Two locations-Treasure Island 1968, Home Depot 1979

Last Friday, I needed to visit the Department of Motor Vehicles in DeKalb County and went to the Memorial Drive location. I have to give them a shout out because what a pleasant experience that was; everyone was so courteous and helpful!

Somehow this visit led me to discover that the Memorial Drive DMV location used to be one of the first Home Depot locations in 1979 and before that was home to a 1968 Treasure Island store.

Treasure Island, a division of the J. C. Penney Co., came to the Atlanta area in 1968. The first store in the U.S. was opened in 1961 in Wisconsin. The first three Atlanta locations were Doraville, Marietta and Jonesboro Road. The company built all their stores in close proximity to I-285, Atlanta’s Perimeter highway. The mid-century folded plate roof design of Treasure Island stores made them stand out. It was known as the store under the squiggly roof.

A 1968 photo of one of the new Treasure Island stores in the Atlanta area. (June 2, 1968 Atlanta Journal, “Treasure Island Readies 4 Stores”)

There are several photos and lots of fun history of Treasure Island and the mid-century architecture of their stores on the DeKalb History Center website.

The J. C. Penney charge card was accepted at Treasure Island and you could pick up your groceries and other items in front of the store.

By 1979, Treasure Island was having trouble keeping up with all the competition from similar stores Zayre, Kmart and Richway. Two Treasure Island locations, Buford Highway in Doraville and Memorial Drive, both leased space in 1979 to a new home improvement store for do-it-yourselfers, Home Depot. Read more about the early days of the stores on Home Depot’s website, which includes a timeline.