Anyone else here remember "Two Guys" department stores...did you have one in your area? There was one in West Atlantic City, another in Vineland...my mom shopped at the West Atlantic City one, which had a department store and a supermarket, something like a Wal-Mart Supercenter or Super K-Mart...not sure what the Vineland Two Guys was like.

There was a Two Guys where I grew up in New York ( on Long Island).

When they went out of business, my Dad went to the Toy Department and bought every piece of slot car track they had left in stock for little to nothing.

The original Two Guys name was "Two Guys of Harrison", their department store was in Harrison NJ in the old RCA factory complex. It in a old factory building and looked more like Costco's or BJ's only with less of a store look. You bought stuff right out of an open crate box or clothes off a rope strung between two building posts. Two Guys of Harrison opened on Sundays back in the 50's when it was against the Blue Laws to sell clothing and other stuff, this defiance is what made them popular and successful with the public, they came by the thousands to shop on Sundays for bargins out of a box and where fined big every Sunday until they were forced to close but made millions for their gimmic but sold out to some big retail company and changed it's name to only Two Guys and became the stores you have known. They always fought the Blue Laws in NJ and finally won their case in the late 1970's and the NJ courts ruled down the Blue Laws and Two Guys got to sell clothing on Sunday's and shortly after went out of business..."?", why because every retail store in Jersey openned up for business on Sunday and they couldn't compete with all the Malls...

I miss them for their sports and record department, I still have albums with Two Guys price stickers on them.

HW 

You bet I remember it. I used to go with my mom to the one in Woodbridge- we lived in south Staten Island and in the 70s it was the closest department-type store to our house.  I didn't know other stores existed here - we went to jersey for everything in Perth Amboy, Woodbridge, and Elizabeth.

There was a Two Guys On Route 38 in Cherry Hill.In the late 70's
they were bought out, along with Korvettes on the Black Horse pike
in Audubon, by Montgomery Ward which later became Bradlees.The
Cherry Hill store is now a Wal-mart.The Audubon Shopping  Center was
leveled and a brand new Wal-Mart was built.

Anyone else here remember "Two Guys" department stores...did you have one in your area? There was one in West Atlantic City, another in Vineland...my mom shopped at the West Atlantic City one, which had a department store and a supermarket, something like a Wal-Mart Supercenter or Super K-Mart...not sure what the Vineland Two Guys was like.


yes, Two Guys of Commerce, CA. When it went belly-up, in the late 70's, Target moved in.

Two Guys was owned in some areas by Vornado Corporation...

My mom worked at The Two Guys in Ledgewood, NJ on Rt. 10 in Ledgewood.  When Two Guys went out of business, it became Jamesway and I worked there.  Now they are both long gone, but never from our memory......  ;D  Does anyone remember Finast Stores?

You bet I remember it. I used to go with my mom to the one in Woodbridge- we lived in south Staten Island and in the 70s it was the closest department-type store to our house.  I didn't know other stores existed here - we went to jersey for everything in Perth Amboy, Woodbridge, and Elizabeth.


I'll never forget those trips.  We'd go to Two Guys -- mom would do her grocery shopping and we were allowed to hang in the record department, or over by the games -- they had Skee Ball and I don't know what else...and a little diner area.  I loved going there.  Happy memories.  :)

I remember the Two Guys department store in Rt. 22 in Union, NJ when I lived in Hillside. I used to walk there (took me 45 minutes). I remember the cavernous building and the well-stocked supermarket. I also remember the pharmacy clerks who were always a bit bleary-eyed, insisting that "You'll have top come back in an hour" (Personally, I think they were experimenting with something in the back room).
At the opposide side of the parking lot was a seperate building that sold both hardware and gardening supplies.
I remember the huge cardboard sheeting they would erect to block off the clothing department when the Sunday "blue laws" were still in effect. I remember it was Two Guys that championed the repeal of those laws in NJ.

When the Vornado comapny (the corporate owners) shut down the stores, the Union, NJ building was bought out by Bradlees, which went under a few years later. The secondary building became a Cost Cutters.

