@@WeBareBearsFanOfficial Well, it depends on how old she was when Ames closed. If she was the same age as me very early 20s, then she's 42-43 now. I'll be 43 in late November.
What's most haunting in the time you first made this comment, more and more stores have closed their doors as well. Can't keep up with the big box stores or Amazon shopping.
Ames had a really good stocked up toy section. My worst memory of Ames was when I was about 10 and I hadn’t gone poop in like 4 days and then I ate Pizza Hut and had diarrhea for a half an hour and flooded the toilet
I still have the afghan my Mom made for me while in college............I remember picking out the yarn for it at Ames in 1979. Funny the things that you never forget.
I still get a kick out of how she emphasises that things should be stacked neatly. What are you going to do if it's not? Fire me? The stores going out of business.
They still probably have enough money on hand to fight unemployment. They can use the "failure" to stack neatly to justify being "fired for insubordination"
I worked for Ames, they bought out stores that were failing, that was their business mojo and it worked for many, many years. When they bought Zayre they took a major hit as Zayre was going to either be bought by another company or go under. Ames bought Hills at a time when WalMart and Target were expanding heavily and it was the wrong time to buy another chain. After the purhcase of Zayre, at the peak Ames had over 700 stores.
Kmart will be putting out a voicemail like this in 5-10 years I'm afraid. Most of their stores are in major disrepair and scrape by with minimal P/T employees.
wrestlingcircuit1995, Iconically, you basically predicted the future in 2010. It's 2018 now, and almost all the K-Mart and Sears stores are shutting down.
This is just depressing. I'm from Connecticut I grew up here for most of my life since I was just a kid and I remember going into Ames with my mom and my sister a few times to get some things. Great store. Then one day they closed the location in Manchester so we had to go to another one a few towns over until eventually the company just went out of business for good. I wish they could get a second chance and come back and reopen some stores.
***** I miss Ames too. I remember the lunch counter/snack bar that used to be up front in mine at the Clearview Mall in Butler, PA. I remember all the stuff they had and the cool thing too. I remember getting the original Tomb Raider game for my Playstation 1 console there (which I still have to this day from over 10 years ago and is probably the one of the last things I got there back in 2002) and checking out the lamps in one of their departments. I used to love the toy department every time I went in there. I can also remember the one at the former Butler Mall as well. Now the only closest thing you can get to Ames, Hills, Murphy's Mart, and Zayres is either Kmart or Gabe's. I don't know how long Kmart's going to stay open for but who knows.
Nathan Davis The Ames we had was across the street from the apartment complex we used to live in when I was a kid. You could walk there and be there within about 5 minutes or so. Unfortunately a lot of stores in that plaza were going out of business. Eventually they opened up a BJ's wholesale club right next door to it so that brought on business and much more traffic but by then Ames had already gone out of business. Even the Kmart where I live is like a ghost town. When I go there the store seems so empty all the time. But I agree with you they had some pretty amazing things in Ames store I wish I could go back if only they came back. The only other Ames that stayed open was one next to some Mexican restaurant which closed down a few months after the one where I live did and we never found anymore. I don't know if you had Caldor where you lived but I heard Caldor is coming back. Someone bought all the rights and plans to bring them back.
I don't think I remember there being any Caldor stores around where I live and lived. But who knows. And also the Kmart where I live seems to be a little dead also. I just notice that they downsized their electronics department (again) and I'm also surprised that they're still open. However I don't really like Kmart that much as I used to because so many of their stores have closed and they don't really seem like they have as much stuff as they used to. You know I would really like to see them bring back. Woolworth's or even Montgomery Ward.
Nathan Davis Woolworth's and Montgomery Ward are great stores as was Bradlees unfortunately it's all the big corporations like Walmart and Target that are taking away business. That's why the town I live in (which supports local and small businesses) want's both Walmart and Target to leave but they get no say in the matter after they lost both lawsuits they filed against both stores. These stores are too good legal wise so they will take down anyone that tries to stop them or who stands in their way. Hopefully someday these old stores can make a comeback again but I wouldn't get my hopes up at least not any time soon. But I mean who knows with Caldor trying to make their comeback in the past year anything is possible.
+John Rivera people believe the horse shit of low prices of Walmart and target. I can tell you this much, people don't know how to shop. I've noticed items in these two stores being ridiculously overpriced.
Surprisingly enough, Ames was an anchor store in the mall near where I live. I remember getting play doh there. This video is heartbreaking and I don't doubt K-Mart will go a similar way. A name of the past....
Yup. Ames WAS the best store in my small town of Palatine Bridge, New York. I was born in 1993 and have fond memories going and buying everything there with my parents.
I remember Ames. Used to go there with my grandmother all the time as a kid in the 90s. I feel like the last time I ever set foot in one was in 2000 when I was 11. I don't recall everything that they sold at that store, but I remember the shoe department in one of ours. I live in Western NY. The one I remember going to the most was along Route 104 here.
This is one of the best preserved Ames stores I’ve seen. Many of them are in absolutely terrible condition. Some of the stores backrooms are filled with merchandise they just never sold.
I remember working as a store employee from May 1996-June 2002. Months before Ames closed for good. I am so happy they are going to come back this year
Hi my name is David. I am 21 and once a proud fan of ames. I shopped there as a child and was my favorite retailer above walmart and kmart. I now work at Walmart and I often catch myself promoting ideas that I had seen at ames as a child. I much miss this department store and my best wishes go out to employees of Circuit City!!!!
Reminds me of when D/K Optical closed us in the 90's. We were a small but close bunch of people. We gave each other hugs and we were given the option of staying the 8 hours and getting paid to help finish inventory/closing procedures. We stayed and just had alot of fun laughing and remembering better days. I haven't seen any of those folks since.
Ames WAS the best store in my small town of Palatine Bridge, New York. I was born in 1993 and have fond memories going and buying everything there with my parents.
Reason I really loved Ames is that the person running the electronics department would always hold a music CD I wanted for a few days until I got the $15 to buy it. Checking on google maps that address mentioned towards the end for the home office, their home office building was demolished sometime between 2019 and 2023 and it looks like they're building some condos. The final remnants of Ames branding left the property sometime between 2011 and 2013. RIP Ames, thank you for always holding CDs for me.
