Spinoff: Defunct Stores

[disneyseniors]

Does Pamida still exist? I remember they used to have one in Loogootee, and I also remember seeing a couple of them in some other small towns. It has been forever since I have seen one. I never was overly impressed by them anyway.

They had a Pamida in our small town in N. Mn. when we moved here 20 years ago. It was never busy and never popular. It was dirty and uninviting. It closed down after a few years. I haven't seen any since.

 

[disneyseniors]

I forgot about some of these like Childworld and Kbtoys! Miss those and Toys RUs. We would go to Toys R us almost every Friday night and I could browse the Barbie aisle forever.

We always shopped at Caldor, Bradlees and Kmart. I loved picking out Jaclyn smith socks for the new school year.

Service Merchandise was always pretty boring as a kid but I loved using the computer to pretend to work there.

We also spent many Sundays at Sears. My dad had a billion tools and we were always going there. That was pretty boring too.

I also really miss the Disney store. I know they have some somewhere but not near me. We used to have one at the mall a few towns over. It was a special trip to that mall and we loved getting something at the Disney store. Another mall farther away had the Disney store and Warner brothers store.

Also miss Waldenbooks. Bookstores in general. It was awesome being a kid and browsing. Loved going in and picking up the new Babysitters Club book. It is so hard to find books and toys now without stores like these.

OMgosh, the bookstores! We had a big bookstore in our town several years ago. Of course, it has gone away now. I miss it.
We also had a Hallmark store which was so much fun to shop in for gifts. It was always busy, but it too, sadly, went away.

 

[disneyseniors]

Bradlees
Montgomery Wards (or Monkey Wards, as my dad called it)
Zayre

Non-department stores:
Kay Bee Toys
Toys R Us (maybe still around in some locations?)
Blockbuster
EB Games (closed in the US, now only in Australia?)
Waldenbooks
Tower Records

I've never been to Pennsylvania, but I can appreciate Hills from YouTube channels like Weird Paul and Pittsburgh Dad. Weird Paul even has VHS footage of Hills during the 80's.

That's funny! My parents and grandparents called it Monkey Wards too. I dont' see the connection but I knew what Monkey wards was when I was growing up.

 

[Kennywood]

Apparently, Bed Bath & Beyond will soon be added to this list.

 

[DisneYE]

Not sure if it's been mentioned yet but as a kid and teenager I LOVED going to Oshman's sporting goods.
I used to save months worth of allowances and then ask my parents to take me so I could buy a new baseball glove or my favorite NFL team jacket.

My mom used to go to Loehmanns all the time.
And Conway when we visited NYC - I loved going to Conway bc I could get tons of new clothes for dirt cheap. Was a go-to store to buy clothes before the beginning of a school year.

 

[DodgerGirl]

My mother and I were also fans of Gottschalks and my mother and I didn't even know what Gottschalks was until we went in one in our mall and we were hooked on it and they sold everything even toys. And that's where most of my toys came from when I was a little girl and it was a great store. But when I was a baby my mom was a fan of Skaggs Alpha Beta and she would buy everything there and I couldn't believe that Alpha Beta had a spin-off store called Skaggs Alpha Beta in Texas and the southwestern states. And when you look at stores today they are not the same as the familiar favorites. I sure do wish we still had Kmart though because that was my favorite store and you don't see stores like Kmart today

 

[darnheather]

Before Wal-Mart, we had Woolco.

We had TG&Y. It wasn't great or anything but I remember getting my first embroidery kit there when I was about 7.

 

[DodgerGirl]

I would have to say out of my favorite stores that no longer exist Kmart was my favorite store and for the past year while we were moving I LOVED shopping at Kmart every week because we were practically within walking distance of Kmart and if I had a very bad day a trip to Kmart would always cheer me up because I loved buying my WWE wrestling figures there and my dad always liked Kmart's nachos from their restaurant because they were unique and had a flavor of their own. But my favorite times was when my dad worked in pest control and one of the retailers he did was Toys "R" Us and every time he would do pest control there he would always return with a new toy for me when he'd get home just like Eli LaBouff in The Princess And The Frog did for Charlotte LaBouff and that was fatherly love for me. Another favorite store was Longs Drugs because not only did we rent movies there but they would always have the cutest toy aisles and I brought Barbies and Disney toys and books as well. It's really a shame that some of the iconic stores have closed like Woolworth and I think Woolworth should make a comeback someday because it was a cool store. But now it's hard to believe that bargain stores such as Big Lots and Five Below and Dollar Tree have replaced stores like Woolworth because it seems that dollar stores have become huge hits with people these days

 

[flyingdumbo127]

Dodger, I finally tossed my old Shop Your Way Kmart store savings card when I discovered it in my wallet a few days ago. Dad and I both so miss Kmart still. We'd sure love for it to come back

I was also sharing with a friend this morning about a local chain of One Dollar Bookstores that have been out of business going on 10 years now. Such a wonderful place to browse in

Not always so much about the store itself as the blessing of time spent with those we love at them. Cherish those you care for everyone! to all. Happy Monday, too

 

[disneyseniors]

We had Woolco, Rinks, Zayre’s, and Ontario stores, all gone now. The one that hurt me the most was the Lazarus department store. Their flagship store was downtown, and we usually only went there during Christmas shopping season. The building was several stories tall and had huge display windows around the base. At Christmas, they had animated displays in every window. They would set up a special shopping room where kids could go in without their parents to buy them gifts in secret, and of course, there was the obligatory photo with Santa. There were several restaurants in the store and there was a huge bargain basement area too. It was sad enough when they were taken over by Macy’s, but then the big store was closed and turned into office space. It was a magical place for a child, a totally different experience from going to the mall.

