Shop local as we remember 13 Fall River area stores we miss, from Anderson-Little to Zayre

Christmas is almost here, and that means time is running out to catch up on your shopping.

The Christmas shopping season has changed a lot in the past few decades, in these days where online commerce is taking a sizable chunk of the retail market and growing. The days of strolling through a mall decked out in its holiday finery with classic Christmas songs pumping through the store speakers — they seem all but over. It's only natural, in the holiday season where nostalgia reigns, for people to feel nostalgic about their favorite retail shops too.

Let’s do some shopping through history, by visiting 13 of the Greater Fall River stores we miss the most.

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McWhirr’s

For nearly 100 years, the R.A. McWhirr’s department store lorded over South Main Street, where Borden Place West is now. Founded in 1877, it was the city’s largest department store and a staple of downtown shopping, and window-shopping — its storefront windows were decorated for Christmas. The store itself was Fall River's version of Macy's on Fifth Avenue, Marshall Field's in Chicago, or Selfridge's in London. It closed in 1975, but the Fall River Historical Society keeps its spirit alive with its McWhirr’s candy counter, selling classic candies for the holiday season.

Cherry & Webb

Right down the block from McWhirr’s was Cherry & Webb, another longtime department store on South Main Street focusing on apparel, particularly women's apparel, cosmetics, shoes, sportswear. Cherry & Webb was founded in 1888, with the Fall River store opening in 1916. Cherry & Webb operated multiple stores in New England, merging with another company in the mid-20th century to form Cherry, Webb & Touraine. The Fall River store lasted until the 1990s, but the chain liquidated in 2000. The building still stands in downtown Fall River, though it now contains offices.

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E.P. Charlton/Woolworth

A block away from Cherry & Webb, across from the Academy Building, was the E.P. Charlton & Co. five-and-dime store. The store was founded in 1890 and moved to its South Main Street home in 1908, selling odds and ends at cheap prices — much like dollar stores today. Earle Perry Charlton opened several dozen branches all across the country and Canada. In 1912, Charlton consolidated with fellow retail tycoon F.W. Woolworth, and the store in downtown Fall River became a Woolworth — though it kept the E.P. Charlton & Co. sign out front until the store closed in 1970. Another Woolworth in town, on Pleasant Street, closed a bit later. Today, the Woolworth chain doesn’t exist by that name anymore: the company has evolved into Foot Locker. E.P. Charlton's name is still a big deal in Fall River — Charlton Memorial Hospital is named after him.

Kmart

Kmart has a long history worldwide, and in Fall River. The department store started out in 1899 as Kresge, a five-and-dime — and there was a location in downtown Fall River for decades. In more recent years, Kmart became one of the anchor stores at the Harbour Mall in 1976, famous for its diner and “blue light specials” announced over the PA system with “Attention, Kmart shoppers.” With over 2,300 locations in America at its peak, today Kmart’s website lists only 22 U.S. locations left, including one in Guam.

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The Harbour Mall

This shopping mall in at the South End of Fall River was built in 1971, with Grant City and Bradlees as the two anchor stores. At its height, the Harbour Mall boasted a full complement of stores, a movie theater, pizzeria, and a central fountain filled with coins from wishers. But the small, one-level retail center was soon overtaken by larger and more upscale malls nearby like the Swansea Mall, and fell into disfavor. Rebranding it as the New Harbour Mall in the 1990s didn’t help — by the early part of this century the Bradlees was gone, replaced by Walmart, and the rest of the stores inside were mostly empty. It closed in 2016, was torn down and rebuilt as the South Coast Marketplace.

The Swansea Mall

The Swansea Mall, built in 1975, was a sprawling retail hub larger than the Harbour Mall, and with a more upscale design, with more parking, more anchors, and more stores overall. Opening with Sears and Edgar’s as its two anchors, early in the ‘80s it added two more: Caldor and Apex. By the early 1990s, its movie theater was closed down and Jordan Marsh had replaced Edgar’s, but its halls were still filled with clothing shops like Deb, the Gap and Chess King, bookstores, toy shops, a food court and more. But the mall bubble was about to burst. Caldor and Apex closed in 1999, the former replaced by Walmart and the latter never replaced at all. When Sears closed in 2016, the mall limped along with a high vacancy rate and only one anchor, Macy’s, until it shut down in 2019.

