What happened to Western Auto? 1962 catalog - Truetone transistor radios, Wizard brand time capsule
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- čas přidán 26. 08. 2024
- What happened to Western Auto? Why aren’t they still around? Well, when a store fails, it is assumed that it wasn't meeting the needs of its community. But when an entire chain of stores fails, there is something else afoot.
It's called financial manipulation. In the 1980s Western Auto's management took the company into that Wall Street world of acquisitions, mergers, spinoffs, leveraged buyouts, and restructuring. They were told, and like so many, they believed, that these financial dealings are inevitable--that they are healthy and that these deals MUST be done. They were told this by the very people-the money people-who profit by these deals. That's how these financiers make their money--not by producing something of value, but by churning money. What happens to regular people caught in that meat grinder of restructuring is rarely considered. But what to my mind is even worse- and never mentioned-is what that consolidation does to the rest of us. To all of us. The public. The public who used to have the CHOICE of going to a fun and interesting place like Western Auto. The public from whom that choice was taken away as a result of Western Auto being sliced, diced, and eventually discarded.
Oh sure, I get it. Things change. People shop elsewhere. Companies decline and fail. But think of the stores that aren’t here anymore-all those choices you no longer have. Did these companies die or were they snuffed by the money people for their own gain? The great department stores like The Broadway, Hudson’s, Robinson’s, The May Company, Bullocks, Buffums, Marshall Field’s, and dozens and dozens more- they’re all THIS now. I guess we should be grateful Macy’s still exists and hasn’t been swallowed up-yet-by this. (Walmart) or this (Amazon). Think of the great choices we used to have in home improvement: Lumber City, Angels, Ole’s, Standard Brands, Builder’s Emporium, not to mention scads of independent lumber yards where you could talk to salespeople who actually knew stuff. Now it’s this (Home Depot)… or this (Lowe’s).
We talk about the mom and pop stores-and protecting them from the predatory practices of their corporate competitors. And that’s good. I am ALL FOR the mom and pops. But the likes of Western Auto and all those other sorely missed stores were not mom and pops. Sadly for them, and for all of us, they were big enough to attract the money people-to make it worth their while. And now those stores are no more. What do we have to do to put a stop to this? Occupy Wall Street?
And right now, even as I speak these words, American stalwarts Sears and J.C.Penney are being picked apart by these money sharks, giving us even fewer choices. I was always told that capitalism was supposed to be about giving people more choice, not less.
Sadly missed: Western Auto out of Kansas City Missouri. Founded in 1909. They once had 1200 stores across the United States.
I live in a small town in the NC mountains. The county seat is a 2 stoplight town called Newland. We had a Western Auto store for several years, owned by Mike and Martha Aldridge. Their store was a valuable asset to a small town like ours. They carried everything you needed. My first color t.v. came from their store. I still have a Craig road rated receiver and 2 Jensen 6x9 speakers in my old truck I bought from them in 1983! Their store saved us from having to travel long distances to get the things you needed or wanted, and kept much-needed tax money in Avery County. Sadly, Mike is gone now, and the land has a CVS on it. Those of you who never grew up in a small town you can't fathom how important a store like that is to a community. Sorry folks, just thinking some long thoughts. Mitch Banner, Linville NC.
FRESTONE stores were very similar back then.
We had a western auto in our little town to I remember the new bicycles they had lined up in front of the store as you go in. As a kid going in there with my father my eyes would be as big as plates.
@@catfish24 daddy got me a bike from there. I loved that thing. Rode it till there was nothing left of it.
Exactly Mitch! Not all Western Auto Stores were corporate owned. They had "associated dealers," which were basically franchises of WA that were owned and operated by mom and pop in Small Town, America. We had several of them in Western Kentucky, each it's own independent business, locally owned, with WA as the supplier of merchandise. They carried, or could order, most anything a large Western Auto store in a larger city sold. The last such associated dealer in my area was located in a Main Street downtown storefront in Princeton, Ky. that remained open for business until the early 2000's. Our last purchase was a self propelled push lawnmower (the name brand I can't remember now) for $249.99 (a competitive price) in 2000. That business is sorely missed.
I also live in NC in the foothills area and about a 2-hour drive from where you are. I worked in Avery County making the 2-hour commute each morning to Newland a block away from the CVS that stands where the Western Auto store once stood. Prior to the time that I made that commute I also worked at the HQ for the #2 big box DIY store that was referred to in this video. I worked there for almost 25 years and hated that place more than you can imagine. However, I had a family to feed, and this was one of the few places in my area to work that held any promise. This corporation began with humble aspirations by a couple of guys who had big dreams but when they passed their predecessors had no honor to the county that helped them become the giant, they were, nor did they have any appreciation for the men and women who helped them achieve the goal they had attained. Even when I was in college several employees were working full-time for this company and were going to college at night in an effort to retain their jobs.
Management would decide that it was time for NEW BLOOD to be brought in and would make everyone re-apply for the job they had been doing for years and for some unknown reason would replace those, they didn't want with new hires to take their place. After I got my degree in Business & Accounting, I was dumb enough to go to work for this company (not like I had a lot of choices in this small town). I worked there almost 25-years and in the last 5 years had finally begun to make a salary that was worth getting up and going to work for.
One day I go in and they decide they are gonna pull another stunt where we had to re-apply for our current positions. They even made sure we all had the interview questions and answers so everyone "supposedly'" had an equal chance of securing their future with the company.
They said they only needed to do away with 30 people to maintain their profit margin. So, our director put her job on the line and said I'll be the first to leave so now you need only cut 29. Little did she know that when all was said and done more than 300 people at HQ lost their jobs and those who stayed were first demoted then later fired without compensation after 6 months. Those of us (myself included) who were willing to leave in the first round were given a severance package which included a year's pay, those who took the demotion and pay cut were FIRED within 6 months and got nothing. In the following years they continued to restructure, close stores, (most of which had just built and opened in an effort to become #1) and fired thousands of employees not only at HQ but also in the stores throughout the US.
