Holiday shopping is well under way and with cargo ships being stuck out in the Pacific Ocean unable to offload shipping containers, shoppers are worried that favorite toy or electronics gizmo might not make it under the Christmas tree in time.
Remember a time when holiday shopping meant jumping in the car and heading to a favorite store, walking the aisles searching for the perfect gift. Maybe time was spent getting lost in the toy department looking for the present that would make the most racket.
In-store shopping also meant bundling up the kids so they could be photographed bawling and screaming in sheer terror while sitting on Santa’s lap.
The Standard-Times put out a call on social media asking what stores you especially miss now that the holidays are here. Here’s a compilation of some of your responses.
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Benny’s
Benny’s was founded in 1924 in Providence and had stores in Rhode Island, Massachusetts, and Connecticut. In 2017, the company announced that it would be closing all 31 of its stores. On its Facebook page at the time, owners posted: “Benny’s, after 93 years in business, plans to close all retail locations by the end of 2017 as our ownership family has decided to retire. In a short period of time, the retail landscape has changed dramatically – especially for ‘brick and mortar’ businesses. The decision to retire was strongly influenced by this changing face of retailing.” The store had locations in Fairhaven, Fall River and Middleboro.
Cherry & Webb
This much-loved department store had two local stores – one in New Bedford and the other in Fall River. The locals called it “Cherries” and would take elevator rides to hit upon every floor of apparel and merchandise. It was a great place to get holiday shopping done all at once. The New Bedford location at the corner of Purchase & William streets is now the Bristol Community College campus and Café Arpeggio. The store later moved to a much smaller version of itself at the Dartmouth Mall. All the store’s locations were closed due to bankruptcy by 2000.
Zayre
Although mispronounced as “Zayers” — there really was no “s” at the end — the Zayre in Fall River was located on Mariano S. Bishop Boulevard in the Fall River Shopping Center. It was the spot for Back-to-School shopping with affordably priced clothes, shoes, jewelry, home décor, hardware and toys. The chain of stores operated from 1956 to 1990 and its headquarters was based in Framingham.
“I used to work at this store back in the day and then go over to Rustlers steak house for lunch or dinner,” Chad Daniel posted on Facebook.
Zayre in Fall River would later become Ames, which also went bankrupt.
Bradlees
Bradlees was headquartered in Braintree and lasted from 1958 until 2001. It had over 105 locations on the East Coast. Its parent company, Stop & Shop, broke off in 1989 and Bradlees became a sinking ship after that and started closing stores in 2000.
The Bradlees in Fall River was on Quarry Street (where Health First is now) and then moved to the New Harbour Mall. There were also stores in Somerset and the Silver City Galleria in Taunton.
“I worked at the Taunton Bradlees for 18 years. I do miss it! Still friends with many of my coworkers from there,” posted Lori Cyr.
Shoppers will remember the commercial jingle “At Bradlees, you buy what Mrs. B buys. And nobody can buy like Mrs. B.” Mrs. B was played by actress Cynthia Harris who just recently died on Oct. 3, 2021. She had suffered from Type 1 diabetes for much of her life. She was 87.
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Ann & Hope
Ann & Hope was based in Cumberland, Rhode Island, and operated from 1953 until 2001. Its outlet stores managed to hang on until 2020. The company was named after the ship Ann and Hope which was lost at sea off Block Island, Rhode Island in 1806. The nearest SouthCoast location was on Faunce Corner Mall Road in North Dartmouth where it later became the Ann & Hope Curtain and Bath Outlet.
Mammoth Mart
The store with Marty the Elephant on the sign atop the department store and inside was a department store dream. It even had a snack bar where you could refuel during your shopping day with hot dogs, sandwiches and milk shakes.
Locations included a store in Fairhaven and Kings Highway in New Bedford. Each was replaced with Ocean State Job Lot. The chain was founded by Max Coffman and Henry Gornstein in Framingham, Massachusetts, in 1956, selling housewares, hardware, and clothing.
By 1969, the chain started going down the bankruptcy road and was acquired by the now-defunct King’s Department Stores in 1978.
Mars Bargainland
Located on Riverside Avenue in New Bedford, Mars Bargainland was a no-nonsense store where shoppers could stock up on items. It was one of the first buy-in-bulk concept stores located in a mill building. (Think of its cousins Kerr Mill and Arlans in Fall River).
The building, originally Whitman Mills, was designed by architects Charles Makepeace of Providence and Benjamin Smith of New Bedford and built between 1896 and 1917.
Mars was a store beyond discount with prices cut well below retail. It is now the Whaler’s Cove Assisted Living complex.
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Caldor
There was a Caldor in the former Swansea Mall and was one of its anchor stores. Caldor was another store that was often mispronounced by adding an S at the end. It offered that same products and apparel like other department stores and also included electronics and crafts and sewing fabric sections.
The Swansea Mall store had a fire in 1997 and was closed for a year. It closed for good in 1999 and Walmart moved in.
The entire Swansea Mall closed in 2019 and Walmart build a Supercenter on the adjacent property.
Silverstein’s
The customer-to-employee relationship at Silverstein’s was special, as many would call the store before popping by to see if their favorite salespeople were working.
Employees would call customers when new items arrived, both acts of generosity are rare to see in retail shops today.
Joe Silverstein served as president of the company for nearly 50 years after taking over from his father. As the retail industry changed over the years, moving away from department stores and into online shopping, Silverstein’s began to receive less business.
Joe’s son Stephen Silverstein helped handle the store closing in 1996 and went on to open the chain restaurant Not Your Average Joe’s, now running Joe’s Original in Dartmouth. He also owns The Black Whale and Cisco Brewer Kitchen and Bar in New Bedford.
Other stores you miss
Memories of those stores that have gone by the wayside include not only those where people shopped, but also where they worked. Other stores mentioned in the Standard-Times social media call out also included:
- The Star Store
- Cove Discount
- A.J. Wright
- Child World
- Filenes
- Apex
- Woolworths
- Filene’s
If yours got missed for this story, please drop us a line and we’ll add them to this story. Send your favorite to [email protected] and please put Missed Store in the subject line.
Standard-Times digital producer Linda Roy can be reached at [email protected]. You can follow her on Twitter at @LindaRoy_SCT. Support local journalism by purchasing a digital or print subscription to The Standard-Times.