# What Department Stores Do You Miss? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [June 15, 2010, 8:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-department-stores-do-you-miss/543348 "2010-06-15T20:24:40Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![sparky\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/77aa72/32.png) [@sparky\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sparky_1)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2010, 11:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-department-stores-do-you-miss/543348/21 "2010-06-15T23:59:21Z")
> [@ralph124c](#): > > I miss Jordan Marsh- a real Boston institution (since 1850). It had a bakery, that made the best muffins (date/nut was my favorite). They also had great tailor shops, and alterations were done for free. > Alas, they were absorbed by the monster known as Macy’s. I had one nearby growing up. It seemed like a gigantic store, and with two floors! I remember they had a cafe on the second floor (and toys). The building is still there, but now a Macy’s. Depressing to go into it because it’s always empty. I really don’t know how/why they keep it open. ---
**Author:** ![Poonther](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Poonther](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Poonther)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2010, 11:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-department-stores-do-you-miss/543348/22 "2010-06-15T23:59:44Z")
\*\*Burdines- “The Florida Store.” \*\*It was only in Florida and was uniquely Florida in its interior design and colors. For many years, the east coast of Florida has Burdines and the west coast of FL had Maas Brothers. Then Burdines took over Mass Bros before being swallowed by Macy’s. Many of the “indoor palm tree columns” still remain in the Burdines that became Macy’s. It was one of the few places you could still find summer clothes in the winter. ---
**Author:** ![Zago](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/ecccb3/32.png) [@Zago](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zago)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2010, 12:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-department-stores-do-you-miss/543348/23 "2010-06-16T00:10:46Z")
I loved Bonwit Teller (before they were bought by the May Co.) Bonwit’s was a bit pricey but when I needed something special I could always find it there. I still wear a coat that I bought about 30 years ago there - had it relined because I loved it so much. ---
**Author:** ![Superhal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b4bc9f/32.png) [@Superhal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superhal)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2010, 12:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-department-stores-do-you-miss/543348/24 "2010-06-16T00:18:24Z")
Definitely Woolworths. ---
**Author:** ![Eats\_Crayons](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/278dde/32.png) [@Eats\_Crayons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eats_Crayons)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2010, 12:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-department-stores-do-you-miss/543348/25 "2010-06-16T00:25:57Z")
[**Woolco**](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Woolco), but quite specifically because they had a cafeteria and I really liked jello as a little kid. ---
**Author:** ![myskepticsight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/cc9497/32.png) [@myskepticsight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/myskepticsight)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2010, 12:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-department-stores-do-you-miss/543348/26 "2010-06-16T00:51:09Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > I used to go to a catalog showroom named Service Merchandise when I was a kid, but it’s long gone. Thank you for saying that. I came into this thread thinking about it but could not remember the name, and scanned the Wikipedia list and still could not remember. There was one pretty close to my house when I was a kid and I loved going there, lots of neat stuff I wasn’t supposed to touch 🙂 Most of the ones on the Wiki page I’ve ever never heard of or seen in person. I did enjoy rummaging through Value City, sometimes you could find some good cheap stuff. Do stores like Venture count? My mom used to work for them in the corporate offices - I loved it, especially when she came home with bags full of cheap random stuff from ‘sample sales.’ Venture was always cooler than Kmart or Walmart and was the hip place before Target caught up and Venture sank. ---
**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 16, 2010, 1:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-department-stores-do-you-miss/543348/27 "2010-06-16T01:05:23Z")
Service Merchandise - I always thought there ‘catalog showroom’ layout and concept was a very odd design; I was not at all surprised when they folded. Remember their original name? E.L. Rice. And Korvettes…ahhhh, yes. The ‘All-Label’ record sale that arrived every six months or so (I recall albums being $3.69). I’d go there on payday - worked right next door - and spend $40 for an armload of albums. Then: (Dad): “What the _HELL_ do you need all those for!!! Jesus Christ!!!” I still own every album I ever bought. mmm ---
**Author:** ![koeeoaddi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/koeeoaddi/32/408_2.png) [@koeeoaddi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/koeeoaddi)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2010, 1:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-department-stores-do-you-miss/543348/28 "2010-06-16T01:11:17Z")
John Wanamaker in downtown Philadelphia, with the Christmas light shows, the [eagle](http://farm1.static.flickr.com/112/306108530_72d4e78a7c.jpg) and the [ceiling train](http://www.wanamakerorgan.com/08/images/xmas/John-Wanamaker-Toy-Department-Monorail.jpg) in the toy department. ---
**Author:** ![Markxxx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5daacb/32.png) [@Markxxx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Markxxx)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2010, 1:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-department-stores-do-you-miss/543348/29 "2010-06-16T01:50:19Z")
I remember Sevice Merchandise. I think it was a bit ahead of it’s time. In Chicago we had McDade Catalog as well, which was similar to Service Merchandise. They were pretty good as well. ---
**Author:** ![Ann\_Onimous](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ea5d25/32.png) [@Ann\_Onimous](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ann_Onimous)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2010, 1:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-department-stores-do-you-miss/543348/30 "2010-06-16T01:54:57Z")
> [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](#): > > Service Merchandise - I always thought there ‘catalog showroom’ layout and concept was a very odd design; I was not at all surprised when they folded. Hubby and I have constant reminders of Service Merchandise. 13 years ago, we bought our wedding bands there. I always loved the place. Back home, we had a department store called Hub Frankel. It was an expensive (for us) clothing store, but I always loved to go in there and look. They had the cashier station off the sales floor, and the people who were checking you out would take your money and put it in one of those pneumatic tubes. As a kid, I always thought it was fascinating to watch the money go away and exact change come back. ---
