I didn't realize that Herman's was a big enough chain to be up here, too... had them in Jersey.
My first 10/22 came from a Service Merchandise - did they have stores up here too?
Yup, it was a Texan working the gun counter at Herman's in Braintree (So. Shore Plaza) that convinced my Wife that gun ownership was an OK thing. There was no looking back from there.
I remember when the Stoughton/Brockton Service Merchandise got out of the gun business. I bought some stuff there, no guns though.
How about Coleman's in Canton center? I used to buy all my shotgun and 22 ammo there back in the day. There was also a nice gun shop near Weymouth Landing back in the '70s where I bought my first Remington 20 ga.
I used to hang out here and bought everything but guns from them. I knew most of the help at the gun counter. The former gun manager there (last I knew) manages the gun counter at the Natick Outdoor Sports store.
I bought my first gun at Lechmere's in Dedham!
Growing up as a kid in Randolph:
- Curran's Hardware store sold long guns and ammo.
- There was a store in a small strip plaza almost across from Curran's that sold full auto toys.
- The typewriter shop in North Randolph held an FFL and sold some guns from the back of the store.
The ORIGINAL Gun Room run by Peter Dowd, first almost next to Spags (same side of Rte. 9), later moved across the street and then sold it to John (has a long mustache).
Spags sold ammo, lots of it.
I also miss the old Ivanhoe's and Lew Horton's retail shops (downtown and later on Rte. 9).