# What franchises or chains did you Home Town have **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [August 24, 2022, 3:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-franchises-or-chains-did-you-home-town-have/970231 "2022-08-24T15:22:41Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 5\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2022, 6:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-franchises-or-chains-did-you-home-town-have/970231/41 "2022-08-25T18:38:38Z")
The town I grew up in has a population of around 2300 people. (We actually lived about a mile outside of town.) There were no franchises or chains there when I grew up. They now have one; a Dollar General. ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2022, 6:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-franchises-or-chains-did-you-home-town-have/970231/42 "2022-08-25T18:47:54Z")
- Rexall Drugs - Macleod’s Hardware - Esso - BA Gas (abbreviation for British American Oil; bought out by Gulf) - Royal Bank of Canada - Credit Union - Co-Op ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2022, 7:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-franchises-or-chains-did-you-home-town-have/970231/43 "2022-08-25T19:07:07Z")
> [@Kron](#): > > Ha, my _actual_ town I grew up was 76 people; Belle Fourche was just the closest town with “things” in it We had to drive half an hour to get to a Kmart, which was still using leftover Kresge tags. I remember at least seeing these around there: - McDonald’s – Dad hated them, said they disagreed with his digestive system, so I didn’t get to go to one until we were traveling and didn’t really have a choice. - Burger Chef - Burger King - Dairy Queen – just one location, which happened to be on the main drag in & out of the city. - Montgomery Ward - Sears - Woolworth’s - A&P - [National](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Supermarkets) - IGA - Dunkin Donuts – one of my sisters worked here. - Stuckey’s – Sis also worked here, I think before Dunkin. - Carson Pirie Scott – another of my sisters worked here. - Ponderosa – yet another sister worked here. ---
**Author:** ![Jaycat.again](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jaycat.again/32/11525_2.png) [@Jaycat.again](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jaycat.again)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2022, 9:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-franchises-or-chains-did-you-home-town-have/970231/44 "2022-08-25T21:54:05Z")
I forgot Hot Shoppes, and there was (briefly) Hot Shoppes Jr. (an ill-fated attempt to compete with McDonald’s). I worked at the local Hot Shoppes Jr. until one night when, tripping on LSD, I went in and demanded burgers for me and my friends. ---
**Author:** ![Sauron](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ce7236/32.png) [@Sauron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sauron)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2022, 10:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-franchises-or-chains-did-you-home-town-have/970231/45 "2022-08-25T22:17:18Z")
I was born in 1966, and grew up in a small town in central Alabama (population ~5,000). We had a paper mill nearby, which provided the majority of the industrial jobs, and a small community college. Chains I can remember (although I reserve the right to be wrong and / or update this as more come to mind): - Dairy Queen (was there as far back as I can remember) - Hardee’s (closed in the late 80s, I think) - A&P Grocery (which later became Piggly Wiggly) - Kentucky Fried Chicken (although I think they showed up in the early 80s) - Giant Foods (which might not have been a chain, now that I think about it) - Winn-Dixie (grocery store) - Rexall Drugs (although it wasn’t called that; it marketed itself by the initials of the owners, so it was called “J&J Drugs” or just “J&J”) - Burger King (which showed up at roughly the same time as KFC) - There was a five-and-dime store downtown, but I don’t remember the name of the company that ran it. Everyone just called it “the five-and-ten.” Of those, I think the only ones remaining are the fast-food places. Winn-Dixie might still be there, too. And the number of fast-food places has grown; now there’s a McDonald’s, and a Taco Bell, and a Subway, along with a Domino’s (which has the only “walk-thru” window I’ve ever seen; the building is downtown, and there’s a drive-thru-style window on the side of the building, but it opens onto the sidewalk, so customers have to walk up to get their pizza). [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-franchises-or-chains-did-you-home-town-have/970231.md?page=2)