Ironic that you said that in 2018(?), because n 2020 you won't even be recommended to shop in person because of the COVID19 pandemic...and even that is only the tip of the iceberg.
My husband worked for Circuit City. :( RIP Circuit City Kmart ads had me tear up. My grandma loves Kmart and when I would spend the night with her as a kid, she would take me to Kmart and let me pick out one candy and one outfit or toy. The Kmart she and I always went to is still there. We like to joke that Grandma is keeping it afloat. When that sad day comes that that Kmart closes its doors I'm pretty sure I will cry like I lost a relative. The memories will always be there, though, even if Kmart won't be.
And that is why the stores are gone too. So much selection with online buying, and competition means best pricing. People are still buying stuff, just not in stores with limited selection and pushy salesmen.
We built a lot more of the things which we consumed here as recently as thirty years ago. When we did that, with vast numbers of workers engaged in building things which others and they themselves bought and used, the wealth was spread around a lot more equitably.
We bought nearly everything at Sears. We would go several times a month: Craftsmen tools, washers and dryers, Mom's wig and Prince Matchibelli perfumes, my brother and I new clothes for school and Easter, lawn mowers and garden supplies (I still love the smell of fertilizer and Ortho bug-killing spray [which I don't think they make anymore. DDT.] ). But what I particularly remember is the candy counter. A lady in a pink uniform with a little maids cap would scoop goodies for us. A small pink and white bag: almond bark, peanut clusters, mint creams, coconut bonbons and, especially, hot roasted cashews. Man. Those were the days... Another great job, Fred.
Do you remember each fall when the "Wish Book" Christmas catalog would come in the mail and ogling over all the toys and dog earing page after page to give a hint to Mom and Dad?
I'm right there with ya San Michele... we bought EVERYTHING at Sears.. furniture, clothes, kitchen appliances, vacuum cleaners, shoes... I mean everything! and yes, even the candy sometimes, but, only if we had any money leftover from buying the "necessities".
Don't forget the burnt peanuts! I always associated that smell with Sears, and the nuts were gone by the late 1980s in the first wave of store remodels.
In the early 1960's my Mom worked at S.S. Kresge's 5 and Dime in downtown Muncie, Indiana. They were the forerunner of K-Mart. My Mom worked at the Fountain serving drinks, ice cream, sandwich's etc. They had an annual employee summer picnic that was great fun. Kresge's was family oriented and I have lots of fond memories from there.
John Vapes Omg! Thank you!!!! I forgot all about Kresge's. My childhood. That's where I bought my first Kenner Star Wars figures. They had them all!!!! My mom used to take me there in the late seventies.
And Woolworth’s too. In our neighborhood, there was a lunch counter- made the best hamburgers and French fries and chocolate malts. I would give anything to have that again
I remember Kresge’s in New Hampshire. I was in Alabama recently and in downtown Huntsville, they have an old Kresge building. I think some yoga studio is there now but they do have the frontage in tact
Becki Green I have all the home movies of our first born son in a locked safe made on that wonderful machine. I couldn’t imagine missing out on those precious moments so for that I will be forever grateful to the technology of 1990.
I remember when Radio Shack was an awesome store, I would read their catalog over and over back in my CB'er days. I saved and saved for a CB base station and then my parents finally loaned me the rest to buy a Realistic Navajo Pro Niner and antenna. They were even in early and were a player in the personal PC market with the TRS-80 computer and others, but somewhere along the way they lost the plot. Another good post Fred!
Max, do you remember the "Flyer Side Chats"? I'd totally forgotten about those until I came across a copy of one of those flyers. I miss the old Radio Shack!
I remember when RS was staffed by enthusiastic folks that actually knew the difference between a resistor and a capacitor .. knew where to find them in the store, and could be counted on for advice. The last couple of times I went into The Shack .. unless you were shopping for a phone or a video game, the staffers were totally clueless.
I don't recall the flyer side chat thing but i do remember the flyers they sent out, they were a good fix between getting the main catalogs. I also miss the old Radio Shack.
The local Radio Shack here was also staffed by knowledgeable long time staff, one guy even taught me how to solder properly on the work bench in the back room. Of coarse i would show up each month to get my free battery with my battery of the month card.
Sure you can buy just about anything on the web.... but there are people that still want a brick and mortar store to go and actually touch and feel what they are buying, myself being one , this video just proves how good the times were when we had a middle class....
bones007able i am one of those people,plus,what you see online,is not what you get sometimes when you order.That’s the downfall as well,so I rather a physical store..
I'm the same way. Shopping online is all the rage these days, but I'm very old-fashioned. I prefer to do my shopping the old-fashioned way, by getting in the car, driving into town, and going into a store. It's great to know that I'm not alone.
Except what they do now is go to brick and mortar stores to see the product, then look it up on Amazon or eBay, find it cheaper (often quite a bit cheaper!), and buy online. And then whine and cry with the brick-and-mortar closes down.
I was only 17 when I got married, so we had no credit to speak of.....we finallllly got a Sears credit card and our very first purchase was a Huge VHS player.....I don't remember the brand..but I do remember it was. $600 before tax
I'm guessing early 80's? What's really crazy is when you stop and think how much money that is when you adjust for inflation, which would be close to $1600 in todays money.
K-Mart is your savings store. I remember that jingle from the late 70’s. Funny we had a K-Mart in Manchester, CT. A day or 2 after the 1978 Blizzard, and a week after the Hartford Civic Center roof collapse, the roof on the K-Mart also collapsed. I remember in school we were singing “K-Mart is your cave-in Store”. Forgot all about that until I heard that jingle. Wow. 40 years have gone by so fast.
I’m only 16, but I still can’t believe Blockbuster is gone. It was so abrupt and painful. Pretty sure the newest game I rented there, was 007 Legends on PS3. Every Saturday was a ceremonial trip to Blockbuster, to rent a movie and two games. It’s sickening that Netflix is the culprit for the murder of Blockbuster. Can’t believe I use Netflix, considering their abundance of outdated, irrelevant films and shows... Good vid btw. Subbing!
Sears is dying the same way. I remember going there with my dad and buying craftsman tools. Back then craftsman was made in America and guaranteed forever.
Blockbuster management and wall street greed is the culprit for Blockbuster downfall. Netflix co-existed with them for years. They enterred the streaming fray right along Netflix - and had a superior offerring: Netflix and the time would stream you crap movies like "Chop Kick Panda" instead of "Kung Fu Panda". Blockbuster has, well, blockbuster films you would actually pay to rent. Netflix had the indie and foreign film stuff, i.e., the things Blockbuster wouldn't stock on the shelves because there wasn't enough demand. Those films would be that wall-street four letter word -- NON PRODUCING ASSETS. Then Redbox came along with 99 cent rental kiosks that didn't require anyone to pay the high-school kids minimum wage, that had potential tie-in's with pervasive internet (reserve your copy online, etc.), and Redbox was showing GROWTH, while Blockbuster's business was "mature". Management tried to hit Redbox head on, by launching their own kiosk services that would be tied in to stores, but they bungled the technology, possibly hit legal snags with their licensing, and when the dust settled, they ended up discontinuing their streaming service -- what did it say to their customers who had bought digital copies of movies when they got an email from Samsung saying that the blockbuster app was being pulled from their Blueray player? It said Netflix is your streaming provider. Period. Why do you think WalMart is stocking $3 disks for sale -- of5+ year old blockbusters but also actually decent movies? Because Netflix doesn't service those needs. And if WalMart can figure out how to capitalize on the reduced labor cost of streaming (which they can't because the tech standard makers are always changing the game so you need an army of programmers and sys admins) then Vudu will put Netflix out of the movie business. Netflix is smart, and that's why they are trying to change into a content maker. And add to the mix Disney, who owns now almost all the IP consumed by children. It's not going on Disney channel anymore -- it's going on their movie streaming service.
Man, I love that Rod Serling Radio Shack commercial! There's still an RS in my town but it's nowhere near as cool as it was in the '70s when I was taking electronics in High School.
The RS ad said the price for the electronic kit was $17.95. When is the last time you saw ANYTHING that cost 17 dollars and any cents? Now everything is $9.99 or $19.99. There is no in between.
Anyone remember Curtis Mathes? They were "The Most Expensive Television Sets in America, And Darn Well Worth It!" They had their own stand-alone dealerships dedicated to their products. I remember, we bought one in 1980 in Louisiana. My favorite commercial was the one espuosing the quality of the dealers, and this Rich Kotite-looking guy was losing his because he was no longer up to par. That was a great memory of Curtis Mathes televisions.
