Pop Culture Retrospective # 25 - Extinct Mall Stores and Fashions from the 80s and 90s!

My sister and I grew up in suburban Chicago, and within about 30-40 minutes of our house, there were 4 malls, one of which was one of the largest in the United States at the time. Malls were social gathering spots, especially for middle school and high school aged kids.  And, malls being a hot bed of social activity wasn’t just limited to the Chicago suburbs, this was all over the country.  When we were little kids, my mom would often take us there for something to do on a rainy day.  We’d get popcorn from the gypsy wagon popcorn place or a cookie from Mrs. Field’s Cookies (this was before food courts)  As we got older and went out alone with our friends, our Mom would drop us off for a few hours at the local mall to meet up with friends and putz around.  There weren’t any mountains to hike near where we lived or singletrack mountain bike paths to ride, but let me just tell you, there were many places to shop.  As a matter of fact, one of the largest outlet malls of all time opened up about an hour or so from our house, Gurnee Mills, which has nearly 2 million square feet of retail space.  That’s right you heard me.  Not 20,000, not 200,000….2 million.  Needless to say, going to the mall was certainly a favorite pastime of me and my sister’s childhood and adolescence and it’s something we reminisced a lot about as adults.  

With that being said, on today’s show we will be discussing the extinct retail stores that could be found all over the country (with a focus on the MidBest of course) during the 1980s and 1990s. This was the true heyday of when me and my sister could be found roaming the laminate tile of yesteryear and rolling around in the cesspool that was the carpeted circle opening at the Children’s Place.  Which, in hindsight, anything that is carpeted and used hundreds of times a day by children, was probably covered in bodily fluids but perhaps that’s why I had such a strong immune system as a  child! Anyways.  On today’s show you will learn the backstory behind some of your famous, but long-gone mall stores as well as what led to the said store’s demise soooo...put your ponytail in a scrunchy, pull on your stonewashed jeans and scrunch your socks, here we go!

Hello and thank you so very much for tuning in to the Pop Culture Retrospective Podcast, a show inspired by, and in memory of, my big sister Rebecca and her love for all things pop-culture, especially the people, places and things of the 80s, 90s and early 00s.  My name is Amy Lewis and I am your captain aboard this pop culture time machine.  You are tuning in to Episode # 25 - the extinct stores and fashions that were found in malls towards the end of the 20th century.  

In the 1980s and 1990s we were apparently terrified that our clothes would bunch up or fly off, hence why we wore sleeveless denim shirts that snapped at the crotch like a baby’s onesie.  And perhaps we paired that with stirrup pants which were essentially stretch pants with a strap at the bottom to put under your foot to keep the pant legs in place.  Because, you know, that was always such an issue.  When I think back to my childhood and early adolescence, the stores that me and my sister frequented often come to mind, as well as the horrible apparel that could be found there.  What follows is a bit of a run down on some well-known stores which were often visited by yours truly or were at least popular at the peak of mall shopping in the 1990s.  We will focus on primarily clothing or apparel stores, but there will be some others sprinkled in as well.  Let’s do this! 

We begin our journey with the two most popular mall bookstore chains, B. Dalton and Waldenbooks, where you could try and convince your mom to buy you a Saved by the Bell chapter book (true story) or one of those headache inducing Magic Eye books.

B. Dalton Bookstore:  

• Founded in 1966 by Bryce Dalton, his family owned a department store chain called Dalton’s which was based in Minnesota
• at one time had almost 800 locations
• Eventually merged with Barnes and Noble in 1987, they operated all of the stores until 2009 and liquidated the last 50 stores by 2010.  However, during it’s many decades in business, B Dalton competed with:

Waldenbooks:

• Started in 1933 inside of a department store in CT by a man named Lawrence Hoyt and Melvin T. Kafka.  They thought maybe having some books to look at while shopping in the department store would help people cope with the great depression.  At first the books were just to borrow for 3 cents per day.  
• The first Waldenbooks opened in Pittsburg.  From there, the chain really started to grow and after 15 years, there were 250 chains all over the US.
• K-Mart purchased the book chain in 1984
• During the 1980s, Waldenbooks was the largest book seller in the US
• I didn’t realize this, but Waldenbooks also had a software and video chain as well as a toy chain.
• Eventually merged with Borders, however in 2010 about 200 stores closed and by 2011 liquidation began and pun intended, the last page was turned and the book was closed, forever.  

Limited:

• Company was started by Leslie Wexner, who borrowed money from his Aunt and the bank and opened a store called the Limited and aimed to sell clothes to younger women.  
• The retail stores were open from 1963 through to 2017.
• Sold mainly business casual type clothing and accessories like socks, necklaces, sunglasses, etc.
• During the company’s run, they acquired Victoria’s Secret, Lane Bryant and Abercrombie and Fitch among others.
• In 2017, all of the retail stores closed and the company filed for bankruptcy.  However, the company was bought out and you can still find limited merchandise online.  Without the physical stores though, your options to find their apparel is well, limited.  

