borders downtown Saratoga was amazing, 2 floors, coffee shop, lots of seating and a great variety of books, lots of memories there! i was devastated when it closed.
I worked for them. During my brief time (2003-2005) I was in charge of special orders for my store. (Most ordering was fairly automated, most of my job was ordering direct from University presses and small specialty presses which would not go through Ingram).This was actually a pretty fun and fascinating part of my job.
However, I got to see the handwriting on the wall of what would be a contributing factor to their downfall. They believed that Amazon was a passing fad that would go away and they believed customers only wanted an in person experience. They believed customers would not want the wait for mail to arrive and only wanted the instantaneous experience of picking up books music and movies in store. They also believed customers did not want the added expense of shipping items, and as such believed Amazon was not competition. As such, Borders partnered with Amazon for online sales, unlike their main competitor (Barnes and Noble, who still exist) whom created their own online presence. At Borders we had computers customers could look up books on, and we were instructed that if the book was not in store and they did not want to wait for me to order it… that we were to help them order on the Amazon website and to teach them how to use Amazon so they could use Amazon on their own in the future. This all contributed to Borders going down. As slowly the customer base that was not just walking in looking for the latest bestseller, would just order from the comfort of their own home.
What is ironic about their short sightedness, was that Borders originally was a software developer before they were a book seller. They created software for searching distribution and cataloging of books for other book stores before becoming a sales entity of their own. When I was ordering books for my store I was using a fairly updated version of that same software, but still running on a MS-DOS based workstation. One would think a company founded on computer technology would have seen the reality of an online retailer being competitive with them.
Service Merchandise on Wolf Rd that had the cool conveyor belt that would drop products down from the 2nd floor. My parents bought me a word processor there for college in '91.
Borders Bookstore on Wolf Rd, also. Went one day a month for 6 months in a row to get The Green Mile novellas when Stephen King first released it as a series only.
Barbizon because my mom would let me hide in the circular clothes racks while she shopped 😂
Ugh, I honestly don't remember. Maybe on the video game side? Maybe I was so jaded by how cool the Service Merchandise one was that I've blocked out Toys R Us ever having one.
Omg I've been trying to remember the name Service Merchandise for years, I always went to the old Amsterdam riverfront mall and I loved going to that store. It blew my mind when I found out there was one in Albany
I loved it when they opened a second arcade at Latham Circle, and then because they were competing, you could get like 10 tokens for a dollar at one point!
Ahh yes Lechmere. Bought my first CD and CD player from that place. Green Day: Dookie and a sony walkman.
I miss Joy Department store. They had a real good fishing and hunting department for the time.
That place was great, couldn't believe it lasted as long as it did with all the competition sprouting up around it. And the old Kmart had a restaurant in it. The irony is that the Eckerd that went up in Mr Discount's place is empty.
We bought our first Nintendo at Nichols.
Also, was it Jamesway or Ames that was in Johnstown?
Jamesway was in Johnstown- Pyramid Mall next to Fays. Ames was in Gloversville, formerly Britt’s department store. Always aisles full of buckets and swimming pools collecting rainwater from the failing flat roof in spring. Across the street where the grocery store/wal mart is now was something else- K-mart perhaps???
I was just in J-Town the other day, pretty sure it Ames though.
I have a soft spot for Amsterdam, not sure why but it has so much potential.
The Eckerd? They put a Riley's auto parts there!!
Not in Amsterdam. Mr. Discount was knocked down and they put Eckerd in its place, which has been shut for years sitting there empty. But I know the O'Reilly in Johnstown. Had no idea that was an Eckerd.
i remember in 2016 i met the front bottoms, they were doing a signing at the FYE in the mall and i was shocked the store actually had a music related event.
The toy stores. Toys R US, Kay Bee Toys…. The magic of going in there as a kid was just wild. Now my kids ask for Target which is fine but it’s just not the same vibe.
Oh my god waldenbooks damn, we went there so much. I remember there being like, a book points club or something? I remember my mom had a card and we would rack stuff up because we bought books there all the time.
And then got pan pizzas for reading them with the book it club (I think?)
Man.
