Growing up in Northern California in the 1980’s, the two chain stores that I lurked in were Big 5, and later, Copeland’s.
A highlight of getting the Sunday newspaper (remember those?!) was the full-color, multi-page Big 5 ad, which used to show several different models of racquets on sale that week. Around 1982-1984, their inventory of various Donnay models, mostly wood containing, was stupefying! There was a distinct smell of leather and paint that radiated from the racquet aisle; I will never forget it.
This chain is still in business, but stopped taking the tennis market seriously around 1986. It’s a shambles now.
Copeland’s appeared in the mid-80’s, and stocked some really nice frames from the big mainstream manufacturers, until they too stopped taking tennis seriously. At times, though, they would blow out discontinued models at amazing prices... For a while in 1989, they sold rows of unstrung Head Prestige Pros for $60 each!
My favorite shops were always the mom-and-pop ski & tennis pro shops. Looking for the outdated, weird stuff on clearance was an acute joy. If I could bottle that magical mixture of curiosity, hope, and anticipation I felt when entering those places, and share it with everyone, the world would be a vastly better place.