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yahabbibi t1_j21r24q wrote

Now I want Lechmere and Building 19, too!

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socialist_frzn_milk t1_j222uw9 wrote

BRING BACK SPAG’S

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Masshole1981 t1_j25ztpz wrote

SPAGS had no Bags! I remember having to say that to myself to remember to bring in one when I went. Kinda funny now.

3

Prometheus357 t1_j21x3z6 wrote

Ollie’s is practically B19. Same dude and esthetic

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sir_mrej t1_j22ltog wrote

Same dude??

3

Prometheus357 t1_j23fzwf wrote

Same

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BrendanBSharp t1_j23stx6 wrote

Similar mascot dude. Same art designer. Ollie’s now owns the Building 19 trademarks.

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Crayonbreaking t1_j25g7go wrote

That explains so much. They are so similar in so many ways. Now I know why I thought Ollie’s was just copying building 19. They are.

1

BrendanBSharp t1_j263gef wrote

They coexisted for years (Ollie’s in Pennsylvania and Building 19 in Massachusetts) and must’ve gotten along good enough that it was ok to have the same freelance cartoonist doing the ads for both chains... their store locations never overlapped anyway. The cartoonist is Mat Brown; he’s from Scituate.

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sir_mrej t1_j25asz8 wrote

Oooh similar-looking mascot. I gotcha. I thought you meant they had the same founder. They did not. I was just confused, I'm good now

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cheerocc t1_j22bs8h wrote

Building 19 was awesome.

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wheres_ur_up_dog t1_j22rlzt wrote

I bought a fishing lure and then went to the candy room while my dad bought a rug and my mom got stockings. Building 19 was like a whole yard sale with weird cartoon ads ...that I used to look forward to seeing in the paper for reasons I can't explain. Guy looked like John from Garfield maybe?

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DMala t1_j23xrtl wrote

That’s funny, I remember enjoying the Building 19 ads, too. As I recall they had a sort of a Mad Magazine vibe.

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PWL9000 t1_j277afz wrote

There were also "hidden" (small print) jokes and riddles in the flyer.

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wheres_ur_up_dog t1_j27c9az wrote

If I were more code literate I would have responded with this gif... but, contrary to what all of the boomers I worked with, I am not in fact able to code anything on any website or program. In reality I am just another millennial who only had 2 years of "computer" class in the early 2000's. Which was just the worst math teacher (who was given the choice of teaching "computers" or being fired), or the librarian who just lost their free period, listlessly making a bunch of 7th graders play mario typing or letting us play zoombinis or kidpix. We ended up learning to type cuz of AIM and rudimentary code from Myspace, and are competent with most technology/programs because we were curious enough to figure them out rather than like those wrinkly douches shake their fists and refuse to learn. ... Yeah, I'm still bitter that an exec made a scene about how I couldn't overlay what he was describing in realtime onto a projection of the architect's drawings.

1

BlindBeard t1_j23p5l6 wrote

I won't rest until I can walk into Benny's again and buy generic motor oil and pool chlorine and a winter jacket all within 20 steps of each other

7

Kodiak01 t1_j23xq8d wrote

Then Caldor, Service Merchandise and Steigers.

4

sightlab t1_j25iir8 wrote

I never fully understood Service Merchandise's sales model. Was it cheaper to have a showroom in the mall and a big stockroom elsewhere...in the mall?

1

Kodiak01 t1_j25lemq wrote

Back then it was. The stockroom was not always in the building however, in some cases things were shipped direct to the customer. The Green Stamps redemption store was the same way.

My father actually belonged to a membership version of one of these clubs in the 90s. You would pay this huge membership fee, then go into a location that was nothing but hundreds of catalogs on the walls. You'd pick out what you wanted, filled out an order form, and it was shipped to you.

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HOARDING_STACKING t1_j21tlmi wrote

BRING BACK CALDOR

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fireball_jones t1_j23v1ft wrote

It ain't a recession until the only colors left in the world are brown, orange, and a particularly sad shade of off-white.

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riefpirate t1_j2369h9 wrote

Yea there's not enough minimum wage jobs let's make more !!

4

Valuable-Baked t1_j22cwn5 wrote

Service Merchandise confirmed

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nocolon t1_j23npda wrote

Had to scroll too far to find Service Merchandise.

