Stores from the past...which ones do you miss?

Sister Havana · #1 08-12-2004, 06:44 PM

The toy store thread in the Delta Sigma Theta forum got me thinking. What were your favorite stores that no longer exist?

I loved going to Venture when I was younger. It was THE place to buy makeup and other little necessities. The clothes weren't bad either. The stores went way downhill in the 90s, though, and they all closed around 1998 or so.

Crown Books and Kroch and Brentano's were two bookstore chains I loved. (Especially since everything was sold at a discount at Crown!)

We had a Crawford's Department Store in town that we shopped at a lot for school clothes. We had a ton of plastic Crawford's mugs, too.

Sister Havana · #2 08-13-2004, 02:05 PM

I almost forgot. The Swiss Colony (of Christmas food catalog fame) used to have large, year-round stores. I remember there was one at Oakbrook Center for a while. I think they have kiosks around Christmas in some places.

And Woolworths too! When I interned in NYC, I was right down the street from a giant Woolworths. I always stopped in to get candy for my candy dish.

33girl · #3 08-13-2004, 02:11 PM

Jamesway
Newberry's
Health Mart
Kinney's
Horne's
Reunion
Brooks/Brooks Atelier (the clothing store, not the drugstore)
Susie's Casuals
Hess's

Edit because I can't believe I forgot Phar-Mor. I think I am just in a state of denial that it's closed.

smiley21 · #4 08-13-2004, 02:38 PM

i miss...

Contempo Casuals

Phar Mor (it was this big drug store chain)

Woolworths brings back memories

i cannot think of anything else right now. i have more pressing things on my mind.

texas*princess · #5 08-13-2004, 02:40 PM

I miss Wonder World.

I vaguely remember it b/c I was really young, so I don't remember what *type* of store it was, but I remember they had a huge toy dept. that had all the Care Bears collectibles

aephi alum · #6 08-13-2004, 02:46 PM

I miss Woolworths.

I also miss A&S, although near the end they were pretty much indistinguishable from Macy's anyway. I used to do some of my clothes shopping there when I was little. For a couple of years, they sold a stuffed bear and mouse called "Abearham and Strauss" at Christmas.

One store I do NOT miss is Lechmere. They had the world's rudest customer "service". If you didn't look like you were made of money, they would walk right past you to wait on someone else.

They refused to exchange a broken answering machine they'd sold me, even though it was still under warranty.

They had a 30-day no-questions-asked return policy... to "Lechmere" meant to buy something you had no intention of keeping for more than a few days, then return it. People would buy big-screen TVs two days before the Super Bowl and then return them the day after the game. Apparently they lost so much money from doing this, that they went out of business. Serves 'em right

Kevin · #7 08-13-2004, 03:03 PM

TG&Y -- just because it's what came before Wal-Mart.

IowaStatePhiPsi · #8 08-13-2004, 03:16 PM

Hardeez
Bonanza

pirate00 · #9 08-13-2004, 03:19 PM

Sister Havana, you brought back a ghost! I miss the old five-and-dime store we had in Burlington, NJ.

I also miss:

Caldor (Wal-Mart's cheesy long-lost cousin/only place where you could hear the Muzak version of "Everybody Hurts")

Clover (Before Big Lots/Odd Lots went national, this was a great closeout price store)

Gimbel's (perfect Father's Day Store)

Passport

Wick's N Sticks (this might actually still be around; I remember the one in Cherry Hill Mall)

More to come as soon as my brain becomes unclogged.....

KellyB369 · #10 08-13-2004, 03:29 PM

I miss Woolworth too. The cherry cokes they served at the lunch counter were the best!

Thrillhouse · #11 08-13-2004, 06:08 PM

Hills

Rax Restaurants

Nikki_DZ · #12 08-13-2004, 06:10 PM

I was just thinking about this today.

I miss County Seat. In junior high, that was THE place to shop. All of my friends and I bought our Levis there. And did anyone else own like all of their "santa fe" style clothing? My favorite outfit in 8th grade was a pink v-neck sweater with a southwestern style design, a turtleneck with the same design embroidered around the neck, socks that matched, with jeans and Eastlands. *sigh*

I also miss Gold Circle. I used to love that place when I was a kid. And Burger Chef.

CSUSigEp · #13 08-13-2004, 09:54 PM

FAO Schwartz.

Peaches-n-Cream · #14 08-13-2004, 11:58 PM

When it was on the news that Woolworth's was closing, I went there for a malted at the lunch counter. My mom took me there when I was little because her parents took her there. It was one of the few places that made an actual malted.

I miss Alexanders in Manhattan. You could get really inexpensive stuff there. It was across the street from Bloomingdale's. If you had money, you went to Bloomie's. If not, you went to Alexander's. Construction is almost completed the new Bloomberg building on the former site of Alexander's. It will be 54 stories and over 800 feet. It's huge.

IowaStatePhiPsi · #15 08-14-2004, 12:02 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by Peaches-n-Cream
When it was on the news that Woolworth's was closing, I went there for a malted at the lunch counter. My mom took me there when I was little because her parents took her there. It was one of the few places that made an actual malted.

Mmm.. for me that would be that would be Cunningham's Pharmacy- little local owned pharmacy in one of the towns I went to high school in. They had a little malt shop. But then when I came to college the company I work for bought it out as the owners wanted to retire.