I'm not going to tuck myself into a nice by forcing a theme to this blog, but here you can expect retail, architecture, and urbex photography focusing on Philadelphia and the Main Line suburbs!
Finishing Summer 2019 with the Beginning of Summer 2017
Get link
Facebook
X
Pinterest
Email
Other Apps
Welcome back, everybody! This week, we're going to be seeing the photos I took during that awkward week in between the end of classes and graduation of my senior year of high school. It may have been a weird way for the district to schedule things, but since I had nothing else going on I was able to have a little fun exploring the Upper Main Line area.
ACME Remodeled, Chester Springs, PA
Checking back in on my local ACME, which had just wrapped up a major remodel. My pictures from the first post-remodel trip weren't great but they get the point across.
The first aisle of the store was sacrificed to widen the produce department. Interestingly, they kept the original flooring instead of putting in the faux wood other stores have been getting. Not only that, but they replicated the old pattern in the expansion area.
Up towards the front of the store, where Starbucks was located prior to SuperValu coming through and screwing everything up, is now home to the store's wine and beer department.
Eastern Mountain Sports Closing, Exton
I only got a couple photo here, neither of which happened to be of the exterior. I'm 99% certain I've shown you that before though. What I lacked in photos, I made up for in getting cheap shirts. This space is now home to Sephora, which opened earlier this year.
This store closed as part of their bankruptcy, which ended quickly but with a lot of carnage. There was only one round of closings, but that slashed their store count in half. They went from about 100 to 50 locations, and were ultimately bought out in the end. Unfortunately, the new owners had another round of closings in 2018, taking their store count down to about 15.
Klosing in Devon
Devon's Kmart, which was my go-to after Exton closed, got booted out for Target in 2017. Target did a pretty nice job converting the space, but unfortunately ripped off the original JM Fields façade. The edge of the store was left empty, but is now in the process of being turned into a gym.
Devon's a very rich area, as a result this was one of Kmart's better-performing stores. They remodeled it 3 times in my lifetime, most recently in 2011. Unfortunately, Kmart's pretty easy to bribe into closing. Despite the remodels, it kept the JM Fields flooring up until the very end.
The layaway counter was carved into the back of the store by Kmart. As a result, the flooring doesn't match the Fields tile. There were also a lot of employees, keeping me from getting a better shot of it this visit.
Looking down the center aisle of the store. Notice the lighting runs perpendicular to the aisles, whish is something Kmart didn't start doing until the 90's. This indicates that the lights are also original.
The store was starting to look a little picked over, but still had a decent selection. This was still rather early in the sale.
The store's pharmacy jumped ship a few months before the store closed, so it didn't come as a huge surprise when the axe fell here.
Esso, Devon, PA
This is one of the best preserved 50's Esso Stations I know of. It probably hasn't sold gas in an eternity, the auto repair shop that's taken up residence in there seems to have been here a while. Unfortunately, it's not in terribly great shape. That factored with Devon being wealthy and rapidly developing, I'm worried it might not stick around too much longer. On the other hand, it received a new sign this Summer, which would indicate the opposite.
MacCausland Jeep-Eagle, Devon, PA
Given that this dealership didn't sell Chrysler or Plymouth, I think it's safe to assume it was originally built as an AMC dealership that was absorbed into Jeep-Eagle in 1987. Despite the Eagle nameplate being discontinued in 1997, signage remained up until the dealership closed altogether in 2009. Since then, it has been used mainly for overflow by the Volkswagen dealer next door. In 2016, plans were made to turn this into a Main Line Health center, which I'm pretty sure is not related to the signage we see in the windows here. I've got no clue what Karma of the Main Line was supposed to be. Evidently they got really close to construction, but the plans must have fallen through. The fence is gone again, and Volkswagens are back in the lot. Last year, I went to check it out further and saw somebody was working at a desk inside. Update: Apparently Karma is a new-ish luxury electric car company, who planned on opening a dealership here. Those plans must have fallen through, probably as a result of this being practically across the street from a Tesla dealer.
Fritz Lumber, Berwyn, PA
I've posted about this before, but to recap: Fritz opened here in 1863, and unfortunately closed down in late 2016. Demolition began soon after, but when the developer couldn't get their plans approved for a high-rise apartment complex on the site, they stopped all work. Over the summer, it sold again to another developer with similar plans. We'll see where it goes from here.
The old woodshed was the only building that they took down, seen here about midway through the process. Behind it are the railway tracks that originally kept it supplied. Some interesting trivia about this place: after Lincoln was killed, his body passed by on that line, and these buildings were here when that happened. In later years they were supplied mainly by trucks, which had trouble getting in and out of here due to it being right in the middle of town. This was part of why they made the decision to close down.
I'm guessing this smaller building was probably the original office. It looks like they would have had an attendant stationed out here in later years.
This building was home to the yard's offices and showroom at the end. I believe it is original to the complex, but judging by the roofline it looks like it may have been more storage originally.
Taking a look inside the office. There were a few things left behind, but it doesn't look like anything historic.
