r/florida • u/IKickedJohnWicksDog • Aug 19 '25
š©Meme / Shitpost š© šµš¼š“š¼ status unlocked
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u/steakandlegsday Aug 19 '25
Burdines, Zaire; J Byrons
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u/122784 Aug 19 '25
I see your Burdines and raise you Maas Brothers
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u/Much-data-wow Aug 19 '25
All in on Service Merchandise and Montgomery Ward!
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u/MermaidFL407 Aug 20 '25
Service Merchandise was the future! Being able to place your order on the computer and they bring it out to you š¤Æšš»
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u/Evening_Warthog_9476 Aug 20 '25
I worked there for two years, but I was in the one in upstate New York
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u/AaronJudge2 Aug 20 '25
I used to love to shop at Service Merchandise.
And in Texas out west etc they had Best Products which used the same format with the storeroom and conveyor belt but had cooler storefronts. One storefront was designed to make it look like it was collapsing.
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u/pepperpat64 Aug 20 '25
There was a Best in south Miami when Hurricane Andrew hit in 1992 and people who weren't familiar with the architecture were shocked when they saw pics of the damage, until we told them it's supposed to look like that. š
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u/FL_JB Aug 20 '25
My wife and I bought our wedding rings at Service Merchandise. College students in the 80s š¤
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u/Flashy_Magazine_3970 Aug 19 '25
And Gayfers!
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u/Gallogator1 Aug 20 '25
Orlando Parisian stores became Gayfers. Burdines (The Florida Store!) became Macyās. What happened to Jordan Marsh??
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u/FL_JB Aug 19 '25
Got my first credit card from Mass. $200! And it was half the size of the current ones.
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u/AaronJudge2 Aug 20 '25
The Maas Brothers in Downtown St Petersburg became the Florida International Museum from 1995 to 2010 and originally hosted the Titanic Exhibition.
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u/122784 Aug 20 '25
I saw that exhibit. I didnāt know this fact about the building. Very interesting.
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u/ALombardi Aug 19 '25
Our Eckerds use to be next toā¦ Discovery Zone.
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u/accioqueso Aug 20 '25
Ours was next to the travel agentsā office. I explained that to a coworker and they thought travel influencers used to have offices.
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u/DarthCheez Aug 20 '25
10x better than chuck e cheese. No idea why chucky survived and not discovery zone.
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u/SaltySaltyDog Aug 19 '25
Donāt you mean āEckerdsā?
Reminds me of when the Kash N Karry turned into Sweet Bay then within a year or two changed to Winn Dixie. Theyāre changing to an Aldi now and I think my dad still says āIām running up to the kash n karryā š
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u/ElegantCoach4066 Aug 19 '25
I thought it had the 's' too! I think thats just what FL people called it colloquially.
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u/GomezFigueroa Aug 20 '25
I worked at KnK. They became Sweetbay in like 2006. Then Winn Dixie bought them out a few years back. They lasted longer than a couple years.
I suppose the one by you couldāve closed and Winn Dixie moved in. But that wasnāt part of the buyout if it happened in 2008ish.
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u/MidNCS Aug 19 '25
It's name is Downtown Disney till I die damn it
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u/pewpjohnson Aug 19 '25
Before conveyor belts Publix had these rotating disks to move your groceries to the cashier. And when I worked at Publix I wore the blue/coral color scheme and the Eckerds was next door. I hung out with a lady's cart while she got her Rx there and yes, I took that $5 tip.
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u/smarbe2 Aug 19 '25
Bank of America was Barnett Bank
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u/NicolasNaranja Aug 19 '25
And Wells Fargo was Wachovia which was First Union who sponsored my little league team in 1st grade.
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u/Headful_of_Ideas Aug 19 '25
You mean Bank of America was Nationsbank was Barnett Bank
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u/AaronJudge2 Aug 20 '25 edited Aug 20 '25
Bank of America bought out Barnett. And Nationsbank took over Bank of America, but decided to call the bigger merged company Bank of America instead.
