Rich's and Ames. I can vividly remember the Gameboy display in the St Johnsbury Mall Rich's in 1990 or 1991. Back then the electronics department was often set up like the jewelry department with everything in front of you behind glass build into the desk.
A few years ago I was actually working with the receiver for the Keene location during it's closing.
He told me that at the time he was making $5.75 and management asked him not to show any other employees his check because
HE DIDN'T WANT THEM TO GET JEALOUS OF HIS HIGH SALARY!
This was 1995 of course when the store closed for a JC Penney


I also noticed that the Concord location had a very similar setup to the Keene location,
even down to the near identical parking lot!
I photoshopped the picture your dad took of Concord back in 1993 to show what the Keene store looked like.
Concord, NH (actual 1993 photo)
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v41/CorporateA/more/RichsConcord.jpg)
Keene, NH (1993 style photoshop)
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v41/CorporateA/more/RichsKeene.jpg)
Keene JC Penney from 1995-2009 before 09 remodel of entire plaza.
It still had the original facade and entrances of Rich's.
As of 2010 this is all gone now.
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v41/CorporateA/more/richs-1.jpg)

Quote from: TRJ22487 on March 25, 2010, 07:04:17 PM

Quote from: d_fife on March 25, 2010, 04:54:49 PM
I had dreams of this chain coming back and I remember going to this chain a lot when I was little. their 2nd store I think was in Nashua and why did they close that as soon as they filed for bankruptcy. bad Christmas sales was the last straw for the chain. my nearest one was in Gilford (near Laconia) and that one opened in 1991. I went to the one in COncord a lot. the only one in NH I never went into was in Rochester (Rochester wass always out of my way), but what was that one like? I never went to the original in Salem and what was that like?

WHAT stories, memories and info do you have of Rich's?

I often think about it too, mostly for how it just disappeared into thin air and within a couple of years it felt like everyone entirely forgot the chain ever existed. It still urks me NOBODY can find a shopping cart.
What on earth happened to them all? West Lebanon was the store I visited most. The Nashua and Keene locations I went to a few times, and St Johnsbury mall I'd probably been to about 5 times as a Rich's and Ames. I can vividly remember the Gameboy display in the St Johnsbury Mall Rich's in 1990 or 1991. Back then the electronics department was often set up like the jewelry department with everything in front of you behind glass build into the desk.
A few years ago I was actually working with the receiver for the Keene location during it's closing.
He told me that at the time he was making $5.75 and management asked him not to show any other employees his check because
HE DIDN'T WANT THEM TO GET JEALOUS OF HIS HIGH SALARY!
This was 1995 of course when the store closed for a JC Penney

I actually went in the Rich's in Keene in 1996, and that was one of the last ones left it reminded me of the one in Concord. I went to the one in West Lebanon QUITE A BIT! and that was one of their earlier stores it opened in 1968 and was enlarged at one point.
the one in the Green Mountain mall in ST J opened in FAll 1991. it was a Zayre at first. Why didnt they have Rich's in CT, they had one in RI for like 1.5 years. I NEVER WENT TO THE ONE IN ROCHESTER NH (The only one in NH I never went in) and what was it like?

I went to the one in NAshua at times (Their 2nd store that opened in 1964, 1965 or 1966), and it was one of their worst, why was it tiny a bigger population area???? remember that store, its right against the Rt. 3 and in the same plaza as Bob's and STaples and MArket Basket and AC Moore, STaples took over part of it and Bob's enlarged the other part.

guess where the northern most Rich's was in NEw hampshire.

I went to the West Lebanon location every weekend in the 90's, usually on a Saturday, as it is the town my dad lives in. Back then there was only Rich's and K-Mart, West Lebanon oddly never had an Ames until Rich's closed. Then again the population around that area used to be much much less than it is today.
I didn't go to the Keene Rich's nearly as much because we had a Bradlees and K-Mart was up to date at the time.

