In my recent Pennysaver post I mentioned Friendly Frost stores. Friendly Frost was once one of the largest appliance chains in the US, but it went out of business in the early 1980s. Their former location in Park Slope, Brooklyn, still has painted signs on two walls. "It's Friendly Frost for lowest cost!" Check out the appliance brands, most of them long gone: RCA Victor, Bendix, Admiral, Frigidaire, General Electric.
As you can see they also sold furniture, as well as other merchandise such as gardening supplies. They even owned some radio stations at one point.
ABC Electrical and Appliance on Canal Street in Manhattan was not a chain, it was a single store that closed back in 2004. The sign prominently advertises Zenith Appliances, which went out of business in 1999, and the sign probably dates back 20-30 years before that.
A more familiar New York-area appliance retailer was The Wiz, AKA "Nobody Beats the Wiz" (the company changed their name to their slogan. At it's peak they had 80 stores, mostly in the Tri-State area. They went out of business in 2003. This painted sign, likely from the early '80s, is on 14th Street in Manhattan.
Society was much better when places like these still existed. I keep thinking that one day in the not too distant future that we're gonna be down to only two options, Walmart and Amazon. And then at some point those two will merge, and we'll be left with one option. And the way things are going, I wouldn't surprised if the government stepped in and "assumed" control of our one remaining option.
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