For more videos on business and entrepreneurship, check out our channel ContextTV: ruclips.net/user/context Have you seen a famous store or chain close its doors in your town? Which do you miss most? Let us know in the comments.
Most of these large stores deservedly went out business, bad business models, poor customer service, high overhead, high prices and the mass murder of so many mom and pop small businesses. Good riddance!
I miss Borders. My Mom worked there when I was little, and over the years she collected enough books from there to last me from elementary school till college. I used to have my own little Borders in my basement! I miss going to the promotional events with her and getting a free book at the end. I loved that I got to have one on one time with the authors at the end while my Mom cleaned up. I’m a junior in college now and I would kill to sit on a colorful rug with a hot chocolate while someone reads to me. I miss it a lot.
I used to love going to Borders with friends or dates on a Friday or Saturday night, got a coffee or Danish and listened to the local musician(s) play guitar for night entertainment! You could peruse all their books and it was very interesting!!
@@rayf8730 when one of the stores on the list went out of business it pivoted to it's most selling items which was shoes so they rebranded as foot locker & somewhere in the video they mentioned this that's why I added it to my list
I was a manager of 3 different Blockbusters for 5 years while I was in college. It was a good job I enjoyed, and it had great benefits. Got 7 free rentals a week, had early access to movies and games, and a 10% discount on all purchases. And lets not forget that we got to play movies all day while working. It was sad when it went out of business, but I moved on to bigger and better things.
Toys ‘R’ Us was everybody’s childhood, we all know that we always begged our parents to get a toy from Toys ‘R’ Us but once we all heard that Toys ‘R’ Us we’re going out of business, all of our hearts dropped, these stores will forever be in our hearts.
I was deeply shocked when they announced that Toys R Us was closing. I loved that store so much, that I still miss it to this day. RIP to all of the stores that closed for good. Update: Fuck, I have 485 likes, one from WatchMojo, and 64 replies! Thanks! Keep liking and replying!
Sears stores were always at the malls where I live. All four of them. Two of them are completely closed. A third is thriving with two anchor stores, the fourth somehow exists without them.
My local Toys R Us was turned into a Wine and Spirits and they recently put a giraffe wearing sunglasses on the front, so it’s like Geoffrey the Giraffe grew up with us
Blockbuster and Toys R Us are the stores I miss the most! I rented lots of movies and video games from BB, even RadioShack was fun going to back in the day, too bad they didn’t evolve with the times!
Let’s all be honest, Blockbuster was one we ALL saw coming due to the age of DVR and On Demand. Didn’t surprise me at all to say the least. But it still made me a bit sad cause I had a lot of fond childhood memories at the old Blockbuster that was only a 3 minute drive away from my house where me and my family went to EVERY SINGLE WEEK ever since I was 6 years old and I discovered A LOT of movies and TV shows there that are STILL among my top favorites even to this day!
Is really Blockbuster fault cuz they could have taken Netflix in there company, An come together and be one big company, but no they didn't , if they did they could have been still around....
As someone who grew up with Toys R Us, seeing all stores close is the most heartbreaking thing since the loss of KB Toys and Blockbusters/Hollywood video. Even worse, seeing the near empty store for the last time just makes me want to cry. Every kid today will never experience walking to a store filled with toys like the rest of us.
They really don't need to. A lot of them have parents who give them access to high grade tech anyway. Video games and RUclips on the phone while they're in public to keep them quiet.
I think it's safe to say that overall, the Internet killed most of these brands off. Amazon alone has probably killed off 8/10 of these brands for sure, and the other two were probably done in by streaming services (so companies like Blockbuster went under because we can now stream, on-demand, whenever we want on platforms like Hulu and Netflix for a set monthly fee in most cases).
Yes and no. It is true that the internet and moving to online purchases is what killed off some brands, but its also up to these brands to adapt. For instance, Blockbuster actually had a chance to adapt themselves when redbox/netflix began taking over, but they decided to stick to their guns and stay physical. Thus they screwed themselves. The other problem with some specialty stores are that they are tied to malls and malls are slowly dying. Most older malls are struggling to remain relevant while more newer and modern malls are generally doing alright to appeal to the newer demographic. Yet at the same time still struggling to some degree with online being the major drive. People still love going into stores, specially for clothes, but I agree that the internet and tech in general has made things easier where we don't have as much of a need to go out.
I miss a lot of stores that are no longer in business. Circuit City, Toys R Us, Ames, KB Toys, Suncoast, Radio Shack, Hollywood Video, Blockbuster, etc.
@@Juliaflo no there was none of those around where I lived growing up in the mid 90s and 2000s. I just looked it up on Google it said that W.T. Grants was around back in the 70s but the company went bankrupt in 1976. I definitely wasn't alive during that time. I wish I was though. I'm a mid 90s and 2000s kid.
In addition currently Walgreens is going down.and we thought they were doing good!I miss Montgomery Ward and Service Merchandise.Farmer Jack,A&P ,Chattam's.when people keep saying the future is now.yes,they are right!!!the future is torture!unless we can do something about it.if we want to bring our happiness back.we need to take bold action...not petty action.many people have been laid off and many store/business locations closed down for good!
I worked at a TRU store for nearly 10 years, I was the last employee hired when they first opened. They started to fail when they began hiring upper level management from outside the company instead of promoting from within. Those new people seldom understood the toy business, some had never even worked in retail.
I primarily remembered Circuit City, Toys R Us, and BlockBuster. The fact that they no longer exist when I grew up seeing them nearly everywhere makes me feel old.
@Randomark3087 Nor will they get the experience of walking through the aisles of Toys R Us on a Saturday afternoon, searching for just the right toys/video games/bike(s)/books to buy--and trying to convince Mom and/or Dad to let you get more than 1 or 2 things.
My heart really hurt when I saw that toys r us was putting them out of business, when I had a kid I was telling myself I can’t wait to take them to toys r us. Oh borders closing hurt my heart too! I loved borders when I was kid I used to sit at borders for hours I liked it a lot more than barns and nobles. Also blockbuster was my whole childhood as well I loved going to blockbuster on a Friday night to rent movies, it’s so sad my childhood is crying
Seconded. Or thirded. It’s times like these, watching vids like this, that I miss my childhood-especially Saturdays. Watching cartoons in the morning, going shopping with my mother and sister in the afternoons-which almost always included a stop in Toys R Us… >sigh
Yep. Friday night go to get a movie or 2, along with a video game. Toys R Us, I loved looking through their catalog at Christmas and then go look at some of the toys there. I got Virtual Boy from there for $30 when they were getting rid of them.
I've never gone to Toys R Us bc my parents wouldn't let me. It's sad that some people weren't given the chance to go before they shut down completely. :(
man, I remember the tradition every year with geoffrey the giraffe calling me on my birthday saying "wow, you're... another year older!" then when they'd send the christmas toy ads right after thanksgiving & I'd be able to circle items & my parents would basically play an elimination game of what I'd get on christmas day lol man the memories of my childhood
My mom was devastated when A & P closed the store in our town. It closed years before the chain went out of business. Ames was the other big store we hated to lose. My mom worked at a grocery store, Beit Bros, which is also closed, in the same plaza as Ames. We would shop there all the time and the quality of the products was significantly better than anything you get at Walmart.
