Poll of the Day > Stores growing up

(+) Yeah! (+)

As a kid I loved going to Toy R Us, Man I miss those days and I miss TRU.

I don't miss any of them, but the most nostalgic was a local variant of Blockbuster. We'd rent VCRs, movies, video-game consoles and video games from there occasionally.

Dairy Queen... sorta; they changed locations and no longer offer the 'basket of fries' option, which my bro and I would split.

In a more general sense I guess Heritage Mall in Edmonton since it was in walking distance

I miss Virgin Megastore and HMV.

Used to live going in and browsing films and music.

It saddens me that physical media for films basically doesnt exist over here, so the only options tend to be Netflix or piracy.

Probably KB Toys is the one I miss the memories of the most. Our mall had a small one in it but it had a bunch of really cool toys and it was always really exciting to go in there. Definitely wouldn't have the same experience now, though.

Change Blockbuster to Family Video (also extinct business) as I frequented that place every weekend. I remember the "naughty corner" near the bathrooms too with all the pornos. There was a Blockbuster in our town for a while, too but I only ever went there once. In fact, it was where I preordered Windwaker from. I don't know why we went there, but I didn't expect them to sell me a game.

Kmart, I have a lot of memories of, but they aren't necessarily good ones. It always felt like a dirty store to me and I never went there for anything fun. I found a video of the one in our town being cleared out though and it was interesting to watch

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mU4pOBjB4yc

Most of the time, I don't really miss any of the specific stores per se, more I just miss having stores at all. Way too much these days pretty much forces you to buy online, because brick-and-mortar stores are dying. I'd much prefer to be able to go to a store where I can actually look at products or just kind of window shop, but more and more I don't have that option anymore as pretty much anything that isn't a grocery store or Wal-Mart/Target is just gone. Product selection is worse, quality is worse, price is worse.

I also kind of miss certain products - or at least am annoyed by how they've gotten harder to buy. I still prefer CDs and DVDs for media (screw streaming), but every year it gets a little bit harder to track stuff down. And I miss heading in to the local Suncoast, looking through racks and racks of DVDs, and just buying tons of weird older movies, anime, and other stuff (there's a reason why I've still got over a thousand DVDs now). And going to local bookstores (not just the sole Barnes & Noble, but places like Borders, B.Dalton, Waldenbooks, and even my local mom-and-pop store) and just spending hours looking at books, reading back-cover blurbs, and then heading home with an armful of books I never knew I wanted. Shopping online has never really been the same sort of experience for me, and what I might gain in convenience, I definitely lose in terms of finding new stuff, impulse buying, or even having that experience of "retail therapy".

Meanwhile, there's stuff like comic books, where I used to go to my local comic book store every week and buy a couple different books. But now that most comics suck, and have like a $5+ cover price each, even if there were still comic stores selling them locally I'd never be willing to buy any. Same with tabletop RPGs - there was a time when it was a real highlight of my week/month to go to my local game store and just check out the shelves and see what new books might have come out, or what older ones I might have missed, and I'd buy a couple and go home to read them. Now my local hobby stores are mostly gone, most TTRPGs kind of suck now, and I don't really have any of the playgroups I used to play those games with left anymore. So it's not even that the stores don't exist, it's that the product doesn't really exist anymore, at least not like it used to.


Though I do have fond memories of certain stores - it's just less about the stores themselves, and more about the experience. Like when I was a kid in the 80s, and my mom would take me to K-Mart to shop, and while she was going to the checkout I'd get a SuperPretzel and go sit in the photo booth box and munch on it while I waited for her. Or how when she'd go grocery shopping she'd give me some quarters and I'd go play in the little arcade area my local store had (where I got to play games like Rampage, Arkanoid, Gauntlet, and the original Street Fighter). Or when she'd take me to our local bookstore, and she'd look at books for her while I'd just sit on the floor on one side where all the Choose Your Own Adventure style books were, and I'd just spend forever looking at every book and angsting over which ones I wanted most because I was only going to be able to beg her to buy me 2-3 at a time (nearly all of which I still have), rather than just having her buy the whole damned shelf full of books for me like I wanted (which hurt worse because, sometimes, you'd leave a book you wanted behind and it wouldn't be there next time).

Or skipping school lunch all week to save up $10, then biking or walking an hour to my local comic book/hobby shop with a friend of mine, where we'd each buy a bunch of books, then go hang out in the local bowling alley to read them before setting back out for home (and maybe playing a few games in the arcade if we had any change left).

