@Veronica A. Same here, Woolco was at our local Mall and I remember many years after they closed, the Mall also closed it's doors around 20 years later. Sad.
I got my first credit card from Woolco. I had just turned 18, and the first and only thing I bought with the card was a stereo system that I kept for years.
Sister worked at Woolco/Tulsa accounting dept 1968; they had a myna bird on the floor that learned to utter offensive words, thus it was moved to the men's lounge where it learned to cuss like a sailor.
Mom taught me to drive in an empty Woolco parking lot on several Sunday mornings 45 years ago. We were supposed to be at church, but she thought that me learning to drive was more important. I never told a soul until now. Forgot all about this good memory about my mom. Thanks for reminding me.
Obviously Store parking lots were definitely the place on Sunday's of course since nothing was open on Sundays,to learn to drive .. My Father took me to a Dolgin's parking lot to practice on Sunday's... Does anyone remember Dolgin's & Service Merchandise?? I loved those stores good things to buy there
Giant Corporation if you're talking about the food stores they're a bunch of lowlifes that's a foreign owned company as part of the reason this country is going downhill
I’m glad to know that despite the rapidly changing face of America, there’s still a handful Ben Franklin stores around small towns in the country. All isn’t lost🙏🏼
As a teenager in the late 60"s early 70"s , living in the Rockaways,we used to shop in the 5 towns in Nassau county.EJ Korvetts, Bargain Town, which became TSS, and Mays.I would later work at TSS in Middle Island in the late 70's.. Growing up middle class back then,we actually lived very comfortably.
Never heard of some of these chains, but... I remember shopping at the big NY Gimbels as a kid once or twice when my mom & aunt took me there. We also shopped at Woolco periodically, and I used to walk the 3-1/2 blocks to the Woolworth's store near my grandparents' house with friends at least once a week. When we moved from the NY area to MD, we shopped regularly at the local Korvette's -- and sometimes also at the store near my grandparents in NY, which is where we bought my first-ever guitar. We never shopped at Lord & Taylor (too expensive!) but I walked through the local store a couple of times with friends when we were "slumming," LOL. My family also shopped once in a while at both Ames & Zayre's (which was a lot better before Ames bought them out).
n Gimbles was first in Indiana - moved to Wisconsin - then Headquartered in Philadelphia - Prior to opening in NYC. I was Definitely a Lord & Taylor - Bonwit Teller - in Suburban Philadelphia shopper. Inclusion killed Exclusive 😡. Third World vs Class. PITY. JaneLee - in Suburban Philadelphia 10/22/22
Also famous in California were Gemco stores. Full service department stores including grocery. It was membership, and some departments were leased by private owners. These were sold off when a hostile buyout threatened the parent company Lucky Supermarkets. Many locations became Targets.
We bought all of our groceries at Gemco in Orange County. I think almost everyone did for the prices. I bought a VeeJay label Beatles album in there for $1.99 that is now worth $2000.00. I still have it.
Used to shop for good sweaters and professional slacks at the Gimbels at Southgate in Milwaukee, and later at Southridge. It and the late, great Boston Store were pleasant stores for picking up well-made clothing for teaching.
Christmas shopping was such a pleasure back then. You would catch the holiday excitement from the crowds, as you viewed window displays and specialty goods that weren't available at other times of the year. It was such fun to set your budget and go on the hunt, often picking up an item or two for yourself to enjoy in the process.
Growing up in So California, I remember WT Grants, White Front, Zodys, TG&Y and JJ Newberrys. The Dept stores were Seara, Penny's, May Company, Bullocks, and Buffums, these were all back in the day were we all dressed up to go shopping! Loved that time when I was very young!
@@franceswalker2881 I remember all of those. I used to stop in Jurgensen's in Corona del Mar to pick up fantastic birthday cakes from their bakery. I still have a leather sofa I bought at Robinsons. It was expensive, at the time, but it's still in use and in great shape.
My mom used to work at E. J. Korvette's department store in Sunset Hills, a suburb of St. Louis, Mo. She started working there when I started Kindergarten in 1969.
Yes I remember that's the korvettes I went to!! I lived in a town called " Fenton nearby. My older brother worked there too in the late 60s. I use to go to Crestwood mall and there was a drive in movie theater across the street
Being bought by Federated Department Stores is the "Kiss of Death" for a store. Foley's Department store in Houston was a landmark store until being bought by Federated.
And the same goes for Sanger Bros. and A. Harris & Co. in Dallas. Though they soldiered on under Federated for decades as Sanger-Harris, Federated threw S-H under the bus when they combined it with Foley’s in the late ‘80s. Now, they’re all Macy’s.
Couple mentioned I remember fondly. Two-Guys for one. They were ahead of their time with the combo supermarket/department store. Kings was mentioned. Some not, at least so far would be Jamesway, Wilmington Dry Goods, Value City, and Gaudio's.
I worked at two Zodys stores in the early 70"s. Debbie Reyonlds was married to Harry Karl. A shoe retailer. Karls shoes were sold in Zodys stores, hence her connection.
One more is the J.M. fields chain started in Boston after WW2 and expanded to over 100 stores up and down the east coast with many locations in Massachusetts, Pa, and Florida. It was a contemporary competition to Korvettes, Two Guys, Zayre , Topps, etc. all started by veterans after the war. It was sold to Food Fair located in Philadelphia in 1965 which converted to Pantry Pride and they went under as retailers in 1978 realizing that their real estate holdings were a better business than their retail operations. Food Fair Properties, Inc owned all of the locations and was privately held by family members and sucked all of the profits out of the retail operations and food operations . They shut them all down and kept all of the cash in the real estate empire and everybody in the public stock and employees got screwed.
They should add GEMCO to this list. To my knowledge GEMCO was the first store to combine a discount department store and a grocery store in one location which was a good idea for time pressed shoppers - you could buy what you needed in the department store and then go do your grocery shopping. I worked at a GEMCO in Los Angeles in the early 70’s and it was a good place to work. They closed down sometime in the mid 90’s I believe. They were owned by Lucky Stores which also no longer exists.
I never went into any of these stores, but hearing about their slow decline and eventual death makes me sad. I have had a few in my life meet the same fate and its always depressing. Nostalgia is so powerful.
I was born in 1962. Woolco, Kmart and Target started in the same year! Walmart ALSO started in 1962. I have known Woolco, Kmart and Target my whole life. I never even HEARD of Walmart until the 1990s! 😲(I'm from the Northeast/Midwest) For "brick and mortar" I'm a Target guy. I H8 Walmart!
