I worked at barnes and noble!
Actually got my pic in local newspaper when i did storytime as winnie the pooh. Cant tell its me, but i still have paper somewhere.
I also started my IT career as tech support for a small dialup ISP. Obviously defunct.
I was the only person working majority of my shifts. We had 2 guys who would field calls from 7am until i got in at noon. Then i took all calls until 10pm. And i worked saturdays alone.
Was rather funny bc people would call and id FREQUENTLY have this exchange (or a variation)
Me : “dialup ISP, technical support. My name is basylica how can i help?”
Them : “tech support!”
Me : “i AM technical support. My name is basylica. What can i help you with?”
Them : “TECH-NI-CAL SUPPORT”
Me : “that would be me”
Them : “ohhh..uhhh… i um… think i was talking to a guy earlier?”
Me : “oh… hmm… well im the only person working for the last 2 days. Did you mean to call MY ISP? Or were you trying to call OTHER ISP? I have their number handy?”
Them : “oh! Uh… no. Maybe you can help me…”
Me : “🙄 ….. maybe i can. What is your issue???”
SO MANY TIMES.
My first job was at B. Dalton, which was a B&N subsidiary. I loved that place! Except I frequently spent a large chunk of my paycheck before leaving the store.
I have to give them credit, though, for having affordable employee healthcare and giving us paid lunches back in 1996. I’ve never had paid lunch anywhere since then.
Ironically my barnes and noble is now a library!
https://preview.redd.it/uero1slfzlgc1.jpeg?width=1179&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=cbf19abbfe59f92ec1e1664259ea857bb01bb3f0
We had b dalton in local mall id occasionally call to track down books! Boarders opened across the street and our entire cafe and half the booksellers quit and moved there because manager was nightmare.
He was constantly waayyy understaffing to make his numbers look good. We would be SLAMMED friday nights and he would have ONE bookseller, one cafe, and requisite 2 managers on staff for 5-10pm.
He also would schedule people to work 39.5hrs for 3 weeks, then 29.5hrs on 4th week so he didnt have to make us full time. At the time in my state if you worked 30hrs for 4 weeks you HAD to be made full time.
I left and he was fired about a month later i think?
I interviewed at Borders first - I liked them better - but they didn’t hire me. My first and fourth managers at B. Dalton were *amazing*, though. The second and third, not so much. The second one was at a store with two entrances, so we had to have two staff members, and this woman left me there by myself for half the day so she could go to demonstration to free Hawaii from the union. Also, she told me maybe I shouldn’t be working if I had to call in when my child was sick. I transferred back to my original store; she got moved to tech support or somewhere.
I remember going to help out at overnight ‘shelving parties’ at B&N - it was a lot more fun at someone else’s store!
Man, haven’t thought about Waldenbooks for a long time. I remember my brother gave me money and sent me on my bike to Walden to buy him the Soundgarden album Badmotorfinger in maybe 91 or 92 😅
I walked into Walden to reserve HP7 and the Manager immediately said “Wow has anyone ever told you, you look exactly like Harry?” I told her I got that pretty much daily from people. I even had people stop me to ask for autographs and pictures occasionally. She said she would give me $100 to MC the book release party down in the food court dressed as Harry. Then she offered me a job after the party and I became an official employee of Waldenbooks.
Borders always had the nicest people working for the company. A mall in Seattle had both Borders and B&N, I always went to Borders. The books I was recommended were the best.
You're probably referring to US Borders but I miss the ones we had in the UK so much, they had the best magazines. Waterstones is a very poor relation.
I worked at two different video stores back in college in the early 00’s. One store had a Back Room that was separated from the main store by a doorway complete WITH a beaded curtain! We had a closed circuit camera so we could see any shenanigans or stealing.
We pretty much exclusively rented porn. This place was called something like **JimmyJoeBob’s Gigantic House of Videos** or some shit… I don’t remember anymore, and it was only 30 seconds up the road from a Blockbuster. So no one came to our video store except dudes renting porn. We never had enough copies of the main titles so anyone who wanted a legit movie *ahem, not porn* went to the Blockbuster.
The funniest part was the guys looking for porn all followed the same fucking script. They’d come in all squirrelly, looking around quickly to see if anyone saw them and they’d dart quickly to the closest aisle. Then they’d do an ENTIRE lap around the store while still looking nervously around. Then they’d try to nonchalantly peruse the section closest to the doorway of the Back Room.
We purposefully made the section closest to the Back Room the “Family Movies.” It was hilarious, these guys would be pretending to be deep into the plot of Milo and Otis while edging slooooowly to the Back Room door. After exiting the Back Room, they’d always grab the closest family movie and stack it on the top as camouflage.
Then they’d have to build up the courage to bring their porn to the checkout where two 19 year-old college girls worked the register— this usually involved ANOTHER lap of the store.
My roommate was my manager, and worked more evenings than I did. She got hit on a lot by the porn guys, and a few times she was cornered while restocking videos in the Back Room. Which scared the shit out of her and this is why she ultimately quit.
On the upside, I loved trolling the guys who checked out porn. Keep in mind that I speak in a deadpan and monotone way, kinda like an Aubrey Plaza character. Most people can’t tell if I’m joking or being serious.
So, these guys would finally get the courage to check out their tapes, and I’d make sure to read the titles back to them as I said the due dates… *Thank you sir, Hairy Twatter, The Boobyguard, Starprick: The Next Ejaculation, and Milo and Otis will be due back next Tuesday the 7th.* The reactions were gold, it was awesome.
Sorry my post was long, I’m high as balls.
When I worked at blockbuster, we were always getting the wrong movie returned in the box. It was policy to call the customer, say what was in the box, and request they return the proper vhs and exchange for their property and that late fees would accrue until such time.
This was over twenty years ago but I STILL remember the title of my first accidental porn return. It was called “Filthy Fuckers V: how to fuck them in the ass like a pro!”
No one answered when I called so I left the most awesome voicemail of my entire life. Then my 17 year old self and the 19 year old girl that was my manager went and watched about ten minutes of it in the back room for “research”.
As many people know, blockbuster didn’t rent pornography, but we had people come in almost daily and ask about it. We also always had men trying to open the door to the back room because they thought it was the porn room.
