Showing posts with label shopping. Show all posts
Showing posts with label shopping. Show all posts
Wednesday, 29 December 2010
Push & Shove
I'm still in Mississippi for the holidays. Last night I decided to venture out to a store called Hudson's Dirt Cheap. I've been several times when they had a great supply of closeout books, but I wasn't that lucky last night. I'd been told that they had a lot of Christmas close-outs from Target earlier during the day, but either they were gone or I just didn't find them. (Someone said they'd been able to get a 7.5 foot Christmas Tree for $1.) My mom used to call the store "Push & Shove." That's about what you have to do there. The aisles are too narrow. You can't meet anyone else with a cart on them because the aisles are nearly too narrow for a single cart -- much less for any to pass. I don't have the patience to pick through the clothes which have size labels on the racks which are meaningless. I know a lot of people have found quite a few bargains, but it's too crowded with not enough space for browsing. The electronics in stock appeared to be the ones returned to various stores with problems. All the boxes were damaged as well. There were a bunch of DVDs that looked as though the shrink-wrapped containers had been dropped in a giant mud puddle. The floors are filthy. Many aisles are barricaded with yellow "crime scene" tape (making you wonder what folks did on those aisles). It's particularly aggravating if you get to the end of one of those narrow aisles in the clothes section only to discover that you cannot exit into the main aisle to round the corner to the next aisle. It's no fun backing your cart back up the entire aisle. There's no room to turn around and go forward. While I'm enough of a book addict to take the time to sort through those when available, I'm not willing to take the time to search through other things. Push and shove is exactly what you have to do. I'm not sure why people are willing to put up with a filthy store and all the inconveniences. I guess it is the feeling they get when they do find the bargain. I really prefer to find my bargains in cleaner stores. I'm just surprised that the health department hasn't condemned that one!
Thursday, 21 August 2008
Stores of Yesteryear Roundup
Thomas at Destination: Austin Family remembers Marcia's, Town & Country, and many others.
Alison at Young Geeky Librarian remembers Ames, Zayre's, and Montgomery Ward.
Wendy at All My Branches Genealogy shares The Stores of My Childhood, reminiscing about stores in Dayton, Ohio. I know Elder-Beerman was still around the Dayton area and even had a store or two in Cincinnati 10 years ago, but I don't know whether they are there now or not!
Bob at Itawamba History Review shares all about downtown Fulton, Mississippi. I do think that I went in the Fulton Ben Franklin once or twice when I was small.
Jasia at Creative Gene tells us about Federals, Montgomery Ward, and even the S & H Green Stamp Redemption Centers, but she focuses on the Sunnyside Market, her one special store. S & H Green Stamps and Quality Stamps had redemption centers all the way up through my college years (and maybe even a little longer). I remember saving the stamps from my grocery store for what seemed like a long time just to get whatever you wanted. You had to pay a little per each book of stamps redeemed, but it was cheaper than purchasing the item at the regular store (at least until Wal-Mart came along). Thanks for bringing back that memory. I don't remember much of what I got, but I still own a rocking chair that I got (well -- my parents got it for me) when I was about 13 or 14 with one of those types of stamps. Her memories of the candy counter even made me remember West's in Amory. It was a little neighborhood grocery store that most of us in the neighborhood visited frequently by bicycle. It stocked a great line of candy and the old sodas that you got out of the chest type freezers in glass bottles! I'm talking about the good kind of sodas like Grape Nehi!
Alison at Young Geeky Librarian remembers Ames, Zayre's, and Montgomery Ward.
Wendy at All My Branches Genealogy shares The Stores of My Childhood, reminiscing about stores in Dayton, Ohio. I know Elder-Beerman was still around the Dayton area and even had a store or two in Cincinnati 10 years ago, but I don't know whether they are there now or not!
Bob at Itawamba History Review shares all about downtown Fulton, Mississippi. I do think that I went in the Fulton Ben Franklin once or twice when I was small.
Jasia at Creative Gene tells us about Federals, Montgomery Ward, and even the S & H Green Stamp Redemption Centers, but she focuses on the Sunnyside Market, her one special store. S & H Green Stamps and Quality Stamps had redemption centers all the way up through my college years (and maybe even a little longer). I remember saving the stamps from my grocery store for what seemed like a long time just to get whatever you wanted. You had to pay a little per each book of stamps redeemed, but it was cheaper than purchasing the item at the regular store (at least until Wal-Mart came along). Thanks for bringing back that memory. I don't remember much of what I got, but I still own a rocking chair that I got (well -- my parents got it for me) when I was about 13 or 14 with one of those types of stamps. Her memories of the candy counter even made me remember West's in Amory. It was a little neighborhood grocery store that most of us in the neighborhood visited frequently by bicycle. It stocked a great line of candy and the old sodas that you got out of the chest type freezers in glass bottles! I'm talking about the good kind of sodas like Grape Nehi!
