Skip to content
Search AI Powered

Latest Stories

People Explain Which Seemingly Obsolete Companies They're Surprised Are Still In Operation Today

A shot of a small gift store with a 'final blitz' sign
Photo by Help Stay on Unsplash

There are so many companies and products that have fallen by the wayside as time marched on.

Some companies we never thought we'd live without.

Some, we're glad to see crumble... I'm looking at you Columbia House.

Who else thought CDs for a dollar sounded too good to be true?

It's always surprising when you stumble upon a company or store still open that you could've sworn had shuttered long ago.

If only I could find a Shoney's.

Best breakfast buffet ever!

Because I certainly don't need anymore Amway.


Redditor HRJafael wanted to know who still has their doors open and has some staff, so they asked:

"What 'obsolete' companies are you surprised are still holding on in the modern world?"

The other day I saw a Radio Shack. I thought it was 1999.

What's next? A Circuit City?

Who is She?

Weight Loss Lol GIF by Sofa City SweetheartGiphy

"Jenny Craig just bottomed up this week. I'm surprised it lasted this long."

BlackPopeye_03

Knock, Knock

"I had some older woman knocking on my door at like 2 pm on a Wednesday trying to come in and give me a demo of a Kirby vacuum cleaner. Also, door-to-door salespeople are apparently still a thing in 2023."

jimx117

"I have a nice Kirby from one of those salespeople. Convinced her to try some homemade shine. Her driver/supervisor stopped and tried some as well. They both got so buzzed they left the demo model at my house. It’s been 4 years and no one has tried to get it back. Quite a few attachments as well."

HoosierPaul

The Catalog

"I read that Netflix just announced they are going to stop mailing DVD's for rental in the next few months. I thought they stopped doing that a long time ago."

King_Kong_The_eleven

"Apparently this is a big deal for hardcore movie fans, as there are many movies deep in the movie catalog that are not available to view through streaming."

roraima_is_very_tall

"There's a reasonably large community that prefers physical media, particularly UHD BDs to streaming. I mean it does make sense, those enthusiasts have spent considerable amounts of money on their equipment, so they will naturally get the best possible picture quality."

samstown23

Hey John

"There's a secret society among us that is keeping Long John Silvers afloat."

EMPRAH40k

"My grandma liked to go there for a piece of fish and some hush puppies. Then she’d take me to McDonald’s for coffee (for her -I was a small child) and a vanilla cone. When I miss her I go to one of the last Long John Silvers in my area and get fish and hush puppies."

yesiamyam233203

"Secret society meaning those who only eat fish during Lent."

"I mentioned it in a different thread but Lent is like a 40-day Black Friday for Long John Silvers."

"Source: former LJS employee who experienced lines out the door during Lent."

StasnoFrete

AO What?

aol GIFGiphy

"Blows my mind that aol.com is still a thing."

Iliveacrossthegreen

"I honestly thought this was gone and I didn't notice until I worked in IT support and saw people with AOL emails. Total shock for me."

Arcades_Samnoth

I still can't believe I know people with AOL.

Do they know the century?

Bad Execution

raul julia GIFGiphy

"Cutco. Seems like they could be much more successful if they dropped their current sales rep pyramid model."

i0datamonster

"Yeah, I never understood the MLM thing. Sometimes the product is actually good, but the execution is garbage."

CpuJunky

I need a number

"The yellow pages."

AlternativeSelfee

"I do remember before being able to look stuff up online, going out of town & browsing the yellow pages @ the hotel looking for places to eat & many other things. I couldn't tell you when I last saw a set of yellow pages."

Runes_my_ride

"I work at a hotel. About once every two years I get someone asking if we have a copy of the Yellow Pages."

steelgate601

A reason for every holiday...

"Party City. Their stores are huge and every time I go there’s less than 10 customers."

iamnotkelly

"Party City is one of those stores that makes its nut from a few days a year. The week before Halloween and there's a line out the door."

"4th of July, Easter, graduation time, and Thanksgiving and Christmas are when they do their business. It's a one-stop shop for everything you need for an event that allows you to see it beforehand and not make a bad Amazon purchase."

