I worked at Toys R Us in 1999 and we had all the games in locking cases, not tickets. Also, the games section at the time was called "R-Zone", and if you look at the signage that is cutoff off at the top of the second pic, it looks like it could say that. I think our signage was red though. To me the pics look like two different stores (Wal-Mart and Toys R Us).
this thread almost made me cry lol damn i miss those days, great job from the op to making this thread, im from ct so alot of those photos brought back memories of greater days
I worked at Toys R Us in 1999 and we had all the games in locking cases, not tickets. Also, the games section at the time was called "R-Zone", and if you look at the signage that is cutoff off at the top of the second pic, it looks like it could say that. I think our signage was red though. To me the pics look like two different stores (Wal-Mart and Toys R Us).
I agree that they also seem to be two different locations, if not different chains, despite the similar lighting and flooring situations. Very good theory about the possible R-Zone text too!
And I agree that these were much better days. I really love the variety of old retail and miss traveling across the country with my family every Summer and going to tons of stores. Very rarely did two stores look the same. Plazas used to be so cool looking but these days so many of them have received modern renovvations and they just look so drab and boring compared to the old facades and designs. These days, nearly every Kohl's or Target are near identical from each other and there is no point traveling to different stores to see what they have or look like. These pictures were captured at a perfect era in time before all of those long standing chains went out of business. It's so hard to believe how long ago those days were.
Now, it seems to me that not EVERY Toys R Us kept a ticket system going as long as others might have, so it's not impossible that was a Toys R Us.
The bottom pic (with the gamecube stuff) is a Toys R s. I worked on a remodel for one a few years ago and after building and moving gondolas (shelving units) I can tell you right away its a Toys R Us. The dead giveaway is the aisle sign in the backround on the right side. They still use them and I broke alot of them moving a rolling ladder through the aisles.
The bottom pic (with the gamecube stuff) is a Toys R s.
We already know that. The "dead giveaway" should be the tickets. Or you could just look at the filename, maybe. I added that photo (which is from 2005 or so) for reference. We are trying to figure out what store(s) the screencaptures from the everythingisterrible.com video are from.
There are still a few TRU stores which use the ticket system for games... in case anyone cares. I don't have a list right in front of me, but I know they still exist. Sadly, I kinda miss buying my games that way (and have been on the lookout for the old TRU "please wait here" game signage).
Some of the other stores in this list still exist, but in a different format, like Kids'R'Us is now part of the Babies'R'Us brand and Kay-Bee is owned by TRU and exists solely online as a clearance retailer. Just sucks that everything that made places different no longer exist due to buyouts. Everything is a TRU or GameStop. I has a sad.
I stumbled on this magazine ad from 2000, the year Gamestop acquired Funcoland. At that point it brought their total to 950 stores counting the Funcoland and Software ETC locations. This is probably one of the last ads to advertise these brand names as most stores were converted with the new Gamestop logo within the year.
Good old days. I miss Funcoland, and I miss how cheap retro games used to be.
Final Fantasy 2 and 3 are quite relatively expensive though. And interesting that Final Fantasy 2 is more then 3.
29.99 for Earthbound. Harvest Moon for 39.99
2.99 for Pocky and Rocky 2. Hagane for 1.99
Such odd pricing.
Stadium Events. Thirty. Nine. Cents.
I wouldn't feel too bad. Given the rarity of the game, I doubt few if any were ever sold at this price. Just because they set prices doesn't mean they actually ever even had stock.
Well yeah I am aware that this was just a list of prices if they do have it in stock, I remember as a kid asking for all sorts of games from the paper list and they didn't have it in stock.
And boy I did not see the Flintstones 2 or Stadium Events or Little Samson. Wow! Question is did they ever get said games traded in since they're so rare?
I remember getting lots of ex rentals from Funcoland after a local video store dumped their old SNES and Genesis games there. I remember a grocery store had a somewhat big section (for a grocery store) full of old ex rental VHS tapes from the rental store as well. Think its possible Blockbuster ever got rid of old ex rentals by taking them to Funcoland? Hahahahaha
Think its possible Blockbuster ever got rid of old ex rentals by taking them to Funcoland? Hahahahaha
My Killer Instinct SNES CIB came from the counter at Funcoland in Enfield, Connecticut, and it has Blockbuster stickers on the box, and used to have them on the cart. I can't remember what I paid but it was far less than the $9.99 that the Blockbuster sticker reads. Hard to say if Blockbuster themselves brought it there or not but I always liked that Blockbuster put the date on the sticker when they decided to sell.