I found this online

Taken from the New Hampshire State Historical Records
Index to Dodge/Scan Microfilms (1987 - 1993)
Numbers refer to Roll Numbers

Keene, NH
   Armory  88
   Apartments  115, 133
   Chemical Building  81
   Cheshire County Courthouse  34, 92
   Cheshire Medical Center  72
   Concord Laboratories, Inc.  20
   Days Inn Motel  58
   Electrical Power Plant  58
   Harper Acres Housing  43
   Home & School for Handicapped Children  85
   Keene Housing Authority  42, 102, 103,
                            115, 133
   Keene State College  *  See below
   MGM Insurance Company  100
   Manufacturing Bldg.  115
   Mason Library  37
   Meadow Road Condominiums  103
   North Swanzey Wastewater
      Treatment Plant  66
   Parker Hall  131
   Police Department  130
   Public Housing  105
   Public Library  115
   Pump Station for Oxygen  30
   Region Four Office Building  87
   Rich's Department Store  106
   Southwest Community Services Office  42
   Sun Food Supermarket  36
   Surry Mountain Lake  100
   Tilden Head State School  32
   Warehouse  53
   Waste Transfer Recycling Facility  12
   Wright Estates  129
Keene State College  21
   Appian Way Project  98
   Butterfield Hall  93
   Campus Center  65
   Dining Hall  21
   Morrison Hall 86
   Parker Hall 131





Laconia, NH
   Dube Building  106
   Federal Building  52, 82, 117, 132
   Group Home  93
   Laconia State School  45, 89
   Lakes Region Facility  98
   Pier 3 Condominiums  8
   Rich's Plaza  64
   Speare & Rice Building  84
   Sunrise Tower Public Housing  75
   Telephone Building  54
   Union Ave. Waterline  76
   Wastewater Pumping Station  92




Lebanon, NH
   Community Center  50
   Creare.X Office Bldg.  128
   Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center  4, 5, 9,
                                       10, 125
   Densmore Pond Apartment Buildings  83
   Great Brook Road Bridge  105
   Industrial Park  85
   Landfill  60
   Landmark Bank  83
   Mary Hitchcock Hospital  4, 5, 9, 10, 125
   Mount Lebanon Elementary School  123
   New England Telephone  83
   Office Building  53
   Police Station  69, 114
   Post Office  109
  Purity Super Store  15
   Rich's Department Store  38
   Riverside & Maple Manor Housing  46
   Rogers House Apartments  127





Rochester, NH
   Bridge repair  41
   Catholic School  12
   City Hall & Police 25
   District Courthouse  69
   Elementary School  104
   Frisbee Memorial Hospital  32
   McClelland Elementary School  55
   Middle School  118, 132
   New England Telephone  87
   Rich's Dept. Store  116
   Sewers & Pump Station  22, 94, 121
   Shop & Save Supermarket  61
   Spaulding Jr. High School  127
   Spaulding Middle School  62
   Vocational Education Center  129
   Well Sweep Acres  111

http://base.googlehosted.com/base_media?q=LBC-19649265-2476550541&size=1&hl=en

st johnsbury one:

Awesome d_fife you continue to amaze! Is that from 1993? And it looks to be from a helicopter. That's a nice, nice picture

Heres a Article from 1982 of the Bangor Woolco being Richs
http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=-J8zAAAAIBAJ&sjid=XTgHAAAAIBAJ&pg=3319,1536075&dq=rich%27s+store+in+nh&hl=en

The link from the last post D_Fife made no longer works
Luckily I saved the image on my computer
St Johnsbury, VT Memorial Dr. in Early 90's
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v41/CorporateA/tyler/StJohnsRichs2.jpg)
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v41/CorporateA/tyler/scan0056a.jpg)

