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Saturday, March 09, 2013

Captain N: The Game Master


Saturdays were always a lot of fun growing up.

In many ways, Saturday mornings during my childhood was the best time to be a kid. I didn't have to go to school at all, which given how horrible some of the kids and teachers could be was a reward in itself. More importantly, it allowed me to watch however many cartoons I desired. Because I grew up during the 1980s and early 1990s, there was no shortage of cartoons to choose from.

Now as time passed, and I grew a bit older, my taste for cartoons began to weaken. The mere fact that it happened at a time in which many networks were replacing their cartoon programs with live-action comedies and morning news was merely coincidental.



You see, right around the time I turned nine years old, I had developed a bit of an obsession towards video gaming. I loved playing video games as a kid (and I'll still admit to playing them as an adult, although I'm not nearly as much of a gamer as I used to be). In fact, I'll be the first to admit that as I aged, I would have rather played video games than watched cartoons.

It started off quite slowly at first. Knowing that most cartoon seasons contained thirteen episodes, I knew that around Christmas, we would start seeing reruns. Sometimes I would watch the repeat airing of the cartoon if it was a particularly great episode...but if it wasn't, I'd power up my Nintendo and play some Super Mario Brothers to pass the time. By the time I had gotten my Super Nintendo, I skipped cartoons entirely to play video games.

(Wow...you know, looking back on it, I suppose its entirely possible that a lot of kids my age thought the same way. And, if it really was the case, where kids would stop watching cartoons to play video games, no wonder networks stopped airing cartoons!)

It's really hard to say what fueled my obsession for Saturday Morning gaming marathons, but if I had to wager a guess, it had to do with a particular Saturday morning cartoon I used to watch as a kid.

In many ways, this cartoon could be considered the ultimate act of product placement. The main characters, the settings, even some of the plot lines were heavily influenced by the dozens of games released by one of the largest video game companies in the world. But when you're a nine year old kid, you don't care about things like that. As long as the show is great, has a lot of action, and characters you can relate to, that's all that mattered. It wasn't my fault that the characters were stars of their own video games.



I imagine some of us have wondered what it might have been like to be a part of a video game. Would we have thrived as the ruler of a world composed of pixels, or would we have had a “GAME OVER” message upon taking just a few steps inside? Well, the premise of this show deals with the adventures of everyday American teenager Kevin Keene, who along with his dog Duke gets zapped into a magical world known as Videoland. How they got there was via the “Ultimate Warp Zone”. You may have heard the term Warp Zone used in Super Mario games where walking on the ceiling or having a magical warp whistle could allow one the power to bypass entire levels. In Kevin's case, he bypassed reality and ended up in a land of complete fiction to become...



CAPTAIN N: THE GAME MASTER!



And, again, Captain N was basically a walking advertisement for Nintendo. When you consider that his belt buckle was shaped like an NES controller, and that his weapon of choice was something that resembled the Zapper plug-in one would use to play the 1985 game “Duck Hunt”, what else could he be?

In fact, the majority of the main characters, main antagonists, and recurring roles were all based from several video games released within the Nintendo library. The games that were represented were “Castlevania”, “Kid Icarus”, “Mega Man”, “Punch-Out”, “The Legend Of Zelda”, “Donkey Kong”, “Dragon Warrior”, “Wizards and Warriors”, “The Adventures of Bayou Billy”, and even “BurgerTime” if you can believe it!



TRIVIA: If you're wondering why the television series didn't incorporate what seemed to be the star of the Nintendo franchise into the show, there's a very sound reason for it. Beginning with season two of the series, the show was often paired with the animated series “The Adventures of Super Mario Bros. 3”. If I remember correctly, the two shows were presented as a one-hour program, with two episodes of the Mario cartoon acting as bookends for the full-length Captain N episode. I could be remembering wrong though.

But there's more to the show than being a cash cow for Nintendo of America. It was a brilliantly written cartoon series. It was a classic struggle of good versus evil as Kevin Keene is forced to assume the role of Captain N to save Videoland from the evil clutches of Mother Brain.

TRIVIA: In another interesting case of product placement within a television series, the fortress in which Mother Brain resides is named “Metroid”.

When Kevin arrives in Videoland, he comes at a rather critical time, as Mother Brain has taken over the majority of Videoland, and has almost succeeded in completely capturing the Palace of Power. When he and Duke come face to face with the N-Team, the team wastes no time in recruiting him to their team to fight the battle against evil in order to save Videoland from complete destruction.



