Retail Stores you Miss

[kjckjc]

So I decided to put my old optical reader/writer in my new computer. But due to a different MB layout the SATA cable is too small. So I want to buy one. Walmart doesn't sell one. I think Best Buy might have a single choice. You know who would have a few choices? CompUSA. But they are gone from the area. I miss them. Lechmere probably would have carried them too. Also gone.

So what retail chains, mom and pop stores, etc have come and gone that you wish never left?

[El_Kabong]

Well, Woolworth's actually. They seemed to have a lot of stuff that I, as a kid, liked, and a soda fountain.

Kee-reist, I'm feeling old just reading that.

[Ludovic]

There aren't too many stores like Woolworth's anymore that have a department-store style selection along with a food counter to boot. The closest I've come recently was in a hamlet outside the Appalachian Trail where me and my friends hung out at for several hours when we decided to prematurely call our hike quits. It was a true general store, having not only your standard convenience store items, but also a good selection of tools and movies, a counter where you could (and we did) get a meal, and they even had an entertainment room with a pool table and video games. All in a space not much bigger than a 7-11.

ETA: scooped on the Woolworths!

[blondebear]

Another vote for Woolworths. When I was in elementary school it was the go-to place for almost anything from candy to model airplanes to St. Christopher Medals.

[Markxxx]

I miss Korvettes (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/E._J._Korvette) and Zayre (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zayre) (now known as Congo-Kinshasa :))

[Ludovic]

I miss Zayre too, but I would miss it more if K-Mart wasn't still around :) (I just never differentiated them from K-Mart and Ames, but I miss Z and A, along with Woolworths, because they used to have video games in their lobbies. K-Mart did too, but since it is still around and no longer does, I do not miss it :))

[ZipperJJ]

KMart is still around but they are few and far between. Used to have one in my neighborhood now I have to drive about a half hour to get to one.

I have no idea why I prefer KMart to Wal Mart or Target (both in my neighborhood now)...I don't know if the prices are different or the selection is different or if it's just nostalgia.

But damn, I love me some KMart.

[Motorgirl]

I came in to mention Woolworth. I spent many many days there as a kid. There was no better place to spend a couple of hours browsing and deciding how to spend a dollar.

When I was growing up in the Ithaca NY area my mom, sister and I went to Woolworth at least once a week. My aunt worked as a waitress in the restaurant (this one had a full-blown restaurant with booths rather than just a lunch counter). We'd always go in for a cup of coffee (for my mom) a soda (for my sister) and a glass of tomato juice (for me). If my mom was feeling particularly flush she'd let us order a snack. My sister usually got a donut or a piece of pie. I always got an order of bacon.

I shopped at Woolworth 'til I was out of college (1992). Woolworth closed sometime after I moved away from Ithaca. I have so many fond memories of the Ithaca Woolworth, but I have a friend who claims that the Ithaca store was the only nice Woolworth on earth. I find that hard to believe.

I was sewing on a button last week and remembering Woolworth fondly because the spools of thread in my sewing kit are all Woolworth brand. I bought them to go away to college in 1988. Sigh.

[Fair Rarity]

I miss Ames. It had a craft dept. I don't have a Walmart super close, and that one is one of the stores that has the reduced craft dept. Sure, I can go to a craft store, but sometimes it was nice to buy socks, detergent, and yarn all at once without 3 trips.

[Little Nemo]

I never thought Ames was a great store but they were usually found in smaller towns that don't rate a Targets or WalMart. So the closing of Ames left them without any local department store.

Media Play used to be good. But their selection and service went downhill while their prices rose so by the time they closed, it was no great loss.

[california jobcase]

Kmarts are still in the regions I frequent, but they are a mere shell of what they used to be. When I was young, Kmart had its own brand of everything- spark plugs, motor oil, tires, televisions, stereos, sneakers, and so on. The stuff was good quality at a decent price. They had lunch counters and a smaller kiosk that sold frozen cokes, submarine sandwiches, popcorn, and deli ham. Now the stores suck.