I used to live in Dover, NH. There was an Ames there when I was growing up, next to the Hannaford. The old Ames space has been vacant for nearly 20 years; Hannaford uses it to store carts and such, but if you look inside you can still see the checkout lines, and a lot of the old brand advertising on the walls. Apparently, Hannaford has blocked pretty much every potential tenant, inadvertently preserving a retail time capsule. I loved Ames. It had an AMAZING hobby section; first place I ever saw Gundam model kits!
Oh, so THAT's why no one else has moved in and the building is still in relatively good condition. They must still keep the heating and cooling systems running in addition to a couple of lights on scattered around the place.
This is sad - we had an Ames in out town that boomed through the 80's and early 90's which, along with K-Mart, were our primary department stores. Very fond memories of rummaging through the toy shelves for He-Man figures, my father having to pull me off the case that held the Nintendo games and riding our bikes to play whatever arcade machine was in the foyer. Wal-Mart moved in about 1/2 mile down the road in 1995 and it was crash an burn from there. Now it's a Tractor Supply Co.
So many memories associated with Ames. The thinks I used to collect there when I was a kid: - Wrestling T shirts. Stone Cold Steve Austin, Shawn Michaels, Bret Hart, etc - Music cassettes - Kris Kross/Totally Crossed Out, DJ Jazzy Jeff and The Fresh Prince/Code Red, Snow/12 Inches of Snow -WWF action figures - Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles action figures. - I got a Beetlejuice action figure for my 6th birthday there. - I got a Terminator 2 action figure for my 7th birthday there. The empty store looks so liminal. It looks scary. Maybe even a little sinister, because it is a husk of something that made us feel comfortable as younger people. But also brings comfort within that darkness. All I can think about is what a psychological bombshell it would be to walk through a portal and be THERE breathing the air of that era.
Where did that come from? Did they seriously make a Tombstone grieving on theirselves to sell? If so its pretty hilarious but I've never seen anyone do that before...
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I worked at Ames in ossippee NH I started out on stocking crew and got promoted to department manager of electronics I worked from January 1999 till October 5th 2002 I loved my job there if my store had not closed I would still be working there. My manger mr Farnsworth was the best manger I've ever had in my 25 years in retail. Sadly he passed away in 2014 I found out just two years ago . I loved working with everyone at the ossippee NH location God bless them all
RIP Hills/Ames Store #1099 301 Meadow Drive, North Tonawanda NY Holds dear all of the absolute very best memories of my childhood. City hasn't had the wholesome good small town feel ever since it went out of business. Now just a disgusting sad cesspool I'm thrilled to be leaving soon. Hopefully history is cyclical and the with the rise of indie industries and media the small quality businesses will rise and bring joy to others again RIP
I remember the one in Niagara Falls on Military Rd across from where LaSalle high School used to be. I remember sitting in class looking out the window watching them build it. It opened as a Zayre in the late 80s then changed to Ames. It is now a Wegmans
We have an abandoned Ames here. I remember, when I was a kid, my grandmother would take me there. It had a picture booth near the front counters. We would take pictures together. It has been sitting there for 7 years. Huge empty parking lot. It was guarded by security this past summer, they would kick anyone out of the area, I have a video on my page of me getting kicked out with a lady saying WalMart bought the property. They don't have security there anymore, if that says anything.
I remember going to Ames in Oxford PA when I was a kid. After Ames left in 2002, a year later a small furniture store went in for about 2 years , in 2005, 1/4 of it was demolished for a fenced in courtyard and the inside was completely remodeled. Since then, it's been a Tractor Supply Co. I go there sometimes remembering where the old sections of the Ames was!
We have a former small format Kmart in this area that did pretty much the same - took part of it down for an outdoor area for the Tractor Supply. Never made much sense - while it would be understandable to do that in a new build to cut building cost (having part just fenced in for larger items), if the building already exists, putting in a large door and using it has to be cheaper than demolishing part of it...
I worked at Ames in Defiance,Ohio(#605) for 5 years.I worked Loss Prevention and could see the demise coming.The management was just plain crap and the merchandise that was being sold was worse.The girls that worked there were oh so beautiful!! I guess I miss it sometimes and sometimes I don't.Goodbye Ames.You were a part of my life.
I have a lot of great memories of Ames. I remember when I was little going shopping there with my parents. Sometimes my Aunt would take me shopping there with her too. I remember I was so sad when I was 8 years old it was going out of business. I still miss Ames so much to this day!😢
This is such a rare find. How many times do we really get to hear the final words of a corporation at the moment of collapse? And imagine this woman was tasked with delivering bad news to thousands of people suddenly out of work in an instant.
It wasn't really Wal-Mart's fault or doing. Ames was making money and doing very well when I went to work for them in 1997. They'd filed for bankruptcy some 10 years prior because the acquisition of Zayre was a disaster. Fast forward to 2000 and Ames got greedy once again and bought out Hills. That too proved to be a bad venture and forced Ames into bankruptcy again. This time they couldn't recover.
This used to be someone's life. All those Ames employees used to wake up every day for years to go there. They all worked and scrificed for something that one day would no longer exist. It became a part of their identities in a way. To know that Ames has been gone for over 2 decades at this point, seeing this is like taking a glimpse into a world that no longer exists. Watching this feels weird.
When I was a child I would buy Legos at Ames all the time because they always had huge savings every 1-3 weeks like 20% off one set when you bought another. I still have the StarWars Snowspeeder that I built on my birthday which I purchased from Ames. I always think of that store when I look at it.
I used to work (for three years) at two Zayre's--one in my hometown of Waltham, and then briefly one in Hadley in my first year at UMass/Amherst. Most of the Zayre's became Ames' stores. I also worked, very briefly, at a Bradlee's. I never warmed up to Ames the way I did to Zayre's and another, smaller chain (now long gone) called King's, the nearest of which to me was on the Newton/Watertown line. My mother (now deceased) loved that store.