I remember the Two Guys department store in Rt. 22 in Union, NJ when I lived in Hillside. I used to walk there (took me 45 minutes). I remember the cavernous building and the well-stocked supermarket. I also remember the pharmacy clerks who were always a bit bleary-eyed, insisting that "You'll have top come back in an hour" (Personally, I think they were experimenting with something in the back room).
At the opposide side of the parking lot was a seperate building that sold both hardware and gardening supplies.
I remember the huge cardboard sheeting they would erect to block off the clothing department when the Sunday "blue laws" were still in effect. I remember it was Two Guys that championed the repeal of those laws in NJ.

When the Vornado comapny (the corporate owners) shut down the stores, the Union, NJ building was bought out by Bradlees, which went under a few years later. The secondary building became a Cost Cutters.


Nice bit of remembering there, Unidyne.  I don't remember the cardboard sheeting but then, perhaps we didn't go there on Sundays.  I think I can picture the hardware and gardening supplies building though.  Either that or I'm just going along with the picture you've painted  ;)

I remember getting candy or a slurpee or something with my Grandmother at the snack bar.

I'm sure that was sanitary.

(Con: do you remember that Roger met Leonard Nimoy at Korvettes on Richmond Ave?  about 15 years later Brendan met Mr. T there...).

I remember getting candy or a slurpee or something with my Grandmother at the snack bar.

I'm sure that was sanitary.

(Con: do you remember that Roger met Leonard Nimoy at Korvettes on Richmond Ave?  about 15 years later Brendan met Mr. T there...).


Wow.  Now that you say it, sure, that does ring a bell.  Korvettes was good store.  And McRory's.  Brendan met Mr. T there?  What a weird thing.

I remember the Two Guys department store in Rt. 22 in Union, NJ when I lived in Hillside. I used to walk there (took me 45 minutes). I remember the cavernous building and the well-stocked supermarket. I also remember the pharmacy clerks who were always a bit bleary-eyed, insisting that "You'll have top come back in an hour" (Personally, I think they were experimenting with something in the back room).
At the opposide side of the parking lot was a seperate building that sold both hardware and gardening supplies.
I remember the huge cardboard sheeting they would erect to block off the clothing department when the Sunday "blue laws" were still in effect. I remember it was Two Guys that championed the repeal of those laws in NJ.

When the Vornado comapny (the corporate owners) shut down the stores, the Union, NJ building was bought out by Bradlees, which went under a few years later. The secondary building became a Cost Cutters.

Hi Unidyne, I see we're neighbors, or were at one time. You remember a lot about Two Guy's in Union and re-kindled a few of my memories, here's one that stands out "The Fonzie" from Happy Day's made a personal appearance one Sunday morning and about 5, 000 fans showed up to see the Fonz, after and hour of waiting he showed up on top of their front door canopy roof as Henry Winkler, he was not in his tv costume leather coat but in regular clothing. He stood on the roof top about 25 feet above the crowd and waved for about 5 minutes to the screaming fans and then split. Hundreds the younger girls were still waiting for the Fonz to to show up and didn't know it was him they were looking at on top of that roof...they were confused and very disappointed when they realized it was the Fonz and not some old man in a top coat waving on the roof...Yeah! I say that he "Jumped the Shark" with those fans. 

Another disappointing celebrity day at Two Guy's in Union was when they made a big deal that the Star Wars cast was going to be there, I tried to soften the reality of that happening to my sons who thought they were going to see the real Princess Leila and Darth Vader from the movie and I had to ease that disappointment before we got there. I was right, there was a about 5,000 fans that showed up to see some bad costumed actors playing the parts...what a rip off but that's sho' biz! 