Woolworths were good in their day, too. The neighborhood Ben Franklin store was our "dime store". A quarter could get me a ten-cent cap gun, a box of roll caps, and five pieces of gum if I talked the cashier into ringing the things up separately to avoid the penny sales tax.

[Ludovic]

When I was growing up in the Ithaca NY area my mom, sister and I went to Woolworth at least once a week.

Was it around here (http://maps.google.com/?ie=UTF8&ll=42.438781,-76.498492&spn=0.001156,0.001851&z=19) (south of the Commons)? I also fondly remember a Woolworth-style store around there, as it was the only place within walking distance of Cornell that had affordable Mountain Dew :)

[Motorgirl]

The neighborhood Ben Franklin store was our "dime store". A quarter could get me a ten-cent cap gun, a box of roll caps, and five pieces of gum if I talked the cashier into ringing the things up separately to avoid the penny sales tax.

We still have a Ben Franklin in the next town over.

[Gilles de Rais]

Broadway. May Co. Kresge. I Magnin.

Of all, I miss The Broadway most... Yes, I know it was just like your Macys/Nordstrom/Knock-Offs... But I always felt different shopping in a Broadway and a Magnin.

[kenobi 65]

KMart is still around but they are few and far between. Used to have one in my neighborhood now I have to drive about a half hour to get to one.

KMart still has about 1300 stores, though they closed at least 300 stores when they went through bankruptcy (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/KMart#Bankruptcy) a few years back. So, while they're "few and far between" in your area, there are still quite a few of them around.

I have no idea why I prefer KMart to Wal Mart or Target (both in my neighborhood now)...I don't know if the prices are different or the selection is different or if it's just nostalgia.

But damn, I love me some KMart.

I think you got a heavy dose of that peculiar KMart odor at one point (I always think KMarts smell like mothballs), and you can't shake it. ;)

[Patty O'Furniture]

I came in here to say that i don't miss a single damn brick & mortal store but you guys have made me realize that I do miss Woolworth's. The cheeseburger, fries and pepsi were great. Now all we have is Target with a Starbucks and Pizza Hut built-in.

Regarding the situation laid out by the OP, I am more than happy to find my replacement electrical and computer parts online and have them shipped to my doorstep. It beats the heck out of wasting a half day and half tank of gas driving around the city looking for this item and that one. Not to mention the opportunity cost of my time.

[NoClueBoy]

For me it would be TG&Y

I could buy my Zebco set up, line and lures, and my fishing license, while Dad could get motor oil for the car and Coleman gas for the camping stove, and Mom could get sodas and picnic foods and our long underwear.

[Full Metal Lotus]

W.W. Arcade Hardware
Any doper who is a long time Edmontonian will remember them.

Their basement was the best. They has long rambling aisles of hardware and assorted surplus. The old guy that ran it would see a hand written price on , oh, say a fishing rod, from 1953, and charge you that price.. in 1987. It was kind of cool finding an unused antique, and paying jsut 2.77 for it.

It was dingy, the floor creeked, the staff seemed to have been there for EVER, and they all seemed to have a spooky, almost clairvoyant meta knowledge of the stock. Need a gasket for a 1944 war surplus napathene lantern? Just walk into W.W. Arcade and ask the first staff member you saw. They would star into space for a moment, lead you on a winding path through the maze of overflowing, seemingly random shelves of products, reach in behind a box of needle jets for a 1941 fordson carbourator, and pull out your gasket. Price. 3 cents.

They were a land mark, and I miss them.
The building that they were in is now a very upscale restaurant called "The Hardware Grill", a great place if you like paying $15 for a bowl of soup, and $55 for liver and onions...

Sigh...

[antonio107]

I miss Kmart.

I miss Woolco.

I'm going to miss Zeller's once they become Targets. :(

ETA: oh! And Consumer's Distributing!

[Absolute]

I do miss CompUSA. As you say, Best Buy is the closest substitute but sorely lacking in specialized parts.

I also miss The Sharper Image, although more for how the stores used to be when I was a kid (filled with all kinds of cool electronic gadgets) than how they were at the end (filled with illuminated nosehair trimmers and glass bathroom scales that display your body-fat percentage).

