Treasury Drug

Treasure Island / The Treasury

Company type	Subsidiary
Industry	Retail (discount department stores)
Predecessor	General Merchandise Company
Founded	November 24, 1961 (1961-11-24) in Appleton, Wisconsin, United States
Founder	David Kritzik, Robert Kritzik, Stanley Kritzik (General Merchandise Company)
Defunct	1981 (stores closed), 1982 (chain ceased operations)
Fate	Stores closed due to financial losses; mail order segment continued; Treasury Drug stores sold or rebranded
Successor	None
Headquarters	Milwaukee , United States
Area served	United States (primarily Wisconsin, Georgia, California, Florida, Tennessee)
Key people	Jack F. Behrendt (VP of J.C. Penney's store division)
Products	Discount department store merchandise; groceries and fuel at some locations
Owner	J.C. Penney (majority owner throughout most of existence)

Treasure Island, originally known as The Treasury, was a chain of discount department stores primarily owned by J.C. Penney throughout most of its existence.

Early Years of Treasure Island

The General Merchandise Company (GMC), established in 1938 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin by David Kritzik along with his sons Robert and Stanley, initially operated as a mail-order business. Treasure Island emerged as GMC’s discount store division, featuring expansive retail spaces approximately 200,000 square feet in size and incorporating an innovative conveyor belt system that transported purchased goods directly to customers’ vehicles. The chain’s inaugural store debuted in Appleton, Wisconsin on November 24, 1961.

The distinctive design of these stores was crafted by Milwaukee architect Jordan A. Miller, who implemented a signature zig-zag motif prominently displayed both inside and on the exterior. This architectural element led to the store’s merchandise being popularly described as located "under the squiggly roof" well into the 1970s.

In 1961, J.C. Penney sought to expand into the catalog retail market. After unsuccessful negotiations with Aldens in October of that year, J.C. Penney turned its attention to acquiring General Merchandise Company, then ranked as the fifth-largest catalog retailer in the United States. The acquisition agreement was reached in December 1961 and finalized in February 1962 for $11 million.

By this time, The Treasury operated a modest chain of five stores within Wisconsin. In March 1967, the company announced its first foray outside the state with plans to enter the Atlanta, Georgia market. This expansion culminated in the simultaneous opening of three new locations in Forest Park, Doraville, and Marietta on May 29, 1968. A grand opening event was held on July 31 to celebrate the completion of a grocery department at these sites.

The Treasury

The Treasure Island brand remained in use until 1969, when in mid-May it was revealed that the chain planned to extend its reach into Orange County, California. However, by July of that year, during the announcement of an upcoming expansion into the south Florida region, the new brand name, The Treasury, was introduced. Jack F. Behrendt, who was then serving as vice president of J.C. Penney's store division, explained that this rebranding aimed to refresh the chain’s image and more accurately reflect its character. Notably, locations in the Milwaukee and Atlanta markets retained the Treasure Island name due to its strong local recognition.

Although the name change had been declared earlier, the initial Treasury-branded stores launched on October 29, 1970, in Torrance, Buena Park, and Orange, California. The long-anticipated outlets in south Florida opened on March 4, 1971, in Hialeah and Hollywood. Additionally, three stores announced in September 1969 for the Memphis, Tennessee area began operations on July 29, 1971.

Certain locations also offered groceries and fuel, similar to modern-day Wal-Mart Supercenters. Nevertheless, economic downturns during the 1970s and early 1980s severely impacted J.C. Penney’s discount division, causing financial losses for The Treasury stores. Ultimately, these stores were shuttered in 1981. Despite this closure, the mail order segment—one of the primary motivations behind J.C. Penney’s acquisition of Treasure Island—continued to perform well.

By 1979, as financial difficulties mounted, J.C. Penney started closing stores and leasing them to other businesses. For example, the first four outlets for The Home Depot chain were leased from former Treasure Island locations around the Atlanta area. The Treasury chain ceased operations entirely by 1982.

Treasury Drug Centers

J.C. Penney expanded into pharmaceutical retail under the name Treasury Drug Centers, predominantly operating in Southern states. In 1993, J.C. Penney divested 45 Atlanta-area Treasury Drug stores to Big B Drugs for $16.5 billion. The Treasury Drug brand persisted until 1997 when J.C. Penney acquired Eckerd and subsequently rebranded all remaining Treasury Drug stores as Eckerd outlets.