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ROSES DISCOUNT STORE - Where and When?


mediamongrel

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that Roses is a whole other ballgame....just has a different feel to it IMO

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Roses and its sister chains exist under the radar of mainstream retail. The stores aren't very well advertised or merchandised, but there's always someone shopping there.

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You're right about advertisement. I can't recall seeing a Roses salespaper recently. Back in the day, they were the ish! We used to do all of our school shopping there.

I'm actually surprised the one in Orangeburg lasted this long, especially since it's located in the old mall, which is trying to undergo some type of revitalization of sorts. Steven, you'd absolutely love it. As a matter of fact, next time I go home, I'll take a few shots for you to check out.

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I remember up until '99 I'd glance at the paper on Sunday and see Roses ads. They always looked like they were out of the '80's lol. This is going to sound stupid but I'll always have had a soft place for Roses. When I was growing up my mom and grandparents would always take me to Roses. We always went to either the Northgate Mall one, which closed around 1990 in the original shopping center portion of the mall, which is now where Hechts is located, and the Roses at North Duke Mall ("Crossing" as it is no longer a mall). The North Duke one is still standing, and actually appears more late '80's as opposed to most of their stores, I think it was one of their newer stores before the Wal-Mart invasion hit the Triangle and they stopped remodling or expanding.

Here's a little story for everyone, if you don't really care about Durham please bear with me. The K-mart at K-Mart Plaza off Roxboro Road opened God only knows when, my guess would be around 1970. I remember up until K-Mart started the whole Big K-Mart thing it still had the neon K-Mart sign with the red K and blue mart. I honestly don't know when the Roses opened off Roxboro Road as the anchor to North Duke Mall, I read somewhere that it remodled in the mid or late '80's my guess would be that it opened in the late '70's. Then Wal-Mart opened in Oxford Commons off Roxboro Road in 1991 I believe. Please note that the Wal-Mart has never been remodled and it still in it's current spot, it's a tad scary. Well the K-Mart closed up shop, but guess what? The Roses is still there. It outlasted the K-Mart in it's fight against Wal-Mart. I haven't been out to it in forever, I don't get up that way much anymore, but next time I am I'll hafta pay my respects.

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Here's a little story for everyone, if you don't really care about Durham please bear with me. The K-mart at K-Mart Plaza off Roxboro Road opened God only knows when, my guess would be around 1970. I remember up until K-Mart started the whole Big K-Mart thing it still had the neon K-Mart sign with the red K and blue mart. I honestly don't know when the Roses opened off Roxboro Road as the anchor to North Duke Mall, I read somewhere that it remodled in the mid or late '80's my guess would be that it opened in the late '70's. Then Wal-Mart opened in Oxford Commons off Roxboro Road in 1991 I believe. Please note that the Wal-Mart has never been remodled and it still in it's current spot, it's a tad scary. Well the K-Mart closed up shop, but guess what? The Roses is still there. It outlasted the K-Mart in it's fight against Wal-Mart. I haven't been out to it in forever, I don't get up that way much anymore, but next time I am I'll hafta pay my respects.

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Very interesting

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Since the first Wal-Mart opened where I live in Florida back in 1987 something like 14 other retail stores that had some or all of Wal-Mart's merchandise lines have either left my market or gone out of business altogether. In the past few years Wal-Mart has reduced its merchandise selection and raised its prices.

We do have two very small retail stores (Family Dollar and Dollar General) that predate Wal-Mart. They never advertise in broadcast media and they put out sales papers only once or twice a year. These stores do not have the feel of a Woolworth, but they always seem to be busy, although their prices on some items are higher than Wal-Mart. I think these stores must have their own credit cards.

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I dont think dollar general or family dollar has their own credit card...what they have though is their own niche...and following which has allowed them to continue to do well. We have two simi near us...one of which is about 5 minutes from a walmart.

There have always been different discount /five and dime kind of stores...all with their own appeal. Roses is just one of many...and it has it's own charm. It is facinating to just take time to browse and see what kind of treasures are there. And that might just be part of the whole essence at times of a store that is able to have staying power. People dont "shop" as they used to. They go in, buy and go out...they do not browse or window shop because time is so divided anymore.

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NCMike1981, that's agreat story. I can totally get where you're coming from.

You're right about advertisement. I can't recall seeing a Roses salespaper recently. Back in the day, they were the ish! We used to do all of our school shopping there.

I'm actually surprised the one in Orangeburg lasted this long, especially since it's located in the old mall, which is trying to undergo some type of revitalization of sorts. Steven, you'd absolutely love it. As a matter of fact, next time I go home, I'll take a few shots for you to check out.

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Cool B) I'd love to see those pictures.

There have always been different discount /five and dime kind of stores...all with their own appeal.  Roses is just one of many...and it has it's own charm.  It is facinating to just take time to browse and see what kind of treasures are there.  And that might just be part of the whole essence at times of a store that is able to have staying power.  People dont "shop" as they used to.  They go in, buy and go out...they do not browse or window shop because time is so divided anymore.

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So true. It's fun to browse in places like Roses. It's one part prcatical to two parts quirky.

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The Roses in Belont and Wilmington are still the old style.  Does anyone know if the new ones in Winston are the only new Roses stores around?

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I think greensboro is the location of the new store. the Winston store has been there at least 25-30 years

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  • 8 months later...

Anyone ever been to the Roses in Belmont off I-85? The whole plaza is basically shut down except for the Roses. There's also a shut down Burger King or Taco Bell type place right next to it. Talk about depressing!

I've noticed that it's the same way for most Roses actually (and Ames for that matter). The reason is that all Roses were built as part of shopping centers way back when. Since then these shopping centers have gone out of date and been replaced by new shopping centers else where. All the other stores in the shopping centers have either moved to new locations or have went out of business except for Roses, which remains.