I loved going to this store as a small child...remember it like a dream
You can see how the Sears logo changed from white to blue as well
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v41/CorporateA/tyler/grnmt.jpg)
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v41/CorporateA/tyler/grnmtin.jpg)
This was the one you had to enter from the inside and became Ames afterward
But wasn't it an Ames BEFORE being a Rich's too? And it was definitely originally a Zayre

Of course, this location has been destroyed in the modern day....unrecognizable
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v41/CorporateA/tyler/grnmt1.jpg)

Forgot my old password so a new account...
I found this in a Youtube video posted a year ago
My hope is he still has this and would be willing to sell it to me.
Amazing, this apparently popped up in a flea market all the way in Florida some 20 years later unopened!!
He is from Florida, and has no idea what Rich's even was
I sure hope he'll sell it to me...I have Ames, Hills, Kay-Bee stickers, but I would treasure a Rich's one most of all
This is a sealed copy of Startropics for the original Nintendo btw
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v41/CorporateA/tyler/startropics.jpg)


Evidence of this chain has not totally vanished, good to see...
This early 90's bag was donated to a museum in Salem, Mass.
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v41/CorporateA/tyler/Richs_Bag.jpg)

Quote from: TRJ_22487 on March 11, 2011, 02:01:11 PM
Forgot my old password so a new account...
I found this in a Youtube video posted a year ago
My hope is he still has this and would be willing to sell it to me.
Amazing, this apparently popped up in a flea market all the way in Florida some 20 years later unopened!!
He is from Florida, and has no idea what Rich's even was
I sure hope he'll sell it to me...I have Ames, Hills, Kay-Bee stickers, but I would treasure a Rich's one most of all
This is a sealed copy of Startropics for the original Nintendo btw
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v41/CorporateA/tyler/startropics.jpg)

Best place too get tags is at thrift stores i have about 20 richs and one very old richs hardgoods one


Evidence of this chain has not totally vanished, good to see...
This early 90's bag was donated to a museum in Salem, Mass.
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v41/CorporateA/tyler/Richs_Bag.jpg)

Wow that's cool jmcnamara96 (you kind of awkwardly replied to my post though)
I guess my whole thing is I only collect a few things, so the sticker would have to be on something I already
collect for me to buy it. I can't believe you have nearly 20 stickers from Rich's, that's very cool.

It floors me all these years later, we've got absolutely NO pictures out of what dfife and zayre88 provided years ago, and the black and white Nashua photo jmcnamara96 provided. There are absolutely NO photos of the original Salem store?? No photos of the West Lebanon store that existed for 30 years? Nothing of the Keene store that anchored that plaza for over a decade?? i KNOW the Keene Sentinel photographed the store several times, but I have no idea how to access their archives....No former management or anything has ANY photographs whatsoever? We still haven't seen any of the carts. How did this chain vanish off earth? Everyone in New England still remembers it!

Try the Keene Public Library. They may have archives of the newspapers.

Quote from: Marc B on July 30, 2011, 09:48:28 AM
Try the Keene Public Library. They may have archives of the newspapers.

I wrote them a few days ago, wouldn't get a reply until Monday, but from what they list in their photographs section it looks like the same sets of photographs I've already seen, they basically link you to Flickr which is ultra lame. I am hopeful that they do keep Keene Sentinel archives, but I'm not an actual resident of the town, I'm just outside it, so I think it would be an outrageous charge to go through their archives, I think they charge $50 for a non resident membership to take out a book. That is ridiculous imo

Quote from: TRJ_22487 on July 30, 2011, 07:47:12 AM
It floors me all these years later, we've got absolutely NO pictures out of what dfife and zayre88 provided years ago, and the black and white Nashua photo jmcnamara96 provided. There are absolutely NO photos of the original Salem store?? No photos of the West Lebanon store that existed for 30 years? Nothing of the Keene store that anchored that plaza for over a decade?? i KNOW the Keene Sentinel photographed the store several times, but I have no idea how to access their archives....No former management or anything has ANY photographs whatsoever? We still haven't seen any of the carts. How did this chain vanish off earth? Everyone in New England still remembers it!

