The other day I was listening to the radio and the DJs were pattering about the impending bankruptcy & probably closure of the Forever 21 chain of mall-based stores selling fashions for 20-something mostly women.
After the meat of that news, they started talking about other chains they had known and loved over their life that they’d like to see magically revived. It was silly nostalgia of course, but they had fun with it. One person wanted Blockbuster, another wanted Toys R Us. Then they started brainstorming and came up with quite a list. Probably all scripted, but that doesn’t matter for our purposes here.
So:
If you could revive a now-dead regional or national chain from any time in your life, what would it be and why? Note it doesn’t have to be retail; I suppose restaurants or even car lines qualify. But retail is what they were discussing, so I’d like to focus on that at least at first.
The point is not that they’d be a business success here in 2025. The point is which ones you have some nostalgia for and why. “You know, it’d be cool to walk through a [whatever] again, just for old-times’ sake.”
I’ll offer my thought(s) after a few folks have chipped in theirs.
Fry’s Electronics. One of the most poorly run chains I’ve ever run into, and awful in a lot of ways–nevertheless, if I needed some piece of equipment now, whether a few resistors or some RAM sticks or some oscilloscope probes, I could get it there. Better than Radio Shack ever was, IMO.
I always enjoyed going to Sears and Radio Shack. It was nice to be able to go into a store and physically touch the things you were buying. Sad that Sears didn’t get into online sales effectivly considering they founded the mail order catalog style of selling things through the mail.
I also miss Pondarosa Steakhouse and its buffet assortment along with cheap steak meals. It was a nice break from fast food.
I loved this store. They had a couple locations in the Pittsburgh area and had an extensive, glorious candy section.
I once bought 92 small chocolate coated Easter eggs there.
My mother and her sisters did not want to do their candy shopping and sent me on a mission with a list which Horne’s promptly and successfully filled.
Even though it was not a national store it was historical and a regional favorite for many years.
My husband would second this, and I kinda miss the place myself. Great if I just needed a couple of unusual charger cables without having to wait for shipping, for example.
My first “real” job was working at a bookstore in a mall and on my breaks and lunches I would go drool over tools and stereos. ~30 years later I still have some of the Craftsman tools I bought at Sears with my bookstore pay. I think the soldering gun kit I have is a Radio Shack purchase.
I also miss KMart as they had a well-stocked mens big & tall clothing section. I still have some Oxford shirts and a pair of pajamas I bough a KMart, well over a decade ago now.
JoAnn Fabrics is in the process of closing and I already miss it.
Not an actual store I have shopped in but I miss browsing through TigerDirect computer catalog Speaking of catalogs..I also miss browsing the Sears Christmas WishBook catalog.
I also miss Borders and Waldenbooks.
Blockbuster Video though I miss my local video store more because they had a more eclectic mix of VHS tapes.
I guess I miss the Kmarts by reason of location convenience. There used to be some along my commute and it was easy to pop in to pick up some vacuum bags on the way home. Another close one had a really nice seasonal garden and live plants area sectioned off in the lot in the spring. That location is currently a Seafood City & Jollibee which I guess is better overall.
There’s a newly opened one in a mall nearby. I visited during the Grand Opening festivities, it was a big yawn. Pretty small, no interesting products.
Ooh, good one and they DID have a store here in Chicago. It was across from the huge Microcenter. I bought about six PCs from them over the years, never a problem. I remember my utter disbelief a couple years ago that they just … stopped. Closed up the website.
Until several years ago, there were regional retail stores called FRED’S here in Memphis. I loved that place! There was one on the way home from work and I went in there a few times a week. The store wasn’t that large but they had a little bit of everything - pharmacy, food (but not frozen), small appliances, small furniture, rugs, clothes, toys, books, hardware, seasonal stuff. The perfect place to go when you needed to get something quick and easy. I do miss it.