And just who makes up the N-Team?

Well, there's Princess Lana, who is the current ruler of Videoland and oversees everything from the Palace of Power. She's kind-hearted and loving, but don't let those qualities trick you into thinking that you can imprison her in a castle...she can kick serious butt if forced to. She's also the only character in the series who doesn't appear to be a walking commercial for Nintendo products.

Her friends, on the other hand? Let's see...there's Simon Belmont from Castlevania, Pit from Kid Icarus, Mega Man from...well...Mega Man, and from the second season onward, the team is joined by a supercomputer known as Game Boy that looks like...well...one of these.

Ah, Nintendo, how subtle you are...

The cartoon managed to squeak out a three season run on NBC and it was popular enough to spawn a semi-successful comic book series under the “Nintendo Comics Series” banner. However, by the time the third season kicked off, major budget cuts by NBC greatly affected the quality of the animation of the series, and by 1992, the series (as well as the majority of NBC's cartoon lineup) was pulled.

The show did find new life in syndication for one additional year, and between 1992 and 1993, the show was repackaged under the title “Captain N and the Video Game Masters”. In a standard episode, we'd see Captain N episodes airing alongside episodes of “Legend of Zelda”, “The Adventures of Super Mario Bros. 3”, and “Super Mario World”. And, the entire series is available on DVD. Of course, there are slight differences between the DVD and syndication presentations and the original-run episodes. In the first few episodes of Captain N, you'd hear snippits of actual songs (it was similar to “Kidd Video”), but in the re-releases, the songs were replaced with generic instrumental scores.

And, that's our look back on Captain N: The Game Master. It may have been nothing more than an hour long advertisement for Nintendo...but for kids twelve and under, it was a great show.

Although, I'll also be the first to admit that I am more or less brand loyal to Nintendo video games and that Captain N likely weaned me off of cartoons and helped further fuel my gaming addiction.  

Friday, March 08, 2013

Sunset Beach


Well, that was quite the admission that I made yesterday, wasn’t it?  In case you missed it, you can either click HERE, or just scroll down the page to the next following entry.  You know, something tells me that if I can find a way to stick things out for another half of a year, I could potentially make great things happen.  The idea of paying off the last of my debts in my early thirties is a great feeling to have, and I for one am really looking forward to that September day in which I can finally square away my debt once and for all.

(Mind you, I’ll likely be racking up MORE debt as I proceed through my life, but at the very least, I’m wise enough to know not to throw my money away.  I’ll be using it as an investment for my future, whatever it decides to bring me.)

With the promise of a brighter future ahead in my horizon, I’ve been doing a lot of thinking about what could be possible as time passes on.  Assuming that I will still be in relatively good health as I proceed through my thirties, and that I don’t have to have any more organs surgically removed from my body, there are quite a lot of things that I still have yet to achieve in my life, and I’m cautiously optimistic that I will eventually be able to experience the many facets of life that many people take for granted.


Here’s a little bit of a confession for you all.  Would you believe that in the near thirty-two years that I’ve been alive, I’ve never once taken what one would consider a “real vacation”? 

I’ve never been on an airplane to visit a country overseas.  I’ve never been away from “home” for more than three days at a time.  I’ve never been to London, New York, Paris, or Munich, but I definitely do a lot of talkin’ ‘bout Pop Musik...


(Ahem...)

The point is that I’d love to pack up some belongings, hop on an airplane (even though I have never flown before in my life and would likely need to be sedated), and just take off somewhere that I’ve never been.  I’d love to get a view of New York City from the Empire State Building.  I’d love to try a slot machine in a Las Vegas casino once (and more than likely only once).  I have a friend in Florida who is very insistent that I come down for a visit, and maybe come September when I get everything settled on a financial basis, I’ll begin planning that trip.  The point is that I don’t want to sit here wondering what the rest of the world is like.  I want to be a part of that world too.  I’m long overdue for a relaxing vacation.

Of course, I have limits as to where I would want to go.  Any country that’s currently at war is definitely out.  With the latest news about cruise ships tipping over and getting stranded, I’m a little hesitant to book the next cruise to the Caribbean unless I do a LOT of research prior to launching.  And, as much as I would find it exciting to take advantage of that man’s offer to send civilians into outer space, not even I would be able to afford something like that in this lifetime.

