Defunct restaurant chains and retailers

[noelbotevera]

OK, here's a more comprehensive list of defunct chains I know.

-Paramount Parks. Half of the Cedar Fair chain in the US were once owned by Paramount Parks. It went defunct in 2006 because it was an oddity with the rest of the company that did film. The closest location was Kings Dominion.

-Blockbuster. My location closed in 2010. It fell because of them refusing to buy Netflix ten years earlier. I liked this chain because I could pick up movies, video game guides, and video games all in one place.

-Circuit City. Closest location was Hagerstown, Maryland. Fell simply because of budget cuts and cutting parts off of their stores. I think it closed sometime in 2015.

-Sports Authority. Closest location was in Lancaster. I think the Chapter 11 bankruptcy did them in. It closed in 2015 or early 2016.

-Kids R Us. Closest location was in New York City. It merged with Toys R Us. I went to the NYC location just because of a train set that us kids could play with, and the indoor Ferris wheel.

-Borders. Closest location was in Hagerstown. It was bankruptcy, and what replaced it was a Barnes and Noble and then this bookstore called "2nd and Charles".

[inkyatari]

Farrell's is making a comeback in the L. A. area, and was recently featured on an episode of The Profit

The Montgomery Ward name is now owned by The Swiss Colony catalog chese company out of Monroe WI.


A company that still has a handful of locations that I'm surprised is hanging on is Rax Roast Beef.  There's one in Joliet, IL that is in horrible shape, but people keep patronizing the place.

[Takumi]

Both Schlotzky's and Quaker Steak & Lube are alive and well in Newport News.

[thenetwork]

Both Schlotzky's and Quaker Steak & Lube are alive and well in Newport News.

I think Quaker Steak was just bought up by T/A, so that chain ain't going anywhere for a while.

[dvferyance]

Zayre's was also a department store chain in Massachusetts.
[/quote They were based out of Boston but they had stores throughout the whole country or at least the eastern US.

[jp the roadgeek]

Zayre's was also a department store chain in Massachusetts.
[/quote They were based out of Boston but they had stores throughout the whole country or at least the eastern US.

Most of them were snatched up by Ames, who then snatched up Hills, then outgrew their britches and went under about 15 years ago.

[Buffaboy]

Kids R Us

Circuit City

Roadhouse Grill

Media Play

Kaufmann's

KB Toys

The Great Train Store

STRUCTURE

Edit: didn't know noel wrote 2 of these...but he must have been an infant when he went to Kids R Us

[noelbotevera]

Kids R Us

Circuit City

Roadhouse Grill

Media Play

Kaufmann's

KB Toys

The Great Train Store

STRUCTURE

Edit: didn't know noel wrote 2 of these...but he must have been an infant when he went to Kids R Us

My parents (and I, because back then I was also a tech freak) actually went to Circuit City in 2009/2010 to buy a computer. My most recent visit to Kids R Us was in 2013 (the Times Square location).

[LM117]

KB Toys

Oh man, I loved going to KB Toys as a kid! I used to go to the one that used to be in the Wilson Mall (which has been closed since 2013 and better known among locals by it's former name Parkwood Mall) in Wilson, NC all the time. I got a lot of stuff from there over the years. Good times!

[hm insulators]

A few record store chains that popped into my mind: The Wherehouse and Music+ in southern California and Tower Records nationwide.

[GCrites]

KB Toys

Oh man, I loved going to KB Toys as a kid! I used to go to the one that used to be in the Wilson Mall (which has been closed since 2013 and better known among locals by it's former name Parkwood Mall) in Wilson, NC all the time. I got a lot of stuff from there over the years. Good times!

My store actually used to be a KB. The original RED! carpet was still lurking underneath the shelving before the mall replaced the carpet just prior to us setting up the store.

[D-Dey65]

I am relieved that PC Richard is still in the game, most likely cause they did not try to reach every US market like Circuit City did.  Their website says they have 67 locations mostly in NJ with some in Southeast PA and NYC, but non outside the NJ market too far.

