a druge store dont know much about the outher then there closed hears a picture of there store
I know what became of 2 Phar-Mors in my area...one was a Books-a-Million and is now a Big Lots, and the other is a TJ Maxx/Office Maxx. I have clear preschooler memories of the pharmacies of these stores, and of buying crayons and Care Bear merchandise there :)
hear are some pictures
G O B sale at Phar-Mor
super Phar-Mor
Phar-Mor
GOB sale at Phar-Mor back in 2002
this store was bult in 1988
anouther pic
Pharmore was kinda like a discount department store only more twards, food, t-shirts, pharmacy and supplies. The one my g'ma worked at in Mesa Arizona sold housewares and such. One of there slogans was, Why pay more? They had price stickers that had the competitions price and the Phar-More price. I miss that store. Many turned into Wal-Marts
QuoteOriginally posted by 76BraldorZayKamesfanBBTB
How come I never heard of Phar-Mor?
I live in Connecticut Where were Phar-Mor stores located?
Only one Phar-Mor (actually, it looks like it was branded "Pharmhouse/The Rx Place, which was another banner of Phar-Mor) store in CT according to an Archived store locater.
Enfield
Store #535
Enfield Commons S/C
25 Hazard Avenue
Enfield, CT 06082
Archived webpage:
http://web.archive.org/web/20010414032548/www.pharmor.com/index.phtml
My Phar-Mor, which was a Mall anchor, became a Dicks Sporting Goods
Her's the former New Hartford, New York Phar - Mor. Next time I go through this area, I'll get a better pic.
QuoteOriginally posted by amesman
Her's the former New Hartford, New York Phar - Mor. Next time I go through this area, I'll get a better pic.
cool pic try and get one through the window if u can next time:)
I never knew they had "super" Pharmoor's. The one we had here in town didnt look like any of those show in the pics. They must not have had a specific building look to them.
QuoteOriginally posted by HoJofan206
I never knew they had "super" Pharmoor's. The one we had here in town didnt look like any of those show in the pics. They must not have had a specific building look to them.
Super PharMors had things like produce, isles of frozen food, office supplies, etc...
I think this is where they went wrong. They were trying to turn into a "supermarket" while not paying attention to other growing Pharmacy chains like CVS and especially Walgreens.
Possibly, they added freezers and more grocery items to their anchor store a year or so before they went out. They strayed away from the pharmacy image and tried to focus more on being a grocery store. I think it was a good concept had they had done it earlier. They were a little too late on the call.
i miss phar mor
QuoteOriginally posted by amesman
Her's the former New Hartford, New York Phar - Mor. Next time I go through this area, I'll get a better pic.
This PharMor is now gone. They went ahead and revamped the whole Plaza, and have yet to name a new tenant. As of Right now, there is a Indoor Used Car lot inside what would have been the Former PharMor store, that'll be out in the Spring. The Redeveloper claims to have a "Good-Sized" Tenant named for the Plaza, but aren't in a hurry to announce who it is.
QuoteOriginally posted by backofthebtmdrwr
i miss phar mor
Me too. Our old Phar-Mor is now a Ross Dress-For-Less.
I miss going to Phar-Mor.
Granted, I've been 2000 miles away since 1995, I remember that Phar-Mor's original concept was excellent.
A pharmacy, grocery store, and video rental store, all in one. Too bad the company had a cheapskate for an owner, otherwise it would probably be a huge regional chain today.
(http://www.abandonedonline.com/content/10/photos/090503_3.jpg)
This is inside what used to be Phar-Mor at Cedar Knoll Galleria, near where I used to live (From abandonedonline.com)
Phar-Mor's first location was in Niles, OH. It is now a flea market. Micky Monus (founder and CEO) was charged and convicted in Federal Court. I think it was tax evasion. That was when the trouble started. It broke into a full fledged scandal. There were accounts of all kinds of mismanagement. Monus also owned the Youngstown Pride, a professional basketball team. He also had partial ownership in the league. The entire league was folded when the scandal broke. Phar-Mor was also instrumental in getting the LPGA to hold a tournament in the area. Giant Eagle assumed sponsorship after Phar-Mor folded. The tournament is now known as the Youngstown-Warren LPGA classic.