It's really sad, I would really like to see these Rich's stores.  They're only a distant memory now, no pictures of them as Rich's...

Quote from: Zayre88 on July 31, 2011, 10:07:37 AM

Quote from: TRJ_22487 on July 30, 2011, 07:47:12 AM
It floors me all these years later, we've got absolutely NO pictures out of what dfife and zayre88 provided years ago, and the black and white Nashua photo jmcnamara96 provided. There are absolutely NO photos of the original Salem store?? No photos of the West Lebanon store that existed for 30 years? Nothing of the Keene store that anchored that plaza for over a decade?? i KNOW the Keene Sentinel photographed the store several times, but I have no idea how to access their archives....No former management or anything has ANY photographs whatsoever? We still haven't seen any of the carts. How did this chain vanish off earth? Everyone in New England still remembers it!

It's really sad, I would really like to see these Rich's stores.  They're only a distant memory now, no pictures of them as Rich's...

I suppose the factors for this is that they were all seemingly renovated into other things very quickly. I can't think of any RICH'S that sat vacant for long at all. Shut down in the age before digital cameras, the likelihood drops much more. They only had stores in five states, with a peak of 30 stores. And to make matters worse there is a separate, more successful, department store named Rich's based out of Georgia that has nothing to do with the RICH'S this thread is for.
None of the stores really seemed to have a uniform look as far as outside exterior goes, and I'm not really sure how many different logos there really were, for the particular stores I remember I think there were two different fonts of RICH'S that got used in the 80s/90's for the front of the store, but no clue what the original stores looked like at their start and finish.

I don't give up hope though. Thanks to the internet I've seen thousands of things I never thought I'd see again. I factually know the Keene Sentinel photographed the front of the store on several occasions, because I work with former employees who remember, and I one day hope I will be able to dig these photos up, or force someone else to dig them up.

(http://www.joe-ziolkowski.com/public_html/image/image.commercial/1992.richs.jpg)
I was able to find this, credited to Joe Ziolkowski who shot the fashion shots for this ad. He claims it to be for the Boston, Mass store in 1992, but I never knew Boston had a Rich's?????

From the Salem, Massachusetts Historical Museum. From 1989.
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v41/CorporateA/tyler/Picture052.jpg)
The font on the sticker is the font I remember the West Lebanon and Concord, NH stores having on the front of the building.
But I remember the doors having the logo on the middle of the box.
It was only a slight font difference, but the old logo was much bigger with more space between the letters on the storefronts than the later logo.

Quote from: TRJ_22487 on August 03, 2011, 06:43:28 PM
From the Salem, Massachusetts Historical Museum. From 1989.
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v41/CorporateA/tyler/Picture052.jpg)
The font on the sticker is the font I remember the West Lebanon and Concord, NH stores having on the front of the building.
But I remember the doors having the logo on the middle of the box.
It was only a slight font difference, but the old logo was much bigger with more space between the letters on the storefronts than the later logo.

I also remember the Portsmouth store with the logo with more space.  Auburn and Waterville had the later logo.  However on the pylon signs,  Portsmouth and Waterville had logos that I think were different than the later logo and the bigger logo. 

I remember the store in Nashuas, NH had a huge store front sign "for the size of the building". I think this was so the Everette Turnpike traffic could see the store alongside the highway.
Each of the letters had this continious red flourescent piping molded into the letter mounts. At night the sign was super bright red and you knew you were at the Rich's store.

Quote from: gu4ever on August 05, 2011, 10:37:18 PM
I remember the store in Nashuas, NH had a huge store front sign "for the size of the building". I think this was so the Everette Turnpike traffic could see the store alongside the highway.
Each of the letters had this continious red flourescent piping molded into the letter mounts. At night the sign was super bright red and you knew you were at the Rich's store.

