These Old KY Big Box Stores Once Ruled Holiday Shopping Seasons

I wonder how many big box department stores--or department store chains that ARE NOT considered "big box"--will still be here in 40 or 50 years. My money is on Walmart, for sure, and maybe Target. I don't think Meijer is going anywhere, either.

Back in the day--from my standpoint--going shopping was an event, a really big deal on, say, a Friday or Saturday night. And three, four, or five decades ago, these Kentucky stores were hopping...especially at Christmastime.

Big Blue Stores

I'll begin here because the Big Blue Store at the corner of Byers Avenue and New Hartford Road was one of my dad's favorite places to shop. And we couldn't have been more thankful for its existence since he was such a hard person to buy for. Here's an old Big Blue commercial from 1996 to jog some nostalgia.

Incidentally, there are a few remaining in North Carolina.

S.W. Anderson's Department Store

What is now the Owensboro Museum of Science and History was once a great monument to department stores of old, like the ones you'd see in old movies. S.W. Anderson's, which closed in 1988, was one of the last truly classic department stores in downtown Owensboro, with multiple floors to accommodate a wide variety of sections that ONE floor simply could not. I even had a FUR COAT department on the third floor. Now THAT is old school.

King's Department Store

King's was located where Consumer Mall is now on East 4th Street, so you know it was huge. And it had everything you would think a big box store SHOULD have. But it also had something they DON'T have anymore...a big lunch counter. And King's had AMAZING hamburgers. If King's was the plan for a Friday or Saturday night, it is also where we would have dinner. The Massachusetts-based chain closed for good in 1984, but Owensboro's location had already closed by then. Here's a news story about its College Park MD store shuttering in 1982.

Service Merchandise

I never again saw a Service Merchandise after the one in Owensboro's Towne Square Mall closed. I'm not sure of the date, but I think it was in the 2000s. The unique set-up featured "catalog showrooms" through which you could browse, make your selection, then go to the front of the store and wait for it come out on the conveyor belt.

By the way, do a search today, and you'll learn that Service Merchandise deals exclusively in jewelry.

Kuesters Do It Center

Not only is the Kuesters sign still there on Carter Road, it looks like it's in excellent condition from the street. But it's been 20 years since this Christmas shopping mecca closed its doors. Remember the tag line? "Only Santa has more toys than Kuesters." As a kid I always thought that was funny since Kuesters was primarily a hardware store.

I enjoyed every single one of these, but if I could have one back, it would be Anderson's, even IF that design may no longer be practical in 2024.