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robertfcowper t1_jdn4w5s wrote

My father talks about Rickels all the time. The plaza in Union where it used to be will forever be "the plaza where Rickels used to be" even though that was like 30+ years ago.

I let myself get suckered in by a Facebook ad for a site selling retro brand t-shirts. Got my dad a Rickels shirt, possibly the best reception to a gift I've ever given him. (For us NJ folks they also had Bradlees, Caldor, Jamesway, Ground Round, Metrostars, and a few good others I can't remember.)

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MickCollins t1_jdnnrbo wrote

Ground Round has made a small return, 10 locations open, most of them in states along the Canadian border (not sure why that is).

I remember my brother working in Jamesway in between...I want to say his freshman and sophomore year. When they closed it turned into a Frank's (a gardening store) and he worked there too, but did too much lifting for someone too small too be lifting without any muscle and screwed himself up for the rest of his life.

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robertfcowper t1_jdntolw wrote

Frank's sounds familiar. Feels like I can picture the logo with a flower within the letters. Did you grow up near Brick?

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VelocityGrrl39 t1_jdoloed wrote

There was a Frank’s on 35 in Sea Girt, not far across from the little strip mall that had Claire’s and The Gap.

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MickCollins t1_jdo1qdd wrote

Nope. A state over, in fact; just visited Middlesex area a lot because both grandparent sets were around there as was extended family. But we lived close enough that most of the stores were the same. But yeah, almost guaranteed to be the same Frank's.

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LongWindedInNJ t1_jdqf6wa wrote

Franks brings back memories. I grew up in Holmdel and there was once a Frank’s Garden Center on the northbound side of Rt35 in nearby Hazlet. It was closed and subsequently abandoned lot for as long as I can remember: mid/late 80s through maybe the late 00s? I think it’s a Lidl now.

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bsidetracked t1_jdnvrqw wrote

I got suckered too. Had to get the Ground Round shirt! That and Charlie Browns were the best restaurants in the world to ne growing up.

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robertfcowper t1_jdnx3o7 wrote

Oh man, Charlie Browns. Salad bar was nice, I wish more places had that still.

Just remembered Bennigan's too. I can still taste their turkey sandwich, they were two decades ahead of the pretzel bread trend.

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bsidetracked t1_jdnz6k4 wrote

I swear the ranch dressing at their salad bar tasted better than any other ranch dressing I’ve ever had.

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