You Can't Shop There Anymore (US) Quiz

Answer: Sporting goods

You'll have to look elsewhere for fishing equipment, skis, and baseball gloves.

Oshman's Dry Goods was started in 1919 in Richmond Texas and soon expanded to Houston. By 1931 it had opened the first of its sporting goods stores and over the next 60 years or so had expanded to 109 Oshman's stores and 24 SuperSports stores. However, weakening sales led to a buyout by its competitor Gart Sports, in 2001. Many of the Oshman's stores were rebranded as Sports Authority, which also have since closed.

Answer: Youth and teenager clothes

Look elsewhere for your jeans and mod clothes.

The origin of Miller's Outpost was Miller's Surplus, founded by the Miller brothers in Ontario California in 1948. It started out selling military surplus, but soon became very popular as one of the few placing selling Levi jeans. The brothers parted ways and this store went out of business. However, one of the brothers started Miller's Outpost, a clothing store for young adults. In the late 1990s the store names were changed to Anchor Blue. In 2009 it entered Chapter 11 bankruptcy and ceased operation in 2011.

Answer: High End Clothing

The high-end department store is another casualty of time and online shopping.

Mary Ann Magnin started the store in 1876 in San Francisco and named it after her husband Isaac. Originally the store sold lotions, high-end infant clothing, and then bridal wear. She and her children (except Joseph, who started his own store) ran the business for a long period. In 1944 the West Coast retailer Bullock's bought I Magnin, and in 1964 Federated Department Stores took ownership after a proxy battle. Macy's acquired the store in 1989, but experienced bankruptcy itself. Federated bought back the store in 1994, but closed many and changed the name of others.

Answer: Shoes

Thom McAn was started by a New Hampshire shoe manufacturer in 1922. Under the direction of Ward Melville the number of Thom McAn shoe stores grew to 650 in 1939 and 850 in 1952. Competition from larger department stores eventually led to a closing of Thom McAn shoe stores, although the shoes are still sold by Kmart.

Answer: Drug store

In 1903 independent drug stores formed a retail cooperatives that was named Rexall (from the Rx name for prescriptions). By 1958 the Rexall brand name was used by over 11,000 pharmacy stores in the United States and Canada, which was approximately 20 per cent of all pharmacies. As a note, the number of Rexall drug stores at that time was about the same number of McDonald's in the U.S. today. Rexall was also well-known in the U.S. for its sponsorship of the Amos and Andy and the Phil Silvers radio shows.

However, Rexall suffered when larger corporations entered the market and offered discount prescriptions. By 1977 Rexall was sold and only a few independent stores kept the name.

The McKesson Corporation operates stores in Canada since 1985 under the Rexall brand name, but this is not a successor to the American stores of the same name.

Answer: Restaurant chain

You'll have to go elsewhere for your pancake breakfasts.

Sambo's was started in 1957 in Santa Barbara by Sam Battistone and Neil Bohnett. The name for the restaurants was derived from the names of the partners, but they used interior decorations that capitalized on the popular children's book "Little Black Sambo". By 1957 they had 1117 outlets, but problems with too-rapid expansion and resistance to the offensive nature of the name led to a serious decline. By 1981 the chain went bankrupt and by 1982 only the original restaurant was still open.

Battistone later purchased the New Orleans Jazz NBA franchise.

Answer: Toys

Another New York City icon is no more.

Frederick August Otto Schwarz founded a toy store in 1862 in Baltimore called "The Toy Bazaar". In 1870 he had opened the famous New York City store. His family ran the stores for very many years until they sold their final shares in 1963. The stores changed hands many times thereafter with Toys R Us becoming the final owner in 2009. In July 2015 they decided to close the last of the FAO Schwarz stores, the iconic one in NYC.

Answer: Books

Look for your books online or at the few remaining bookstores.

B Dalton was started by Bruce Dayton, whose family ran several department stores in the Midwest. By 1979 it was the largest bookstore chain in the US with 798 stores. After lagging sales, it was acquired by Barnes and Noble in 1989. The final B Dalton closed in 2010.

Answer: Five and Dime (or Five and Ten) variety

Many a childhood allowance was spent for candy, baseball cards, and cheap toys at the 5&10 cent store.

S&H Kress was founded in Pennsylvania in 1887 and operated as S&H Kress 5-10-25 Cent stores. Its decision to exclude African Americans from its lunch counters in the South led to it being a target of civil rights protests in the 1960s. Changing tastes and the growth of department stores led to its gradual weakening and it was acquired by Genesco in 1996. Some of the Kress stores operated under the label McCrory Stores until they also went out of business in 2001.

Answer: Furniture

You can't get your first furniture in one of the super-sized Levitz stores now.

Richard Levitz founded Levitz Furniture in 1910 in Lebanon Pennsylvania. By 1960 Levitz had transformed the industry in large furniture warehouses. After initial success it underwent Chapter 11 bankruptcies in 1997 and 2005 before ceasing operation in 2007. Much of its decline was due to poor management, although the shift in American furniture-buying habits to use showroom displays contributed.

Answer: Movie rentals

Remember when you raced to Blockbuster to get the first release of movies for your VHS?

Blockbuster was started in 1985 by David Cook at the suggestion of his wife and he opened his first store in Dallas. In 1987 he was successful in a suit brought by Nintendo and added computer game rentals to the store. Blockbuster expanded rapidly to dominate the industry until technology changed our viewing habits. Streaming services, such as Netflix, led to a rapid decline in Blockbuster's profits. It filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 2010 and by 2014 only 11 franchise stores were still operating.

Answer: Music

Remember going to the local record store when new singles or albums were released, or looking through the record stacks?

Sam (Goody) Gutowitz founded a small record store in New York City in the 1940s and soon established himself as an LP discounter and mail order business. He established his chain of stores in 1951 and grew to around 800 stores. Sam Goody expanded his empire by acquiring smaller record stores, but was eventually bought by Best Buy, ending the Sam Goody brand.

Answer: Bridal dresses

Alfred Angelo's was started in New York in 1933 by Angelo and his wife, who designed the dresses. During its heyday it operated over 2500 bridal shops in 38 countries. Like many other failed stores, it did not adjust to the buying habits of the public.

More successful stores sold dresses off the rack or used online buying. Angelo's clung to a more traditional approach of using sample dresses for the purchase and then ordering the dress after payment or a deposit was received. In 2017 the firm filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy leaving many future brides without dresses they had paid for.

Answer: Automobile parts

Trak Auto was established in 1979 by Robert Haft, whose family was involved in Dirt Drug and Crown Books. Fewer DIY car repairs were being done, especially with increased car electronics. By 2001 the firm had filed for bankruptcy and the remaining business was bought by Advanced Auto parts.

Answer: Gasoline

The good old days. Bring your car to Flying A to buy gas for 29 cents a gallon. Sit back in your car and let the attendant pump your gas, check your tires and oil. Things have changed and Flying A is no more.

Flying A was the brand name for the gasoline and gasoline stations owned by its parent company Tidewater Oil. Tidewater Oil started in New York City as Tide Water in 1887 and entered the oil business just before World War I. The company continued to prosper, but eventually was sold to other companies. The gas stations were rebranded as Exxon and Texaco by their respective purchasers.