And, then there’s the setting of a now-cancelled daytime drama which is the subject of today’s blog.  On the surface, the setting of this soap is calm, peaceful, serene, and beautiful.  I can’t imagine too many people turning their backs on a quiet, little beachfront town.  Of course, if the beachfront town had tidal waves, shipwrecks, earthquakes, ghosts, and supernatural curses, one might reconsider booking a hotel suite there.  I know I certainly would.


And, yet, that’s what one could find in the fictional community of “Sunset Beach”, which coincidentally happens to be the name of the soap opera we’ll be discussing today!

Now, before I continue on with this look back on this short-lived soap opera, I have to make a confession.  I’ve never watched one episode of this program, and am going into this with a very blank slate.  So, this blog entry won’t be as informative as others that I’ve done.  However, I will definitely give credit to Michael G. for giving this blogger the idea!  I just hope that I do you proud!


“Sunset Beach” was created for NBC’s daytime drama schedule in hopes of attracting a younger crowd.  And who better to create a show to attract youth than “Beverly Hills 90210” and “Melrose Place” producer, Aaron Spelling?

For Spelling, this was no easy task.  He was a master at producing prime-time dramas such as “Dynasty” and “Charlie’s Angels”, but daytime was a whole new world for him.  After all, daytime dramas had their loyal fans, and many would not just blow off twenty plus years of viewing their favourite soaps to check out a brand new series.  Hence the reasoning that by creating a soap opera for youth, they would be more open and flexible to watch a fresh new show, rather than one that had been on the air for decades.




Certainly when “Sunset Beach” debuted on January 6, 1997, it became apparent that the show was targeting teenagers and twentysomethings from the very beginning.  After all, one of the first (and longest-running) storylines of the series began with an online relationship between Kansas farm girl Meg Cummings (Susan Ward) and the mysterious man with the handle “SB”.  Meg began chatting with “SB” after discovering her fiancé, Tim Truman (Dax Griffin) had cheated on her the morning before they were to get married.  The more that Meg chatted with “SB”, the more she felt the need to meet him.  Impulsively, she fled Kansas and arrived in the coastal town of Sunset Beach, California, knowing that Sunset Beach was the place in which “SB” lived. 


At first, it seemed to be a standard soap opera cliché when it was revealed that “SB” was really the incredibly wealthy and handsome Ben Evans (Clive Robertson).  And during the first year of the show, Ben and Meg’s relationship seemed to fall victim to several other exhausted soap clichés, which included the following...


-         A crazed woman, Annie Douglas (Sarah Buxton) who will stop at nothing to steal Ben away from Meg.

-         Meg’s ex-fiance, Tim coming to town to win back Meg from Ben.

-         Ben having an evil twin brother, Derek (Clive Robertson), who did everything to destroy Ben’s life.

-         Ben’s presumed dead wife, Maria (Christina Chambers) really being alive, and suffering from the classic soap malady, amnesia.

You’d think that these ingredients (which have been used in almost every single soap opera that has aired since the 1940s) would create a recipe for boredom.  Of course, you’d think wrong.

You see, “Sunset Beach” was different from a lot of the other soap operas that were on the air at the time.  Unlike most shows which relied on rich storytelling, cleverly plotted cliffhangers, and trying to make the storylines as believable as possible, “Sunset Beach” didn’t take itself as seriously.  As a result, some of the storylines that surfaced were...well...whacked out.

I won’t go into too much detail here, but here’s just a sampling of some of the weirder than normal plots that “Sunset Beach” was known for.

“Terror Island” – several people on a boat cruise ended up stranded on a deserted island where one by one, they were slaughtered by a masked serial killer.  It turned out that the killer was Ben’s twin brother, and the storyline introduced him to the community of Sunset Beach, where he wreaked havoc on Ben and Meg.


“Shockwave” – “Sunset Beach” often did natural disaster storylines very well, and during this storyline which aired during the summer of 1998, it was very well-received by viewers.  It was bad enough that an earthquake shook, rattled, and rolled the community of Sunset Beach, but the force of the earthquake caused a tidal wave which tipped a cruise liner upside down (which sounds strangely like the plot of the 1972 film, “The Poseidon Adventure”).  I’ll admit though that watching clips of that storyline (such as the one below), the show did a fairly decent job with the special effects.  Or, maybe I’m just easily entertained.  




Then there was the storyline in which precious jewels were stolen from a religious icon and those who had touched the gems were destined to die.  Luckily, the storyline resolved itself around the holiday season, and everyone who had laid a hand on the jewels was spared.


