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Now defunct retailers of your youth


Al Czervik
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They almost seem like a thing from the past but Pep Boys is still with us, but they've been around forever. Same with JC Whitney but it's not a retail store, mail order only. It was ahead of it's time. JC Whitney had some Cool stuff. I remember I got an A-oo-gah! horn from them for my 1964 Ford F-150 truck and I used to like reading their catalog.

Edited by Borg warner
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48 minutes ago, Borg warner said:

Same with JC Whitney but it's not a retail store, mail order only. It was ahead of it's time. JC Whitney had some Cool stuff. I remember I got an A-oo-gah! horn from them for my 1964 Ford F-150 truck and I used to like reading their catalog.

I loved JC Whitney as a teen hot rodder in the 80's!  Would pore over their magazine for hours looking for cheap junk to adorn my car...  I had no idea they were still in business.

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1 hour ago, Borg warner said:

They almost seem like a thing from the past but Pep Boys is still with us, but they've been around forever. Same with JC Whitney but it's not a retail store, mail order only. It was ahead of it's time. JC Whitney had some Cool stuff. I remember I got an A-oo-gah! horn from them for my 1964 Ford F-150 truck and I used to like reading their catalog.

The only problem I had with JC Whitney was that the stuff you ordered was cheap but the shipping was horrendous.  I ordered a fender for a friend once and the shipping was the same money as the fender.  But, it was like a candy store, they had lots of fun stuff.

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3 hours ago, PNWguy said:

I loved JC Whitney as a teen hot rodder in the 80's!  Would pore over their magazine for hours looking for cheap junk to adorn my car... 

You could buy those metal-flake helmets that made you look like the Great Gazoo for, like, $5.

If they split open the first time you wiped out,  no problem!  You just buy another for $5!

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If you grew up in the Ohio Valley area, or Western PA in the 80’s and 90’s, you may recall some of these stores.

1. Big Bear Grocery and Hart’s Department Stores. They were owned by the same corporation and had stores adjacent to each other, under the same roof. They merged into Big Bear Plus stores in the 90’s. It was a much nicer version of today’s Super WalMart. Our local store had one of the best delies and bakeries of all the chain grocery stores.

2. Hills Department Store. This was a major chain in my area growing up. Their stores had a snack bar at the entrance. You could literally smell the popcorn in the parking lot when you rolled up. We would normally get a small popcorn on the way in to occupy me while my parents shopped. Once they were done, we would make our way over to the toy section. I remember the huge selection of Star Wars toys, and later, the original Nintendo games when they first came out. If I was well behaved, I was rewarded with an ICEE from the snack bar for the ride home.

3. Murphy’s Mart (aka C.G. Murphy Co). C.G. Murphy had a location in a downtown building in my hometown until it moved into a new location in a strip shopping center under the Murphy’s Mart name. From what I can recall about the original location, there was a cafeteria in the basement of their store that was like an old school diner. I can’t remember much about this particular store because I was really young. There were some pictures online at one time of the downtown store. I’ll have to find them. The Murphy’s Mart wasn’t really that impressive. It was later bought out and became an Ames Department.


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+1 on Hills, Nickels was another department store.

 

Loblaws,A&P, Finest/Tops grocery stores.

 

My cousins were motorheads and I was into dirt bikes so we wore out the JC Whitney about as much as the Playboys[emoji16]

 

 

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We also had a store called "Best" - (no relation to Best Buy). They were kind of a housewares and department store.. electronics, jewelry, small appliances. I remember it was unique cause nearly everything on display was a shelf sample - if you wanted to buy anything, even little stuff, you took a ticket, they got it from the backroom, and sent it to be picked up down a conveyor belt. I always thought the conveyor belt was cool when I was a little kid.


We had something like that called Service Merchandise. I got my HP 32S, 32SII, and 48GX there. Still have them.
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3 hours ago, Huaco Kid said:

I still come across Ben Franklins, from time to time.  Don't think I've ever been in one.

Piggly Wigglys are still all over the south.

(I've told the story of the hamster and the downtown Woolworths lunch counter (!) )

yeah Ben Franklin is still around ,  up in PA  where my wife is from  there is one  right outside  of Hughesville ,  been in it a few times ,

some here  

Popes 

sam solomon  

Macks 

Kings 

sky city  

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11 hours ago, PeterG7 said:

+1 on Hills, Nickels was another department store.

 

Loblaws,A&P, Finest/Tops grocery stores.

My cousins were motorheads and I was into dirt bikes so we wore out the JC Whitney about as much as the Playboysemoji16.pngSent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

I remember Loblaws form when I was kid growing up in Western New York (Lockport) because my Mom use to call it "Bla-bla's" instead of loblaws.

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Venture, which my wife worked there prior to them closing.

Circuit City, bought a few electronics from them over the years.

Rothman's Furniture, we bought are first complete living room set from them.

Waldenbooks, use to buy books from there when we went to the mall.

Blockbusters, I think there is one store left open, but all the stores around here closed.

 

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Northern Ohio

A&P

Pic n Pay

Woolworths

Western Auto

Sears - but I don't miss them

Tokyo Shapiro  -- Electronics

Olson Electronics

Lafayette Radio and Electronics - mainly mail order,  but some stores

BEST products  -  Showroom - You would write the stock number on a paper form and items were delivered by conveyor from stock kept in the 'back room'.

Isaly's  - Ice cream

The malls around here are either gone or on life support

 

I'm sure I'll think of a few more.

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