Before Walmart

[Hidden In Him]

We also had a shoe shop in town which mostly repaired shoes having few pair for sale. Almost everyone wore leather shoes which could be repaired with new half soles and heels to extend the life of the shoe.

Wow is THAT going back a ways, LoL!

Nowadays I buy cheap tennis shoes at Walmart, and the soles start wearing out before I've worn them two months. No sense re-soling a $10 pair of tennis shoes (probably made in China or something).

 

[Mayflower]

I miss Family Christian Bookstores. I can order things online, but not the same. Only place with just a overwhelming presence of God there. Lifeway closed too. I see a Hallmark once in awhile, but not the same.

 

[Hidden In Him]

In California there was a place called Gemco.
Safeway was the grocery store of choice that got replaced with Albertsons.

They have Albertsons in CA? I thought that was more of a Southern US chain.

We have a bunch of them in Louisiana.

 

[Ziggy]

I haven't been in a wal-mart for at least 10 years now.
I use Shaw's for my Market and well, I don't remember the last time I went shopping for clothes.
I usually pick up small items at Family Dollar or Dollar General.
Maybe stop in the local hardware store. There is a Home Depot but I don't use it.
I live about 10 miles from town and I have a junk car that runs when it wants to.
So trips are few and far between. I have no snow tires and I live in Maine so I don't travel much in the winter.
I don't walk well so when I shop it's get it all or go without until the next trip.
I'm not complaining..
My life is simple, and I like it like that.
I don't miss the city life that's for sure.

 

[JohnDB]

They have Albertsons in CA? I thought that was more of a Southern US chain.

We have a bunch of them in Louisiana.

Albertsons headquarters is in Boise Idaho...
They started in California.

 

[Hidden In Him]

I miss Family Christian Bookstores. I can order things online, but not the same. Only place with just a overwhelming presence of God there. Lifeway closed too. I see a Hallmark once in awhile, but not the same.

I do, too. It was fully dedicated to Christian products only. Ours got pushed out when a bigger, flashier Mardel was built. But Mardel is mostly dedicated to craft products. It's like they tried to emulate Hobby Lobby, but with a full-blown Christian section.

But in the end it doesn't feel the same. It's like Walmart, slash Hobby Lobby, slash Family Christian Bookstore, Lol.

 

[Hidden In Him]

I'm not complaining..
My life is simple, and I like it like that.
I don't miss the city life that's for sure.

Good attitude, Ziggy. :)

 

[Hidden In Him]

Yes, I remember both of those in California as well as Lucky's and Piggly Wigglys and a multitude of others. I suspect a lot of the others were driven out of business when Walmart developed their supercenter with massive grocery stores.

We have a couple Piggly Wigglys that still survive here, but they are in more outlying areas, away from the Walmarts, and that's probably why.

 

[Hidden In Him]

Ok, we're really going back now, LoL.

 

[Hidden In Him]

That's the way I remember it.

This thread is making me feel old.

 

[JohnDB]

Piggly Wiggly used to own their own distribution centers that also fed Red and White stores and a few others...

Now all gone.

 

[Hidden In Him]

So that's were K-Mart went, LoL.

It actually looks like a Mall K-Mart. I never saw one of those here.

 

[Josho]

I never knew America had Woolworths either. I thought it was only an Australia thing.

 

[TLHKAJ]

I have not heard of Woolco but we used to have a Woolworths. Was a department store downtown with a little counter, stools and they had ice cream and hot dogs and stuff.

I kinda wonder if I'm remembering Woolworths rather than Woolco. :)

 

[TLHKAJ]

I never knew America had Woolworths either. I thought it was only an Australia thing.

Aha! Well that solves it for me. Lol
It was Woolworths that I remember as a child. I remember the inside more than the outside. This must be the one my friend was telling me about, that y'all have in Australia. :)

 

[TLHKAJ]

I haven't been in a wal-mart for at least 10 years now.
I use Shaw's for my Market and well, I don't remember the last time I went shopping for clothes.
I usually pick up small items at Family Dollar or Dollar General.
Maybe stop in the local hardware store. There is a Home Depot but I don't use it.
I live about 10 miles from town and I have a junk car that runs when it wants to.
So trips are few and far between. I have no snow tires and I live in Maine so I don't travel much in the winter.
I don't walk well so when I shop it's get it all or go without until the next trip.
I'm not complaining..
My life is simple, and I like it like that.
I don't miss the city life that's for sure.

I don't blame you. I avoid cities as much as possible. I am content to stay home and I very much dislike the new world order store ....walmart. (lol) I was talking with my husband the other day how that I haven't eaten McDonald's food for ....goodness, probably 10 years or so. It's been much longer since I've eaten Burger King...ever since they started those nasty pedo commercials.

 

[DuckieLady]

I miss Family Christian Bookstores. I can order things online, but not the same. Only place with just a overwhelming presence of God there. Lifeway closed too. I see a Hallmark once in awhile, but not the same.

It was sad seeing the one in my hometown shut down, too. Our town was small enough to where the Christian bookstore was popular, and when they tried to open an adult bookstore, people (from churches around) took pictures of the people going in them and left the pictures on those sticky boards at Walmart and the other stores to expose them. Ran them out quick. Seemed like a month or two.

Christian bookstore stayed for a few more years.

They should do things like that again.

 

[amadeus]

Wow is THAT going back a ways, LoL!

Nowadays I buy cheap tennis shoes at Walmart, and the soles start wearing out before I've worn them two months. No sense re-soling a $10 pair of tennis shoes (probably made in China or something).

Precisely! I do the same thing now. I have one nice pair of leather shoes I bought for church several years ago. I haven't put them on in a year now as there is no to go to wear them anymore. The cheap canvas or artificial material shoes do the job most of the time.

 

[amadeus]

Ok, we're really going back now, LoL.

Hey I used to watch "All in the Family" when they were on prime time. Of course I also watched "Wagon Train" and the early half hour black and white "Gunsmoke" episodes on prime time. When I was in elementary school almost no one even owned a TV. The few that did could not get more than a couple of stations with only mediocre reception. I would listen to radio programs when I got home from school. Those were indeed "the days"... good or bad or... ?

 

[amadeus]

They have Albertsons in CA? I thought that was more of a Southern US chain.

We have a bunch of them in Louisiana.

My son-in-law works for an Albertson Wholesale Distribution Center in northern Oklahoma, but they no longer have any Albertson Supermarkets in Oklahoma. He says they stay busy all of the time as they distribute to others besides Albertsons.