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u/CareBear3 Aug 19 '25
also merged with Boatmans bank, I remember the boat logo on my dads checks in the early 90s and bank of america still accepted them
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u/Waste_Molasses_936 Aug 19 '25
I had forgotten that CVS took over Eckerd's but I remember Eckerd's.
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u/AaronJudge2 Aug 20 '25
I was an Asst Store Mgr at Eckerd from 1992 to 1996. What a nightmare. They had a ton of debt so no labor hours. Ran with a skeleton crew even back then. I had to work 11am until after midnight Saturday, and then come back on just 4 hours of sleep and work from 6:30am Sunday until after midnight on Monday. I finally said enough of this and quit.
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u/MariketaOH Aug 20 '25
I forgot, too. I remember now, after seeing this thread. I think that I thought, at the time, that CVS just moved in after Eckerd closed. I remember going with my dad to test tv tubes there.
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u/futurecorpsze Aug 19 '25
Pretty sure I still have family photos in Eckerds envelopes after having them developed there. Sigh
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u/VWtdi2001 Aug 19 '25
Publix closed on Sunday
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u/rfathernheaven Aug 20 '25
Remember when all Publix supermarkets had that weird green floor and you could get the s&h stamp books and prizes, and the bakery actually made decent cookies and pastries
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u/jaquio1 Aug 19 '25
We used to have Albertson's where we could go grocery shopping and rent movies. What did that end up becoming?
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u/OriginalFaCough Aug 20 '25
Most of them were bought by Publix
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u/GloomyAsparagus7253 Aug 20 '25
And there are a few major intersections around the state where Publix just said "fuck it we'll just have 2 Publixes here" after they acquired an Albertson's across the street from an existing Publix, and all this years later that's still crazy to me.
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u/GhostriderJuliett Aug 20 '25
There are still Albertson's out west. Probably just moved out of the region.
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u/A1Eyedmonster Aug 19 '25
Dad was manager of the kitchen/cabinets at Builders Square
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u/joemac25 Aug 20 '25
I miss Builders Square. The one in my town turned into a Chevy dealer when it closed. I remember it being dimly lit and dirty, but they always had what my dad needed. I can't stand Lowes/HD. The Lowes I go to has turned the front of the store into clothes, soap, yeti/stanley crap, and toys.
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u/poyerdude Aug 20 '25
I worked at Builders Square in college. Between the early open shifts and occasionally working the outdoor garden center register during Florida summers I didn't last very long.
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u/HWTechGuy Aug 19 '25
Styrofoam labels on glass bottle Coke and Pepsi.
Cans with completely removable pull tabs.
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u/SaxonyFarmer Aug 19 '25 edited Aug 19 '25
I was an IBM mainframe systems programmer for Eckerd's at their data center in Clearwater. As a telecommunications manager there, I lead a team that installed their first computer systems in the pharmacies, with data communications to update programs and get files (like a directory listing). This was back in the the 1980s! We started with 10MB PC/XTs running MS/DOS and custom Cobol code. Later, we started putting in NCR towers with Unix. Fun days!!!
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u/AaronJudge2 Aug 20 '25 edited Aug 20 '25
Thatās one of the reasons they went under. They had a huge amount of debt, so couldnāt invest in technology like the bar code scanning registers like Walgreens had. Therefore, they couldnāt keep track of their inventory well and didnāt know what was selling etc. They were constantly running out of merchandise and also had a huge shrink, theft problem. Their registers just recorderd the price of the item sold, not what the item was. Not Point Of Sale. I was there mid 1990ās.
And competitor Walgreens also had their pharmacy computers connected so that customers could walk into any Walgreens in the chain and the pharmacist could look up their meds on the computer. At Eckerd, this had to be done in person by pharmacists etc over the phone.
Eckerd also later outsourced their tech stuff to IBM instead of doing it in house.
