I was just thinking of when I was hitchhiking through Ohio in 1978, and me and my brother Glenn ditched out of a Howard-Johnson's without paying, and it got me to thinking "Whatever happened to Howard Johnsons?"
Also- Ben Franklin dime stores (I reckon they would be called Dollar stores now), Burger Chef, Stuckety's, Carol's (served good hot dogs), or WaldenBooks- where I used to splurge on horror film books.
Do you recall any vanished chains?
So many... remember Tower Records, Borders' books? The Internet killed off a bunch of non-grocery retailers. Sears, JC Penney (there may still be some Penny's around). I think there are a few Howard Johnson's left, I could be wrong. As kids, we used to love to eat at Chi-Chi's. I see they may be coming back.
Here we had the Central News Agency, known to all as the CNA and at these stores, you could buy stationery, books, sweets, cold drinks, magazines, records, tapes, CDs, video cassettes and later DVDs and Blu-rays.
They also sold cell phones and laptops and during the early 90s held the majority shares in NuMetro, our second largest theater chain.
In the 2000s, they were sold off at a loss and one by one, the brick and mortar stores closed. I believe you can still buy from them online but all the stores have now gone. Very sad.
Quote from: Rev. Powell on April 30, 2025, 10:20:16 AMI think there are a few Howard Johnson's left, I could be wrong.
I just looked it up- the last Howard Johnson's retaurant closed in 2022.
Two other chain stores we had here were MUSICA and LOOK & LISTEN. Both specialized in music and movies on all formats but the arrival of online shopping eventually put them both out of business.
L&L went under because of their high prices: I once saw that they had a bare bones DVD of the movie MONA LISA for ZAR600!! ($33) 😳😳😳😳
In Texas when I was a kid, there was a nice variety store called TG&Y.
And, more recently the entire Hastings chain went out of business. I MISS that place!
Here in Germany, WOM (World of Music) was a retail company for the sale of recorded music. They pretty much had everything and even more, including imports from all over the world.
It was my favorite place to go, and the stores were always packed with people. WOM was eventually bought by another retailer, and the new owner closed all stores in 1994.
Quote from: RCMerchant on April 30, 2025, 08:26:47 AMI was just thinking of when I was hitchhiking through Ohio in 1978, and me and my brother Glenn ditched out of a Howard-Johnson's without paying, and it got me to thinking "Whatever happened to Howard Johnsons?"
that's like something out of a comedy.
"hey remember that place we used to run out of without paying, what happened to them?"
"well they went out of business cause people kept running out without paying"
"ah jeez, that's too bad!"
Quote from: zombie no.one on May 01, 2025, 08:07:52 AMQuote from: RCMerchant on April 30, 2025, 08:26:47 AMI was just thinking of when I was hitchhiking through Ohio in 1978, and me and my brother Glenn ditched out of a Howard-Johnson's without paying, and it got me to thinking "Whatever happened to Howard Johnsons?"
that's like something out of a comedy.
"hey remember that place we used to run out of without paying, what happened to them?"
"well they went out of business cause people kept running out without paying"
"ah jeez, that's too bad!"
😳🤣😂🤣😅😅🤣😂😀🐢
It's not exactly a store, but apparently Red Box is going away. Getting so you can't get a physical copy of a movie anywhere anymore.
^I don't think any video rental outlets are around anymore. Blockbuster went the way of the dino's long ago.
Not any record stores anywhere either. They had a great one in Kalamazoo back in the 70's and 80's called Boogie Records, and that store sits empty now. Sigh. :bluesad:
Though there are comic book stores, but try finding one at a newsstand or such. Never happen.
We have several independently owned record stores here (they all specialize in vinyl, not sure you can buy a CD at any of them).
Yeah there is quite a few Record stores around here too. I think some of them even have some CDs in the corner for the real weirdos.
I've actually heard there's a few places that have opened up that rent VHS tapes again.
Lot of good that does me, as I don't even have a VCR anymore and none of them are anywhere near my state.