Thank's for the memories! HW

I grew up in Edison, NJ and remember the Two Guys in Woodbridge NJ (Route 9 and Pfeiffer Blvd. on  the Woodbridge/Perth Amboy border). That store closed in the early 80's, became a Bradlees and strip mall, and when Bradlees went under, the remaining section of the mallhung on for a couple years before it was completely demolished in 2004. From the ashes, taaa daaa a Wal Mart rose. I remember the Two Guys on Route 18 in East Brunswick NJ. Can still remember the nice old lady in the fron of the store at her hot dog cart and the fabulous orange drink machine next to her. I remember about the year or so before it closed, every Saturday the store would have Rubik's cube contests....you were handed an unsolved Rubik's cube and had to solve it before everyone else you competed against did. I remember people whirling the cube around in every direction and hearing the crunching noise it made as you changed the position of the tiles. Always someone managed to get it in under 3 minutes.....around back they had the gardening center that was surrounded by chain link fence....Well after that Two Guys closed, it was vacant for about 3-4 years until Bradlees took over, and they were one of the first Bradlees to close in 2000. Now the mall is a Kohl's and Circuit City, and the forever ubiquitous Lowe's was built smack in the middle of the parking lot.

I grew up in Edison, NJ and remember the Two Guys in Woodbridge NJ (Route 9 and Pfeiffer Blvd. on  the Woodbridge/Perth Amboy border). That store closed in the early 80's, became a Bradlees and strip mall, and when Bradlees went under, the remaining section of the mallhung on for a couple years before it was completely demolished in 2004. From the ashes, taaa daaa a Wal Mart rose. I remember the Two Guys on Route 18 in East Brunswick NJ. Can still remember the nice old lady in the fron of the store at her hot dog cart and the fabulous orange drink machine next to her. I remember about the year or so before it closed, every Saturday the store would have Rubik's cube contests....you were handed an unsolved Rubik's cube and had to solve it before everyone else you competed against did. I remember people whirling the cube around in every direction and hearing the crunching noise it made as you changed the position of the tiles. Always someone managed to get it in under 3 minutes.....around back they had the gardening center that was surrounded by chain link fence....Well after that Two Guys closed, it was vacant for about 3-4 years until Bradlees took over, and they were one of the first Bradlees to close in 2000. Now the mall is a Kohl's and Circuit City, and the forever ubiquitous Lowe's was built smack in the middle of the parking lot.


Tyler77, Lowes just opened a store in Union a few of weeks ago in the vancant Bradlees/ Two Guys store also. They totally demolished the old building and rebuilt to look like all their other Lowes stores. It's kicking the crap out of Home Depot too.

HW

We had one in North Bergen....15th Street and Kennedy Boulevard.  Last time I remember going there was around 1982.  I think there's a supermarket there now.

We used to shop at the Two Guys on Route 440 in Jersey City. When we got older we'd actually walk there and back. It would take us ove an hour each way but we had nothing else to do. Anyone else remember shopping for school clothes at Robert Hall's or for shoes at Tom Mc Ann (SP) stores. I absolutely hated buying clothes in those stores.

We used to shop at the Two Guys on Route 440 in Jersey City. When we got older we'd actually walk there and back. It would take us ove an hour each way but we had nothing else to do. Anyone else remember shopping for school clothes at Robert Hall's or for shoes at Tom Mc Ann (SP) stores. I absolutely hated buying clothes in those stores.

Never went to Robert Hall's but there was a Thom McAns also on Kennedy Boulevard in North Bergen that I remember going to way back when.   ::)

I remember "Two Guys".  It went out of business so they put in the Jamesway, that's now gone.  The K-Mart up the road has out lived them both.

The Two Guys my aunt used to take me two in the 70's was in Jersey City on Route 440. It was shaped like an L and has the supermarket and a little store across that had a liquor store and a car part shop.

THe problem with this store was a lot of shoplifting. The store was not kept up and I remember when they shut off the supermarket then the store died (late 70's or early 80's.)

The Two guys became a Bradlees with a Chinese restaurant buffet place and the supermarket became a Shop Rite. They all died by 2002.

The Two Guys building I t hink was built in 1968 and leveled abotu two years ago to become a Lowes. Part of the original building remains and is a PC Richard's appliance store (do folks remember Brick Church or Crazy Eddie's from the 70's.)