Woolworth's department store was an offshoot of Woolco and they had a little cafeteria in the store with the best food. A beautiful art deco style swerving counter with a little carousel at each apex. The carousel had balloons with little discount price tickets in each balloon. When you ordered your food you picked a balloon and popped it and whatever price was on the ticket was the discount and occasionally you would get a prize of free lunch or dessert. The banana splits were amazing. Of course as kids we rode our bikes there. The workers at the store were wonderful and kind. And the stores were filled with a wide variety of merchandise. Just old school americana at its finest. I will go on record saying it was a better time in America. A much simpler and better time. It was. Glad I was there.
Yeah, I remember the cool commercials for Johnny Walkers with an R and B feel. And my school wardrobe usually came from Treasure Island. I remember getting a really nice button down yellow shirt and plaid bell bottoms at TI. I thought that ensemble was cool, but I’m sure I looked like a dork in real life.
There were 3 stores were my mother would shop when I was a kid, for our school clothes.. Woolco, Zayres and Rinks.. all had discounted clothes that smelled like plastic burning!
@Nunofurdambiznez...Zayres stores were always so messy in clothing section. Could get some really good bargains on clothes. Shoe section left much to be desired. Cheap shoes not worth buying.
I remember Woolco and Woolworths. A lot of the things that you show in the videos I remember going to as I grew up in Southern California and up here in Northern California. There was a Woolworths in the town of Marysville, it unfortunately closed in the 1980's. Good memories, thank you for sharing this video.
@@jenniferhansen3622 Philadelphia Thanksgiving Parade was sponsored by Gimbles, it went down Market Street ended at their store at 8th and Market, Santa went up a Fire Truck ladder into the store, my mom watched many parades as a child. Dunkin Donuts now sponsors the parade along the Ben Franklin Parkway, ends at the Museum of Art
How to destroy a department store - 1) expand across the US, and/or 2) be bought out by a conglomerate that thinks they know your customers better than you do
It's my opinion that MBA's are as dangerous as lawyers. Moving money..short term profit..bump up the stock price and sell are the prime motivators. It's like Publish or Perish in academia or people who jump up and down yelling "I got into College!" like that's an end unto itself. Buying and selling or liquidating companies is the job. So many of these stores were started by people who cared. They were personally invested in them. They built it and loved it. Their families wanted no part of it so in the end they sell to the investor group who has no personal stake. They're buying it for the money to be made in parting it out. Look at what happened to Sears. Eddie Lampert wasn't going to run Sears. He was betting that the real estate holdings were worth a fortune.
I beg to differ on the first super store founding. Meijer started in Greenville Michigan in 1934. They were Walmart before anyone knew who Sam Walton was. And they’re bigger than ever today. Still family owned as well.
I lived in Inglewood California at the time back in the '70s about 2 miles from where I lived there was a zody's it was awesome it had everything even an optical shop in great prices and my mother loved shopping there and us kids loved going along they had great toys 🤗
My father was the President of Gimbels. BAT didn’t want Gimbels but had to purchase it along with the company they DID want. They slowly killed Gimbels to get rid of it. It didn’t simply lose profits…it was purposefully left to fall apart by refusing to spend money on modernization and forward thinking inventory to keep customers coming back. It was a great company before BAT took it and killed it.
I loved the Ames store. They had complete table settings that you could buy one at a time. I slowly bought the kitchen dishes over time until I got a complete set. I am still using them today.
Much more wholesome. People went to church on Sunday and family dinner Sunday night. Thanksgiving wasn’t a reason to start “Black Friday shopping early” people got together with their families. The fruit of America was goodness, God fearing, hard working people who took care of their neighbors, family and each other.
I recognized all of the stores referenced that operated in the Mid-Atlantic region. I even worked for Hill's Department Store for a couple of years a long time ago. It's nice to know what became of it and why the chain vanished soon after I moved onto another job.
I loved going to Gimbels in Manhattan as a child especially at Christmas! When we moved to Milwaukee years later we were happy to find them here also! The other large department store in Milwaukee was Schusters. They are also gone as is Marshall Fields who I believe started in Chicago.
I remember Burdines, Richard’s and Jordan Marsh in my younger years growing up in the Miami, Florida area. All three were in the downtown area of Miami competing with each other.🌴
Jordan Marsh had stores in many South Florida shopping malls, the only Richards I can really remember was next to but not attached to the Lauderhill Mall in Fort Lauderdale, Burdines seemed to have stores everywhere in South Florida back in the day. IMO, the lack of selection (different items to buy) and escalating prices led to the demise of Burdines.
@@davidcobb2693 Richard’s and Burdines were next door downtown because they had a bridge between them. At Christmas they both decorated the top of the buildings and had a huge display trying to outdo each other. It was magical for kids to be able to walk across for one side to the other.
@@davidcobb2693 when I was a kid, that’s the only almost place we could go, from Kendall. There were no malls but we did have Miracle mile in Coral Gables. When we were serious about shopping we went downtown. This was in the late 50’s to early 60’s.😃🌴(we watched the Dadeland Mall being built.)
One of my earliest memories was the weekly shopping at Two Guys. My mom would get the groceries, and Dad would take us to the pet department to look at the fish.
I'm Peter now 50 years old here in Hamilton Ontario Canada and also remember going to wolco and Zellers and Eaton's with my mom vassa in the early 80's in Toronto and Markham she died on October 16 1988 at 38 years old from a brain aneurysm in her sleep which I was only 16 at the time of her death :-( I miss her lots
I remember my parents taking me and my brothers to Two Guys in Coram, NY to go have a look around before we would go over to Path Mark to pick up some groceries for the week.
Memories of Woolco, Woolworth’s, Ben Franklin, Kmart, Gambles stores turned into Pamidas, and later Alco stores turned to Shopko so many more great gone but not forgotten stores.
Back in the late 1970's,the early 1980's ,I was working at Hudson's Eastland Mall Department Store 🏬. I remember,when Fairlane Town Center Mall opened in Dearborn and Lakeside Mall opened in Sterling Heights. Then,Lord and Taylor opened Department Stores in the Fairlane Town Center Mall and Lakeside Mall.
Many a Back-to-School shopping happened at the local Ames. LOVED the store, because we lived in a small town, where Walmart didn't open until '94 or so and even a drive to a mall took +/- 45 minutes either way. It was so nice (and convenient) to go to ONE store and get clothes, shoes, personal toiletries and school supplies.
Growing up, we had two Ames within driving distance and both were dumps! I hated going there. It wasn't until I went off to college that I saw an Ames that didn't look like a herd of wildebeest had trampled through it.
I can think of a number of stores that weren't mentioned. There was The May Company, Robinson's, Montgomery Ward, FEDCO, GEMCO, The Broadway, Capwell's, Weinstock's, Bullock's, Lilly Ruben and Furchcott's. Let's not forget there was also I. Magnin and Joseph Magnin. The latter being one of my favorite old stores.
