Drive-By Photos 28
This is my last day of Christmas break, although I'll try to continue posting throughout the week. It'll be syllabus week so there probably won't be too much else on my plate and I really need to pick up the pace on posting these.
I realized that my last photo didn't show this in its entirety. Personally, I like this photo better too. This one shows the opposite side of the gate, but it looks like it says the same thing on both sides.
Wawa pulled out here a couple years ago when they expanded the Arch Street location. Dunkin Donuts leased the space sometime over the spring of 2015, but didn't actually open the place until over a year later. The exterior didn't change at all.
This opened in the 90's, and still retains its original décor. It was given a more deluxe look to fit the area. It doesn't feel outdated inside at all.
The Please Touch Museum moved here from their original (now demolished- more to come on that) location in 2008. This building was built in 1876 as part of the Centennial exposition, and is currently the only remaining building from it.
This was built in the late 90's or early 00's, and remodeled around 2013. It has the current look, but still carries the old logo.
A holdover from the days when they had department stores in strip malls. This opened in 1955 and has seen very little change since then. The stores to the left were added somewhat recently.
I thought this was a Food Fair originally, judging by the pylon sign. Turns out it was originally a Penn Fruit, which used a similar tower. It was sold to ACME after Penn Fruit folded in 1977, which relocated to a new store in the early 90's.
This location is a twin to the Chester Springs store. It was built the same time in the exact same design, and remodeled likewise. This is unusual, given the fact that Chester Springs is a franchise location and over 20 miles from this one.
This is my favorite Taco Bell store design. Just thought I'd put that out there. This one was built in 2013 on the site of a Mobil station.
This was built in the 90's, which I found surprising. For some reason, I though this was much older. As of last December, it still had the mansard roof. Google strangely doesn't have street view on City Line Ave, so I can't really check up on this. City Line Ave. is a major road that borders Philadelphia, which makes the fact that there is no Street View very strange. Update: Remodeled sometime in 2018.
This is probably the most unusual KFC in the chain, opened in what used to be a residence. It would be interesting to see what they use the upper floors for. Update: The second floor was additional dining space, and the top was an office. Update II: Closed for "repairs" as of late 2018.
This is another 90's location (1996 to be exact) that was just remodeled heavily. You can see what it looked like prior to the remodel here (The CVS is just across the street if you want to check that out, too!).
This opened in 2011 in a former office building, with a modified design. Personally, I love this look and wish they would apply it to other stores. It looks huge, but it isn't any larger than a regular CVS store.
This looks like it opened as a regular-style Amoco in the 70's, but had the roof peak added on after they closed up in the 90's. It became a 76 in 2012.
Despite its modern appearance, this is actually the oldest building in the ACME chain. It was first built in 1951, and has been expanded three times since then, most recently in 2002. As it approaches its 70th birthday, I have to wonder if a replacement is being planned. There's nothing wrong with this one, but it's significantly older than the average store (I wanna say most ACME buildings are around 20-30 years old).
This was a 50's barrel-roof location that was given the centennial façade in the 60's. I'm not sure this ever made it to the SuperFresh days. Rite Aid operated here for a while until their replacement location in the 90's. Staples opened up shortly after Rite Aid vacated. Between Rite Aid and Staples, I'm surprised to see the A&P weather vane and fence still up on the roof.
Based on the amount of work that has been done on this location, it is safe to assume that it is very profitable. This opened up in the 70's or early 80's, and was extensively remodeled in the late 90's (hence the old logo), and again around 2005 (goose logo, stone facing, and exterior lighting were added then). UPDATE: Slated for remodeling again Spring 2017.
Fencing is starting to come out, and an addition has been framed out where the porch used to be. Unfortunately, the door I used to be able to sneak in through was removed so I couldn't get in again until it opened.
A drop ceiling was put in the front. It would have looked like this originally.
Somehow I never managed to get a picture of the outside of this place (not that it's anything special, but still...). I was actually just here yesterday, but I thought I already had a picture and didn't snag one of the exterior.
This was built in the late 90's as one of the Parkesburg style stores, but was remodeled to the windowless design a couple years later.
The old road. For 40+ years of abandonment, the pavement actually is holding up very well.
This village, located about halfway between Spring City and Pottstown, was vacated in 1982 when the Limerick Generating Station was built. The houses were too close to the plant to evacuate in time should a meltdown occur, so the energy company bought the land and kicked the residents out. I was hoping to get the chance to explore it some more, after seeing some Flickr pictures of what's inside the buildings. Unfortunately, PECO got there before I did and either sealed up or ripped down everything. The plan is to turn it into some kind of tourist attraction.
I liked how the newly-remodeled Exton Wawa looks at night. They added a bunch of decorative lighting in the remodel, really making this place stand out.
When Walmart moved into this center, they took over half of the space occupied by Marshall's, dislocated a Jo-Ann fabrics, and took up the space of a former Linens N Things. Jo-Ann moved to part of a former Circuit City elsewhere in the center, and Marshall's (which can be seen to the left), moved into a former Filene's Basement. Half the old Marshall's space was left vacant, so Burlington moved into that. In short, this remodel was just a logistics nightmare.
The day I took these pictures (along with the next couple upload sets), I was planning on stopping by here for lunch (I was making a decently sized retail road trip that day), but unfortunately found it closed. This didn't last long, unfortunately. It was a great restaurant, but it only lasted about a year. I think the problem was that they kept their music playing way too loud. You could hear it playing from the stores on either side. I like southern rock as much as the next person, but I really would like to be able to hear people while I'm eating.
About a year and a half ago, I posted a photo of this diner under construction. I'm finally following up with it. Sorry for the wait!
The new roof looks good, but I think I still prefer the original design.
