As a former Caldor employee, you must have spoken with a LOT of former employees. Very fair and balanced report. I worked for the company from 87-94.

@whome1629

Жыл бұрын

I remember we were threatened that if we talked about them going bankrupt we would be fired, I left before they went belly up, downtown Brooklyn store.

@AlexxGamboa

Жыл бұрын

Please do jcrew!!!!

@arthurpasseri4761

Жыл бұрын

Myself, the Manchester Caldor was crazy. We got new shopping carts a year before we closed the store. I asked my manager why are we buying shopping carts and we are in bankruptcy. A week later, my new job (at CompUSA) opened. Another mismanaged store. I lasted a month before, I was hired by OfficeMax.

@taffingtonboathouse5754

Жыл бұрын

@@arthurpasseri4761 didn't know caldor spreaded to the UK

@taffingtonboathouse5754

Жыл бұрын

@@arthurpasseri4761 didn't know caldor spreaded to the UK

I wouldn’t be surprised if I see Chuck E. Cheese on the series in the future. There’s a bunch of abandoned locations around the world

@MrCraigblaze

Жыл бұрын

"Where a kid can be a kid" !! 🤣🤣

@kyliethelittlespider-mangirl94

Жыл бұрын

That’d be a great idea for an Abandoned episode ^^

@ChuckEEntertainment

Жыл бұрын

God I hope so

@jordanwhite352

Жыл бұрын

The Jersey City one is still going strong. For us it's GameStop.

@TopHatEntertainment7

Жыл бұрын

It should be a crossover with Defunctland!

I love how a lot of these big retail downfall stories can be summed up as "Everything was going great until Walmart showed up"

@lilchickennuggets1

11 ай бұрын

That's why I dislike Walmart

@Unknown-63gx

10 ай бұрын

@@lilchickennuggets1 cant stop progress though

@jpcaretta8847

10 ай бұрын

Its mainly the middle class going down, people go where the can buy cheap junks. I knew it would happen when the junkies degenerate MBAs promoted the stupid idea of moving to a service economy ! These illeterate scumbags didnt understand we first need food, shelter, energy and we better produce these ourselves, therefore earn the money to afgord the rest.

@KimiFan2002

9 ай бұрын

It’s called progression. Either find a way to keep up, or die off, simple.

@opaljk4835

8 ай бұрын

@@KimiFan2002 it’s called homogenization. Conform or die.

Its sad how almost all of these bankrupt companies started as owned by a family who just wanted what was best for their customers and employees. But the more they tried to remain as such the harder it got because truth is most don't care for quality, they only care for quantity, and it was almost impossible for most of those retailers to compete with Kmart and Walmart prices, while still remaining true to their core values.

As you mentioned, a lot of these regional department stores benefitted from the fact that Walmart and Target had limited presence in the Northeast until the late 90’s, once they both began expanding aggressively in the market, Ames, Bradlees, Caldors, all fell very quickly

@RicksTravelogue

Жыл бұрын

Yep, can agree. Here the Walmart settled in the mid to late 90's. A few years after K-mart had built a Supercenter. First Caldoor in the mall fell, then Ames a few years later, including the Ames that was right next door to Walmart. And then 23 years later, K-mart went.

@Darth_Baggins

Жыл бұрын

There was also Clover, although I think their fall might have been tied to Strawbridge's?

@dimitriberozny3729

Жыл бұрын

Caldor was aquired by Target and some of the stores were abandoned,turned into Target or sold some of the locations to Burlington Coat Factory.

@AndrewAMartin

Жыл бұрын

@@Darth_Baggins Clover was Strawbridge & Clothier's discount chain, so yes, the two went down together.

@Clay3613

Жыл бұрын

Ames over expanded by taking over nearly every former Hills location. Plus they were too cheap for their own good.

Seems like a common theme to me, a person creates a good company, keeps debts low, expands relatively slowly, then sells to an investment firm, who takes on huge debt sums, expands quickly, sells on before collapse, and then collapses under the new ownership 🤔

My Grandfather worked at the Caldor in Woonsocket, Rhode Island in his later years. He just wanted to stay busy. I used to love going to visit him at work as a child. Great memories.

@MajorOutage

Жыл бұрын

At this rate, Jake's gonna need to do Ann & Hope soon. PS. Hi neighbor!

@xZOOMORPHICx

Жыл бұрын

@@MajorOutageHey neighbor! I grew up right off of Broad Street in south Cumberland. I rode my bike in that parking lot quite often.

@hughneutron5303

Жыл бұрын

fellow rhode islander. you better have had coffee milk with him

@xZOOMORPHICx

Жыл бұрын

@@hughneutron5303 coffee milk and some hot weiners with the meat sauce, mustard, onions and celery salt. 😁

Another great episode. What’s crazy is Carl Bennett lived to be 101, he passed in Dec of 2021.