I loved Sam Goody and Suncoast as a kid, those were the destinations at the Mall...and Spencer's...and the Arcade. R.I.P. Malls Honorable mentions: Children's Palace and Kay-Bee Toys
I remember A&P as a little kid in Maryland. It was the first time I was made aware of the ampersand "&" sign and I still associate the symbol with today.
Of course Blockbuster... I remember friday nights going up there right after my mom picked me up from school. We'd either go to Blockbuster, Hollywood video,or Movie Gallery because alot of times one of them didnt have anymore of the new releases and back then, We didnt have a DVD player yet, so we couldn't get the DVDs only the VHS and that whole 'new release' shelf was empty. Nothing but the styrofoam filled sleeves on the shelves and you were hoping you'd spot one that had the blockbuster case behind it!! Lol and when you found it....just that last one...you felt like Charlie when he found the Golden Ticket!!
@@5488awestify Yes. I was just thinking earlier today that there used to be three chains of bookstores at the mall: Barnes & Noble, Waldenbooks...and I couldn't recall the third ( Borders). Nine of my last ten book purchases were eBooks through Amazon and they are all at my fingertips on my phone.
Borders was my favorite book store. I even have their membership tag still on my key ring. I guess I'm just too sentimental to take it off. We still have Barnes and Noble and Books-a-Million, but I will always miss spending hours (and a LOT of money) browsing for books at Borders. BTW, B. Dalton was another bookstore lost to the past, as well as Kroch's and Brentano's. All are sorely missed. Amazon just isn't the same.
@@josbar2835 Those ebooks may be at your fingertips on your phone, but I'll bet it's not the same thing as reading an actual book, full of real paper pages and words. Did it ever occur to you that since paper is made out of the wooden pulp from trees, and the ink used to create those letters and words was made from soy or other products derived from natural sources, that reading a real book might be one of your few chances to connect with nature, especially at a time when much of nature is being destroyed by pollution, climate change and global warming? Did you ever think about how reading ebooks off of the internet or on your cellphone might not be so natural, and/or that it might be detaching you from nature, thus causing you to become apathetic towards the dangers of environmental damage? Can you really get the same sense of the natural world from your cellphone that you could receive from reading a naturally made book? Somehow, I don't think so.
I miss Fry's. Their stores were awesome. Radioshack at the end of their run was like going into a mini swap meet. They sold cell phones no one wanted and just odd shit that no one was going to buy.
I grew up with all these stores!! Blockbuster, Borders, RadioShack, and Toys R Us were the best! Kids today really missing out on getting the big book from Toys R Us in the mail and going to pick out what you want for Christmas! Those were the days!
At the risk of sounding prehistoric, the demise of Sears meant the loss of the very heart of U.S. retailing. Sears had invented nationwide sales, and the money back guarantee, defined middle class accoutrements, and built the world’s tallest skyscraper. All that being gone amounts to the fatal blow.
right? this is how I learned about some games that today turned out to be legendary classics, or underrated gems that were so slept on, the flops as well. my first game was a classic, as a kid, I was shocked to see the mario bros get a non platform game. I’m like, come on, where are the coins, me going to the castle to rescue the princess and stuff, this game is weird! come to find this was Super Mario RPG, what would give way to the paper mario and mario and luigi series. 2 game series that friggin still rule. once I got further into the game and beat it, that ending though, you know it, the one where Geno says goodbye, a complete balling session. oh, and we get cameos, but not him as a playable, I’m sorry, the smash costume don’t fly. we need this dude in full! another good classic was mega man 7.
Regarding Frys, the pandemic really didn’t affect them. I’ve followed a subreddit about the stores and for a couple of years they ran on zero stock. People were waiting for the day they admitted it’s all over. Poor management, poor service. Sad, because the stores once seemed fun and they had quite a following.
Always hated that place. Crappy customer service and this was in the late 90s. I remember any open box item they would mark down I swear 1.87 that’s it..
@@mikethemechanic7395 Frys was almost entirely aimed at tech nerds who liked to build their own stuff and wanted expensive tech. I went a few times and it kinda sucked, even pre pandemic.
Agreed. We went there the last time we know they're in a procces of closing. Nobody was there but 2 of us and the shelves were partially empty an were wonderful why only 3 or 3 employees there. They're gone long a go.
Bad customer service will do a business in much faster than anything else, as word gets around. There are still places today whose management seems to forget that disrespecting the customer can doom them pretty quickly, what with Google reviews and other internet reviewing sites, and word-of-mouth sharing of bad experiences. Good managers know better.
People from the 80s could say that as well. The good thing is that things aren’t actually worse, but they’re simply changing as literally everything does. Even you don’t really retain the same bodily materials from 7-10 years ago
I have a few also-mentions to add. Before Toys R Us closed, there was Child World and KB Toys closing; the former being my favorite of the trio. If I'm not mistaken, FAO Schwartz also closed their doors as well. In the category of box stores, we lost others like Two Guys, Caldors (which I often frequented), KMart, Jamesway and Bradlees. I believe Sears may well be on that list. All these stores I have shopped at and enjoyed doing so because each was slightly unique from one another. Today, one Walmart is pretty much like the other. In the category of supermarkets, we used to have a Pathmark on the other side of town. There was also Grand Union three towns over. With electronics, the passing of Radio Shack hit me hard. I bought my Atari XL computer in NYC at a Crazy Eddies, another lost store. We had one at one of our local malls and I bought almost all of my LPS and audiocassettes from that chain. The impact of losing all these stores is tough. Though not a chain, there was a colossal book store a block or two from the southern start of Central Park that was absolutely enormous. I think it was called The Coliseum. When I discovered it had closed, I was dumbfounded. Most of all my texts on theater and filmmaking were purchased there.
It still hurts me till this day that there’s no Toys R Us anymore I thought it was going to be round until I had kids and grandkids it’s sad to what this world has come to I really wish I could roll back time and go back to being a kid again were Toys R Us was thriving
Toys R Us may be gone, but their legacy will never, ever, ever, ever, ever die. Even as an adult, I appreciated how they drew in kids with incredible marketing. I am proud to have been one of those kids. This also came with lots of memories to be made.
I sure miss Toys R Us, I used to go there plenty when I was a kid. They had the most awesome selection of toys that were really fun to ogle, and I wanted to buy them all, but obviously I couldn't. It's really sad, we don't seem to see dedicated toy stores anymore. It's just one more wonderful thing about the world that's just gone away.
Woolworth's was everywhere in the UK. I spent many a happy hour at the pick and mix counter. I didn't know that Foot locker was derived from Woolworth's. @5:31, Barnes & Noble is also in trouble with a raft of store closures. RadioShack was known as Tandy in the UK and had high street shops in several locations. The shops were closed and the line was taken in-house by Woolworth's. Today, it has an online presence. There was much weeping and wailing and the gnashing of teeth when Toys r us folded.
Toys R's Us going out of business really hurt me. That store was a huge part of my childhood. Also some honorable mentions should have been Goody's clothing store and KB Toys.
Here in the UK we still had Woolworths stores until nearly 2009 when the last one closed, I still remember going in there every week with my grandma to got her utilities and a £2 bag of pick and mix
0:39 Circuit City 1:40 A&P 2:50 F.W. Woolworth Company 3:57 Sam Goody 4:43 Borders 5:44 Fry's Electronics 7:06 Linens 'N Things 8:11 Radioshack 9:27 Toys "R" Us 11:47 Blockbuster
Toys R Us, Circuit City (where my family bought our first computer), Kay-Bee Toys, Sam Goody, Charming Charlie (an accessories shop), Payless Shoe Source, Suncoast Motion Picture Company (practically a carbon copy of Sam Goody), and Hastings Entertainment Store-those were my haunts in my younger days.