I remember it was our first video store in town. Apparently, Curtis Mathes died in a fire on an airliner in 1983. It landed, but he didn’t survive. After that, the company fell apart.
In Burbank, I had a Wherehouse Music at the end of my block, on Olive and Verdugo. I went there a lot, of course. Great memories. Across town, on San Fernando, there was a Music Plus, but I only went there once to buy Depeche Mode tickets.
Bret Leduc There was an electronics store in California named The Good Guys, but I believe that they went out after that infamous shootout in the early '90s. There was also The Wherehouse record and video store, Service Merchandise department store, and Music Plus, another store like The Wherehouse. On a side note, Radio Shack may have been done in back in 1996 by the disaster of Incredible Universe, because to me, they had a great year, but the weight of having to support an albatross like I.U. may have been too much of a load to carry, and that may have helped contribute to the demise of Radio Shack.
And of course, Tower Records. I remember going to the original in Sacramento when I was in the Air Force in the late 70's-early 80s. It actually had a tower structure on the building. They still have one in Tokyo.
We had a Monkey Wards and a Sears just a block away from my childhood home back in the 70's. I remember going in there and watching the ball games every weekend while my parents did their shopping. Our Sears had a Green Stamp counter and I got a nice .22 rifle with stamps. The Sears riding lawnmower my folks bought in 1978 is still in our garage and will still start right up.
I really enjoyed reading the comments on this post too, glad so many people contributed. I know how y'all feel. So many great stores and old friends fading away, remembering how these commercials were playing so often in the background and unconsciously became part of the soundtrack of our lives. Time surely goes too fast.
Was in Montgomery Wards with my dad and sister. She was crying her eyes out because my dad just could not afford a Chatty Cathy doll. It was $14 (you could also buy a bicycle for that amount!). Bought my first guitar ($30) at Western Auto. Wanted the Les Paul but the finish was worn-through on the back of the neck, besides it was $60. Just too many beer bottles to collect to get $60. Worked at Sears in the '70's. It had been dying since 1976. The Diehard was a selling point in top- end classic cars. Always liked going through the selection at Block Buster and spend a quiet night in. Have a mountain of VHS tapes that need to be converted to DVD before that format goes out of vogue. Not much has changed at Radio Shack. The stores were empty then, they're empty now. They are still slashing prices by 20%, 30%, 40%, and yes, even 50%! So much has changed in so little time. Think I'll just drop by K-Mart, get some cheap candy and go to the drive-in and catch a movie.
Back in the 70s my best friend and I used to say that almost everything in our homes was from either Sears, K-Mart, or Avon. Both of our mothers were AVON ladies. Never heard of Record Bar or Davis Tires. I've never seen a Montgomery Ward store, but I've heard of them. Great video. Thanks.
This reminded me of Friday night family outings to Montgomery Mall in Bethesda MD when I was in elementary school in the late 60's-early 70's. There was a Sears there where mom and dad bought a new washing machine and arranged to have it delivered. Afterwards we went to the Hot Shoppes cafeteria on the second floor for dinner. It was so much fun. We got home in time for me to catch "Night Gallery" on the tube. Those family outings were always so great. Thanks for bringing back fond memories once again, Fred.
I remember Night Gallery.. it was so scary back in those days. I remember my sis was about 7 months pregnant and we were watching the show and she got freaked out and had a grip on my hand and really hurt! lol now-a-days Night Gallery doesn't seem scary at all. I remember an episode about a Green ring that really scared me.. don't know which one it was. Tx for mem
Ashley Carter and I bought nearly everything at Kmart. We would go several times a month: Route 66, Sony PlayStation, Super Nintendo, and Nintendo 64. My brother and I bought new clothes for school and Easter, and Sony TV. A great job, Fred.
Excellent! Here are a couple more for the list: E. J. Korvettes Dept. Stores: Service Merchandise Dept. Store. This store this was a truly unique shopping experience in that you looked over the merchandise on the floor, un-boxed and open to inspection, filled out a request form, turned it in at the counter and within five minutes you walked out with the goods. Finally, there was Lafayette Electronics a rival of Radio Shack where you could buy all sorts of electronics and parts. It was an especially good place for kits and electronic tinkerers. They went under about 1974 or 1975.
Lafayette Radio & Electronics. Loved that store!!! Growing up Lafayette and Gem Electronics were the only game in town. Radio Shack was a later player in Bergen County, NJ. I used to pour over the Lafayette Catalog! Hundreds of pages in tiny black type on white paper with lots of black and white pictures. The catalogs of the late 60's when Integrated Circuits were introduced had many pages of the latest Stereo/Hi-Fi amps, receivers, pre-amps, etc, all highlighting how many IC's, How many Transistors, etc. they contained. My 1st cassette recorder in 1969 was from Lafayette - somewhere out in my garage of useless crap, I still have the original 3 cassettes I got with it!!! I could go on and on.
Wow! Lafayette Radio & Electronics on State Route 17 what a coincidence that's the one I had in mind when I wrote my original post. I also remember Gem Electronics, but Lafayette was my preference. Good to hear from a neighbor.
LOL!! Thought you might have been talking about Paramus with the stores you mentioned, neighbor. To me, Lafayette looked professional, Gem not so much. Many times, Gem had lower prices. Remember the Tube Testers? They were like slot machines - put the same tube in six different machines and get six different results then think, OK, more bad results than good, replace and vice-versa. For those truly mistrusting of the testers, you could also visit the tube testers at Two Guys, Rickel's, and Modell's too!!
You're bringing me way back bud! Two Guy's, RIckel's Modell's Wow! Wasn't Gem right next to Tool Town? Or was it Lafayette? Anyhow they weren't far from each other on the West side of Rt. 17 if I recall correctly.
I remember that our family received both catalogs from Sears and Montgomery Wards. Huge catalogs, lots of stuff for everyone. Mom kept our catalogs in our outhouse, next to the barn and the chicken shed. Always a good read while setting there doing your business. Hell yeah, ya also had 2 choices of toilet paper as well. 3 choices if you’re talking about the fancy rolled up kind, from the store. DAMN........... How I mess that time in my life, sometimes.
WE used to get the Sears Christmas Wish Book every year. I bought my oldest nephew James a Pooh Bear, a Power Wheel's, a horse that bounced and rocked from the catalog and he loved the gifts, but the Power Wheels was a reject and they wouldn't even answer the phone for the 1-800 number the place kept the phones off the hook from day one and he got gypped.
My dad would only buy Craftsman brand tools He referred to Sears as Sears & Sawbuck he was just being funny More memories I've forgotten all about Thanks FredFlix 😁
There's still a kmart by my house. It's dirty, gloomy, and overpriced. It still looks like the store in this commercial. It's entertaining to walk around it sometimes. They deserve to go under.
I bought all my electronics and furniture at Montgomery Wards in the 90s. I would never have even thought of a Best Buy or Circuit City. I loved my furniture. Always bought an extended warranty for staining and got a new couch one time when they couldn't clean it.
So HAPPY to have found your channel. Thanks for the Memories of a Happy time and childhood. Keep the videos comimg. Letting everyone i know about your channel!!!!Much LOVE from Georgia.
Oh, Montgomery has so many Christmas memories, going through the catalogue and marking what I wanted, then giving it to my mom for her to order. I got my first 8 mm camera and projector that way. And Kmart. There is one a couple of blocks away from where I live that I used to go to with my mother all the time. It closed about 3 years ago, and recently they started demolishing the building. They are going to build condos and stores/offices on the property. It's so sad. It makes me miss my mother. :(
Lots of commercials from the '70's! I remember some of them. My earliest memory of an A&P market was in Brooklyn, New York. I must have been only three or four years old at the time (1950's). I was sitting in the child's seat in the cart. My mother parked me next to a watermelon display. For some unknown reason, I wanted one of those big, green, striped things. So I grabbed a huge one from the pile and tried to put it in the cart. Unfortunately, the melon was twice my size and slipped out of my hands. It crashed down on the floor with a mighty thud and shattered into several large chunks that skittered across the tile. The store manager arrived and my mother offered to pay for the melon. However, the manager declined and said something to the effect that, "It happens every day." (Free watermelon for the night crew.) Oh, the joys of working in retail!