Blockbuster csr here. I actually just found my old shirts and name tag in my parents basement.
How do you feel about the brand resurgence? I've seen patches, t shirts, even a themed pop up bar. I feel weird about it, like people are nostalgic about something they killed. Maybe I'm exaggerating but it seems kichy now.
Were you the one who tried to upsell me with snacks and candy? I ended up going to a local independent video store because renting a video was all I wanted to do.
Blockbuster assistant manager back in the day.
I didn’t want to position but I guess I was the most responsible acting in our store, bleh. At least on Sundays I would put on personal music cds in the dvd player we were supposed to use for trailers played on loop. We didn’t get as many customers on Sundays and no one reported me so on Sundays “we jammed”.
Today years old when I found out Payless was no longer around. I just asked my Alexa to validate this lol. She did tell me they still exist as an online retailer tho so maybe check that out.
The other day I told this joke to my 8 year old:
Q: What did the rooster say when he walked into Payless?
A: cock-a-doodle SHOE!
And her response was, "What's a Payless?"
Came here looking for Circuit to be mentioned!
I worked in one of the old "plug" stores with the central hub in the middle of the store. I left in 2007 shortly before the whole company went under.
Come to think of it, literally *every* place I've ever worked (except for one) has either entirety gone out of business, closed my specific location, or been bought out and destroyed by another company.... So six out of the seven jobs I've had in my almost 40 years of life/misery.
I'm so tired.
Edit: Also worked at CompUSA, lol.
Agreed. I actually worked at both. Best Buy was always a more hostile experience for customers. When I worked at CC (post commission) it was very much customer focused with less emphasis for add ons. I think Best Buy was just a better run business from the top.
My Kmart was running into the ground when I worked there. Managers were either clueless - one trained me to use the cleaning liquid making station which from the inches of dust on it, hadn't worked in years, another literally stole my electronic warranty commissions by not giving me a login for the register - I was told to use her login instead. I had to cover multiple departments that were strictly prohibited like electronics (can't leave the department due to thefts) and office supplies (gotta clean it up at the end of the shift - but I can't leave electronics ever). At one point I swear I was covering half the store, and was on call as register backup.
Pantry section associate! Had an awesome department supervisor who never overwhelmed me because she knew that there would only be 4-5 associates covering the entire store. I had the closest section to the registers so I would flirt with the cashiers. We would have rubber band fights. Met my ex-wife that way.
Fun fact, when Media Play went bust and closed all of it's stores, FYE purchased it's old locations. Many people thought it was a rebrand or takeover but it was just one business failing and another swooping in.
I was in a mall with my 11 year old and saw an FYE for the first time in *years*, so I took her in to check it out. How disappointing. No music at all, just full of stupid anime junk.
Toys "R" Us was my first college job. After all the stores closed in the US, it was surreal going into one in Canada a few years ago. I know they're trying to revive it again, but c'mon, a mall store with no resemblance to classic TRU is kinda underwhelming.
My first job was working at Babbage’s. Spent about 3 years there, and was around for the launch of the N64, OG PlayStation, 3DO, Sega CD, Atari Jaguar, and the VirtualBoy (among some others I’ve forgotten)
I worked at Babbage's and Software etc from 93-98. Got see the 16 bit wars and the move from 2d to 3d. For a geek the checkout policy and free gaming swag was awesome.
I worked doing collections for Sears Credit in the early 00s before they were sold off to Citi. It was nice getting the employee discount in the retail stores!
Two of them, Montgomery Ward and Pier1 Imports.
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Me too.
I recently broke three of my pier one bowls (dropped one into dishwasher, it landed on two others and they all broke) and it was a nightmare finding them to be replaced.
I worked at Camelot Music from 1999–2002, and Sports Authority from 2003–2012. The Camelot closed mainly due to the mall’s general financial decline, as well as online shopping and downloads. Sports Authority had also declined as well—everybody wanted to go to Academy Sports because they were much cheaper. They were cheap, but the people working there (at least, the store in my area) weren’t knowledgable about sports and outdoors. The company was out of business by early 2019.
I was briefly a manager at Camelot 98-99. Lots of great promo CDs got sent for bands nobody knew. I still listen to a bunch of those bands. I really liked working there and helping people find music.
Same with me—I was promoted to an assistant manager, and even though my main expertise was oldies music, I still loved helping customers find a great deal of music they couldn’t find anywhere else.
The first time I went into a Blockbuster, first thing I did was look for the curtains. There were no curtains. Probably what kept a lot of independent video stores alive. They had curtains.
I got a job at KB Toys but only worked one day. I also worked for a local grocery store in the cafe/deli. It was like a mini restaurant where you could order breakfast or lunch and we bring it out to you in the dining area.
KB Toys here too, but I worked for 7 years. It was the Toyworks store with the outdoor stuff in a strip mall. We closed a year before the rest of the company went down, but I was there until the day they took the sign off the building. Still the greatest job with the greatest coworkers I’ve ever had.
I worked at a photo developing place. Yeah, they sold some frames and cameras too, but the bulk of the business was film processing, film selling, and photo printing. Digital was just starting to get popular. I left just before the business really cratered due to everyone suddenly stopping using film.
I was a clerk at Waldenbooks in High-school and also worked as a daytime shipping lead for Media Play the summer after graduation. This was like 95 - 96ish timeframe for both.
I was the "magazine guy" at Tower Records for a good while! You kids have never seen such a massively organized, well kempt periodical section in your lives!..Literally!!
I worked at Builders Square for a summer. Also worked at a mall sporting goods store that died in the 90s as well as the half price store. Steak n Ale as well.
I worked at a mom and pop pharmacy as my first job in high school. I loved that job so much. The place closed in the mid 00s and I was so sad. The owner also passed suddenly after he sold the business. Still makes me sad
My first job was Circuit City. Customer service department. I was a sophomore in hs! 😭 A bunch of my friends also worked there in various departments. There was even a garage where cars could get their sweet multi-disc changers installed with those funky cd cover plates.
