H. L. Green was a

five and dime A variety store (also five and dime (historic), pound shop, or dollar store) is a retail store that sells general merchandise, such as apparel, automotive parts, dry goods, toys, hardware, home furnishings, and a selection of groceries. It us ...

store chain in the United States during the twentieth century named for founder

Harold L. Green Harold Leavenworth Green (May 31, 1892 – April 13, 1951) was the chairman and founder of the H.L. Green Company five and dime store chain. He founded the chain as a product of mergers in 1932, and at the time of his death it had more than 20 ...

(1892–1951).

History

The chain was formed in 1932. The chain operated 133 retail stores as of 1935, most resulting from the acquisition of Metropolitan Chain Stores, Inc. (of which Harold Green had been president), F. & W. Grand Stores, Isaac Silver and Brothers Company, and F. & W. Grand-Silver Stores, Inc. Harold David Kittinger, who had founded the Kittinger's chain which had merged with

McLellan's William Walker McLellan (1873–April 11, 1960) was born in Glasgow, Scotland. He came to the United States at the end of the nineteenth century and began working at a department store in Newark, New Jersey. He became a manager of the first S. H. K ...

, served as a company executive from 1932 until his death in 1947, at which time he was president of a chain that had grown to 200 stores. It also owned the Schulte-United department store (Canadian unit was sold to Zellers). By 1957, the chain had 227 stores, and was beginning to locate in shopping centers. Green acquired Olen Company, a retailer based in

Mobile, Alabama Mobile ( , ) is a city and the county seat of Mobile County, Alabama, United States. The population within the city limits was 187,041 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, down from 195,111 at the 2010 United States census, 2010 cens ...

. Maurice Olen became President of the combined company, but left after an investigation revealed an asset shortage, leading to an investigation by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, and lawsuits by the company against Olen. Olen was indicted and fined $2,500. It acquired United Stores, which owned a significant share of McCrory Stores and McLellan Stores, in 1959, but sold this in 1960 to B.T.L Corporation (which also owned

Ben Franklin Stores Ben Franklin is a chain of five and dime and arts and crafts stores found primarily in small towns throughout the United States, currently owned by Promotions Unlimited of Mount Pleasant, Wisconsin. They are organized using a franchise system, ...

). In 1961 McCrory Stores merged with H. L. Green, the combined company taking the McCrory name. The same week this was announced, McCrory took over Lerner Stores. H. L. Green sold its Canadian

subsidiary A subsidiary, subsidiary company or daughter company is a company owned or controlled by another company, which is called the parent company or holding company. Two or more subsidiaries that either belong to the same parent company or having a s ...

Metropolitan Stores and some other assets at this time, reducing the number of stores in its system from 366 to 147. H. L. Green was the subject of an important copyright legal case in the 1960s, ''

Shapiro, Bernstein and Co. v. H.L. Green Co. ''Shapiro, Bernstein and Co. v. H.L. Green Co.'', 316 F.2d 304 (2d Cir. 1963), was a landmark case dealing with secondary liability (vicarious liability) for copyright infringement. The law in question was Section 101(e) of the Copyright Act. ...

'', in which a vendor of records in an H. L. Green store sold

bootleg records Bootleg or bootlegging most often refers to: * Bootleg recording, an audio or video recording released unofficially * Rum-running, the illegal business of transporting and trading in alcoholic beverages, hence: ** Moonshine, or illicitly made an ...

. The stores named H. L. Green closed as McCrory's entered

bankruptcy Bankruptcy is a legal process through which people or other entities who cannot repay debts to creditors may seek relief from some or all of their debts. In most jurisdictions, bankruptcy is imposed by a court order, often initiated by the debtor ...

in the late 1990s.

Desegregation

Like many similar stores, it had segregated lunch counters in its stores in the Southern United States and became the subject of protests (including

sit-in A sit-in or sit-down is a form of direct action that involves one or more people occupying an area for a protest, often to promote political, social, or economic change. The protestors gather conspicuously in a space or building, refusing to mo ...

s) in the early 1960s. In the North, individual store managers occasionally took the initiative to break the color line in hiring, as occurred in the early 1950s in Newark, New Jersey.

In Popular Culture

H. L. Green’s store and sign, is prominently shown in the movie ‘

Thunder Force is a series of nonlinear gameplay, free-roaming Shoot 'em up#Scrolling shooters, scrolling shooter type video games developed by the Japanese software company Technosoft and published by Sega. The franchise is recognized for its distinctive gam ...

’, a 2021 film starring Melissa McCarthy and Octavia Spencer. Although the fictional story about two reunited childhood friends, is set in Chicago, IL, the actual location of the H. L. Green’s depicted, is in Atlanta, GA, where most of the movie was filmed. The specific scene is when Lydia (Melissa McCarthy) uses her super strength to pick up and throw a ‘Chicago’ No. 88 bus toward Buckingham Fountain. H. L. Green’s neon sign is clearly visible in vivid green lettering and background.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Green, H.L. Retail companies established in 1932 Companies that filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 1992 Companies that have filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy Defunct retail companies of the United States Five and dimes McCrory Stores 1932 establishments in Georgia (U.S. state) 1990s disestablishments in Pennsylvania