I have to say that I really like the dollar stores...but I have to admit that they (although the prices and selection is very good) just don't have the warm and friendly atmosphere of the old general stores.
This first photo I am sharing is (for myself) the saddest photo, so I am getting it out of the way first. The reason I find it sad is that it looks so abandoned and empty...a sign of the times that I really don't like.
This store was "Kress"...and apparently existed from 1896 until 1981. I bet that in its "heyday" it was busy and fun...with a warm atmosphere like F.W. Woolworth.
The next photo is of a Kress store lunch counter. It reminds me so much of the F.W. Woolworth lunch counters...except their counters were brown; but long like this one! I personally know nothing about the Kress store...so perhaps it was a store in the U.S.? Do any of you remember it?
This next photo is of an old drugstore lunch counter. The drugstores today no longer have lunch counters. (at least they don't in Montreal)...another thing I miss from days gone by.
This last photo is Fred Kilmer's Opera House Pharmacy...late 1800's.
Thank you all so much for visiting me here! I really appreciate your comments very much! Please feel free to share your thoughts and memories by clicking on the "comments" link at the end of my post.
Kresge's morphed into K-mart's, though you couldn't tell from looking. I'v actually been in little country stores that still had post offices back in the 70's.
ReplyDeleteAhhh...thanks for sharing that, Gorges! And you're right,I couldn't tell from looking! I do remember K-Mart, though...they had blue light specials in the stores. To be honest, I was never a fan of K-Mart. Kresge, however, I loved...as well as F.W. Woolworth.
DeleteI miss those stores so much. Kress stores were here in the U.S. We had both a Kress and Woolworth store in the town where I grew up. They were across the street from each other. I like Woolworth better. I wonder why those lunch counters disappeared. Oh to go to one and order a chocolate soda just like I used to when I was a young girl.
ReplyDeleteHi Sally, thanks for the clarification on the Kress stores. My favourite of all time was definitely F.W. Woolworth! Apparently they still exist in England. I would enjoy seeing one again. I wonder if the atmosphere is the same as I remember from days gone by. I don't understand why the lunch counters disappeared.
DeleteI remember when I was a kid and we would visit my aunt in Tulsa, OK. My dad would take us kids downtown (which was a small town back them) and we would go to the drug store for a soda. Those were fun times.
ReplyDeleteI have never seen a lunch counter this long, now I am bemoaning their loss! Kress...we had a Five & Dime called Kresage, but I know I have spelled it wrong, I have tried Googling it, but to no avail. It was a huge chain. Anyway, I wonder if it is the American relative of Kress? Yes, the Dollar Stores are the modern Five & Dimes, but I totally agree with you, there is no atmosphere in them!!! In the old days, you could wander through the big Five and Dimes and you would never know what you might find, it was a constant surprise...not so much now.
ReplyDeleteLovely apartment for selling everything.
ReplyDeletethe diners here still have those long counters u can sit at the stool if ur dining alone or dont want a booth. i miss woolworths attached luncheonettes too! we had one five n dime left here about five years ago it finally closed its doors.. so sad..it was like treasure hunting to find items in the long quiet rows.. not like the florescent mob scenes we have now
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