We also had an A&P store in the Buffalo area in fact we had several of them over the years the one I remember the most was the one in East Aurora in the East Aurora Village Plaza when I was growing up in the 1960s the store closed in the early 70s and was replaced by a Valu Home Center and is still is there to this very day even though the plaza was remodeled in the early 2000s and we still have at least one Kmart store in the Buffalo area in Batavia which is now owned by Sears
rrrrr oh yes I remember I Parkedge the building is still there on Sheridan Dr. And of course I remember Loblaws which eventually became Bells stores in its place and increase the size of the chain in Western New York . Then in the 90s the store was purchased by Jubilee which used to be super duper then that chain closed down in the early 2000s. We had both bells and Loblaws in East Aurora and Orchard Park amongst other locations in Western New York I work for a super duper Jubilee store for 15 years in the East Aurora area the acquisition of the Bells stores in the 1990s affected my employment with the store . I left in 1996.
Ordered a Fisher Studio Standard Stereo rack system from Montgomery Ward, at the store, in August of '85. When the order arrived for pickup it was found to be the upgraded system costing some several hundred dollars more. The Electronics Manager just up and honored the price for the original deal which my wife and I thought was pretty astounding. We patronized that store even more for their thoughtfulness right up until it went out of business. The physical building started out as Two Guys (a chain discount department store) in '63 or so, became a Montgomery Ward in the early '80s, became a 'Dump' discount furniture outlet circa 1998 and is currently an Uncle Bob's discount furniture store. I was a truck unloader/utility man while the business was Two Guys working there after school and through my early college years. I'm old enough to remember each iteration of business which that building has housed for over fifty-six years. Well, I guess that's that. ;-)
Ran RadioShack stores for 19 years, and was a customer of them back in my HS days of the late 70’s. The 80’s through 98 I was out of the country. RadioShack started bringing in Circuit City people Vs. Work your way up like I had to, and later brought in Blockbuster people. They had close to $900Mil in the bank when they brought in Kmart people. To drive it into the ground. Loved visiting Sears in the mall as a kid. Kmart was a visiting place on every go to town shopping trip, loved when they had the food counters. Had great fish sandwiches, and cheese cake.
When I was a kid in the 70s, my parents and I went to the Sears developed Seminary South shopping center in Fort Worth, Texas, Sears of course being the big anchor. Dad bought a lot of Craftsman tools there, and Mom plenty of clothes for all of us. They had a cafe inside, and we've eaten there or stopped for sodas several timed. We've also been to Montgomery Ward on 7th Street in Fort Worth. I think that location closed quite a few years before Wards Corporate went out of business. The building still exists and is practically a local landmark. Seminary South is now La Gran Plaza, and the Sears is long gone.
Record Bar...now that's one we didn't have in Washington state. I do remember DJ's records and tapes at the local Mall in the 70's and Budget Tapes and Records, (later it changed to "discs" in the '80s). One of the last times I went into Budget was the day Stevie Ray Vaughn died and I bought every CD of his they had in stock that I didn't already own. Then I went to the Liquor Store, bought a fifth of Maker's Mark, went home and listened to SRV and drank the majority of that bottle of bourbon. We miss you Stevie.
Disagree ...discs were really in stores more in the early 90s....vinyl records and vhs tapes were STILL in stores in the 80s I don't recall seeing discs/cds it really took off in the 90s.
Ben, in my neck of the woods, CDs started showing up in record stores around '82-'83 and at first were limited to mostly classical music. By about '85 the cost of CD players had come down and popular music was coming out on CD. Vinyl was still there but by the 90s it had been supplanted by CDs and if vinyl was still available in a music store, it was a relatively small section of display space.
Great video, Fred. It's sort of like the videos where the guy walks through the "dead malls of America"--there's something kind of sad but compelling about all these vibrant businesses of the past fading away.
Here's another memory. In the 80s, we had Highland Appliance in North Texas. It was a lot like Circuit City and might have even been related. At the end of the 80s, Highland pulled out, and Circuit City came in right behind it.
The Kmart in my town just went outta business a couple months ago. I got a ton of great stuff for 90% off. A pair of $120 steel toe boots for $12, a $400 exercise bike for $40, and some other stuff. T-shirts for $2, etc.
The one by my house is buying up shit from sears which is also going out of business right down the street. What's hilarious is that everything is more expensive at kmart lol
I got in on the going out of business sale near me. I go a $75 jacket for 10 bucks. I got jeans for 3 and 4 dollars. Tee shirts and shorts for 2 and 3 dollars. Sandles for 5 dollars and boots for 8 and 10 dollars.
I remember when Pop cut up his Sears charge card, right in front of a manager, and told said manager he would never shop at Sears again (this would have been either 1977 or 78....memory fades a bit). He was good to his word...never set foot in a Sears ever again (and neither have I). And I used to love to go grocery shopping, and Pop having his Eight O'Clock coffee ground at the checkout. Loved that smell (although I hate coffee to this day). Still shop at the local K-Mart, but the ones near where I grew up are gone (including the original one). Another hit Fred.
Dave Merrick, do they really? It was so very popular back in the day. The grinders going almost non-stop. Might have to actually buy some and brew it up, just to remember Pop. But, I won't buy any tobacco and light up his pipe for that. The volcanoes are retired for good, LOL ;-)
Fred, the announcer for the Western Auto commercial was Peter Hansen, who played Lee Baldwin on General Hospital and also was the announcer for Plymouth commercials in the 50s
Commercials that could be used for the Oddity Archive, hosted by Ben Minnotte. He's the guy that is behind the cardboard box. Picture on cardboard box is relevant to the topic of discussion for a particular episode.
Missing almost all if them. Didnt know of Montgemery Ward except on TV. Miss Kmart, Circuit City, Radio Shack has tons of memories. I bought my first laptop at Radio Shack, my dad got my TRS80 THERE. Bunch if audio tapes, memories galore. Western Auto got my oil changed there, Sears was great they replaced their electronics dept.
We used to have a store called "Best', its now a Oriental restaurant. I think i still have a lay away there parachute pants! bet there is a Chinese guy in the kitchen wearing my pants singing "cant touch this" lol
Makes me remember, Gimbles, Two Guys, Bradlees, Ames, Pathmark, A&P, Sears and so many hardware stores that are no longer here. It's a shame that the bigger stores have pushed other smaller ones into oblivion. By the way, great job once again Mr. Flix.
Wow, I regularly shopped at all but two of these stores, in this area. Kind of like seeing an old acquaintance again. Good memories of our youth. Bless you, Fred.
Sears had good quality merchandise: My mom still has her Kenwood washer and dryer from way back when and they work great. As a teen, I loved shopping in the juniors section of Sears. I always got nice clothes there. Sad to say, Sears bellied up at the beginning of the year in my local area. RIP Sears!
So many memories. I miss Ward's, used to shop there all the time. In fact, I worked at a Ward's for a while in the 80s, great place as a customer and an employee. All these stores, what a shame. Glad I can still shop at Sears though--lucky enough to have a busy one up the street. Another wonderful vid, my friend!! Was making a list of lost stores with some friends recently, am certainly going to share this and your latest vid too. Keep up the fantastic work!! :D
I went shopping with my mom many times to K-Mart, though I have fonder memories of the Showbiz Pizza that was attached to it (it changed locations long before K-Mart closed). My mom was very sad to see it go. I also have some fond memories of Montgomery Wards, and MANY of Blockbuster.
Does anyone remember Sky City and Ben Franklin's. Our Ben Franklin's was replaced with TGY and when it went out of business, Hileugh Meyers took over the building. Now it's the Dollar Tree. When Wal-Mart came to town in the mid 80's, Sky City and Roses couldn't compete. Both went out of business in the early 90's.
My first digital cam was from CC 20 years ago. The MW building in Sparks,NV is now a Goodwill ( irony alert). And I might still have one tool I bought from WA in the 70's. It's too soon to be nostalgic over K-Mart. In 1962, the Sears in Inglewood,CA had a kiosk with multiple video Santas on a tape loop. High tech then... You spoke into a handset and all he said was "uh huh." over and over. Sears was never the same to me and I felt bad for kids younger than me.
Unlikely. They have made all the right decisions so far. They have a good website and decent integration with their stores (although I don't like that they are turning their webside into a crowded mess "marketplace" -- it just means it's not worth it to try searching for stuff on it). They are doing a good job of drawing in shoppers with stable priced groceries, bolstered by loss leader deals on eggs and milk. The only thing that bothers me is that they are wasting money remodelling perfectly good stores. 10 years ago they reduced the tool departement, and put in laminate flooring to be "more high end". This year they tore up the terrazzo that connected the laminate floors and left bare polished concrete. I said "what gives?" They said it's cheaper to maintain concrete than it is to polish terrazzo. Just shoot my head.