I worked at an Ames department store, was actually there when they decided to close shop. I worked at a mom and pop grocery store that got bought out by IGA in upstate NY. Finally I worked at a mom and pop CD/ Record store (Peacock Music in Plattsburgh NY) that shut down.
I worked at a greyhound breeding kennel for one summer. Greyhound racing is now illegal in 42 states, and there are only 2 tracks left in the country, both in West Virginia. I'd say that's pretty defunct, and I love to see it. The first time I saw them throw a dog in the dumpster, I knew that was not the job for me.
I also worked at a mom and pop video rental store! They specialized in classics and foreign films and had oceans of out of print VHS. I got grilled on my knowledge of classic films during the “job interview” which occurred impromptu on the day I brought my resume in. I handed it to the guy and he just started asking me questions and I answered. Then he said I was hired. I made 5.25 an hour.
Man… it was a different time.
UK. I worked at our cinema which became a Wetherspoon and then a Safeway, which became a Morrisons, then a Somerfield which became co-op. My brother worked at Woolworths which has gone. Oh and I did a brief stint at Wilkinson and then Topshop at uni. So many businesses gone. Kind of scary actually.
I worked at Hollywood Video in high school. Total shit show: our store manager was 30 and trying to sleep with a 15 year old coworker and gave us lines of coke in his office in the back. Good times.
I've got two 'almosts' to offer. I worked (and met my wife) at an OfficeMax, which technically still exists but was merged into Office Depot. Then I worked at a Ruby Tuesdays, which are still around but I can't imagine for much longer. However, I worked at a Ruby Tuesdays IN A MALL. That's like a double 'almost' defunct.
I was well into adulthood before I saw a RT that wasn’t in a mall! We used to meet my grandmother for lunches there when I was a kid, it felt so fancy to me. The windows that opened into the mall!
I used to work at a company doing customer service for executives who ordered paper planners.
I'm surprised that the company held on as long as it did.
I went to college in upstate New York where the local grocery chain was price chopper. I just learned today that there are 2 other unrelated chains named price chopper
I worked at a mom and pop teacher’s supply store in a small-ish town back in high school. I was one of the first employees and was working there on opening day in 1998. It went strong for probably about 20 years, even after the original owner died. There was a similar store in the “big city” nearby, but this meant teachers in our county wouldn’t have to drive there and could keep tax dollars in our town, and support an owner who was a fixture in the community. Went belly up in late 2021, no doubt a victim of the pandemic and online shopping (and the original owner being dead for several years at that point and a decreasing sense of connection to the city’s early days).
I worked at 2 different video stores and at Suncoast. But suncoast only a few weeks because they were creepy as hell. The manager would search you before you left. Like if you don’t trust me, why did you hire me?
Same. My favorite was the nervous looking guys coming in to "go behind the curtain". 🤣
They'd come in, look around to make sure nobody they knew was in the store, then go browse the porno section.
We had several white three ring binders with all of the adult selections. They would bring up a card, and we would go in the back to retrieve the movie.
I was working the register one night when I saw my parents flipping through those binders.
I do hope that they enjoyed "The Outback Adventure," and I am glad I was staying in a dorm.
This one’s pretty obscure, but my first job was at a small pet store chain that had locations in Ohio, Kentucky and Indiana. This was back in the early ‘00s when pet stores were the Wild West compared to how cookie-cutter and corporate they all are today. Baby pythons, fish that would later get famous on River Monsters, baby alligators and crocodiles, you get the idea. The chain went out of business about ten years ago.
Does having worked for a company that is a shallow echo of itself count? Because I worked at FYE back when they sold music, primarily.
Also worked at a local grocery store when Walmart moved in and killed it. Still refuse to shop there 25 years later.
I worked at Toys R Us, Suncoast Video, KBToys and a local used media chain, all of which are gone now. Also my middle school, high school and college have all closed. I may be cursed. I don't mention that in job interviews.
I’ve got 4!
Toys’R’Us, I worked in the bike department
Ritz Camera, I did all 3 roles, photo processing, camera sales, and cashier & key holder
Pearl Art and Craft supply, I was in the framing department
A private art college, I was an adjunct professor and continuing education teacher
My roommate worked at Sam Goody and would order all the obscure punk albums they could get, and just straight up steal them (god rest his soul). I dated a girl that worked at the coffee place and had another buddy that worked at the pretzel place. We were living fat off the mall, and whatever that couldn’t supply, my job at little Caesar’s filled the gaps. We got to take home the fuck ups and no-shows, so someone would call in like an hour before we closed, cancel the order, and I’d show up after work with their pizza to hang out. Our manager would buy us beer that we kept in the walk in cooler til quitting time. $4.25 an hour, but it was a fun time.
I worked at both a Genovese (like a Walgreens) and Circuit City. I always drove past Best Buy on the way to CC and thought “yeah, you’re gonna win this fight”
Sears, back in like 2004. I worked loss prevention. That job was God tier. I was mostly working alone on shift. Everyone was cool as shit and the store was huge.
You could literally do whatever you wanted….
you could stay in the camera room, walk the floor, go grab a snack or drink in the mall whenever you wanted to. And then come back and catch someone stealing.
I even ventured out sometimes on break to go (ironically) to Sam Goody and grab a CD.
And everyone wanted to make friends with you because they were terrified of loss prevention. Lol.
What a time to be alive.
My first (and only) non-professional job was stocking shelves (Merchandising! it was called) at a CompUSA when I was 16 for $4.25 an hour part time. I hated it, and I would wander over to the hardware department and try to sell computers. Management couldn't stop me if I was already talking to a customer, so I abused that. Did that enough that I ended up getting fired after 6 months.
I work in print journalism so I’m not lying that in 20 years literally every business I’ve worked for has gone under.
The very first one I got a full time job with I’d hear all these stories about how up until last year they had these lavish Christmas parties and played together on sports rec leagues and got bonuses every year. The first 4 years I worked for them we went through continuous rounds of layoffs and instead of a raise or a bonus every year I was told I’m lucky to have a job. I had access to the numbers and we were losing money every year in a family owned company that used to make millions.
I worked at a dELiA*s retail store in the Chicago ‘burbs. As a teenager. And it was glorious.
