Forgotten Businesses of the Past That Will Remind You of Your Childhood

Founded: 1959 
Number of locations at peak: 5
Ceased operations: 1970s (3 Locations)

Originally, Busch Gardens was a marketing ploy for the Anheuser-Busch company. The amusement parks consisted of horse stables and hospitality houses that contained samples of Busch products. Over time, rides and attractions became the prominent feature of the parks, and Anheuser-Busch even created its own entertainment corporation to handle the revenue.

Busch Gardens @NCESC_ / Pinterest.com

Though there were five parks at the peak, three have shut down as of the 1970s. Parks in Van Nuys, Los Angeles, and Houston are all a thing of the past, as they had to be closed for financial reasons. There were supposed to be Busch Gardens in Barcelona and Dubai, but those plans were scrapped before the parks were built.  

Founded: 1980
Number of locations at peak: 280
Ceased operations: 1992

Showbiz Pizza Place was a pretty blatant knockoff of its competitor, Chuck E Cheese. But you may not know that it was actually founded by Robert Brock, one of the original Chuck E Cheese investors and owner of a large collection of Holiday Inn hotels. Showbiz Pizza Place even had their own creepy animatronic host character– a bear named Billy Bob. 

Showbiz Pizza Place 1984 @showbizpizzacom / Facebook.com

Alas, eventually Showbiz merged with Chuck E. Cheese, but the brands continued to live their own lives until they eventually both began to struggle. Showbiz began to redesign their locations to be Chuck E Cheeses, and the Chuck E Cheese brand continued until the current world conditions forced them to close all their stores. 

Founded: 1975
Number of locations at peak: 450
Ceased operations: 1989

By the early 1970s, arcades were popular all over the country but sometimes were known to be in seedy locations, where people smoked and ate and spilled drinks and got in fights. Not necessarily the kinds of places you wanted to drop your kids off for a few hours. 

Aladdin's Castle @allathingsmedia / Pinterest.com

But in 1975, Jules Millman sought to change the image of arcades by opening them in malls, keeping them clean and well-maintained, The brand skyrocketed to success and soon became known as the “McDonald’s of arcades.” The brand eventually merged with iconic game maker Bally, and together they dominated the 80s arcade game universe. 

Founded: 1969
Number of locations at peak: 29
Ceased operations: 1993

In today’s world of high-tech virtual reality gaming, it’s hard to imagine that at one point in American history, the greatest toy a kid could have was a lifelike locomotive train system they could build themselves and watch go round and round. The Lionel Corporation dominated the market of model trains in the early 1900s. 

Lionel Kiddie City 1969 @Darrell Gaddis / Facebook.com

They realized eventually though that they needed to branch out to stay in business. In 1969, the Lionel Corporation opened its own brand of toy stores called, Lionel Kiddie City, where they sold every kind of fun kids toy you could imagine. Alas, they suffered from economic downfall and stiff competition from Toys R Us.

Founded: 1980
Number of locations at peak: 9000 at peak
Ceased operations: 1991

Ok, so Blockbuster may not be considered a “kids chain,” but hey, most millennials today know that there was no better place to be than a Blockbuster on a Friday night in the ’90s. They had everything you could imagine and families would ponder the aisles endlessly in search of the perfect assortment of films for the weekend. 

Blockbuster @rarephotos/Pinterest.com

Alas, Netflix and Redbox pretty much took down the titan. Blockbuster tried hard to compete with their own mail-away disc service and online streaming, but they never could crack the algorithm like Netflix did. As of today, the last remaining Blockbuster is a franchise in Bend, Oregon. 

Founded: 1948
Number of locations at peak: 1,600
Ceased operations: 2018

Oh Toys R Us. How have kids survived without you in their lives? Are the days of playing around in a toy store and picking out your favorite toys long gone, replaced only with video games and borrowing your mom’s phone to play Angry Birds? Perhaps that is the case.

Toys R Us @Rewind Tees / Pinterest.com

Toys R Us as we know it began in 1957 by Charles Lazarus, who had previously owned a bunch of furniture stores where he also sold toys. He eventually realized toys were way more fun than couches so he decided to shift his focus. Toys R Us reigned as the number 1 big box toy store in America until its ultimate demise when it filed for bankruptcy in 2017.

Founded: 1993
Number of locations at peak: 88
Ceased operations: 2005

Exactly how exhilarating was Exhilerama? Well, apparently not exhilarating enough to stay in business past 2005. Exhilerama was a small mall arcade owned by Edison Brothers, who owned many other retail and apparel stores in malls nationwide. Once arcades started to become popular in the ’70s, it wasn’t long before mall retail companies like this realized it was important to make malls a fun family place, 

Exhilarama @FotoshoppeCo / Twitter.com

Exhilarama has skeeball, video games, pinball, and more, plus tons of fun prizes you could cash in your tickets for. The company had a somewhat dark, but profound slogan, usually placed upon the walls of their locations– “It’s a jungle out there. Stay here. “

Founded: 1927
Number of locations at peak: 300
Ceased operations: 2007

William J Bresler, a polish immigrant, knew one thing and one thing only– he knew how to make spectacular ice cream with a flavor for everyone. 33 flavors in fact. The ice cream chain continued fulfilling the dairy dreams of America’s youth all the way up until 2007 when its last few remaining stores closed. 