@retroguy1976

Жыл бұрын

wow 101 god bless him he was as old as my grandmother who is 101 soon to be 102

@nb2008nc

Жыл бұрын

The couple lived long enough to see their dream die. How sad.

@123123boobies

Жыл бұрын

@@nb2008nc they also saw massive success while they were running it. Id be dissapointed it closed but atleast id know it wasnt my fault.

@shannawallace7855

7 ай бұрын

​@@nb2008nche had already retired about 15 years before Caldor went out of business. The new owners offered him a board seat, but he was ready to hand over the reins for good and completely retire. He and Dorothy built a hugely successful business and retired with a ton of money, and while it probably was sad for them to see Caldor eventually close, they hadn't been involved with the business in over a decade by that point. they should still have felt very satisfied with what they accomplished in their career.

My dad worked at Caldor for years in the 80's and early 90's, he says he'll sometimes get flashbacks when he walks in to Targets (he thinks it's the red shirts). We even still use Christmas ornaments from a floor model tree he bought there in like '89 or '90! Happy 10 years of Abandoned, looking forward to many more!

I shopped at Caldor, as my family did. We were always impressed with their selection, prices and quality. Miss the store to this day.

I will never forget when Caldor's closed and on the last day they were open there was a giant pile of CD's on the ground in the music section because everyone had just rifled through them for the $1 sale and threw them everywhere. I remember pushing CD's aside with my legs like walking through snow and digging through them at my ankles, it was surreal.

Caldor was my first official job. I got hired on my 18th birthday. I made lifelong friends there. I left just before they decided to close. Target was coming to the Long Island area and many of the old Caldor locations were bought by Kohl's. The company had a bad reputation in general. The weekly flyer they released never had many of the sale items in stock. I enjoyed working there mostly for the people. I was also a kid but I have fond memories of the place.

Congratulations on the 10th anniversary! I’ve been watching for 7 years now, glad to still be here. 🎉

@BrightSunFilms

Жыл бұрын

I'm glad you're still here too!

@sinisterisrandom8537

Жыл бұрын

​@@BrightSunFilms its been nearly 10 years damn I didn't realize how long time has flown by.

@danquaylesitsspeltpotatoe8307

Жыл бұрын

@@BrightSunFilms Still no comment on your crimes of trespassing? its not as if you dont know you are doing it!

@b0rd3n

Жыл бұрын

@@danquaylesitsspeltpotatoe8307 yet, you encourage it by your engagement. If you truly had a dog in the fight, watching, rating and commenting would certainly not be the way to deal with such a matter. Until served, i think your propaganda and level of engagement do your 'cause' not much more than help your own indulgence in whatever suits you, at the moment and on a daily basis. You are one rotten PATATE sir - yes, it's also shouted as so, whenever it suits ME. Grow up or show us the beans

@ajburrr

Жыл бұрын

@@danquaylesitsspeltpotatoe8307 Jake is still a good guy, he doesn't deserve to be arrested

A good old fashioned failed retail episode of Abandoned?? Count me in!

Time goes by so fast. Far too fast. It feels like yesterday I was stepping into a Caldor for mom and then a Sears for dad. I miss the look, the smell, and the fun of those times every day.

@ras.al.dolezal

Жыл бұрын

Same. I think of stores that arent around anymore and just the experiences of having to go in them for things or just to pass through and it's a real weird feeling to not have that very much anymore.

@PetsNLuv

Ай бұрын

I know exactly how you feel?

Man, that sign at 12:40 really hits home. Circuit City, Funco Land, Kid r us, Sports Authority were some of the store I visited when I was a kid and teen. Its a shame people won't be able to experience some of these stores.

@BeigeEyesCroissantDragon

Жыл бұрын

My brother still has a box from Funco Land, it used to be my box and had my Yugioh cards in it. XD I hated when Gamestop took over the space. We went to the one in Waterford.

@funtimesatthefunhouse

Жыл бұрын

@@BeigeEyesCroissantDragon .

@dracyoola

Жыл бұрын

FUNCOLAND OMG. I used to go there to buy Sega Genesis games. ;o;

@phionella7

Жыл бұрын

Forgot about Funcoland

@cdubzzz

11 ай бұрын

One time I was at a Funco land and found a bag of Nintendo games just sitting on the curb. Greatest night of my life

I remember Caldor! My most "fondest" memory was getting stickers for a tracker to help me get over an eating disorder I had when I was a kid. It was when the store was closing. A Walmart ended up taking over it shortly after. Always left a bad taste in my mouth.

