Zayre's Atari sales circular from 1982

[JayAre]

I spotted this Zayre price sticker on my copy of Oink!  Look at that price.

 

Edited August 8, 2022 by JayAre

[zzip]

55 minutes ago, 7800Knight said:

I'm hoping shopping malls don't go the way of Zayre's either.

 

Ever since the 2008 recession, shopping malls have seen a sharp decline here in the USA.  No new malls were built for a long time (I don't know if any have been built recently), many malls started dying or even became dead and more people are shopping online now.  COVID didn't help either.  Plus we have another recession coming; when it goes full blast, it will be as bad as the 2008 recession and maybe worse.  That won't help malls either.

I think it's online shopping combined with fast shipping more than anything else hurting retail stores.     Sure we always had mail-order, but it used to be "allow 4-6 weeks for delivery".   Now you can get your Amazon order in a day or two.

 

And shopping has become boring.   There used to be so many chains to shop at for variety,   now it's Target/Walmart/Kohls for everyday stuff.   Home Depot/Lowes (do you like blue or orange?).   If you venture to a mall  JCPenney/Macy's.   And they all carry bland mainstream stuff, nothing too niche or exotic-- you have to go online for that!    

 

Hard to believe a store like Radio Shack could exist in every mall and strip mall with all the weird stuff they'd sell.  Seems unthinkable now

 

So until we decide we've had enough of being couped up in our houses and supporting monopolistic online retailers, I don't see this changing.

 

But somehow my local mall does still seem to get a lot of traffic, so maybe things aren't as bad as it seems?

[Turbo-Torch]

Zayre's in Merrillville Indiana was my families #1 department store to shop at.  First game I bought for my 2600 was Night Driver from Zayre (followed by many more).  Their Sunday sales flyer prices always seemed to beat out places like Kmart and Venture.  I remember their going out of business sale...I had my own car by then and went there everyday with friends buying stuff for pennies on the dollar.  It was a free for all madhouse and in the final days the orange clearance price tags were littering the aisles, pick one up and slap it on whatever you wanted and there were no questions asked during checkout.  Ames moved in and was nothing like Zayre.  All they did was occupy the original buildings.

Oh, Zayre also had a small food court with pinball machines and some of the very first B&W arcade games.  Also a little 25 cent movie booth that would play Woody Woodpecker cartoons.  Mom could just leave her kids up front with a couple dollars and go shopping.

 

The 1978 video posted by ave1 just blew my mind at 23 seconds in.  Those dishes!  My mom bought them at Zayre's in the 70s and I've been eating off them ever since.  Used to annoy her no end during the big family holidays like Thanksgiving, Christmas and Easter...everyone is eating off the Fine China and I'd sneak a plastic Zayre dish out of the cabinet.   Plastic?  Ok, not really sure what they're made out of (hopefully not lead).  When they discolor, I can scrub them with cleanser and they come out like new and no damage to the print.  However, they will get extremely hot, bubble up and explode in a microwave.

 

 

 

 

[7800Knight]

From 1983, another Zayre's commercial!  A boy goes with his mom to buy an Atari 2600, passing by tons of Colecovisions on the shelves.

 

 

[+Stephen]

2 hours ago, Turbo-Torch said:

The 1978 video posted by ave1 just blew my mind at 23 seconds in.  Those dishes!  My mom bought them at Zayre's in the 70s and I've been eating off them ever since.  Used to annoy her no end during the big family holidays like Thanksgiving, Christmas and Easter...everyone is eating off the Fine China and I'd sneak a plastic Zayre dish out of the cabinet.   Plastic?  Ok, not really sure what they're made out of (hopefully not lead).  When they discolor, I can scrub them with cleanser and they come out like new and no damage to the print.  However, they will get extremely hot, bubble up and explode in a microwave.

HAHA - we had a set of those too.  Long gone by now.

[MrMaddog]

On 8/8/2022 at 8:42 PM, 7800Knight said:

From 1983, another Zayre's commercial!  A boy goes with his mom to buy an Atari 2600, passing by tons of Colecovisions on the shelves.

 

 

Because the kid knows not to push his luck by asking for a more expensive ColecoVision (I knew that from my own childhood...)

[polyex]

On 8/8/2022 at 11:44 AM, Keatah said:

They were. Today we're all fat and lazy. Even the FAA is requiring airlines to review seat pitches because people are fatter.

 

I remember just after the golden age of air transport passed, coach seats were still 38-40 inches wide. Now they are 28 inches and likely pose a safety issue if rapid evacuation is required.

I was in London during the record heatwave in the 1970s. I saw a newsreel of London on youtube of that very summer and it was shocking the difference in weight of people. These were outtakes of just people walking around on the street, not actors or models or anything. You would occasionaly see an older overweight person, but they were the exception. Now the opposite is true.

[schuwalker]

Out of all department stores gone the way side, I miss Zayre the most. Shout out to the one in W. Aurora, Il.

 

The one specific Atari 2600 game I recall getting there was Swordquest:Earthworld - lol. I did get quite a few Colecovision games there along with some Sega Master System ones. I know dad bought a Coleco Adam there on clearance.

 

This particular Zayre also had a little alcove adjacent to the cafeteria with arcade games. First time I'd seen a Asteroids and Donkey Kong machine. Later one, the games were relocated towards the  exit. I forgot they also had a Cinematronics Armor Attack at that spot.

 

Not only was the videogame nostalgia great here but the toy selection too. This was a hotspot for my Kenner Star Wars collection; I was lucky enough a few times to greet the stockboy and get first dibs on the new figures while he was unloading from the box - good times! They also carried those esoteric figures as well. I definitely recall the Tomy Tron line and The Black Hole line - wish I loaded up!

 

I read an article awhile back about Zayre. Zayre was their own worst enemy. Buying out discount chain store and trying to expand into the southwest led to their downfall. I know once Ames took over my Zayre... writing was on the wall. I don't think they even lasted a year at that location.

[tremoloman2006]

Zayre was my #1 place to pick up Atari ages.  After the crash of '83, there was a table near the cash registers at the Braintree, MA location that would have lots of games available for $5.  I still have many of the carts I bought there today.  Ah... the memories.  I really miss Zayre.