Changes: Sesame Street General Store

Revision as of 18:22, 4 January 2010

General store Oscar — One of the Oscar the Grouch animatronics put outside storefronts

Sesame Street General Store was a chain of stores operating in the 1990s which specialized in Sesame Street (and occasional other Henson and CTW franchises) merchandise. The first stores were opened in 1990 -- two in Southern California, and two in Northern California. ^[1]

Many of the storefronts were modeled after the Hooper's Store set.

The stores were not successful, and they were all quietly closed by 1998. [cite]

Replicas of Oscar's trash can were also outside some stores, with a lifesize animatronic Oscar the Grouch created by VEE Production Services. When Oscar was inside the can, he would say one of several pre-recorded phrases:

"I'm getting my bathroom re-mildewed today, and I don't want you getting in the way... so SCRAM! Heh, heh, heh."

"Let's play a spelling game... G, O, A, W, A, Y. Do you know what that spells? GO AWAY!"

"Hey, why are you staring at my trash can? How would you feel if I stared at you? Heh, heh, heh."

"I've got nothing to say, so I'm not going to talk when I come out. So you might as well just get lost... SCRAM!"

After saying his phrase, Oscar would pop out of the can to smile and grimace at guests for a few seconds.

Today, many of the animatronic Oscars still survive. Most are owned by private collectors and have shown up on EBay. Another animatronic Oscar resides at the FAO Schwarz store in Las Vegas.

Sources

↑ "Sesame Street comes to town: expanding chain capitalizes on continued popularity of license.", Marian Bond, Playthings. October, 1992.

[1] "Sesame Street comes to town: expanding chain capitalizes on continued popularity of license.", Marian Bond, Playthings. October, 1992.

[1]

@@ Line 3: / Line 3: @@
 '''Sesame Street General Store''' was a chain of stores operating in the 1990s which specialized in ''[[Sesame Street]]'' (and occasional other Henson and CTW franchises) merchandise. The first stores were opened in 1990 -- two in Southern California, and two in Northern California. <ref>"[http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_hb4938/is_199210/ai_n18101218 Sesame Street comes to town: expanding chain capitalizes on continued popularity of license.]", Marian Bond, Playthings. October, 1992.</ref>
-Many of the storefronts were modeled after the [[Hooper's Store]] set. Replicas of [[Oscar's trash can]] were also outside some stores, with a lifesize animatronic [[Oscar the Grouch]] created by [[VEE Corporation|VEE Production Services]]. When Oscar was inside the can, he would say one of several pre-recorded phrases:
+Many of the storefronts were modeled after the [[Hooper's Store]] set.
+The stores were not successful, and they were all quietly closed by 1998. {{cite}}
+Replicas of [[Oscar's trash can]] were also outside some stores, with a lifesize animatronic [[Oscar the Grouch]] created by [[VEE Corporation|VEE Production Services]]. When Oscar was inside the can, he would say one of several pre-recorded phrases:
 * "I'm getting my bathroom re-mildewed today, and I don't want you getting in the way... so SCRAM! Heh, heh, heh."
@@ Line 14: / Line 18: @@
 After saying his phrase, Oscar would pop out of the can to smile and grimace at guests for a few seconds.
-The stores were not successful, and they were all quietly closed by 1998. {{cite}}
 Today, many of the animatronic Oscars still survive. Most are owned by private collectors and have shown up on EBay. Another animatronic Oscar resides at the [[FAO Schwarz]] store in [[Las Vegas]].