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Gilgamesh72 t1_j23rqzw wrote

They kept it in the back with all the merchandise

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QueenCelis t1_j24vvbh wrote

My husband got his wedding band at Service Merchandise. That store really had everything. And the best catalog.

2

Valuable-Baked t1_j259xam wrote

Many a memory of the Square One Mall Service Merchandise, now a mega TJ Maxx Home Goods

2

codeQueen t1_j22catx wrote

I stole a bunch of keychains from Ames in Fairhaven when I was like 7 years old. My mom made me bring them all back and had the security lady scare the shit out of me and tell me I was going to jail.

✨ Memories ✨

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DMala t1_j2412cc wrote

When I worked at the Walmart in Fairhaven, just before the Ames closed, a manager from there came into Walmart (with his kid!) and pitched a very public fit about how our shelf tagging was inaccurate and how we were ripping people off.

In the moment, I had no idea he was anything other than a crabby customer, but the manager who came to help me deal with this situation told me later who he was. I don’t know if he hoped to achieve something or was just venting his spleen. My manager filed a complaint against him with Ames, I never heard of anything more came of it.

2

Unique-Public-8594 t1_j21r757 wrote

They went bankrupt once before trying to compete with Walmart, back when there was no Amazon. This will not go well.

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yahabbibi t1_j2237ta wrote

Walmart was Amazon before there was Amazon. Still kinda is.

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johnny_cash_money t1_j223r0c wrote

Sears was Amazon first. You could buy an entire house out of a catalog back in the day.

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partybanana t1_j22ids0 wrote

"Yesterday? Yesterday you said you'd order it on Amazon."

"I'll order it today."

"You'll order it now."

"...I'll order it now."

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DMala t1_j23z5v2 wrote

Sears could have literally been Amazon. They had all the infrastructure and could have crushed Amazon the second they tried to be anything more than a bookstore. But they decided the internet was just a fad, and now they’re just a sad shell and won’t be around much longer.

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RedRedditRedemption2 t1_j2512yn wrote

Funnily enough, there's still a Sears store in Braintree. I think it used to have three floors, but Primark bought out the third floor in 2015 and the Sears store has only had two levels ever since. At least it received a renovation, especially on the outside!

I'm also pretty sure it's the last Sears store in the entirety of New England. I have no clue how it has managed to last so long. Braintree was the town I grew up in, so it blows my mind that Sears is still there!

2

Crayonbreaking t1_j25gq3k wrote

Sears management has been terrible since the 70’s. They were already dying then and they were so amazing for so long it just took 40 years to kill them.

2

riefpirate t1_j236bvb wrote

Bring back Childworld !!!

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m8k t1_j23rsog wrote

Yes please. Many hours were spent in the Danvers store across from Liberty Tree (back when they still had the tree and it was the “cool” mall). I loved that place.

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nebirah OP t1_j24bxkk wrote

I don't know Danvers, but Child World was the reason my family went to the Dedham Mall. That and Toys r Us.

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m8k t1_j24ct1n wrote

We never did a lot at Toys R Us because they were pricier so it was Childworld and a similar store that was in Newburyport for a while in the early 90s but is now a Marshalls.

1

cmcrich t1_j21xsbm wrote

I’d love to have Filene’s back.

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cheerocc t1_j22c09b wrote

I got caught shoplifting there as a 12 year old, you think they still have my files? If so, who's down to go get it?!?!

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mskrabapel t1_j22bw59 wrote

Any hope for Windsor Button?

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rob691369 t1_j21xdaq wrote

Will be cool for nostalgia, but I don't think they will last...

9

Wanderiing_Star t1_j222cln wrote

Target and/or Walmart will most likely roflstomp Ames before they can ever get much of a toehold in the retail sector again, while Amazon cackles evilly in the distance...

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RedRedditRedemption2 t1_j252qsi wrote

Who knows? Maybe something nice will come out of their return. We'll just have to wait and see what happens.

1

TheTr7nity t1_j22nbyy wrote

Service Merchandise… we are patiently waiting!

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jamescobalt t1_j231iz4 wrote

But it was such a bland brand and utilitarian shopping experience. What’s their hook?

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nick-j- t1_j251bs4 wrote

A cheaper Target but classier than Walmart?

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jamescobalt t1_j252mtk wrote

Maybe, but our local Ames, at least, was not classier than Walmart. The Walmart that helped put it out of business was nicer in every respect expect maybe staff friendliness.