Ames was the 4th largest Department Store Chain in America behind Walmart, Kmart, and Target, with over 700 stores in 20 states at one point. They suffered massive closures in 1990 including the permanent closure of all Florida locations, but the company actually grew strong again until 1998 when they bought the Hills chain.
I actually worked for Hills dept. store's warehouse production facility from 1997-1998. I had later found a new job, and on the LAST DAY of my two week notice to Hills, I was fired. It didn't bother me, as I already had a new job anyway. I left with a smile. This was literally just before Ames bought Hills out.
I found out from a former co-worker, that less than a month after I quit/was fired, Ames bought out Hills and everyone at our facility lost their jobs. That was a close call!!!
This is an amazing thread, I have so many old(and weird) memories of many of these old department store chains. Memories tied closely with my first experiences with video games. I've bookmarked this thread for sure.
Still have toy's r us out here although the kids r us shut down (not sure when) also k mart was just ripped out probably a year ago. it is weird to think about. Also circuit city was so cool to me as a kid.
K*B toys was cool but they made toys r us look cheap here.
Also I can't remember the arcade but it turned into nickle city here. chuck e cheese too omg
We still have several Toys 'R Us and K-Mart locations in central Ohio(Columbus area), but they look really run down. The Toys 'R Us on Hamilton Rd off of I-70 used to have a huge Children's Palace right next door to it. Being a kid in those days was being in toy heaven. I couldn't afford very many NES game back then, but I remember the long aisles with the flip cards of games, and you had to take a ticket to the front to show them which game you wanted.
I still remember Gold Circle, which later became a Hills in 1989, having NES games for like $80 each. It was crazy.
Originally posted by: GCrites80s
Originally posted by: tkm015
Originally posted by: Trj22487
This was the former Child World in Colombus, Ohio. Any stores with this type of design was originally a Child World/Children's Palace.
That was indeed a Children's Palace. It was a Media Play (obviously) for a while, until it was converted back into a Toys R' Us (which is still currently is and is still open to this day).
4285 Groves Road
Columbus, Ohio 43232
If you want to do a google maps street view to see what it currently looks like.
That Children's Palace never got turned into a TRU after Media Play. It's a school now. The TRU is next door to the north. Between the two was the old Glick's furniture store that suffered a roof collapse and had to be torn down.
And I don't think that picutre is of the old South Hamilton Children's Palace either. The Hamilton one is a lot taller on the north side of the building and has brick of a different color. If you GSV the stores from Hamilton instead you can see the old CP better but the TRU is blocked by the old muffler shop where the guy who owns Eastland Towing and Crane stores his drag cars.
Small world! The South Hamilton road location was the one I went to a lot.
I can't believe how long ago this stuff is starting to get. Once in a while I still have the clearest memories of the most mundane yet specific times browsing things at Ames or KB Toys, and then i remember that was 12-15 years ago and I can't believe it. The average high school senior wouldn't know most of these stores anymore.
This week is the 35th anniversary of the Holyoke, Massachusetts mall I always frequented as a kid and I was thrilled to see them share a few vintage photos, including the Kay Bee Toys that was always a must stop for me. Still holding my breath that they might share some more photos of interest, the mall once had so many great stores that are long gone.
My store was originally a Kay Bee. It still had some of the Kay Bee carpet from '88 down before we moved in. And it's still got the mirrored ceiling in the front so that the staff could look up at kids' reflections to make sure they weren't stealing candy and gum.
Yeah it's funny, I'd written in the OP how my KB Toys is now a Dollar Tree and it even sat vacant for a few years, but I've gone in there a few times and sometimes the employees will leave out a small ladder or two and the first time I ever saw the ladders I instantly recognized they were from KB Toys....still covered in Star Wars stickers from the Late 90's just as I remember them when I was a young teen and some of my friends worked there.
Yeah it's funny, I'd written in the OP how my KB Toys is now a Dollar Tree and it even sat vacant for a few years, but I've gone in there a few times and sometimes the employees will leave out a small ladder or two and the first time I ever saw the ladders I instantly recognized they were from KB Toys....still covered in Star Wars stickers from the Late 90's just as I remember them when I was a young teen and some of my friends worked there.
