Back to Devon!
Thanks to the Kmart's closing, I wound up spending a lot of time in the Devon/Wayne area this summer (not this this summer but the one the photos are from). We are now reaching the end of September, and what we see today would happen to be my last trip there before school started up (ha, remember when in-person classes were a thing?). But before we get to Devon, let's check in on a few other things.
I first covered this store when it opened in 2016, and commented on how weird it was that the store didn't get the wood grain treatment over the entrance. Well, a little over a year later they added it. :P
Westtown Giant Progress
Quite a bit has changed here since our last check-in, even though that was only a couple weeks ago. Giant's façade is structurally complete, and the tile is starting to go up!
The part of the strip mall parallel to Giant has also made quite a bit of progress. It's going for a more traditional design than Giant. The two contrast quite a bit but they don't look weird together.
Framing is starting to go up for the new façade on the rest of the center.
Aside from a few beams getting installed, the Wells Fargo end is still untouched. I stand by my belief that they should have left the old front on here until they finished the first part of the center and were ready to work on this.
7-Eleven, West Chester, PA
This 7-Eleven opened in the 80's and closed down in 2012. With Wawa being as prominent as they are here, 7-Elevens have been dropping like flies. Within the past 5 years, they've closed over a quarter of their Philadelphia locations. They're going to be going back up in numbers, at least for a little while, following their purchase of almost all of Sunoco's A-Plus locations. Their reasoning might be that being attached to a gas station will help them compete. It will be interesting to see how it all plays out.
CVS, Exton, PA
At this point, it has only been 5 months since they tore down Winner's Circle, and it looks like the CVS is almost structurally complete. I'm impressed.
Giant Pre-model
In 2017, the Lionville Giant went through and added gray veneer to (or in some spots just replaced) all their refrigerated cases. They then replaced the aisle markers with ones for the new Grayscale décor, so I was convinced this was the beginning of a remodel. Either I was wrong, or there was a three-year delay. The store itself was remodeled this past spring.
This case was in the process of getting the new veneer. The wooden molding along the top was repainted gray during this project as well.
Red Gray Robin, Lionville, PA
This restaurant opened in the late 90's and originally had a much more colorful paint job. If I remember correctly, the part with the lower roof was purple and had a copper color roof, the towers on either side of it were blue, and the areas to either side of that were a cream color. Around 2010, they repainted the molding white and everything else red. Things changed again in 2017 when the molding went red and the walls went gray. The logo was updated a few weeks after this photo was taken. Despite all this, the interior still hasn't been remodeled since they opened.
Wapticians
This restaurant opened in the late 90's and originally had a much more colorful paint job. If I remember correctly, the part with the lower roof was purple and had a copper color roof, the towers on either side of it were blue, and the areas to either side of that were a cream color. Around 2010, they repainted the molding white and everything else red. Things changed again in 2017 when the molding went red and the walls went gray. The logo was updated a few weeks after this photo was taken. Despite all this, the interior still hasn't been remodeled since they opened.
Progress on the Kimberton Village Optical is moving along. Wawa's lottery sign was still hanging on up there, but eventually came down when they got to replacing the siding.
Gulf/Mimmo's/Pizza Hut, Phoenixville, PA
This was an independent pizza place called Mimmo's previously that either closed or got bought out by Pizza Hut. Judging by the shape of the back part of the building, I'm inclined to believe this was a heavily remodeled former Gulf station. Pizza Hut's been scaling back their presence in the state for a while now, but in the past year has dramatically increased the closings (mostly thanks to a franchise disagreement- all but 5 Pizza Huts in Philly proper have closed. 3 of those are in Targets and the other two are bunking with Taco Bells). This one was one of the later casualties, it closed down for quarantine and will not be reopening.
Dunkin Donuts/AT&T, Phoenixville, PA
This was an older Dunkin location that had been given a new façade in the early 2000's. It relocated in 2015 to the former Gino's/Boston Market across the street (which made for a very interesting conversion). The former store sat vacant for a little while before AT&T opened up in 2017.