After Monus was convicted, a new CEO was named. The damage was already done. Only a handful of stores are being used in the Warren-Youngstown area. Most sit vacant.
This brief history is from memory and is to the best of my knowledge.
I live in Springfield , PA (Delaware County) and I am 12. I have never been to Phar-Mor, but I know the one in Downingtown (Chester County) has become a Stein Mart.
I am perhaps the youngest poster, because I am 12. I live in Springfield, PA (Delaware County) and I never have been to Phar-Mor but I know that the Super Phar-Mor in Downingtown (Chester County) is now a Stein Mart.
what happeend to the chain and what was it? I remember hearing there ws one in warwick RI (probably the only one in new england) and there was one in whitehall pa.
QuoteOriginally posted by d_fife
what happeend to the chain and what was it? I remember hearing there ws one in warwick RI (probably the only one in new england) and there was one in whitehall pa.
this wasa chain simaler to cvs some stores sold food i never been to one though they dident have many stores in NY
Was PharMor's logo a cow?
If anyone here knows, did Phar-Mor have a store brand called "Q&V?"
QuoteOriginally posted by Caldor1999
QuoteOriginally posted by d_fife
what happeend to the chain and what was it? I remember hearing there ws one in warwick RI (probably the only one in new england) and there was one in whitehall pa.
this wasa chain simaler to cvs some stores sold food i never been to one though they dident have many stores in NY
It was?? It was similar to CVS in that it sold the same type of products, ranging from drugs to juice, to nail polish remover, but that's about it. CVS is much classier than a Pharmor was. Here's an analogy that'll explain it, because I cannot think up another Chain that can be compared to Pharmor:
Compare Caldor to a Zayres
That's how a CVS is to a Pharmor
The one I saw was just a remnant of the old Nichols and Pharmhouse stores.
QuoteOriginally posted by KyleRF
Was PharMor's logo a cow?
The only logo I have seen for PharMor is the red with the Yellow PharMor. However, PharMor's Predecessor (Pharmhouse) used cows in their radio commercials.
Caldor1999, where was the Phar-Mor in the picture you posted? It looks like an old Penn Fruit with the domed roof. Could you find out more about that one for me?
I remember Pharmhouse in the Ledgewood Mall then.
The Ledgewood Pharmhouse
Caldor1999, why do you have no idea how to write at your age?
Caldor1999, could you please put a copy of the Phar-Mor from your starting post (the one in Stratford, NJ) on my Penn Fruit page in the grocery section of the site?
Powersbt, I can think of one chain that can be compared to Phar-Mor: Drug Emporium.
QuoteOriginally posted by Anonymous
Powersbt, I can think of one chain that can be compared to Phar-Mor: Drug Emporium.
Never seen one of those, but I'll definitely take your word for it. I just had nothing that I had seen that I could compare it with.
I hope that I can help out with some background info on both of these fine stores. Phar-Mor stores were open from 1982 until an embezzlement scheme by one of the owners caused them to file for bankruptcy in 1992 and begin to close their stores. They had a great variety of items with really good prices and were in great locations with nice employees and clean, well-lit stores.
Drug Emporium stores were a bit smaller, but still had a good variety of some lesser-known brands and their own line of food items, spices, etc. They filed for bankruptcy in 2003 and operated mostly in northern states such as PA, NJ, OH and WI.
QuoteOriginally posted by MBZ321
QuoteOriginally posted by 76BraldorZayKamesfanBBTB
How come I never heard of Phar-Mor?
I live in Connecticut Where were Phar-Mor stores located?
Only one Phar-Mor (actually, it looks like it was branded "Pharmhouse/The Rx Place, which was another banner of Phar-Mor) store in CT according to an Archived store locater.
Actually, if memory serves... Pharmhouse was actually an endeavor by the parent company of what were once the Nicholl's Department stores. The Nicholl's in Gang Mills, NY (near Corning) became a Pharmhouse, as did the Nicholl's in Horseheads, NY (near Elmira) whose building was shortly occupied by a Zayre's, then became a Pharmhouse. The latter of course was located only a few miles from the Big Flats Hill's (that later became an Ames).
