Things I miss from my childhood:
-Baseball card and comic book shops. I'm sure there are a few around, but nowhere near as many as back in the day, and not the ones I used to frequent.
To tie into RU, I remember there used to be a pretty prominent comic shop right on Albany in NB - someone here probably remembers the name.
- Independent toy stores like Rick's, I think it was, in Somerville and Tiny Tots. The toy section of Walmart just isn't the same.
- Used CD shops. I remember getting my very first CD, Stone Temple Pilot's "Purple", at the Sound Exchange in Somerville. Also stocked up on a bunch of bargain-box CDs at the shop in NB (name?) when I started at RU.