I wouldn't exactly call Pottstown a classy place, although the downtown area is certainly an exception. Rite Aid opened this store in the late 90's, but went with a boxier design and used brick. As of January, it has not yet been remodeled.
Inside. Obviously this has been remodeled since it opened, probably around 2007.
7/11 pulled out of here in 2012, and Pat's moved in the following year.
This was built in 2008 on the site of a 60's A&P/SuperFresh. This is probably towards the bottom of the Wawa remodeling list. The brick is going to be hard to work into their new look.
At first I got really excited when I saw the sign. Reality started to sink in when I saw a "for lease" sign in the window. I guess nobody ever got around to taking the sign down.
Pharmacy entrance. This is a nice enough store that I'm surprised it hasn't found a new tenant yet. This is the only store that had this design. Update: As of 2017, this store has been split up between Aldi and Planet Fitness.
This opened in 1996. Harleysville must have passed an ordinance on signage sizes sometime after 2006. Giant's sign looks normal, but the new Walmart logo has shrunken to about half its original size. The smaller sign actually looks nice here. Both stores in this center are very small. I'm predicting Walmart's gonna move out before too long and Giant's going to take this space.
It took me long enough, but I finally figured out who used this design originally. I was previously pretty sure it was Getty, but it turns out I was wrong. Google Maps has streetviews of this from both before and after I was here, each showing the cupola still being on the roof. I guess the canopy must be blocking my view of it, but I'm pretty sure it's supposed to be over the center garage door.
This opened around 2005. What's interesting about this picture is that I took it in Montgomery County, but the CVS is in Bucks County. (Not that that's important, but I felt the need to write something else in the description :P)
This is definitely one of their oldest locations, possibly dating back to 1966. It appears to have been expanded to the right at some point. It's still a really small restaurant, but they somehow managed to fit a Wingstreet in here too. Update: Closed 2017.
This opened as a Grant City in 1966, turned into Woolco when that closed, and became Ames from the time Woolco went under until the chain's demise. For a while, it was part of the adjacent Vanity Fair outlet, which sublet this portion of the store to Bottom Dollar in 2013. You can see it mid-conversion here. In 2015, it was converted to an Aldi following their buyout of the Bottom Dollar brand. They redid the façade again.
This has to be one of the strangest Sunoco conversions I have ever seen. They took off the peak over the old entryway, bricked up the garage doors, turned the front into windows, and somehow neglected to put up any exterior signage. Update: it operated as a Gulf with a Cumberland Farms store from the 80's until around 2010, before switching back to Sunoco.
This sure looks like an early 60's Wawa, but seems too narrow. It looks like Dairy Queen has been here a long time.
This one is now paired with a Sprint. I'm not sure why it still has the old logo. Update: Closed 2017, now a T-Mobile store.
A 90's store that was remodeled to the first Wellness décor. This probably had a blue awning originally, although it would seem strange for them to remove it.
This is one of two O'Grady's restaurants I know of, the other being Phoenixville. I figure they must have been the same franchisee (probably named O'Grady) that didn't want to close after the chain fell on hard times.
This opened in 2011, with Wawa's worst store design ever. I think they tried to save some money by getting rid of the gabled roof and gas canopy (the latter of which was thankfully resurrected). This design wasn't used for very long- they switched to the current look less than two years later.
This location was opened in the 90's, and expanded around 2013.
Starbucks always makes the most interesting conversions. They keep it obvious who the previous tenant was, yet manage to make it look a lot classier. Gino's opened here in the 70's, and closed in 1982 when Marriott bought the chain and converted them to Roy Rogers.
An 80's or early 90's Shell station. This was probably built the same time as the hotel behind it. Update: The Hampton Inn is currently being redone as of 2017.
Sports Authority didn't last here too long. It opened in the 2000's (It had a blue and red version of their newest logo, which was later changed to all red), and closed in 2014. The space is currently being subdivided, with Stein Mart taking up the largest spot in the center. The windows you see along the front are all new, along with the porch that is not under the main façade. Update: This was originally a SuperFresh, which relocated from the now-demolished location next door in the 70's. The original location made it until 2013.
This was the first Bottom Dollar to open in Pennsylvania, opening in 2010. It closed in January, 2015 with the chain. Aldi doesn't have many stores in the area, so this would have seemed like a logical one to take.
This store opened in 2008, and closed in 2015. The building is in a great location, so I'm not sure why this couldn't make it. Update: Became one of Duluth Trading Post's first brick-and-mortar stores in 2017. It's pretty neat, they have an antique tool museum in back.
Looking at the parking lot, I'd say it has been at least 20 years since they had gas pumps here.
I thought this place was closed, but it looks like there are cars inside! I really like the glass doors here.
This was built in 1983. Definitely one of your more interesting office buildings!
I have confirmed that this was in fact a Wawa originally. What makes this interesting is that it never sold gas under the Wawa name: they had the store, while Liberty sold the fuel. After Wawa moved, this became a US Gas, which later leased the store part out to Dunkin' Donuts. Gas is now sold under the Gulf name.
The exterior signs from the Blue Bell SuperFresh were taken down right after it closed, but the roadside pylons were still displaying the logo in January. I figure they're gone now, since the space has already been leased and heavily remodeled (pictures to come!)
The 76 Station (Photo 15) In Bala Cynwyd, PA Was Actually Built As A Colonial-Style Texaco Station In The Late 1960's Or The 1970's. It Was Not Built As An Amoco Station. Texaco Also Had Doors Between The Service Bays On Their Colonial-Style Buildings.
ReplyDeletehttps://www.bellinghamma.org/sites/bellinghamma/files/imce/texaco_gas_station_1960s_-_1970s.jpg