Skip to main content

Kaufmanns to become Macy's(ho-hum)



I took a trip this afternoon to the vast no-man's land that once was the Rolling Acres Mall in Akron. I noticed that the "Kaufmanns" sign was about to be changed, as the name of the store in the next few days will become Macy's. More proof that this country of ours is becoming either a suburb of New York City or Los Angeles. It also shows me one thing. The only thing constant anymore is change.
Lets see, in my lifetime Fisher Foods became Fazios, which was sold to Stop-N-Shop, who was sold to Giant Eagle. Pick-N-Pay became Finast, then became Tops, and now is leaving the area.
Kroger left, came back, and left again. Zayre sold out to Ames, who closed their stores in the area. Gold Circle became Hills, was sold to Ames who then went out of business. Click is gone, Clarkins is gone, Woolworths is gone. W.T. Grants went bankrupt over 30 years ago. The list goes on.
One of the best times I have had as a poster on the Cleveland.com Listening Party board was this past spring when newsnomore spurred on some dialogue about businesses that don't exist any more. Of course I mentioned that I worked for Fretter and Montgomery Ward at one time, and then a handful of posters then chimed in with other obsolete business names. This lasted for over a day. Just goes to show that more baby boomers know how to use computers than are given credit for.

Comments

Anonymous said…
The same Kaufmanns, which used to be Higbees in Cleveland and O'Neils in Akron?(Or was it Polsky's?) Halle's went out of business and May Company became Dillards? Funny how when one starts talking about times gone by, you start sounding like your grandfather. Everytime I am in Strongsville, where I grew up, I have to bite my tongue so my kids don't hear me say..."when I was a kid, that housing development(or shopping center, or whatever), was so and so's farm"
September 05, 2006 9:03 AM
Cliff said…
Rich,

Just take a look at your neck of the woods. Start at the corner of Pearl Rd. and Fenn Rd., where Cracker Barrel IGA and Conleys once stood, and work your way south. Alot of change happened im Medina since I lived there from 1979-1981.

Thanks for reading,
Cliff
September 05, 2006 10:14 AM
Anonymous said…
Cliff:
I was thinking of this though not in relation to your blog entry this morning as my wife and I stopped at our bank on the way to bowling..We bank at Charter One, as we have for over 13 years, As she was in the bank I was thinking what was Charter One before 1993? I can't remember at this point..
September 05, 2006 2:43 PM
Anonymous said…
Actually, May Company became Kaufmann's, and Higbees became Dillard's.
September 07, 2006 4:16 PM
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Post 800: Time to chat

Hi Guys, It's hard to believe that this is post number 800 for this blog. I started this blog out of my desire to communicate. Since radio and television is becoming more and more automated and less and less personal, I'm glad I made the decision to go in this direction as it has given me many blessings. When I first decided to write my musings, a friend from the radio and television boards who goes by the name of newsnomore, told me not to be discouraged if I didn't get any readers. The fact that I did in the early going made me surprised and grateful that anyone was enjoying what I wrote. I've had people tell me that maybe it wasn't meant for me to ever be in radio, that maybe my calling was blogging. Nowadays I think blogging makes for better two way conversation than terrestrial radio, especially the way I do it, non confrontational. The closest I come from any confrontation is the innocent digs that Pat and I shoot at each other. On an average day I get betwee...
12 comments
Read more

From a "Battleground State"

I am going to make this one short and sweet. I live in Ohio, in this election season, one of the so called "Battleground states," a state crucial for any candidate presidential hopes. Of course we have had many visits from presidential and vice presidential candidates. Other blogs have dissected both campaigns so I will not. The only questions I have is will the promises made by either of these candidates exclusive to these states be fulfilled, or will they prove only to be hot air?
19 comments
Read more

Why?

What I'm posting now is with the blessing of Chelle. Chelle is the cousin of Suzanne's husband, Richard. I had gotten the impression from both of them that they were about as close as sisters. Suzanne had been a friend of mine since I had discovered one of her blogs in July, 2006. We would make reference to each other on our blogs and would have dialogue via email quite a bit. It was no surprise to me that she was friends to many other bloggers as well. I felt it was quite an honor to be held in as high esteem as I was. We even talked to each other on the phone on occasion. I felt as we had known each other for a long time. I also knew that Suzanne was having some personal problems, much of which had to do with a very troubled marriage. I would let her bounce things off me, and I would send her some encouragement. While she was going through some of her marital problems, she made herself available to give me a lift when I needed it. My son was having some problems of his own a...
17 comments
Read more