# Which Dead National Retail Chain Would You Magically Resurrect? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [March 22, 2025, 11:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-dead-national-retail-chain-would-you-magically-resurrect/1015965 "2025-03-22T23:09:44Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 16
**Author:** ![icon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/c6cbf5/32.png) [@icon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/icon)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2025, 2:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-dead-national-retail-chain-would-you-magically-resurrect/1015965/301 "2025-03-28T02:28:32Z")
One of the ones mentioned in this thread I first encountered in of all places Japan. Sharkey’s Pizza in Tokyo, I went to the Shibuya location which closed this year, but another in Shinjuku still exists Another one I encountered, though maybe not for the first time, was A&W at the Naha Airport in Okinawa. There are others on the Island but that was the only I one I saw while I was there. Circuit City is one that I would like to see back. They had a “scratch and dent” section, that had items that were in some way or another not pristine. My dad once got a nice sound system because being a electronic engineer he figured out that all that was needed was some small connector that he likely had or could buy at Radio Shack to make it work and so got it for a great price. I would also vote for Borders, and also, B. Dalton, which is where I bought a large amount of my physical books. `//i\\` ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2025, 2:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-dead-national-retail-chain-would-you-magically-resurrect/1015965/302 "2025-03-28T02:48:56Z")
> [@icon](#): > > Circuit City is one that I would like to see back. They had a “scratch and dent” section, that had items that were in some way or another not pristine. My dad once got a nice sound system because being a electronic engineer he figured out that all that was needed was some small connector that he likely had or could buy at Radio Shack to make it work and so got it for a great price. I work in advertising; I actually had Circuit City as a client for several years, near the end of their existence. The big issue that they had was that many of their stores were older, hadn’t been remodeled, were dark, and felt like appliance stores (which they were) rather than being bright, exciting, inviting, young-feeling media stores (which is what Best Buy had become). We did some great ad campaigns for them, but they fired us because they weren’t meeting their sales forecast. At that time, I predicted that they would be dead within two years; I was off by a year, because they were able to keep afloat a bit longer due to the first Christmas season in which everyone was buying big flat-screen TVs for the first time. ---
**Author:** ![Tamerlane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tamerlane/32/7602_2.png) [@Tamerlane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tamerlane)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2025, 7:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-dead-national-retail-chain-would-you-magically-resurrect/1015965/303 "2025-03-28T07:25:08Z")
> [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](#): > > In California, our defunct chippy chain was H Salt which KFC overpaid for in the 1980s and then drove into the ground qualitatively and financially. A few of the former franchisees kept the name as independents after they were liberated from KFC but the few I have tried don’t live up to the original. > [@ftg](#): > > The last time we went to one was on a trip ~6 years ago. Another shared one. It was awful. They way corp. parents kill chains but making them worse and worse is amazing. Yes, to both of these. I loved H.Salt as a kid. Tried a remnant H.Salt-branded storefront about 9-10 years ago and it was absolutely terrible. Similarly I remember A&W sit-down branches as having tasty burgers - nothing awesome, but fast-casual quality as opposed to full-on fast food. There is a small KFC/A&W drive-through near me and the one time I tried a burger it tasted overwhelmingly of grey, a “flavor” I traditionally associated with Der Wienerschnitzel’s god-awful burgers. ---
**Author:** ![DesertDog](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/desertdog/32/11503_2.png) [@DesertDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DesertDog)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2025, 4:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-dead-national-retail-chain-would-you-magically-resurrect/1015965/304 "2025-03-28T16:13:05Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > There were 17 of them total. [Incredible Universe - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Incredible_Universe) The one Fry’s Electronics in Phoenix-metro was a former Incredible Universe in Tempe. The store signage was changed but they kept their IU-logoed box truck until at least 2010. ---
**Author:** ![Magiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4491bb/32.png) [@Magiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Magiver)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2025, 4:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-dead-national-retail-chain-would-you-magically-resurrect/1015965/305 "2025-04-05T16:10:53Z")
I miss Fazio’s grocery stores (I didn’t realize they were linked to Arthur Treacher’s). It’s not that they were a great mega grocery store but it was a simpler time when grocery chains had actual buyers. Instead of an aisle full of coffee and tea there was a smaller selection of good products chosen by professional buyers. The stores were smaller by today’s standards but you didn’t spend all day trying to make a selection. I still remember the bottle return area. Something long gone in most states. ---
