Sears and Kmart

[Russell Jackson]

Such a sad sight to see…



Can’t believe this is happening!

 

[Herdfan]

Sears could have been Amazon, but they didn't see the trend to online shopping. Can't completely blame them as many other large B&M retailers missed this as well.

But for anyone my age or older, getting the Sear's catalog in the mail was a treat. So much stuff in there. All they had to do was move it all online.

 

[MEJHarrison]

The K-Mart next to where I work was torn down right before Covid and then got turned into a new apartment complex. Covid slowed down the apartment complex, but they're nearly done with it now.

I never had a reason to visit K-Mart on a normal basis since there's much nicer stores all around me. But there were times at work that it was super convenient having them right next door. If I suddenly needed shoelaces or aspirin or a last minute birthday gift, I could walk over and get what I needed.

 

[DT]

Anyone else old enough to remember the candy and goodies counter in JC Penny? Or was that Sears? Hahaha, anyone here old enough to NOT remember which store is was

 

[Eric]

Anyone else old enough to remember the candy and goodies counter in JC Penny?

I do! I also remember my parents writing a signed note to give to the guy behind the counter at my local corner market telling them it was okay to buy cigarettes for them, to which they then proceeded to smoke them inside the house and inside the car with the windows all rolled up on long road trips.

Nobody gave a shit in the 70s. Thanks for the emphysema, mom!

 

[DT]

OMG, the wife talks about their trips down to FL from PA, in a Family Truckster, sitting in back, no seatbelts, with both her parents smoking ...

 

[Herdfan]

I do! I also remember my parents writing a signed note to give to the guy behind the counter at my local corner market telling them it was okay to buy cigarettes for them, to which they then proceeded to smoke them inside the house and inside the car with the windows all rolled up on long road trips.

Nobody gave a shit in the 70s. Thanks for the emphysema, mom!

Sorry, couldn't resist.

 

[Yoused]

Anyone else old enough to remember the candy and goodies counter in JC Penny? Or was that Sears? Hahaha, anyone here old enough to NOT remember which store is was

You are probably not old enough to remember that one major five-&-dime chain: the one we had downtown took up most of a block, on the norh wall there was a lunch counter, on the east wall a fountain bar and the south side was a cafe. I bet you cannot guess the name.

 

[Cmaier]

You are probably not old enough to remember that one major five-&-dime chain: the one we had downtown took up most of a block, on the norh wall there was a lunch counter, on the east wall a fountain bar and the south side was a cafe. I bet you cannot guess the name.

Woolworths?

I still remember Automats, so I remember a lot

 

[lizkat]

Woolworths?

I still remember Automats, so I remember a lot

There used to be a dimestore chain called Grants back in the 1940s in areas of upstate NY.

 

[Cmaier]

There used to be a dimestore chain called Grants back in the 1940s in areas of upstate NY.

Went well past the 1940s. When I was a kid we went to Grants in Vails Gate. It became a Caldor.

 

[Eric]

Woolworths?

I still remember Automats, so I remember a lot

Used to love the Woolworths counter back in those days.

 

[lizkat]

Went well past the 1940s. When I was a kid we went to Grants in Vails Gate. It became a Caldor.

Hah, I only remember it because that's the store I shoplifted a doll's dress out of when I was like four or five.

My grandma OF COURSE noticed that my dolly had a new and commercially manufactured dress and she asked where I had got it. I said at the store and she said ok here's the deal... and then she outlined my choices, none of which involved just keeping that dress, and all of which involved taking it back and apologizing to the lady at the store. Somewhere in there was an option to borrow money from grandma, buy the doll's dress (AFTER apologizing) and then repay her by digging up dandelion roots at a penny a hundred or whatever.

I ended up taking the doll's dress back and apologizing and then learning how to sew. Doll dresses were not top of that menu either. It was first about stitching lace trim to pillowslips and stuff like that. Also I think I got to dig up the dandelion roots for free.... anyway my shoplifting days were over forever. Way too much downside.

 

[Cmaier]

Hah, I only remember it because that's the store I shoplifted a doll's dress out of when I was like four or five.

My grandma OF COURSE noticed that my dolly had a new and commercially manufactured dress and she asked where I had got it. I said at the store and she said ok here's the deal... and then she outlined my choices, none of which involved just keeping that dress, and all of which involved taking it back and apologizing to the lady at the store. Somewhere in there was an option to borrow money from grandma, buy the doll's dress (AFTER apologizing) and then repay her by digging up dandelion roots at a penny a hundred or whatever.

