J.J. Newberry
In 1911, J.J. Newberry founded J.J. Newberry Department stores in Pennsylvania, and 15 years later a store would open on Main St in North Adams. At the peak of the retail chain there were 475 stores
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Who was J.J. Newberry? J.J. Newberry was a well-known American chain of five and dime stores founded in 1911 by John Josiah Newberry (1877-1954) in Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania. In 1928, the Newberry company took over Britt’s Department Store, a chain founded in the Pacific Northwest in the early 1900s. The Britt’s in Spokane, Washington, was rebranded as J.J. Newberry in 1930, filling the Wolverton building at Wall Street and Riverside Avenue. In 1946, a new Newberry was built and other on the same block completed in 1950. The stores were known for offering a wide variety of inexpensive household goods, toys, and other items, with many stores also featuring lunch counters. Newberry stores were known for their low prices (mostly items priced at nickels and dimes), lunch counters, and sometimes even pet sales and demonstrations of sheet music. The dime stores, whose popularity peaked in the post-World War II period, declined through the 1960s and 1970s as suburban shopping centers and malls proliferated. When J.J. Newberry died in 1954, the chain had 475 stores. In 1940, North Adams’ Main Street bustled with activity. The street contained at least five major department stores and J.J. Newberry was one of the most popular. According to the 1854 North Adams business directory, 75 Main Street originally housed the clothing store of Morris Gatslick. Newberry Company purchased the building in 1920, and J.J. Newberry remained a popular and iconic store on Main Street into the 1990s. J.J. Newberry was a full retail experience. You could get grocery items, clothing, shoes, and lunch at their famous 5 and Dime lunch counter for a bargain! Events like the Sidewalk Bargain Daze would draw a crowd looking for deals. July of 1965 the event drew a crowd of about 1000. Newberry’s featured racks and racks of women’s dresses at reduced prices. The Newberry's in North Adams opened in 1926 and closed in 1993. Business suffered with the opening of Kmart and the Berkshire Mall near Pittsfield. Main Street now has mostly small businesses. You will not get the same one on one service at most of them, and that was one of the real draws to stores like Newberry’s. A store on Main Street could have 100 employees because it was all about customer service. For North Adams’ longtime residents, the city’s busy downtown remains fixed in memory and those images mark the many ways North Adams has changed over time.
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J.J. Newberry.
1940’s Main Street North Adams was a busy place before Urban Renewal. On Main St alone you would find 5 major department stores, 3 hotels, 3 theaters, 4 banks, assorted specialty clothiers, fraternal organizations, and numerous restaurants. | Source: Courtesy of the North Adams Historical Society.
J.J. Newberry.
Inside Newberry's c. 1955 around Christmas. | Source: Courtesy of the North Adams Historical Society.
Newberry's soda fountain.
You could get a lunch from JJ Newberry's lunch counter for only $.25! This included a toasted sandwich, potato chips, pie or cake ala mode, and your choice of tea, coffee, iced tea, buttermilk, or tomato juice to drink. Items could also be purchased ala carte style with a toasted cheese sandwich costing $.10 or a fruit salad with whipped cream for $.15. | Source: 4. “The soda fountain had to go. It’s likely to be a quiet end to the soda fountain, a world away from the days when high powered lawyers fought to keep the lunch counter open…the battle of the lunch counter made it all the way to the supreme court.” (Cohen, Michael, North Adams Transcript)
Advertisement for J.J. Newberry.
Colorful oil cloth for .$55/yd, Rival Whole Clams $.30 for a 10.5oz can, 2 no. 2 cans of beets for $.29, and elbow macaroni or spaghetti, 2lbs for $.25 are some of the prices from the July 1947 newspaper flyer. | Source: Courtesy of North Adams Historical Society.
Lunch at Newberry's.
You could get a lunch from JJ Newberrys lunch counter for only $.25! This included a toasted sandwich, potato chips, pie or cake ala mode, and your choice of tea, coffee, iced tea, buttermilk, or tomato juice to drink. Items could also be purchased ala carte style with a toasted cheese sandwich costing $.10 or a fruit salad with whipped cream for $.15. | Source: Courtesy of the North Adams Historical Society.
Mayor James F. Cleary cuts ribbon at the re-opening of J.J. Newberry Store.
The store, which had been in North Adams since 1926, was closed for one day for last minute improvements including the entire inside being refurbished and air conditioning being installed. | Source: Courtesy of the North Adams Historical Society.