I remember the Ames In New Hartford New York in the late 90s Early 2000s my parents went there they still have figures of the Grinch they got there the same year the movie came out the same year I went to see it at a theater that's no more at the mall but I remember the Christmas stuff the pine cones that smelled good the little village trees I also remember the Halloween stuff the shaking skeletons with moving jaws costumes scary music CDs playing animated decorations i actually found some animated Halloween stuff from the 90s with Ames stickers on the boxes I also got a Christmas village part with an Ames sticker I found them at thrifty shopper Thats at the same shopping center where it was that's pretty spooky like a ghost going to a new house seeing stuff changed
I remember going to the Ames in Bristol, RI when I was a kid. It was very similar to Kmart in size and variety but ours had a more hometown feel. One distinct memory I have is when hall of famer Andre Tippett was there signing pictures of himself for shoppers; I still have mine! :)
Used to work for Zayre (before they became Ames. Worked there for 7 Years then before Ames went out I found another job at K-Mart. Worked there for a few Years before I escaped to a better job. I miss Ames and Zayre. They was fun to work at. Every time we lost a store that is a part of our lives and culture it's sometimes sad :-( RIP Ames, Zayre, Goldbatts, Woolworths MashallFields. You will NEVER be forgotten. Lenellbr
They weren't on the verge of bankruptcy. Ames was actually doing quite well prior to the purchase of Hills. It was the cost on incurring Hills large debt, as well as converting and closing stores that started their troubles. Hills was in bad shape and was going to file for bankruptcy if Ames hadn't bought them.
Old comment I know, but another contributor to Ames' downfall was indiscriminately giving store credit cards to basically anyone who asked without checking their credit. Many of these people ran up huge bills without making payments, thus defaulting on their debts and costing the store even more money.
I remember this store. We had one in my town. I went in there during one of their last days in August of 2002. It's still partially empty today. Half of it became Tractor Supply in 2008.
This was soo Awesome to look at Ipswich Riber Park,when we were young it looked like it was endless.I am glad to say i grew up in North Reading with mostly blue collar workers.I did not realize how many Veterans we had there till i got older.I would like to recognize any that passed on or are still here Thank You For Your Service
This was soo Awesome to look at Ipswich Riber Park,when we were young it looked like it was endless.I am glad to say i grew up in North Reading with mostly blue collar workers.I did not realize how many Veterans we had there till i got older.I would like to recognize any that passed on or are still here Thank You For Your Service
I was 1 years old when Ames closed my older brothers went there when they were young and have good memories of it I wish I was part of the fun also with bradless I know I didn't have experience but I miss Ames and bradlees.
Ames filed for bankruptcy TWICE! A number of poor decisions, and the aquirement of some stores ultimately led to its decline. 327 stores remained when they filed for Chapter 7 Bankruptcy.
Here is the transcript: Just a couple of reminders, Tools need to be called in by 10:00hrs by Monday (9 September 2002), you may call at any point, leave a message on your Table Representative's voicemail, with the hours worked and salaries of the associates, and number of days worked. You may call that in at any time between Saturday night and Monday morning by 10:00. Please make sure that the Mail, the Post Office (USPS) has been informed of the forwarding address to Ames Home Office 2418 Main Street, Rocky Hill, Connecticut, 06067. Once again when leaving the building, set the perimeter alarms, by passive motion, and this will reduce the number of false alarms after we vacate. Interior Lights should be shut off by the breakers, leaving a few nightlights scattered around the salesfloor. Vacate checklist, locate anything thats been left by the fixture liquidators, such as phone equipment, ticketing equipment, If they haven't sold it, it will be left where it is. The main thing with all the fixtures and anything that has not sold, is that it is left in the building NEATLY. Once again the final vacate checklist, photos and stamps, should be mailed by Tuesday, 12 November 2002. Once again, i'd like to thank everyone for their help and cooperation over the past few months, and i wish everybody the best of luck in the future.
First paragraph should read: Just a couple of reminders. Payroll (not Tools) needs to be called in by 10am on Monday. You may call at any point. Leave a message on your Payroll Representative's (not Table Representative's) voicemail box either with the hours worked (meaning for hourly employees) or, for salaried associates, the number of days worked. In the third paragraph, "by passive motion" should be "bypass the motion" meaning bypassing the motion detectors. The rest is ok aside from a few words missing or replaced here and there.
There used to be an Ames in Martin Plaza, which is in the Middle River area of Baltimore County, Maryland, that I used to go to ALL the time as a kid. Now, it's a Target. I remember actually getting several Sega games and videos in that Ames. Also, there was a Pac-Man machine in the main entrance area that I always played, as well. Good times. Sad to see it close down years ago. Oh well :/
What's really sad is there are practically no more record stores. Even Tower Records, once one of the country's largest chains, is now an online entity only. Also gone are such chains as Discount Records, Music City, MusicLand, MusicWorld, Popcorn Records, Sam Goody and Licorice Pizza. But what's more missed are the indie record shops that one used to find on Main Street USA. For that matter, Main Street USA is practically non-existent. replaced by strip malls, highways and urban sprawl.
For the people complaining about them buying Hills: Hills was on the verge of bankruptcy prior to be acquired by Ames. If that purchase hadn't gone through, their CEO stated they were going to file for bankruptcy and likely be liquidated. Ames purchasing Hills didn't do anything to speed up their demise. If anything, it kept some of their employees in jobs for a little while longer. Hills was dead regardless. Funny enough, if they hadn't purchased them, Ames may have survived longer.
saladincham01 I don't know where your getting your information but Hills did a bang up business ! I think Ames got greedy and bought Hills.just all the rest of the closed businesses
There was no difference in the quality of merchandise for us here, when Ames took over Hills. However, keep in mind that Hills was losing money and would have filed for bankruptcy if Ames hadn't bought them out. They were done regardless.
i dont think we ever had Ames up here in Canada.If they wanna open up here in Canada we will welcome them with open arms. we got hardly any stores left.
Something I noticed then, that department stores don't have much today, is that for women who liked to knit & sew, etc., the discount department stores such as Bradlee's, King's, Zayre's, etc. not only had yarn and sewing supplies, but also used to carry the dress patterns. This made them very popular with housewives who used to sew more in those days. Nowadays, what mothers or wives have much time to do such things? Most of them have to work, at least part, if not full-time jobs.
I live in Baltimore MD, and there's a shopping center that's mostly vacant except for a Chuck E Cheese. There's still an old vacant Ames store there, where I remember going shopping with my mom. I still have some clothes & stuff that I got at Ames. Their stuff held up pretty good, always liked Ames.
😐 Now that Chuck E Cheese's is closed. It closed October of last year. I've seen explorer videos on here of the Ames at Diamond Point Plaza it's in horrible shape loaded with black mold. ☹
Ames & Hills used to be right across the street from each other in my area years ago. Ames closed down, but of course later returned when the Hills was bought by Ames. I really wish both stores were still like they were before. Even Kmart was in the same area back then as well.
