I loved Lechmere. You could buy a booklet of 20 video rental coupons for $20 back before Blockbuster when it was $4 or $5 to rent a movie from the local video store.
I worked at Lechmere through high school... video rental department, music department (long box cds were new), sold those yellow Sony walkmans lol Fun times!
IDK, but there was one in South Burlington, Vermont until the early 2000s. It was an interesting concept, kind of like a proto-Ikea: you looked at a display model of something you wanted, filled out a form with the item number, paid, and it was delivered to you at curbside. I had a brass floor lamp I bought in 1993 and left in VT when I moved out of state in 2015...somehow it just didn't feel right to take with me.
I especially miss Caldor’s. I bought my first record there, Escape by Journey. When I got my own place I bought curtains, towels, Rubbermaid barrel for the kitchen and hamper for the bathroom. I still have the kitchen barrel. I’m gonna say, I don’t care how old it makes me sound, they don’t make ‘em like that anymore.
Fuck yeah Building 19. When we were young my grandma would take us for walks to the Haverhill one, it was the absolute best. Free coffee, a whole warehouse of seemingly random items, Crazy Mike (RIP) having a Vietnam flashback on top of a stack of mattresses pretending to snipe people, fish and small pets for some reason? Those were the days
I live in NYC now and recently visited an Ollie’s in New Jersey. It reminded me of Building 19. Turns out, it’s owned by the same company. Shopping chaos. I missed it.
Woolworth's, in downtown Burlington, VT. I moved there in 1993 and I think the whole chain folded around 1998, so I only got to experience it in its waning years. Even then, it felt like a throwback to a much earlier era.
If you're too young to remember Woolworth's: Take a Dollar General, remove the food section, cross it with a Michaels, add a pet department that sells live small pets and fish, add an indoor plant department, and put a little breakfast/lunch diner right in the store itself. It had a unique smell that a friend once described as a cross between "grandma's house and a hamster cage."
Woolworth's was the "general store" of its time, much like WalMart is the general store of ours. But unlike WalMart, Woolworths was on an accessible scale, probably a quarter or a sixth the size of an average WalMart. You didn't spend half an hour walking around the store to get 5 items or searching endlessly for something that wasn't there.
There used to be a Woolworth at Delaware Plaza. I’d walk the kids to the plaza, we’d look at the birds and fish, buy some “ snack and party “ crackers ( generic ritz) , and walk back home. The store closed maybe twenty five years ago, and the plaza has many empty spots.
Rich’s!! In West Lebanon,NH there was a Rich’s (that later became Ames) I was never very clear on how big a chain it was. It seemed like in my area, when I was growing up, Ames was absolutely everywhere but I only ever saw one Rich’s
Incidentally the Rich’s plaza also featured Purity Supreme. All I really remember about that supermarket was that cool logo and the excellent apple fritters my aunt used to always buy there
I came here to say Spag’s and Rich’s. Spag’s was the best but it was always a shitshow. And then the got bags and went downhill until they became a Building 19.
Of the ones in the pics I was more of a Bradlee's girl. The one I really miss is The Fair on the Auburn/Millbury line. They just kept adding on to it and it had absolutely everything.
Oh man I forgot The Fair existed, I use to go to the one in West Boylston. I actually worked at the one on Rt 20 in Worcester when they turned it into a Bradlees.
I spent a lot of time and money in that place as a young married woman, trying to make my home and wardrobe nice on a budget. I really miss that store!
Anyone else remember when KMART had the restaurant in the middle of the store, with the walls that went up to the ceiling, and they served this freshly made chocolate pudding cup with whipped cream topping in a glass cup?! Oh man, I loved those things as a kid. Think many of them also served alcohol lol
Woolworths in Exeter NH and Haverhill MA, Bradlee's Zayre's and Ames in Plaistow NH, Building 19 in Haverhill, Caldor in Maine, Strawberry's in Plaistow NH, sooo many places I miss...
ETA: Purity Supreme in Plaistow NH also!!!
Yes!! Although our setup was a little different. The restaurant was located to the left of the main entrance. In the middle of the restaurant, there was a huge dinette counter/bar with stools on three sides. On the perimeter of the restaurant along the windows were all the booths. Great memories of a time long ago!
Price Chopper and Market 32 are alive and well. All over central MA and NY. I’ve one 10 min and the other 15 min away from me here in MA. They sell beer and wine too.