That Waterbury Caldor building is still there. It sat abandoned for *years* but it was a discount electrics place for a while and then it got converted to a gym about a decade ago if memory serves. It's across the street from the Walmart that replaced the original mall.

@R32R38

Жыл бұрын

Now the replacement mall, the Brass Mill Center, is rapidly descending into dead mall territory.

Back in the day, my family used to go to Caldor weekly. During the holidays it proved to be the one stop shopping for Christmas gifts. Near the end, things took a turn for the worse. No matter what was in their sale flyer, you would not find the item in house and would have to get rainchecks at the service desk. After a while, the staff would post flyers at the desk showing what was in stock and had rainchecks already made out for the other items. During that time, the store made some serious mistakes, on one holiday shopping trip, I found the Atari video game system on sale for an insanely low price. I snapped up 6 of them for less that $100 and gave them out as gifts. I later learned that the store had transposed the numbers on the sale sign and took the remaining stock off the shelves, but it seemed they realized the mistake too late, since most of the stock was already gone. This happened not long before they shut their doors for good, so the original owners had already left.

I was very young when I was in the second Port Chester store. Carl Bennett was so welcoming and charismatic that I never forgot the experience.

That’s normally the case in Connecticut. Beautiful, artistic stores get replaced with dull, bland ones. If you look up interior pictures of the old Naugatuck Valley Mall in Waterbury, it looked beautiful compared to what we have today.

@Pirategirl4nightwish

Жыл бұрын

Yea, the Brass Mill Center has gone downhill quickly in the last 10 years.

@billybattle

Жыл бұрын

@@Pirategirl4nightwish honestly, that should be a video of this channel tackles. I feel like that mall won’t be around outside of 4 to 5 years and I’m probably being generous.

@BeigeEyesCroissantDragon

Жыл бұрын

The Bobs in the Norwichtown mall was gorgeous and had a badass play scape for kids. It was a small mall, my mother bought a computer desk there in 2000 for her new windows millennia HP. But that play scape was insane, we would beg our mom to go just to play there. Of course, she never would and we only went 3 times. On the 3rd time, the playscape was gone. There are some pictures of the entryway, which looked gorgeous online and they're pretty easy to find. I would later go on to build the interior of and work in the Big Lots that took the empty Bobs space after the mall was stretched and made into a strip mall format. Worked there for 4 years while I was in and just after college. The side entrance doors are in roughly the same position. I can stand where that play scape was in Big Lots and it all comes back to me. Hell we even used the old Bobs backroom and mattress racks which were still in there.

@bellacat818

Жыл бұрын

Agree! Waterbury native here! I have been looking for interior pictures of the NVM for ages. There is one video online where the building is half torn down, but that is all I have found. If you know where to find pictures, please let me know.

@lisaboccardo4293

Жыл бұрын

Im in Connecticut also new mall is gross and old chucky cheeses also a breeding place from germs to nasty feet socks ...and not to mention the vomit or dirty diapers that were in the ball pit also I've seen kids climb up those stairs into that I don't know you could see him through the plexiglass it's disgusting dirty diapers I went and scoped it out before it was even going to bring my child there and there was no way that I was letting him in there she could have gotten lice gross my opinion if others liked it that's great I just don't and didn't because it's junk and like I said in my opinion breeding ground for bacteria.

I still have a notebook from when I was in third grade in 1994, where I wrote a journal entry that said, "today we went to Caldoor and then we had lunch at McDonalds." My mom made me write it down because she wanted to encourage me to practice writing more often. It was in the central NJ area, but I totally don't remember which town. I never thought so many stores that existed when I was a kid wouldn't be around anymore. There was actually a Simpsons Halloween episode from years ago, where the town was taken over by zombies and Bart did a chant to get rid of them, where he said the names of a bunch of stores that don't exist anymore. One was Caldoor. To bad the guy who made this video didn't include that clip.

@willd4731

Жыл бұрын

Was it the one on route 35 in Holmdel?

@kicapanmanis1060

Жыл бұрын

Could be problematic for copyright I guess since it's a popular big show. Better not risk it.

@Melissa0774

Жыл бұрын

@@willd4731 I don't think so. I think it was probably near the Bridgewater/Somerville area.

Caldors was my favorite store to go to as the toy department was always pretty large ( im in my 30s so I remember them during my childhood) and here in Westchester County NY we had a large number of them

@bruceleeroy7739

Жыл бұрын

I’m in Westchester too yeah we did have a lot of them!!! And like I wrote in my post everyone I know called it Caldors They did have a great toy department I spent a lot of time in that department as a kid!!!

