Entrepreneur. He was the founder of the McCrory Five and Ten Cent store chain. After moving with his family to Cumberland County while still a boy, he relocated to Johnstown at age 18 and began working in retail stores. Four years later, at age 22, he opened in Scottdale the first of what would become hundreds of McCrory chain stores. By 1912, McCrory's had grown into a 12-store chain. He was known for being penny-pinching. His stores would come to be considered the second of the great five-and-dime chain stores founded at the end of the nineteenth century, following F.W. Woolworth in 1879 and preceded those of S.S. Kresge in 1899. Kresge had been his partner for a short time early on, and his chain was later renamed Kmart. After nearly 50 years of service, he retired in 1931. Without his management, his original company of 203 stores declared bankruptcy and was dissolved in 1933, thus ending his empire. Eventually, the McCrory name was purchased and the company reorganized, re-establishing the name on signs of 1,300 storefronts and becoming a multi-million-dollar business. These stores became part of a parent conglomerate, which managed Lerner Stores and National Shirt. In 1990 the store was in serious financial trouble and filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, and again in millions of dollars of debt, the store dissolved in 2002. He is interred in the family mausoleum, above whose entrance is inscribed "McCrorey," the original spelling of the family name. Sources state the "E" was allegedly dropped from the original spelling to save cost of store signs.
Entrepreneur. He was the founder of the McCrory Five and Ten Cent store chain. After moving with his family to Cumberland County while still a boy, he relocated to Johnstown at age 18 and began working in retail stores. Four years later, at age 22, he opened in Scottdale the first of what would become hundreds of McCrory chain stores. By 1912, McCrory's had grown into a 12-store chain. He was known for being penny-pinching. His stores would come to be considered the second of the great five-and-dime chain stores founded at the end of the nineteenth century, following F.W. Woolworth in 1879 and preceded those of S.S. Kresge in 1899. Kresge had been his partner for a short time early on, and his chain was later renamed Kmart. After nearly 50 years of service, he retired in 1931. Without his management, his original company of 203 stores declared bankruptcy and was dissolved in 1933, thus ending his empire. Eventually, the McCrory name was purchased and the company reorganized, re-establishing the name on signs of 1,300 storefronts and becoming a multi-million-dollar business. These stores became part of a parent conglomerate, which managed Lerner Stores and National Shirt. In 1990 the store was in serious financial trouble and filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, and again in millions of dollars of debt, the store dissolved in 2002. He is interred in the family mausoleum, above whose entrance is inscribed "McCrorey," the original spelling of the family name. Sources state the "E" was allegedly dropped from the original spelling to save cost of store signs.
Bio by: Albert Ledoux
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