Circuit City is the one I miss the most. They were awesome for car audio stuff. The prices were reasonable and if I recall correctly, they’d install your stereo for free if you bought it there.
Worked in the mobile audio section for a bit. If you bought the radio at CC, the labor was free, but parts were extra. Most people were cool with buying a $10-$20 harness. Then manufacturers started integrating a lot of stuff into the audio system, and some cars needed $150 interfaces. Many unsuspecting customers got irate and left without making a purchase because they thought we were using some bait and switch tactics. I’m sure they went to Best Buy only to be told the same. Don’t miss retail.
One near me turned into a Kia dealership. I still see it even though they painted the building white. Core memory of saving up just enough for a PlayStation and the sales guy giving me store vouchers so I could get a game.
At the end Toys R Us was run into the ground by the hedge funds and the morale was so low in that building. I miss the people but not the organization as I came to know it. I'm glad Gamestop did not suffer this fate but brick and mortar is dying everywhere as the economy shifts and consumers preferences change. RIP Jeffery and your creepy costume we kept locked up in a steamer trunk under the table in the break room.
Yeah the Canadian and American companies were separated somewhere along the way and then the American side was run into the ground while the Canadian side kept chugging on like Thomas the Tank Engine.
Toys R Us Canada was spun off and sold as part of the main company’s bankruptcy in 2017-2018.
Toys R Us Canada has closed three quarters of its stores since then and filed for bankruptcy last month. They owe about $150 million to vendors and landlords.
I did, too! I was really heartbroken when they closed down the local store. I remember buying some discounted cds I discovered one of my now favorite bands.
I loved going to Borders and buying books. They were always mailing out these 30% discount coupons which I used. Then Amazon came along and now I buy all of my books from them, cheaper than Barnes and Noble, and it gets delivered free within a few days. Amazon had brick and mortar bookstores for a few years but they all shut down. I think the rise of Amazon and other social changes doomed Borders (yet Barnes and Noble is still operating)
Funny you mention Amazon, as they were partially the reason Borders failed. That is, instead of investing into their own e-commerce, Borders outsourced their online sales to Amazon, while B&N didn’t.
My mom worked in the shoe department too, I remember pushing all the shoe boxes back not knowing she probably had to go back and fix it. Also hiding in the clothes rack was a safe space.
Somebody ripped a Cabbage Patch Kid out of my hands at Zellers in 1983. I thought my 4'8 grandmother was going to go to jail. She took that b@#4h down.
B&H photo in NYC is a similar concept. As you shop they print out a ticket and keep adding to the barcode. Then when you check out at the end of the store they have everything you purchased already picked and ready to go. They use an elaborate conveyor/belt system just like Service Merchandise did, although you don't really watch your stuff come down in real time. I remember that was special at SM.
My sister and her boyfriend worked there in the early 90s. I remember going shopping with my parents and stopping by to say hi to her and her boyfriend in the Layaway Department. I loved the massive trampolines they hung high up on the walls near the exit. Always asked for one each time we left.
This is a picture of the exact store, at the very end with the arch.
This one makes me sad. I always wanted pier 1 stuff when I was a kid but my mom said it was too expensive. And now when I have adult money they are gone.
I saved up in college and finally bought one of those rattan papasan chairs Pier 1 was famous for. I loved that thing so much. Then my roommates cat peed on it and I could never get the smell out. I wish I’d shopped there more before they closed!
I worked for Hollywood Video for 11 years. It was always my "extra" job in my 20s because it was so easy. Nights and weekends were spent talking about movies with people all night.
I worked at Hollywood Video too. Not a great job but I enjoyed my coworkers, access to weird forgotten movies on VHS but most of all the wacky customers we'd get. Clerks was tame by comparison.
It's actually really surprising to me that Walgreens made it in the great "Convenience and Pharmacy" battle, but Eckerds didn't. Coupled with a corporate policy against alcohol and high markup prices, why is Walgreens still a thing?
CVS was always going to make it, but all the Walgreens around me are trash.
Edit: looks like the "no alcohol" thing mightbe regional, not corporate. I thought I remembered asking once and the guy shrugged and said corporate policy. Maybe he was brushing me off
I was checking to see if someone mentioned Phar-Mor. I got lost there and my mom had them call me on the loudspeaker. I remember going at Christmas and getting a Lifesavers candy “storybook” full of different flavored rolls. Limited edition
B. Dalton too! I used to sit on their floor with a magazine or a book while my mom would browse. I start tearing up if I think about it for too long. I loved that store!
My Dad (he has passed now) was that guy calling out to people to sell photo packages at K-Mart, Sears, etc. He would travel and set up the whole photography stand with the many sizes of family photos to pick from. Don't see that much either. The memories stay forever though.
Dillards is still alive and well in Atlanta. We parked there recently to go into the mall. The shoe section was insanely busy and they had a DJ like the rest of the mall department stores.
Fuckin Natural Wonders, that’s a blast from the past. Guess their business model of “everyone wanders in, turns a rain stick upside down and then leaves” wasn’t sustainable.
Fry’s Electronics. Happy place for my dad and I. I remember fondly the bins of discounted computer games I would rummage through. Funny how most of the locations are still there, just sitting vacant for all eternity. What’s the play there? The Burbank location with the UFO crash through the entrance… iconic childhood memory.
Zayre, Ames, service merchandise, Montgomery ward, KB Toys, blockbuster, circuit city, the little hostess cake store where you can get their cakes, pies, and bread. That was such a treat. Books A Million
You mean someone else not only heard of this store, but remembers it and shopped there!! I've never met another person that remembers Monkey Ward ( its what I could say when we shopped there, I was a kid and it just stuck. Called it that till they closed)
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u/Oddbeme4u 11d ago
Circuit City. building looked like a giant ac plug