First membership discount store?

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I remember a place on Mission (I think) called the Lewis Levy Company. You had to have a membership card to get in. They would look at your card and then buzz you in. Lots of stuff from small appliances to sporting goods and great discounts. All name brand stuff too, not junk. I bought a Garcia Mitchell fishing reel there in 1969 and paid $42.00 for it. That was A LOT then, but it was about $10.00 cheaper than the same model at a local sporting goods store. By the way, I still have it and still use it every season.

-- Don Beppino (DonBeppino@hotmail.com), March 16, 2004

Answers

Don: i remember Lewis Levy ( i think it was Leavy )900 Block of Mission St.

But, there was an earlier membership only shopping center on the 1500 block of Sloat Blvd. Back in the early 60s, a shopping complex called GET ( GOVERNMENT EMPLOYEES TOGETHER ) opened. It consisted of a series of buildings under one ownership that sold clothes, sporting goods, food etc. To shop, someone in your family needed to be employed by either City, State or Federal employer.

Over the years, it has evolved into the present overcrowded mini mall.

-- mike dempsey (mikede1087@aol.com), March 18, 2004.


Yes, GET. That place was something. It's now nothing but a souless strip mall sullying the middle of a nice neighborhood.

-- Don Beppino (DonBeppino@hotmail.com), March 18, 2004.

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