Most of these stores were in my area, Rockland county NY. Suburbs of NYC. Korvertes in Nanuet NY which was replaced by a Service Merchandise which also closed. There was a huge Alexanders on RT 4 in Paramus NJ which was torn down in the last 90s. The building had a huge mural. Lord and Taylor in West Nyack NY and Paramus NJ store in RT17 which both closed in 2019. You’re totally right about not attracting younger shoppers. Greatest Generation, Silents and boomers shopped there. It didn’t attract GenXers or millennials. Can’t forget Gimbals in NYC. Their Christmas windows along with Lord and Taylor and Macys was a holiday treat. My grandparents lived in Manhattan and would take us to see the windows in the 70s.
I'm was a child in NYC in the 1970s, so I am familiar with many department stores - Caldor, Korvette, Gimble's, A&S, Orbach's , etc. There were a lot more options back then.
I was the menswear distributor for Ohrbach's in the early 80's before moving to their Payroll Dept. The other magnificent store I remember in NYC was B Altman.
@@samanthab1923 Stienbach's took over Ohrbach's because they were both owned by the Brenninkmeijer family (owners of the C & A stores in Europe) as a consolidation.
@@samanthab1923 Eventually in the 80's Steinbach's was sold to the family's American holding company which changed over the Ohrbach's stores to Steinbach's (except for closing the 34th St Ohrbach's headquarters where I used to work.
Woolco. Omg. So many wonderful memories of it here in Toronto, Canada. They had a location at Dufferin Mall, which wasn't too far from where I lived. My friends and I would make weekly pilgrimages there, during our youth. Bought my 45s and my first lcd watch and calculator there. So many great times. Today, as you mentioned, it's a very successful Walmart. But, that Woolco location will forever live in my heart.
I remember Korvette's buying a former Nichols Discount City location north of Reading, PA. It wasn't long before they sold out to Kmart. I lived in south FL during the 80's, so Burdines is also a familiar name. I remember Ames declaring Chapter 11 just as they were opening a location in my area. They never really got on sound footing.
We had a Kresge's in our local area. Loved it, it was downtown in an old building with several stories. The first floor was the main floor, it had a long sit down counter that had some of the best food. We didn't have much money back then but mom always made sure we got a bag of Ham sandwiches, it had 6 shaved ham and cheese sandwiches on hamburger buns in a bag, nothing else. We would grab a small jar of mayonnaise and have lunch in the car. Sadly, that store burned and since there was also a Kmart on the other side of town, they didn't rebuild. Good memories! 👍
Wow!, thanks for mentioning some of the totes that I’ve mentioned in previous videos. This brought back so many memories, Korvettes!!!! I loved that store! Gimbels will always be a favorite and Lord and Taylor was just a big blow for true New Yorkers who appreciated it.
Still looking for images of Shillito's, Pogues, Mabley & Carew, McAlpines, Bullock's, Buffums, The May Company, Zayre's, Founders Fair and Gottschalk's stores. Would love to see a continuation of this series.... Thanks!
I worked at a Woolco store in Northglenn Colorado in 1974. Helped set it up for opening, then worked a year before getting a job with the State. Went back two years later part time, and enjoyed working there.
Remember Korvettes here in the Detroit Michigan ,Area. We use to go to the one in Redford MI. West Chicago Rd, and Telegraph Rd, it was another , in Roseville Michigan, 12 and Gratiot. Family purchase our first Dishwasher there. Remember in 80 when they went defunked, sad, 7 ys old, lots of stores in the area dufunk, thanks for the You Tube Channel ❤️💯😃
Our local department store on long island, NY was Klein's or S Klein on the square... Mom and I would make a day of it...first a little shopping then lunch at the diner next door...ahh, such wonderful memories!
Ames was depressing in Bristol, TN. The locals went there to steal and break as much stuff as possible. During the Christmas season it was actually hard to navigate the isles because of the torn open boxes and clothing scattered on the floors and walked on, there was literally nothing worth buying.
There was one store that I missed almost 4 years ago in June. It was called Shopko. It was a good store to stopped in to buy something. There was one that was very close to me at that time. It was another store,too and even was a family owned grocery store,too. I used to worked in that grocery store in the early 90’s in the deli department. I don’t missed it at all. I was doing all of the cleaning instead of helping in making certain salads that they had or even helping on making soups,too. I did waited on customers, used the French fryer, and even did grilled hamburgers for customers a little bit.
I was always shopping in Gimbels. The flagship store at Herald Square, one here in the Bronx and Cross County Yonkers. I bought out all three stores. January 1986 they closed.
Holy cow, I cant believe Ann & Hope was mentioned! That's a blast from the past for me! We didnt live that far from the Cumberland R.I branch, the store was HUGE, 2 floors and they had EVERYTHING! My mother would always get our school clothes from them because they had a Lay-a-way program. One of the things I remember most was how you got your shopping cart up and down the 2 floors. There was this wide wooden staircase for people in the middle of the store and next to the stairs was a special escalator for the shopping carts that worked sort of like a cog rail road. You would bring your cart close to the escalator and a retired old man would take it from you and properly set it on the rail so a sterl flap would come out of the floor, catch onto a metal bar under the cart and push it up to the next level while you walked up the stairs next to your cart. The mechanism used to make this neat clickity clack sound as it ran. Then at the top another elderly gentleman would pull the cart off the rail and give it to you. I always thought it was a cool bit of machinery. I was sad to see that store go. I still remember the old wooden floors in there and how they creaked when you walked on them. That store used to be a textile mill long ago. Red brick on the outside and lots of wood inside. We have a lot of old factory buildings in New England, esp along rivers. Most of them have turned into apartment buildings now. I remember Ames too, but they weren't nearly as cool as Ann & Hope was.
I remember the Woolco's that used to be at the Great Southern Shopping Center, in Columbus Ohio. My sister worked at that location for a couple years in the late 1970s, and I recall they closed in the mid-1980s. The building was torn down in the 1990s and by the late 1990s a Wal-Mart was built there. Here's a defunct store chain for a future installment: Value City, which began as Schottenstein Department Stores by Ephraim L. Schottenstein on Columbus OH's Parsons Ave. in 1916. A second store was opened in 1961 as Schottenstein's North and became their corporate headquarters. Two more were built in Columbus by the 1980s. Expanding outside of Columbus as Value City Department Stores by the 1990s, they began a buying spree that included Filene's Basement, American Eagle Outfitters, DSW Shoe Warehouse and Widman's. Other stores would follow, mostly being converted to Value City stores while incorporating the store name (such as Value City-Grandpa's out of St. Louis). The Schottenstein's/Value City chain had expanded to a total of 116 stores in a variety of markets. But ultimately, the chain was hobbled by a leadership that was unable to keep up with its competitors, and the very first location on Parsons Ave in Columbus OH would close on March 2, 2005, along with one of the Grandpa's locations (for the record, I worked at the Parsons location from 1992 till the end). The remaining Schottenstein stores were renamed Value City, but the writing was on the wall. All remaining Value City Department Stores, including the former Schottenstein's locations, closed shortly before Christmas 2008. Schottenstein's East Store was converted to a Burlington Coat Factory, and the West location reopened as a City Trends clothes store. The North location sits vacant. And the original store, that sat on Parsons Ave, was torn down in 2010 and these days a Capitol One health center sits in its place.