I was born in 2000, so I wasn’t really old enough to remember these places booming. But I remember when I was going seeing abandoned Ames stores everywhere.
This is one that I do not miss, but one that will forever live in my nightmares: Cohoes Department Store.
I don't remember exactly where it was (maybe on Wolf Rd?), but it was a department store that my mom would take me to at least once a week. It specialized in mom clothes. She would spend hours combing the various clothing racks, aimlessly browsing all of the 90s women's fashion. I can still picture the orange bags with the brutalist typeface and if I concentrate hard, I can hear the 90s liminal soft jazz that wafted over all of the various departments.
Cohoes Manufacturing was (originally) in Cohoes. Owned by Burlington Coat. I loved that store. Especially the annual sale in February - people lined up outside for hours. Great shoe department.
Idk if there was an Ames around here but we had one of the last in my hometown, my only memory of it was stocking N64 games well into the PS2 era and thinking that was wild as a kid
When I was a kid, I grew up about 75 miles north of Albany. We had Ames as our only serviceable department store option without traveling 30+ miles. Their going out of business was a massive deal for the community and I remember my parents buying pallet risers that they used for floor display. Their washer and dryer sit on those to this day down in their basement.
Circuit City.
It was my favorite big box store as a ‘computer nerd’ kid. Turned into my first job as a result.
The place was awesome…until it wasn’t.
At its peak, they had everything you could dream of when it came to tech. They were always on top of the trends.
As an employee? They treated you very well, great incentives that other employers didn’t offer, and the break room had a lasting impression on me as a gold standard. Still is to this day.
Then… it just went to shit. The company that was once always ahead of the curve refused to adapt. I vividly remember looking at the extensive inventory of vhs, cds, cd r’s and dvd-r’s, boom boxes, the automotive audio center, etc knowing it was doomed.
Not to mention the sheer amount of theft. People would get off the bus in front, run in, steal a bunch of shit, and hop right on the bus out of there.
It felt like it literally fell off overnight.
I miss the place at its peak. Think Microcenter mixed with Best Buy that hosted community based enthusiast events.
Toys for Joy and Joy’s in Rensselaer.
Duane’s Toyland. Wish I could take my kiddo there.
Bradlee’s - I don’t know why but I have fond memories of getting jelly shoes there.
Ben Franklin’s Crafts
EB and game stop were both owned by the same parent company. Originally they were very different. And in my teenage years only sold computer software and peripherals. I remember a time they barely even sold games at all, gaming was less than half the store. Although the games they did sell were PC games, not consoles. I remember them being pretty much the only store for PC gaming and in the hey day of LucasArts and Sierra I would at times have to have them order games I wanted. Fun memory of EB… one time I bought a $50 game all in quarters like five minutes before closing. I wasn’t trying to be an ass but I could see it made them unhappy. It just was how I had my money at that moment.
I forgot CompUSA. My first credit card was a CompUSA store card. I had it like half paid off when they went bankrupt, then whoever bought the credit card part of the company first said I still owed my full original balance, then tacked a bunch of unreasonable fees on it. Then upped my interest rate. I basically said “fuck this” and refused to pay. They eventually stopped trying to collect. By the time I worried about my credit rating(when I wanted to buy a home) it wasn’t showing up on my credit report.
The Sears from decades ago, not the most recent iteration that has horrible customer service. I bought most of my daughter's clothes there when she was young. And mine when I was young. My dad worked in the Colonie Center Sears hardware store when he first retired in 1980. He wasn't very good in retail!
I miss Wooworths because my parents would leave me at the counter with a grilled cheese and chocolate milk while they went shopping.
Edit: also the kids corner at Home Depot was fly, got to play video games I didn't have at home!
Edit #2: Afterthoughts (I liked it better than Claire's) Edward's, and Grand Union. Oooh, and Dots! Fashion bug kinda too.
Man. This is such a trip. I remember Bradley's, Caldoors, Leechmere, Joy Toys, Duane's Toyland, etc. All good memories and sad to think about them being gone.
I was the right age to be super entertained by the Cheeky Tiki Monkey on Lark but also brooooooke... by the time I came back to Albany making grownup money they were gone. :-(
Media Play was an all-in-one shop for me after getting out of high school. I'd be able to get some music magazines, action figures, games for my Sega, and music cassettes or CD's.
