25 Vintage Photos of American Stores You Will Gladly Remember

From the front view of an F.W. Woolworth store in Montpelier, Vermont, U.S. to a strip mall shopping center in Worcester, Massachusetts, U.S., this selection of photos represents vintage American shopping malls and stores. We’ve made this gallery to remember the good old times and to make a difference between the past and present. Tell us what you think leaving a comment below!

Check them out for more information and start to see our world through photos!

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53 Comments

  1. Sheri DiSanza says

    Never understood why they got rid of the shopping Malls, and replaced them with strip malls. Shopping malls were great in ANY Weather, you didn’t have to go outside to get to the next store. The new “Strip Malls” Don’t even have any overhang/awning from store to store. So you either bake in the sun, or get drenched in the rain/snow. Doesn’t make much sense to me….

    1. Blc says

      Yes, businesses are really ridiculous. I don’t even go to a strip mall when it’s raining or snowing. They will lose the sales from people who feel as I do.
      I have to say, they really are stupid.

      1. Wanda Law says

        I agree, I used to spend all day shopping in the malls. They had everything inside. I hate to shop now.

    2. Honest engine says

      Strip malls are cheaper to construct and there are no HVAC COST

    3. Kal Dunkle says

      Maintenance : a enclosed Mall had climate control costing a fortune, Individuals stores paying their own electric bill? Priceless

      1. Bob says

        Great point

    4. Ollie Octopus says

      Two reasons. One, when blacks take over a mall whit people won’t go there anymore, and two, there is then a high rate of shoplifting. You may not like my post but is the truth.

      1. john kwaczala says

        Agree fully

    5. Ollie Octopus says

      Two reasons. One, when blacks take over a mall white people will not go there anymore, and two, there is then a high rate of shoplifting. You may not like my post but is the truth.

      1. Diane E Viseth says

        I loved photo 23. They’re was actually a girl wearing jeans walking through that mall! The only one, I might add

    6. Gary Friedland says

      Too expensive to operate – you have to heat/air condition the common spaces, extra cleaning, more security.

    7. Carol says

      I agree! Malls best invention ever! Strip malls caused all the online shoppers!! Me!!!

    8. j. frobe says

      Hi Sherri,
      Well…. Enclosed shopping malls have fallen victim to a couple of things. Here in the greater Detroit area, Minority gangs invaded the malls overwhelming the mall security forces. Just folk got fed up with their silliness and went elsewhere to shop which made the enclosed mall in these area’s unprofitable. Stores moved out leaving a poor look. Minority sales just could not shop enough to close the bleeding.

      Next,
      Americans discovered the ease of computer shopping. No longer was it necessary to go shlepping around a huge barn of a place what with the problem of an older population that found malls tiring; Too much walking, higher prices. Then for Women there began to be a safety component to Malls. Computers had made shopping so much easier. As Americans began to avoid going to a mall to shop… economics shifted and was no longer on the side of the huge enclosed mall.

    9. dave king says

      If malls were profitable they would not be closing. Modern shoppers want to park right by the store and run in and out quickly. Those that like to “spend an entire afternoon in a mall tend to be “browsers” rather than buyers.

  2. Raymond North says

    It’s all in the name of saving money and increasing profit. Too much expense in keeping the big malls clean, making rents higher and profits lower for the companies which rented space in them.

  3. Marilyn McCormick says

    We have lots of big malls in suburbs surrounding the twin cities, Minneapolis/St. Paul, including the Mega mall. Those strip malls don’t have nice stores, only hair & nail salons, coffee shops, etc. It’s easier to go to a super Target for basics all under one roof. Otherwise, I like to shop on-line. Many places have free pick-up, and delivery too.

  4. Oscar Valdes Yero says

    I remember another 5 & 10 store called Kreshe or something like that in the 50’s, there was one opposie Woolworth’s in Chicago’s Lincoln Ave. then. it even looked very similar to Woolworth’s.

    1. Armando says

      I remember them also, Kresge I believe was the name. They had them in New Jersey and my sister was a cashier back in the 50s

    2. Judi says

      It was called S.S. KRESGE & CO., which later became K-MART.

      1. Rachel says

        Downtown Bluefield, West Virginia back in the day was a shoppers hangout. I could smell the delicious aroma of donuts before entering store. I didn’t know KRESGE later became K-MART.

    3. Ferg says

      I think that you are thinking of Kresge, which later became K-Mart.

    4. Andy says

      Kresge’s

    5. Ann says

      We had a Kresgee store.

  5. Rose Dezonno says

    I think there are very similar stores in the suburbs of Chicago. I live in Wheeling, Ill., and they look a lot like some
    stores around here.

  6. Jax says

    It is very interesting to see the way people are dressed and that very few people are overweight.

    1. Velocity says

      I noticed that as well.

    2. John says

      That was food before mass processed foods with loads of sugar (often disguised).

  7. Jeanie Preuit says

    Thank you for the memories!

  8. ADELE VAVERCHAK says

    Love looking at old photos of any kind and truly enjoy seeing the old cars in the parking lot. Priceless. The mall in Cleveland, Ohio with the glass roof was a architectural wonder for its day.

