# Retail Stores you Miss **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [June 7, 2011, 12:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/retail-stores-you-miss/584572 "2011-06-07T00:56:47Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2011, 5:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/retail-stores-you-miss/584572/41 "2011-06-07T17:33:02Z")
> [@Airman\_Doors\_USAF](#): > > 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) ---
**Author:** ![Jack\_Batty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jack_batty/32/3201_2.png) [@Jack\_Batty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jack_Batty)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2011, 5:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/retail-stores-you-miss/584572/42 "2011-06-07T17:40:18Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![pkbites](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pkbites/32/204_2.png) [@pkbites](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pkbites)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2011, 5:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/retail-stores-you-miss/584572/43 "2011-06-07T17:53:21Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![VernWinterbottom](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/c67d28/32.png) [@VernWinterbottom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VernWinterbottom)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2011, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/retail-stores-you-miss/584572/44 "2011-06-07T18:41:17Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![Scumpup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ce73a5/32.png) [@Scumpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scumpup)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2011, 6:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/retail-stores-you-miss/584572/45 "2011-06-07T18:44:48Z")
Fisher’s Big Wheel. Going there made me feel deliciously déclassé. ---
**Author:** ![Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mean_mr.mustard/32/3865_2.png) [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mean_Mr.Mustard)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2011, 8:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/retail-stores-you-miss/584572/46 "2011-06-07T20:14:09Z")
**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 ---
**Author:** ![FatBaldGuy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ecd19e/32.png) [@FatBaldGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FatBaldGuy)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2011, 8:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/retail-stores-you-miss/584572/47 "2011-06-07T20:26:46Z")
> [@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… 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. ---
**Author:** ![Tibby](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tibby/32/17030_2.png) [@Tibby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tibby)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2011, 8:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/retail-stores-you-miss/584572/48 "2011-06-07T20:51:10Z")
[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. ---
**Author:** ![LonesomePolecat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/a88e57/32.png) [@LonesomePolecat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LonesomePolecat)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2011, 9:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/retail-stores-you-miss/584572/49 "2011-06-07T21:05:09Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2011, 10:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/retail-stores-you-miss/584572/50 "2011-06-07T22:54:23Z")
**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. ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Girlfriend](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr.girlfriend/32/193_2.png) [@Dr.Girlfriend](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Girlfriend)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2011, 2:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/retail-stores-you-miss/584572/51 "2011-06-08T02:04:08Z")
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. 🆒 ---
**Author:** ![No\_umlaut\_for\_U](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ea5d25/32.png) [@No\_umlaut\_for\_U](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/No_umlaut_for_U)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2011, 3:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/retail-stores-you-miss/584572/52 "2011-06-08T03:53:22Z")
Grants and Neisner. Wieboldt. Phar-Mor. ---
**Author:** ![BaneSidhe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/c5a1d2/32.png) [@BaneSidhe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BaneSidhe)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2011, 6:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/retail-stores-you-miss/584572/53 "2011-06-08T06:44:37Z")
> [@kenobi\_65](#): > > 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. ---
**Author:** ![StusBlues](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/dc4da7/32.png) [@StusBlues](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/StusBlues)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2011, 3:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/retail-stores-you-miss/584572/54 "2011-06-08T15:06:59Z")
Waldenbooks. Indoor mall bookstores are dying out, which pretty much sucks. ---
**Author:** ![Orionizer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/orionizer/32/4442_2.png) [@Orionizer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Orionizer)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2011, 3:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/retail-stores-you-miss/584572/55 "2011-06-08T15:12:02Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![Student\_Driver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/3da27b/32.png) [@Student\_Driver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Student_Driver)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2011, 3:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/retail-stores-you-miss/584572/56 "2011-06-08T15:38:29Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![AncientHumanoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ancienthumanoid/32/278_2.png) [@AncientHumanoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AncientHumanoid)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2011, 5:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/retail-stores-you-miss/584572/57 "2011-06-08T17:03:09Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![Lynn\_Bodoni](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e47c2d/32.png) [@Lynn\_Bodoni](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lynn_Bodoni)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2011, 5:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/retail-stores-you-miss/584572/58 "2011-06-08T17:06:39Z")
> [@StusBlues](#): > > 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. ---
**Author:** ![StusBlues](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/dc4da7/32.png) [@StusBlues](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/StusBlues)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2011, 5:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/retail-stores-you-miss/584572/59 "2011-06-08T17:46:29Z")
> [@Lynn\_Bodoni](#): > > 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. ---
**Author:** ![Greg\_Charles](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/839c29/32.png) [@Greg\_Charles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Greg_Charles)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2011, 6:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/retail-stores-you-miss/584572/60 "2011-06-08T18:09:50Z")
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.) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/retail-stores-you-miss/584572.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/retail-stores-you-miss/584572.md?page=4)