OMG, Widman's... there's a name I haven't heard in about 25 years! My town had 2... Upper Widman's and lower Widman's. 'Lower Widman's' closed around... 1993ish? and became the American Red Cross office for a decade or so. Now, it looks like a little gift shop. 'Upper Widman's' closed in MAYBE 2003? (I moved from the town in 2001) It's now the town's sporting goods store, and the old Sporting Goods storefront is now a Tax Accountant's office. Neither one became a Value City. Thanks for the memories!
I worked at Schottenstein’s North for 20 years from 1988 to 2008 when it closed down. Many of the people that worked there belied the owners no longer wanted to be in the retail business anymore.Even though I still have many many memories,good and bad about the time I worked there.
@@jacquelinecray3837 Oh yeah. Back when the South store on Parsons closed, it was no secret that Jay didn't like the area we were in, and actively diverted merch that would have sold at our location (like those $699.99 recliners) to the other stores. And when our iconic outdoor sign collapsed onto Parsons in 2002, corporate promised to replace it but never did; many customers told us they assumed we were already closed because of it. But had the stores not closed, I would probably still be working there. When we closed in 2005, I had been promoted to Housewares, Toys and Sports team leader the year before.
I worked at a Woolco in Charlotte NC in 1979. I was a cashier and met a very cute stock boy there. We’ve been married for 38 years. ❤️
Was the Woolco at Southpark mall? Used to go to the movie theater near Southpark until they tore it down and moved the Charlotte orchestra there
Here on the west coast, we miss Kmart and Sears.
Great Christmas shopping memories.
We miss them where I live, too.
Miller's outpost in Cali Mervyns also
I miss Sears and Kmart too. I miss Zayre's AW
I remember my Mom taking me to Woolco to get my Halloween costume in the 70's...great memories!!
I remember my stepmom taking me to Woolco in the late 70s to buy a new bathing suit
@Veronica A. Same here, Woolco was at our local Mall and I remember many years after they closed, the Mall also closed it's doors around 20 years later. Sad.
They always seem to have the best selection of costumes
Did you get a wolfman costume? That was mine in the mid ‘70s
I got my first credit card from Woolco. I had just turned 18, and the first and only thing I bought with the card was a stereo system that I kept for years.
Sister worked at Woolco/Tulsa accounting dept 1968; they had a myna bird on the floor that learned to utter offensive words, thus it was moved to the men's lounge where it learned to cuss like a sailor.
Now that's funny!!
Sound like petland location in my area
Loved that Tulsa Woolco at Southroads Mall pet department.
I bought so many guppies, goldfish, and black mollies there back in the day! Great memory!
Lye_n_Tulsa, that’s funny!
😂😂😂😂😂
Mom taught me to drive in an empty Woolco parking lot on several Sunday mornings 45 years ago. We were supposed to be at church, but she thought that me learning to drive was more important. I never told a soul until now. Forgot all about this good memory about my mom. Thanks for reminding me.
That's great, those little memories with our parents are beautiful.
Love it. Core memories like that stick forever.
When I was 12, Pop taught me how to drive in the empty Korvette's lot on Sundays too. (LOL)
Obviously Store parking lots were definitely the place on Sunday's of course since nothing was open on Sundays,to learn to drive .. My Father took me to a Dolgin's parking lot to practice on Sunday's... Does anyone remember Dolgin's & Service Merchandise?? I loved those stores good things to buy there
Gosh, so many memories. Gimbels, Woolco,Korvettes,Ames, Two Guys, all familiar stores that my family frequented. I miss them all.
like most other businesses these days, GIANT corporations rule, and variety is damned to extinction.
I worked during the Murphy’s/ Ames switch over in Lawrenceburg, IN!
Giant Corporation if you're talking about the food stores they're a bunch of lowlifes that's a foreign owned company as part of the reason this country is going downhill
chanel lumber
@@louisdimare6726 Channel and Rickel were the big ones where I lived, both killed off by Home Depot.
I’m glad to know that despite the rapidly changing face of America, there’s still a handful Ben Franklin stores around small towns in the country. All isn’t lost🙏🏼
Ty for these vids taking us down memory lane. So nostalgic for simpler times.
5:36 OMG! Those bathing suits! The people in THOSE days would die of shock to see our bathing suits today!
As a teenager in the late 60"s early 70"s , living in the Rockaways,we used to shop in the 5 towns in Nassau county.EJ Korvetts, Bargain Town, which became TSS, and Mays.I would later work at TSS in Middle Island in the late 70's.. Growing up middle class back then,we actually lived very comfortably.
Never heard of some of these chains, but... I remember shopping at the big NY Gimbels as a kid once or twice when my mom & aunt took me there. We also shopped at Woolco periodically, and I used to walk the 3-1/2 blocks to the Woolworth's store near my grandparents' house with friends at least once a week. When we moved from the NY area to MD, we shopped regularly at the local Korvette's -- and sometimes also at the store near my grandparents in NY, which is where we bought my first-ever guitar. We never shopped at Lord & Taylor (too expensive!) but I walked through the local store a couple of times with friends when we were "slumming," LOL. My family also shopped once in a while at both Ames & Zayre's (which was a lot better before Ames bought them out).
n
Gimbles was first in Indiana - moved to Wisconsin - then Headquartered in Philadelphia -
Prior to opening in NYC.
I was Definitely a Lord & Taylor - Bonwit Teller - in Suburban Philadelphia shopper.
Inclusion killed Exclusive 😡.
Third World vs Class.
PITY.
JaneLee - in Suburban Philadelphia
10/22/22
Thank you Recollection Road for ALL you do 😃 ROCK ON!!!!!!🤘🏻🤙🏻✌🏻
My wife and I love your videos. They bring back a lot of memories for us, we are in our mid fifties. Thank you sir.
Oh, as a German, I'm so impressed by all that beauty at Your parking lots, back than. (And sad about its totally loss today...)
Love seeing all the large cars and pickups in the parking lot! Most of them without power steering!
A common theme from these videos is that Macy's is the kiss of death for any retailer.
Also famous in California were Gemco stores. Full service department stores including grocery. It was membership, and some departments were leased by private owners. These were sold off when a hostile buyout threatened the parent company Lucky Supermarkets. Many locations became Targets.
