Businesses that are defunct that you are pissed about closing

[dfilpus]

Where was Elias?  Bob's has been mentioned, and in New England it was Abdow's. 

Elias Brothers was originally the franchiser in Michigan. They bought the Big Boy chain from Marriott in 1987. It is now Big Boy Restaurants International, based in Warren Michigan. It runs Big Boy restaurants in Michigan, California, Ohio, Illinois, North Dakota and Japan. Frisch's Restaurants, based from Cincinatti, now runs Big Boy restaurants in Indiana, Kentucky, Ohio and Tennessee.

[BamaZeus]

Godfather's Pizza - once the fifth largest chain in the country, but since disappeared from many markets (including Mobile)

Delchamps - was acquired by Jitney Jungle, then both brands failed.  There was a void in the grocery business in many markets in Alabama until Publix entered the market, although Mobile was one of the first markets with Wal-Mart Neighborhood Market.

K&B and Harco >>> Rite-Aid and Walgreen's


iPhone

I haven't been to the beach in a couple of years, but isn't there still a Godfathers at Gulf Shores?  It was on highway 59 in a shopping center with Bruno's.

[OCGuy81]

Two businesses come to mind that I miss.

First off is the local neighborhood pharmacy.  I can't recall the name of the one I used to go to as a kid, but it had cool toys, lots of unique gifts, cards, and even an old school soda fountain.  I always remember being allowed to pick out a toy if I was waiting on a prescription.  Alas, it seems nationwide these places are dying off and everything is either becoming a Walgreens or CVS.

I saw Blockbuster mentioned here, and while I liked that place, I much preferred the "mom and pop" type of video store.  There was one near me that used to host Nintendo tournaments, always had a few games popped into a console I could try out while my parents looked for movies, and even had an infamous "back room" my friends and I would attempt to peek in as kids.  Ha ha ha.

[Pete from Boston]

5 & 10s.  I still know a handful, and they are still reliable go-tos for socks, pot lids, thread, model airplanes, gum, plant food, safety pins, shelf paper...

However, their role has been replaced by the likes of CVS et al.

But CVS is far less thorough, and no CVS was ever fun to lose yourself browsing through.

[dcbjms]

I just thought of another one - anyone remember Ames? or Lechmere?  Lechmere was where our first Windows PC was purchased, over in a branch in South Seekonk.

[DandyDan]

I saw Blockbuster mentioned here, and while I liked that place, I much preferred the "mom and pop" type of video store.  There was one near me that used to host Nintendo tournaments, always had a few games popped into a console I could try out while my parents looked for movies, and even had an infamous "back room" my friends and I would attempt to peek in as kids.  Ha ha ha.

I am in agreement there.  There used to be one here called Couch Potato Video which had as good a selection as Blockbuster, but then Blockbuster and Hollywood Video killed them off.  Now that Blockbuster is gone, there's really no good place around here to rent old movies, because it seems like Redbox has only the most current movies.

[OCGuy81]

I saw Blockbuster mentioned here, and while I liked that place, I much preferred the "mom and pop" type of video store.  There was one near me that used to host Nintendo tournaments, always had a few games popped into a console I could try out while my parents looked for movies, and even had an infamous "back room" my friends and I would attempt to peek in as kids.  Ha ha ha.

I am in agreement there.  There used to be one here called Couch Potato Video which had as good a selection as Blockbuster, but then Blockbuster and Hollywood Video killed them off.  Now that Blockbuster is gone, there's really no good place around here to rent old movies, because it seems like Redbox has only the most current movies.

Wasn't half the fun of video stores versus Redbox or Netflix wandering through them, looking at the box to see if it might be worth a rent?  It applied to video games too.  I remember thinking the Back to the Future NES game would be every bit as cool as the movie based on the box.  Boy, was I wrong!

[Brandon]

I saw Blockbuster mentioned here, and while I liked that place, I much preferred the "mom and pop" type of video store.  There was one near me that used to host Nintendo tournaments, always had a few games popped into a console I could try out while my parents looked for movies, and even had an infamous "back room" my friends and I would attempt to peek in as kids.  Ha ha ha.

I am in agreement there.  There used to be one here called Couch Potato Video which had as good a selection as Blockbuster, but then Blockbuster and Hollywood Video killed them off.  Now that Blockbuster is gone, there's really no good place around here to rent old movies, because it seems like Redbox has only the most current movies.

Family Video?  They're very much still around, but I don't know how far outside of northern Illinois they exist.

