Flickr Photos 46

 Giant, Royersford, PA
Giant opened this store around 2005. It is on the smaller end as far as their newer stores go, and is stuck in a position where it really can't expand without sacrificing one of its neighbors. That being said, it does pretty good business. It was remodeled to the Ahold decor in 2015. Prior to that, I believe this had Fun House V1. 

 This store never had a Marketplace Cafe, so floral is still in its original location.

By the time this store was redone, they were starting to get a little cheap with the remodels. The original lighting was kept throughout most of the store, with Produce being the exception. They also didn't do much more than throw a fresh coat of paint on the front end.

Produce. This store actually had a great selection for its size.

It's also really bothering me how small that lettuce picture is. The white space around it is a little overwhelming.

 I like the colors they use on the A La Carte department. They're a little bolder than the rest of the store, but they don't stick out too badly.

 Deli gets the corner behind produce. It's a little small here, but proportional to the rest of the store.

 And if you didn't believe what I was saying about seafood being double the size of the meats department, here's some photographic evidence. Meat's behind it.

Just one of the aisles. Not much to see here, but I try to get at least one aisle shot in every stour.

 The bakery. The new decor actually matches the old tile in back nicely.

 Dairy aisles. In older versions of the decor, they had stone veneer covering up this entire wall. It was a little overwhelming, but it looked good.

 The dairy cooler, in the back corner of the store.

 Customer Service. I hadn't noticed that gray color in other stores with this decor until after the new Grayscale look came out. I just assumed it was part of a modernization attempt, but this picture was from before that decor came around and says otherwise.

 Jo-Ann, North Coventry, PA
Everything in here seemed really cramped together, although that's not unusual for a craft store.

 There also wasn't much in terms of décor here, just a green stripe going around the perimeter.

 The Jo-Ann store here was much smaller and older than the one I usually go to, which was probably one of several reasons why they moved to the more visible mall location this Spring.

SuperFresh/Lomax, North Coventry, PAThe former SuperFresh, on the other hand, got a new life. Lomax Carpet and Tile was in the process of moving in, and had already repainted the façade.

 The Shops at Coventry
A whole bunch of closed stuff. I have a feeling the mall has bigger plans for this strip center, since they don't seem to be making any effort to lease out the space; meanwhile the mall itself is back up to over 80% occupancy.

 Former comics store. They had the windows covered up with a thick black tarp so I couldn't see inside.

 Dismal looking directory. The only other small tenant left here aside from Rita's is a state congressman's office.

 Rita's was only closed for the season, although the paper they put over the windows made it look like they were gone for good.

 The lights were on in the space that was formerly home to Pomodoro Pizza, so I got a picture through the window. It looks like they were storing a generator in here for something.

I had to run some errands up here one night, so afterwards I decided to take advantage of the situation and get a few pictures of this center. Last I reported, there were 4 tenants in the center- now it's down to 3, since Jo-Ann just moved to the Coventry Mall.

 Happy Harry's/Premier, Lionville, PA
This opened in 2000 with the center, and closed around the time Walgreen's bought out the rest of the chain. They have a store just down the road from here. It was outfitted for a Premier Urgent Care center shortly afterwards. Even though the interior has been rebuilt completely, they left the drive-thru the way it was.

 Genuardi's, Lionville, PA
Looking in the front windows. The roof things were over the checkout stands.

Nothing at all has changed here since last time, but I figured I might as well get a couple more pictures while it's here.

This area was the former cafe. There used to be a register up at the front by the righthand wall.

 Former Lounge at Brothers Pizza, Lionville, PA

This was originally "The Lounge," which was technically part of Brothers Pizza, although they had a separate register. This area served alcohol and allowed smoking, but was forced to close down after Pennsylvania's 2008 ban on smoking in restaurants (but not alcohol-only bars). Since this was technically part of Brother's Pizza, they were not able to pass as a bar. Alcohol sales were moved back to the main restaurant, since there was no point keeping around a smoking lounge you couldn't smoke in. It then sat vacant for a decade before work began converting this space into another restaurant which should be opening sometime this summer.

Brother's Pizza itself was evicted from the center in late 2016. Taco Maya recently moved in to their space. Update: Now Enzo's Pizzeria as of 2018.

 Sovereign Bank/Nudy's Cafe, Lionville, PA
The bank in its entirety. It's a pretty small space, but the perfect size for a restaurant. I'm surprised it's been empty this long. Update: As of 2018, has been turned into a Nudy's Café, most likely replacing their Eagleview location.

 This branch was built in 2001, which I believe was when Sovereign was still independent. The company merged with Santander later, but continued to operate under the Sovereign name until 2013. They closed this one closed before the nearby Genuardi's, and never got the Santander branding.

