October 1992: The Christmas Job



I was the average 17 year old guy. I had a junker car that I needed to buy gas and parts for. I had a high-maintenance girlfriend to spend money on (we broke up about 30 seconds after graduation). I also needed an excuse to be out of the house, around this time my parents were getting divorced and remarried (not to each other). Since moving out wasn't a viable option, finding a way to be out of the house from 6:00 AM-11:00 PM had to do. Keeping all of this up required some minimal source of income.

Earlier in the year I worked as a telemarketer but it didn't last. Once I burned through that cash I decided to find a job at the local mall. I lived about 3 miles from Gurnee Mills, it was briefly the largest shopping mall in the country. Despite the size of the mall and it's proximity this was only the second time I ever set foot in it. I frequented the now bulldozed Lakehurst Mall. Once Gurnee Mills opened, shops in Lakehurst began to steadily close. Looking for a job at Lakehurst would have been an exercise in futility so I directed my search at Gurnee Mills.

I wandered the mall looking for "help wanted" signs, trying to avoid anything in either of the food courts. As my search neared the end of the mall I spotted a sign calling for seasonal help at the Electronics Boutique. I thought it was probably too good to be true, a video game store that needed help. For a 17 year-old who loves, but can't afford, video games it's the perfect job. By luck the manager was behind the counter and the store was empty when I went to apply. I talked and joked with him for a few minutes and was hired on the spot, guess I'm persuasive. I started working there the next day.

The manager of this location was not your average retail manager. He spent the previous 30 years working at the home office for a major Chicago-based retailer. I guess they have some kind of building named after them in the Loop. He was let go in a round of massive layoffs but wasn't ready to stop working. So he went back to a field he left roughly 31 years ago, sales. Elbo hired him on as a store manager right away given that he was 100x more mature and qualified than the usual applicant. I know how much retail managers make so I don't think he was doing it for the money. His personality was the type where he couldn't just quietly go into retirement. After 30 years in the corporate world he didn't want to go back to an office though. Born and raised in the Bronx, he still carried the attitude with him. He is easily one of the most interesting people I've known.

In 1992 Electronics Boutique was a buffet platter of software and video games. They stocked productivity software like Microsoft Office, WordPerfect, and their Novell equivalents. They also carried quite a few screen savers and general low-end publishing software. There was a small Macintosh section with a scattering of games and some applications.

They stocked a selection of computer hardware. Sound cards, modems, keyboards, mice, joysticks, and eventually drives. Accessories like floppy disks, mouse pads, batteries, disk boxes, and even printer paper were steady sellers.

On the gaming side we carried Sega Genesis, Super Nintendo, Game Boy, and TurboGrafx-16. There was a small NES section but it was dwindling. We also carried a lot of handheld games, I was always surprised at how well they sold. We had a range of game accessories like controllers and storage cases.