It employed 102 people in 1970 and continued to grow. The company came to Rogers to manufacture cardboard boxes for Daisy BB guns and others. In 1970, the Continental Can Company had just completed a major expansion on Dyke Road. This number expanded to 1,200 people before it closed in January 2000. made valves and water meters and employed 200 people in 1970. Emerson Electric on North 13th Street employed as many as 900 people until it closed in 2001. Where did people get the money to buy new automobiles, homes and food? New industries were moving to Rogers with good-paying jobs. and moved the restaurant there, where it still thrives today. The owners at that time, Jim and Lucille Bronson, bought the building at 117 W. The popular restaurant had a dramatic change in 1978, when the First National Bank expanded, taking over almost the entire block between Second and Third streets. Walnut in 1955, and it still is the oldest eating establishment in Rogers. Harry Wesner built the first Wesner's Grill at 221 W. Another restaurant that survived was Wesner's Grill. Today the only drive-in from that era is the Susie Q, which is still serving the same delicious food. Downtown was the Hi-D-HO Drive-In on Walnut at Sixth Street, and the famous Susie Q was on North Second Street. A&W Root Beer was on Poplar just south of the Walnut Plaza Shopping Center. The Ness Dairy House, Dog n' Suds and Uncle Bob's Fried Chicken were along U.S.
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The Besi-Dream at Eighth and Walnut streets was a favorite hangout. Teenagers drove around it multiple times if they had any kind of wheels, checking out who was there. 71 in front of the Southgate Shopping Center was a popular place. With the increase in population and automobiles, where did folks eat and hang out in the 1970s? Drive-in restaurants were popping up all over Rogers. By 1974, it was the Sparks/Summers Chevy-Olds dealership. In 1973, Sparks moved from the original McNeil Chevrolet building built in 1930 at 119 S.
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(Now the restored 1947 auto dealership is the new Rogers Historical Museum.) The last auto dealership to move out to U.S. on Jto the intersection of New Hope Road and U.S. Randall-Sanders Ford moved from the original 1947 Hailey Ford Building at 313 S. One of the early popular disc jockeys was Smoky Dacus, who retired in 1975.Īuto dealers started moving from downtown in the 1960s. Don Thompson and famous steel guitar player Leon McAuliffe. The first radio station in Rogers was started in 1954 by G. It is my understanding that Campbell-Bell Department Store was already there and became part of the mall.įurther out West Walnut, KAMO Radio, "The Voice of Beaver Lake," broadcast popular music and entertainment. Other prominent businesses in the Plaza were the Malco Twin Theater, Wilson's Department Store, Rice Jewelry, Walsh's Clothes, Fun City and more.Ībout 1979, Rogers' first covered mall, Dixieland Mall, opened at the corner of Walnut Street and Dixieland Road. When Walmart moved, "Big Jim" Croxdale and Jimmy Rieff moved their IGA Thriftway Grocery with them to the Plaza Center. The police held up traffic while they wheeled the goods across Walnut to the new store. According to Manager Clarence Leis, the employees moved the entire store in shopping carts. In 1973, Walmart expanded again and moved across the street to the new Plaza Shopping Center. The Walnut Plaza opened in the early 1970s at the southwest corner of Walnut and Eighth streets. By 1974, Gibson's was gone, and the store was occupied by Howard's Discount Center. Gibson's was a huge 35,000-square-foot discount store and had a fierce rivalry with Walmart. Cash Village Shopping Center included Foodtown Grocery, Cash Village Barber Shop, Dean's Men's Wear and Gibson's Discount Center. The next shopping center opened just two years later at Eighth and Poplar. Variety Store, Piggly Wiggly Grocery, OTASCO, Bowlin Furniture Mart, IGA Thriftway South, Dollar Saver and others. Southgate Center opened in 1966 and included S.H. The first shopping center in Rogers was Southgate on Eighth Street. 71 (Eighth Street) and West Walnut Street. New shopping centers, motels and restaurants were popping up along U.S.
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and was expanding like mad in the 1970s under the management of Clarence Leis. The flight in Rogers was advanced when the first Walmart in the world opened as an experiment in 1962 at 719 W. With the explosion of automobiles, businesses were moving away from the crowded downtown into shopping centers with plenty of parking and easy access. However, like the rest of the nation, it was changing dramatically. Rogers increased in size during the 1960s and 1970s with the coming of Beaver Lake and Daisy Manufacturing.