I can only say one thing about this company...I hope that in the very near future that all those involved-the company itself included-get everything out of life that they deserve for ruining the lives of so many people that worked so hard to make them the giant they became - then discarded them when they didn't want to pay them the money, they had worked so long and hard, and rightfully deserved to earn.
As they always say...what goes around comes around...the seed you sow is the harvest you reap...and I just hope I am around to see them reap the whirlwind!!!!!!
Bought a $2 electric can opener at Western Auto 45 years ago , still works today.
Please post positive proof pronto
Pics preferred
Wester auto, Otasco, Ben Franklin, Montgomery Wards stores. Are very missed from my childhood.
Just remembering other stores and fast food joints.
Sunshine department stores, richways, A&P, Colonial, Food Giant,
Dairy delight had burgers hotdogs icecream. True value stores, drive in theaters. Great time to be alive in America. Just like the fishing hole behind the house back. Done covered up made sub divisions cherish what you have. If anything from today is worth cherishing.
JJ Newberry , Kresge's
Western Auto and Ben Franklin.. a flood of memories!
...YOU CAN'T HOLD ON TO YESTERDAY-(!)
...the classic 5 & 10 stores were a staple of my yout'
I loved Western Auto as a kid. I loved those old stores. They had everything you needed. The floors were wooden and creaked when you walked on them. I sure miss those days.
Yes. I remember the smell of those stores. The oil from the floors mixed with the rubber tires. I would love to have that bottled.
...I never HEARD of Western Auto-!!
Now Walmart has almost zero competition and they know it !!!
Today WA would have to have a grocery in it to compete.
1200 stores gone forever !!!
@@johnshackelford5610
Yessir, you're exactly right. Both of the local hardware stores are gone, Ace and a Mom and Pop hardware store about a mile and a half down the road. They couldn't compete with the new Lowes that moved in with lower prices until the local stores closed, then the Lowes prices went up.
Thank you, I have great memories from Western Auto in the 60s and 70s. I miss it, especially at Christmas.
1962, parents bought me the finest bike in the Western Auto store. I still remember how proud I was riding it around our little town.
Yup sug 1966 dad went to local western auto and bought me a ross polo bike gold in color. For. 34. Dollars
You bet! I had a purple metalflake 5 speed Banana Bike in 1970!😀
Either 62 or 63, by older brother and I got Western Flyers from Santa Claus. His was a 26 in. and mine was a 24. Beautiful red bicycles. Oh man.
They had a Western Flyer bike that had a steering wheel instead of handle bars. Spent a lot of time dreaming about owning one of them.
@@rsprockets7846 I remember Ross bikes. They were made pretty well too.
When I was a kid back in the early 1950's, I always looked forward to the annual Christmas catalogs from Western Auto, White's Auto, Sears, J.C. Penney, Spiegel, and Montgomery Ward. With these in hand, I would spend hours drooling over the toys while in a self induced Christmas catalog euphoria!
When I was a kid, the house across the street had 7 kids in the house and no TV. The kids would get up on Saturday morning and walk to the Western Auto store and spend the morning in front of the many TV's on display watching the cartoons. Watching this video brought back memories of all the stuff they had in a relatively small store.
Was not until 60 we got b&w TV b4 was radio we cozy up n listen
Wish we could go back. I miss Woolworth too.
My family owned a western Auto store for 37 years in Missouri.
What happened? Remember WW
My father ran the DC in Houston & Temple - I worked there as a teenager
Where in Missouri? I'm a "Show Me" native. We had one in our town. We owned a ton of WA stuff. I mowed with one of those 3 wheeled riders show in the first part of that flyer. I also owned a WA bicycle and most of our appliances were WA. It was all really good quality. Really miss those days. Remember Gambles Dept. stores?
@@markhull1366 Me too.
I think if any of us, even young people could go back 60 years when all this existed and spend just one month in that era none would willingly come back to now.
Life was simpler, more fun, people were nicer, and you felt safe whether you were in your neighborhood or walking the streets of the town you lived in.
The things that make you truly happy are not the fancy gadgets in your pocket but the world you live in.
A lot of us remember that world and sadly many younger people will never realize all the things they have been cheated out of.
You are so right.
If I could find a time machine, I would go back to the fifties, and never return.
I am with you. However, there were things that went on that we didn't know about. Social media and knowing everything that goes on instantly is not really a good thing. I do miss how something could happen in a small town and everyone knew about it within an hour. That never made it out of that small town though. We owned it. Something special about that.
An era when a 12 year old could mail order a gun and there was no violence...
We all want to go home to America that is killed riding in the ground and it never coming back if we could go home we would not come back if we could go home we would choose suicide instead of coming back growing up sucks
I still use a battery charger my Dad bought at WA back in the early 70’s. Built like a battleship.
It has lasted because it isn't 'Intelligent' like the new junk !.
As a kid I remember getting catalogs galore in the mail. Sears, Penny's, Frederick & Nelson's, etc. Now it's all Amazon via China slave camps.
Still available on ebay!!!! But they definitely ain't free anymore!
And NO Catalogs! Just on-line browsing.
I still can't find half the things I want on Amazon.
Over half of the cars on the road in 1962 had black side wall tires. White side wall tires were a luxury item then.
Still are
My dad never bought new cars, or white sidewall tires.
You know as he said that in the video I thought the very same thing~!!! White walls were reserved for high class cars back then.
@@haweater1555 Yes-and you could also buy just the white walls and deflate your tires and slip these under the bead for a " Ritzy" look.
I"m 63 years old.And old time tire guy told me that all tires were white walls underneath.The black rubber was peeled of to reveal the white wall.I havn"t thought about this in years.Now I feel stupid saying this but who know"s?