Oh yeah...one of the main villainesses tried to impregnate somebody else using stolen sperm and a turkey baster.  Don’t even begin to ask me how that would even be possible because I’m not entirely sure.

At any rate, despite the producers and writers best efforts to keep "Sunset Beach" fresh with unusual plots and tangled relationships, it was not enough to save the show from cancellation, and the series aired its final episode on December 31, 1999 in an ending that can be best summarized as a cross between "Newhart" and the infamous dream season of "Dallas".  But you have to give them credit for pulling off stories that many other soap operas wouldn't have tackled, and they managed to keep viewers entertained for three years.  And, until "Passions" came around in 1999, "Sunset Beach" was unique in that regard.  

TRIVIA:  Although Sunset Beach wasn't that popular in the United States (it always ranked last in the ratings in the three years the show was on the air), it was wildly popular in the United Kingdom.  When word of the show's cancellation got out, many in the UK attempted to raise money to send to NBC to keep the show on the air!

Oh, and one more final bit of trivia before I close the chapter on "Sunset Beach".  Because Aaron Spelling produced the program, it wasn't uncommon to see alumni of his former creations taking on roles in the series.  Look out for "Beverly Hills 90210"'s Carol Potter, "Dynasty"'s Gordon Thomson, "The Love Boat"'s Bernie Kopell, and Aaron Spelling's own son Randy playing parts in the series.  And, a couple of stars went on to bigger and better things after the conclusion of "Sunset Beach", including Eddie Cibrian (who played Cole Deschanel), and Laura Harring (who played Paula Stevens).

So, that's a wrap on our look back on "Sunset Beach".  A nice place to see, but not exactly one I'd want to live in or vacation in any time soon!

Thursday, March 07, 2013

The Six-Month Plan


For some of you, this Thursday Diary entry will not be much of a surprise.  For the rest of you, this entry will clear some things up...including why lately I have been looking ahead to six months from now. 

March 7, 2013

There’s a saying about the month of March.  I would imagine that most of you know what it is, but in case you don’t, the saying is this.


“If March comes in like a lamb, it will go out like a lion.  If March comes in like a lion, it will go out like a lamb.”

Of course, everyone who has heard this saying knows that it has to do with weather conditions.  March is probably one of the most unpredictable months as far as weather conditions go as you never really know what to expect.  At least this is the case in Canada, where March is the month that sees the transition between winter and spring.

Lamb like weather includes warm sunny days with gentle breezes.  Lion like weather can include tons of snow, frigid temperatures, and even thunderstorms. 

(Just in case you were wondering, in my part of the country we ended up getting snow on March 1...so, I guess I could say that March has come in like a lion – albeit a little baby lion cub.)

But why should the lion/lamb analogy only be used to describe weather?  Why can’t we apply the same principle to our everyday lives?  I know I certainly can.  Only instead of just focusing on the month of March, I thought I would focus on the year 2013 so far.


Personally speaking, 2013 has come in like a big, bad, nasty lion.  When 2012 ended, I was trying to get over a couple of personal losses, as well as dealing with a couple of stressful situations.  And when 2013 rolled around, things didn’t seem much better.  Over the last three months, I’ve done quite a bit of soul-searching within myself, trying to come up with ideas in how to make things better for myself.  Instead, any ideas that I came up with ended up frustrating me even further.

You know how some writers end up with a condition known as “Writer’s Block”, in which try as they might they cannot come up with any creative ideas on how to advance a story? 

In my case, I’ve had a chronic case of “Life Block”. 

I’ll be completely honest with all of you.  I’m completely stuck in a rut.  I feel like one of those hamsters on one of those wheels that can be found in many pet cages, and I’m unable to find a way to jump off of it. 

I won’t go into too much detail, but here’s the Cliff’s Notes version.  At my job, I’ll still readily admit that the work isn’t tough, and that for the most part I get along with my co-workers...but I’m going to be completely realistic.  I don’t see myself progressing any further than my current position, and in all likelihood, the next opportunity in which I can go further won’t be for several months, or even a couple of years from now.  I suppose that I could wait around and stick it out, but I’m wondering what the payoff in doing that would be.  Even though I don’t mind my job right now, I have to wonder if I love it enough to stay with it knowing that I’ve gone as far as I can go.