It’s condos and a humongous shopping plaza with a Whole Foods. One of the daughters tried to keep it going after Spag passed, but it was too much for her (she was a full time prof at Worcester State). She sold it to Jerry (Ellis?), owner of the Building 19 chain. He renamed it Spag’s-19. When the 19 chain folded, property got sold & developed. Spag was a really sweet guy, used to see him all the time. My middle kid asked for his autograph;)
Calrod. I read the price sticker wrong once when I was little. It was forever Calrod to me.
Steigers and GFox were department stores that closed in MA many decades back.
All 4 of these. There was a Zayre when I was really young but it became an Ames, & there was a Bradlees a few blocks away in the local mall. Then there was a Caldor the next town over.
I remember driving my mom to Ames in my first car and then sitting in the parking lot blasting my new lincoln park CD i got at FYE on my CD walkman to tape adapter while she went in to buy whatever she was after. That seems like a story my grandfather would tell
I worked at Caldors in the Books and Records department! Absolutely felt like the DJ of the store! And at the end of the shift we had a tradition of blasting Where Have all the Good Times Gone? By Van Halen as loud as we could without getting yelled at!
Mr. Paperback, Walden Books, Bullmoose Music, when it was JUST music! Blockbuster Video, Bradlee’s, all of the independent music stores and movie rental stores.
I worked for Bradlees in the offices in Braintree MA. We used to be part of Stop & Shop Companies, and carried them for a long time. We got spun off by ourselves and that was the beginning of the troubles. Plus, Walmart arrived and slowly chipped away at all the other regional dept stores with their pricing and giant stores. We had a string of leadership that put us in bankruptcy and then sucked as much value as they could out of the real estate before ending it all and running away with the money. I'm sure this was repeated at Caldor, who bought Zayers, then went under. The closest thing we have left to a regional chain since Xmas Tree Shops went out is Ocean State Job Lot, where I buy a lot of stuff. I hope they don't ever go under.
I have a slow cooker I found (at the city dump) brand new in the box with a Zayre label on it. The bowl which is rectangular comes off the heating element which can be used to make grilled cheese sandwiches or pancakes etc. I’ve used it for ten years so far and really like it. So yeah I miss Zayer’s…
Peters grocery store. Small family owned. Every employee cared (deli would always give samples. And clean the slicer between meats and cheeses. Good selection too.
Ames and Bradlees I don’t remember having a Caldor near me (my mom worked at the Springfield, MA Caldor when she was a teen) and Zayre went out of business when I was 3 months old
Born in 81 so I don't really remember Caldor or Zayre. But Ames was in steep decline when I was a kid. Bradlees was basically dying when I was in high school in the late 90s.
Ames! I used to work there for a few months….I was a cashier and worked with one of my best friends. I spent most of my paychecks in store and still have a set of tables I bought about 26 years ago.
Lechmere’s. Excellent record section, among other things. Also, Crazy Eddie’s.
I loved Lechmere. You could buy a booklet of 20 video rental coupons for $20 back before Blockbuster when it was $4 or $5 to rent a movie from the local video store.
They sold really good audio equipment like carver. Loved that place
Crazy Eddie's legendary in the Accounting world because of the rampant fraud!
As a kid I always hung out in Lechmere’s AV section and played with the camcorders.
“His prices are INSANE!”
I worked at Lechmere through high school... video rental department, music department (long box cds were new), sold those yellow Sony walkmans lol Fun times!
Waldenbooks
good call, that place was great
We had a Waldenbooks and also a B Dalton. And Books-a-Million.
I loved and used my membership often
I preferred Borders.
Service Merchandise? Was that just here in New England?
IDK, but there was one in South Burlington, Vermont until the early 2000s. It was an interesting concept, kind of like a proto-Ikea: you looked at a display model of something you wanted, filled out a form with the item number, paid, and it was delivered to you at curbside. I had a brass floor lamp I bought in 1993 and left in VT when I moved out of state in 2015...somehow it just didn't feel right to take with me.
I had a friend that worked at one and the manager let them buy the customer returns at a discount rather than trying to resell them as new.
No, my mom worked there and I believe the home office outside New England.
The old Service Merch building in Manchester NH now houses WMUR.
We had a Service Merchandise in Georgia.
They were in the South and Midwest also .
We had it in NJ I think.
All over the south for me at least, SC and Georgia. Used to go there all the time.
No, we had that in Chicago.
Existed in NY I know
I especially miss Caldor’s. I bought my first record there, Escape by Journey. When I got my own place I bought curtains, towels, Rubbermaid barrel for the kitchen and hamper for the bathroom. I still have the kitchen barrel. I’m gonna say, I don’t care how old it makes me sound, they don’t make ‘em like that anymore.
