Top 10 Forgotten Department Stores

A look into 10 Department Stores that are lost in time. Over time stores go through a series of growth and decline from the competition of other stores and a retail shift to e-commerce. Be sure to leave a comment below on stores that were left out or think should be added to a future video.
*** I'm aware of the mispronunciation of some store names and cities. Currently working on improvements, so please be respectful in the comments.
Part 2 of this video can be found at ( • Top 10 Forgotten Feder... )
Part 3 of this video can be found at( • Top 10 Forgotten Feder... )
Part 4 of this video can be found at ( • Top 10 Forgotten Depar... )
Part 5 of this video can be found at ( • Top 10 Forgotten Depar... )
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[@absolutelydisgusted3319]

Woolworths became Footlocker. How crappy is that? I could cry. I miss the old days....anyone else? ❤️

[@gomphrena-beautifulflower-8043]

I do miss a lot about “way back when.” Our local Woolworth’s moved from downtown to the new mall in the suburbs, and they had a restaurant. My grandmother and sister and I would occasionally get a piece of pie and a Coke - Coke was a special treat! - grandmother had coffee, after shopping the afternoon away. Then we’d have maybe a light supper later at home. I was an awkward tweenie, so I have great memories and some not-so-great, I guess like most people. (If “tweenie” is not a common word to anyone, it is the age group between 8-12 or so.)

[@annmcneal7804]

I really want Woolworth’s back!!!

[@gomphrena-beautifulflower-8043]

@@annmcneal7804 • Me too, Ann!

[@digitalfootballer9032]

@@gomphrena-beautifulflower-8043The Woolworths "lunch counter" was the best. My grandparents used to take me there too when I was little They had the best milkshakes and sundaes, and I used to love getting hot chocolate there because they topped it with whipped cream.

[@gomphrena-beautifulflower-8043]

@@digitalfootballer9032 • Oh my goodness you’ve brought up more good Woolworths memories. Yum!

[@JRPittman]

My girlfriend’s best friend worked at Service in jewelry. She knew I was shopping for an engagement ring and happened across a ring that looked odd. She called me to come take a look. I bought that ring after comparing it to many many others. I shopped every jewelry store within 75 miles of New Orleans and found nothing even close. What was odd? It was priced and marked as a 1/2 carat. Turns out it is a 5/8 carat VVS2 grade diamond. Yup, I paid about half of anything comparable. Went back and got the ring guard with extra small diamonds to go with it. I gave her that ring on Christmas Eve of 1991 and married her December of 92. To this day I’ve never seen another like it… or her! P.S. we also bought out first baby stroller and baby mattress at Service. I miss that store

[@undergroundretail]

Thats a very heartwarming story 😃! You snugged a great deal on your Engagement Ring. Seems like it was indeed a loved store by your family.

[@thesweetestteas.4534]

I miss service merchandise(I got a lot of mom's mothers day gifts there) and Kmart, oh and woolworths! My grandma and I would ride the city bus to woolworths when I was a little kid😊 that was our little outing for the day ❤️ Kids of today will never know the joy of looking through Christmas catalogues📔

[@goldengalsclazy]

Service Merchandise is still online as an e-store. It just isn't a brick-and-mortar store now.

[@undergroundretail]

That is true. Im curious if anyone still orders from that store.

[@thesweetestteas.4534]

@@undergroundretail I'm definitely gonna check it out 👍🏾

[@znentitan4032]

Oh geez, the Christmas catalog! For a kid that was the book of dreams, your ticket to tomorrow!

[@lauriej9418]

Oh how true about the catalogs.

[@annmcneal7804]

I miss Woolworth stores.

[@ladyagnes9430]

I stopped there

[@albertagibinik3436]

England still might have woolworth's

[@christophers.o622]

There is and/or was a Woolworth's store in downtown Tijuana,Baja California Norte,Mexico in the 1990's & I seen a Woolworth's store in Malaga,Spain in 1972 & 1973 on my 2 Med cruises when I was in the Navy.

[@gorymarty56]

So do i

[@miguelcastaneda7236]

yea remember being kid buying gold fish or guppys there for 5cents..or western auto

[@virginiamoss7045]

I loved Service Merchandise; bought a lot of stuff there! You didn't have to hike all over a store; everything was there right in front of you; just one item at a time. You wrote down it's number on a form along with others you wanted, gave it to the check-out and out it would come on a conveyor from the back all packaged up. It saved so much time. I don't buy much now; online shopping isn't the same. You can't feel, touch, lift, look all around, smell and rattle online. All I buy now is groceries at the store. Though I am well off, I just buy my clothes at Good Will or thrift shops. I refuse to support corporate retail.

[@undergroundretail]

Which location did you normally shop at? Is it still standing today?

[@virginiamoss7045]

@@undergroundretail No. It was in the 1980s in northeast Atlanta. Just about nothing is still there in Atlanta from years past. I left there in 2008 and recognize almost nothing when I go back. Even while still living there things changed so fast I'd often get lost for lack of anything recognizable around me.

[@jennibennecke669]

Thank you for explaining. I remember Service Merchandise sign, and thought by mom went there. It was such a experience

[@edclark8348]

my favorite store ever .loved the catologs as a kid

[@mircat28]

I haven't been in a grocery store since 2019. I have bad knees and walking around an hour just exhausted me and was painful. And Walmart seemed to relocate entire sections of the store every few weeks making walking further searching a must. It finally dawned on me that was a sneaky marketing ploy to increase sales. Lots more impulse buying as you continue up and down the aisles searching. I noticed this because one product i bought consistently was ALWAYS moving, about every 2 months. New employees never knew where it was. After the 5th move I quit in-store shopping and went online. The surprise side effect, i spent less money! No impulse buying no, "oh a sale, stock up!" So people can bad mouth online shopping all they want but my knees and my wallet love it!

[@rayedwards4132]

Growing up in the 70's - 90's, Montgomery Wards was close to our house. We could buy clothes, lawnmower, appliances, and even get something to eat. I miss it.

[@undergroundretail]

It sounds like they offer things similar to Sears.

[@cathyshifley3472]

My Dad used to go to “Monkey Wards” & hit the candy counter to get the bridge mix candies that he loved so much,

[@YellowMustard]

They had everything. When I was a kid, my dad had a Montgomery Ward fishing boat with a Montgomery Ward engine

[@lloydkline1518]

❤️ montgomery wards; had everything toys: chothes etc etc

[@deborahdesanto2313]

I miss Woolworths they had good stuff, and I liked the food counter.

[@curtcollett2893]

Yes, the food counter and the smell of the popcorn machine.

[@elizabethspecht9585]

And the ice cream sandwiches. Chic,vanilla, & strawberry 🍓 would get one after shopping for the day

[@jeffseven2194]

Best cherry coke ever

[@kat35lulu88]

Good burgers too!!!!

[@undergroundretail]

It's one in Nashville that was recently closed. It was a museum.

[@brettsprang7991]

Makes me sad and depressed to see the world I knew melting away. Shopping malls closing.....no more record stores and I remember when JCPenney, Walgreens, Murphys and Kreseges had lunch counters and the food was actually rather decent.

[@dimitriberozny3729]

Kreseges was renamed KMart in the 1960’s.

[@strivingformindfulness2356]

I remember Kresges in the 70s, ours had the BEST hoagies! It was in the same shopping center as Kmart; they existed at the same time for a while, and I think had the same founder, if I correctly remember the history video I watched as a new hire at Kmart in the early 90s.

[@johnpatterson4816]

Actually here in the DFW Area we have at least three record stores-Forever Young in Grand Prarie and Doc's and Record Town in Fort Worth. Vinyl's making a slow comeback.