And, then there’s the location that I’m currently in.  I’ll readily be the first one to admit that I’ve begun to appreciate my hometown a lot more than I used to, and I’m slowly immersing myself into the community (which I’ll be talking about one week from today).  At the same time, there are some instances in which I feel as though I am the only thirty-one year old single male in my entire community.  Most of the people my age are engaged or married, and it’s very difficult for me to meet people my own age in this area.  Ideally, I’d like to go to a larger town, and possibly come back home after a few years away, but the main obstacle in my way has always been financial.  It is common knowledge that the bigger the city the more expensive the rent.

So, as we were beginning a brand new year, nothing had really changed from the year before, and it seemed as though 2013 was going to be a reheated mess of leftovers from last year. 

But then I received a letter in the mail, and suddenly a lot more options began to open up for me.


As many of you know from my past entries, you know that I went off to university for two years, and for a multitude of reasons I never finished.  I did not get my degree, however I was “rewarded” with a wonderful $14,000 debt. 

(Though, given that I attended school in the early 2000s, I suppose I can count myself lucky that I only accumulated $14,000 debt compared to some others who may have had ten times that amount.)

It took me some time to begin paying off the debt, as it took me a year and a half to find a job, but once I landed the job, I began making payments every two weeks like clockwork.  For most of that time surprisingly, I never really bothered to check the balance of my debt.  As long as it continued to go down, I was satisfied.

So imagine my surprise when I opened up my statement that was sent to my mailbox monthly, and I realized that the debt was almost completely paid.  As of the beginning of March, I only owed a tenth of what I originally had to pay back!  After eleven years of paying off that debt, it was almost wiped out.  I did some calculations, and I figure that if I keep paying what I have been paying them every month, I will have that debt completely wiped out by the time September comes.


It makes me feel giddy inside.  Six months from now, I’ll be completely debt-free (well, for now anyway)!  It’s a fantastic feeling to have, and I’m actually looking forward to September!

Of course, this leads to the next question.  What do I do once September comes?

The fact that I’ve come up with a six-month plan for settling the last of the debt that I owe is the first step towards creating the life that I want to have for myself.  But once that hurdle is cleared, I have to look ahead to the next six months.

There’re several things that I have thought of doing...and each one has its merits.


IDEA #1:  Getting a transfer to a different store in the same chain.  This would require me to move to a different location where the opportunity to grow will potentially be higher.  And, hey, if it’ll improve my social life, all the more reason to go, right?


IDEA #2:  Getting a transfer to a different store and giving college another try.  Based on what I have learned, I know that I don’t have the ambition or the desire to go back to a university campus.  But if I attended a more specialized technical college, I could actually gain the skills that could help me land a better job and achieve a higher standard of living.  And, hey, if it’ll improve my social life, all the more reason to give school another chance, right?


IDEA #3:  Quit the retail business once and for all and try my hand in a different career field.  This move is incredibly risky for me given the state of the global economy, but if I’m heading into that challenge in a fairly good position financially, maybe it might be worth that risk.


IDEA #4:  Taking a year off from work to spend the entire year getting a book written and published.  If you asked me if I was considering this as an option a couple of years ago, I would have 86’ed that suggestion completely.  But considering that I want nothing more than to be a published writer, this option is starting to become very tempting.  And, if I can manage to save up enough money, I could feasibly spend the year crashing at El Cheapo motel rooms while I write about the exciting adventures that I’d likely have while touring across Canada getting inspiration.  You know what, now that I’ve typed that out, that idea is beginning to appeal to me more and more!



IDEA #5:  Toughing it out in my current situation for one more year so that I can ensure that I save the most amount of money possible to fund any one of the above four options.  The question is not whether I can do it, but whether I can handle my current situation without losing my mind.  As of right now, I could probably handle it, but you never know how I would be feeling six months from now.

I’m sure that as I think about it some more over the next six months, I’ll have a couple of more possibilities that could open up.  After all, we never can completely predict where we will be six months, six years, or six decades from now.  But I will say this.  I’ve never felt more optimistic about my future than I am right now at this moment. 


September is still six months away, so I have lots of time to perfect my six-month plan and come to a decision as to what to do.  No matter what happens, I know that somehow, it will all work out.

2013 may have come in like a lion for me personally...but with a little work, and a bit of planning, there’s no reason why the year can’t end like a lamb.

