New in the collection: Montgomery Ward employee badge

Pin back badge for Montgomery Ward in Durham

South Square Mall in Durham was opened in August 1975 as a 790,000-square-foot regional shopping mall at a cost of about $25 million.

“The original anchors were Belk-Leggett (later renamed Hudson-Belk) and J.C. Penney.   Montgomery Ward was built as the middle anchor several years after opening — only its second location  in North Carolina.

“Montgomery Ward closed in 1985 as part of a corporate downsizing.  A year later that space would be filled by Ivey’s (later Dillard’s).  South Square closed in 2002 due to competition from the newly-opened Streets at Southpoint mall.”

— From southsquaremall.com

Montgomery Ward closed the last of its stores in 2001. This badge has a pre-’70s look, but I’m not finding evidence of an earlier presence of Montgomery Ward in Durham. 

 

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *