Do you remember D.E. Jones?
One great thing about having other lifelong Yorkers in our family is the great dinner conversation it provides.
For instance, on Thanksgiving, my brother-in-law Mike and I were talking about the 5-and-10-type store that used to be in Delco Plaza, on your left as you came down the steps from Kmart into the mall.
My mom and I had been talking about that and could not, for the life of us, remember the name of it. She thought it might have been either a McCrory’s or a dollar store, but I was adamant that, no, it had another name.
Well, Mike came up with it. After a couple of false starts – like calling it David Jones – we recalled that it was D.E. Jones.
As near as I can tell through some quick Internet research, if a company by that name is even still in existence, it’s only in a few locations in New Jersey, and even that is suspect. When Wikipedia doesn’t even have a reference to something, you know it’s bad!
So, I’m turning to you, loyal readers. Do you remember D.E. Jones? Was it a chain? Were there others in York besides the one in Delco Plaza? I’d love to know!
There was a D.E. Jones for a few years in the Fairlane Village Mall in Pottsville, PA. It was near the Boscovs in the late 90s and it basically was like a 5 and 10 or a dollar store. It had an odd assortment of cheap random stuff.
I recall it being in the Schuylkill Mall near K-Mart.
There was a D E Jones store in Edison NJ for many years. It’s long gone. I loved the variety of stuff there: stickers of anime-style characters, bandanas with sports mascots (even Biker Mice From Mars) and general merchandise. Almost a replacement for Woolworth’s.
There was a D E Jones in Zanesville OH, for quite a few years while i was growing up, lots and lots of strange cheaply made imports from stickers to note books with misspelled covers. I very vividly remember having a note book with a chubby cartoon cow that said “mlik” on the cover. The place was a treasure trove of goodies if you have the soul of a magpie.
Alas the store and it’s very friendly employees tried to maintain but the store fair in the mid to late 90’s.
That was my mother’s store in Zanesville on Maple Ave, with Big Lots/Odd Lots and a few other stores in that shopping center. I haven’t been to Y-City for a few years. I moved to Lancaster to work for a Pennsylvania based company ICT Group. I retired from there after about 20 years. Small world.
I grew up in Columbus, OH. There was a DE Jones in the Norther Lights Shopping Center, a run-down strip mall on the north side of town. Like the other folks have said, it was basically a five-and-dime. I seem to remember it was mostly poorly made clothing and occasionally some cheap toys. My great grandmother loved shopping there, but often had to replace what she bought within a few weeks.
There was an awesome DE Jones in Oakland, NJ in the late 80s/early 90s. It was the greatest place to shop!
D.E. Jones stores and D & K Stores were owned by the same family with the first D & K Store opened in Erie PA in 1958. As many know, these stores were forerunners to Dollar stores as the stores founder came from a family of importers. The maiden name of the wife of the husband/wife tandem that started these stores was D.E. Jones. The husband was originally from the NY/NJ area. The wife was originally from Ohio, hence the heavy concentration of these stores in these states, with stores also in PA and western NY.
I live in columbus ohio. And there was a D E Jones in the Great Southern shopping Center i remember going there in the 80s and 90s in 00 they close it . I miss this store wish they would reopen in . I use to get all my bath towels and wash cloths there 😢 i feel old now.
I shopped there, too. I worked in across the street from the Great Southern Shopping Center and I would go there to get washcloths, pillow ticks, tape, socks, pencils, gift bags, etc.–All of it on the cheap, but decent quality. It always seemed like they had a few random different items every time that I went in, too. I miss it a lot since it went out.
I remember there being one in Frederick MD.
There was one in Shamokin, PA. I remember it so well – if i mention to anyone, though, they look at me like I grew a second head!
I second what Fox said. There was one in Frederick, MD in the FSK mall
Indiana Pa in the 80s and 90s.
I remember a de Jones in Lumberton NJ in the 89s a little discount store
There was one in Old Bridge NJ. It is now a Dollar Tree.
I remembee visiting one on Penn St. in Reading,PA.Loved the store,remember everything was in bins
Frackville Pa -Schuylkill Mall had one
There was a D.E. Jones in the Chambersburg Mall, Chambersburg PA in the late 80’s to early 90’s. The space was originally occupied by a McCrory’s when the mall opened in 1982 and after McCrory’s closed it was replaced with D.E. Jones. I don’t remember what year the D.E. Jones disappeared but it was well into the early 90’s. I remember a white facade with red lettered sign.
There was one in Newark, OH as well. My sister used to buy all sorts of gifts for our mom there. Great memories!
There was one in Newark Ohio as well. It was in a little strip mall off 21st street. I remember going there with my mom when I was little. They had so many different things to look through.
I found this page after googling DE Jones. There was one in the West Manchester mall, I loved it. I’d take my nieces there whenever I had them for the weekend.
The DuBois, PA. mall had one. Tables and tables divided into sections full of you name it. Socks, knit hats, pens, tablets, toys, a veritable cornucopia of items for the shopper with a few dollars looking for a bargain. You always left with things you never intended to buy that day.
There was one in Glen Burnie, Maryland. We went there all the time. It was like a five and dime store with awesome prices. I miss that store!
Wow I hadn’t thought about this place in years. D.E. Jones was the best, everything was super cheap. We had one in my town back in the day – Oakland, NJ. I remember there was a guitarist named G.E. Smith and we used to call him D.E. Jones as a joke 🙃. Thanks for the trip down memory lane.
There was a D E Jones in Dubois PA in the mall
There was also one near Dundalk, Maryland. I loved to get sticker there, some would be $.39! I also remember a lot of those little porcelain kick knacks of swans, birds, flower baskets.
I too was looking for DE Jones too and it led me to this page. I am from SE Ohio and they were prevalent here in Lancaster and Zanesville and surrounding cities. My mother who now has passed away bought a lot of sewing notions there. We didn’t have a Hobby Lobby or Michaels then and it was Joann Fabrics and DE Jones where you bought a lot of things. I had her sewing baskets out at my home and the memories were flooding back in. She had thread from there and TG&Y that was 10 spools for a dollar (big ones) and bias tape, ric-rac and interface. She bought a lot of small things at DE Jones. Just a good old memory. My kids vaguely remember the stores they are 38 and 36 now. My grandchildren will never know the thrill of Grandma taking them to boring stores to buy sewing notions.