Congrats on 10 years! This one hit close, my mom was a frequent Caldor shopper so I have lots of memories of going there as a kid. It wasn’t a fancy store at all - the atmosphere was very reminiscent of a K-mart - but I do have a nostalgic fondness for it. (The one nearest to us had a not-quite-escalator inclined moving ramp between the upper and lower floors, which you never see in retail stores around here anymore. 😅) I still see Caldor labels and price stickers on things when rummaging through record shops and thrift stores so they certainly had a lasting impact in the northeast.

@AllisonDancerChick1982

Жыл бұрын

The reminds me of the Best Products store in Toms River, NJ - I loved watching products come down that moving ramp!

@zerocooler7

Жыл бұрын

@@AllisonDancerChick1982 Oh wow, I've been in that exact store when I was young.

I grew up with Caldor and Bradlees ...I remember just before Caldor Closed .... the fleet of brand new shopping carts at my 2 local stores. My Bradlees is now Walmart and one Caldor is Walmart and the other became Khols'

Jake, a little known fact...Carl Bennett & George Seedman (from TSS - Times Square Stores) had entered in2 a gentlemens agreement way back in the day that Bennett would never open a Caldor in the TSS market. They both honored that agreement until TSS filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy & ADG had bought out Caldor. Another interesting fact the Caldor store in Flushing, NY had originally been an Alexander's b4 that went belly up. I've think even b4 Alexander's that location had been an S Klein Department Store. Now it's a mall that has mainly Asian businesses catering to the large Asian population in Flushing. But I used to love shopping at Caldor. Great prices & great quality also

If anyone is ever in the Baltimore area, the Forman Mills on route 40 maintains much of Caldor design like the entrance. Caldor, Ames, K-Mart were all tenants in that order for anyone interested. Great video as always.

I remember circling what I wanted for Christmas from the Caldor catalog! I think one of the reasons they did so well for so long is that they were based locally, and folks liked the friendly, local feel even though it was a store that had "everything". Being founder-led was a blessing, but also a curse as no one but a founder would have the same passion for making the stores successful. The makeover to red and grey seemed to be aimed at competing more with Walmart and Kmart, and didn't do the brand any favors. Additionally, by the mid 90's many of the stores were dirty, disorganized and had lost what made Caldor special in the first place. By that time enough people were traveling regularly to see how much nicer the Walmart and Target stores were in other parts of the country, and frankly expectations were higher. Today, in the former Norwalk Caldor we now have a small, now fairly run-down Walmart, and still no supercenters in Fairfield County. A real shame.

@Charmedone9805

Жыл бұрын

idk what you are talking about. Caldor was like target lol even towards they end. i dont remember their stores being modern clean and nice looking. what you described is how i remember kmart looking back then

Happy 10 year anniversary! Can't believe it's already been this long!

@BrightSunFilms

Жыл бұрын

I know right!

@everythingsalright1121

Жыл бұрын

I feel old now. Doesnt feel like ive been watching him that long

@liftedcandy9146

Жыл бұрын

@@everythingsalright1121 Honestly! I feel like it's only been at most like 3 years AT MOST ya know haha!

When I was a kid in '70s Maine, Caldor was the Exotic Out-of-State Store we would hit when we visited my great-grandparents in Connecticut. Our local equivalents were Woolco (later replaced by Ames) and Zayre. All four are gone now. Sic transit gloria retail.

Customer experience has gone out the window with stores like this. Would be nice if stores would become people-centric again rather than only sales-centric.

I worked for Caldor in NJ from 1983-1984. I enjoyed it very much! I miss Caldor & Bradlees the most.

This man started a massive store and lived all the way till 2021.. truly Carl lived a great life.

Ahhh, yes I remember Caldor. One winter the ceiling caved in on our local Caldor and blew the front brick face of the building across the parking lot. Good times :) Seriously, the nostalgia oozing from this video is quite thick. 10/10

@Charmedone9805

Жыл бұрын

aka the Mahopac store

@killerwhaletank

Жыл бұрын

@@Charmedone9805 YES. EXACTLY. ☺️

We had a Caldors in our town that closed in the 1990s (The store got replaced by a Burlington Coat Factory). I worked at a different regional chain in the northeast (The Fair). It flamed out in a similar manner. I think they went out of business because all the retailers get their stuff from the same source but they could not keep up with the massive advantage that Walmart and Target have.

@druwpack5351

Жыл бұрын

Please leave off the last s for savings….it’s Caldor

@themrpedro5858

Жыл бұрын

​@@druwpack5351 amen 😂. Hate when people say caldors from way back to Krogers or meijers now..there is no s . So please stop 🙏 😂

@arthurpasseri4761

Жыл бұрын

The Fair was in Killingly, CT. Interesting store, just like Fishers Big Wheel....

