A number of responses contained references to restaurants (both eat-in and take-out). This survey wasn't intended to include them as part of the shopping experience, so they won't be mentioned here.

Which of the following did you shop for in your immediate neighborhood?
(Multiple responses were allowed, so the sum of percentages will exceed 100)

Here are some of the local "others":

• Drugs and medicines (14 people mentioned this)
• Liquor (9 people mentioned this)
• Toys (5 people mentioned this)
• Sporting Goods
• Cigars

Which of the following did you shop for in a specialty "shopping area" of Brooklyn?
(Multiple responses were allowed, so the sum of percentages will exceed 100)

Here are some of the specialty area "others":

• Automobile Supplies (14 people mentioned this!)
• Sporting Goods (7 people mentioned this)
• Boating and Marine Supplies (5 mentioned this)
• Building and Construction Supplies (4 mentioned this)
• Religious Paraphernalia (2 mentioned this)
• Photographic Equipment (2 mentioned this)

Was your block regularly visited by truck-based vendors?

In your opinion, what area of Brooklyn offered the best shopping opportunities?

Get out your black leather jacket, because it looks like it's the "Kings" vs. the "Fultons" on this one. About 80 percent of the responses were split right down the middle between "downtown" Brooklyn (Fulton Street) and Kings Highway. Here are some of the other areas that were mentioned as favorites. Only those mentioned more than twice are listed here:

• Flatbush Avenue
• Fifth Avenue in Park Slope
• Fifth Avenue in Bay Ridge
• 86th Street
• 18th Avenue in Bensonhurst

Briefly share one or two reasons that you feel made shopping in Brooklyn unique.

Many responses shared a common thread: friendly, homey service and ambience, diversity, and ethnicity. However, the presence in Brooklyn of the Manhattan-type department stores was also a favorite memory. Here are some other comments:

• "The haggling over the prices was the best. You always felt you got the best deal in town after a good haggle."
• "Brooklyn was my home and shopping for necessities or extras was just part of my extended home."
• "Where else could you buy fresh fish from the Italian fishman pushing a cart down the street? Vendors came to you."
• "[You could find products with] any ethnic background you were looking for."
• "The stores catered to the local people, carried the items they knew the people of that area wanted. They were always friendly and seemed to care about you."
• "Downtown Brooklyn had a high concentration of big stores (AS, Korvettes) and felt like Manhattan not Brooklyn."
• "Brooklyn had one of the first indoor Malls in the City (Kings Plaza)."
• "The crowds downtown in the bargain basements."
• "Most neighborhoods were basicallly self sufficient...there may not have been a Macy's or Strauss Brothers but you could always find what you needed within walking distance."

Considering the popularity of "downtown" Brooklyn, it was no surprise to find A&S and Mays so frequently mentioned. However, just like the responses to this survey for ex-Bronxites, Korvettes was high on the list as well. Completely unlike the Bronx folks, you ex-Brooklynites were much more sentimental about clothing, school supplies, and toys. (Bronxites mentioned small, local delis or appetizer stores most frequently as their wishful destinations.)
Here is a list of all the stores that were mentioned in at least 2 responses (in no particular order):

• E.J. Korvette
  "Their record dept - the best ever." and "They had great toy, appliance, and hardware departments."
• A&S (Abraham & Straus)
  "A&S was a bit of Manhattan in Brooklyn. Nice clothing, and somewhat classy."
• May's
  "My mother and I visited May's every month. We got to know exactly when the best sales were on." and
• "I was too young to appreciate all the bargains. My parents could take $25 and dress up completly for a season."
• Martin's on Fulton Street
  "...because that was a ritzy store!"
• Davega
  "Davega sporting goods had the best selection of baseball paraphenalia anywhere."
• Fortunoff's
  The old Fortunoff's on Lavonia Avenue had unique stuff at great prices. In one area, you got what you needed."
• John's Bargain Store
  "I loved browsing around the toys and novelties while my parents picked through the other housewares."

Since leaving Brooklyn, have you gone back specifically to shop there?

Considering all aspects of the shopping experience, how would you compare today's shopping malls with the neighborhood shopping areas you grew up with?

Where the Bronx had "Uptown" (and Alexander's), Brooklyn had "downtown" (and A&S). A subway trip to Fulton Street, lunch at Junior's, and beating the racks for those off-season bargains was a ritual enjoyed by many who responded to this survey. And yet, as popular as the downtown area was, many shared fond memories of the local candy store, the bakery, the mom-and-pop grocery that was only a short stroll from their building's stoop. If you didn't get your Keds® at one of the myriad shoe stores on Flatbush or Fifth Avenue or in Kings Plaza, then it was at that little local store where the salesman knew your name. Perhaps like any city, Brooklyn was a collection of little villages, each with its own shopping area catering to the needs of the locals.

You certainly won't find the ethnic diversity, personal attention, or that musty familiar smell in the mega-malls that are too rapidly eradicating the small neighborhood shops. As Paul Simon wrote, "Preserve your memories; they're all that's left you...".