12 Days of #108Mas: Gone Forever Holiday Gift Spots

Back when I was a yout or even more recently when I was a young adult, it was a bit of an EVENT to go out and buy gifts around this time of year for your loved ones. You would go out to a shopping mall or a big department store and search around for that perfect gift for the people on your list. Sadly, this part of the holiday ritual is nearly gone with department stores and shopping malls dying off at an alarming rate, so I bring you a list of some that are gone, but not forgotten.

Zayre

This was the Target of it’s era and there used to be one right on Ashland and 42nd, fucking clutch when it’s that close to the crib. It also had the hugest parking lot for a kinda meh store I can ever remember.

Venture

This place has the most memorable looking building style ever. I’m not sure if I ever bought much at Venture, but I do remember them having almost endless amounts of Xmas decorations.

Montgomery Ward

As a kid, I could remember hitting the Montgomery Ward with my Grandma around Christmas time to do some shopping. I am pretty sure though, the only shopping we actually did was my Grandma buying Chorizy and I (and her) copious amounts of candy. Those were good times!

Marshall Field’s

I can remember back to buying some nice gifts for my wife at Marshall Field’s back in the day when we were just together (we started dating in 2000 and got married in 2002). I always like the feel of navigating the downtown Marshall Field’s felt like a spot where some people with money were shopping.

Dominick’s

Okay, this kind of a weird one, but we didn’t always have all these fucking Binny’s everywhere, so Dominick’s used to be the spot to go and get some booze gift for a party that you were heading to on short notice or for a damn grab bag gift. Not to mention, before you had responsibilities like hosting your whole family at the crib for Christmas, you could pop in there and grab some Eli’s Cheesecake to bring to your mom’s for the holiday.

Remember any holiday gift spots from the past that are no longer with us?? Hit me up on the twitters to discussion.

-BeefLoaf