November 8, 200717 yr Service Merchandise catalog-showroom It wasn't an Ohio company but it was a nice place, They sold quality! http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Service_Merchandise Then there was U.S. Merchandise (which was Cleveland based) as well as Best and also Dahlkempers (may have only been in Western PA)
November 8, 200717 yr For special occasions, we'd go to the restaurant inside Higbee's (or was it May Company?) - the kid's meals came in a little box like an oven. You're thinking of the Silver Grille. It was on the 10th floor at Higbee's. It has since been completely restored and is operated by the Ritz as a banquet facility. I was there for a wedding about a month ago. Really pretty awesome. http://www.ritzcarlton.com/en/Properties/Cleveland/Meetings/RoomDetails/10thFlooroftheadjacentHigbeeBuildingatTowerCityCenter/TheSilverGrille.htm
November 9, 200717 yr I remember Best being like a mix of Service Merchandise and Best Buy. Lots of electronics. I don't think there will be much nostalgia for Wal-Mart, except by fat chicks thinking of the days when they weighed only 200.
November 9, 200717 yr I was looking for SuperX but I wasn't sure that was the correct name. I think they were owned by Kroger? I remember the sign with yellow letters. I actually misspelled it...it was SupeRx. Kroger did own them for a short time in the 1980s. Kroger also owned the Sav-on chain--many of their stores were a combination of both. I remember the Kroger Sav-on at Pleasant and Nilles in Fairfield, for example. Athens has a SupeRx up into the early 1990s. I remember shopping there when I started college in 1992.
November 9, 200717 yr Grandpa's favorite - "Pride of Cleveland" "Pilsener On Call": My college roommate from Cinci's favorite - "Wieder's" 12 stubby bottles for $2.99 or so:
November 9, 200717 yr I remember Hills & Ames, but those are the only two that are familiar to me. When I was younger my mother would sometimes take us shopping at Hills in Defiance or Ames in Bryan. The old Hills store in Defiance was renovated & connected to the Northtown Mall. Sears is now the occupant. The Ames store in Bryan was eventually torn down to make way for a Wal-Mart (which incidentally was torn down a few years ago to build a new Wal-Mart in its place).
November 9, 200717 yr Remember Mary Lou Retton hawking Revco? I miss Revco compared to ghetto CVS (it the "carpet" that bugs me) Remember Radar from Mash hawking Sohio then BP?
November 9, 200717 yr Wow! I'm guessing 1983-84 based on the construction progress of the former Sohio building.
November 10, 200717 yr [youtube=425,350]X6z3MeQoP74 The Coliseum sure seems empty in this.. Two comments: 1) Toupe! 2) http://www.reidsguides.com/t_cm/t_cm_gestures.html
November 10, 200717 yr In Cleveland, wasn't there an electronics store called Fretter? Remember The Big Q furniture store on Woodland, I think it might still be open. They had that jingle "The big Q, The big Q, stands for quality home furniture."
November 10, 200717 yr My college roommate from Cinci's favorite - "Wieder's" 12 stubby bottles for $2.99 or so: Wiedemann's could have been improved by running it through the horse one more time.
November 10, 200717 yr In Cleveland, wasn't there an electronics store called Fretter? Fretter "The Super Store" was a Detroit electronics retailer with several Cleveland locations. *Edit* 1980's Midnight Madness Sale commercial. [youtube=425,350]Cqn_upa3-CA&rel=1
November 10, 200717 yr Since winter's approaching, this is apropos (check out those gas prices!): [youtube=425,350]lVOJ2RqNYzg
November 10, 200717 yr ^awesome. I love it. What year was that? Sometimes its hard to remember that certain things that are now gone. Its easier to remember the things from my childhood that are still here: Malley's. Maybe its the fact that all our school fundraisers involved selling malley's; maybe its because one of the Malley's daughters took a liking to me; or maybe its because that store on Madison is so quintessential.
November 10, 200717 yr ^Sohio ProCare I can still see a Sohio sign at the Edgewater marina docks. The boats can still gas up at a Sohio.
November 10, 200717 yr Service Merchandise catalog-showroom It wasn't an Ohio company but it was a nice place, They sold quality! http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Service_Merchandise I worked for Service Merchandise for a short while in Nashville before it folded. Oh, thank GOD my southern wife prefers cities to the suburban south!