I remember "Monkey Wards" as a kid in the 1960's. They had a catalog store in my city and you got anything you wanted from there. My first brand new bike and telescope came from there. This was the big store as Sears didn't have a good presence in my town at the time. When I got out of the Navy, I got work at a Radio Shack repair center sometime after that commercial you shown was made. I worked for Radio Shack for nearly 20 years. In my last year at RS is when Wards went under. They sold the Quasar line of electronics. We sold the same Mitsubishi chassis in a certain stereo receiver but we cannot honor any Wards warranty the customers brought in. The customers paid the regular price for repair for the same shoddy product my company sold. We were laid off from RS in 2001 and we saw that coming.
I miss Radio Shack from those days. My dad would buy me circuit building kits from there and I used to have a blast putting them together. I remember even having a "battery card" that I could use to get free batteries from there too. At least we still have Frys and Micro Center
My first real job was for a Sears catalog store in my town. This was in the 70’s. I got married and had my kids and went back to work in the 90’s. That was a Western Auto store. I worked there until they were bought out and shut down. FYI Sears owned Western Auto at one point.
On Long Island, Cedarhurst we had TSS Stores, Times Square Stores. I also remember MAYS, ALEXANDERS, ABRAHAM & STRAUSS, and GIMBLES..... I almost forgot ROBERT HALL.. That's where mom bought me my first suit.... LAFFAYETTE RADIO, ELECTRONICS, (better than Radio Shack for audio equipment). NEWMARK & LEWIS...... too.
OCEANSIDE, N.Y.-LONG ISLAND;.TSS, THOM McCHAN SHOES, SHOE-TOWN, RADIO SHACK, MORSANS SPORTING GOODS, SNEAKER CIRCUS, F&W WOOLWORTHS, MARTIN PAINTS, AND THE 2ND ORIGINAL NATHAN'S FAMOUS WITH INDOOR-OUTDOOR ENTERTAINMENT , INDOOR STAGE.MEMORIES!
I remember sears having a lot of cool stuff, and then around 2015 it started going downhill. Now whenever I go there it’s empty, everything is 75% off or more and the store is usually a mess. Recently the customer service and management seems to be getting bad. A few months ago I had a question about where to pick up my online order and none of the management knew where it was or where they put it and finally after 45 minutes they figured it out.
Just an aside I worked as an airport parking attendant for years and a service we provided was free jump starts to parkers. I hands down jumped more Die Hards than any other battery.
When i think of "Die Hard" i think of the parody on the Carol Burnet Show. It featured Tim Conway doing a "Dears" battery. I dont recall the variation on the Die Hard name, though.
My grandmother was the only one I knew in my family that shopped at the A&P and I went with her on some occasions around 1979 to 1982 as a little kid. Those were probably the last years that people who worked in grocery stores were not ridiculed and laughed to scorn for using their names in a TV ad. I worked in a grocery store for 15 years between the 90's and 2000's and how the view of people who worked in grocery changed during the time I worked. It was a job viewed as something valuable and by the end of my time in that business it was not even viewed that way by the people working in it. Montgomery Ward lasted longer than I thought they did. They were THE STORE in big cities from the early 20th century until the 60's and they hung on in the biggest markets into the 70's before they went kaput.
Even as an 80’s kid, I remember lots of these. I have been to many of those places and I wish they were all around. Sears is still around but by 2020, they will all be gone. Maybe by the end of this year. The Radio Shack red tag sale commercial was from 1978, and I wish I could have been in that store at that time. I remember Monkey Wards too. Now the Internet ruined all of this. What a shame.
Ah, the $ teen-aged me wheedled out of the folks for Record Bar runs @ the old Mall! & "Monkey" Wards was the anchor store rt next door, w/a big customer service dept in back where u could not only pay off yr layaways & credit purchases, but even certain utilities. They went all-out w/holiday decorations/advertising, esp given their Rudoph connection, publishing May's iconic reindeer tale.
Hey, there's still a K-Mart in Marysville WA. And there's still a Sears in Everett Wa. "Fast" Eddie Lampert hasn't quite destroyed the whole company yet. Share price Apr. 2007 $144.09. Share price today $2.15. Way to go Eddie!
Ahhh, the 80's store commercials - when actually leaving your house and going out in public to shop was fun.
Ironic that you said that in 2018(?), because n 2020 you won't even be recommended to shop in person because of the COVID19 pandemic...and even that is only the tip of the iceberg.
It used to be fun to go out and eat too
Lol it's still fun, there, gramps
My husband worked for Circuit City. :( RIP Circuit City
Kmart ads had me tear up. My grandma loves Kmart and when I would spend the night with her as a kid, she would take me to Kmart and let me pick out one candy and one outfit or toy.
The Kmart she and I always went to is still there. We like to joke that Grandma is keeping it afloat. When that sad day comes that that Kmart closes its doors I'm pretty sure I will cry like I lost a relative. The memories will always be there, though, even if Kmart won't be.
when the middle class was alive and thriving.
And that is why the stores are gone too. So much selection with online buying, and competition means best pricing. People are still buying stuff, just not in stores with limited selection and pushy salesmen.
We built a lot more of the things which we consumed here as recently as thirty years ago. When we did that, with vast numbers of workers engaged in building things which others and they themselves bought and used, the wealth was spread around a lot more equitably.
Stores are more fun to shop at due to tangible items
The middle class and thriving because they want to buy a house for $800,000 like they were rich but living in the ends meat
@@jemcanalesable that's Mr Meaty to you.
We bought nearly everything at Sears. We would go several times a month: Craftsmen tools, washers and dryers, Mom's wig and Prince Matchibelli perfumes, my brother and I new clothes for school and Easter, lawn mowers and garden supplies (I still love the smell of fertilizer and Ortho bug-killing spray [which I don't think they make anymore. DDT.] ). But what I particularly remember is the candy counter. A lady in a pink uniform with a little maids cap would scoop goodies for us. A small pink and white bag: almond bark, peanut clusters, mint creams, coconut bonbons and, especially, hot roasted cashews. Man. Those were the days... Another great job, Fred.
Never even associated Sears and candy, San Michele.
Do you remember each fall when the "Wish Book" Christmas catalog would come in the mail and ogling over all the toys and dog earing page after page to give a hint to Mom and Dad?
I'm right there with ya San Michele... we bought EVERYTHING at Sears.. furniture, clothes, kitchen appliances, vacuum cleaners, shoes... I mean everything! and yes, even the candy sometimes, but, only if we had any money leftover from buying the "necessities".
Don't forget the burnt peanuts! I always associated that smell with Sears, and the nuts were gone by the late 1980s in the first wave of store remodels.
I remember the candy counter too. !!! Me and my mom always got bridge mix. Oh how I miss those days 😊
In the early 1960's my Mom worked at S.S. Kresge's 5 and Dime in downtown Muncie, Indiana. They were the forerunner of K-Mart. My Mom worked at the Fountain serving drinks, ice cream, sandwich's etc. They had an annual employee summer picnic that was great fun. Kresge's was family oriented and I have lots of fond memories from there.
My Mom would bring home items getting ready to expire. It was fairly awesome. Everything I remember eating there was good.
John Vapes Omg! Thank you!!!! I forgot all about Kresge's. My childhood. That's where I bought my first Kenner Star Wars figures. They had them all!!!! My mom used to take me there in the late seventies.
And Woolworth’s too. In our neighborhood, there was a lunch counter- made the best hamburgers and French fries and chocolate malts. I would give anything to have that again
I remember Kresge’s in New Hampshire. I was in Alabama recently and in downtown Huntsville, they have an old Kresge building. I think some yoga studio is there now but they do have the frontage in tact
@@peternighswander9629 I miss the olf cive and tens and Woolworths too.Good Times.
I remember buying a RCA video camera ( the big clunky vhs type) in 1990 from circuit city for a staggering $2000. How time flies by.
Hord House My Husband and I did the same, and we still have it.
Becki Green I have all the home movies of our first born son in a locked safe made on that wonderful machine. I couldn’t imagine missing out on those precious moments so for that I will be forever grateful to the technology of 1990.
Get those tapes transferred to digital pronto before they decay! I hope it's not too late!
Hord House wonder how much that hunk of junk is worth now?
Farmer Ted it would cost me $3.00 to send it to county recycling lol
I'd rather watch these old commercial than any of the crappy shows that are on today's TV .
Truth!👊
I get my underwear at K mart.