FootnoteMaven's contribution, Shopping -- Hazardous to Your Health, brings back some memories of shoes and drug stores. I dare not say more. Just read it!
Denise of Moultrie Creek shares with us about McCartney's Drug Store.
Randy Seaver of Genea-Musings reminisces about Piggly Wiggly and More. He even shares the street addresses of the stores in his neighborhood.
Janet Iles of Janet the Researcher tells us all about Owen Sound and promises future posts on corner grocery stores.
All My Ancestors chose Plainview Hardware as the basis for her memory but mentions several other stores of the past.
Terry over at Hill County of Monroe County quite appropriately blogs about his father's own store.
Laura over at Life at the Home20 shares her memories of the stores of Amarillo, Texas. Those S & H Green Stamps just keep cropping up in posts! Maybe we should be asking folks if they licked them like Laura did or used a wet sponge as we did if we waited too long to paste them in those little books.
Late Additions:
Diane at Canada Genealogy, or, 'Jane's Your Aunt' tells us all about the stores she remembers being in downtown Vancouver.
I was browsing some other blogs and found Elyse's entry, My Favorite Memories of Stores. One of those she recalls is Fred Meyers.
Jessica of Jessica's Genejournal submits Stores I Remember with memories of G & W, Imperial Pizza, Farmer Jack, and others.
Tuesday, 12 August 2008
More Store Memories
I blogged earlier about the memories of a couple of now defunct stores that an obituary sparked. I promised to blog later about more stores I remembered from the past, and it is now a meme. I will gather all the various links that are sent in the comments and post them. I know that I've seen one or two others besides those left in the comments so make sure you send those links along to me!
I grew up in the small town of Amory, Mississippi. When I was growing up, we had a dollar store (Fred's - which is still around but is much larger and out on Highway 278 instead of on Main Street) and a dime store (V. J. Elmore's). I loved Elmore's. It was actually in two storefronts. They had old wooden floors which creaked as you walked over them. They had the most interesting toys in little bins that kids could purchase. Another dollar store (or discount store) came into town on Main Street for awhile. It was called Hi-Lo. It simply wasn't as good as Fred's or Elmore's. I don't remember how long it lasted, but it wasn't that long. When the Glendale Shopping Center opened, we then had another store of this type called Sterlings.
As far as clothing, I remember going to the Dorothy Mae shop back when I was small. Later that store moved off Main Street and was renamed The Family Shop. They had one of the better selections of children's clothes. There was also a Black's. Black's had clothes for the entire family. They also had a store in Tupelo. One of the stores was called the Casualaire. They had high-end women's clothing. My mother always called it "the Millionaire's Casualaire." It really wasn't that pricy, but you'd often find the same clothes in Tupelo for about half of what they cost at that store! The store later moved off Main Street. I am not sure if it exists now or not. Anthony's Men's Shop catered to the men.
When I was small, there was no such thing as a chain drug store in town. We usually went to People's Drug Store. There was also a Cutcliffe's drug store, Alexander Pharmacy, and G & Y Drugs. G & Y was a favorite stop for me because they had a real soda fountain. (I think People's had one for awhile too, but G & Y's was open longer. They had little green-padded stools where you could sit around the counter.) They also had a gift shop which was fun to browse. Glendale Shopping Center had East Drugs.
As far as grocery stores, there was McCullen's downtown. You could get some items at this store that you couldn't find at other places. They also delivered groceries. People would call in their orders, and they delivered them. I always liked to talk to Joe & Ira (the owners) as we shopped there. My mom had worked for them for many years so they always treated me extra special! There was a Kroger in town when I was young. It was the first store to close. We had a Big Star. I don't remember who owned it originally, but the local franchise was later purchased by a Larson. They later moved from their location about a block toward town from the middle school out to the corner of Highway 278 and Boulevard Drive. It was still around until a couple of years ago when it became a Vowell's Marketplace. The store was always smelly so it didn't do too well. Food Giant has come in and cleaned the place up, and that store is once again a good place to shop. When the Glendale Shopping Center first opened, it housed an A & P.
I also remember a couple of jewelry stores downtown in Amory. We usually went to Roberts' Jewelry. I remember that the owner had a jeweler's eyepiece (or whatever you call those) that he almost always used. The other one I remember was Wright's Jewelry. I believe that both of these no longer exist.