It's the same way at the one in Henderson which is located in the old Henderson Mall (it's a really small mall that looks like like a strip mall or mini-mall than an actual mall). The mall had a Roses on one side and some other store on the other which is today a Food Lion. There's also a Radioshack and some other store between the main mall entrance and main part of the mall and the Food Lion. Since the mall went under the Roses and Food Lion have been sealed off from the main portion of the mall so they are there own separate buildings but still part of the whole structure. All of the outparcels (a few restaurants/fast food places) have went under and most have been torn down. The main part of the mall has a big glass front and was two floors. It has various stores inside like any other mall and it looked just like one too. It also had a movie theatre inside.

Since the main portion closed it has been converted into a Charter School (Vance Charter School). The movie theatre is now classrooms as are the stores. I think they kept 2 of the 4 screens -- converted one to an assembly hall deal, and, I kid you not, left one as a theatre so they could use it to show educational films on a movie theatre screen 00 which I think is pretty awesome.

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Belk was where Food Lion is today and JCPenney was located in the back of Henderson Mall. The 2 stores vacated the mall in the early-mid '90's when their current locations were located in the big strip center by Wal-Mart. Roses kept their entrance to the mall open through the late '90's although when Food Lion built their store in the former Belk store they sealed off the entrance immediately.

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I love Roses. I used to go there all the time when I was a kid. I've always loved stores like those.

As for the new Roses here in Greensboro, I've never been to it. My parents went there when it first opened, but they said it wasn't nearly as good as the original ones we used to go to.

I might do a little research on Roses.

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Belk was where Food Lion is today and JCPenney was located in the back of Henderson Mall. The 2 stores vacated the mall in the early-mid '90's when their current locations were located in the big strip center by Wal-Mart. Roses kept their entrance to the mall open through the late '90's although when Food Lion built their store in the former Belk store they sealed off the entrance immediately.

That's right, it's all coming back to me now. When that shopping center with the Super Wal-Mart opened (when it first opened it was just a regular Wal-Mart, though) that pretty much spelled doom for the Henderson Mall.

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I vaguely remember my Mom taking me to the Roses at Friendly Center. I even remember my older brother buying a stereo from there in 1980 (i was only 4 at the time!) I think it closed around 1981-82 and was demolished. I guess I have a great long term memory for stuff most people would forget! :)

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  • 2 weeks later...

I vaguely remember my Mom taking me to the Roses at Friendly Center. I even remember my older brother buying a stereo from there in 1980 (i was only 4 at the time!) I think it closed around 1981-82 and was demolished. I guess I have a great long term memory for stuff most people would forget! :)

Actually, that building is still there, although it's well-camoflauged.

The particular store was not a classic Rose's, but a strange bird called "Paul Rose", which opened in the early to mid 1960s. It was Rose's attempt at what was then known as a "junior department store", designed to be considerably bigger and more upscale than their dime stores. I'd guess that they were shooting for the same demo than Target goes after now. There were only a couple of them ever built, and it's really hard to find any information about them.

I do remember it had this reallly great early 1960s interior, with sort of odd pastel colors, oval-shaped department signs, and lattice-work separating things like the snack bar, etc. I bought a big pile of eight-tracks for about a dollar at their going out of business sale in the early 1980s, which I dubbed to cassette.

Pardon the grainy photo. It's assembled from some very overexposed Super 8 film I shot when I was about 12 years old:

paulrose.jpg

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I think Brendles was a jewelry store, although I never went inside one I remember seeing them around.

I never saw the Blowing Rock Roses but I know that there was a Boone store until 2000ish, and I went in the Lenoir Roses around 1999, although not sure if that store is still around.

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Actually, that building is still there, although it's well-camoflauged.

The particular store was not a classic Rose's, but a strange bird called "Paul Rose", which opened in the early to mid 1960s. It was Rose's attempt at what was then known as a "junior department store", designed to be considerably bigger and more upscale than their dime stores. I'd guess that they were shooting for the same demo than Target goes after now. There were only a couple of them ever built, and it's really hard to find any information about them.

I do remember it had this reallly great early 1960s interior, with sort of odd pastel colors, oval-shaped department signs, and lattice-work separating things like the snack bar, etc. I bought a big pile of eight-tracks for about a dollar at their going out of business sale in the early 1980s, which I dubbed to cassette.

Pardon the grainy photo. It's assembled from some very overexposed Super 8 film I shot when I was about 12 years old:

paulrose.jpg

That's awesome. I was too young to remember Paul Rose, though I knew it was there at some point.
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When did the Best chain go under? My mom used to take me to the one in Durham occasionally, although she thought it was kind of expensive. That location closed my freshman year in HS, I think late '95. The building is still there, vacant, and on the door is still a sign with their store hours, it still says "Best" on it but the hours have been taken off.

I think Duke uses the building for parking but it's still for sale or lease....

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I think Brendles was a jewelry store, although I never went inside one I remember seeing them around.

I never saw the Blowing Rock Roses but I know that there was a Boone store until 2000ish, and I went in the Lenoir Roses around 1999, although not sure if that store is still around.

It was a catalog showroom like Best Products or Service Merchandise featuring jewelry, electronics, and some sporting goods, among other things.

Thanks for bringing up Brendles...I had forgotten about those stores!

I remember their Boone store vaguely. It closed down in '95...I guess the whole chain went out at that time? The building was converted to an office complex.

Like said, the Boone Roses closed around 2000 when Wal-Mart opened. In 2004 Big Lots moved into it's former location.

The Spruce Pine, NC Roses closed a few years ago as well, also after a Wal Mart opened in the area.

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