MEMORIES: “Remember back when…” is how the sentence usually starts, before folks start reminiscing about the Christmas display at Emery Hardware, or the A&P Grocery, or Clark’s Discount Store.

In Pennsylvania, Blockbuster is the number one brand that residents say they want back the most, according to a survey by MarketBeat, a financial media company. They asked 3,014 folks aged 45 and up which defunct chains they most want to see back.

The top four answers weren’t ones we had in Bradford, but we could see wanting back Waldenbooks, which was number two, and Borders, at number three. We weren’t familiar with number four, which was Hollywood Video.

Number five, however, brings back great memories from childhood — Woolworth.

“Woolworth felt like a different era wrapped into a single store — part department store, part lunch counter, part everyday essential. You could pick up household bits, grab a snack, and somehow feel like you were part of something slightly more old-fashioned and grounded. It had a rhythm to it, a slower pace that made even a quick visit feel like a small outing. In a world of hyper-efficiency, Woolworth is remembered less for what it sold, and more for how it made everyday shopping feel a little more human.”

It made shopping easier for those without much money.

Pioneered by Frank Winfield Woolworth in 1879 in Lancaster, Pa., the stores pioneered the “five and dime” concept. Customers could freely shop instead of asking the clerks for items.

The stores had lunch counters, too, and were a social hub in the communities where the stores were located. Woolworth stores peaked in the 1960s, and the last one closed in 1997.