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spiderbraidsIt's a Throwback Thursday, so time for another look at some ancient photos... and this time around, we're going back 15 years (gulp!) to my college days... in this case, this month in 2005, and, as far as I can remember, the first photos I ever took, to chronicle a dying part of my childhood (sounds like hyperbole, but it'll all make sense)
My family regularly shopped at a local department store within walking distance from our house for more than a decade (since I was in grade school, even) The last surviving branch of the family-owned Banglumpoo Department Store chain catered to most of our general everyday needs. It had a food court, a KFC, a supermarket, and various departments selling various things. It had two floors, although when we first shopped there, it had a third floor selling electronic goods (which later moved to the ground floor).
However, in 2005, there were signs that Banglumpoo was about to close down for good. For example, the KFC store vacated the premises (replaced by a bunch of kitchenware like racks and chairs), they moved their closing time from 9pm to 8pm (their official explanation was to save energy) and even closed entirely for one day (claiming it was a Buddhist holiday), and when dad renewed mom's membership/discount card, instead of a snazzy plastic card we got a flimsy business card. It all became clear in August, when the store announced a 5-50% clearance sale to the end of the month. One Saturday, I had lunch at the department store's food court. I bought a bowl of noodles, and I mentioned the clearance sale to the vendor, who then mentioned that Banglumpoo was closing down, due to the competition from a nearby hypermarket that had opened a few years prior. The date for closedown: September 15. This was subsequently confirmed with a banner in the supermarket saying "Final Sale from the Heart of Banglumpoo: Today until 15 Sept."
As time went by, the shelves at Banglumpoo emptied out, and I decided to take photos of the store in the process of shutting down with my sister's Sony digital camera... (Now, this was back in 2005, before I knew better about how to reliably take more presentable photos, and the camera, more specifically, a DSC-W1, had fewer features and produced relatively small pictures compared to today's compacts, so some of the pictures will be pretty blurry... All photos taken during the final 2 weeks)
4 September 2005
The tower that extended from the top of the store, emblazoned with the logo of the store, could be seen from my then bedroom window. It was pretty when lit up at night.
5 September 2005
The sign says "Second-hand office equipment, at the lowest prices". Basically, they were selling off the tables, cabinets, and things that had been used to place things for sale. This was hung where the KFC used to be.
This sign says "Banglumpoo is open until 15 September". The day before I shot this, this banner hung above the side door on the right of the picture. Speaking of which...
A close-up of the sign on that door. "Let's help save energy. Banglumpoo changes its opening and closing hours as follows: Opens at 11:00am, closes at 8:00pm. Starting Friday 15 July 2005." (B.E. 2548 = A.D. 2005) The Thursday after they started with the new closing times, they closed for one whole day on Buddhist Lent.
A close-up of the sign on the front door. Says the same thing as the banner near the side door.
Now we're inside the store (gotta move quick, because, like all other department stores at that time, Banglumpoo REALLY didn't want you to take photos, despite the lack of signage explicitly saying such). Here is some of that "second-hand office equipment" the front banner was plugging. In the background you can see where the KFC used to be.
The supermarket. Note two things: The empty shelves, and virtually all the goods that remained being sold front and center near the cashiers (the freezer on the left edge is a dog food freezer, which used to be in the far back with all the other pet stuff).
The only thing to indicate that this empty stall on the stair landing between the two floors used to sell CDs and VCDs is a poster for the Steven Segal flick Out of Reach. It was close to the food court that one could often hear music (from karaoke VCDs) being played while eating (there was also also a tape stall near the food court as well).
By this time, most of the 2nd floor had cleared up. Stationary, sporting goods, books (which had gone long before), souvenir-ish toys, bags, musical equipment, all gone. The only part of the 2nd floor that remained: the arts and crafts section. Yarn, dyes, fake flowers, art paper, etc.
Sign on 2nd floor, connecting to the parking lot building. "The flower store [and] Thanaporn Thai Massage remain until 15 September [before] moving to the 3rd floor of Major Cineplex Nontaburi (across from the Nontaburi market)." The flower store actually sold flowers made out of clay.