But I'd never really be able to experience those sorts of things anymore, even if all the same stores were still there and exactly the same as they used to be. Because I'm not the same person I was then anymore. So I don't necessarily miss the store, I just miss the experience.

Or, in some ways, for a lot of those experiences, what I really miss is just my sense of childhood wonder and joy. Because you can't really get that back once it's gone.

ParanoidObsessive posted...

Most of the time, I don't really miss any of the specific stores per se, more I just miss having stores at all. Way too much these days pretty much forces you to buy online, because brick-and-mortar stores are dying. I'd much prefer to be able to go to a store where I can actually look at products or just kind of window shop, but more and more I don't have that option anymore as pretty much anything that isn't a grocery store or Wal-Mart/Target is just gone. Product selection is worse, quality is worse, price is worse.

I also kind of miss certain products - or at least am annoyed by how they've gotten harder to buy. I still prefer CDs and DVDs for media (screw streaming), but every year it gets a little bit harder to track stuff down. And I miss heading in to the local Suncoast, looking through racks and racks of DVDs, and just buying tons of weird older movies, anime, and other stuff (there's a reason why I've still got over a thousand DVDs now). And going to local bookstores (not just the sole Barnes & Noble, but places like Borders, B.Dalton, Waldenbooks, and even my local mom-and-pop store) and just spending hours looking at books, reading back-cover blurbs, and then heading home with an armful of books I never knew I wanted. Shopping online has never really been the same sort of experience for me, and what I might gain in convenience, I definitely lose in terms of finding new stuff, impulse buying, or even having that experience of "retail therapy".

Meanwhile, there's stuff like comic books, where I used to go to my local comic book store every week and buy a couple different books. But now that most comics suck, and have like a $5+ cover price each, even if there were still comic stores selling them locally I'd never be willing to buy any. Same with tabletop RPGs - there was a time when it was a real highlight of my week/month to go to my local game store and just check out the shelves and see what new books might have come out, or what older ones I might have missed, and I'd buy a couple and go home to read them. Now my local hobby stores are mostly gone, most TTRPGs kind of suck now, and I don't really have any of the playgroups I used to play those games with left anymore. So it's not even that the stores don't exist, it's that the product doesn't really exist anymore, at least not like it used to.

Though I do have fond memories of certain stores - it's just less about the stores themselves, and more about the experience. Like when I was a kid in the 80s, and my mom would take me to K-Mart to shop, and while she was going to the checkout I'd get a SuperPretzel and go sit in the photo booth box and munch on it while I waited for her. Or how when she'd go grocery shopping she'd give me some quarters and I'd go play in the little arcade area my local store had (where I got to play games like Rampage, Arkanoid, Gauntlet, and the original Street Fighter). Or when she'd take me to our local bookstore, and she'd look at books for her while I'd just sit on the floor on one side where all the Choose Your Own Adventure style books were, and I'd just spend forever looking at every book and angsting over which ones I wanted most because I was only going to be able to beg her to buy me 2-3 at a time (nearly all of which I still have), rather than just having her buy the whole damned shelf full of books for me like I wanted (which hurt worse because, sometimes, you'd leave a book you wanted behind and it wouldn't be there next time).

Or skipping school lunch all week to save up $10, then biking or walking an hour to my local comic book/hobby shop with a friend of mine, where we'd each buy a bunch of books, then go hang out in the local bowling alley to read them before setting back out for home (and maybe playing a few games in the arcade if we had any change left).

But I'd never really be able to experience those sorts of things anymore, even if all the same stores were still there and exactly the same as they used to be. Because I'm not the same person I was then anymore. So I don't necessarily miss the store, I just miss the experience.

Or, in some ways, for a lot of those experiences, what I really miss is just my sense of childhood wonder and joy. Because you can't really get that back once it's gone.

I often hear people talk about a childhood sense of wonder and joy and have no idea what thats like. I do experience wonder and joy as an adult, but have no idea how it compares to the wonder and joy people talk about experiencing as children.

However, I do notice that many of those who talk most about experiencing those things as children seem to not really have them in their lives as adults.

When Super Mario Wonder dropped I got to play the demo at Wal-Mart.

In the video game aisle at Target in 2002
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4NCplNKXuwM

Shopping at a Kmart store in 1999
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7fyy3MoXYGQ

Glob posted...

I often hear people talk about a childhood sense of wonder and joy and have no idea what thats like. I do experience wonder and joy as an adult, but have no idea how it compares to the wonder and joy people talk about experiencing as children.