We had a Western Auto store in my home town when I was a child. Looking back, I don't know how a rural desert town in California with a population of under 3,000 could support such a large store, but it did quite well. My dad had such an adversarial relationship with the store owner, Ray Given. My Dad was an old hick from Kentucky, and swore up and down that Ray had to be Jewish for the way he conducted business. In fact, he referred to him as Ray Givenstein. I am sure Ray had some choice words about Dad as well. But, that didn't stop Dad from spending money there every weekend.
After Dad passed away many years ago, I got his old toolbox which included a complete 1/2" drive socket set. It is the only socket set I have ever seen that includes the size 19/32 in between the 9/16 and 5/8. That size doesn't exist in bolts. It does fit 15mm which came many years later.
Best of all to this story, despite Dad and Ray's abrasive relationship, Ray came to Dad's memorial service. That's life in a small town
That is a fantastic story. Not one kid growing up today could have any story close to that. I sure miss those days.
I grew up in a remote Desert Town of 300!...We didn't have a Western Auto, we had the ''Bombay Market''!
There is one 19 32 bolt on a chevy from late sixties to early seventies but I can't remember where it seems like it was one of the brackets on front of motor I remember having to borrow one from my father and he had three or four there was also something on a lot of of cars you needed a 15 32 for but I can't remember what it was I still have wrenches that are in 64 ths that were my dad's and they came from western auto and sears take care
I AM AN OLD KY HILLBILLY MYSELF AND STILL HAVE AN OLD BOX FAN FROM WESTERN OUTLAW STILL IN USE!!!
I wonder why they included 19/32? Great story
Thank you for a walk down memory lane. I bought my first .22 pistol at Western Auto.
Walked in after saving up for it the salesman got it out from behind the counter handed it to me. "Yep thats it" boxed it up. I handed him money and walked out.
And there was no school violence, minimal crime...
What!! No waiting period!? No back ground checks!??
As a kid, I bought a LiL Red Ryder B-B gun from WA. I picked up bottles and scrap iron to sell and saved up to buy it. I am at age 85, but I remember that time in my life as if it was only yesterday. Bewfore I retired from my home appliance repair business a couple of decades ago, there was still some washing machines and dryers from WA that I serviced...they lasted for years and years, then could be repaired, and last for years more.
@@_gene_smith8777 Good memories are one of life's best rewards. I do remember when items were repaired and repairable for many years not tossed out and repleced every couple of years.
@@countrycraftsman5110 When is the last time you have seen a radio-tv "repair" shop?
I do miss those days. My dad bought everything at Western Auto. I remember how exciting it was to go there with him
I saved up $8.50 and bought my first Daisy BB gun in 1962. I loved that little store.
@@jasmith1867 yup we had one on main street in town by train station no auto repairs but bins and binsnof stock......had a ROSS POLO BIKE circa 1966 dad bought on layaway for 34. Bucks. Neighbor got a purple one for 49. Bucks.....demographics. Changed and they shoplifted that poor guy blind....
@@jasmith1867
A BB gun? You'll shoot your eye out!
Just kidding, Maddow. 😄😁😆😂 Think of that "Christmas Story" movie.
@@michaelpalmieri7335 I almost did shoot my eye out. I shot a tree up close and the BB bounced back and hit me just under my eye. I also shot my shoe just to see what would happen. My big toenail turned black. Even worse? I now have a concealed carry license.
@@rsprockets7846 demographics changed?....I get it....the blacks put him out of business?
Who here remembers when people had Swing and sliding board sets in their back yards? Hardly ever see it now.
@matrox
Yes.
Kids today would hurt themselves just looking at a picture of one of those things 😂
I hadn't thought about that, but you're right.
Kids today use a "swing and sliding board app" on the phone 😉
@@stefanp8137 Good one!
I was the fourth child in my family.
When my brothers and sister stopped using the swing set, my parents threw it out - they had already had the experience of pushing kids on a swing.
My first “real” job when I turned 16, was at the now long-gone Western Auto Store in Cochran, Georgia.
I feel like I must’ve assembled a million bikes, mowers and grills…..and mounted about a million car/truck tires. I even made deliveries….appliances and furniture.
In between all that, I’d wait on customers and stocked shelves.
Every Christmas, I would wrap a large mower box(mower still inside) with gift paper. It would serve as a pedestal for a life-size mechanical waving Santa that was put in the store front window every season. I took special pride in that duty, as it really wasn’t officially Christmas season until the kids of Cochran spotted waving Santa in the window. Lol
Also, Christmas Eve was a wonderfully bustling madhouse, as all if “Santa’s elves would come in to pick up their layaway bikes. 😊
I feel fortune that I was able to experience a bit of the(all but vanished) old-school, small town American shopping experience.
Got my 1st line of credit at the Western Auto in Norco, LA. I was 12 years old and needed the big sprocket for my Buzz Bike. Mr. Earl Cupit was the owner, and my neighbor. I went in the store looking at the part and he asked me if he could help me. I said I needed that sprocket. I think it was like 5 dollars, but I ain't got that much money. He said, how much you got? I said a dollar. He said give me a dollar down and a dollar a week till it's paid for. I couldn't believe it. He said, son I know where you live. So there I was 12 years old and in dept, but I fixed my bike.
I have been to Norco Refinery too many times. I loved Western Auto as a kid and fixed up a lot of bikes. They had a cool 20in. slick tire with a narrow groove on the outsides that looked cool in the day. I could ride all day long on the rear wheel with no problem.
There use to be a Western Auto in Kenner. The building is still there.
I lived in a small ethnic neighborhood in Minneapolis while growing up in the '50s. Practically every type of store was within ONE BLOCK of our house and wouldn't need a car to get groceries or a haircut. Even our "family" doctor was only 2 blocks away, making a "house call" (remember those) would take him about 5 min to get to our house! I loved those days when everything was so close to home. I now live in Mid-Central Wisconsin (Thorp), where we have to drive about 40 miles to get to a Walmart. Life seems so hard nowadays!
