The Glory Days of Shopping

Do you remember those ‘glorious’ days of shopping? I do. I am remembering the fun of taking the day to shop, eat, and maybe go to a movie. It might have been a family day out, or just girls out to “shop ’til we dropped.”

I am thinking of my younger years when the best shopping in Wichita Falls was on Indiana Ave. where all the best stores were located. I found my Sr. Prom dress at Payton Marcus, one of the finer stores of the day. Malls were unheard of in those days.

Then came the mall. The downtown shopping died, and we grew accustomed to shopping, eating, and even going to the movie—all at the mall. It was even safe for the kids to run free, and meet up later.

There are no fun days of shopping these days. Our big stores are no more. And, if we drive to larger cities some of the malls have been replaced by shopping centers where all the stores are separate. You have to actually drive to each store. There is no browsing from one store to the other. I really do not enjoy shopping in those shopping areas.

Then came Covid in 2020! People started shopping on line rather than getting out in public—It became a ‘way of life.’ The large stores began closing, and shopping was degraded to the discount stores.

To find a good mall these days, you can drive two hours from our town of Olney to Abilene or Ft. Worth. That becomes a ‘trip’ rather than just a fun day out!

A bit of history: Sears was the national, mega giant of retail and catalog shopping in the days before Amazon and Walmart came into our world.

I am very sad that the ‘glory days’ of shopping are no more. Covid changed our world.