Coventry Mall, an Abandoned Citgo, and Other Stuff Around Pottstown

 Pizza Hut/Schnitzel Haus, North Coventry, PA
Pizza Hut closed here in 2008. It operated as a diner for a few years afterward, then as a grill. In 2015, it became Schnitzel Haus, which appears to be a success.
 KFC/Jerry's Chicken, North Coventry, PA
This closed as a KFC sometime in the 2000's. It sat vacant until Jerry's Chicken opened in 2012. What's interesting is that the portable sign out by the road has been there since the KFC days, and used to be the kind where letters could be switched out.
 Return to the Coventry Mall
I'm fairly certain I already hared this picture on Flickr. It's important enough to the set I figured I'd share it again. Gabe's opened in early 2017 in half of the former Sears. This was shortly after Pennmark bought the mall and began trying to revitalize it, and the new entryway had just opened.
 The new entryway was a former Gap store, I think the carpet and benches were the only things they changed. It looks very chintzy but this is just a semi-temporary setup. Long-term plans have this part of the mall getting a major remodel. Sorry for the blurry picture, but I have more to come.
 Looking from outside the new entryway and former Sears entrance towards the mall's main entrance. This corridor has seen a lot of change in the past year, practically everything on the left side has been gutted out and rebuilt.
 Former Sam Goody store, which may have been sitting vacant since the 2000's. It, along with several adjacent stores, were gutted out when Jo-Ann moved in.
 Former Kay-Bee Toys. In the past, it has seasonally operated as a Go! Calendars and Games. The restaurant across the hall from it is now an awesome bakery.
 The mall's Food Court entrance. I'm not sure what the store to the right was, but after sitting vacant for several years was turned into the mall's "Community Room". The sign on the stand mentions "Your mall for 50 years- moving forward!" I guess I always knew this was built in the mid-60's, but never really thought of it as being that old until I saw that.
 Books-A-Million, which was originally a Waldenbooks. The vacant store across the hall was most recently a Goodwill store. At this point it is one of the few remaining larger vacancies.
 FYE when it was still in its original location. It moved to the former Abercrombie & Fitch in late 2017 so Anytime Fitness could put in a gym here. It gets complicated from here- FYE is not currently open for business in the mall, but the real estate listing says they still have the lease. They also do a good job of keeping the listing updated so I'm not sure what their deal is here.

 Back outside, the awning over the new entrance is still under construction. Some of the stucco has been cut away exposing some of the wood paneling the mall used to have before the 2000's remodel.
Redner's, Pottstown, PA
There used to be a 60's pitched-roof ACME on this site, which closed in the early 90's. It was torn down around 2000 for Redner's. The shopping center remodeled in 2018, but Redner's was more or less ignored. They replaced the red roof with shingle and painted the building a blue-gray shade, but didn't o any other kind of structural work here. The rest of the center looks pretty nice now, but I think the Redner's would have been better off left as it was.
 Redners' infamously small produce department. I think they've started making these larger in newer locations.
 Looking along the back of the store. You can see in the distance it was expanded more recently. Around the time this was done, the rest of the store was remodeled (which in Redner's case means replacing red letters on white walls with red letters in a different font on white walls. To be fair they also added some banners on either side of the signs too.)
 Looking into the expansion. This was previously space split between a hardware store and a jeweler. Ironically, this is actually older than the main Redner's store since this was existing 60's store space. I figure this must have happened around 2014, when Redner's first started experimenting with open-truss ceilings.
 Rea & Derick/CVS/Dollar General, Pottstown, PA
Rea & Derick was owned by American Stores, ACME's former parent company. As a result, many of their stores were paired together. Peoples Drug bought the chain in 1985, but I believe they continued to operate under the R&D name until CVS bought them in the mid-90's. CVS relocated this store to an outparcel around the same time Redner's opened, and Dollar General took over the original space.
 Woolworth/Liberty, Pottstown, PA
Woolworth (the taller space on the right) opened with the center in the 60's. I'm assuming it lasted until the chain finally liquidated. It became a Liberty thrift store (their other location's in the old Kmart we saw a couple days ago) in the 2000's, but retains a lot from the Woolworth days.
 Burger King, Pottstown, PA
Burger King and McDonald's both opened on this stretch of road in the 70's. Evidently the people of Pottstown have a preference for BK, as the McDonald's closed down. This was redone in the 90's, and retains some cringe-worthy relics of the era.
 Wawa, Pottstown, PA
This opened in the 70's, and probably closed sometime in the early 90's. This area went through a rough patch then and Wawa wasn't as established in this area as it is now. Through the 2000's, it was a piercing/tattoo parlor and turned into a brewer's supply store and wine club around 2014. This part of town bounced back pretty well (aside from a couple major abandoned places, one of which we'll be getting a closer look at in a minute; the other I have photographed and will be coming up at some point).
 McDonald's, Pottstown, PA
This opened alongside the Burger King in the 70's. I'm guessing it closed in the 90's since it has somehow avoided having the brick painted. It also still has the original mushroom parking lot lights around the perimeter. From the pictures online, it looks like the dining space has been totally redone, but kept the old terracotta tile floor.
 Arco/Sunoco, Pottstown, PA
At this point, I feel like I've posted so many of these I've run out of stuff to say aside from describing what you can probably already guess from the photo. This one at least has a weird canopy. I'm not sure why it's stepped like that.
Phillips 66/Citgo, Pottstown, PA
This abandoned gas station is understandably hated by the neighbors. Thanks to new development, this has become the richer end of town, and having this thing around isn't helping the property values. It's almost a twin to the now-demolished Phillips 66 in North Coventry, just without the pointed canopy. The two were actually owned by the same franchise, which shut down in 1998. The estate of the franchisee is also the owner of both properties. Due to contamination, they've had a hard time getting anybody to clear the site.
 The station had been abandoned for 19 years by the time I got here. It's now been 21 years but nothing's changed. The pumps are still in place and signs are still in the windows.
 Overall it's not in awful shape considering how long it's been closed.
 The inside still has most of the fixtures left behind. I'm guessing they redid the interior in the 70's, since I don't think that orange countertop could have been from 1955.
 If this is any indication, their last day of business was April 13, 1998.
 It's crazy seeing all the paper signs still taped up and readable. This place must have had a great roof to keep them from rotting. It looks like it's finally starting to fail, though. I wouldn't be surprised if that light is on the floor now.
 Former service center has been boarded up. Since this wasn't part of the convenience store I'm not sure what they could have been using this space for in the end.
 Pumps are busted up but still in place. The light pole that would have gone in the middle fell down at some point.
 Another set of pumps on the other side of the store, which still has a light pole. I think that box in the middle must have listed the prices at one point.
Yes, that was my car. Its engine finally gave out the summer after this trip and we got rid of it.
I'm not sure when they started doing digital displays, but I feel like they must have been a fairly new technology in the 90's

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