Grocery Run

 This week's got a rather miscellaneous spread of photos, but in it we're going to be taking a good look at the beautiful new (well, sorta new) Snyder Plaza ACME.

SEPTA Bombardier

SEPTA's regional rail lines use a few different kinds of cars. The Bombardiers were brought into service in the 80's, and are the second-oldest in their fleet. They've also got the coolest interior of them all. While it's probably time for an upgrade, I'll be sad to see them go when SEPTA gets their next set of new cars within the next couple years.

Winter Scenes, University City

It's finally starting to feel like spring here, but only after basically three weeks of straight snow. Winter 2018 wasn't nearly as bad. We got one big storm, which I think is the perfect amount. I like having days like this, but the weeks afterwards when it just sits on the ground turning into slush are miserable.

I do really like the puffy kind of snow that just sticks to everything too.

PHA Building, Rittenhouse Square

Somehow the long-abandoned PHA headquarters still had some intact ground-floor streetfront windows back in 2018. Between the riots last summer and an accidental squatter fire shortly afterwards, they've got it pretty tightly boarded-up now. I'm actually kinda surprised the city hasn't condemned it yet.

It does have a pretty cool mural on the side, with an extremely outdated skyline. This has gotta be from the early 90's.

Carriage House, University City

The area directly north of Drexel University is packed with Victorian mansions once inhabited by Pennsylvania Railroad bigwigs. The university has swallowed up all of them at this point, and each is occupied by a frat. As a fraternity has no use for a carriage house, this particularly impressive one has been boarded up for years. It's large enough they really should consider converting it into student apartments.

Bo Sing, University City

The storefront here looks like it dates back to the 50's, though I doubt it was always a Chinese restaurant. I'm thinking maybe a luncheonette?

Flynn's Bar, University City

I don't recall where I read this, but I believe Flynn's opened in 1938. It served up its last beer in 2014, and has sat vacant ever since. Given its small size and prominent location, I'm worried it'll be torn down for a larger building soon.

Old Mystery Store, University City

I haven't been able to dig up too much on this place, but if that metal awning is any indication it was home to something interesting in the 40's or 50's. The 1942 City Atlas labels this as a "club". The building itself dates back to around 1920. In 2019, they carved openings for windows in the upper floors but never put anything in them. Around the same time, a zoning permit calling for the building's demolition was also pulled so I really don't know what's going on.

St. Agatha's, Mantua

The St. Agatha Parish was first founded in 1865, though this building wasn't completed until 1878. It suffered a fire in the 60's and again in 1976 that ultimately led to the decision to close the church. The neighborhood was terrible at the time and most of the parishioners had fled to the suburbs. It merged with St. James, and this building was sold. In the late 80's, it was purchased by someone intent on restoring it. As the interior was destroyed, they basically built a new apartment building within the existing shell for local college students. 

Print Shop, University City

Remember the print shop we looked at a few weeks ago? Well, the demolition process has begun. The drop ceiling was yanked out, revealing the original plaster ceiling at its full height.

West Philadelphia Library, University City

This branch of the city's library system first opened its doors in the late 1920's. It underwent a massive remodel in 1959, opening up the Walnut Street side into a modernist glass entrance. It remodeled again in the early 2000's, replacing the 1959 entrance with the more traditionalist bump-out seen here.

Shoprite/ACME, Pennsport
Now here's a conversion you don't see too often! Shoprite opened here originally in the mid-80's, and relocated in 2016 to the old Whitman Plaza Pathmark. ACME took over their old space the following year, rebuilding the façade and totally gutting the interior.

ACME also took over the storefront adjacent to the Shoprite, adding a Starbucks and a beer/wine section. It's kinda interesting, since it still looks like a full-line Starbucks inside, despite being part of the store.

As you can see, the rest of the store looks wildly different. The area now home to the checkouts was added onto the front of the store by ACME. Previously, Shoprite had a small glass atrium in front.

Like the majority of the chain at this point, it has the Quality Built décor. Being a flagship store, I was hoping they'd spring for something a little fancier or more unique like they did with the new University City location. Not that this décor is bad, it just feels too standard for this store.

This décor also brought about a slight change to the logo, adding an outline that may or may not be a homage to their 60's logo. I'd like to see this used more widely, but for now it's only used on interior signage.

My photos washed out the color form the walls a bit. In person, they're much bolder than they're coming across here.

I was never here during the Shoprite days, but I think its safe to assume ACME totally rearranged the layout. The store is pretty similar to other ones they've built in recent years.

The store isn't huge- I'd estimate about 50k square feet- but it's got one of the largest deli's I have ever seen.

This was also the first time I'd seen actual decor signage advertising their sports partnerships. They've been with the Eagles for a long time now, but the soccer team is a more recent thing.

I was ready to call them out for having the wrong year here, as Philadelphia was founded in 1682, but I just looked into it and apparently it wasn't formally incorporated as a city until 1701.

Downey's, Society Hill

You may recall I posted about this place a few weeks back. I passed by again and decided to get a few more photos.

It looks like they started stripping down the inside after they closed, but didn't get too far. Someone with a piece of chalk made their way in too, which I'm impressed by. This place isn't sealed up too tightly, but to get inside first they'd have to make their way up to the second story balcony somehow.

The lock and knobs were gone from the front door, and that's being held shut now with a chain through the hole. it also left an opening big enough to get a picture through. Some of the decor lighting is still on, which given the state of the building I was surprised by.

Some of the rowhomes to the side that Downey's expanded into. I believe these were where the kitchen was. There might have also been an apartment in here, as I don't think they needed all that space just for cooking.