Radio Shack... that's the one I miss most! I used to cobble together A/V equipment into video game, TV & sound systems all the time. When it came to finding adapters and converters, there was no other option then Radio Shack, and they never failed to have it.
The fact that I helped close down some of those stores (online purchasing) really hurts. Another store that died but due to cancel culture, that I loved, was Steve and Barry's.
My fondest memory of blockbuster is when I had food poisoning as a kid and threw up right outside the exit door so they had to lock it to stop people stepping in it✌🏼 😂
I’ll never forget hearing on the news that Toys R Us was going out of business. Even though I was a full aged adult by the time I heard the news (late 20s), I was still really sad cause I had a lot of fond childhood memories from there and the very last time I was ever there was in my very late teenager years to get a top wanted Star Wars source book (kind of like an encyclopedia about the franchise) that I STILL have to this day!
Being from Massachusetts, I loved Ames, Fry's and a few more on this list. Hated Radio Shack,was a Child World kid that thought Toys -R- Us was a gaff, and every time I went to an FYE here in Texas, I called it Fry's. Great list. Spot on
I mean, that whole industry of discount department stores started to dry up and consolidate. I remember Zayre and JC Penny as well. Sears tried (and failed, and tried, and failed) to make a comeback, only to die off again. The three-headed monster of Amazon, Target, and Wal-Mart destroyed entire industries.
When my sister and I were younger, if we got good marks on our report cards, our mama would take us to Toys R Us and let us pick a toy as a reward. >sigh< 🎵Memories🎵
I still have a Block Busters rewards card on my keychain 😆 It was a family outting on a Friday night to head to Block Busters, walking up and down the aisles looking for a few movies or tv series to rent. And granted we had 3 tvs each with a dvd player in the house and it was just the 3 of us. 🤣 I also remember going to friends house for a sleep over and renting video games to play. And the movie style snacks they sold 😌 good times It’s a shame they didn’t reinvent themselves into the online streaming service or opened up their own production company. Block Buster had also a good marketing and rewards points scheme going too working with fast food chains.
Good memories from renting at blockbuster. Used to go there every Friday night to rent movies from $0.99 area as well as the wall with picks from the staff.
These stores were primarily located in the New York area (but both had stores in New Jersey, Connecticut, Philadelphia and Baltimore metro areas), Crazy Eddie's (electronics) and Modell's (sporting goods) were well-known, especially in the New York City metropolitan area, are dearly missed. Crazy Eddie's was short-lived due to rapid expansion, while Modell's, after over a century of business, couldn't make enough money to cover its brick-and-mortar locations and not enough revenue for its online business.
I was devastated when Toys R Us closed. I used to love going there when I was a kid. I still have the very first toy I remember getting there. A G3 My Little Pony toy. Star Catcher. She was my favorite toy, and now I keep her as a memento of those happy childhood days
I remember going on the last week before it closed and my mom took a picture of me waving in front of the toys R us sign and there were no toys for me to buy so I took in the last time I will be there
i know how you feel its hard to part ways with something you are used tp i miss these stores as well going to the us isn't the same without these stores
Toys R' US and Blockbuster hit my personally because they were absolutely my favorite growing up. Damn shame they had to close thier doors. I miss 'em so much.
Uff! Don’t know where to start here. In the last 30 years I’ve lived here I can remember so many of them and gives me so much nostalgia to see them all gone: my first computer was a TRS80. Radio shack was a main part of my life as an early 80s computer person. Then once in US, Woolworth was my to-go shop for everything. I loved Circuit City and Toys r Us was almost a weekly visit for my kids, even if not shopping was done. I loved Borders store in my neighborhood, and needless to say blockbuster (still keep my membership card!) And I even forgot Linens and Things. Other big ones not included here are Pan Am, Sears and Kmart.
I'm shocked Tower Records wasn't on the list. A&P & Woolworth's were already gone gone from the public eye a lifetime by the time stores like Sharper Image, Blockbuster & Fry's came into being and many posters likely never heard of them. But Tower Records changed the way we bought music like Toys R Us changed the way we bought toys.
Thank You! I was trying to remember Tower Records. I lived in NY in the nineties and THAT was my place to go! Looking for all my favorite CDs! And now I am just left with boxes and boxes of CDs not knowing what to do with it. Even the downloading sites Morpheus and MP3fiesta have been replaced by the Spotifys of today. How much the world has changed.
@@randomami8176 I could cry thinking about Tower Records. I thought the one in DC was great. I would go in about 3 pm to browse & buy music & books & when I walked out it was midnight! (lol) Then I went to the one in NYC while visiting. It was even better than the DC location. Oh for time in a bottle with favorite memories. That's my wish.
Farewell to PathMark (an A&P store), me and my girl shall never forget all the fun we had working in the aisles from 2012-2015... They shall always be in our hearts. I would post a picture here if I could. With the heart of a dragon we ride!!!
I too, wish that Toys R Us was still in business! When I collected Hot Wheels back around 2002, I found most of the best deals there! When I was a child, I can vaguely recall a place called: Union Co-op, that carried the best toys before I ever heard of Toys R Us! My mother bought me a Hot Wheels Fat Track "Giant O" set there! That's what I miss the most about the toys! Hot Wheels Sizzlers!!!
Circuit City was amazing. I went there almost every day. So many kids have no idea what they missed out on. Blockbuster was everything to me. Still have my membership cards. :(
Blockbuster. - I’ll never forget those magic words from my parents on a Friday after school. “Do you want to go to the store and pick up some videos?” You can’t replicate that sort of experience with streaming services.
Toy's'Rus used to be my favorite store ever! They opened again in Macy's and American Dream, but they don't have bikes, video games, and stuff like before.
There are 4 stores that I always like to go to as a kid and a teenager. Circuit City, F.Y.E, Toys r us, and Blockbuster. And speaking of F.Y.E, I didn’t even know it was changed into Sam Goody
Toys R Us is sad. Used to be where I'd get NES games as a kid. I remember you'd choose a ticket for the game on the sales floor, then bring that to the cashier and pay. Then they'd take the ticket to this magical room full of video games to grab the associated one. I remember always looking in that room as a kid, full of video games, and being in awe. It was like getting a peak at the ark of the covenant.
Me too. My Hastings here in Carlsbad is gone. It's now a Harbor Freight store located at the Northgate Shopping Center right by Rent-A-Center where my Sister Marissa works there. I rented horror movies mostly for Halloween, games on the PS2, Dreamcast, N64, GameCube, Wii and PS3 before they close I got the game cards there my brother Adrian even shopped there. Back then It used to be Anthony's and Later Stage when Stage Stores brought them before Hastings moved to Northgate it used to be at Riverwalk Shopping Center where the Carlsbad Floral Store is currently occupying the former Hastings location where a Nail Salon which is a former Windstream Store is at right by Petco. It's a shame that everybody including me and my brother missed getting the anime T-Shirts as it is very hard to find in such big named stores like Walmart!