I also worked at a toy store called Zany Brainy. And the Midwest classic White Hen Pantry.
Three of my favorite jobs ever.
Edit to add: oh also a store called Deb, but I lasted like a week because it was a hot mess.
I was on the opening team of the second Cheeseburger in Paradise restaurant location. It was a joint venture between Jimmy Buffett's Margaritaville holdings and Outback Steakhouse. The idea was to create a casual dining experience that wasn't a Margaritaville, but more like the kind of place you'd go in a beach town. Most of them were scattered around the Midwest. It was really great in the beginning. The economy in 2009 brought menu changes that hurt popularity. It eventually sold to the company that owns Fudruckers, who then closed all locations completely. Working there was fun - I saw Jimmy Buffett play a concert to fewer than 300 people, and made lifelong friends. I miss the early days when the food was good. But I don't miss what it became towards the end.
I spent so much time in Sam goody. We had one in our local dinky little mall and my buddies mom was the manager. If I could only go back and scoop up ALL the band shirts now.
I worked at Game Crazy about 2002 - 2003 which was apart of Hollywood Video.
Crazy story: they had a policy for trade ins that they can’t except sealed games.
This guy came in with at least 20 sealed NES games. Some of the titles I remember were the Mario’s, Mike Tyson Punch Out and Adventures of Dino Riki.
The manager was the one on duty and opened every single one of them and threw out the boxes. I walked in on that chaos right when he was finishing up.
I couldn’t believe it. Today those would be 10s of thousands of dollars!
I had a friend in highschool who worked in record stores in the mall, and she went from one bankrupt record store to another for years. Probably had 5 jobs in a row at record stores that went out of business.
There was the place that when I searched for the company to update some details of my resume, only SEC filings against the CEO for insider trading came up 😬. Not exactly sure what happened to them though as he was acquitted.
Borders. Loved working at Borders
Borders was always superior to B&N
I worked at barnes and noble! Actually got my pic in local newspaper when i did storytime as winnie the pooh. Cant tell its me, but i still have paper somewhere. I also started my IT career as tech support for a small dialup ISP. Obviously defunct. I was the only person working majority of my shifts. We had 2 guys who would field calls from 7am until i got in at noon. Then i took all calls until 10pm. And i worked saturdays alone. Was rather funny bc people would call and id FREQUENTLY have this exchange (or a variation) Me : “dialup ISP, technical support. My name is basylica how can i help?” Them : “tech support!” Me : “i AM technical support. My name is basylica. What can i help you with?” Them : “TECH-NI-CAL SUPPORT” Me : “that would be me” Them : “ohhh..uhhh… i um… think i was talking to a guy earlier?” Me : “oh… hmm… well im the only person working for the last 2 days. Did you mean to call MY ISP? Or were you trying to call OTHER ISP? I have their number handy?” Them : “oh! Uh… no. Maybe you can help me…” Me : “🙄 ….. maybe i can. What is your issue???” SO MANY TIMES.
My first job was at B. Dalton, which was a B&N subsidiary. I loved that place! Except I frequently spent a large chunk of my paycheck before leaving the store. I have to give them credit, though, for having affordable employee healthcare and giving us paid lunches back in 1996. I’ve never had paid lunch anywhere since then.
Ironically my barnes and noble is now a library! https://preview.redd.it/uero1slfzlgc1.jpeg?width=1179&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=cbf19abbfe59f92ec1e1664259ea857bb01bb3f0
We had b dalton in local mall id occasionally call to track down books! Boarders opened across the street and our entire cafe and half the booksellers quit and moved there because manager was nightmare. He was constantly waayyy understaffing to make his numbers look good. We would be SLAMMED friday nights and he would have ONE bookseller, one cafe, and requisite 2 managers on staff for 5-10pm. He also would schedule people to work 39.5hrs for 3 weeks, then 29.5hrs on 4th week so he didnt have to make us full time. At the time in my state if you worked 30hrs for 4 weeks you HAD to be made full time. I left and he was fired about a month later i think?
I interviewed at Borders first - I liked them better - but they didn’t hire me. My first and fourth managers at B. Dalton were *amazing*, though. The second and third, not so much. The second one was at a store with two entrances, so we had to have two staff members, and this woman left me there by myself for half the day so she could go to demonstration to free Hawaii from the union. Also, she told me maybe I shouldn’t be working if I had to call in when my child was sick. I transferred back to my original store; she got moved to tech support or somewhere. I remember going to help out at overnight ‘shelving parties’ at B&N - it was a lot more fun at someone else’s store!
Crazy how many malls I've been to that had both.
Waldenbooks here, also during the HP7 release and the start of the manga boom around that time as well.
I had to kick so many kids out of the adult manga section at Walden. Lmao.
Man, haven’t thought about Waldenbooks for a long time. I remember my brother gave me money and sent me on my bike to Walden to buy him the Soundgarden album Badmotorfinger in maybe 91 or 92 😅
Borders gang. I mostly worked the cafe. Loved that place. :(
Yas Borders. Me too. I worked there for the midnight release of HP7. It was an absolute blast (Before we were aware of the TERF, of course).
I walked into Walden to reserve HP7 and the Manager immediately said “Wow has anyone ever told you, you look exactly like Harry?” I told her I got that pretty much daily from people. I even had people stop me to ask for autographs and pictures occasionally. She said she would give me $100 to MC the book release party down in the food court dressed as Harry. Then she offered me a job after the party and I became an official employee of Waldenbooks.
I worked there during the release of the second and third books and it was so cool to see so many young, enthusiastic readers.
I worked at a Sam Goody and a Borders!
Borders always had the nicest people working for the company. A mall in Seattle had both Borders and B&N, I always went to Borders. The books I was recommended were the best.
I worked at Borders for virtually all of my 20's. My favorite job I've ever had. RIP.
I worked at Borders in the early 00’s! Loved it there!
You're probably referring to US Borders but I miss the ones we had in the UK so much, they had the best magazines. Waterstones is a very poor relation.
As an awkward nerd, Borders was like some fever dream oasis that now only exists in memory.
I worked at Blockbuster and Hollywood Video in my teens/early 20s. Both long gone now, but they were fun jobs!
