Gold Circle Opens – March 1971

Mention ‘Gold Circle’ to a newer Lorain County resident, and they’ll probably give you a blank stare. But many of us who grew up in this area in the 60s and 70s remember this discount department store well from the outlet located across from Midway Mall.

It was fifty years ago this month that the Gold Circle there opened. Here’s a small article making the announcement that appeared in the Lorain Journal on March 1, 1971.

As the article notes, it was the eighth store in a chain based in Ohio, with the first one having opened in Columbus in April 1968.

A few days later this advertisement appeared in the Journal on March 7, 1971.

From a graphic design standpoint, the Gold Circle was very bold and modern, not unlike that of today’s Target stores.

The store opening was covered extensively by the Journal, which devoted two pages to the event. The paper even sent Photographer Michael F. Good there, who took some very fun and creative shots of a few of the Gold Circle employees.

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I first wrote about Gold Circle in this post from 2019.

It’s strange to think about regional chain stores like Gold Circle, Fishers Big Wheel, Hills, Ontario, Zayre, etc. as being gone. They paved the way for today’s national giants like Kohl’s or Target.

But they also helped wipe out Downtown stores in cities like Lorain. I guess it's all how you look at it.

Remember Gold Circle?

1969 version of the logo

Remember Gold Circle? Sure you do, especially if you’re a Baby Boomer like me who grew up in this area.

It was a discount department store chain, based in Ohio, with an outlet across from Midway Mall on Midway Boulevard. (Marc’s uses part of the former Gold Circle building.)

Gold Circle was similar to Hills Department Stores, Kmart or Walmart. It was a division of Federated Department Stores.

Here's the Journal article from September 13, 1969 announcing the new store. (The photo is of a store in Columbus.)

Gold Circle was great because, like Walmart today, it had everything you needed – all in one store.  Perfect for lazy shoppers like me.

1975 version of the logo

According to the Gold Circle Wikipedia entry, Federated Department Stores was sold in 1988. The new owner consequently liquidated the Gold Circle stores. A few converted to other store brands, including Kmart or Hill’s.

Today, Walmart and Target continue to serve the shoppers that once patronized Gold Circle. Ironically, Target’s bullseye logo is vaguely reminiscent of Gold Circle.

The Columbus store (shown in the 1969 Journal photo) as it looked in 1989