Wednesday, March 06, 2013

Defunct Discount Stores from Ames to Zellers




For those of you living in Canada like myself, you may have heard the news that American retail chain Target is planning on opening up at least two hundred stores in various locations right across the country over the next two years.  In fact, three stores in Ontario opened up their doors yesterday.  I remember watching the opening of one of the stores on last night’s six o’clock news, and it seemed to get a lot of attention.  It seemed as though one of the biggest complaints about the retail chain thus far here in Canada has to do with pricing.  Some consumers believe that the prices are a bit too expensive for their meager budgets.  I suppose time will tell what will happen as more stores open up across Canada.

Of course, some of you who have been faithful readers of this blog for almost two years might recall that I currently hold a day job in retail at what could be considered one of Target’s biggest competitors.  Lest you think that I am giving a rival chain free publicity, think again.  For one, I would likely end up getting a stern talking to if I were caught praising a rival chain of stores, and for another, I have not set foot inside of a Target location, so I cannot judge how good of a chain it is.  The closest city to me that will be getting a Target location is about an hour’s drive from where I am, and that store won’t be ready until at least summer.  I’ll probably check it out when the grand opening does take place just out of curiosity, as I’m sure the majority of my co-workers at my job will.

The reason why I am talking about Target moving up north to Canada is because for Target to have the ability to come into Canada, it means that another department store chain has closed up shop.


In this case, Target will be opening up shop in several former Zellers locations over the next year.  The few Zellers locations that are still open are currently having their “Going Out Of Business” sales, and by April 2013 (with the exception of three stores), Zellers will be nothing more than a name of the past.

And, the closure of several hundred Zellers stores all across Canada gave me the idea for today’s topic.  What if I did a spotlight on department stores and supermarkets that I remember going to as a child?  Department stores and supermarket chains that no longer exist?  And, what if I pepper each description of the now-defunct businesses with historical events and personal memories that I experienced when I paid each store a visit?  I thought it would be a great topic to talk about the stores of the past, and at the end, I’ll be asking for some audience participation.  No obligation though, despite my bolding of the words ‘audience participation’.  J

NOTE:  I realize that there are hundreds of department stores and supermarket chains that have shut their doors, but for the sake of this blog, I will only do spotlights on chains that I remember visiting.  But feel free to add your memories of other department stores and supermarkets of the past if I have not listed them here.

And, to begin, we’ll go in alphabetical order with a department store I visited several times as a child when my family would go cross-border shopping in the United States.


AMES
Founded: 1958
Defunct:  Fall 2002

It seems hard to believe now, but at one time, Ames was once the United States’ fourth largest retailer behind Walmart, Kmart, and Target.  The first Ames store was opened up in the community of Southbridge, Massachusetts in 1958 by brothers Milton and Irving Gilman.  The inspiration for the name “Ames” came purely by recycling – the brothers just used the signage of the former business that previously occupied the building, “Ames Worsted Textile Co.”

The company set up several locations strictly in the Northeastern United States, specifically in ruralised areas, offering up the promise of quality items at discounted prices to that sector of population so that they wouldn’t have to drive so far to get everyday household items needed.  By 1978, the company began to expand as a fast pace, taking over the former “Big N” chain, and ten years later, would acquire as many as four hundred more locations from Ames taking over the King’s Department Store chain, G.C. Murphy, and Zayre stores throughout the United States.

Unfortunately for Ames, this move also caused the company to file for bankruptcy in the early 1990s.  Of course, it wasn’t the inability to keep up with the expansion that was the sole factor.  Ames had a policy that allowed customers to extend their consumer credit with the store without any questions asked, and without doing a credit check!  This proved to be a big mistake on Ames’ part, because what eventually happened was that customers were defaulting on their debt payments, which took money out of Ames’ bottom line.  A total of 370 stores were closed during that period.

Amazingly, Ames navigated this bankruptcy quite well, and by the mid-1990s, the company bounced back and began making profits.  Unfortunately, the company had to file for bankruptcy protection a second time in the summer of 2001, and this time, the problems were so great that the company announced that the chain would be going out of business in late 2002.  The final Ames stores were left vacant by the holiday season of 2002.

PERSONAL MEMORY TIME:  Ames never came to Canada, but there was an Ames location in Ogdensburg, New York.  As a kid, I remember going there with my family, and ended up picking up some very cool toys.  I had my first taste of a Brach’s Gum Dinger Pop at Ames.  I bought my first Magic 8-Ball at Ames.  And, my parents bought me my all-time favourite Fisher-Price playset from Ames, the Fisher-Price Main Street Set!  I still can’t believe I remember all that!  I don’t remember exactly what happened to the old Ames location...it either became a Price Chopper supermarket or a Dollar Tree location...I’m not sure, because I don’t know what part of the shopping plaza it was located in.


