Man! Somebody on my Facebook page posted an image of the Big Wheel that used to be the hub of shopping activity in our small county:



That image was from Grand Opening day in the 80's. I can recall buying my first music album there (Information Society) and buying several M.U.S.C.L.E. figures from the toy section.

Nowadays, this building is used for a Flea Market, open on the weekends. Before it closed, it turned into a Pamida.

Now everyone shops at the Wal-Mart that is located just across the river in West Virginia. I miss having a closer place to shop right here in this county.

Back where I grew up, we had this mall called the Nanuet Mall. It was a pretty beautiful mall, and it had a wide array of stores. When I was young my mom would often take me there to go to a kids barbershop located on the first floor. If I behaved (I really hated haircuts as a kid), she would then take me to the KB Toys located right next to the barbershop to pick out a toy or two. 

Haha, look at all those boxy cars!

Some department stores I miss from when I was a kid - Gold Circle, Hills, Ames.

Rick Ace Rhodes wrote :
The Nanuet Mall began going into decline in the 2000's. Last time I was there was in late Spring of 2009 before I moved away. The mall was depressingly dead, and there were so few stores open.

The mall has since been demolished and replaced by a more open shopping center. It's truly a sad story to hear about, even more sad for someone like me who witnessed it happen.

-end quote

That sucks, Rick. Too bad it couldn't have staved off the competition. The only mall I ever frequented growing up was 50 minutes away, in Parkersburg, WV. It's still there, and doing pretty well. But the stores are all completely different than those I grew up going to. No more KayBee Toys, no more arcade, no Orange Julius... etc.

Fuzz wrote :

Some department stores I miss from when I was a kid - Gold Circle, Hills, Ames. -end quote

I loved Hills. It was by far my favorite department store. That's one I sorely miss.

Ah man I hate how Walmart were killing off these stores. I'm guessing it was the most likely cause. It's nice at least where I live there's alot more options to choose from like Food Lion, Giant, Wegman's (personal favorite) and Aldi's.

As for the topic, I can remember Service Merchandise. As a kid we used to go there from time to time. I'm pretty sure they're defunct. I haven't seen one of their stores in years!

Linux_Sage wrote :

Ah man I hate how Walmart were killing off these stores. I'm guessing it was the most likely cause. It's nice at least where I live there's alot more options to choose from like Food Lion, Giant, Wegman's (personal favorite) and Aldi's.

As for the topic, I can remember Service Merchandise. As a kid we used to go there from time to time. I'm pretty sure they're defunct. I haven't seen one of their stores in years!
-end quote

I miss Service Merchandise too.  My mom used to buy so much there when I was a kid.  Another store I miss is Heers.  I think it was mostly here in Springfield, Mo.

My home town has this wannabe mall anchored by a hotel. The hotel used to be its own thing, but now it appears to be a Hyatt. There's a movie theater, too, 10 screens. When I was growing up, there was a small comic book store, a Sam Goody (chain music store), a newsstand, a nail salon, a dollar store, Bennigan's (chain restaurant), and a food court. That's kind of pathetic compared to the full-on shopping malls in nearby counties. There was a lot of space that seemed empty. Stretches of hall with no public facing activity. I believe there were conference rooms and offices for the hotel hiding back there. But it was right downtown, and for the most part security let us hang out for hours on end, although sometimes they hassled us. Not entirely unjustified, looking back. So I spent a lot of time there with my friends. And I used to go to the movies by myself a couple times a month. As I neared the end of high school I saw stores begin closing and now I think there's only a couple left, and a gym. I guess the hotel and the movie theater still anchor the place and do well enough, so they don't care about the rest of the space.

@shakin: Even with the anchors remaining, it's sad to see so much active space turn empty and quiet. These places were simply just "there" when we were young. I know I personally had little concept of supply and demand, bottom lines, and turning a profit. I just figured these types of businesses were just something that would always be there for my convenience.

I loved Woolworth's. Maybe not for the shopping, but their in store diner made the best hotdogs. I still miss it today.

Vaporman87 wrote :

Fuzz wrote :


Some department stores I miss from when I was a kid - Gold Circle, Hills, Ames. -end quote

I loved Hills. It was by far my favorite department store. That's one I sorely miss.
-end quote

Hills was the greatest. There was one not even 5 mins from my old house, went there a lot as a kid.

kidcoffee wrote :

I loved Woolworth's. Maybe not for the shopping, but their in store diner made the best hotdogs. I still miss it today. -end quote

I remember Woolworth's! My grandma used to work at the one in Downtown Cleveland until it closed up.