This is how empty the 2nd floor was that day. The foreground shows all that remained of the stationary section, which used to be in the back of the floor (since barred off, as can be seen in the background). Just visible behind the stationary is the remains of a computer goods stall which had just opened one year previous.
Although with just 10 days remaining (actually less as it would turn out) before she's out of a job, this noodle vendor is still smiling (the same lady I bought my noodles from that day in August).
This medicine shop used to have a huge glass cabinet in front of where the desk is now. There is also a "For Sale" sign on the back cabinet.
The hard alcohol and cigar section. Well, just cigars, and not many at that. They're in the cabinet, at a 10% discount. They all used to be in the liquor section to the right.
Bric-a-brac in front of the supermarket. And yes, more empty shelves in the supermarket.
"Final Sale from the Heart of Banglumpoo: Today until 15 Sept."
7 September 2005
What was left of the electronics department, plus some plastic furniture.
Bata shoes on clearance.
Another shot of the supermarket. Goods put out front and center. The fresh vegetables coolers are now covered with foam, and all the beer, dairy goods, and cold drinks like soda are all gone. The only other thing remaining is fruits.
The Banglumpoo tower sign at night (shot with a longer exposure time)
8 September 2005
A really good look at the empty shelves (and tables) in the supermarket. I picked a shelf with a solid backing, to film this from, so as to prevent me and the camera from being too conspicuous (esp. since I couldn't figure out how to turn off the flash!)
A shot of the food court. The noodle lady's stall was off frame to the right, and off frame to the left used to be a film processing stall, but for the last year or two was used to sell books (in fact, they used more than just the film stall's old space, note the shelf of books in the foreground).
12 September 2005
A good external shot of the store, just after 6pm. The taxi stand in front of the Mister Donut and Tsutaya Video Rental was only built over the weekend.
Another food court vendor. Actually, two. The orange shirt just entered the stall for some reason (a friend, maybe?)
A would-be customer to Newton Suki restaurant (another now defunct chain, apparently), which was right behind Banglumpoo's parking lot building, seemingly wonders if they're still open. This was taken on their final day; the yellow sign on the door says "Open until 12 Sept. 05" followed by addresses for the other branches of Newton (the yellow banner says "Draught beer festival")
Another side door to Banglumpoo, here flanked by a watch repair shop. Inside, the cosmetics section is clearing out. On the door is a new message: "No longer accepts credit cards after Monday 12 September 2005."
And here's that sign, right above a sticker message saying: "Help the nation save energy. Save electricity." Apologies for the blurriness. The cosmetics department was still relatively intact at the time, as seen in the BG.
14 September 2005
The next-to-last day of business for Banglumpoo, it rained. Here's the store, with all its lights turned on (presumably for the very last time)
Some of their "second-hand office furniture" for sale at the former KFC, and in the background, you can see that the whole store's pretty empty. This was photographed from a phone booth just outside the store.
This sneaky photo should give you a good idea of how empty it was on the next-to-last day (I was pretty close to the front of the store, hiding behind a shelf and my umbrella, visible at the top left corner). Meanwhile, the food court had wound down business for good (I met one vendor, one of my regulars, who commented I wouldn't get to eat her food anymore), and the 2nd floor stairs were by now roped off. I even saw a leathergoods manufacturer's truck being loaded (presumably with unsold merchandise)
15 September 2005
Two hours to go before officially closing down. The front door has been chained, and a sign tells us to enter by the side door.
Not that there's anything left to buy (or eat) anyway, judging from this shot of the now vacated food court. Just before I took this shot from the outside door, I went inside and looked at the vacated status of the whole store. Someone asked me why I was here, and told me that no one was allowed in anymore. So before I left, I took this shot of the food court...
and this last look at the insides of Banglumpoo...
