Flickr Photos 38
This store opened in the early 2000's, and gained 24-hour status around 2010. The second floor is a Healthworks office, which I'm pretty sure is not connected to CVS.
Massachusetts has some interesting subway stations. They're all sort of run-down, but they definitely smell better than Philadelphia's.
This opened in 2012 as part of a renovation of the first floor of the building. The space was originally occupied entirely by the bank on the right, which was downsized in the process.
I never really thought about it, but you never really see too many hotels carrying just the Marriott name, without being preceded by Courtyard, Fairfield, Residence Inn, etc. Not to mention, this one also has an old version of their logo!
Everybody gets a picture of this building. Why should I be any different? :P
I'm curious what they were doing here. They tore up the sidewalk and knocked about 30 feet off of a parking garage. Update: They built a tower there.
Sears opened here in the 1930's, and held on surprisingly long. They pulled the plug on this one in the early 2000's, and it was almost immediately snapped up by Lesley University, one of many colleges in the area (Seriously, I think they outnumber McDonald's).
Texaco gas hasn't been sold here since the early 2000's at latest. However, Texaco hasn't completely left this place behind. The current business is still listed as John & Nick's Texaco Services. Gas is being sold here by Prime Energy, a local gas/heating oil company.
I'm going to go on a limb and say this is the most attractive building in Cambridge. It was built by Guaranty (sic) Trust Bank. A quick Google search turned up a lot of pictures of the building, but nothing on the company. They obviously have not been in business for many years. There's a large banking company in Nigeria (with branches in a couple other countries) with the same name, but I highly doubt they are related at all.
What I do know is that there used to be a Hollywood Video on the corner here.
The history of this building is apparent just by looking at it. Obviously, it opened as Savings Bank. While a bank still operates here under a different name, most of the building is leased out as office space. Since Citizen's Bank's headquarters isn't too far from here, they didn't see the need to keep the office space.
Despite the store's excellent location, it landed on the chopping block during their brief but gory bankruptcy.
Some trivia on the building: It was built in 1905 by Asa P. Morse, according to the cornerstone.
This building was pretty clearly built as some sort of independent department store. That closed many tenants ago. More recently, it was a co-op farmer's market, which relocated around 2011. After relocating, they kept their cafe here, leaving about 2/3 of the building vacant. The third on the right was turned into a gym in 2012. The cafe had closed by 2013, when that and the remaining third of the building were turned into H Mart, an Asian grocer. H Mart is a small chain in terms of the number of stores, but they are very spread out along the East Coast.
The facade looks familiar, but I can't put my finger on what it was originally. It has been closed for a little over a decade at this point, and is really starting to show its wear.
As you would expect, it's closed now. :(
This is by far one of the more interesting conversions out there. It was built in the 80's as a Rite Aid, which was turned into a McDonald's around 2000. McDonald's used the Rite Aid facade until 2014, when they remodeled.
This station makes a pretty efficient use of space. They managed to fit a store and three pumps all into this one little street corner.
I'm not sure what the lower level of this part of the stadium was originally. I am pretty sure it wasn't always a restaurant, though. The upper level is office space.
Marshall's opened here in 2012. The building was previously an abandoned warehouse, which was refurbished into a mix of retail and office space.
Target, Boston, MA
This opened in 2015 on the site of a Goodyear auto center. I believe the upper floors of the building are apartments.
It's an awful picture, but this place is a landmark, so I felt like I had to post it. :P What you can't see is that this is a perfectly intact 60's-era Shell, complete with a massive sign bearing their old logo.
I thought this was kinda neat. The convenience store is actually in the ground level of an office tower. Half the pumps are actually located in a cutaway under the tower, and the others are under the mushroom canopy.
I know it was before 10:00 that I drove by here. Not sure why it was already completely closed up. It closes at 9, and usually takes a while for them to get cleaned up and ready for the night.
Although it is hard to see here, this store has Rite Aid's original brown metal facade, which means it opened sometime in the 70's.
I thought this station had some wacky architecture. Looks very 80's.
This canal was in service from 1895 to 1910, originally serving the landlocked parts of Cambridge and Boston. It was taken out of service when a bridge was built over it, limiting boat access. The canal was revived when the Cambridgeside Galleria was built in 1990. It now serves personal boats and small tourist cruises.
