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Western Auto
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We had one of their TVs in early 1960's ... 3 channel B&W.
1958 Western Auto television advertisement -
It's being willing. I found out early that most men, regardless of cause or need, aren't willing. They blink an eye or draw a breath before they pull the trigger. I won't. ~ J.B. Books
Comments
There used to be a Western Auto store in nearly every good sized town in north MO.
I worked my way through college changing tires and assembling bicycles at a Western Auto store in Belleville, Illinois from 1965 to 1969. Pay then was $1.65/hour and my tuition at St Louis University was $800 a semester. I worked evenings and Saturday.
The store burned down a year or three after I graduated and left Illinois forever.
PA & NJ too.
$99 was a lot of money back in the '60's. As kids, we bought model cars and airplanes at Western Auto. Also, model paint, glue, and .22 rimfire ammo.
Western Autos arouind here years ago, sold guns and ammo.
We had one of the Truetone hi-fi and a membership to the Columbia record club.
My first deer rifle came from Western Auto
Well, that's sounding pretty suspicious, if'n you ask me.
And fiery auto crashes
Some will die in hot pursuit
While sifting through my ashes
Some will fall in love with life
And drink it from a fountain
That is pouring like an avalanche
Coming down the mountain
They got into auto repair
Actually, it was the furniture store next door that caught fire first and then spread to the Western Auto. I was a few thousand miles away at the time, I think.
The perfect crime.
And fiery auto crashes
Some will die in hot pursuit
While sifting through my ashes
Some will fall in love with life
And drink it from a fountain
That is pouring like an avalanche
Coming down the mountain
Western Auto was one of my favorite stores. Bikes of all kinds, ammo, guns, fishing stuff was just great. in a town of 700 we had one and it stayed open for decades.
My first bike and fishing rod were purchased at WA. 🙂
they sold enough guns to have their own brand, Revelation if i remember correctly.
as a young kid the town had a western auto ( Hottle's owned the franchise) and a self owned place very similar called Moors sp ( Peg was his first name)
most our Christmas toys came from Moores as they did layaways and dad ( the great haggler ) would always negotiate a few dollars off he did the same at WA as mine and my sister bike were a package deal LOL along with a lot of fishing and assorted items
WA also had a upstairs "toy " room where all my slot cars and parts came from
some years later I got my 1st job at a small grocery store chain and WA moved into a new building next to it at the edge of town . I bought my first gun there and many a model car and various other things I got to know the family they were just good people no other way to say it . they helped me track down hard to find car parts to name one big favor they even got me drunk my first time at a new years party LOL serving mixed drinks and kept adding more booze until I said that's good 😁 I was 16
there sons who were older by a few years than I was , confessed to using the big race track up stairs at the old place to paly on with friends and family after hours with all the new cars to find the fastest ones for them self ( that explained why a lot of the cars I bought looked well used 😮
some years later I worked with the youngest son at Honda and talked about the old days his older brother Kurt passed unexpected but his parents lived to be older and seemed to have a decent life before passing
I am sure the youngest son "Greg" is retired many years now also
lot of great memories of the old store and wooden floors and upstair toy land sad thoes days are gone and many will never get to experience the one on one relation ship the owners formed with the people times like that
including Moores he was a old guy when I was a kid and by the time I got older thay had closed up but the store will always be part of me also ( there toy room was down stairs and during Christmas just about the entire basement was packed full as a kid it was a true wonder / wish land ther were several other varity stores in town also I miss the creaking wood floors the smells and sounds and the amazing air conditioning they had in the summer we never had air conditioning at home
thanks for kindling old memories my mind took me right back to being a wide eyed kid wondering thru the stores
I
They were a good chain of stores.
I, like many of you have fond memories of W.A. Mostly went in and asked questions and took up the salespersons time, but I learned a lot!!
Was in a W.A. about a month ago. Now it is just another auto parts store. Oh well, nothing and nobody lasts forever.
Just a thought. I wonder how many of Western Auto's current employees would be horrified to learn W.A. once sold guns and ammo?? Not to mention fishing gear, models, bikes, TV's and a whole lot of things I don't remember!!
The Western Autos in our area starting disappearing shortly after Sears bought them
Thinking back on it, in the early '60s there were a lot of stores that sold guns and nobody thought too much about it. In a town of 7500 about 40 miles away they sold them at Western Auto, Sears, Montgomery Wards, Coast-to Coast, Gambles, Firestone and at several hardware stores, farm stores and lumber yards. Even a gas station/ store named Holiday had their own brand of ammo, made by Federal or maybe Dominion, I forget which. There were guns everywhere, and very little gun crime, as they call it now. Even my hometown of 300 people had three stores which sold guns. Now you never see guns except in gun stores.