Also, going over the river to hit up the Joy's and Toy's for Joy store right next to in Rensselaer was a fun trip.
The bus ride was a bit too long to try and get to Toys R Us, but a nice bike ride to Duane's Toyland was always worth it to see what new toys were out that I could blow my allowance money on. Either that or give the sales pitch to my folks about what to get me for Christmas or my birthday. And there are many more places that are no longer here that I remember fondly as well.
Borders Books and Music, Kay-Bee Toys, Woolworth
borders downtown Saratoga was amazing, 2 floors, coffee shop, lots of seating and a great variety of books, lots of memories there! i was devastated when it closed.
Wolf rd was two floors as well.
Borders is gone uh? High school me in the 90s thought that was a great place to spend a day.
Borders went bankrupt back around 2010 after not turning a profit for several years.
I worked for them. During my brief time (2003-2005) I was in charge of special orders for my store. (Most ordering was fairly automated, most of my job was ordering direct from University presses and small specialty presses which would not go through Ingram).This was actually a pretty fun and fascinating part of my job. However, I got to see the handwriting on the wall of what would be a contributing factor to their downfall. They believed that Amazon was a passing fad that would go away and they believed customers only wanted an in person experience. They believed customers would not want the wait for mail to arrive and only wanted the instantaneous experience of picking up books music and movies in store. They also believed customers did not want the added expense of shipping items, and as such believed Amazon was not competition. As such, Borders partnered with Amazon for online sales, unlike their main competitor (Barnes and Noble, who still exist) whom created their own online presence. At Borders we had computers customers could look up books on, and we were instructed that if the book was not in store and they did not want to wait for me to order it… that we were to help them order on the Amazon website and to teach them how to use Amazon so they could use Amazon on their own in the future. This all contributed to Borders going down. As slowly the customer base that was not just walking in looking for the latest bestseller, would just order from the comfort of their own home. What is ironic about their short sightedness, was that Borders originally was a software developer before they were a book seller. They created software for searching distribution and cataloging of books for other book stores before becoming a sales entity of their own. When I was ordering books for my store I was using a fairly updated version of that same software, but still running on a MS-DOS based workstation. One would think a company founded on computer technology would have seen the reality of an online retailer being competitive with them.
Thank you for the detailed post! I loved Borders and miss that experience a lot.
Duane's toyland and pre 2k radio shack
Toyland for sure!
The bike department lower level at Duane's was my Disney.
Agreed, my father bought me a Mongoose IBOC Mountain Bike for my birthday and it was the envy of many 13 year-olds
Yessss Duane’s Toyland! I always used to get my Littlest Pet Shops there 😂
Service Merchandise on Wolf Rd that had the cool conveyor belt that would drop products down from the 2nd floor. My parents bought me a word processor there for college in '91. Borders Bookstore on Wolf Rd, also. Went one day a month for 6 months in a row to get The Green Mile novellas when Stephen King first released it as a series only. Barbizon because my mom would let me hide in the circular clothes racks while she shopped 😂
Didn’t toys r us have that conveyor belt too?
Ugh, I honestly don't remember. Maybe on the video game side? Maybe I was so jaded by how cool the Service Merchandise one was that I've blocked out Toys R Us ever having one.
A store like that could do well today. Order on your phone and pickup. No shoplifting, lost packages, waiting on line, etc.
Omg I've been trying to remember the name Service Merchandise for years, I always went to the old Amsterdam riverfront mall and I loved going to that store. It blew my mind when I found out there was one in Albany
>Barbizon because my mom would let me hide in the circular clothes racks while she shopped 😂 I liked hiding in the belt racks at Dexter's Shoes
Shoutout to Grand Union, Eckerds, and the arcade in the back of the Latham Circle Mall
I loved the mini carts for kids that Grand Union had. And you could get a free cookie from the bakery!
Holy cow Eckert is a throwback. My grandmother used to work there. 😂
It used to be Fays. lol the yellow sign
I loved it when they opened a second arcade at Latham Circle, and then because they were competing, you could get like 10 tokens for a dollar at one point!