I was really hoping to see Hastings on this list, especially as I've never heard of A&P anyway. My mom worked at one here in Texas for 14 years so I was always there growing up Haha. Sad to see that store as a Planet Fitness now.
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Have you seen a famous store or chain close its doors in your town? Which do you miss most? Let us know in the comments.
Hi
👍👍👍👍
yeah. too many to count.
Most of these large stores deservedly went out business, bad business models, poor customer service, high overhead, high prices and the mass murder of so many mom and pop small businesses. Good riddance!
I miss the adult video store. To rent lots of real pron.
Given I used to work at Toys r us, it hurts not having them around anymore, even as an adult due to the memories I had going there as a kid!
Best job I ever had
Still running in the Philippines
Rip toys R Us😡☹️☹️☹️☹️🥺😫😫
I thought they were coming back this Christmas
@RewindBobo toys r us closed back in 2018, wasn’t because of the pandemic.
I speak for everyone when I say, when Toys R Us & Blockbuster got shut down, parts of our childhood died at that moment!
I used to rent video games from Blockbuster
Toys R Us was my childhood.....
There is one blockbuster store open. It’s in Washington state or Oregon.
Ture
I think it’s in Bend Oregon. I saw it when I went on vacay!
BRING. BACK. TOYS 'R US.
PLEASE BRING IT BACK
It still exists in Canada.
We still got them in Malaysia 😄
@@jo-annewoerle3390 It didn't belong on this list. This is supposed to be stores that don't exist, not stores that left the U.S.
@@o-mangaming5042 if u heard about this country Israel we lost toys R us 2 it’s not just the us 🥺 this generation sucks
I miss Borders. My Mom worked there when I was little, and over the years she collected enough books from there to last me from elementary school till college. I used to have my own little Borders in my basement! I miss going to the promotional events with her and getting a free book at the end. I loved that I got to have one on one time with the authors at the end while my Mom cleaned up. I’m a junior in college now and I would kill to sit on a colorful rug with a hot chocolate while someone reads to me. I miss it a lot.
In my country, borders is still there so ya might wanna move to the UAE ;)
I used to love going to Borders with friends or dates on a Friday or Saturday night, got a coffee or Danish and listened to the local musician(s) play guitar for night entertainment! You could peruse all their books and it was very interesting!!
Rest In Peace to Blockbuster and Toys R’ Us. Those stores were a big part of my childhood. 😔
Lmao toys r us is still in Canada sucks to be you guys
Same here…
RIP.
Toys r us still exist in Canada 🇨🇦
It's still alive
The ones I heard of:
- Foot Locker
- RadioShack
- ToysRUs
- Blockbuster
I'm surprised that Sears wasn't on their list to be honest.
All were my favorite
Where was Foot Locker on the list?
@@rayf8730 when one of the stores on the list went out of business it pivoted to it's most selling items which was shoes so they rebranded as foot locker & somewhere in the video they mentioned this that's why I added it to my list
@@itwasagoodideaatthetime7980 there are still some but not too many
I was heartbroken when Toys R Us and Borders closed. I went to them all the time as a kid
Borders was expensive but the coffee shop was good.
@@insidetheredzone agreed expensive but their coffee was good... at least theres barnes and noble!!
The “Welcome To Circuit City…Where Service Is State Of The Art” tagline/jingle is great.
I was a manager of 3 different Blockbusters for 5 years while I was in college. It was a good job I enjoyed, and it had great benefits. Got 7 free rentals a week, had early access to movies and games, and a 10% discount on all purchases. And lets not forget that we got to play movies all day while working. It was sad when it went out of business, but I moved on to bigger and better things.
Toys R Us was the only store and place that could make me feel magical and like a kid again
Yes, even as an adult it was always a joy to shop there. I would even buy an occasional treat for myself!
I am sure kids are all very sad seen it shut down.
Yeah
I went to Toys R Us just about a month ago. They're surviving where I live. I actually felt like a kid again, a kid that could afford to buy toys lol.
There's still toys r us in Israel cuz I visited Israel and there an open toys r us so go to israel there is a open one
Toys "R" Us, Blockbuster, and Borders used to be my favorite places to go as a kid. It's sad that many things from my childhood no longer exist.
that not true one of your favorite places is back and that place is toys r us
I know 😭😭😭😭
toyrus still running in Canada 3 in my city
@@kingkeno7127 we're in U.S
Life does that to you you win some you lose a lot of it
Toys ‘R’ Us was everybody’s childhood, we all know that we always begged our parents to get a toy from Toys ‘R’ Us but once we all heard that Toys ‘R’ Us we’re going out of business, all of our hearts dropped, these stores will forever be in our hearts.
well 2021 was the year that they came back inside the american dream mall, and a year later in macy's
Yes.... Its heartbreaking, I no longer see toy stores anymore So sad 😭
@@Nini-vj8sw read my comment
I WANNA BE A TOYS 'R' US KID!!
Kids these days don’t know how awesome Toys R Us and Blockbuster was back then
So wat
@@user-jc8zm6ef8p don't be mean to him
@@z0ee996 yes they were
I know right
You don't know that man kids in canada are probably having awesome experience of Toy r Us.
I was deeply shocked when they announced that Toys R Us was closing. I loved that store so much, that I still miss it to this day. RIP to all of the stores that closed for good.
Update: Fuck, I have 485 likes, one from WatchMojo, and 64 replies! Thanks! Keep liking and replying!
Me too buddy. That place was one of my favorite childhood places
Come to Canada. We still have them
where i live in south afrika toys R us is the most known toy store there are like close to my town 6
Same I’m 13 and I’m still sad
@@sthoma04 me: MOM, WE’RE GOING ON VACATION TO CANADA!
I feel like Sears will be going this way soon. I live in Massachusetts & they used to be in every mall. Now, only one remains.
Regina George has no way to try their plus-sized clothes then
mass here too your missing aims & braddlees which are now pretty much where a walmart stands now
Canada no longer has Sears
Sears stores were always at the malls where I live. All four of them. Two of them are completely closed. A third is thriving with two anchor stores, the fourth somehow exists without them.
Sears, used to be my store as a kid in the 90s i don't have a lot nostalgia of it but it's sad they are closing down.
My local Toys R Us was turned into a Wine and Spirits and they recently put a giraffe wearing sunglasses on the front, so it’s like Geoffrey the Giraffe grew up with us
Toys R Us and Blockbusters being on this list really hits you in the feels!
had some good times in those stores
Facts it does the Toys R Us especially so many memories with me and my parents there although there is talks of bringing it back
Ah yes, typical American centered idiocy: Toys R Us still exists here in Canada.
Not sure why TRU is listed...
Toys R Us is still in Canada. 😁😁😁
Blockbuster and Toys R Us are the stores I miss the most! I rented lots of movies and video games from BB, even RadioShack was fun going to back in the day, too bad they didn’t evolve with the times!
And Radio Shack sold SiriusXM satellite radios,too.
@@haroldfridkis3536 yeah, they sold lots of portable audio receivers and MP3 players.
Let’s all be honest, Blockbuster was one we ALL saw coming due to the age of DVR and On Demand. Didn’t surprise me at all to say the least. But it still made me a bit sad cause I had a lot of fond childhood memories at the old Blockbuster that was only a 3 minute drive away from my house where me and my family went to EVERY SINGLE WEEK ever since I was 6 years old and I discovered A LOT of movies and TV shows there that are STILL among my top favorites even to this day!