Further down the strip is the Hudson Mall which I rarely see more than 10 people in. IT is mostly occupied but could be a candidate for a dead mall someday. There is a cool site (maybe mentioned here ... I'm a first time poster sorry) called http://www.deadmalls.com Lots of cool facts about malls that have come and gone. If you are a Jerzee person you could be a mall rat and remember some of the dead and dying malls.

Down Route 440 in Jersey City was the little Robert Hall. I HATED going to that store for clothes. It was in front of a Great Eastern Department store with supermarket (remember it became Valley Fair.) I think the store was on a toxic waste dump. They are cleaning it up and I heard they are putting housing on it.

Further down Route 440 still was the old Pathmark which moved to the bigger location with KMart and the old Pathmark was a Rickels (another departed chain) which is now National Wholesale Liquidators.

I LOVE HISTORY esp. departed store and mall HISTORY.

Sorry for the long post.

The Two Guys my aunt used to take me two in the 70's was in Jersey City on Route 440. It was shaped like an L and has the supermarket and a little store across that had a liquor store and a car part shop.

THe problem with this store was a lot of shoplifting. The store was not kept up and I remember when they shut off the supermarket then the store died (late 70's or early 80's.)

The Two guys became a Bradlees with a Chinese restaurant buffet place and the supermarket became a Shop Rite. They all died by 2002.

The Two Guys building I t hink was built in 1968 and leveled abotu two years ago to become a Lowes. Part of the original building remains and is a PC Richard's appliance store (do folks remember Brick Church or Crazy Eddie's from the 70's.)

Further down the strip is the Hudson Mall which I rarely see more than 10 people in. IT is mostly occupied but could be a candidate for a dead mall someday. There is a cool site (maybe mentioned here ... I'm a first time poster sorry) called http://www.deadmalls.com Lots of cool facts about malls that have come and gone. If you are a Jerzee person you could be a mall rat and remember some of the dead and dying malls.

Down Route 440 in Jersey City was the little Robert Hall. I HATED going to that store for clothes. It was in front of a Great Eastern Department store with supermarket (remember it became Valley Fair.) I think the store was on a toxic waste dump. They are cleaning it up and I heard they are putting housing on it.

Further down Route 440 still was the old Pathmark which moved to the bigger location with KMart and the old Pathmark was a Rickels (another departed chain) which is now National Wholesale Liquidators.

I LOVE HISTORY esp. departed store and mall HISTORY.

Sorry for the long post.


Hey Catman', I know exactly where all these places are or used to be that you're writting about. In 1976, I was the assistant manager at Rogers Clothes for men for located in the Hudson Mall. I think it was the 2 Guys store next door separated from the Hudson Mall by only a 25 foot driveway between them. In the mid 70's things were starting to go down hill for the all those stripe malls on Rt. 440. Rogers was the end store on the mall next to the 2 Guys building and I remember that the mall magement told us that they were going to buy the 2 Guys property and connect the two buildings giving Hudson Mall an anchor store and needed our store space to make the connection work. It fell through due to legal stuff, but it would been interesting if they did it.

Rt. 440 was always conjested with traffic and when the bridge went up for a boat to pass about 3 times a day, it was a stand still for a half hour. What spooked me out the most was the old navy ships docked in the river right across from the store's parking lot ready to be scraped, they looked haunted and ghost like and would make creeking sounds, I didn't like it, but it came with the territory, I think they're gone from that area now.

I have many memories of Two Guys; it was a big part of my childhood.

I grew up in Westfield, so the Watchung Two Guys was out store. In Watchung, there was the main store on top of the hill, and then the auto center at the bottom of the hill. I remember when I was really young, I'm very foggy here, but I think I remember (guessing 1965,66) my parents buying a magnavox console TV stereo in the lower building, so maybe at one time it was something else...or maybe my memory is just shot.

