Defunct restaurant chains and retailers

[roadman65]

I seem to recall LUM'S in Florida that may have been elsewhere as well.  I didn't know that there were more Ferrell's around either.

There were several Lum's in the Detroit area, along with at least one Farrell's.

Now I remember, when we came back from Bar Harbor we got off I-95 in Portsmouth, NH we ate at one that was on BYPASS US 1 north of the Portsmouth Circle.  So yes, we did encounter them elsewhere besides Florida.

Farrells, if you are referring to the Ice Cream place, there was one in East Brunswick, NJ on NJ 18 inside the Brunswick Square Mall.  This was years ago probably before most of you were born, but it was the only one I knew of at the time.

[renegade]

There were several Lum's in the Detroit area, along with at least one Farrell's.

I recall there being at least one Lum's in Toledo, but there may have been more.
There was a Farrell's in one of the malls.

[US71]

Anyone remember Uncle Bob's Fried Chicken?

[roadman65]

In New Jersey does anyone remember Jr's?

How about Wesson?
Burger Chef?
Carols?

[briantroutman]

Burger Chef?

I've read that CKE (the Carl's Jr. company), which owns Burger Chef's various trademarks through Hardee's, occasionally sells limited time burgers under the Big Shef and Super Shef names just to fulfill the "use in commerce"  requirement to keep the trademarks active. Has anyone noticed whether this is still happening regularly?

[1995hoo]

I remember Burger Chef, Lum's, and Farrell's all having multiple locations in Northern Virginia, though I don't remember ever going to any of them. I know some kids talked about Farrell's as a place for birthday parties, but we never went there.

[PHLBOS]

Lums existed in eastern Massachusetts as well.  The Uno's Chicago Grille along Endicott St. in Danvers, MA was originally a Lums back in the mid-70s.

Used to eat there regularly when accompanying my mother on shopping trips to the Liberty Tree Mall, which brings up two more defunct regional retailers - Ann and Hope. and Lechmere Sales, which were the mall's original anchor stores when it opened in 1968.

Speaking of the Endicott St. corridor; here's two other defunct businesses that were situated across the street from the mall: York Steak House (later called York's when they expanded their menu beyond steaks), which was located next to the Burger King (the building was torn down and a smaller McDonalds is now there), and Child World (the building now houses a Bed, Bath and Beyond). 

That particular Child World building was built circa 1979-1980; I remember seeing the building being under construction after having dinner (w/family) at York's back then.  Needless to say all Child Worlds fell prey to the onslaught of Toys-R-Us' that started springing up during the 80s.

York Steak House was unique (to me at the time) was because one would line up for their order(s) and move along and pick up their side items, drinks & desserts (the latter was the first thing one encountered after ordering their main course which probably ticked off just about every parent; I loved their parfaits), and then they would pick up their main entrée.  After paying at the register, one would take their tray and select a table.  Throughout the dining area; there were several NO TIPPING signs posted.

While this serving style is common for a fast food joint located in a turnpike service plaza; this was the first time I saw such done for a more traditional restaurant-fare.

IIRC, Lums' big marketing ploy was that they steamed their hot dogs in beer.  When the one on Endicott Street first opened, I remember that they gave away plastic Snoopy look-alike toys (with the purchase of a meal) as a promotion.

I remember when Lums used to give a pack of various stickers to kids.  One of the stickers was shaped like a pencil that read SCHOOL IS YECCCHHH! and another was capsule shaped that read LUMS IS FUN with a smiley face at each end.  IIRC, one old night stand I have still has one or two of those stickers on them.

[US71]

Are there any Dillons stores left in Kansas?

Gibson's (later known as Howards)
Consumer's Grocery
Lums (also known in some areas as Abners)
Woolworth/Woolco

Hasings is on their way out

[WillWeaverRVA]

A&N, a clothing store that was always interesting.

I have fond memories of that place. I was able to find shoes there in my size long before being able to just order them from internet stores.

[Rothman]

Anyone remember Uncle Bob's Fried Chicken?

I remember hearing commercials for them; don't know if I ever saw one, though.

[US71]

Anyone remember Uncle Bob's Fried Chicken?

I remember hearing commercials for them; don't know if I ever saw one, though.

I saw one, but never ate there. It was more a carry-out place, I think.

[PHLBOS]

Burger Chef?

The last Burger Chef I saw was in Salem, MA near Route 114 (where HMA Car Care Systems is today) during the early-to-mid 70s.

[7/8]

Sport Mart died out in 2013 according to their website http://www.sportmart.ca

I used to buy ski equipment there every year, and they had a cool program where kids could trade in their old ski boots (when they no longer fit) and buy new ski boots half off. The Sport Mart in Kitchener at Sportsworld is still empty, and it still has that characteristic yellow pole archway near the entrance. It was sad to see it go.

[roadman65]

Speaking of Hardees, I remember that NJ had only one and that closed in the mid or late 70's.  It was in Union in the center island of US 22.  That place rocked when Hardees had their jingle "Hurry on down to Hardees where the burgers are Charcoal Broiled" and it closed and the only place I saw them was in the south.

I also remembered that there were three Hardees that were along I-95 in the late 70's and early 80's that were called Hardee World that was a joint venture with Exxon.   It was a truck stop along with a complete travel center for tourists where it had a store with groceries, sundries, and auto stuff.  It had its food by Hardees and gas from Exxon, of course, so it was a one stop gas, food, and shopping place.  It later became Travel World, and one was located in Hardeeville, SC at where US 278 is now aligned (it was a numbered county road before as US 278 used another alignment and had no overlap with US 17), and its second location was in Dunn (I am not sure it it was on Pope Road or US 421) and somewhere in the Roanoke Rapids area.

