'80S AFTER-CLASS CO-WORKERS REUNITED.

Byline: DENNIS McCARTHY 

Howard Schlossberg and Mike Reust worked in sporting goods. Rebecca Johnson was a cashier. She wound up marrying Brian Springer in housewares, and they had four kids together.

``We had the classic clerk/cashier romance,'' he says.

It was the early 1980s, and Gemco store No. 803 at Corbin Avenue and Nordhoff Street, near California State University in Northridge, was a happening place to work.

``We were a tight group - all in our early 20s, going to CSUN, with our futures in front of us,'' Schlossberg said.

Over an evening of Mexican food and Margaritas recently, 30 members of the Gemco class of 1980 celebrated its 25th reunion. They came in from as far away as Chicago to reminisce about their years at the old Northridge Gemco, which opened in 1980 and closed in 1987 - later becoming a Target.

But the Gemco name - like Zody's, White Front and so many other long- gone retail names - still strikes a chord in the public who shopped there and the people who punched the clock waiting on them.

Like the Helms Bakery man and the Good Humor ice-cream man, they're long gone, but not forgotten. The memories linger.

``The kids today have no idea what Gemco was, but their parents remember,'' Springer said. ``Whenever someone learns I used to work at Gemco, they tell me they bought their first toaster or barbecue there.

``A few people even remember we had a full-fledged grocery store, too. But most of us didn't hang out much with the grocery people. We were the variety people.''

The variety people showed up at their reunion wearing their old Gemco name tags and bringing a lot of the store memorabilia close to their hearts - including their 1984 ``On Strike'' signs.

``As I recall, we struck for better salary and benefits.'' Springer says. ``We weren't successful.''

By 1987, when Gemco closed, most of the class of 1980 - who had built the shelves and stocked the store for that opening day on Oct. 30, 1980 - had already scattered.

``I wonder what happened to everyone,'' Schlossberg, a local computer programmer, asked Springer, who now works in the computer division for Gelson's. They decided to find out.

``It became irresistible to me to see how people turned out after 20 years had gone by,'' said Reust, the sporting-goods clerk who went on to become a geologist. So he flew in from Chicago to find out.

``I wanted to see what people were doing, whether they were married and had kids. What they looked like now.''

In short, all the things people want to know about their old classmates at their 20-year high school reunion. Only this was ``Gemco High.''

``We all were just like high school classmates at Gemco, hanging out on weekends together, going skiing on Mondays because we were closed that day,'' Schlossberg said.

Reust agrees. ``When we all worked together, it was one of those times when things were more carefree. I was trying to figure out who I was and how I fit in the world, as we all were.''

Twenty-five years later, they all liked what they saw, said Rebecca Stringer, the cashier who married the clerk and had four kids with him.

``There was something special about that time and working at that store - the friendships and people. Everyone who came to the reunion agreed it helped form a lot of futures.''

The Gemco Class of 1980 - doing just fine 25 years later.

Dennis McCarthy, [phone]

dennis.mccarthy(at)dailynews.com

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The former Rebecca Johnson; her husband, Brian Springer; Pam Valenzuela Williams; and Howard Schlossberg are among early-1980s co-workers at Gemco in Northridge who enjoyed a recent reunion.