    1. Lee says

      Different kind of shoppers. Slim and well dressed.

    2. Dan Schildhouse says

      The Cleveland arcade has been converted to a beautiful hotel. Stayed there two years ago.

  9. Jane L Polley says

    Loved the pictures of the old time stores Thanks for the memories

  10. C. McCallum says

    I wish things were like they were when I was younger. Much simpler and more fun. Kids today need to get off their phones and go outside and play and get dirty. Electronics have taken over and I don’t care for that. We had a Muitd Drug Store with a counter where we could get phosphates ice cream treats and sandwiches on the cheap. Fast food restaurants are no longer fast nor inexpensive. Going back in time sounds pretty good to me.

  11. Irish Cornaire says

    I’m surprised they didn’t add Webb City,St.Petersburg,FL to this,it’s gone now though.

  12. David Hunt says

    The first actual shopping mall that was indoors was in East McKeesport.And,it had everything.Even a. movie theater!

  13. Regina says

    I remember Newberry store. I worked there when I was in high school. I also met my husband while working there. That was 59 years ago. The store had so many departments. I worked at different times in many of them. I worked pets, candy, material, blinds, children’s clothing and a few more. Those were the good old days!

  14. Jhn says

    Now that I am old I want everything delivered too the door. And at lest I am able to find, online, the products that actually work for me. Amazon, eBay,, others are great.

  15. Jim Wardlaw says

    Thanks to younf BLACK TEENS the malls can’t operate because of stealing and destroying the malls.

  16. Joseph Colletti says

    Where is Alexanders in the Fordham Section of the Bronx…

  17. Christopher LE says

    Oh my GOD.! Thanks for the picture that really bring back memories. I was at one of these on Commerce street., downtown San Antonio, TX, 1962.

  18. Julius L. Lawrence Jr. says

    Expectation For 2020

    As I was in church one Sunday morning,
    This thought came to me.
    What is your expectation for the year 2020?
    I thought and thought; What is my expectation for 2020?
    I believe it is a year of faith or doubt, trust or fear.
    Do you believe what God has planted in your heart?
    Or you doubt it will ever happen.
    You and I must make a decision, faith or doubt, trust or fear.
    Whatever you decide it will be yours.
    “Death and life are in the power of the tongue
    And they that love it shall eat the fruit thereof.”
    “I have call heaven and earth to record this day against you,
    That I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing:
    Therefore choose life, that both you and your seed may live.”
    “Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalts itself
    Against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every
    Thought to the obedience of Christ.”
    I know my decision, but you must answer this question for yourselves.
    What is your expectation for 2020?

  19. Margie says

    Thanks for the memories. When I was a child, we use to call Woolworth the Dime store!

  20. PJ says

    Used to think that change occurred as a result of improvement. Don’t feel that way anymore. So much has been lost while being called “progress.” Guess it doesn’t matter to those who don’t know any better and the rest of us will be gone soon anyway.

  21. Richard M Tususian says

    I was really taken aback by the 1915 photo of a “store arcade” aka a mall. I thought malls didn’t really start until the 1950s. I have been into nostalgia all my life, I’m 58 now, and have never seen a photo like that!

  22. JR says

    Men were men and women were women, no fat tattooed sluts, people took pride in their appearance.

    1. Don says

      Used to be, you got dressed up to go shopping; or to take a ride on a plane or train. Not so for a bus!
      I kept looking for an old Montgomery Ward store. I managed a store for them that was built in the late ’30s, and I closed it for them in 1977 and they moved me to the Chicago Metro where I worked on the management team of a free-standing store. Then along came K-Mart, WalMart and multiple other discounters. The Fun went out of the business then and the hours kept getting longer until Now they are 24 hr stores.. I’m happy to be retired.

  23. Wayne Jackson says

    Several photos of Denver stores here. Enjoyed them.
    In the early ’60’s us kids would walk up to the IVK Shopping Center in Commerce City near the dog track. Woolworths, King Soopers. Tastee Freeze was nearby. There was a pizza place in IVK & the smell of pepperoni pizza that emanated from that place was heaven. Speaking of smells, McDonalds smelled really good back in those days.
    Memories. : )

  24. Bugs says

    I worked at Woolworth’s in Boston, Massachusetts my first job . That was in 1952 WOW memories !

  25. Patricia Dargenio says

    Thanks for the memories of the 40’s and 50’s. Loved the photos. I worked in my parent’s luncheonette in the 50’s. One of the best times of my life when I was a young teenager.

  26. Rachel says

    I recall as a child going occasionally always on a Saturday to Kresge’s in downtown Bluefield, West Virginia. I could smell delicious donuts coming from store before even stepping foot inside.

  27. RICHARD TUSUSIAN says

    The 1915 Shopping Arcade really blows my mind. It’s basically an indoor shopping mall, but you never think of an indoor shopping mall as being from all the way back in 1915! It is so modern looking it takes my breath away.

  28. Everette Tittle says

    A Faded Rose from days gone by!

  29. Erik Johnsen says

    When I Was a Child…Woolworths Had a Soda n Ice Cream Cones for a Dime a Scoop…