QuoteOriginally posted by StarSage
QuoteOriginally posted by MBZ321
QuoteOriginally posted by 76BraldorZayKamesfanBBTB
How come I never heard of Phar-Mor?
I live in Connecticut Where were Phar-Mor stores located?
Only one Phar-Mor (actually, it looks like it was branded "Pharmhouse/The Rx Place, which was another banner of Phar-Mor) store in CT according to an Archived store locater.
Actually, if memory serves... Pharmhouse was actually an endeavor by the parent company of what were once the Nicholl's Department stores. The Nicholl's in Gang Mills, NY (near Corning) became a Pharmhouse, as did the Nicholl's in Horseheads, NY (near Elmira) whose building was shortly occupied by a Zayre's, then became a Pharmhouse. The latter of course was located only a few miles from the Big Flats Hill's (that later became an Ames).
That's correct. You can add New Hartford and Herkimer Nichols to your list that became Pharmhouses after Nichols shut down.
where was the Herkimer Phar - Mor/Pharmhouse?
QuoteOriginally posted by amesman
where was the Herkimer Phar - Mor/Pharmhouse?
If you took Route 28 North out of Herkimer. Hannaford would be on your right, the plaza would be on your left. P&C used to be in there too. I think Bargain Outlet took up the former Pharmhouse space.
okay, thanks!
QuoteOriginally posted by amesman
okay, thanks!
Not a problem.
Various phar mor stuff:
the front and back of a Phar Mor brand bottle of baby powder I found (this is at least 12 years old as we haven't shopped at Phar Mor since around 1993)
The PharMor "buying power" was the logo they used on their carts.
And there is a blurry shot of a price sticker taken off something else
Powersbt, is this the old Herkimer Phar-Mor?
Here's some more pics of the Utica/New Hartford Phar-Mor taken last August. I just forgot to post them..hehe
Here's the outer sign.
Here's the actual store.
Inside shot.
No, Amesman, that wasn't the Plaza in Herkimer that I was referring to. I can see how you thought that that would have been the location. The Pharmor in Herkimer was in the Plaza where Grossmann's Bargain Outlet is. Not sure what else is there. There was the P&C, but that shut down.
The photo you took of the Eckerds brings up another point. To the left of it would be a Bassett Healthcare center. This was a former Great American. The Hannaford, and finally the Wal Mart Supercenter down the road, did this store in. Same held true for the P&C.
One other thing Amesman. Your location of the Pharmor in the New Hartford Plaza is incorrect. If you were looking at the plaza straight on, the Pharmor was all the way to the right. What you photographed was what was most recently some kind of Parts business (United Auto Supply) similar to an Autozone, or Partsplace. It was the last tenant to be in the plaza prior to the remodel.
QuoteOriginally posted by amesman
Inside shot.
man, I'm just full of mistakes..hehe. Thank you for the correction. I'll have another chance in September to get it right. I guess I'm out of luck for the old Utica Phar-Mor though, right?
At this point yes. There was a used indoor Car Sale during this Winter in the former Pharmor. I didn't go there, so I don't know if they remodeled the interior to it yet or not.
QuoteOriginally posted by amesman
man, I'm just full of mistakes..hehe. Thank you for the correction. I'll have another chance in September to get it right. I guess I'm out of luck for the old Utica Phar-Mor though, right?
Was this the same chain as Pharmhouse? I miss them... I remember renting Sega Genesis games there a lot back in the day.
When did they close in Watertown, NY and open? Plus what was the tiny store that was right next to it, which is now a Tractor Supply store? I remember it was sesonal... Q&V?
I remember as a kid we would rent movies and video games at Phar-Mor all the time. It was great because they would let you rent up to 6 movies or video games at a time whereas other places like Giant Eagle only let you rent 3.
We just about never went to Blockbuster since they were the most expensive
QuoteOriginally posted by Caldor1999
G O B sale at Phar-Mor
Funny, that picture you had posted up there looked like a Target cart.