I listened to this and I couldn't help but think, "How much was the severance for the employees who drew salary as opposed to hourly wage? Also, I bet you the home office people were able to get back on their feet quickly." By the way, we had an Ames briefly in lower Bucks County, PA. I don't know anyone who shopped there really. The site of the old Ames is now a Walmart which oddly enough is only staying afloat by the old people who won't or can't go to the new Supercenter they opened a town over or to the Target 10 minutes away.
Fortunately, I live in New England, where we still have a healthy chain called Newbury Comics, which sells not only comic books, but also CD's, DVD's, T-shirts, books and novelty items. Also scarce are the one and two-screen movie theaters, the kinds with large screens and balconies, all given way to multiplexes. Even when, a decade ago, Roger Ebert and Gene Siskel closed their TV movie review show with "The balcony is closed," there weren't that many theaters left with balconies to close.
I remember when I was younger, an Ames store was going out of business. I walked behind my parents and brother. Jackpot! I found a gold ring with diamonds and a huge emerald on the floor. Thats the only thing I remember about Ames; finding that damn ring. My mother kept it, traded it to a jeweler for a plain gold band for me. Now the damn thing doesnt fit even my pinky. Bad move, mom.
I USE TO WORK IN AMES, I WISH THEY DIDNOT CLOSE DOWN, I WANT A TIME MACHINE TO GO BACK TO THE LATE 1990'S, I WANT MY OLD JOBS BACK AND I KNOW THAT WAS 16 YEARS AGO, BUT I REALLLY WANT TO HAVE ALL THAT MONEY I HAD AND I WANT TO GO BACK TO HIGH SCHOOL AND I MISS BEING THST YOUNG AND I WANT TO APPERICATE THE JOBS I HAD AND TAKE A DIFFERENT TRADE AND GO TO A DIFFERENT HIGH SCHOOL AND TAKE THE CHANCES I DID NOT HAVE A BETTER JUNIOR AND SENIOR YEAR AND ENJOY MY HIGH SCHOOL JOBS.
They were various depending on where you lived. I live in CT and the Ames in my areas went out of business between 1998 and 2001. Wow this the Rocky Hill store! I think this is a Wal-Mart now if I'm not mistaken lol!
Was that in CT Bambi? I grew up in CT - Berlin Turnpike ~ I have not lived there in 5-6 years and can imagine even more changes but I remember Two Guys/Bradlees/ Ames etc etc - Crazy
Gosh, I miss this store. But I just found out that they’re supposedly planning on returning in 35 locations across the states comes 2026. So…. We shall see…. ☺️
Yep. I remember the Macon (US80) old sign from 1968 that was still there when the store closed in '88. It seemed to be a nicer, friendlier store vs. the Kmarts. I just wish that we had more chains to keep Wal-Mart straight. Sears and Kmart are dropping the ball and their longevity depends on how the "recovery" goes.
I remember going to Ames alot as a kid growing up. It was such a nice store. The reasons why it shut down. 1. Walmart. 2. Purchasing the Hills brand, 3 being in too much debt.
I remember before they went out of business I went there to get the Eminem show cd when it first came out that’s the last time I went them it’s sad they went out of business
This is creepy to listen to... let it sink in, this voicemail still exists, but the store is defunct
I wonder where the woman who recorded it is today
@@HIOAZA1523 Hopefully she's alive and well.
@@watchenseeShe Probably Got Old Now :'/
@@WeBareBearsFanOfficial Well, it depends on how old she was when Ames closed. If she was the same age as me very early 20s, then she's 42-43 now. I'll be 43 in late November.
@@watchenseeyou'll be 43 In late November?
this is so haunting and i dont know why
SJDraco same here
Ik
It's a sad video
What's even more haunting is the building that this was recorded in their corporate office which is now abandoned.
What's most haunting in the time you first made this comment, more and more stores have closed their doors as well. Can't keep up with the big box stores or Amazon shopping.
Ames had a really good stocked up toy section. My worst memory of Ames was when I was about 10 and I hadn’t gone poop in like 4 days and then I ate Pizza Hut and had diarrhea for a half an hour and flooded the toilet
lol
Well, we all hope that it all went okay.
Aw well there are still pizza huts & they are still disgusting if you ever want to reminisce.
Now we know why Ames closed
You should keep that memory for yourself.
I still have the afghan my Mom made for me while in college............I remember picking out the yarn for it at Ames in 1979. Funny the things that you never forget.
I was an assistant store manager for about 2 years from 2000-end of 2001. Had some good folks working there.
I still get a kick out of how she emphasises that things should be stacked neatly. What are you going to do if it's not? Fire me? The stores going out of business.
You don’t understand
@@JamesConnor116 apparently not
@@emt5330 That what Zayre's thought..XD
They still probably have enough money on hand to fight unemployment. They can use the "failure" to stack neatly to justify being "fired for insubordination"
@@adstalga that would be the ultimate irony, wouldn't it? People who are themselves unemployed fighting someone else's unemployment
Hard to believe this video was filmed before RUclips. Good thing it got preserved.
To take extra precaution, somebody should've uploaded this video to the Internet Archive.
@@typicalyoutubeviewerguyI believe it is under AmesFanClub
This is so sad she sounds like she's crying
I think you need a hearing aid
Geoffrey Gillott Ha ha. That's funny.
No she is not
This company could have been Walmart, but they kept making insanely stupid business deals
When they bought out Hills Dept Stores, that was the beginning of the end for Ames. I still miss the store.
@@sldl04 agree 💯 your doomed to fail making decisions like that.
I worked for Ames, they bought out stores that were failing, that was their business mojo and it worked for many, many years. When they bought Zayre they took a major hit as Zayre was going to either be bought by another company or go under. Ames bought Hills at a time when WalMart and Target were expanding heavily and it was the wrong time to buy another chain. After the purhcase of Zayre, at the peak Ames had over 700 stores.
This aged well. Walmart is fuckin up now
@@sldl04buying Zayre in the 80s and going bankrupt and then not learning your lesson and buying Hills
Kmart will be putting out a voicemail like this in 5-10 years I'm afraid. Most of their stores are in major disrepair and scrape by with minimal P/T employees.
A very prophetic statement
wrestlingcircuit1995, Iconically, you basically predicted the future in 2010. It's 2018 now, and almost all the K-Mart and Sears stores are shutting down.