We bought all of our groceries at Gemco in Orange County. I think almost everyone did for the prices. I bought a VeeJay label Beatles album in there for $1.99 that is now worth $2000.00. I still have it.
I remember the glendora gemco
@@billchambersmarquez1964 went to White Front a lot too. Great memories.
Who cares about Cali
We used to shop Gemco, white front, and Fedco stores.
Used to shop for good sweaters and professional slacks at the Gimbels at Southgate in Milwaukee, and later at Southridge. It and the late, great Boston Store were pleasant stores for picking up well-made clothing for teaching.
Christmas shopping was such a pleasure back then. You would catch the holiday excitement from the crowds, as you viewed window displays and specialty goods that weren't available at other times of the year. It was such fun to set your budget and go on the hunt, often picking up an item or two for yourself to enjoy in the process.
Growing up in So California, I remember WT Grants, White Front, Zodys, TG&Y and JJ Newberrys. The Dept stores were Seara, Penny's, May Company, Bullocks, and Buffums, these were all back in the day were we all dressed up to go shopping! Loved that time when I was very young!
Mom was always dressed to the nines when she went to Bullocks and Buffums which she called Buffooms. I always thought it sounded like Bosems.
I remember them well. Do you remember Jurgensens? Gourmet groceries in small stores. How about May Co. or Robinsons?
@@franceswalker2881 I remember all of those. I used to stop in Jurgensen's in Corona del Mar to pick up fantastic birthday cakes from their bakery. I still have a leather sofa I bought at Robinsons. It was expensive, at the time, but it's still in use and in great shape.
My mom used to work at E. J. Korvette's department store in Sunset Hills, a suburb of St. Louis, Mo. She started working there when I started Kindergarten in 1969.
Yes I remember that's the korvettes I went to!! I lived in a town called " Fenton nearby. My older brother worked there too in the late 60s. I use to go to Crestwood mall and there was a drive in movie theater across the street
Being bought by Federated Department Stores is the "Kiss of Death" for a store. Foley's Department store in Houston was a landmark store until being bought by Federated.
Same thing for Lazarus Department Stores
And the same goes for Sanger Bros. and A. Harris & Co. in Dallas. Though they soldiered on under Federated for decades as Sanger-Harris, Federated threw S-H under the bus when they combined it with Foley’s in the late ‘80s. Now, they’re all Macy’s.
@@Nunofurdambiznez As a child we always went to downtown Columbus Ohio to see the Christmas window displays at Lazarus. Great memories.....
@@brianbumgardner8704 And their Toy department on the 6th Floor.
If Foleys sold it, the item became the kiss of death.
Couple mentioned I remember fondly. Two-Guys for one. They were ahead of their time with the combo supermarket/department store. Kings was mentioned. Some not, at least so far would be Jamesway, Wilmington Dry Goods, Value City, and Gaudio's.
I loved going to Abraham and Strauss (A&S). Those were the good ole days. ❤️🤗❤️
9:00 Yes, that IS Debbie Reynolds. She opened several stores for them as a paid promoter.
I thought so.
I worked at two Zodys stores in the early 70"s. Debbie Reyonlds was married to Harry Karl. A shoe retailer. Karls shoes were sold in Zodys stores, hence her connection.
I didn't recognize her, but only wondered how a cute looked 50-60 years later
One more is the J.M. fields chain started in Boston after WW2 and expanded to over 100 stores up and down the east coast with many locations in Massachusetts, Pa, and Florida. It was a contemporary competition to Korvettes, Two Guys, Zayre , Topps, etc. all started by veterans after the war. It was sold to Food Fair located in Philadelphia in 1965 which converted to Pantry Pride and they went under as retailers in 1978 realizing that their real estate holdings were a better business than their retail operations. Food Fair Properties, Inc owned all of the locations and was privately held by family members and sucked all of the profits out of the retail operations and food operations . They shut them all down and kept all of the cash in the real estate empire and everybody in the public stock and employees got screwed.
They should add GEMCO to this list.
To my knowledge GEMCO was the first store to combine a discount department store and a grocery store in one location which was a good idea for time pressed shoppers - you could buy what you needed in the department store and then go do your grocery shopping.
I worked at a GEMCO in Los Angeles in the early 70’s and it was a good place to work.
They closed down sometime in the mid 90’s I believe. They were owned by Lucky Stores which also no longer exists.
I shopped at Gemco in Indio California 👍
Sounds like the modern day "Grocery Outlet"
All I can say is a lot of Bittersweet Memories, miss them all!!
I Worked At ZODYs In Burbank Calif In 1969. I Loved Working There.
I grew up in the 70's in Southern California, when we were poor , we shopped at Kmart & Woolco but if we were really poor it was Zody's.
I never went into any of these stores, but hearing about their slow decline and eventual death makes me sad. I have had a few in my life meet the same fate and its always depressing. Nostalgia is so powerful.
Woolco was our Walmart before Walmart.
I was born in 1962. Woolco, Kmart and Target started in the same year! Walmart ALSO started in 1962. I have known Woolco, Kmart and Target my whole life. I never even HEARD of Walmart until the 1990s! 😲(I'm from the Northeast/Midwest) For "brick and mortar" I'm a Target guy. I H8 Walmart!
I feel like Walmart was very rural at first.
We had Zayre and Venture before walmart
I loved Venture's too!
@@jamesslick4790 I think Jamesway Department Stores started in 1962 also.
I used to work in the mens dept
On the ground floor.at gimbels
In the 1960s
Great place
Woolworth's department store was an offshoot of Woolco and they had a little cafeteria in the store with the best food. A beautiful art deco style swerving counter with a little carousel at each apex. The carousel had balloons with little discount price tickets in each balloon. When you ordered your food you picked a balloon and popped it and whatever price was on the ticket was the discount and occasionally you would get a prize of free lunch or dessert. The banana splits were amazing. Of course as kids we rode our bikes there. The workers at the store were wonderful and kind. And the stores were filled with a wide variety of merchandise. Just old school americana at its finest. I will go on record saying it was a better time in America. A much simpler and better time. It was. Glad I was there.
I remember my Grandfather taking me to the Woolworth's lunch counter to get a hotdog back in 1975. I was 10 and thought it was so cool.
Woolworth's was founded in 1879. Woolco was started in 1962 by Woolworth's. Woolworth's was NOT an offshoot of anything
Spoled mme woolworth aka Betty Hutton wasted it on Coke and Godiva Chocolates.😢
Little rich poor girl indeed.
Now a grocery store in Africa
When I was living in Milwaukee Wisconsin we had a Dept store called three Sisters and Johnny walker t,reasure Island Shuster s and Kenny Shoes
My mom always used to buy my shoes at Kinney.
