re: What Department Stores Looked and Sounded like in the 70s

Posted by Lonnie Utah

Utah!

Member since Jul 2012

34529 posts

Posted on 11/16/22 at 7:34 am to Mr Boyles

Born in the late 60's grew up in the 1970's. That's pretty accurate from what I remember. What I noticed most of all, was the absence plastic clam shell packaging (which I hate with a passion).

Posted by udtiger

Over your left shoulder

Member since Nov 2006

115442 posts

Posted on 11/16/22 at 7:35 am to 75503Tiger

quote:
Musak playing on a loop. Kids getting a pop on the head for acting up. American made products were being sold. Clerks who didn’t have pink hair or weigh 350. Those were the days

Yep

Posted by member12

Bob's Country Bunker

Member since May 2008

33142 posts

Posted on 11/16/22 at 7:59 am to Mr Boyles

KMart in the 1970s was probably awesome.

Posted by crash1211

Houma

Member since May 2008

3719 posts

Posted on 11/16/22 at 8:13 am to Jumpinjack

I worked at Kaybee toys during high school and college. I ate soooo many of their Gummy bears that i got sick of them and couldn't eat any for around 10 years. That job was a blast except you had to wear a dress shirt and tie even when unloading the trucks.

Posted by ReasonableGuy

Member since Nov 2022

232 posts

Posted on 11/16/22 at 9:11 am to schatman

quote:
What is this?

If you mean the Penney's pic - its the mall in Dawn Of The Dead '78

Posted by Sam Quint

Member since Sep 2022

8886 posts

Posted on 11/16/22 at 9:16 am to ReasonableGuy

my granny used to take me and my brother to Service Merchandise, which i recall having a pretty decent toy selection.

both kmart and target in the 80s were toy palaces. one of my favorite things about going to target even now is that the smell reminds of target as a kid.

Posted by oleheat

Sportsman's Paradise

Member since Mar 2007

14789 posts

Posted on 11/16/22 at 9:29 am to Mr Boyles

Some of you have to be old enough to remember the hot cashews at the old Godchaux's on 1500 Main St in Baton Rouge....

Posted by RedPop4

Santiago de Compostela

Member since Jan 2005

15295 posts

Posted on 11/16/22 at 9:44 am to oleheat

Pronounced "god-shaws" in Baton Rouge.
The New Orleans Godchaux's was a higher end clothier and it was pronounced "god-chose"

Posted by tigerband6971

hammond,la

Member since Sep 2018

127 posts

Posted on 11/16/22 at 9:48 am to RogerTheShrubber

quote:
Mom shopped a lot at TG&Y and Gibson's

There was a Gibsons in Hammond way back when.
My parent’s bought my first electric guitar and amplifier for $30 from there.
Good times.

Posted by cypresstiger

The South

Member since Aug 2008

14063 posts

Posted on 11/16/22 at 9:52 am to Mr Boyles

Goudchaux's in Baton Rouge...both Main Street and Cortana----when you walked in, you could hear a very high pitch ringing. Somebody once told me that was part of the security system but I don't know if that's true.

Plus, many times there was a guy playing a grand piano when you walked into the Main street store.

This post was edited on 11/16/22 at 9:55 am

Posted by BigPapiDoesItAgain

Amérique du Nord

Member since Nov 2009

3474 posts

Posted on 11/16/22 at 9:53 am to tigerband6971

That makes me happy looking back at those pics and hearing that music (and miss my Mom). I'm a person of progress and don't get stuck in the past, but those simple times are a nice memory.

Posted by tigerband6971

hammond,la

Member since Sep 2018

127 posts

Posted on 11/16/22 at 10:01 am to cypresstiger

quote:
oudchaux's in Baton Rouge...both Main Street and Cortana----when you walked in, you could hear a very high pitch ringing. Somebody once told me that was part of the security system but I don't know if that's true

Could have been.
I worked for a BR alarm central station in the 70s and they installed domed shaped ultrasonic motion detectors in their systems .
If one of the detectors got a little flaky or insects got trapped in the dome they would emit that high pitched whine.

This post was edited on 11/16/22 at 10:03 am

Posted by Havoc

Member since Nov 2015

39270 posts

Posted on 11/16/22 at 10:18 am to Lsuhoohoo

quote:
I'm fascinated by business case studies like this with business giants not anticipating the future landscape. Sears being passed by Amazon as the "everything" retailer Blockbuster being passed by Netflix as the home video consumption source

Yes very much. Also the big names that were slow to adapt and even to this day don’t quite get it and are limping along. Dillard’s is one. Luckily they still have their in-store niche though.