Back when you could purchase quality products !!!!
After graduating college, I bought my first handgun at a Wester Auto. I bought a Colt 1911 for $ 225. I spent a good deal of time in that store.
Yes he removed the gun section that was in every catalogue. A rem66/22auto was but $30 in those days
We bought our BB guns there.
@@otisarmyalso I still have a 22 revolver with Western Auto engraved on it. Came with a tooled leather holster.
Revelation brand, wasn't it?
Walmart looks like a craphole that hucks for rd China
A tear shed for all the independents we all loved and now miss. Life is not the same, nor are we better off for their demise and disappearance. The great stalwarts of industry brought to their knees by wallstreet. Today, I lift a toast to you.
Oh bull. Customer demand changed the landscape.
@@robertd9850 Simple as that, eh?
BOY YOU SAID IT~!!!
@@collectornet Yes. Demand drive everything.
No question, life was so much better when we used to stop at Ben Franklin after getting supplies from Western Auto. Sometimes for a real treat, we would stop at Dairy Queen or the hot dog truck. I remember when America was great too.
Being born in 1960 this was an intense flashback to watch .Thank you. It confirmed that my dad was frugal as we always had the "base" model of most household goods. I remember him saying that so we could afford a nicer home in a nice neighborhood.
And your message about the effects financial business consolidation is right on.
Mine and my sisters christmas came from Western Auto more often than not, The western auto christmas catalog was magical.
My AC Gilbert/American Flyer electric train cars for Christmas or Birthdays were ordered thru wa
Your views on the decline of retail is spot on. I started my work career at a small regional company with sixteen stores that grew to 100 over a ten year period. Only to be sliced, diced and discarded. 😢
Before Kmart and Wal-Mart stores like Western Auto were the destinations, especially in smaller towns. This was where working class people could shop, shade tree mechanics stocked up on needed parts. I remember Western Auto was where we got our lawn mower, bought our tires, and some Western Auto stores had a service department offering oil changes, tune ups, and mounted your new tires. Thanks for this wonderful video. You brought back happy memories.
Back in the “good old days” when stores had a friendly atmosphere, Sears was the same way. A damn shame it’s not that way anymore!
That was t my experience as a kid 3 of us walked in Western Auto to look around manager started watching us made us very uncomfortable so we left. I guess occasional kids would steal things. I often went to that shopping center but never went back to western auto.
Western Auto also sold a line of rifles and shotguns. A few weeks ago I was in a Lowe's Home Improvement store, and I asked a young woman clerk where I could find their weatherstripping. She thought for a second, and then asked, "what's that used for?" I turned around and walked out.
Before covid I evaluated HS kids for possible apprenticeships with participating businesses, it was a state program through IRS, DOE and DOL. Hire a kid, get cheap labor and a tax break sort of thing. I cannot tell you how many GRADUATES I was told to place to fill quotas that couldn't tell time, divide fractions or read a tape measure. I had one kid ask me why wood would need to be heated when cutting it after asking me what a degree mark was. He actually thought the wood was to be brought to a certain temp. before cutting, I had to try and explain what 90 degrees meant out of 360 for over two hrs. and he still couldn't quite grasp the concept.
@@jimmartin7881 ok.. work with this kids..that kid sounds like me.....my father used to call me stupid and had no patience... because of him I grew to hate math....my father could look at something one time and fix it....he could fix anything...I wish I had've inherited that skill from him...instead I grew to hate him.
@@dwightpowell6673 I was never good at math or liked it very much either but It didn't stop me from learning it by myself, sometimes people need to teach themselves. But these kids were simply allowed to advance because the state changed things to paint a different picture than that of what was really happening. Instead of educating like they were supposed to, they lowered the bar as far as competency tests go. The things I described are 7th and 8th grade general knowledge however these were recent HS grads that didn't know this. Their "teachers" and the state screwed them over and it's only getting worse, there's only so many IT and coding positions out there. We still need carpenters, iron workers and a blue collar workforce. Otherwise everybody will be working in fast food and believing they're worth $20 an hr.
@@jimmartin7881 ok..Not for nothing..I reading things in your message that might not be there...if so forgive me..I gather your're a Caucasian and the kids are probably majority black or hispanic...yes you're right carpenters...plumbers...iron-workers will be needed...you sound like you had a stable home foundation..I didn't and alot of these kids don't.
@@jimmartin7881 I'm a 62 year old Blackman getting ready to retire from a job of 40 years..I was lucky...'Blessed"..I played around my whole 3 years in Jr. H.S. I don't rey learnt much..but I was matriculated to the next grade..I truly regret my behavior in later years respect when I got around other kids and saw how much smarter than me their were.
The script, voice-over and editing of this video is incredible! Thank you.
Thank you VERY much.
I was fortunate to work at one of these great stores in the early 80's. Always enjoyed shopping there too. Unfortunate they have gone by the wayside. Thanks for sharing
Me too!
My god look at how cheap everything was. I know those were 1962 prices but still, wow. I bet everything in that sale paper was made in the United States with pride! The people who grew up and lived in that time didn’t know just how good they had it back then. Wall Street has killed this country for nothing but greed. My god how our once great country has fallen!!
Imagine if you were making $80 a week those $180 TVs didn’t seem to cheap
Can buy a TV today at Walmart for around that
China has us by the balls
Were still paying those prices, it just takes more dollars to make up those prices, devalued dollar.
@@southerncross3638 Inflation is about to go way up..our debt is insane now
@@deadhorse1391 Yes, made in communist Ch-yna by someone making $1 dollar an hour.
Thank God Im not alone. TG&Y, Carondelete, The Treasury, Gerber's, Maison Blanche, Goldsmith's.... God bless you.
You took my back to the 60’s
My dad's cousin owned a Western Auto store in Green Bay WI. I remember going there with him when I was a kid. My grandfather bought a Wizard rototiller from that store. I put a lot of hours behind that thing. For some really weird reason I liked it ! Even stranger yet I still own it and yes it still works.
