Does anyone remember "Variety Stores"?

[maveric]

Little stores usually in urban areas that had one counter and little things hanging down all over the place as well as a well stocked, but small, grocery section.
The ones I grew up with carried little joke and magic trick items.
These stores were small but had EVERYTHING!

[tridim]

1. I remember TG&Y

That was my favorite store as a kid (besides the hobby shop). Didn't TG&Y become Target?

[outraged2]

2. aka the five and dime?

There was one close to my house until I was about 10 (1980).... complete with the coin operated ride on horse out front.

[acmavm]

3. Yep, sure do. Dorothy Ringle ran 'Ringles', the absolutely greatest store

I've ever had the pleasure to wander around in in my entire life. She had so much stuff crammed in that place that she had huge piles in bins. She had joke stuff, comics, tricks, tinker toys, notebook and stuff like that, not to mention all the stuff that I, as a kid, didn't have any interest in.

I'll never ever ever ever ever forget Ringles.

[maveric]

4. "Louis Pearl's'" in Lawrence MA.

A twenty by twenty foot storefront that sold whatever you asked for.

[trof]

5. Aw yeah. Saw my first electric shaver in one.

Snow's Sundries.
Just down the block from our house.
Circa 1950?
Mr. Snow standing behing the counter with this buzzing thing in his hand.
"It's a razor! Electric! Don't need no lather or nothing!"
Aye-Mazing.

[trof]

8. I almost forgot. Forgive me Mr. Snow.

I shoplifted comic books from your store.
:spank:

[achtung_circus]

6. I don't get it. There's one on the corner and another down the block.

Still filled with everything imaginable. Do you shop solely in 7-11?

[maveric]

15. Maybe I've been in SoCal too long...

but I havent seen one since I left MA.

[Worst Username Ever]

7. Ben Franklin

They had BB guns. I always wanted a BB gun when I was little.

[trof]

9. Did you get a BB gun? I did.

They took it away when I shot out signal lights on the railroad tracks.
Bad kid.
;-)

[Worst Username Ever]

10. Yes!

But we had to keep it at the cabin, so I only got to use it once a year. But it was still a blast.

[Baclava]

11. Variety is the spice of life

[name not needed]

13. Hahaha!

:spank:

[Kathy in Cambridge]

12. In Mass., some were called "Spas"

I grew up near Moscatel Spa. Now they're called bodegas-most in my neighborhood are owned by Latinos, Haitians, or Koreans. And you can find all kinds of exotic ingredients.

[Padraig18]

14. Like bodegas?

:)

[maveric]

16. Sort of.