SOME PLACES THAT NEED TO RETURN EXACTLY AS THEY WERE IN THE 90S OR 2KS OR WHENEVER THEY CHANGED/CLOSED:

2 long 4 another comment+needs 2b editable...  

6/14/24: The document's been updated with additional towns and notes, but rather than reformat this whole entry...a screenshot is the way to go.

• Bradlees (x2; & even Target before the renovation) -Clark/Avenel
• ShopRite (primarily Clark's where B&N moved in...& now that's gone after all these years of omffffffffffffffgness holy shit i weep)
• A&P (the Raritan Rd by Clark Lunchbox [also sadly closed now!], & the Westfield Ave one that was empty forever after we took one field trip there)
• PathMark (& store[s] inside across from it) -Avenel
• Foodtown (Kool-Aid Man Man one? Up yonder with the Burger King I have birthday pics in, near the Project Graduation place?)
• October's Spirits liquors ;]
• KMart (Avenel; one in mall w/ Black & Decker, Wal*Mart?)
• Roy Rogers -Clark (& old Wendy's! Interiors of ANYwhere if they've significantly changed without our knowin' it...)
  
• Easy Video -Clark
• Payless Shoe Source (by Bradlees/Marshall's, & in mall too)
• Sears -Watchung + Woodbridge (and the little ice cream stand on the left-hand side while headed there?)
  
• O'Johnnie's -Clark
• Windsor Diner -Clark
• Pet Shanty -Scotch Plains
• Jimmy Buff's -Scotch Plains
• Bowcraft Amusement Park -Scotch Plains
• Snuffy's Pantagis Renaissance -Scotch Plains
• Pet Valu -Garwood
• Encore Books (& the little restaurant that was/is in their mall?) -Garwood
• Barnes & Noble (Rt 22?)
• Toys R Us/Kids R Us (& the one by the airport. & that Ruby Tuesday) -Woodbridge
• Caldor (?)
• Mandee
• Dressbarn
• National Wholesale Liquidators (& Sally Beauty, DiCosmo's) -Linden
• Rickel (& RadioShack Garwood); Circuit City
  
• Park Place
• Casual Times -Clark
• Friendly's -Clark (new interior cool, previous more so)
  
• The Fireplace -Paramus
• Johnny Carino's
• Rex Gene
• Levitz furniture -Edison? (& Martin's on 22? Seaman's...Ofc we went to a billion memorable yet probably unidentifiable/non-differentiable furniture stores out yonder & elsewhere) 
  
• House of London Hair Place
• George's Catch-27 -Linden
• Steak & Ale -Clark
• Cheeseburger in Paradise
• KB Toys, FAO Schwarz w/ talking tree (Pood+Jack Russell+other dogs underneath on fateful day)
  
• Limited Too + DELIA*S
  
• Disney Store
• WB Store
• Discovery Channel Store (Cherry Hill or Short Hills?)
• Waldenbooks
• Suncoast, Sam Goody (mall as well)
• Borders -Watchung (& good ol' AC Moore!)
• Funk & Standard -Westfield
• Salon Easy Street (& that store that was beside it where I got Beanies, videos?) -Clark
• Bellini's -Avenel
• Giovanna's -Plainfield
• Worthington's Bakery
• Loukas' Last American Diner (love all classic ones omg) -Somerville
• Chatterbox+Arnold's Bakery -Augusta (+every Big Dogs store incl. last in Lake George! & was the one Xmas tree farm also on 206?)
  
• Auberge Suisse -Berkeley Heights
• Blockbuster (Cranford, Avenel, Linden...)
• DZ: Discovery Zone/Chuck E. Cheese
• Vienna 60 Cafe -Scotch Plains
• Treasure Cove -Westfield
• PetLand
• Rialto (Westfield), Cranford theater (Linden one?)
• Ames? Eckerd/Drug Fair? Service Merchandise?
• Howard Johnson -Clark (where ShopRite now is)
• Artevino Studio Cranford
• Book Trader's Colonia location
• Summit Bank -Clark (Raritan)
• Aliperti's -Clark
• Plaster Palace [AND APPARENTLY LAKE COMO'S COW PALACE! ;; DAMMIT NO PLACE ELSE MENTIONED IN THE LONG NOSTALGIC RAMBLINGS BETTER EVER CLOSE]
  
• Clark Library
• Sizzler (near Menlo I think?) 
• Thirsty Moose -Lake Hopatcong
  
• Dahlonega used books, toy store w/ back room of puppets/plush
• Happy Days Mothafuckin' Diner-Pigeon Forge (r u fuckin' kiddin' me...& aaaaannny other greats or just cute/random shops/places/whateverrrr that could be "permanently closed" now somehow *,_,* )
  
• Hancock Family Dollar, Rite Aid (original Clark layout although redo was [is, hopefully?] better), Grand Union; Honesdale Country Dawn...that antique place, any other cute Main St. ones
  

