I was thinking this evening about how much the world has changed since I was a kid, and frankly it's kind of depressing. I remember when I was much younger shopping downtown at Woolworth's and McCrory's for all sorts of things that interested me when I was a kid. You could find everything from school supplies to magic tricks, even pets at Woolworth's. It was one of two Woolworth's stores in town. The other was at the Mall. That store had hot roasted spanish peanuts just inside the entrance and the aroma wafted out into the common area of the mall. If your appetite was a little heartier you could always grab something from the lunch counter also inside the store.
That wasn't the only lunch counter in the mall, either. There was one inside JCPenney. Not only is the lunch counter long gone, but so is the JCPenney store. Another store I remember in the mall was the SuperX drug store. It changed hands two or three times before it finally went out of business altogether. There used to be several drug store chains in town along with numerous independents. Most are long gone. Hook's was bought out years ago and changed hands along with the rest. The last I knew they still had a Hook's museum at the Indiana State Fairgrounds, though I haven't checked recently to see if it is still there.
We used to shop at T-way when I was a kid as well. It later became Hill's and stayed in town for many years. It is gone too, and is now a Big Lots. Back in the day there were lots of locally owned businesses as well, men's stores, and women's stores, and several chain stores that were more local to Indiana and the midwest. They are pretty much all gone now.
It is not just the retail shopping scene that has changed either. It seems everywhere I look, businesses have either closed or been swallowed up by big corporate mega-chains. Everything from doctor's offices and dental offices to even the local cable company have been affected. My doctor used to be in a small but adequate building he rented in a small town. Doctor visits were $20 at the time, no matter what the problem was, and you could pay him when you had the money.
There aren't nearly enough local restaurants around to suit me these days either. I get the phone book out every once in awhile when I am hungry, looking for some place I might have forgotten about, but I always end up disappointed that nothing has changed. I guess that's okay, though, as I end up saving money by eating at home. I don't spend much at the stores these days either (not that I have any to spend anyway). Maybe that contributes to the economy being the way it is right now. Something to ponder.
