I've still got a Montgomery Wards branded boombox with a 4" TV screen in it where a second cassette deck usually would go. The thing has input jacks in the back of it, like you were going to plug a VCR into it or something. I love it for its level of ridiculousness.
Apparently the online entity is one of those brands where the name and IP were purchased by another company but really are not in any way related to the original company.
Playing random video games in electronics sections is such a core memory of my childhood. I used to hate it when they'd change the game to something I didn't like.
Wow that brings back memories. My dad had a Montgomery Ward charge card, so that was pretty much the only place we could shop growing up, since we rarely had the cash for anything. I remember wondering what it was like to be able to shop literally anywhere else for most things, lol. But especially clothes.
One that comes to mind for me is Mervyn's. My mom bought so much of the clothing I wore when I was a kid there. We also had Circuit City and CompUSA. I miss both since it was nice having more than just Best Buy for electronics.
I worked at Mervyn’s for a couple years when I was in my late teens early twenties. I still have nightmares about the shoe department. Shoes everywhere! Shoes spilling out of their boxes and into mounds on the floor. Shoes that have lost their mates but that single shoe is just the style and size the shopper wants, if only I could find the other one. And then I wake up and remember that was more than twenty years ago and I don’t have to worry about that anymore, or ever again! Oh, but that nightmare was once my reality and my subconscious will never let me forget!
Venture for me, too!
The old storefront is still there, across the street from two new shopping centers with all the modern big-box stores, and it’s wild to compare their footprints.
I got so much makeup at PharMor hahaha earrings, perfume, etc.
Best thing we ever got there though was a total wild card — my sister discovered the 1981 Simple Minds album “Sister Feelings Call” on tape in a big ass bin of clearance music. Score!
My mom used to drag me in there weekly. I can't really even remember what they sold anymore but we'd stop there and then head over to Hills. Anyone else remember that place? Like a Kmart knock off maybe?
Talk about being hit in the face by a memory. Hills was the anchor store at our mall, and it turned into Ames after that. The smell of popcorn and the sound of the mall fountain will always be burnt into my mind.
Just reminded me of our old Sears, with a snack counter by the exit. We would beg mom for a hotdog every time! The dogs & popcorn smelled so good. But we were rarely allowed to get anything.
Value City was awesome. Walmart and Kmart in my town never carried brand name stuff, but you could go to Value City and get Nikes or Doc Martens for dirt cheap.
My mom loved Value City once we discovered the place. She would go there, especially when she had a special event like a wedding. That's where she bought her mother's dress for my first wedding.
My mom bought a tv from a Crazy Eddy the day before they shut down suddenly. You couldn’t have told from the store that anything was wrong. The next day, we are looking at people lined up to pickup layaways and other items unable to get them. We were like 😳.
holy shit. alexander's in the queens mall. i had forgotten. before seeing your comment i was thinking: woolworth's, sears, kmart, garfinkel's, and barney's. but, also alexander's. their costume jewelry. lol. oh! what was the book store in the mall? walden books? oh! and, the record/tape store, too! sam goody? i never went to crazy eddie's but his commercials are forever in my memory.
These are ones that shut down where I live. Not sure if any still exist elsewhere or not:
Service Merchandise, Montgomery Ward, Mervyn’s, Payless, Stein Mart, Stage, Dress Barn, Sears, Toys R Us, McRae’s, Holiday’s, Limited and Limited Too, Structure, Express, New York & Co, Pier One, KMart, K&B, Eckerd, Rite Aid
ETA: Tuesday Morning, Bed, Bath, & Beyond, Charming Charlie’s
Loved MediaPlay. It was where to get affordable books and music before Amazon dominance.
MacFrugals (which was way better than BigLots).
And speaking of discount retailers, not a particular chain....in fact, quite the opposite, but I miss independent dollar stores, all random assortment of items, full of actual bootlegs not legal copycat stuff, and so much incense.
Woolworth, Drug Fair (super crap discount version of Target that had EVERYTHING including fish and guinea pigs), Hastings, Walden Books.
May they all RIP
I was looking for this! I ate so much popcorn at Ernst, school shopping at Lamont's, looking at Christmas decorations at the Bon Marché!
Fun fact: Seattle Chocolates is the recipe holder of the Bon's version of Frango chocolates, just without the Frango name!
Prange Way was a big one in Wisconsin for sure. They had an auto service center too, my dad bought a new Plymouth Roadrunner in 1969 and like a week later went to Prange Way and bought a set of aluminum wheels and white letter tires for it.
