Discount store or department store in the United States. There were hundreds of discount stores in operation, with their most successful period occurring during the mid-1960s in the U.S. with discount store chains such as Kmart, Ames, Two Guys, E. J. Korvette, Mammoth Mart, Fisher's Big Wheel, Zayre, Bradlees, Caldor, Jamesway, Howard Brothers Discount Stores, Kuhn's-Big K (sold to Walmart in 1981), TG&Y and Woolco (closed in 1983, part sold to Wal-Mart) among others. Walmart, Kmart, and Target all opened their first locations in 1962. Other retail companies branched out into the discount store business around that time as adjuncts to their
Gibson's Discount Center headed by Gary Chaffin. Chaffin sold the company in 1992, and it filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 1996. Chaffin repurchased the company in 1999, which by this time was headquartered in Dodge City, Kansas. In November 2002, Gibson's announced it would close the chain's 17 remaining stores. Two stores continue to operate independently under the Gibson's name, in Kerrville, Texas, and Weatherford, Texas. At one point in time, the Gibson's store in Great Bend, Kansas had what was called “The Biggest Outdoor Sign in Kansas.” Gibson's Discount Center Gibson's Discount Center, also known as "Gibson's," was a large discount