Along with concerns about the availability of housing, another common theme in Living Los Alamos is wishing there was more shopping. The pandemic certainly hit us hard, but the closing of CB Fox and other long time shopping locations has reminded me that there have been a lot of different stores throughout the years. Some might really surprise you. I’m going to give you a few names, and if you remember some more, please feel free to share them in the comments on Facebook!

Gibson’s Discount Store

If you or your parents were raising families here in Los Alamos in the 1970’s, there’s a really good chance you remember Gibson’s down in White Rock. Yes. White Rock. The Gibson’s building is currently housing Smith’s. But back in it’s heyday, Texas based Gibson’s offered a little bit of everything to the consumers of Los Alamos County. Clothe the family, buy your favorite candy, and even stock up on hunting supplies. Yep. No kidding. In an October 1972 issue of Field & Stream magazine, Gibson Products Co Los Alamos location is listed as being a participant in the great Cedar-Crest Kentucky Pistol Giveaway. Most of the moms from that era recall escaping with the kids to the air conditioned store where they could browse the aisles just for something to do.

TG&Y

If you lived in Los Alamos in 1983 during the now historically infamous Cabbage Patch Christmas Craze, there’s a good chance your mom or your friend’s mom spent a lot of time hanging out at TG&Y from Thanksgiving to Christmas Eve. The store held raffles for the last remaining Cabbage Patch Dolls in the days leading up to Christmas. A winning ticket gave you the opportunity to pay $50 for a doll that retailed for $30 when they first came out only a few months before.

The Oklahoma based five and dime store was the place to shop back in the eighties for residents of Los Alamos. In fact, this YouTube video for a 1984 back to school shopping ad is probably going to make you laugh and cry at the same time. (Try not to look at what things cost back then!) TG&Y originally occupied a good chunk of the storefront at the Mari Mac Village Shopping Center where you can now go and hang out at the Pajarito Brewpub. Back in “the day”, Smith’s occupied the Central Avenue side and TG&Y occupied the Trinity Drive side with the chain store “Revco” sandwiched handily between to handle the prescriptions, cosmetics, and other drug store needs of Los Alamos residents.

TG&Y went through several rebrandings, including MrCrory’s and Coast to Coast, and eventually became Bealls before being sold again to Gordman’s, and finally closed thanks mostly to the pandemic of 2020. However, the space is still there so who knows what might pop up in the next few years.

Anthonys

Yet another Oklahoma based chain store used to occupy a large storefront where you can now enjoy a bagel at Ruby K’s. Los Alamos Drug was conveniently located in the corner spot where Starbucks is (until they move to their brand new location), but Anthony’s required the rest of the square footage for their racks of clothing, shelves of shoes, and even an assortment of fabric and sewing supplies for the busy housewives of the seventies and eighties. Here in Los Alamos, it was the place for go for your cowboy boots and brand new jeans for the first day of school. The Anthonys chain went into Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 1991, and in 1997 the chain was acquired by Stage Stores Inc. At that time the store in Los Alamos had already been closed. Ironically enough, the remaining Anthonys stores were mostly rebranded Bealls. Go figure.

Now, these aren’t the only places we used to shop. In an upcoming post I’ll be talking about some other stores that used to provide the population with some important necessities for daily life in Los Alamos.

As we look back on the places we used to shop in Los Alamos, I’d like to point out something that’s actually a bit encouraging. The topic of small business in Los Alamos is always something we hear discussed. But all of these stores above went out of business not because of local taxes, unreasonable rent, or other locally based problems. These stores were casualties of retail issues that happened nationally. Every small town in America has had these problems thanks to big box stores and now cyber shopping. Perhaps we should just be patient and see where the next wave of retail fads take us. A few more specialty stores such as Seeking Chameleon or The Cricket Window would be welcome. And while we might pretend to wish we had a Walmart or Target, the truth is that when those bigger box stores move in, it pretty much kills any smaller retail competitors. So hang on, Los Alamos. Shop Small! And when you’re ready to talk buying and selling real estate, give me a call! I’m your hometown real estate agent and I’d love to chat with you!