I don’t remember much about my childhood but what I do remember is Friday evenings waiting for my dad to come home from work. Back then we lived in a Duplex next to my grandma Dorie and my Papa. Before he got sick we would go downtown on Friday evenings and ride the Subway and he would take me to Woolsworth’s for Tater Tots. I miss those times more than you know.
This was a time when going shopping wasn’t something you squeezed between errands. It was the plan my family kept for years and something my sister never had the chance to experience and neither did my kids and I hate that because they would have loved sitting at the dinner counter eating. Suzane was able to ride the Subway and she loved it as much as I did but Charlie never got to and I hate that.
I remember how my mom and my grandmother used to love Friday night because this could mean getting dressed up, heading downtown, riding the subway, and spending the evening walking through the stores. And if you were lucky, that subway ride was free. You weren’t necessarily going downtown because you needed something.
Sometimes you just went because that’s where everybody went. You walked through the stores, looked at the windows, ran into people you knew, bought something if you found the right thing, and eventually made your way home. Looking back, I think what we miss isn’t just the stores. We miss the experience.
These store that were part of our lives and
there were names that seemed like they would always be on the tip of our tongues from Mott’s Five and Dime. to Leonard’s Downtown and we can’t forget about Woolworth. These weren’t just places to shop. They were part of the of everyday life. You knew where they were. You knew what you could find there. You could walk through the doors and spend quite a while looking around, even if you didn’t have much money to spend.
And somehow, that was enough. There was something special about a five-and-dime store. You could go in looking for one thing and come out with something completely different because you found something you didn’t know you needed. Sometimes you would run into people you knew and spend a hour just standing and talking without being rushed to move on.
For my family Woolworth is one of those names that can bring back a whole collection of memories. Maybe it was the merchandise for some but for me it was the lunch counter. For others it might have been walking around with your family. Or maybe it was simply knowing that Woolworth was one of those places you could count on finding when you went downtown.
Today, we can order almost anything we want from a phone. But there was something different about walking into a store and discovering something. You had to look. You had to wander. And sometimes wandering was the best part for my family. If only people still did this I would get my steps in and more and never have to stress or worry about losing the weight I’ve been trying to lose.
The memories weren’t only downtown. There were the grocery stores like Courthouse Market that were part of our everyday lives, too. Harold’s Food Store. Minyard’s. Safeway which were the places where families bought groceries, ran into neighbors, and went about the ordinary business of feeding their families.
We don’t always think of grocery shopping as something nostalgic. Until the store is gone. Then suddenly you realize how familiar everything was. You knew the layout. You knew where your favorite things were. You recognized the people who worked there. And maybe your mother had a favorite cashier.
Maybe you went there with your children. Maybe there was a particular product you could only find there. The building may have been ordinary, but the memories weren’t. Someone you know might have worked there or your friends and family might have. And then There were the Drugstores like Eckerd’s which I miss.
Because there was a time when the neighborhood drugstore was its own little destination. Rexall Drug Store is one of those names that brings back that era. And even some of the CVS stores we remember are disappearing now. That’s something I find interesting about nostalgia. Sometimes we aren’t mourning the entire company. We’re remembering our store.
The one we went to. The one around the corner. The one where we knew exactly where everything was. The one that was there for years. And then one day, it wasn’t. And then there are businesses that don’t seem old enough to belong on a nostalgia list until they disappear. Big Lots is a perfect example.
For years, I could walk into Big Lots just to see what they had and I never knew what I was going to find which was half the fun of shopping there. Sometimes I went looking for something specific. Sometimes I would be shopping for my house. Sometimes I might be doing something than just looking.
And that’s part of what makes losing stores like this feel strange. A store can become part of your routine without you ever realizing it. Then the doors close, the sign comes down, and you find yourself thinking: “I remember when that was there.” Or I remember shopping here with or I bought her and now I can’t.
I don’t think we’re simply remembering buildings. We’re remembering a different way of spending time. We went downtown. We walked. We shopped. We looked in store windows. We rode the subway. We met people. We spent Friday nights together. There wasn’t always a screen in our hand telling us where to go or what to buy next.
Sometimes we just went. And maybe that’s why these businesses stay in our memories. They were part of our lives during a time when shopping was an activity, downtown was a destination, and a Friday night didn’t have to cost very much to be memorable. It was time spent walking, dreaming and spending time with those we love.
Now It’s Your Turn I’m sure I’ve only scratched the surface. There are businesses all over the country that meant something to somebody. A department store where your mother bought your school clothes. A grocery store where you went every Saturday. A drugstore where you bought your first lipstick.
A five-and-dime where you spent your allowance. A downtown store where your family shopped on Friday nights. Or a business that closed recently that you never imagined you’d miss. What business do you remember that is gone today? Tell me the name. Tell me where it was. And most importantly, tell me what you remember doing there.
Because that’s what we’re really collecting here. Not a list of businesses that closed. We’re collecting memories of the places where our lives happened. And some places may be gone, or the people you would go there with but the memories are still here and we would love to have you share them with us.
Grateful, Thankful, and Blessed
Greatful Moments