Ha, I so remember Contempo Casuals as a mall fixture from the 1980s-90s. I thought it was an oddly named store even then, and was wondering what the heck happened to all those stores.
According to this, the stores were converted to Wet Seal and Arden B stores (I don't remember seeing either of those chains around lately either, but I really haven't been looking).
It's funny, we take photos and videos of the big moments in life, but really, what I want more than anything is just photos/video of the standard things we've lost, like the inside of a 1967 grocery store, or a 1974 school. Which is why this big-haired mall-memory photo essay is such a treat. (Warning: The link goes to a BuzzFeed roundup of the photos, don't click on the link in the BuzzFeed lead, it warns of malware.)
Once not that long ago a friend and I started naming THE ULTIMATE 1980s mall stores. I can't remember the full list, but here's part of it. Not the boring everyday stores, but the ones whose very name shouts '80s. What did we miss?
--Orange Julius
--Karmelkorn
--Cookie Factory
--Contempo Casuals
--Chess King
--Limited
--Benetton
--Gantos (Minnesota)
--B Dalton (formed in Minnesota--originally the B stood for Books, and the Dalton was a tweak of Dayton's)
--Claire's
--Spencer Gifts
--Structure
--Musicland
--Sharper Image
--Egghead Software
--Merry-Go-Round
--Suncoast Pictures
--Shirt Shack
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3 comments:
Barbara Moss (later called, I think, B. Moss)
Nine West
We had Deb's
Denver had Fashion Bar, the Gap - remember the commercial "Fall into the Gap"? (before it was cool), Tiffany's Bakery, May D&F was our equivalent to Macy's, Joslin's, Woolworth Woolco, Montgomery Wards, Sears (which I still refuse to walk into with my parents), Ring Around the Corner Restaurant (each booth had a phone to order your food and the phone rang back when it was time to pick up your order), Casual Corner (not to be confused with Contempo), Stride Rite shoes, Kenny (Kenney?) Shoes, Waldenbooks, JC Penney, Broadway Southwest (upscale department store), Neusteters (another Colorado Store), It's your Move, and a lot of our malls had a Furr's Cafeteria. There's one last one but I can't remember the name. It was like Spencer's.
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