Here's a two-page spread from the Lorain Journal on August 13, 1963 announcing the Grand Opening of the Hills Department Store in Sandusky – 56 years ago yesterday.
I love the photograph of what was then considered to be the stereotypical American family in the ad. Dad's wearing a fedora, and Junior has a buzz cut and is clutching a football. Mom has Dad’s arm, and li’l Sister stares blankly ahead.
I like those prices too.
Shopping at Hills was pretty memorable too. I remember how much fun it was to wander around the toy department. Mom put a lot of things in layaway, such as Christmas presents and winter coats. And I still remember those low white tables on which many items were displayed.
I guess Hills is sort of a symbol of the Lorain of my youth – the Lorain of the 1960s that was still vibrant and thriving.
I wonder if today’s kids will grow up and feel nostalgic about shopping at Target or Walmart someday? Probably not, unless those particular stores go out of business.
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Hills has been a favorite topic on this blog for almost its entire run. (Click here for an ample sample of some of those posts.)
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UPDATE (August 19, 2019)The Hills Store on Route 57 in Lorain closed on July 31, 1982.
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| Ad from Chronicle-Telegram of July 18, 1982 |
Back when stuff was made in America.By your neighbors!By your parents!By you!For your neighbors!For your parents!For you!Then along comes Jimmy Carter and Ronald Reagan and deregulation.And now here we are 40 years later with no Hills or any other department stores like it except for the biggest of them all,Wal-Mart.The number one importer of foreign junk around.I liked the image of the family in the ad.At least you knew they were American and had the world at their fingertips.But then the little boy in the ad was probably a spoiled baby boomer who turned into a peace loving-foreign car driving hippie.He probably went to Woodstock later in the decade and got turned on to acid,and then he helped tear down the America that his father had helped build up after the war.
ReplyDeleteLOL. This is a friendly blog comment area, not a militia recruitment center.
ReplyDeleteI loved Hill's, but don't remember the low tables. My Mom would also buy me a frozen coke on the way out. Actually, I loved them all...Hill's, Clarkin's, Gaylord's, Zayre's, Gold Circle, Woolworth's, and of course Kmart.
Yes....The frozen Coke and a big warm pretzel was THE snack to have.....I still love Coke and pretzels fo this day.
DeleteHills was my favorite growing up... I mainly remember the one in Amherst. It was real treat to go to wendys for lunch, shopping at Hills (and maybe Kmart as well) and then ended the trip with a frozen coke and pretzel.Those were the days.
ReplyDeleteWe got our back to school clothes at Hills or Ontario back then, and our regular clothes; wore a lot of those less than a buck jeans.
ReplyDeleteWhen did this Hills close? I grew up in the 80s going to the one in Elyria, Amherst, and North Olmsted. Even when I was little I don’t remember this location being open.
ReplyDeleteI remember my mother taking me to the Lorain Hills. Had to be shortly after it opened. I was born in 1959, so I was very young, but remember the strong smell of fresh popcorn as you walked in. Since I lived in Elyria, I also remember it being a very loooong drive to Lorain. Seemed like another country.
ReplyDeleteI think this location closed in 1980-1981.
ReplyDeleteThe closing would be why I don’t remember this location. I would have been two.
ReplyDeleteI’m having the best time reading your blog...just found it today after a conversation with my mom about “what ever happened to the Howard Johnson’s on West Erie??”
ReplyDeleteMy favorite Hills memories are running to the car after church to listen to the end of the “American Top 40 Countdown” for the week...if there was a new #1 song, my friend and I would get to stop at Hills on the way home for the 45!