TOTALLY GEEKED!

Lady Gaga Snerd · Guru

How Has Your Life Changed Over the Years?

flan327 · Itty bitty's Grammy

I thought this was going to be a profound philosophical thread...LOL

I don't know if there are any K-Marts in town anymore. There is one on Kauai that is nice, so I'll pop in there.

flan

Lady Gaga Snerd · Guru

Bwaaah! I am glad you expect profound philosophy from me! lol

I know what to do_sometimes · Frozen Sucks!

I used to love going to the mall. HATE it now. I think mostly due to the traffic. I live in a state with no sales tax and only 3 miles from a huge mall, 8 miles from the outlets. People from all over come here to shop. The traffic is horrendous.

Lady Gaga Snerd · Guru

I know what to do_sometimes wrote:
I used to love going to the mall. HATE it now. I think mostly due to the traffic. I live in a state with no sales tax and only 3 miles from a huge mall, 8 miles from the outlets. People from all over come here to shop. The traffic is horrendous.

I got away from going to the mall. I figured there were much better ways to spend my time so i rarely go.

flan327 · Itty bitty's Grammy

There are NO decent malls here anymore.

Lafayette Square is a ghost town, they've destroyed Glendale, and Castleton Square...crazy traffic & filled with yuppies..

flan

Lady Gaga Snerd · Guru

One of our upscale malls that we go to is in foreclosure. Malls seem to be failing in a big way.

Southern_Belle · Nothing's Impossible

Same here. I don't like our Kmart. Anytime I go I leave aggravated.

Lady Gaga Snerd · Guru

Southern_Belle wrote:
Same here. I don't like our Kmart. Anytime I go I leave aggravated.

Me too. They jacked up their prices at a time when they were competing with Walmart. And, they had the most disgusting bathrooms ever. Once you experience that kind of nasty, you don't ever return, lol. And, WHY do these stores put in 20 cash registers, and then only ever open 2, even at Christmas? If you aren't going to use them, rip them out and put in more merchandise.

Southern_Belle · Nothing's Impossible

We used to go to Savannah at least twice a month. So many people live in that area now it's not as much fun due to all the traffic and everything is so crowded.

Divine Geek · Guru

flan327 wrote:
There are NO decent malls here anymore.

Lafayette Square is a ghost town, they've destroyed Glendale, and Castleton Square...crazy traffic & filled with yuppies..

flan

I liked Greenwood Park. Granted, it's been over two years since I've been back, but it was a really nice mall.

Southern_Belle · Nothing's Impossible

Lady Gaga Snerd wrote:
Southern_Belle wrote:
Same here. I don't like our Kmart. Anytime I go I leave aggravated.
Me too. They jacked up their prices at a time when they were competing with Walmart. And, they had the most disgusting bathrooms ever. Once you experience that kind of nasty, you don't ever return, lol. And, WHY do these stores put in 20 cash registers, and then only ever open 2, even at Christmas? If you aren't going to use them, rip them out and put in more merchandise.

That's our Kmart. Two registers with long lines. Then there will be six people at the service desk ignoring everyone. I've set my stuff on the service counter and told them I'm not waiting and walked out the door more than once.

I know what to do_sometimes · Frozen Sucks!

I think K Mart is owned by Sears.

Southern_Belle · Nothing's Impossible

It is.

flan327 · Itty bitty's Grammy

Divine Geek wrote:
flan327 wrote:
There are NO decent malls here anymore.

Lafayette Square is a ghost town, they've destroyed Glendale, and Castleton Square...crazy traffic & filled with yuppies..

flan
I liked Greenwood Park. Granted, it's been over two years since I've been back, but it was a really nice mall.

I knew I was forgetting one! You're right, Greenwood IS nice.

Circle Centre is probably my 2nd choice.

flan

Lady Gaga Snerd · Guru

They have to earn your business. Kind of like everyone saying "shop local". I will shop local to the extent that i get good prices and good customer service. We have a local sports store that used to do all the tshirts for our teams and trophies. But, they got Lazy. They didn't offer more or better gear. And, when we would commission orders of tshirts, it took them forever. Well, another shop opened in the neighboring town and you will get the stuff the next day or within days. Kmart is like the the lazy slob cousin of other retail stores. Walmart keeps their stores here very nice. They are clean and they periodically remodel and update them.

flan327 · Itty bitty's Grammy

I know what to do_sometimes wrote:
I think K Mart is owned by Sears.

That explains a lot.

flan

Southern_Belle · Nothing's Impossible

Our Walmart is gross. It is never clean. The cashiers won't even say hi. One usually has to climb over a pack of employees having a private conversation to get down the aisle because they ain't moving.