Man, I grew up in New York and I remember going to Caldor all the time with my mom. There was one near us in Westchester. I had no idea that they originally started in Port Chester! I have relatives right near there.

Never heard of Caldor before but it seemed like a nice place to go to. It seems like these kind of retail chains always go under either before or a bit after the turn of the new millennium like Ame's and Bardlee's.

@daniellewoolley8607

Жыл бұрын

Nikitation if you hear what Jake said they were only on the East coast. That's why you haven't heard about Caldor. People from different states don't always have the same things that the e East coast

@Wnick1996

Жыл бұрын

@@daniellewoolley8607 I'm from The East Coast

Great video. I remember going to Caldor in Vails Gate, NY quite a bit when I was a kid. Unfortunately, it shut down in the late 90s and the building was demolished. Ironically, a K-Mart was built in its place in the early 2000s, but it's now closed as well.

@cs188creations

Жыл бұрын

Yep, that's the same one I went with my mom when I was 10 years old! Also used to frequent that Kmart. Now it exists as a Planet Fitness I believe.

@SAVikingSA

Жыл бұрын

They had one in the Newburgh Mall, too.

The stock offering was actually 120,000 shares at 5 dollars per share ($600,000), not 5 cents per share ($6,000). The $600,000 provided the money to expand their footprint in Fairfield County CT (where I grew up and where we shopped at the Norwalk store regularly).

I got to pick my first stuffed bear out at Caldor with my father at like 6 months old and still have it. He said he just asked me if I liked them and I grabbed onto one for dear life and wouldn’t let him go.

Having lived in the south western US, I never even knew this place existed. It's so crazy to see places that were this big just vanish into obscurity. Congrats on the 10 year anniversary, Jake! Each year just gets better and better. Here's to many more! 🎉🎉🎉

@AdamMann3D

Жыл бұрын

I'd only heard of it from Cinnemasacre

Always great to see a new Abandoned episode! I've never heard of Caldor, thank you Jake for covering it, and helping people like me, who grew up in the part of the U.S that didn't have Caldors, learn about these places and the stories behind them! 😊

@daniellewoolley8607

Жыл бұрын

Owlgirl 26 like Jack said Calder was only on the east coast. That's why you never heard of Calder

@evelynsahoe8896

Жыл бұрын

@@daniellewoolley8607 I've lived in Massachusetts my whole life and the first time I've heard of Caldor, Bradlee's, etc was on this channel. There's just nothing left of them... not even an abandoned building for curious kids to ask what it was. Almost all of the locations were quickly bought up and redeveloped by big box stores so all that's left are the memories.

Great trip down memory lane. I spent many days of my childhood with my mom at Caldor, as well as some other regional favorites like Zayre, Ames, Bradlees, and Stuarts.

@pilotgrrl1

Жыл бұрын

Same here, but it was Zayre, Venture, and Turn-style

@wumpusthehunted2628

Жыл бұрын

Oddly enough about Stuart's. That was a fairly nice place that closed in Timonium, Md in the mid 70s only to be replaced by Caldor a few years later. Never "well loved", I think there was a Circuit City there later (perhaps just the ground floor).

I grew up in southeastern Mass. Caldor, Bradlees, Ames (I worked there for 4 years before they closed) and Ann & Hope. These stores were such a staple in this area. I miss them. Watching this brings back such nostalgia.

Meanwhile the mall that opened in the former Flushing Caldor ALSO had massive turnover and suffers from some retail death. I remember when it opened as a supermarket/food court/dim sum restaurant, and then it started showing the same decline as the Flushing Mall a decade prior. Eh, I got so many CDs from Flushing Caldor before it closed...then stared at the abandoned front for years as the neighborhood transformed.

I'm in the midwest so I've never heard of Caldor and I don't think Ames either but seeing the Venture store, that brought back memories just as much as Kmart!! Thanks for covering another great abandoned episode

You should do a video on Gordmans! Perfect example of why you should take expansion slow and steady.

The moment you said that they saw themselves as a one-stop shop, I said, "That sounds like Walmart..." and sure enough, the Waltons were their downfall 😅

This one was so touching. I loved the storytelling.

@BrightSunFilms

Жыл бұрын

Thank you!

Also, thank you for showing Flushing Caldor. Huge part of the first 24 years of my life, both open AND abandoned.

@Grimmes12

Жыл бұрын

Is Old Navy still there?

@TenguTalks

Жыл бұрын

@@Grimmes12 Closed about ten years ago. Before the mall opened. It's a super fancy Walgreens now.

