RickR Posted August 27 Report Share Posted August 27 Just for fun... Name a store that no longer exists that you miss. And maybe include a story about why, or something great you got there, or any memories at all. No wrong answers, and repeating is fine too since everyone will have a different story. DegasElite, Smell Dawg and socrates63 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
socrates63 Posted August 27 Report Share Posted August 27 Toys R Us because that's where I bought my Atari 2600 and later the 800. As a kid, I spent a lot of time looking up at the displays and the tags that you would take to the cashier to pay and then to the pick up booth. As a poor kid, it was mostly looking and wishing more than anything else. Raising my own kids, we regularly visited and shopped at Toys R Us. I also miss Egghead Software. During the 80s and 90s, I bought a lot of PC games and software from the one in Lynnwood, WA. It's also the store where I bought Wing Commander, the game that pushed me to buy a sound card, and Sound Blaster. It's now a Taco del Mar. I drive by there regularly and tell my wife about it one or twice a year as I reminisce. I also frequented Software Etc. but their prices were on the higher side, so it was mostly just looking. DegasElite, Smell Dawg, sramirez2008 and 1 other 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RickR Posted August 27 Author Report Share Posted August 27 These are really good ones. I had forgotten about Egghead, but that was a GREAT place to browse and buy the latest games for PC. How many of the Kings' Quest games did I buy there? Probably 1->6! And I have so many memories of Toys R Us. I purchased many an Atari 2600 game there, and oh boy that anticipation while you wait at the cage for your crisp new game to be handed to you. Then as an adult, I remember buying kid #1 a Gameboy Color there -- his first game system ever. Sadly, the local Toys R Us changed over to "Bed Bath Beyond" once Toys R Us died, and the BBB has also since gone out of business. It is an abandoned building now. 😞 DegasElite, socrates63 and Smell Dawg 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
- Ω - Posted August 27 Report Share Posted August 27 If you had questions, they often had blank stares, and yes they were over-priced on many things, but if you needed a part for a project odds are you could pop down to the nearest store and get that 555 timer IC or whatever else you needed without waiting a week for a delivery from DigiKey. socrates63, DegasElite, MistaMaddog and 3 others 6 Quote <<< My YouTube Page >>> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RickR Posted August 27 Author Report Share Posted August 27 Radio Shack! Great one. Back in ancient times, when I was in college, we'd get lists of parts and tools needed at the beginning of each semester. So I'd walk (!) down to Radio Shack with the lists and get all that I needed. If I saw any of the parts were in short supply, I'd buy them all to give to classmates. Assuming I could afford it. DegasElite and MistaMaddog 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TrekMD Posted August 27 Report Share Posted August 27 (edited) There are two that I miss: Woolworth's and Kay-Bee Toys. 1 hour ago, RickR said: Radio Shack! Great one. Back in ancient times, when I was in college, we'd get lists of parts and tools needed at the beginning of each semester. So I'd walk (!) down to Radio Shack with the lists and get all that I needed. If I saw any of the parts were in short supply, I'd buy them all to give to classmates. Assuming I could afford it. I saw a Radio Shack at a local mall, much to my surprise, a couple of weeks ago! Edited August 27 by TrekMD - Ω -, Smell Dawg, socrates63 and 3 others 6 Quote 🖖 Going to the final frontier, gaming... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
- Ω - Posted August 28 Report Share Posted August 28 32 minutes ago, TrekMD said: There are two that I miss: Woolworth's and Kay-Bee Toys. I saw a Radio Shack at a local mall, much to my surprise, a couple of weeks ago! WHERE? DegasElite 1 Quote <<< My YouTube Page >>> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CrossBow Posted August 28 Report Share Posted August 28 Service Merchandise... we had a few of them here in my hometown and I bought most of my Atari 7800 games from there back in the day along with some of my other first time electronics I bought for myself. They were usually cheaper than Toys R Us, and had a similar setup in that you picked up a slip of paper behind a display of the box on a shelf and paid for it. Then you went to the back of the building to the customer pick up center to wait for them to call your name and bring it to you. Another one I miss is TG&Y stores. Not sure how common those were everywhere, but I remember buying quite a few 2600 games in the early 80s from those stores. Ms. Pac-Man, Space Jockey, Sneak & Peak to name a few I remember buying from there. And I miss Funcoland. I got some of the biggest heavy hitters for my collection from them before it really took off and they didn't last very long in this part of the world sadly. Gamestop just came in and curb stomped them, Babbages, EB Games and smaller computer stores. Last, I actually miss Circuit City. Bought some of my first 3D accelerator graphic cards from the 90s from them along with my very first USB flash drive. A whopping 512MB storage the size of my index finger?! Got a lot of great Dreamcast games from them too. socrates63, Sabertooth, RickR and 2 others 5 Quote See what I'm up to over at the Ivory Tower Collections: http://www.youtube.com/ivorytowercollections Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TrekMD Posted August 28 Report Share Posted August 28 (edited) 3 hours ago, - Ω - said: WHERE? Mall of the Americas in Miami. Believe me, I was SHOCKED! Maybe I need to take picture of it. I intend to take my dad there to surprise him. He HATES Radio Shack with a passion. LOL Edit: Not my pic but... Edited August 28 by TrekMD - Ω -, sramirez2008, RickR and 3 others 4 2 Quote 🖖 Going to the final frontier, gaming... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sramirez2008 Posted August 28 Report Share Posted August 28 I miss Woolworth's too. I purchased many model kits from them, my Six Million Dollar Man, the Bionic Transport & Repair Station, and my Evel Knievel Stunt Cycle. Our local Woolworth's still had a soda fountain while I was in elementary school. Great times. - Ω -, DegasElite, TrekMD and 4 others 7 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