Amoco/Texaco/Citgo/76/Z Gas/US Gas, Phoenixville, PA
This station began life as an Amoco, but appears to have spent most of it as a Texaco. Shell did not pick this one up in 2004, and instead this changed hands to Citgo. It was one of several stations that rebranded to 76 when Conoco decided to reintroduce them to the area (only for them to pull out almost immediately; Conoco then returned in 2017 under their own name and seems to be faring better). After 76, it operated independently as Z Gas before changing again to US Gas in 2019. I haven't figured out if US Gas is a chain or if it's just a generic name several stations happen to share.
Royal Bank, Phoenixville, PA
I have a feeling this building used to be entirely bank offices, but towards the end of Royal's tenure here they had sublet the upper floor to several small offices and half the ground floor to a dry cleaner. Royal ultimately closed the branch in 2016, shortly before being bought out by Bryn Mawr Trust. There are currently plans to tear it down for a new Wawa, but first they have to let the existing leases run out.
Fields/Kmart/Target & Edge Fitness, Devon, PA
We haven't really looked at the Auto Center yet. While technically still part of Kmart, they had it sublet to Meineke after they shut down their store-brand one. Their lease ended with Kmart's and they were kicked out, although honestly they could have hung around a while longer. This end of the Kmart stayed vacant until Edge Fitness took over earlier this year.
Meineke's hours are still taped up in the window, although all their other exterior signs have been removed.
Kmart's Auto Center décor was still intact up until the end though! When Target moved in, this part was gutted out but interestingly was the only part of the area they didn't take to be. The remaining 1/3 of the sales floor remained intact until Edge moved in.
The former Garden Center. Meineke was on the other side of the far wall; the main store is off to the left. I was expecting Edge to expand the building into this corner, which they didn't. Instead, they got rid of the fence and put their entrance here.
This was the only other view inside the store. The fixtures have all been cleared out but no sign of work yet.
Return to the Wayne Murder Wawa
The longer I look at this, the more I have to wonder if the attached strip mall was a 60's Wawa that this replaced. Its got the same windows and narrower awning that Wawa's earliest stores did.
Snap heavily remodeled this place when they opened in 2016, but beforehand it had a stronger resemblance to the 1950's Gulf it started out life as. In between Gulf and Snap, it was split between a couple smaller stores that changed hands a few times. Sadly, Snap pulled the plug on this location in 2019. It's still vacant, but given the area I'm sure something will happen soon. This area is seeing a lot of development, but it's all still surface-lot density so I would be surprised if they tear this down and build something new.
McDonald's, Wayne, PA
This location, which I believe to be a 70's build, closed unexpectedly and without warning in 2015. It took me a minute to realize this was where the McDonald's was thanks to the disguised roof. I totally get that they'd want to cover up any brand recognition, but between the mansard roof quickly going extinct from their still-open stores and how much it must cost them to frame up a new roof that's frankly probably going to get torn off within the next few years I don't see this as being worth the effort. This one was no exception, in 2019 it was torn down for a new Ardent Credit Union. Fortunately, I decided to check it out more in-depth in 2017.
Even though most remaining Mansards have a beige paint job, this one didn't get it until after they closed. In life, the wooden trim was yellow and upper brick white.
Around back, it would seem this location had a basement. As far as I'm aware these aren't too common.
Even though the M-on-wheels has been removed from it, the rest of the drive-thru post was left intact... well at least until a wind storm got to it. It wasn't looking too hot in my pictures.
The roof was a little lower along the back to allow access to the equipment up top. They re-shingled it when they redid the roof, but the red weather stripping survives!
Looking towards the entrance now. I'm not quite sure what the deal is with the lights here- it has the more common box-shaped lights you usually see on these stores, but also had the occasional small round one like you see at the top of this photo.
