Ya know what I miss?

[Lee]

Hills Department Store.

I remember going in there as a kid standing there in awe of what seemed like isles and isles of toys. Transformers, GI Joe, He-Man, superheros...you name it....it was there. I also remember that they had these displays behind clear plastic of action figures in "action/battle" scenes.

They also had the best popcorn. You could get a 10 gallon sack of that crap for a few bucks and snack on it all day.

Those were the days.

[Scott Reppert]

Right on!!

Remember how they would place their 45's on cardboard backing and shrink wrap them?

Hill's purchases that I remember well:

Beatles--'62-'66
Beatles--'67-'70
Ramones--I Wanna Be Your Boyfriend (PICTURE SLEEVE 45!!!)
Tom Robinson Band--2-4-6-8 Motorway (PICTURE SLEEVE 45!!!)
Roger Staubach's NFL Monday Night Football Game (battery operated where you chose plays vs. your competion)
Mattel Thingmaker

As for albums that I passed up there, they were the ONLY store that I ever saw that carried the following:
Beatles--Get Back (basically the RAREST version of the "Again" album...difference being that it featured "Get Back" while "Again" did not)
Monkees--Instant Replay
Monkees--Present
Monkees--Changes

Now, just think of all the rare Hot Wheels that went through that place!!! Had you just bought ONE of each Hot Wheel since the beginning (1968) and kept them sealed, you could easily sell them for a high six figures...

I also remember them being big on doing "on site" radio surveys.

I also remember their annual Fourth Of July fireworks extravaganzas (ask John Conrad about 1978)...

[Big Media]

I loved Hills. Especially the 5th Street Hills, which was always empty and seldom looted.


Speaking of being looted... what's with that, these days? Not only during Christmas, but all year, you go into a store to get a few things and find big holes in the shelves where something is sold out or hasn't been restocked.

Perfect example, I buy Kroger brand "mixed fruit cups with cherries". All I find is the empty shelf. No fruit. If they think the generic being sold out is going to convince me to pay the extra buck for the Del-Monte, they are dead wrong. All it does is piss me off and the Kroger brand is better anyway.

[Lee]

Hellz yeah!

Hills had a pretty good music selection, too. I remember their wide selection of Casio keyboards. I was one of those kids that would sit and bang on them for hours and hours while annoying the clerks.

I loved Hills. Especially the 5th Street Hills, which was always empty and seldom looted.


Speaking of being looted... what's with that, these days? Not only during Christmas, but all year, you go into a store to get a few things and find big holes in the shelves where something is sold out or hasn't been restocked.

Perfect example, I buy Kroger brand "mixed fruit cups with cherries". All I find is the empty shelf. No fruit. If they think the generic being sold out is going to convince me to pay the extra buck for the Del-Monte, they are dead wrong. All it does is piss me off and the Kroger brand is better anyway.

I hear ya, and have you ever noticed certain foods they used to make are no longer around? For example, Campbell's Meatball Alphabet soup. That was my favorite growing up as a kid, now for some reason they no longer make it. I even found this website:

http://www.inthe80s.com/food/campbellsm ... oup0.shtml

That soup was the shiz!

[genlock]

Hills fifth st road.

Rollerdogs.

[AmpedNow]

Hills was the place to go as a kid... It seemed larger than life.

Besides the endless toys and LPs, they carried decent electronics too.

[Hoosier Daddy]

I remember the WHIZ Store near the Eastern Heights Shopping Center.
Across from Speedway and near Tudor's.
Big white building. Lots of toys inside for me to admire.
Hill's and Heck's were the West Virginia versions of K-Mart back in the day.

[OldSkool]

What about Hills' cashews and popcorn? Yum, yum!

[Dave Harman]

When I was a teenager, the Star City Hills was the cheapest place to get gallon jugs of 20W50 motor oil for my Vega, which required a fill up of oil with each fill up of gas. And when I worked there, it was the last place that paid me folded cash in a small manilla envelope on payday.

