Is there a store from your childhood that still exists and remains unchanged?

If you are like me and in your mid-50’s or beyond, you are probably hard-pressed to think of one.

My daughter and I were having this discussion last weekend. The conversation came about from a writing prompt that I had found - What are some favorite places from your childhood?

My childhood saw the decline of our downtown, and the move of stores to a suburban complex. The flagship stores that anchored our downtown: Sears, JC Penney, Steketee’s, all left to be in a new community called The Mall.

Other childhood stores like Woolworth’s, Singer Sewing, and Meyer Music House, that had actually sold organs, had already left vacant store fronts due to rising rent costs, or an unwillingness of family to carry the legacy onward.

My daughter, on the other hand, saw the rise and fall of the mall, and the return of a thriving, prosperous downtown. All the mall stores of her childhood are gone: Gymboree, Limited Too, Walden Books, Younkers.

But what she remembers most are the restaurants of her childhood that are no longer circling the mall: Red Lobster (she loved the popcorn shrimp), Ruby Tuesday, J. J. Finnegans.

Eventually my memory landed on two stores from my childhood. One is virtually unchanged from when I went there with my dad for parts for our sprinkling system, or fertilizer for the yard; a family owned hardware store. Although, disappointingly, the 25 cent candy dispenser no longer has the candy covered nuts of my youth.

The other store, although not the exact same one from my visits to it with my childhood friend and her mom, it is as I envision that one. An honest to goodness fabric store, this one has just fabric, notions, patterns and all the bits and bobs of a good fabric store. Not hobby and craft supplies, along with home decor. They still cut fabric the same way, still write up your yardage on a paper slip, and the most interesting people still shop there. There was the “L” shaped lady looking at patterns, also the lady who brought in her whole sewing machine because she couldn’t change the needle.

If you have been with me for a very long time, you might remember the Coffee Shop Chronicles. I have a feeling there might be a new series in me, along with a lot of other stories about fabric and how it touches our lives and our memories.

Next post will be about the Artist Date I took at the Fabric Store.

Stores of the Past