Radio Shack. And not the recent version. The OLD version with breadboards and soldering irons and electronics kits.

RadioShack, with the drawers of capacitors and resistors.

Radio Shack

No one else has electronic components

None of these ever existed in my country, except for Toys "R" Us, which still exists.

An obligatory "Fuck Blockbuster:" They sucked compared to the local rental shops.

We still have Toys R Us and Party City here, and they seem to be doing fine. Blockbuster isn't really needed anymore. Old school Radio Shack would be pretty cool though.

Circuit City. I grew up on CompUSA but CC had better prices, if I remember right from my childhood. Then CU died, then CC died, then FE died, now all we have is shitty BB.

My CC I got to go 'in the back' to watch then replace a psu that died and I correctly diagnosed, back in like... 03? Two techs for the store, super chill, talked me through the process. I've been building and repairing my own systems ever since. They told me to let them know when I was 16, they'd put in a good word for me after we chatted for about an hour. By the time I could legally work, the writing was on the wall, and CC died before I turned 17.

I wonder where those guys are at now. I thought I knew what I was doing, but they were so kind in explaining everything, answering every question, giving me confirmation about all sorts of stuff. I really hope they are doing well. They couldn't have been mid-20s at the time.

Fry’s electronics

Toys R Us. No contest.

Probably none of them, I prefer MOM-and-pop shops

Friendly's still exists, it's just regional now though.

Aren't some of those still open?

i'd bring circuit city back so i could piss on it and burn it down

Tower Records and/or Borders Books & Music.

Video rental is just plain outdated. Streaming as it is today has a lot of problems, but they are ones that could be easily solved through regulation if regulators ever had the appetite. These stores went out of business because technology made their industry obsolete. I bet most people would have to do a little work to even play a DVD or Blu-Ray today. Maybe dig out an old device and hook it up, or use a laptop with a disc drive. Maybe a gaming console, but there have been a lot on the market for a while now that don't have optical drives. There's enthusiasts of course- including people who still keep VCR's and laser disc players and even people with their own reel-to-reel projectors, but they're a tiny minority.

Friendly's I only went to once and it was unremarkable casual dining. That industry DOES have a problem where private equity keeps on buying, looting, and destroying companies, but I'm also hopeful that can open up more space for small businesses instead. I'll pass on this one.

My memories of RadioShack were that it was cheap junk that was overpriced, but often the only reasonable option unless you wanted to order online or through a catalog from somewhere that could take months to arrive. I do wonder what the world would have been like if RadioShack had positioned itself as a repaor parts supplier and lobbied for Right to Repair legislation. Probably a stretch of the imagination.

Circuit City... For some reason I thought they went out of business largely due to embezzlement, but when I look forward that now I can't find anything so maybe I'm thinking of another company? Best Buy seems to be struggling to compete with Amazon and Wal-Mart still today, so I don't think Circuit City could have lasted much longer than it did either way.

Party City and Toys-R-Us are the 2 that make me upset, because both were successful businesses ruined by Private Equity. Not that I want to simo for these corporations, but what PE has been doing to so many industries in the past decade is absolutely disgusting. Id I had to choose one to bring back I'd say Party City because a lot of the custom and specific party supplies there aren't going to be stocked by your local Target or Wal-Mart, and that's the kind of thing you'd prefer to see in person rather than order online.

As someone who used to be an Assistant Manager at Blockbuster...keep that thing dead and gone. Like as a consumer, sure I get it, but working there absolutely sucked. No one remembers the late fees or the fact Blockbuster would send you to collections for ONE late fee (like a whole $3.25) and then send you those bullshit cards in the mail letting you know that you owe them less than $5? yeah I remember cause on a near daily basis I'd get someone in the store yelling at me that they're trying to get a loan or a house and this little card is fucking it all up for them. MOST of the time the late fee was because the absolutely ancient computer system we used that they never updated...at all...since the 80s...would skip barcodes randomly on scans. That or some vengeful employee at another store would just manually add fees to someones account (yes that was possible, yes we could just add fees to random accounts willy nilly)

also my District Manager was a douchenozzle. Mike, rot in hell.

Fuddrucker’s

How about independent pharmacies

Friendlies still exist I saw one just a month or two ago

ToysRus I guess. Never been to or seen any of the other ones.

Toys R Us was really special for me as a kid. Especially when my local one ran yugioh tournaments.

I miss Fry's. It was nice if you were building your own PC to go in and get parts immediately. Amazon with their unfair no-taxes that crippled big box stores and mom and pop's, and Netflix for videos by mail (remember getting DVD's in the mail?) and then streaming began wiping out most of these, except Friendly's.

wouldn't they all die again though? i'd bring back hh gregg for the song

What is a Friendly's?

a restaurant called bravissimo in chile or something like that was called, i remember eating there as a kid, it was colourful and kinda funny looking.

Umm I don't think we need more massive monopolise gaint corporations