[Rock]

Man, the Beckley Hills was like dreamland during Christmas...sheesh, I've never seen toys stacked so high! One of my favorite memories is browsing the big LP section, and finding some big-ass owl on an album cover. I bought it just 'cuz of the cool cover. Rush-Fly By Night. Still have it.

[Lester]

Hills... isn't that where the Russell Hobby Lobby is now? At least the building is still standing.

But nothing was finer than the "secret" 3rd floor of the Ironton JC Penney's. Only open during the Christmas shopping season, and PACKED with toys.

And a vanilla Coke and grilled cheese from the Kresge's Mart right up the street.

Damn.

[Lee]

Man, I almost forgot all about Kresge's.

What about Murphy's Mart? Screw Ames, Murphy's Mart kicked in it the balls! Anyone remember that diner in there? I remember they had the distinction of selling hard to find cassettes. I remember finding a copy of a rare KISS album called "Killers" in there.

What about Hart's? I remember every weekend you could buy two Transformers for 7 bucks. I remember scrimping and saving every dime I could to get that 7 bucks to snag me a couple 'Formers. I also remember seeing a smaller version of Voltron in there and almost shitting my pants because there was the complete toy, only smaller and cheaper, right there in front of me. Later on, Hart's was the first department store (I think) around here that carried Metallica albums. I remember buying "Kill 'Em All" and "Master of Puppets" there.

Remember the days of layaway?

[radiomadness]

Oy, thanks for the memories! Murphy's Mart! Where the Dukes of Hazard "three wheelers" hung from the ceiling, and the diner was sectioned off by the stained glass looking plastic...and if we were GOOD KIDS, MAYBE we'd go in and have a Coke and hot dog. Fast forward 25 years to Wally world workers getting crushed by consumers...sick.

[herdgirl72]

Hills was the shiznit!! There was one down the street from my house in Pea Ridge(its a proffessional center now)...we went there all the friggin time!
I remember they used to have fireworks every 4th of July until the fire marshall told them to stop...we were so bummed when that happened!

My dad LOVED Heck's! His all time favorite store!

[Big Media]

Here an old spot. I was actually looking for a "Hills is Where the Toys Are" spot that I remember from back in the day.

Turn the audio way up on this one.

[Scott Reppert]

That Hills spot was from 1986, because it ran EVERY BREAK during the MTV "Monkees Marathon" of that year!

[Lester]

I remember going in there as a kid standing there in awe of what seemed like isles and isles of toys. Transformers, GI Joe, He-Man, superheros...you name it....it was there. I also remember that they had these displays behind clear plastic of action figures in "action/battle" scenes.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hills_Department_Stores

"Hills had a large toy section that accounted for more than 10% of sales throughout the year."

Apparently they did have isles and isles of toys.

[Hoosier Daddy]

And a vanilla Coke and grilled cheese from the Kresge's Mart right up the street.

Damn.

Now THERE'S a blast from the past!

The Ironton Kresge's lunch counter was legendary for their good food.

Big I Radio, Kresge's, and Step-and-a-Half.

Oh, those Tigertown Memories ...

[Dave Loudin]

"The anti-inflation department store" was the jingle I remember. I looked forward to trips to the East Palestine Hills when we lived in Chester, because that meant a hot pretzel or popcorn along with a new shirt or pants. Downtown Fairmont in the mid-70s had Hecks on one end, with G. C. Murphy's (NOT the mart!) on down the way towards the two big department stores - Hartley's and Jones's. Hills was north of downtown on US 19. From where we lived (near the 6th street gym), I would ride my bike as far as Hecks, so most of my 45s and albums at the time came from Murphy's. Great memories.

[Scott Reppert]

From where we lived (near the 6th street gym), I would ride my bike as far as Hecks, so most of my 45s and albums at the time came from Murphy's. Great memories.

Dave, got a question for you: did the gym shift over one street while you were here???

And it may have been a little bit before your time, Dave, but was Bobbet News still open on Adams Street as you rode your bike toward Heck's? It was across from Alfie's and next door to the West Side Hando's and a pharmacy (Annan's, I believe)...