Local western auto was my go to store for guns and ammo and tires and such in the early 70s .
Yep, I have a Revelation lever action 30-30.
I remember our local WA owner was a whizz at putting new spokes in my bicycle wheels and truing up the rims to get the wobble out, it seems I was hell on bicycle wheels for some strange reason, they spent more time airborne than on the ground 😊. I don't have a bike anymore but I do miss'em...(WA) ☹️
"Never do wrong to make a friend----or to keep one".....Robert E. Lee
My Daisy 25 and a ton of bicycle parts came from Western Auto in Louisa, Virginia in the 50's.----------------Ray
By 2006 the Western Auto brand was officially dead, though a few dealer-owned stores around the country still use the name. The Western Auto headquarters building in Kansas City, Missouri, is now condominiums.
Nowdays, they would be the first place hit by flash mobs and looters, if the were still around. My sister-in-law worked at a Coast to Coast in Goldendale, WA. Bought a Ruger Mk I there. With her employee discount I think I paid about $80.
Was Western Auto where you bought Wizard brand tools?
There was a Western Auto store in the little town where I grew up. I remember buying a set of "Ram Horn" handlebars for my stingray bike when I was about 9... My folks bought a Bear recurve bow for my 13th birthday there. Used to buy .22, 12ga and arrows there growing up. The ower would always ask if my Dad knew I was buying these and as long as I said yes, no problem.....
Then Illinois instituted the FOID card and the ability to buy ammo went away for me, until I got my first card...
Great memories...
I don't think I had ever heard of Western Auto before this thread. We had Coast to Coast and Earnst.
And fiery auto crashes
Some will die in hot pursuit
While sifting through my ashes
Some will fall in love with life
And drink it from a fountain
That is pouring like an avalanche
Coming down the mountain
Our town had a big Monkey Wards department store. They sold about everything mentioned above. Our Ace Hardware used to have a very nice selection of guns and ammo too. Not anymore!
I believe there was One in Kalispell we used to go to. I don't recall for sure, it's been a long time.
Here's an interesting article on Western Auto. Was owned by Sears in the late '80s.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Western_Auto
Is that because it was a Chevrolet?
We lost the Western Auto and the Coast to Coast several years ago. The Coast to Coast was also connected to a Ben Franklin's. the community lost some real assets when these stores closed. The Coast to Coast changed to an Ace Hardware before it closed but it still had everything in it. Been there for decades and had most of what you needed, even had a Radio Shack section.
There is a new Ace Hardware now that opened just before Christmas. But it's a new store and doesn't have all the accumulated stuff an old store has around.
I think that was the brand
when I turned 16 I ask for a set of sockets for my BD, I am almost positive the set came from WA
I'm sure I still have a few Wizard tools from Western Auto.
My first job as a designer/draftsman was designing and drawing a Western Auto indoor sign. That was back in 1970. Wow that was over a half century ago.
Sure was a lot better than Dicks Sporting Goods.
Wizard and Revelation were the two "store" brands I remember. There was an in-house tire brand, too, but I don't remember it right now.
Yep, Western Auto and Otasco in Oklahoma.
As a teenager, a hunting/fishing buddy and I hauled hay and picked peas on weekends and when school was out and bought our fishing and hunting eq at Otasco. (western Auto to far away) First fishing eq was Zebco 33 reel, revelation fiberglass fishing rod, abu spinners and lucky 13 top water plugs. We had seen my fishing buddy's grandpa using one of the first Zebco's reels made, model 22 and by the time we had enough money saved to buy a Zebco fishing reel they were the later Model Zebco 33. We were high classed fishermen and lots of fish back then had never seen a Abu spinner or a Lucky 13 plug. When a goggle eye (green sunfish) struck the top water Lucky 13 we would let him run with it and another would try to take it away and catch two at a time. Most other people in our neck of the woods fished with cane poles and bobbers.
Otasco was about 20 miles on way. Only got to go to town with folks on Saturday. (hitch a ride) Saturday was the busy day in town because everyone went to town to get supplies on Saturday. (bread and butter day)
We waded creeks and pond fished. We also took good care of our outdoor eq. We did not come by it easy.
Lots of Bullfrogs and Snakes.
Could talk about our guns, hunting and fishing and show our pocket knives at school to the teachers and others.
No cells phones.
Good old days and did not know such at the time.
So put it mildly, things are sure going South now days.
Seems to me they sure picked the proper name for that store.