November 10, 200717 yr Woolworth's / Woolco ad [youtube=425,350]IptSdlBhPME http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IptSdlBhPME Woolworths Christmas Advert 1986 [youtube=425,350]02vAfsskN7E http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=02vAfsskN7E Boots and Woolworths Christmas Adverts 1983 [youtube=425,350]aLHKQwh1-yU http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aLHKQwh1-yU
November 10, 200717 yr Service Merchandise ad with Bill Cosby (Early 90s) [youtube=425,350]tUQQbEaNxjA
November 10, 200717 yr Hills Department store 1980 tv commercial [youtube=425,350]Nn2DUj29V0k http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nn2DUj29V0k Hills Department Stores Commercial (1987) [youtube=425,350]BIaTckkXws0 Hills department store Intellivision commercial [youtube=425,350]WC_Zmz5Kx50 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WC_Zmz5Kx50
November 10, 200717 yr ^ Those are from Woolworths Group England, not the former F. W. Woolworth Company, USA.
November 10, 200717 yr Thistledown-Picway shoes-Revco-Toronto commercials. 1988 Newscenter 8 Commercial Break #1 [youtube=425,350]hKWxBmYElcw http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hKWxBmYElcw Revco ad with Mary Lou Retton [youtube=425,350]dF9rdVwUges http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dF9rdVwUges
November 10, 200717 yr ^ Those are from Woolworths Group England, not the former F. W. Woolworth Company, USA. Yes they are!
November 10, 200717 yr KENNER The Greatest Toy Company (CINCINNATI OHIO) Vintage KENNER TOYS Sponsorship Commercial [youtube=425,350]NE7s7pRbVN8 Kenner Factory - Star Wars Toys [youtube=425,350]l2haksMqbMU http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l2haksMqbMU Star Wars Vintage KENNER Commercial - Toys And Games [youtube=425,350]ZRO1sxXqE7Q
November 10, 200717 yr Since winter's approaching, this is apropos (check out those gas prices!): [youtube=425,350]lVOJ2RqNYzg Sad this is that was less than 10 years ago..
November 10, 200717 yr [youtube=425,350]l2haksMqbMU My son unearthed my old Darth Vader's Tie Fighter and I noticed the Cincinnati imprint. I remember saving up for it when I was 8 years old, and it cost in the neighborhood of 17-18 dollars. I'm pretty sure if you went to Target right now you could find the latest model with a China imprint for the same price. Ah, the benefits of globalization.
November 10, 200717 yr Red Barn: This fast food restaurant was founded in Dayton and had roots in Youngstown. Arthur Treachers and Arby's also had their headquarters in Youngstown until those Florida Chambers of Commerce came raiding.
November 10, 200717 yr ^ The first Arby's in the US was on RT 224 in Boardman. It looked like the one in this photo.
November 10, 200717 yr America's Roast Beef, Yes Sir! clevelandskyscrapers.com Cleveland Skyscrapers on Instagram
December 12, 200717 yr Arby's was founded by Forrest and Leroy Raffel in Ohio in 1964, who were determined to own a fast food franchise based on a food other than hamburgers. The brothers wanted to use the preferred name of "Big Tex", but that name was already being used by an Akron businessman. They eventually decided on the Arby's moniker, based on R.B., the initials of Raffel Brothers [1], thus Arby's, LLC, was born. By coincidence, R.B. can also be short for roast beef, the company's main product, a point which was used when the backronym "America's Roast Beef, Yes Sir" was used as an advertising campaign in the 1980s.
December 12, 200717 yr That was a very grandiose song for a news commercial. I remember growing up in Louisville that WHAS11 used the same melody for their ads. It was prolly a licensed song that the stations could write their own lyrics to.
December 13, 200717 yr There is an article about the origins of Arby's at the Mahoning Valley History blog. http://mahoninghistory.blogspot.com/2007/10/arbys-and-morgans-wonder-boy.html
December 13, 200717 yr Grandpa's favorite - "Pride of Cleveland" "Pilsener On Call": : My cousin said that when P.O.C. moved to Pittsburgh, it stood for "Pi$$ on Cleveland" another backronym?
December 13, 200717 yr ^ The first Arby's in the US was on RT 224 in Boardman. It looked like the one in this photo. I remember there were 2 Arby's that looked just like the one in the photo on Colerain Ave. I used to eat there when I was a kid. One of the Arby's though went under ground a little so when you looked out the window you were eye level with the parking lot. That amazed me as a kid.
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