[DaBigE]

I saw Blockbuster mentioned here, and while I liked that place, I much preferred the "mom and pop" type of video store.  There was one near me that used to host Nintendo tournaments, always had a few games popped into a console I could try out while my parents looked for movies, and even had an infamous "back room" my friends and I would attempt to peek in as kids.  Ha ha ha.

I am in agreement there.  There used to be one here called Couch Potato Video which had as good a selection as Blockbuster, but then Blockbuster and Hollywood Video killed them off.  Now that Blockbuster is gone, there's really no good place around here to rent old movies, because it seems like Redbox has only the most current movies.

Family Video?  They're very much still around, but I don't know how far outside of northern Illinois they exist.

Got 'em sprinkled around Wisconsin, many of which are adding/have added a pizza place within the store.

[Big John]

I saw Blockbuster mentioned here, and while I liked that place, I much preferred the "mom and pop" type of video store.  There was one near me that used to host Nintendo tournaments, always had a few games popped into a console I could try out while my parents looked for movies, and even had an infamous "back room" my friends and I would attempt to peek in as kids.  Ha ha ha.

I am in agreement there.  There used to be one here called Couch Potato Video which had as good a selection as Blockbuster, but then Blockbuster and Hollywood Video killed them off.  Now that Blockbuster is gone, there's really no good place around here to rent old movies, because it seems like Redbox has only the most current movies.

Family Video?  They're very much still around, but I don't know how far outside of northern Illinois they exist.

Many in the midwest and south:  http://www.familyvideo.com/locations.php

[Pete from Boston]

I just thought of another one - anyone remember Ames? or Lechmere?

Yup.

Caldor and Ames

In 1997, the Boston area had the department retailers

Caldor
Ames
Bradlees
Ann & Hope
Lechmere

and neither Target nor Wal-Mart.

Now we have Target and Wal-Mart, and none of the others.

Somehow, we kept Kmart the whole time.  Oblivion wouldn't accept it, despite our pleas.

[djsinco]

Are there any Blockbuster Video stores still around?

Surprisingly, I saw a Blockbuster that was still in business last month. It was in Fort Pierce, FL...

[djsinco]

I really miss Howard Johnson's restaurants. Grew up with them in both the service plazas, as well as highway locations, and of course, Times Square.

All you can eat clams or fish on Fridays was $6.95 back in the 1990's. Hot dogs grilled to perfection on a New England style bun available in Texas at midnight!

The ice cream wasn't bad, either. Not health food, but darn tasty.

[tidecat]

I saw Blockbuster mentioned here, and while I liked that place, I much preferred the "mom and pop" type of video store.  There was one near me that used to host Nintendo tournaments, always had a few games popped into a console I could try out while my parents looked for movies, and even had an infamous "back room" my friends and I would attempt to peek in as kids.  Ha ha ha.

I am in agreement there.  There used to be one here called Couch Potato Video which had as good a selection as Blockbuster, but then Blockbuster and Hollywood Video killed them off.  Now that Blockbuster is gone, there's really no good place around here to rent old movies, because it seems like Redbox has only the most current movies.

Family Video?  They're very much still around, but I don't know how far outside of northern Illinois they exist.

There have been new Family Video stores opened in Kentucky.


iPhone

[Roadrunner75]

I think I've posted this before, but it's appropriate for this thread:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_defunct_retailers_of_the_United_States

[NE2]

The Long Island Motor Parkway.

[spooky]

I just thought of another one - anyone remember Ames? or Lechmere?

Yup.

Caldor and Ames

In 1997, the Boston area had the department retailers

Caldor
Ames
Bradlees
Ann & Hope
Lechmere

and neither Target nor Wal-Mart.

Now we have Target and Wal-Mart, and none of the others.

Somehow, we kept Kmart the whole time.  Oblivion wouldn't accept it, despite our pleas.

According to this, Wal-Mart started popping up in New England in the early 90s. By 1997 they were just about to get the ten count on Ames, Bradlees, Caldor and the like. I worked at a Caldor store in 1996 and they were very worried about the new Wal-Mart that had opened in town.

I believe Target started to proliferate in the region in the late 90s/early 00s.

I think I've said this before on this forum, but it's been said that Sam Walton got the idea for his store from visiting an Ann & Hope store.

[jeffandnicole]

Levitz Furniture.

