I LOVE Hallmark stores. I’m keeping ours in business. Not only are their cards beautiful, but some of the small items they carry make perfect gifts. Prices are expensive, but as a loyalty member, I get discount coupons.
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I’d probably go to Hallmark if we didn’t have a Paper Source or a really nice drugstore that have great stuff for gifts. For cards, I go to Target and Trader Joe’s or Paper Source
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Not to sound like a salty naysayer, but I’m surprised Papa John’s is still in business.
To me, their sauce is flavorless/unseasoned, crusts are too heavy (each style, for its style), and their sausage is too sweet. To me, Domino’s and the Hut are far superior – better sauce, crusts, and sausage// flavor – and I would even put Little Caesar’s before PJ’s.
A long time ago, PJ’s was decent. That is no longer the case, IMO. If you have to dip your slice in garlic-butter sauce and add your own italian seasoning to give it any flavor, the pizza isn’t very good. That’s like having to douse an overcooked steak with steak sauce.
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People that like candles REALLY like candles. I know people that drop over $100 in there on a regular basis.
Also, little known fact, but they are finding that people on GLP-1s are craving olfactory stimulation and becoming addicted to buying perfume. I’m sure they are seeing it with candles as well. They have a whole new market.
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There were two KMarts 5-6 years ago in Manhattan, one within Penn Station and one near Union Square/NYU/Cooper Union. I always found something to buy there! The Union Square one is now a multilevel Wegman’s supermarket.
There are a zillion nail salons near me. They are managed and staffed by Chinese=Americans. I usually do my nails myself but once in a while a non-gel manicure (complete with back rub!) for $15 is a good deal. I tip generously.
Then there are the narrow stores that house threaders who use strings to trim eyebrows and other hair where it’s not wanted on the body. The south Asians who staff them also do henna “tattoos,” facials, waxing, and the like. And they sell cheap jewelry.
@oldmom4896 -the NYT ran a story a few years ago regarding the nail salons in the city that charge $15 for a mani. Apparently the employees are paid almost nothing and work under terrible conditions. I can’t remember the specifics. I’m glad you tip really well.
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I hope they keep the tips. That’s not a given, as I’ve learned in some restaurants, where the owners use the tips to “increase” the base pay, which is utter BS.
I’m surprised that any gas station without a modern mini mart still exists, evin out in the country.
And that IGA grocery stores still exist.
Or that Chicken Salad Chick exists - yet it’s growing like a weed. But just terrible
The Container Store - although I think all are being rebranded Bed, Bath, & Beyond - which did go away but someone must have bought the license.
Things Remembered - mall store, where you bought engraved things to gift (for like wedding parties)
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I loved the Container Store, the closest one to us is now an REI
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Schlotzky’s?
I give the tip in cash to the nail person, in her hand.
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I would agree. We have one…at least I think it’s still there. Sort of an underrated fast food though I haven’t had it in years… when the kids were young they did their mini personal sized pizzas for $1.99 on Tuesdays I think - we took advantage of that!
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I think I could have written every post in this thread! Our mall is all but dead – Sears was gone a long time ago – although the Macy’s, Dillard’s, Von Maur and JCPenney are still there. The city is trying to attract a pro-hockey team and turn the mall area into a big arena with lots of surrounding mixed-use properties.
Seems like outdoor malls are popular now, though – not quite sure why they hold more appeal than the older style.
The old Woolworth’s became Foot Locker, of all things, which was then bought by Dick’s Sporting Goods. There was a Woolworth’s next door when I worked at Spencer Gifts at the mall in high school (Spencer’s is still around, but unrecognizable from what it was 35 years ago, lol.)
We have a Chili’s that is still here, amazingly (haven’t been since our kids were very young), although the On the Border finally closed last year – about a decade later than expected.
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I suspect the switch to outdoor malls reflects in change in type of stores. Traditional staples of malls like Sears and Macy’s struggle competing with Amazon and the like. However, Amazon can’t compete well with experience stores, like restaurants. The latter better lend themselves to outdoor malls. Outdoor malls are also less expensive to operate and easier to quickly change number and type of tenants.
The area I grew up is an exception. It has a huge enclosed mall that has expanded over time, rather than failed. It’s up to ~200 stores now and according to my parents remains as busy as ever. Some of the stores in the mall that may be surprising to still be in business include:
- Toys R Us
- A coin-op video arcade
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Many indoor malls have revived with restaurants and other entertainment activities. Ours added Tennessee’s first (I believe) LL Bean and something called Primark (haven’t been yet). We still have a JC Penney - not sure why I thoguht they died.
Simon and others like Macerich are very successful thanks to their big malls - which have been reinvented. The outdoor types or outlet malls like Tanger are also very successful. Covid helped these malls.
Our large indoor mall is still hopping! Teens hanging out, moms with strollers, people like me rushing to make a return at Nordstrom. There are some stores that always look deserted.
Some swimwear store and an allegedly Italian shoe store are prime examples. Also, a Burberry store that people seem to avoid.
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When I moved here in the mid 90s, our mall had TWO toy stores, an arcade, a comic shop, FYE record store, and B Dalton Bookstore. Most of those closed by the early to mid 2000s. Hills was the first dept store to close around that time., followed by belk’s menswear - they had a separate store from Belks. Penneys and Sears went about 10 years later. Boscov’s opened in the Hills/Belk Mensware space but closed after maybe 2 years. The top floor is now at VA med facility.
Over the last 10 years stores like Victoria’s Secret, Bath & Body, the haircut place, Spencer’s. Even the military recruiting office left. All of the kiosks were booted by the mall around 2010.
There’s not much left. Most of the store front are covered by giant old photographs from our city’s history which are pretty cool. Many are over 100 years old. It’s still a fairly attractive mall. Just empty. Oh and they stopped using the AC in the summer. The stores provide their own. But the open spaces are pretty toasty
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OMG, this made me laugh out loud!
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Local stores near me have closed.
IHOP will be in business for many years to come? All of the IHOP restaurants around me and in the town where I grew up have been closed for a long time.
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We had a Stonewall Kitchen store near us that I loved for gifts. Closes a long while ago.