Kenny shoes were around Chicago burbs malls
I remember Kenny shoes and Thom McAnn's. I don't know if I spelled that right.
Yeah, I remember the cool commercials for Johnny Walkers with an R and B feel. And my school wardrobe usually came from Treasure Island. I remember getting a really nice button down yellow shirt and plaid bell bottoms at TI. I thought that ensemble was cool, but I’m sure I looked like a dork in real life.
There were 3 stores were my mother would shop when I was a kid, for our school clothes.. Woolco, Zayres and Rinks.. all had discounted clothes that smelled like plastic burning!
Mammoth Mart and Bradlees in the Northeast.
@Nunofurdambiznez...Zayres stores were always so messy in clothing section. Could get some really good bargains on clothes. Shoe section left much to be desired. Cheap shoes not worth buying.
Weiner's Stores in Texas
I remember Grants but I don't remember shopping there
Gemco and Federated Group and TG&Ys are stores from Southern California I still remembered from my childhood years
I remember Woolco and Woolworths. A lot of the things that you show in the videos I remember going to as I grew up in Southern California and up here in Northern California. There was a Woolworths in the town of Marysville, it unfortunately closed in the 1980's. Good memories, thank you for sharing this video.
Gimbel’s was actually the first store that started the idea of the Thanksgiving parade to kick off the Christmas shopping season.
I never realized that. I always assumed Macy's started that.
@@jenniferhansen3622 Nope! It was Gimbels!
@@jenniferhansen3622 Philadelphia Thanksgiving Parade was sponsored by Gimbles, it went down Market Street ended at their store at 8th and Market, Santa went up a Fire Truck ladder into the store, my mom watched many parades as a child. Dunkin Donuts now sponsors the parade along the Ben Franklin Parkway, ends at the Museum of Art
And they sold Jordache jeans !
I remember when I was a kid CBS would cover all the Thanksgiving Day parades, even the JL Hudson parade in Detroit.
Thank you so much Recollection Road for uploading this great video, I appreciate it!
How to destroy a department store - 1) expand across the US, and/or 2) be bought out by a conglomerate that thinks they know your customers better than you do
Especially # 2. Once you lose customers, you never get them back.
It's my opinion that MBA's are as dangerous as lawyers. Moving money..short term profit..bump up the stock price and sell are the prime motivators.
It's like Publish or Perish in academia or people who jump up and down yelling "I got into College!" like that's an end unto itself.
Buying and selling or liquidating companies is the job.
So many of these stores were started by people who cared. They were personally invested in them. They built it and loved it. Their families wanted no part of it so in the end they sell to the investor group who has no personal stake. They're buying it for the money to be made in parting it out.
Look at what happened to Sears. Eddie Lampert wasn't going to run Sears. He was betting that the real estate holdings were worth a fortune.
You’re not joking, federated, and may killed off more brands than I can count
... and shoplifting!
@@petercrowl9467 sounds like you have personal issues.
I remember the Woolworth store and it even had a restaurant/cafeteria too. Nostalgic and bizarre
Yes i remember that
In the 50s i would go with my
Mother to woolworth for.coffee
And toasted muffin
Woolworth and Woolco were owned by the same company
This Woolworth store was in Phoenix during the 1960's.
Beautifully made
I loved Zodys. I still remember I got my favorite dress there as a teenager. It was a fun store with great prices..
I beg to differ on the first super store founding.
Meijer started in Greenville Michigan in 1934.
They were Walmart before anyone knew who Sam Walton was.
And they’re bigger than ever today.
Still family owned as well.
Been watching a bunch of your videos and wanted to say thanks for all the great, relaxing content!
I lived in Inglewood California at the time back in the '70s about 2 miles from where I lived there was a zody's it was awesome it had everything even an optical shop in great prices and my mother loved shopping there and us kids loved going along they had great toys 🤗
My father was the President of Gimbels. BAT didn’t want Gimbels but had to purchase it along with the company they DID want. They slowly killed Gimbels to get rid of it. It didn’t simply lose profits…it was purposefully left to fall apart by refusing to spend money on modernization and forward thinking inventory to keep customers coming back. It was a great company before BAT took it and killed it.
I loved the Ames store. They had complete table settings that you could buy one at a time. I slowly bought the kitchen dishes over time until I got a complete set. I am still using them today.
In so cal we had a great clothing store called Robert Hall ! Great clothing store.
Maybe its nostalgia, things just seemed more wholesome!
They werent' just more repressed.
Heather, they were back then. We were blessed to be around back then, despite what the trolls have to say.
They were more wholesome. Not like the fictitious, fraudulent, and perverse insanity we have today.
Much more wholesome. People went to church on Sunday and family dinner Sunday night. Thanksgiving wasn’t a reason to start “Black Friday shopping early” people got together with their families. The fruit of America was goodness, God fearing, hard working people who took care of their neighbors, family and each other.
You people realise you can still do those things. So stop complaining and be the change you want to see.
I recognized all of the stores referenced that operated in the Mid-Atlantic region. I even worked for Hill's Department Store for a couple of years a long time ago. It's nice to know what became of it and why the chain vanished soon after I moved onto another job.
I loved going to Gimbels in Manhattan as a child especially at Christmas!
When we moved to Milwaukee years later we were happy to find them here also!
The other large department store in Milwaukee was Schusters. They are also gone as is Marshall Fields who I believe started in Chicago.
I remember Burdines, Richard’s and Jordan Marsh in my younger years growing up in the Miami, Florida area. All three were in the downtown area of Miami competing with each other.🌴
Jordan Marsh had stores in many South Florida shopping malls, the only Richards I can really remember was next to but not attached to the Lauderhill Mall in Fort Lauderdale, Burdines seemed to have stores everywhere in South Florida back in the day. IMO, the lack of selection (different items to buy) and escalating prices led to the demise of Burdines.
@@davidcobb2693 Richard’s and Burdines were next door downtown because they had a bridge between them. At Christmas they both decorated the top of the buildings and had a huge display trying to outdo each other. It was magical for kids to be able to walk across for one side to the other.
@@barbarathomas2999 That sounds nice but my family never had any reason to go to downtown Miami when I was a kid.
@@davidcobb2693 when I was a kid, that’s the only almost place we could go, from Kendall. There were no malls but we did have Miracle mile in Coral Gables. When we were serious about shopping we went downtown. This was in the late 50’s to early 60’s.😃🌴(we watched the Dadeland Mall being built.)
@@barbarathomas2999 I lived in the county north of that area.
One of my earliest memories was the weekly shopping at Two Guys. My mom would get the groceries, and Dad would take us to the pet department to look at the fish.