Out here in the Philadelphia area, we had 3 Phar-Mor/Pharmhouse/Rx Place stores:
[list=1]
- Franklin Mills Mall (Opened in 1987. Closed when Phar-Mor went out of business)
- Levittown Shopping Center (Opened as Rx Place)
- Bradlees Plaza, Strattford, NJ (Opened as Rx Place. located in a former Penn Fruit Company building)
[/list=1]
:yup:
QuoteOriginally posted by MikeRa
- Bradlees Plaza, Stratford, NJ (Opened as Rx Place. located in a former Penn Fruit Company building)
[/list=1]
:yup:
Now a Goodwill Store
.
.
QuoteOriginally posted by videogamer75
QuoteOriginally posted by MikeRa
- Bradlees Plaza, Stratford, NJ (Opened as Rx Place. located in a former Penn Fruit Company building)
[/list=1]
:yup:
Now a Goodwill Store
That looks like one of the very old Safeways.
Yeah, Penn Fruit used a very similar design. There were never any Safeways in NJ though, just their division Genaurdi's.
The store in the picture sure looks like an old Acme...
What I miss most about Phar-mor was their variety. I could only go in when I had time and money to spend since they were full of bargains. One of the favorite things was back in the early 1990's in Orlando when they had their huge wall of rebate forms. It was a great way to save money at the same time!
QuoteOriginally posted by beachgal26
The store in the picture sure looks like an old Acme...
What I miss most about Phar-mor was their variety. I could only go in when I had time and money to spend since they were full of bargains. One of the favorite things was back in the early 1990's in Orlando when they had their huge wall of rebate forms. It was a great way to save money at the same time!
The store was not an Acme. It was a Penn Fruit, a local chain. The store would have been built in the 50s. Penn Fruit was sold to Pantry Pride in 1975 or 1976. Pantry Pride, however, closed many stores in 1979, a few of which became Acme.
The Penn Fruit in Audubon, NJ is now an Acme.
QuoteOriginally posted by videogamer75
The Penn Fruit in Audubon, NJ is now an Acme.
I know, and that store was across from an A&P as well. The only other Penn Fruit-Acme stores I know closed:
Woodlyn, PA, now Bally
City Ave., Philadelphia, now Ross
ShopKo was going to merge with PharMor back in 1997, but the deal fell apart.
Prototype Phar-mor
(http://www.strolloarchitects.com/LINKS/pharmornc.jpg)
Courtesy of http://www.strolloarchitects.com/ (http://www.strolloarchitects.com/)
Quote from: dmx10101 on March 09, 2010, 05:15:28 PM
Prototype Phar-mor
(http://www.strolloarchitects.com/LINKS/pharmornc.jpg)
Courtesy of http://www.strolloarchitects.com/ (http://www.strolloarchitects.com/)
Wow the red/white and blue/white in the Phar-mor photo's are pretty intense. I wonder if it's just the photo capture that made it look like this or if infact it looks like this in reality.... Anyone seen this design in person???
Also did you see the selfserve cigarette rack at checkout lane 1? I'm sure with the price of cigarette's now they aren't being displayed like that anymore... Otherwise you would see someone showing up in a pickup with a two-wheeler hand truck and taking off with the whole cigarette fixture......
(http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2788/4409701339_0809d80f51.jpg)
A Phar-Mor newspaper ad from the November 3, 1991 edition of the Green Bay Press-Gazette newspaper featuring all of the Wisconsin locations.
All of the former Phar-Mor locations in Wisconsin:
* Appleton - 601 Westhill Blvd. (now Bassett Furniture)
* Ashwaubenon (Green Bay) - 2279 S. Oneida St. (demolished for a strip mall anchored by Pier 1 Imports)
* Eau Claire - 4070 Commonwealth Ave. (later Electric Ave., now T.J. Maxx)
* Milwaukee-Brookfield - 12575 W. Capitol Dr. (now Marshalls)
* Milwaukee-Brown Deer - 9140 Green Bay Rd. (now Marshalls)
* Milwaukee-West Allis - 2625 S. 108th St. (now Marshalls)
* Racine - 2360 S. Green Bay Rd. (now T.J. Maxx)
the design you see in the pics was set up in Anderson In that old store still sits empty to this day and last i knew still had the signage up it was a super pharmor and had grocery in addition to the regular items it closed when the rest of the chain closed up and was always a busy location
I do remember their interior as being one of the most colorful I had ever seen and their stores were super clean and always tidy. Even though they've been gone for awhile, I still miss them, their great buys and their rebate form wall!
