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Do you remember going to the store with your parents? How about flipping through a mail-order catalog? Was there a particular store your family loved? Feeling nostalgic is often quite pleasant – and did you know it’s also very good for you?
A study published in Social Psychological and Personality Science found that walking down memory lane helped ease loneliness, depression, and anxiety, especially among seniors.1 That uptick in happiness can even have a strong impact on your physical health.
When you are feeling nostalgic, your body and mind respond to that feeling. According to Current Opinion in Psychology, nostalgia can lead to a more positive mindset about your health, eating a better diet, exercising more often, and reducing risky behaviors that might make your physical health worse. Nostalgia can also serve to alleviate physical pain.2
So take a pleasant walk down Memory Lane with us as we remember the stores that shaped seniors’ lives.
Woolworth’s
In a bygone era, there were few things more exciting than a trip to the five-and-dime store. Just a few hard-earned pennies could score a bit of candy or a refreshing drink on a hot summer day. That’s how it was at Woolworth’s. Launched in 1879, the company began as “Woolworth’s Great Five Cent Store.”
Woolworth’s grew into one of the largest retail chains throughout the early 1900s. It also became the department store model for all other retail chains that would follow, including Walmart.
You could find absolutely anything at Woolworth’s and if it wasn’t on the shelf, the managers would be sure to remedy that. Eventually the small five and dime store turned into a discount retailer selling everything from pencils to furniture.
That diversity in sales is what allowed Woolworth’s to be flexible when competition began to eat into their revenue. As overall sales began to decline in the 1980s, Woolworth’s began to focus on key areas of the business, especially sporting goods.
The department store division went out of business in 1997. But things were moving behind the scenes, as Woolworth’s renamed itself the Venator Group and continued to focus on sporting goods. In 2001, Woolworth’s became another famous store you might recognize: Foot Locker.
Loehmann’s
Though Loehmann’s wasn’t a five-and-dime, it was similar to Woolworth’s. Founded in 1921 in Brooklyn, NY, the store was known for higher-quality goods at discount prices. Though there was something for everyone at Loehmann’s, most of the clientele were women and so the store catered to females, offering shoes, accessories, fragrances, and household goods.
You could find almost anything at the popular store. If a medical alert system with fall detection was available back then, Loehmann’s would have definitely sold them!
Some seniors might remember going to Loehmann’s with their mothers and exploring the “Back Room,” a place to browse designer clothing for rock-bottom prices. This was one of the first examples of deeply discounted options for women’s clothing, and one of the reasons that made Loehmann’s a household name.
Even though there were only about 100 stores at the peak of its popularity, Loehmann’s became a destination store. Many women would make a day of it with their friends and take a road trip to see the vibrant displays Loehmann’s was known for, as well as do a bit of shopping.
Loehmann’s slowly declined through the 1990s and closed for good in 2014.
Blockbuster Video
For many of us, Blockbuster was home to countless good memories. It was exciting to walk into the bright lights and endless options of a Blockbuster and wander the aisles, searching for your next favorite movie. These stores became not only the center of family time for many in the US since it opened in 1985, it also became a place where friends could safely gather and movie lovers could find a whole new community.
The beloved chain expanded internationally in the 1990s and began to offer DVDs by mail, video on demand, streaming services, and video game rentals. If it felt like there was a Blockbuster on every corner in the 2000s, that’s because the company had well over 9,000 stores in 2004.
But then the Great Recession came, and so did Netflix. The company began to decline rapidly and by 2010, Blockbuster was filing for bankruptcy. They were bought by DISH Network, which allowed some stores to stay open, but most were gone by 2019.
Today, there is one Blockbuster left. If you’re in the mood for a road trip, you can find the last Blockbuster store alive and well in Bend, Oregon.
Radio Shack
This popular electronics store began in 1921 as a mail-order business for amateur radio enthusiasts. By the 1960s, the store had shifted to carry a wide variety of electronic components for all sorts of hobbyists. You could eventually find tons of electronics at Radio Shack – batteries, toys, radios, tiny motors, and so much more.
By the 1990s, the store was carrying GPS systems (the forerunners to the small and sleek GPS sensors used today, such as in Alert1’s personal alarm button), computers of all kinds, phones, software and hardware, headphones, and a variety of toys. Basically, if you needed something that must be plugged in or charged up to work, you could likely find it at a Radio Shack.
In 1999, Radio Shack had more than 8,000 stores. Most of those were in the United States. But by 2015, sales had declined significantly, and Radio Shack stores began to close. The company bounced from one owner to another as it fought to avoid bankruptcy.
Today there are about 300 Radio Shack stores, mostly in Latin America, South America, and the Caribbean. If you happen to be near a Radio Shack in your travels, take the time to stop in and walk down memory lane!
Sears
Sears was founded in 1892 as Sears, Roebuck and Co. It began as a mail-order company with its famous massive catalog – the same catalog that was often relegated to outhouses as toilet paper when the family was finished looking at all the fine goods listed in the pages.
