10 Restaruants & Retailers We Miss

[Harp]

Woolworth's . . . Beside being the definitive five and dime store, they had great lunch counters.

My grandmother often took me along with her on Woolworth shopping sprees
and we always stopped at the lunch counter, where waitresses bartended
ice cream sodas and milkshakes.
I liked the comic books and the fish aquarium section which also had turtles.
I caught my own turtles wild in creeks and gullies but I liked to check out the competition.

 

[V.C. Brunswick]

Thrifty's is gone? During my California sojourn in the early 80s, i couldn't get enough of their 15-cent ice cream cones. I could have done without running the gauntlet of bums out front, though, panhandling to buy a mini-six-pack of Night Train, which must've been the second-biggest-selling item in the store behind the ice-cream cones.

I'm pretty sure that Thrifty was subsumed by Rite Aid. All there is around here is CVS, Rite Aid and Walgreens -- the latter has been popping up like mushrooms in recent years. Church's Fried Chicken and Safeway all but disappeared from Southern California as did Dunkin Donuts.

 

[scottyrocks]

No Dunkin Donuts in SoCal? Thats sacrilege! What do you have there - Krispy Kreme or some other?

 

[Big Man]

I miss the S&W cafeteria and Ivey's department store. As a child, we used to go to the "big city" of Asheville, NC on a regular basis. We would almost always eat at the S&W. There was always a group of people who would carry your tray to the table, and I recall we always got one specific lady to carry ours.

I remember Mrs. Hensley who worked in the cloth department at Ivey's. My grandmother always would go there to get cloth for her sewing, and Mrs. Hensley was the person who always waited on her. I also remember there was an elevator at Ivey's that had an operator. The lady wore a brown uniform complete with a little round cap. She sat on a stool and operated the elevator. I can still see the cage door close and the big handle she used to operate the elevator.

That was all so long ago, but the memories are very clear in my mind. Those were great times to grow up.

 

[Diamondback]

Dunkin' Donuts--and most donut shops period--are gone from Washington too. All that's left is the odd mom-'n'-pop and a few Krispy Kremes moving in...

 

[CharlieB]

I'm pretty sure that Thrifty was subsumed by Rite Aid. All there is around here is CVS, Rite Aid and Walgreens -- the latter has been popping up like mushrooms in recent years. Church's Fried Chicken and Safeway all but disappeared from Southern California as did Dunkin Donuts.

You are correct. I worked at Rite Aid in IT at that time and was part of the acquisition of Thrifty and Payless into Rite Aid. I left RA in 1999 when they started to have financial issues, and have not looked back!

 

[V.C. Brunswick]

No Dunkin Donuts in SoCal? Thats sacrilege! What do you have there - Krispy Kreme or some other?

Dunkin Donuts had a brief presence in SoCal back in the early '80s and then they folded. There is a couple of Krispy Kremes out here.

 

[Harp]

Dunkin' Donuts--and most donut shops period--are gone from Washington too. All that's left is the odd mom-'n'-pop and a few Krispy Kremes moving in...

...beaucoup DD here in Illinois. KK ditto. It's a slugfest I tell 'ya. :boxing:

 

[Diamondback]

Heck, I just wish we still had Winchell's... unfortunately, a lot of the few non-KK shops we have left are in less-than-pleasant parts of their towns... almost like they stay there 'cause they know that's where the cops are gonna be.

 

[Harp]

Heck, I just wish we still had Winchell's...

adjust, adapt, and make the terrain work to your advantage...
DD is my brand but the java there just doesn't jive...gotta get my fill at Seven-Eleven.

 

[Diamondback]

fftopic: Oh, ya mean like networking with the cops more so they're more likely to arrange a ride-along when I need a fix?lol

 

[Harp]

fftopic: Oh, ya mean like networking with the cops more so they're more likely to arrange a ride-along when I need a fix?lol

only in Chicago; otherwise, "walk the wild side" to DD.:ranger:

 

[scottyrocks]

You cant walk down the street here without tripping over a Dunkin Donuts.

 

[V.C. Brunswick]

Heck, I just wish we still had Winchell's

At one time Winchell's virtually dotted the urban landscape here. Now there's just a small handfull of them scattered here and there. Fortunately one of them is not too far from me!

 

[rue]

At one time Winchell's virtually dotted the urban landscape here. Now there's just a small handfull of them scattered here and there. Fortunately one of them is not too far from me!

Every single Sunday of my childhood, my dad would pick up a dozen really early in the morning and we would have fresh donuts. Maple bars were my favorite. I can't believe that most of them are gone Is the one in Arcadia, Ca still there??

 

[rue]

I just found out that Little Joes in LA is gone and it was demolished :cry: I used to eat there with my parents at least once a month as a kid. You can read about it here: http://articles.latimes.com/1998/oct/08/local/me-30374

 

[Fletch]

Younkers' flagship store at 7th and Walnut in Des Moines.

From 1899 to 2005 this was the classic full-service Big Store. My great-aunt worked in their embroidery department in 1918. In 1939 they put in the first escalator in the entire state of Iowa. I got my first pair of glasses made there in 1974, and my first set of Fiesta ware in 1998.

 

[charminglane]

No, Rue, it is now a Pizza Hut!!!
I grew up on Highland Oaks right up the street.
Little Joes is gone, however the signage still stands. There is talk of reinventing the restaurant for a revival.

 

[rue]

No, Rue, it is now a Pizza Hut!!!
I grew up on Highland Oaks right up the street.
Little Joes is gone, however the signage still stands. There is talk of reinventing the restaurant for a revival.

A Pizza Hut?? What is this world coming to?? I hope they do bring it back. They had the best mozzarella ever

Highland Oaks was the name of my grade school in Arcadia.

 

[Mr. Hallack]

You cant walk down the street here without tripping over a Dunkin Donuts.

Same here in Maine, well except Camden, but I'm not gonna start about them!!