Which Dead National Retail Chain Would You Magically Resurrect?

OK, here’s what I meant about the Service Merchandise catalog prices.

Click the link and read the blue box text at upper right. I always thought it was a silly gimmick.

Good find. I was looking for something like that in some late-1980s Service Merchandise catalog pages, but by then they must have dropped the gimmick.

Back in the days of “fair trade prices”, there were all kinds of gimmicks to just skirt the law. Thus is almost certainly that. They “published” the MSRP and that fit the letter of the law.

Kinda like the “riverboat” gambling casinos in the Midwest that are giant immobile barges in man-made ponds with a 4 inch diameter pipe connecting the pond to the major or minor river a half mile away. But it fits the legal definition in the casino law for a “boat on a navigable river” and that’s all that matters. Logic be damned.

Almost any time you see a business doing something wacky & contorted, you can safely assume they’re dancing the Regulatory Limbo.

Totally get it. I dreamed of Shakey’s for 30 years, living in the pizza void that is Floriduh. When I moved back to Cali, I immediately looked to locate the nearest.one. It’s close enough to be tempting but not really close enough to be practical, unless I’m doing other things in that city, which I very rarely have occasion to. I’ll get there eventually and pray it’s still the same.

Funny, I’ve been to New Orleans 10 times and never noticed the Peaches, though I have strolled Magazine St. many times. But then again, I do my record shopping at the Louisiana Music Factory when in NOLA.

If we’re talking hamburgers, leave us not forget White Tower and Little Tavern. Buy 'em by the bag! 10 for a buck! They tasted great when I was a high schooler with a quart of Schlitz Malt Liquor in my belly.

Every time I hear the name Shakey’s Pizza, I think of Shoney’s (my sister as a teen worked at the former, which was right next to the latter), but haven’t seen one in many years. The last one in Ohio closed last fall in point of fact.

At work I was in charge of putting together our Angel Tree gifts at Christmas. A lot of people preferred giving cash and I would take that to FRED’S. I could get all the small stuff on the participants lists. Clothes, books and toys for the kids. Linens, clothes and pots and pans for the adults. As someone who hates shopping, it was perfect. Though I did enjoy that and I miss doing it.

As for restaurants, I would bring back Quincy’s Steakhouse, a regional chain in the Southeast (actually, per Google there are still two left). The food probably wasn’t anything too special; IIRC they were a low end steakhouse akin to Sizzler. But I have fond memories of going there as in kid in the '80s and '90s, and I miss those yeasty dinner rolls they gave you.

So funny; I thought about mentioning Shoney’s but that was a Florida thing. Haven’t seen a buffet like theirs since they closed.

Speaking of pizza and buffets, since they aren’t quite dead yet, I’d revive rather than resurrect full-sized Pizza Huts if they would bring back the lunch buffets. Much tastier than Cici’s. I swear that Cici’s makes their pizza taste bad on purpose so you will eat less of it.

It’s probably too much to ask them to also bring back the sit-town table arcade games in the waiting room and the placemats that had a huge pizza-themed maze to occupy your time, so I won’t push my luck.

It won’t be the same. Hell, it wasn’t the same near the end of the 80’s when the DC-area location switched from the festive picnic style dining to conventional restaurant dining. The arcade games were gone along with the Dixieland jazz. The company that bought the chain really did not understand what made the place attractive.

My first job was at a grocery store stocking shelves. We all had our own kits of stocking supplies, which we cobbled together and kept in a cardboard box that we had repurposed from work (I recall mine was from a case of “Vanish” toilet bowl cleaner, which I found to be of appropriate size and very sturdily built). In our boxes we would keep our “stampers” and our “guns”, along with ink refills, label refills, etc.

Anyway, my buddy was once pulled over by the police. He had his box in the back seat. The officer asked what was in the raggedy-looking box. My buddy, withouth thinking, said “just my gun”.

That did not go over well.

mmm

When I was at primary age, there used to be an A&W Root Beer Stand that was on the way home from Pontoosuc Lake where we would spend hours frolicking in the water on hot summer days. Hot and starved for energy, I eagerly looked forward to the cold root beer served in a frosted mug. It closed before I left Pittsfield, but I have fond memories of that ice cold root beer! LOL

I forgot all about A&W. I worked in one of their restaurants in the late 70s. There are still a few left in the US, but I’d probably be disappointed if I went to one- I’m sure they’ve changed the menu.

A&W menu, they claim the root beer is made fresh with cane sugar.

Yep, it changed. No more Burger Family, only Papa.

There’s still one near where I worked, and I’d stop in once every year or two. The root beer in their frosty mugs was just as satisfying as when I was a kid, and their basic cheeseburgers and fries tasted pretty much like I remembered, which was ‘pretty damn good’. This was notable to me, because overall I find that other fast foods don’t taste much like they did for me ‘back in the day’. And they’ve never changed for the better over time, IMHO.

Burger Chef (1954-98) was pretty good—especially the Big Shef and the Super Shef. I still preferred Gino’s, but BC was good for a change of pace. And the Paul Winchell voiced commercials were fun.

Our mom regularly drove us to them in the late 60’s/early 70’s-my memory is that they were “lighter” in feel and texture than their McDonald’s equivalents. The one location I recall here in Cleveland is now occupied by a Wendy’s.

yes, that’s on my bucket list. I loved it.