ToquiNotes: Longing for a One-Stop Holiday Shopping Trip Back in Time to Hills Department Store
By Jeff Toquinto on December 13, 2025 from ToquiNotes
For whatever reason, the whole idea of shopping for Christmas takes a bit of fun out of the whole holiday experience. Now, before those that know me insult me with the thought that any time I spend money that it takes away from my joy, Christmas is the one time that I don’t necessarily grasp the purse strings tight.
To be honest, the last time I ever enjoyed shopping from start to finish was when I had a $20 bill in my hand and my brother Tim and I had to shop for the entire family. And we had to do it in one day and one store.
Oh, how I miss those days at Hills Department Store. You remember Hills? It was the “Anti-inflation Department Store.”
I’m well into my 50s now and I’m venturing many folks in their 40s who have ties to Bridgeport or even Harrison County remember the store situated at what is now the Home Depot Plaza. For most of my youth, when my family and so many other families I know shopped for Christmas you had three primary locations – downtown Clarksburg, the Middletown Mall and Hills Department Store. You also may have gone to Heck’s or even Grant’s, but for me, those were the three key destinations when it came to acquiring goods.
Just the thought of the old store that was located next to Terrace Twin Cinemas gets me all nostalgic. But there was nothing better than walking through those doors and immediately asking my parents to allow me to have a pretzel, a huge bag of popcorn or a frozen coke. And there was nothing more certain than hearing my folks quickly tell me and my siblings “no.”
Of course, the parents would have already armed my brother and me with a $20 bill to go and shop for everyone in the family. Once entering, I always remember the security head that stood to beside the service desk. He was a big man, Mr. Miller Scolapio who was from my neighborhood of North View and always spoke to everyone as you entered.
After that, Tim and I would take off on our quest. It always began and ended in the jewelry department where we would search tirelessly for the perfect gift for our mother. For those remembering the jewelry department, there was a large display of rings on a stand that swiveled. The rings were just a few dollars each and we would search for the largest ring humanly possible. Back then, we figured that 
bigger was better. Today, I realize that the rings we ended up purchasing – that were always worn by my mother to work with pride – would have made Liberace blush.
bigger was better. Today, I realize that the rings we ended up purchasing – that were always worn by my mother to work with pride – would have made Liberace blush.
The thing is, we weren’t alone. There were always other kids searching for these rings, too. I’m certain we weren’t alone in our quest.
But the store had more than rings. There were statues made out of coal, gift sets of soaps and perfumes, plenty of clothing items that included Garanimals, and of course, there was Santa just before the toy shop.
To this day, I don’t ever recall a store that wasn’t just a toy store that was stocked so high with toy items that made every nerve ending in my body tingle with anticipation that something there may end up under the Christmas tree.
After our shopping was complete, my brother and I would head back to the toy section and make mental notes as to what we would like. We did this because we would get in line to sit on the lap of Santa, who would end your visit with a candy cane and often a coloring book.
No trip to Hill’s was complete without a final stop in the lobby. Once there, as long as my brother, sister and I had not killed one another, 
my parents would offer us the reward that every single kid – and I’m certain a whole lot of adults – looked forward to. We were given the gift of a two-foot long bag of the best popcorn I’ve had to this day, a pretzel and a frozen coke. Yours truly would mix the cherry and frozen coke together since I was an innovator even at that young age.
my parents would offer us the reward that every single kid – and I’m certain a whole lot of adults – looked forward to. We were given the gift of a two-foot long bag of the best popcorn I’ve had to this day, a pretzel and a frozen coke. Yours truly would mix the cherry and frozen coke together since I was an innovator even at that young age.
From there, it was a trip to the car where all the goodies purchased by my brother and I would end up. By that time, however, those gifts were long forgotten and the feeding frenzy was under way.
Those were the good old days. How I miss Hills and how I miss handling all of my shopping in one day, in one store with one piece of currency. Even though doing the one stop shopping with several $100 bills in my possession became impossible there or anywhere else for that matter in recent years, I continued shopping there well into my 20s and was so disheartened when Ames bought it out in the late 1990s before it, too, failed financially.
My holiday shopping has never been the same. Here’s hoping your shopping days ahead are filled with joy and that those days produce the memories that I and so many others hold to their heart for places like Hills Department Store.
Editor's Note: Top images are of ads from Hills holiday mailers, while the bottom is the jam-packed Hills Plaza parking lot in Bridgeport in the 1970s, or about the time I would have been doing my holiday shopping.
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