And did your kids spend any time behind it?
As you said, the main problem with businesses is they put profit above everything else, so they try every scheme imaginable and it backfires. If only they were content to let profit take care of itself and concentrate on customer service and satisfaction, they''d never go out of business and ironically they'd have two or three times more profit than they otherwise think they would. Greed makes bleed
After my father returned from fighting in Germany during WWII he got a job at Western Auto. It took him all of one week to become their number one salesman, no not salesperson, salesman! After all, it was the mid-20th century. He received the salesman of (insert time period here) constantly, mom was so proud! Almost everything in our home and our garage was from Western Auto; TVs, lawnmowers, garden implements, you name it, it was from Western Auto! Anytime Pop needed to buy a gift, it was purchased there. RIP Pop, you were the best!
I used to deliver tires. There was a really old Firestone tire center that I would often deliver to. The store was strange to me because it had this really big lobby. Surrounded with glass windows it looked like a automobile show room or something. I asked the guy one day what this used to be before it was a tire store. He said it was always a Firestone, just back in the 60s they also sold kitchen appliances, so it was a kitchen appliance show room. Now it was just a big area with a couple of tire displays and a really spread out waiting area.
Strange.
If I remember correctly, Good Year had stores just like that where they sold appliances and TVs. Anyone remember that?
I grew up in the 60's. My brother and I got our first bicycles from Western Auto in Indianapolis on Christmas day. They were called Buzz Bikes and we learned to ride them on ice covered sidewalks. We both fell and scraped our knuckles several times learning to ride but we kept riding because we were having fun. This is one of my favorite memories. Thanks for making this video.
I have a manual Wizard Typewriter my Grandmother bought. I have all the tags and warranty book with it.
My first 1/2 inch drive socket set was from Western Auto, I used it for about 20 years before the ratchet broke. It was a gift from my parents, along with a JC Penney tool set. I do miss the options we used to have. Good video, thanks!
I agree on that, when plastic come in, quality went out ! You can't buy nothing like made in those days ! And this is suppose to be better ? Yeah right !
I remember going there as a kid to get an innertube for my bicycle tire. Then at the beginning of each school year, my mother would take me there to buy several pearl snap shirts. They had everything!
I remember they had hot vulcanizing inner tube patches too. You would light them on fire to affix the patch.
Western Auto used to sell rebuilt generators and starters that were rebuilt by rebuilders in the area of the stores so if there was a problem the turn around time was shorter. also sold spark plugs ,points, condensers, distributer caps and rotor buttons.Also they stocked a lot of bicycle parts. Haven't thought of them in many years.
We Had a Western Auto Store here in Prescott Arizona in Downtown, Loved that Store. So Sad.
My first real job was at OTASCO. Oklahoma Tire And Supply Company was very similar to WA and Firestone. Even though I was the newest employee I knew the chain was dying. It was fun while it lasted.
P.S. I love the Western Auto sign in downtown KC
Thanks for the memories. I remember as a young boy in the 70's my dad taking us to shopping at Western Auto in Wichita Falls, TX. He bought our Western Flyer bikes, he bought his lawn mower and edger from there (which he made me use to cut the grass). As 12 years old, I also used those machines to make my money on the weekends, going around the neighborhood cutting grass for $5 ($7 if I raked the grass) a yard. He bought his tires there and I think he bought us an Atari Pong game from there too. I forgot about that store; brings back fond memories.
as a pro illustrator myself, still a bit of a shock to realize how much art was used back then for this kind of thing-
I am proud to say that my dad was part owner of the Western Auto store in Dixon Illinois...Very nice video. Thank you...
10:07 $200 worth of food then would last you 8 months to year on average.
Yep. I was a bag boy at the local Winn-Dixie back in 1973 and once a couple came in and bought $200 worth of food . I suppose they had a freezer, maybe even two? . We took out at least four , maybe five, carts full of groceries to their car. It felt like we were taking half of the contents of the store to their car.
I used to love to go to western auto especially at Christmas 🎄I love this memory 🙃 and your right about Walmart
_you're_ right about Walmart
Going to Western Auto with my dad to test vacuum tubes for our console tv.
Yeah, you could test your "tubes" at ANY drugstore AND buy them there!
Yep, we used to go to "Cunninghams" drug store with a paper bag full of tubes, and while dad tested them, I would have an ice cream cone at the soda fountain, while spinning around on their neat green stools. God I miss those days...
I say lets bring all them stores back and a make "America" great again... Squeeze out Wally World...
I wish I could happen Wally World was the ruination of this country Sears was once a mail order catalog you pick your stuff up at your local post office which was usually at the hardware store Good Old Time I miss
@@horsepower0539 Sears was a good store at one time. Ours had 3 floors with escalators and a full service garage, sure do miss it.
Thank the venture capitalists who took advantage of the Reagan tax breaks. Let them keep more profit, it will trickle down. Walmart was one of the few survivors of that era.
@@horsepower0539 Post office in the hardware store? What rural community did you grow up in. In the 1940s and 1950s, the post office was in the post office and the hardware store was in a totally different building. Venture capitalism with hostile takeovers of businesses and corporate greed was the ruination of this country.
@@memyname1771 yes I grew up in Royal Pennsylvania in the 50s and 60s I think till the middle 70s it changed the post office was right to the right of the door as you walked in the hardware store at that time they put a post office next to the hardware store later
If you were a kid in the 50's you had a Western Flyer Bike!
For Christmas, I got a JC Higgins 3 speed! Best bike I ever had!
Only in the boonies, I had we lived near the city Columbias and Huffys.
Yep, I had a Western Flyer bicycle. It was a Christmas present about 1952.
And a wagon
I grew with tons of western auto items in my life,
My father's brother worked at Western Auto in Defiance Ohio. He gave me good deals on everything including tires for my 1966 chevy caprice. Those were some of the best tires I have ever had.