My mother used to work for their Customer Service department from the 1970's into the 1990's, but they were primarily a Long Island-based company.

Anyone remember Bick's? In the early-1970's they had a restaurant or two in the New York Tri-State area, one franchise I know for a fact was in Coram. Later on in life I heard they were mainly a California-based chain that expanded beyond the west coast and went under shortly afterwards. The building on NY 25 was torn down and replaced with the three-story Union Savings Bank building, which went through one buyout after another before eventually being swallowed up by Capital One, who closed that bank down in the summer of 2016.

[jp the roadgeek]

Just remembered Nobody Beats The Wiz!  I think what they spent in advertising might have sank them, what with every top NY sports celebrity doing spots for them.  They used to be just in metro NY, but expanded into CT, Philly, and even toward Boston before they folded up.  Many locations became Circuit City, which of course became its own debacle. 

And PC Richard has stores in CT.  You even hear the familiar whistle before the tipoff of UConn basketball games.

[cpzilliacus]

- Grand Union Supermarkets. These were ubiquitous in small towns of eastern Upstate and Vermont. Most became Tops locations, larger ones in more-developed areas often became Hannafords.

Grand Unions could also be found in the Washington, D.C. and Baltimore areas (though  I never recall one in D.C. itself).  Went away sometime in the 1980's.   Before they did, they opened a gorgeous supermarket about 1980 along the Rockville Pike (MD-355) in Rockville, Maryland.  Did not save the  chain from closing its stores in this market.

[cl94]

Just remembered Nobody Beats The Wiz!  I think what they spent in advertising might have sank them, what with every top NY sports celebrity doing spots for them.  They used to be just in metro NY, but expanded into CT, Philly, and even toward Boston before they folded up.  Many locations became Circuit City, which of course became its own debacle. 

I remember them. They had a very short-lived store in Albany.

[roadman]

KB Toys

Oh man, I loved going to KB Toys as a kid! I used to go to the one that used to be in the Wilson Mall (which has been closed since 2013 and better known among locals by it's former name Parkwood Mall) in Wilson, NC all the time. I got a lot of stuff from there over the years. Good times!

In my early scale model railroading days (early 1970s), before I discovered 'real' HO items like Athearn locomotives/cars and Atlas track (neither of which any of the chain toy stores sold), I got a lot of my stuff at KB (KB sold AHM and Bachmann trains, and Toys R Us sold Tyco).  What I also remember was that nearly every item I saw at KB - even the non model railroad stuff, had a normal price tag with a different price marked over it in red sharpie.

[jeffandnicole]

Just remembered Nobody Beats The Wiz!  I think what they spent in advertising might have sank them, what with every top NY sports celebrity doing spots for them.  They used to be just in metro NY, but expanded into CT, Philly, and even toward Boston before they folded up.  Many locations became Circuit City, which of course became its own debacle. 

I remember them. They had a very short-lived store in Albany.

I don't think they lasted very long in the Philly area either.

[Rushmeister]

Does anyone remember Topps, T-Way, Shoppers Fair, or Grants? 

Lafayette/W.Lafayette, Indiana, had each of these stores.  I don't know anything about Topps stores, such as how widespread they were, but I'm fairly certain Topps was a chain. It was located on the east side of US 52 just south of the combination KMart-A&P store, and just north of where the Tippecanoe Mall was constructed.  I remember it there around 1970 to 1972, maybe 1973.  When it closed I think it was replaced by a T-Way store for a short time.  The T-Way, I believe, was closed by the time the Tippecanoe Mall opened, which must have been around 1974.  A Service Merchandise store occupied that spot (or one very close to it) for many years after that.  I remember shopping there in the late 1990s.

