Tuesday, September 19, 1933

Walked home with Rose Kurs. Stopped at the dime store. Daddy and Mother and I drove down and got some chicken feed.

Kresge's Dime Store

More than one hundred years ago, Sebastian Spering Kresge opened a modest
five-and-dime store in downtown Detroit...and changed the entire landscape of retailing.
He sold everything for 5 and 10 cents. The low prices appealed to shoppers and
allowed him to expand to 85 stores in 1912, with annual sales of more than $10 million.

The Kresge's Dime Store where Ruth and her friends shopped was located at 31st and
Troost. (I'm still looking for a picture of that store.) There were other Kansas City
Kresge's stores as well, including one downtown on 12th Street. Kresge's had lunch
counters that served tuna salad or egg salad or ham and cheese sandwiches, as
well as apple dumplings covered with a delicious vanilla sauce.

In 1937, Kresge opened a store in the country's first suburban shopping center
--  the Country Club Plaza in Kansas City, Missouri.