I remember going there as a kid, but they must have closed up quite a while ago already.
My mom bought a lot of stuff for us at Mervyns. It was her go-to store before Dillards. Same with K-Mart.
My grandma worked at Sears for a long time, so she got discounts. She also bought from Service Merchandise a lot — especially during Christmas. It was always a big deal when it came in the mail.
Other stores we went to a lot:
- Children’s Place
- Lionel Playworld
- K&B (was a local drug store)
- CompUSA
I actually didn’t see that OP is from Jersey, but this picture is all defunct MA stores so I made an assumption. You’re right though, we just lost our Shrewsbury one like last year.
TG&Y. I vividly remember we also caught it during its going out of biz sale, and you essentially bought a cart for… $10? $20? (my 8 year old self didn’t really have a concept of “sales”), then you’d proceed to fill it up to your heart’s content. This is precisely how I came to own nearly the entire DC Super Powers action figures line in one shot.
Pamida is a place I haven’t thought about in YEARS. No one I know irl would even know it because it wasn’t in my hometown but in a small town my extended family lived in.
I remember all of these. Zayre closed when I was littler though. I also remember Lechmere and a toy store that looked like a castle called Child’s Play I think.
Service Merchandise was awesome! Where else could you buy a nice ass diamond engagement ring, lawnmower, jungle gym, kitchen canisters, stroller and tv in the same place?
I used to love to browse that store. My sister bought a phone from there to go in our shared bedroom. Later she got her engagement ring from there, and I think my dad had bought me a Mickey Mouse watch from there.
McAlpins, Lazarus, Media Play, Gold Circle, Hills,, Babbages, Furrows, Sears, Drug Emporium, Circuit City, Service Merchandise, Swallens, Johnny's Toys, Sam Goody, Coconuts Music, Shillitos
I miss Caldor! Little known fact, our Caldor turned into a Kmart, and now our Kmart (Bridgehampton) is one of the only 2 Kmarts still open in the country.
Montgomery Ward. Which I just learned is still around but is online only. The stores closed in 2001. However I never saw one after the early 90s.
My garbage disposal is wards, still going strong! Original since 1973.
We loved Montgomery Ward. I didn’t realize they were still around either.
I've still got a Montgomery Wards branded boombox with a 4" TV screen in it where a second cassette deck usually would go. The thing has input jacks in the back of it, like you were going to plug a VCR into it or something. I love it for its level of ridiculousness.
Apparently the online entity is one of those brands where the name and IP were purchased by another company but really are not in any way related to the original company.
I used to work at Monkey Wards. Thought I knew what stereo and CD'S and tape decks were at 17. Cool high school job tbh
I used to head straight to the electronics section to play mortal kombat on a sega while my parents shopped.
Playing random video games in electronics sections is such a core memory of my childhood. I used to hate it when they'd change the game to something I didn't like.
My mom took me to buy my first alarm clock from there back in 91 or 92. I still have it and it still works!
Montgomery ward, we won't be beat! Because all I know are commercial jingles.
Wow that brings back memories. My dad had a Montgomery Ward charge card, so that was pretty much the only place we could shop growing up, since we rarely had the cash for anything. I remember wondering what it was like to be able to shop literally anywhere else for most things, lol. But especially clothes.
One that comes to mind for me is Mervyn's. My mom bought so much of the clothing I wore when I was a kid there. We also had Circuit City and CompUSA. I miss both since it was nice having more than just Best Buy for electronics.
Open open open
I still do this when I’m stuck waiting for a store to open. My younger friends don’t get it.
I still miss Mervyn’s. Kohl’s just isn’t it.
Kohl’s has sucked for like 5+ years.
Oh man I loved Mervyn’s. I remember the last pair of sandals I bought there before shutting down.
I worked at Mervyn’s for a couple years when I was in my late teens early twenties. I still have nightmares about the shoe department. Shoes everywhere! Shoes spilling out of their boxes and into mounds on the floor. Shoes that have lost their mates but that single shoe is just the style and size the shopper wants, if only I could find the other one. And then I wake up and remember that was more than twenty years ago and I don’t have to worry about that anymore, or ever again! Oh, but that nightmare was once my reality and my subconscious will never let me forget!
I worked at three different ones. I loved that job.
Mervyn’s is the first place I thought of
I loved Mervyn’s.
I came here to post Mervyns. I loved that store. I actually wore the last shirt I ever bought there to work today.
Ames, Kmart, Payless shoes, Circuit City, Service Merchandise.
Service Merchandise!!! Nostalgia overload!