Lady Gaga Snerd · Guru

flan327 wrote:
I thought this was going to be a profound philosophical thread...LOL

I don't know if there are any K-Marts in town anymore. There is one on Kauai that is nice, so I'll pop in there.

flan

It's kind of nostalgic to me because i remember shopping there with my mom. And, then getting a pretzel or pizza at the counter as treat. smile

Divine Geek · Guru

We have KMart and Walmart - they are across the street from each other. I really dispise Walmart and used to try to support KMart. But it seemed like every time I went there looking for something specific, they either didn't have it or it was twice the price of Walmart. I'm not opposed to paying a little more, but the price difference was too much. I will say though, our Kmart always has a bunch of registers open. No customers, but 5 registers open.

Southern_Belle · Nothing's Impossible

Our Sears isn't so hot either. It just sells tools and refrigerators. One person works the sales floor and she won't get off her ass to help anyone. She just sits behind the counter and you have to go ask any questions.

Divine Geek · Guru

flan327 wrote:
Divine Geek wrote:
flan327 wrote:
There are NO decent malls here anymore.

Lafayette Square is a ghost town, they've destroyed Glendale, and Castleton Square...crazy traffic & filled with yuppies..

flan
I liked Greenwood Park. Granted, it's been over two years since I've been back, but it was a really nice mall.
I knew I was forgetting one! You're right, Greenwood IS nice.
Circle Centre is probably my 2nd choice.
flan

I always found Circle Center overwhelming. I lived right by Hamilton Town Center, it's a nice place too. If you go for the open air concept. Not so great for Christmas shopping though lol

Lady Gaga Snerd · Guru

I think it is interesting but my kids seem to avoid the big anchor stores like the plague. They want to shop in the smaller stores. DD would much rather shop at Francesca's closet, Hot Topic, American Eagle. My sons like AE and Pac Sun, etc. They have no interest to set foot into Macy's, Nordstroms', Penney's, or any of the big anchor stores.

flan327 · Itty bitty's Grammy

I have both a Wal-Mart and a Meijer within 2 miles of our house.

Wal-Mart: what SB said, cashiers could not care less about customers, their "clearance aisle" looks like a garbage dump.

Meijer: clean, always friendly cashiers & they seem to stay employed, so I am recognized by many of them.

flan

flan327 · Itty bitty's Grammy

Divine Geek wrote:
flan327 wrote:
Divine Geek wrote:
flan327 wrote:
There are NO decent malls here anymore.

Lafayette Square is a ghost town, they've destroyed Glendale, and Castleton Square...crazy traffic & filled with yuppies..

flan
I liked Greenwood Park. Granted, it's been over two years since I've been back, but it was a really nice mall.
I knew I was forgetting one! You're right, Greenwood IS nice.
Circle Centre is probably my 2nd choice.
flan
I always found Circle Center overwhelming. I lived right by Hamilton Town Center, it's a nice place too. If you go for the open air concept. Not so great for Christmas shopping though lol

Yeah, Metropolis is open air as well.

flan

flan327 · Itty bitty's Grammy

Lady Gaga Snerd wrote:
I think it is interesting but my kids seem to avoid the big anchor stores like the plague. They want to shop in the smaller stores. DD would much rather shop at Francesca's closet, Hot Topic, American Eagle. My sons like AE and Pac Sun, etc. They have no interest to set foot into Macy's, Nordstroms', Penney's, or any of the big anchor stores.

I miss Ayres & Lazarus.

flan

flan327 · Itty bitty's Grammy

Lady Gaga Snerd wrote:
flan327 wrote:
I thought this was going to be a profound philosophical thread...LOL

I don't know if there are any K-Marts in town anymore. There is one on Kauai that is nice, so I'll pop in there.

flan
It's kind of nostalgic to me because i remember shopping there with my mom. And, then getting a pretzel or pizza at the counter as treat.

And for me, it was taking a bus with Mom to the Ayres downtown & eating in the Tea Room!!!

flan

Divine Geek · Guru

flan327 wrote:
I have both a Wal-Mart and a Meijer within 2 miles of our house.

Wal-Mart: what SB said, cashiers could not care less about customers, their "clearance aisle" looks like a garbage dump.

Meijer: clean, always friendly cashiers & they seem to stay employed, so I am recognized by many of them.

flan

Sigh. I miss Meijer.

I know what to do_sometimes · Frozen Sucks!

flan327 wrote:
I know what to do_sometimes wrote:
I think K Mart is owned by Sears.
That explains a lot.
flan

It sure does.

lilyofcourse · My spirit animal is a pink flamingo.

The kids got a history lesson in my ramblings not long ago.

I remember actually going down town to shop.

We had a JC Penny in one of the bigger buildings. But you could still put two inside one of the big Walmart of today.

