You named the NJ stores you miss most. One won by a mile.
Last week I wrote about the stores I still miss from the Black Horse Pike, like Two Guys, Grants and Rickel. I figured a few of you might chime in.
A few? You went shopping in your memories, and you brought a cart full of stores I’d forgotten about.
Two Guys won by a mile
It wasn’t close. More than a dozen of you named Two Guys, more than any other store.
Patrick P. summed it up: “If I could be stuck there for eternity as a kid, I’d be fine with that.”
The chain started in 1946 in Harrison. Brothers Herbert and Sidney Hubschman sold appliances out of two old trolley cars, and rival retailers grumbled that they couldn’t compete with “those two” from Harrison, WFMZ reported. The word they used wasn’t “guys.” Two Guys was gone by 1982.
SEE ALSO: Two Guys, Grants, Rickel: The NJ stores we still miss
Why Rickel was always next to a Pathmark
Al C. wrote, “Rickel’s!!! Always next to a Pathmark.” That wasn’t a coincidence. Pathmark’s parent company, Supermarkets General, bought Rickel in 1968, so the two often shared shopping centers.
Kristine H. loved going to both Two Guys and Rickel. Rickel later merged with another reader favorite, Channel Home Centers, which Maryann S. still calls Channel Lumber. Rickel closed for good in the late 1990s after Home Depot moved in, Business Insider reported.
Your first job was there
Grants brought back work memories. Marie C. worked there between her junior and senior years of high school. Tony G. went to work there right out of high school and loved it.
The rest of your list
You kept going:
- Korvettes
- Caldor
- Bradlees
- Jamesway
- Kiddie City
- Service Merchandise
- Grossman’s
- Clover
- J.M. Fields
- Pergament
- Valley Fair
- Great Eastern Mills
- Herman’s Sporting Goods
- Toys R Us and Kids R Us
- Drug Fair
- Fortunoff
- Bed Bath & Beyond
- Christmas Tree Shops
- Tiny Tots
- Mr. Big
Dave G. didn’t just name Kiddie City. He yelled it in all caps.
And Margaret H. said what a lot of you were feeling: “No stores, no choices. What have we done?”
What store did we miss? Tell me, and I just might do a part three.
