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Defunct Stores/restaurants you remember.

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J

JGS

Banned
Radio Shack saved my kids' science fair projects. I never want them to go out of business. They keep building them here so I'm assuming they're doing OK in US.
Ducky_McGee said:
rallys-michigan-saginaw.jpg


They still have a website so I guess they still exist. I dunno.

But I haven't seen one in ages. The fries were the bomb diggity yo.
Click to expand...
There are 5 or 6 of them in my city and they commercials all the time. They are probably just regional.
 
D

Dishwalla

Banned
Ultimate Electronics
ulimate.jpg

Don't know how widespread this store was. This was the location in my hometown of Boise, ID shortly after it closed.
 
R

Ra\/en

Member
JGS said:
Radio Shack saved my kids' science fair projects. I never want them to go out of business. They keep building them here so I'm assuming they're doing OK in US.
There are 5 or 6 of them in my city and they commercials all the time. They are probably just regional.
Click to expand...



Alright!.. I guess I just never personally saw a need for them, and got a really annoying vibe from the employees there. They must make money somehow, because there are a crapload of em.
 
P

Piggus

Member
I'm not surprised Radioshack is still in business. A lot of people don't order things like video cables and adapters online. Computer-related stuff as well. For example I've set up a lot of wireless networks for people's homes and when I tell them they need a wireless router, their first response is "Can I get that at Radioshack?"

They're also handy for when you're on a trip somewhere and can't order online. I wouldn't buy from them normally (I bet they make huge profit on their mediocre cables) but I have shopped there while on a trip and in need of a phone charger or power inverter or other stuff like that.
 
R

Ra\/en

Member
Piggus said:
I'm not surprised Radioshack is still in business. A lot of people don't order things like video cables and adapters online. Computer-related stuff as well. For example I've set up a lot of wireless networks for people's homes and when I tell them they need a wireless router, their first response is "Can I get that at Radioshack?"

They're also handy for when you're on a trip somewhere and can't order online. I wouldn't buy from them normally (I bet they make huge profit on their mediocre cables) but I have shopped there while on a trip and in need of a phone charger or power inverter or other stuff like that.
Click to expand...

Actually now that you mention it, I was on a road trip with a friend a few years ago, and he lost his phone charger. We bought him a new one at Radio Shack :p.
 
V

VanWinkle

Member
Ponderosa2B.jpg


Apparently there are still a few around, but I haven't seen one in YEARS.

large_kbtoys_closing.jpg


Loved this store growing up. I didn't go to the mall for several years and one time I came back because I wanted to see old KB Toys and reminisce and it simply wasn't there. Didn't even know it had gone out of business.
 
S

Satyamdas

Banned
Anyone here remember Carlos Murphy's?

I don't know if it was regional, but the one we went to was in the bay area. Pleasant Hill, Ca., across from the Sun Valley Mall. I used to love that place as a kid. Oddly enough, I can't find one exterior picture of Carlos Murphy's, there isn't a wikipedia entry, and I can't find any information other than that the company that owned the chain was gobbled up by a Japanese food conglomerate in 1990. Seems there were 16 Carlos Murphy's restaurants, but every trace of them has been wiped off the map for whatever reason.

All I could find were these 2 pics of their drinks and appetizers menu (which sold for $12 on some auction site, lol), and a pic of their logo and the t-shirt they sold.

ATmAi.gif

UXNcJ.gif

voag7.jpg

T16n4.jpg
 
C

Count Dookkake

Member
Satyamdas said:
Anyone here remember Carlos Murphy's?

I don't know if it was regional, but the one we went to was in the bay area. Pleasant Hill, Ca., across from the Sun Valley Mall. I used to love that place as a kid. Oddly enough, I can't find one exterior picture of Carlos Murphy's, there isn't a wikipedia entry, and I can't find any information other than that the company that owned the chain was gobbled up by a Japanese food conglomerate in 1990. Seems there were 16 Carlos Murphy's restaurants, but every trace of them has been wiped off the map for whatever reason.

All I could find were these 2 pics of their drinks and appetizers menu (which sold for $12 on some auction site, lol), and a pic of their logo and the t-shirt they sold.

ATmAi.gif

UXNcJ.gif

voag7.jpg

T16n4.jpg
Click to expand...