The store.....I have to say Wal-Mart is big, Kmart is big, but it seemed like Two Guys had EVERYTHING. It seemed like if you wanted something, there was an entire selection to choose from, not just a few items...The pet department was huge, (pets, fish, supplies, cages), lighting department was huge...TV’s, appliances, etc, etc....And toys, well, just heaven. I remember (and a lot of this has to do with the time) buying Aurora HO cars...There would always be a 'MAN' at the counter to help with all the stuff in the glass cases. HO cars, not 4 or 5, an entire glass case of cars, trucks, and every accessory you could think of. Hop-up kits, wheelie kits, tires, gears, you name it, it was there....track, you could add on forever with all the track and accessories.

Back then you didn't just buy a toy, there were always accessories and/or supplies available, and they were always in stock right in the store, no mailing for stuff back then. I remember the chemistry sets back then, bottles of chemicals....and there was a whole rack of chemical refills, glassware, etc available. It turned; I can remember it like it is right in front of me. .Trains...you name it....every accessory, buildings, landscaping.

Toys......isles and isles of every toy on the market. and as above, you could buy refills and accessories for almost everything. I remember on my birthday we were allowed to get something that cost up to $10.00, Back then you could get the biggest toy in the store for $10.00. (Thanks mom and dad!!!!).

When I was really young I remember Two Guys had a full blown supermarket in part of the store. In later years it was gone and replaced with house wares, but I remember the checkout counters remained.

I remember going to Two Guys and being able to walk around on my own. The destination would be the snack bar/arcade, pet department, and probably a walk to records and toys. But I didn't have to worry about some maniac stealing me........

When it wasn't winter they always had the tents set up outside......It was always fun to go in them. 

On Sundays, due to the Blue Law, the store was open, but all the clothes were roped off….

The snack bar/arcade area was cool, they had those big drink machines where the liquid seems to flow over the sides….and you could get the normal hot dogs and stuff…and the aracde, I always remember the bowling machines with those brown balls….and there was always a shooting gallery or two, a helicopter machine (no you didn’t sit in it, it was behind glass and you flew it for points)……and there were always the pinball machines…and some ride on rides for the little kids…It seems that it was quite big, but back then it seems most if the big stores had them.

The lobby where you walked in was also quite large….I remember many doors….and may vending machines….I always remember that ice cream bar machine that had three doors, you pushed the button of the ice cream you wanted and it would come up, but I alwass had such a hard time getting it out of that little slot…and then there was the popcorn machine..Ahhhh..just remembered that .10 cent clown marionette (Peppy?) in the arcade, it had four buttons and the music would start playing and you would make the clown dance….back to the lobby….after a while I remember the hot dog cart in there and yum, it was good……

Not so good memory, I had my first car accident there when I was 16 (don’t ask)….

I remembered the store manager for many years and always wondered what happened to him when the store closed, back then people get switched around all the time I guess. When I was working at the Wiz around 1993 this guy walks in and boom….I knew it was him…I asked and it was….That was such a cool flashback.

Well, that is all for now….

I have many memories of Two Guys; it was a big part of my childhood.

I grew up in Westfield, so the Watchung Two Guys was out store. In Watchung, there was the main store on top of the hill, and then the auto center at the bottom of the hill. I remember when I was really young, I'm very foggy here, but I think I remember (guessing 1965,66) my parents buying a magnavox console TV stereo in the lower building, so maybe at one time it was something else...or maybe my memory is just shot.

The store.....I have to say Wal-Mart is big, Kmart is big, but it seemed like Two Guys had EVERYTHING. It seemed like if you wanted something, there was an entire selection to choose from, not just a few items...The pet department was huge, (pets, fish, supplies, cages), lighting department was huge...TV’s, appliances, etc, etc....And toys, well, just heaven. I remember (and a lot of this has to do with the time) buying Aurora HO cars...There would always be a 'MAN' at the counter to help with all the stuff in the glass cases. HO cars, not 4 or 5, an entire glass case of cars, trucks, and every accessory you could think of. Hop-up kits, wheelie kits, tires, gears, you name it, it was there....track, you could add on forever with all the track and accessories.

