Ames Department Stores in NC

[ian]

Does anybody know if any ames/hills/kings existed in NC?

[BillyGr]

Does anybody know if any ames/hills/kings existed in NC?

The locator on the main page seems not to work right any longer, but it does show a map that includes NC (but not SC or other states to the west of that), so I think that means there were at least some listings for that state.

Unfortunately, no idea beyond that where or how many or if any may have come from the other chains.

[Retail_247]

Does anybody know if any ames/hills/kings existed in NC?

I made a list of discount stores and where they were a while back (that I'm still working on) and my data for North Carolina currently shows that:


Ames - 7 locations
Hills - 2 locations
King's - 21 locations

None of the King's locations were converted into Ames and only 1 out of 2 Hills stores became Ames (that data could be incorrect, however)

[TheFugitive]

I believe this post is correct.  I worked for both Ames and Hills, and as memory serves both chains had a very small number of stores in North Carolina. 

[ian]

Do you know the addresses, or if there were any in the charlotte metro

[TheFugitive]

Unfortunately I left the company in 1992 and no longer have a printed store listing.

[Retail_247]

Do you know the addresses, or if there were any in the charlotte metro

Here's the locations of the stores from my data:

King's - 835 E. Dixie Dr. Asheboro NC 27203
King's - 1001 N Miami Blvd Durham NC 27703
King's - Hillsborough Rd. Durham NC 27705 (Full store location unknown)
King's - 401 N. Berkeley Blvd. Goldsboro NC 27530
King's - 4653 W. Market St Greensboro NC 27410
King's - Hwy. 264 Greenville NC 27834 (Full store location unknown)
King's - New Dana Rd. & State Hwy. 64 Hendersonville NC 28739
King's - Gum Branch Rd. & Henderson Dr. Jacksonville NC 28540
King's - 3210 Fayetteville Rd. Raleigh NC 27609
King's - N. Blvd., Rte. 1 & 401 Raleigh NC 27604
King's - 2726 Industrial Dr. Sanford NC 27330
King's - 300 W. Dixon Blvd. Shelby NC 28150
King's - 2638 Carolina Beach Rd. Wilmington NC 28401
King's - Kings Plaza Shopping Center Wilson NC 27893
King's - 3740 N. Paterson Ave. Winston-Salem NC 27105
King's - 801 Corporation Pkwy Winston-Salem NC 27107
King's (former Mammoth Mart) - 1245 Dabney Dr Henderson NC 27536
King's (former Mammoth Mart) - 830 Halstead Blvd Elizabeth City NC 27909
King's (former Mammoth Mart) - 1515 E. Broad St Statesville NC   28677
King's (former Mammoth Mart) - N. Center St & 25th Ave. NW Hickory NC 28601
King's (former Mammoth Mart) - US Hwy. 70 New Bern NC 28560


Ames - 1421 East Cone Blvd. Greensboro NC 27405
Ames - 3701 Highpoint Rd. Greensboro NC 27407
Ames (Former Zayre) - 2200 Westchester Dr. High Point NC 27262
Ames (Former Zayre) - 4215 North Patterson Ave. Winston-Salem NC 27105
Ames (Former Zayre) - 2281 Cloverdale Ave. Winston-Salem NC 27103
Ames (Former Zayre) - 846 Spring Lane Sanford   NC 27330
Ames (Originally Woolco, than Roses, than Hills) - 4302 Shipyard Blvd. Wilmington NC 28403


Hills - (Opened 1995 in former Kmart) - 2300 N Main St High Point NC 27262
Hills (Former Woolco, than Roses, was later converted into Ames) - 4302 Shipyard Blvd. Wilmington NC 28403


Keep mind mind that some of information / store locations might be missing

It would also appear that Zayre also had other locations in the state that for whatever reason didn't become Ames

[Retail_247]

I found this old news report about the Hills store in High Point opening

https://greensboro.com/hills-department-store-to-open/article_bf1569a1-386a-5782-8bd9-acb8a21a1b7a.html

At the bottom it states that

"The other stores are in Winston-Salem, Statesville, Wilson and Wilmington."

So I guess there was actually 5 Hills stores in NC


I found another old news report by the same people:

https://greensboro.com/discount-department-chain-to-open-2-stores-in-triad-hills-stores-co/article_0f9d0cf1-2082-522d-bb6a-d43947e3cb9c.html

"plans to remodel and occupy former Kmart stores in High Point and Winston-Salem"

So I guess the Winston-Salem Hills store was also a former Kmart, the store was located at 7770 North Point Blvd, Winston-Salem, NC 27106 (This store moved to a supercenter in 1994, a year before Hills opened) where the Burlington currently is

Currently I don't know where the Statesville & Wilson stores were

[Retail_247]

Ok so after some research here's what I found about the Hills stores in NC

Hills - (Opened 1995 in former Kmart) - 2300 N Main St High Point NC 27262
Hills (Former Woolco, than Roses, was later converted into Ames) - 4302 Shipyard Blvd. Wilmington NC 28403
Hills - (Also opened 1995 in former Kmart) 7770 North Point Blvd, Winston-Salem, NC 27106
Hills - 1685 E Broad St, Statesville, NC 28625 (Signal Hill Mall)

Hills - ????, Wilson, NC

[ian]

Hold up, Hills at Signal Hill Mall???

That mall is the definition of "dead". The 4 anchors are Belk, JCpenny, Peebles/Spainours, and Woolworth/Sears. One anchor remains, Belk. That whole side of statesville is abandoned. There are 2 stores left inside, jewlery and cell phone store. There is a vacant winn dixie, abandoned since 1989. Its really cool, you should look it up

[ian]

So, The Kings store next to the Hills at signal hill mall used to be a mammoth mart? I thought the mammoth mart was at Town and Country Shopping Center, 1441 Wilkesboro Hwy, Statesville, NC 28625, which later became kmart, and then kmart closed in the 70's and moved next to the mall aswell

[ian]

I found a few candidates for the Hills in Wilson.