1

Nogodsnomasters t1_j2220hb wrote

Yes to Ames! Also Lechmere and Steiger's. Remember Steiger's?

7

AbbreviationsFar7867 t1_j224i3z wrote

My mom worked at Steiger's in the late 1980s. There was one in the Eastfield Mall in Springfield. There was another across from what was then Baystate West in downtown Springfield.

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sightlab t1_j25jo0e wrote

There was one in the Hampshire Mall when the Hampshire Mall was thriving and had a food court that looked like an old-timey town square (with Steigers as the big central feature store) and the adjacent West Mountain Farms mall (or, colloquially, the "DEAD MALL") was an empty husk with 1 chinese restaurant, 1 AMC muliplex, and a sunday flea market in the massive anchor space at the end. Now the West Farms area is the thriving (if awful) walmart/wholefoods/barnes & noble/old navy etc plaza and the Hampshire Mall is an increasingly empty anachronism that folks now refer to as the DEAD MALL.

2

Nogodsnomasters t1_j25uydi wrote

Yes! I even remember the grand opening of Mountain Farms Mall. They were supposed to drop ping pong balls from a helicopter with prize codes on them, but it got called off due to a tornado warning or something, and some guy just threw handfuls off of the roof instead. Before the Hampshire Mall was built right next to it, Mountain Farms Mall was the big deal. I remember being highly impressed with the water wheel.

But Hampshire Mall with the old town theme and the Roller skating (Interskate 91) was so exciting back in the day.

1

jaybee62 t1_j23cab3 wrote

Mammoth Mart

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sightlab t1_j25ko1s wrote

My sister assumed Mammoth Mart was where she had to buy her new parents once I was born, so she'd wander off and sidle up to young couples in the store. My parents couldn't figure out why they'd find her forlornly following mildly annoyed strangers around.

2

cokane_88 t1_j23dlxj wrote

Ocean State Job Lots, reminds me of Ames.

The house I bought from an old lady has an Ames branded water hose rack out back.

We had "The Fair" in Southbridge and Ames in Sturbridge 30 years ago. My buddy gifted me some old fishing stuff all had the fair stickers on em, nostalgia.

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Cloudstar86 t1_j23rmmz wrote

The Ocean State Job Lot in my city used to be an Ames!

3

BrendanBSharp t1_j23s3tu wrote

The Ames company that makes hoses and garden stuff is an entirely different company.

3

DMala t1_j241cbn wrote

Yeah, I was gonna say, I have an Ames shovel that I bought at Home Depot.

2

shankthedog t1_j22p1iu wrote

Fayva, they only sell the right shoe

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kw66 t1_j2375ql wrote

Filene’s Basement anyone?

3

Elementium t1_j23o0tg wrote

Ames is my childhood. Walmart killed it and now it's a Job Lot. Still at the end of the day.. How will it compete any better now?

What I really miss is K Mart. Right until the end those mofos had VHS tapes for sale.

3

Mr-Chewy-Biteums t1_j25g9e3 wrote

The KMart in my town was one of the last. It held out until just before COVID. It had just begun its going-out-of-business sale when COVID started to get big, so they just called it a day. I wonder how much stuff is still in there.

​

Thank you

1

Sylvio_ t1_j23xlvf wrote

I knew they saved that one in Seabrook for a reason

3

nick-j- t1_j251h6i wrote

I taught my ex to learn how to drive in that parking lot, it’s still up?

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JoshSidekick t1_j2403ym wrote

I'll put my vote in for The Fair to come back next.

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oldcreaker t1_j248hez wrote

I can't remember the last time I was in a department store. I wonder how they will change up their model - clearly the previous one wasn't working.

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RedRedditRedemption2 t1_j254nuv wrote

Really? Have you ever exited your house by any chance?

They went bankrupt because they bought out a crap ton of competitors and took on a load of debt as a result. Their rapid expansion became an issue and it ultimately tanked the company. The "new" Ames likely won't have piss-poor management.

1

liquidcarbohydrates t1_j23kzzf wrote

Radio shack!

1

cheerocc t1_j242wq9 wrote

I was fixing a broken wire the other day and was using solders that came from there.

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BrendanBSharp t1_j263luc wrote

Ames isn’t really coming back.

1

Snufflarious t1_j26js42 wrote

Ima pass on this one. Some investors bought the name. What is it about Ames that they even could resurrect?

1

CLS4L t1_j22ma4c wrote

Zades

0