I find this kind of stuff so interesting. There is a mall near me called the Plano Market Square Mall that I always used to go to when I was very young (so this had to be the early 2000s). It was a very busy place filled with coin op rides and all name brand stores. Tj Maxx, Gap, Garden Ridge, etc..
The one that stood out the most was an official Pokemon store/ center where kids would go to have pokemon card and game battles. I was way to young to play pokemon or even know what it was. But what I do remember was that the whole store was yellow with yellow walls, flooring, tables and a huge pokemon sign right above the entrence. That pokemon center actually replaced a TY beanie baby store. There were yellow/ red floors and beanie babies lining the walls. Obviously this was during that huge craze.
It is so sad today because the whole mall is practically abandoned (im suprised it hasn't been demolished) . There are only 4 stores open. A garden ridge, cake shop, book shop, and a tacky painting store which is in place of the old Pokemon store. I went into this painting store and remeniced about the old pokemon place that used to be here. I was wondering if there was still anything left in the store that would somehow be connected to the Pokemon place. Like how the step ladder was a reminder to the KB toys in your instance.
I can't find any information at all about this place even existing. Not even a mention about in online. I just find it crazy that a small-ish town like Plano would even have an official Pokemon center. I would love to see some old pictures of that place in it's heyday. Sorry I just went on rambling. But yeah I always wonder if there are still some old signs or anything hidden in back rooms still left from previous occupants.
Well yeah I am aware that this was just a list of prices if they do have it in stock, I remember as a kid asking for all sorts of games from the paper list and they didn't have it in stock.
And boy I did not see the Flintstones 2 or Stadium Events or Little Samson. Wow! Question is did they ever get said games traded in since they're so rare?
I remember getting lots of ex rentals from Funcoland after a local video store dumped their old SNES and Genesis games there. I remember a grocery store had a somewhat big section (for a grocery store) full of old ex rental VHS tapes from the rental store as well. Think its possible Blockbuster ever got rid of old ex rentals by taking them to Funcoland? Hahahahaha
If they did get any stadium events CIB traded in you got to stand there and watch them stomp on the box and manual. I nearly died as a kid when I traded in some of my N64 games CIB. The dude just pulled the cart out and proceeded to just stomp on all the boxes and throw them away.
Comments
Originally posted by: K.Thrower
I worked at Toys R Us in 1999 and we had all the games in locking cases, not tickets. Also, the games section at the time was called "R-Zone", and if you look at the signage that is cutoff off at the top of the second pic, it looks like it could say that. I think our signage was red though. To me the pics look like two different stores (Wal-Mart and Toys R Us).
I agree that they also seem to be two different locations, if not different chains, despite the similar lighting and flooring situations. Very good theory about the possible R-Zone text too!
And I agree that these were much better days. I really love the variety of old retail and miss traveling across the country with my family every Summer and going to tons of stores. Very rarely did two stores look the same. Plazas used to be so cool looking but these days so many of them have received modern renovvations and they just look so drab and boring compared to the old facades and designs. These days, nearly every Kohl's or Target are near identical from each other and there is no point traveling to different stores to see what they have or look like. These pictures were captured at a perfect era in time before all of those long standing chains went out of business. It's so hard to believe how long ago those days were.
Originally posted by: Trj22487
Originally posted by: Trj22487
I'm not sure what store this promotional footage from 1998 was in, I can't quite place the
electronics sign....Walmart, Best Buy, CompUSA?.....not sure what store this was but it is nostalgic.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BtUt7-MyelY
Now, it seems to me that not EVERY Toys R Us kept a ticket system going as long as others might have, so it's not impossible that was a Toys R Us.
The bottom pic (with the gamecube stuff) is a Toys R s. I worked on a remodel for one a few years ago and after building and moving gondolas (shelving units) I can tell you right away its a Toys R Us. The dead giveaway is the aisle sign in the backround on the right side. They still use them and I broke alot of them moving a rolling ladder through the aisles.
Originally posted by: leatherrebel5150
The bottom pic (with the gamecube stuff) is a Toys R s.
We already know that. The "dead giveaway" should be the tickets. Or you could just look at the filename, maybe. I added that photo (which is from 2005 or so) for reference. We are trying to figure out what store(s) the screencaptures from the everythingisterrible.com video are from.
Originally posted by: Trj22487
It is Toys R Us and that is the R Zone sign above, inserted the logo from that era to compare above.