Around 2009, the building would be torn down and replaced by a smaller community mall, which reused the tower and the parking lot building, and which would then itself shut down in 2014, before being torn down a few years later (this time, along with the tower and parking lot... and an adjacent gas station) to be replaced with a much larger mall to better serve the high-rise condos that had popped up in the intervening years:
(Shot from roughly the same spot as the "across-the-street" photos, with a smartphone, in December 2018, just after the new mall's opening)
Pretty sure this one's sticking around :-)
My family regularly shopped at a local department store within walking distance from our house for more than a decade (since I was in grade school, even) The last surviving branch of the family-owned Banglumpoo Department Store chain catered to most of our general everyday needs. It had a food court, a KFC, a supermarket, and various departments selling various things. It had two floors, although when we first shopped there, it had a third floor selling electronic goods (which later moved to the ground floor).
However, in 2005, there were signs that Banglumpoo was about to close down for good. For example, the KFC store vacated the premises (replaced by a bunch of kitchenware like racks and chairs), they moved their closing time from 9pm to 8pm (their official explanation was to save energy) and even closed entirely for one day (claiming it was a Buddhist holiday), and when dad renewed mom's membership/discount card, instead of a snazzy plastic card we got a flimsy business card. It all became clear in August, when the store announced a 5-50% clearance sale to the end of the month. One Saturday, I had lunch at the department store's food court. I bought a bowl of noodles, and I mentioned the clearance sale to the vendor, who then mentioned that Banglumpoo was closing down, due to the competition from a nearby hypermarket that had opened a few years prior. The date for closedown: September 15. This was subsequently confirmed with a banner in the supermarket saying "Final Sale from the Heart of Banglumpoo: Today until 15 Sept."
As time went by, the shelves at Banglumpoo emptied out, and I decided to take photos of the store in the process of shutting down with my sister's Sony digital camera... (Now, this was back in 2005, before I knew better about how to reliably take more presentable photos, and the camera, more specifically, a DSC-W1, had fewer features and produced relatively small pictures compared to today's compacts, so some of the pictures will be pretty blurry... All photos taken during the final 2 weeks)
4 September 2005
The tower that extended from the top of the store, emblazoned with the logo of the store, could be seen from my then bedroom window. It was pretty when lit up at night.
5 September 2005
The sign says "Second-hand office equipment, at the lowest prices". Basically, they were selling off the tables, cabinets, and things that had been used to place things for sale. This was hung where the KFC used to be.
This sign says "Banglumpoo is open until 15 September". The day before I shot this, this banner hung above the side door on the right of the picture. Speaking of which...
A close-up of the sign on that door. "Let's help save energy. Banglumpoo changes its opening and closing hours as follows: Opens at 11:00am, closes at 8:00pm. Starting Friday 15 July 2005." (B.E. 2548 = A.D. 2005) The Thursday after they started with the new closing times, they closed for one whole day on Buddhist Lent.
A close-up of the sign on the front door. Says the same thing as the banner near the side door.
Now we're inside the store (gotta move quick, because, like all other department stores at that time, Banglumpoo REALLY didn't want you to take photos, despite the lack of signage explicitly saying such). Here is some of that "second-hand office equipment" the front banner was plugging. In the background you can see where the KFC used to be.
The supermarket. Note two things: The empty shelves, and virtually all the goods that remained being sold front and center near the cashiers (the freezer on the left edge is a dog food freezer, which used to be in the far back with all the other pet stuff).
The only thing to indicate that this empty stall on the stair landing between the two floors used to sell CDs and VCDs is a poster for the Steven Segal flick Out of Reach. It was close to the food court that one could often hear music (from karaoke VCDs) being played while eating (there was also also a tape stall near the food court as well).
By this time, most of the 2nd floor had cleared up. Stationary, sporting goods, books (which had gone long before), souvenir-ish toys, bags, musical equipment, all gone. The only part of the 2nd floor that remained: the arts and crafts section. Yarn, dyes, fake flowers, art paper, etc.
Sign on 2nd floor, connecting to the parking lot building. "The flower store [and] Thanaporn Thai Massage remain until 15 September [before] moving to the 3rd floor of Major Cineplex Nontaburi (across from the Nontaburi market)." The flower store actually sold flowers made out of clay.
This is how empty the 2nd floor was that day. The foreground shows all that remained of the stationary section, which used to be in the back of the floor (since barred off, as can be seen in the background). Just visible behind the stationary is the remains of a computer goods stall which had just opened one year previous.
