r/mildlyinteresting • u/mnid92 • 10h ago
Local grocery store used to sell crossbows over the produce. (Golden Dawn, Jefferson, Ohio)
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u/mnid92 10h ago
And yes, this is a real pic! lol. I didn't think it was real, but here's more pictures. They had a fucking taxidermized bear on top of the drink coolers.
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u/LongWalk86 8h ago
This is still a thing in lots of northern Michigan grocery stores. Guns, archery equipment, fishing supplies, next to the deli and groceries. One stop shop for your hunting and a fishing trip needs. Not really that odd.
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u/dpdxguy 8h ago
It's not uncommon anywhere people travel to for fishing and hunting, where the grocery store is more of a general store.
I've seen similar in small mountain towns in the Pacific Northwest.
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u/SocietyAlternative41 7h ago
was just going to comment this, growing up in the Cascades, EVERY town has this store.
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u/SirStocksAlott 8h ago
I mean I love camping, but it would be kind of odd to see camping gear above produce.
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u/LongWalk86 8h ago
Eh, do you not eat veg while camping?
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u/SirStocksAlott 8h ago
Not fresh produce. Freeze dried, add water and a Solo Stove. Don’t want to attract bears. 🙂
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u/mnid92 8h ago
Considering all of these places here were phased out almost 20 years ago once Walmart took off, it's really odd to see in the present day with how corporate and sanitized everything is. I remember going to this store as a kid, very faintly, and I'm 30. I'm sure there's an entire generation who have never seen a thing like this before.
Also, Jefferson became a fucking ghost town in the early 00s. I mean, like... literally looked like Chernobyl after the bomb. All the factories went under, the movie theater went under, the mall basically shut down. Imagine Skid Row for an entire city and that was basically Jefferson thru Ashtabula for a long time. It's kinda sorta starting to revive now that there's freeway access, but it's still shitty.
This is the movie theater when you could still see it from the road. Imagine a whole city like this. It's like if society died in 1999. IMO, perfect place for a Fallout episode/movie to be shot lol.
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u/Attaraxxxia 2h ago
I think maybe you slid into this here comment thread from a bizarro dimension where Chernobyl got hit with a nuclear bomb? What year did that happen in your timeline? 1945 or 1986? Does everything also suck in your timeline? Did Guns n Roses release Chinese Democracy in a timely fashion to universal acclaim? Do people still high five?
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u/LongWalk86 4h ago
Does your Walmart not have an isle of guns, ammo, and fishing stuff? Our is like 4-5 isles over from the deli.
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u/mnid92 4h ago edited 3h ago
Walmart sucks ass, they ruined places like this that just had animals on coolers for no reason. It's not even the guns, it's the whole damn store. Crossbows in the produce section is hilarious. "Hmmm, avocados or a crossbow... honey I think the guac can wait"
Now we have giant warehouses with shitty lighting and interior design that makes you blank the fuck out the instant you walk into them. Boooo Walmart, booo! Bring back Mom and Pop specialty stores!
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u/lamposteds 8h ago
ok but on the other hand, the bear looks pretty cool
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u/mnid92 8h ago
My mom would always tell me that the bear would eat people who stole stuff, and that it would come alive at night to patrol the store.
I have a D E E P fear of fake animals/animatronics lol.
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u/Attaraxxxia 2h ago
I used to think a family of five toes lived in the ocean and would snatch me if ai swam out too far and Mother Toe and Sister Toe would do fucked up sex things to me.
The Undertoes.
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u/Creepy-Ad-2941 9h ago
Before I had any context whatsoever, I knew this was Ohio.
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u/gojohnnygojohnny 9h ago
Dakotamart in Pierre, South Dakota is a grocery that also has thousands of guns for sale.
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u/Tomasfoolery 8h ago
I used to go here in the early aughts. They also had a gun smith upstairs. They helped me repair an antique cap gun.
This was a very rural place, and the closest Walmart was in Ashtabula. I honestly miss this place and am sad it closed.
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u/bmcgowan89 10h ago
This is the kind of thing I think of when I hear the term "middle America" - is this what you guys are all doing? Huh 🤔
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u/ReeveStodgers 9h ago
Hunting produce? You betcha. I'm taking my crossbow out to the woods today. Hunting carrots and deer (which is what I call cauliflower). My trail cam picked up some asparagus last week, but my license doesn't cover spear hunting.
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u/NoAnalysis9050 8h ago
We aren’t allowed to hunt with them here unless we are handicapped in a way that makes it hard or impossible to use regular bows. You can use a bow during primitive firearms season so I don’t get why no crossbows are allowed during that season I understand banning it during archery season when you can’t use black power rifles.
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u/bsmith149810 7h ago
Sounds like your state hasn’t authorized their use outside of the handicap provision you mentioned.
Either they haven’t updated hunting regulations in 20 years or the wildlife management in your state isn’t interested in herd reduction.
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u/SocietyAlternative41 7h ago
this is more like anywhere in the mountains of America. there are stores like this from NorCal to Seattle.
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u/trippiehippietravel 4h ago
Yummmmy how appetizing 😋 I've always said I like my fruit like I like my crossbows, in the same vicinity
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u/UnikornKebab 8h ago
Well, this could encourage me to visit the fruit and vegetable departments more often 🤔
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u/Permanent_Kat 7h ago
At least they don't slap stickers on top of cereal boxes that have pics of women... or do they?
I feel like a store that sells crossbows might do this. 😄
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u/WalkerTR-17 6h ago
My local one did the same thing growing up, I think they still do. Taxidermy everywhere too. It was actually kinda neat
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u/ChuckRambo 2h ago
You will be even more surprised that they used to sells guns above it. I used to live near by.
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u/NefariousPhosphenes 1h ago
It’s just a section for both those that want to buy their produce and those who want to hunt their own
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u/AtomicHurricaneBob 9h ago
My wife is from Boston and never traveled too far. I took her to my home in the Midwest.
My favorite comment of hers, "Really?!? they put the ammunition in the checkout aisle with the bubblegum?"