It's funny how certain places from your past stick in your memory.
Recently I have been reminiscing about my time in the northern Texas farming town of Vernon (1974-78) and one of the landmarks that really stands out in my mind is the Gibson's department store that was just off the Highway 287 frontage road. Like the hundreds of retail and five & dime stores of it's day (that's pre Walmart and Target to you young ones) Gibson's carried a little bit of everything from clothes, hardware, household goods and toys.
It's, of course, the toy department that I remember. You have to realize I six to ten years old when I lived in Vernon, so I wasn't really into clothes or dishes. Although my mom did all my school clothes shopping there.
I remember shopping for toys there so fondly. I was really into trains as a youngster (who am I kidding I still am) and Gibson's carried a rather large selection of Tyco model train sets, locomotives, cars and accessories. I can honestly say I still have a lot of those today. I actually plan on getting a nice display case to feature them.
Another big one for me was Star Wars toys and Gibson's was the first store locally to have them. I remember like it was yesterday. The first figure I ever got was the Imperial Stormtrooper. I used to play like it had some sort of jet-pack and could fly around my back yard. Anyway, it was the first of about a gazillion Star Wars items I would plead for my mother to get for me.
Now I just have to plead with my wife to get them.
I happened to travel trough Vernon about ten years ago and I was surprised to find that the building, abandoned some eight years earlier I learned, was still standing along with the iconic giant arrow sign. It was a great thrill for me to see the place, yet I would have given anything for it to still be open so I could go inside and relive a little more childhood.
I was sad to read today that the city of Vernon had demolished the place a couple of years ago. I guess I was just lucky to have seen it that one last time.
Here is some history:
Herbert R. Gibson and his wife, Belva, opened Gibson Products Co., a wholesale novelty company, in 1936 in Abilene, Texas. By the late 1950s, Gibson had decided to refocus on discounting, and he opened the first Gibson's Discount Center in Abilene in 1960. The company grew mostly by franchising the store concept to others. Sam Walton once inquired about obtaining a Gibson's franchise, but nothing came of it. By 1964, there were 138 Gibson's Discount Center stores generating $190 million in revenue; by 1968, there were 434 stores generating $1 billion in sales. The company's headquarters moved to Seagoville, Texas.
In 1972, Gibson transferred ownership of the company to sons Herbert Jr. and Gerald. By 1978, Gibson's had 684 stores across the United States. The company began to go into decline after that, in part because franchisees began to withdraw from the chain; the company's largest franchisee, Pamida Inc., began opening discount stores under its own name. Gibson's was sold in June 1984 to a company headed by Gary Chaffin. Chaffin sold the company in 1992, and it filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 1996. Chaffin repurchased the company in 1999, which by this time was headquartered in Dodge City, Kansas. In November 2002, Gibson's announced it would close the chain's 17 remaining stores.
Two stores continue to operate independently under the Gibson's name, in Kerrville, Texas, and Weatherford, Texas.
It's nice to learn there are still a couple of Gibson's store out there ... I will have to seek those out one day soon!
I could just see the top of that sign from my house when I was a kid in the 60’s-70’s. I rode my bike there more than you can imagine. That was the point where I spent money on 45’s and vinyl records. I was just in Vernon last month and it seems that the Gibson sign and building are gone. There’s a Tractor Supply store there now.
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