9 Stores That Anyone Who Grew Up In Pennsylvania Will Undoubtedly Remember
Who’s up for a trip down Memory Lane? Remember going to your favorite stores as a kid? Or, those stores that your parents dragged you to, kicking and screaming (well, not literally)? Let’s take a moment to remember some of them today. Sadly, this list includes 80s stores that no longer exist – except in our memories. See how many you remember.
Today, we have dollar stores. Once upon a time, we had five and 10's or five and dimes. Who remembers Woolworths? It sold just about everything you could need or want an was perhaps one of the most popular stores in the 80s. The store made its way all the way to London and beyond. Alas, Woolworths' final chapter ended in 1997.
If you lived in or traveled to Altoona, you knew - and probably shopped at - Gable's Department Store. The beloved department store of the past shut its doors for the final time in 1980. What are your favorite memories from Gable's?
They just don't make discount stores like they used to, do they? Gee Bee, born of the Glosser Brothers Department Store, was so popular that some locations even opened grocery stores. The final Gee Bee shut its doors for the final time in 1993. (Today some people fondly mistake the Gee Bees store as the Bee Gees, the popular 70s group.)
We kids may have loved Hills because of the slushies, soft pretzels, and popcorn at the snack bar. But, it was also a pretty cool place to get toys, a new bike, the latest pair of jeans...just about anything you could imagine. Like others before it, Hills became a memory when its final store closed in 1999. It's one of those 80s stores that no longer exist that we'll likely never forget.
Think K-Mart or even Wal-Mart . That's what some compare Grant's Department Store, which closed in 1976, to. Do you agree? Grant's sold a wide range of discounted products, including its own brand name "Bradford," named after the Pennsylvania county of the same name. Do you remember Bucky Bradford, the store's mascot?
Virtual hands up! Who called it Monkey Wards? Did you call the one-time popular department store that because it rolled off the tongue easier than Montgomery Ward? Or, did you know that it got the nickname because a Texas store supposedly had a cage of monkeys? Whatever the case, most of us probably shopped there, one of the most popular stores in the 80s that permanently closed in 2001.
Pennsylvanians started shopping at Hess's at the tail end of the 1890s. Shoppers flocked to the popular department store in Allentown, especially during the Christmas and Easter seasons. Everyone from Chicago to New York seemed to know about the department store that eventually closed its doors in 1996.
Wanamaker's made history as Philadelphia's very first department store. The massive department store, known for its spectacular Christmas lights show, boasted a toy department, a restaurant, a post office, a piano department...and that's just the beginning. What are your favorite memories of Wanamaker's? The Eagle? The World's Largest Organ? Or, the monorail in the toy department?
How many of us shopped at Pomeroy's? The multi-floor department store sold just about anything you could want: men and women's clothing, furniture, electronics, curtains, luggage, gifts, and the list goes on and on. Of course, one of the most popular spots was Pomeroy's Bargain Basement.
How many of these popular stores in the 1980s do you remember? Let’s keep the list going! Pennsylvania’s a huge state so, obviously, this list is far from complete. What other stores from the past do you fondly – or even not-so-fondly – remember? Share below! Then take a peek at the 12 things you’ll remember if you grew up in Pennsylvania in the 1980s.
OnlyInYourState may earn compensation through affiliate links in this article.
The OIYS Visitor Center
Popular Stores In The 1980s
May 04, 2022
Beth Price-Williams
What are some 80s stores that no longer exist?
Do you ever feel like taking a trip down Memory Lane? How much fun is it to think of the things we did in childhood, especially in the 80s – Friday nights at the roller skating rink, Saturday nights at the mall, and saving our quarters to play video games at our favorite arcade? And who can forget the after school specials on TV? If you grew up as part of Gen X, you probably remember all of those things quite well. Well, how about some of the 80s stores that no longer exist? Going to the mall or the local strip mall, for example, often meant a trip to Woolworth or GC Murphy’s (you might have even called it Murphy’s Mart). Murphy’s had the best snack bar, with hoagies, slushies, and a whole lot of goodies. If we want the latest popular toys – like Cabbage Patch Kids – we would beg our parents to go to Children’s Palace, the prelude to Toys R Us. We can’t forget Hills, either, which had a pretty sweet toy section.
What are some of the popular stores of the 80s?
Quick – what’s the first thing you think when your hear Hills? Chances are it’s not a word but a smell. Popcorn, soft pretzels, and hot dogs all cooking behind the snack bar as soon as you entered the store, right? If we were lucky, we’d have one of those goodies paired with a slushy. Hills would later become Ames; which did you like better? When we needed shampoo, OTC meds, or Band-Aids, we’d head to Thrift Drug or, a bit later on, Phar-Mor. Pittsburghers flocked to the downtown Kaufmann’s, where the windows came alive at Christmastime and the bargain basement was the place to go for the best sales. We can’t forget Gimbels, Hornes, and Gable’s either.
Pennsylvania In Your Inbox
Thank you! You will receive your first email soon.
