What The Tech: Where to find online stores you thought were gone forever
Some of us grew up spending Saturdays at Kmart, running down the aisles with an Icee in one
hand and a bag of popcorn in the other.
Maybe you bought your first TV at Circuit City, or decorated the kids’ rooms with toys from ToysRUs. Those stores may have disappeared from shopping centers years ago, but here’s a surprise: many of them are still around. You just have to know where to look.
Believe it or not, brands like Kmart, ToysRUs, Pier 1 Imports, RadioShack, and Forever21 are still alive as online-only retailers.
If you type in their web addresses today, you’ll find fully functioning e-commerce stores.
At ToysRUs.com, you can still buy toys and games. RadioShack.com continues to sell stereo equipment, cables, and audio accessories. Forever21 has a full site of clothing, and if you’re missing the smell of your favorite hand lotion, BathandBodyWorks.com might have it in stock.
And yes, Kmart.com is still up and running with clothes, lawn mowers, jewelry, and household
basics. The only thing missing is that familiar popcorn and bubble gum smell (oh, and the “Blue
Light Specials”).
So how did this happen? When the physical stores closed their doors, their names and websites were often sold at auction. The buyers weren’t the same companies that once ran thebrick-and-mortar stores. In most cases, they were e-commerce businesses looking to cash in on nostalgia.
For some websites, the buyer simply redirects the traffic to a competitor. Type in SportsAuthority.com today, and you’ll land on Dick’s Sporting Goods. Border’s website address now leads to its biggest competitor, Barnes&Noble.
More recently, Overstock.com purchased the rights to Bed Bath & Beyond’s name and web presence.
The funny thing is, most shoppers have no idea these sites exist. The companies behind them rarely advertise. There was never a grand announcement that “Kmart is back.” Instead, the sites quietly disappeared for a while and then slowly reappeared, waiting for people to stumble across them again.
Are the deals worth it? In some cases, yes. Prices on these sites are competitive with Amazon and Walmart, and in some cases, you can find even better bargains. It may be worth checking them out if you’re hunting for a deal, or just feeling nostalgic about the brands you grew up with.
The experience may not be the same — no Icees, no endcaps filled with discounted VHS tapes, no gum-smelling checkouts, but for anyone who remembers spending hours in those stores, there’s something fun about filling up a digital shopping cart at a place you thought was gone
forever