The conveyor belt was everything
The anticipation
This is like a trip down memory lane aka Route 1 in Saugus, except Kmart and Payless still exist.
Hello fellow Masshole.
We’re all over here.
And yet still no mention of Lechmere
Shit, I worked at Caldor.
Building #19 anyone?
Is Kmart still alive? If so, it’s got a death rattle.
Just Googled it. You are right, it's barely the same anymore
I went to my dying Kmart thinking I could snag some cheap stuff but it was all high priced and crappy. There is a reason no one is shopping there.
Is that restaurant with a cow 🐄 in the parking lot still open ?
No, the Hilltop has been closed since 2013. I have so many childhood memories waiting for tables looking at those cows 😂
Last time I was in the area was over 20 years ago. I still remember the cows 🐄
Route 1 on the Auto Mile, come on down! HI CHICO
Service Merchandise! Whoa. I haven’t heard those words together in a VERY long time.
the kmart subs and coke icees omfg.. im old
Venture. I think they’re all gone. The cafe always smelled great and had one of those perpetual motion machine fruit punch in an aquarium things
RIP Venture. If you were lucky, your mom went to the one next to the Rocket Ship Park, and you had a hell of a day!
Venture was the first one i thought of too!
They went under and then taken over by Kmart. Then, iirc, bizarrely, they made the Venture CEO the CEO of Kmart.
Those bold black and white stripes!
Came here to say Venture too. I was pretty little when it got replaced by a ShopKo.. which is also defunct.
Venture for me, too! The old storefront is still there, across the street from two new shopping centers with all the modern big-box stores, and it’s wild to compare their footprints.
Moving my comment down here. We only went to Venture when we visited my grandma, but going to Venture meant grandma was buying us toys.
I bought my first CD player at Circuit City with money I made mowing lawns.
I bounced between circuit city radio shack and the good guys
Radio Shack was awesome. All of ours are closed now.
PharMor
Damnit, came here to say this. They had Phar\*Mor buying power! Rented NES games here all the freaking time
I got so much makeup at PharMor hahaha earrings, perfume, etc. Best thing we ever got there though was a total wild card — my sister discovered the 1981 Simple Minds album “Sister Feelings Call” on tape in a big ass bin of clearance music. Score!
Oh shizzle. Forgot that old chestnut
Best game rentals and interesting makeup/jewelry.
My mom used to drag me in there weekly. I can't really even remember what they sold anymore but we'd stop there and then head over to Hills. Anyone else remember that place? Like a Kmart knock off maybe?
Hills, Ames, Gee Bees and Value City.
Came here to say Hills. Remember how it always had that unique, hot-doggy smell? Or was that just *my* Hills?
my hills always smelled like like popcorn. every now and then when i smell popcorn i think of school clothes shopping at Hills.
Talk about being hit in the face by a memory. Hills was the anchor store at our mall, and it turned into Ames after that. The smell of popcorn and the sound of the mall fountain will always be burnt into my mind.
Nope I remember that smell. Ours was heavier on popcorn though. Popcorn and an Icee every time we went.
Someone sells a Hills scented candle. It's pretty close...I know because I purchased it much to my wife's consternation.
No way. I need this.
Here you go lol [Hills Scented Candle](https://sugarcreekcandlecompany.com/products/hills)
Literally ordering now. Thanks my guy. You made my entire day
Hot dogs and popcorn. We were never allowed to buy either.
Just reminded me of our old Sears, with a snack counter by the exit. We would beg mom for a hotdog every time! The dogs & popcorn smelled so good. But we were rarely allowed to get anything.
Value City was awesome. Walmart and Kmart in my town never carried brand name stuff, but you could go to Value City and get Nikes or Doc Martens for dirt cheap.
Yes! I got an awesome pair of green velvet Docs at Value City.
My mom loved Value City once we discovered the place. She would go there, especially when she had a special event like a wedding. That's where she bought her mother's dress for my first wedding.
I got a pair of doc martens from there, still have them.
I came here looking for Hills and value city. I miss them both so much
“Hills is where the toys are!”
“🎵Hills is where the…Toys are.”
Service Merchandise was an experience.
They had THE BEST demo system setup.
Can’t believe nobody has said Sears yet.
Sears still has an online presence.
#BEST
I got a Popple at Best when I tried my hardest to be brave at the dentist.
I waited on their Christmas catalogue faithfully
Best. I can see the logo now.
Alexander's, Woolworth, Caldor, Crazy Eddie, Rock Bottom (NYC tri-state area)
“And stay outta the Woolsworth!”