Walking down a mostly small business street in Cambridge, the last thing I expected to run into was a Sears, let alone an entire shopping mall tucked away behind it! Cambridgeside Galleria opened in 1990, and is anchored by Sears, Macy's (formerly Filene's), and Best Buy (former Lechmere). It is one of the healthiest malls I have seen; in its entire three stories, I only counted a couple vacancies. Update: Sears has closed as of January 2019.
The food court was renovated recently. It used to look a whole lot more like it was 1990. That lady looks like she noticed me taking a picture.
Kicking off the first set of Cambridgeside photos with my personal favorite. This was taken from a bridge crossing over the first floor. This part of the mall hasn't been remodeled since it opened. For being almost 30 years old, it has aged quite nicely.
This was the top level of the former Lechmere store, which Macy's annexed. They now operate this in addition to the entire former Filene's.
I have a theory that every enclosed shopping mall contains both a GNC store and a Payless Shoe Source. I can say this is true for every mall I've visited, at least. That includes one in a remote part of Guatemala.
One of the relatively few vacancies.
To clarify: This store is in Boston, even though the address is Cambridge St. It had me confused for a while.
Whole Foods opened here as part of an extensive renovation to the building in the mid-2000's. It is a fairly small store by WF standards, but decently sized considering the location (Probably about the size of an average Fresh Fields store).
Normally, fire escapes use more conventional stairs or ladders. I've never seen a spiral one like this before. I thought it looked cool, but I wouldn't like to have to use this.
What makes Boston interesting is that the streets aren't arranged in a perfect grid like Philadelphia. I think it looks cool having all these buildings at different angles.
This mall is just as small and dated as it looks. From what I can tell from Google Maps, it is actually just a couple older buildings that were connected into a food court with about 5 other stores.
In 1968, Boston City Hall relocated to this building as a replacement for their previous 1860's building. It ranks 17th on the list of the list of the 25 ugliest buildings in the world and is really starting to look a little rough around the edges. In 2006, he city was planning on relocating City Hall again and selling this building, but withdrew those plans following the recession. The city is now entertaining ideas for extensively renovating the building, or demolishing it and starting fresh.
Surprisingly, some are against this. Since it is considered a prime example of the "Brutalist" architectural style (no, I'm not making that up!), there has been a push to register this building on the NRHP, effectively stopping any/all modifications. I guess I can empathize with them, but personally think this is perhaps the ugliest building I have ever seen.
Faneuil Hall, as seen from across the street.
This is perhaps the oldest shopping center in America, dating back to 1822. It started out as a farmer's market. Over the years, it has evolved into a more modern outdoor mall.
These buildings pictured were built as part of a 1969 expansion.
That looks like it's right out of the ghetto, even though this part of Boston is about as far from it as you can get. I have no idea how they can keep this thing standing.
O o ht
I found this busted-out neon sign. I have been trying to figure out what it could have said, but I'm coming up with nothing. I think it might have been a bar or restaurant of sorts.
I'm not entirely sure what was going on here or what I should think about it. The shirtless guy's shirt was on the other side of the police tape for whatever reason, but the police would not let him go in and grab it, nor would they give it to him. They were arguing about it as I was walking by. I would love to know the story behind this.
This opened as a Brooks in the 2000's, which Rite Aid acquired in 2007. It closed in 2018, presumably due to the Walgreens deal. I believe this was the only one in the city to go, although is also in the best location (which would be evidence for Walgreens wanting it).
This opened sometime in the 20's or 30's as a Gulf station, which stayed in business until relatively recently. It closed no earlier than the 80's. I think it is still open as a repair shop, but it also looks like it could be abandoned.
They had to modify the design a little here when they built this store. I see some resemblance to an Eckerd, but could also picture this as being built as a Rite Aid. It's a good looking store. Correction: Was originally Brooks, an Eckerd subsidiary.
This building has been here since the 80's, although I'm not sure it was always a Walgreens. The sign would indicate a GM Dealership.
This is an older restaurant; probably from the early 90's. It was given a quick remodel a few years ago, but still retains the old logo-styled decals on the windows. I tried to get a picture of one of those. It came out well, but the glass acted like a mirror and caught me in the photo. I decided not to put that up.