Is really Blockbuster fault cuz they could have taken Netflix in there company, An come together and be one big company, but no they didn't , if they did they could have been still around....
How little do people know that there still is a Blockbuster in Oregon
I still remember the Blockbuster smell
@@BangBang-hk4rg same here
blockbuster was fun too.
I loved Borders. It was a great place to go to for magazines as well as books. They had a very extensive collection of magazinesm
the line " I guess everyone grew up , there's no more toys r us kids anymore " from Toys R' Us when they closed is heartbreaking.
For some reason, that just tore me up.
There's some in Israel I visited Israel and there's alot of toys R us there that is OPEN so if you want to go to toys r us go to israel
I’m 13 and I used to go there all the time when I was little
@@MGD07524 you still is little boy
Kid's and adults that are young at heart still have Toys R Us in Canada
"I don't wanna grow up! I wanna be a Toys R Us kid!!"
@Sheldon nope never
@🌿POPULATION-_-420☁ nvr gonna giv, nvr gonna giv
Same. Hearing their jingle was like a trip in the Wayback machine. 😭
Critic wean are you gonna get a job
That song was as good as "Chuck E Cheese's where a kid can be a kid."
As someone who grew up with Toys R Us, seeing all stores close is the most heartbreaking thing since the loss of KB Toys and Blockbusters/Hollywood video. Even worse, seeing the near empty store for the last time just makes me want to cry. Every kid today will never experience walking to a store filled with toys like the rest of us.
They really don't need to. A lot of them have parents who give them access to high grade tech anyway. Video games and RUclips on the phone while they're in public to keep them quiet.
@@o-mangaming5042 Technology isn't everything. I hate that its taking over.
The ones I only know going out is.
Circuit city,toys r us,dress barn,block buster,family video,radio shack and that’s all I remember.
I think it's safe to say that overall, the Internet killed most of these brands off. Amazon alone has probably killed off 8/10 of these brands for sure, and the other two were probably done in by streaming services (so companies like Blockbuster went under because we can now stream, on-demand, whenever we want on platforms like Hulu and Netflix for a set monthly fee in most cases).
Yes and no. It is true that the internet and moving to online purchases is what killed off some brands, but its also up to these brands to adapt. For instance, Blockbuster actually had a chance to adapt themselves when redbox/netflix began taking over, but they decided to stick to their guns and stay physical. Thus they screwed themselves. The other problem with some specialty stores are that they are tied to malls and malls are slowly dying. Most older malls are struggling to remain relevant while more newer and modern malls are generally doing alright to appeal to the newer demographic. Yet at the same time still struggling to some degree with online being the major drive. People still love going into stores, specially for clothes, but I agree that the internet and tech in general has made things easier where we don't have as much of a need to go out.
Amazon & Walmart plus the internet !
Yup I can get just about anything on Amazon lol. I watch free good movies all day as well
Feel like redbox might be shot soon.
Noooooo! Redbox is my childhood
Man, the 80's really love their jingles and theme songs in all their commercials.
Right!? I was thinking the same
The 90s brought even more
@@sgillman16 more progressing
I don’t know if this is interesting to anyone, but me. The channel Cheddar on RUclips has a good video about the 80s and the love of jingles.
Yup it is still the best!
I miss a lot of stores that are no longer in business. Circuit City, Toys R Us, Ames, KB Toys, Suncoast, Radio Shack, Hollywood Video, Blockbuster, etc.
Do you remember W.T. Grants?
@@Juliaflo no there was none of those around where I lived growing up in the mid 90s and 2000s. I just looked it up on Google it said that W.T. Grants was around back in the 70s but the company went bankrupt in 1976. I definitely wasn't alive during that time. I wish I was though. I'm a mid 90s and 2000s kid.
In addition currently Walgreens is going down.and we thought they were doing good!I miss Montgomery Ward and Service Merchandise.Farmer Jack,A&P ,Chattam's.when people keep saying the future is now.yes,they are right!!!the future is torture!unless we can do something about it.if we want to bring our happiness back.we need to take bold action...not petty action.many people have been laid off and many store/business locations closed down for good!
FYE
@@isaacd7619 FYE is still in business at a mall that I live close to.
I worked at a TRU store for nearly 10 years, I was the last employee hired when they first opened. They started to fail when they began hiring upper level management from outside the company instead of promoting from within. Those new people seldom understood the toy business, some had never even worked in retail.
I primarily remembered Circuit City, Toys R Us, and BlockBuster. The fact that they no longer exist when I grew up seeing them nearly everywhere makes me feel old.
well 2021 was the year that they came back inside the american dream mall, and a year later in macy's
Kids today will never get that experience of walking around a Blockbuster on Friday afternoons
Unless they live in Bend, Oregon.
@@kevinbothwell8425 Very true
I loved the smell.
@Randomark3087
Nor will they get the experience of walking through the aisles of Toys R Us on a Saturday afternoon, searching for just the right toys/video games/bike(s)/books to buy--and trying to convince Mom and/or Dad to let you get more than 1 or 2 things.
@@pooky-bellegaming4089 Omg yes! Man, sometimes I really miss being a kid in the 90s.
My heart really hurt when I saw that toys r us was putting them out of business, when I had a kid I was telling myself I can’t wait to take them to toys r us. Oh borders closing hurt my heart too! I loved borders when I was kid I used to sit at borders for hours I liked it a lot more than barns and nobles. Also blockbuster was my whole childhood as well I loved going to blockbuster on a Friday night to rent movies, it’s so sad my childhood is crying
well 2021 was the year that they came back inside the american dream mall, and a year later in macy's
I still remember the MASSIVE ToysRUs book during Christmas
That's pretty cool that you can remember something from 3 long years ago! You must have a memory like an elephant. LOL
Me too I remember every year me and my younger siblings would draw all over the catalog and argue over what we wanted lol
OMG I totally forgot about that 😭😭
Idk if you live near la but there’s a Toys “R” Us in la
We still have ours in the Philippines.
The day Blockbuster and Toys R Us died, is the day when a piece of me had died
I used to love going to both stores back in the day
Good times... :(
Me 2
Seconded. Or thirded.
It’s times like these, watching vids like this, that I miss my childhood-especially Saturdays.
Watching cartoons in the morning, going shopping with my mother and sister in the afternoons-which almost always included a stop in Toys R Us… >sigh
I miss Blockbuster
Yep. Friday night go to get a movie or 2, along with a video game. Toys R Us, I loved looking through their catalog at Christmas and then go look at some of the toys there. I got Virtual Boy from there for $30 when they were getting rid of them.
I've never gone to Toys R Us bc my parents wouldn't let me. It's sad that some people weren't given the chance to go before they shut down completely. :(
man, I remember the tradition every year with geoffrey the giraffe calling me on my birthday saying "wow, you're... another year older!"
then when they'd send the christmas toy ads right after thanksgiving & I'd be able to circle items & my parents would basically play an elimination game of what I'd get on christmas day lol
man the memories of my childhood
I cried when toys r us closed. That was my childhood.
My mom was devastated when A & P closed the store in our town. It closed years before the chain went out of business. Ames was the other big store we hated to lose. My mom worked at a grocery store, Beit Bros, which is also closed, in the same plaza as Ames. We would shop there all the time and the quality of the products was significantly better than anything you get at Walmart.