Limited Too:  

• Aimed at Tweens and opened in 1987 as the younger sister store to the Limited.
• Becky was a huge fan of this store, I attempted to be but never dressed very girly.  We always had our picture taken on the first day of school and one year we were both rocking Limited Too outfits.
• Becky actually modeled at one point for the store, stood in the windows facing mall traffic.  Did this with one of her friends.  
• Had more a prep type look to it’s apparel like knee-length plaid shorts, wide striped shirts, etc. 
• All locations were rebranded as Justice stores in 2005, the quality definitely took a dip and all of the locations are slated to close by early this year.  According to their website:  
  • This is the start of something good. As we enter an exciting new chapter for the Justice brand, we want you to know that we’re still here for you and your girls. Follow us on social to stay engaged and up to date on all things Justice. Amazing new things are coming soon!

E-Spirit:

• Origins going back prior to being in malls
• Clothing was originally sold out of a VW bus in the 70s
• In the 1980s and 1990s, had stores all over the US
• I remember having a red esprit sweatshirt and my sister had a white one.  She also had an oversized light canvas bag that she used for school.  
• Stopped selling apparel in the US in 2012, however there are still locations abroad

Gadzooks:

• Founded in 1983 in Texas as a t-shirt shop
• Had almost 200 stores by the mid 1990s - stores were aimed at teenagers and included apparel and accessories like graphic tees, belts and earrings.  Also sold Doc Martens, Calvin Klein and Oakley branded merchandise.
• Could purchase JNCO jeans here
• MEME:  meanwhile, back in the 90s - person wearing the pants walking through the puddles 
• Each store had a VW beetle inside and played music videos on tvs spread throughout the store
• Focused on customer service and treating their teenage customers like adults, not trouble makers.  
• Store employees and managers were typically under the age of 21.
• Faced some controversy in the early 2000s for their controversial advertisements where they made statements like:  “stop equality” and “proud to be sexist.”  
• Was purchased by Forever 21 in 2005 and is essentially considered defunct at this point 

KB Toys:

• Started by the Kaufman brothers in 1922.  Originally it was a wholesale candy store which opened in Massachusetts.  Allegedly, due to candy shortages during the war, they switched their focus to toys.  
• They always had toys on display to play with on tables outside of their store.  
• Filed for bankruptcy in 2008, all assets were sold to Toys R Us.  

Rave

• Originally called Rave 4 Real
• Here you could purchase v necks, animal printed shirts, denim skirts and other lower priced fashion items.  
• Limited information about it is available but I distinctly remember the iconic neon sign found on the entrance of the store
• Despite the limited information available on this store, I think just learning that it was originally called Rave 4 Real made the research worth it.  

5,7,9

• Clothing store geared toward teenage girls who were on a budget and who had smaller waistlines 
• The store was owned by the Edison brothers between 1970-1999,  but they eventually went bankrupt and sold off the stores. It does appear that there may be a 5,7,9 store or two left in the US in the Mid-Best and the brand carries on in Puerto Rico.  Do they call the store Cinco, Siete, Nueve?  And that, my friends, is all that I remember from 2 years of high school Spanish.  Anyways….
• Has a sister store called Rainbow which sells clothing online and also in stand alone stores in places like NY. 

Delia’s

• Clothing and accessory company for tween/teenage girls that was started in 1993 by 2 Yale Grads.  When it started in 1993 it was just a catalog company.  And man, the excitement that I had when that came in the mail was palatable   
• Eventually the company opened over 100 physical store locations.
• At the height of it’s popularity, it seemed like the fashions were influenced by people like Gwen Stefani or perhaps Fergie in the early days of the Black Eyed Peas
• At Delia’s you could find things like carpenter pants cut for women, chunky necklaces, black heeled shoes, beanies, baggy sweaters with stripes and other things to make you look like a punk rock singer or skateboarder, both of which, you were not
• At one point, my sister and I got to order a few things from the catalog.  I got a sky blue shirt with an old-school rollerskate on it as well as green cargo pants.  They were some of my most coveted items in my closet in middle school.  
• Sadly, the company filed for bankruptcy in 2014 and all of the stores closed.
• You can still purchase Delia’s items on Amazon