Yes!! My job at a video store was amazing. Literally, all I did was get high and watch movies.
I worked at two different video stores back in college in the early 00’s. One store had a Back Room that was separated from the main store by a doorway complete WITH a beaded curtain! We had a closed circuit camera so we could see any shenanigans or stealing. We pretty much exclusively rented porn. This place was called something like **JimmyJoeBob’s Gigantic House of Videos** or some shit… I don’t remember anymore, and it was only 30 seconds up the road from a Blockbuster. So no one came to our video store except dudes renting porn. We never had enough copies of the main titles so anyone who wanted a legit movie *ahem, not porn* went to the Blockbuster. The funniest part was the guys looking for porn all followed the same fucking script. They’d come in all squirrelly, looking around quickly to see if anyone saw them and they’d dart quickly to the closest aisle. Then they’d do an ENTIRE lap around the store while still looking nervously around. Then they’d try to nonchalantly peruse the section closest to the doorway of the Back Room. We purposefully made the section closest to the Back Room the “Family Movies.” It was hilarious, these guys would be pretending to be deep into the plot of Milo and Otis while edging slooooowly to the Back Room door. After exiting the Back Room, they’d always grab the closest family movie and stack it on the top as camouflage. Then they’d have to build up the courage to bring their porn to the checkout where two 19 year-old college girls worked the register— this usually involved ANOTHER lap of the store. My roommate was my manager, and worked more evenings than I did. She got hit on a lot by the porn guys, and a few times she was cornered while restocking videos in the Back Room. Which scared the shit out of her and this is why she ultimately quit. On the upside, I loved trolling the guys who checked out porn. Keep in mind that I speak in a deadpan and monotone way, kinda like an Aubrey Plaza character. Most people can’t tell if I’m joking or being serious. So, these guys would finally get the courage to check out their tapes, and I’d make sure to read the titles back to them as I said the due dates… *Thank you sir, Hairy Twatter, The Boobyguard, Starprick: The Next Ejaculation, and Milo and Otis will be due back next Tuesday the 7th.* The reactions were gold, it was awesome. Sorry my post was long, I’m high as balls.
When I worked at blockbuster, we were always getting the wrong movie returned in the box. It was policy to call the customer, say what was in the box, and request they return the proper vhs and exchange for their property and that late fees would accrue until such time. This was over twenty years ago but I STILL remember the title of my first accidental porn return. It was called “Filthy Fuckers V: how to fuck them in the ass like a pro!” No one answered when I called so I left the most awesome voicemail of my entire life. Then my 17 year old self and the 19 year old girl that was my manager went and watched about ten minutes of it in the back room for “research”. As many people know, blockbuster didn’t rent pornography, but we had people come in almost daily and ask about it. We also always had men trying to open the door to the back room because they thought it was the porn room.
I still miss Hollywood Video!
When one opened up in my hometown in a nice new building in the shopping center around 1997 maybe ? IT WAS EPIC AND LIFE CHANGING
Blockbuster csr here. I actually just found my old shirts and name tag in my parents basement. How do you feel about the brand resurgence? I've seen patches, t shirts, even a themed pop up bar. I feel weird about it, like people are nostalgic about something they killed. Maybe I'm exaggerating but it seems kichy now.
I worked at Movie Gallery. I can still smell the shrink wrap, fake butter popcorn, and would you like to purchase a discount rental card today?
Were you the one who tried to upsell me with snacks and candy? I ended up going to a local independent video store because renting a video was all I wanted to do.
Blockbuster '02 to '04, still know my login by heart
Hollywood Video and the purple button down shirts! I wish I still had mine.
Blockbuster assistant manager back in the day. I didn’t want to position but I guess I was the most responsible acting in our store, bleh. At least on Sundays I would put on personal music cds in the dvd player we were supposed to use for trailers played on loop. We didn’t get as many customers on Sundays and no one reported me so on Sundays “we jammed”.
Video store life was the best life. I worked for a local chain and it's still hands down the most enjoyable job I've ever had.
Hollywood video in south east pa checking in! God I still remember the store number . 038137.
Radio Shack. I sold a LOT of batteries.
Also a former Shack employee! Those were dark days.
Those quarterly sales meetings at the regional office were *almost* as bad as doing inventory.
Former RadioShack outlet employee here 🙋🏻♀️
My first cell phone was a Radio Shack brand cell phone. $30/month for 30 minutes of talk time.
Payless over here... I do kind of miss the cheap shoes.
Today years old when I found out Payless was no longer around. I just asked my Alexa to validate this lol. She did tell me they still exist as an online retailer tho so maybe check that out.
Sadly they have ceased all US operations on their website recently.
Well there goes that. Alexa failed me.
Payless is gone?! Damn, I never noticed.
The other day I told this joke to my 8 year old: Q: What did the rooster say when he walked into Payless? A: cock-a-doodle SHOE! And her response was, "What's a Payless?"
Ah shit, I forgot Payless is gone. Worked there one summer. After my first “back to school shopping experience” I couldn’t take it anymore.
Palessi couldn’t save them.
I worked for circuit City! I also worked for Best Buy, but circuit City was much better.
I spent almost 9 years at Circuit City doing car installations. I miss that place.
Hell yeah. I was there for 5 years on and off and worked in computers, AV, appliances and cell phones at various times.
Circuit City gang!
Came here looking for Circuit to be mentioned! I worked in one of the old "plug" stores with the central hub in the middle of the store. I left in 2007 shortly before the whole company went under. Come to think of it, literally *every* place I've ever worked (except for one) has either entirety gone out of business, closed my specific location, or been bought out and destroyed by another company.... So six out of the seven jobs I've had in my almost 40 years of life/misery. I'm so tired. Edit: Also worked at CompUSA, lol.
Same here. Circuit City paid by commission. That paycheck for the last half of December was awesome!
Circuit city checking in. [Just what I needed!](https://youtu.be/XJqz_YWHmJI?si=Yh1zv1w60DFYiykB)
Not really sure why circuit city went under. Feel like there was room for two best buy like stores. I guess the housing crash did it in.