STEINBERG’S
Founded: 1917
Defunct:  Summer 1992

The only former supermarket chain on this list, Steinberg’s was founded in the city of Montreal, Quebec, Canada in 1917 by Jewish-Hungarian immigrant, Ida Steinberg.  Her five sons (most notably Sam Steinberg) worked together to grow the business from a simple little storefront into one of Quebec’s first successful supermarket chains.  During the 1930s and 1940s, the chain would expand into New Brunswick and Ontario, and throughout the 1960s, Steinberg would be in charge of several businesses including Miracle Mart, Miracle Food Mart, Valdi, Pik-Nik, Le Quick, and Cardinal Distributors.

Steinberg’s ended up dropping the possessive “S” from its name in 1961, following the decision by Sam Steinberg to have all of his employees in Quebec to offer service in English AND French (something that in 2013 era Quebec would likely NOT happen in some areas of the province).  By 1977, Steinberg’s became Quebec’s largest supermarket chain.

Unfortunately Sam Steinberg passed away in 1978, and after his death, his children became involved in a nasty battle over the future of the company.  That marked the beginning of the end of the Steinberg’s empire.  By 1991, many of the Steinberg stores in Ontario had been sold to Loblaws, A&P, and Dominion, and by the summer of 1992, the once prosperous chain went belly-up.

PERSONAL MEMORY TIME:  Steinberg’s used to be a staple store at the local shopping mall back in the 1980s, and I have a couple of vague memories of the store.  One memory is that I remember always wanting to get a bottle of Steinberg’s orange soda (which at the time came in GLASS bottles).  And, another memory I have is riding the motorized rides parked outside of Steinberg’s that faced the lottery kiosk.  I think I must have played on those rides dozens of times by the time I was five!  Steinberg’s was taken over by Your Independent Grocer in the late 1980s, and currently at its former location are a Shoppers Drug Mart and Stitches Warehouse Outlet.


WOOLCO
Founded:  1962
Defunct:  Spring 1994 (in Canada)

Woolco was first started up in Columbus, Ohio in 1962, and was a subsidiary of another long-running business (which I will talk about a little later).  At the time of its founding came the creation of several neighbourhoods in the outskirts of major cities known as “suburbia”, and Woolco was designed as a discount store that catered to suburban residents.  By 1966, twenty-seven stores had opened up (eighteen in the United States, nine in Canada), and with the company opening up thirty stores each year until the 1980s, is it any wonder how the company ended up having three hundred stores by the mid-1970s?

TRIVIA:  My town’s Woolco store was one of those built during the expansion, opening up its doors in the summer of 1973.

Now, the company ended up closing every single one of its Woolco locations in the year 1982...but in Canada, the company continued on for an additional few years until Walmart bought out the company in early 1994.  The majority of Woolco locations became Walmart stores, and many of the Woolco staff were transitioned easily into Walmart associates.

PERSONAL MEMORY TIME:  Well, aside from working at a business that at one time was a Woolco store...I have so many memories of Woolco that I don’t think I can even list them all.  Among some of the Woolco memories I had as a kid.

-          Walking through the store in a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles costume after coming in second at the mall’s Halloween costume contest.

-          Using the layaway counter for the first time at the age of nine to purchase my Nintendo (which took me five months to save up the money for, by the way!)

-          Having both an older sister and an aunt working at Woolco.

-          Having breakfast with Santa Claus one year at the “Red Grille”, Woolco’s own restaurant (which had some fantastic food, by the way).

-          The chaotic events known as $1.44 Mondays.

-          My parents purchasing a really ugly, annoying, noisy Santa Claus Christmas centerpiece that had Santa playing the drums to “Jingle Bells”...which they STILL HAVE...which I have tried unsuccessfully to silence forever for twenty-six Christmases and counting...

And, since I brought up Woolco, why don’t I talk about Woolco’s parent company?


WOOLWORTH’S
Founded:  July 18, 1879
Defunct:  Summer 1997

Ah, Woolworth’s, how I miss you so...