All these stores are now located on Memory Lane.
Or in Canada
Or in parts of Asia. Just went to a Toys R Us not too long ago. Bought myself some toys I couldn't afford as a kid
Yup
I loved Sam Goody and Suncoast as a kid, those were the destinations at the Mall...and Spencer's...and the Arcade. R.I.P. Malls
Honorable mentions: Children's Palace and Kay-Bee Toys
Yes, and clothes from Scribbles and 5-7-9...
KB Toys was my job back in high school!
Kay-Bee (KB) Toys and Toys R Us were both the best toy stores ever!
I miss them…😿
I remember A&P as a little kid in Maryland. It was the first time I was made aware of the ampersand "&" sign and I still associate the symbol with today.
Of course Blockbuster...
I remember friday nights going up there right after my mom picked me up from school. We'd either go to Blockbuster, Hollywood video,or Movie Gallery because alot of times one of them didnt have anymore of the new releases and back then, We didnt have a DVD player yet, so we couldn't get the DVDs only the VHS and that whole 'new release' shelf was empty. Nothing but the styrofoam filled sleeves on the shelves and you were hoping you'd spot one that had the blockbuster case behind it!! Lol
and when you found it....just that last one...you felt like Charlie when he found the Golden Ticket!!
Suddenly, I want to cry. So many memories in so many great stores
I loved Borders. I bought most of my books there since I lived close to one before it closed down
I liked them too.
Barnes and noble?
@@5488awestify Yes. I was just thinking earlier today that there used to be three chains of bookstores at the mall: Barnes & Noble, Waldenbooks...and I couldn't recall the third ( Borders). Nine of my last ten book purchases were eBooks through Amazon and they are all at my fingertips on my phone.
Borders was my favorite book store. I even have their membership tag still on my key ring. I guess I'm just too sentimental to take it off. We still have Barnes and Noble and Books-a-Million, but I will always miss spending hours (and a LOT of money) browsing for books at Borders.
BTW, B. Dalton was another bookstore lost to the past, as well as Kroch's and Brentano's. All are sorely missed. Amazon just isn't the same.
@@josbar2835
Those ebooks may be at your fingertips on your phone, but I'll bet it's not the same thing as reading an actual book, full of real paper pages and words.
Did it ever occur to you that since paper is made out of the wooden pulp from trees, and the ink used to create those letters and words was made from soy or other products derived from natural sources, that reading a real book might be one of your few chances to connect with nature, especially at a time when much of nature is being destroyed by pollution, climate change and global warming? Did you ever think about how reading ebooks off of the internet or on your cellphone might not be so natural, and/or that it might be detaching you from nature, thus causing you to become apathetic towards the dangers of environmental damage? Can you really get the same sense of the natural world from your cellphone that you could receive from reading a naturally made book?
Somehow, I don't think so.
I miss Fry's. Their stores were awesome. Radioshack at the end of their run was like going into a mini swap meet. They sold cell phones no one wanted and just odd shit that no one was going to buy.
My local Mall still has a RadioShack they just sell Bootleg toys snd other random crap
I grew up with all these stores!! Blockbuster, Borders, RadioShack, and Toys R Us were the best! Kids today really missing out on getting the big book from Toys R Us in the mail and going to pick out what you want for Christmas! Those were the days!
well 2021 was the year that they came back inside the american dream mall, and a year later in macy's
Radio Shack, Fry's, and Borders were all favorites of mine. Fry's actually put a former employer of mine, Wolf Computer, out of business.
maybe we should do an episode, called "Ghost stores" :D
Well u have Roblox ight?
That's actually a good idea
Aka stores that people would say *"I can't believe they're still around"* on Reddit, like ImageShack.
At the risk of sounding prehistoric, the demise of Sears meant the loss of the very heart of U.S. retailing. Sears had invented nationwide sales, and the money back guarantee, defined middle class accoutrements, and built the world’s tallest skyscraper. All that being gone amounts to the fatal blow.
Agree and you do not sound prehistoric. It is a fact , and young people should learn about it. ☮️💟
The way he said "Blockbuster", you could tell the narrator thought it was a real shame they closed down.
right? this is how I learned about some games that today turned out to be legendary classics, or underrated gems that were so slept on, the flops as well. my first game was a classic, as a kid, I was shocked to see the mario bros get a non platform game. I’m like, come on, where are the coins, me going to the castle to rescue the princess and stuff, this game is weird! come to find this was Super Mario RPG, what would give way to the paper mario and mario and luigi series. 2 game series that friggin still rule. once I got further into the game and beat it, that ending though, you know it, the one where Geno says goodbye, a complete balling session. oh, and we get cameos, but not him as a playable, I’m sorry, the smash costume don’t fly. we need this dude in full! another good classic was mega man 7.
Regarding Frys, the pandemic really didn’t affect them. I’ve followed a subreddit about the stores and for a couple of years they ran on zero stock. People were waiting for the day they admitted it’s all over. Poor management, poor service. Sad, because the stores once seemed fun and they had quite a following.
Always hated that place. Crappy customer service and this was in the late 90s. I remember any open box item they would mark down I swear 1.87 that’s it..
@@mikethemechanic7395 Frys was almost entirely aimed at tech nerds who liked to build their own stuff and wanted expensive tech. I went a few times and it kinda sucked, even pre pandemic.
Agreed. We went there the last time we know they're in a procces of closing. Nobody was there but 2 of us and the shelves were partially empty an were wonderful why only 3 or 3 employees there. They're gone long a go.
Bad customer service will do a business in much faster than anything else, as word gets around. There are still places today whose management seems to forget that disrespecting the customer can doom them pretty quickly, what with Google reviews and other internet reviewing sites, and word-of-mouth sharing of bad experiences. Good managers know better.
I miss the 2000's!!!!, these stores were relevant......I will never forgive the world on how it is now..
The 2000s were the perfect time for me. Particularly the early 2000s
People from the 80s could say that as well. The good thing is that things aren’t actually worse, but they’re simply changing as literally everything does. Even you don’t really retain the same bodily materials from 7-10 years ago
@Sheldon stfu
Chris J. Long 2 words ruined stores.....JEFF BEZOS
@@brotheldan2009 oh really
I have a few also-mentions to add. Before Toys R Us closed, there was Child World and KB Toys closing; the former being my favorite of the trio. If I'm not mistaken, FAO Schwartz also closed their doors as well. In the category of box stores, we lost others like Two Guys, Caldors (which I often frequented), KMart, Jamesway and Bradlees. I believe Sears may well be on that list. All these stores I have shopped at and enjoyed doing so because each was slightly unique from one another. Today, one Walmart is pretty much like the other. In the category of supermarkets, we used to have a Pathmark on the other side of town. There was also Grand Union three towns over. With electronics, the passing of Radio Shack hit me hard. I bought my Atari XL computer in NYC at a Crazy Eddies, another lost store. We had one at one of our local malls and I bought almost all of my LPS and audiocassettes from that chain.
The impact of losing all these stores is tough. Though not a chain, there was a colossal book store a block or two from the southern start of Central Park that was absolutely enormous. I think it was called The Coliseum. When I discovered it had closed, I was dumbfounded. Most of all my texts on theater and filmmaking were purchased there.
R.I.P. toys R us for the good memories of spiderman & batman action figures... 🌹
Gi Joe's and mad balls for me.
