G. E. M. Membership Department Stores

G. E. M. Membership Department Stores was a chain of discount stores, in the US and Canada. Their first location opened in Denver in 1956. GEM offered something different: membership. The qualifications included government-, religious- and school employees, members of the armed forces, and employees of companies that did “substantial work” under government contract. GEM pioneered the way for later “membership” stores, like Sam’s Club and Costco.

Several departments were operated by outside firms on a lease basis. The prices were low, the selection vast, and the no-frills stores themselves were huge in size in their day, that included supermarkets and more within the 50-plus departments and had gasoline pumps outside.

Canadian pharmacist Murray Koffler was an investor in the G.E.M. chain, bringing the first G.E.M. store to Toronto in 1959. He eventually subleased the G.E.M. drug department in several Toronto area stores. Following the G.E.M. discount model, Koffler later opened one of the first "big box" store chains, Shoppers Drug Mart.

On November 7, 1964, GEM opened its first store in the UK. This branch in West Bridgford, Nottingham, the first out-of-town superstore in the UK, was soon taken over by Asda.

By the mid-1960s, there were reportedly more than a million GEM members throughout the U.S. and Canada. GEM announced plans in late 1965 to merge with Parkview Drugs, a Kansas City-based chain, creating a new parent company called Parkview-GEM.

A 1971 Democrat and Chronicle story reported that a lone gunman robbed more than $6,000 from the cashier’s office at a Rochester, New York, GEM. Asked how he got into the store and past the buzzer-entrance, a store official said he "may have used a stolen or lost card to enter."

The end for GEM came soon after. Officials announced plans in early 1973 that it would close all stores. By then, GEM had opened membership to anyone for the past two years.