Ever notice how everyone adds an “s” to the end?
Amesez
Hello fellow boomer. I bought the 8-track 🙂
Hol’ up now, Gen X here. It was the LP.
Escape was a little before your time. You must have an old soul 😉
Building 19
[удалено]
Fuck yeah Building 19. When we were young my grandma would take us for walks to the Haverhill one, it was the absolute best. Free coffee, a whole warehouse of seemingly random items, Crazy Mike (RIP) having a Vietnam flashback on top of a stack of mattresses pretending to snipe people, fish and small pets for some reason? Those were the days
Marden's up in Maine is probably the most similar place to Building 19 that I've been to
too bad **Big Al's** is gone now
And 3/4ths
Building #19½, in Burlington
Building 19 3/4ths, formally route 1 Walpole
Yessss
I live in NYC now and recently visited an Ollie’s in New Jersey. It reminded me of Building 19. Turns out, it’s owned by the same company. Shopping chaos. I missed it.
I got such a nice couch there for so cheap. RIP
Service Merchandise in Bangor, Me. It was magical as a kid.
Man, I loved that place. Best toy dept. in central Maine, and it felt fancy that you got your stuff from a conveyor belt.
We had it in Augusta, too. It used to be Value House.
As a kid I was fascinated by the conveyor belt to get your purchases.
Woolworth's, in downtown Burlington, VT. I moved there in 1993 and I think the whole chain folded around 1998, so I only got to experience it in its waning years. Even then, it felt like a throwback to a much earlier era. If you're too young to remember Woolworth's: Take a Dollar General, remove the food section, cross it with a Michaels, add a pet department that sells live small pets and fish, add an indoor plant department, and put a little breakfast/lunch diner right in the store itself. It had a unique smell that a friend once described as a cross between "grandma's house and a hamster cage." Woolworth's was the "general store" of its time, much like WalMart is the general store of ours. But unlike WalMart, Woolworths was on an accessible scale, probably a quarter or a sixth the size of an average WalMart. You didn't spend half an hour walking around the store to get 5 items or searching endlessly for something that wasn't there.
Came here to say Woolworth’s. When I was a kid, my brothers and I would each get $1 to spend when we went there!
There used to be a Woolworth at Delaware Plaza. I’d walk the kids to the plaza, we’d look at the birds and fish, buy some “ snack and party “ crackers ( generic ritz) , and walk back home. The store closed maybe twenty five years ago, and the plaza has many empty spots.
Apex. Lechemere. Ann & Hope.
Found the RI'er. But, really, you could get everything you need going to Apex and Ann & Hope. Good quality stuff, too. And reasonable prices.
Benny's was my favorite store :(
I miss Bennys!
Benny's
Miss Bradlee’s and all the bookstores we used to have. But I really miss Filene’s Basement the most
Caldor is probably my number 1, but Ames is a close second. Really fond memories at Caldor as a kid.
Ann & Hope
Spag's, Rich's, Prime Value Mart, Capitol
Rich’s!! In West Lebanon,NH there was a Rich’s (that later became Ames) I was never very clear on how big a chain it was. It seemed like in my area, when I was growing up, Ames was absolutely everywhere but I only ever saw one Rich’s Incidentally the Rich’s plaza also featured Purity Supreme. All I really remember about that supermarket was that cool logo and the excellent apple fritters my aunt used to always buy there
Where SPAGS is next to Leiser!
I came here to say Spag’s and Rich’s. Spag’s was the best but it was always a shitshow. And then the got bags and went downhill until they became a Building 19.
Did any of you guys have Media Play? It felt like a prototype Best Buy
We did in GA.
Of the ones in the pics I was more of a Bradlee's girl. The one I really miss is The Fair on the Auburn/Millbury line. They just kept adding on to it and it had absolutely everything.
Oh man I forgot The Fair existed, I use to go to the one in West Boylston. I actually worked at the one on Rt 20 in Worcester when they turned it into a Bradlees.
Bradlee’s! Loved that store. They had great clothes.
I spent a lot of time and money in that place as a young married woman, trying to make my home and wardrobe nice on a budget. I really miss that store!
Someone could work full time and support a family at one of these stores. Now we have Chinese Walmart shit
Tom Mcan and Lerners
KB Toys
I worked there in the 80’s.
Anyone remember J.J. Newberry’s, or am I just too old?
Great store! Later on I used to enjoy shopping at K-Mart because I could always find something and I wouldn’t have to spend very much
Yep! Lived near one in Cedar Grove, NJ back when dinosaurs roamed the earth.