Also while we're looking this way, I'd like to mention the shopping center across the street. It was developed by Campbell's Soup heiress and formerly richest person in the state Dorrance Hamilton in the 90's on what was her front yard. Despite that, she continued to live in the back until her death in 2017. I've never been to the center, everything is either a spa, way out of my price range, or both.
Anyway let's get back to the McDonald's- it had a pretty dated interior but not by any means the worst this franchise had. It looks like an early 90's décor to me.
Closure notice in the door. They called the store Strafford, but it's a Wayne address. The Strafford name is really only used by the SEPTA station to differentiate between it and the other three stations in the zip code. Rosemont and Malvern's McDonalds' both kept their 80's décor as long as they could, but were forced to remodel recently.
About half the dining room has been walled off for a makeshift Playplace, which honestly looks more like a child cage than anything else.
Most of the free-floating fixtures have been cleared out, but they didn't bother with anything that was bolted to the floor.
The ceiling's falling in in places and moisture in the air caused the fan blades to droop. Obviously some water's making its way in. I couldn't smell it from the outside, but I'm willing to bet they had a serious mold problem.
The other entrance, on the side opposite of where we started. Despite the front of this store being right up against Lancaster Avenue, there was no streetfront entryway. The black panels under the windows used to be red and embossed with the Golden Arches.
Even though the sign at the beginning of the Drive Thru was still up, the ones hanging over either window got taken away. Either they just missed the first one or somebody came through and stole these.
Finishing off with a look through the Drive Thru window. I think it's safe to say this is the most thoroughly I've photographed any fast food joint.
ACME/Rite Aid/Pet Supplies Plus/PLCB, Wayne, PA
This store opened in 1949 as ACME's third (but not final!) incarnation in town. It replaced a store across the street that had opened ten years prior, which replaced a circa-1910 store by Wayne Station. They moved out of here in the 70's with a modern store on the edge of town, which closed in favor of the nearby and larger Devon store. Rite Aid took over half the space shortly after ACME left, and in the 80's expanded to take up the whole building, adding the current façade in the process. They moved to a brand-new store a block or two over in 2014, and this became Pet Supplies Plus. They are still in business and opening new stores, but this location was axed in 2017. PLCB moved here from a smaller store nearby last year.
The township historical society used to have a great history on ACME's presence in town, which appears to have been deleted. Fortunately I saved these photos years ago.
I'm sure this place was home to at least a couple tenants between A&P and the current lineup, but there's not much information out there on this location. It opened in the 60's as a Colonial-model store. While it has been heavily altered over the years, it's still pretty easily recognizable.
Wawa, Wayne, PA
Here's Wayne's other Wawa, which to my knowledge hasn't had any murders. It was one of the later locations to be built in the old style. Either they remodeled to add the arched window in the late 90's, or they began using that element before they changed designs and carried it over to the new one. It was given a major remodel in 2016, in which I was surprised they didn't take the window out.
Audi, Devon, PA
This dealership was built in 2014 on the site of an Anro printing facility. I really like the building's design; it's simple but not boring.
Toyota/Tesla, Devon, PA
This building began life as Sloane Toyota in the 90's, which jumped down the road to Frazer in 2015. Tesla quickly took over the building, possibly due to its proximity to their King of Prussia Mall showroom. They were for a while considering moving this to the site of the Devon Pathmark, but seeing how that has just been retenanted I think its safe to assume those plans are no longer active.
Some Demolition in Paoli
There have been plans to put a high-end apartment building on the site of these four homes for years. I saw they finally began demolition, which got my hopes up they would be starting construction soon. Sadly, that wasn't the case. It currently sits a vacant lot.
Two of the old houses were already down by the time I got these photos, the other two were still standing for now.
They were all more or less identical, so I'd assume they were all built by the same developer. Zillow reports they were built in 1900, but that sounds like an estimate to me- I'd say give or take 15 years.
Even though these four got demolished, two from the set still remain next door.
