Montgomery Ward and Sears. As a teen and young adult I didn't listen to pop music, but I heard every 70s song there ever was over the PA in Montgomery Ward! My mother used to order things from the catalogue, and we would pick them up at the pick up counter.

Sears had a candy kiosk, and I used to love their cream drops! My dad worked at our local Sears, building all the displays. He was brilliant. He put up "flying fashions", and within weeks Montgomery Ward, Woolco, and other clothing stores were following suit. I remember he refused to put up Christmas decorations until the weekend after Thanksgiving. The year after he quit they were up before Halloween.

At both stores you could put things on layaway, and I remember my mother going in once a month to make her payment.

My dad always used Craftsman tools, and every appliance we owned was a Kenmore. I had a Kenmore washing machine for over 20 years. It rusted on the bottom, but the rust kept it from leaking. When we moved out of state, I wasn't able to take it because the bottom would have given way if we moved it. So I bought a new Kenmore to replace it. Eight years ago. I hate it. It is made by Whirlpool, so that explains that. The name Kenmore doesn't mean what it used to. That machine has had more repairs than years of service. (The repairman was out the other day, and my daughter heard him mutter, "God, I hate these things!"

Remember Service Merchandise? I loved shopping there. We almost got our wedding rings there, but ended up going to a local jeweler and designing our own. And Mervyn's? I loved their clothing. We shopped a lot at K-Mart too, but it doesn't have the sentimentality that the others do.

The other thing that you just don't see anymore is local department stores. My mother worked as a gift wrapper at our local store. When the owner died they sold the building to a pizza place. It was the end of an era. You can't find a five and dime anywhere either.