[@marilynhudson5805]

Me too it's very sad. I, don't mind changes but everything now is going from worse to bad 😞

[@johnpatterson4816]

@@marilynhudson5805 If you go to Target or WalMart you'll see that vinyls making a big comeback. Although the great dime store chains-Kress;Kresge;Ben Franklin;W.T.Grant;Neisner's and Woolworth's-are long gone to the big shopping centers in the sky,they have their spiritual heirs in Dollar Tree;Dollar General;Family Dollar and Five Below.

[@brianwolters7560]

Montgomery Ward had a pretty hard fall. Back in 1994, they were expanding stores and opening standalone "Electric Ave. and More" stores...they were expanding so fast, they didn't have enough managers. I worked for them as a sales person in a brand new store in 1994 and by the end of that year, I had trained to manage a store and moved off to manage a full, two level store at the age of 24. I worked there for 2 1/2 years and got a lot of experience and made great memories. Hard to believe how quickly they fell after I left in 97...

[@showtale8325]

You should have stayed. They couldn't manage without you!

[@ROBYNMARKOW]

There's one in my area that's been empty since the 1990's. They really should do something about it..

[@princeofcupspoc9073]

In 94 everyone was running on "venture capital" investors. The idea was that only companies that can outspend their competitors would survive. I didn't get that wrong. OUTSPEND. These were the cocaine fueled last years of the "internet boom." Needless to say, this kind of speculative gambling still goes on, but we may never see that level of monetary idiocy again.

[@pacmanc8103]

They had catalogues like Sears and Penney’s.

[@undergroundretail]

I wish they had more of a presence here in Georgia. They only had one in 2 Malls one being Peachtree Mall and Regency Mall in Augusta. Glad to see a former Manager of this chain in the comments for this video. They weren't able to make it after you left.

[@Guppieboi3]

Everybody I knew called Montgomery Ward's "Monkey Wards" for short. As a starving student in SF, the Woolworth store at Powell and Market was a great stop for affordable sandwiches or a slice of pie at its lunch counter.

[@undergroundretail]

Thanks for Watching! I heard Monkey Wards a lot based on the comments. It's kind of catchy 😀

[@kristinlambert8811]

My parents always called it just Ward's

[@lathamarea1437]

we had a huge Montgomery Wards, six stories tall..I can still smell the fresh peanuts, the beach ball " floating" above the vacuum cleaner next to the first ever four story escalators, the fourth floor was all toys, girls on one side, boys the other..Such fond memories

[@miked1765]

Montgomery Wards is currently operating as a mail order/catalog business out of Monroe Wisconsin.

[@cynthiacler9284]

6 story tall Woolworth store, my Lord that's huge. I can't even imagine how scary that would be if as a child I were to get lost in such a large store.

[@AndrewAMartin]

@@miked1765 That's a totally different company though, that bought the MW name in the bankruptcy sale... The original retailer is gone.

[@miked1765]

@@AndrewAMartin Yes, I believe that is true.

[@undergroundretail]

Where was this store located?

[@WampumGirl51]

My first job in the mid 60's was at Woolworths. I was 16 and got $1.45 an hour. My next job was at W.T. Grant not mentioned in this video and I got $1.60 an hour. I loved working in the candy counter weighing out candy, running the cash register, cutting fabric and working with the parakeets they sold and cleaning their cages. Great memories. I am 70 now and in my craft room is my Montgomery Ward sewing machine. Still works great and solid as a rock.

[@reb1050]

Lucky you. I started working at Western Auto back in the 60's and I only got $1.25 an hour. After a few years, I got a 1% commission and wholesale + 3% discount on my purchases. I still have some of the tools I bought there and 4 firearms. When I left, I was all the way up to $2.55 and a 5% commission. Woo, hoo!

[@cynthiacler9284]

God I miss Mervyns so much. You could shop so many different brands all at great prices. And during Xmas they would give you gift boxes for all the items you purchased for free. If they didn't have boxes at checkout you could go to their gift wrap dept and get them. Now a days you have to purchase a simple shirt box for 3.00 at Walgreens. Boy times have changed.

[@marilyntaylor9577]

Say it ain’t so! I loved Mervyns when we lived in El Paso.

[@sandraskalnik387]

If you paid $3 @ Walgreens for a shirt box, try Walmart where it will cost you $4. The sad part is that we pay that for it. Add the wrapping and a card and you will have paid roughly $10 to give a $9 gift!! Something is wrong with American.

[@brendapannell3310]

Mervyn's was awesome. I worked there twice - once in the 90s and once in 2001-2003. Target Corporation put them in the toilet. Fun fact: you can still buy High Sierra backpacks at Staples (I believe). It's even the same logo.

[@retroguy9494]

I haven't forgotten most of these stores. I still remember going into, with my father, Bradlees, Woolworths, Caldor, Ames and S. Klein. My father was so cheap he could squeeze a nickel until the Indian cried and the buffalo crapped! So he LOVED these discount bargain stores! There was also JJ Newberry, Jamesway and K Mart which was where I got my very first summer job as a teenager. That was a HORRID place to work with bad and abusive managers. I also remember ordering from the Montgomery Ward catalog.

[@rg1whiteywins598]

I worked at Dayton's department store as my first job. Evil managers too. I had appendicitis and was in pain and felt like I was going to throw up and went in the restroom where the managers were smoking cigarettes and they told me to get out and go back to work. They acted like I was taking. I quit and my folks came to pick me up. But it was 7 more years before I was correctly diagnosed and my appendix was removed along with a huge abscess that had formed each time my appendix cracked and sealed back up. Appendix was in the middle, not on the right lower like most people. A genetic variation found mainly in people with Jewish ancestry.

[@VH-lp4ll]

Holy crap, JJ Newberry!!! I remember that store!!! Now the memories of that place are rushing back, WOW!!

[@retroguy9494]

@@VH-lp4ll My mother actually had a part time job there for a while when she was in high school. Back when they had 'floorwalkers' the one in Newberry's was a young woman in her 20's who ended up buying a house with her husband at the same time my parents had their house built on the same street. So we were neighbors for almost 40 years. She just died a couple years back. She was in her early 90's. Small world eh?

[@thomashernandez8700]

JJ Newberry in Birmingham was the bomb in 1962.

[@clairelowry9122]

I particularly mourn the loss of five and dime stores. Woolworth's, Sterling, Benjamin Franklin, McCrory's, et al. I've developed an aversion to the Walmarts and Targets which are great for a cardio workout, but simply another pain for a pleasant shopping experience. There was an old beer ad in the 70s -- "Some things ought to stay the same." Unfortunately, that beer went the way of five and dimes too. Such is life.

[@notmebutyou8350]

Haha. I remember McCroy's!!! I used to like going there as a kid. Fun memories, indeed.

[@jimcook2715]

How Target survives I'll never know. I haven't seen a Bargain there in 20 years

[@guccitarot2305]

Girllllll, I hate Walmart!!!! I was forced to go there yesterday for western union. They ran out of bags so you had to carry your stuff out in your hands and they also ran out of shopping carts, I mean this is a billion dollar company not one grocery bag in this gigantic store and only about 20 shopping carts for the entire store. On the positive side I bought some strong scented candles for $3.97 vs $25.00 bath and body works. And the garlic parmesan wings for$4.00 with 2 sides. Vs Buffalo Wild Wings $17.95 with only 1 side. Walmart was out of stock on 30% of stock. Really don't like Target either wayyyy overpriced.