;) >:(
I liked pharmor, the one near me the last couple of years before it closed with the others was had the "Super Pharmor" name
I remember it seemed to have a grocery section.
This was the one in ne philly at bustleton and cottman. It was the bottom floor of sears (used to be gimbels then strens)
After it closed sears took over the bottom floor so it could be 3 floors.
It as neat tho to go from the 1st floor of sears, and take the escalator down into pharmor.
Quote from: EddieJ1984 on May 21, 2010, 12:25:48 AM
I liked pharmor, the one near me the last couple of years before it closed with the others was had the "Super Pharmor" name
I remember it seemed to have a grocery section.
This was the one in ne philly at bustleton and cottman. It was the bottom floor of sears (used to be gimbels then strens)
After it closed sears took over the bottom floor so it could be 3 floors.
It as neat tho to go from the 1st floor of sears, and take the escalator down into pharmor.
That's the store I vaguely remember from my childhood...must have only been 4 years old. I remember there was escalators (I think) to go up to the Sears portion. Kind of a weird combination.
Quote from: MBZ321 on May 25, 2010, 05:17:23 PM
Quote from: EddieJ1984 on May 21, 2010, 12:25:48 AM
I liked pharmor, the one near me the last couple of years before it closed with the others was had the "Super Pharmor" name
I remember it seemed to have a grocery section.
This was the one in ne philly at bustleton and cottman. It was the bottom floor of sears (used to be gimbels then strens)
After it closed sears took over the bottom floor so it could be 3 floors.
It as neat tho to go from the 1st floor of sears, and take the escalator down into pharmor.
That's the store I vaguely remember from my childhood...must have only been 4 years old. I remember there was escalators (I think) to go up to the Sears portion. Kind of a weird combination.
It was unique. Phar-Mor or Sears could have walled in the escelator and staris, but they didn't
The topic of Phar-Mor's founder Mickey Monus, the quick rise and fall of the Phar-Mor discount chain, the World Basketball League and the Phar-Mor embezzlement scandal would make for an interesting biographical film. I think "Power Embezzling" would be a great title for the film. I think film would feel like a mix of "JOBS", "Wall Street", "The Social Network" and "The Founder".
More than likely Hollywood would just screw it up. They'd rewrite the script until it was
virtually unrecognizable from the actual events.
A great example is the film Lucky Numbers. Allegedly about the Pennsylvania Lottery rigging scandal, virtually NOTHING of the actual story was retained (other than the fact that Ping-Pong balls weighted down by paint were used to rig the drawing).
The actual events would have been more than compelling enough. Nick Perry, longtime TV host of Bowling for Dollars masterminds the scam. He gets a couple of stagehands from the station to assist him. Then he uses his Mafia connections (he owned an interest in a vending company that had machines at the station, among other places) to buy up tickets in 6 and 4 combinations. The Number of the Beast, 666, hits with a record payout. Convicted numbers boss Tony Grosso tells a rival TV station from jail that "the number was rigged". The station that holds the drawing says impossible, their security is too good, and this story was cooked-up by the rival station for ratings and to get the lottery contract away from them. There is an investigation and it all comes crashing down when a convenience store employee tells police he remembers selling a large batch of tickets in 6 and 4 combinations to two guys, who then made a call from a pay phone where they spoke a foreign language. The number was traced and it was an extension at the very same Pittsburgh television station that held the drawings. Nick Perry spoke Greek.
No, Hollywood had to go and change all that to make it a vehicle for John Travolta.
No fictionalization could ever hope to measure up to the actual events. There was a great documentary about the Phar-Mor scandal from the PBS series Frontline
https://vimeo.com/64592343
Quote from: retailisking on June 27, 2016, 10:30:26 PM
There was a great documentary about the Phar-Mor scandal from the PBS series Frontline
https://vimeo.com/64592343
I saw that. It's amazing how a retailer like Phar-Mor could go from hero to zero so quickly due to the actions of their CEO and CFO. Phar-Mor power embezzling gives Mickey Monus Phar-Mor embezzling power (and prison time). Mickey Monus is sort of the Richard Nixon of the 1990s. That documentary is a great lesson for those planning start a retailer showing what to do and what not to do at the corporate level. What Mickey did was immoral, it led to Phar-Mor flushing their money (and future) completely down the toilet.