[Mapmikey]

Speaking of Hardees, I remember that NJ had only one and that closed in the mid or late 70's.  It was in Union in the center island of US 22.  That place rocked when Hardees had their jingle "Hurry on down to Hardees where the burgers are Charcoal Broiled" and it closed and the only place I saw them was in the south.

I also remembered that there were three Hardees that were along I-95 in the late 70's and early 80's that were called Hardee World that was a joint venture with Exxon.   It was a truck stop along with a complete travel center for tourists where it had a store with groceries, sundries, and auto stuff.  It had its food by Hardees and gas from Exxon, of course, so it was a one stop gas, food, and shopping place.  It later became Travel World, and one was located in Hardeeville, SC at where US 278 is now aligned (it was a numbered county road before as US 278 used another alignment and had no overlap with US 17), and its second location was in Dunn (I am not sure it it was on Pope Road or US 421) and somewhere in the Roanoke Rapids area.

The other two were at Exit 71 Long Branch Rd in Dunn and at the NC 903 exit near Halifax.

We religiously stopped at the Dunn one traveling from SC to my grandmother's house in NC in the 1970s-80s.  There is still a Hardees at this exit but it is actually across the street from where the Hardees World was...

[renegade]

Woolworth/Woolco

Wow ... Woolco.  I remember those.
I also remember Hills, Arlans, Topps, Tempo, Buckeye, Rink's Bargain City, Ontario, LaSalle's, Lamson's and the Lion Store.
All these have been gone for a very long time. 

[US71]

Any Osco's still around?

Hancock Fabrics

[doorknob60]

Hasting's is going out of business now. Not sure when they're gonna close, but right now they're clearing out their stores and everything is 60-80% off. Found a lot of good deals in the meantime, though. Sad, because that was the last proper movie rental store around here (besides one local store I know about called Video Memories, but that's a bit of a drive from my house compared to Hastings). And they had movies, games, music, comic books, books, lots of merch like T-shirts and stuff. A lot of the stuff you could find at Best Buy, Barnes and Noble, or Hot Topic, but having all that cool stuff in one store was really enjoyable to go to. Plus again, the movie rentals.

[noelbotevera]

Paramount Parks. This isn't a retailer per se, but every park that Paramount owned became Cedar Fair's responsibility. Most rides or theming or sections of parks were renamed because Cedar Fair did not own licensing to such themes (for example, Top Gun at Canada's Wonderland became Flight Deck after the liquidation). It lasted a short 15 years, from 1991 to 2006.

I'd say it was an improvement, as Dick Kinzel (and subsequently Matt Ouimet) improved the parks (Canada's Wonderland got Leviathan six years later, Kings Dominion Intimidator 305 three years later, etc).

[Brandon]

Any Osco's still around?

Quite a few, actually.  The ones I know of are all part of a Jewel-Osco.

[US71]

Hasting's is going out of business now. Not sure when they're gonna close, but right now they're clearing out their stores and everything is 60-80% off.

Last I heard was the end of October,

[cpzilliacus]

Farrells, if you are referring to the Ice Cream place, there was one in East Brunswick, NJ on NJ 18 inside the Brunswick Square Mall.  This was years ago probably before most of you were born, but it was the only one I knew of at the time.

There was one in Wheaton Plaza (now Westfield Wheaton) in Montgomery County, Maryland not so far from where I grew up.  Not all that spectacular.

[inkyatari]

I seem to recall LUM'S in Florida that may have been elsewhere as well.  I didn't know that there were more Ferrell's around either.

There uased to be Lum's all over the Chciago area.  I know of two defunct locations, buildings still standing, in the South / SW Chicago area. One on Rt. 30 in Crest HIll (Near JOliet) and one on RT 45 / 52 in the Meadowview shopping center, Kankakee, IL.  Joliet is now a Title Max, and last I heard, Kankakee is America's Bistro.

Now, who remembers Burger Chef and the Burger Chef birdhouses you used to see everywhere?

I know of one former location on the bad side of Joliet, IL that is now a beauty salon (you can see it from the I-80 Des Plaines river bridge through town.)

[BamaZeus]

I seem to recall LUM'S in Florida that may have been elsewhere as well.  I didn't know that there were more Ferrell's around either.

We had it in Bridgeport, along with York Steakhouse at the mall in Trumbull.  Even though it was a chain and much cheaper than a "real" steakhouse, I absolutely loved York because it was like a treat getting brought there.

I used to get a chef salad, but I know I used to annoy the crap out of the workers because there was something that I didn't want on my salad (might have been olives), and I would become a total brat if they didn't honor my request.  I looked at it the same way as Van Halen with the M+M's, that if they couldn't follow simple instructions, what else might they be screwing up?  In a way, I was also guaranteeing that they made it fresh, and not just giving me one they made 3 hours ago.

I also remember that at York there was always a sign that said "don't tip the table", and at that age I couldn't figure out what that meant.  Of course, my father would never let me in on the answer, and I was forced to continue guessing.  I mean I understood that we shouldn't tip over the tables, but that seemed pretty obvious even to children.

[Rothman]

I looked at it the same way as Van Halen with the M+M's, that if they couldn't follow simple instructions, what else might they be screwing up? 

Suit yourself if you want to be lumped in with Van Halen on that one.  That contract demand (if true) generally led most people to think that they were...jerks...to put it mildly.  It had little to do with staff following instructions and more to do with them relishing in their own power over others.

Never come across someone who sided with Van Halen on that one before.  We're definitely a bowl of nuts.

There's also an old adage that you can tell a lot about someone by the way they treat waitstaff.