From Downingtown to Woodlyn
I've covered this place before, but I figured I'd use this as an opportunity to give y'all an update on it. After sitting vacant for a little over a year, Best Buy began redoing it and finally opened a couple months ago, replacing their larger location in the former Cropper's across the street.
Lane Bryant moved out of this location in 2016, most likely due to a 20-year lease ending, to Exton's former Rack Room Shoes, which moved out of that location in 2013 in favor of the former Eckerd in Fairfield Plaza.
Lane closed this store around 2010. It hasn't ever been really filled, but Halloween Adventure had a semi-permanent location here for several years. It was only open seasonally, but they kept merchandise in here year-round and even had a legitimate backlit sign on the front of the building. It too closed after the 2016 season, leaving the space totally vacant.
This strip mall was built in 2017 as an outlot to a Residence Inn, which opened the previous year. It's pretty small, but has some good stuff in it. The anchor is a P J Whelihan's Pub. Dunkin' Donuts also has a store here.
7-Eleven had 3 successive locations in Paoli, of which I believe this was the oldest. There's a heavily altered typical 70's location down the road, and the current 80's location one intersection beyond that. Remarkably this one's kept its façade perfectly intact despite not having been a 7-Eleven for close to 50 years. Unfortunately it won't be for much longer. As part of Paoli Station's reconstruction, the road is being rerouted and will now go straight through where this is now. Construction on this part of the project may start as early as this year.
I've also already posted a photo of this place, but here's another to commemorate the passing of founder Gino Marchetti earlier this week. I'd say it's quite an accomplishment to not only be an NFL Hall-of-Famer, but also the founder of a 350-location burger chain (and re-founder of it 50 years later!)
This is one of the relatively few Mobil's left in the Philadelphia region after the Exxon merger. I'm not sure how the chain decided what stations would serve what regions, or why a small sprinkling of exceptions would be allowed.
This opened as a smaller Grant's store in 1960. After it closed, Thrift Drug moved into half of it. Eckerd bought them in 1997, and redid the façade to match their prototype. Rite Aid moved from here into a freestanding location in 2013, leaving this one vacant for a few years. Finally, Michael's opened here in 2018.
This shopping center was built in the mid-60's. Despite the Wawa anchor being totally redone in 2016, the rest of the center wasn't touched. I love the metal frame used for the awning here.
I know I definitely posted a pre-remodel photo of this place, which is somewhere back in the bowels of this impossible-to-navigate blog. What I'm not sure about is if I have a post-remodel photo posted. To err on the side of caution, here you go.
I'm also fairly certain I've already posted a photo of this place, but if I remember correctly it wasn't a good one. So here's a better one. It's now operating as an auto repair shop, who has kept the building more or less intact.
Pantry 1 operates almost exclusively out of old Wawa's. Wawa has a program where they will have a secret list of lower-performing older stores that are for sale. You need to submit an application to see it. I'd hazard a guess and say Pantry 1 has access to the list, since the stores they take were never closed.
It's rare to see a gas station relocate, but that's what happened when Sunoco bought out Arco here. They closed their station next door in favor of this one. In late 2017, it changed branding to Conoco, and interestingly used an older style of canopy decal.
I can't find too much on this place, but it appears to have closed as a range in 2007 then used as a landscaper's yard for a few years afterwards. It was listed for sale in 2015, but appears to have since sold. Nothing's happened to the property though.
This pharmacy is part of the Good Neighbor Pharmacy franchise, which is about as independently as a pharmacy can operate. The roofline of this building and tower sign are what caught my attention here. They make me think this opened in the 60's originally.
This store was built as an outparcel to the existing shopping center in 2005. I'd say that was a poor choice for the landlord, since Rite Aid already had a store in the center. After a decade of competition, the Rite Aid called it quits in 2015, and is now home to Pet Supplies Plus. As of the most recent Streetview, this hasn't been redone yet, but at the rate they're remodeling I have a feeling it won't be long.
KFC/Taco Bell, Woodlyn, PA
This closed as a KFC back in 2015, and didn't reopen as a Taco Bell until 2017. I'm curious why the conversion took so long if the restaurant was going to stay in the same family. This was one of the last Taco Bells to open with the old logo.
I was in the area and figured this might be my last chance to ever shop at a RadioShack, so I dropped by. Currently it is still the last RadioShack I've been to, although I am aware of an operational one within reasonable driving distance from me.
For today's song, here's something that could be said about RadioShack:
That's strange, regarding the Wawa "secret list." Although I guess it's not entirely unheard of. For example, I bet Sears and Kmart have a secret list. Except by secret they mean "HERE EVERYONE LOOK EVERYTHING IS FOR SALE BUY IT ALL SO I CAN GET CASH AND NOT INFUSE IT BACK INTO THE COMPANY SO IT CAN CONTINUE FAILING!"
ReplyDeleteLol! Maybe Sears could learn some from Wawa
Delete"Secret list"? Wonder what else they're keeping secret.....
ReplyDeleteAlso, there are still some RadioShacks hanging in there, typically independent dealers/franchisees. One of them is not far from me in Blairstown NJ, it's run by an electrical contracting company (I'll try to visit one of these days). The only other close one is over the border in Brodheadsville.
There's a RadioShack in New Holland PA which is about an hour from me. It still has the old logo, so I really want to check it out. I've passed by before but they've got unusual hours.
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