Bresler’s 33 Flavors Ice Cream 1962 @Reese Kern / Pinterest.com

The company changed its name to simply “Bresler’s Ice Cream,”  in 1987 when it was sold off to an Aurora Illinois company called Oberweis Dairy. They must not have wanted the added pressure of having to always have 33 flavors available. 

Founded: 1957 
Number of locations at peak: 20
Ceased operations: 1982 

The Tops Drive Inn is one of the long-lost restaurant chains of Northern Virginia. Topps had about twenty drive-ins in Washington, and it had a legion of car hops to carry meals out to people sitting in their cars. They’d set up special trays in customers’ car windows to hold the food.

Tops Drive Inn @carlbrodhead / Pinterest.com

Tops served K.F.C., as the founder Jim Matthews was a close friend of Harlan Sanders, AKA the Colonel. In 1967, Tops Drive Inn merged with Gino’s Hamburgers, which Marriott Corp. bought in 1982. After the eighties, most Tops and Gino’s were converted to Roy Rogers restaurants. 

Founded: 1862
Number of locations at peak: 6
Ceased operations: n/a

Remember that classic scene in the 1988 hit Tom Hanks film, Big in which Tom Hanks and his character’s boss in the film decided to play a piano duet in the toy store on the giant floor piano that you have to use your feet to play? Well, that scene was inspired by none other than F.A.O Schwarz.

FAO Schwarz @6sqft / Twitter.com

The iconic children’s store struggled throughout the 21st century and shut down its flagship Fifth avenue in 2015. Like many toy stores, they suffered from competition from big retailers like Target and Walmart, and of course Amazon. But in 2018, they made a great comeback and reopened the Fifth Avenue store just in time for the holidays. 

Founded: 1993
Number of locations at peak: Unconfirmed
Ceased operations: 2014

Nostalgic fashion trends come and go, and right now we seem to be very into the ’90s. Baby-girl dresses, bucket hats, overalls, it’s all coming back. Many people don’t know that much of the 90’s fashion trends for women came straight out of the dElia’s catalog. 

dELiA's @deliasbb/Twitter.com

Although Delia’s filed for bankruptcy in 2014, the recent 90’s obsession led to a new alternative style fashion label called Dolls Kill licensing the Delia’s name and “revitalizing” the brand. Dolls Kill has done well with the Delia’s sublabel and was named the fastest-growing retailer in 2014 by, Inc Magazine. 

Founded: 1972
Number of locations at peak: Unconfirmed
Ceased operations: n/a

For many children of the ’80s and 90s, there was once a time when getting a happy meal with some chicken nuggets and french fries and some kind of a toy also went along with a fun afternoon of playing on a colorful playground and perhaps taking a swan dive into a pit of colorful plastic balls.  

McDonald's Playplace 1972 @lindsay / Pinterest.com

However, in recent years McDonald’s began to ease out of its PlayPlace marketing and slowly began to make McDonald’s a bit more mature, appealing more to busy commuters than to children and offering healthier menu items and a variety of interesting coffee drinks.  Also, the risk of rumors and lawsuits associated with the Playplace’s proved more trouble than they were worth. 

Founded: 1963 
Number of locations at peak: 1
Ceased operations: 2004 

Miracle Strip Amusement Park opened in the 1960s, and the Starliner Roller Coaster was its main attraction. Miracle Strip was located across the street from Panama City Beach, and the park grew to become both a spring break hotspot and a family-friendly place to take the kids.

Miracle Strip Amusement Park @ynergaard / Pinterest.com

In 2004, the owner of Miracle Mile sold the land for condo development. Citing lack of interest, loss of money, and high expenses, the former owner said that the 2004 season would be Miracle Mile’s last. Though some rides were sold, many have remained and are just decaying, leaving an abandoned amusement park that is a creepy urbex site.     

Founded: 1968 
Number of locations at peak: 1
Ceased operations: 1978 

Located off Route 422 in Douglassville, Pennsylvania, the Skate Ranch was operated by Harold Christman and William H. Clark. The skating rink clearly left an impression among local kids, as those kids grew up and started Facebook pages remembering the Ranch’s good old days.

Skate Ranch @scottarredondo / Pinterest.com

The 12,000-square-foot skating rink, complete with a maple wood floor that shone under the disco lights, was a popular hotspot for kids, children’s birthday parties, and bored teenagers looking for something to do. The Skate Ranch was in operation from 1968 to 1978. After that, it was sold to Mekosh Brothers, who let it sit empty for years until it was converted into an office space.