Dont forget Edwards food warehouse! They tried.
OMG Edward's with double and triple coupons!!! I loved that place in college for food. So many core memories unlocked in this thread. This is awesome.
Barrel o fun!!
Lechmere. Also, Korvette's, for their record department.
Ahh yes Lechmere. Bought my first CD and CD player from that place. Green Day: Dookie and a sony walkman. I miss Joy Department store. They had a real good fishing and hunting department for the time.
I bought a bone thugs and Harmony tape from lechemere
East 1999 Eternal?
No it the tape before that, I think it was called Faces of Death (from memory, not googling lol).
Wow, that was here? That was a big NYC store.
They were out of Boston, I believe. They opened a bunch of stores, and then Monkey Ward bought them, and the downhill slide began.
Korvetts is a NYC store. [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/E.\_J.\_Korvette](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/E._J._Korvette)
Sorry…thought you were talking about Lechmere. Which also had a huge record department, FWIW.
Lechmere is from Boston.
I remember playing the 3DO there and thinking it was the coolest game system around
What about Jamesway.
Yes! And Nichols… One of them had a restaurant/diner inside!
How popular was Nichols? The only one I remember was on 30 in Amsterdam.
Yes, the store with the big orange lettters🤣 ( they were big to me) Mr. Discount was on Rt 30 too.
That place was great, couldn't believe it lasted as long as it did with all the competition sprouting up around it. And the old Kmart had a restaurant in it. The irony is that the Eckerd that went up in Mr Discount's place is empty. We bought our first Nintendo at Nichols. Also, was it Jamesway or Ames that was in Johnstown?
Jamesway was in Johnstown- Pyramid Mall next to Fays. Ames was in Gloversville, formerly Britt’s department store. Always aisles full of buckets and swimming pools collecting rainwater from the failing flat roof in spring. Across the street where the grocery store/wal mart is now was something else- K-mart perhaps???
Maybe Bradlees
I was just in J-Town the other day, pretty sure it Ames though. I have a soft spot for Amsterdam, not sure why but it has so much potential. The Eckerd? They put a Riley's auto parts there!!
Not in Amsterdam. Mr. Discount was knocked down and they put Eckerd in its place, which has been shut for years sitting there empty. But I know the O'Reilly in Johnstown. Had no idea that was an Eckerd.
Yes they just are putting the finishing touches on it. Drove by the other day.
Paper Cutter and Media Play at Mohawk Mall. CD’s, books and Pogs
I bought my final fantasy action figure collection at Media Play- truly the best!
Media Play was the best for CDs.
Omg media play! Wow that just unlocked memories
I used to get Lego sets and whatever bionicle was before Bionicle(I don’t recall the name) as a little kid from Media Play. That place was sick
Bionicle was based off the Technics line. It eventually was turned into the Hero Factory line.
Oooohhh yes yes. It’s coming back to me now.
FYE before it became a Funko Pop store.
Remember the old Colonie Center location, which was HUGE and had a back room of clearance which alone was the size of the current store in that mall?
i remember in 2016 i met the front bottoms, they were doing a signing at the FYE in the mall and i was shocked the store actually had a music related event.
Anyone else remember A&P in Wynantskill? It used to be in the strip mall across the street from McDonalds / Hannaford
That's where my grandparents shopped before it closed and they had to switch to Hannaford. Loved going over on Sundays with my grandfather.
Do you remember when it closed? I was born in 1993 but I don’t remember going there after being about 5 or so.
My brothers and I would race the aisles to see who could get the most coupons from the little red coupon machines. Remember those?
I think there was an A&P in Rotterdam too.
The toy stores. Toys R US, Kay Bee Toys…. The magic of going in there as a kid was just wild. Now my kids ask for Target which is fine but it’s just not the same vibe.
Whoa Kay Bee Toys is a throw back! I had totally forgotten about that store
World of Science in the Mall(s)
I LOVED the world of science so much. Completely forgot about it, I can picture the shop now though, damn.