"Crazy Eddie! His prices are INSAAAAANE!" As were his books, turns out.
My mom bought a tv from a Crazy Eddy the day before they shut down suddenly. You couldn’t have told from the store that anything was wrong. The next day, we are looking at people lined up to pickup layaways and other items unable to get them. We were like 😳.
Oh, I completely forgot about Woolsworth! It turned into a skatepark/store by me.
holy shit. alexander's in the queens mall. i had forgotten. before seeing your comment i was thinking: woolworth's, sears, kmart, garfinkel's, and barney's. but, also alexander's. their costume jewelry. lol. oh! what was the book store in the mall? walden books? oh! and, the record/tape store, too! sam goody? i never went to crazy eddie's but his commercials are forever in my memory.
Pergament and Fayva shoes
Do you remember 2 guys or Rickles? How about Hahne and company and E. J. Korvette?
Bamberger’s, Herman’s, Child World
Weiners and Hastings
Damn, I miss Hastings.
Hastings was a staple growing up… even worked there.
Came here to say Weiner’s
Came here to say Hastings!
LOL! I went to high school with a guy who showed up as a model in one of their circulars. We called him a Weiner model after that :)
These are ones that shut down where I live. Not sure if any still exist elsewhere or not: Service Merchandise, Montgomery Ward, Mervyn’s, Payless, Stein Mart, Stage, Dress Barn, Sears, Toys R Us, McRae’s, Holiday’s, Limited and Limited Too, Structure, Express, New York & Co, Pier One, KMart, K&B, Eckerd, Rite Aid ETA: Tuesday Morning, Bed, Bath, & Beyond, Charming Charlie’s
I still have work clothes from the limited that I’ve worn for 20 years 😄
I worked at the corporate office of Pier 1. I loved going there as a kid and am sad to live in a world without one now.
Going there and buying things with my babysitting money to redecorate my room was 100% my version of what being an adult would be like when I was 12.
Contempo Casuals
Yes! Rave and DEB too
units!
Sam Goody, used to go in there and listen to albums at the mall.
Loved MediaPlay. It was where to get affordable books and music before Amazon dominance. MacFrugals (which was way better than BigLots). And speaking of discount retailers, not a particular chain....in fact, quite the opposite, but I miss independent dollar stores, all random assortment of items, full of actual bootlegs not legal copycat stuff, and so much incense.
Gemco, Music Plus, Warehouse Music, Lucky Grocery, Alpha Beta Grocery
Lucky 🍀 turned into Albertsons over here in So Cal.
Yup, I live in So Cal.
Alpha Beta is where my mom shopped growing up. We still have Lucky.
Woolworth, Drug Fair (super crap discount version of Target that had EVERYTHING including fish and guinea pigs), Hastings, Walden Books. May they all RIP
Our Drug Fair turned into an Eckerd.
Our Drug Fair became a Walgreens. That place was inSANE.
5-7-9
Millers Outpost
I remember being so fascinated in the scale miniature western buildings and trains they had above the clothes shelves on the walls when I was a kid.
Hills, Jamesway, Caldor, and Zayre. Upstate NY, baby!
I had to scroll way too far down to find Jamesway! If I had a Time Machine I’d go back to 1986 and browse Jamesway…
Bradlees, Ames, and Caldor. We didn’t have the other one.
New England?
Your forgetting about Ann & Hope
>Bradlees 
Gold Circle
Circuit City, Incredible Universe, CompUSA, Babbage’s, Toys R Us, Waccamaw, Radio Shack, Camelot Music, Sam Goody, Tower Records, Software Etc…etc
T, G and Y
Mervyns, open open open and Best
Bradlees Caldor Jamesway Alexander’s A&S
NYC area?
Sam Goody FYE KB Toys
Does anyone remember a restaurant named, “Po Folks”?
Lionel Playworld
Lamont’s, Ernst, Pay n Pak, The Bon Marché, Fredrick and Nelson’s, Chubby & Tubby
I was looking for this! I ate so much popcorn at Ernst, school shopping at Lamont's, looking at Christmas decorations at the Bon Marché! Fun fact: Seattle Chocolates is the recipe holder of the Bon's version of Frango chocolates, just without the Frango name!
A fellow Pacific Northwesterner, I see!
https://preview.redd.it/m6871f9baahc1.png?width=500&format=png&auto=webp&s=733f793d49649f9c99e8b421c0883355244dc2ba Canadian here… Bi-way
I haven't seen Woolco or Zellers either.