400 Oak Street.
Cincinnati Ohio.
Oh ohhhh... 17 minutes to Wapner...
Kmart sucks. Yeah
I remember when Radio Shack was an awesome store, I would read their catalog over and over back in my CB'er days. I saved and saved for a CB base station and then my parents finally loaned me the rest to buy a Realistic Navajo Pro Niner and antenna. They were even in early and were a player in the personal PC market with the TRS-80 computer and others, but somewhere along the way they lost the plot. Another good post Fred!
Max, do you remember the "Flyer Side Chats"? I'd totally forgotten about those until I came across a copy of one of those flyers. I miss the old Radio Shack!
I remember when RS was staffed by enthusiastic folks that actually knew the difference between a resistor and a capacitor .. knew where to find them in the store, and could be counted on for advice. The last couple of times I went into The Shack .. unless you were shopping for a phone or a video game, the staffers were totally clueless.
Good comment, Max.
I don't recall the flyer side chat thing but i do remember the flyers they sent out, they were a good fix between getting the main catalogs. I also miss the old Radio Shack.
The local Radio Shack here was also staffed by knowledgeable long time staff, one guy even taught me how to solder properly on the work bench in the back room. Of coarse i would show up each month to get my free battery with my battery of the month card.
My aunt passed away in 2012. Her TV was from Wards, and still works great!
Sure you can buy just about anything on the web.... but there are people that still want a brick and mortar store to go and actually touch and feel what they are buying, myself being one , this video just proves how good the times were when we had a middle class....
bones007able i am one of those people,plus,what you see online,is not what you get sometimes when you order.That’s the downfall as well,so I rather a physical store..
I'm the same way. Shopping online is all the rage these days, but I'm very old-fashioned. I prefer to do my shopping the old-fashioned way, by getting in the car, driving into town, and going into a store. It's great to know that I'm not alone.
Those brick and mortars will be gone soon.
Except what they do now is go to brick and mortar stores to see the product, then look it up on Amazon or eBay, find it cheaper (often quite a bit cheaper!), and buy online. And then whine and cry with the brick-and-mortar closes down.
Henry Ford gaveth us the middle class. Brandon is takething it away!
I was only 17 when I got married, so we had no credit to speak of.....we finallllly got a Sears credit card and our very first purchase was a Huge VHS player.....I don't remember the brand..but I do remember it was. $600 before tax
I bought the first Sony Betamax, Liz, and it was $1300. It was so heavy it was delivered by two men in a truck.
Hey Fred maybe that's where the moving company got it's name...couple guys delivering your Beta one day had an inspiration lol
lol
I'm guessing early 80's? What's really crazy is when you stop and think how much money that is when you adjust for inflation, which would be close to $1600 in todays money.
I remember my parents getting a Tandy computer in maybe 86’? They spent $1200 for it then at Radio Shack.
K-Mart is your savings store. I remember that jingle from the late 70’s. Funny we had a K-Mart in Manchester, CT. A day or 2 after the 1978 Blizzard, and a week after the Hartford Civic Center roof collapse, the roof on the K-Mart also collapsed. I remember in school we were singing “K-Mart is your cave-in Store”. Forgot all about that until I heard that jingle. Wow. 40 years have gone by so fast.
I’m only 16, but I still can’t believe Blockbuster is gone. It was so abrupt and painful. Pretty sure the newest game I rented there, was 007 Legends on PS3. Every Saturday was a ceremonial trip to Blockbuster, to rent a movie and two games. It’s sickening that Netflix is the culprit for the murder of Blockbuster. Can’t believe I use Netflix, considering their abundance of outdated, irrelevant films and shows... Good vid btw. Subbing!
Sears is dying the same way. I remember going there with my dad and buying craftsman tools. Back then craftsman was made in America and guaranteed forever.
Blockbuster management and wall street greed is the culprit for Blockbuster downfall. Netflix co-existed with them for years. They enterred the streaming fray right along Netflix - and had a superior offerring: Netflix and the time would stream you crap movies like "Chop Kick Panda" instead of "Kung Fu Panda". Blockbuster has, well, blockbuster films you would actually pay to rent. Netflix had the indie and foreign film stuff, i.e., the things Blockbuster wouldn't stock on the shelves because there wasn't enough demand. Those films would be that wall-street four letter word -- NON PRODUCING ASSETS. Then Redbox came along with 99 cent rental kiosks that didn't require anyone to pay the high-school kids minimum wage, that had potential tie-in's with pervasive internet (reserve your copy online, etc.), and Redbox was showing GROWTH, while Blockbuster's business was "mature". Management tried to hit Redbox head on, by launching their own kiosk services that would be tied in to stores, but they bungled the technology, possibly hit legal snags with their licensing, and when the dust settled, they ended up discontinuing their streaming service -- what did it say to their customers who had bought digital copies of movies when they got an email from Samsung saying that the blockbuster app was being pulled from their Blueray player? It said Netflix is your streaming provider. Period.
Why do you think WalMart is stocking $3 disks for sale -- of5+ year old blockbusters but also actually decent movies? Because Netflix doesn't service those needs. And if WalMart can figure out how to capitalize on the reduced labor cost of streaming (which they can't because the tech standard makers are always changing the game so you need an army of programmers and sys admins) then Vudu will put Netflix out of the movie business. Netflix is smart, and that's why they are trying to change into a content maker. And add to the mix Disney, who owns now almost all the IP consumed by children. It's not going on Disney channel anymore -- it's going on their movie streaming service.
👍
Man, I love that Rod Serling Radio Shack commercial! There's still an RS in my town but it's nowhere near as cool as it was in the '70s when I was taking electronics in High School.
The RS ad said the price for the electronic kit was $17.95. When is the last time you saw ANYTHING that cost 17 dollars and any cents? Now everything is $9.99 or $19.99. There is no in between.
And if it's advertised on TV, now you will get TWO of whatever it is -- even if you only want ONE! (Plus additional shipping and handling.)
You're right, Thomas, BUT WAIT, THERE"S MORE!
Herb Bluntman : Think I heard there are only now,, or going to be only 76 left out of over a 1,000! Idiots out of Ft. Worth, Tx.
And it was a Christmas commercial to boot.
Im glad i experienced and worked at Montgomery Ward's in Fremont, California back in 1986 as a teen.
Anyone remember Curtis Mathes? They were "The Most Expensive Television Sets in America, And Darn Well Worth It!" They had their own stand-alone dealerships dedicated to their products. I remember, we bought one in 1980 in Louisiana. My favorite commercial was the one espuosing the quality of the dealers, and this Rich Kotite-looking guy was losing his because he was no longer up to par. That was a great memory of Curtis Mathes televisions.
I remember Curtis Mathes well.
I remember it was our first video store in town. Apparently, Curtis Mathes died in a fire on an airliner in 1983. It landed, but he didn’t survive. After that, the company fell apart.
Yep
Oh yeah! I forgot about Curtis Mathes!
Anybody remember Musicland?
And Sam goody. Good times
In Burbank, I had a Wherehouse Music at the end of my block, on Olive and Verdugo.
I went there a lot, of course. Great memories. Across town, on San Fernando, there was a Music Plus, but I only went there once to buy Depeche Mode tickets.
Bret Leduc There was an electronics store in California named The Good Guys, but I believe that they went out after that infamous shootout in the early '90s. There was also The Wherehouse record and video store, Service Merchandise department store, and Music Plus, another store like The Wherehouse.
On a side note, Radio Shack may have been done in back in 1996 by the disaster of Incredible Universe, because to me, they had a great year, but the weight of having to support an albatross like I.U. may have been too much of a load to carry, and that may have helped contribute to the demise of Radio Shack.
And of course, Tower Records. I remember going to the original in Sacramento when I was in the Air Force in the late 70's-early 80s. It actually had a tower structure on the building. They still have one in Tokyo.
Just Plain Jimmy yes!
It's a wonder that Sears is still open.
So is Kmart
They just bit it in Allentown, PA...
There’s one in Orlando Florida
We had a Monkey Wards and a Sears just a block away from my childhood home back in the 70's. I remember going in there and watching the ball games every weekend while my parents did their shopping. Our Sears had a Green Stamp counter and I got a nice .22 rifle with stamps. The Sears riding lawnmower my folks bought in 1978 is still in our garage and will still start right up.
Wow, memorie's of being driven and driving to Montgomery Ward's, my Nana ( Grandmother) just loved that place.
mine too. ;)
Sears will go down for having the world's longest going out of business sale.
