an ode to ShopKo.

When I was a kid, my favorite place on earth to shop was ShopKo.

(ShopKo in Watertown, to be specific.)

ShopKo was just the greatest. I remember Mom picking me up on my last day of fifth grade with the promise of going to ShopKo to celebrate. I had $5 to spend, and I came away with a pair of grown-up shoes: these slide-on mules with a block heel. I LOVED those shoes. 

This is during my incredibly graceful preteen years.

Remember those little console things with different CD covers that you could press to hear a sample? ShopKo had the BEST ONES. My friend Allison and I would stand around and play The Best of Barry Manilow on repeat, the soulful strains of “Mandy” filling the store over and over and over again.

When I got a job with an actual paycheck, I could have just signed most of those checks over to ShopKo. It was about this time I started getting into fun socks, and ShopKo hands-down had the best collection. I would buy one or two pairs of fun socks per ShopKo visit – a few of the very earliest pairs were covered with grapes, pineapples and flamingos. I eyed the cool Nikes in the athletic shoe section, and I even once bought a teal Nike shirt on sale there. I bought DVDs and CDs from their electronics section. I bought my favorite sandals.

This is an honest-to-God senior picture.

I was ALWAYS in ShopKo.

After high school, ShopKo dropped off my radar. I moved to Morris for college, which suffered under the fate of having a Pamida. I then moved to Denver, New Orleans, and Minneapolis – all places without ShopKos.

I didn’t reunite with ShopKo until I moved to Luverne in 2013. Luverne doesn’t have a lot of shopping options, but they did have a ShopKo. As it turned out, the ShopKo was once a Pamida. ShopKo purchased all Pamida stores and morphed them into ShopKo Hometown stores.

James and I have spent a lot of time and money in our ShopKo. We come in for one thing we need and end up spending an hour and a hundred million dollars there. It seemed like everything was always on sale, and there was always something we couldn’t live without. One of my recent “thing that I don’t need but will invariably improve my quality of life” purchases was the bluest, softest, fluffiest quilted blankets I’ve ever owned. That blanket made this hellish winter more bearable, thanks to ShopKo.

When we got the news the ShopKo pharmacy was closing earlier this year, it sounded like the beginning of the end. Sure enough, the announcement came that all ShopKo stores are closing. James and I went immediately and bought all sorts of thing we’d been meaning to buy, like a new kayak seat and an inflatable loungey chair for summer.

I think I can speak for the town of Luverne when I say we are a little bit devastated. We do have a Dollar General, but after ShopKo closes, we’ll have a very big gap when it comes to all-in-one type stores like ShopKo. Where are we going to get cool prizes for the library summer reading program? Where am I going to get my super soft fuzzy blankets? Most importantly, where am I going to get my super-discounted Halloween decorations on November 1??

I know it’s going to be alright, but the loss of ShopKo means a lot in small towns like mine. It means more of us will travel to Sioux Falls for Target, and less of our money will stay in the community. I know ShopKo didn’t close in order to doom small towns (Luverne avoided the first round of store closures because the store was doing so well), but it does indeed feel a little like doom. We need another store like it to take over, but who?

We have until June before ShopKo closes, so I’m sure there are still many hours and many hundreds of dollars at ShopKo in my future. After June, I will have to rely on my collection of ShopKo socks and my memories.

Goodbye, ShopKo. You’ve been a delight.

top ten songs: the Rolling Stones.

Most days at work, I listen to Pandora. It’s nice to have a little background music as I plan my programs and shop for books and what have you. I switch stations from time to time, and I’m currently listening to The Clash radio. And I have to tell you, this is my favorite station so far. It gives me the absolute best of 70s rock, which a touch of weird 80s.

But as I’ve been listening to this station, I realized something.

I like the Rolling Stones.

Never in my life have I considered myself a Rolling Stones fan, and even though I am about to list ten of their songs for you, I still would not call myself a fan. The thing about the Rolling Stones is that their catalog is so incredibly deep that it’s almost impossible not to find ten songs you like.

However, it took Pandora for me to realize this.

I have a love/hate relationship with the Rolling Stones. There are a few Rolling Stones songs that I just hate, which is not the case for any of the other bands I’ve covered in my “top ten songs” series. When I was in middle school into early high school, I only listened to oldies stations. This was pretty great, as I exposed myself to some of my absolute favorite songs and bands that endure to this very day. However, the oldies stations had some kind of unnatural obsession with “Satisfaction.” It seemed as though every single time I had the radio on, “Satisfaction” would play. EVERY TIME, no matter how short the drive. There was one time “Satisfaction” came on, and I immediately changed the station… only to find “Satisfaction” was playing on that station, too. I couldn’t get away from it, and I can’t stand the song to this day.

I also think “Jumpin Jack Flash” is TERRIBLE.