However, I do notice that many of those who talk most about experiencing those things as children seem to not really have them in their lives as adults.

True that i just don't feel it at all anymore. But there it's different when you're a child and you just don't have the world experience of an adult and all the disappointments that come with it. There is so much more that you've never seen before as a child so it's all wonder and joy to you.

Lokarin posted...

Dairy Queen... sorta; they changed locations and no longer offer the 'basket of fries' option, which my bro and I would split.

In a more general sense I guess Heritage Mall in Edmonton since it was in walking distance

I lost my virginity in a Dairy Queen bathroom

Glob posted...

However, I do notice that many of those who talk most about experiencing those things as children seem to not really have them in their lives as adults.

It kind of depends on what it is.

Because, as an example, I can play video games as an adult. I can literally buy a copy of Rampage specifically and play it. I could probably even go out of my way to track down and buy an actual arcade console of Rampage and set it up in my house to play it. But nothing I do will ever sort of recapture the same feeling and overall experience I had doing that as a kid. Because even though I'm still more than capable of enjoying playing video games (I was just playing ME3 earlier), I'm not the same person I was. When you see the world through different eyes, you experience things differently.

I can still enjoy movies, but I will probably never love another movie as much as I loved Big Troble in Little China, The Last Dragon, or Transformers: The Movie as a kid. I still enjoy those movies, but I don't enjoy them the same way Lil' Me did. I own the entire series of Voltron on DVD, but if I watch those now, it will never compare to how it felt watching them as a 9-year old. Even if I literally got up at like 6am on Saturday morning, made myself a bowl of Lucky Charms, and just curated myself a dozen different episodes of various cartoons for like a 6-hour block (and even looked up old commercials from the 80s to sprinkle in for the full retro experience), it would never feel the way it did back in '86.

Nostalgia really isn't a longing for specific things, it's a longing for a moment. And even if you somehow manage to get all of the same things back, you'll never get that same moment.

A lot of nostalgia is "I liked this thing/place and it no longer exists" or "I liked doing something with this person who is now dead/gone/etc", but even if you can do everything in your power to reconstruct a scenario with all the same things and in more or less the same place with all the same people and even with the same smells, YOU aren't the same. Even if you could time travel back to the past and literally relive the exact same moment in the exact same way, it wouldn't be the same. Because you are now essentially a different person.

Sure, I could go "Man, I miss Twookies, they were great" (http://www.inthe80s.com/food/twookies0.shtml ), but what I'm really missing is the memory of the time when I was eating them as a young and carefree kid. And honestly, if you gave me some today they almost certainly wouldn't taste the same to me now as they did then (because tastebuds change).

I might agree that people who are constantly talking about their nostalgia are doing so because they pretty much hate everything in the present and are kind of longing for a time when they were happier. But in that scenario even if you could give that person all of the things they're talking about being nostalgic for, it almost certainly wouldn't make them much happier than they are.

B Dalton and Kay-bee went hard. Shinders was dope too

ParanoidObsessive posted...

It kind of depends on what it is.

Because, as an example, I can play video games as an adult. I can literally buy a copy of Rampage specifically and play it. I could probably even go out of my way to track down and buy an actual arcade console of Rampage and set it up in my house to play it. But nothing I do will ever sort of recapture the same feeling and overall experience I had doing that as a kid. Because even though I'm still more than capable of enjoying playing video games (I was just playing ME3 earlier), I'm not the same person I was. When you see the world through different eyes, you experience things differently.

I can still enjoy movies, but I will probably never love another movie as much as I loved Big Troble in Little China, The Last Dragon, or Transformers: The Movie as a kid. I still enjoy those movies, but I don't enjoy them the same way Lil' Me did. I own the entire series of Voltron on DVD, but if I watch those now, it will never compare to how it felt watching them as a 9-year old. Even if I literally got up at like 6am on Saturday morning, made myself a bowl of Lucky Charms, and just curated myself a dozen different episodes of various cartoons for like a 6-hour block (and even looked up old commercials from the 80s to sprinkle in for the full retro experience), it would never feel the way it did back in '86.

Nostalgia really isn't a longing for specific things, it's a longing for a moment. And even if you somehow manage to get all of the same things back, you'll never get that same moment.

A lot of nostalgia is "I liked this thing/place and it no longer exists" or "I liked doing something with this person who is now dead/gone/etc", but even if you can do everything in your power to reconstruct a scenario with all the same things and in more or less the same place with all the same people and even with the same smells, YOU aren't the same. Even if you could time travel back to the past and literally relive the exact same moment in the exact same way, it wouldn't be the same. Because you are now essentially a different person.