Although with just 10 days remaining (actually less as it would turn out) before she's out of a job, this noodle vendor is still smiling (the same lady I bought my noodles from that day in August).
This medicine shop used to have a huge glass cabinet in front of where the desk is now. There is also a "For Sale" sign on the back cabinet.
The hard alcohol and cigar section. Well, just cigars, and not many at that. They're in the cabinet, at a 10% discount. They all used to be in the liquor section to the right.
Bric-a-brac in front of the supermarket. And yes, more empty shelves in the supermarket.
"Final Sale from the Heart of Banglumpoo: Today until 15 Sept."
7 September 2005
What was left of the electronics department, plus some plastic furniture.
Bata shoes on clearance.
Another shot of the supermarket. Goods put out front and center. The fresh vegetables coolers are now covered with foam, and all the beer, dairy goods, and cold drinks like soda are all gone. The only other thing remaining is fruits.
The Banglumpoo tower sign at night (shot with a longer exposure time)
8 September 2005
A really good look at the empty shelves (and tables) in the supermarket. I picked a shelf with a solid backing, to film this from, so as to prevent me and the camera from being too conspicuous (esp. since I couldn't figure out how to turn off the flash!)
A shot of the food court. The noodle lady's stall was off frame to the right, and off frame to the left used to be a film processing stall, but for the last year or two was used to sell books (in fact, they used more than just the film stall's old space, note the shelf of books in the foreground).
12 September 2005
A good external shot of the store, just after 6pm. The taxi stand in front of the Mister Donut and Tsutaya Video Rental was only built over the weekend.
Another food court vendor. Actually, two. The orange shirt just entered the stall for some reason (a friend, maybe?)
A would-be customer to Newton Suki restaurant (another now defunct chain, apparently), which was right behind Banglumpoo's parking lot building, seemingly wonders if they're still open. This was taken on their final day; the yellow sign on the door says "Open until 12 Sept. 05" followed by addresses for the other branches of Newton (the yellow banner says "Draught beer festival")
Another side door to Banglumpoo, here flanked by a watch repair shop. Inside, the cosmetics section is clearing out. On the door is a new message: "No longer accepts credit cards after Monday 12 September 2005."
And here's that sign, right above a sticker message saying: "Help the nation save energy. Save electricity." Apologies for the blurriness. The cosmetics department was still relatively intact at the time, as seen in the BG.
14 September 2005
The next-to-last day of business for Banglumpoo, it rained. Here's the store, with all its lights turned on (presumably for the very last time)
Some of their "second-hand office furniture" for sale at the former KFC, and in the background, you can see that the whole store's pretty empty. This was photographed from a phone booth just outside the store.
This sneaky photo should give you a good idea of how empty it was on the next-to-last day (I was pretty close to the front of the store, hiding behind a shelf and my umbrella, visible at the top left corner). Meanwhile, the food court had wound down business for good (I met one vendor, one of my regulars, who commented I wouldn't get to eat her food anymore), and the 2nd floor stairs were by now roped off. I even saw a leathergoods manufacturer's truck being loaded (presumably with unsold merchandise)
15 September 2005
Two hours to go before officially closing down. The front door has been chained, and a sign tells us to enter by the side door.
Not that there's anything left to buy (or eat) anyway, judging from this shot of the now vacated food court. Just before I took this shot from the outside door, I went inside and looked at the vacated status of the whole store. Someone asked me why I was here, and told me that no one was allowed in anymore. So before I left, I took this shot of the food court...
and this last look at the insides of Banglumpoo...
Around 2009, the building would be torn down and replaced by a smaller community mall, which reused the tower and the parking lot building, and which would then itself shut down in 2014, before being torn down a few years later (this time, along with the tower and parking lot... and an adjacent gas station) to be replaced with a much larger mall to better serve the high-rise condos that had popped up in the intervening years:
(Shot from roughly the same spot as the "across-the-street" photos, with a smartphone, in December 2018, just after the new mall's opening)
Pretty sure this one's sticking around :-)
