Huge 90s Stores That Are No Longer With Us

Photo by Ian Westcott – Flickr.com

A&P

The Great Atlantic & Pacific Tea Company, also known as A&P was the largest grocery retailer in the U.S. The closest comparison we have today is Walmart. So it’s kind of hard to wrap our heads around the fact that it’s no longer with us. Perhaps it’s also a lesson to what happens to any store that can’t keep up with the times, as that is exactly what happened to A&P in both 2010 and 2015.

Both times, A&P filed for bankruptcy protection, but it was in 2015 that we had to say goodbye to the mega-retailer once and for all, with all of its stores closing down one by one.

And as soon as A&P said goodbye, so did one of the most iconic puns of the 90s. It went a little like this, “Did you hear how Stop & Shop is going to merge with A&P? That’s right, they’re gonna call it Stop & P.”

Next, ‘that’s all folks’…..

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13 thoughts on “Huge 90s Stores That Are No Longer With Us”

  1. Sometimes, the past is all we have and the closing of those stores brings me great sadness but great joy in my memory! We often talk about those places….. like Gayfers Department here in northwest Florida, clothing stores like Chess King, for the ladies, Foxmoors, 5, 7, 9 shop, Vicky V’s, Learner’s, Tom McCann shoes, Payless shoes, Ormond shops, Butler shoes, Kinney shoe stores, HH Gregg, The Gap store, Wicker Picker store….K-B Toys, J-Byrons, Maas Brothers. But dimes of Florida just naming my all time faves. Yes, I have a sense of sadness and remorse! I didn’t want these places to leave, but oh well…… long gone 😞😢😞😢

  2. My wife and I had three children born in the 70’s and early 80’s, we spent a lot of time and money in Toy’s are Us. Fun place, good merchandise.

  3. I remember many others: Goldblatt’s, Wieboldts, Service Merchandise, Ben Franklin, Carson, Pirie, Montgomery Ward, and many others. Sad nostalgia!

  4. Circuit city went downhill after they quit giving commissions to the salesman they just paid straight pay. Circuit city lost their best salesman and they brought in kids they had no clue what the hell they were talking about

    1. Exactly. The older salespeople knew the merchandise up and down and backwards. If an older customer – my parents, for instance – wanted to buy something, a good salesman could – and would – take the time to explain why
      this one was better than THAT one. The newer, younger, people didn’t actually know their products and hid their ignorance by being condescending. Zip – there goes your customer base. And management also decided to stop selling appliances, when they were second only to Sears in appliance sales. Lord deliver us all from a bunch of MBAs with a diploma and no common sense.

    2. My brother got stiffed for over 3 grand in commissions. This was after some Saudies or something similar got control of the company.

  5. Let’s not forget Alexanders! Great store, sadly missed. Woolworths has something for everyone, even hamsters, canaries and Flame Glow Lipstick!

  6. RICHARD TUSUSIAN

    I was born in 1961 so some of these stores I have a real connection to, but most of them no. The one I am closest to is probably A&P. I live in Bayside Queens and we used to have 4 – yes 4 – A&Ps in our area. The one that was closest to our house was just about 7 blocks away. My mother used to call it the dirty little A&P. They were so funny though. Most supermarkets if you notice put their milk at the BACK of the store so you are forced to walk through the entire store to get it, thereby tempting you to buy other items. This one though had the milk at the very front of the store at the front window! There used to be another one about 1/2 mile away from us, then another on Bell Blvd. diagonally across from our church. Then the fourth one was in Fresh Meadows, a nearby town about 15 minutes away from us.

  7. REMEMBER WOOLWORTHS? Ohh me gosh They had EVERYTHING! AND a Lunch Counter! This was all over , in Canada & America as well. I ALWAYS say , our way of living went DOWN, when WOOLWORTHS did! Cheers ( sigh )

    1. I am 76 years old and my first job was at Woolworths when I was 16 years old. I thought I was so sophisticated working and making money.

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