(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v41/CorporateA/tyler/JoesPictures1226.jpg)
jmcnamara96 had posted this picture of the Nashua store from 1981 in a different thread.
To me this looks like the later logo, not the "big" one? The same as what the St Johnsbury mall had from 1991-1997.
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v41/CorporateA/tyler/scan0056a.jpg) (Green Mtn Mall, St Johnbury VT from dfife)

I wonder if Nashua ever changed the logo....

Whereas this is definitely the logo I remember West Lebanon and Keene having. THIS is what I consider to be the "big, spaced out logo"
These were the ones that lit up at night and really grabbed your attention
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v41/CorporateA/more/RichsConcord.jpg) (Fort Eddy Plaza, Concord NH from dfife)

Here is the Danvers, Massachusetts location back in 1963. Rich's moved into Almy's in 1987 according to d_fife.
I don't believe there is an updated photo of this plaza on the site? I'm unsure if the Rich's kept this same look, or updated...
Good shot of their old Woolworth too...I don't know if I've ever seen a black and white photo with blue sky!!
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v41/CorporateA/tyler/Danvers1963Woolworth.jpg)
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v41/CorporateA/tyler/Danvers1963Almys.jpg)

From a Facebook group of former employees of Rich's Dept Store in Manchester NH

http://www.facebook.com/#!/group.php?gid=59920268295&v=wall

(http://a7.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/photos-ak-snc1/v2751/1/92/1074803248/n1074803248_30387310_7678428.jpg)

Excellent find Zayre88! I'd found quite a few individual facebook pages for Rich's as well, one for Methuen definitely, but hadn't found pictures in any of them. What an old school sign! I'd love to put that in my garage...That is Baron's Appliances in the background of that picture

This came from the Rochester, NH store. I know people have more pictures....
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v41/CorporateA/tyler/RochesterRichs.jpg)

I have tried to re-create the Rich's logo that was at JFK Plaza in Waterville, Maine.

You can see on the 2005 picture at right that the Rich's logo was covered but the "S" peaked through although it had been painted in white.  That "S" looked wider and bolder than on the last Rich's logo which was on the store front.

(http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6132/6018871089_453b7840e0_z.jpg)

Quote from: Zayre88 on August 06, 2011, 10:37:31 AM
From a Facebook group of former employees of Rich's Dept Store in Manchester NH

http://www.facebook.com/#!/group.php?gid=59920268295&v=wall

(http://a7.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/photos-ak-snc1/v2751/1/92/1074803248/n1074803248_30387310_7678428.jpg)

no the one in LAconia / GIlford.

Quote from: d_fife on August 09, 2011, 01:47:49 AMno the one in LAconia / GIlford.

Yes picture of the Gilford store but the Facebook Group is from the Manchester store

Manchester's Rich's!

(http://www.maple-leafnh.com/portfolio/EastSidePlazalarge.jpg)

From: http://www.maple-leafnh.com/

Great pic!  Alexander's is the grocery anchor in this photo.  Alexander's was acquired by Hannaford Bros. in 1991 and became Alexander's Shop 'n Save and later Hannaford.

Wow very nice! That site also had photos of a few Alexander's locations from the 80's with exterior and interior shots
Such as this one in Hooksett, NH
(http://a1.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash4/309024_267238636641095_100000648825041_890590_2013476876_n.jpg)
(http://a4.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash4/294401_267241346640824_100000648825041_890630_1861542454_n.jpg)

Under the Supermarkets section.
Is the one in Nashua what eventually became Building 19??

This is either the Alexanders location next to the Nashua Mall in the strip plaza that is now Home Depot, or possibly the location on rt 101 that has turned into office/manufacturing next to the former Ponderosa.
The building 19 location opened as Kiely Farms, later Hampshire Farms operated by the Alexanders Co.