I did a double take at your comment, and then realized this was made eight years ago. How correct you were!
You predicted the future, which is now the present....
I'm pretty sure quarantine will help the stores because of the amount of people going to supermarkets to pick up supplies.
This is just depressing. I'm from Connecticut I grew up here for most of my life since I was just a kid and I remember going into Ames with my mom and my sister a few times to get some things. Great store. Then one day they closed the location in Manchester so we had to go to another one a few towns over until eventually the company just went out of business for good. I wish they could get a second chance and come back and reopen some stores.
***** I miss Ames too. I remember the lunch counter/snack bar that used to be up front in mine at the Clearview Mall in Butler, PA. I remember all the stuff they had and the cool thing too. I remember getting the original Tomb Raider game for my Playstation 1 console there (which I still have to this day from over 10 years ago and is probably the one of the last things I got there back in 2002) and checking out the lamps in one of their departments. I used to love the toy department every time I went in there. I can also remember the one at the former Butler Mall as well. Now the only closest thing you can get to Ames, Hills, Murphy's Mart, and Zayres is either Kmart or Gabe's. I don't know how long Kmart's going to stay open for but who knows.
Nathan Davis
The Ames we had was across the street from the apartment complex we used to live in when I was a kid. You could walk there and be there within about 5 minutes or so. Unfortunately a lot of stores in that plaza were going out of business. Eventually they opened up a BJ's wholesale club right next door to it so that brought on business and much more traffic but by then Ames had already gone out of business. Even the Kmart where I live is like a ghost town. When I go there the store seems so empty all the time. But I agree with you they had some pretty amazing things in Ames store I wish I could go back if only they came back. The only other Ames that stayed open was one next to some Mexican restaurant which closed down a few months after the one where I live did and we never found anymore. I don't know if you had Caldor where you lived but I heard Caldor is coming back. Someone bought all the rights and plans to bring them back.
I don't think I remember there being any Caldor stores around where I live and lived. But who knows. And also the Kmart where I live seems to be a little dead also. I just notice that they downsized their electronics department (again) and I'm also surprised that they're still open. However I don't really like Kmart that much as I used to because so many of their stores have closed and they don't really seem like they have as much stuff as they used to. You know I would really like to see them bring back. Woolworth's or even Montgomery Ward.
Nathan Davis
Woolworth's and Montgomery Ward are great stores as was Bradlees unfortunately it's all the big corporations like Walmart and Target that are taking away business. That's why the town I live in (which supports local and small businesses) want's both Walmart and Target to leave but they get no say in the matter after they lost both lawsuits they filed against both stores. These stores are too good legal wise so they will take down anyone that tries to stop them or who stands in their way. Hopefully someday these old stores can make a comeback again but I wouldn't get my hopes up at least not any time soon. But I mean who knows with Caldor trying to make their comeback in the past year anything is possible.
+John Rivera people believe the horse shit of low prices of Walmart and target. I can tell you this much, people don't know how to shop. I've noticed items in these two stores being ridiculously overpriced.
Surprisingly enough, Ames was an anchor store in the mall near where I live. I remember getting play doh there. This video is heartbreaking and I don't doubt K-Mart will go a similar way. A name of the past....
Rainbow Star Productions our small mall had an Ames and a Montgomery Wards when I was a kid.
What mall Jessica?
Rainbow Star Productions laurel mall in Connellsville Pa.
Ah. Mine was River Valley Mall in Lancaster, Ohio
Yup. Ames WAS the best store in my small town of Palatine Bridge, New York. I was born in 1993 and have fond memories going and buying everything there with my parents.
Ames: (has candy & bottled drinks next to checkouts)
Big Lots: *Am I a joke to you?*
I remember Ames. Used to go there with my grandmother all the time as a kid in the 90s. I feel like the last time I ever set foot in one was in 2000 when I was 11. I don't recall everything that they sold at that store, but I remember the shoe department in one of ours. I live in Western NY. The one I remember going to the most was along Route 104 here.
I remember the one in Olean, NY. It's sad. I was about 8 when it closed.
I remember calling in for this last message, it was horrible.
This is one of the best preserved Ames stores I’ve seen. Many of them are in absolutely terrible condition. Some of the stores backrooms are filled with merchandise they just never sold.
It was taken right after they closed the store. That's why.
Did you say… backrooms?
I remember working as a store employee from May 1996-June 2002. Months before Ames closed for good. I am so happy they are going to come back this year
It’s a hoax, they’re not coming back unfortunately 🫤
Hi my name is David. I am 21 and once a proud fan of ames. I shopped there as a child and was my favorite retailer above walmart and kmart. I now work at Walmart and I often catch myself promoting ideas that I had seen at ames as a child. I much miss this department store and my best wishes go out to employees of Circuit City!!!!
I worked for Ames from 1997-1999. That's how I remember it. Such a bad move because they were really doing well during that time I was there.
Reminds me of when D/K Optical closed us in the 90's. We were a small but close bunch of people. We gave each other hugs and we were given the option of staying the 8 hours and getting paid to help finish inventory/closing procedures. We stayed and just had alot of fun laughing and remembering better days.
I haven't seen any of those folks since.
Ames WAS the best store in my small town of Palatine Bridge, New York. I was born in 1993 and have fond memories going and buying everything there with my parents.
Reason I really loved Ames is that the person running the electronics department would always hold a music CD I wanted for a few days until I got the $15 to buy it.
Checking on google maps that address mentioned towards the end for the home office, their home office building was demolished sometime between 2019 and 2023 and it looks like they're building some condos. The final remnants of Ames branding left the property sometime between 2011 and 2013. RIP Ames, thank you for always holding CDs for me.
I used to live in Dover, NH. There was an Ames there when I was growing up, next to the Hannaford. The old Ames space has been vacant for nearly 20 years; Hannaford uses it to store carts and such, but if you look inside you can still see the checkout lines, and a lot of the old brand advertising on the walls. Apparently, Hannaford has blocked pretty much every potential tenant, inadvertently preserving a retail time capsule.
I loved Ames. It had an AMAZING hobby section; first place I ever saw Gundam model kits!
Oh, so THAT's why no one else has moved in and the building is still in relatively good condition. They must still keep the heating and cooling systems running in addition to a couple of lights on scattered around the place.