The Woolworth’s chain was once known as the F.W. Woolworth Company when Frank Winfield Woolworth opened up the first successful location in Lancaster, Pennsylvania in 1879 (after a failed attempt in Utica, New York some six months prior).  Marketed as a Great Five Cent Store, Woolworth’s quickly became successful under the leadership of F.W. and his brother, Charles Sumner “Sum” Woolworth.  After F.W.’s death in 1919, Sum took over the reins of the company and served as Chairman of the company, seeing through four different company presidents until his own passing in January 1947.  By 1979, when the company turned one hundred years old, it was considered to be the largest department store chain in the world, with several hundred locations in several different countries of the world.  And, one could argue that Woolworth’s was the inspiration behind the modern day shopping plaza food court, as their decision to incorporate lunch counters at every location helped bring customers in.


TRIVIA:  In February 1960, a segregated Woolworth’s lunch counter in North Carolina became the site of civil rights activism when four black youths were refused service simply because of the color of their skin.  This prompted six months of sit-ins and boycotts, which ended up being one of the key events towards the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s.  A portion of that lunch counter now sits in the Smithsonian Institute.

Woolworth’s eventually saw a decline following the closure of its Woolco brand in the United States, as well as being associated with a deadly 1979 fire at one of its stores in Manchester, England.  By 1997, the Woolworth’s name was but a memory in North America.

PERSONAL MEMORY TIME:  Of all the stores on this list, I miss Woolworth’s the most.  When I was a really young kid (and I was off from school) my mom and I would go downtown to pay bills every second Thursday, and she would always set aside just enough money to treat me to a burger and Coke at the Woolworth’s lunch counter, as well as choosing one toy from the toy section if I was good.  As long as I live, I’ll never forget how much fun those times were.  I’d usually pick out either a colouring book and “Woolworth brand” crayons, or a giant ball with a Wuzzle or a Smurf on them!

(What can I say...it was the 1980s!)

I have one embarrassing moment too.  My sister took me out to lunch at the Woolworth’s lunch counter one summer (I think it was just before Woolworth’s shut down), and somehow I squirted ketchup all over my brand new purple T-shirt.  I was very upset because I didn’t want anyone to come to the conclusion that I was a sloppy eater, so we ended up purchasing some stickers from the craft department and I stuck a sticker over the stain...because wearing a scratch and sniff citrus sticker was somehow less embarrassing than a ketchup stain... J

And, this leads to the final store...the one where this blog began.


ZELLERS
Founded: 1931
Defunct:  Spring 2013*

(*As of April 2013, there will only be three Zellers locations still open)

When Zellers was founded in 1931 in Southern Ontario, founder Walter P. Zeller had intended for the chain to cater towards “thrifty Canadians”.  The first Zellers locations were opened up in fourteen former Schulte-United stores.  By 1953, the company had expanded into Atlantic Canada, operating 72 stores and employing almost four thousand people.

In 1975, Zellers adopted the logo which it would continue using until 2013, and by 1976, it was making annual sales of over $400 million from its 155 stores located across Canada.  In June 1978, Zellers made a bid to try and purchase the Hudson’s Bay Company, but instead was purchased BY Hudson’s Bay Company, as executives were impressed by Zellers’ profitability.  The HBC took over all Zellers locations by 1981.

Now, some people might state that the purchase of the chain by HBC sealed its fate, but Zellers actually did fairly well leading up into the 1990s.  I would imagine that when Walmart moved into Canada in 1994, it offered some major competition for Zellers at first, but in some communities, Zellers seemed to thrive.

By 2011, the chain was struggling, and in January, Target bought the lease agreements of 220 Zellers locations in the goal of transforming them into Target stores.  The Zellers stores that were not bought out by Target either became Walmart stores, or closed up shop entirely.  In the case of the Zellers store in my hometown, there’s no plans for it to become a Target, so for now, its future is uncertain.  For all I know, they may end up bulldozing the whole store.  For now, the store is selling off whatever inventory they have left for its closure at the end of the month.


PERSONAL MEMORY TIME:  I’ll readily admit that I don’t have a whole lot of memories regarding Zellers because my family more or less shopped at Woolco.  But I do remember a few things.  I remember eating at the Skillet restaurant, which was all right (not NEARLY as good as the Red Grille), and I also remember getting a teddy bear from Zellers (Zellers mascot was the Zeddy Bear).  Other than that, I don’t have too much to say.  I will attest though that the Zellers location at the Billings Bridge Shopping Plaza in Ottawa was twice as busy as the location in my own area though.

And, that’s my look back on defunct and closing department store and supermarket chains.  Now I turn the spotlight on all of you.

BONUS QUESTION:  What are some of your favourite former department stores/supermarkets?  And, what memories do you have of these places?  I’m interested in hearing some of your stories!