Hardware Stores...off topic? - General Tiki

J johntiki Member MD Joined: Mar 31, 2002 Posts: 1528	J johntiki Posted posted on Tue, Jul 30, 2002 11:21 PM Sven - I know how you feel about the demise of family run hardware stores - there was a hardware store near me that was run by the same family since 1907, they were forced to close last year after the influx of Home Depot's in our town and the surrounding areas. Not only is it enough to have A Home Depot in a single area now they are popping up on every corner in a 20 mile radius! I'm starting to wonder when some of the giant mega stores are going to have to close due to their own lack of business... Another problem we have in my area is a proliferation of convenience stores - they put a friggin' Royal Farm Store and Wawa (I believe that's a chain that's only infecting the east coast) directly across from each other! What the hell? Do we need that much convenience - besides they only sell the same stuff anyway - it's not like you're getting something at one store that you can't get at the other! There is one intersection about 5 miles from my house that has a Royal Farm, a Wawa, a 7-11 and a High's (another east coast parasite) within spitting distance of each other! When is enough enough???? When I was a kid I used to go to a store named Bob's Deli, a family owned and operated convenience store and buy all of my sodas, candy and comic books but not any longer. They tore the place down and built a Wawa in its place! Its weird to think that I'm 30 years old and I pine for the way things used to be - I was lucky to grow up in a rural part of Maryland because they were always slow at catching up to modern times - my dad used to take me to a corner drug store named Richardson's on Main Street in Bel Air and they still had a fully functioning soda fountain. I used to get real cherry, chocolate and vanilla cokes and milkshakes made from real ice cream not some powder that is dumped in a machine. I used to buy sodas in glass bottles from a vending machine at a local gas station. I remember the creaking hardwood floors in the family owned hardware stores. I remember eating at authentic diners instead of inhaling junk from McDonalds. I used to watch the 4th of July parade on Main Street. I never realized how good those times were until I look now and everything that was once good and authentic in life has been replaced by corporate big-money crap! I guess the only thing we can do is support these "main street" family owned businesses as much as we can - not only should we spend our money there but, we should also take the time to tell the people behind the counter how much we appreciate the service they've provided for our communities and for us as people... I think I need a drink! Johntiki :drink:

Sven - I know how you feel about the demise of family run hardware stores - there was a hardware store near me that was run by the same family since 1907, they were forced to close last year after the influx of Home Depot's in our town and the surrounding areas. Not only is it enough to have A Home Depot in a single area now they are popping up on every corner in a 20 mile radius! I'm starting to wonder when some of the giant mega stores are going to have to close due to their own lack of business...

Another problem we have in my area is a proliferation of convenience stores - they put a friggin' Royal Farm Store and Wawa (I believe that's a chain that's only infecting the east coast) directly across from each other! What the hell? Do we need that much convenience - besides they only sell the same stuff anyway - it's not like you're getting something at one store that you can't get at the other! There is one intersection about 5 miles from my house that has a Royal Farm, a Wawa, a 7-11 and a High's (another east coast parasite) within spitting distance of each other! When is enough enough???? When I was a kid I used to go to a store named Bob's Deli, a family owned and operated convenience store and buy all of my sodas, candy and comic books but not any longer. They tore the place down and built a Wawa in its place!

Its weird to think that I'm 30 years old and I pine for the way things used to be - I was lucky to grow up in a rural part of Maryland because they were always slow at catching up to modern times - my dad used to take me to a corner drug store named Richardson's on Main Street in Bel Air and they still had a fully functioning soda fountain. I used to get real cherry, chocolate and vanilla cokes and milkshakes made from real ice cream not some powder that is dumped in a machine. I used to buy sodas in glass bottles from a vending machine at a local gas station. I remember the creaking hardwood floors in the family owned hardware stores. I remember eating at authentic diners instead of inhaling junk from McDonalds. I used to watch the 4th of July parade on Main Street. I never realized how good those times were until I look now and everything that was once good and authentic in life has been replaced by corporate big-money crap!

I guess the only thing we can do is support these "main street" family owned businesses as much as we can - not only should we spend our money there but, we should also take the time to tell the people behind the counter how much we appreciate the service they've provided for our communities and for us as people...

I think I need a drink!

Johntiki
:drink:

Post #4731 by johntiki on Tue, Jul 30, 2002 11:21 PM