This is sad - we had an Ames in out town that boomed through the 80's and early 90's which, along with K-Mart, were our primary department stores. Very fond memories of rummaging through the toy shelves for He-Man figures, my father having to pull me off the case that held the Nintendo games and riding our bikes to play whatever arcade machine was in the foyer. Wal-Mart moved in about 1/2 mile down the road in 1995 and it was crash an burn from there. Now it's a Tractor Supply Co.
Sounds like Eaton, Ohio.
So many memories associated with Ames. The thinks I used to collect there when I was a kid:
- Wrestling T shirts. Stone Cold Steve Austin, Shawn Michaels, Bret Hart, etc
- Music cassettes - Kris Kross/Totally Crossed Out, DJ Jazzy Jeff and The Fresh Prince/Code Red, Snow/12 Inches of Snow
-WWF action figures
- Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles action figures.
- I got a Beetlejuice action figure for my 6th birthday there.
- I got a Terminator 2 action figure for my 7th birthday there.
The empty store looks so liminal. It looks scary. Maybe even a little sinister, because it is a husk of something that made us feel comfortable as younger people. But also brings comfort within that darkness. All I can think about is what a psychological bombshell it would be to walk through a portal and be THERE breathing the air of that era.
The training video being shown while the final voice-mail is playing is creepy with the foam Halloween tombstone as the last image.
Where did that come from? Did they seriously make a Tombstone grieving on theirselves to sell? If so its pretty hilarious but I've never seen anyone do that before...
21 Years later they are returning! My chikdhood! My heart is so happy lol!😍😍
They aren't returning unfortunately. Scam.
@@loridontcaretotellu6497What was the point though? 😂
It is like a voice from beyond the grave.
I didn't know Ames when it was opened I only read and watched videos about it, but it's still sad on how popular it was and now it's no longer here
ELI NEFF same here
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I worked at Ames in ossippee NH I started out on stocking crew and got promoted to department manager of electronics I worked from January 1999 till October 5th 2002 I loved my job there if my store had not closed I would still be working there. My manger mr Farnsworth was the best manger I've ever had in my 25 years in retail. Sadly he passed away in 2014 I found out just two years ago . I loved working with everyone at the ossippee NH location God bless them all
they are reopening
RIP Hills/Ames Store #1099
301 Meadow Drive, North Tonawanda NY
Holds dear all of the absolute very best memories of my childhood. City hasn't had the wholesome good small town feel ever since it went out of business. Now just a disgusting sad cesspool I'm thrilled to be leaving soon. Hopefully history is cyclical and the with the rise of indie industries and media the small quality businesses will rise and bring joy to others again RIP
Derek Warblow don't forget richway
What is there now
michael hynes A store called tops
My mother and i used go to go to the one on Sheridan/North Bailey in Amherst. There's a Walmart there now. Ugh.
I remember the one in Niagara Falls on Military Rd across from where LaSalle high School used to be. I remember sitting in class looking out the window watching them build it. It opened as a Zayre in the late 80s then changed to Ames. It is now a Wegmans
We have an abandoned Ames here.
I remember, when I was a kid, my grandmother would take me there. It had a picture booth near the front counters. We would take pictures together.
It has been sitting there for 7 years.
Huge empty parking lot.
It was guarded by security this past summer, they would kick anyone out of the area, I have a video on my page of me getting kicked out with a lady saying WalMart bought the property.
They don't have security there anymore, if that says anything.
Usually voicemail recordings get lost very fast but this one is a lucky survivor
I remember going to Ames in Oxford PA when I was a kid. After Ames left in 2002, a year later a small furniture store went in for about 2 years , in 2005, 1/4 of it was demolished for a fenced in courtyard and the inside was completely remodeled. Since then, it's been a Tractor Supply Co. I go there sometimes remembering where the old sections of the Ames was!
We have a former small format Kmart in this area that did pretty much the same - took part of it down for an outdoor area for the Tractor Supply. Never made much sense - while it would be understandable to do that in a new build to cut building cost (having part just fenced in for larger items), if the building already exists, putting in a large door and using it has to be cheaper than demolishing part of it...
A little piece of all of us who grew up in the 70's and 80's died when Ames did.
I grew up in the '80s. We had a Zayre's that became an Ames a few years before Ames went out of business
I worked at Ames in Defiance,Ohio(#605) for 5 years.I worked Loss Prevention and could see the demise coming.The management was just plain crap and the merchandise that was being sold was worse.The girls that worked there were oh so beautiful!! I guess I miss it sometimes and sometimes I don't.Goodbye Ames.You were a part of my life.
@BrooklynBaller101
most of those stores existed even when these stores existed. if theres one store i miss from my childhood, its Caldors
I miss K mart
@@JellyCrainerSlogoCLIPS You're one of the few.
Yesss! I remember Caldor.
I have a lot of great memories of Ames. I remember when I was little going shopping there with my parents. Sometimes my Aunt would take me shopping there with her too. I remember I was so sad when I was 8 years old it was going out of business. I still miss Ames so much to this day!😢
This is such a rare find. How many times do we really get to hear the final words of a corporation at the moment of collapse? And imagine this woman was tasked with delivering bad news to thousands of people suddenly out of work in an instant.
Yeah, just about. Amazing how many of these stores fall, not to competition, but to incompetent mismanagement.
Ames is making a comeback!
Unfortunately my guy that was just a fake rumour
It wasn't really Wal-Mart's fault or doing. Ames was making money and doing very well when I went to work for them in 1997. They'd filed for bankruptcy some 10 years prior because the acquisition of Zayre was a disaster. Fast forward to 2000 and Ames got greedy once again and bought out Hills. That too proved to be a bad venture and forced Ames into bankruptcy again. This time they couldn't recover.
This used to be someone's life. All those Ames employees used to wake up every day for years to go there. They all worked and scrificed for something that one day would no longer exist. It became a part of their identities in a way. To know that Ames has been gone for over 2 decades at this point, seeing this is like taking a glimpse into a world that no longer exists. Watching this feels weird.
When I was a child I would buy Legos at Ames all the time because they always had huge savings every 1-3 weeks like 20% off one set when you bought another. I still have the StarWars Snowspeeder that I built on my birthday which I purchased from Ames. I always think of that store when I look at it.
My aunt worked for Ames, and she talked about this message frequently. She was in Rocky Hill.
Every time I make a purchase online I well up a little bit. Shopping used to be fun.