Stop & Shop is Giant-MD's sister chain, operating in northern New Jersey and southeastern New England. They originally owned Breadlee's. Stop & Shop's were notoriously dirty and run-down in the years before Bradlee's went under. It took Ahold a few years to get everything straightened out after they picked up the struggling chain; ultimately, it worked out for them.
Showcase is a smaller chain of theaters operating mainly in southeastern New England, in addition to one in New Jersey and another in Ohio (seems a little far from the rest of the pack, right?)
This location opened in the 90's, and appears to have had a somewhat extensive renovation very recently. It still had that new construction smell when I went inside.
I got this picture yesterday morning. They must be in a real hurry to finish this place, since they have workers around the clock, 7 days a week now! As the new facade takes shape, I can tell it is definitely going to be a new look for Giant. The big windows are a nice touch. In addition to the sheathing going up, they put in a couple new islands in the parking lot, and graded the pavement. I'm curious to see whether they move the light poles here into the new islands
Just about the time the eclipse was reaching its most dramatic point, some clouds blew in. I was worried it would block my view, but it actually helped! It dimmed the sun just enough that my camera could process it. I think came out nicely!
The signage here seems to indicate they will be completely rebuilding the shopping center, which has fallen into rough shape since Weis closed in 2013. I think what is more likely to happen (as evidenced by the other sign), is that they will just be renovating the existing structure. There's also some room to expand to the left. I'm curious to see what exactly is going to happen. Update: it was a façade renovation for most of the center.
The old Wawa shut down last summer after a 30-year run. It was supposed to be replaced by a new store in Phoenixville in 2010, but they decided to keep both stores running for the time. Now, about a year later, it is being turned into Village Optical, who's relocating from another shopping center down the road.
Updates time!
I stopped in the Phoenixville Giant last night, and was surprised to see some changes underway. I snapped some pictures of the more major changes, although there were more. It was really busy, so I couldn't capture everything. Some of the shelves and refrigerated cases elsewhere in the store were in the process of being replaced, in addition to what's going on here. Previously, organic occupied the two aisles next to produce. That was pushed over another two, making way for the new beer department and cafe seating. The remaining ends of the aisles now carry snack foods. The flooring was replaced with faux wood, and spotlights were removed for new LED bars (Which is what the rest of the store already had; for whatever reason, they couldn't match it).
City Sports was a smaller athletic store that operated primarily in the Boston area. They had a pretty big following, you still see people everywhere wearing shirts with the logo on them. Unfortunately, that didn't stop the company from going bankrupt in 2015. All of the stores closed. However, the name was bought, and there are plans to relaunch the brand. These "zombie" brands usually don't seem to stick around for too long, but it seems to be working out alright for the new SuperFresh (Edit: Maybe not, new SuperFresh doesn't seem to be doing all that great now).
This store opened in 1949, and abruptly shut down on July 13, 2016. That was 4 days before I got this picture. According to a news article, the final month it was open, the shelves were looking emptier and emptier. Finally, on July 13, customers were greeted by locked doors, empty shelves, and no note on the door. It's more or less a mystery what happened here. The space finally went up for lease in September.
According to their website, CSB was founded in 1835. This building looks a little newer than that, but not by much.
Citizens Bank closed this branch in 2015, and CVS almost immediately snapped it up, relocating from a smaller store down the street. This uses both floors of the building.
This stadium dates back to the 1920's. It has become a local icon over the years, despite the fact that it looks like a depression-era PennDOT bridge. I mean seriously, they could at least have smoothed out and painted the concrete. You can still see the lines in it from the forms it was cast in.
The glass buildings to the left are all brand new. I think they opened in 2016, shortly before I got these pictures. The white building further left is the original part of their HQ.
After Albertsons bought Shaw's and Star Market back from Supervalu, they began rebranding all of the Boston-area stores back to the Star Market name. That included some Shaw's stores that were never Star to begin with, like this one. This is also probably their most interesting store, too. Most of the store is actually over the turnpike.
So all of the gas stations on the Massachusetts turnpike are Gulf. I thought that was strange, since Gulf doesn't operate any refineries anymore, and I thought all of their stations were franchises. I guess it must be one very large franchisee here.
I thought this hotel looked really cool. It almost looks like a real castle. As I was looking it up, I noticed the average price listed was only $84, which doesn't seem right since it is a Three-Star hotel and looks like a castle inside, too. I might have to take another trip up here just to stay here!