 Looking through the front doors, this was the best view I could get of the inside. All the other windows had blinds that made it impossible to get pictures.

 The drive-thru window itself seems sorta pointless. That definitely doesn't open, nor does it have a microphone.

The drive-thru, which I feel was put in backwards. You're supposed to enter them from behind the bank.

Brother's Pizza in the background was another original tenant in the center. They were evicted in 2016, and is now home to Taco Maya. We'll be taking a closer look at part of that later.

 The back of the bank. The closed signs over the drive thru still lit up until recently.

 Even More Swiss Farms

I believe this set is the last of the Swiss Farms photos I have. 

This building looks so much larger than the empty lot it left. Now I'm wondering how they could fit all this on there!

 The building, as viewed from Taco Maya's parking lot. Since this was a drive-thru it had no parking of its own. I'm not sure what they expected the employees to do. None of this lot was here back when Swiss Farms was built.

 They were doing a little last minute salvage when I stopped by this time. Mainly decorative fixtures from the exterior were being removed.

 Pronto's menu boards are still intact. The light boxes behind them were reused from Swiss Farms, who I think advertised specials here.

This looks like where the water or gas main was disconnected. Not sure what else they could have been digging around a pipe for.

 Old Taco Maya

This restaurant was built around 2007 as Char-Lee's, a 50's-themed burger restaurant. That lasted a couple years. The food was mediocre at best. It then became Butcher Burger, another independent burger shop, in 2011. It was really good. We ate there probably close to once a week. I believe Taco Maya bought them out, since there was no period where this was vacant. One day we came here for burgers, and it was in the process of being converted into Taco Maya. They opened Spring 2013. Between the need for a bigger location and somebody else wanting this space, Taco Maya moved earlier this year, and this building was leveled less than a week later.

It's really weird seeing stuff get knocked down when you remember them building it, too. :P

 Walgreens, Lionville, PA
Walgreens opened up right across the intersection from the old Rite Aid in 2011. Even though the replacement RA isn't that far away, these two stores serve two different areas. Walgreens is shopped at almost exclusively by the people in the subdivisions built behind it, while the Rite Aid caters to basically everyone between there and Exton.

 Rite Aid/AutoZone, Lionville, PA
This has to be the tackiest drug store design ever. That being said, I still like it. Maybe I wouldn't think so highly of it if I didn't grow up with it. AutoZone made quite a few changes to the facade when they moved in, but it is still recognizable.

Roadside sign. Rite Aid had the top space. Note that it also still advertises Coastal Gas, which went out of business in 2001, basically right after the one here opened. The station itself now just operates as a service center.

Looking at the Drive Thru port. Auto Zone surprisingly left this up, even though they bricked in the window.

 Some more long-lived Rite Buy stickers on the drive-thru. A Wellness+ advertisement was still hanging on above them, too.

 The only window that wasn't out-of-reach or covered by a metal gate was the rear pharmacy window. Thankfully, we're still able to see into the store through the pickup counter. This store had the pastel decor up until the end.

A few alternate titles for this one could be "We Will Rock You" or "And It Stoned Me."

Behind the store, there's a retaining wall (about 6 feet tall) with a planter full of rocks on top. It looks like this side of the building has fallen victim to a vicious stone-pelting session. Some of the rocks are still stuck in the wall.

Thankfully, Auto Zone patched over this.

One of the windows was broken by a rock. If you have a cheesy sense of humor like me, you're probably thinking, "How could it break? I thought diamonds were the hardest material!"

One of Rite Aid's very 90's diamond windows. I always liked these, as tacky as they look. Unfortunately (but understandably), Auto Zone removed these.

 The hexagonal scar was from the Pharmacy Drive-Thru sign. Auto Zone patched up the trim here when they moved in.

They advertised the new store using Rite Buy stickers. Somehow these survived on the outside of the building for over 6 years. That's pretty amazing. It's lasted longer than any romantic relationship I've been in. :P

The entry triangle. One thing I've noticed over my years of retail observation is that 99% of pharmacies have corner entryways like this, former Eckerds being the only exception I can think of.

The paint over the logo is starting to fade through. Even though most stores if this style had the old logo, this one came along late enough to get the new one.

Auto Zone removed these awnings.

Wendy's, Lionville, PAThis store opened in 2013, and was among the last few to open with the old logo. This was also a short-lived style of restaurant, with opaque glass along the top instead of black metal paneling.

