Poll of the Day > Remember this machine in Kmart

(+) Yeah! (+)

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/forum/0/07cedd16.jpg

Nostalgia

Yes. I used to love it - my mother would go there to shop and take me when I was a wee lil' lad, then just before she'd check out, she'd buy me three pretzels (for a $1!), and I'd go sit in the photo booth and eat them waiting until she was done and we could leave.

Years later my local BJ's Wholesale Club used to have one, and I'd occasionally buy a pretzel or two and eat it while shopping. Though they eventually got rid of their cafe area and replaced it with a Dunkin' Donuts, so that made me sad. I cancelled my BJ's membership during the pandemic anyway, though - so I wouldn't be able to get them there now even if they were still there.

My local Shop-Rite still has one, though they make them by basting them with butter (which I've never seen anywhere else do), which I kind of dislike, so I don't really buy them there anymore.

They also sell SuperPretzels in a box you can make at home, though I don't like them as much because I don't think they taste as good as the ones you used to be able to get in the store. My nephew likes them though.

The Kmart is the nostalgia. They serve those pretzels in stadiums

ParanoidObsessive posted...

They also sell SuperPretzels in a box you can make at home, though I don't like them as much because I don't think they taste as good as the ones you used to be able to get in the store. My nephew likes them though.

the bavarian sticks are the ones to get. the regular pretzel shaped ones are thin tasteless garbage, but the sticks are big and fluffy and delicious

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ln_88HHXJ04

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LvrPcDw-zuI

I remember buying the pretzels during childhood.

I saw those more often in Target food courts.

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RIP

FridgeBeard posted...

I saw those more often in Target food courts.

I don't think I've ever seen a Target food court. I feel like every Target I've ever been to always had a normal restaurant just renting space. Like a Stewart's or Pizza Hut or a Starbucks.

Though now that I'm thinking about it, that reminds me that the one newer K-Mart near me (not the one I went to as a kid) never had its own food court, because it had a Little Caesar's instead.

i remember when Walmart had a proper food court

it was more of a "get some fries or a slushy and go over to the tables to eat it" area, attached to the deli

and then eventually they put in a mcdonalds, which i thought was stupid because mcdonald's was like a block away from the walmart, and it was a small town we didn't need two mcdonalds

It looks familiar, but it's hardly nostalgic. I've never bought pretzels so it's never occurred to me that the machines have been gone.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mU4pOBjB4yc

I miss malls.

They were the physical embodiment of the internet before the internet existed.

Encouraged more socialization and the use of tactile senses.

I scroll through Amazon.com and it isnt the same. I can't FEEL the texture of the shirt Im about to buy. I can't SMELL the food court outside where my group of friends are waiting for me. I can't HEAR the electronic beeps and the laughter of children at the arcade we are totally going to hit up after lunch.

Life was just better then.

[sigh]

Malls were always destined to become desolate and abandoned.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VuCXo7Vtrks

"The malls are the soon-to-be ghost towns
Well, so long, farewell, goodbye"

I mostly got blue raz icees, but think I maybe got a cinnamon sugar pretzel once.

ooger posted...

Malls were always destined to become desolate and abandoned.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VuCXo7Vtrks

"The malls are the soon-to-be ghost towns
Well, so long, farewell, goodbye"

Only because of the internet.

Nah, it's not like these places were super nice or interesting.

the one i am most familiar with was the snack bar at Hills.

But yeah I used to work at a wal-mart and it originally was a snack bar owned by wal-mart but eventually became a Subway, and now I think it might be the prep area for where the employees pick your online order.

ParanoidObsessive posted...

she'd buy me three pretzels and I'd eat them

You ate 3 of those freaking things in one sitting?????

GreenKnight127 posted...

I miss malls.

They were the physical embodiment of the internet before the internet existed.

Encouraged more socialization and the use of tactile senses.

I scroll through Amazon.com and it isnt the same. I can't FEEL the texture of the shirt Im about to buy. I can't SMELL the food court outside where my group of friends are waiting for me. I can't HEAR the electronic beeps and the laughter of children at the arcade we are totally going to hit up after lunch.

Life was just better then.

[sigh]

The 70s and 80s were peak mall.

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/forum/0/0f321744.jpg
https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/forum/e/eec4339d.jpg
https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/forum/d/dcd851a1.jpg
https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/forum/5/5986dc8a.jpg

Malls were just so much more organic back then. Dark colors, carpeting, plants, water features, wood paneling. Now they're just sterile, and most have packed the center areas with kiosks selling questionable merchandise.

Greenfox111 posted...

You ate 3 of those freaking things in one sitting?????

Yes. I've always had a huge appetite.

Fortunately for me, it never really resulted in me getting fat - I've always had a huge metabolism (inherited from my father), and I burn off most of what I eat before it becomes an issue (especially as a kid, when I was always running around and doing stuff). If anything, I always used to look too skinny (and gangly and awkward) when I was still a kid. Not necessarily helped by being the tallest one in the class starting in pretty much kindergarten.

It's really only in the last 15 years or so that I've started very slowly moving into what I'd consider overweight, and even then it's more of a dad-bob than being outright blatantly fat. Probably because I've gotten more sedentary without really scaling back my eating habits as much as I should (though I do eat less now than I used to, it's less fewer portions and more skipped meals, which is arguably worse).

A lot of movie theaters still have those.

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/forum/0/0ce77d22.jpg