*Clarkton Hallmark--MARY'S, FORMERLY GARDEN OF PAPER? +Animal Crackers. Wawa? Colonia Foodtown? Salon below Dr. Lake (& his old nice office design?)--Oh, that's "From Head to Toe." Looks different? The "tractor playground," + the one next to Grandma Mary/Grandpa Fred's lovely apt. THE SUPERIOR OLD WOODEN HEHNLY ONE. That cool diner & other nice places we remembered near Catskill Valley Homes in Parksville NY that closed when the new highway went through just like Radiator Springs. ;___; That cool Wisniewski-twin-birthday-party indoor/outdoor pools place?
     ...fresh produce market grandma took me to nearby? THE STONE-FLOOR/BALLOONS PARTY SHOP ("PAPER GOODS STORE" ACCORDING TO MA) IN LINDEN. THE DINER ON THE WAY TO KOZIAR'S. the numerous RESTAURANTS WE COULDN'T COME UP WITH. [Strip] malls (Big Dogs, Disney, outlets...)/shopping centers. "The Place" (Lake George)? Restaurant w/ collection of dollhouse furniture+miniatures displayed? That big family buffet in Lancaster/Amish country with the awesome strawberry rhubarb pie? Original excellent wilderness-feeling tree farm & subsequent ones (Carriage House & such?) Orchard/pumpkin patch farms tried besides the bomb-diggitiest Hillview? The garden center on Rahway Ave in Westfield (had been among the nicest, w/ turtles out front...& that other one idk exactly...) That fancy restaurant on the water. Colorado Cafe--even though nobody else ever seriously wanted to go, it was just so iconic. ;; What about the windowless wedding venue with the central dance floor, our long table along the wall, where I got the doggie bag after those fools thinking they wouldn't give one...think I had a purple glow necklace on? We've pics of me & the lady...anyway yeah, could it have possibly been Amici's? Name rang a bell. What was the "school play cast party" diner (Rahway?), and the "jangle me tenders" one--were they different? (So many diners, ugh I love diners...) Clark Lanes--dang, would I even remember it? :'-x

...and just, HOUSES that we always found charming that were knocked down for fugly monstrosities (at least by comparison...) e.g. the old guy's corner brick house on Raritan with the yellow railing down the steps to the sidewalk (bank now right, ugh), the lovely white one across from us, the blue one at the Bonnie Burn Rd intersection, etc. etc...the ones with the cool colors better not change (e.g. pink/purple, royal blue, pink/orange, yellow/green, yadda yadda yadda...) And all others, there'd be loads of "faves" all over for many reasons. Such as Gramma's and my Victorian on the way to Encore Books and Pet Valu. ^^

LINDEN: Movie theater, yes! (Not the one we rented out for Chicken Run though--that was apparently Nutley's.) Plaza in front of train station with Sears (the one Grandma stole from while working there lawwwl--she encouraged our kleptomania but evidently Gran wouldn't have, she'd probably have gone back and paid for Muttsy XD), CARVEL (what I remember most! ;), Chinese restaurant, photo place, record shop. I recall the big rotating sign having a cool graphic on the top rectangle, like a bowl of fruit or something? Building with the big arch-shaped windows. Ones Mom remembers--B Z Fashion, Raifee's (or Raiffee's), Lee children's clothes, Greenberg Jewelers, Woolworths. See comment #2.

--just know i'm gonna keep thinking of more forever. x-x one can bring another dozen to mind. want to see photos/video of the way the 90s/earlier 2ks ones looked then, before being changed or going out of business. many places have gone out in more recent years, and therefore have loads of pics and/or we have pics/vids--and of course indelible, clear, photographic memories of the whole things. some older ones are fuzzier and/or i just desperately want to be able to see them again. the closure of the clark barnes & noble spurred this...if we must lose it, at least give us back the precise shoprite that was there previously...
--starts driving you insane just thinking of all the trillions of places you've ever been in, passed/looked in/noticed/thought was cute, stopped, stayed, played, visited, shopped, patronized--once or frequently...hoping the billions of really great & memorable ones haven't disappeared or been drastically changed because you might never even know. even the nearby ones. ;; literally every place, even if it was only once or on a trip or you couldn't place a name/location... (and then they call to mind the other trillions upon zillions of vivid dream locations, likewise flashing infinitely by. and all the houses/homes/yards.) fond memories can form from the slightest, quickest things anywhere. ;; SADLY YOU KNOW THAT TONS MORE HAVE BEEN AND WILL CONTINUE CLOSING OR CHANGING (FOR THE WORSE 99% OF THE TIME JUST LIKE EVERYTHING), OFTEN WITHOUT YOUR AWARENESS...E.G. CANDLE SHOPPE ACROSS FROM RAINFOREST...INDOOR MALL STORES CAN TEND TO HAVE AN ESPECIALLY HIGH TURNOVER RATE...BUT ALSO THE BIG ANCHOR ONES...E.G. LORD AND TAYLOR! XMAS TREE SHOPS. I CAN'T BEAR THE PAIN...

#MakeItLikeItWas #TheWayItUsed2B #TheWayWeWere