All that aside, I do have ten Rolling Stones songs I actually truly love. And here they are.

Paint It Black

 This was the first Rolling Stones song I actually knew and loved. Weirdly enough, the first time I heard it wasn’t on the radio. It was in that kind of terrible 90s movie Devil’s Advocate. It’s got Keanu Reeves and Al Pacino in it, and Al Pacino ends up being Satan. Obviously. “Paint it Black” plays over the end credits, and I LOVED it. I especially loved it as an angsty teenager: “I look inside myself and see my heart is black,” “no colors any more, I want them to turn black,” etc. I bet you’re glad you didn’t know me as an angsty teenager. And if you did? I’m not that angry any more.

She’s So Cold

 “She’s So Cold” was one of my later discoveries. I hadn’t heard it until I was listening to the Current as a young twenty-something living in Minneapolis. I just love Mick Jagger’s shouting. This song found a place in my heart forever when I started working in state government and was constantly hit on by old drunk men at 10am. I never acknowledged it, choosing instead to remain cold. Every time that happened, “She’s So Cold” would run through my head.

Ruby Tuesday

 “Ruby Tuesday” was possibly the second Rolling Stones song I ever heard – and I heard it without having a clue it was the Rolling Stones. I loved it because of its gentle and mournful tune. When I found out it was the Rolling Stones, I couldn’t believe the same band responsible for “Satisfaction” could create this lovely song. I wonder how the Rolling Stones feel about the restaurant chain of the same name. (Fun fact: the only reason I ever wanted to eat at Ruby Tuesday was because of this song.)

You Can’t Always Get What You Want

There are two camps when it comes to children singing in rock songs: either it’s amazing, or it’s creepy as hell. I am firmly in the latter camp. This song starts with a creepy children’s choir, which almost eliminated it from the running. However, the song itself is just too great. Like “She’s So Cold,” it always runs through my head when I don’t get what I want – or if I am unable to give someone what they want. But the song is so upbeat that it’s ok that you can’t always get what you want.

She’s a Rainbow

As it turns out, there are a lot of Rolling Stones songs I associate with my every day life. I think of “She’s a Rainbow” every time I dress in bright clothing. I also truly love the piano part in this song – it’s so lovely and sounds to me like frolicking through a field of bright wildflowers.

Beast of Burden

You can’t hear “Beast of Burden” without at least swaying a little to the music. It’s got such a great tune, and I love the halting way Mick Jagger sings the verses. I also love the way they sing “pretty pretty pretty pretty pretty pretty girls”: they sing “pretty” with a clear pause in between the syllables, like “pri-TEE”. Whenver I say “pretty,” I unconsciously do the same thing.

Dandelion

“Dandelion” is very clearly an early Rolling Stones song (1967), and I think it’s absolutely adorable. It sounds a little like a nursery rhyme, and it’s so sweet and innocent. The music lends itself to the psychedelic pop sound of the late 60s. It’s adorable.

As Tears Go By

“As Tears Go By” is another early Rolling Stones song (1964), and it’s definitely a bummer. It’s the string background I love so much. It’s also very sweet and a really interesting comparison to later Rolling Stones and how much they changed.

Let’s Spend the Night Together

This song just kind of makes you want to dance. The lyrics aren’t anything special, but the music is pretty delightful. I read on Wikipedia that the Rolling Stones were denied permission to play this song on the Ed Sullivan show in the 60s because the lyrics were too racy. I’m about to sound super old, but times have sure changed!

Dancing in the Street 

I’m cheating a little bit here because this is not an official Rolling Stones song. However, it’s got Mick Jagger, so it’s close enough for my purposes. The song itself is pretty ok; it’s one I have known for as long as I can remember. This song makes the list mostly because of the completely ridiculous music video. It features a very 80s-looking Mick Jagger and a VERY 80s-looking David Bowie, and they are dancing (TERRIBLY) in the street. You HAVE to watch it.

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As with all of my “top ten” lists, there are a few great songs that didn’t quite make the cut. “Start Me Up” is an old favorite, but I have a hard time separating it from the Windows 95 campaign. However, I tend to think of it when starting my car in the winter. “Angie” is also a good one, partially because of all the rumors surrounding it (is it about David Bowie’s wife? when Jagger and Bowie were rumored to be sleeping together? WHO KNOWS). AND - a few days after I had this post all written, I remembered "Shattered." Which is AWESOME, mostly because of the use of the word "shadoobie."

At the end of this list, I am still reluctant to call myself a Rolling Stones fan. But there are ten songs that I love. So take it as you will. 

(If you'd like to read about my other favorite bands and my ten favorite songs of theirs, here you go:)

Queen

David Bowie

Simon and Garfunkel

the Killers

the Clash

ABBA
Twenty One Pilots