 Target, Exton, PA
This store opened in 1995, and was one of the first couple stores in Pennsylvania. It was supposed to be replaced by the 2008-built Lionville location, but they ultimately decided to keep both open. This store was remodeled from its original neon decor shortly after they made the decision to spare it.

Formerly Food Avenue. I shop here pretty infrequently now that we have the Lionville location. It had been about a year since I was last here; I walked in the doors and realized the neon confetti was gone. Even though at that point I hadn't started paying attention to this kind of stuff yet, I always really liked the old signage here. It took me a little while to realize the store had been redone and almost everything here was different.

It looked exactly like this place.

 The hanging CVS sign. I'm not really a fan of the inverted colors.

 The home department. I don't believe I've seen this signage anywhere else, granted I don't usually venture into this part of the store.

 Looking along the right side of the store. This is the only Target I've seen large air vents like this in.

 Clothing. I think the displays were replaced, or at least reconfigured, earlier in 2016. This store has had a lot of non-remodel work done since 2009.

One of the fluorescent lights. These were put up in the remodel; previously the store had ones with flat shades. This picture was taken around the same time they went around replacing the lights in all their stores with LED's. 

These have since been replaced again.

 Target's roadside sign. This store has a modified exterior design. Exton has strict building codes, so a lot of buildings here wind up with a barn-themed exterior.

Xfinity, Exton, PA
In 2016, Comcast opened the first three Xfinity stores (This one, one in Wilmington, and one in Haverford; all pretty close to their headquarters) to test the waters on the concept. Evidently, this was a success, as they now have well over 100 across the country.

 Entenmann's Outler, Exton, PA
I think the back of this building served as a regional distribution center. The store itself moved further into Exton in 2017, while the distribution center was either moved or closed altogether. There are currently plans to demolish this complex and build a Wawa in its place.

 Rite Aid, West Chester, PA
This store was built in 2007. It was redone in 2016 to the latest wellness remodel, adding a RediClinic.

 American Helicopter Museum, West Chester, PA

I thought this one was strange. It's like a banana with two propellers stuck to it. I think this one was also from Vietnam. 

For special events, they open this up and let people inside, but I don't think it's been flown in years.

The museum had a few helicopters out on display in front. They each had a sign giving the history for each of them, which in hindsight I should have photographed so I would have something to write about in the descriptions. :P

Going by memory, I think this one was used in Vietnam.

 I believe this one was a little older, probably dating back to the Korean War. 

This museum is part of the Chester County Airport. They have a lot of neat stuff. I don't go here nearly as often as I should.

 Granite Run Mall, Media, PA
The piles of rubble are where JCPenney's carport used to be.

 There's not much of the actual mall left, just a few piles of dirt and concrete.

 Sears, as viewed from the other side. The mall was built into a hill, so this side is only one story.

 Looking towards Boscov's, the other surviving anchor. I'm hoping the redevelopment doesn't mess with the 1992 decor inside.

 Sears, Granite Run Mall, Media, PA

The sears here somehow managed to outlast the mall itself!

Assuming it survives until construction is finished, renderings show a new facade. I'm not sure if that will replace what's here, or if that is just for the newly exposed side that used to attach to the mall.

 One thing that really stood out as strange to me was the ceiling tiles. They were 3 foot squares as opposed to the usual 2x2 ones. They made the standard size lights here fit by setting them in slightly raised-up boxes. They added more lights over the years and just cut the tiles around them, which is why a lot of them are off center.

First floor former mall entrance is just a white wall now. It didn't even have shelves in front.

The Craftsman section. This store was in surprisingly good condition. Unfortunately, that probably means Sears won't be investing anything more than they have to in remodeling here.

I think this was the mall entrance for the second floor. They did a better job covering it up than they did on the first floor.

 This store was pretty nondescript. The ceiling over the stairwell wasn't any different than the rest of the store.

 We're starting this stour on the second floor. The main entrances are on the bottom floor, but there still is a way to get in through the back here. I guess originally the main entrances were through the mall.

 Pathmark/Shoprite, Brookhaven, PA
Sure looks different since Pathmark closed here! Shoprite gutted and expanded the space, and is now open for business!

 Pathmark's entrance was to the left of the gray brick area. Shoprite moved it to the right. That area was originally a separate storefront that Pathmark expanded into in the 90's. Shoprite expanded yet again into the former Chinese buffet to the right of that.

 Near the wine section, this store also had a nice cafe area. Another thing I like about Shoprite is their A La Carte section. It's cheap and surprisingly good. Definitely one of the most underrated parts of the store.

The produce department. Shoprite's come a long way over the years here, and now has some decent offerings. 

Everything to the left of the beams was Pathmark's first expansion, while to the right was the old Chinese Buffet Shoprite took over.

