Mall stores of the '80s and '90s we miss: A look back (2024)

If you don't know what a mallrat is, then this story is not for you.

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Bath & Body Works, Spencer's and Claire's are still around. But what about Waldenbooks, The Wall, Merry-Go-Round? Remember when the mall had three music stores, three book stores and endless clothing and accessory options? Remember when it was the cool place to hang out on the weekends?

Here are a few dozen stores we miss, and some we forgot that we miss.

Stephanie Sadowski | ssadowski@pennlive.com

The Wall

The Wall, a music store chain in the northeast United States, started out as Wall to Wall Sound & Video/Listening Booth. It was taken over by Camelot. Later, Camelot was bought out by Trans World Entertainment and is now defunct.

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Waldenbooks

Waldenbooks got its start in 1933 when a former sales manager for Simon & Schuster opened a rental library inside a Connecticut department store under the name Walden Book Co. The first stand-alone bookstore opened in Pittsburgh in 1962. The chain was purchased by Kmart in 1984. By 1994, Waldenbooks had 1,216 stores in the United States. At that time, it was merged with Borders under the Kmart brand. In 2004, Borders started downsizing the Waldenbooks brand. By 2011, the chain was liquidated.

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Merry-Go-Round

Merry-Go-Round operated women's clothing stores in malls from the 1970s to 1990s, but by 1996 the company had filed for bankruptcy and all stores had closed. In 1993, Merry-Go-Round had purchased men's clothier Chess King.

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Afterthoughts

Accessories chain Afterthoughts was bought by its rival, Claire's, in 1999.

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Babbage's

Babbage's was named for Charles Babbage and opened its first store in 1984 in Dallas, with Ross Perot's help. In 1999, Babbage's launched the GameStop brand in 30 stores, which continues today. In June, though, GameStop confirmed talks of a possible sale.

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The Magic Eye store

Magic Eye books were published by N.E. Thing Enterprises, which became Magic Eye Inc. in 1996. The photos feature autostereograms, in which some people can see 3D images by focusing on 2D patterns.

You either saw them, or you didn't.

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Hess's

The department store chain was based in Allentown and anchored several malls. The chain started in 1897 by two brothers from New Jersey who leased space inside Allentown's Grand Central Hotel. The chain expanded throughout the 20th century, but by 1994, only 30 stores remained. They were sold off, including the main Allentown store, to May Department Stores and The Bon-Ton.

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McCrory's

The first McCrory thrift store opened in Scottdale, Pa., in 1882. By 1989, there were 1,300 across the U.S., but by 1992, the company filed for bankruptcy. In 1997, 300 of the remaining 460 stores were closed, and the company seased operation by 2002.

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An employee working one of the holiday promotional tables sprints past the K-B Toys store at the North Shore Mall in Peabody, Mass., 15 minutes after the Mall opened its doors at 5, AM Friday, Nov. 28, 2008. (AP Photo/Josh Reynolds)

KayBee Toys

KayBee Toy & Hobby turned into K-B Toys by 1997. The chain got its start by the Kaufman Brothers, who opened a wholesale candy store in 1922 in Massachusetts. The company filed for bankruptcy in 2008 and started liquidation sales. The store closing sales ended in 2009, and the brand and intangible assets were sold to Toys R Us.

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Suncoast Motion Picture Co.

The video store chain was part of the Musicland Group with Sam Goody when it was acquired by Trans World Entertainment in 2006. It still exists, but it isn't in seemingly every mall the way it once was.

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County Seat

The first County Seat opened in Dallas, Texas, in the 1970s and focused on blue jeans and casualwear. The chain was bought in 1983 by Carson Pirie Scott department store chain and redesigned to focus on high school students. It was bought by Bergner's in 1989 and sold to new management. The chain filed for bankruptcy protection in 1996 and 1999.

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Deb

Deb still exists as an online and catalog retailer, but its origins go to 1939 in Philadelphia. The women's retail chain expanded nationwide, but in 2015, the last sales were made in brick-and-mortar stores and the remaining 295 stores were closed.

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Structure

The men's clothing store chain Structure was originally part of Express, under the Limited brand, and was spun off in 1989 as its own store. It was reintegrated as "Express Men" starting in 2001, and the Structure brand was sold to Sears in 2003.

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Chess King

Market research in the 1960s apparently showed that chess and auto racing were big trends for young men's interests, and so the Chess King clothing retailer was born. The chain was popular through the 1980s for fashion fads. In 1993, Merry-Go-Round purchased men's clothier Chess King, and Merry-Go-Round subsequently filed for bankruptcy protection. Chess King stores closed by 1995.