Merry-Go-Round

• Founded by Leonard Weinglass and Harold Goldsmith in 1968
• Began as a women’s clothing store during the 1970s, they began by selling jeans
• Eventually evolved into selling men's clothes as well and made sure to sell fashion fads aimed at both men and women.
• In the 1970s, they sold 3 piece polyester suits which were made popular by the film Saturday Night Fever
• In the 1980s, you could purchase Michael Jackson’s Thriller jacket knockoffs at Merry Go Round as well as other apparel you could wear out dancing.  They had some pretty memorable commercials as well.  PLAY CLIP.
• Famous for their Cavaricci pants:  tight and high wasted pants with several buttons and flaps on the top, pleats and wide leds, narrow ankles.  My dad didn’t wear cavarrici pants but my mom wore sort of Cavarrici adjacent pants. You can find a lot of old school cavarrici pants for sale on ebay, I’m not kidding.  Apparently there is a market for that.
• The company was an early investor in Bugle Boy which was a primarily a denim company that was started in 1977 by a Chinese engineer.  They went bankrupt in 2001.  
• Was once the leading retailer of men’s and women’s clothing between the ages of 15-35

In the 1990s……

• Company was responsible for the creation of the I.O.U. brand which was subject to a lot of counterfeiting.  IOU was known for their sweatshirts that sort of had a collegiate feel to them, for example on one black sweatshirt it said:  Authentic American Tradition in bold letters surrounding a crest that said I.O.U.   
• Also sold BUM equipment apparel and allegedly that didn’t stand for anything but rumors often swirled that it stood for “Body Under Maintenance” or “Basic Urban Merchandise.” 
• Also got into the high waisted “Mom Jeans” look with high waisted, tight thighed, light-washed jeans, which could be paired with a chunky black belt, a solid-colored cotton shirt and a plaid shirt.  
• You could also get a red, green, yellow or orange denim jacket with matching pants.  Sort of like a denim tuxedo.  
• Further, you could get a paisley vest, or a vest with matching pants.  I think the pop group and one-hit wonders “Color Me Badd” Badd, being spelled with two Ds, shopped here.  
• The company went bankrupt in 1996 and closed 536 stores.  It’s demise came about because Merry Go Round pushed hip hop clothing in the early 1990s when many other clothing stores were pushing the grunge look which sold better at the time.  Or maybe it was because they sold a line of clothing called Skidz which had a logo on it with a car sliding around like the standard street sign.  Lame logo and skidz is a word too often used by parents with young children.  Gross.   
• There are Facebook groups dedicated to the stores where many a former employee can connect with their long lost co-workers.   One person posted a link to music that was played in the store on a loop in the early 1990s:   (PLAY Clip) https://soundcloud.com/user-159466346/mgr-1991-1992
• 
  

County Seat

• This was probably my sister’s favorite store in the 1990s
• It first opened in Dallas, TX in the 1970s and like so many mid to late 20th century stores, it started with selling jeans. 
• In 1983, it was purchased by Carson Pierie Scott
• It was revamped to target high school students
• Here you could purchase south western inspired apparel like denim onesies, knitted vests with Southwestern colors like pink, tan, teal and navy blue. You could also get bold colored, vertically striped shorts perhaps with evergreen, blue and white colored stripes.  Or, if you were feeling like really standing out, perhaps you would want to purchase jeans with large purple, red, yellow and green patches on the back. 
• For the guys, one could purchase a rugby shirt with a denim color or a bold colored sweater.  
• Company filed for bankruptcy in 1996 and again in 1999 and soon after, they were gone forever!

If you were in need of shoes in the 80s or 90s, there were a few places to visit on a trip to your local shopping mall:

Kinney Shoes

• Manufactured shoes from 1894 until 1998.
• The company was started by George Romanta Kinney.  He wanted to sell reasonably priced shoes to working Americans. 
• During the 1930s, Kinney shoes was the largest retailer of shoes in the United States
• The company was sold to Woolworth in 1963
• In 1998, the successor to the Woolworth Company closed all of the remaining Kinney locations

Thom McAn

• Founded in 1922 in Worcester, MA.  As more and more malls were built in the 60s and 70s, the company grew immensely.  Created by J.F. McElwain and Frank Melville.  
• Contrary to popular belief, there is no real Thom McAn.  Dun dun dun.  I know that kept up a lot of people at night, pondering who the heck this Thom McAn guy was.  Well, news flash, he ain’t real y’all! 
• I loved Thom McAn because they sold Eastland shoes which we’re pretty popular in the 80s and 90s.  I loved the “Falmouth Camp Women’s Mocassins” which aren’t moccasins of course, but are brown leather shoes with a tan and beige shoelace.  And, good news, Eastland is still in business and they still make these shoes all of these years later!  I may need to get myself a pair….
• They had some pretty memorable commercials, here’s a clip of one:
• As time moved on and shoe stores became more diverse, Thom McAn became less and less popular.  In some commercials they actually poked fun at themselves for being a bit dated.  Unfortunately, this tactic did not work and by 1997, all Thom McAn locations shifted to Footaction and that company is still in business.  