Really sad to see the place full of life then completely empty almost like a death in the family that you can't seem to think is real
I used to work (for three years) at two Zayre's--one in my hometown of Waltham, and then briefly one in Hadley in my first year at UMass/Amherst. Most of the Zayre's became Ames' stores. I also worked, very briefly, at a Bradlee's.
I never warmed up to Ames the way I did to Zayre's and another, smaller chain (now long gone) called King's, the nearest of which to me was on the Newton/Watertown line. My mother (now deceased) loved that store.
I remember the Ames In New Hartford New York in the late 90s Early 2000s my parents went there they still have figures of the Grinch they got there the same year the movie came out the same year I went to see it at a theater that's no more at the mall but I remember the Christmas stuff the pine cones that smelled good the little village trees I also remember the Halloween stuff the shaking skeletons with moving jaws costumes scary music CDs playing animated decorations i actually found some animated Halloween stuff from the 90s with Ames stickers on the boxes I also got a Christmas village part with an Ames sticker I found them at thrifty shopper Thats at the same shopping center where it was that's pretty spooky like a ghost going to a new house seeing stuff changed
I remember going to the Ames in Bristol, RI when I was a kid. It was very similar to Kmart in size and variety but ours had a more hometown feel. One distinct memory I have is when hall of famer Andre Tippett was there signing pictures of himself for shoppers; I still have mine! :)
My feelings exactly. They seemed so happy and then, everything is gone.
Used to work for Zayre (before they became Ames. Worked there for 7 Years then before Ames went out I found another job at K-Mart. Worked there for a few Years before I escaped to a better job. I miss Ames and Zayre. They was fun to work at. Every time we lost a store that is a part of our lives and culture it's sometimes sad :-(
RIP Ames, Zayre, Goldbatts, Woolworths MashallFields. You will NEVER be forgotten.
Lenellbr
They weren't on the verge of bankruptcy. Ames was actually doing quite well prior to the purchase of Hills. It was the cost on incurring Hills large debt, as well as converting and closing stores that started their troubles. Hills was in bad shape and was going to file for bankruptcy if Ames hadn't bought them.
Old comment I know, but another contributor to Ames' downfall was indiscriminately giving store credit cards to basically anyone who asked without checking their credit. Many of these people ran up huge bills without making payments, thus defaulting on their debts and costing the store even more money.
@@TotsNaterThe 55 Gold Program is what did them in…giving the senior discount too early.
I remember this store. We had one in my town. I went in there during one of their last days in August of 2002. It's still partially empty today. Half of it became Tractor Supply in 2008.
This was soo Awesome to look at Ipswich Riber Park,when we were young it looked like it was endless.I am glad to say i grew up in North Reading with mostly blue collar workers.I did not realize how many Veterans we had there till i got older.I would like to recognize any that passed on or are still here Thank You For Your Service
This was soo Awesome to look at Ipswich Riber Park,when we were young it looked like it was endless.I am glad to say i grew up in North Reading with mostly blue collar workers.I did not realize how many Veterans we had there till i got older.I would like to recognize any that passed on or are still here Thank You For Your Service
I was 1 years old when Ames closed my older brothers went there when they were young and have good memories of it I wish I was part of the fun also with bradless I know I didn't have experience but I miss Ames and bradlees.
Now it's coming back to life
It appears to be a hoax.
This is like watching a funeral.
Ames filed for bankruptcy TWICE! A number of poor decisions, and the aquirement of some stores ultimately led to its decline. 327 stores remained when they filed for Chapter 7 Bankruptcy.
0:10 Mom? Is that you?
Is that your mom?
Here is the transcript:
Just a couple of reminders, Tools need to be called in by 10:00hrs by Monday (9 September 2002), you may call at any point, leave a message on your Table Representative's voicemail, with the hours worked and salaries of the associates, and number of days worked. You may call that in at any time between Saturday night and Monday morning by 10:00.
Please make sure that the Mail, the Post Office (USPS) has been informed of the forwarding address to Ames Home Office
2418 Main Street, Rocky Hill, Connecticut, 06067.
Once again when leaving the building, set the perimeter alarms, by passive motion, and this will reduce the number of false alarms after we vacate. Interior Lights should be shut off by the breakers, leaving a few nightlights scattered around the salesfloor.
Vacate checklist, locate anything thats been left by the fixture liquidators, such as phone equipment, ticketing equipment, If they haven't sold it, it will be left where it is. The main thing with all the fixtures and anything that has not sold, is that it is left in the building NEATLY.
Once again the final vacate checklist, photos and stamps, should be mailed by Tuesday, 12 November 2002. Once again, i'd like to thank everyone for their help and cooperation over the past few months, and i wish everybody the best of luck in the future.
First paragraph should read: Just a couple of reminders. Payroll (not Tools) needs to be called in by 10am on Monday. You may call at any point. Leave a message on your Payroll Representative's (not Table Representative's) voicemail box either with the hours worked (meaning for hourly employees) or, for salaried associates, the number of days worked. In the third paragraph, "by passive motion" should be "bypass the motion" meaning bypassing the motion detectors. The rest is ok aside from a few words missing or replaced here and there.
There used to be an Ames in Martin Plaza, which is in the Middle River area of Baltimore County, Maryland, that I used to go to ALL the time as a kid. Now, it's a Target. I remember actually getting several Sega games and videos in that Ames. Also, there was a Pac-Man machine in the main entrance area that I always played, as well. Good times. Sad to see it close down years ago. Oh well :/
What's really sad is there are practically no more record stores. Even Tower Records, once one of the country's largest chains, is now an online entity only.
Also gone are such chains as Discount Records, Music City, MusicLand, MusicWorld, Popcorn Records, Sam Goody and Licorice Pizza.
But what's more missed are the indie record shops that one used to find on Main Street USA. For that matter, Main Street USA is practically non-existent. replaced by strip malls, highways and urban sprawl.
For the people complaining about them buying Hills: Hills was on the verge of bankruptcy prior to be acquired by Ames. If that purchase hadn't gone through, their CEO stated they were going to file for bankruptcy and likely be liquidated.
