Question of the Day, Friday, May 1

Winchester

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Good morning! 
 And Happy Friday! And Happy May, too! 


Name a store that is no longer around and that you really miss.

Me, I miss Penny's. We don't have a local store anymore and I miss ordering from the catalog and driving down to pick up my order at the store. I love St. John's Bay jeans. I love a lot of the shoes and boots I could buy at JCP. We bought towels there; the towels were really nice. 

(Locally, I would have rather seen our local Sears store shut down than our JCP.)
 

sivyaleah

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Woolworths. There was one in NYC near one of my offices. They had a small lunch counter that made the best grilled cheese sandwiches and milkshakes for SO cheap, even back then.  
 

jcat

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Our local hardware store. Now the nearest one is a 20-minute drive, which seems silly if you just need something tiny like screws.

I miss Penny's, too. There used to be a big Penny's warehouse store three blocks from my parents' home where you could get great deals. Does anybody remember Strawbridge & Clothier? A couple of times a year they had a warehouse sale down by Philadelphia International Airport, and even people from out of state would go to it. Talk about bargains!!! You had to run in as soon as the doors opened, sit on whatever you wanted and send whoever you were with to find a salesperson. :lol3: There used to be a couple of fistfights every time.
 

blueyedgirl5946

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We still have our Penny's store. But it looks bare and I can rarely find anything there. They send me coupons regularly. This week I had two coupons good for $10 off on a $10 purchase. I had trouble finding something I wanted so I could use the coupon. I bought a towel, hand towel and wash cloth with one and paid a balance of $2.31. With the other one, I bought a bath mat on sale from $36 to $20. So I did get a nice rug for $10 by using the coupon.

As for the store I miss, it is the Goody's store. They had a lot of petite sizes which is what I have to buy. I liked that they carry things for men too. So I could shop and get everything we needed. Now the nearest one is about an hour drive. I usually get online and print coupons before we go. There is a super Wal Mart close to it, so hubby shops there while I go to Goodys.
 

Draco

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Frank's Nursery and Crafts (formerly Flower Time).

It was my first job in retail, when I was 16 and I worked there on and off through college too. They had everything from craft items (like Michael's), to outdoor and indoor gardening, to seasonal stuff. I loved it around the holidays when we'd get our christmas and halloween stuff out. I'll never forget the ferals that lived around there.. we would keep a bag of cat food in the shed and feed them whenever we saw them.
 

pushylady

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I mias Target since they are no longer in Canada.
You know, I really wasn't impressed with Target. I think they did a really bad job of their Canadian stores, and how they treated their employees when closing was appalling. Nothing really special about their stuff either. :dk: I'd still pop into a store in the States though.
I don't miss Zellers either, or KMart, Etons, Best Buy etc etc. Why can't these stores operate in Canada? It seems everyone is closing. Sears is shutting down too. And Mexx and Jacob. I used to like the sales in Mexx.
 

catlover19

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You know, I really wasn't impressed with Target. I think they did a really bad job of their Canadian stores, and how they treated their employees when closing was appalling. Nothing really special about their stuff either. :dk: I'd still pop into a store in the States though.
I don't miss Zellers either, or KMart, Etons, Best Buy etc etc. Why can't these stores operate in Canada? It seems everyone is closing. Sears is shutting down too. And Mexx and Jacob. I used to like the sales in Mexx.
I liked Target. They were good for kids stuff. They had a decent selection of toys and their kids clothes were really cute. Their baby formula was also cheaper than Walmart for the same kind.

I definitely don't miss Zellers. Awful store. I worked there for a while and was a cash supervisor. I made an extra couple dollars a week to run around constantly and help the cashiers in the whole store. I only did it for the title because it looked better on my resume.
 

larussa

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Woolworths. There was one in NYC near one of my offices. They had a small lunch counter that made the best grilled cheese sandwiches and milkshakes for SO cheap, even back then.  
Oh yeah, I remember Woolworths and there was another same type of store called McCrorys both in Newark NJ many, many years ago.
 

larussa

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I miss a store called Bradlees, it was kinda like a Target or Walmart.  The prices were reasonable too.
 