Your uncle ok
I wonder who MADE those tires FOR WA!
We had a Western Auto in my my hometown in North Carolina. My friend worked their during high school and I helped at Christmas putting together bikes and delivering things.
WA had some of the best ratchets, sockets and wrenches you could buy. They were made for them for a number of years by New Britain Tools of New Britain tools of Connecticut . There products were quality, well made and yes it was fun to go there. Our local WA was a friendly place, dad had a charge account and the clerk and sales folks knew us by name! Wow the clerk had a card ex type accounting system and when you bought something on credit the clerk posted it to your balance card. When you paid a payment she literally deducted the payment from your balance on the card! What a wonderful place!! Some of my fondest memories are dad and I going for a new socket, extension or auto accessories. They had a great little 2 bay service dept for oil changes, tires, flat repairs and so forth. Walmart has killed so much of Americana and we will forever have a void where this great company used to be!
@John Goodman
YES! I have a complete WA socket set that was my fathers... Still nearly like new!
A few years ago, I found a complete New Britain 1/2" drive socket set in it's original red steel case at a garage sale. I don't think it was ever used until I brought it home. Now it's used frequently! I don't remember what I paid for it but I'm sure it wasn't more than $10.
Boyd is this bring back memories I was born in 1960 and I'll be 61 in October but wow this is awesome I miss the Western Auto stores to they were nice thank you for showing them to us I've also subscribe to you
I miss those old metal gas cans!
I remember going with my dad to downtown Hot Springs, AR, while he bought tires at the Western Auto and I spent the entire time just browsing around in the store! You neglected to mention in their hunting supplies section, they had rifles, shotguns, bb guns and all the ammo to go with them! I also liked Ben Franklin which during the mid-1950s where you could go and buy fishhooks by their weight!
If you work for a company that's still left here in the U.S.A and you start to hear the words Wall Street or Acquisition you better HEAD FOR THE HILLS. Something for the no good is up. In other words you can kiss your job away.
Ah the memories! My dad took a part time salesman position at a Mission Ks Western Auto in 1966. We moved back to my hometown Wichita in 1968 and again my dad took a part time position at another WA store in Wichita. He helped me get a job there as an auto mechanic in 68 when I was 16. By 69, Kmart had hired our service manager, I got promoted to Service Manager at 17. I worked a 40 hr week there while going through my Senior year of high school.
I joined the Navy in 70.
My Dad wound up working full time as Store Manager at a few other WA stores in Wichita, until the mid 80's. He got transfered to Salina Ks, where WA sent merchandise from stores all over the country as they shutdown. His job was to get it all sold off. When they shut down the "outlet" store, he retired. Western Auto did him good.
I still have a few Wizard sockets left somehow over the years. Those tools (Wizard brand) were made by Industro tools and they are indestructible! I used them as impact sockets for years and never broke one!
Most old Western Auto stores were replaced by Auto Zones.
RIP Western Auto!
I had recap or retreads once. Also have seen firsthand tires being retreaded. Wringer washers are still pretty useful equipment under some circumstances. Wish I had one. I remember our local WA store burned up when I was a kid. They reopened later in a new location. But eventually went away as was explained here. I also remember OTASCO. Had a slick 10 speed bike from there and a barbell set too. In another town I rember Coast to Coast and Tempo that was part of Gambles Skogmo company back then. And I also remember when Sears was something to behold in Springfield MO. Wore myself out on the escalator. I want my America back....
I still have a set of Craftsman tools that I bought from Sears back in 1973 and they are still in great shape after all those years of use. My 28 year old Craftsman water was still working perfectly when I done a new, complete home appliance install in my house. I miss Sears, and those other popular stores from days gone by.
My first job was in a Coast to Coast. $1.80/hour, to start, and I think I got raised up to $2.20 before moving into the big money at True Value for $3.45/hour. The True Value flyers were the best, with everyone storming the doors at the beginning of the month to get the new "bargain of the month" promo, whatever it was that month. And around Christmas, True Value sold fruit cakes. Or at least they tried to. Fruit cakes sucked back then too, lol. But it was a great time to be young and alive, working my first jobs in that environment. And then everything turned to shit...
You AND me both!
I looked up the house address on the flyer and it’s still there. It looks to be a pre-1962 house, so this actual flyer was inside that actual house back in 1962. Maybe they had cookouts in the yard with a Western Auto grill.
We had one here in Northeast PA. I remember going there in the 1960's with my dad and looking at the toys. You are right about the corporate money grabbers. It's a shame that our choices are limited. Walmart is probably one of the worst places to shop at. Good luck finding someone if you need help with something.
Still one in southeast PA.
@Dan W
EXACTLY-
It's not that everything that's made in China is junk, it's that EVERYTHING is made in China.
Even 40 years ago, my Grandfather taught me that most "Business Men" would sell their Mother for a nickel... And it looks like he was right.
Never, ever believe anything that your sold about the Economy... There are no Recessions, Depressions, Booms or Bumps that AIN'T planned years in advance.
Cheers!
Other stores put under by sheer corporate greed, to our detriment: Zayres, Spurgeons, Hornsby, Handy Andy, Builder's Square, and those are just the ones I thought of as I sat here.
I got a Western Auto rifle for my 10th birthday in 1960. (no serial number) Still have it.. and it looks brand new .Thanks Pop......
At 12 my mom bought me a microscope from western auto. She let me skip school the day it arived. I collected a jar of water from our creek and was AMAZED all day. Thank WA... and Radio Shack.
I carry a set of automotive jumper cables in my pickup that I bought from our local Western Auto in 1969 and they are still completely good to use. By the way, I was employed part time there during my senior year in high school in 1967. Great memories!
Wow Your taking me back. 🙂
I love it. Thanks again.