This was added onto the mall as a Filene's in the late 90's. Filene's later opened up a store in the mall's former Caldor, operating that in addition the 90's store. Both were bought by Macy's in 2006.
While I can't find anything on the newer Macy's closing, the mall's website only lists the 90's store.
Update: The former Caldor is definitely closed.
From what I understand, Ahold has erased this logo from all but one of their stores. It still lives on a number of their trucks.
Shaw's/Save-A-Lot, Waterbury, CT
Shaw's built this store in the late 90's or early 2000's. They were closed by 2008, and had been replaced by Save-A-Lot (which was then owned by the same company as Shaw's) in 2012. They kept the Shaw's facade completely intact, thankfully.
This center was built on the site of an old brass mill. Some of the outbuildings have been recycled into stores.
Initially, I thought this was an old Amoco that had been fixed up. Boy, I couldn't have been more wrong on that one. This was actually built new in 2015, on the site of an abandoned Texaco/Shell. What's even more interesting is the fact that they actually opened a Citgo franchise.
Blue Colony Diner opened in 1974, and was completely redone in 2005. On the way back from Boston, I got lunch here. I took advantage of the fact I was at a diner and got pancakes.
Yes, it was for lunch.
No, it's not weird.
Don't judge.
This is one of Turkey Hill's older gas station stores, from before Turkey Hill sold it under their own name. The sign frame doesn't look like Amoco, which is what they usually used. Maybe Citgo?
Boston's has been downsizing dramatically over the years. They closed a ton of restaurants back around 2008. As of last year, they had 40 restaurants left. Now, they are down to 28. This location has since closed. Update: Looks like they're down to 16 as of early 2019.
Shell took this over around 2004. I'm going to assume the convenience store was turned into a Dunkin' Donuts around the same time.
This location originally opened in the early 80's. Most of the perimeter around the dining area has been expanded into an atrium.
I doubt this was built as a Taco Bell, but the tile roof would indicate they have been here since at least the 90's. The exterior was repainted between 2011 and 2013. Even if it wasn't built as a Taco Bell, it certainly has a much more traditional Mexican look to it.
I don't think I've ever seen a Sunoco, or other station for that matter, use this shape of building. I sorta see some resemblances to their early 2000's stores, so maybe this was a short-lived model that predated it? There's another one like it in Bryn Mawr.
Yocco's is a small chain of hot dog stands, mainly scattered throughout the Allentown area. They are incredibly popular up here, and are supposed to have really good food. I haven't eaten here yet, but it's on my list. This particular location opened in 1984. The restaurant has an interesting history, which you can find on their website.
This store was built in the early 2000's, and was redone in Wawa's pilot set of remodels in early 2015. There was something they didn't like about this, so they tweaked the designs and ran a second test run of remodels in late 2015 (that's when they did the Exton store). That worked, and Wawa officially kicked off their remodel campaign.
The only major differences I see here are the awnings over the sidewalks, and the lights next to the sign. Wawa has been leaving up the old metal awnings rather than replacing them with the flat red ones. The generic-looking lights on the front of the store are now more decorative looking.
Eckerd closed this store in 2006, so it never went on to become Rite Aid. Instead, it was turned into a gym. That closed somewhat recently; their sign was still lying out in the parking lot when I went by.
This store opened in 2008. It's usually been among the last ones to get chain-wide upgrades, which makes me think it is a lower-volume store. That doesn't mean much in the long run. Plans are for all older-model stores to be remodeled.
7/11 closed this location in the early 2000's. It sat empty for a while, before being turned into E-Z Shoppe around 2010.
I've been trying to get a picture of this since 2012 (I don't have an excuse to come this way too often), just because of the name. Now that I finally have a picture, my goal will be to actually find a bear here.
I thought this was a neat building. I don't think it possibly could have looked more 60's.
Another thing to note is that they reused the First Union sign frame.
So we're back in Boston, at least to kick off this photo. I forgot to put this up earlier, so i stuck it in with this photo set. That's also why there's 11 instead of my usual 10.
The house's name is pretty self-explanatory; this is where Paul Revere lived. I'm pretty sure they said it was the oldest surviving building in Boston proper.
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