There were two banks--the Bank of Amory and the Security Bank. Later "Scrib" (J. D. Scribner who owned a huge house with lots of white-fenced land on Highway 25 between Becker and Aberdeen, a self-made millionaire who made his fortune in equipment sales) opened a bank which I believe was then called National Bank of Commerce. All of these banks have now merged with other banks so no local banks exist in Amory today to my knowledge.
I can't adequately cover Amory's stores without mentioning a couple of shoe stores. There was Gilmore's which was owned by a lady named Winnie Gilmore. Mom liked to go there because she could find narrow widths for herself and for me and because Winnie always did a good job fitting shoes. As a child, I was more enamored of Hob Nob Shoe Store which had these wonderful "high seats" in the children's section that I wanted to sit on. I guess they kind of resembled the old shoe shine seats you sometimes see in photos. I will, however, admit that the shoes that we bought at Gilmore's fit better.
We would often go shopping in Tupelo. I remember Brett's which was one of the original anchors of the Tupelo Mall (which is mostly owned by the hospital now, I think). I don't remember what it merged with, but it eventually became McRaes which was bought out by Belk. I'm pretty sure it was something else before it was McRaes. Another store I remember was Kress. It was located somewhere around the center of one of the malls in Tupelo. There used to be a Woolworth in downtown Tupelo. When they opened the Downtown Mall (which is now the convention center), they opened a Woolco which was a larger version of the store.
It's getting late, and I'm running out of steam; however, before I close, I must talk about what to me was the most fascinating store in the whole wide world. It was in Tupelo in a shopping center and was called "The Gizmo." They had the most interesting things (many of them breakable). I just loved to go in and look. If you wanted a pink flamingo, you'd be sure to find one at The Gizmo. They had everything a child could possibly dream of (at least for the 1960s).
I'm sure I'll think of other stores in both Amory and Tupelo that I should have mentioned. I should probably also mention Goldsmith's and Lowenstein's in Memphis which we would visit when we made the trip to the "big city." When I first moved to Cincinnati, we shopped at Shillito's and L. S. Ayres. Both of those disappeared while I was there. They had wonderful bargain basements in the downtown stores.
Times have changed. Today's stores seem to be all cookie cutters compared to some of the stores of the past. I'd love to take a step back in time and go shopping at one of these older stores.
I grew up in the small town of Amory, Mississippi. When I was growing up, we had a dollar store (Fred's - which is still around but is much larger and out on Highway 278 instead of on Main Street) and a dime store (V. J. Elmore's). I loved Elmore's. It was actually in two storefronts. They had old wooden floors which creaked as you walked over them. They had the most interesting toys in little bins that kids could purchase. Another dollar store (or discount store) came into town on Main Street for awhile. It was called Hi-Lo. It simply wasn't as good as Fred's or Elmore's. I don't remember how long it lasted, but it wasn't that long. When the Glendale Shopping Center opened, we then had another store of this type called Sterlings.
As far as clothing, I remember going to the Dorothy Mae shop back when I was small. Later that store moved off Main Street and was renamed The Family Shop. They had one of the better selections of children's clothes. There was also a Black's. Black's had clothes for the entire family. They also had a store in Tupelo. One of the stores was called the Casualaire. They had high-end women's clothing. My mother always called it "the Millionaire's Casualaire." It really wasn't that pricy, but you'd often find the same clothes in Tupelo for about half of what they cost at that store! The store later moved off Main Street. I am not sure if it exists now or not. Anthony's Men's Shop catered to the men.
When I was small, there was no such thing as a chain drug store in town. We usually went to People's Drug Store. There was also a Cutcliffe's drug store, Alexander Pharmacy, and G & Y Drugs. G & Y was a favorite stop for me because they had a real soda fountain. (I think People's had one for awhile too, but G & Y's was open longer. They had little green-padded stools where you could sit around the counter.) They also had a gift shop which was fun to browse. Glendale Shopping Center had East Drugs.
As far as grocery stores, there was McCullen's downtown. You could get some items at this store that you couldn't find at other places. They also delivered groceries. People would call in their orders, and they delivered them. I always liked to talk to Joe & Ira (the owners) as we shopped there. My mom had worked for them for many years so they always treated me extra special! There was a Kroger in town when I was young. It was the first store to close. We had a Big Star. I don't remember who owned it originally, but the local franchise was later purchased by a Larson. They later moved from their location about a block toward town from the middle school out to the corner of Highway 278 and Boulevard Drive. It was still around until a couple of years ago when it became a Vowell's Marketplace. The store was always smelly so it didn't do too well. Food Giant has come in and cleaned the place up, and that store is once again a good place to shop. When the Glendale Shopping Center first opened, it housed an A & P.