I agree completely about Lazaarus. I;m only aware of the one in downtown Columbus. Is that the one you are talking about?
As a child, Mom used to take us there at Christmastime to see the moving holiday displays in the windows. It was just enchanting, and I remember it to this day. Too bad to see Lazarus go. I also liked to eat at their diner and have the dressing. It was delicious and I always had that.
When I got my first job, I went to Lazarus to spend the first paycheck. I went to their 2nd or 3rd floor where the "higher end" clothes were. I had always shopped in the basement before working. I bought a dark maroon corduroy skirt and jacket for $20.00. I miss those type of stores. I get tired of the big box stores now.

 

[fla4fun]

I agree completely about Lazaarus. I;m only aware of the one in downtown Columbus. Is that the one you are talking about?
As a child, Mom used to take us there at Christmastime to see the moving holiday displays in the windows. It was just enchanting, and I remember it to this day. Too bad to see Lazarus go. I also liked to eat at their diner and have the dressing. It was delicious and I always had that.
When I got my first job, I went to Lazarus to spend the first paycheck. I went to their 2nd or 3rd floor where the "higher end" clothes were. I had always shopped in the basement before working. I bought a dark maroon corduroy skirt and jacket for $20.00. I miss those type of stores. I get tired of the big box stores now.

Yes, the store in downtown Columbus. I loved that store.

 

[Micca]

Anyone ever have an Erby's?

In Minnesota that's what they call the place that Has The Meats!

 

[nw6675]

In Minnesota that's what they call the place that Has The Meats!

 

[YoYoAurora]

Anyone ever have an Erby's? It was like an Ollie's or Big Lots. What you were buying might have expired three years ago, but by gosh they had it!

Another vote for Zayre's and if you are from the south, Rose's.

Rose's still exists! There's one in my town in SC.

 

[_19disnA]

Home Quarters which used to be a home improvement store like Menard's or Lowe's.

 

[NotUrsula]

In New Orleans we also met people under the clock, this clock (right under the L in Holmes, it looks tiny in this photo, but was actually 2 feet square). The large portico provided a comfortable place to wait, out of the sun or rain:

That clock was made famous in the novel "A Confederacy of Dunces", and now has a life-size bronze statue of Ignatious J. Reilly directly underneath it, at what was the entrance to the DH Holmes flagship store (which is now the Hyatt Centric French Quarter Hotel. So, yes, you can sleep in your childhood favorite store.) My sister worked in this store for years at one of the cosmetic counters. Holmes had a lovely restaurant that was famous for its turtle soup and its gumbo, which were priced very low to encourage the employees to eat there (a large cup of soup w/ a piece of french bread cost $1 right up until the late 80s); when you stopped in for lunch the place was always full of very fashionable ladies conversing over coffee.

And speaking of lunch, the OP mentioned WT Grants; which also had a lunch counter. As a child I loved their burgers, which were served on buttered and toasted buns, with the crispiest shoestring fries imaginable. They also had ice cream sundaes. Restaurants like these used to be the means by which mothers got their kids to behave themselves through boring shoe or school uniform fittings: we were promised a treat at the lunch counter afterward if we were good.

 

[RangerPooh]

Mervyn's
Service Merchandise
Sears
Walden Books
Borders Bookstore
Dalton Books
The Disney Store
Millers Outpost (was it rebranded as Anchor Blue I think in early 00s?)
Kenny Shoes
Montgomery Ward
The Emporium
ToysRUs
KBToys
Gemco
Alpha Beta (merged into Safeway I believe)
Pac N Save (also merged into Safeway)
TG&Y/Newberry
Longs Drugs (bought by CVS)

 

[flyingdumbo127]

I miss a lot of those stores also Ranger Pooh.

 

[bcla]

Mervyn's
Service Merchandise
Sears
Walden Books
Borders Bookstore
Dalton Books
The Disney Store
Millers Outpost (was it rebranded as Anchor Blue I think in early 00s?)
Kenny Shoes
Montgomery Ward
The Emporium
ToysRUs
KBToys
Gemco
Alpha Beta (merged into Safeway I believe)
Pac N Save (also merged into Safeway)
TG&Y/Newberry
Longs Drugs (bought by CVS)

Sears is still hanging on, although Kmart really bungled the merger.

The Disney Store barely exists, but still does at some outlet malls. I'm not sure exactly what they do now as they probably don't have exclusive merchandise any more, but just what they otherwise sell on ShopDisney. They might have a few flagship locations left, like Times Square.

https://stores.shopdisney.com/ny/new-york/777/
Miller's Outpost did become Anchor Blue. However, there was one last location that still called itself Miller's Outpost in South Lake Tahoe.

And the Long's Drugs name still lives on in Hawaii.

https://longs.staradvertiser.com
https://longs.staradvertiser.com/locations.php

 

[DodgerGirl]

I do remember Fry's Electronics a lot because when my father would do business he knew I had to visit Fry's Electronics. And the Fry's Electronics stores always looked weird to me because the Fry's Electronics store that I liked to visit looked like something out of Legends Of The Hidden Temple or Indiana Jones movies but I would spend hours and hours buying music there and the music section was so long it had every singer's albums you could name. And my parents even bought a microwave there too. But why Fry's Electronics was decorated like a Mayan temple I never figured out. Was any of your Fry's Electronics stores decorated like a temple?