TheRainbowegoSweet007
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Jul 31, 2026 12:17 AM
TheRainbowegoSweet007
22233
524
10
Cuppyycaakes
I swear I saw a Payless recently but now idk...
•͡˘㇁•͡˘;
Anyway, Boston Markets still exist in Massachusetts! The chicken is wicked salty.
ImmaCatImmaSexyCat
Toys R Us is still doing okay in Canada.
youreathing
They still have a bunch in the US as well.
canyouflyyousucker
Retirement Centers of the Futures just better be the damn mall from the 90s
REOJackwagon
Some of them kind of are, some were taken over by retiree mall walkers and some were filled with government offices,some catering to the elderly.
2015Camry
My former Circuit City is now a fantastic Asian grocery. I shop there weekly.
BosunMark
CompUSA..
DarthWaiterSE
I worked at the store directly across the street from the corporate office in Addison.
That whole company can burn in hell forever.
lurksalotcommentssome
Bed bath and beyond. 😭
I could walk around that place for hours
electrajet
They abandoned their brand, as described in their name, and basically became a Walgreens without a pharmacy and photo department.
DarthWaiterSE
They're coming back in select The Container Store locations; I think they're splitting square footage or somesuch so they can both stay afloat.
tsterling00
NotAllowedToArgueUnlessYouPay
I used to go to Kmart to get tuneup kits for my VW beetle. Points and condenser were insanely cheap even at 1980s prices.
buttabuttabutt
For the youngins out there, K mart was one of the first stores to sell cheap crappy furniture. My step dad called it "Came Apart" and I will chuckle at that til my dying days
DarthWaiterSE
I was 6 years old in 1984 and had just deplaned in McAllen, TX right on the border; it was my first plane flight by myself and my grandad drove us home for my summer vacation ... right past the very first K-Mart ever built in my tiny little hometown.
These days, McAllen General is *THE* hospital where all the wealthy Mexican upper-class cross the border to get their top-shelf tummy tucks and nose jobs and whatnot; there's also considerable traffic for cancer and cardiac surgery.
Shit's wild.
ThatOtherMacAvoyWoman
Wait wait…Mexicans come HERE for healthcare??
DarthWaiterSE
The super-wealthy ones do; the quality of healthcare in the US is pretty goddamn good if your pockets are deep enough and you don't mind making a donation to the hospital.
If it's something commonplace, then they usually have some form of concierge doctor on call.
ThatOtherMacAvoyWoman
Jesus. As someone relatively low/ middle income (in the 90s at least) from Arizona, it’s always been the opposite experience.
DarthWaiterSE
McAllen is an anomaly as far as border towns go, but a big part of it's prosperity is the fact that Hidalgo county is a robust network of smaller municipalities; it also has enough distance from South Padre to where it's not overtaken every Spring Break (like Brownsville in Cameron County).
I'm not trying to paint my hometown as Shangri-La (far from it), but it sets itself apart for a lot of different reasons, and location is only one of them.
explainer
I always laugh when I see Kmart in nostalgic dumps because it's one of the biggest department store brands in Australia
Fanner50
One of their things was TYFSAK: Thank You For Shopping At K-mart.
whoatherebigfella
I hope you made it in time for the blue light special.
Camelspotting
My grandma still calls every department store kmart
Rijacki
And Sears, who had bought K-mart before both brands faded into history.
poscduke
Man I worked at a Sears for a few months before I graduated college. I do not miss them
WhatTheFrench
I worked there my senior year of high school and all through college and same lol.
icantbelieveitsnot
KB Toys
Voodrew
KB was cool when you wanted to pay 900% more for a toy than you did at Wal-Mart.
skunkworkz
I don't remember which one bought the other, but KB and Toys R Us were the same company in the end.
But I remember the one in the mall when my kids were little.
resworn
HEY WEEBS NEVER FORGET SUNCOAST 😭
commanderpopnfresh79
Bought a lot of collectibles from Suncoast I still have to this day sealed. I couldn't remember though if they labeled the section Japanimation in the early 90s or not. Might've been my local video rental store. Regardless I definitely was one of the only ones looking there every time I went until the late 90s. The section went from a 4 foot section with a couple shelves to almost a whole wall. Crazy to think about now.
DarkParn
It's were i bought my Berserk box set. https://media4.giphy.com/media/v1.Y2lkPWE1NzM3M2U1MmV5OGp5MGlsd3U5b3o2ZGFjdzV2czdydjNjenl2eThycGlpcDZ5ciZlcD12MV9naWZzX3NlYXJjaCZjdD1n/105TPTlFrqaW1G/200w.webp
broadwaynut9
My very first job…
Sechran
Adding to this -
ImmaCatImmaSexyCat
Sechran
Fun fact - Chi-Chi's was named for the founder's wife's nickname... which is actually slang for breasts in Mexico.
"Hey kids, where do you want to go for dinner tonight?"
"BOOBIES!!!"