[@barbarat5729]

Murphy's. I believe it was G. C. Murphy's. We had a Woolworth's and Murphy's downtown.

[@dimitriberozny3729]

Benjamin Franklin was aquired by Servastar Hardware and Servastar was aquired by True Value Hardware.

[@fposmith]

How could they not mention W.T. Grants ? They were right up there with Sears and Wards.

[@chewie2055]

Or TSS

[@rebeccagarcia8167]

How about Wienstock's

[@undergroundretail]

I will be sure to include them in a future installment.

[@lynnrinaldo6795]

I loved loved loved grants!!!!! I went there with my mother all the time! I t was a real treat to there

[@undergroundretail]

@@lynnrinaldo6795 Which location did you visit?

[@tk-zb6br]

I grew up in the 60s and usually spent my allowance at TG&Y. Loved that place it was 4 blocks from home. Recently we were traveling through East Texas and found a Benjamin Franklin store. The corporation is defunct but it lives on in a small town.

[@Susie_Floozie]

YES, the TG&Y stores! Kids said it stood for "Toys, Gum, & Yo-yos." And Ben Franklin stores, too! They served smaller towns, and their stores were all over the place. That's crazy, finding a BF store that's still in business.

[@abiyahabiyelbetsalel2869]

T G & Y : toys, games & yo-yos, & founders names, Tomlinson, Gosslin & Young

[@abiyahabiyelbetsalel2869]

@@Susie_Floozie the g is not gum, but games

[@glendasmith9876]

In the 80's. We had a TG&Y store in Buford Ga. It was opened in 1980..I got a job there and worked there until 1984. Not to long after that they went out of business.

[@undergroundretail]

That's an interesting story. I definitely have to look into that chain.

[@DavidSmith-sb2ix]

I'll buy everything in thrift stores and flea markets before I rely on Walmart and Target.

[@undergroundretail]

Sometimes you can find treasures there.

[@brucecoleman7412]

I loved Service Merchandise! They always had great prices and I hated to see them close.

[@davidmehling4310]

A store I remember similar to Service Merchandise was Best. Thought they had an excellent selection of jewelry and kitchen items

[@lauradaly8020]

A branch of Best Products came to South Florida

[@richkurtz6053]

Service and Best shared publishing the catlog and did not compete in their teritories.

[@crpkvl]

In the north east, there were 2 similar style stores. One was Century And if I remember correctly it was calledBrand Names.

[@Craspic]

i remember Best, Service Merchandise, Wilson's (which SM bought out), and in downtown Fort Worth there was another catalog showroom store called Edison's. Not sure if it was a chain or a single store.

[@gomphrena-beautifulflower-8043]

I’ve shopped in most of them and have such fond memories. Shopping was fun! We didn’t have a lot of money, so many times we went “window shopping.” Not sure if young folks know what that is, but I can remember whiling away a Sunday afternoon, just walking along the sidewalk and seeing what the creative window dressers had prepared. (Most stores were closed on Sundays; we called it the “Blue Law,” idk why.) It was especially fun at Christmastime! RIP old stores. I remember you well!

[@undergroundretail]

Shopping will never be the same like it used to be :( .

[@gomphrena-beautifulflower-8043]

@@undergroundretail • You sure got that right! Lol. Appreciate your uploads!

[@LymanPhillips]

They're called blue laws because in MA they were kept in blue binders.

[@naomiemoore5725]

Most young folks today are in two groups clueless narcissists or introverted and socially awkward. God help us in the future.

[@billyoung8118]

We are still using our refrigerator bought from Montgomery Wards in the early 1990s. Works like a champ. We are not looking forward to eventually replacing it because we know today's refrigerators are crap and won't last more than a few years.

[@undergroundretail]

Thats a strong refrigerator! Which brand if you don't mind me asking? 🤔

[@billyoung8118]

@@undergroundretail It is an Admiral Signature 2000. When we got it, it was a floor model. I've replaced the ice maker once. The defroster malfunctioned and melted the bottom tray in the freezer compartment above the heating element. But it was replaced under warranty. No maintenance whatsoever other than that. Typical cleaning of course.

[@annek1226]

Never did I ever think I would live to see the day Macy’s and Gimbel’s would go under!

[@julieneild4505]

Now they can share everything with one another lol

[@pamelaharnage6303]

I know. I used to love going into Macy's. Especially the one at the old Macon mall in Georgia. Spent the most of my teenage years there. I really loved Dilliards. When the Dilliards at that mall got demolished, I cried.

[@Jo-zr9pl]

Most Macy's in Southern California are still operating. Tic toc the clock is ticking. I personally miss Montgomery Ward's and Newberrys, Sears is gone, so is K Mart, how about Zodys? And the countless others that slip my mind.

[@dominickjustave3558]

They bulit too many

[@jodywight3948]

@@Jo-zr9pl I sure miss Newberry's. They were in mall near me, but they had everything!

[@jeffpierce725]

When I was a kid Woolworths always had the best toy department. The toy department always had it's own clerk. I remember getting Matchbox Cars, Tonka's, and Tyco Trains there. All the cars and trains were in a display case and you would tell the clerk which one you wanted and he would get one from behind the counter and then come around front and give to you. Great memories!

[@undergroundretail]

Thanks for Watching! I forgot all about Matchbox Cars. Do those still exist?

[@jeffpierce725]

@@undergroundretail Yes they do. They are slowly starting to go back to the type of cars I had as a kid. Matchbox and Hot Wheels are both owned by Mattel now.

[@americanriver9525]

Started working for Mervyn's in 1973. Stayed 23 years. Terrific company.

[@undergroundretail]

Thanks for Watching! Which location did you work at?

[@lloydkline1518]

❤️ Mervyn 👖 pants

[@americanriver9525]

@@undergroundretail San Pablo, Eastmont, Simi Valley, then headquarters for many years.

[@brendapannell3310]

Agreed! I worked in the Porterville, CA store with my mom 1992-1995.

[@melindaabplanalp3980]

@@undergroundretail San Pablo, Eastmont, and Simi...then promoted to headquarters...then became a sales rep and sold to them..

[@wendymuir7818]

Raise your hand if you miss Robinson May. I miss dime stores like Woolworth's and McCrory's. I miss the luncheonette/soda fountain counter at Woolworth's. I miss small town one-off family-owned department stores. (Sheds a tear for Wodtke's) Legendary, long-gone department stores I would have liked to visit: Bullock's Wilshire Marshall Fields Lord & Taylor has filed for bankruptcy and is going out of business.

[@MeMeDaVinci]

My first job was at JW Robinson's. My mom worked at Buffums. I grew up going to Penneys, Sears and Montgomery Ward and once in a great while May Co. I remember Orbachs, too.

[@naomiemoore5725]

And before that it was just Robinsons. They still had a fur department. Loved that store!

[@rg1whiteywins598]

✋✋✋✋✋✋

[@naomiemoore5725]

Bullock's Wilshire was awesome on their sales, it was down the street and I worked at 3200 Wilshire Boulevard. Next door was I Magnin - also wonderful on sales. I was very young and didn't have a lot of discretionary income at the time, but I did score some items that were worthwhile. The Broadway was one of the anchor stores and where I bought my $50 Gloria Vanderbilt jeans. When they added on, I loved Nordstrom and pretty much bought all my shoes there. Wore. 10 1/2 AAA in women's shoes which was difficult to find but Nordstrom always had shoes that fit and when I started wearing different sizes depending upon designer or manufacturer.

[@naomiemoore5725]

@@MeMeDaVinci Yup, Buffums and Orbachs in the original Glendale Galleria.