Service Merchandise

Not far from the Swansea Mall, Service Merchandise was a catalog showroom retailer specializing in jewelry, electronics, sporting goods, toys and other gift items. Rather than have shelves stocked with items to pick up and take to a cashier, Service Merchandise had one of each item on display with an item number, with print catalogs around the store — customers shopped by filling out a slip with the items they wanted, taking it to a clerk who sent the order to the stockroom. Shoppers would grab their items from a conveyor belt at the pickup area. Today, the Swansea Service Merchandise is a Price-Rite grocery store.

South Main Place

The malls are often blamed for killing the downtown retail shopping experience. In 1982, Fall River tried to bring the mall back downtown with South Main Place. The multi-level mall was built between South Main and Second streets, and featured about 20 shops, like Something Special women's clothing, Music Box and Mullen Bros. Jewelers. But built in the Brutalist architectural style, it was often dark and uninviting inside. It was demolished in 2007, and is now the site of the Fall River Justice Center.

Kerr Mill Bargain Center

A Fall River classic that’s still much-beloved, Kerr Mill Bargain Center was one of the earliest discount stores, a massive shop on the Narrows inside a former textile and thread mill. The store, opened by Selwyn Lemchen in 1955, had nearly anything you could ever want at bargain-basement prices — and a restaurant inside called Kizzie’s Korner. In January 1987, Kerr Mill caught fire, in a blaze so devastating that flames and smoke could be seen for miles around. The building was a total loss. From the Kerr Mill’s ashes arose the UMass Dartmouth Center for Innovation & Entrepreneurship.

Building #19

If you wanted “good stuff cheap,” there was only one place to go: Building #19. The local discount chain was known for its hand-drawn cartoon flyers and goofy sense of humor about the cheapness of its merchandise and the no-frills state of its stores. It had as many as 13 locations, including one in Swansea for many years known as Building #19-1/12, selling rugs, books, office supplies, toys, factory irregular or discontinued items. As one Building #19 ad put it: “If you can’t find what you’re looking for ... you should probably just buy something else!”

Benny’s

Rhode Island retail chain Benny’s started out life as an auto supply store, and over the years kept that reputation — but they added home and garden supplies, sporting goods, home décor, tools and much more. Though the 30-plus retailer is now defunct, it’s still an icon in Rhode Island — and in Fall River, which had a Benny’s on Rhode Island Avenue.

Anderson-Little

Anderson-Little was a pioneer men’s and women’s clothing retailer, with a factory and showroom in Fall River that opened in 1933 selling suits, coats and other formal clothing made right here in town by skilled labor, selling direct to customers. Several more stores followed in New England throughout the second half of the 20th century, and after being acquired by Woolworth grew rapidly, with 260 stores at its peak. But by 1992, Woolworth announced it was closing all but seven of the stores, which were themselves sold off and closed in 1998. Anderson-Little still exists today. Descendants of the founders relaunched as an online-only retailer, selling two items only: a classic blue or black men’s blazer.

Zayre

The Fall River Shopping Center in the South End was anchored for many years by Zayre, a department store chain founded in the mid-1950s in Hyannis. The founders originally began as wholesalers of underwear and hosiery, and Zayre originally had a focus on clothing. As the second half of the 20th century progressed, Zayre began to look more like a department store, with bedding, shoes, furniture, jewelry, toys, electronics and more. In 1988, all 400 Zayre stores were sold off to Ames and rebranded — the new brand offered “bargains by the bagful.” The spot where Zayre once stood is now home to a Burlington store.

What did we miss?

We only highlighted 13 stores here, but there are so many more out there people love, from Virginia Dare to Fanny Farmer to Bradlees. Fill out the form to share your favorites with us!

Dan Medeiros can be reached at dmedeiros@heraldnews.com. Support local journalism by purchasing a digital or print subscription to The Herald News today.

This article originally appeared on The Herald News: 13 Fall River area retail stores we miss this Christmas season