I used to go to one in suburban Chicago.
 
aparisi2274

aparisi2274

Member
slit said:
Oh damn, I remember Shoney's. I didn't know they went out of business.
Click to expand...

Damn, I didn't know they went out of business either. Every time I went down to FL, I made sure to stop at their breakast buffet.

Anyway... here are some stores I remember:

restau72.jpg


farrells_pig-big-web1.jpg


Korvettes.JPG


06_Sam+Goody_AlexandriaMall_GGP.jpg


rollnroasterexterior.jpg

--Roll N Roaster has one shop left, and it's in Brooklyn. If there are others, let me know--

TimeOut.jpg
 
E

Eric C

Member
water_wendi said:
Phar-Mor. Used to have really cheap video game rentals there. Like 50 cents or something for a week.
Click to expand...

YES! I used to rent all my video games there. I would've missed out on SO many games without renting them from Phar-Mor.
IynzB.jpg

lLs7Ql.jpg

I really miss renting games from Phar-Mor.
 
S

Satyamdas

Banned
Count Dookkake said:
I used to go to one in suburban Chicago.
Click to expand...
Yeah I'm finding random forum posts where people are asking if anyone else remembers the place, and they are from cities like Tuscon, Vegas, San Diego, Kalamazoo, etc.

There's a facebook group "I Miss Carlos Murphy's" and this dude posted:

Larry McMarlin Nice page, thanks Michelle. I worked at several of the Carlos Murphys. Southfield, Kalamazoo, Kansas City, Norfolk and VA beach. I also opened three of these in CA. It was a good 12 years.

Hard to believe there isn't one picture of the inside or outside of one of these locations on the internet. Maybe my google-fu is slipping.

aparisi2274 said:
TimeOut.jpg
Click to expand...
Woah. Do you happen to know where this picture was taken? Because I'm like 54% sure it is from the Fox Hills Mall. The Time-Out there was situated in the corner just like that and it had those exact same steps right in front. Then again they probably used the same layout in a lot of locations and I'm sure being in a corner was pretty common too. So I'm more like 36% sure now.
 
M

MC Safety

Member
I worked in a TSS (Times Square Store) the summer before I went to college. It was a low-rent department store (chain?) with an even more low-rent pet center.

I had to dress up in a shirt and tie to scoop dead fish, take abuse from angry housewives, and get electrocuted each and every time I went to clean the fish tanks. TSS didn't close fast enough.

Oh, and I'm old enough to remember chain stores such as Alexander's and Gimbel's.
 
aparisi2274

aparisi2274

Member
Satyamdas said:
Yeah I'm finding random forum posts where people are asking if anyone else remembers the place, and they are from cities like Tuscon, Vegas, San Diego, Kalamazoo, etc.

There's a facebook group "I Miss Carlos Murphy's" and this dude posted:

Larry McMarlin Nice page, thanks Michelle. I worked at several of the Carlos Murphys. Southfield, Kalamazoo, Kansas City, Norfolk and VA beach. I also opened three of these in CA. It was a good 12 years.

Hard to believe there isn't one picture of the inside or outside of one of these locations on the internet. Maybe my google-fu is slipping.


Woah. Do you happen to know where this picture was taken? Because I'm like 54% sure it is from the Fox Hills Mall. The Time-Out there was situated in the corner just like that and it had those exact same steps right in front. Then again they probably used the same layout in a lot of locations and I'm sure being in a corner was pretty common too. So I'm more like 36% sure now.
Click to expand...

I have no idea where that pic of Time Out was taken. I just found it on Google. I used to have one in my mall too, but it was more open than that pic. Still though, I miss the days of handing some guy a $5 and getting 20 quarters back.
 
K

KnightAttack

Member
outunderthestars said:
6068843223_e80b4b6cdf.jpg


A guy can dream......
Click to expand...

It has happened, at least at one in Canada. The employees at a Quebec one tried to Unionize, so Wal-Mart closed the store instead.

Wal-Mart's around for the indefinite future.



Looking around this thread, it's kinda cool seeing a bunch of old logos and bringing back fond memories. Glad to see the Canadian Reps as well. I forgot about all the stores we've lost, and how many there have been recently at that.
 
R

RoryDropkick

Member
Locally a couple of places come to mind.. Rooty's, which was a burger place that had all you can drink root beer, and all you can play pinball.