The arrival of a new catalog was always exciting. Everyone created their own wish list.
By 1925, Sears began opening physical stores. The good service from the mail-order business gave Sears an already-loyal clientele who flocked to its physical locations. By 1969, Sears was the largest retail store in the world, employing over 350,000 people.
Its flagship store in Chicago was the company’s headquarters, but the company needed room to expand. Thus in 1973, Sears built a massive office building that would forever change the Chicago skyline – the famous Sears Tower.
Sears held the crown for the largest retailer in the world until the 2010s, when it began to decline and make way for other stores. However, some of these nostalgic gems are holding on. As of January 2024, there are 13 Sears stores remaining across the United States.
Montgomery Ward
Sears wasn’t the only player in the mail-order business. Montgomery Ward & Co. launched in 1872 and pioneered the mail-order catalog operations that would later turn Sears into a behemoth.
By 1883, the catalog was about 240 pages and offered 10,000 items. By 1904, its catalogs weighed a whopping four pounds and went out to more than three million people!
These catalogs found their way to almost everyone in the United States. It was a game-changer for those who lived in very isolated and rural areas, as they finally had a way to order items they needed and have them delivered to the local general store or other meeting place. As the company grew, they introduced the idea of distribution centers, which made it easier to get items into customers’ hands.
You might better remember the stores with the signature green awnings. These small stores popped up in small towns around the U.S., while the larger multi-level stores were found in big cities like Chicago and New York. Though the retail stores had enormous amounts of goods on the shelves, you could still order from the catalog and have it delivered to your local store.
As with so many other large retail chains, Montgomery Ward began to bounce from one owner to another as the company declined in the 1980s. In 1985, the company closed down the catalog business and worked to renovate existing stores, but it was too late. Montgomery Ward ended its long, storied run of success in 1988.
Borders Books
Remember Borders? How about Waldenbooks? Founded in 1971, these bookstores were all the rage back in the 1990s, when they were everywhere – airports, outlet stores, and even tiny hometown shops. With well over 700 stores in the United States in 2010, the sheer size of the company could have been part of its downfall. It was competing with local Barnes & Noble stores as well as small independent booksellers, and was quickly priced out of the market.
For a while in the 1990s, Borders became a destination store. It was a place where families and friends gathered to browse for books, sit in comfortable chairs to read a snippet, and even found things beyond reading material, such as journals, stationery, and other gifts.
But the pressure from other stores took its toll, and Borders was slow to the online book retail game – putting it at the mercy of growing booksellers, such as a little start-up company called Amazon.
By 2010, Borders stores were closed or absorbed into the stores of its new owner, Barnes & Noble.
Tower Records
If you’re a music aficionado, you remember Tower Records. The mecca for all things musical, Tower Records was the place where you could thumb through endless racks of vinyl records, pick up the latest news from the music world, and sometimes even meet famous musicians at in-store autograph events.
In 1960, the original Tower Records opened in Sacramento, California. Within a decade the store had expanded to other locations and was becoming a fixture in pop culture. Small stores began to pop up in cities with a robust music scene, such as Nashville and Austin. This allowed for more celebrity sightings and good word-of-mouth advertising.
The store wasn’t afraid to innovate and change, as evidenced by the growing number of different music and video formats available over the years, the launch of “listening stations” where you could sample an album before buying it, and even made waves as one of the first retailers to launch a website. That was in 1995.
Though most of the Tower Records stores are gone now, Tower Records announced a new online website and a plan to open physical locations across the country. Will the beloved music store see a renaissance in the coming years?
Toys “R” Us
How many folks remember going to Toys “R” Us as a kid, and later taking your own children there? And you might have felt the sharp sting of loss when you saw the reports of Toys “R” Us going out of business in 2018.
Founded in 1948, the company began by selling furniture and toys for children but quickly realized that toys were the biggest moneymaker. From that point on the company soared, opening up hundreds of stores across the globe, with over 700 of them in the United States. In 2001, Toys “R” Us opened a flagship store in Times Square in New York City, where it housed over 110,000 square feet of playtime fun.
As department stores began to rise in popularity and toys were offered there for cheaper prices than what Toys “R” Us could offer, the company began a steep decline. With the rise of online retailers like Amazon, by the late 2010s, the chain was in serious financial trouble. By 2018, there just wasn’t enough money to keep going, despite a strong grassroots effort to keep the beloved chain alive.
But there’s very good news! Toys “R” Us is coming back. In 2021 the new owners opened a flagship store at the American Dream shopping center in New Jersey, and in 2023, another store was opened in the Mall of America. Toys “R” Us is now in the process of opening more than 400 stores in conjunction with Macy’s.
How wonderful it will be to take the grandkids to Toys “R” Us!
As you walk around the store with the little ones, it’s a good idea to wear a mobile medical alert bracelet or wristband. This can keep everyone safe and secure as you enjoy a walk down memory lane.