I'm Peter now 50 years old here in Hamilton Ontario Canada and also remember going to wolco and Zellers and Eaton's with my mom vassa in the early 80's in Toronto and Markham she died on October 16 1988 at 38 years old from a brain aneurysm in her sleep which I was only 16 at the time of her death :-( I miss her lots
I remember my parents taking me and my brothers to Two Guys in Coram, NY to go have a look around before we would go over to Path Mark to pick up some groceries for the week.
We had a Two Guys in Whitehall PA
Memories of Woolco, Woolworth’s, Ben Franklin, Kmart, Gambles stores turned into Pamidas, and later Alco stores turned to Shopko so many more great gone but not forgotten stores.
Back in the late 1970's,the early 1980's ,I was working at Hudson's Eastland Mall Department Store 🏬. I remember,when Fairlane Town Center Mall opened in Dearborn and Lakeside Mall opened in Sterling Heights. Then,Lord and Taylor opened Department Stores in the Fairlane Town Center Mall and Lakeside Mall.
This brings back so many memories going to woolco and two guys and k mart and caldor
I remember going to Woolco with my mom, aunt, and grandma. To my little kid eyes, it was a huge store because, I think they were huge!
Hello how are you doing?
I remember going to Gimbles in Milwaukee in the 60's. It was a magical place during the holidays.
Many a Back-to-School shopping happened at the local Ames. LOVED the store, because we lived in a small town, where Walmart didn't open until '94 or so and even a drive to a mall took +/- 45 minutes either way. It was so nice (and convenient) to go to ONE store and get clothes, shoes, personal toiletries and school supplies.
Growing up, we had two Ames within driving distance and both were dumps! I hated going there. It wasn't until I went off to college that I saw an Ames that didn't look like a herd of wildebeest had trampled through it.
@@essaboselin5252 Now Walmart has taken over as the store with the trampling wildebeest look.
Nice that you got Debbie Reynolds at a Zody's @9:08. She was always a popular SoCal Valley Girl. RIP...
I just came to the comments to say that looks like Debbie Reynolds. Thanks for making it clear.
Oh wow I work at the downtown headquarters of Burdines in Miami Florida wow this brings back memories
I worked at Two Guys for awhile in the 70s. I always wondered what happened to them. Thanks!
I can think of a number of stores that weren't mentioned. There was The May Company, Robinson's, Montgomery Ward, FEDCO, GEMCO, The Broadway, Capwell's, Weinstock's, Bullock's, Lilly Ruben and Furchcott's.
Let's not forget there was also I. Magnin and Joseph Magnin. The latter being one of my favorite old stores.
More of a variety of stores instead of so many Walmarts now.
Most of these stores were in my area, Rockland county NY. Suburbs of NYC. Korvertes in Nanuet NY which was replaced by a Service Merchandise which also closed. There was a huge Alexanders on RT 4 in Paramus NJ which was torn down in the last 90s. The building had a huge mural. Lord and Taylor in West Nyack NY and Paramus NJ store in RT17 which both closed in 2019. You’re totally right about not attracting younger shoppers. Greatest Generation, Silents and boomers shopped there. It didn’t attract GenXers or millennials. Can’t forget Gimbals in NYC. Their Christmas windows along with Lord and Taylor and Macys was a holiday treat. My grandparents lived in Manhattan and would take us to see the windows in the 70s.
The mural has returned to Paramus. After years of being in storage in Paterson it’s coming to the new Valley Hospital 🙏🏻
I'm was a child in NYC in the 1970s, so I am familiar with many department stores - Caldor, Korvette, Gimble's, A&S, Orbach's , etc. There were a lot more options back then.
I’m from NY/NJ too. Wanamaker’s, Hahnes, Bamburger’s, Steinbach’s, Wallach’s & Roots.
I was the menswear distributor for Ohrbach's in the early 80's before moving to their Payroll Dept. The other magnificent store I remember in NYC was B Altman.
@@samanthab1923 Stienbach's took over Ohrbach's because they were both owned by the Brenninkmeijer family (owners of the C & A stores in Europe) as a consolidation.
@@LJB103 Really? We used to go to the Orbach’s at Woodbridge Mall in the 70’s. Steinbachs was a store in Red Bank NJ
@@samanthab1923 Eventually in the 80's Steinbach's was sold to the family's American holding company which changed over the Ohrbach's stores to Steinbach's (except for closing the 34th St Ohrbach's headquarters where I used to work.
Woolco. Omg. So many wonderful memories of it here in Toronto, Canada. They had a location at Dufferin Mall, which wasn't too far from where I lived. My friends and I would make weekly pilgrimages there, during our youth. Bought my 45s and my first lcd watch and calculator there. So many great times. Today, as you mentioned, it's a very successful Walmart. But, that Woolco location will forever live in my heart.
The Gimbel's had a talking Christmas tree in Manhattan. It terrified my as a child.
My mom worked at Woolco when I was a small child. It closed and became a "Cola" store that was pretty similar.
Growing up in Milwaukee in the '70s & '80s Gimbels was always where you went for "nice" things.
I remember Korvette's buying a former Nichols Discount City location north of Reading, PA. It wasn't long before they sold out to Kmart.
I lived in south FL during the 80's, so Burdines is also a familiar name.
I remember Ames declaring Chapter 11 just as they were opening a location in my area. They never really got on sound footing.
If there’s ever another installment, I think Wisconsin’s Shopko deserves a mention. Many Midwest shopping memories.
We had a Kresge's in our local area. Loved it, it was downtown in an old building with several stories. The first floor was the main floor, it had a long sit down counter that had some of the best food. We didn't have much money back then but mom always made sure we got a bag of Ham sandwiches, it had 6 shaved ham and cheese sandwiches on hamburger buns in a bag, nothing else. We would grab a small jar of mayonnaise and have lunch in the car. Sadly, that store burned and since there was also a Kmart on the other side of town, they didn't rebuild. Good memories! 👍
Wow!, thanks for mentioning some of the totes that I’ve mentioned in previous videos. This brought back so many memories, Korvettes!!!! I loved that store! Gimbels will always be a favorite and Lord and Taylor was just a big blow for true New Yorkers who appreciated it.
Thank you sooooooooo much 👌
Still looking for images of Shillito's, Pogues, Mabley & Carew, McAlpines, Bullock's, Buffums, The May Company, Zayre's, Founders Fair and Gottschalk's stores. Would love to see a continuation of this series.... Thanks!
Love and miss Woolco. My mom used to take me there when i was a kid in the 70's.
I worked at a Woolco store in Northglenn Colorado in 1974. Helped set it up for opening, then worked a year before getting a job with the State. Went back two years later part time, and enjoyed working there.
I worked at two Woolco's in Colorado Springs, from 1978 until the very last day when they closed. I loved the store and my job! Miss those days.