I miss Aladdin's Castle...

I also miss locally Game World, they were a good store.
 
L

Lissar

Reluctant Member
Piggus said:
Woah. I'm 90% certain that pic was taken at the mall nearest to me lol. That Software Etc is still open there by the way (Medford, OR.) I was in there just a few days ago. :)

EDIT: this is different view from that mall

black-friday.preview.jpg


Gotta be the same.
Click to expand...

Gasp! I remember this mall. It has been years since I was there though. I only lived in the area for three or so years. Not that I was very close, I only went to school in Shady Cove/Eagle Point, but Medford was the closest almost city. I remember buying so many books there.

Anyway, I loved Software Etc. That was the store that popped into my head when I saw this topic. I remember there being so many old point and click adventure games there at the time. I have a vivid memory of purchasing King's Quest IV at that place. Now of course it is a Gamestop. Ah well.
 
N

N4Us

Member
I miss GameCrazy a lot. I bought a full Dreamcast set with several games for only like $40 a few months after it was discontinued there. They had a retro selection for quite a while but stopped it near the end of their life. I just remember the sad day when I decided to go check out some of the stores and I drove around and all of them were closed up.
 
A

Adam Blade

WWKC
I see people have already mentioned Fedco, but I don't think anyone has mentioned Builder's Emporium yet. I still have an old musical Christmas tree bell set from them.

Shoutout to BEST, too.
 
B

Buddha Beam

Banned
There was a small video rental chain called Star Flix in the area I grew up in. It felt so wrong when they went under, since I spent god knows how much time there renting movies and games as a kid.
...and trying to sneak into the adults only section :D

We bought our Super Nintendo from them used. They gave us a copy of A Link to the Past for free, too. They also gave us the padded briefcase they put it in when loaning it out. The cat sure loved sleeping in it.
 
A

Alfarif

This picture? uhh I can explain really!
Slayven said:
shoneys.jpg



Best Breakfast Buffet ever
Click to expand...

Oh shit. OH SHIT. I almost forgot about Shoneys! They had the ULTIMATE breakfast buffet because you could go up and grab like 300 waffle strips, then drizzle them bitches in some SCALDING HOT blueberry syrup complete with HOT AS HELL real blueberries then sprinkle mass powder all over them. Oh god... I want some right now.
 
K

Ketchup Boy

Junior Member
Sizzlers. Liked their buffets...I guess it's just a nostalgic feeling. And Roy Rogers is dank! There's still one around in my area, but man, they dun disappeared. Love their fried chicken and biscuits. Definitely gotta stop by there, again...at least I hope that it is still there.
 
P

Parallax

best seen in the classic "Shadow of the Beast"
so many memories in this thread. fedco going under was a sad day

Ducky_McGee said:
rallys-michigan-saginaw.jpg


They still have a website so I guess they still exist. I dunno.

But I haven't seen one in ages. The fries were the bomb diggity yo.
Click to expand...

come to la. they are pretty frequent down here. they even have chicken wings now!
 
P

Piggus

Member
Lissar said:
Gasp! I remember this mall. It has been years since I was there though. I only lived in the area for three or so years. Not that I was very close, I only went to school in Shady Cove/Eagle Point, but Medford was the closest almost city. I remember buying so many books there.

Anyway, I loved Software Etc. That was the store that popped into my head when I saw this topic. I remember there being so many old point and click adventure games there at the time. I have a vivid memory of purchasing King's Quest IV at that place. Now of course it is a Gamestop. Ah well.
Click to expand...

Ha! Small world. I'm from Ashland. And whenever we go to that mall Software Etc is usually the first store I walk into. I haven't bought anything there for at least a year but I still go in out of habit. >_<

That particular one is still Software Etc I think... What used to be EB Games across from it is now a Gamestop. I could be wrong though. I was there to finish up Christmas shopping about a week ago and didn't have time to go into either of the game stores.
 
C

cr_blah_blah

Member
Ducky_McGee said:
rallys-michigan-saginaw.jpg


They still have a website so I guess they still exist. I dunno.

But I haven't seen one in ages. The fries were the bomb diggity yo.
Click to expand...

Came to post this. We used to have them all around South Texas and they've been gone for at least 13 years or more. They were great when I was a kid. Didn't they turn in Red Lines (or something) for a while? Or maybe that was just here.
 
