This Used to be a Starbucks

May 27, 2009

Joe and I go places. On a Saturday we might drive east on I-40 to the Base Exchange in Midwest City. Or, you might find us on the Southside, browsing Uptown Bargains or FYE For Your Entertainment at I-240 and Penn. On a Sunday we might visit his mother in Del City after she gets home from church. And before we go home, we might pick up a late lunch or an early dinner.

But no matter where we go, we are bound to come across a building that was obviously an old department store at one time, but is now something else. Sometimes the building is subdivided into smaller shops or restaurants. And Joe will inevitably exclaim, “That used to be a TG&Y!”  TG&Y Stores began their financial downturn in the 1980s and finally breathed their last in 2002.

Like last weekend. We were driving around town, going somewhere, who knows where. We must have been on the Southside, on I-240 about Penn or Western, because we drove by a sort of strip-mall. The single building stretches nearly a quarter-mile, but is divvied up into several smaller retailers: Mazzio’s Pizza on one end, Hancock Fabrics and Dollar Tree in the middle,   “I remember when that was a TG&Y! This side was the furniture department, over there were the toys, and here was the children’s clothing section. My mom took me here so many times I could have found my way around blindfolded!”

Having grown up in Oklahoma City where the chain was headquartered, Joe has lots of memories of shopping at TG&Y. It was a staple of his childhood. I can’t count the number of times Joe has said, “That used to be a TG&Y!” Of course, I have to remind him that not EVERYTHING used to be a TG&Y.

Joe and I muse between ourselves, what common stores or restaurants that you see in every town now, will be obsolete by the time our kids have families of their own?

Starbucks, for one. Coffee shops came into vogue in the mid-late 1990s (think Cafe Nervosa of Frasier, and Central Perk of Friends), and Starbucks became the hangout of choice for the in-crowd. Oh, if you went to Starbucks, or were seen carrying a Starbucks cup, you were SOMEBODY. As a result of their popularity, Starbucks could charge ridiculous amounts of money for their coffees, and people would pay it, just to say “I got this at Starbucks.”

When the recession hit, a $5 cup of coffee became a luxury. Spending that much on a cup of coffee became ludicrous and unfashionable. Enter McDonald’s. McDonald’s capitalized on this and started pushing their McCafe line more than ever (the chain was founded in 1993 and was introduced in the US in 2001). The McCafe menu offers mochas, lattes, cappuccinos, and other coffee drinks, for a much lower price, too. Smart move, McDonald’s! Billboards everywhere began advertising the new McCafe: “Coffeehouse mocha with a shot of reality.” SLAM on Starbucks! 

And don’t forget Dunkin’ Donuts! In 2007, the Massachusetts-based coffee & donut shop started grabbing market share from Starbucks with ad campaigns making fun of Starbucks’ “Fretalian” menu. “Is it French? Or is it Italian?” “Delicious lattes from Dunkin' Donuts. You order them in English.”

Starbucks is still King, for now. But they’ll fade out one day, just like TG&Y did. And one day, 30 years from now, our kids will be driving around town with their kids, saying, “I remember when that used to be a Starbucks.”