**Author:** ![Tatterdemalion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/43a26b/32.png) [@Tatterdemalion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tatterdemalion)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2025, 4:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-dead-national-retail-chain-would-you-magically-resurrect/1015965/306 "2025-04-05T16:37:55Z")
Now that Hooters has filed for bankruptcy, I’ll kind of miss them. Even though I haven’t been to one for about 15 years. Come to think of it, that may be related to why they’re going bankrupt. ---
**Author:** ![Magiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4491bb/32.png) [@Magiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Magiver)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2025, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-dead-national-retail-chain-would-you-magically-resurrect/1015965/307 "2025-04-05T16:46:26Z")
> [@Tatterdemalion](#): > > Now that Hooters has filed for bankruptcy, I’ll kind of miss them. Even though I haven’t been to one for about 15 years. I only went a couple of times in my younger years and didn’t think much of their wings. I wasn’t interested in having a server sit in my lap then and now it’s just creepy at my age. ---
**Author:** ![Caractacus\_Pott](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e19b73/32.png) [@Caractacus\_Pott](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Caractacus_Pott)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2025, 8:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-dead-national-retail-chain-would-you-magically-resurrect/1015965/308 "2025-04-05T20:42:59Z")
> [@Seydell](#): > > Arthur Treacher’s Fish and Chips I ate at the Cuyahoga Falls location a few years ago. The fish and chips hadn’t changed nor had the restaurant for the most part. It could be worth the drive if you’re in the Akron area. ---
**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:** [April 5, 2025, 9:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-dead-national-retail-chain-would-you-magically-resurrect/1015965/309 "2025-04-05T21:43:48Z")
I remember Arthur Treacher’s fondly from when I lived in Cleveland decades ago. I must say, my homemade beer-batter cod, fries and hushpuppies are a cut above, but the AT Fish & Chips were good, convenient, and affordable. ---
**Author:** ![SuntanLotion](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/suntanlotion/32/16165_2.png) [@SuntanLotion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SuntanLotion)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2025, 10:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-dead-national-retail-chain-would-you-magically-resurrect/1015965/310 "2025-04-05T22:23:29Z")
I believe they have opened one in Cleveland Hts! ---
**Author:** ![WildaBeast](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wildabeast/32/6_2.png) [@WildaBeast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WildaBeast)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2025, 10:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-dead-national-retail-chain-would-you-magically-resurrect/1015965/311 "2025-04-05T22:32:02Z")
> [@gkster](#): > > But if $1 and $2 coins were in widespread use in the US as they are in Canada, that would make things simple for cash buyers. That’s not a bad idea if you really want to maintain the “charm” of dropping in some coins and opening the window. Dollar coins may not be in widespread use in the US, but they do exist. They could get a bunch of rolls of them from the bank and have the equivalent of the “nickel throwers” handing them out, or retool some existing change machines to give out dollar coins instead of quarters. The former would be more in keeping with the original automats, but the latter would of course save on labor costs. But I would keep the tap-to-pay option as well for cashless customers. ---
**Author:** ![themapleleaf](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/themapleleaf/32/14349_2.png) [@themapleleaf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/themapleleaf)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2025, 10:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-dead-national-retail-chain-would-you-magically-resurrect/1015965/312 "2025-04-05T22:40:50Z")
I’d resurrect the various defunct chains of department stores that we had in Canada in the 1980s and 1990s, specifically these ones: [Eaton’s](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eaton%27s) - for a long time an iconic Canadian institution [Towers](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Towers_Department_Stores) - a well-stocked discount department store And as a minimum these two American chains we had: [Sears](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sears_Canada) - the ones at the Scarborough Town Centre and Promenade Mall in Eastern Toronto and Thornhill, respectively I recall as having very nice things back in the day. [Woolco](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Woolco) - similar to Towers But it seems like classic department stores have had their day. Now the centuries-old Hudson’s Bay Company has filed for bankruptcy protection and they are closing the Bay stores, though apparenty some of the ones in the Toronto and Montreal area will remain open for the time being. I remember in Toronto in the 1980s we had eight mainline department stores as anchor tenants at various malls (four high-end like Eaton’s, The Bay, or Sears, and four discount, like Towers or Woolco), and then there were a couple of small bargain store chains (the BiWay, Bargain Harold’s). The variety was appreciated. ---
**Author:** ![DesertDog](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/desertdog/32/11503_2.png) [@DesertDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DesertDog)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2025, 6:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-dead-national-retail-chain-would-you-magically-resurrect/1015965/313 "2025-04-10T06:44:22Z")
> [@WildaBeast](#): > > That’s not a bad idea if you really want to maintain the “charm” of dropping in some coins and opening the window. Maybe, like arcades, they could sell tokens. You use a card at the token-dispensing machine and the price of them can be adjusted for inflation creep. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-dead-national-retail-chain-would-you-magically-resurrect/1015965.md?page=15)