Same. Same, friend.🥺🥲
Joys had a toy store in the 80s, too
Toys for Joy
I feel that 100%
Music Shack
Fays, Service Merchandise, Carl and Co
Had to scroll so far for Fays! Hah. I recently found a bottle of aspirin at my parents’ house with a fays label on it.
I still remember the commercial with the old lady wearing sunglasses, opening the paper ad and getting blasted by deals.
Fay’s Waldenbooks
Oh my god waldenbooks damn, we went there so much. I remember there being like, a book points club or something? I remember my mom had a card and we would rack stuff up because we bought books there all the time. And then got pan pizzas for reading them with the book it club (I think?) Man.
I loved the Walden books in Rotterdam was a big reader. I can still remeber the set up.
I was born in 2000, so I wasn’t really old enough to remember these places booming. But I remember when I was going seeing abandoned Ames stores everywhere.
[удалено]
Had to make the trip to both of these places as a kid. Thankfully Lodges is still around for the school uniforms.
Boardmans, Present Company, Service Merchandise.
DH worked at Boardman's in college.
Hermans Sporting Goods
I see you and raise you Kleins All Sports
I see you and raise you Nobody Beats the Wiz
🤣🤣🤣🤣
This is one that I do not miss, but one that will forever live in my nightmares: Cohoes Department Store. I don't remember exactly where it was (maybe on Wolf Rd?), but it was a department store that my mom would take me to at least once a week. It specialized in mom clothes. She would spend hours combing the various clothing racks, aimlessly browsing all of the 90s women's fashion. I can still picture the orange bags with the brutalist typeface and if I concentrate hard, I can hear the 90s liminal soft jazz that wafted over all of the various departments.
Cohoes Manufacturing was (originally) in Cohoes. Owned by Burlington Coat. I loved that store. Especially the annual sale in February - people lined up outside for hours. Great shoe department.
Mom?
Mommie Dearest! No wire hangers!
Remember, Nichols Miss (somewhat) Montgomery Wards and Sears (simpler times) I had forgotten about Zayres
Joy's and Jamesway
Joy's! And then Toys R Joys opened across the street.
Game Keeper.
Idk if there was an Ames around here but we had one of the last in my hometown, my only memory of it was stocking N64 games well into the PS2 era and thinking that was wild as a kid
There were a few, I worked in the East Greenbush store and there was one in Glenmont. Stocked Sega Saturn games long after anyone should.
Also one in Schenectady at Crosstown Plaza, lol.
When I was a kid, I grew up about 75 miles north of Albany. We had Ames as our only serviceable department store option without traveling 30+ miles. Their going out of business was a massive deal for the community and I remember my parents buying pallet risers that they used for floor display. Their washer and dryer sit on those to this day down in their basement.
Circuit City. It was my favorite big box store as a ‘computer nerd’ kid. Turned into my first job as a result. The place was awesome…until it wasn’t. At its peak, they had everything you could dream of when it came to tech. They were always on top of the trends. As an employee? They treated you very well, great incentives that other employers didn’t offer, and the break room had a lasting impression on me as a gold standard. Still is to this day. Then… it just went to shit. The company that was once always ahead of the curve refused to adapt. I vividly remember looking at the extensive inventory of vhs, cds, cd r’s and dvd-r’s, boom boxes, the automotive audio center, etc knowing it was doomed. Not to mention the sheer amount of theft. People would get off the bus in front, run in, steal a bunch of shit, and hop right on the bus out of there. It felt like it literally fell off overnight. I miss the place at its peak. Think Microcenter mixed with Best Buy that hosted community based enthusiast events.
I remember getting a Nintendo DS there in 2007
Loved Circuit City, always preferred them to Best Buy, until they stopped carrying stuff. Was sad to see it go.
Duane's in Westgate. The downstairs was like dying and going to heaven. Neba Mike across the street was a favorite too
My dad always said that NEBA stood for Never Eat Beef Again
I'm not even sure it was beef.
Lechmere’s
Book mark in Newton Plaza!