I've got to pay more attention. I didn't realize half of these stores were gone!
Remember Korvettes here in the Detroit Michigan ,Area. We use to go to the one in Redford MI. West Chicago Rd, and Telegraph Rd, it was another , in Roseville Michigan, 12 and Gratiot. Family purchase our first Dishwasher there. Remember in 80 when they went defunked, sad, 7 ys old, lots of stores in the area dufunk, thanks for the You Tube Channel ❤️💯😃
I remember going to Two Guys as a kid!
Our local department store on long island, NY was Klein's or S Klein on the square... Mom and I would make a day of it...first a little shopping then lunch at the diner next door...ahh, such wonderful memories!
I remember Korvette's in Portchester, NY. It became Caldor and is now a Kohl's.
Ames was depressing in Bristol, TN. The locals went there to steal and break as much stuff as possible. During the Christmas season it was actually hard to navigate the isles because of the torn open boxes and clothing scattered on the floors and walked on, there was literally nothing worth buying.
Something to remember when people get rose-eyed about the past.
A couple of chains in the California area: Fedco, Gemco, and Fedmart. I had never heard of any of these except Gimbel's.
Is Gumps still in SF?
There was one store that I missed almost 4 years ago in June. It was called Shopko. It was a good store to stopped in to buy something. There was one that was very close to me at that time. It was another store,too and even was a family owned grocery store,too. I used to worked in that grocery store in the early 90’s in the deli department. I don’t missed it at all. I was doing all of the cleaning instead of helping in making certain salads that they had or even helping on making soups,too. I did waited on customers, used the French fryer, and even did grilled hamburgers for customers a little bit.
I was always shopping in Gimbels. The flagship store at Herald Square, one here in the Bronx and Cross County Yonkers. I bought out all three stores. January 1986 they closed.
Holy cow, I cant believe Ann & Hope was mentioned! That's a blast from the past for me! We didnt live that far from the Cumberland R.I branch, the store was HUGE, 2 floors and they had EVERYTHING! My mother would always get our school clothes from them because they had a Lay-a-way program.
One of the things I remember most was how you got your shopping cart up and down the 2 floors. There was this wide wooden staircase for people in the middle of the store and next to the stairs was a special escalator for the shopping carts that worked sort of like a cog rail road. You would bring your cart close to the escalator and a retired old man would take it from you and properly set it on the rail so a sterl flap would come out of the floor, catch onto a metal bar under the cart and push it up to the next level while you walked up the stairs next to your cart. The mechanism used to make this neat clickity clack sound as it ran. Then at the top another elderly gentleman would pull the cart off the rail and give it to you. I always thought it was a cool bit of machinery.
I was sad to see that store go.
I still remember the old wooden floors in there and how they creaked when you walked on them. That store used to be a textile mill long ago. Red brick on the outside and lots of wood inside. We have a lot of old factory buildings in New England, esp along rivers. Most of them have turned into apartment buildings now.
I remember Ames too, but they weren't nearly as cool as Ann & Hope was.
I remember the Woolco's that used to be at the Great Southern Shopping Center, in Columbus Ohio. My sister worked at that location for a couple years in the late 1970s, and I recall they closed in the mid-1980s. The building was torn down in the 1990s and by the late 1990s a Wal-Mart was built there. Here's a defunct store chain for a future installment: Value City, which began as Schottenstein Department Stores by Ephraim L. Schottenstein on Columbus OH's Parsons Ave. in 1916. A second store was opened in 1961 as Schottenstein's North and became their corporate headquarters. Two more were built in Columbus by the 1980s. Expanding outside of Columbus as Value City Department Stores by the 1990s, they began a buying spree that included Filene's Basement, American Eagle Outfitters, DSW Shoe Warehouse and Widman's. Other stores would follow, mostly being converted to Value City stores while incorporating the store name (such as Value City-Grandpa's out of St. Louis). The Schottenstein's/Value City chain had expanded to a total of 116 stores in a variety of markets.
But ultimately, the chain was hobbled by a leadership that was unable to keep up with its competitors, and the very first location on Parsons Ave in Columbus OH would close on March 2, 2005, along with one of the Grandpa's locations (for the record, I worked at the Parsons location from 1992 till the end). The remaining Schottenstein stores were renamed Value City, but the writing was on the wall. All remaining Value City Department Stores, including the former Schottenstein's locations, closed shortly before Christmas 2008. Schottenstein's East Store was converted to a Burlington Coat Factory, and the West location reopened as a City Trends clothes store. The North location sits vacant. And the original store, that sat on Parsons Ave, was torn down in 2010 and these days a Capitol One health center sits in its place.
There was a Value City in Charlotte NC. We went there to look at furniture and it was nothing but junk. No wonder they closed.
OMG, Widman's... there's a name I haven't heard in about 25 years! My town had 2... Upper Widman's and lower Widman's. 'Lower Widman's' closed around... 1993ish? and became the American Red Cross office for a decade or so. Now, it looks like a little gift shop.
'Upper Widman's' closed in MAYBE 2003? (I moved from the town in 2001) It's now the town's sporting goods store, and the old Sporting Goods storefront is now a Tax Accountant's office.
Neither one became a Value City.
Thanks for the memories!
I worked at Schottenstein’s North for 20 years from 1988 to 2008 when it closed down. Many of the people that worked there belied the owners no longer wanted to be in the retail business anymore.Even though I still have many many memories,good and bad about the time I worked there.
@@jacquelinecray3837 Oh yeah. Back when the South store on Parsons closed, it was no secret that Jay didn't like the area we were in, and actively diverted merch that would have sold at our location (like those $699.99 recliners) to the other stores. And when our iconic outdoor sign collapsed onto Parsons in 2002, corporate promised to replace it but never did; many customers told us they assumed we were already closed because of it. But had the stores not closed, I would probably still be working there. When we closed in 2005, I had been promoted to Housewares, Toys and Sports team leader the year before.
I live in Canada and did not realize that the US Woolco stores had closed 10 years before ours did.
Never have heard of any of those stores except Woolworths and and never have seen any in Oklahoma. Really enjoyed your video!
In addition to enjoying your videos, it's cool seeing all the old cars in the parking lots.
I saw a '62 caddie and a 1950's Jag in this video.
Thank you, my memory was jogged, and a clarification took place from a previous question😎💪😎
My first job, when I was in high school was as a cashier at Ames. Minimum wage was $2.10 per hour.
I remember shopping at Woolco. Great video.
Was a regular at Ames til they closed down. I remember both Hills and Zayre's which Ames bought.
I think Gimbles was mentioned in "Auntie Mame" (1956) when Mame is fired from Macy's.
They were the big 2. Mentioned in Miracle on 34th St too
So glad Two Guys was finally included on somebody's list of Forgotten department stores