Yard Birds
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Yard Birds was originally a surplus store started in 1947 in Centralia, Washington. There were also Yard Birds stores in Chehalis, Olympia, and Shelton. While originally selling war surplus, Yard Birds became more of a discount store with many departments including hardware, toys, shoes and clothing, automotive, pets, sporting goods, furniture, a full-service grocery, and more. Yard Birds stores had a logo that featured a black bird with a yellow beak, reminiscent of the cartoon characters Heckle and Jeckle. These stores were not affiliated with Yardbirds Home Center in Northern California, which used a white stork with yellow overalls as its mascot.
[edit] History
1947 Two friends, Bill Jones and Rich Gillingham, start Two Yard Birds Surplus in Centralia, Washington. Later that year they move the store to just north of Chehalis, Washington.
1959 Bill Jones and Rich Gillingham buy an old cannery in Olympia, Washington and start a sister store called Seamart. The Seamart store eventually takes on the Yard Birds name.
1971 A giant new 300,000 square foot store opens in Chehalis, Washington with a 60 foot tall sculpture of a Yard Bird that is big enough for people to drive their car through.
1976 Pay 'n Save, a Pacific Northwest drug store chain, buys Yard Birds.
1979 A Yard Birds opens in Shelton, Washington.
1987 Employees buy out Yard Birds from Pay 'n Save.
1993 Facing growing competition from other retailers, Yard Birds in Olympia closes.
1995 Facing growing competition from other retailers, Yard Birds closes its stores in Chehalis and Shelton.
[edit] Today
The Yard Birds store in Chehalis is indeed closed, but the new owners have rechristened the space as the New Yard Birds Mall & Shop’n Kart. According to the New Yard Birds Mall website there is a Grocery store (Shop’n Kart), archery shop, an auto repair facility, a movie theater and the school district rents an area for some of their programs, plus they have rooms to rent for conferences. So while the original Yard Birds is gone, the name, building, and mascot live on.