- Ω - Posted August 28 Report Share Posted August 28 12 hours ago, TrekMD said: Mall of the Americas in Miami. Believe me, I was SHOCKED! Maybe I need to take picture of it. I intend to take my dad there to surprise him. He HATES Radio Shack with a passion. LOL Edit: Not my pic but... Wow, they even have a parts wall! TrekMD, DegasElite and sramirez2008 3 Quote <<< My YouTube Page >>> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
- Ω - Posted August 28 Report Share Posted August 28 sramirez2008 and DegasElite 2 Quote <<< My YouTube Page >>> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sramirez2008 Posted August 28 Report Share Posted August 28 7 minutes ago, - Ω - said: I’m heading over now. 😉 DegasElite, - Ω - and TrekMD 2 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Albert Posted August 28 Report Share Posted August 28 Caldor is the place I used to go with my mom when I was younger, theyve been gone a long time now RickR and DegasElite 2 Quote You don't need anybody else's problems Albert's Voice Reiki on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@ReikiwithAlbert Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TrekMD Posted August 28 Report Share Posted August 28 15 hours ago, sramirez2008 said: I miss Woolworth's too. I purchased many model kits from them, my Six Million Dollar Man, the Bionic Transport & Repair Station, and my Evel Knievel Stunt Cycle. Our local Woolworth's still had a soda fountain while I was in elementary school. Great times. I bought many of those there too! Video games too! RickR, sramirez2008 and DegasElite 3 Quote 🖖 Going to the final frontier, gaming... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sramirez2008 Posted August 29 Report Share Posted August 29 4 hours ago, Albert said: Caldor is the place I used to go with my mom when I was younger, theyve been gone a long time now Ohh…I forgot about Caldor. I got my Mego Bat Man, Robin and Spiderman from there. I also got several Micronauts (also manufactured by Mego) from Caldor. That was a big department store. DegasElite and RickR 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sramirez2008 Posted August 29 Report Share Posted August 29 Did any of you have a Play World nearby? I miss this store (and commercial) because I got all 12 original Star Wars figures from there. I also got my first AFX racetrack from there. Wow, this thread is bringing back memories.🙂 DegasElite and RickR 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RickR Posted August 29 Author Report Share Posted August 29 I don't know if anyone outside of the Pacific Northwest will remember Jafco. But it was a great place that had demo stations for every type of video game system back in 70's/80's. My family's very first pong machine was purchased there. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jafco socrates63, DegasElite and sramirez2008 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
socrates63 Posted August 29 Report Share Posted August 29 Jafco! Blast from the past -- The name is very familiar but I don't remember visiting the stores though. If we're going to talk Circuit City and the 90s then CompUSA can't be ignored. I frequented it quite a bit for both games and hardware. DegasElite, sramirez2008 and RickR 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RickR Posted August 29 Author Report Share Posted August 29 Oh man. Yeah. CompUSA! Circuit City! I got my Dreamcast at Circuit City. And one of my kids...I think it was the Nintendo DS...I "pre-ordered" it at Circuit City and they mistakenly let me pick it up a week early, so Jr. had it before anyone else did! DegasElite and socrates63 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TrekMD Posted August 29 Report Share Posted August 29 Is anyone familiar with The New York Department Store? We had those in Puerto Rico. I have no idea if they were a chain outside of Puerto Rico but that was another store we visited a lot! I was a two story store and it even had a cafeteria in my hometown. Loved going there. They had a nice toy department and they also had a large video game section! RickR, DegasElite, socrates63 and 1 other 4 Quote 🖖 Going to the final frontier, gaming... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RickR Posted August 29 Author Report Share Posted August 29 I'm not familiar with it, but it sounds pretty great. DegasElite 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sabertooth Posted August 29 Report Share Posted August 29 Lazarus. They were a regional department store based in my hometown that merged with Macy's. The downtown store had a classic Santa Land when I was a kid. Not quite what you see in A Christmas Story, but not far off. RickR, socrates63 and DegasElite 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RickR Posted August 29 Author Report Share Posted August 29 14 hours ago, RickR said: I don't know if anyone outside of the Pacific Northwest will remember Jafco. But it was a great place that had demo stations for every type of video game system back in 70's/80's. My family's very first pong machine was purchased there. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jafco The one thing about Jafco that just came to my mind was how things were purchased there. It was kind of like Toys R Us....the store was a big showroom and if you wanted to buy an item, you'd take a tag. Once you paid, you went and stood by a metal conveyer belt. And soon enough, your item would come rolling out! Pretty f-ing exciting for a kid like me. socrates63, Sabertooth and DegasElite 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RickR Posted August 29 Author Report Share Posted August 29 Just now, Sabertooth said: Lazarus. They were a regional department store based in my hometown that merged with Macy's. The downtown store had a classic Santa Land when I was a kid. Not quite what you see in A Christmas Story, but not far off. YES! We had the same type of store (actually two) in Portland. Meier and Frank (purchased and ruined by Macy's) and Lipman (turned into Frederick & Nelson and eventually went out of business). Meier & Frank had a flagship store downtown that had the 9th floor Santa Land every year with an awesome tram for the kids that hung from the ceiling. Myself as a kid and my own kids were there every Christmas for photos with Santa and a trip on the tram. Pretty sad that Macy's shut all that down. That flagship store is now a hotel with a MUJI clothing store on the first floor. MUJI is pretty cool I guess. Lipman had a holiday character named "Cinnamon Bear" that terrified me as a kid. He had big giant lips. But many old-time Portlanders remember that thing fondly. Sabertooth, DegasElite and socrates63 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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