I really enjoyed reading the comments on this post too, glad so many people contributed. I know how y'all feel. So many great stores and old friends fading away, remembering how these commercials were playing so often in the background and unconsciously became part of the soundtrack of our lives. Time surely goes too fast.
I hated to click “like”. I miss Montgomery Wards.
i worked there for 28 years. We have a group of former employees, meet for dinner once a year, and keep in touch through a Facebook page.
Oh how i miss those days so long ago😣😣
ditto
Robin Thomas now,stores are full of over priced or cheap clothing in mass with rude or cold employees,sometimes ..
Was in Montgomery Wards with my dad and sister. She was crying her eyes out because my dad
just could not afford a Chatty Cathy doll. It was $14 (you could also buy a bicycle for that amount!).
Bought my first guitar ($30) at Western Auto. Wanted the Les Paul but the finish was worn-through
on the back of the neck, besides it was $60. Just too many beer bottles to collect to get $60.
Worked at Sears in the '70's. It had been dying since 1976. The Diehard was a selling point in top-
end classic cars. Always liked going through the selection at Block Buster and spend a quiet night in.
Have a mountain of VHS tapes that need to be converted to DVD before that format goes out of vogue.
Not much has changed at Radio Shack. The stores were empty then, they're empty now. They are still
slashing prices by 20%, 30%, 40%, and yes, even 50%!
So much has changed in so little time. Think I'll just drop by K-Mart, get some cheap candy and go to
the drive-in and catch a movie.
Enjoyed your comment, Maxwell.
God Bless You.
Back in the 70s my best friend and I used to say that almost everything in our homes was from either Sears, K-Mart, or Avon. Both of our mothers were AVON ladies.
Never heard of Record Bar or Davis Tires. I've never seen a Montgomery Ward store, but I've heard of them.
Great video. Thanks.
Before "The Home Depot" and "Lowe's" I remember "Rickel's Home Center". I use to get all my tools and supplies there. 😊❤
I still have my dad's Montgomery Ward's "Wizard tools" sockets and 1/2" driver he bought in Cape Girardeau, Mo in the 1970"s...tough tools back then..
This reminded me of Friday night family outings to Montgomery Mall in Bethesda MD when I was in elementary school in the late 60's-early 70's. There was a Sears there where mom and dad bought a new washing machine and arranged to have it delivered. Afterwards we went to the Hot Shoppes cafeteria on the second floor for dinner. It was so much fun. We got home in time for me to catch "Night Gallery" on the tube. Those family outings were always so great. Thanks for bringing back fond memories once again, Fred.
You're welcome, Paul.
I remember Night Gallery.. it was so scary back in those days. I remember my sis was about 7 months pregnant and we were watching the show and she got freaked out and had a grip on my hand and really hurt! lol now-a-days Night Gallery doesn't seem scary at all. I remember an episode about a Green ring that really scared me.. don't know which one it was. Tx for mem
i remember back in the day in Chicago..if you had a die hard battery and it was winter..you KNEW your car would start :)
So true. I always used them in western New York. Never failed.
I kind of miss Blockbusters! It was always a blast to rent movies and games and buy popcorn candy and soda to go with it.
Ashley Carter and I bought nearly everything at Kmart. We would go several times a month: Route 66, Sony PlayStation, Super Nintendo, and Nintendo 64. My brother and I bought new clothes for school and Easter, and Sony TV. A great job, Fred.
Excellent! Here are a couple more for the list: E. J. Korvettes Dept. Stores: Service Merchandise Dept. Store. This store this was a truly unique shopping experience in that you looked over the merchandise on the floor, un-boxed and open to inspection, filled out a request form, turned it in at the counter and within five minutes you walked out with the goods. Finally, there was Lafayette Electronics a rival of Radio Shack where you could buy all sorts of electronics and parts. It was an especially good place for kits and electronic tinkerers. They went under about 1974 or 1975.
forgot all about Service Merchandise! My mother LIVED at that damn place! LOL!!
Lafayette Radio & Electronics. Loved that store!!! Growing up Lafayette and Gem Electronics were the only game in town. Radio Shack was a later player in Bergen County, NJ. I used to pour over the Lafayette Catalog! Hundreds of pages in tiny black type on white paper with lots of black and white pictures. The catalogs of the late 60's when Integrated Circuits were introduced had many pages of the latest Stereo/Hi-Fi amps, receivers, pre-amps, etc, all highlighting how many IC's, How many Transistors, etc. they contained. My 1st cassette recorder in 1969 was from Lafayette - somewhere out in my garage of useless crap, I still have the original 3 cassettes I got with it!!! I could go on and on.
Wow! Lafayette Radio & Electronics on State Route 17 what a coincidence that's the one I had in mind when I wrote my original post. I also remember Gem Electronics, but Lafayette was my preference. Good to hear from a neighbor.
LOL!! Thought you might have been talking about Paramus with the stores you mentioned, neighbor. To me, Lafayette looked professional, Gem not so much. Many times, Gem had lower prices. Remember the Tube Testers? They were like slot machines - put the same tube in six different machines and get six different results then think, OK, more bad results than good, replace and vice-versa. For those truly mistrusting of the testers, you could also visit the tube testers at Two Guys, Rickel's, and Modell's too!!
You're bringing me way back bud! Two Guy's, RIckel's Modell's Wow! Wasn't Gem right next to Tool Town? Or was it Lafayette? Anyhow they weren't far from each other on the West side of Rt. 17 if I recall correctly.
I remember that our family received both catalogs from Sears and Montgomery Wards. Huge catalogs, lots of stuff for everyone. Mom kept our catalogs in our outhouse, next to the barn and the chicken shed. Always a good read while setting there doing your business. Hell yeah, ya also had 2 choices of toilet paper as well. 3 choices if you’re talking about the fancy rolled up kind, from the store. DAMN........... How I mess that time in my life, sometimes.
WE used to get the Sears Christmas Wish Book every year. I bought my oldest nephew James a Pooh Bear, a Power Wheel's, a horse that bounced and rocked from the catalog and he loved the gifts, but the Power Wheels was a reject and they wouldn't even answer the phone for the 1-800 number the place kept the phones off the hook from day one and he got gypped.
You should check out a site called "Wishbook Web". The owner of it scanned quite a few of them for folks to wax nostalgic over online.
My dad would only buy Craftsman brand tools
He referred to Sears as Sears & Sawbuck he was just being funny
More memories I've forgotten all about Thanks FredFlix 😁
Sears and Sawbuck. I hadn't heard that one!
There's still a kmart by my house. It's dirty, gloomy, and overpriced. It still looks like the store in this commercial. It's entertaining to walk around it sometimes. They deserve to go under.
The entrance music was the moody blues.. from their first album, the magnificent moodies.
lost in Sperry Go Now
Probly in search of a lost chord!
Duke Of Prunes no its go now
Duke Of Prunes chill i just thought you meant i.t was the song Ride My See-Saw
😁
Fred.. this is one of your BEST! Keep 'em coming like this one please!!
Yeah, I gotta agree.
Hi Richardofdanbury.. just read in some previous comments that Fred told someone part 2 is coming!! can't wait to see it!
Kmart is STILL open in Belleville, NJ, and across the river in Kearny, too!
Sad to see our favorite stores are gone now. Thank you for sharing the past. At least we have memories to go by. ❤️😢
I bought all my electronics and furniture at Montgomery Wards in the 90s. I would never have even thought of a Best Buy or Circuit City. I loved my furniture. Always bought an extended warranty for staining and got a new couch one time when they couldn't clean it.
Well that certainly brought back memories. Thank-you Fred Flix
So HAPPY to have found your channel. Thanks for the Memories of a Happy time and childhood. Keep the videos comimg. Letting everyone i know about your channel!!!!Much LOVE from Georgia.
Oh, Montgomery has so many Christmas memories, going through the catalogue and marking what I wanted, then giving it to my mom for her to order. I got my first 8 mm camera and projector that way.
And Kmart. There is one a couple of blocks away from where I live that I used to go to with my mother all the time. It closed about 3 years ago, and recently they started demolishing the building. They are going to build condos and stores/offices on the property. It's so sad. It makes me miss my mother. :(
Lots of commercials from the '70's! I remember some of them. My earliest memory of an A&P market was in Brooklyn, New York. I must have been only three or four years old at the time (1950's). I was sitting in the child's seat in the cart. My mother parked me next to a watermelon display. For some unknown reason, I wanted one of those big, green, striped things. So I grabbed a huge one from the pile and tried to put it in the cart. Unfortunately, the melon was twice my size and slipped out of my hands. It crashed down on the floor with a mighty thud and shattered into several large chunks that skittered across the tile. The store manager arrived and my mother offered to pay for the melon. However, the manager declined and said something to the effect that, "It happens every day." (Free watermelon for the night crew.) Oh, the joys of working in retail!
