Anyone Remember Ames?

[Just Jack]

We also had a store in auburn called Brand Names. There was some merchandise on the floor, but mostly you would stand at the counter and look through their catalog. Once you picked what you wanted, the worker would go in the back and get it for you. I remember my sister and I circling things we wanted for xmas in the Brand Names catalog.

I remember Service Merchandise was a similar setup. They would have one display model on the floor. You'd fill out a slip, take it to the register to make your purchase, then wait for it to come out from the back on a conveyor belt at the pickup area.

[Punching Bag]

Thank goodness Walmart killed the piece of garbage stores like Ames & Bradlees.

 

Yes good that garbage was consolidated into Walmart.

[Bray Wyatt]

I remember there being Ames, but never went into any of them.

 

I remember driving around my wife's hometown around the holiday time and seeing an empty Ames building and laughing as I totally forgot that they were a thing

[Wooderson]

There was an Ames in Auburn, NY that closed down in the mid 80's. After that, it was a Nichols which was very similar. Both very similar to Kmart. We also had a store in auburn called Brand Names. There was some merchandise on the floor, but mostly you would stand at the counter and look through their catalog. Once you picked what you wanted, the worker would go in the back and get it for you. I remember my sister and I circling things we wanted for xmas in the Brand Names catalog.

 

Exactly the same for me. I also recall going there several times with my parents. Always seemed to be for an appliance, or vacuum or things of that nature.

[Seasons1992]

Yes... Just Jack says that's where "Pulaski Lefts" were invented. ;-)

 

I grew up in Cheektowaga/West Seneca. We had one @ SouthGate Plaza. What was it before? Grants then Hills I know was @ Gardenview Plaza. I think it was BrandNames @ SouthGate before Ames.

 

I think Ames was more C(entral)NY... Like I said, Jack may know?

 

It was like Kmart... And the other local types: TwoGuys, Grants, Hills, or Twin Fair.

 

 

Brand Names was at the opposite end of the plaza, across the street from where the old Southgate Liquors was. I remember it catching on fire once.

Ames moved into the Sears that was the two-story brick building near the creek on the other end.

I lived on Southgate 1978-1987.

[Johnny Hammersticks]

 

 

Brand Names was at the opposite end of the plaza, across the street from where the old Southgate Liquors was. I remember it catching on fire once.

Ames moved into the Sears that was the two-story brick building near the creek on the other end.

I lived on Southgate 1978-1987.

 

IIRC, the Brand Names in Auburn burned to the ground

[stevestojan]

I worked at Ames every summer in high school and a couple in college.

[teef]

hell yes i remember. i grew up in webster ny which is a suburb of rochester. i would ride my bite to that bad boy and just look at nonsense. towards the end, i remember thinking the place was completely picked over...like they decided to just ignore any basic business practice.

 

while we're at it, we need to look into present co. and service merchandise.

[Chandler#81]

Sure, I remember when there were Ames all over the place; not exactly a high end store but it served it's purpose in the pre-Wal Mart days.

 

 

This.

 

Ours was in NT on Nash Rd. Many a Christmases were purchased there..

[dpberr]

Ames was the trailblazer of terrible decisions and company implosion long before Kmart and Sears went and copied the blueprint.

 

Ames shot itself when it purchased the Zayre stores. Just like Sears found out with Kmart, buying losers just makes you a loser too.

[KD in CA]

I worked at Ames as a teenager. It was a mess of an organization and was a ****ty place to work. I remember once getting a raise from $3.35/hr. to $3.40. The managers there were in a constant state of confused agitation and always treated the employees terribly. I quit on a Sunday so I could go home and watch the Bills on tv.

 

Tangent: Who remembers Two Guys dept. store? I used to live right by one in Greece, NY in the 70’s.

 

I think a lot of us started working life at $3.35/hr back in the 80s

Thank goodness Walmart killed the piece of garbage stores like Ames & Bradlees.

 

The Bradlees in Norwalk CT hung on till the bitter end. Nasty store.

[ExiledInIllinois]

There used to Service Merchandise here in Illinois... That is where I got my first vacuum cleaner, a Hoover, back in early 1990s. Kinda like Brand Names in New York.

Ames was the trailblazer of terrible decisions and company implosion long before Kmart and Sears went and copied the blueprint.

 

Ames shot itself when it purchased the Zayre stores. Just like Sears found out with Kmart, buying losers just makes you a loser too.

Just a natural progression from fierce competition.

[Foxx]

i remember going to JM Fields and Star Markets when i was a kid. also, i don't think there are any more Big M markets around.

Edited March 28, 2017 by Foxx

[Wacka]

In the Gardenview Plaza at Union and French .I believe was a Hills then an Ames. Been empty for at least 10 years. Plaza is owned ny Benderson. They are going to Tear down a part of the plaza and make the Ames /Hills into a warehouse and build more warehouse area.

I just dove through that lot as the sun set last bight, They are doing something in the Hills building, as I could see dim lights inside through windows that were smeared with whitewash. Had to drive at about 15 mph through the lot as any faster would jave wrecked my suspension from the massive potholes.

[Chef Jim]

My brother was a manager there. Chick magnet that job was.

[Gugny]

Bought a hutch from Ames in 1999 for $100. I'm looking at it right now in my dining room.

[ExiledInIllinois]

In the Gardenview Plaza at Union and French .I believe was a Hills then an Ames. Been empty for at least 10 years. Plaza is owned ny Benderson. They are going to Tear down a part of the plaza and make the Ames /Hills into a warehouse and build more warehouse area.

I just dove through that lot as the sun set last bight, They are doing something in the Hills building, as I could see dim lights inside through windows that were smeared with whitewash. Had to drive at about 15 mph through the lot as any faster would jave wrecked my suspension from the massive potholes.

It was Grants first (like Ames, Hills, Kmart, et al)... Then Hills.

 

I lived off of French, father still there. Mother worked @ Grants. I forget what they are doing there. Yeah, parking lot is a moonscape!

Edited March 29, 2017 by ExiledInIllinois

[mead107]

Grand kids will be saying in 50 years , do you remember Walmart.

[KermitMcDermott]

Ames was about as cool as TJ Max.

[Wooderson]

 

This.

 

Ours was in NT on Nash Rd. Many a Christmases were purchased there..

 

Are you referring to the old Tops plaza near Reszel Middle School? Was that an Ames before Tops? That had to be before I moved to NT because I don't remember that at all.

 

Now it's a Dollar General.