The Warner Brothers Store: If you were fan of Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck or Elmer Fudd

• Opened in 1991, the go to store for Warner Bros fan, where you could get a WB letterman jacket, a Looney Toons sweatshirt or maybe a Yosemite Sam coffee mug.  
• Had 130 shops at it’s peak, first location was in LA, also had international locations
• At one time, they had a 40,000 square foot store in Times Square in NY
• There was actually a store at the World Trade Center in NY, it was sadly destroyed in the September 11th attacks
• The last of the stores closed in December of 2001, and some international locations lasted a few years longer
• Can still purchase WB items online

Wicks and Sticks:

• If you wanted to freshen up the scent of your home, you could swing by a Wicks and Sticks store, excuse me Wicks N Sticks.  
• Store started in Texas in 1968 and grew to over a dozen locations by the early 1970s
• Eventually expanded to sell more than just Wicks N Sticks, including Christmas ornaments, calendars and the like.  
• Citing competition from other stores, the final Wicks N Sticks located in Florida, closed in 2016.  

Contempo Casuals:

• This company was founded in the 1960s and was geared toward young women
• Became more popular in the 1980s and 1990s, infamous for being referenced in the film Clueless.  
• In 1996 they made an unsuccessful attempt to purchase County Seat.
• Eventually the company was just called Contempo and we all called it Contrampo because the store had a lot of tight fitting, low cut clothing that seemed a little inappropriate for teeangers at the time.  
• Company came under some scrutiny for their racism aimed at African American or black employees that didn’t fit their quote “look.”  
• In 2001 the stores were all converted to Wet Seal 
• In 2017 all physical Wet Seal clothing stores were closed and liquidated but you can still purchase merchandise online

The Nature Company

• Was founded in 1972 by Priscilla and Tom Wrobel.  
• First store opened in Berkley, CA, eventually had stores in Canada and the UK
  • Store branched off into Natural Wonders, which operated locations from 1986 to 2004.
• The exterior and interior of the stores was pretty elaborate, the entryway was framed with multi-colored slate tile and the entryway was really my Mom’s symbolic portal into heaven, I know my sister would agree with me
• The interior of the stores had custom cabinetry surrounding the perimeter with the merchandise inside such as gemstones, maps, fossils, nature CDs (who didn’t love listening to thunder and rain music or the sounds of a rushing waterfall with a pan flute played in the background ?).  You could also purchase telescopes here.  
• Anytime we went to the Oakbrook mall which I believe is the location that we lived closest to, my mom insisted we stop there.  Her love and appreciation of nature definitely rubbed off on me, but not so much on my sister.  My sister once said that she would be content to live in an adult size hamster house where everything is connected by tunnels or “habitrails” like the company.  
• Anyways, eventually all of the Nature Company Stores would be purchased by the Discovery channel for 40 million dollars. They were all converted into Discovery channel stores which sold relatively similar items. And so, by 2001 there were no more Nature Company stores to be found.  When my mom walked past the shuttered Nature Company Store at our local mall, she fell to her knees and while quietly sobbing to herself, then looked into the sky and shouted “why god why?”  
• Maybe it was that or she protested it’s closure by doing a sit in or wearing a sandwich board?  Oh wait no, I think she locked herself in her room with her bag of fossilized rocks and played the classic Annie Lennox song “Why” on repeat. Okay, none of that happened but my sister and I always loved throwing our beloved parents under the bus.   
• On a discussion forum that started well after the store closed, someone said quote:  I knew I should have bought that rain stick.”  I couldn’t agree more! 
• The Discovery Channel stores were in operation from 1996 to 2007.  Apparently, there was nothing left to “discover” at their stores.  That was bad.  There are just soooo many mall store jokes to make but we only have so much time.

I hope you have enjoyed this look back at some of the extinct mall stores from the 1980s and 1990s.  And believe me when I say, this is just the tip of the iceberg.  Sadly, I know this list will just get longer as this pandemic changes the landscape of shopping in America and abroad I am sure.

If you are enjoying the Pop Culture Retrospective Podcast. Please subscribe on Apple Podcasts. Spotify or whichever podcast platform you use.  Please also rate the show as it helps direct more listens to this joyous show that travels down memory lane. You can contact me anytime, my email address is:  popcultureretrospective@gmail.com or you can follow me on Twitter, I’m @popcultureretro.  I hope you will join me for my next show where we will continue our discussion about extinct retail stores but this time we will focus on the department stores of yesteryear.  Does anyone remember eating Frango Mints from Marshall Fields or shopping for a prom dress at Carson’s?  Cause I sure do!  Until then, be kind, be safe and hold on to your memories.