Building #19

Jerry Ellis (born Gerald Elovitz) founded the original store in 1964 with Harry Andler, when the two joined to sell a stock of appliances. The original Building #19 was located at the former Bethlehem Hingham Shipyard, where the buildings were numbered, and the store retained the nondescript name on the building rather than pay for a new sign. Andler was doing surplus and salvage business in the shipyard for several years. The unique combination of Ellis' advertising flair and Andler's expertise in finding and buying distressed merchandise accounts for the early success of the business. Andler bought "good stuff cheap" and Ellis let everyone know about it with amusing advertising.

In 1971, when the windows began to fall out of the John Hancock Tower in Boston, Ellis and Andler were offered and bought the defective window panels that were scheduled to be replaced. This got the company national press and attention.

In 1979, retailers Building #19 and Bloomingdales both appeared as contrasting locations in the film Starting Over.

In the 1980s, the original Building #19 moved to the former GEM (Government Employee Merchandise) building on Derby Street in Hingham, Massachusetts. Later, Building #19 1/8 opened in the old Stuart's store in the Harborlight Mall on Rt 3A in Weymouth, Massachusetts; still later that store was closed to build a Lowe's Store. The main store Building #19 moved from Derby Street in Hingham and was situated in Weymouth at the old Caldor/Zayre's/Ames building on Massachusetts Route 18.

In 2002, Building #19 bought out the independent discount store Spag's in Shrewsbury, Massachusetts, and renamed the acquisition "Spag's 19". The store format and configuration were changed after the purchase, to more closely resemble the other Building #19 operations. However, the store was closed in May 2013.

Several years after the chain shut, formerly competing Ollie's Bargain Outlet opened a store in Worcester, Massachusetts which is branded as "Ollie's Bargain Outlet @ Building #19." It is an actual former Building #19 location and is intended to pay homage to the now-defunct chain. Additionally, the Plymouth, MA store has the same branding as the Worcester location, even though the location is in a former Kmart store. The assets of Building #19 were acquired by Ollie's.

As of June 2022, nearly all Building #19 locations have been demolished or redeveloped into supermarkets, storage facilities, or other discount stores. The Pawtucket location and its signage still stands. The signage in Haverhill, featuring cartoon figures from locally inspired Archie comics, remained until at least October 2015, and the location still retains an awning and exterior paint job in the chain's color scheme. As of 2025, this location is being converted into self storage.