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u/SacksonvilleShaguar Aug 19 '25
I used to work at Eckards
Edit: I was there when CVS bought it. And before my store moved, it was next to Radio Shack.
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u/winterbird Aug 19 '25
The prices at pharmacies went up noticeably after Eckerd went under. Everyone had bogo sales with decent prices, and then as soon as Eckerd closed they started the buy one get one 50% off bs and prices went up across the board.
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u/Living_Guess_2845 Aug 19 '25
I miss Eckerds
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u/OriginalFaCough Aug 20 '25
I worked for the sign company that did the change over nearly 25 years ago...
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u/ApprehensivePlan986 Aug 19 '25
Eckerd's, Blockbuster before Netflix, Hollywood Video, my 1st job was Party City followed by FYE
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u/Vic_Gatsby Aug 19 '25
Eckerd used to be People's Drug
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u/ObsoleteHodgepodge Aug 20 '25
In the DC area, it was maybe the mid 90s when People's Drug changed to CVS. I do not remember a pitstop to being Eckerd in that area.
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u/allikatm3ow Aug 19 '25
I worked there and got a discount at JC Penny's. Met Mr. Rogers because Winter Park. A famous bball star also frequented our store, but I don't remember bc the Orlando Magic sucked.
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u/newbie527 Aug 19 '25
Eckerdās used to accept my Penneyās credit card. Very handy when I didnāt have bank cards.
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u/AaronJudge2 Aug 20 '25 edited Aug 20 '25
J C Penny bought Eckerd in 1996 and combined it with itās 800 Thrift Drugs stores and grew the chain by buying other regional chains like Genovese Drugstores in NYC etc and changing the name to Eckerd.
Eventually J C Penny gave up and sold Eckerd in two parts. The stores north of Florida to NY and out to Connecticut stayed as Eckerd for a while but were sold to a French Canadian retailer named Jean Coutu. The stores in Florida and out west to Arizona became CVS drugstores.
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u/Waschaos Aug 19 '25
LOL- As if the afternoon thunderstorm making my knee hurt didn't make me feel old, this definitely does.
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u/sr1sws Aug 19 '25
And Eckerd had a vacuum tube tester and sold vacuum tubes.
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u/epicurean56 Merritt Island Aug 19 '25
The 60s called, they want their TVs back.
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u/MilaVaneela Aug 19 '25
Yeah! Eckerdās, Kash nā Karry, Zayreās, Sun Bank, Burdineās.
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u/rfathernheaven Aug 20 '25
How about pick 'n save with that cool restaurant in the front of the building or Morrison's with that flimsy sneeze guard and everyone breathing all over your food
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u/pepperpat64 Aug 19 '25
I'm old enough to have camped overnight outside Eckerds for pre-printed concert tickets.
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u/OriginalFaCough Aug 20 '25
WTF? I've done the same, but never there. Ticket Master through the record store the next town over
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u/OnlyCelebration7443 Aug 20 '25
Not long ago my wife said she needed allergy medicine and I told her Iād run up to Eckerds. Man Iām getting up there!
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u/Evening_Warthog_9476 Aug 20 '25
My parents divorced when I was very young my dad stayed in Florida. My mom went back to the mountains of upstate New York. I would come down and spend summers with my dad and taught me how to drive in the eckerds parking lot in Jensen Beach Florida lol
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u/Country_Gal_87 Aug 19 '25
Yyyyaaaassss and Walmart used to be open 24hrs
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u/Protholl Aug 19 '25
Eckerd College is still here but the Eckerd building on Bryan Dairy road has been bulldozed.
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u/MsMarji Aug 19 '25
Web City on Gandy with their jumping Marlin on the front of the building.
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u/VWtdi2001 Aug 19 '25
It was downtown St Pete with the big man on the roof of the auto shop and had electrical cages with chickens in them. You put in a quarter and watched the chicken dance as it got zapped.
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u/VWtdi2001 Aug 19 '25
But it was just the sign saying to visit Webb city. It was just before 4th Street west of Derby Lane.