[Full Metal Lotus]

Missed the edit window, but thought I would throw in a link to W.W. Arcade
http://www.rewedmonton.ca/content_view2?CONTENT_ID=788

[TheChileanBlob]

I loved Richway (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richway_Department_Stores) when I was in high school. They were like a Kmart but they had cheap, cute trendy clothes and accessories, whereas Kmart's clothes were all not-to-be-caught-dead-in cheap. They closed in the 80s sometime and reopened as Targets. Target had cute things also, but Richway's junior department was jammed with racks of stuff like a bazaar.

[Icerigger]

I still fondly remember Grants and Masons.

[Motorgirl]

Was it around here (http://maps.google.com/?ie=UTF8&ll=42.438781,-76.498492&spn=0.001156,0.001851&z=19) (south of the Commons)? I also fondly remember a Woolworth-style store around there, as it was the only place within walking distance of Cornell that had affordable Mountain Dew :)

Yup - it was just off the Commons and across the street from the Holiday Inn (formerly the Ramada).

They renovated the building and turned it into the public library. They did a great job, too.

[Airman Doors, USAF]

I never thought Ames was a great store but they were usually found in smaller towns that don't rate a Targets or WalMart. So the closing of Ames left them without any local department store.

Media Play used to be good. But their selection and service went downhill while their prices rose so by the time they closed, it was no great loss.

We had a Hills (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hills_Department_Stores), which replaced Woolco, was bought by Ames, and then was torn down and replaced by a Staples while a brand-new Wal-Mart superstore was put in about 500 yards away.

The mall these stores replaced (http://www.deadmalls.com/malls/mj_mall.html) had a Woolworth's, a Montgomery Ward's, and bunch of mom-and-pop shops, a Curtis Mathes, and the first food court I had ever seen, right by the arcade (which had great old games in it). The mall also had a pretty spectacular water show, which was pretty common in malls in days of yore.

Thank you for making me nostalgic for 15 years ago. Nowadays everything seems so common. Of course, all that other stuff was common back then, too.

[Lynn Bodoni]

Kmarts are still in the regions I frequent, but they are a mere shell of what they used to be. When I was young, Kmart had its own brand of everything- spark plugs, motor oil, tires, televisions, stereos, sneakers, and so on. The stuff was good quality at a decent price. They had lunch counters and a smaller kiosk that sold frozen cokes, submarine sandwiches, popcorn, and deli ham. Now the stores suck.

Woolworths were good in their day, too. The neighborhood Ben Franklin store was our "dime store". A quarter could get me a ten-cent cap gun, a box of roll caps, and five pieces of gum if I talked the cashier into ringing the things up separately to avoid the penny sales tax. I miss the old KMarts too. I think they made a big mistake when they tried to take their store upscale. Consumers wanted and needed a place to get decent quality at a reasonable price. I particularly liked the lunch counters, and our KMart sold cotton candy at its kiosk. For that matter, I miss the lunch counters in most department stores...it's not the same if the snack bar is just another Pizza Hut or Starbucks.

Leonard's Department Store (http://www.fwculture.com/leonards_museum.htm) was a big deal in Fort Worth. It was huge, and had all sorts of things for sale. It also had its own private subway, the only one of its kind. Everyone went to Leonard's.

I also miss Mott's Five and Dime stores. They used to sell small pets, like turtles, birds, and rodents, and they had craft departments, and loads of cheap toys.

[johnpost]

CompUSA was a major metro thing, Chicago maybe had 3 or 4 stores, many states had none or a single store in the largest city.

in the USA Circuit City went also into smaller metro areas.

[Bridget Burke]

Yet another vote for Woolworth's. It was the last "general" store in downtown Houston & it was a blow to lose it.

Now, all we've got down there is "Macy's"---which is really Foley's (http://departmentstoremuseum.blogspot.com/2010/05/foley-brothers-dry-goods-co-houston.html), damn it! (Surely, Houstonians are not the only people to mutter about those red stars emblazoning stores that used to be the pride of our cities.)