[@arcata31]

Mervyn's was similar in concept to what we know as Kohl's today. They issued me my first credit card when I was 18, and was a loyal shopper until I moved from CA to TN. Shout out to Miller's Outpost too, the best place to buy Levi's in the 80's! Diversity of shopping has died, and with it has come a depressing experience of resorting to Walmart, DG and a sundry list of other generic merchants. Sigh.

[@undergroundretail]

That is a really great comparison! I never thought of that until I read this. Some people are quick to say JCPenney.

[@mariekatherine5238]

Three generations of women in my family worked for Woolworths. Grandma, Mom, me!

[@undergroundretail]

A family tradition and legacy passed on 😇. Did you keep any relics like a name tag or employee shirt?

[@mariekatherine5238]

@@undergroundretail We have several wire and vinyl shopping baskets, lots of needles and thread.

[@revondacolbert7775]

Mom and I used to visit the one on Powell St in San Francisco. It was huge. It had a cafe that sold the best hotdogs, and their candy counter took up an entire section. You could buy candy of all types by the piece. I miss Woolworth. (BTW I've never shopped at Footlocker.)

[@-elchoya9832]

was Grandma,Mom ,Me a department store

[@mariekatherine5238]

@@revondacolbert7775 Footlocker? Nothing resembling Woolworths!

[@heidifedor]

I loved the burgers at the Woolworth’s lunch counter.

[@wynn8591]

I worked the lunch counter part time at Woolworth’s when I was in high school. I especially remember making the banana splits.

[@sharonwhite4847]

@@wynn8591 I always had the banana spit w/ Dad, Mom and my brother had the hamburger, every Friday night:) The banana splits were the best, thank you.

[@kat35lulu88]

Me too! My mom and I would get lunch there when we went to the mall...... awesome fries too.

[@bonnieharris8112]

I ate at the Woolworth's on the Fulton Mall and the one in the Fashion Fair Mall here in Fresno CA!

[@lenblack1462]

They had great service unless you happened to be black.

[@reedcampbell5325]

I used to go to service merchandise as a kid. It was such a strange shopping experience.

[@gordongiobanni7543]

It really was different now that I think back to it.

[@nickhill8612]

@@gordongiobanni7543 I know and I want to go back to.

[@glennlittleton3762]

Shop showroom w/clipboard and mini pencil 📝, write down item number, wait in line, just to find out they didn't have in stock.

[@josepharturi5442]

It was always pretty awful honestly!

[@robintuner7954]

Service merchandise was the store l still have a piece of jewelry from them and Montgomery wards was a very good store too in 1980s they had some real nice stuff

[@PaulGreen11]

Montgomery Wards and Penny's catalogs were really fun and interesting.

[@undergroundretail]

Do you still have copies of your catalogs?

[@PaulGreen11]

@@undergroundretail No, I think the last catelog I ever saw and handled was a JC Penney catelog. I used to pick up at a pick up center at a strip mall on Riverdale Road in Riverside, Maryland. I remember I used to have to call the orders in.

[@karlmiller7500]

And Sears, I loved that store, I think they're still around on a small scale, JCPenney's will probably be next on The Chopping Block

[@PaulGreen11]

@@karlmiller7500 Yeah, Sears, we had a good life in the '70s.

[@janicepalesch9221]

I liked Spiegel catalogs, too.

[@virginia7191]

I worked at a Woolworths in the late 70’s. They had a lunch counter and I was the cook. Still have my Upton’s credit card --somewhere. Just after getting it, I went shopping and learned the store had closed. LOL!

[@davidthomas283]

Our Woolworth's building kept the name and brought back the burger stand, but the rest is now an antique shop.

[@debbiecurtiscurtis3677]

I also miss Woolworths. Every Saturday my dad would take my older sister and I are to the store to get our "somethings". Whatever we wanted within a certain price range. We would also get to go to the candy counter, my sister always got the chocolate stars, I got malted milk balls and daddy got popcorn. Many wonderful memories.

[@undergroundretail]

Thats Awesome! Which location?

[@rg1whiteywins598]

In highschool barrettes were the big deal and I had tons of them from Woolworths. They would sometimes pull out old stock from the 1950s or 1960s, and I would but them up so my barrettes were unique. And I remember they has those packages o big fluffy yarns that you put on your ponytails like you would put a ribbon.

[@valeriewilliams6576]

My mom met my dad sitting at a soda fountain in Woolworth's where she worked. All Woolworth's had those cute soda fountains. Gosh, I never heard of most of the other stores.

[@wvpirate]

Not sure if it was mentioned yet. But Montgomery Ward is responsible for creating Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer

[@mgtowp.l.7756]

I Miss Montgomery Ward .And Their Catalog..

[@laurafranich4807]

We used to cut out paper dolls from the Montgomery Ward's catalog

[@undergroundretail]

I'm sure you can snag a deal on eBay.

[@laurafranich4807]

@@undergroundretail yeah but no paper dolls

[@walterweddle7644]

I bought a wedding band at Montgomery Ward in 1991.

[@cnance1972]

Best lawnmower I ever owned was from Montgomery Ward

[@davinp]

Ames made the mistake of buying competing stores getting them into much debt. They previously bought Zayres and Hills. When I was a kid I had a Zayres, which later changed to Ames

[@nickhill8612]

Oh yeah I remember Ames.

[@notmebutyou8350]

Ames and Zayres. I haven't heard those names in AGES!!! 😀 Didn't Ames used to be Hills Department Store at one time?

[@arthurpasseri1840]

My hometown had a Zayre's that was the most profitable store in the chain and it was the third most profitable store with Ames....@Not Mr But You Ames bought Hills. They should've not bought the chains they did...

[@richardpayne9249]

In my area Ames took over most of the G C Murphy store

[@lv2flip24]

hills is where the toys are🎶

[@davidnielsen4490]

My aunt worked for Montgomery Wards. We loved Service Merchandise and Woolworths besides Wards. They were great stores with great service.

[@undergroundretail]

That is awesome! I never shopped at Wards or Woolworths.

[@MazichMusic]

I loved Service Merchandise and was sorry to see them go out of business. My PT job when I started college was with Montgomery Ward in Warren, MI, from 1974-1977. I started in hardware and electrical, moved to the garden shop/pets/toys dept (89/48) and filled in for other departments during days off and for meal breaks. My first summer I sold summer furniture (66). The next summer I sold in the garden shop on commission. During my final summer, I sold yard fencing and did some hits in store in the garden shop. The store gave me a lot of opportunities over those three years. Good memories.

[@marianneterrell9342]

I was stunned when Woolworths closed I thought it would be there forever because it had been there forever I loved Woolworths

[@undergroundretail]

I have never stepped foot into one 😔. From doing research it seems like an awesome place to shop.

[@tonynegron1927]

🤔 In NYC when l was a kid. Born in 1965. There was Alexander's. When we moved down to southern Fla. in 1973. I remember The Treasurary, Zayer's,Richard's,Jordan Marsh & Burdine's.

[@susansarver4554]

Being a California girl, shopped at Montgomery Wards, White Front, Penneys, Sears, then a little later Mervyns, KMart, and Service Merchandise.

[@undergroundretail]

I’ve never heard of White Front before. I need to check them out.

[@susansarver4554]

@@undergroundretail it was very like KMart.

[@undergroundretail]

@@susansarver4554 I just read some history on it. Very interesting and I’ll be sure to add it 😃.

[@douglasdixon524]

Service Merchandise was interesting, products on the floor were display only, pick a tag that corresponds, pay up front, and we'll send it up front to you on a conveyor belt.