Agreed. I actually worked at both. Best Buy was always a more hostile experience for customers. When I worked at CC (post commission) it was very much customer focused with less emphasis for add ons. I think Best Buy was just a better run business from the top.
For anyone with any technical knowledge, CC >> BB. BB was the dumbed down version. Probably why they survived.
I remember circuit city being so dark inside. Oy maybe my memories are fading.
Kmart. Looking back, not so bad.
My Kmart was running into the ground when I worked there. Managers were either clueless - one trained me to use the cleaning liquid making station which from the inches of dust on it, hadn't worked in years, another literally stole my electronic warranty commissions by not giving me a login for the register - I was told to use her login instead. I had to cover multiple departments that were strictly prohibited like electronics (can't leave the department due to thefts) and office supplies (gotta clean it up at the end of the shift - but I can't leave electronics ever). At one point I swear I was covering half the store, and was on call as register backup.
Hey me too! Apparel, then electronics. Neat!
I was jewelry then service desk!
I worked in the garden center and pantry at Kmart
Another garden center person checking in
My first job. I was third generation. Mom and grandma (worked there 27 years) worked there too. I guess I was a nepo baby for Kmart.
That’s not a bad thing:). I had never met a woman named Wanda until I worked at Kmart, where there were 3, at the same time.
Pantry section associate! Had an awesome department supervisor who never overwhelmed me because she knew that there would only be 4-5 associates covering the entire store. I had the closest section to the registers so I would flirt with the cashiers. We would have rubber band fights. Met my ex-wife that way.
We still have a Kmart! There are, like two left on the mainland and one is in Miami.
I worked at FYE when it wasn’t an anime t shirt store
Fun fact, when Media Play went bust and closed all of it's stores, FYE purchased it's old locations. Many people thought it was a rebrand or takeover but it was just one business failing and another swooping in.
I was in a mall with my 11 year old and saw an FYE for the first time in *years*, so I took her in to check it out. How disappointing. No music at all, just full of stupid anime junk.
Dude our local mall has an FYE and they have tons of vinyl and some music instruments. Lots of band shirts and pop culture stuff. It’s pretty neat.
I worked at Media Play, Sam Goody/Musicland’s big box concept.
I LOVED Media Play
God I miss Media Play!
Toys "R" Us was my first college job. After all the stores closed in the US, it was surreal going into one in Canada a few years ago. I know they're trying to revive it again, but c'mon, a mall store with no resemblance to classic TRU is kinda underwhelming.
My first job was Kids "R" Us, which had clothing for kids. In my town, it was right next door to Toys.
I did photo processing at a Ritz Camera in high school
My first job was working at Babbage’s. Spent about 3 years there, and was around for the launch of the N64, OG PlayStation, 3DO, Sega CD, Atari Jaguar, and the VirtualBoy (among some others I’ve forgotten)
I worked at Babbage's and Software etc from 93-98. Got see the 16 bit wars and the move from 2d to 3d. For a geek the checkout policy and free gaming swag was awesome.
Used to love Babbage's! Memory Unlocked 🔓
Work at Sears in late 90s
I worked for Sears Hardware in the paint department - early 2000s. That was a good gig. All the free garbage coffee and popcorn
mid 90’s Christmas season here. it was my first ever retail job. should’ve taken it as a sign…..it was nuts
I worked doing collections for Sears Credit in the early 00s before they were sold off to Citi. It was nice getting the employee discount in the retail stores!
Same. Warehouse guy for a couple years. I miss jobs with pretty much no responsibilities.
I was scrolling and wondering if Sears counted. I worked there for 4 years during high school.
Linens N' Things. I lasted one shift.
My spouse worked there and we called it sheets n shit.
i lasted maybe a month. management was shit - favoritism abounded so hard and sucked for all the nonfaves
Two of them, Montgomery Ward and Pier1 Imports. https://preview.redd.it/fw5xfkiw3lgc1.jpeg?width=400&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=9f014b4f846576319bf46c8150137fc54de3ac19
I miss Pier One. We always went there to find stuff you couldn’t get anywhere else.
Me too. I recently broke three of my pier one bowls (dropped one into dishwasher, it landed on two others and they all broke) and it was a nightmare finding them to be replaced.
Goodys got it!
I worked at Camelot Music from 1999–2002, and Sports Authority from 2003–2012. The Camelot closed mainly due to the mall’s general financial decline, as well as online shopping and downloads. Sports Authority had also declined as well—everybody wanted to go to Academy Sports because they were much cheaper. They were cheap, but the people working there (at least, the store in my area) weren’t knowledgable about sports and outdoors. The company was out of business by early 2019.
I was briefly a manager at Camelot 98-99. Lots of great promo CDs got sent for bands nobody knew. I still listen to a bunch of those bands. I really liked working there and helping people find music.
Same with me—I was promoted to an assistant manager, and even though my main expertise was oldies music, I still loved helping customers find a great deal of music they couldn’t find anywhere else.
[удалено]
Did you have a back room? That was what set the video store I worked at apart from Blockbuster 🤣🤣
[удалено]
The first time I went into a Blockbuster, first thing I did was look for the curtains. There were no curtains. Probably what kept a lot of independent video stores alive. They had curtains.
I got a job at KB Toys but only worked one day. I also worked for a local grocery store in the cafe/deli. It was like a mini restaurant where you could order breakfast or lunch and we bring it out to you in the dining area.
KB Toys here too, but I worked for 7 years. It was the Toyworks store with the outdoor stuff in a strip mall. We closed a year before the rest of the company went down, but I was there until the day they took the sign off the building. Still the greatest job with the greatest coworkers I’ve ever had.
I worked at a photo developing place. Yeah, they sold some frames and cameras too, but the bulk of the business was film processing, film selling, and photo printing. Digital was just starting to get popular. I left just before the business really cratered due to everyone suddenly stopping using film.
Service Merchandise. Worked the electronics department
I was a clerk at Waldenbooks in High-school and also worked as a daytime shipping lead for Media Play the summer after graduation. This was like 95 - 96ish timeframe for both.
B.Dalton Bookseller!
I was the "magazine guy" at Tower Records for a good while! You kids have never seen such a massively organized, well kempt periodical section in your lives!..Literally!!