Across Main Street from Macy's, at the light rail stop I use every weekday, there's the parking garage that used to be Sakowitz (http://blog.chron.com/bayoucityhistory/2009/12/ever-shopped-at-sakowitz/). As a kid, it was a bit rich for our blood, but I'm still pissed at Bobby Sakowitz for destroying a Houston institution.

[BMalion]

When I was a lad, the fanciest store in town, where you would go to buy new school clothes once a year, was O'Neill's. Kinda like a Macy's or Nordstroms.

[Ponch8]

In a small way, I miss Venture stores. They were kind of like KMart or Walmart, and they had lunch counters also. I believe they were entirely or mostly in the Midwest. What I remember most about them was the big diagonal black and white stripes on their signs.

[Dewey Finn]

ETA: oh! And Consumer's Distributing!
Similarly, I miss Service Merchandise (another catalog showroom).

[SciFiSam]

I also miss Woolworth's, though the British stores were a bit different to the American ones - the only food they did was sweets. Well, they did do food a few decades ago - my Grandad had his tiny wedding reception in a Woolworth's cafe.

But for me Woolie's was just so bloody handy for birthday presents for kids and adults, basic DIY equipment, things like replacement kettle leads (I mean - the power cable that goes with lots of equipment; called kettle leads here but probably not in the US), underwear, stationery, school uniform, all the kinds of things I tend to want to buy at short notice rather than order online.

I must have been in there once a week right up until they closed. Now I have to travel to get this stuff.

[Khendrask]

Woolworth's ... And I loved their grilled cheese sandwich at the counter. I don't know what they used, but it was fantastic.

Others? - Service Merchandise, Two Guys, S. Klein.

[Hampshire]

Can it be just one store?

I miss the Virgin Mega Store that was located in downtown Disney. A shrine to entertainment media. Massive music & movie section on the first floor along with a vinyl and classical room. Books and software upstairs. I loved that place.
But of course Amazon and itunes ended it all.

[Johanna]

1. I really hated to see Hecht's* get devoured by Macy's. I mean Macy's is OK, but that's it. They're just meh-OK. Nothing seriously wrong with Macy's, but nothing compelling or irresistible about them either. Hecht's was irresistible, a pleasure to shop in because of all the chic fashions that often got their prices slashed as much as 75%. Now Fair Oaks Mall has two Macy'ses cheek by jowl, and I can never remember which one has the good Clinique counter.

*Was this regional? I'm in the DC area. For all I know, most of you have never heard of Hecht's.

2. Even though Coldwater Creek still exists in name, all that was awesome about them was lost when some stupid soulless corporation snarfed them up a couple years ago, whereupon their formerly high quality and excellent service disappeared down a certain fixture that runs on cold water. So I miss the CWC that was.

3. I kind of miss saying "Hi, Opal"... d&r

[kenobi 65]

A few which I miss....

Rose Records. A Chicago record-store chain, though they also had a location on State Street in Madison when I was at the University of Wisconsin. Great selection, wonderful back catalog of albums and singles. Probably killed by the mall chains (which themselves are now dead or dying).

Silo. One of the big electronics stores when I moved to Chicago in the late 80s. I spent a good chunk of my first few paychecks there to buy a good stereo. :) Along with Fretter and Highland, was killed by Circuit City and Best Buy.

[Frank]

Now, all we've got down there is "Macy's"---which is really Foley's (http://departmentstoremuseum.blogspot.com/2010/05/foley-brothers-dry-goods-co-houston.html), damn it!
I could get on board with this if Foley's hadn't taken over May D&F, which took over The Denver, which I liked. He who lives by the sword . . .

I also liked Service Merchandise; I spent a lot of money there over the years. And not just 'cause I worked in the warehouse and could pick out the boxes for myself that hadn't been opened, crushed, or mangled. :p

[Mr. Moto]

Service Merchandise mislead you on both words in their name.

As for me, I miss G.C. Murphy's.

[garygnu]

I was thinking I don't have an answer, but then I remembered G.I. Joes. Not that they've disappeared, I just moved away from their area. There's not a good place around me to get mid-range camping stuff.
(I see that they've dropped "G.I." from the name.)