Nice work, I wouldn't have caught that but you can clearly see the "one" in Zone and the colors are a match.
Some of the other stores in this list still exist, but in a different format, like Kids'R'Us is now part of the Babies'R'Us brand and Kay-Bee is owned by TRU and exists solely online as a clearance retailer. Just sucks that everything that made places different no longer exist due to buyouts. Everything is a TRU or GameStop. I has a sad.
I have never seen this version of the Peebles logo before.
At the top of the sign is the signage for Shopper's World, which I had no idea still exists today.
The original Shoppers World in Natick, Mass used to be right next to the Bradlees and it was one of the greatest malls
and used to feature stores such as Record Town, Nobody Beats the Wiz, Toys R Us, and much more.
1990's Now
Final Fantasy 2 and 3 are quite relatively expensive though. And interesting that Final Fantasy 2 is more then 3.
29.99 for Earthbound. Harvest Moon for 39.99
2.99 for Pocky and Rocky 2. Hagane for 1.99
Such odd pricing.
Originally posted by: Fluttering Pickle
Good old days. I miss Funcoland, and I miss how cheap retro games used to be.
Final Fantasy 2 and 3 are quite relatively expensive though. And interesting that Final Fantasy 2 is more then 3.
29.99 for Earthbound. Harvest Moon for 39.99
2.99 for Pocky and Rocky 2. Hagane for 1.99
Such odd pricing.
Stadium Events. Thirty. Nine. Cents.
Originally posted by: Fluttering Pickle
Good old days. I miss Funcoland, and I miss how cheap retro games used to be.
Final Fantasy 2 and 3 are quite relatively expensive though. And interesting that Final Fantasy 2 is more then 3.
29.99 for Earthbound. Harvest Moon for 39.99
2.99 for Pocky and Rocky 2. Hagane for 1.99
Such odd pricing.
Flintstones 2-SDP...................... 9.99
Little Samson............................ 7.99
Panic Restaurant....................... 1.99
Stadium Events..........................0.39
Time machine............................ Priceless
Originally posted by: mattbep
Originally posted by: Fluttering Pickle
Good old days. I miss Funcoland, and I miss how cheap retro games used to be.
Final Fantasy 2 and 3 are quite relatively expensive though. And interesting that Final Fantasy 2 is more then 3.
29.99 for Earthbound. Harvest Moon for 39.99
2.99 for Pocky and Rocky 2. Hagane for 1.99
Such odd pricing.
Stadium Events. Thirty. Nine. Cents.
I wouldn't feel too bad. Given the rarity of the game, I doubt few if any were ever sold at this price. Just because they set prices doesn't mean they actually ever even had stock.
And boy I did not see the Flintstones 2 or Stadium Events or Little Samson. Wow! Question is did they ever get said games traded in since they're so rare?
I remember getting lots of ex rentals from Funcoland after a local video store dumped their old SNES and Genesis games there. I remember a grocery store had a somewhat big section (for a grocery store) full of old ex rental VHS tapes from the rental store as well. Think its possible Blockbuster ever got rid of old ex rentals by taking them to Funcoland? Hahahahaha
Originally posted by: Fluttering Pickle
Think its possible Blockbuster ever got rid of old ex rentals by taking them to Funcoland? Hahahahaha
My Killer Instinct SNES CIB came from the counter at Funcoland in Enfield, Connecticut, and it has Blockbuster stickers on the box, and used to have them on the cart. I can't remember what I paid but it was far less than the $9.99 that the Blockbuster sticker reads. Hard to say if Blockbuster themselves brought it there or not but I always liked that Blockbuster put the date on the sticker when they decided to sell.
Originally posted by: Trj22487
Ames was the 4th largest Department Store Chain in America behind Walmart, Kmart, and Target, with over 700 stores in 20 states at one point. They suffered massive closures in 1990 including the permanent closure of all Florida locations, but the company actually grew strong again until 1998 when they bought the Hills chain.
I actually worked for Hills dept. store's warehouse production facility from 1997-1998. I had later found a new job, and on the LAST DAY of my two week notice to Hills, I was fired. It didn't bother me, as I already had a new job anyway. I left with a smile. This was literally just before Ames bought Hills out.
I found out from a former co-worker, that less than a month after I quit/was fired, Ames bought out Hills and everyone at our facility lost their jobs. That was a close call!!!