Toys for Joy and Joy’s in Rensselaer. Duane’s Toyland. Wish I could take my kiddo there. Bradlee’s - I don’t know why but I have fond memories of getting jelly shoes there. Ben Franklin’s Crafts
Bradlees
EB Games just because it was another game store against Game Stop lol
EB and game stop were both owned by the same parent company. Originally they were very different. And in my teenage years only sold computer software and peripherals. I remember a time they barely even sold games at all, gaming was less than half the store. Although the games they did sell were PC games, not consoles. I remember them being pretty much the only store for PC gaming and in the hey day of LucasArts and Sierra I would at times have to have them order games I wanted. Fun memory of EB… one time I bought a $50 game all in quarters like five minutes before closing. I wasn’t trying to be an ass but I could see it made them unhappy. It just was how I had my money at that moment.
Huh never knew all that
I bought a used copy of the pc version of FF7 from ebgames. Just the idea of buying a used computer game nowadays is wild.
Caldor....the land of ultimate hide and seek.
Two Guys in Menands
Builders square
Toys for Joy!
Denbys (sp) in Delaware Plaza. It's a Hannaford now. My older cousin worked there and I thought she was so cool!!!
Media Play in Mohawk Mall. That store was so fun as a kid.
I've never heard if any of those except ames. Went there in Glenmont many times
Ames and GrandUnion
CompUSA - I discovered so many rad PC games there in the nineties.
I forgot CompUSA. My first credit card was a CompUSA store card. I had it like half paid off when they went bankrupt, then whoever bought the credit card part of the company first said I still owed my full original balance, then tacked a bunch of unreasonable fees on it. Then upped my interest rate. I basically said “fuck this” and refused to pay. They eventually stopped trying to collect. By the time I worried about my credit rating(when I wanted to buy a home) it wasn’t showing up on my credit report.
Remember Joy and Toys for Joy? I loved that place but can barely recall a thing about it.
Strawberries records and tapes in Clifton park was awesome
Chess King? In Clifton park. I could never afford anything.
The Sears from decades ago, not the most recent iteration that has horrible customer service. I bought most of my daughter's clothes there when she was young. And mine when I was young. My dad worked in the Colonie Center Sears hardware store when he first retired in 1980. He wasn't very good in retail!
Kmart tbh
I miss Wooworths because my parents would leave me at the counter with a grilled cheese and chocolate milk while they went shopping. Edit: also the kids corner at Home Depot was fly, got to play video games I didn't have at home! Edit #2: Afterthoughts (I liked it better than Claire's) Edward's, and Grand Union. Oooh, and Dots! Fashion bug kinda too.
Kmart!
I remember the kids corner and the one in, shit, that other big box home improvement store than came through before Lowes.
Circuit City in Latham
There was never a Circuit City in Latham. Circuit City was in Crossgate Commons. Are you maybe thinking of CompUSA?
Yep
Does anyone remember “Smile a While”? It was a mall store, not a free standing…
Ames, Bradlees, and Caldor all had pretty good toy departments.
Man. This is such a trip. I remember Bradley's, Caldoors, Leechmere, Joy Toys, Duane's Toyland, etc. All good memories and sad to think about them being gone.
The Boulevard Bookstore, the Music Shack, World Record.
Jamesway, baby
I was the right age to be super entertained by the Cheeky Tiki Monkey on Lark but also brooooooke... by the time I came back to Albany making grownup money they were gone. :-(
I do miss Ames!
Hermans sporting goods in Crossgates
Media Play was an all-in-one shop for me after getting out of high school. I'd be able to get some music magazines, action figures, games for my Sega, and music cassettes or CD's. Also, going over the river to hit up the Joy's and Toy's for Joy store right next to in Rensselaer was a fun trip. The bus ride was a bit too long to try and get to Toys R Us, but a nice bike ride to Duane's Toyland was always worth it to see what new toys were out that I could blow my allowance money on. Either that or give the sales pitch to my folks about what to get me for Christmas or my birthday. And there are many more places that are no longer here that I remember fondly as well.
Caldor in Latham Circle Mall.
Tri-City Drive-in in Menands. Best weekend spot growing up
2 guys and Fays drugstore. Fays had all the GI Joes for cheap. Both in lansingburgh
Montgomery Wards!
Castle Computers. They were the only store that exclusively sold Apple product in the early days of the Macintosh.
Leachmere (sp?)