[@undergroundretail]

@@douglasdixon524 Reminds me of how IKEA is today.

[@darleneminor1087]

I miss service merchandise, I still have a musical mantle clock from the local one I got just before it went out of business.

[@andreatuckman1084]

I was a manager at Service Merchandise. One fact left out of this video is that their jewelry department was number one in the United States. It was my favorite job from over 30 years in retail.

[@yvonnepalmquist8676]

@@andreatuckman1084 This is were I got my engagement/wedding set from.

[@yvonnepalmquist8676]

@@andreatuckman1084 two words to the wise...

[@rcschmidt668]

Who can forget their musical jingle...”Two words to the wise, Service Merchandise!”

[@williammc63]

I worked for Service in Ann Arbor for 2 years. Met the best people, had the best time and Had the best Christmas parties ever , Miss that place.

[@Flap999]

As it happens, sitting in my living room is a loveseat made in 1961 that was owned by my grandparents. It’s all solid wood and a strong and tight as the day it was purchased. It’s been refinished a couple of times and needs updated cushions but what an excellent piece of furniture it is. I don’t know what they paid for it but based on my childhood visits to the local monkey wards I’m sure it was a bargain. That was a great chain of stores.

[@monstersofthemidway7125]

1) I worked for Montgomery Ward from 77 to 81. I have very fond memories of Wards. 2) Service Merchandise was the most trusted retailer when it came to "jewelery." They had great items at great prices. 3) You did not mention W. BELL. They were just like Service Merchandise. 4) AMES sucked. 5) You did not mention "Lechmere" which was a great NE retailer with higher end products. Lechmere was acquired by Wards & they both went bankrupt together. 6) E.J. Korvettes was a great discount retailer that had old stores that were poorly managed. 7) Next year (2022), Sears will be #1 on your list.

[@undergroundretail]

Thanks for the list 😊. Sears will definitely be #1.

[@kat35lulu88]

Most of my paycheck went to Service merchandise......

[@veralynguillory8579]

It feel so good to see the OLD DAYS all that we had. And it’s nothing today. It put a smile on my face, When I see these stores. Thank you for bringing back memories. The cloths was so much better. We have junk now. I shop resale now I get so much for my money.

[@palady1486]

Anyone remember Town and Country department stores? They have stamps when you bought things and then they had a redemption store where you could trade your stamps for merchandise. That was a big thing for us to do. Save stamps for merchandise and look thru their wishbook. Loved all the wishbooks.

[@formerx]

We had a Town & Country... with their famous satisfaction guarantee. I remember S&H Green Stamps Redemption Centers and MacDonald Plaid Stamps.

[@DarkandStormyNight01]

@@formerx And Blue Chip Stamps! Mom used to collect both Blue Chip and Green Stamps. Loved licking them and putting into the books and looking through the catalogs!

[@dimitriberozny3729]

Town&Country was aquired by S&H in the late 1970’s and S&H went belly up during the early 1980’s recession!! Some form of them still exists till this day.

[@lisathomas9264]

I miss Service Merchandise😥

[@susancorvalan6765]

In southern Ca, we used to have Buffum's, Bullock's, May Company, Broadway-all big dept stores. Zody's-a KMart type of store. Also Quigley's 5 & dime, Woolworth's, Thrifty Drug.

[@misterhot9163]

I remember as a kid in the 80s in the San Fernando Valley, there were no fewer than 6 department stores to choose from. Add to that list Robinsons. When my grandmother would visit from Illinois, she always had to visit the Broadway, which was my mother’s favorite store too.

[@jimmytraveller2970]

Remember them all including Sav-On Drugs, The Akron, White Front, The Treasury, Pic N Save, Fed Mart, Toys R Us, Angels, Handyman, Pay-Less Drug Stores, JJ Newbery, WT Grant, SH Kress, T G & Y, Mervyns Montgomery Ward, JC Penney, Kinney Shoes, Also there was Orbach's on Wilshire Blvd, Remember We Had , Market Basket, Thrifty-Mart, The Boys Market, Alpha-Beta, Hughes Market ,Food Giant to name a few and they were always busy

[@misterhot9163]

@@jimmytraveller2970 oh yes.... my mother loved TG&Y, she would get her sewing supplies there. At Newberrys, at their pet section, we got a dachshund puppy, for a whopping 60 bucks!!

[@billchambersmarquez2768]

You forgot white front and gemco

[@susancorvalan6765]

@@billchambersmarquez2768 Fedco and Fedmart. There were so many that the competition and variety was unmatched. Today we have many foriegn made goods that are of lower quality than US made. As a sewist, I see this in yard goods like cottons and wools.

[@omegaman1409]

The dominant store at least in the south east was Zayre. When they closed Ames took over those stores. Service Merchandise was prominent also in the area. Internet shopping put a huge dent. They couldn't adjust to the times.

[@Luigitime2015]

Yes i remember it well zayre in northeast and new England region

[@JP-yw4wx]

I've shopped in just about all of them. Memories before online days. 👌

[@undergroundretail]

Nostalgia 🤩.

[@tammybarnes2541]

Anyone remember Spielberg's they had a cool catalog. I could sit and look through catalogs all day when I was a kid just daydreaming of what I thought my life would be as an adult. Kids has these imaginations that kids don't come with now days

[@ryandunbar6105]

You mean Spiegel’s?

[@jimpatterson3286]

@@ryandunbar6105 Yup. My sister worked there.

[@chasethecat3839]

Oh yes and Spiegal and Sears Chriztmas catalog

[@delindagoldsberry9644]

Spiegel's catalog our dream wish book as kids we loved to look at all the toys and even the clothes

[@elainief8444]

I remember Spiegels

[@mariedilly3649]

I can't believe Two Guys did not make this list!

[@-elchoya9832]

do you remember their logo for the store.it had 2 stick figures like the crossing walk for kids signs.the figures were standing next to each other like they were holding hands making them look like 2 gay guys.a big thing was made about it at the time and i think they changed it after that.this was the early 1970s.i remember getting fleetwood macs RUMOURS there in 1977.

[@-elchoya9832]

you remember WHITE FRONT too?

[@mariedilly3649]

@@-elchoya9832 No I don't remember White Front or the controversy over Two Guys. You must be in New JErsey because I didn't think Two Guys was a national chain. We went there every Saturday or Sunday and I remember the clothing being roped off on Sundays because of the blue laws. I bought all my albums and 45's there!

[@nonoyaya3884]

Zody and newberrys

[@laustcawz2089]

"'Two Guys' is worth goin' out of your way, for you get more than you bargain for-- BeepBeep m BeepBeep!"

[@bdbeatle1]

In 1963 Woolworth bought Kinney shoes. Foot Locker was a branch off of Kinney shoes added in 1974.

[@undergroundretail]

Thank You for clarifying that. When I was doing the research I was confused on that part 😃.

[@thevacdude]

Montgomery Wards, who doesn't remember them? Bought a few things from them over the years.

[@undergroundretail]

A lot of there catalogs go for big prices on eBay.

[@ThePirateprincess23]

When I was a kid, my mom would take both my sister and I shopping at both of the Mervyns locations in my hometown. It was sad when both locations were shutdown by January 2009. One location was soon replaced with Hobby Lobby (a craft store) while the other location, sadly, helped in the killing of a mall (said mall also had two Harris-Gottschalks department stores that closed later in 2009, delivering the final nail in the mall's coffin. The mall is now abandoned.) The Mervyns store that was later bought up by Hobby Lobby does have a tribute to it. There is a street sign that says Mervyns Place leading into the parking lot of the shopping area the store is in. I also remember shopping at my hometown's Montgomery Ward on occasion when I was a kid. When that store closed, it more or less caused a domino effect for the shopping area it was in. It became run down, most of the companies that took over the building that Montgomery Ward was in didn't last more than a few years (somehow they turned it into an indoor shopping mall), and really the only store keeping that shopping area alive is the Dollar Tree.