Mighty Morphin Power Rangers and Disney toys for me.
I miss the batman tmnt spongebob marvel cartoon network wonder pets toys and dvds😢🙌
@@KonnerKreed Me too dude
@@johnnyfountainS mad balls…wow
The Toys R Us wound is still fresh…😭
Toys R Us was my childhood
Toy r us was godly 🙂
@deadmatt3 Not where I live…
There is nothing like Toys R Us anymore.... used to love going in there even if it wasn't to buy anything....😭
I didn't buy anything cause it was sooo expensive 😳
But it was still a ton of fun seeing all the toys
Always wanted to go..wish I had!
right? if they ain’t brought it already, I’d just go in to play with the toys on display as if it were mine already.
Walmart’s toy section is the closest thing to Toys R Us
I miss Fry's the most. They even showed my hometown Fry's in Roseville on this video and it nearly made me tear up
Awww... Must have been great 😊
It still hurts me till this day that there’s no Toys R Us anymore I thought it was going to be round until I had kids and grandkids it’s sad to what this world has come to I really wish I could roll back time and go back to being a kid again were Toys R Us was thriving
IDK what happened, but there was last one that reopened in the east, like around the NYC area.
There is one in Canada where I live
There is alot in Israel I once visited Israel and there's alot of open toys r us
I agree
@DJ But the toy sections of Walmart and Target-as grand as they are-pale greatly in comparison to the kids’ nirvana that was and is Toys R Us!
Toys R Us may be gone, but their legacy will never, ever, ever, ever, ever die. Even as an adult, I appreciated how they drew in kids with incredible marketing. I am proud to have been one of those kids. This also came with lots of memories to be made.
well 2021 was the year that they came back inside the american dream mall, and a year later in macy's
And that’s the year when I found out about that. It was surprisingly good news to me!
I sure miss Toys R Us, I used to go there plenty when I was a kid. They had the most awesome selection of toys that were really fun to ogle, and I wanted to buy them all, but obviously I couldn't. It's really sad, we don't seem to see dedicated toy stores anymore. It's just one more wonderful thing about the world that's just gone away.
Check online and visit some of the cities in Canada where they're still open
Toys R Us WILL come back to the US someday!
In fact, they’re already in the process of making a USA comeback!
Toys r us is back!
Yeah
Woolworth's was everywhere in the UK. I spent many a happy hour at the pick and mix counter. I didn't know that Foot locker was derived from Woolworth's. @5:31, Barnes & Noble is also in trouble with a raft of store closures. RadioShack was known as Tandy in the UK and had high street shops in several locations. The shops were closed and the line was taken in-house by Woolworth's. Today, it has an online presence. There was much weeping and wailing and the gnashing of teeth when Toys r us folded.
Ironic that Fry's slogan was "your BEST BUYS guaranteed"
Toys R's Us going out of business really hurt me. That store was a huge part of my childhood. Also some honorable mentions should have been Goody's clothing store and KB Toys.
Yeah. I agree.
Same here.
There's actually 1 blockbuster left that's still open in Oregon
Yes. Only one left and it's also a museum as well.
The video stated this.
I stopped in Bend just to visit that store.
we have a Sam Goodie in Medford, OR too
Just don't watch the Netflix documentary about it, it sucks.
YEP! I live in Bend Oregon and am very glad that our Blockbuster is still alive and well!
Here in the UK we still had Woolworths stores until nearly 2009 when the last one closed, I still remember going in there every week with my grandma to got her utilities and a £2 bag of pick and mix
There’s still lots and lots of Woolworths stores in Australia
@Sheldon everyone watching this video does. Except for few trolls having nothing better to do than posting uncool responses to ppl's comments.
0:39 Circuit City
1:40 A&P
2:50 F.W. Woolworth Company
3:57 Sam Goody
4:43 Borders
5:44 Fry's Electronics
7:06 Linens 'N Things
8:11 Radioshack
9:27 Toys "R" Us
11:47 Blockbuster
Honorable Mentions:
10:26 Esprit
10:38 The Limited
10:50 Ames
11:02 The Sharper Image
Sigh…. A lot of these stores remind me of my “mall rat“ days. I wish Toys “R” Us never had to declare bankruptcy……. Fond memories indeed………
Kaybee toys too. And both B Dalton and Waldenbooks…. Depressing AF
Toys R Us, Circuit City (where my family bought our first computer), Kay-Bee Toys, Sam Goody, Charming Charlie (an accessories shop), Payless Shoe Source, Suncoast Motion Picture Company (practically a carbon copy of Sam Goody), and Hastings Entertainment Store-those were my haunts in my younger days.
ToysRus still exist in my country
You just gotta move to Canada.
I agree that was were my dad and I got all of our games and a lot of my crafts
Radio Shack... that's the one I miss most! I used to cobble together A/V equipment into video game, TV & sound systems all the time. When it came to finding adapters and converters, there was no other option then Radio Shack, and they never failed to have it.
The last time I was in Toys R Us, “I’m Still Standing” by Elton John was on. It doesn’t get more ironic than that.
Well it would be true for Canada because they’re still standing here
@@sblack53 Or in parts of Asia, they're still standing here too
This video was depressing. When the ‘Toys R Us’ song was being sung, I started to tear up. I WANNA BE A TOYS R US KID! 😢
Toy r us kid 😭😭😭*cries and tears up*
@Sheldon You're dead inside. I feel bad for you. 😂
@@monkeystuff661 Nothing is wrong with your comment.
We will always be toys r us kids... they can't take our memories!!!
I remember I go there to get nerf guns
I still cry over the loss of Borders books. I used to spend time there, after my shift at Linens and Things.
The fact that I helped close down some of those stores (online purchasing) really hurts.
Another store that died but due to cancel culture, that I loved, was Steve and Barry's.
Honestly I miss BlockBuster it always made for a fun Friday night as a kid
Hells yeah. Rented countless playstation games from there.
My fondest memory of blockbuster is when I had food poisoning as a kid and threw up right outside the exit door so they had to lock it to stop people stepping in it✌🏼 😂
And they had nearly every movie to pick from, instead of only the small list that your streaming service provider is prepared to pay for.
Did Blockbuster have video games? i used to go when i was a baby and when i was in preschool
@@monkeystuff661 yep they had video games 🙂
I’ll never forget hearing on the news that Toys R Us was going out of business. Even though I was a full aged adult by the time I heard the news (late 20s), I was still really sad cause I had a lot of fond childhood memories from there and the very last time I was ever there was in my very late teenager years to get a top wanted Star Wars source book (kind of like an encyclopedia about the franchise) that I STILL have to this day!
Circuit city Toys “R” Us RadioShack and blockbuster the nostalgia is just to much
@Sheldon Stop being such a jerk!
Being from Massachusetts, I loved Ames, Fry's and a few more on this list. Hated Radio Shack,was a Child World kid that thought Toys -R- Us was a gaff, and every time I went to an FYE here in Texas, I called it Fry's.
Great list. Spot on
how is Montgomery Wards not on this list. A round for a hundred years then gone :(
My grandma used to call it monkey wards.
@@LB-gz3ke Mine too, lol
I mean, that whole industry of discount department stores started to dry up and consolidate. I remember Zayre and JC Penny as well. Sears tried (and failed, and tried, and failed) to make a comeback, only to die off again. The three-headed monster of Amazon, Target, and Wal-Mart destroyed entire industries.
