P.M. Place Stores, also known as Place's Discount Stores was a Bethany, Missouri-based, employee-owned chain of
discount store
A discount store or discounter offers a retail format in which products are sold at prices that are in principle lower than an actual or supposed "full retail price". Discounters rely on bulk purchasing and efficient distribution to keep down cost ...
s in the United States. The company primarily operated in towns with a population of 1,500 to 4,000 people in Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, and Missouri.
Origins
P.M. Place Stores was founded in 1910 by Pryor M. Place in Lathrop, Missouri. Place financed his company by selling his horse, saddle, and bridle, and collected his savings to buy goods to stock his shelves.
Store format
Place's stores carried the same departments as larger discount stores except on a smaller scale. Stores ranged from around . to . Their prominent slogan was "The Best of All... Places" which could be heard on a recording that would repeatedly play in their stores amongst music and announcement of the latest sale items.
Expansion
In 1985 the company expanded through the acquisition of
Matco/Mattingly stores, a
Lexington, Missouri
Lexington is a city in and the county seat of Lafayette County, Missouri. The population was 4,726 at the 2010 census. Located in western Missouri, Lexington lies approximately east of Kansas City and is part of the Greater Kansas City Metropol ...
based chain of discount stores.
Place's attempted to grow to 75 stores by the end of 2002 but was bought by ShopKo in 2000 for $22 million with a store count of 49. ShopKo converted these stores into
Pamida
Pamida was a chain of department stores with more than 175 locations in 16 Midwestern and West Central U.S. states. Founded by D.J. Witherspoon and Lee Wegener in 1963, Pamida stores were generally located in smaller, rural communities that range ...
stores.
At the time of assimilation into Pamida, Place's president and CEO was Charles M. Place. Charles Patterson "Pat" Place had previously been in charge of the company.
In an effort to streamline Pamida's distribution operations, the Bethany cross-dock facility, formerly the Place's warehouse, was closed in early 2002.
See also
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References
Defunct discount stores of the United States
Defunct companies based in Missouri
Companies based in Missouri
American companies established in 1910
Retail companies established in 1910
Retail companies disestablished in 2000
1910 establishments in Missouri
2000 disestablishments in Missouri
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