Enjoyed your comment, Thomas.
We also had an A&P store in the Buffalo area in fact we had several of them over the years the one I remember the most was the one in East Aurora in the East Aurora Village Plaza when I was growing up in the 1960s the store closed in the early 70s and was replaced by a Valu Home Center and is still is there to this very day even though the plaza was remodeled in the early 2000s and we still have at least one Kmart store in the Buffalo area in Batavia which is now owned by Sears
ParkEdge and Loblaws were like huge amphitheaters, refuges from the cold of winter and heat of summer there.
rrrrr oh yes I remember I Parkedge the building is still there on Sheridan Dr. And of course I remember Loblaws which eventually became Bells stores in its place and increase the size of the chain in Western New York . Then in the 90s the store was purchased by Jubilee which used to be super duper then that chain closed down in the early 2000s. We had both bells and Loblaws in East Aurora and Orchard Park amongst other locations in Western New York I work for a super duper Jubilee store for 15 years in the East Aurora area the acquisition of the Bells stores in the 1990s affected my employment with the store . I left in 1996.
Neat! I never knew the history of all those landmark stores. Thanks for all that good info!
I remember A&p as a kid. K-Mart had a lot of cheap crap and i never heard of record bar
Ordered a Fisher Studio Standard Stereo rack system from Montgomery Ward, at the store, in August of '85. When the order arrived for pickup it was found to be the upgraded system costing some several hundred dollars more. The Electronics Manager just up and honored the price for the original deal which my wife and I thought was pretty astounding. We patronized that store even more for their thoughtfulness right up until it went out of business.
The physical building started out as Two Guys (a chain discount department store) in '63 or so, became a Montgomery Ward in the early '80s, became a 'Dump' discount furniture outlet circa 1998 and is currently an Uncle Bob's discount furniture store. I was a truck unloader/utility man while the business was Two Guys working there after school and through my early college years. I'm old enough to remember each iteration of business which that building has housed for over fifty-six years. Well, I guess that's that. ;-)
Ran RadioShack stores for 19 years, and was a customer of them back in my HS days of the late 70’s. The 80’s through 98 I was out of the country. RadioShack started bringing in Circuit City people Vs. Work your way up like I had to, and later brought in Blockbuster people. They had close to $900Mil in the bank when they brought in Kmart people. To drive it into the ground. Loved visiting Sears in the mall as a kid. Kmart was a visiting place on every go to town shopping trip, loved when they had the food counters. Had great fish sandwiches, and cheese cake.
Made me cry. Seeing all I grew up with gone for good. But thank you for showing memories.
You're welcome, Fred.
When I was a kid in the 70s, my parents and I went to the Sears developed Seminary South shopping center in Fort Worth, Texas, Sears of course being the big anchor. Dad bought a lot of Craftsman tools there, and Mom plenty of clothes for all of us. They had a cafe inside, and we've eaten there or stopped for sodas several timed. We've also been to Montgomery Ward on 7th Street in Fort Worth. I think that location closed quite a few years before Wards Corporate went out of business. The building still exists and is practically a local landmark. Seminary South is now La Gran Plaza, and the Sears is long gone.
Record Bar...now that's one we didn't have in Washington state. I do remember DJ's records and tapes at the local Mall in the 70's and Budget Tapes and Records, (later it changed to "discs" in the '80s). One of the last times I went into Budget was the day Stevie Ray Vaughn died and I bought every CD of his they had in stock that I didn't already own. Then I went to the Liquor Store, bought a fifth of Maker's Mark, went home and listened to SRV and drank the majority of that bottle of bourbon. We miss you Stevie.
Great comment, Herb.
We didn't have Record Bar in the New York Tri-State area or Western Auto either. In fact, I didn't even know about Record Bar until this video.
Disagree ...discs were really in stores more in the early 90s....vinyl records and vhs tapes were STILL in stores in the 80s I don't recall seeing discs/cds it really took off in the 90s.
Ben, in my neck of the woods, CDs started showing up in record stores around '82-'83 and at first were limited to mostly classical music. By about '85 the cost of CD players had come down and popular music was coming out on CD. Vinyl was still there but by the 90s it had been supplanted by CDs and if vinyl was still available in a music store, it was a relatively small section of display space.
Great video, Fred. It's sort of like the videos where the guy walks through the "dead malls of America"--there's something kind of sad but compelling about all these vibrant businesses of the past fading away.
To be replaced by Wal-marts and Amazon.
I miss Sears. Once upon a time, because of their catalog and their brick-and-mortar saturation.. they were both Amazon and Wal*Mart.
Great work on this! I have fond memories of most all of these dead stores, and drive past them, closed, most every day.. sad ..
Here's another memory. In the 80s, we had Highland Appliance in North Texas. It was a lot like Circuit City and might have even been related. At the end of the 80s, Highland pulled out, and Circuit City came in right behind it.
The Kmart in my town just went outta business a couple months ago. I got a ton of great stuff for 90% off. A pair of $120 steel toe boots for $12, a $400 exercise bike for $40, and some other stuff. T-shirts for $2, etc.
When are you having your garage sale.:)
AlphaDeltaXray Kmart is out of business Port Richey FL.afew months ago..
$40 for a clothes rack isn't too bad :)
The one by my house is buying up shit from sears which is also going out of business right down the street. What's hilarious is that everything is more expensive at kmart lol
I got in on the going out of business sale near me. I go a $75 jacket for 10 bucks. I got jeans for 3 and 4 dollars. Tee shirts and shorts for 2 and 3 dollars. Sandles for 5 dollars and boots for 8 and 10 dollars.
The Moody Blues "Go Now". Nice
I remember when Pop cut up his Sears charge card, right in front of a manager, and told said manager he would never shop at Sears again (this would have been either 1977 or 78....memory fades a bit). He was good to his word...never set foot in a Sears ever again (and neither have I). And I used to love to go grocery shopping, and Pop having his Eight O'Clock coffee ground at the checkout. Loved that smell (although I hate coffee to this day). Still shop at the local K-Mart, but the ones near where I grew up are gone (including the original one). Another hit Fred.
Nice comment, Cap.
Dave Merrick, do they really? It was so very popular back in the day. The grinders going almost non-stop. Might have to actually buy some and brew it up, just to remember Pop. But, I won't buy any tobacco and light up his pipe for that. The volcanoes are retired for good, LOL ;-)
kyokogodai Yep! A&P sold off their coffee manufacturing division in the 2000s (they're owned by Tata Global Beverages now).
Fred, the announcer for the Western Auto commercial was Peter Hansen, who played Lee Baldwin on General Hospital and also was the announcer for Plymouth commercials in the 50s
Commercials that could be used for the Oddity Archive, hosted by Ben Minnotte. He's the guy that is behind the cardboard box. Picture on cardboard box is relevant to the topic of discussion for a particular episode.
Missing almost all if them. Didnt know of Montgemery Ward except on TV. Miss Kmart, Circuit City, Radio Shack has tons of memories. I bought my first laptop at Radio Shack, my dad got my TRS80 THERE. Bunch if audio tapes, memories galore. Western Auto got my oil changed there, Sears was great they replaced their electronics dept.
We used to have a store called "Best', its now a Oriental restaurant. I think i still have a lay away there parachute pants! bet there is a Chinese guy in the kitchen wearing my pants singing "cant touch this" lol
Oh the memories of all these great places. Keep em' coming, Fred!
I will, MidnightBanshi.
Makes me remember, Gimbles, Two Guys, Bradlees, Ames, Pathmark, A&P, Sears and so many hardware stores that are no longer here. It's a shame that the bigger stores have pushed other smaller ones into oblivion. By the way, great job once again Mr. Flix.
Wow, I regularly shopped at all but two of these stores, in this area. Kind of like seeing an old acquaintance again. Good memories of our youth. Bless you, Fred.
One of the Targets around here was a Montgomery Ward, and their electronics section is in the former Electric Avenue. That makes me old.
I'm nearly sixty and never go shopping except to the grocery store once a week. What memories what an era 😅
Western Auto, where cool girls wear mini skirts and cool guys wear sweaters. Wow.
