White Front

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.
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. 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.
Category:Discount stores
Category:Defunct retailers
Category:Defunct department stores
Category:Retailers
Category:Companies
Category:Franchises
Category:Brands