I also remember a couple of jewelry stores downtown in Amory. We usually went to Roberts' Jewelry. I remember that the owner had a jeweler's eyepiece (or whatever you call those) that he almost always used. The other one I remember was Wright's Jewelry. I believe that both of these no longer exist.
There were two banks--the Bank of Amory and the Security Bank. Later "Scrib" (J. D. Scribner who owned a huge house with lots of white-fenced land on Highway 25 between Becker and Aberdeen, a self-made millionaire who made his fortune in equipment sales) opened a bank which I believe was then called National Bank of Commerce. All of these banks have now merged with other banks so no local banks exist in Amory today to my knowledge.
I can't adequately cover Amory's stores without mentioning a couple of shoe stores. There was Gilmore's which was owned by a lady named Winnie Gilmore. Mom liked to go there because she could find narrow widths for herself and for me and because Winnie always did a good job fitting shoes. As a child, I was more enamored of Hob Nob Shoe Store which had these wonderful "high seats" in the children's section that I wanted to sit on. I guess they kind of resembled the old shoe shine seats you sometimes see in photos. I will, however, admit that the shoes that we bought at Gilmore's fit better.
We would often go shopping in Tupelo. I remember Brett's which was one of the original anchors of the Tupelo Mall (which is mostly owned by the hospital now, I think). I don't remember what it merged with, but it eventually became McRaes which was bought out by Belk. I'm pretty sure it was something else before it was McRaes. Another store I remember was Kress. It was located somewhere around the center of one of the malls in Tupelo. There used to be a Woolworth in downtown Tupelo. When they opened the Downtown Mall (which is now the convention center), they opened a Woolco which was a larger version of the store.
It's getting late, and I'm running out of steam; however, before I close, I must talk about what to me was the most fascinating store in the whole wide world. It was in Tupelo in a shopping center and was called "The Gizmo." They had the most interesting things (many of them breakable). I just loved to go in and look. If you wanted a pink flamingo, you'd be sure to find one at The Gizmo. They had everything a child could possibly dream of (at least for the 1960s).
I'm sure I'll think of other stores in both Amory and Tupelo that I should have mentioned. I should probably also mention Goldsmith's and Lowenstein's in Memphis which we would visit when we made the trip to the "big city." When I first moved to Cincinnati, we shopped at Shillito's and L. S. Ayres. Both of those disappeared while I was there. They had wonderful bargain basements in the downtown stores.
Times have changed. Today's stores seem to be all cookie cutters compared to some of the stores of the past. I'd love to take a step back in time and go shopping at one of these older stores.
Sunday, 10 August 2008
Meme: Stores of Yesteryear
Thomas said that I should create a meme for folks to talk about stores that they remember from their past that don't exist anymore, so I'll take him up on that suggestion.
If you have a blog, write your own post and create a link to it by leaving a comment below. If you don't have a blog, just leave your memories in the comments below.
If you have a blog, write your own post and create a link to it by leaving a comment below. If you don't have a blog, just leave your memories in the comments below.
- What stores do you remember from the past that aren't around any more?
- Where were they located? (I know some of you moved around a lot.)
- What did the store sell?
- Do you have any special memories associated with those stores?
We'll make August 20 the deadline! I will try to do a summary of posts on or about August 21 with links to all the posts! I'll post my follow up to this post as well as the Shainberg's and Kent's post that got it all started in the roundup.
Reading Obits Brings Back Memories
Yesterday I was reading the obituaries. Some people might think that's an odd thing to do, but those of us who are "into genealogy" know it's not. As I was reading, I found the obituary of a woman who had been a buyer for Shainberg's and Kent's. It had been years since I had thought of those stores because neither exists any more and hasn't for years. To be honest, I don't really remember a whole lot about either of them, but I do remember that when I was a child and maybe even into my early teen years those stores were some that my family sometimes shopped when we went to Tupelo. I believe that they were clothing stores. I kind of believe that Shainberg's was the smaller version of Kent's and that they had a store downtown which may have closed after the Kent's opened in what we used to refer to as the "new mall." It's the mall that now houses the coliseum in Tupelo, and I think it's official name was something like the Uptown or Downtown Mall. It was actually across the railroad tracks from downtown. As I began to think about Shainberg's and Kent's, my mind began going through some of the stores that used to be in Tupelo and in Amory that no longer exist. I'm running short of time right now, but I plan to follow up with this post later! If anyone has better memories of Shainberg's and Kent's, please comment. This blog now supports openID so if you have an account at WordPress or LiveJournal, you can use that (in addition to Blogger IDs).
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