What stores did you use to visit or shop at the day after Thanksgiving or for Holiday shopping that are no longer around

[debm55]

Last edited Mon Nov 25, 2024, 01:47 PM - Edit history (4)

Pittsburgh was Hornes, Gimbels and Kaufmanns. Loved to see the store decorations and window displays. No online shopping, Miss it What about your area.?

[Charging Triceratops]

1. Even into the 1980s, Downtown Pittsburgh was fabulous!

The three department stores, the small retailers, the streetcars! It was a holiday wonderland.
It's now a dead city of pavement and broken promises.
And the Steelers.

[debm55]

2. Thank you Charging Tricertops. . I remember,

[Elessar Zappa]

30. Still a nice city, imo!

I love Pittsburgh.

[Dulcinea]

37. I grew up in Pittsburgh.

When I was a kid, we'd go "dahntahn" every year to see the decorations & the trains at Buhl Planetarium. The trains still exist, but they're at the Carnegie Science Center. We took the family to see them a few years ago.

[debm55]

40. Thank you Dulcinea I hope had a good time

[LakeArenal]

3. Pranges ( Wisconsin) Treasure Island.

[debm55]

4. Thank you LakeArenal.

[Shellback Squid]

5. Not in PA

[debm55]

6. Thank you Shellback Squid.

[debm55]

9. In your area or region.

[sinkingfeeling]

7. None.

[debm55]

10. Thank you

[k55f5r]

8. Meier and Franks Portland, Or

I remember Grandma taking me to ride the Santaland Express. I wa 5-6 and we rode on the electric street cars to downtown.

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[debm55]

12. Thank you so much. k55f5r I love the train. Did you ride it.

[k55f5r]

14. Every year.

[debm55]

17. Is the store still there?

[SheltieLover]

11. Toys R Us

I miss it, too, Deb.

[debm55]

15. Thank you SheltieLover. We would go there when my son was younger. it was a toy land for kids.

[SheltieLover]

21. Sure was a toy land for kids

[debm55]

23. and for adults too. Thank you.

[SheltieLover]

25. Yes, it was!

[jmowreader]

20. Toys R Us needs to adopt the Spirit Halloween business model

While they have a year-round online presence - they also sell things like Santa suits - they only run storefronts in the weeks before Halloween. Since Toys R Us made almost all its money around Christmastime, this would be perfect for them.

[SheltieLover]

22. Toys R Us now has an in-store presence in some Macy's stores

Not sure which ones.

But I like your idea as well.

[debm55]

24. That's a wonderful idea, jmowreader. thank you.

[mwmisses4289]

13. Try to avoid going out

...on Black Friday. Did one year just to say I had done it, but didn't buy anything. Most times if we go out black Friday, it's usually just to make a run to the grocery store.

[debm55]

16. Thank you mwmisses4289

[Different Drummer]

41. I used to volunteer to go into work on Black Friday.

It was absolute heaven--no phone calls, nobody else working because they were all on vacation.

[Dulcinea]

48. That's the only shopping I do on Black Friday.

I have the grocery store to myself. I love it! For Small Business Saturday, we go out for dinner to one of our locally owned restaurants.

[we can do it]

18. O'Neil's and Poksky downtown Akron

[debm55]

19. Thank you , we can do it.

[Ocelot II]

26. I've never done day-after-Thanksgiving shopping, always avoided it like the plague.

Generally speaking, I hate in-person shopping with the fire of a thousand suns and I hate it most of all when there are crowds. We used to go downtown to see the department store windows decorated for Christmas way back when the department stores were downtown and had windows. Dayton's (which was high-end but became low-buck Target and moved to the malls) had nice window displays. But shopping? Ugh.

[debm55]

29. I hear you Ocelot II, It is not the same. We would go downtown and watch the parade and look at the window displays. Not

really shop , but browse in the decorated stores I loved the decorations.

[Beatlelvr]

27. In so California

May Company, Robinson's, the Broadway, even Sears.

[debm55]

28. That's a shame . Thank you Beatlelver

[Elessar Zappa]

31. Don't remember any.

Maybe they were gone by the 90’s.

[debm55]

33. Thank you Elessar Zappa. I think you are right.

[HarryM]

32. None

Not since the day after Thanksgiving is Buy Nothing Day. I've been following it for more than 20 years.

[debm55]

34. What about the rest of the season?

[Basso8vb]

35. Montgomery Ward and Sears.

[debm55]

46. Yes and Sears catalogue where you would dog ear the toys you saw in the store

Last edited Mon Nov 25, 2024, 03:30 PM - Edit history (1)

[XanaDUer2]

36. Burdines

[debm55]

45. Thank you XanaDUer2

[Ziggysmom]

38. Milwaukee County and Chicago area Boston Store and Marshall Fields

[debm55]

43. Same and there isn.t a lot of choices to shop except online,

[USAF Brat]

39. KB toys

My first time ever to go Black Friday shopping was in 1991 to get my son a seven dollar dump truck at KB toys at 5 AM.