I couldn't quite pinpoint the location, though I'm sure I've been there many times in the 2000's and not realized it
Here is the overhead of that plaza in Hooksett though, maybe you recognize the surround buildings
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v41/CorporateA/tyler/HooksettOverhead.jpg)

Also I was right, the photographs are of Hampshire Farms before it became Building 19
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v41/CorporateA/tyler/HampshireFarms1.jpg)
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v41/CorporateA/tyler/HampshireFarms2.jpg)

Also on the site is the former Alexanders in Lowell, Mass
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v41/CorporateA/tyler/Lowell1.jpg)
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v41/CorporateA/tyler/Lowell2.jpg)

Richs in Methuen was Located in the old Almy's Location Haverhill St.
The store was broken up for several smaller stores including:
Mar-Lins, Jeepers ( a Chuck E Cheese Knock Off)
Now Home To C.W. Price Aug 11----- Dots, Dollar Store And Game Stop.

Anyone old enough to remember the Richs in Salem-Methuen Line
Next to Purity Supreme?

Now Location Of Lowes .

(http://www.vnews.com/08302011/graphics/20110829-flooding-jh-031.jpg)
Flooding in the West Lebanon, NH former Rich's/Ames from 2011 Hurricane Irene

Here is the location in the store locator
http://www.amesfanclub.com/getstore.php?ID=286

Wow awesome post, pictures of Hampshire farms!! That brings back so many memories.
The buildings outside the Hooksett shopping center were a video store on the far left and bank. the smaller free standing building was a restaurant now a Shorty's mexican restaurant.

Quote from: TRJ_22487 on September 22, 2011, 05:20:17 AM
I couldn't quite pinpoint the location, though I'm sure I've been there many times in the 2000's and not realized it
Here is the overhead of that plaza in Hooksett though, maybe you recognize the surround buildings
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v41/CorporateA/tyler/HooksettOverhead.jpg)

Also I was right, the photographs are of Hampshire Farms before it became Building 19
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v41/CorporateA/tyler/HampshireFarms1.jpg)
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v41/CorporateA/tyler/HampshireFarms2.jpg)

when was there a Rich's in Salem NH? I thought they had one in Methuen

There was a Salem NH Rich's on Route 28 (Broadway) according to a friend who worked at the distribution center in Haverhill, MA.  He never visited the site, however, so I can't vouch for his statement 100%.

There definitely was a Rich's in Methuen at Merrimack Plaza on Route 113.  According to this site Rich's occupied 70k square feet and the space was subdivided three ways after they closed:

http://senateconstruction.com/portfolio_merrimackplaza.html
(http://senateconstruction.com/images/portfolio/merrimack1.jpg)

Quote from: retailisking on December 18, 2011, 09:57:38 PM
There was a Salem NH Rich's on Route 28 (Broadway) according to a friend who worked at the distribution center in Haverhill, MA.  He never visited the site, however, so I can't vouch for his statement 100%.

There definitely was a Rich's in Methuen at Merrimack Plaza on Route 113.  According to this site Rich's occupied 70k square feet and the space was subdivided three ways after they closed:

http://senateconstruction.com/portfolio_merrimackplaza.html
(http://senateconstruction.com/images/portfolio/merrimack1.jpg)

I Went to the Rich's in Methuen in 1996, IT didnt close in 1994, as the whole chain closed early 1997.   Why did the one in Salem NH close? where was it?

(http://www.salemarchives.org/images/DSCF0542.jpg)

From Salem, Ma historical museum. I work with a guy who has a few of these.

Quote from: Zayre88 on September 18, 2011, 10:43:38 AM
Manchester's Rich's!

(http://www.maple-leafnh.com/portfolio/EastSidePlazalarge.jpg)

From: http://www.maple-leafnh.com/

i must say that this photo is at most 1992 because that contemery building towards hanover street has been vacant since then

Quotei must say that this photo is at most 1992 because that contemery building towards hanover street has been vacant since then

What was in that building, a bank?  I've read that Bonanza once had a location at this plaza too.