My Dad had a Western Auto from around 1958 to 1974. I came onto the scene in 1961. Watching this video and reading the comments has really brought back the memories. It was a great way to grow up. There was always something interesting going on. During the early and mid 70's there was the "gas crisis and a recession" going on. And a lot of "mom and pop" businesses were struggling. Auto makers were adding smog controls to vehicles by the basket full. I still have a socket set and some other hand tools, and a push mower. I may have a long gun to.
We had almost everything except groceries and clothing.
I have a $12 German 22 cal. revolver that was bought at W.A. before the big crackdown on cheap foreign guns back in 1967. It still works!
Wow! I collect USA made ratchet wrenches and have come across the the brands Wizard, Westcraft and Westline that I found out belonged to Western Auto and were sold there. I just thought Western Auto was an auto parts store that had there own tool lines like an Auto Zone does today. Thanks for sharing that there was much more to Western Auto.👍
I thought Western Auto was headquartered in St Louis. A big Western Auto sign on top of a building still graces the skyline there. Anyway, Western Auto was an auto parts store that frequently found itself being the only retailer in a rural community. So, they expanded their stock to meet those other needs. Appliances, electronics, furniture, etc. You could even buy your overalls at Western Auto. It's disturbing to think of how many choices in retailers we've lost over the years. Penney's, Sears, and Kmart are on their way out. Gone are Montgomery Ward, Western Auto, Gambles/Skogmo, Woolworth (in the U.S.) Woolco and many others. Sadly, there are many small communities now where "downtown" means Walmart...literally. Does that bother anyone other than me?
My parents had a Western Auto that they started in the late 50's, and they attended training at the headquarters in Kansas City, MO.
My extra special Christmas gift came from Western Auto (sometime in the early 60's) was a Truetone transistor radio. I remember going through lots of batteries because I kept it under my pillow and fell asleep listening to WBZ and WLS radio.
My family owned a Western Auto store for 30 year's . Lot's of great memories and customer's. Thank-you for this video.
My Dad was the youngest Manager in the history of the Chain.....at the Alhambra Store on Valley Boulevard. 19 years old! Then He was given the New, National City Store in San Diego. We had a ton of those products including edgers, mowers, wagons, Tri-cycles and my first Bike being a Western Flyer 20'' in candy apple red! I still use my Wizard sockets and hedge trimmer plus many other tools....they were built tough! My prized possession is the '67 ''Revelation'' 22 Rifle I still use today! It was a sad day when Dad moved on to another job with Abbott Laboratories.
Hey, I remember that Western Auto in National City! I went there for bike accessories and to wander about all the stuff the store had. Woolworths was in the same mall as well as the BBQ Pit. Great memories!
I grew up in Alhambra remember that store inside the Valley Shopping center.
@@briang.7206 It was like a ''Candy'' store for a young Kid! Plus everything you needed was there along Valley Blvd!
@@RadioReprised Remember Toy Town ?
@@briang.7206 Yes! And the Motorcycle shop, Temptation Ice Cream and Crawfords Market where you could watch the live Lobster wander around in the big tank!
In 1962 I was a Junior in High School and worked for SPEGILES WHARHOUSE, CATALOG COMPANY.
IT was in CHICAGO, ILLINIOS, on the Southside.
In 1963 SPEGILES CATALOG was Bought by Western Tire and a GERMAN Company. Who I can't remember all I know is that I Graduated from High School and got Drafted into the VIETNUEM WAR AND FOR THREE YEARS I WORKED WITH THEM.
My favorite catalog.. SPIEGLES! Use to hug the Christmas version
I had forgotten them. All those fallen flag store chains.
My first bike was a Western Flyer from Western Auto. I'll never forget that Christmas morning!
My younger brother got a 24 in. for his birthday about 1964. Red with chrome fenders.Real smooth bike.I loved it.Still remember the tread design on the tires.Much better bike that I had that came from Whites.
Remember going to Western Auto ( El Paso, Texas ) with my dad back in the 1952-56 and buying my brother and I our first bikes. Loved going there.
I remember them in Canada. Sarnia and St. Thomas Ontario each had one and no doubt there were others. Thanks for the research.
I have a Wizard three hp outboard my uncle, a Florida game warden, bought from a dept. auction, best he remembered for eighteen dollars. Also have a 47 three hp Johnson motor. Other than the Johnson having a weedless foot and prop you can hardly tell them apart.
Got a Wizard lawnmower for Christmas one year. I had a good sized list of neighborhood lawns to cut so getting a new mower made me happy as the other kids getting bikes.
Yeah they also used Mercury's one year
@@ronalddaub7965 Eska made some too. I still have a 1.5 hp Eska.
Gone..... The stores I remember in the 70’s and 80’s in SoCal....
Montgomery Wards
Builders Emporium
Miller’s Outpost
Gemco
Federated
Best
Radio Shack
84 Lumber
Zody’s
Buffums
I remember my Western Auto in my little town. Loved going in there.🤠👍
I'm just in my late 50s and have seen so much "improvement" over the years. This "improvement" has made the rich richer and the independent guy have to fight more and more just to stay afloat. Stores used to thrive by giving quality at an affordable price. The big guys dictate the price and don't care much about quality. Thus we have become throw-away consumers with, as you said, fewer choices.
Do you still repair stuff that you know should be thrown away? I am about your age and the wife has a fit because I will fix a $12 clock radio when it stops working. Much more than that but that is an example.
From the mid sixties to the early eighties, practically everything in our household came from Western Auto. Still have some of the furniture and electronics.
I remember going to our western auto store as a kid around Christmas and I remember the euphoric feeling browsing the bicycles and motor bikes and go carts. I can still smell the fresh tire rubber and can see the shine of the squeaky clean floor.
Still have my Daisy Buffalo Bill Scout BB rifle he got for me circa 1970ish @ the Cumberland KY WA store!