Former Restaurant, Society Hill

This space has changed hands a number of times in the past decade. It was a Mediterranean restaurant at fires, then became a steakhouse, and most recently was an oyster bar. That closed in 2016, leaving the space vacant until Mirage Lounge opened in 2019. 

South Street Diner, Society Hill

Following the tragic closure of Midtown III, this is the last 24-hour diner left in Center City.... and even that's debatable. Most people draw the line between Center City and South Philly somewhere between South Street and Washington Ave. If you're a traditionalist, South Street's the line as it was originally the city's southern border, and as this is on the south side of the street it then wouldn't be Center City.

Bridget Foy's, Society Hill

Another restaurant tragedy here, but this one has a happy ending- Irish pub Bridget Foy's opened here in 1978, combining three mid-1800's rowhomes. They're one of the most popular bars in the area, or were at least until a massive fire broke out in late 2017. The building was a total loss. Fortunately, the rebuilding process began not long after. Reconstruction took quite a while, and they finally celebrated the full reopening on February 15- just two weeks ago.

Tavern 222, Society Hill

Wouldn't this picture lead you to assume they were closed? That's what I thought at least. Apparently, they were just gearing up for a remodel and are still open for business.

Headhouse Flats, Society Hill

Luxury apartments in an incredibly wealthy neighborhood should have no problem keeping retail beneath them. Somehow this place is struggling though. Aside from Rita's, the entire block-long South Street frontage is vacant. That should be changing soon though, as Giant is opening a Heirloom Market store at one end, which will fill about a third of it. Hopefully that's enough to drag some more businesses in.

Kresge, Society Hill

SS Kresge opened here in the 20's or 30's. Despite having been gone around 50 years, their name remains in the stone above the windows. City Blue has been here the past several years, and has kept Kresge's interior somewhat intact- the wood flooring and trimwork remain.

Mother Bethel AME Church, Society Hill

Established in 1794, Mother Bethel was the very first AME church. While their current building didn't come around until about 100 years later, it is also notable as it is the oldest continuously black-owned church building in the country.

CVS Progress, Society Hill

Since our last visit, CVS has gutted out the individual storefronts and is now in the process of filling them with windows for their store. That's really the only significant change they've made to the exterior, the rest was fortunately left alone.

E

Because of the sign, this is my favorite parking garage in the city. It's been here since the 60's. The sign could use a little work, but it's cool nonetheless.

Snellenburg's Garage, East Market

The storefronts beneath the garage were for the most part left the same as they were in the 60's after Mandel's (which succeeded Snellenburg's in this building) closed their department store and the space was subdivided. This was mainly thanks to the low-end nature of the tenants, such as "Dollar-O-Mart Plus".

The building had a historical marker on it, likely original to when it was built in the early 40's. This was removed shortly before the garage came down, so hopefully it'll make a return on one of the new towers.

BEST Products opened a showroom in a large portion of the building in the 60's. It lasted until the chain went under in 1997, at which point it was split between a PGW office and a clothing store.

The upper floors of the department store part became annex offices for the Philadelphia Family Court for several years. They closed in 2016 following the opening of the new Family Court building.

The portion of the former BEST that became a clothing store was most recently a City Blue. The interior looks too professionally designed to have been them, so I'm almost positive there was someone else in between. 

Beneficial, East Market

First established in Old City in the 1850's, Beneficial relocated their headquarters here in the 1920's. It served that position up until 2005, when they relocated back to Old City (and later again to a high rise on Market Street shortly before being bought out by WSFS in 2019). Even though the offices were gone from this corner, Beneficial kept a presence here. A new branch opened diagonally across the intersection from here in the former Lane Bryant part of the Snellenburg's garage. It sat vacant for years before it was donated to Drexel University, who now uses it as part of their law school.

Rite Aid/PLCB, East Market

This was one of Rite Aid's first stores in Philly, and operated from the late 60's until 2001. Afterwards, it became a PLCB store which moved to a new building in 2016. This space was partially gutted after they closed, but still gets use every fall as a Spirit Halloween.

Theater/Finish Line/Foot Locker, Rittenhouse Square

This opened its doors as the Trans-Lux Theater in 1934, and was heavily renovated in 1965. It closed in 1970. The Sameric chain bought it, remodeling once again to its current look, and reopened it as Eric's Place. That closed in 1993, and the building sat abandoned until Finish Line opened here in 2006. They closed in 2016, but by the end of the year the store was up and running again as Foot Locker. Foot Locker relocated from an existing store across the street, which they kept open but rebranded to a Kid's Foot Locker.

Kresge, Rittenhouse Square

I didn't realize this building's retail past at the time, otherwise I would've gotten a shot of the whole building. Instead, here's a close-up of some recently restored art deco detailing. The building sold recently, and the new owners were originally planning on ripping off what was left of Kresge's mid-30's façade and replacing it all with glass. A local preservation group got in contact with them and persuaded them to not only keep what was left, but to restore it to its original splendor.

Aerosoles/Citizens Bank, Rittenhouse Square

Aerosoles opened here in the early 2000's, and closed with the rest of the chain's brick-and-mortar stores in 2017. It didn't stay vacant for very long, as Citizens Bank opened a branch here early the next year.

Sophy Curson, Rittenhouse Square

I generally don't have any interest in women's fashion stores, but I've gotta make an exception for this place and its perfectly preserved midcentury design. Despite its small size, it is apparently a destination store and gets a ton of out-of-town traffic.

It may be far from the weekend by the time this post gets up, but I'm going to finish it off with a drinking song anyway.