[@happyjack880]

You'll be able to add Sears and JC Penney very soon. So few left compared to the 70s and 80s.

[@undergroundretail]

I'll be sure to add them once they are completely gone.

[@lisaknox4113]

I miss Woolworths and Kmart. Those were great stores.

[@undergroundretail]

Kmart is still around...Well barely. Check out my segment I did on them.kzbin.info/www/bejne/Z37IomBojJqkrpY

[@RobertCMoore]

I remember Caldor, Woolworth and Montgomery wards. Some good memories back then. Service merchandise was weird. Ordering upfront and then handing it to the salesperson.

[@1L6E6VHF]

Service Merchandise was a strange operation. Technically, they claimed that the items on their shelves and floors were not for sale- they were only for demonstration. They operated in an era when there were "fair trade states" and "open trade states". Manufacturers were able to set prices on their wares in fair trade states, but in open-trade states, merchants were free to set their own prices (sometimes less than "fair trade prices"). When someone made a purchase at a catalog showroom, they filled out a form with the catalog numbers of the items they wanted to buy. That form would be transmitted to an office in a non-fair-trade state (e.g. Tennessee), where the transaction was technically made. Purchaser hundreds of miles away from the store then received the merchandise.

[@aircooledhead]

Montgomery Wards built a GIGANTIC distribution center in DuPage county IL, and went out of business within a year or so. Suspiciously odd.

[@undergroundretail]

A lot of Money wasted.

[@swannoir7949]

Venture capitalism in the late-80s and early 90s destroyed the retail landscape.

[@jackiereynolds2888]

The lunch counter at Woolworths. Reminded me of 1950's old style. Fries and onion rings and BLT's and hamburgers and grilled cheese sandwiches. Yeah and malts.

[@lindasue4237]

You are making me hungry!

[@kittencreates2785]

I worked in the corporate office at Miller's Outpost/Anchor Blue. Mervyn's was one of my favorite places to shop when we lived in S CA.

[@PaladinLarec]

Ames was one of my favs. They kinda took over all the Jamesway stores that closed down in the late 1980s and they stuck around my area for a bit. Was a nice bargain basement style store where you could find older stuff (especially albums) that other stores no longer stocked.

[@chasethecat3839]

Curtains and board games. One of my first jobs was at Ames.

[@undergroundretail]

Which Ames location did you shop at?

[@strivingformindfulness2356]

Ames bought out regional chain Hill’s Department stores in the late 90s, which was not a popular move; most people loved Hill’s, and weren’t too fond of the Ames stores already in some areas. Then again, I’m not sure how long Hill’s would’ve lasted against Walmart; I think Walmart was already having a negative affect on Hill’s and other chains. Most of the locations that were Hill’s then Ames are now Ollie’s. Big Lots, Ollie’s, Target, and Walmart are the discount department stores in my town now, unless one also counts Family Dollar, Dollar General, and Dollar Tree.

[@tagbarzeev4850]

At one time I worked at Sears Roebuck on Pico Blvd and Rimpau,Montgomery Ward on LA Cienega and 18th street.My wife worked at the Broadway Department store on Wilshire Blvd and Hauser. along the Miracle mile in Los Angeles.

[@patricebetts6531]

Don't forget W.T. Grants

[@stevetalkstoomuch]

Bradlee's department store had nothing to do with Bradley International Airport, which was named in the 1940s after a pilot trainee who crashed there.

[@undergroundretail]

Thanks for pointing that out, it is an error on my end that has been addressed previously. It is noted in a pinned comment 😃

[@andrewneuvelt5172]

I'll never forget getting my record albums from Korvette's in Douglaston Queens. The prices were all color coded. Look on the album to see the color and then look at the sign dangling from the ceiling and match the two colors and you have the price. But for clothes my favorite store of all time is A&S in Manhasset. Horne's in Pittsburgh was similar to A&S and when I lived in Pittsburgh in the late 80s I would get clothes there too. And my wife and I bought our wedding rings from Service Merchandise in Lawrence. Great memories!!

[@davem475]

In the early 1980's we ordered MINI BLINDS from Wards...we STILL have them to THIS DAY !! I SO MISS all the GREAT STORES of the 50's 60' 70's and 80's...

[@undergroundretail]

Thanks for Watching! 😀 That shows how the quality of items were better compared to today's cheaply made items.

[@lancelot1953]

Hi "Underground Retail", Happy New Year and thank you for this page of Americana. I grew up with several of these stores. Being raised in the "country", it was a big thing when dad would gather up the family to go to the "big city" and visit these stores - most of which were stand-alone buildings (i.e. not part of a strip mall). I remember us having to "dress up" to go "shopping" - it really was special for us kids, bringing back our boxes/bags to the car. This was part of our culture, a part of America... Those were the days before retail stores became "homogenized a la Walmart". Each of the stores you reviewed had a special identity or "specialty". Those were the days. Thank you for the memories, thank you for bringing me back to a time of optimism and innocence. Ciao, L (Veteran)

[@undergroundretail]

I’m glad you enjoyed the video. Walmart is always the target for many of these retailers fate. I always used to have to dress up to go to stores as well. We called it “going into town” 😂.

[@lancelot1953]

@@undergroundretail Hi, it is so true - thank you again for digging the history behind these financial failures. I do hope that with the help of YT videos like yours, the millennials will remember and possibly preserve this part of American Heritage - Peace be with you, Ciao, L

[@gomphrena-beautifulflower-8043]

@@lancelot1953 I do agree with you and grew up in that era. (I’m 64.) Good, clean times!

[@normasubia6807]

Well Said !!!

[@siameseblue4824]

As a kid growing up in Mass I loved Woolworth, mom would shop while I sat at the lunch counter and had a hot dog. Later I shopped at Bradlees and bought my apt furniture from Montgomery Wards.

[@undergroundretail]

I've visited the museum in Nashville, Tennessee . I believe it shuttered due to COVID-19.

[@NKBobcat]

Old memories of Bradlees, Caldors, (pronounced CALdors, like CALendar, and dors like doors.), and Ames, (Woolco too, but not mentioned but it's what Woolworths became.) I enjoyed this. Thank you!

[@undergroundretail]

Thanks for Pointing that out! I was pronouncing it based off how it was spelled 😃. No Problem, be sure to check out Parts 2-4.

[@Prof_Jeff]

I was going to point out the Woolworth's/Woolco connection on another comment. I vividly remember TV commercials in the '70s saying the product was available at Woolworth's/Woolco. I think back then, the name varied by the region of the country. I don't remember seeing a Woolco in upstate NY or eastern PA, but they always were mentioned together in advertising.

[@Craspic]

I remember Woolco as being more of a larger department store than Woolworth -- more like a Montgomery Ward-type store. I recall one being in Northtown Mall in Dallas.

[@NKBobcat]

@@Craspic It was a larger more comprehensive store than the original Woolworths. They both existed at the same time, but Woolworths started to disappear when Woolco became popular.