ImmaCatImmaSexyCat
That's awesome cuz it's also slang for boobs in Japan. I think it actually means "milk."
sevro77
How about Service Merchandise, it was like a store that was a catalog. Not too unlike Circuit City but they sold more than electronics.
bingotown
I spent so much time in the audio room at Service Merchandise.
youarekiddingrightnow
Never forget the corporate raiders that gutted these business
CyberWizard252
We had something like that in Canada called Consumers Distributing. Like a fast food joint but a department store. Just a counter filled with catalogs. You found what you wanted, filled out a slip of paper with the item number, and somebody brought it out from the back. It was THE place for LEGO back in the day.
MBTerrorKitten
I remember. I loved the conveyor belt.
Fargus57
Similar to Brands Mart USA, which is struggling to hang on.
astrangehop
We got our NES there
IvanTorhiscokov
Service Merchandise was ahead of its time. That's really how stores should operate today. There are plenty of products that I would like to see in person before purchasing. So simple to go test and then do an app order and collect it at the warehouse conveyor 😆.
Snooj
A lot of my early Transformers and Lego sets came from Service Merchandise. Shopping there felt like a luxury.
MikeRInternetTraveler
Seeing my Super Metroid box coming down that conveyor belt was the coolest thing ever when I was 10.
whoatherebigfella
I loved service merchandise and was bummed when the store closed by me decades ago (of course I was just a kid 😉) I thought the concept was cool and they were rarely out of stock of what I was asking for. Good times.
76000BatteryLlamas
It was Amazon without the Internet
fractalsphere
Radio Shack is probably the most painful for me lol
TheFastpaws
The local drug store took it over here after it closed. They are slowly not replenishing the inventory though.
eathotdog
Sears still exists but not to the degree that it used to.
NotAllowedToArgueUnlessYouPay
That is quite an understatement!
TheFastpaws
Another victim of private equity.
TheFastpaws
Private equity killed a good number of these on purpose.
Fargus57
ColossalBalls
Never heard of Sweet Tomatoes or HomeTown Buffet.
ColossalBalls
No wonder why, There was only ever 97 Sweet Tomatoes.
They are coming back: https://www.restaurantbusinessonline.com/operations/sweet-tomatoes-not-only-back-its-growing
There is still over 900 Orange Julius. https://www.scrapehero.com/location-reports/Orange%20Julius-USA/
knotydes
Mid west buffet with terrible food, but had a mega cheap senior special.
Only Sweet Tomatoes I've ever seen was in socal. Never been.
jakedafish
Sweet tomatoes is another buffet but it’s focused mostly on salad stuffs. It’s pretty decent if you like a nice salad bar.
renalien
the ones in SoCal were called Souplantation
NotRealNSA
Sweet tomatoes was basically a giant salad bar. They also had soups and some baked items. I still miss it
ToasterDent
Sweet Tomatoes was a buffet cafeteria, you'd pay a flat fee, go thru the line and pick out food you wanted, go back and get some more entrees or desert or whatever.
Dracology
People shit on Blockbuster and maybe rightly so but man I wish we had them back. Renting games was sooooo fucking nice. That era was when it was great to be a console player, you could just blast through all the hit titles and then some and barely dent your wallet.
Mack1986
Fun fact Toys R Us established a new physical store at the Harlem Irving Plaza (HIP) mall in Norridge just outside the NW side of Chicago
whoatherebigfella
I know that area well. Good for them! I’ve since moved to the Philippines where Toys R Us is still going strong. The stores are big and bright with a very large selection of items. They even have a talking little robot thing at the entry way.
distractedFreek
#7
whoatherebigfella
Is that from a Ryan’s training video?
Endocrom
KaJuN
Did you catch the game last night?
CookieDave
#11 They just turned into computer stores. No biggie.
mangamike
hmmm i wonder if this used to be a circuit city????
SarcasticComment
Can't be, they painted that square a different color in my town
thedudeman519
Boston Market felt like such a treat.
I've never had Orange Julius but I'm always reminded of this SNL sketch when I see the name https://www.reddit.com/r/LiveFromNewYork/comments/1ohny6i/the_great_orange_julius_sketch_from_sylvester/
Madchant
Where I am at: The Circuit City is now a Trader Joe's. Toys-Я-Us is now a Hobby Lobby. Blockbuster is a pizza place, Payless Shoes is an RC-car store. Boston Market is at teriyaki place, Radio Shack is an anime/manga/weeb shop, Forever 21's spot became part of a Dick's Sporting Goods, and the Orange Julius got carved up between several other off-brand food court establishments.
BosunMark
At least the Radio Shack stayed true to its nerd base..
Kilo11
They will forever live on in our hearts
imakesoap
Joann’s. I refuse to go to hobby lobby and Micheal’s is trying to carry some of their fabrics, but the selection is so small and most all of the notions are unavailable. It’s sad
Fargus57
Many/most Michael's have closed here, hard to find one now.
defcon275
I had no idea. There are two of them within a 10 minute drive of me, went to one about a month ago.
bingotown
Yeah, that one really sucked. Nothing fills that void.
dooremouse
I live in Muncie IN. We used to have all three but first JoAnn's and then Michael's went out. Now all we have left is hobby lobby. I suppose on the plus side, they don't really have much in the way of cameras.
imakesoap
Ooo i didn’t know that.
skunkworkz
It really sucks. Hobby Lobby had a great yarn selection, but we won't shop there, so Joann's was the next best thing.