L

Lissar

Reluctant Member
Piggus said:
Ha! Small world. I'm from Ashland. And whenever we go to that mall Software Etc is usually the first store I walk into. I haven't bought anything there for at least a year but I still go in out of habit. >_<

That particular one is still Software Etc I think... What used to be EB Games across from it is now a Gamestop. I could be wrong though. I was there to finish up Christmas shopping about a week ago and didn't have time to go into either of the game stores.
Click to expand...

Yeah, in Eugene the Valley River Center Software Etc. turned into a Gamestop. It's still really weird for me because I always imagine Software Etc. being there even though I know it's a Gamestop now.

Ashland is one of my favorite towns! When I lived down there I did this art program there. I bought a sword there too, once :eek: Weird stores. I still visit every year to go to the theater of course.
 
W

Wubby

Member
jooey said:
685030485_2d7875f95f.jpg


saw and played with my first computers there.
bought a little gold necklace when I was 11 to try and be cool there.
uhhh... bought Streets of Rage 2 and 3 there.
Click to expand...

A lot of my toys and video games growing up came from the Best in Montclair, CA. I loved that store... Kinda weird that after it closed it was empty until Best Buy came around.

Also

Fedcologo.jpg


Used to go to the one in Ontario a lot growing up. I think my first NES came from Fedco. I know my GameBoy did.
 
G

G-Fex

Member
Wubby said:
A lot of my toys and video games growing up came from the Best in Montclair, CA. I loved that store... Kinda weird that after it closed it was empty until Best Buy came around..
Click to expand...

HAHA Someone knows the BEST in Montclair. Yeah it's Best Buy now. I was heartbroken when BEST closed, same with Montgomery Wards around the corner, especially Electric Ave section in Montgomery Wards.
 
V

VertPin

Member
Lissar said:
Gasp! I remember this mall. It has been years since I was there though. I only lived in the area for three or so years. Not that I was very close, I only went to school in Shady Cove/Eagle Point, but Medford was the closest almost city. I remember buying so many books there.

Anyway, I loved Software Etc. That was the store that popped into my head when I saw this topic. I remember there being so many old point and click adventure games there at the time. I have a vivid memory of purchasing King's Quest IV at that place. Now of course it is a Gamestop. Ah well.
Click to expand...

ohmyGOD I LOVED that mall. I remember at Software Etc. They had this statue of Mario...I would always go and hug it. man ;c
 
Z

Zapages

Member
slit said:
images24.jpg


I know why Ames went out of business. The places were dirty with merchandise scattered all over the place. However, the one near me used to have an awesome arcade. I would play for hours.


So, for good or bad, what are some of the long, gone places you remember frequenting?
Click to expand...

I remember my local Jamesway became Ames. I was like wtf... Same old same old with different logo. lol
 
D

DSFan1970

Member
aparisi2274 said:
Damn, I didn't know they went out of business either. Every time I went down to FL, I made sure to stop at their breakast buffet.

Anyway... here are some stores I remember:



rollnroasterexterior.jpg

--Roll N Roaster has one shop left, and it's in Brooklyn. If there are others, let me know--

[/IMG]
Click to expand...

Roll n Roaster had a location in the lower east side at one point now closed and I thought they has one in Staten Island? This and Brennan and Carrs and I am a happy man. Brooklyn is the best!
 
I

iirate

Member
thebeeks said:
Hopefully DallasGAF remembers Pennywhistle Park.

3Ewy6.jpg


Killed by Showbiz Pizza which was later killed by Chuck E Cheese.
Click to expand...

This was a place that I always wanted to visit. I was a little too young when it went under, but my older siblings and mom spoke fondly of it.

OJdaKiller said:
pizza1.jpg
Click to expand...

THIS however, I remember. At least, I do after this post... =(

VanWinkle said:
http://blog.mlive.com/chronicle/news_impact/2008/12/large_kbtoys_closing.jpg[/IMG]

Loved this store growing up. I didn't go to the mall for several years and one time I came back because I wanted to see old KB Toys and reminisce and it simply wasn't there. Didn't even know it had gone out of business.
Click to expand...

Yep, KB was my favorite as a kid, simply because they always seemed to have clearance sales on Spider-man action figures. Now I know why.
 
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