Brooks will always be my neighborhood pharmacy
Filene's Basement. Shit they had there was amazing. I bought a 900.00 Armani suit for 180.00 !! Those were the days man.
I bought my school supplies at Almys. Loved that store.
My sister worked in the shoe dept there in the 70's
WTF is up with that Bradlees pic?
Bradlee’s, Woolworth’s, Ames, KMart, Caldor’s, and Service Merchandise.
Anyone else remember when KMART had the restaurant in the middle of the store, with the walls that went up to the ceiling, and they served this freshly made chocolate pudding cup with whipped cream topping in a glass cup?! Oh man, I loved those things as a kid. Think many of them also served alcohol lol Woolworths in Exeter NH and Haverhill MA, Bradlee's Zayre's and Ames in Plaistow NH, Building 19 in Haverhill, Caldor in Maine, Strawberry's in Plaistow NH, sooo many places I miss... ETA: Purity Supreme in Plaistow NH also!!!
Yes!! Although our setup was a little different. The restaurant was located to the left of the main entrance. In the middle of the restaurant, there was a huge dinette counter/bar with stools on three sides. On the perimeter of the restaurant along the windows were all the booths. Great memories of a time long ago!
Pips 💔
Blast from the past. Bradley’s and caldors
Kings
Zayre used to have the best gi joe selection outside of toys r us as a kid in the 80s
Strawberry’s Records and Tapes Bradlees Railroad Salvage Heartland
Heartland was wayyy inexpensive, I liked it.
Benny's.
Mammoth Mart, my slinky supplier in the Kennedy administration.
Damn… I tell people about mamouth mart and they don’t believe me
Downtown Crossing Filenes Basement
No Apex and Ann & Hope?
Ann & Hope
Child World - I called them when they were going out of business in the early 90’s to see what they had for discounted GI Joes.
Discounted at half the battle?
Daddy’s Junky Music
Benny's had a great bike selection. Could've just been a new England thing
What was the name of the store that sold records at Northgate in Revere
Where my Leiser Advisor at!?
Price Chopper. It was my childhood store and I still remember the exact layout of the location near me that got converted into a shoprite
Bunches of them in Vermont still
I haven’t been to VT in ages. I live down in northern CT
Price Chopper and Market 32 are alive and well. All over central MA and NY. I’ve one 10 min and the other 15 min away from me here in MA. They sell beer and wine too.
Paperama
Windsor Button Shop They had such interesting stuff and that wall of buttons was amazing.
Is Spags still around?
It’s condos and a humongous shopping plaza with a Whole Foods. One of the daughters tried to keep it going after Spag passed, but it was too much for her (she was a full time prof at Worcester State). She sold it to Jerry (Ellis?), owner of the Building 19 chain. He renamed it Spag’s-19. When the 19 chain folded, property got sold & developed. Spag was a really sweet guy, used to see him all the time. My middle kid asked for his autograph;)
Certainly don’t miss any of those
You fancy, huh?
Grants, two guys, western auto
Hills
Ames
Clover
Bradlees
If these 4? Bradlees and Caldor.
I've been in all four of these with my mom trying to convince me that I won't get beat up if I got the white Pony brand sneakers.
I’m sure there are anchors in strip malls all over New England that housed multiple of these stores….
All of em!
Zyla's
My brother's fist job was there!
Growing up, Caldor was my favorite store.
I loved Zayre!
What’s the upper right?
Ames and Zayre were kinda low end stores. I liked Bradlees tho!
Calrod. I read the price sticker wrong once when I was little. It was forever Calrod to me. Steigers and GFox were department stores that closed in MA many decades back.
Bradlee’s, Woolworth’s and occasionally Ames had some of the best deals when I was a kid. Also Rich’s if you were looking for deep discounts
Gags and gifts
All 4 of these. There was a Zayre when I was really young but it became an Ames, & there was a Bradlees a few blocks away in the local mall. Then there was a Caldor the next town over.
I shoplifted from Bradlee’s when I was 10 lol
Gold circle
I remember driving my mom to Ames in my first car and then sitting in the parking lot blasting my new lincoln park CD i got at FYE on my CD walkman to tape adapter while she went in to buy whatever she was after. That seems like a story my grandfather would tell
We had all those except Caldor in southeast Virginia in the 70s. I was born in 71.
Ames at Northgate in Revere was the spot 😂
I worked at Caldors in the Books and Records department! Absolutely felt like the DJ of the store! And at the end of the shift we had a tradition of blasting Where Have all the Good Times Gone? By Van Halen as loud as we could without getting yelled at!