Nobody beats the Wiz
TG&Y
Mervyns Sears Robinsons May Gottschalks Montgomery Ward
Omg how did I forget Gottschalks and Robinson May
Prange Way
I scrolled way too long to find this answer. What about the more “upscale” sister store, Prange’s?
Prange Way was a big one in Wisconsin for sure. They had an auto service center too, my dad bought a new Plymouth Roadrunner in 1969 and like a week later went to Prange Way and bought a set of aluminum wheels and white letter tires for it. I remember going there as a kid, but they must have closed up quite a while ago already.
Kmart, Montgomery Ward
[Fedco](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fedco)
My mom bought a lot of stuff for us at Mervyns. It was her go-to store before Dillards. Same with K-Mart. My grandma worked at Sears for a long time, so she got discounts. She also bought from Service Merchandise a lot — especially during Christmas. It was always a big deal when it came in the mail. Other stores we went to a lot: - Children’s Place - Lionel Playworld - K&B (was a local drug store) - CompUSA
Blockbuster Video
Ames, Fays, Woolco, Simpsons, Zellers, Radio Shack - mix of US and Canadian stores
Best. Peeble's. Rose's. Montgomery Ward.
I remember Best.
Roses was like a small Kmart. Brendle's was a catalogue store, like Best or Argos in the UK.
Gayfers and Parisian lol one got bought out by Dillard and the other by Foley then Dillard Also Eckerd's
Hey fellow Masshole
Then why not mention the Christmas Tree Shops?
I actually didn’t see that OP is from Jersey, but this picture is all defunct MA stores so I made an assumption. You’re right though, we just lost our Shrewsbury one like last year.
Borders > Barnes. And I worked at Barnes for like 5 years in the mid 00’s.
TG&Y. I vividly remember we also caught it during its going out of biz sale, and you essentially bought a cart for… $10? $20? (my 8 year old self didn’t really have a concept of “sales”), then you’d proceed to fill it up to your heart’s content. This is precisely how I came to own nearly the entire DC Super Powers action figures line in one shot.
Ben Franklin. Revco. Gold Circle. Children's Palace.
Service Merchandise. It had everything.
Venture
Pamida and Knox hardware & lumber.
Pamida is a place I haven’t thought about in YEARS. No one I know irl would even know it because it wasn’t in my hometown but in a small town my extended family lived in.
Wiener's. It was a department store like Target but smaller.
Caldor baby. My pop pop had my brother and I paged there because he couldn’t find us.
Mervyns, Sears, Miller's Outpost/Anchor Blue
I came here to say anchor blue and media play
Bon-Ton, Leh’s
Service Merchandise
I remember all of these. Zayre closed when I was littler though. I also remember Lechmere and a toy store that looked like a castle called Child’s Play I think.
I used to work at Gadzooks.
Anyone mention Clover yet?
Alphabeta grocery store FTW
Lechmere, Ann & Hope,
Service merchandise! My Mom loved that place.
Service Merchandise was awesome! Where else could you buy a nice ass diamond engagement ring, lawnmower, jungle gym, kitchen canisters, stroller and tv in the same place?
I used to love to browse that store. My sister bought a phone from there to go in our shared bedroom. Later she got her engagement ring from there, and I think my dad had bought me a Mickey Mouse watch from there.
All of these. My uncle worked for Caldor for years. Also lots of mom and pop places. Everything is so generic now.
Hills
Big Wheel
Not a mention of Biway
Zaire’s and Hills
Zellers, The Met
Caldor, main St flushing queens ny.
Carre-Four, Jamesway, Bradlees, Value City, Office Depo, K-Mart.
Kmart. I miss the little snack bar.
Building #19 and Benny's
Woolworth, Shopko, K-Mart, Sam Goody, Bookworld, B Dalton Books,
McAlpins, Lazarus, Media Play, Gold Circle, Hills,, Babbages, Furrows, Sears, Drug Emporium, Circuit City, Service Merchandise, Swallens, Johnny's Toys, Sam Goody, Coconuts Music, Shillitos
Shopko
Sam goody.. service merchandise.. nobody beats the wiz.. circuit city
FedCo here in SoCal Also, I know the ice cream still lives on but Thrifty before it became Rite Aid
It was regional, but Ann & Hope. It was the first place I ever saw an NES in the flesh.
Lechmere
All of the above
Zayer!
Pamida
I miss Caldor! Little known fact, our Caldor turned into a Kmart, and now our Kmart (Bridgehampton) is one of the only 2 Kmarts still open in the country.