I ended up taking the doll's dress back and apologizing and then learning how to sew. Doll dresses were not top of that menu either. It was first about stitching lace trim to pillowslips and stuff like that. Also I think I got to dig up the dandelion roots for free.... anyway my shoplifting days were over forever. Way too much downside.

Relatedly, I’m pretty sure my mom got arrested for shoplifting at that Vails Gate store. I think I was 6 or 7 at the time and was with her. Would have still been Grants at that time. I may be misremembering. Perhaps it was a store in Middletown instead.

 

[Yoused]

We also had an ice cream restaurant with a late-19th/early-20th century theme, called Farrell's. It was quite popular for birthday parties. One of their specialties was a huge dish name The (local) Zoo, and another named after the local mountain. Not sure how widely distributed they were or what manner of local prominence they used in other parts of the country (e.g., the tallest feature in the NYC area probably would have been the Fresh Kills landfill). There was something of an effort to revive the chain in SoCal, but I think it fizzled.

 

[lizkat]

The K-Mart next to where I work was torn down right before Covid and then got turned into a new apartment complex. Covid slowed down the apartment complex, but they're nearly done with it now.

I never had a reason to visit K-Mart on a normal basis since there's much nicer stores all around me. But there were times at work that it was super convenient having them right next door. If I suddenly needed shoelaces or aspirin or a last minute birthday gift, I could walk over and get what I needed.

A Walmart 20 miles from here helped kill off an Ames in a nearby college town --a village, really-- back in the 1990s, one that I had appreciated as you did that K-Mart. The whole Ames chain went down bc of Walmarts all over the place if you ask me... and the village mall that used to be anchored by that Ames and a supermarket still doesn't have an occupant for the Ames slot even after 30 years.

Why that village doesn't fire their entire Chamber of Commerce is beyond me. A bunch of good ol' boys still waiting for a Target or a Tractor Supply or some retailer to call them, probably.

I hated having to drive 25 miles to a K-Mart after Ames disappeared, but back then I would not patronize that Walmart for being so annoyed that Ames was driven out of business, even though the Walmart was a few miles closer. Nowadays I do order staple goods for my winter pantry from Walmart online though, so yeah I finally caved in.

 

[lizkat]

We also had an ice cream restaurant with a late-19th/early-20th century theme, called Farrell's. It was quite popular for birthday parties. One of their specialties was a huge dish name The (local) Zoo, and another named after the local mountain. Not sure how widely distributed they were or what manner of local prominence they used in other parts of the country (e.g., the tallest feature in the NYC area probably would have been the Fresh Kills landfill). There was something of an effort to revive the chain in SoCal, but I think it fizzled.

Was there a Farrell's in San Francisco? I feel vaguely like it was pointed out to me at least in conversation when I lived out there. We were talking then about Haagen-Dazs ice cream, which back in the early 60s was still largely a brand of ice cream localized to outlets in Brooklyn and the Bronx in NY.

 

[Yoused]

Was there a Farrell's in San Francisco?

There probably was. Never really had a chance to hang around there. We went camping in the redwoods, but never made it farther souti than Fort Bragg, I suspect because it wae 1967 and my dad was reluctant to allow us to learn too much about love and Haight that summer.

 

[DT]

I definitely remember Woolworth’s by name, but not by shopping there, mostly Walgreens (but the older school stores) and Pic N Save, who had a great cafeteria I had a great aunt who owned a few drug stores in the area, with soda fountains, I think she sold all those in the early 70s, though one is still operating as a medical supply store under her (the original) name.

 

[Edd]

We also had an ice cream restaurant with a late-19th/early-20th century theme, called Farrell's. It was quite popular for birthday parties. One of their specialties was a huge dish name The (local) Zoo, and another named after the local mountain. Not sure how widely distributed they were or what manner of local prominence they used in other parts of the country (e.g., the tallest feature in the NYC area probably would have been the Fresh Kills landfill). There was something of an effort to revive the chain in SoCal, but I think it fizzled.

My first visit to a Farrell's was in Honolulu for my own birthday party. Mind blown. The dumb hats, staff singing happy birthday, the ice cream sundae with 47,000 scoops....