Sure, I could go "Man, I miss Twookies, they were great" (http://www.inthe80s.com/food/twookies0.shtml ), but what I'm really missing is the memory of the time when I was eating them as a young and carefree kid. And honestly, if you gave me some today they almost certainly wouldn't taste the same to me now as they did then (because tastebuds change).

I might agree that people who are constantly talking about their nostalgia are doing so because they pretty much hate everything in the present and are kind of longing for a time when they were happier. But in that scenario even if you could give that person all of the things they're talking about being nostalgic for, it almost certainly wouldn't make them much happier than they are.

Oh, I get the concept. Its just that its often based on people looking back on a time of their life where they were more care free, but thats the opposite of my experience. Life as a kid sucked for me. It was scary and unpleasant. Adult life has me much happier and with fewer worries.

Toys R Us is still a thing. Blockbuster is the one I miss the most. My family would get something new to rent at least twice per month.

Worked at Blockbuster for 4 years. By far the easiest, most fun job I'll ever have. I was about to be promoted to assistant store manager before they laid me off.

My store was great; boss was awesome, co-workers were cool, customers were chill (mostly).
Only got robbed at gunpoint once.
Damn I miss that place.

K Marts still exist here in Australia.

Nothing to do with nostalgia, but Blockbuster/video rental stores. I don't want multiple subscriptions to streaming sites to watch movies, and even then, most have a shit selection or the rights have lapsed and the movie isn't available anymore. I'd rather just go to a store, rent the movie I want, and be done with it. It's pathetic that they shut down because people didn't like paying late fees.

You could have just fucking returned the movie on time, but I guess that was really fucking hard for a lot of people.

Kmart, the feeling of that store is unmatched. I still remember going there through the years because there was one pretty close to me

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/forum/5/52327bf8.jpg

KingInBlack posted...

and even then, most have a s*** selection or the rights have lapsed and the movie isn't available anymore.

You say that like video rental stores weren't also a crapshoot when it came to the availability of any given movie. Streaming is indeed a mess as far as finding what you want goes, thanks to the fragmentation of the market and capracious rights disputes, but the availability of media is still vastly improved by streaming compared to relying on what any given store sees fit to stock on their shelves.

Now, there is something to be said for having a limited selection. We tend to assume that having access to more stuff is always better, but now that we've got streaming services with tends of thousands of choices available, it becomes pretty difficult to find new stuff and people are tending to just stick with familiar things. Rental stores may not have had everything, but because they had a smaller selection available it was actually practical to browse it all and you could almost always find something to catch your interest.

I can't really answer the poll effectively because I miss several of the options, and used to work briefly at Circuit city.

Co-incidentally, I wouldn't miss Blockbuster as much if Netflix didn't end their disc rental service.

i don't miss any of those

Toy R Us was great for the buy one get one free offer on video games they did. Blockbuster however was great for cheap rentals and sometimes able to buy stuff so that get's my vote.

Damn_Underscore posted...

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/forum/5/52327bf8.jpg

When I worked at Walmart recently they'd play Walk The Dinosaur semi frequently as well. Surprisingly, Walmart Radio had a decent selection of music. Also a lot of trash, but it wasn't egregious.

None of the above, although there was a place called Anderson's that I loved.

Place sold some fun stuff, like blue cream soda.

TG&Y (commonly referred to as "Turtles, Girdles, and Yo-Yos") was a "five & dime".

I really miss Fedco. This was among the first big membership stores. It was sort of a cross between Costco and Walmart. Membership was open to anyone who worked for the government (Fedco stood for "Federal Employees' Distributing COmpany"), but their definition of "work" and "government" was incredibly broad. You could get a membership if you attended a public college or if you were on Social Security. Membership was $10 and was good for life. Like Walmart, they carried just about everything from clothes to electronics to groceries, but at super low prices.

Best Products was always interesting because they only kept samples in their showrooms. When you found an item you wanted you wrote it down on an order form and you'd go to the cashier to pay for it, then the real fun began, waiting for your order to come down the big conveyor belt from the warehouse upstairs. This was always fascinating to me because you couldn't see very far up the belt, so the whole upper floor was just a big mystery.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ln_88HHXJ04

Back in the 80s Wal*Mart and K Mart were still small stores.

Like no auto, patio or grocery.