Nice little almost upskirt shot in that one
Sears had good quality merchandise: My mom still has her Kenwood washer and dryer from way back when and they work great. As a teen, I loved shopping in the juniors section of Sears. I always got nice clothes there. Sad to say, Sears bellied up at the beginning of the year in my local area. RIP Sears!
Let's all hear it for the glory of UA-cam to keep these in our memory forever.
you are great!!fred i remember all of them i grew up in chicago in the 1960s i remember robert hall getting my suits there!! fred you are great!!!!
So many memories. I miss Ward's, used to shop there all the time. In fact, I worked at a Ward's for a while in the 80s, great place as a customer and an employee. All these stores, what a shame. Glad I can still shop at Sears though--lucky enough to have a busy one up the street.
Another wonderful vid, my friend!! Was making a list of lost stores with some friends recently, am certainly going to share this and your latest vid too.
Keep up the fantastic work!! :D
Thank you it’s fun like watching a time capsule in a way
Thanks for another's nostalgic video. I long for those days, that sadly, we will never experience again.
We sure won't, Victor.
I went shopping with my mom many times to K-Mart, though I have fonder memories of the Showbiz Pizza that was attached to it (it changed locations long before K-Mart closed). My mom was very sad to see it go. I also have some fond memories of Montgomery Wards, and MANY of Blockbuster.
Does anyone remember Sky City and Ben Franklin's. Our Ben Franklin's was replaced with TGY and when it went out of business, Hileugh Meyers took over the building. Now it's the Dollar Tree. When Wal-Mart came to town in the mid 80's, Sky City and Roses couldn't compete. Both went out of business in the early 90's.
Please if anyone knows a time machine send me back
ditto..but I want to choose the time..lol
the mid 70's and STAY there..oh well things are never perfect but yeah..
Me too.
My first digital cam was from CC 20 years ago. The MW building in Sparks,NV is now a Goodwill ( irony alert). And I might still have one tool I bought from WA in the 70's.
It's too soon to be nostalgic over K-Mart. In 1962, the Sears in Inglewood,CA had a kiosk with multiple video Santas on a tape loop. High tech then... You spoke into a handset and all he said was "uh huh." over and over. Sears was never the same to me and I felt bad for kids younger than me.
Thanks for the update. The only way I get to see the home grounds anymore is thru police chases here on YT..and actually, it's the only way I want to.
Wal-Mart may be on this eventually.
Unlikely. They have made all the right decisions so far. They have a good website and decent integration with their stores (although I don't like that they are turning their webside into a crowded mess "marketplace" -- it just means it's not worth it to try searching for stuff on it). They are doing a good job of drawing in shoppers with stable priced groceries, bolstered by loss leader deals on eggs and milk. The only thing that bothers me is that they are wasting money remodelling perfectly good stores. 10 years ago they reduced the tool departement, and put in laminate flooring to be "more high end". This year they tore up the terrazzo that connected the laminate floors and left bare polished concrete. I said "what gives?" They said it's cheaper to maintain concrete than it is to polish terrazzo. Just shoot my head.
I remember "Monkey Wards" as a kid in the 1960's. They had a catalog store in my city and you got anything you wanted from there. My first brand new bike and telescope came from there. This was the big store as Sears didn't have a good presence in my town at the time. When I got out of the Navy, I got work at a Radio Shack repair center sometime after that commercial you shown was made. I worked for Radio Shack for nearly 20 years. In my last year at RS is when Wards went under. They sold the Quasar line of electronics. We sold the same Mitsubishi chassis in a certain stereo receiver but we cannot honor any Wards warranty the customers brought in. The customers paid the regular price for repair for the same shoddy product my company sold. We were laid off from RS in 2001 and we saw that coming.
I enjoyed your comment, Starphot.
I love that blue neon lighting at 1987 Circuit City.
I miss Radio Shack from those days. My dad would buy me circuit building kits from there and I used to have a blast putting them together. I remember even having a "battery card" that I could use to get free batteries from there too. At least we still have Frys and Micro Center
Great work Fred !
The last thing I got from Circuit City was the complete Robotech anime box set, a real bargain too.
Ahh, the Moody Blues with original singer Denny Laine. A few years before the band's ode to Timothy Leary "Story Of A Mind".
Both were great. You'll find some unexpected Moody Blues stuff on my channel.
My first real job was for a Sears catalog store in my town. This was in the 70’s. I got married and had my kids and went back to work in the 90’s. That was a Western Auto store. I worked there until they were bought out and shut down. FYI Sears owned Western Auto at one point.
On Long Island, Cedarhurst we had TSS Stores, Times Square Stores. I also remember MAYS, ALEXANDERS, ABRAHAM & STRAUSS, and GIMBLES..... I almost forgot ROBERT HALL.. That's where mom bought me my first suit.... LAFFAYETTE RADIO, ELECTRONICS, (better than Radio Shack for audio equipment). NEWMARK & LEWIS...... too.
OCEANSIDE, N.Y.-LONG ISLAND;.TSS, THOM McCHAN SHOES, SHOE-TOWN, RADIO SHACK, MORSANS SPORTING GOODS, SNEAKER CIRCUS, F&W WOOLWORTHS, MARTIN PAINTS, AND THE 2ND ORIGINAL NATHAN'S FAMOUS WITH INDOOR-OUTDOOR ENTERTAINMENT , INDOOR STAGE.MEMORIES!
I remember I installed a new phone line in a Block Buster store and they closed the store the next week.
I loved record bar at Northlake mall in Tucker georgia in the 70s and 80s. That was my hangout Fred.
I remember sears having a lot of cool stuff, and then around 2015 it started going downhill. Now whenever I go there it’s empty, everything is 75% off or more and the store is usually a mess. Recently the customer service and management seems to be getting bad. A few months ago I had a question about where to pick up my online order and none of the management knew where it was or where they put it and finally after 45 minutes they figured it out.
Really miss the Record Bar stores. We had two here in my town. I spent a lot of money in those stores.
Just an aside I worked as an airport parking attendant for years and a service we provided was free jump starts to parkers. I hands down jumped more Die Hards than any other battery.
Ha!
WOW, I used to always buy DieHards and never had a problem even in Michigan -20F winters.
Same here Sam, I never had a single problem with a Sears Die Hard. I live in Columbus Ohio and it certainly gets cold here too!
When i think of "Die Hard" i think of the parody on the Carol Burnet Show. It featured Tim Conway doing a "Dears" battery. I dont recall the variation on the Die Hard name, though.
😂
OMG I had one of those Radio Shack electronic project kits! I played with it all the time!
Thx 4 posting. Ur vids are gr8!
My grandmother was the only one I knew in my family that shopped at the A&P and I went with her on some occasions around 1979 to 1982 as a little kid. Those were probably the last years that people who worked in grocery stores were not ridiculed and laughed to scorn for using their names in a TV ad. I worked in a grocery store for 15 years between the 90's and 2000's and how the view of people who worked in grocery changed during the time I worked. It was a job viewed as something valuable and by the end of my time in that business it was not even viewed that way by the people working in it. Montgomery Ward lasted longer than I thought they did. They were THE STORE in big cities from the early 20th century until the 60's and they hung on in the biggest markets into the 70's before they went kaput.
Even as an 80’s kid, I remember lots of these. I have been to many of those places and I wish they were all around. Sears is still around but by 2020, they will all be gone. Maybe by the end of this year. The Radio Shack red tag sale commercial was from 1978, and I wish I could have been in that store at that time. I remember Monkey Wards too. Now the Internet ruined all of this. What a shame.
1:14 I've always wanted a CD player for my car that ejects the discs at the speed of light.
Also to carry an awkward pile of boxes out of the store with no bags
Ah, the $ teen-aged me wheedled out of the folks for Record Bar runs @ the old Mall! & "Monkey" Wards was the anchor store rt next door, w/a big customer service dept in back where u could not only pay off yr layaways & credit purchases, but even certain utilities. They went all-out w/holiday decorations/advertising, esp given their Rudoph connection, publishing May's iconic reindeer tale.
Sorta forgot, K-Mart had some catchy jingles.
Hey, there's still a K-Mart in Marysville WA. And there's still a Sears in Everett Wa. "Fast" Eddie Lampert hasn't quite destroyed the whole company yet. Share price Apr. 2007 $144.09. Share price today $2.15. Way to go Eddie!
Herb Bluntman There's still a K-Mart in Williamsport, PA too. It's on life support. My guess is gone in a year.
There is a Super K-Mart in Palmer, Ma. USA.
Joe Heid
damn song is stuck in my head 😂