Ames purchasing Hills didn't do anything to speed up their demise. If anything, it kept some of their employees in jobs for a little while longer. Hills was dead regardless. Funny enough, if they hadn't purchased them, Ames may have survived longer.
saladincham01 I don't know where your getting your information but Hills did a bang up business ! I think Ames got greedy and bought Hills.just all the rest of the closed businesses
There was no difference in the quality of merchandise for us here, when Ames took over Hills. However, keep in mind that Hills was losing money and would have filed for bankruptcy if Ames hadn't bought them out. They were done regardless.
i dont think we ever had Ames up here in Canada.If they wanna open up here in Canada we will welcome them with open arms. we got hardly any stores left.
I bet the quality of the goods at that store was better than what is sold at Walmart.
I worked at the ossipee NH ames I loved it there I would still be there if it did not close I work from 1999 till oct ,2002 great people miss them all
You mean the Seabrook NH one? I saw a door open on the inside of the Ames today so i assume there doing work in it but are keeping it private
Something I noticed then, that department stores don't have much today, is that for women who liked to knit & sew, etc., the discount department stores such as Bradlee's, King's, Zayre's, etc. not only had yarn and sewing supplies, but also used to carry the dress patterns. This made them very popular with housewives who used to sew more in those days. Nowadays, what mothers or wives have much time to do such things? Most of them have to work, at least part, if not full-time jobs.
to know that the place this was recorded in also was abandoned with the stores.
I live in Baltimore MD, and there's a shopping center that's mostly vacant except for a Chuck E Cheese. There's still an old vacant Ames store there, where I remember going shopping with my mom. I still have some clothes & stuff that I got at Ames. Their stuff held up pretty good, always liked Ames.
Oh my God, I know exactly where you are talking about =/
it's near eastpoint mall
Yep old Diamond Point Plaza. There's a vacant Sam's Club there that used to be a store called Macro when the shopping center first opened.
watchensee was there ever a grocery store there? i think i know where your talking about too.
😐 Now that Chuck E Cheese's is closed. It closed October of last year. I've seen explorer videos on here of the Ames at Diamond Point Plaza it's in horrible shape loaded with black mold. ☹
Sad to see the before and after shots. All those hard working people and comradery with the employees
This is sad all the good stores are gone. i hate online shopping . i always enjoy going to shop for my stuff in a store
Time Marches On
Good luck and God speed.
Ames & Hills used to be right across the street from each other in my area years ago. Ames closed down, but of course later returned when the Hills was bought by Ames. I really wish both stores were still like they were before. Even Kmart was in the same area back then as well.
Very depressing. Especially for long term employees.
@ 2:03, obviously, she did that on purpose, because she had a crush on that dude, wonder what ever came of that?
It's sad that this place is closed down I never went there I dont think but Its still sad and how did this voicemail last longer then the store
The fact that they point out Ames corporate HQ in Rocky Hills Connecticut is even more haunting but their HQ is completely abandoned...
Stores of my youth, pic 'n' save, zayre, g.c. murphy, wilco, woolworth, montgomery wards to name a few.
They would be the next Walmart but they didn’t expand around the country
I listened to this and I couldn't help but think, "How much was the severance for the employees who drew salary as opposed to hourly wage? Also, I bet you the home office people were able to get back on their feet quickly." By the way, we had an Ames briefly in lower Bucks County, PA. I don't know anyone who shopped there really. The site of the old Ames is now a Walmart which oddly enough is only staying afloat by the old people who won't or can't go to the new Supercenter they opened a town over or to the Target 10 minutes away.
I always disliked Ames growing up in the 90s yet the nostalgia makes me miss it.
It's like when all the kids grow up and leave the house 🏠 to start there lives elsewhere.
Fortunately, I live in New England, where we still have a healthy chain called Newbury Comics, which sells not only comic books, but also CD's, DVD's, T-shirts, books and novelty items.
Also scarce are the one and two-screen movie theaters, the kinds with large screens and balconies, all given way to multiplexes. Even when, a decade ago, Roger Ebert and Gene Siskel closed their TV movie review show with "The balcony is closed," there weren't that many theaters left with balconies to close.
I remember Newbury from my few years frequenting eastha Massachusetts
Overwhelming 😢
We had an Ames for like 2 years around my area. It was kinda nice, like a Jamesway.
I remember when I was younger, an Ames store was going out of business. I walked behind my parents and brother. Jackpot! I found a gold ring with diamonds and a huge emerald on the floor. Thats the only thing I remember about Ames; finding that damn ring. My mother kept it, traded it to a jeweler for a plain gold band for me. Now the damn thing doesnt fit even my pinky. Bad move, mom.
All things come to pass.
I USE TO WORK IN AMES, I WISH THEY DIDNOT CLOSE DOWN, I WANT A TIME MACHINE TO GO BACK TO THE LATE 1990'S, I WANT MY OLD JOBS BACK AND I KNOW THAT WAS 16 YEARS AGO, BUT I REALLLY WANT TO HAVE ALL THAT MONEY I HAD AND I WANT TO GO BACK TO HIGH SCHOOL AND I MISS BEING THST YOUNG AND I WANT TO APPERICATE THE JOBS I HAD AND TAKE A DIFFERENT TRADE AND GO TO A DIFFERENT HIGH SCHOOL AND TAKE THE CHANCES I DID NOT HAVE A BETTER JUNIOR AND SENIOR YEAR AND ENJOY MY HIGH SCHOOL JOBS.
They were various depending on where you lived. I live in CT and the Ames in my areas went out of business between 1998 and 2001.
Wow this the Rocky Hill store! I think this is a Wal-Mart now if I'm not mistaken lol!
haunting
Was that in CT Bambi? I grew up in CT - Berlin Turnpike ~ I have not lived there in 5-6 years and can imagine even more changes but I remember Two Guys/Bradlees/ Ames etc etc - Crazy
Gosh, I miss this store. But I just found out that they’re supposedly planning on returning in 35 locations across the states comes 2026. So…. We shall see…. ☺️
Yep. I remember the Macon (US80) old sign from 1968 that was still there when the store closed in '88. It seemed to be a nicer, friendlier store vs. the Kmarts. I just wish that we had more chains to keep Wal-Mart straight. Sears and Kmart are dropping the ball and their longevity depends on how the "recovery" goes.
I remember going to Ames alot as a kid growing up. It was such a nice store. The reasons why it shut down. 1. Walmart. 2. Purchasing the Hills brand, 3 being in too much debt.
I remember before they went out of business I went there to get the Eminem show cd when it first came out that’s the last time I went them it’s sad they went out of business
THANK YOU WALMART FOR THIS!
Walmart destroyed all other department stores, except for Target.