Being a lifelong resident of Midland, one of the stores I miss the most is a store called Gibson's Discount Center.

What is Gibson's Discount Center you ask? It was the first store that could be called a "supercenter," like Walmart is today.

You could get groceries, toys, plants from the nursery, prescriptions filled, buy records and tapes (8-Track tapes if you know or remember what those are).

From the time I was little until it closed down in the mid-'80s, it was my favorite place to shop.

I started out going to the toy department as a child, which took up the whole area that is now Entertainmart, formerly Hasting's.

The grocery and entertainment section took up the areas that are Dollar General and the former Fit Results.

The nursery section and seasonal department were where Bob Mills Furniture is now and Bob Mills did add on a little bit to the original building.

So except for the little bit of the building that was added on to accommodate Bob Mills Furniture, the whole building located on Cuthbert Ave. was all one store.

Imagine being a little kid getting lost in a HUGE toy department the size of Hasting's, it was a wonderland for kids, and then once I became a teenager they had a huge music section where I bought most of my 45s, albums, and tapes on both 8-track and cassette. This was also a wonderland for a teenager.

The building is now four different stores and looks like a shopping center, but back in the 70s and 80s, it was a huge Walmart-type store that I loved going to every day.

 

Here are 50 of your favorite retail chains that no longer exist.

 

50 Famous Brands That No Longer Exist

More From B93