 Seafood has a pretty big department here. This part of the store was by far the nicest (read:least cluttered). I'm also a huge fan of the decor here, in particular that tile backsplash.

 The meat department's small, but hard to miss with a 3-D modernist cow sculpture sticking out.

 Shoprite spared no expense in remodeling this store. It was clean and modern, but still somehow had that unpleasant Shoprite feel. It would be a really nice store if they didn't keep it so cluttered.

This store opened right after Pennsylvania lifted the ban on supermarket wine sales. This was the first store I'd seen with a wine section built in. Older stores that got wine permits crammed them in wherever they would fit.

 Mandee/PetSmart, Brookhaven, PA
I would have gotten more pictures through the closed storefronts, but the former Mandee here was the only one that wasn't papered over. It still had that 80's look, which I imagine was probably the last time this space was redone.

 Aside from the two new anchors, the rest of this shopping center was in disarray. Mandee had been closed here for close to a decade, as were a few spaces near it. Thankfully, all the spaces in between Shoprite and Lowe's were combined last year into what is now a PetSmart.

 Grant's/Kmart/Lowe's, Brookhaven, PA
This store also has a whole lot more decor than the ones I'm used to shopping in. They also have a bunch of hanging track lights over the displays, which I thought was a neat touch.

I forgot to get an exterior photo this time, but rest assured you're not missing out on much. The Kmart facade's gone and it now has the same look as every other Lowe's store.

Inside, it's hard to believe that this is the same building! Pulling out the drop ceiling and flooring really made a huge difference. I think they may have redone the concrete, too.

 Lionville Dunkin' Donuts Remodel
A lot of the repainting has been taken care of already, although the awnings hadn't been replaced yet (I think the new ones are plain orange), and the area the signs were mounted on hasn't been painted yet. Baskin Robbins had their logo updated at the very end of construction. I actually haven't been inside since before they redid it, but from the outside it looks like they did a lot of work. This was built on the site of the Whitford Hills Texaco.

 CVS, Parkesburg, PA
At this point, it looks like all the hard construction was complete, and now they just have to add the finishing touches. I think the red awning over the entrance must have just gone up, since Pennsylvania law requires pharmacy signage to be covered if the store's not in operation.

 Mobil/Xpress Stop, Parkesburg, PA

I think Mobil closed this one in the 90's, and was replaced by Xpress shortly thereafter. They don't appear to have changed much- I think those pumps are left over from Mobil.

Also of note is the MAC Machine sign, which is somehow still holding on here.

 Citgo/Liberty, Oxford, PA
This stuck around as a Citgo until fairly recently. For a while, it was the only operational one I knew of. It became a Liberty around 2015.

 Wawa/Sunoco, Oxford, PA
I have reason to doubt this was ever a Wawa, but it bears such a strong resemblance I can't not consider it. Maybe this was one of their early attempts at selling gas in the 70's by partnering up with another gas station.

 Burger King, Oxford, PA
This location has been closed for a surprisingly long time (I wanna say since 2012). Somehow, nobody's made them take down the sign yet. It even still lights up at night sometimes.

 Oxford, PA
I couldn't find anything on the history of these buildings, but I'm guessing they were all local stores at some point.

 Oxford Presbyterian, Oxford, PA

This place looks a lot different than it did in 2014.

They restored the building to the way it looked before a 1940's facelift. A 2-story porch was also added onto the front. Unfortunately, they did not save the old sign.

Here's how it looked in the 30's. The ACME next door relocated across town in the 50's and was later demolished to make room for the church parking lot.

 Octoraro Hotel, Oxford, PA

This place looks a lot different than it did in 2014.

They restored the building to the way it looked before a 1940's facelift. A 2-story porch was also added onto the front. Unfortunately, they did not save the old sign.

Here's how it looked in the 30's. The ACME next door relocated across town in the 50's and was later demolished to make room for the church parking lot.

 Pizza Hut, Oxford, PA
I believe this location opened in the late 60's or early 70's, although I'm fairly certain this is not the original building. It was gutted out and redone to the current style.

 ACME, Oxford, PA

ACME built this store in the 70's as a replacement for a now-demolished 50's store nearby. It was given the ax in early 2016 due to its small size and poor condition.

By the way, I realized that I forgot to announce in my last uploads that I was going on vacation for a couple weeks. oops.

So, if you were wondering why I didn't post in the last 2 weeks and 5 days, that's what I was doing. My freshman year of college ended a couple days before I left, so I'm on summer now- meaning (almost) daily uploads for you guys! I've still got a tom of photos to post and a few retail expeditions planned.