I tend to be a packrat, and I keep files for nearly everything.  As I do every year around this time, I go thru those files and clean out last year's stuff.  Some older files I save, which included Levitz as we had bought furniture from them when we first moved into our house.  We had bought a nice set of couches and dining table and chairs; perfect for the new house.  Since we have now gotten ride of all of it, I nearly got rid of the file, only to see that our mattress was purchased from Levitz as well.  I'm not sure what good that receipt would be for though, as it's over 10 years old and the store doesn't exist.  Thus is the life of a Packrat.

[Pete from Boston]

Levitz Furniture.

I tend to be an archivist, and I keep files for nearly everything.  As I do every year around this time, I go thru those files and clean out last year's stuff.  Some older files I save, which included Levitz as we had bought furniture from them when we first moved into our house.  We had bought a nice set of couches and dining table and chairs; perfect for the new house.  Since we have now gotten ride of all of it, I nearly got rid of the file, only to see that our mattress was purchased from Levitz as well.  I'm not sure what good that receipt would be for though, as it's over 10 years old and the store doesn't exist.  Thus is the life of an Archivist.

FTFY

[roadman65]

Two Guys is one that had Sam Walton's concept, but they were not into the game as Wal Mart is today.  They had a grocery store within the Department Store and later closed the supermarket part of the store.  Then of course Vernado, who owned Two Guys, began to take more part in Real Estate ventures and leased the stores out after deciding to close them and give up the hassles of trying to keep the ship afloat.

I believe now they still own the land that their former stores were on still to this day, but allowed new tenants to tear down their former buildings and put up their own.

I liked Two Guys and their commercials used part of Gillbert O Sullivan's Alone Again Naturally as their jingle only to add in "We save money for you at Two Guys" to it instead.  They were the Wal Mart back then, except all departments were not under one roof though as when the store's expanded, they built new buildings outside of the store, generally across the parking lot, for the new departments.  For example in Union, NJ, the Garden Department, and later on the Lumber and Hardware were not in the main store but in two separate other buildings.  In Watchung, NJ the auto department was not only in the store, but not even across the parking lot as it sat on another location at the beginning of the long driveway that entered the store from US 22 with it fronting the US route directly.

[Pete from Boston]

Two Guys is actually a very interesting story about the changing face of American entrepreneurialism.

As noted, Two Guys From Harrison was a local New Jersey business that grew into a large chain around the New York metropolitan area. They acquired the one of their large vendors, the maker of Vornado fans, calling the combined company Vornado. 

As real estate values in the metropolitan area skyrocketed and the stores became dated, it became clear that the land was worth more than the business upon it.  Vornado Real Estate Trust is now a multibillion-dollar empire that still holds a lot of the Two Guys and Alexander's store sites (among many far more valuable properties).  They nearly got the WTC lease Silverstein won, in fact.

[Brandon]

From around Chicagoland (and I'm not mentioning Marshall Field & Company - that's a whole 'nuther ball of wax), I miss Wieboldt's the most.  It was a nice department store with locations ranging from State Street all the way out to Joliet, Waukegan, and Carpentersville.  They were a notch below Carson's (which was a notch below Field's), but distinctly above Sears and Penney's.

[PHLBOS]

I just thought of another one - anyone remember Ames? or Lechmere?

IIRC, most if not all of the Ames in (at least) eastern MA were originally Zayre's.  Ames bought Zayre's out in 1989.

Levitz Furniture.

In eastern MA, Levitz took over(?) J. Homestock sometime in the mid-to-late 70s.  I know that the Levitz in Danvers (now a Home Depot) was originally a J Homestock.  My parents bought a sofa & a loveseat there in early 1977 (when it was still Homestock's).

Remant of a Levitz Outlet Store in Claymont, DE.  It's still there & vacant today.

[Pete from Boston]

Wow, people are pissed about a lot of closed businesses.

Zayre is notable for two things: first, for being a disaster of an operation that sunk Ames.  Second, for starting a subsidiary that I remember being just a local Worcester, Mass., area chain, which has since spread a bit–T.J. Maxx.

[djsinco]

I just thought of another one - anyone remember Ames? or Lechmere?

IIRC, most if not all of the Ames in (at least) eastern MA were originally Zayre's.  Ames bought Zayre's out in 1989.

Levitz Furniture.

In eastern MA, Levitz took over(?) J. Homestock sometime in the mid-to-late 70s.  I know that the Levitz in Danvers (now a Home Depot) was originally a J Homestock.  My parents bought a sofa & a loveseat there in early 1977 (when it was still Homestock's).

Remant of a Levitz Outlet Store in Claymont, DE.  It's still there & vacant today.

"You'll love it at Levitz!"