Sadly I had seen similar games played by executives in other companies.
Mickey just pushed it too far and got caught.
A good example was Ames during their first Chapter 11. A few months before that happened
they spun-off the jewelry department into a leased department. "JBA" now controlled it.
They appointed their own manager and Ames store management was told that we were to
have NO input in the running of that department.
(which created real headaches in our store as JBA had chosen an absolute idiot as their manager).
Then we filed bankruptcy. Obviously this was a very brazen ploy to hide the gold and diamonds
from Ames' creditors.
Monus just did stuff like that on a much greater scale. He also had the cover of being a local hero
as the Youngstown economy had collapsed, and he was just about the only guy in town creating jobs.
Quote from: amesman on April 26, 2006, 05:28:12 PM
Powersbt, is this the old Herkimer Phar-Mor?
on the road as you get into Herkimer the now demolished plaza was over there. It was home to Pharmhouse (formerly Nichols), P&C, and a dollar store with a photomat out building that became a small gas station.
The Plaza was demolished to make way for a prison that never materialized..You'll see the still paved area where the razed plaza once stood. I remember this because this is where I initially learned to drive. The Grosmans Bargain outlet was never a Phar-Mor this is the site where the whole plaza sat
https://goo.gl/zrsNcz
Quote from: TheFugitive on June 28, 2016, 08:30:39 AM
Sadly I had seen similar games played by executives in other companies.
Mickey just pushed it too far and got caught.
A good example was Ames during their first Chapter 11. A few months before that happened
they spun-off the jewelry department into a leased department. "JBA" now controlled it.
They appointed their own manager and Ames store management was told that we were to
have NO input in the running of that department.
(which created real headaches in our store as JBA had chosen an absolute idiot as their manager).
Then we filed bankruptcy. Obviously this was a very brazen ploy to hide the gold and diamonds
from Ames' creditors.
Monus just did stuff like that on a much greater scale. He also had the cover of being a local hero
as the Youngstown economy had collapsed, and he was just about the only guy in town creating jobs.
Kmart had dealt with similar problems before they filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in 2002. The corporate executives at the Kmart Corporation took money from the company and wasted it on personal luxuries.
these guys owned Vix right? One old Vix near me stood as a nasty home for drug deals gone south until they redeveloped it into a very nice medical office type place a couple years ago. Was supposed to have been either a Kmart or a Walmart but the locals complained about traffic.
I was not aware that Phar-Mor owned any chain called Vix.
I did work at a Hills location in what used to be the Kennywood Mall.
A few years before I got there the mall was torn-down and the shops converted
to a strip center format. Same reason you cite, it was a bad neighborhood and
the interior mall space just became an open shooting gallery for drug users.
Went by there last week and there is now a Rose's store in the old Hills location.
The Phar-Mor locations near me included:
-Century Square in West Mifflin, behind Century III Mall. They occupied a very large end unit.
It later became Roomful Express, and is now vacant.
-Route 51 in Brentwood, in an old Giant Eagle store. After the Phar-Mor closed it
was torn down, and a Get-Go was built on the property (bringing it full circle to Giant Eagle)
-Great Southern Shopping Center in Bridgeville, in a location that is now a Big Lots.
-Parkway Center Mall in Green Tree, in the space that was originally occupied by the
David Weis store while I worked while attending college. The mall was torn down
earlier this year.
^Phar-Mor didn't own Vix, Drug Emporium did for a while before Vix went out.
The Phar-Mor at Philadelphia Mills Mall is still vacant after many years since closing in 2002
Quote from: MikeRa on June 14, 2017, 11:58:38 PM
The Phar-Mor at Philadelphia Mills Mall is still vacant after many years since closing in 2002
The old johnny rockets in the mall in the food court which has been closed for just about as long finally has a tenant coming soon, Aya's Cafe (Mediterranean food).
JCPenney will be joining the vacant club probably in a week or two in the mall.