@Grimmes12

Жыл бұрын

@@TenguTalks I would meet my old boss every week back in 2007 on Main Street to drive up to ESPN up in Bristol, CT

@TenguTalks

Жыл бұрын

@@Grimmes12 I spent a pretty decent chunk of time from about 1998-2019 just walking to and from Main St. Station. Watched downtown grow, evolve, get fancy, fall apart, get fancy again. It was a trip to see how often it would change. That Caldor was a constant until the New World Mall opened, and then the flux started all over again, especially when Skyview opened mid-teens. Its pretty much unrecognizable from 2007, which was unrecognizable from 1999. Only constant was the food and the church.

@Grimmes12

Жыл бұрын

@@TenguTalks is the New World Mall a Chinese spot or what type of shops do they have in there?

I was JUST talking about Caldor the other day! I remember my mother dragging me to Caldor growing up.

The Bridgehampton store in the ad at 5:18 is now the site of one of the three remaining Kmarts in the US mainland.

While I never did visit a Caldor store this video did mention Venture which was a store that I spent a LOT of time at in the 80s and 90s! Our local Venture store is where I bought my first cassette tape with my own money, the first place I bought a CD and also where I bought my SNES a week after it was first released! The location started off as a Turn Style, and became a Venture in 1978. After Venture went under in 1998 it became a Big K-mart for about 15 years until that also closed. Now that location is Theisen's, which I always thought was odd since Theisen's is more of a farm supply store but this location is near the middle of the metro area, miles away from any farmland.

@SynchroSk8

Жыл бұрын

Memory unlocked about Venture! I had completely forgot about them.

@pilotgrrl1

Жыл бұрын

There's a Menards in what used to be a large Zayre near where I used to live. I remember shopping at Zayre when we were kids. Dang, I miss Menards and Meijer!

The memories you brought back with this episode!!! And you should the 2 Caldors I went to! Grand Concourse in the Bronx and the Caldor in Flushing! Thank you!

For me as a German, the stories are very interesting. There are not so many huge chains here. Currently, they are once again trying to save Galleria Kaufhof. A department store chain, which was already subsidized by the state. Someone fills his pocket and the workers are later still on the street.

I've been waiting for this one! I grew up 10 minutes away from a Caldor in upstate NY, so many memories of perusing the toy aisle while mom did her shopping. Great episode, congrats on your tenth anniversary!

@tarareads23

Жыл бұрын

It wouldn’t be the one in White Plains on Tarrytown Road would it? That’s the one we visited often.

Caldor was my childhood. There was one next door to my elementary school, so after school let out on Friday my parents would take me to the carousel in the foyer and I would ride it for as long as they allowed. I remember little of the store itself, I must admit. But it still left an impact on me.

@TimurD1905

Жыл бұрын

I feel the same way as you, Caldor was such a nice store. There’s really nothing like it now, maybe Target is the closest thing to a Caldor now. I only been inside the Morris Plains Caldor one time back when it was closing down in 1999 for liquidation sales, but the store had so much character to it. Unlike the boring stupid Walmart stores we have now 😒

@sparkswolverine

Жыл бұрын

@@TimurD1905: I think that’s why I like Target. This is really a good comparison. Caldor was really ahead of itself.

@TimurD1905

Жыл бұрын

@@sparkswolverine It sure was, I really like their last logo they did too. It's a shame they are not around anymore. That's why I only go to Target or a different store and never step foot in a Walmart ever again. Last time I been inside a Walmart was 3 years ago lol

Caldor is a chain that existed before my time but my grandma used to shop there a lot. Mostly for their Christmas decorations. She has these Christmas motionette of Santa and Mrs Claus that are still working today and we still put them up every year.

I like on how one of the causes of all these memorable retail companies falling into bankruptcy or irrelevancy (or both), is because of both Amazon and Walmart. Both of those companies know really on how to unintentionally or intentionally kill every single American retail company out there.

Congrats on the big 10! That store in Flushing, Queens was a big part of my childhood!!! I later remember, through most of my teen years, staring at the big red logo. After they took it down, it was really weird to see that a mall took is place. Crazy nostalgic to see those pictures after all these years.

@angrybeaver4995

Жыл бұрын

Remember the one that was in Atlantic Mall in Brooklyn.

Watching this series is so enjoyable, I love hearing about companies that went through so much, especially chains that you don’t even hear being discussed, as if they never existed.

I just realized that I like your content so much because it reminds me so much of what the educational channels like discovery and TLC once were.

OK...I'm from Port Chester, NY. And growing up in the 90s, we had a Caldor! It must be the larger scaled version of the original store you mentioned! I am shook.That Caldor location is a Kohl's now

@Charmedone9805

Жыл бұрын

i remember didn't that store have 2 levels i remember there was leaping lizards there and a pergament 2 things that are long gone now

My favorite childhood memory of Caldor is the little merry go round they had in the front. You didn’t have to put any money in it, so my mom let me go on every time we went there! I have a vague memory of her trying to get me off so we could go home 😅 Great video!!

