Gold Circle

Covering mostly New York (with a very strong retail presence in Western New York), Kentucky, and Western Pennsylvania, the chain was founded in 1967 in Columbus, Ohio. In 1984, Gold Circle was notable as the first major discounter to implement chain wide UPC barcode scanning in an effort to reduce checkout time for shoppers and improve inventory accuracy and speed store merchandise replenishment.  

The chain was dismantled in late 1988 with Hills leasing 35 Gold Circle stores in Ohio, New York, and Kentucky; immediately converting them into Hills stores following the liquidation sales, reopening early in 1989.