Wednesday, August 31, 2022

Memory Lane Retail


 Lately I've been feeling nostalgic about stores we used to shop at that are no longer in business.  Some of it I remember fondly; other stores, I'm fine without!  Do you remember?


1.  A&P - I never knew what it stood for until today!  The Great Atlantic and Pacific Tea Company.  This was a grocery store I remember when I was very young.



2.  Service Merchandise - This was a weird catalog/showroom store where you checked out then had to wait for the merchandise to be brought to you from the warehouse.  I was reading a book recently that mentioned it several times.  They sold a variety of items:  jewelry, sporting goods, electronics, and so on.



3.  Wicks-n-Sticks - What else but candles!  This was one of my favorite stores in the mall when I was a teenager.



4.  5, 7, 9 - This was another mall favorite as a teenager.  Cute clothes!



5.  Weiners - This was another clothing store, but my memories aren't fond.  I hated shopping here, but the clothes were cheap.



6.  Rexall - This was the only drug store in town when I was a kid. I loved going to the soda fountain for a nickel ice cream and a cherry coke. (That makes me sound so old!)



7.  Weingarten's - This was another grocery store that was eventually sold to Safeway.



8.  Hi-Lo Auto Parts - There was a Hi-Lo very close to our house, and I remember going there with my dad, although I didn't really want to look at auto parts.  So boring!



9.  Montgomery Wards - This was a department store similar to Sears. They had everything from clothes to jewelry to furniture.  I read that all of the brick-and-mortar stores are closed, but they still have an online presence.  Who knew?  Did you know that Rudolph (yes, the Red-Nosed Reindeer) was created as a Montgomery Ward campaign in 1939?



10. Mervyn's - Another department store I liked.  I remember their commercials, too.  (Open, open, open!)



11. B. Dalton Bookstore - I love to read, and I love browsing a good book store.  This one was around until 10-15 years ago.



12. Eckerd - This drugstore was located right next to Weiners in the town where I grew up.  It's now a CVS.



13. Woolworth - I call this the original dimestore; others would call it a five-and-dime.  They sold a variety of merchandise such a toys, candy, decorations, but they also had a lunch counter.  This was great fun as a kid!

This reminds me of other stores such as Joske's, Foley's, Thrifty, but this is a Thursday 13, so I'll stop.  I hope you had fun walking down memory lane!

Visit Thursday 13 for more fun!

5 comments:

  1. Oh lord eckerds and service merchandise... I miss kresses, radio shack, circuit city, Baskin and Robbins ..

    Times change and we loose good things, sadly. Have a great day!!!

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  2. I don’t think Jordan Marsh even still exists. So many places in my life are gone including the amusement park and penny candy store in the beach town I grew up in.

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  3. Walden Books was another chain bookstore that I liked. I found religion in a Woolworth's when a Bible fell off a shelf and onto my foot.

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  4. Many of these i have not thought about in years. There are still a couple of Rexall Drug stores in small towns through this state.

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  5. I remember Montgomery Ward, B. Dalton Booksellers, and Eckerd. I wonder if a lot of the others were more regional? I was shocked when Pier 1 went out of business. That was my favorite store when I was a teenager.

    ReplyDelete

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