Congratulations on 10 years! 🎉 The first video I watched of yours was the Discovery Island one 8 years ago. Can’t believe it’s been that long! Love your channel, it’s still the only channel I’ve ever signed up to Patreon for! Good luck for another 10 years 🥂

@BrightSunFilms

Жыл бұрын

Thank you so much!!

Great work guys! So happy to see a large channel give props to Caldor.

Caldor was THE store when I was a kid in the 70s! My grandfather worked in the Norwalk CT store for years!

Caldor weighed heavy in my formative years in the 80s. That brown rainbow is seared into my memory permanently. It's where I discovered the Commodore 64 and developed a lust for computers in general. I'd immediately run for the TV dept where they kept the computers. I'd be on there the entire time while my parents shopped. It's the first place I saw a Sega Master System and really played it. It's where I bought our first NES with R.O.B. and Kung Fu. I realize, in retrospect, it's special qualities were likely DUE to being so young, and it being my first real department store. But there's just something about that 1980s brown rainbow stripe design. It still looks amazing when I see those photos from inside the store. It was a good look. :)

When the history of commerce in the US is written, it will undoubtedly show that Walmart destroyed the concept of competition and drove many a chain store out of business - while enriching one family as the end result. Someone explain to me why Walmart shouldn't be treated as a monopoly at this point. Congrats Jake on 10 amazing years.

@tigerowlplus1

Жыл бұрын

It’s hard to get mad at them for being super adept at gaming the capitalistic system! They put on a clinic on how to grow and absolutely dominate their competition. Don’t hate the player, hate the game…

Congratulations on the 10 year anniversary Jake! Thanks for all the great episodes! 🎉👍

As someone who has learned of this chain in recent years and has now started documenting many of the store locations. This video was very informative and payed well tribute to many of the people who it effected during its glory days. Great video Jake! Ever since 2020 I have always enjoyed watching your videos.

Congratulations on the 10 year anniversary! I loved watching all of these! I started watching these in college, and I continue to watch them. I remember the first few videos. Keep it up!

@BrightSunFilms

Жыл бұрын

Thank you so much!!

So far amazing work as always! I love your content. Keep it up! Cant wait for the eventual Chippawa Lake amusement park vid

My mom actually worked there, and she took me there a couple of times when I was really young before it closed! Man, takes me back! Another great video! Congrats on 10 years!

I can't believe this has been going for ten years. I can't say I've watched from the start but I saw the iconic River Country video pretty near to its release and I binged the backlog during COIVD, really helped me get through. Love Closed for Storm too. Keep going Jake, these are great.

Oh yeah Caldors. As people in my area called it

@dankoval4818

Жыл бұрын

That's so true... I grew up with Caldor for 20 years... wasn't until watching this video that I realized the 's' is silent😂

Great story and video as always! Feel like this was an crossover between you "Bankrupt"-series and "Abandoned".

Caldors are one of my favorite past time stores of my childhood, along with Bradlees, Woolworths and Alexanders. I have LOTS of memories especially of Bradlees, and boy i have LOTS of stories about Bradlees to! I wish that they still here today but we must know that in this darn life nothing last forever. My guess is that as soon as the nafta trades started it was the beginning of the end of these stores i mentioned. Happy 10th Anniversary BTW! Always love all your work!

I haven’t watched the video yet but so excited you’re doing Caldor. I’ve shopped at a few of the stores you’ve done in the past growing up. But Caldor I don’t really here anyone talking about. Can’t wait to watch! Thanks!

Many memories of my mother taking me to the Caldor in Stoneham, Massachusetts. Congrats on 10 years! 🍺

I always liked the Caldor at the Voorhees mall. Nice movie rental place there, workers were angry nerds

What a sweet couple. They deserved all their success in life. Congratulations on the milestone! I love all your work and have been a subscriber for ages. Three cheers for 10 years! 🎉

Was happy to see Venture mentioned. I'll never forget as a kid the striped building it had and my mom taking me and my brother shopping there once and awhile.

Perfect timing having lunch and watching a new video by Jake 😊

Cinemassacre Video. In the Voorhees Memorial Shopping Center next to Caldor.

When I was researching the history of Newmarket North/Newmarket Fair mall in Hampton, VA years ago I read that Caldor briefly considered opening up a store there in the old Miller & Roads around like, 1995-ish.

Congratulations on 10 years!!! Happy to say I’ve been following since the beginning ☺️☺️👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻

Only been watching for a few months but your content is amazing Jake

@BrightSunFilms

Жыл бұрын

Thanks so much!

