I remember the early/mid 70's when I was a little kid and department stores with multiple floors, elevators and escalators and Santa. They were nice. But buying

I remember the early/mid 70's when I was a little kid and department stores with multiple floors, elevators and escalators and Santa. They were nice. But buying something at the time was en event (at least for my family) too. A small microwave was hundreds of dollars (in 1970s dollars). A TV was a giant purchase. It seemed to start changing in the 80s when the "Mallrats" style malls came to prominence followed by the big box stores in late 80's/90's.