This cinderblock building off to the side of the complex was another warehouse area. The roof gave out not long after they closed. As for the outdoor portion here, they stored a lot of stone, steel, and cinderblock as it was less susceptible to water damage than the lumber itself.
These little buildings by the road almost definitely date back to the same time as the lumber yard, although I'm under the impression they were originally separate businesses Fritz expanded into.
I'm not sure what's up with all the chairs, but whatever they were used for was probably the only use this building has seen in decades.
The other side of the building seems like it was designated as Fritz's dumping grounds. Maybe it's unsold merchandise?
The second old building seems like it was given a little more of a purpose, although the point is moot now that it's all abandoned.
I'm not sure if this building was totally abandoned or not, but they'd been doing some upkeep on the exterior. A picture I found from the 80's shows it actually being in much worse shape.
The two little stores as seen from the other side.
From the looks of it, there used to be a deck in front of the building, which was pulled out as some point of while this was disused.
Gonna finish off this post with just a few random images I wanted to share that I didn't have a better place to put.
Here's a chipmunk outside my house. He just chills out here. I'm not sure how long chipmunks live for, but there's been one out here as long as I can remember.
Wawa, Kimberton, PA
As the old Kimberton Wawa was in the process of being converted to an eye doctor's clinic, a sign came off the side revealing the original stain on the wood. All of Wawa's old locations used to be stained a dark brown, but were repainted to this more grayish shade in the early 2000's.
I thought this was funny- Home Depot was offering an exchange where you bring in an old Lowe's bucket and they'd give you a new Homer's Bucket.
Wawa, Parkesburg, PA
Not a good picture but Wawa's that still have high ceilings over checkout like this are hard to find these days. Most stores that had this later had drop ceilings added just over the vents when the big front window was taken out.
Ohio Blue Tip Matches
I thought these were really old when I found them. I looked them up and not only are they still being made, but in almost identical packaging too.
Meltonian Shoe Polish
These were at the shoe repair shop in Norristown we saw last week. I also looked into this brand since they had 2 different designs, neither of which looked particularly new. The yellow lids are the current design, while the white ones are old enough that they're now being sold as "vintage" on Ebay.
As for today's music, I feel it would be appropriate to put in some Eddie Money. I was actually already planning on doing this song this week before he died. Somebody who biked past me last weekend was blasting it and it's been stuck in my head all week.
Thanks! I was debating whether to do this or Two Tickets to Paradise, since that's probably his most famous song. This one was my favorite, plus I was already planning on doing it, so I chose it instead.
It should be an easy guess what two stores we'll feature today, but as usual we've got some stuff to go through before we get there. Let's get started! Colonial Theater, Phoenixville, PA If there's one building in Phoenixville you might recognize from something other than my photos, it would be this one. And that would mean you've seen 1958's The Blob . It opened as a playhouse in 1903, and switched to film in 1928. Occasionally a new movie makes it in here, but for the most part they show classics and have concerts here now. Rec Room, Phoenixville, PA Across the street from the theater, in what I am almost certain was an old 5-and-dime (From the 80's until a couple years ago it was a variety store), Conshohocken Brewing has opened up the Rec Room. It's about what you would expect, primarily restaurant/bar space, but with a few shuffleboard and ping-pong tables in back. Rapps Dam Bridge, Phoenixville, PA This old covered bridge was originally built in 1...
A lot of my posts lately have been outside looks at stores, but today I'll make it up to you. Like 75% of what I'm covering this post are store interiors. Without further ado, let's get started! Malvern Federal, Exton, PA Here's one of the more interesting bank buildings in the area. Its early history is a little complicated but I can tell you what stands today dates back at least to 1810 and was originally a farmhouse. The 1810 portion, made of stone, was added onto a log house constructed in 1771. This part may still be here, but nothing standing today obviously jumps out as a log structure so if it does still stand, it has been covered in stucco. It maintained its original use for close to 200 years, before Malvern Federal Savings bank bought the structure in 1964 and converted it to a bank. That lasted over fifty years, but then rumors began swirling that something bad was going to happen. Malvern sold the building to PREIT, who then announced plans to demolish the...
The story of how I wound up here goes all the way back to the beginning of Quarantine. Like the very beginning, where we literally weren't allowed to to be out in public on nonessential business. I, like most people, was stuck at home and bored out of my mind. To pass the time, I would find urbex sites (most of which are very stubborn about not giving out locations) and track down the buildings they featured. It was a fun challenge, almost like detective work. One site, Abandoned NJ , had a neat page on an unnamed Agricultural Research Facility. I became instantly obsessed- it was so modern but so decayed at the same time. It also had practically no clues on how to find it. It took me a few days, but ultimately I was able to track it down using a product name that appeared in one of the photos, finding the company that made that, then ultimately discovering that they still had a helipad registered at this address. After a few months when things had settled down virus-wise, I calle...
LOL at the Lowe's/Home Depot bucket exchange!
ReplyDeleteGreat Eddie Money song, too.
It made me laugh when I found it too!
DeleteThanks! I was debating whether to do this or Two Tickets to Paradise, since that's probably his most famous song. This one was my favorite, plus I was already planning on doing it, so I chose it instead.