**Author:** ![Gleena](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b3f665/32.png) [@Gleena](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gleena)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2010, 2:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-department-stores-do-you-miss/543348/31 "2010-06-16T02:12:08Z")
[McRae’s](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/McRae's) in Jackson, MS. It was a Very Big Deal to go when I was little. My aunt and my grandmother used to take me. It was where I got Patent Leather shoes, and church dresses. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2010, 2:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-department-stores-do-you-miss/543348/32 "2010-06-16T02:25:10Z")
I miss Ames because while they were second rate they had stores in a lot of smaller towns that now have nothing. I miss Caldors because they used to have good record sales and I bought a large part of my record collection there. I miss Lloyds because they were the first store that combined a department store and a supermarket. Plus they had a really good book department. I miss Playtogs because it was a really good department store even if there was only one of it. It was a huge part of downtown Middletown - enough so that people still use it as a local landmark even though it’s been closed for almost twenty years. ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2010, 2:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-department-stores-do-you-miss/543348/33 "2010-06-16T02:34:07Z")
I miss Maas Brothers and Woolworths because the idea of eating in the same place as you shop is intriguing and convenient. And in the case of Maas Brothers, tasty as well, although you would’nt see the restaurant anywhere approaching busy except during the holiday season, usually there were only 2 or 3 other parties with us in a space that could fit 20 parties easily. And was comparable in price to today’s expensiver casual dining. ---
**Author:** ![GythaOgg](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/49beb7/32.png) [@GythaOgg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GythaOgg)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2010, 3:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-department-stores-do-you-miss/543348/34 "2010-06-16T03:00:09Z")
I miss[Stix, Baer and Fuller.](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stix,_Baer,_Fuller) When I was a kid, they carried EVERYTHING - sewing supplies, books, and they had a very nice restaurant. It was quite a treat to go to the one near us for dinner after 5pm Saturday mass. They had some cool specialities - crusty ‘alligator rolls’, and for dessert the gold brick sundae, which was fantastic - solid chocolate about an inch thick over a ball of ice cream. You had to hammer it open, almost. Magic Shell does NOT compare! ---
**Author:** ![eleanorigby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ee7513/32.png) [@eleanorigby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eleanorigby)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2010, 3:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-department-stores-do-you-miss/543348/35 "2010-06-16T03:01:59Z")
Marshall Field & Co. Service Merchandise (we had them in Chicago–or at least the burbs did) Lytton’s Ben Franklin (ok, not really dept store, but a five and dime) Sears in its heyday. ---
**Author:** ![Markxxx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5daacb/32.png) [@Markxxx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Markxxx)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2010, 3:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-department-stores-do-you-miss/543348/36 "2010-06-16T03:06:56Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > … > > I miss Caldors because they used to have good record sales and I bought a large part of my record collection there. > [@](#): > > In November 1998, the company suffered a huge public relations blow when its sales flier featured a prominent photograph of two grinning boys playing the board game “Scrabble” with the word “RAPE” spelled out in the center of the board. Eleven million copies of the flier were distributed to the public via an 85-newspaper distribution chain. Caldor released a statement pressing its mystification over how the image was created and got past proofreaders. See [Caldor - Wikipeida for full item](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caldor) ---
**Author:** ![Neptunian\_Slug](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ce7236/32.png) [@Neptunian\_Slug](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Neptunian_Slug)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2010, 3:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-department-stores-do-you-miss/543348/37 "2010-06-16T03:18:28Z")
[Gold Circle](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gold_Circle) - They had great sales for back to school. As a kid, I don’t think I wore anything that wasn’t from Gold Circle. ---
**Author:** ![apollonia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/2bfe46/32.png) [@apollonia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/apollonia)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2010, 3:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-department-stores-do-you-miss/543348/38 "2010-06-16T03:18:39Z")
[Hudson’s](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hudson%27s) and [Crowley’s](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crowley%27s). The former was absorbed by the horrid Macy’s label, and the latter became Value City. _Value City!_ Dear God. ---
**Author:** ![R.P.McMurphy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/7993a0/32.png) [@R.P.McMurphy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/R.P.McMurphy)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2010, 3:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-department-stores-do-you-miss/543348/39 "2010-06-16T03:36:44Z")
What a blast from the past . . . So many stores, so many memories . . . J.L. Hudson - The Macy’s of Detroit. Marshall Fields - An absolutely full service dept. store. Woolworth’s - Tried and true but found more profit selling shoes. Kresge’s - Morphed into K-Mart and then went broke. Service Merchandise - The catalog showroom idea that was inherently flawed, spewed a lot of clones and then disappeared. Clones: LaBelle’s, Great Western and whatever. Caldor, You can’t pretend to be Wal-Mart. Alaxander’s - In NYC but couldn’t compete with Bloomingdale’s. Montgomery Ward’s - At one time was the #2 retailer in America. Retail is a cutthroat business. If you don’t stay on top of your game every day you are doomed to fail. ---
**Author:** ![Fair\_Rarity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fair_rarity/32/153_2.png) [@Fair\_Rarity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fair_Rarity)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2010, 3:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-department-stores-do-you-miss/543348/40 "2010-06-16T03:44:07Z")
I was just thinking the other day about how much I miss Ames. I don’t have a Walmart close to me and Target and Kmart don’t sell crafts. I have the big craft stores near me, but I don’t always want to got to multiple stores. Sometimes I want to buy shampoo and socks and yarn in one stop. Plus sometimes I need something I’m only going to use once (like a tool) and don’t need it to be high quality and Ames was generally cheaper than everyone else. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-department-stores-do-you-miss/543348.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-department-stores-do-you-miss/543348.md?page=3)