[@antheic5096]

Yes, apparently the announcer can’t read either because he puts a Caldor sign that reads “where shopping is always a pleasure” and he says “happy” instead of “pleasure”-WTF?, he also mispronounces Greenwich

[@markw208]

In the early 70’s my mom worked at Montgomery Ward. They had just about everything including car service. Service Merchandise was a big deal for years. No pushy salespeople, you were free to walk around and find whatever interested you, fill out the form and in a few minutes buy it. Woolworth and Mervyn’s were popular too. I have stock in Amazon and it’s made me a bunch of money, but I don’t think Amazon is what caused the demise of these companies. The items I bought from them aren’t the things I buy from Amazon.

[@richardthompson9836]

Interesting. I worked my way through collage from 1967 to 1971 by working for a department store chaine called Zayer. This was in Orlando, FL. When I finished Jr. collage, they tranfered my job over to a new store in Temple Terrace, FL, a section of Tampa near the USF campus. Upon graduation, they transferred my job back over to Orlando where I worked until I found my first teaching job. This company, as I recall, was headquartered in Framingham, MA. Lots of fond memories. Thanks.

[@undergroundretail]

Thanks for Tuning In! I don't recall ever hearing about that chain. I will look into it.

[@georgejessop3246]

@@undergroundretail It is/was 'Zayers' and headquartered in Natick, MA.

[@phyllisbakercoffman8988]

I remember them in Indianapolis in the 1960’s 🥰

[@dcasper8514]

Work your way through collage ? Interesting

[@dimitriberozny3729]

@@georgejessop3246 The cooperate headquarters in America was located between the cities of Framingham and Natick Massachusetts. In Britain,it was in Sussex UK.

[@porcelainthunder2213]

Ames went out because it acquired a huge debt load when it bought Zayres, went through bankruptcy, and then again when they bought failing Hills (apparently they didnt learn thier lesson the first bankruptcy). They couldn't recover from the Hills purchase and went out of business permanently.

[@undergroundretail]

That is correct. I'm sure everyone blames Hill's acquisition mostly for the demise.

[@mrspastorjay8503]

Hills was a great department store! I remember shopping for school clothes there every year! They also had a great toy department!

[@101448]

I worked at both Kmart and Wards. Wards did not need to close all locations. They could of filed Chapter 11 to close locations with costly leases that were underperforming. GE's Financial Division GE Capital owned them and needed money badly and closed the chain completely.

[@undergroundretail]

I agree! They should’ve did the same approach as many of these Department Stores that are open today do. Especially Kmart, since they’re on thin ice.

[@SupremeNerd]

Except they are now only ONLINE like RadioShack and Circuit City

[@jerzeyshore2106]

What about W T Grants? Only retailer to show a profit during the depression . At its peak over 2200 stores coast to coast. From victim to a poorly run store credit card division ,filed for bankruptcy in 1976 ,the nation's largest at that time.

[@pl5624]

With bradford house restaurant

[@dimitriberozny3729]

Caldor bought out much of them in the 1970’s.

[@oldschool9484]

When i was a teenager i loved a store called newberrys. There was a lunch counter and we would get a burger and a malt. My older brother married the girl that waited on us and they are still married with 3 grown kids. It happened at newberrys.🙂

[@alexsandra6316]

One word for chain retailers: Amazon! (Game over)

[@undergroundretail]

Exactly!!!!! 🙌🏾🙌🏾🙌🏾

[@nickhill8612]

You should have saved Game Over for Game Stop. I think that was their name.

[@DavidSmith-sb2ix]

Some of us aren't too lazy to walk into a store and buy what we want.

[@kathleencalhoun2225]

I still receive Montgomery Ward catalogs in the mail. Here in California we had J. J. Newberry, Woolworth's, Gemco, White Front, Zody's, May Company, The Broadway, Mervyn's, Fedco, K-Mart, Grant's, Service Merchandise, Sprouse-Reitz, TG&Y, Desmond's, I. Magnin, Robinsons, and Montgomery Ward's--all gone now. My favorites were Woolworth's and K-Mart, and I wish they were still here. Sears is still here, but it is a shadow of what it used to be.

[@undergroundretail]

Kmart is still lingering around as well. I think the K-Mart store count is at 10 I believe.

[@jonathanmorgan9352]

My family including my relatives shopped at many of those discount and department store giants including Ames, Caldor, Bradlees, Woolworth and Montgomery Ward. My dad grew up in New London Connecticut where bradlees was founded they were a very popular store to shop at in the day. My aunt even remembers when the first store opened in 1959. The shopping center is located not far from my grandparents house where bradless used to be until they moved across the street. The store is now a Burlington Coat Factory. I even remember mom and dad shopping at Montgomery Ward in Virginia wen I was very little back in the late 90s to the 2000s. My grandmother loved shopping at Ames, Bradlees and Caldor when they were in businesses. She was very sad when they went out of business. Thank for the video, you brought up some good memories.

[@undergroundretail]

Glad you enjoyed the video!!! I wish I could've been able to go inside of a Bradlees store. I don't think they ever made it to Georgia.

[@jonathanmorgan9352]

@@undergroundretail No they did not, I believe one of family members told me that Bradlees was in Virginia, Maryland and Washington DC for a few years, in the 1980s but they pulled out of region because of issues. The same thing happened with Caldor and Ames. Ames was only in the Virginia region for a couple years until they close down if they've been lost too long either

[@YAMISOOLD2009]

@@jonathanmorgan9352 If I remember correctly, Ames bought out Zayre so they could expand. It lead to Ames demise though because of all the debt they took on from Zayre. There was an Ames in Mongtomery County Maryland and in Frederick County Maryland until 2002.

[@loridontcaretotellu6497]

I worked at a Bradlees for nearly 15 years. I too wish they had survived but the new CEO in many people's opinion including my own, made some really poor business decisions including: expanding too quickly and opening too many new stores at once and in areas that weren't familiar with the name and where the targeted customers didn't particularly match what the store offered. For instance, opening a "discount department store" in midtown Manhattan. Manhattan caters to the Wall Street crowd, tourists, business lunch, cocktails at someone's high end rooftop garden crowd. Think Saks 5th Avenue, Tiffany's, Bloomingdales, F.A.O. Schwartz etc. Bradlees Department Store catered to families, singles, seniors, single parents looking for good quality merchandise for the home and family at decent affordable prices. We offered layaways, two senior citizen discount shopping days, a "Sight &Sound Department (electronics, lol), cosmetics, film developing, domestics, etc. The powers that be expanded quickly, cut first one and then both senior citizen discount days, began trying to sell some grocery items which were NOT popular with shoppers, and once Wal-Mart came to the area, we had to compete for every shopping dollar. I think we would have had a decent chance had prior poor decisions not driven them into bankruptcy proceedings! Once the public and thus, their creditors get wind of that, they are leery and the " writing " is pretty much "on the wall." After that, things went down really quickly, we couldn't get enough merchandise in to cover our sales, customers would be understanding but only to a point. Our store called an "all hands on deck" mandatory store meeting in February 1996, even those who were off that day had to attend. Some of us old timers knew it wasn't going to be good news. We closed in early June 1996.

[@arthurpasseri1840]

@Jonathan Morgan I know where that New London Bradlee's was!! My parents shopped for my clothes at G. Fox, Korvette's, Sage-Allen, Topps, J.M. Fields, Bradlee's, Woolworth...Remember those stores?

[@tonyu5985]

Two Guys, Jamesway, Grandway, Big N, Colonial Fair, Bowmans, Town and Country, Pomeroy, Hess, McCrory, JJ Newberry, Grants, Times Square Stores, Bradlees, Bon Ton

[@undergroundretail]

Thank You for the suggestions 😃.

[@YAMISOOLD2009]

Yes Big N is one I shopped at as a kid. Same with JJ Newberry and Grants. Were they only New York stores?