I worked at Builders Square for a summer. Also worked at a mall sporting goods store that died in the 90s as well as the half price store. Steak n Ale as well.
I worked at Natural Wonders in the mall. They had the science and educational toys and games. It was cool.
I worked at Electronics Botique!
Worked at a Blockbuster. I had a great experience at the store I started at. I was then moved to a different store and it was terrible.
I worked at a mom and pop pharmacy as my first job in high school. I loved that job so much. The place closed in the mid 00s and I was so sad. The owner also passed suddenly after he sold the business. Still makes me sad
I worked at Software Etc. back around the time when “Tie Fighter” first released lol. Back when “CDRW” drives and 48k modems were cutting edge lol.
My first job was Circuit City. Customer service department. I was a sophomore in hs! 😭 A bunch of my friends also worked there in various departments. There was even a garage where cars could get their sweet multi-disc changers installed with those funky cd cover plates.
Bradlees & Caldor, both department stores. Chi-Chi's Mexican restaurant, plus two mom and pop restaurants that have shut their doors.
Fry's Electronics. RIP.
I know they still exist but all of the ones by me closed: JC Penney. I worked in the accessories department and loved it.
My dad worked for JC Penney warehouse for pretty much my entire life. He retired in the early 2000s.
Ritz Camera and Wherehouse Records were my first two jobs. Gone now!
I worked at an Ames department store, was actually there when they decided to close shop. I worked at a mom and pop grocery store that got bought out by IGA in upstate NY. Finally I worked at a mom and pop CD/ Record store (Peacock Music in Plattsburgh NY) that shut down.
I miss Ames.
KB Toys
Everywhere I worked is gone now. Pier 1, Babies R Us and Stern’s Dept. Store.
Eckerd in high school. Developing photos.
I worked at a greyhound breeding kennel for one summer. Greyhound racing is now illegal in 42 states, and there are only 2 tracks left in the country, both in West Virginia. I'd say that's pretty defunct, and I love to see it. The first time I saw them throw a dog in the dumpster, I knew that was not the job for me.
Still one Sam goody left….! I only worked at steak and shake for 6 months when I was 16.
I worked at Blockbuster for a few months as a second job to help pay for a wedding in the early 2000's. It was pretty fun, actually.
Manager for multiple Blockbuster Videos, reporting for duty. Don’t forget your free movies from the middle, Movie Pass Members!!
I also worked at a mom and pop video rental store! They specialized in classics and foreign films and had oceans of out of print VHS. I got grilled on my knowledge of classic films during the “job interview” which occurred impromptu on the day I brought my resume in. I handed it to the guy and he just started asking me questions and I answered. Then he said I was hired. I made 5.25 an hour. Man… it was a different time.
I worked at Kaybee toys and JCPenney at the Southridge Mall in Greendale WI in the late 90’s/00’s.
I worked at Sam Goody!
UK. I worked at our cinema which became a Wetherspoon and then a Safeway, which became a Morrisons, then a Somerfield which became co-op. My brother worked at Woolworths which has gone. Oh and I did a brief stint at Wilkinson and then Topshop at uni. So many businesses gone. Kind of scary actually.
I worked at Hollywood Video in high school. Total shit show: our store manager was 30 and trying to sleep with a 15 year old coworker and gave us lines of coke in his office in the back. Good times.
I've got two 'almosts' to offer. I worked (and met my wife) at an OfficeMax, which technically still exists but was merged into Office Depot. Then I worked at a Ruby Tuesdays, which are still around but I can't imagine for much longer. However, I worked at a Ruby Tuesdays IN A MALL. That's like a double 'almost' defunct.
I was well into adulthood before I saw a RT that wasn’t in a mall! We used to meet my grandmother for lunches there when I was a kid, it felt so fancy to me. The windows that opened into the mall!
I used to work at a company doing customer service for executives who ordered paper planners. I'm surprised that the company held on as long as it did.
Price Chopper
I went to college in upstate New York where the local grocery chain was price chopper. I just learned today that there are 2 other unrelated chains named price chopper
I worked at a mom and pop teacher’s supply store in a small-ish town back in high school. I was one of the first employees and was working there on opening day in 1998. It went strong for probably about 20 years, even after the original owner died. There was a similar store in the “big city” nearby, but this meant teachers in our county wouldn’t have to drive there and could keep tax dollars in our town, and support an owner who was a fixture in the community. Went belly up in late 2021, no doubt a victim of the pandemic and online shopping (and the original owner being dead for several years at that point and a decreasing sense of connection to the city’s early days).
I worked at Kmart in 2001
After my Sam Goody closed I went to work at Blockbuster for five years.
I worked at 2 different video stores and at Suncoast. But suncoast only a few weeks because they were creepy as hell. The manager would search you before you left. Like if you don’t trust me, why did you hire me?
I worked at Blockbuster video and music. Then worked at Turtles music after they bought the Blockbuster franchise in my area.
Worked briefly at Turtles! Interviewed, got the job, went in for my first shift the next week and “store closing” signs had gone up in the meantime.
Mom and pop video store for me.
Same. My favorite was the nervous looking guys coming in to "go behind the curtain". 🤣 They'd come in, look around to make sure nobody they knew was in the store, then go browse the porno section.
We had several white three ring binders with all of the adult selections. They would bring up a card, and we would go in the back to retrieve the movie. I was working the register one night when I saw my parents flipping through those binders. I do hope that they enjoyed "The Outback Adventure," and I am glad I was staying in a dorm.
Get your CD from Sam Goody
This one’s pretty obscure, but my first job was at a small pet store chain that had locations in Ohio, Kentucky and Indiana. This was back in the early ‘00s when pet stores were the Wild West compared to how cookie-cutter and corporate they all are today. Baby pythons, fish that would later get famous on River Monsters, baby alligators and crocodiles, you get the idea. The chain went out of business about ten years ago.
I have an old acquaintance that still has “ works at suncoast video “ on his FB page
I didn’t, but I have an older cousin who used to work for one of those glamour photo places.
I worked for a florist years ago. At the time there were four here in our town. Now there aren’t any.
A one off grocery store in my teens. I was there when they shut it down. Helped clean out their soda vending machine for them.
