Yesterday and Today

[HardyGirl]

Wow, I have no connection to the building and it still makes me sad to see it gone.

Me too...bye Sears.

[MegoMark71]

Wow, I have no connection to the building and it still makes me sad to see it gone.

[ScottA]

UPDATE!!

I heard on the news a few weeks ago that the Sears was scheduled for demolition as part of the revitalization of that neighborhood. I didn't get a chance to swing by and snap some pics until this weekend. The true end of an era as the building has been there for over 48 years. The building is now gone but the memories I will always have.

[ScottA]

I just felt like bumping this back up for the newbies.

[Shleprok34]

I've been somewhat lucky. The Sears here disppeared years ago. The building was divided up internally. It went through several changes and is currently a Big Lots, a Bealls Outlet, and a Radio Shack, among other things. The great thing is that the K Mart where I got the majority of my Megos remains open and in business to this day. The internal layout of the store has evolved somewhat, but otherwise it isn't all that different. It even managed to survive all the hurricanes that came through here a few years back. I did notice one problem though.

They really need to restock there Megos.

[HardyGirl]

I remember going to Macy's in NYC and drooling in the toy department. I also remember a certain thrift store, maybe Ritz, I dunno, where I used to go and hide behind the clothes racks. My mom would pretend she didn't know where I was, but she did. I remember she bought me Tigrrrrrr scooter, a rag doll I named Nancy and a matching smiley face shirt and purse.

[trekman101]

There was a store in Manhattan that my parents used to shop in....I can't remember the name(it might have bee something like "job lot city") that had the toy department in the basement with a big set of switch back stairs leading to it.It's gone now but I still have dreams of it once in a while with all the fond memories I associated with it.

[EmergencyIan]

I certainly have fond memories of Sears, as well. We had a couple of them in Evansville.


- Ian

[AAAAA]

Attention K-mart shoppers if you notice the flashing blue in the toy department means we are running a store special ,for the next 30 minutes Mego Action figure are now 75% off.and thank you for shopping K-mart.

[Captain]

Man, that K-Mart pic does take a person back. All their stores looked the same in the 70's...the fake wood grain panelling on everything, the K-Mart sign with the green background....the aisles where you could buy cheap foodstuffs like jam from Poland and cookies from Czechoslovakia. Canada lost our K-Marts in the nineties and I'm not ashamed to say I miss 'em!!!

[megoscott]

Wow, that site is awesome. It's even better than Malls of America, and that was a great blog too.

This photo takes me back--Kmart was where I drooled over many super hero toys in the 70s.

It's great that you went back and took photos of the old place, Scott. Thanks!

[UnderdogDJLSW]

This is the site I found the picture on. It has all kinds of information on all kinds of stores including supermarkets and department / discounts stores. You can search by store and state. Please let me know what you think of the site.

The site is pretty fantastic. I did find this picture from 1959 of a shopping center near where I grew up. It was an outdoor mall into the early 80's where it was then turned into a covered mall, then about 10 years ago they did more renovations and turned it into a two story mall. The 70's version still had the People's Drug store (later a CVS, now gone as you can see in the picture at the bottom) there and the Wards was there (now a Target). To the left pretty much opposite the drug store was Kresge's. And we all know what you could buy there in the 70's

[ScottA]

You really touched upon something here Scott. My local Sears had and still has this long concrete ramp that used to lead to their toy department. It doesn't anymore but I still like seeing it, it reminds me of childhood excitement.

The same with department stores that still have the old basement staircases, the toy department was always in the basement of our local zellers. I sometimes go down those stairs hoping to see an endcap of Kiss dolls or something...

We have one here exactlly like this Brian. It was called Montgomery Fair and was located here on Colisium Blvd. It was 3 stories with the toy department being located in the basement. I remember going all the time with my brother and cousins as my grandparents lived maybe 3 blocks from it. Montgomery Fair (which become Gayfer's) is long gone but believe it or not the building is still here. It's now a Flea Market and Antique Mall. I do go in every so often hoping to find a small treasure and still go down those stairs over 35 years later. I wish those walls could talk. I doubt many there know what it once was. Maybe I should take pictures of it.

[ScottA]

Great pictures, Scott. What was the original website that you were looking through that had the shopping mall pictures in it? That sounds like a neat one in and of itself. I'd love to search through that.

This is the site I found the picture on. It has all kinds of information on all kinds of stores including supermarkets and department / discounts stores. You can search by store and state. Please let me know what you think of the site.

Pleasant Family Shopping

[jasonmego1277]

Always great to stroll down memory lane ! When I get a chance to get back up to MA , I waant to visit my old stomping grounds. It's been 7 years , and I am sure that I will be shocked to see things after being away. I hear a couple of dept stores and malls I used to go too growing up are gone , and will probably look just like these pics now.