The metal awning is original to the store, but the facade was redone in the early 2000's. The brick columns and stucco front were added to dress up what would have been a very industrial-looking porch.

I don't like calling this a porch, but I don't know what else to call it. :P

 I have to say, for a store this small and basic, they really did splurge on the decor. Similar stores remodeled to this look didn't get any of the tile background, just blue cutout letters pasted to the wall and definitely no 3D meats and seafood sign like in back.

 The store was remodeled to the Albertsons Marketplace decor in the early 2000's. Despite that, it retains the flooring from the previous 80's look, and the original 70's layout.

 Don't want to paint around all those letters? Just put a frame around the sign and paint around it.

Just don't make it crooked like they did here.

This is also the first time I've noticed a trademark sign next to their logo.

 Old loading dock with some junk left behind. I think the thing on the door is the recieving hours.

 Old carts. I believe the green metal ones predate the plastic ones. They're all from the early 2000's, I believe.

Former trash compactor chute. I'm surprised they removed the compactor itself, seeing how everything else here was left behind.

 Looking up towards the old break rooms. Someone appears to have left a light on up there.

 Silk City/Miss Oxford Diner, Oxford, PA
This diner originally opened as the Silk City Diner in 1954. I know there was a diner of the same name in Philadelphia, but I don't think they were related. Strange coincidence, though! Silk City closed in the 80's, and sat vacant until 1994, when it was restored and reopened as the Miss Oxford Diner. (Ok is it just me, or do all diners have really weird names!?) They did a nice job restoring it. I would have assumed that everything here was original.

Citgo/Xpress Gas/Mobil, Oxford, PA

This place switched to the Xpress name around 2010. According to the internet, this is now a Mobil station. The other Xpress station I covered, in Parkesburg might also be a Mobil now too, but the sites are unreliable enough I can't say for certain. 

I might have to drive down there myself just to find out.

Getty/Gulf, Oxford, PA

I'm not sure of there are any Getty stations still around... It seems like all of them, at least in the Philly area, switched to Gulf in 2017. This one still has reviews posted for the Getty Mart, which are so bad they're funny.

 Thrift Drug/Eckerd/Rite Aid, Oxford, PA

This was originally an independent pharmacy, which was purchased by Thrift Drug around 1991. They were bought out by Eckerd, and later Rite Aid. It closed a couple months ago. I think this was one of the two PA stores that W*lgreens (yeah, I'm censoring that word now) bought. It closed with the Customer World décor.

Rite Aid has another store in town by the Redner's. That one isn't freestanding, but is further away from W*lgreen's.

 PNB/Wells Fargo, Oxford, PA
This location was built in the 60's or early 70's as a PNB bank. They changed their name to CoreStates in 1990, were bought out by First Union in 1998, then by Wachovia, and finally Wells Fargo. I think it's finally reached the top of the pyramid; I can't imagine anyone buying Wells Fargo.

 Ames/TSC, Oxford, PA
Ames opened this location in the early 70's. I think it must have been among their first PA stores. It closed in 2002 with the chain, and was replaced by Tractor Supply. If you're wondering why this store is so small, or why the entrance is so off-center, it's because the store used to go further right. TSC demolished about 1/3 of the store to make way for their yard. Despite the amount of work they did here, the remaining portion of the building hasn't been altered too much, inside or out.

 Dunkin Donuts, Oxford, PA
Dunkin built this location in 2009. It seems like an interesting design, I can't say I've seen anything like it before.

 Oxford Square Shopping Center, Oxford, PA
Most of the smaller stores in this strip mall face inwards. It seems a little inconvenient fr shoppers, but is probably the most efficient use of real estate.

 A&P/SuperFresh/Redner's, Oxford, PA
This was built as an A&P store in the early 70's, which was converted to SuperFresh in the 80's. It closed around 2000, and became Redner's shortly afterwards. I think they basically rebuilt the store and only reused the framing.

 Harleysville/First Niagara/Wendy's, Oxford, PA
This is definitely one of the more unique Wendy's out there. First Niagara closed this a few years before they were bought out, and Wendy's opened in 2014. I'm sorta surprised but glad that they kept the old First Niagara building instead of demolishing it and building their own. It made a nice conversion. I like how they reused the drive through.

Harleysville/First Niagara/Key Bank, Kennett Square, PAAt this point, all the First Niagara signage has been replaced with Key Bank stuff, but the name change has yet to take place. 

RadioShack, Kennett Square, PANow closed, as you can probably guess. This center used to require all the tenants to have all red signs, which is why this sign (and the Gamestop next door's) look like this. Newer tenants have been allowed to use their on colors, and I think SuperFresh was exempt from this to start with.