LTS3

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Woolworths. There was one in NYC near one of my offices. They had a small lunch counter that made the best grilled cheese sandwiches and milkshakes for SO cheap, even back then.  
Woolworths
I remember going to that store a lot when I was a kid. There were two near me and a bigger 3 story one downtown. I remember having lunch a few times at the downtown store. All the goldfish and parakeets we owned as kids came from Woolworths.

Bradlees, Caldor, Zayer were also stores frequented by my parents.

I really miss the Heartland supermarket. My parents didn't take us there often, mostly because we didn't have a car and had to depend on relatives to drive us out there. I remember the huge aisle with barrels of every kind of candy imaginable
It was kid heaven. I would go for the gummy bears all the time.

Child's World was another kid heaven. It was a huge toy store chain.

I kind of miss the family owned pharmacy where I grew up. It was a small place with a sort of medicinal smell and fascinating medical equipment (to a young child). The pharmacist was really friendly and knew all of his customers by name. He even offered home delivery to customers who were unable to leave the house (a plus when my brothers and I had chicken pox and Mom couldn't leave 3 kids under the age of 10 alone)  The pharmacist eventually retired and for a time his son took over the business but then closed.
 

misty8723

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Our local Kmart closed down several yeas ago, and I miss it. It was close and I shopped there a lot.
 

raysmyheart

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I miss a store called Bradlees, it was kinda like a Target or Walmart.  The prices were reasonable too.
I miss it, too.  It was my first job out of college in 1985, I was a department manager there for three years in one of their Massachusetts locations.  It was a good start for me.
 

misterwhiskers

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Kresge's. We had one downtown when I was a kid. It was wonderful, and even had a pet area in the back. Became K Mart. I cried when they shut it down. It was the beginnings of the death knells for my town. Now instead of little stores people can shop in for their everyday stuff, the down town tried suburban chic...cheese stores, antique stores. Things started to switch back but just as they did, the little grocery store (tore down 2 apartment buildings to put up in a residential street) shut down. When I miss that little Kreskes, I miss my childhood. America had it good in a lot of ways but threw out the baby with the bath water somewhere along the way.
 

bbdoll22

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Oh yeah, I remember Woolworths and there was another same type of store called McCrorys both in Newark NJ many, many years ago.
My second job as a teen was at McCrorys.
Lots of bittersweet memories.
I loved Woolworths. My sister worked there. I loved the little lunch counter and also the fish and birds.
 

LTS3

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Two more that I forgot about - Filene's and Jordan Marsh. I miss Jordan Marsh more for their famous blueberry muffins than the actual clothing and other items sold
 

Norachan

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I had to get used to shopping in all new shops when I first moved to Japan, but I think I've got the hang of them now. One thing I really miss about shopping in the UK is all the charity stores. I used to get loads of stuff from Oxfam, the Cat's Protection League, The PDSA and Dr Barnardo's. I love being able to pick up a bargain, recycle something and give money to a good cause. Japan just doesn't do charity shops. 

 

margecat

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Clover, which was a branch of Strawbridge & Clothier. It was a discount department store, with a food counter--the burgers were pretty decent, and I usually had one every Saturday afternoon, after shopping.

I also miss Woolworth's (and their lunch counter!).

For all you Penney's fans: I have ordered online, and they are good. They often have an extra 10-20% off online.  I just bought a big load of bath towels, and like them (they are the quick-dry type, waffle-weave).
 

MoochNNoodles

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I love all these mentions of Woolworths.  My grandparents met when my Gram was working there.  He was leaving for the war and kept going in to ask her if she would write to him. She would say no; she had enough brothers and friends to write to.  Or she would try to avoid him.  Eventually she said yes and the rest is history.  She passed a few weeks before what would have been their 70th anniversary. 


For myself; the only store I can come up with is the bakery that used to be in my hometown.  I loved their pastries.  They were a multi-generation family business. They closed a few years ago.  
 
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