It was one of the biggest chains in the Midwest, in its time - but the low-price warehouse stores came along at a vulnerable time in the company’s finances, and the cost of installing scanners bit hard as well. At least they were smart enough to use the Red Owl logo in the declining days; people liked that owl, even if he seemed vaguely mad at you.

Why this matchbook has no owl, I can’t say; possibly it precedes the mascot’s creation.

The times, they were up with them: