13 Beloved Stores That Closed Their Doors

It is a sad day when a store or business we grew up with decides to close its doors. After shopping in these businesses for numerous years, we tend to get attached to their products, making their closure much harder.

The following stores are some of the businesses that affected their customers on a deeper level. Which one of these stores do you miss the most?

Sam Goody

Want to save this post?

Enter your email below and get it sent straight to your inbox.

Save Recipe

Email

SAVE THIS!

If you were anything like me as a kid growing up in the 90s and early 2000s, weekends were spent hanging out at the mall. One of the centers of teenage hangouts was Sam Goody. In this iconic record store, youngsters would experience new music like The Backstreet Boys, Green Day, Blink 182, and Brittney Spears. Unfortunately, these are just memories, as the store is no longer in business.

It had a great run. From 1951 to 2012, the record store was a one-stop shop for music purchases. Sadly, the digital age of music is upon us, and CDs are slowly becoming obsolete.

KB Toys

No trip to the mall was complete without stopping at KB Toys. In its heyday, the company had over 450 stores spread across malls nationwide. From 1946 until it closed its doors in 2009, it was a place for kids to fill out their Christmas lists and beg their parents for a special treat.

I haven’t been to KB Toys in 30 years, but I can still remember the joy that the store brought me. With most toy purchases done online these days, it makes me sad the newer generation won’t have these core memories that the past generations had.

Mervyn’s

Mervyn’s was the go-to store for shopping for new clothes. As a kid, it felt like we would spend hours in the department store building our back-to-school wardrobe for my brother and me. I can still remember going through the piles of shirts as I tried them on in the changing room.

It was in 2008 that Mervyn’s decided to liquidate and close their stores. Luckily, Kohls has stepped up and has become the new Mervyn’s. Still, Gen Z will never understand that Merzyn’s might have been the superior department store.

Toys “R” US

The toy store that made a generation of kids never want to grow up reluctantly filed for bankruptcy in 2018. By 2021, all of their stores in the United States, United Kingdom, and Australia were shut down, and chains in other parts of the world were sold to third parties.

Toys “R” US kids were surprised by a potential comeback when the company was bought by WHP Global. The company has put small sections of the kid’s store in select Macy’s on the East Coast. Hopefully, we will see a future for Geoffrey and the famous toy brand.

Circuit City

Twenty years ago, Best Buy’s biggest competition was a similar electronic store called Circuit City. It was a popular place to purchase anything from home computers to televisions, stereos, and home appliances.

Unfortunately, the business failed to compete with online stores and Big-Box stores. Their stores slowly began closing, and the company that once had 700 locations officially filed for bankruptcy in 2009. Still, Best Buy continues to remain as strong as ever.

Sport Chalet

The Southern California sporting goods store was once a staple for all things sports-related. Families could get their kids ready for Little League while renting snowboards and skis for their weekend trips to the mountains. No matter your sport, Sport Chalet had the equipment to prepare you to play.

Sport Chalet is now just another example of a company that has failed to adjust to the online market. While more and more stores lost profits, the 60-year-old chain decided to call it quits. By 2016, all of the 50 stores spread across California, Nevada, Arizona, and Utah closed their doors for good.

Brookstone

Brookstone opened its first store in 1965, soon becoming a fixture in malls nationwide. The store sold innovative trinkets and lifestyle products. Some of their hottest sellers were massage chairs, wireless speakers, travel accessories, and novelty gifts.

Personally, I remember Brookstone as the place where my dad and I would waste time while Mom shopped. While Dad got a free massage, I played with the unique gadgets. Sadly, sales consistently plummeted, and in 2018, they decided to close their doors.

Bed Bath & Beyond

If you have a busy weekend of running errands and are worried about having enough time to visit Bed Bath & Beyond, you can relax. They are closed. Much like the other big-name stores on the list, Bed Bath & Beyond failed to keep up with online shoppers and saw its sales hit record lows.

They survived until 2023 when they finally caved in. Customers still miss the home store. They also wish they had been able to use all of the coupons the retailer sent their customers weekly.

Borders

In 1971, Borders began as a used bookstore in Ann Arbor, Michigan. It quickly grew to become one of the biggest bookstores in the nation, selling CDs, DVDs, electronics, and books. At its peak, Borders operated over 1,200 stores worldwide.

The company flourished until 2011. Online stores like Amazon changed the game, and despite internal changes, Borders could not compete. Physical bookstores still exist, but they could be trending into forgotten places to shop.

Fotomat

Have you ever tried to explain to a Gen Zer about how we used to have to get film developed before the invention of digital cameras? It’s a nightmare, and I don’t suggest it.

Still, when we did have to develop a role, Fotomart was the place to do it. They were small shacks in parking lots where you could drop off your camera and pick up your pictures the next day. From the 60s to the 90s, these were standard fixtures, but with technology advancing, the service is no longer needed. The company cleared out its locations in the early 2000s.

RadioShack

RadioShack was once the first place your grandfather would go to fix a fuse, buy batteries, or purchase a hand-held radio. When it opened in 1921, the store was on the cutting edge of technology. But in the 1990s and early 2000s, it was capable of keeping up with the trends and feel behind online stores and monster corporations like Best Buy.

In 2015, Radioshack filed for bankruptcy. By 2017, the stores were locked up. The only remnants of the electronic store remain in the niche corner of select Hobby Towns known as Radio Shack Express.

Blockbuster

Blockbuster was the place to be on a Friday night in my childhood. Nothing was more exciting than picking out a hit movie and video game to rent while you waited for your buddies to come over for a sleepover. It was the perfect setup for an epic night of fun with your friends.

Blockbuster met its nemesis in the early 2000s when Netflix landed on the scene. The mail-order rental service led to digital streaming, leaving Blockbuster to fall apart. There is one remaining store in Bend, Oregon, but we can all admit the days of strolling the aisles in Blockbuster are a thing of the past.

Woolworth

Labeled as the original discount retailer, Woolworths sold everything from kitchen items to winter coats. It even had a diner serving up hearty meals to its trusted customers. The store was so popular, it set the standards for future chains like Target, K-Mart, and Walmart.

Sadly, the stores it influenced were the ones that drove them out of business. By 1997, Woolworths could no longer compete with these bigger stores and shifted to selling shoes. There is still a small stake in stores like Footlocker, but the brand Woolworths is only a memory of a forgotten time.

Source: AARP.