So many good memories at Montgomery wards I remember watching the first men in black movie when it was on vhs on their big screen tv
Winn’s department store isn’t on the list I remember that store they had great toys and stuff same with k’mart and kb toys
Every Friday if I got a 10/10 on my spelling test(s) my dad would take my brother and I to blockbuster to rent 2 movies and 1 video game.
When my sister and I were younger, if we got good marks on our report cards, our mama would take us to Toys R Us and let us pick a toy as a reward.
>sigh< 🎵Memories🎵
I still have a Block Busters rewards card on my keychain 😆
It was a family outting on a Friday night to head to Block Busters, walking up and down the aisles looking for a few movies or tv series to rent. And granted we had 3 tvs each with a dvd player in the house and it was just the 3 of us. 🤣
I also remember going to friends house for a sleep over and renting video games to play.
And the movie style snacks they sold 😌 good times
It’s a shame they didn’t reinvent themselves into the online streaming service or opened up their own production company.
Block Buster had also a good marketing and rewards points scheme going too working with fast food chains.
Wow lol
Good memories from renting at blockbuster. Used to go there every Friday night to rent movies from $0.99 area as well as the wall with picks from the staff.
These stores were primarily located in the New York area (but both had stores in New Jersey, Connecticut, Philadelphia and Baltimore metro areas), Crazy Eddie's (electronics) and Modell's (sporting goods) were well-known, especially in the New York City metropolitan area, are dearly missed. Crazy Eddie's was short-lived due to rapid expansion, while Modell's, after over a century of business, couldn't make enough money to cover its brick-and-mortar locations and not enough revenue for its online business.
I was devastated when Toys R Us closed. I used to love going there when I was a kid. I still have the very first toy I remember getting there. A G3 My Little Pony toy. Star Catcher. She was my favorite toy, and now I keep her as a memento of those happy childhood days
I remember going on the last week before it closed and my mom took a picture of me waving in front of the toys R us sign and there were no toys for me to buy so I took in the last time I will be there
This list is basically every store I grew up with as a child of the 80's in NYC. Very sad. 😔
Indeed😢
i know how you feel its hard to part ways with something you are used tp i miss these stores as well going to the us isn't the same without these stores
Toys R' US and Blockbuster hit my personally because they were absolutely my favorite growing up. Damn shame they had to close thier doors. I miss 'em so much.
Uff! Don’t know where to start here. In the last 30 years I’ve lived here I can remember so many of them and gives me so much nostalgia to see them all gone: my first computer was a TRS80. Radio shack was a main part of my life as an early 80s computer person. Then once in US, Woolworth was my to-go shop for everything. I loved Circuit City and Toys r Us was almost a weekly visit for my kids, even if not shopping was done. I loved Borders store in my neighborhood, and needless to say blockbuster (still keep my membership card!) And I even forgot Linens and Things.
Other big ones not included here are Pan Am, Sears and Kmart.
4:47 -Borders closing was one of the saddest moments of my life.
What is borders?
Did you not watch the video?
@Sheldon Dude can you stfu
I'm shocked Tower Records wasn't on the list. A&P & Woolworth's were already gone gone from the public eye a lifetime by the time stores like Sharper Image, Blockbuster & Fry's came into being and many posters likely never heard of them. But Tower Records changed the way we bought music like Toys R Us changed the way we bought toys.
Thank You! I was trying to remember Tower Records. I lived in NY in the nineties and THAT was my place to go! Looking for all my favorite CDs! And now I am just left with boxes and boxes of CDs not knowing what to do with it. Even the downloading sites Morpheus and MP3fiesta have been replaced by the Spotifys of today. How much the world has changed.
@@randomami8176 I could cry thinking about Tower Records. I thought the one in DC was great. I would go in about 3 pm to browse & buy music & books & when I walked out it was midnight! (lol) Then I went to the one in NYC while visiting. It was even better than the DC location. Oh for time in a bottle with favorite memories. That's my wish.
Farewell to PathMark (an A&P store), me and my girl shall never forget all the fun we had working in the aisles from 2012-2015... They shall always be in our hearts. I would post a picture here if I could. With the heart of a dragon we ride!!!
I too, wish that Toys R Us was still in business! When I collected Hot Wheels back around 2002, I found most of the best deals there!
When I was a child, I can vaguely recall a place called: Union Co-op, that carried the best toys before I ever heard of Toys R Us! My mother bought me a Hot Wheels Fat Track "Giant O" set there! That's what I miss the most about the toys! Hot Wheels Sizzlers!!!
I will always miss Blockbuster. So many good memories.
Circuit City was amazing. I went there almost every day. So many kids have no idea what they missed out on. Blockbuster was everything to me. Still have my membership cards. :(
Circuit City is where my family got our first computer!
Blockbuster. - I’ll never forget those magic words from my parents on a Friday after school.
“Do you want to go to the store and pick up some videos?”
You can’t replicate that sort of experience with streaming services.
Toy's'Rus used to be my favorite store ever! They opened again in Macy's and American Dream, but they don't have bikes, video games, and stuff like before.
Toys R Us was definitely a heartbreaking loss...
But it’s still alive in Canada
@Sheldon Sheldon?!
That’s you?
Oh. My. God
Agreed.
There are 4 stores that I always like to go to as a kid and a teenager. Circuit City, F.Y.E, Toys r us, and Blockbuster. And speaking of F.Y.E, I didn’t even know it was changed into Sam Goody
I loved Tower Records. That music store was my favorite store and always will be, even though is long gone. Can't believe is not mentioned here.
Yeah! It was cool to hang out at Tower when I was a teenager. Those were the days, right?
Toys R Us is sad. Used to be where I'd get NES games as a kid. I remember you'd choose a ticket for the game on the sales floor, then bring that to the cashier and pay. Then they'd take the ticket to this magical room full of video games to grab the associated one. I remember always looking in that room as a kid, full of video games, and being in awe. It was like getting a peak at the ark of the covenant.
well 2021 was the year that they came back inside the american dream mall, and a year later in macy's
I'd love to have a Tower Records store near me right about now.
Me too.
Pointless when you can call up any music on a whim in the device you're holding in your hand right now.
This video is my childhood! I was born in 1986 and I grew up in the 90s!
I’m still sad over the closure of Hastings Entertainment stores.
Me too. My Hastings here in Carlsbad is gone. It's now a Harbor Freight store located at the Northgate Shopping Center right by Rent-A-Center where my Sister Marissa works there. I rented horror movies mostly for Halloween, games on the PS2, Dreamcast, N64, GameCube, Wii and PS3 before they close I got the game cards there my brother Adrian even shopped there. Back then It used to be Anthony's and Later Stage when Stage Stores brought them before Hastings moved to Northgate it used to be at Riverwalk Shopping Center where the Carlsbad Floral Store is currently occupying the former Hastings location where a Nail Salon which is a former Windstream Store is at right by Petco. It's a shame that everybody including me and my brother missed getting the anime T-Shirts as it is very hard to find in such big named stores like Walmart!
Same I loved going to Hastingd
I was really hoping to see Hastings on this list, especially as I've never heard of A&P anyway. My mom worked at one here in Texas for 14 years so I was always there growing up Haha. Sad to see that store as a Planet Fitness now.
It’s sad to see most of my childhood places that are gone