StalkMeNowCrazyLady

Bad Health

"Herbalife. Don’t the people know? Lol."

CThreePHo

"They've been opening storefronts that pose as small health food shake shops in place of (or in addition to?) the old MLM model. They just opened one down the street from my job and stopped by with free samples."

"They tried really hard to disguise that it's Herbalife."

"It's a really weird business model, you buy a 'one-day membership' in their health club that comes with a shake and an energy tea and I think that's supposed to let them skirt some legal issue with the shops?"

daabilge

Check Please

Applebees GIFGiphy

"Applebees. I can microwave my own food."

User8675309021069

"The other week I was at Applebee's when the waitress came by and I told her that my Pepsi wasn't tasting right, and she offered to put water in it."

REDDIT

Applebee's? Who in the world wold still eat there? I've turned down free food from there. Geesh.

What would you add to the list? Let us know in the comments below.

More from Trending/best-of-reddit

Donald Trump
Alex Wong/Getty Images

Trump Gets Blistering Reminder After Making Bonkers Claim About Vietnam War Outcome If He'd Been President

President Donald Trump had people scoffing after he boasted to CNBC that the Vietnam war would've been won "very quickly" by the U.S. if he had been in charge.

North Vietnam (the Democratic Republic of Vietnam) and the Viet Cong emerged victorious after a 20-year war in Vietnam; U.S. military forces withdrew in 1973 after escalating their involvement from 1965 onward. More than 58,000 Americans died during the war and today it is widely considered one of the U.S.'s major foreign policy failures.

Keep ReadingShow less
Screenshot of Jodi Ernst; Donald Trump
Fox Business; Alex Brandon-Pool/Getty Images

MAGA Senator Gets Blunt Reality Check After Praising Trump As The 'President Of Peace'

Iowa Republican Senator Joni Ernst received a quick reality check after she claimed with a straight face that President Donald Trump was the "president of peace."

Speaking about the war in Iran on Fox Business this week, Ernst said that “you can’t trust [the Iranians] any further than you can throw them.”

Keep ReadingShow less
Sean Hannity
Fox News

Sean Hannity Dragged Hard After Announcing He 'No Longer Considers' Himself A Catholic Due To Pope Leo

On Thursday night, Sean Hannity—Fox News talking head and sycophant to MAGA Republican President Donald Trump—launched an attack against Pope Leo XIV.

Hannity accused the first Pope from the United States of feigning "selective moral outrage" and calling him a "run-of-the-mill, Trump-hating Democrat" lacking in moral clarity and biblical knowledge.

Keep ReadingShow less
Josh Hutcherson (left) and Taylor Swift (right) are at the center of a viral moment after Hutcherson’s comments about her music sparked Swiftie backlash.
Leon Bennett/Getty Images for HBO; Monica Schipper/Getty Images

Josh Hutcherson Revealed He Doesn't 'Want To Be Online' Anymore After He Was Attacked By Swifties For Not Liking Taylor's Music

Josh Hutcherson learned the hard way that in 2026, casually admitting you’re not a Taylor Swift fan isn’t a neutral opinion. The Hunger Games star faced Swiftie backlash late last year after revealing he wasn’t a fan of Swift’s music.

The moment came during a video interview with i-D Magazine, when Hutcherson and castmate Jordan Firstman played camera roll roulette and landed on a photo of Hutcherson and his mom in the VIP section at Swift’s Eras Tour stop in New Orleans.

Keep ReadingShow less
Screenshot from Officer Lew's bodycam footage on X
Officer Lew/X

91-Year-Old Ohio Grandma Goes Viral After Family Has Police Do Welfare Check—Only To Find Her Gaming

Many of us have at least one embarrassing story about being late for work, missing a phone call, or at least missing a shower or two, because we were super invested in a video game.

Whether it's playing all of Kingdom Hearts in one go, beating our score in Call of Duty, or making new frenemies on Fortnite, the possibilities are endless.

Keep ReadingShow less