Not to be confused with the TurnStyle retail arcade at the 59th Street–Columbus Circle station.
 | |
| Company type | discount department store |
|---|---|
| Industry | Retail |
| Founded | 1957; 67 years ago (1957) in Lynn, Massachusetts |
| Founder | Harold Sparks |
| Defunct | 1978; 46 years ago (1978) |
| Fate | stores sold individually to other chains |
| Headquarters | Brighton, Massachusetts, United States |
| Area served | Boston and US Midwest |
| Products | Clothing, footwear, bedding, furniture, jewelry, beauty products, electronics and housewares. |
| Parent | Jewel |
| Website | None |
Turn Style was a chain of discount department stores and was a division of Chicago-based Jewel, the parent company of the Jewel Food Stores supermarket chain. Some mid-western Turn Styles had an Osco Pharmacy, at the time very uncommon for a discount store in the 1960s and 1970s. At its peak, the chain comprised more than fifty stores throughout Chicago, as well as in downstate Illinois, Decatur, Illinois, Moline, Illinois; Davenport, Iowa; Omaha, Nebraska; Boston, Massachusetts; Merrillville, Indiana; Michigan, and Racine, Wisconsin.
History
Turn Style was a Brighton, Massachusetts-based discount department store chain that was founded by Harold Sparks who had open his first store in Lynn, Massachusetts in 1957. This was the first discount department store that had opened in the state of Massachusetts and the second in New England following the opening of Topps which had just opened 7 months earlier in neighboring Connecticut. Other locations were quickly open in Massachusetts in Brighton (1958), Lawrence (1960), and Medford (1961).
Jewel acquired the Turn Style brand in 1961 and began rapidly expanding the chain. Sales for the 1961 year were listed as $14 million (~$109 million in 2023) U.S. dollars with four stores, with headquarters in Brighton, Massachusetts. The first Turn Style Family Center was opened in Racine in March 1962.
At its peak, the chain operated throughout the Midwest, as well as in the Boston, Massachusetts area. Within three years of opening a store in Racine, Wisconsin, profits as measured on a ROI basis were the highest within Jewel Companies. Rapid expansion, the corporate decision to incorporate a catalog type store within its four walls, and an unrealistic divisive venture into the "Hypermarket" business, all caused profits to suffer.
The economy also caused Jewel to rethink its growth strategy and the decision was made to sell Turn Style in order to concentrate its growth within its core businesses, which were food stores and drugstores. In 1978, 19 out of 22 of the existing stores were sold to May Department Stores and converted to the Venture format. Other stores were converted to large Osco Drug Stores, and some were closed entirely.
References
- ^ "Lynn Turnstyle Store Birthday Sale Begins". Daily Boston Globe. April 21, 1958. p. 22. ProQuest 845410285.
The Turnstyle department store, near the Edwards Bridge in Lynn, begins its first anniversary sale today.
- Johnson, David P. "Discount Stores of the '60s (1960s version of Turn Style references)". David P. Johnson's House O' Retro! (blog).
- ^ "Turn Style Opens New Self-Service Branch in Brighton". Daily Boston Globe. August 13, 1958. p. 24. ProQuest 845631933.
Another branch of the Turn Style self-service department store has opened at Brighton. Harold Sparks opened the first Turn Style in Lynn in March 1957.
- "General News: 2D Turn Style Unit Will Open Soon". Women's Wear Daily. Vol. 97, no. 32. August 14, 1958. p. 21. ProQuest 1523388545.
- "1st Birthday Sale By Turnstyle Corp". Daily Boston Globe. August 18, 1959. p. 18. ProQuest 504664561.
A Brighton firm, the Turnstyle Corp, celebrated its first anniversary yesterday with a store-wide sale. Sparks, now president of the corporation...
- "Turnstyle Opens Medford Store". The Boston Globe. November 21, 1961. p. 35. ProQuest 276242891.
Turnstyle open its fourth department store yesterday in Medford. President of the firm is Harold Sparks who opened the first Turnstyle in Lynn in 1957, the second in Brighton in 1958, and the third in Lawrence in 1960.
- "Jewel Tea Co. Set To Buy Turnstyle, Boston Area Chain". Women's Wear Daily. Vol. 103, no. 111. December 7, 1961. p. 6. ProQuest 1523489491.
Jewel Tea Co. Inc., the nation's 10th ranking supermarket chain, has reached an "agreement in principle" to acquire Turnstyle Corp., four self-service department stores in the Boston area. Harold P. Sparks, president of the Boston-area department store group, was elected a vice-president of Jewel Tea Co. Turnstyle would, in effect, become the third arm in Jewel's projected plans for self-service family centers combining supermarket, department store and variety-drug store units under one roof. The eastern firm will assist in the development of such combinations, the first of which is planned for completion next spring in Racine, Wis. In family centers, it will concentrate primarily on soft goods but also carry other products. Osco Drug Inc., a consolidated subsidiary of the Jewel Tea Co., Inc., is another major link in the family center concept as the food chain intensifies its diversification program in self-servicing. Osco will handle a line of general variety goods, including hardware accessories, small appliances, outdoor furnishings, and normal drug merchandise. Turnstyle opened its first store five years ago in Lynn, Mass., and also operates three other self-service department stores in that area.
- Discount Merchandiser magazine, July 1986 issue
- "Jewel Opens Huge New Family Center". Chicago Tribune. March 30, 1962. p. B2. ProQuest 183146487.
The first Turnstyle Family center operated by the Jewel Tea company was opened last Wednesday at 4901 Washington av. in Racine. The 110,000 square foot center, as developed by Jewel, represents a new concept in retailing.
- Lazarus, George (March 8, 1978). "Jewel to sell Turn Styles". Chicago Tribune. p. C7. ProQuest 171614062.
May Department Stores, Inc. and Venture Stores Division have reached an agreement in principle to acquire 19 out of 22 Turn Style department stores from Jewel Companies, Inc., the firms disclosed Tuesday... The transaction is expected to be completed no later than June 1.
- "Venture to acquire 19 stores of Turn Style". WWD. Vol. 136, no. 46. March 8, 1978. p. 54. ProQuest 1627299842.
locations in Michigan, Iowa, Wisconsin, Nebraska, and Illinois.
- "Happenings". Indianapolis Star. June 24, 1977. p. 43. ProQuest 1893196062.
Three Indianapolis Turn Style stores will be converted to Osco Drugstores, John Spurlock, vice-president and chief operating officer of Turn Style announced... Transition is scheduled to be completed in November.
- "Turn-Style Stores To Be Osco Drugs". Indianapolis News. June 23, 1977. p. 43. ProQuest 2498592839.
Three Indianapolis Turn-Style stores will be converted to Osco Drug stores... Stores will remain open during the remodeling, which is scheduled for completion in November. Osco Drug and Turn-Style, along with Eisner, a food store chain adjacent to Osco Drug stores in Indianapolis, are subsidiaries of Jewel Companies Inc.