[@willielarimer7170]

I remember Grants in upstate New York, but it closed about 1975, and Kmart took over

[@kybble]

Midwest Child of the 80's no ZAYRE, Ventures, Kmart, SHOP CO, Sears, Bergners, K's Merchandise, REX appliance, Circuit City, Toys R Us, KB Toys. Did remember Montgomery Wards, Ames, and Wolworth.

[@undergroundretail]

I will be sure to include some of those in a future video. Kmart and Sears are still around in some markets, so we'll save that one for another video.

[@windsofmarchjourneyperrytr2823]

@@undergroundretail Sears' website is entirely 3rd party mech. It's a nightmare. No wonder they're going. Macy's will be next. Bought stuff and they never told me most of it was backordered and I had to gripe about it. I heard nothing from them at all.

[@undergroundretail]

@@windsofmarchjourneyperrytr2823 I haven’t used there website in years. I’ll check it out.

[@susanmurphy958]

Oh yes, Zayre Shoppers City was a childhood favorite of mine.❤️💙❤️

[@gomphrena-beautifulflower-8043]

I remember when the catalogues came in the mail - we pored over them for hours! Especially the Christmas catalogues! We would mark stuff we wanted and show it to our parents. I don’t think I ever got anything I marked, but each Christmas was joyous nonetheless, and quickly forgotten as the New Year settled in. We then cut up the catalogues, making paper dolls. What fun memories!

[@ahotdj07]

Gosh, I remember Caldor too. How funny. Now I feel old!

[@brad3042]

Ames and Woolworths were the two department stores I grew up with. We didn't have Walmart, Kmart or even Target. They were in the same plaza and the Woolworths went first, followed by Ames. I still remember what the old stores looked like because I spent hours just wandering the aisles.

[@undergroundretail]

Are those building still standing today filled with different retailers?

[@brad3042]

@@undergroundretail the strip mall is still there but was filled with other retailers. I think Staples and Peebles at one point but they've been filled.

[@Wtvn123]

In Columbus Ohio in the 60's and 70's we had Rinks, Topps, Gold Circle, Service Merchandise, Zayre, to name a few.

[@jodywight3948]

Loved Gold Circle! And Hills, Zaire, Uncle Bill's, Federal Stores, Spartan Atlantic, Tops, Value City, Gaylord's, Higbee's, Halle's and May Company! I still have my May Company names badge and all the pins on it! Customer service, great prices and times which no longer exist.

[@jodywight3948]

Loved Gold Circle! And Hills, Zaire, Uncle Bill's, Federal Stores, Spartan Atlantic, Tops, Value City, Gaylord's, Higbee's, Halle's and May Company! I still have my May Company names badge and all the pins on it! Customer service, great prices and times which no longer exist.

[@ammq23]

In Cuba prior 1959 there were several Woolworth stores. I worked at Melvyn’s in Miami in the 90, loved shopping at Services merchandise eve we had another catalog store in Miami. That Uptown’s sound familiar. Is so nice to remember places we loved shopping.

[@richkurtz6053]

Ames bought out Zayre's discount stores. Zayre Corp moved into other brands and later became TJX Companies and operates TJMaxx, Marshalls, Home Goods, and Sierra in the US.

[@dimitriberozny3729]

Zayre is a British company out of Sussex UK which became TJX.

[@dimitriberozny3729]

And ironically,Sears owned Sierra in the 1980’s until the 2000’s!! This was one of the first things that they sold off to get rid of debt before merging with KMART.

[@absolutelydisgusted3319]

I bought my school clothes at a Bradlees on Cape Cod, Massachusetts..... late 1970’s-/early eighties. Seems like a million years ago.

[@undergroundretail]

I wish I had the opportunity to go in one of those stores.

[@absolutelydisgusted3319]

@@undergroundretail , it was just , “a store,” to us back then. We thought they’d be around forever....❤️

[@BrigitofBergental]

Huh? The Bradley International Airport was not originally a Bradlee's department store; it pre-dates the retail chain by around 20 years.

[@undergroundretail]

The chain was named after the airlines.

[@loridontcaretotellu6497]

Exactly! I worked at a Bradlees for nearly 15 years. Those years were magic, wish we could revisit them for real!

[@deadslash736]

I worked at Caldor in South Brunswick NJ. And it's pronounced like California, or calorie. I should know, I made closing announcements for 2 years!

[@samanthab1923]

Wasn't a Caldor shopper but I remember going to a Rt. 18 flea market. Was it near that?

[@mkendallpk4321]

It was in North Brunswick. Where Route 1 and Route 130 circle used to be. It was a E J Korvettes before that and next store was a W T Grant.

[@samanthab1923]

mkendallpk Thanks

[@deadslash736]

Wow, I was thinking about the answer to your question and I realized I worked in a Caldor in Plainsboro and I was in South Brunswick when I worked at a Channel that later became a Rickel. The Rickel/Channel store was a few miles from where 130 and Rt.18 meet. There is a Walmart there now.

[@samanthab1923]

Fake Political Commercials By DeadSlash That old Rt. 1 corridor had everything.

[@roseprevost8081]

Damn, I'm old. I remember a lot of these.

[@-elchoya9832]

me too! we all remember these too.

[@undergroundretail]

Which one(s) do you recall from the list?

[@garbo8962]

Can remember spending over a hour in a Woolworths as a kid. My buddys mom treated us to lunch there then purchased a couple of gallons of paint and a parakeet. They had a lot of good stuff. Think they even sold & installed storm windows. Gimbels was another great store. They sponsored the Christmas parade in Philly for years. At end of parade Santa would climb up a huge ladder then enter the downtown Gimbels thru a window on the third floor on Market Street. Klines was a junk store. Caldors was a so so store with not the best quality items.

[@-elchoya9832]

what color did you paint the parakeet?

[@garbo8962]

@@-elchoya9832 Did not paint it but would always drink water from your cup. Buddys oldest brother use to get him drunk drinking beer from a glass. Was funny seeing him staggering walking on carpet. Thing lived a long time.

[@johnmcgraw972]

TG&Y was my favorite

[@undergroundretail]

The TG&Y Video will premiere Tomorrow 😃! Here is the link. kzbin.info/www/bejne/oWHRna2Gr5KEsNk

[@jodimerusi3250]

I also loved going to Caldor's (pronounced Cal as in calorie -- dor as in a door) I remember going there as a kid and in highschool I remember the store logo of a half moon swirl in Oranges and Golds (very 70's -- shown in your documentary.) Brings back good memories!

[@lauriej9418]

I miss wards and woolworth's. Shopped there all the time. Also shopped at service merchandise.

[@gigilamoore2656]

Mervyn's allowed me to keep my son well clothed at good prices as a single mother with one income. Montgomery Wards is where I bought his crib.

[@lloydkline1518]

❤️ mervyn had great chothes

[@itsforrestps]

so many options in the 70s & 80s. and somehow they all seemed different in one way or another, in Los Angeles we had MWard, Woolworth, Zody's, Broadway, May Company, Bullucks, Saks, Robinsons, Sears, and the list went on and on and on. my momostpy took me to Sears or Montgomery Wards for clothes, shoes was what Kinneys or Thom McCann? lol great days if my life happy memories and things were affordable

[@undergroundretail]

Agreed! We can Thank the E-commerce world for that, Walmart and Amazon.

[@andyrob3259]

I Magin, Emporium-Capwell.

[@josephguy1456]

they forget fedco

[@christinearmstrong4997]

I remember Woolworths during my high school years they had great counter service great product and they had a cheesecake dessert that was to die for not heavy like New York very fluffy but still tasting like cheesecake over the good old days!