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Thread: The little PC shop

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    Pear (Level 6) Soviet Conscript's Avatar
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    Default The little PC shop

    well I didn't pick up an NES till pretty late in its life cycle and i never really took to my sisters hand me down 2600 so through the late 80's and early 90's I relied on my C64 for gameing goodness. My dad didn't live with me and my mom but I was always excited to visit on some weekends because he had an Amiga 500 which I thought blew my C64 out of the water.

    Anyways, between my moms house and my dads was the delapidated and dying urban center of Brownsville, PA. back in the late 80's it was pretty much as dead as it is now, but it did hold one glorious treasure. that treasure was a small VHS rental/pc gameing store that I could never remember the name of. every few months i managed to talk my dad into makeing the slight detour and takeing me there.

    It was a small shop down by the river, acually I think it was a house with the downstairs converted to a shop. when you first entered it was your standard fair 80's VHS rental shop. the owner was the typical chubby "comic book" store looking guy. in one small corner of the shop was a wall of a few brand new PC games, C64, amiga, apple ect.. marked at $40 and up. Of course my dad was far to cheap to buy me a brand new game. but thats where the real magic of the place came in. in a small room next to the main room was a dedicated computer room. I don't know maybe this was acually common for these places back then but its the first time I ever seen anything like this. the room was lined with multipal Amigas, C64's, Apples, and various other popular computers of the time. the owner had several sons who basicly ran this room. there were a TON of games (copies) in those floppy holder cases. I remember spending hours just flipping through those floppies and trying so many games out. I loved that place and always threw a fit whenever my dad was ready to leave, in retrospect though I think he was more then generous with the time he let me hang out there.

    So whenever I would find a game I enjoyed i would add it to a pile which he sold for i beleive something like 50 cents to a few dollers eatch. I remember being stuck on maniac mansion and on my next visit I told this to one of the sons. on hearing about me being stuck in the game he loaded it up and played through the whole game for me, showing me how to get through it.

    That store has some of my fondest and earliest gameing memories. sometimes I still wonder if the place is still around as its been well over 10 years since I visited. I'm sure it would never of survived in any form through the changes in the industry and the general decay of Brownsville but every once in awhile I get the urge to brave the streets and try to retrace my scetchy childhood memories to that beloved place.

    or I suppose I could just ask my dad about it...but wheres the challenge and mystery in that?

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    Apple (Level 5) Matt-El's Avatar
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    Cool. Some Variety in there. I was hoping for someone to come along with a retro PC gaming story.

    Cuz, well, It's supposed to be for the classic guide.


    Sounds like it was a neat place to check out.

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    MachineGex's Avatar
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    Good story. Reminds me when I lived in Reading, PA about(well exactly) 17-18 years ago. There was a small computer store there I use to go to. Around the time the Genesis came out, the owner started carrying a lot of NES and Genesis games. Over the next 6 months, the store went from 90% Computers/10% console games to 90% console games. The store was packed every day. I still wonder what happened to that place.

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    Pear (Level 6) Soviet Conscript's Avatar
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    *roll unsolved mysteries CASE UPDATE intro clip*

    I just got a PM today by a memeber here and apperently the place still exsists. It was called Elmos and apperently they have done an intresting job of adapting thier buisness over the years. seems they are some kinda resturaunt/internet cafe/bar/computer gameing and selling/gun place now?....oh and they also sell scooters? the place has moved to a new location now but after reading the history of thier buisness on thier website i'm sure its the same place. frankly i'm amazed and although it looks to have changed dramaticly I must start planning a pilgramige to check it out.

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    Great Puma (Level 12) bangtango's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Soviet Conscript View Post
    *roll unsolved mysteries CASE UPDATE intro clip*

    I just got a PM today by a memeber here and apperently the place still exsists. It was called Elmos and apperently they have done an intresting job of adapting thier buisness over the years. seems they are some kinda resturaunt/internet cafe/bar/computer gameing and selling/gun place now?....oh and they also sell scooters? the place has moved to a new location now but after reading the history of thier buisness on thier website i'm sure its the same place. frankly i'm amazed and although it looks to have changed dramaticly I must start planning a pilgramige to check it out.
    That is good news. Obviously the family running that business were pretty smart to have survived all of those years. I'd guess they also managed to do pretty well, given they could afford to move to a new location and complete so many upgrades.

    They offer lifetime free labor and support on the computer system packages they sell? Well, good customer service and standing behind products like that will keep you in business for a long time.

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    Cherry (Level 1) CastlevaniaDude's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by bangtango View Post
    That is good news. Obviously the family running that business were pretty smart to have survived all of those years. I'd guess they also managed to do pretty well, given they could afford to move to a new location and complete so many upgrades.

    They offer lifetime free labor and support on the computer system packages they sell? Well, good customer service and standing behind products like that will keep you in business for a long time.
    I had to sign up just to PM SovietConscript when I read his post. I was shocked... SHOCKED... to be reading someone's post about Elmo's of all places on a random message board!

    I disagree that they are running a wonderfully functioning business. Actually what it is is that they're the only place in town that would let you hang out there with like minded people if that was your thing. Some major megageeks in there, though. It was small and dark and filthy. You had to be really into it to hang out there.

    They are more bark than bite in terms of service. More than once I've been cussed out on the phone when trying to deal with them. That dates back to when I was about 11 years old, no less.

    When he (the OP) says that the area its in is dead, he means DEAD. There is absolutely nothing there. Abandoned buildings everywhere, dilapidated housing, just awful.

    They are because they are, basically.

    They had to change locations because they were serving food out of the most disgusting building ever and I do believe it was condemned. They probably got the old synagogue they moved to for a song. They also sell guns.

    The guy that runs it never struck me as a savy busniessman. He looks an awful lot like Capt. Lou Albano of WWF (and SMB Super Show) fame, and always wore button down collared shirts with his nasty grey chest hair hanging out.

    I think Elmo's is just a case of offering something that just isnt offered around here. It wasn't as charming to me as it was the the OP, but still a cool little place that it's nice to still have around.
    Last edited by CastlevaniaDude; 08-30-2007 at 08:00 PM.

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