In my town, we didn't have a 'Sears' store, only the 'catalog store' (you order at the counter of this office-sized Sears building, and in 2-5 weeks, they'd ship your stuff to the store...then forget to call you for 2-weeks to let you know it's in)...BUT...our local Western Auto (a DIRECT competitor to Sears on most-items not clothes-related) had a LOT more (including a 4-bay garage for tires, batteries, mufflers, etc.). WA prices were better than Sears', and most of the stuff in our house was Wizard! You could get everything from air filters for your car, to lawn mowers, chainsaws...and hunting rifles too! In fact, regardless of what is said, when our local WA shut down in 1975, the local manager said that a MAJOR portion of their business was closed due to the 1968 Gun Control Act, and was why they could no longer stay open...they lost what was one of their most lucrative products due to regulations they couldn't afford to maintain...and where all other products had multiple competitors in town, preventing them from raising other prices to offset the loss.
The local manager was pulling your chain. Think about it. It just doesn't make sense. He just resented the new paperwork he had to do and didn't care about the reason for it.
I remember being able to buy dynamite at Western Auto stores. Caps and fuse also,imagine that.
OMG!!!!!
Back when America was a proud nation and men were men and women were women. Western Auto sold everything guns,ammo,knives,garden tillers,lawn mowers. Those were the days,man it was great
@@clarencewood1363 People were responsible back then, not the 40 and 50 year old children of today who dress like slobs.
I met an elderly man, before I was one, who told of going to the hardware for a brick of .22 shorts, when he was only eight---and they sold them to him without question. This had to be pre-FDR & NFA.
I still have some sticks of it in the garage. 8 sticks actually. 7 caps and fuses. Wondering if anyone would buy it. Found it under some old glass milk bottles.
I remember the local store and our family shopped there a lot.
I remember living in an "ethnic" neighborhood where ALL the essential stores(mom and pop) were within ONE BLOCK of my house. There was ABSOLUTELY NO NEED for a car!!!
What a great narration and explanation of their product lines. Western auto was in direct competition with Sears. They were different because they were found in smaller towns, like mine. They had high-quality merchandise. When I was about 14, I went to the Western auto in our town and bought a 22 rifle for $21. It was also a Western Auto brand called Revelation.
During Summer-break from college in Atlanta, I got a job at the Western Auto Service Center as their small engine mechanic. I qualified for the position because I did my own auto repair on my VW bug. While working there I got three bonuses in the form of gift certificates to be used in Western Auto stores. I use my bonus money to put together a full set of Wizard mechanics tools which, in my opinion, are as good as Craftsman tools. What I learned working at Western Auto that summer was invaluable in my life both in my future career and personal life.
MY ROLLER COASTER!! I've told people about that thing for years and nobody believed they actually sold them. I loved that thing and so did the kids in the neighborhood. Western Auto was Harbor Freight and Toys R Us rolled into one. You made my day!!
Who pushed the wagon back to the top?
We didn't have Western Auto here but we had Pepboys. I still use a mower my father paid $30 for back in 1967.
I see Western Auto bikes all the time and picked up a Western Auto Wizard rototiller a couple of years ago that looked like new from the mid 60's for $20 at the local fleamarket.
Western Auto was sort of combo of Ace hardware, Harbor Freight, and Lowes all in one.
The big box stores are next to go, I see it happening here already, slowly they're losing market share here.
Walmart is talking of closing up a super store here due to lack of profit and high losses. I for one won't miss it. The only bad thing is they were around long enough to drive nearly every last ma and pa store out of business here. When they go, there will be no place to shop. Some defunt brands here are Two Guys, Jefferson Ward, Bradleys, Aimes, King's, Grants, Builder's Square, Channel, and now Sears, and likely soon Walmart.
I also see Home Depot starting to struggle after they opened a Lowes right across the street. To compete, they lowered quality, raised prices, and shortened their hours. Sounds like a plan to me.
When I was in high school (1964-1968) my buddies parents owned the local WA franchise store. I worked there part time, assembling bicycles, bar-b-ques and whatever else needed putting together. My friend Chip and I would invade the store after hours several nights a week, rearrange the recliners to in front of the biggest color TV in stock, and watch I Dream of Jeanie, Get Smart, Batman, etc. It was awesome! Later in in 1972 I bought my first 22 paper puncher there, complete with 4 power scope for $37, and they let me make payments for 3 months on it (I was a young family guy on a tight budget).....my oldest kid who is now 50 still has it (Marlin mfg.). That store was BIG part of our little Northern California town for long time.
Thanks for the trip down memory lane. 👍🏻
My parents bought just about everything at Western Auto. That's where we got a lot of things for the car, the kitchen, the garden, etc., and it was good stuff for cheap! If they didn't have it, you could order it in the size, color or type that you needed. They had real customer service, could answer your questions and didn't make you feel like you were just a number.
Who here remembers the piss pots we used to carry in the car for kids on long trips? That was back when there was no place to stop every time you had to take a leak. Your father would drive real slow while you take a piss in the pot, then pull over to dump it at the first opportunity.🤣
Survey says...crickets. I do get what your saying by the way.
We got those too, Lil John they were called if I remember correctly.
I remember to pots.
i have a western auto 30/30 lever action still shoots fine
I still use a 55 year old "Made in America" lawn sprinkler bought at Western Auto. My first bike was bought at Western Auto by my parents. I miss western Auto, Sears, Montgomery Ward, and Whites Automotive stores.
I remember a store named TG&Y in Ohio back in 1985; great store similar to Western Auto loved it as a kid. Went back in 1987; the store was horrible. Come to find out not too long ago it was bought out in 1986 by another dept. store company from PA. They ruined it & went out of business. :(
TG&Y seemed like a dime store to me. They did have a "Family Center" variant that was larger and had a bigger variety.
TG&Y, we called it "Turtles, Girdles and Yarn" loved that place and our Western Auto was next door to the TG&Y. They had the cool toys like crystal radios, space program and airplane models, HO trains, everything a 8 year old boy needed... $2 or $3 dollars from my lawn job and who knows what I may find.