This is an amazing thread, I have so many old(and weird) memories of many of these old department store chains. Memories tied closely with my first experiences with video games. I've bookmarked this thread for sure.
K*B toys was cool but they made toys r us look cheap here.
Also I can't remember the arcade but it turned into nickle city here. chuck e cheese too omg
I still remember Gold Circle, which later became a Hills in 1989, having NES games for like $80 each. It was crazy.
Originally posted by: GCrites80s
Originally posted by: tkm015
Originally posted by: Trj22487
This was the former Child World in Colombus, Ohio. Any stores with this type of design was originally a Child World/Children's Palace.
That was indeed a Children's Palace. It was a Media Play (obviously) for a while, until it was converted back into a Toys R' Us (which is still currently is and is still open to this day).
4285 Groves Road
Columbus, Ohio 43232
If you want to do a google maps street view to see what it currently looks like.
That Children's Palace never got turned into a TRU after Media Play. It's a school now. The TRU is next door to the north. Between the two was the old Glick's furniture store that suffered a roof collapse and had to be torn down.
And I don't think that picutre is of the old South Hamilton Children's Palace either. The Hamilton one is a lot taller on the north side of the building and has brick of a different color. If you GSV the stores from Hamilton instead you can see the old CP better but the TRU is blocked by the old muffler shop where the guy who owns Eastland Towing and Crane stores his drag cars.
Small world! The South Hamilton road location was the one I went to a lot.
River City Ransom. Oh how I wish I could get that for $10 brand new
9 year old me was standing in this very spot at one time with my Dad witnessing Super Mario 64 pre-release on the monitors in awe.
Very cool for me to see the photo of this Babbages, it is exactly as I remember and it never became a Gamestop.
I added these to the front page.
Originally posted by: Trj22487
Yeah it's funny, I'd written in the OP how my KB Toys is now a Dollar Tree and it even sat vacant for a few years, but I've gone in there a few times and sometimes the employees will leave out a small ladder or two and the first time I ever saw the ladders I instantly recognized they were from KB Toys....still covered in Star Wars stickers from the Late 90's just as I remember them when I was a young teen and some of my friends worked there.
I find this kind of stuff so interesting. There is a mall near me called the Plano Market Square Mall that I always used to go to when I was very young (so this had to be the early 2000s). It was a very busy place filled with coin op rides and all name brand stores. Tj Maxx, Gap, Garden Ridge, etc..
The one that stood out the most was an official Pokemon store/ center where kids would go to have pokemon card and game battles. I was way to young to play pokemon or even know what it was. But what I do remember was that the whole store was yellow with yellow walls, flooring, tables and a huge pokemon sign right above the entrence. That pokemon center actually replaced a TY beanie baby store. There were yellow/ red floors and beanie babies lining the walls. Obviously this was during that huge craze.
It is so sad today because the whole mall is practically abandoned (im suprised it hasn't been demolished) . There are only 4 stores open. A garden ridge, cake shop, book shop, and a tacky painting store which is in place of the old Pokemon store. I went into this painting store and remeniced about the old pokemon place that used to be here. I was wondering if there was still anything left in the store that would somehow be connected to the Pokemon place. Like how the step ladder was a reminder to the KB toys in your instance.
I can't find any information at all about this place even existing. Not even a mention about in online. I just find it crazy that a small-ish town like Plano would even have an official Pokemon center. I would love to see some old pictures of that place in it's heyday. Sorry I just went on rambling. But yeah I always wonder if there are still some old signs or anything hidden in back rooms still left from previous occupants.
Originally posted by: Pickle
Well yeah I am aware that this was just a list of prices if they do have it in stock, I remember as a kid asking for all sorts of games from the paper list and they didn't have it in stock.
And boy I did not see the Flintstones 2 or Stadium Events or Little Samson. Wow! Question is did they ever get said games traded in since they're so rare?
I remember getting lots of ex rentals from Funcoland after a local video store dumped their old SNES and Genesis games there. I remember a grocery store had a somewhat big section (for a grocery store) full of old ex rental VHS tapes from the rental store as well. Think its possible Blockbuster ever got rid of old ex rentals by taking them to Funcoland? Hahahahaha
If they did get any stadium events CIB traded in you got to stand there and watch them stomp on the box and manual. I nearly died as a kid when I traded in some of my N64 games CIB. The dude just pulled the cart out and proceeded to just stomp on all the boxes and throw them away.