| Former type | Discount store |
|---|---|
| Industry | Retail |
| Defunct | 1975 |
| Headquarters | Originally from Los Angeles, California; moved to San Diego, California after acquisition by Interstate Department Stores |
| Products | clothing, footwear, housewares, sporting goods, hardware, toys, electronics, groceries |
White Front was a chain of discount stores in Southern California and the western United States from 1959 through the mid-1970s. They were noted for the architecture of their store fronts which was an enormous, sweeping archway with the store name spelled out in individual letters fanned across the top. The chain also ran Topps, a similar discount store with locations in the American Midwest.
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The name White Front was said to refer to the practice of lining up appliances like washers, dryers and stoves in front of the store, giving it a "White Front." Another feature of each store was that each had a separate key booth located in the parking lot.[1]
The company was founded in 1929 in Los Angeles. In April 1959, the then two stores were acquired by Interstate Department Stores, Inc., which expanded the chain to other California locations and broadened its retail mix beyond the original housewares.[2][3] In September 1960, Interstate also acquired Topps, which at the time had ten stores.[2] For several years, White Front was the leading discount store in the United States.[4]
In 1973 the company made an abortive attempt to expand into the Northwest at the Mall 205 in Portland, Oregon. A television ad campaign to introduce the store featured Allen Ludden of Password fame (most store openings were promoted by Hollywood stars). The Portland store failed largely due to complications with coordinating sale ads printed in Southern California with deliveries of the advertised merchandise to Portland. Frustrated by being unable to get advertised specials after a long drive to the suburban store, customers stopped coming, numerous complaints were filed, and the store finally closed.
White Front entered the Seattle/Tacoma market of Washington State in 1969. Five stores were built in high-traffic areas in Burien, Tacoma, north Seattle, Bellevue, and Everett, but were all closed by about 1972. White Front was said to have left the Seattle market "while the paint was still drying in the parking lot stalls." The local media as well as businesses, government agencies, and community leaders would play on that as well as calling the stores eyesores and a waste of space since each store had a large footprint (150,000 square feet). Some also pointed it out as a flawed attempt to "Californianize" the area, which might have led some local residents not to shop at the stores. Due to the struggling economy of the "Boeing Bust" of the late 1960s and early 1970s and the exodus of people leaving the area, it would take some time before new ownership was found for some of these vacant buildings. The Tacoma White Front store has seen many ownership changes: first as a Valu-Mart/Leslie's store, later a Jafco and then a Best store (currently Michael's). The Burien store became the flagship store for Valu-Mart/Leslie's (currently Fred Meyer). The north Seattle store became a Kmart. The Everett store was integrated into Everett Mall in 1977 to become a Bon Marché and then Macy's. The Bellevue store became a Fred Meyer as well. The towering roadside store signs used for their locations can still be seen at the Shoreline and Tacoma sites.
Another cause for their failure in the area could have been that the stores were too close to competing discount chains such as Gov-Mart/Baza'r, House of Values, and Valu-Mart which had a stronger presence in the area and were locally owned. The Shoreline White Front was built across the street from Gov-Mart. Having another discount retailer could have been overkill at the time and it would take a long time for another discount retailer to come into the Puget Sound area due to the "White Front Curse." Target was next to enter the Puget Sound market, in 1988, 16 years after White Front was closed.
Each of the stores contained a "Discount Foods" grocery store department. People complained of high prices in the grocery section (probably caused by the lack of a local distribution center, poor purchasing, and other logistics problems). Safeway Inc. took ownership of the grocery section in some markets, while newer-design stores such as those in Everett and Bellevue that were built without the arch also did not have a grocery store.
In 1966, Interstate acquired the four-store Washington D.C. toy store chain Children's Supermart, predecessor of Toys "R" Us, which is the only survivor of the company.[2][5] White Front filed for bankruptcy in 1975 and then went out of business; the locations were changed to Two Guys, another discount chain. Two Guys soon failed as well and the stores became relabeled as FedMart stores, which eventually were purchased by Target. The Target store in San Bernardino, California sported the archway across its facade for many years until a recent remodeling.
The White Front store on California Avenue in Bakersfield, California, was taken over by Zody's. Later it was purchased and remodeled by Mervyns, which also soon went out of business.
A number of independent local pharmacies continue to carry the White Front name in Costa Mesa and elsewhere, having inherited it from their former host stores, but are otherwise unrelated.