Ford, Paoli, PA
The 96-year-old Ford dealership in Paoli had just remodeled to current design standards and I was trying to get a picture of the finished product. I accidentally hit a setting on my camera, so we got this instead. It doesn't show it too well in detail but I think it looks cool.
I'm in a yacht rock mood today, so here's a fun little tune.
I'm in a yacht rock mood today, so here's a fun little tune.
An abandoned McDonald's is a rare sight. It's amazing when you find one. I'm actually going to be doing a blog post about one in Rhode Island tomorrow.
ReplyDeleteThank you, looking forward to seeing yours!
DeleteThat's sad about the old Wawa logo, but (elsewhere in the post) cool to see the old Kmart auto center so intact (at the time, anyway). I also agree with you about the Audi dealership design.
ReplyDeleteI really dig the abandoned McDonald's exploration. I've never seen one of those in person, so it's cool to get to explore one up-close through your photos. Good catch on the red weather stripping remaining! And concerning the basement, I want to say l_dawg2000 had mentioned his former store on Stateline had one as well.
Thank you!
DeleteI've found a few closed McDonalds' over the years but this one was the most interesting. Thank you! I've heard of one or two other basements before, but either they only built a few of them or most of the locations that had them have been replaced at this point.
The Pizza Hut situation in Philadelphia is quite strange. I'm guessing those Target and Taco Bell Pizza Huts are just Pizza Hut Express locations and they don't actually sell normal sized pizzas. We've had some Pizza Hut closures here in Houston as well, but not nearly to the extent to what is happening in Philadelphia. I would say KFC closures have been more noticeable around here, but even then KFC has more of a presence than what Pizza Hut has in Philadelphia's city limits. Whatever the case is, it seems that Yum needs to do a better job with their core brands here in the US.
ReplyDeleteAbandoned McDonald's are indeed rather rare. That was a good catch.
That's one of the smallest modern Ford showrooms I've seen! The ones in Houston are big, sprawling things with acres of pick-up trucks. I suppose the small town dealerships might be as small as the one in this post.
Houston is not a place you normally think of when you think of land constrained retail, but in recent years car dealerships in particular have had to become creative when building new showrooms or expanding current ones in mature areas since there isn't really cheap, plentiful land like had been the case in the past. We had an Audi showroom open in recent times, Central Houston Audi, which opened in a 7 story building where most of the inventory is stored in a garage in the building.
Even more interesting than that is we had a new BMW dealership open up a couple months ago in a former mall Sears! Yes, you read that correctly. The Westwood Mall closed many years ago and was successfully redeveloped into office space, but the Sears at Westwood Mall stayed open for many years after the mall closed. Well, the Sears finally closed a couple of years ago and a BMW dealership took over the property and heavily renovated it into a dealership. That's certainly an odd conversion. I know there is a former dead mall in New York state, the Penn-Can Mall I believe, where the whole mall was turned into a car dealership with different brands and that itself is a very odd situation.
The Westwood Mall Sears had five minutes of fame back in the early 1980s. Some of you might be familiar with the America's Most Wanted TV show and how the host had a child named Adam kidnapped from a Sears in Florida in the very early 1980s. Not long after that tragic situation, they made a popular made-for-TV movie about the situation. The kidnapping scene was actually filmed at the Westwood Mall Sears in Houston (parts of the mall are briefly shown in the movie). It was kind of creepy shopping at that Sears after the movie came out even though the kidnapping actually happened in Florida! Je of the Louisiana & Texas Retail Blog recently did a blog post about the Westwood Sears with some photos of it before it closed.
Correct, they're all Express locations. KFC's got more many locations than they do in Philly, but I've noticed none of them are in Center City.
DeleteThank you!
Me too, I was surprised they bothered remodeling it. It's been here since 1924, so a lot has changed in the industry since then. That's an interesting conversion! Near me, Toyota opened a new dealership in a former United Artists theater.
Oh cool! I'll have to watch the movie!