[Neidhart]

Border's at its peak.

Dart Drug and Peoples Drug. Back in the '70s they had huge stores which sold everything, like Target but within walking distance of most neighborhoods.

I don't understand why all drugstores nowadays are so tiny and cramped. Back in the good old days, you didn't get claustrophobic if another person entered the aisle you were in.

[Ludovic]

We had a Hills (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hills_Department_Stores), which replaced Woolco, was bought by Ames, and then was torn down and replaced by a Staples while a brand-new Wal-Mart superstore was put in about 500 yards away.

The mall these stores replaced (http://www.deadmalls.com/malls/mj_mall.html) had a Woolworth's, a Montgomery Ward's, and bunch of mom-and-pop shops, a Curtis Mathes, and the first food court I had ever seen, right by the arcade (which had great old games in it). The mall also had a pretty spectacular water show, which was pretty common in malls in days of yore.

Something similar happened to the D+F Plaza on the border of Dunkirk and Fredonia, New York. The plaza used to be the fastest thoroughfare between two important roads, but around 30 years ago they made a road that bypassed most of the commercial area (except a Hills) so people could drive through without the impeding traffic.

So of course the rest of the thoroughfare got developed into another series of Applebee's and Blockbusters, thus not alleviating the traffic problem, but still leaving the main section of the D+F Plaza to wither on the vine :smack:

ETA the only place in the D+F plaza I remember is a Your Host restaurant, which was nothing special w/r/t lunch, but had a pretty good breakfast (and had invididual jukeboxes on each table)

[Jack Batty]

Chess King. You just can't find any really cool parachute pants or black and red leather jackets with fringe down the sleeves anywhere anymore.

[pkbites]

I miss the Schultz Brothers stores. They had freaking everything. There was a big one in West Bend where I grew up in the 60's & 70's. It had a HUGE candy aisle and a HUGE toy department.

I also miss Prange Way and Arlans Department Store.

It's not a store but I miss Burger Chef.

[VernWinterbottom]

In southeastern MA, I miss Ann & Hope in North Dartmouth and Apex in the Swansea Mall for department stores. On the strictly local level, Cheap John's Joke Shop on Union Street in New Bedford, which was a joke and magic shop and Food Town a corner variety store & butcher shop in North Fairhaven.

[Scumpup]

Fisher's Big Wheel. Going there made me feel deliciously déclassé.

[Mean Mr. Mustard]

Korvettes for their all-label record sales ($3.19 each or something like that).

Harmony House record stores.

Builders Square home centers.

Anyone remember Chatham Supermarkets?


mmm

[FatBaldGuy]

Kmarts are still in the regions I frequent, but they are a mere shell of what they used to be. When I was young, Kmart had its own brand of everything- spark plugs, motor oil, tires, televisions, stereos, sneakers, and so on. The stuff was good quality at a decent price...This. I miss the Old KMarts. We have a KMart about a mile from our house, and I used to be able to go there and find just about anything I needed. Ever since they went through their bankruptcy and merged with Sears, it's less than 50-50 that they will have what I'm looking for, then I need to go to WalMart or Home Depot to find it.

[Tibby or Not Tibby]

Wanamaker's (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wanamaker%27s) flagship, in Philadelphia—more of a retail cathedral than a mere store. Shopping there at Christmastime was an event anticipated for months.

[LonesomePolecat]

Davison's, a local/regional chain of department stores centered in the Atlanta area, owned by a single family. Back in the Great Depression, they often accepted produce in lieu of cash to pay bills. The lighting of the Great Tree at their main store downtown was a local Christmas tree tradition in Atlanta for decades. Macy's eventually took 'em over, and they still have a tree lighting, but it's just not the same.

The Rio Vista, the best little fried chicken and catfish place ever on Memorial Drive not far from Stone Mountain.

The Bookworm, a newstand downtown where I bought my science ficiton magazines and later the National Lampoon, and obscure political magazines like The Match. The guy who owned and ran the place loved the newstand business, and after I'd made my purchases we'd chat for as much as a half hour.