We also had Magic Mart and Hill's.

We didn't get a Target until the late 90's.

adjl posted...

You say that like video rental stores weren't also a crapshoot when it came to the availability of any given movie. Streaming is indeed a mess as far as finding what you want goes, thanks to the fragmentation of the market and capracious rights disputes, but the availability of media is still vastly improved by streaming compared to relying on what any given store sees fit to stock on their shelves.

That massively depends on where you are in the world.

Here, its Netflix or piracy. Those are really the only two options. Physical media doesnt really exist here. Netflix has no competition from legitimate means.

Borders Books & Music and GameStop.

Others:

Frye's - at its peak , it was far better than CC or BB.

Sultan's Castle (Arcades)- watched it go from a skeeball machine and 3 1950s pinball machines to the video game peak with updated pinball machines and other games.

Glob posted...

That massively depends on where you are in the world.

Here, its Netflix or piracy. Those are really the only two options. Physical media doesnt really exist here. Netflix has no competition from legitimate means.

How does that compare to the selection that was available pre-Netflix?

KB was amazing, i think i liked them even more than toys r us. FAO schwarz was always less common, but that place was basically an amusement park. the one in new york is one of my favorite childhood memories, it was like a giant maze of toys and fun. i think it might still be there just in a different location though, so not sure it applies here.

electronics boutique (ye olde gamestop) was amusing for obvious reasons, there was usually someone relatable to talk to there, especially before the hobby caught on with the filthy normies.

book and music stores in general are heavily missed. physical media and general social interaction were a plus. can't even buy movies or music at best buy anymore. i'm glad barnes and noble is still around, but i have to go pretty far out of my way to visit one.

this topic is bumming me out.

adjl posted...

How does that compare to the selection that was available pre-Netflix?

I wasnt here then, but from what I hear, there was a booming market for moody DVDs. Probably part of the reason why the real deal have no presence here now.

I spent so much time at World of Nintendo. When Starfox came out they had a contest and I had the second best score for that store, even though I'd never played it before and didn't even have an SNES. I only got a lousy t-shirt. I really wanted the top prize, which was a Starfox flight jacket.

I also remember spending a lot of money at Egghead Discount Software.
https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/forum/5/58f8ba5c.jpg
https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/forum/a/a1c1b16f.jpg
(That copy of Civilization cost the equivalent of $113 in 2025 dollars, and the Sound Blaster was the equivalent of $300!)

PrettyBoyFloyd posted...

Back in the 80s Wal*Mart and K Mart were still small stores.

Like no auto, patio or grocery.

Man, I remember when our Walmart got its grocery section. I remember thinking what a crazy concept that you can get groceries at Walmart.

PrettyBoyFloyd posted...

Back in the 80s Wal*Mart and K Mart were still small stores.

Like no auto, patio or grocery.

We also had Magic Mart and Hill's.

We didn't get a Target until the late 90's.

One of the two Kmarts in my hometown had auto repair in the late 60s/early70s, along with a garden center.

Kmart wasn't small in the 80s, locations may have varied with different amenities, but small they were not.

Toy R Us - My choice
KB Toys - Their toys sucked
Blockbuster - yeah, but movie rentals are a thing of the past now
Circuit City - This was just Best Buy which we still have so no
Ames (formerly Zayres) - Never even heard of this
KMart - Just like any other department store that still exists
Merry Go Round - Never heard of this
Sam Goody - I wasn't big into music growing up so I don't miss it at all
Hudson's dept store - Never heard of this

I can still smell blockbuster. And thinking of that smell makes me feel like urinating. idk what it was about blockbuster but the I always had to piss upon walking in there

Never had a blockbuster in my town but a movie gallery but I miss movie rental places by far. There was a small convenience store that did movie rentals in the city I was going to university in that did it and my gf and I always loved doing movie nights on the weekend.

Probably Toy R Us and Blockbuster. Not that I miss them per se in that I want them back, but the *feeling* of walking into a giant-ass store as a kid that is nothing but wall-to-wall toys and video games just felt so good. And even tho I was a bit older by then, the Nickelodeon Toys R Us sweepstakes (where a lucky winner had like, 5 minutes to put whatever they wanted in their cart in Toys R Us and get it for free) was a fun fantasy. Hell, I only ever was in Toyrs R Us as few times as a kid.

For Blockbuster, it was more just the kinda excitement of seeing what was new, or what hidden gems were there in the store. Being able to touch and feel it and see the options just has a more visceral feel.