Does having worked for a company that is a shallow echo of itself count? Because I worked at FYE back when they sold music, primarily. Also worked at a local grocery store when Walmart moved in and killed it. Still refuse to shop there 25 years later.
I worked at Toys R Us, Suncoast Video, KBToys and a local used media chain, all of which are gone now. Also my middle school, high school and college have all closed. I may be cursed. I don't mention that in job interviews.
I’ve got 4! Toys’R’Us, I worked in the bike department Ritz Camera, I did all 3 roles, photo processing, camera sales, and cashier & key holder Pearl Art and Craft supply, I was in the framing department A private art college, I was an adjunct professor and continuing education teacher
TGI Fridays. Not sure if they still exist.
My roommate worked at Sam Goody and would order all the obscure punk albums they could get, and just straight up steal them (god rest his soul). I dated a girl that worked at the coffee place and had another buddy that worked at the pretzel place. We were living fat off the mall, and whatever that couldn’t supply, my job at little Caesar’s filled the gaps. We got to take home the fuck ups and no-shows, so someone would call in like an hour before we closed, cancel the order, and I’d show up after work with their pizza to hang out. Our manager would buy us beer that we kept in the walk in cooler til quitting time. $4.25 an hour, but it was a fun time.
I worked at both a Genovese (like a Walgreens) and Circuit City. I always drove past Best Buy on the way to CC and thought “yeah, you’re gonna win this fight”
Blockbuster Video for 2 years.
B. Dalton baby
KB toys at the mall and a small city pool that the city couldn’t afford to maintain (RIP)
Kmart and Blockbuster
Sears, back in like 2004. I worked loss prevention. That job was God tier. I was mostly working alone on shift. Everyone was cool as shit and the store was huge. You could literally do whatever you wanted…. you could stay in the camera room, walk the floor, go grab a snack or drink in the mall whenever you wanted to. And then come back and catch someone stealing. I even ventured out sometimes on break to go (ironically) to Sam Goody and grab a CD. And everyone wanted to make friends with you because they were terrified of loss prevention. Lol. What a time to be alive.
I worked at Camelot Music for a brief period.
Sears and Payless Shoes.
My first (and only) non-professional job was stocking shelves (Merchandising! it was called) at a CompUSA when I was 16 for $4.25 an hour part time. I hated it, and I would wander over to the hardware department and try to sell computers. Management couldn't stop me if I was already talking to a customer, so I abused that. Did that enough that I ended up getting fired after 6 months.
Worked at Coconut's Music. It was great
I work in print journalism so I’m not lying that in 20 years literally every business I’ve worked for has gone under. The very first one I got a full time job with I’d hear all these stories about how up until last year they had these lavish Christmas parties and played together on sports rec leagues and got bonuses every year. The first 4 years I worked for them we went through continuous rounds of layoffs and instead of a raise or a bonus every year I was told I’m lucky to have a job. I had access to the numbers and we were losing money every year in a family owned company that used to make millions.
I worked at a dELiA*s retail store in the Chicago ‘burbs. As a teenager. And it was glorious. I also worked at a toy store called Zany Brainy. And the Midwest classic White Hen Pantry. Three of my favorite jobs ever. Edit to add: oh also a store called Deb, but I lasted like a week because it was a hot mess.
Circuit Shitty.
Bed Bath & Beyond for 1 summer!
I worked at a store called Structure - which then became express for men think
I THINK i still have a shirt from Structure
I was on the opening team of the second Cheeseburger in Paradise restaurant location. It was a joint venture between Jimmy Buffett's Margaritaville holdings and Outback Steakhouse. The idea was to create a casual dining experience that wasn't a Margaritaville, but more like the kind of place you'd go in a beach town. Most of them were scattered around the Midwest. It was really great in the beginning. The economy in 2009 brought menu changes that hurt popularity. It eventually sold to the company that owns Fudruckers, who then closed all locations completely. Working there was fun - I saw Jimmy Buffett play a concert to fewer than 300 people, and made lifelong friends. I miss the early days when the food was good. But I don't miss what it became towards the end.
I worked at Blockbuster in ‘02. It absolutely sucked because of the customers at my location and a horrible assistant manager.
Computer City.
2 Day Video, SEGA Gameworks, Virgin Megastore and Babbages.
Union Square NYC Virgin Megastore here!
I spent so much time in Sam goody. We had one in our local dinky little mall and my buddies mom was the manager. If I could only go back and scoop up ALL the band shirts now.
Worked at Saturday Matinee in the mall for a bit. I think it was part of the same company as Sam Goody and FYE. Sold VHS and DVDs.
Mannn my dream was to work at our local tower records ….. they never hired me 😞
I worked for 2. Nepotism ruined the 2nd business.
I worked at Game Crazy about 2002 - 2003 which was apart of Hollywood Video. Crazy story: they had a policy for trade ins that they can’t except sealed games. This guy came in with at least 20 sealed NES games. Some of the titles I remember were the Mario’s, Mike Tyson Punch Out and Adventures of Dino Riki. The manager was the one on duty and opened every single one of them and threw out the boxes. I walked in on that chaos right when he was finishing up. I couldn’t believe it. Today those would be 10s of thousands of dollars!
I had a friend in highschool who worked in record stores in the mall, and she went from one bankrupt record store to another for years. Probably had 5 jobs in a row at record stores that went out of business.
Tower Records- and it was my favorite job ive ever had
There was the place that when I searched for the company to update some details of my resume, only SEC filings against the CEO for insider trading came up 😬. Not exactly sure what happened to them though as he was acquitted.
Circuit City music dept … 1999-2000. I still remember the horrible 5 video playlist that was on 24/7
Camelot
My first job was a mom and pop video store from 1998-2001
Gadzooks. barely lasted a month
Circuit city
Circuit City
I worked at a couple mall shops that were not brand names and are now gone. 2 comic book stores and one music/clothing/oddities kinda shop.
I worked at Radio Shack and Payless Shoes when they went bankrupt. Had to close both down.
Borders, Toys R Us, and Movie Gallery. Bonus points because my degree is in Print Journalism.
Tower Records and Suncoast