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This Dec. 11, 2009 photo shows the B. Dalton Book Store at Mall del Norte in Laredo, Texas. (AP Photo/Ricardo Santos)

B. Dalton Booksellers

The bookstore chain started in 1966 by Bruce Dayton of the Dayton's department store chain family. It peaked at 798 locations in 1986. By January 2010, Barnes & Noble had closed the last 50 B. Dalton stores.

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Contempo Casuals

The economy-priced fashion retailer was bought by Wet Seal in 1995 from the Neiman Marcus Group but continued operating under its own name until 2001.

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Fashion Bug

Charming Shoppes, which was started in 1940 was a Bensalem-based specialty and plus-size clothing retailer, operated Fashion Bug, Lane Bryant, Cacique and Catherines Plus. The company was purchased by Ascena Retail Group in 2012. Fashion Bug was the chain that founded Charming Shoppes as at its height had more than 1,200 stores. The final stores closed in February 2013.

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Gadzooks

The T-shirt chain was founded in 1983 in Texas and had 195 stores by 1995. In 2003, the chain dropped its male clothing line; in 2004, it filed for bankruptcy protection. It was bought by Forever 21 in 2005.

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Buyers at Sam Goody's Record Store in midtown Manhattan wait for Bruce Springsteen's first live album to go on sale in New York, Monday, Nov. 10, 1986. (AP Photo / Richard Drew)

Sam Goody

Most Sam Goody stores have rebranded as f.y.e. in malls. The music store was part of Musicland group when it was acquired by Trans World Entertainment in 2006.

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Sharper Image

The consumer products retailer was operated from 1977 to its closing in 2008 but was relaunched in 2010 for online and catalog sales.

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Casual Corner

Casual Corner opened in 1950 and peaked with 525 stores nationwide in 2000. It operated under the Casual Corner, Petite Sophisticate and August Max Woman brands. It started as sportswear for women but in the 1990s retooled to offer clothing for working women. By 2005, all of its stores were closed.

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Kinney Shoes

The G.R. Kinney Company opened in 1894 and was the largest family chain shoe retailer in 1936. Foot Locker started as a division of Kinney Shoe Corp. in 1974. In 1998, the Venator Group (the successor of Woolworth's) announced the closing of the last 467 Kinney stores and 103 Footquarters stores. Venator changed its name to Foot Locker in 2001, and Foot Locker maintains the trademarks for Kinney and Woolworth.

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Tower Records

Tower Records entered Chapter 11 bankruptcy for the first time in 2004 and for the second time in 2006. By the end of 2006, all of the Tower Records stores in the United States were closed.

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Software Etc.

Software Etc., which specialized in computer software, merged with Babbage's to create NeoStar Retail Group in 1994. Babbage's became GameStop.

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Electronics Boutique

EB Games is the current incarnation of Electronics Boutique, first established in 1977 in King of Prussia mall and headquartered in West Goshen Twp., near West Chester. Its parent corporation in GameStop. The company started out selling calculators and digital watches but moved to computers, software and more from the 1970s to 1990s.

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Montgomery Ward

Montgomery Ward was a mail-order and department store retailer that operated between 1872 and 2001, anchoring several malls. Montgomery Ward was liquidated by May 2001.

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Retailers-Bankruptcies

FILE - This Tuesday, March 4, 2014, file photo, shows a RadioShack store in downtown Cincinnati. Toys R Us has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, joining a growing list of companies struggling to navigate a retail landscape altered by technology and by changing consumer tastes. RadioShack Corp. filed for its second bankruptcy in two years, in March 2017. (AP Photo/Al Behrman, File)

RadioShack

RadioShack was started in 1921 and by its peak in 1999 operated stores in the United States, Canada, Mexico, the United Kingdom and Australia. In 2015, RadioShack filed for bankruptcy protection and was bought by General Wireless, which filed for bankruptcy protection in March 2017.

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Orange Julius

Orange Julius has been in business since the 1920s. In 1987, the chain was bought by Dairy Queen, and Orange Julius drinks are generally offered as a part of Dairy Queen stores.

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Thom McAn

Thom McAn is now a brand of shoes sold in Kmart and Sears stores, but it was once a retail chain and had hundreds of retail stores by the 1990s. The Melville Corp. bought McAn in 1952. By 1992, Melville announced 350 of the 730 McAn outlets would close. The rest were closed by 1996.

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Record Town

Record Town, like most of the other music stores of the 80s and 90s, eventually was acquired by Trans World Entertainment Corp.

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Camelot Music

By 1998, Camelot operated 455 stores in 37 states under the Camelot and The Wall names. It was acquired by Trans World Entertainment.

