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yahabbibi t1_j21r24q wrote

Now I want Lechmere and Building 19, too!

102

Unique-Public-8594 t1_j21r757 wrote

They went bankrupt once before trying to compete with Walmart, back when there was no Amazon. This will not go well.

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rob691369 t1_j21xdaq wrote

Will be cool for nostalgia, but I don't think they will last...

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cmcrich t1_j21xsbm wrote

I’d love to have Filene’s back.

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Nogodsnomasters t1_j2220hb wrote

Yes to Ames! Also Lechmere and Steiger's. Remember Steiger's?

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randilu t1_j22ajna wrote

But why? Who's asking for this?

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cheerocc t1_j22c09b wrote

I got caught shoplifting there as a 12 year old, you think they still have my files? If so, who's down to go get it?!?!

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codeQueen t1_j22catx wrote

I stole a bunch of keychains from Ames in Fairhaven when I was like 7 years old. My mom made me bring them all back and had the security lady scare the shit out of me and tell me I was going to jail.

✨ Memories ✨

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TheTr7nity t1_j22nbyy wrote

Service Merchandise… we are patiently waiting!

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wheres_ur_up_dog t1_j22rlzt wrote

Replying to cheerocc (#1,135,981)

I bought a fishing lure and then went to the candy room while my dad bought a rug and my mom got stockings. Building 19 was like a whole yard sale with weird cartoon ads ...that I used to look forward to seeing in the paper for reasons I can't explain. Guy looked like John from Garfield maybe?

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jamescobalt t1_j231iz4 wrote

But it was such a bland brand and utilitarian shopping experience. What’s their hook?

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kw66 t1_j2375ql wrote

Filene’s Basement anyone?

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cokane_88 t1_j23dlxj wrote

Ocean State Job Lots, reminds me of Ames.

The house I bought from an old lady has an Ames branded water hose rack out back.

We had "The Fair" in Southbridge and Ames in Sturbridge 30 years ago. My buddy gifted me some old fishing stuff all had the fair stickers on em, nostalgia.

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Elementium t1_j23o0tg wrote

Ames is my childhood. Walmart killed it and now it's a Job Lot. Still at the end of the day.. How will it compete any better now?

What I really miss is K Mart. Right until the end those mofos had VHS tapes for sale.

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m8k t1_j23rsog wrote

Replying to riefpirate (#1,140,985)

Yes please. Many hours were spent in the Danvers store across from Liberty Tree (back when they still had the tree and it was the “cool” mall). I loved that place.

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Sylvio_ t1_j23xlvf wrote

I knew they saved that one in Seabrook for a reason

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DMala t1_j23z5v2 wrote

Replying to johnny_cash_money (#1,134,580)

Sears could have literally been Amazon. They had all the infrastructure and could have crushed Amazon the second they tried to be anything more than a bookstore. But they decided the internet was just a fad, and now they’re just a sad shell and won’t be around much longer.

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JoshSidekick t1_j2403ym wrote

I'll put my vote in for The Fair to come back next.

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DMala t1_j2412cc wrote

Replying to codeQueen (#1,136,082)

When I worked at the Walmart in Fairhaven, just before the Ames closed, a manager from there came into Walmart (with his kid!) and pitched a very public fit about how our shelf tagging was inaccurate and how we were ripping people off.

In the moment, I had no idea he was anything other than a crabby customer, but the manager who came to help me deal with this situation told me later who he was. I don’t know if he hoped to achieve something or was just venting his spleen. My manager filed a complaint against him with Ames, I never heard of anything more came of it.

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oldcreaker t1_j248hez wrote

I can't remember the last time I was in a department store. I wonder how they will change up their model - clearly the previous one wasn't working.

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m8k t1_j24ct1n wrote

Replying to nebirah (#1,148,291)

We never did a lot at Toys R Us because they were pricier so it was Childworld and a similar store that was in Newburyport for a while in the early 90s but is now a Marshalls.

1

RedRedditRedemption2 t1_j2512yn wrote

Replying to DMala (#1,145,741)

Funnily enough, there's still a Sears store in Braintree. I think it used to have three floors, but Primark bought out the third floor in 2015 and the Sears store has only had two levels ever since. At least it received a renovation, especially on the outside!

I'm also pretty sure it's the last Sears store in the entirety of New England. I have no clue how it has managed to last so long. Braintree was the town I grew up in, so it blows my mind that Sears is still there!