In the early 1970s West Lafayette had a Grants department store located on US 52 Bypass near Soldiers Home Road.  It was replaced by a KMart around 1975 or 1976.  There was also a Shoppers Fair department store located on Brown Street down in the levee area of West Lafayette.  I distinctly remember that upon entering Shoppers Fair, how one was always greeted by the aroma of freshly popped popcorn.  I think it went out of business about the time the Brown Street Bridge (Wabash River) was closed to traffic, which was in the early 1970s. Its demise was probably a result of reduced traffic count on Brown Street following the bridge closure (or in anticipation of it) and the relocation of commerce to the outskirts of the city. 

(I'm desperately trying to remember the name of the restaurant inside Grants.  I think it was Bradford House or something like that.  Can anyone help with this question?)

[D-Dey65]

Grand Unions could also be found in the Washington, D.C. and Baltimore areas (though  I never recall one in D.C. itself).  Went away sometime in the 1980's.   Before they did, they opened a gorgeous supermarket about 1980 along the Rockville Pike (MD-355) in Rockville, Maryland.  Did not save the  chain from closing its stores in this market.

They even had them in Miami. Take a look at this pic from the 1968 movie "Lady in Cement."

http://www.imcdb.org/vehicle.php?id=255365

[bmorrill]

I seem to remember my Grandmother shopping at a Grand Union grocery store in Fort Smith, Arkansas in the late 1950s. May have been down on Garrison Avenue somewhere.

[catch22]

Does anyone remember Topps, T-Way, Shoppers Fair, or Grants? 

Lafayette/W.Lafayette, Indiana, had each of these stores.  I don't know anything about Topps stores, such as how widespread they were, but I'm fairly certain Topps was a chain. It was located on the east side of US 52 just south of the combination KMart-A&P store, and just north of where the Tippecanoe Mall was constructed.  I remember it there around 1970 to 1972, maybe 1973.  When it closed I think it was replaced by a T-Way store for a short time.  The T-Way, I believe, was closed by the time the Tippecanoe Mall opened, which must have been around 1974.  A Service Merchandise store occupied that spot (or one very close to it) for many years after that.  I remember shopping there in the late 1990s.

In the early 1970s West Lafayette had a Grants department store located on US 52 Bypass near Soldiers Home Road.  It was replaced by a KMart around 1975 or 1976.  There was also a Shoppers Fair department store located on Brown Street down in the levee area of West Lafayette.  I distinctly remember that upon entering Shoppers Fair, how one was always greeted by the aroma of freshly popped popcorn.  I think it went out of business about the time the Brown Street Bridge (Wabash River) was closed to traffic, which was in the early 1970s. Its demise was probably a result of reduced traffic count on Brown Street following the bridge closure (or in anticipation of it) and the relocation of commerce to the outskirts of the city. 

(I'm desperately trying to remember the name of the restaurant inside Grants.  I think it was Bradford House or something like that.  Can anyone help with this question?)

Here in metro Detroit we had Topps, Shoppers Fair and a few Grants.  The Shoppers Fair nearest our house when I was growing up had a decent toy department and I would always browse there when my mother was shopping in the boring departments.

Bradford House is correct.  They had great hot dogs, in unique C-shaped buns.

Not sure when everything closed, but I do remember furnishing my first apartment in 1975 when the Grants store in Ypsilanti had their going out of business sale. I got dishes, flatware, pots and pans, glasses, and towels all for around $100.  I still have the flatware!

[Roadrunner75]

Find your favorites:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_defunct_retailers_of_the_United_States

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_defunct_fast-food_restaurant_chains

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_defunct_restaurants_of_the_United_States

Yes, there's a Wikipedia page for everything.

[noelbotevera]

Ames. -drops mic-

A huge chain went down the drain.

[US71]

Find your favorites:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_defunct_retailers_of_the_United_States

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_defunct_fast-food_restaurant_chains

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_defunct_restaurants_of_the_United_States

Yes, there's a Wikipedia page for everything.

not for me

[Roadrunner75]

Find your favorites:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_defunct_retailers_of_the_United_States

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_defunct_fast-food_restaurant_chains

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_defunct_restaurants_of_the_United_States

Yes, there's a Wikipedia page for everything.

not for me

Sure there is:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/U.S._Route_71