Quote from: Zayre88 on July 16, 2012, 03:27:30 PM

Quotei must say that this photo is at most 1992 because that contemery building towards hanover street has been vacant since then

What was in that building, a bank?  I've read that Bonanza once had a location at this plaza too.

It was a Doctors office and dentistists office still has a sign on the back of the building. All the windows are boarded up i feel its been so empty so long itll get torn before something moves into it

Alexander's was bought out by Shop n Save/Hannaford in 1990. The picture must be from the late 1980's.

http://www.hannaford.com/content.jsp?pageName=HBChistroy&leftNavArea=AboutLeftNav

Fantastic set of photos found on the Rochester, NH Facebook page.
Finally some images of a still in business Rich's Department Store. This location opened in 1970.

(http://sphotos-a.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-snc6/184138_1901314379362_266890_n.jpg)
(http://sphotos-a.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-snc6/251500_1901314019353_3371000_n.jpg)
(http://sphotos-a.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ash4/267284_1901313659344_6754201_n.jpg)
(http://sphotos-a.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-snc6/185345_1901313339336_3460787_n.jpg)
(http://sphotos-b.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-snc6/262836_1901312019303_3903988_n.jpg)
(http://sphotos-a.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ash4/292021_1901311619293_6442641_n.jpg)
(http://sphotos-b.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ash3/541301_3602847276621_505043859_n.jpg)



Here is this site current day.
(http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3232/2843087745_a25ed6af5a_o.jpg)

it was the only Rich's in NH I never went in!!!! as Rochester is out of the way, how big was the store???

West Lebanon, NH Rich's in 1972

(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v41/CorporateA/tyler/1972_Richs_West_Lebanon_zpsks1bcdcb.jpg)

Fabulous picture of a vintage Rich's sign at the Turnpike Plaza in Nashua NH:

The image was provided by Barlo Signs of Hudson NH who let me post it on my website:

(https://bdd1ccfc-a-62cb3a1a-s-sites.googlegroups.com/site/zayre88/richs-pictures/finast.jpg)
https://sites.google.com/site/zayre88/richs-pictures

www.barlosigns.com (http://www.barlosigns.com)

Quote from: Zayre88 on August 21, 2017, 06:30:52 PM
Fabulous picture of a vintage Rich's sign at the Turnpike Plaza in Nashua NH:

The image was provided by Barlo Signs of Hudson NH who let me post it on my website:

(https://bdd1ccfc-a-62cb3a1a-s-sites.googlegroups.com/site/zayre88/richs-pictures/finast.jpg)
https://sites.google.com/site/zayre88/richs-pictures

www.barlosigns.com (http://www.barlosigns.com)

Awesome - thanks for the link!

If you look closely on google maps you can still see where it says " R I C H ' S " on this former store.

2018:

https://www.google.com/maps/@41.8832893,-70.9140567,3a,75y,199.71h,112.76t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sOILy-f_XgA9vAxleR_8bSQ!2e0!7i13312!8i6656

2015:
https://www.google.com/maps/@41.8832941,-70.9140556,3a,75y,193.73h,99.58t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1s5pQC51RX_U_an63xRiFK9A!2e0!7i13312!8i6656

The labelscar on the former Rich's in Middleboro, MA was very visable in 2021.

Google Street View image:

https://www.google.com/maps/place/Ocean+State+Job+Lot/@41.8832996,-70.9140391,3a,75y,197.2h,109.88t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1ss_06aFbWwJKh2LDzruaUyA!2e0!7i16384!8i8192!4m15!1m7!3m6!1s0x89e4935be4203d2d:0xeb9af4db5e776dcc!2s10+Merchant's+Way,+Middleborough,+MA+02346!3b1!8m2!3d41.8829709!4d-70.9135793!3m6!1s0x89e4935ed3cf5d9f:0xb312c16ced4f44e6!8m2!3d41.8831149!4d-70.9138794!14m1!1BCgIgARICCAI