[debm55]

42. We did that too, Husband got his foot run over by shoppers buying furbees, He got one, though

[Different Drummer]

44. In the Athens, GA area....

Waldenbooks
Bookland

[debm55]

49. We haven't had a Waldenbooks around here for a very long time. I don't remember a Bookland.

[Kali]

47. none

was never part of my life. my parents weren't very materialistic and I don't really enjoy crowds. never really understood the whole thing really. and the "deals" never really seem to be actual deals from what I can tell.

[debm55]

50. I never bought anything as I had no money. But I really liked the window displays and decorations in the store. Even as

an adult I loved them. At one point in my life that is what I want to do. decorate stores for the holidays.

[Kali]

54. oh yeah, love decorations, just later in December

there is a whole neighborhood in Tucson (Winterhaven LOL) that goes all out, but even the little LDS towns around here get pretty carried away. fun to drive through and look at lights.

[La Coliniere]

51. Was never a Black Friday shopper

Last edited Mon Nov 25, 2024, 10:25 PM - Edit history (1)

but I do miss the old department stores such as A,M&As, Hengerers, Grants and Hen’s and Kelly’s which were in Downtown Buffalo up until the early 1970s. A,M&As in particular was a Christmas Wonderland, similar to the store portrayed in the holiday classic movie Christmas Story. As a child my friends and I would take the bus downtown and play Hide and Go Seek in all the large multistory department stores at all times of the year except at Christmas because the stores were always so packed and it was the only time when we were accompanied by our parents. The stores all had elevators and escalators and it was incredible harmless fun. Those were the days when kids got into “good mischief”. Now kids just sit around and play on screens all day. I miss those stores and those times of my youth.

[debm55]

55. Thank you La Coliniere. I remember the races of elevators vs. escalators to a given floor. Thank you for bringing back

the memories. I never shopped on the day after Thanksgiving (we didn't call it Black Friday) My mother didn't believe in allowances as if we needed something, she would decide and buy. My own money was kept in one of my socks and was made by collecting empty soda bottles. I should have included as a child. Maybe posters here were given spending money. I wasn't . In a large store there is very little to buy with sock money. from bottles. I looked . Never stole anything just looked in wonder.

[La Coliniere]

64. We had to work for most of our spending money

We earned it by doing chores for my elderly great aunts and uncles who lived within walking distance from my home. My brother and I didn’t get allowances either, but we were given cash to go to movies or for treats on a weekly basis. I loved Christmas shopping as a kid but we didn’t shop at the big downtown stores. Back in the 60s many neighborhoods, including my own, had thriving business districts that had single floor Woolworths and many other shops that were much less expensive than the downtown stores. We used to also race on the elevators and escalators. Memories

[arkielib]

52. Several downtown gift shops.

I live in a small town, but up until about 20 years ago there were several nice gift shops downtown. The downtown department stores started to disappear a long time ago - when Walmart arrived, but the smaller gift shops held on for a while. I do a lot of online shopping now, but I miss those nice, friendly local stores.

[debm55]

53. I agree with you, arkielib.

[SWBTATTReg]

56. Famous-Barr downtown STLMO. This was a old-time, 9 story department store I that loved, and would

sometimes walk to during my lunchbreaks to browse / shop (it was only a couple of blocks from me, downtown). I loved, loved, loved this place (and so did my parents when they came to visit!). It's gone now, bought by Macy's / Federated department stores.

A damn shame. It was a shopping experience to really enjoy. 9 floors you could disappear in, and not realize that you were shopping.

[debm55]

57. I looked forward to it as I looked and did not buy. It was fun.

And as a Kid I did not avoid buying on "Black Friday" because it was called Black Friday. It was called the Day after Thanksgiving and second I had no money.Chores were done as part of the family life and no money was given. I got my money returning soda bottles that I found in the woods and parking lots.

[Grammy23]

58. Sears for Christmas shopping

and when I was little to see Santa. There is a picture of me about 3years old sitting on Santa’s lap looking quite terrified. It is a sepia toned photograph that is really kinda cute. I am wearing a favorite plaid dress.

After Christmas, as a young adult I loved to go to Gayfer’s department store in Mobile, AL for their after Christmas sales. Such great bargains could be found! Their Bell Ringer sales before Christmas were pretty epic, too.

[debm55]

60. Thank you Grammy23. That bell ringing sale sounds great.

[KitFox]

59. Never shopped day after Thanksgiving. That is definitely not in my DNA!

I remember when I was attending college in Seattle, Frederick & Nelson, Jay Jacobs, and The Bon Marche in downtown Seatle were wonderfully festive during the holidays. Frederick’s had the huge window displays and Jay Jacobs’ decorations were really unique with bright non traditional type colors and lights.

[debm55]

61. Thank you KitFox that sonds great. Love decorations.

[Jilly_in_VA]

62. I dopn't know

I hate shopping on Black Friday, so I don't. People are worse than animals in a feeding frenzy then.

[debm55]

63. Thank you Jilly_in _VA

[GP6971]

65. Crazy Eddie and E J Korvette NYC metro area