Back then you didn't just buy a toy, there were always accessories and/or supplies available, and they were always in stock right in the store, no mailing for stuff back then. I remember the chemistry sets back then, bottles of chemicals....and there was a whole rack of chemical refills, glassware, etc available. It turned; I can remember it like it is right in front of me. .Trains...you name it....every accessory, buildings, landscaping.

Toys......isles and isles of every toy on the market. and as above, you could buy refills and accessories for almost everything. I remember on my birthday we were allowed to get something that cost up to $10.00, Back then you could get the biggest toy in the store for $10.00. (Thanks mom and dad!!!!).

When I was really young I remember Two Guys had a full blown supermarket in part of the store. In later years it was gone and replaced with house wares, but I remember the checkout counters remained.

I remember going to Two Guys and being able to walk around on my own. The destination would be the snack bar/arcade, pet department, and probably a walk to records and toys. But I didn't have to worry about some maniac stealing me........

When it wasn't winter they always had the tents set up outside......It was always fun to go in them. 

On Sundays, due to the Blue Law, the store was open, but all the clothes were roped off….

The snack bar/arcade area was cool, they had those big drink machines where the liquid seems to flow over the sides….and you could get the normal hot dogs and stuff…and the aracde, I always remember the bowling machines with those brown balls….and there was always a shooting gallery or two, a helicopter machine (no you didn’t sit in it, it was behind glass and you flew it for points)……and there were always the pinball machines…and some ride on rides for the little kids…It seems that it was quite big, but back then it seems most if the big stores had them.

The lobby where you walked in was also quite large….I remember many doors….and may vending machines….I always remember that ice cream bar machine that had three doors, you pushed the button of the ice cream you wanted and it would come up, but I alwass had such a hard time getting it out of that little slot…and then there was the popcorn machine..Ahhhh..just remembered that .10 cent clown marionette (Peppy?) in the arcade, it had four buttons and the music would start playing and you would make the clown dance….back to the lobby….after a while I remember the hot dog cart in there and yum, it was good……

Not so good memory, I had my first car accident there when I was 16 (don’t ask)….

I remembered the store manager for many years and always wondered what happened to him when the store closed, back then people get switched around all the time I guess. When I was working at the Wiz around 1993 this guy walks in and boom….I knew it was him…I asked and it was….That was such a cool flashback.

Well, that is all for now….



It's exactly as you mentioned, it had everything. I still have a lot of fishing equipment that I bought in the early 70's from 2 Guys in Union and I have record albums with cellofane wrapers with 2 guys price tags still on them in my collection.

I do remember that dancing puppet, I spent many of dollars feeding that puppet keeping them occupied whiled my shopped or just take them to the game room on a boring Sunday afternoon to kill a couple of hours.

I do miss that store for a lot reasons, there isn't anything like it today, maybe Wal-Mart's but I don't go there as a protest on how they treat their employees.

I never went to a Two Guys, but I do know they were in Massachusetts at least until the early '80s.  If I recall right, I used to see their ads on TV in the NYC area while visiting relatives down that way.

I knew they were big...I didn't know the were HUUUUGE!

You could buy guns, photo equipment, anything...and the cool thing back then was the 'man', probably incorrrect but it always seemed to be a man :), who worked all those counters actually knew about what he was selling and could even make a living doing it.

I remember my uncle worked at Korvettes in the photography section for many years, and they had glass case after glass case of stuff....

You could buy guns, photo equipment, anything...and the cool thing back then was the 'man', probably incorrrect but it always seemed to be a man :), who worked all those counters actually knew about what he was selling and could even make a living doing it.

I remember my uncle worked at Korvettes in the photography section for many years, and they had glass case after glass case of stuff....

I'm in favor of gender equality, but the "actually knew about what he was selling and could even make a living doing it" is the true difference between then and now, butweet Two Guys and Wal-Mart. 

Often overlooked about the mom 'n' pops, if you went into Ray's Hardware and you wanted to buy a chainsaw, old Ray could tell you about the different models, how to use them, and which one would best suit your needs.  The 16-year-old goober working the homewares section Wal-Mart don't know jack sh*t!
::)