I LOVED Calor. The Bloomingdale of Discount department stores at people have said..Can you do G. Fox at one point ! ?? Thanks for the upload !! They were a Connecticut company !!

@Pirategirl4nightwish

Жыл бұрын

Man, I haven’t thought about G.Fox in so long!

I’ve watched a lot of your videos regarding defunct retail, and there are 2 common themes. 1) In nearly all instances the retailer was bought by a private equity firm, and the debt has lead to massive problems which contributed heavily to the Bankruptcy. 2) Competition from national competitors such as Wal-Mart. It’s interesting to note that most of the defunct stores were regional chains, which gives credence to the idea that when the anti trust laws were still being enforced it was impossible for a mega corp like Wal-Mart to take over the entire country in an entire segment such as retail. Im not saying necessarily that all or even the majority of these stores would have survived if these two things were different, but it’s definitely food for thought.

Loved the video, Jake! I used to shop at some of the stores that you did abandoned/bankrupt videos on. But Caldor holds fond memories for me the most. Thanks for making this video and highlighting the Bennetts who started it all. We used to shop at the one in White Plains, NY.

Hey Jake, thanks for doing this video! I really miss Caldor, they were my favorite retailer from back in the day and still is! It's a shame, they could have lasted longer if Carl Bennett didn't retire. The changing of new ownerships didn't make things any better and made it worse for them. I filmed an abandoned Caldor in Middletown, NY and I believe is the only one left that is abandoned, which is insane. I just wish someone bought them out again and revived the retail chain but obviously it's too late for that to happen, there was just too much competition. Particularly Walmart, which was expanding. Pretty sad how the retail chain went out of business 😔.

@gasparinha

Жыл бұрын

I grew up in Middletown! That shopping center is the only one in town that hasn't had a makeover since the late '90s. Our favorite Chinese restaurant was in that little mall. I'm glad Colandrea Pizza King is still open!

@andersonrodriguez8258

Жыл бұрын

And Amazon

@TimurD1905

Жыл бұрын

@@gasparinha Hmm I wonder if the Chinese restaurant was where the Golden Corral is now. Colandrea is still there but there are new owners there now and some mixed reviews on Google. There also used to be a Bradlees in Middletown, now it's a Hobby Lobby & Ashley Furniture. I have more memories of Bradlees back when I was a kid shopping with my mom in the 90's, the good old days!

@gasparinha

Жыл бұрын

​@TD3 Everything in my old sewing kit has price tags from that Bradlees. LOL I go back long enough to have shopped in Lloyd's (where the ShopRite is now - its third location on 211!). I bought my first makeup (CoverGirl) and my first "grown-up" cassette tape (The Black Crowes) there - along with groceries and towels and who knows what else! Lloyd's put downtown out of business, then Caldor, Bradlees, and Ames put them out of business, then Walmart put those three out of business!

@TimurD1905

Жыл бұрын

@@gasparinha It's like an endless cycle, hopefully Walmart will be the one next to go after 10 years lol

I simply adore this series so much Jake

@BrightSunFilms

Жыл бұрын

Glad you’re here watching!

@hayleywaalen2612

Жыл бұрын

@@BrightSunFilms Yeah. Caldor closed when I was only 3

Thank you for this! Caldor was a popular store in my family. The one we shopped at regularly had a Nathan's Food Court within the store, so my parents would take us there on a Saturday night (always after church!) to eat dinner, and then we would walk around. My parents were usually shopping for something, but my brother and I were always able to get something from there. The entertainment center my parents had until 2016, as well as the dishes my mom still has (since 1988!), were purchased at the Manahawkin, NJ Caldor. Even though Target came into our area in 1997, Caldor held a special place until the end. We still talk about how great that store was - I've described it to my husband as "A Target Type of Store."

The amount of retail chains that went defunct in the last 60 years is staggering. Compiled list from memory include Two Guys, GEX, J.M. Fields, Woolco, Clover, Rickels, S.Klein, Channel, Builder's Square, Jamesway, Pathmark, Pantry Pride, EJ Korvettes, K-Mart, Sears, WT Grants, Shop n' Bag, Thriftway, Ames and the list goes on.

You should do either a Bankrupt or Abandoned for The Sports Authority

Love your content! Can you consider doing a piece on Borders Books & Music? I think it would be a great topic!

this was a great video. i remember caldor being one of the local big box stores when i was kid, and this is fascinating to learn so much more about it

Used to go to Caldors and Bradleys all the time in the 90s with my parents. I have fond memories of those stores, I pass an abandoned one every once in a while.

They would have failed earlier except that their core territory was the last part of the country to get Walmarts.