The Book Store. Before the book chains hit Atlanta, this was probably Atlanta's best bookstore. It was nothing fancy, but you'd find odd little gems there like a book of Firesign Theater scripts, volumes of poetry published by City Lights or the Black Cat mass paperback editions of William Burroughs' books. It also had a section of very raunchy pornographic novels in the back. Years later I learned the Book Store had been owned by Mike Thevis, at that time the wealthiest publisher of pornography in America and inventor of the peep show. I guess the Book Store was some kind of tax dodge or something for him, but I really don't know. Apparently Thevis never really expected to make money from the place, and so he let the store manager do whatever he pleased.

[Bosda Di'Chi of Tricor]

Steve & Barry's Clothes.

OG! Was that ever a place for great prices on clothes.

I still have a coat & 6 Hawaiian shirts I got there.

[Dr. Girlfriend]

Belmont stores- I don't know if they were only local or not, we had a couple around here. They were a 5-and-dime kind of store, awesome craft department and candy counter. There are still Belmont stores here, but they're liquor stores.

There are still some K-Marts here, but they've gone downhill to the point I won't set foot in them anymore. The store close to my house used to sell these submarine sandwiches that I thought were disgusting but my mom absolutely loved. She was sorely disappointed when K-Mart took out the sandwich shop and put in a Little Caeser's.

I don't miss Service Merchandise stores so much, but I used to love looking through the catalogs. :cool:

[No umlaut for U]

Grants and Neisner.
Wieboldt.
Phar-Mor.

[BaneSidhe]

I think you got a heavy dose of that peculiar KMart odor at one point (I always think KMarts smell like mothballs), and you can't shake it. ;)

Holy crap, you're right! Every single Kmart I've ever been in smells like mothballs and I thought I was just nuts to think so.

Put me down for missing Phar-Mor, Hills, G.C. Murphy and Chess King.

[StusBlues]

Waldenbooks. Indoor mall bookstores are dying out, which pretty much sucks.

[Orionizer]

I miss all the tech shops that have closed up (like CompUSA and Circuit City). If I need a part at work or home, I have to drive 30 mins to get it (at Best Buy) and alot of times, they don't even have what I need.

Others I miss are the old "Catalog Showroom" stores like Brendle's and Keymid.

[Student Driver]

Phar-Mor's disappearance from the retail landscape isn't the usual withering-away due to increasing competition; the story is a bit more of an interesting financial scandal (http://www.businessweek.com/archives/1992/b328029.arc.htm). It was a pretty big shocker, happened in my first year working in retail pharmacy, and my store poached most of the pharmacists and prescriptions from the local outlet.

Around the same time that Phar-Mor came into Indy, F&M came in. Phar-Mor was more of a stack-'em-deep place, like a drug store version of Cub Food (another retailer gone from the area), F&M was like a drug store tacked on to a discount store. I remember them having a pretty competitive music selection in the early 1990s, and bought a lot of CDs from F&M. Looking them up, it seems that F&M was a five-and-dime/discount chain that expanded into pharmacy, which explains its differing feel. They got bought out by Drug Emporium, which itself has mostly dissolved in the face of CVS and Walgreens, leaving its name behind with a few independent retailers.


I miss Incredible Universe, Blockbuster Music, and Media Play, though I suppose none would make sense in today's on-demand media world. Blockbuster Music was incredibly hampered by their ownership and name; they sold videos (including laserdisc!), and it was a good 50% of their floor stock, but they had to differentiate themselves from their video-rental parent. Media Play had promise, but the local outlets had too much floor space and too little product. It was like a showcase for a few products, rather than being the packed-with-every-title-you'd-want warehouse you'd like.

[NoClueBoy]

I still miss stores like the Total Camera chain in Houston (70s and 80s). It's more of a change of scene for the entire photo retail market.

Nothing like having pros, semipros, and real photo enthusiasts as your photographic retailers. A variety of cameras, lenses, flashes available for hands on perusing. Camera company reps coming in for special event weekends, bringing all the newest stuff and cool things you could never hope to see otherwise. Rent-able darkroom space. :::sigh:::

There are some stores like it still around, but even those stores have changed radically inside. And I haven't seen a camera company rep outside of a CES type show in years.