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Wicks 'N' Sticks

Wicks 'N' Sticks was started in 1968 and had more than 180 mall locations in the United States, specializing in candles and other gifts. It operated until the 1990s.

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The Ground Round

The Ground Round still exists, but not in many locations. The restaurant chain, which had mall locations and stand-alone stores, was founded in 1969 by Howard Johnson's. In the 1970s and 1980s, it was known for its children's parties and Bingo the Clown. In 2004, Ground Round's franchisor filed for bankruptcy protection and closed all 59 corporate-owned restaurants. Some of the franchisees joined forces to buy out the company and started the Ground Round Independent Owners Cooperative LLC.

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West Coast Video

The first West Coast Video opened in Philadelphia in 1983. It has nearly 700 stores by 1988. In 2007, only 20 locations remained, and by 2009, all were closed.

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Benetton

Benetton, an Italian clothing retailer, got its start in 1965 and still has about 5,000 locations worldwide -- but it isn't the American shopping mall staple that it was in the 1980s and 1990s.

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Lechters Housewares

Albert Lechter started the housewares chain in 1975. By 1988, there were 234 stores, and by 2000, there were 490 stores in 41 states. But the chain declared bankruptcy and was out of business by 2001.

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Le Chateau

The fashion company was started in Quebec, Canada, in 1959. The company, which had several American mall stores in the 1980s, still operates 211 retail stores in Canada, one in the New York City metro area and five worldwide.

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Hickory Farms

The Chicago-based specialty foods retailer at one point operated 550 shopping mall-based kiosks in the United States and Canada but now operates online, in catalogs and in club stores and other retailers.

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Wilson's Leather

Wilsons Leather, based in Minneapolis, operated in 763 stores in the United States and Canada by its peak in 2002, but by 2009, the stores were closed and the retailer had been liquidated.

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Barbara Moss (then B. Moss)

B. Moss filed for bankruptcy protection in 2008. By that time, the women's clothing retailer, which was founded in 1939 and was previously Barbara Moss, had 70 stores nationwide.

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Esprit

The first Esprit fashion line was sold out of the back of a VW bus in San Francisco in the 1970s. In the 1980s and 1990s, Esprit was operating retail stores throughout the United States, but by 2012, the company decided to cease all North American retail operations (although there are now two in Canada). Esprit Holdings still has hundreds of stores worldwide.

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Au Coton

The Montreal-based casual clothing chain famous for its pastel fashions of the 90s sought bankruptcy protection in 2002.

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Anthony Milendez looks at a display of stuffed Dalmatians and other toys at the Disney store in the Galleria, Wednesday, December 4, 1996 in Glendale, California. (AP Photo/Nick Ut)

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The Disney Store

The first Disney Store opened in California in 1987 and specialized in Walt Disney-themed gifts and merchandise. The chain was sold to Children's Place subsidiary Hoop Holdings, but when Hoop filed for bankruptcy protection in 2008, the stores were sold back to the Walt Disney Co. While there are still Disney Stores, there are fewer, and many operate as Disney sections of JCPenney.

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Warner Bros. Studio Store

The Warner Bros. Studio Stores specialized in collectibles around the Looney Tumes and DC Comics themes They shut down in 2001 after the AOL-Time Warner merger.

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Today's Man

This men's formalwear and suit store opened in the 1970s, expanding in the 1980s and 1990s, but the chain filed for bankruptcy protection in 1996.

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Lerner

Samuel Lerner founded Lerner Shops in 1918, and it boasted 796 stores by the time it was bought by The Limited 67 years later. In 1992, it became Lerner New York, and in 1995, it became New York & Co., which it still is.

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Limited Too

Limited Too was a tweenager version of The Limited in the 1990s. In 2008, about 600 of them were converted into lower-price Justice shops, which also cater to trendy tweens and kids.

Natural Wonders

The mall-based specialty gift stores focused on appreciation of the natural world and was run by The Nature Co., which expanded in the late 1980s and early 90s. By the mid-90s, increased competition led the company to start downsizing.

dEliA*s

This chain started out in 1993 as a clothing catalog for juniors and expanded to more than 100 brick-and-mortar stores. But in 2014, the retailer filed for bankruptcy protection, reopening as an online retailer in 2015.

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5-7-9

The low-end apparel retailer started under Edison Brothers Stores in 1970 and was sold to the owner of Rainbow Shops in 1999.

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Rave

We cannot find any information on this one. But we know it existed, because we were there.

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The Sam Goody music store fills up with holiday shoppers Thursday, Dec. 7, 2000, at the Mall of America in Bloomington, Minn. (AP Photo/Dawn Villella)

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