We had a hardware store. Good size store, was amazed at the wall of chains and ropes and my brother and I would play in the nail bins. Ten penny nails were actually ten nails for a penny. I would count them out.

There was a nice big furniture store. Was only in there a couple of times. Most kids didn't go into those stores, there wasn't anything in there fun to see.

There was a barber shop and a hair salon for women.

A couple dozen other small, specialty shops.

And the train track runs from one end to the other and the depot was in the middle, right behind it all.

Oh and the theater. The Wink theater was huge. And at night was lit up like a Christmas tree. Colored neon tubes covering every thing and blinking bulbs around the back lit marquee. A thousand bulbs lit the underside and entrance. The person in the booth out side gave you your ticket and when you opened the doors you entered into a velvet and fringed world like you had never seen.

You dressed up a little to go to the movie back then. It wasn't just sitting in the dark shoving popcorn in your face. It was a social event.

There was only one screen. Everyone there was seeing the same movie. People would chat in the wings and on the landing. We always made sure to go to the bathroom first. Up the stairs to the balcony entrance level and to the left.

Big bathroom. Fancy fixtures and details. It looked like something out of a movie.

Then the lights would dim and that was the signal to find your seat. You had about 5 minutes. And then everyone would settle and it would get quiet and if you were close enough to the projection loft, you could here the clip... clip... clip... clip clip clip clipclipclip of the movie starting.

The screen was huge. So, so much bigger than theater screens now. I'm talk Imax screens are about right.

And it was actually a silver screen.

No one talked, there was no one on cell phones or getting up and down. No 50 ounce soft drink or barrel of popcorn you had to maneuver.

It was a wonderful experience.

The first movie I saw there that I remember was Snow White.

I still love that movie, and when I watch it now, I am magically a child again. In those plush, velvet crimson red seats being flooded with light and color and sound.

It was truly an experience to see a movie back then.

Nobody Just Nobody · Rib-it! Rrrib-it!

We don't have a K-Mart. We do have a Wal-Mart. We used to do our shopping there but since I have been much better about cooking from scratch we found that Wal-Mart rarely has anything but convenience type foods on sale. Pre made stuff. Since we don't buy that we don't save tons of money. We go to our local grocery store, use their sales and coupons, and save tons. We still go to Wal-Mart for some things. Just not as much as we used to. The help at Wal-Mart is always great. We never have a problem. Sometimes we have an issue finding someone but once we do they always help us. And I don't know if it's just our Wal-Mart or this is the standard but the cashiers always greet us and ask us if we found anything or had any problems. When we leave they always wish us a blessed day.

karl271 · Guru

Thanks for that post, Lily. Really made me go down memory lane...

lilyofcourse · My spirit animal is a pink flamingo.

You're welcome Karl.

Blankie · Guru

S. S. Kresge was the founder of the company that would become KMart.

Now that's how my life has changed over the years. Remember Kresge's stores? Went there when I was a kid. Along with good ol' Woolworth's.

The KMart near me is closing soon.

flan327 · Itty bitty's Grammy

karl271 wrote:
Thanks for that post, Lily. Really made me go down memory lane...

Never saw a movie in a theatre like that.

flan

burns07 · Guru

there's a theater in austin like that one lily--called the paramount, right on congress avenue, just down from the capitol--built in the glory days of theatre in the 1930s/1940s--same ambience as you describe--all the gold filligree/chandalier/elegant brocade settees in the bathrooms/huge mirrors, etc.--finished up like a palace--saw all kinds of films there--it is still open--best theatre experience have ever had though was at the americana--the first wide-screen theatre in austin--huge, curved wall to wall screen and awesome sound system--saw the premiere of " 2001: A Space Odyssey " kubrick's opus--simply mind-blowing--even now, all these years later, can remember it as if it happened just a few hours ago

lilyofcourse · My spirit animal is a pink flamingo.

Sounds amazing Burns.

lilyofcourse · My spirit animal is a pink flamingo.

An old picture of the Wink.

lilyofcourse · My spirit animal is a pink flamingo.

Here is a shot from inside. From the stage/screen into the theater.

chef · Guru

Theaters - I miss the Mesa Theater near where I grew up. I remember seeing Twister in that theater. The theater was so old that the tornado scenes shook the theater.

Stores - I miss FedCo. Fun store to shop at and I loved that it had a Panda Express inside.

huskerbb · Guru

I would not consider shopping at Target or wherever rather than K-Mart a major life change.

Lady Gaga Snerd · Guru

Bwaaahhh.

Mary Zombie · Guru

I remember xmas shopping at Filene's basement in Boston. They would ring the bells outside along the street. I heard it closed a few years back....anyone know if thats true?
Those were the good old days.
Oh and seeing Arthur Fiedler conduct the pops xmas show on the common.
Things seemed so magical then.
Good times!