[Lynn Bodoni]

Waldenbooks. Indoor mall bookstores are dying out, which pretty much sucks. Waldenbooks became Borders, which went to the outside mall concept. And, of course, we know what happened to Borders. At any rate, I believe that indoor mall rents are higher than outdoor mall rents.

[StusBlues]

Waldenbooks became Borders, which went to the outside mall concept. And, of course, we know what happened to Borders. At any rate, I believe that indoor mall rents are higher than outdoor mall rents.

Yes, I worked with the chain when they were doing the transition.

No bookstore in the mall = no me at the mall.

[Greg Charles]

Broadway -- not that Macy's is any different really, but Broadway was a west coast chain, named after 4th and Broadway in Los Angeles, where the first store was. My grandfather or possibly great grandfather worked there from the day it opened, so there's a story I don't get to tell much anymore.

Gemco -- the first (?) of the superstores, that is it combined clothing, toys, electronics, garden department and household goods, with a full grocery stores. Plus they had a cafeteria where the burgers were dressed with Thousand Islands. Fancy! I'm not sure how widespread they ever got, but the were several around LA while I was growing up.

Bullocks -- this was the first place I really got lost, mostly because of my habit of pushing between the clothes on those round display racks and just hanging out in the middle like it was my own personal fort. My mom couldn't find me, and by the time I crawled out, I couldn't find her. Of course, there was a joyful reunion and I think I got to see the security room too, so that was cool. (Other department stores still have those round racks, but they now seem to be way too small to be a fort. They must have shrunk them since then.)

[It's Not Rocket Surgery!]

I liked Alexander's (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexander%27s), especially the Fordham Road, Bronx location.

[Death of Rats]

Toy stores. Pretty much any toy stores. We even still have a Toys R Us locally, but it is a truly depressing, souless place that looks like it just survived a tornado and shares space with a Kids R Us, so it is half clothes.

[Nars Glinley]

For me it would be TG&Y

I could buy my Zebco set up, line and lures, and my fishing license, while Dad could get motor oil for the car and Coleman gas for the camping stove, and Mom could get sodas and picnic foods and our long underwear.

I loved TG&Y and have similar fond memories of OTASCO.

[Bosstone]

I saw the thread title and immediately thought of CompUSA. They were always better for what I needed than Best Buy.

Another is the Discovery Store. It was a great little store in the mall. But it appears that they've pulled out to go online-only.

[Katriona]

Piggybacking onto everyone who said Woolworth's, and also the Ben Franklin stores. There aren't any left in KS or MO, apparently.

[Algher]

Mall bookstores. I travel on business, and I used to kill an evening at the local mall by picking up a book after a long browse. The selections were only OK, but they were good enough to find an easy read for when I got back to the Marriot. Interestingly enough, now the best bookstores I can get to are at the airports.

Tower Records. Yeah, I use iTunes now. I miss flipping through Albums and later CDs, talking to the guys about "if I like this new REM band, who is else making music like that?"

REAL Army Surplus stores. There isn't much surplus anymore, and now they just sell car camping gear plus a few old uniforms. Nothing that interesting, unlike the old days.

[AuntiePam]

I miss a women's clothing store -- Lerner's. The prices were good and they had clothes that an older woman could wear without feeling, um, old. Lots of cotton and cotton blends, no polyester. In the 80's they stocked a simple gathered skirt in several colors, and blazers (remember blazers?), and basic shirts and blouses. I could always find something at Lerner's.

[RTFirefly]

Fit To A Tee, a local DC-area chain (with one outlet in Detroit, for no apparent reason). They not only had lots of geeky t-shirts, but their t-shirts were lightweight, which meant that you could wear them during the summer and still be comfortable.

Seems that anywhere that sells interesting tees nowadays all but boasts about how heavy-duty the fabric is. Which means they're too heavy to wear during the time of year that you'd be most likely to wear t-shirts. :(