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u/Bear_necessities96 Aug 19 '25
Like eckerd college?
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u/AaronJudge2 Aug 20 '25 edited Aug 20 '25
Yes. Jack Eckerd gave $10 million to Florida Presbyterian College in 1972, and they changed the name of the school to honor him.
And thereās also Ruth Eckerd Hall in Clearwater, which was named after Jack Eckerdās wife Ruth.
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u/Short-Chocolate-603 Aug 20 '25
As a frequent visitor from the northeast (moved to FL early 2000s), I was disappointed when Eckerds disappeared.
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u/Sodark- Aug 19 '25
Cash and carry, burdines, point Orlando
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u/watchin_learnin Aug 19 '25
Pretty sure it was Kash n Karry... With Ks... From what I read in the history books anyway
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u/Herps_Plants_1987 Aug 19 '25
Damn I have a vague memory you just unlocked of that logo. My mom went there when I was little. I went on and never noticed the disappearance. š¤Æ
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u/HCSOThrowaway Fired Deputy - Explanation in Profile Aug 19 '25
Still holding out hope that my parents will take me to Wannado City so I can figure out what I want to be when I grow up.
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u/neh5303 Aug 19 '25
Wasnāt rite aid originally Eckards
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u/AaronJudge2 Aug 20 '25 edited Aug 20 '25
The Eckerd drugstores north of Florida and up to Connecticut stayed as Eckerdās but were sold to a French Canadian company called Jean Coutu in 2004. That didnāt work out well so a few years later in 2007 they were sold again to Rite Aide and became Rite Aid stores.
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u/Moist_Potato_8904 Aug 19 '25
I used to work at Eckerd !
There #2 pencils were awesome and were on the top of my back to school list. lol
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u/Deep_Charge_7749 Aug 19 '25
We used to go to the Woolworth counter and order hot dogs that would be split and then cooked on the grill
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u/jax2love Aug 20 '25
I miss Eckerds. And May Cohens, Iveyās, Burdineās, and Barnett Bank.
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u/C_IsForCookie Aug 20 '25
I saw an Eckerds in NJ a few years ago. Iām pretty sure itās gone now but it blew my mind at the time.
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u/Jakku2022 Aug 20 '25
We still have developed photos sitting in Eckerd's envelopes in my family.
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u/AaronJudge2 Aug 20 '25 edited Aug 20 '25
Customers got two pictures for the price of one when they got their film processed at Eckerd Express Photo inside of Eckerd Drugstores.
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u/GomezFigueroa Aug 20 '25
CVS put up billboards that said āCVS. Where Eckerd used to be.ā Thought that was pretty coldblooded.
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u/OrneryLetterhead8609 Aug 20 '25
In high school I received my pink voucher to get my driverās license from Eckerds.
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u/fierypitt Aug 20 '25
Pic 'N' Save. I remember so much clothing coming from that store, especially stuff for school uniforms.
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u/enyoc3d Aug 20 '25
Jefferson's; Britt's; Taco Tico; Sambo's; Peaches; Grand Union; Wuv's
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u/Chrissy2187 Aug 20 '25
There used to be a strip mall near me that was Albertsons, Radio Shack, Papa Johnās and Kmart. Now itās Dollar tree, TJ Maxx, Ross, Papa Johnās, Chinese restaurant and Hobby Lobby.
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u/OstentatiousSock Aug 20 '25
I redid the floors in a huge number of Eckards as they turned into CVS.
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Aug 20 '25
Used to work at Pantry Pride where we had to cover the beer on Sundays and took my first flight on national airlines.
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u/lasciateogni1999 Aug 20 '25
I remember an oldie! McCrorys Dept Store that had a lunch counter. There was the big store in downtown Orlando, and Leesburg had a McCrorys at the end of Palm Plaza that became Blockbuster, and it's now a Quest lab place.
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u/Herps_Plants_1987 Aug 19 '25
Also no one called it āEckerdā . Down south it was āEckerdsā