G. E. M. Membership Department Stores

G. E. M. Membership Department Stores was a chain of discount stores in the United States and Canada. The chain extended membership to direct and indirect government employees;[1] the name was an acronym for "Government Employees Mart."[2]

G.E.M.
TypeDiscount membership store
IndustryRetail
FateClosed
Founded1956
Defunct1973
HeadquartersDetroit, Michigan
Productsclothing, footwear, housewares, sporting goods, hardware, toys, electronics, appliances, cameras, drugs,and auto repair homepage = None

Appliance and electronics departments in G.E.M. stores were operated by Wards Company, which later changed its name to Circuit City.[3]

The stores closed during the discount store shakeout of 1973.

Canadian pharmacist Murray Koffler was an investor in the G.E.M. chain, bringing the first G.E.M. store to Toronto in 1959. He eventually subleased the G.E.M. drug department in several Toronto area stores. Following the G.E.M. discount model, Koffler later opened one of the first "big box" store chains, Shoppers Drug Mart.[2]


References
  1. "Discount Stores of the '60s". Wtv-zone.com. Retrieved 2013-12-27.
  2. Woodward, A. "Company History: Shoppers Drug Mart Corporation". International Directory of Company Histories. The Gale Group, Inc. Retrieved 2008-03-29.
  3. "Circuit City Stores, Inc. Company Timeline". Circuit City Stores, Inc. Archived from the original on 2007-09-28. Retrieved 2008-03-29.
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