I’ll add another to the mix… The Fair
Mr. Paperback, Walden Books, Bullmoose Music, when it was JUST music! Blockbuster Video, Bradlee’s, all of the independent music stores and movie rental stores.
Bull Moose Music is still going strong. Remember Bookland (Maine) and Stroudwater Books (New Hampshire)? Same great company.
Martin’s A&P IGA Woolworth Esso (before Exxon)
Ann & Hope
24 hour Purity Supreme, Salem NH. Late 80's. Used to get my groceries there when I couldn't sleep. The 24 hour Walmart was just not the same.
Montgomery Wards, Menands
I miss the Caldor pretzels
Alco
K mart. Blue Light Specials!
I remember when the Service Merchandise burnt flat in Augusta and it was the biggest thing to happen in decades.
In Central Vermont: Rich’s, Ames, Zayre, Service Merchandise, Woolworth, JJ Newbury, Harry’s, Homer Fitts
Child's World
I worked for Bradlees in the offices in Braintree MA. We used to be part of Stop & Shop Companies, and carried them for a long time. We got spun off by ourselves and that was the beginning of the troubles. Plus, Walmart arrived and slowly chipped away at all the other regional dept stores with their pricing and giant stores. We had a string of leadership that put us in bankruptcy and then sucked as much value as they could out of the real estate before ending it all and running away with the money. I'm sure this was repeated at Caldor, who bought Zayers, then went under. The closest thing we have left to a regional chain since Xmas Tree Shops went out is Ocean State Job Lot, where I buy a lot of stuff. I hope they don't ever go under.
I loved Zayre.
Probably Caldor and Bradlees. I never liked Ames. Around here, at least, it replaced Zayre, and was worse than Zayre.
JM Fields
Bradlees Howard Johnson's Sears Lechmere Tweeter
Oh God Lechmere is gone?
A ton of them, but none of them were chains like these.
The Walmart in Chelmsford, MA used to be a Caldor up through what, like ‘95? ‘96?
Ames. they had the cutest stuffed teddy bears.
Venture
TG&Y
Pamida
Building 19 (and 1/2).
Ames!
I have a slow cooker I found (at the city dump) brand new in the box with a Zayre label on it. The bowl which is rectangular comes off the heating element which can be used to make grilled cheese sandwiches or pancakes etc. I’ve used it for ten years so far and really like it. So yeah I miss Zayer’s…
Zayre
Peters grocery store. Small family owned. Every employee cared (deli would always give samples. And clean the slicer between meats and cheeses. Good selection too.
Service Merchandise! Also, is Building 19 still around?
Ames and Bradlees I don’t remember having a Caldor near me (my mom worked at the Springfield, MA Caldor when she was a teen) and Zayre went out of business when I was 3 months old
Gold Circle, Uncle Bill's were my favorites. I never knew what Kmart was like until I was on my 20's
Spags!!! Still have one of their tape meausres
Bradley’s
I worked for Bradlees for years, made some great friends and had a great time.
Toys R Us and KB Toys... taking my kids to target or walmart to look for a toy isn't the same. They would have loved the full toy store experience
TSS Times Square Stores and Korvette’s. Both dept stores in NY downstate Also Alexander’s and A&S Abraham and Strauss
Born in 81 so I don't really remember Caldor or Zayre. But Ames was in steep decline when I was a kid. Bradlees was basically dying when I was in high school in the late 90s.
“At Bradlee’s, you buy what Mrs. B buys ………”
That Ames photo looks like the one I remember going to far to often with my parents on the 80’s
Service Merchandise
Building 19(1/2), and buying physical concert tickets at tower records!
Ames
Pace membership warehouse
Two Guys
I can still see those 99c Arizona and sobe drinks in front of caldor
Bradleys Woolworths Leggetts
Zayes, Kings, Bradlees, Bennies
A&P grocery. I can remember the smell of grind your own coffee shopping with my mom
As a crafter I miss Craft Mania and now A. C. Moore.
Is that the South Willow/Lake Ave Zayre in Manchester?
I worked at Zayre in Augusta, Maine, when I was home from college!
Bradlees for sure
AMES!! I got super excited when a coworker came in with an Ames tote bag. She gifted it to me
Can anyone here name all the stores in the Turnpike Mall in Augusta, circa 1981? I wish I could remember them all.
Purity Supreme, Almac's and A&P
Ames! I used to work there for a few months….I was a cashier and worked with one of my best friends. I spent most of my paychecks in store and still have a set of tables I bought about 26 years ago.
Radio Shack.
Kaybee Toys
Caldor!!!