Tracking Hills in Wilson NC

925 Ward Blvd, Wilson, NC 27893

2800 Raleigh Rd Pkwy W Unit A-2, Wilson, NC 27896

1700 Raleigh Rd Pkwy W Ste 104, Wilson, NC 27896

[ian]

Did ames ever go south of NC? Like SC, or GA

[Retail_247]

So, The Kings store next to the Hills at signal hill mall used to be a mammoth mart? I thought the mammoth mart was at Town and Country Shopping Center, 1441 Wilkesboro Hwy, Statesville, NC 28625, which later became kmart, and then kmart closed in the 70's and moved next to the mall aswell

The Kmart at Town & Country opened in 1977, Mammoth Mart didn't go out of business and close their Statesville store until a year later in 1978

[ian]

So there were 2 mammoth marts in statesville?

[Retail_247]

Did ames ever go south of NC? Like SC, or GA

You cannot see attachments on this board.

These are all of the states that Ames operated in (image from the old AmesFanClub store locator)

[ian]

I see.

[Retail_247]

So there were 2 mammoth marts in statesville?

No just the one

The Kmart your thinking of was never a Mammoth Mart as the Kmart opened before Mammoth Mart even closed

They co-existed for about a year

[ian]

I will check GIS

https://en-academic.com/dic.nsf/enwiki/1196717#sel=47:1,47:10

[ian]

There were 2 kmarts in statesville, One existed for a few years, which is the one I think used to be mammoth mart. That kmart opened in 1977, but the building was built in 1973. In your listing, there was an extra mammoth mart, which became Kings, and later JR tobacco, Now abandoned.

[Retail_247]

I found a few candidates for the Hills in Wilson.


Tracking Hills in Wilson NC

925 Ward Blvd, Wilson, NC 27893

2800 Raleigh Rd Pkwy W Unit A-2, Wilson, NC 27896

1700 Raleigh Rd Pkwy W Ste 104, Wilson, NC 27896

The first location looks too small and too old to be a Hills (they would've probably remodeled the building), although I'm not sure what that building originally was either, so it is possible that the building was once a Hills

The 2nd location was a Kmart from 1992-2003 so unless it was one of the Hills stores that closed during the chains original bankruptcy in 1991 or Hills was right next to Kmart in the same plaza (which has happened before in Newport News, VA) the chance of that store being a Hills is very low

The 3rd location didn't give me much to go off in terms of speculation. The building from a top down aerial view looks to be too small for a Hills but the front does seem kinda Hills-ish, as if its been remodeled but no completely

In all honestly this is all just speculation. It's possible that one of these buildings were once Hills, but it's also possible that none of these we're Hills, in all honestly, I have no idea. However, all of the speculation was just done by looking at the building itself with no other research so I might have to look into those locations.

[Retail_247]

There were 2 kmarts in statesville, One existed for a few years, which is the one I think used to be mammoth mart. That kmart opened in 1977, but the building was built in 1973. In your listing, there was an extra mammoth mart, which became Kings, and later JR tobacco, Now abandoned.

I could be wrong as discount stores of this age are difficult to find info on but as far as I know the older Kmart location was never a Mammoth Mart

It could be possible, though, as there have been Mammoth Mart-to-Kmart conversions on three different occasions (not including the Pasadena, MD Kmart store, which was built as Mammoth Mart, but they never opened)

(The 2nd image was put there because you cant really see the buildings that well in the 1st image)

You cannot see attachments on this board.
You cannot see attachments on this board.

[ian]

Hold on, Woolworth was hills at the mall????

[TheFugitive]

Did ames ever go south of NC? Like SC, or GA

You cannot see attachments on this board.

These are all of the states that Ames operated in (image from the old AmesFanClub store locator)

The store locator also had tabs separate from the map for Michigan and Florida.  I had worked in Michigan for several years where Ames had a number of stores.  They also converted a lot of Zayre stores in Florida which were open as Ames for a little more than a year.  I spent six weeks assigned temporarily to one in Jacksonville.

[ian]

I am in jacksonville right now!

[ian]

I have actually never been to an ames.

[ian]

This postcard from early on of the mall depicts Woolworths on the far right. I think that may be Hills, but idk

[Retail_247]

This postcard from early on of the mall depicts Woolworths on the far right. I think that may be Hills, but idk

Apparently it was

http://skycity2.blogspot.com/2011/01/signal-hill-mall-statesville-nc.html

The building was Woolworth, than Hills, than finally, Sears

[Retail_247]

Did ames ever go south of NC? Like SC, or GA

You cannot see attachments on this board.

These are all of the states that Ames operated in (image from the old AmesFanClub store locator)

The store locator also had tabs separate from the map for Michigan and Florida.  I had worked in Michigan for several years where Ames had a number of stores.  They also converted a lot of Zayre stores in Florida which were open as Ames for a little more than a year.  I spent six weeks assigned temporarily to one in Jacksonville.

Right, I forgot to mention that

Ames was always short lived in Florida. They acquired Zayre and left less than a year later (the stores down there were a disaster), just to return to the state (via buying Goldblatt's locations) around '99 or 2000 just to close again along with the rest of the chain in 2002

[ian]

Does anyone recall a dep. store named Spainhours? On the Signal Hill Mall, I can see the labelscar, but almost no recall of it online. I think spainhours became peebles.