Potts & Penn

It's been a rough week and y'all probably need a distraction, so let's see some retail! Most of this post is from North Coventry, which gets lumped in with Pottstown a lot of the time. We don't actually go to Pottstown in the post, but I wanted to make the title a pun.

Aéropostale, Exton Square Mall, Exton, PA

Aero pulled the plug on this store back in 2014, in the good old days when the mall was still over 90% occupancy. It's lain vacant ever since, but briefly saw the light of day for the 2017 Christmas season when Go! Calendars & Games opened up.

Gymboree, Exton Square Mall, Exton, PA

The mall had both a Gymboree and a Crazy 8 in it before they went bankrupt. The Gymboree was hit with the first round of closings, but Crazy 8 managed to hold on a few more months until the entire company liquidated. The 2-story H&M next door closed down the following year, so this mall is looking kinda dismal these days. Even if PREIT survives bankruptcy, I don't imagine they'll hold onto this place much longer- it is by far their worst performing property at 59% occupancy (a number which hasn't been updated on their website since before the swath of COVID closures). For reference, their next lowest is still up in the 80's. On the bright side, I don't see this mall going away anytime soon. The Main Line Health clinic on the ground floor is growing, and offices are beginning to pop up in some of the former retail spaces. If I were to bet, I'd say this winds up like Blue Hen and becomes an office mall.

French Creek, Kimberton, PA

It's the time of the season for Fall pictures!

French Creek Canal, Kimberton, PA

This canal's history isn't as thoroughly documented as the nearby Schuylkill Canal's, but it sounds like this one was slightly newer (circa 1850's) and lasted a while longer (closed circa 1940). Most of the Schuylkill canal was filled in as the fiver got dredged, so this one is also much more intact.

Not sure exactly what these structures are, but I figure they were somehow related to a lock or dam system.

Snyder's Mill, Kimberton, PA

This was originally a flour mill when it was built in the early 1800's, and later became an oil mill. It closed down in the mid-1900's, and sat abandoned until restoration efforts got underway in the mid 2000's. The first step was cleaning up the property and stabilizing the stone walls. It stayed that way for several years, so I assumed they were trying to preserve it as a ruin. Then, to my surprise, they rebuilt the roof, interior, and added new doors and windows in 2018. You would never guess it was ever a ruin looking at it now.

The historical market outside shows a picture of the mill as it looked in 1990. It had probably been abandoned about 40 years at this point.

Rapps Dam Bridge, Kimberton, PA

This bridge was first constructed in 1866 and is one of Chester County's 15 surviving covered bridges. It has been restored a few times over the years, but seems to attract enough traffic accidents it is probably closed half the time. I love the bridge, but I really think they should bypass it and open it to pedestrians only. After the original wooden beams were fractured by a truck crossing the bridge in 2014, they were replaced with steel which should hopefully prevent another accident like that from happening. What's neat about passing through this is that there is still graffiti carved into the frame here from the 1800's.

Coventry Motors, North Coventry, PA

This boat dealer moved down the road a few months prior, and I noticed they were beginning to pull apart their old building. As there were no fences or anything to keep people out, I figured I'd check it out.

They left an old pickup truck behind.

A sheet metal addition had already been taken down from the building. If the condition of the shingles are any indication, this place hadn't been re-roofed since it was put up. They were long overdue for one, but with the building coming down I guess it doesn't really matter.

The A-frame structure looked cool, but it must have been a pain trying to put anything up against the walls.

The inside's got a pretty small footprint, but that's not a surprise. A lot of the drywall had been ripped out at this point, which at first I thought was weird. Usually they'll pull everything down at once if they're not trying to salvage. Then I realized they were doing all the demolition by hand, so it actually makes perfect sense- they're basically just building in reverse.

Some informational posters were left up on the walls by Coventry.

A ladder and a forklift were just about all the tools left here by the crew.

So far, nothing new has happened with the site aside from some seasonal tent-based firework/political gear/Christmas Tree sales. I figure they realized the buildings were in bad shape and the property would be easier to sell without them.

Here's the front of the building, facing Rt. 100. From an early age, this was one of my favorite things to drive by on our way up to Pottstown. It looked so cool. I was sad to see it go.

the former 50's Arco station on the corner was also part of the dealership. Demolition had gotten much further here than on the A-frame.

Coventry Mall, North Coventry, PA

Today we're coming back to the Coventry Mall- there have been some exciting changes since my last visit! First and foremost, the new entrance next to Gabe's is now complete.

They hollowed out the long-closed Gap store to make this. It was a cheap conversion but I think they wanted to just get the entryway done fast. Renderings on the owner's website show this end of the mall getting redeveloped into restaurants eventually, which will involve making some major changes to the building.

I'm having trouble identifying what this space was, but the colors make me want to say it was the Verizon store, which recently moved to the center court. It's now something called Magnolia Theory. Don't ask me what that is because I don't know.

On this side, several smaller stores, most of which were vacant to begin with, have been gutted out to make way for a new Jo-Ann Fabrics.

Go! has taken over the old KB Toys. I believe this location was only open seasonally.

The old Aeropostale store here became Krav'n Komics for a little while, but has changed hands once again to become The Horror Shop. I thought it was just a Halloween store at first, but it seems to be permanent.

It's weird seeing the old AT&T logo now. They phased it out incredibly fast. It was still their current logo at the time I got this picture.

Most stores along this side of the mall have expanded out into the hallway over the years. This space was the exception.

The mall's former Ross is being turned into a health clinic. Not the most exciting reuse of space, but I'm glad something's happening.

Former Limited Too, which is now home to Gifts Made E-Z. The new owners did a good job of filling in the vacancies, but most of the tenants they've attracted have been on the lower-end like this.

FYE moved into the old Abercrombie & Fitch after their old space was taken by Anytime Fitness. They didn't last too long after the move. Perhaps they were just running out the remainder of their lease, hence the cheap conversion.

One of the vacant spaces in the Boscov's wing had an interesting entrance. It looks pretty old, so I have to wonder if it's a relic from back when this was an open-air mall in the 60's.

Coventry lost their Friendly's a while back. It looks like it's vacant, but in reality Boscov's has the lease to it and is using the space as a storage room.

Schuylkill Valley Sports was open here only seasonally when the mall was in worse shape, but in 2017 announced they would be renovating the store and reopening it full-time. They reopened almost immediately, and wrapped up renovations by 2018. Unfortunately, the chain was hit hard by lockdown and closed all but two stores (Limerick and Quakertown)- one of which appears to be a pop-up "fan shop" and not a full sporting goods store.

Golden Nails temporarily relocated here. They were booted out of their original space to make way for a new tenant, and had to find somewhere to set up while they outfitted the space next to Jo-Ann that would become their new permanent home.

We've spent quite a bit of time in malls today, so here's a song that sorta fits the vibe. It's one of my favorites.