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jamescobalt t1_j252mtk wrote

Replying to nick-j- (#1,153,247)

Maybe, but our local Ames, at least, was not classier than Walmart. The Walmart that helped put it out of business was nicer in every respect expect maybe staff friendliness.

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RedRedditRedemption2 t1_j254nuv wrote

Replying to oldcreaker (#1,147,585)

Really? Have you ever exited your house by any chance?

They went bankrupt because they bought out a crap ton of competitors and took on a load of debt as a result. Their rapid expansion became an issue and it ultimately tanked the company. The "new" Ames likely won't have piss-poor management.

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Mr-Chewy-Biteums t1_j25g9e3 wrote

Replying to Elementium (#1,143,508)

The KMart in my town was one of the last. It held out until just before COVID. It had just begun its going-out-of-business sale when COVID started to get big, so they just called it a day. I wonder how much stuff is still in there.

​

Thank you

1

sightlab t1_j25jo0e wrote

Replying to Nogodsnomasters (#1,134,247)

There was one in the Hampshire Mall when the Hampshire Mall was thriving and had a food court that looked like an old-timey town square (with Steigers as the big central feature store) and the adjacent West Mountain Farms mall (or, colloquially, the "DEAD MALL") was an empty husk with 1 chinese restaurant, 1 AMC muliplex, and a sunday flea market in the massive anchor space at the end. Now the West Farms area is the thriving (if awful) walmart/wholefoods/barnes & noble/old navy etc plaza and the Hampshire Mall is an increasingly empty anachronism that folks now refer to as the DEAD MALL.

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sightlab t1_j25ko1s wrote

Replying to jaybee62 (#1,141,835)

My sister assumed Mammoth Mart was where she had to buy her new parents once I was born, so she'd wander off and sidle up to young couples in the store. My parents couldn't figure out why they'd find her forlornly following mildly annoyed strangers around.

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Kodiak01 t1_j25lemq wrote

Replying to sightlab (#1,156,800)

Back then it was. The stockroom was not always in the building however, in some cases things were shipped direct to the customer. The Green Stamps redemption store was the same way.

My father actually belonged to a membership version of one of these clubs in the 90s. You would pay this huge membership fee, then go into a location that was nothing but hundreds of catalogs on the walls. You'd pick out what you wanted, filled out an order form, and it was shipped to you.

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Nogodsnomasters t1_j25uydi wrote

Replying to sightlab (#1,157,005)

Yes! I even remember the grand opening of Mountain Farms Mall. They were supposed to drop ping pong balls from a helicopter with prize codes on them, but it got called off due to a tornado warning or something, and some guy just threw handfuls off of the roof instead. Before the Hampshire Mall was built right next to it, Mountain Farms Mall was the big deal. I remember being highly impressed with the water wheel.

But Hampshire Mall with the old town theme and the Roller skating (Interskate 91) was so exciting back in the day.

1

BrendanBSharp t1_j263gef wrote

Replying to Crayonbreaking (#1,156,336)

They coexisted for years (Ollie’s in Pennsylvania and Building 19 in Massachusetts) and must’ve gotten along good enough that it was ok to have the same freelance cartoonist doing the ads for both chains... their store locations never overlapped anyway. The cartoonist is Mat Brown; he’s from Scituate.

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Snufflarious t1_j26js42 wrote

Ima pass on this one. Some investors bought the name. What is it about Ames that they even could resurrect?

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wheres_ur_up_dog t1_j27c9az wrote

Replying to PWL9000 (#1,169,149)

If I were more code literate I would have responded with this gif... but, contrary to what all of the boomers I worked with, I am not in fact able to code anything on any website or program. In reality I am just another millennial who only had 2 years of "computer" class in the early 2000's. Which was just the worst math teacher (who was given the choice of teaching "computers" or being fired), or the librarian who just lost their free period, listlessly making a bunch of 7th graders play mario typing or letting us play zoombinis or kidpix. We ended up learning to type cuz of AIM and rudimentary code from Myspace, and are competent with most technology/programs because we were curious enough to figure them out rather than like those wrinkly douches shake their fists and refuse to learn. ... Yeah, I'm still bitter that an exec made a scene about how I couldn't overlay what he was describing in realtime onto a projection of the architect's drawings.

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CoffeeContingencies t1_j299h6h wrote

I’m calling it now- This is a giant prank. Every news outlet covering it has the same quote by this same woman who doesn’t have a phone number and there is no online presence for the parent company. #Amesgate2023

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