Stores That I Miss.....

Recently the news broke that internet giant Amazon would be buying Whole Foods. Immediately, some deep thinkers said this would mean a big change for all grocery stores and most retail services as well. While it is true that these are not glory days for shopping malls and the typical stores that populate them, most grocery stores should survive Amazon.

I have seen plenty of people that struggle just using a credit card. Heaven forbid if these people had to get online to find their groceries. But I cannot deny that retail, and some specific segments have changed and may never return.

When I think back over the years, there are some stores that are gone, or going, that I will miss. I will miss some for different reasons. Some just for the memories. Here are a few of them:

Sears Southland was too big to fit into one picture.

• Sears: Sears isn't really gone yet. But it was announced that a store in my old neighborhood shopping center would be closing. It was a huge one floor store that I can remember being built. My Mom even worked there. I was never a big fan of their clothes, but the hardware section was top notch. Still is. My big memory of that local Sears store was that they were one of the original Ticketmaster outlets. In the days before the internet, you would line up when the store opened and rush to the Ticketmaster counter. There you be able to get concert and game tickets. I think I even got Cavalier playoff tickets there.
• Media Play: This was a very cool store. It didn't last very long though. They sold things related to media, such as video games, records & tapes, DVD's or VHS tapes, and a huge selection of

  

  Media Play was a short lived jewell.

  books. It was a great place to browse. You never knew what you would find that would catch your interest. I remember bringing my kids to this place too. I'm pretty sure they enjoyed it too. I think this was one of the first places where you could actually sample CD's while listening to headphones.
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• Borders: I guess these are just bad days for book stores overall. Barnes & Noble is still around, but Borders was much more convenient for me. The books were all arranged by category, and it just seemed easier for me to find a book. Tremendous magazine selection, including hard to find titles. I loved the CD section too. They would have hard to find copies, and plenty of jazz and blues.
• Most Neighborhood Drug Stores: I know there are plenty of drug stores around. but they're big shiny chain stores. What is sold, and how it is displayed is decided at somebody's desk, far, far away. When I was a kid, you would go to a neighborhood store because you knew this store sold some candy nobody else sold. Or this store would put the latest edition of baseball cards out immediately. Another store might have had the best magazine selection. Now they're pretty much all the same.
• Lawson's: This was a deli/convenience store that has been gone for quite some time now. They

  

  Your neighborhood Lawson's store. Open Sunday!

  were known for milk, orange juice (the "Big O"), white bread, and something called chip-chopped ham. Many of the buildings they were in have been converted to everything from restaurants, and other retail stores. But the big thing about Lawson's was that they were the only store of their kind that WERE OPEN ON SUNDAY'S. Imagine a world where Sunday's were truly a day of rest! The world certainly has changed.
• B & B Appliance: This was a family owned business that lasted for 93 years. I can only remember buying one item there. I don't miss the store that much, but I miss their old television commercials. For years they would sponsor the Sunday night sports report on TV. An old sportscaster, John Fitzgerald, would read the copy as fast as he could. He always ended by telling me that B & B Appliance was located "just off the Lakeland Freeway". Wherever that is.

Many other stores, such as Blockbuster have gone too. Many more store will go as well. But try to keep their memories alive. If you have any good ones anyway.