The Michaels around here have picked up a bit, but it's not really the same.
FluidExchangeProgram
We were poor so we used to rent a console from BB with 1-2 games and just absolutely zone on them Friday till Monday. Some of the best weekends ever.
skunkworkz
We used to rent a VCR from BB for the weekend with our tapes when I was young.
boxbackknitties
Great memory. Thanks for sharing that.
REOJackwagon
Oh yeah? Blockbuster wants to know when you are bringing it back, it's been decades
skunkworkz
Those late fees could buy a house by now!
Sabz5150
The machine shop I started at had the contract with Circuit City for the collars that went around locks on the laptop security bars? Remember the bar that went across at the hinge? Yeah, I made thousands of those.
REOJackwagon
I do, I worked at Circuit City. The store I was at had a hair trigger anti theft system so that if a customer even walked within 20 feet of it, it would go off to discourage sales
EmeraldLight
Orange julius is going strong in western Canada
upvoteFLUFFYthings
They seem the merged with Dairy Queen in the Metro Vancouver area
EmeraldLight
Ohh, very true. Northern BC and AB have both merged and unmerged options. I think the only standalone OJs are in malls, though. Not full shops.
CyberHexx
Forever 21 still exists. It's one of the last Mall stores that still get business besides JC Penny, Macies, and Dillard's.
The Sharper Image has only ever been a Mall store, if I'm not mistaken. Orange Julius still exists in Airports...
I miss Payless. Good shoes are just so expensive now.
NotAllowedToArgueUnlessYouPay
Sharper Image had a store in San Francisco from the 80's till about 2008.
lysani
Orange Julius is still available in some Dairy Queen locations I believe.
fuzzy2k3
I think I saw some in Montreal. They love that stuff over there
Leaveittojebus
Back to school always meant a trip to Payless to get new shoes for me and my brother because they usually had a BOGO 50% deal or something. Equally affordable backpacks too.
ChicanoBatman
I live in Mexico and they just opened a new Woolworths. And all the KFC's here are called old school Kentucky Fried Chicken. Even the new stores with OG signage and font. Love it.
AGiantSlor
Orange Julius still exists in malls too. Who knows how much longer though.
GhostofCharlieKirk
Stand alone Sharper Image Los Gatos, ca
MrsHowVeryDareYou
Oh shit you’re right, Forever 21 does still exist! I would’ve bet very good money you were wrong since all the major stores I know were closed.
MadamPuddifoot
Payless did not have good shoes. They had cheap shoes.
talesian
If I recall right, there was a stand alone Sharper Image in San Francisco in the 90s - I recall my dad taking me there as a kid, but j could be mistaken.
FloatingOnACloudOfTitties
There were most definitely Sharper Image brick & mortar stores since I frequently went to them in my local malls years ago.
MissingGravitas
There was a non-mall one in Carmel years back.
draconicus
The reason that the rich were so rich, Vimes reasoned, was because they managed to spend less money. Take boots, for example. ... A really good pair of leather boots cost fifty dollars. But an affordable pair of boots, which were sort of OK for a season or two and then leaked like hell when the cardboard gave out, cost about ten dollars. ... But the thing was that good boots lasted for years and years.
draconicus
A man who could afford fifty dollars had a pair of boots that'd still be keeping his feet dry in ten years' time, while a poor man who could only afford cheap boots would have spent a hundred dollars on boots in the same time and would still have wet feet.
This was the Captain Samuel Vimes 'Boots' theory of socio-economic unfairness.
theobstruction
As a construction worker, good boots absolutely do not last for years and years. You'll get two before they're done, and have to be either replaced or rebuilt.
Lynkfox
The Vimes boot theory was written in a commedic fantasy book 30 years ago.
And the rich who buy expensive boots don't do construction in them. They just use them for daily use, which ... Yeah you could get a few more years that way eh?
Geopia
I bought a pair of Sorel winter boots with the liner in 1981 for about $40 - still using them every winter.
unluckyandbored
Orange Julius was bought by Dairy Queen a while back.
prostheticbrain
I used to buy my cheap heels from Sears which is also sadly gone.
OliverClothesoff70
RIP to the Craftsman tool department at Sears
BilltheCatisBack
Missed the majors, Sears, Broadway, Montgomery Wards. Others I forget.
FloatingOnACloudOfTitties
SHARPER IMAGE HAD RETAIL STORES! I remember going to them years ago, so, I just looked it up: Sharper Image had retail stores, expanding to 187 locations in 38 states at its peak. However, all retail stores were closed by the end of 2008 after the company filed for bankruptcy.
Rijacki
Payless was never 'good' shoes but it was a wide variety of affordable shoes for most.
SOLARvsFACISM
At the very least funeral and wedding shoes for the whole family.
CyberHexx
They were miles better than the shit you get at Walmart.