Indoor Tour

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 building (despite it being listed on the National Register) for a new Chase Bank, as they were beginning to expand into the region. Malvern closed their doors at this branch in Spring 2018. Thankfully, PREIT was faced with enough opposition that they revised plans to retain the historic part of the building, and just rebuild the more modern additions for Chase. Work began soon after, and Chase was open by the end of 2019.

Looking in the window of the recently shuttered bank. With a fireplace like that, I'm assuming this was the kitchen of the farmhouse originally. I'm not sure what sort of interior alterations Chase made here, but I'm assuming it was nothing more than cosmetic stuff for this part of the structure.

As this was a very fresh closure when I got here, the ATM was still intact.

Looking in the drive-thru window. The drop ceiling part was added onto the building in 2000. Chase did demolish and rebuild that area.

Malvern's floor mats were still outside even! Maybe I should have taken one, it would have been a neat souvenir.

The back area here looked pretty cramped, I can understand why Chase wanted to rebuild this part. Their expansion was a lot more spacious than the 2000 one.

The Drive Thru area was the 2000 addition. The shorter part with the peaked roof appeared to be a bit older, could have been added on in 1964 or just a later addition from its farmhouse days. I'm hoping it wasn't historic as it was demolished with the more modern additions.

Notice of closure posted next to the ATM.

And one shot of the front to finish up our coverage. Despite looking historic, the 2-story porch was a 1964 addition to the building. Chase did keep it, which I am glad about since it's a nice touch. The banner in front is blocking our view of a large lantern-style light that was added with the porch, which Chase also interestingly kept. They put a blue bulb in it.

Philadelphia Premium Outlets, Limerick, PA

Catching up on some changes here- the Toys R Us outlet had just closed after downsizing a few months before. It was previously located in a custom-built space across the walkway, but shortly before closing they jumped here and made minimal modifications to the interior before opening. I figure they must have had an idea where the bankruptcy was headed. Their original space became a Shoe Dept, while this one is now As Seen On TV.

The old Neiman Marcus Last Call was split between Under Armour, which relocated from elsewhere in the mall, and Old Navy, a new tenant.

Under Armour had already opened in their new spot, leaving this old location vacant. It became home to a relocated Adidas store before long, as the spot they were in before was being combined with a few adjacent storefronts for a new H&M.

You would expect Toys R Us to have had a replacement lined up for them to abandon their original spot, but surprisingly they didn't. After they moved, it served as a Go! Calendars and Games prior to Shoe Dept opening up.

ACME Remodel, Chester Springs, PA

Last time we were at this store, its remodel was in full swing. Now we get a chance to see the finished product. This store first opened in 2003 with the Santa Fe look, some aspects of which are still hanging on- like this restroom sign for example.

Looking along the front of the store. The area above checkout has a much lower ceiling, due to the employee break rooms and offices being located above it.

The unusually large Thank You signage in the exit vestibule also held on from the original look. Signage was swapped out in both entrance vestibules though.

While this decor does still have some dead space in the walls, they do a much better job filling it in here with the historic photos and "House that Quality Built" signage.

I also like that this decor has different wall colors for each department, compared to Santa Fe's Sea of beige.

Where this decor's name comes from. This was actually the name of the store that evolved into what we now know as ACME. The House that Quality Built merged with the Acme Tea Co, along with a few other small Philly corner stores, to form American Stores in 1891. Years later, the brands unified under the Acme Markets banner.

Now just aisles, this is once where the floral department stood. We'll see where that moved later. The gap in the ceiling lights is over where the floral portico was. You can find an example of that in the Oregon Ave Philly store in my previous post.

This was one of the last remodels to still use the Sav-On brand for the in-store pharmacies. Even then, the brand was on the outs. The new Sav-On sign is far smaller than they used to be, and the remodel even removed the Sav-On sign from the outside in favor of a generic "Food-Pharmacy" sign. Just in the past couple months, Sav-On was stripped from the roadside pylon and replaced similarly. I'll have to make not next time I'm here if the black Sav-On sign is still up inside. Remodels of legacy A&P stores started branding the departments as ACME Pharmacy in their remodels as they had never been part of Sav-On, and by the end of 2018 the brand was being removed from purpose-built ACME stores as they remodeled in favor of their own brand.

I've posted a number of photos of this long abandoned (but now redeveloped) motel in Exton. Interesting choice for local flair but I like it.

The Phoenix Steel plant in Phoenixville also made an appearance in its abandoned state. It was refurbished into event space close to 20 years ago, so this is an older photo.

On top of the cabinets on the right, you'll notice they kept the Santa Fe hanging floral sign. This part of the store used to be customer service, which in the remodel was moved to the checkout area.

Floral occupies the corner now, but in the customer service days the counter used to go all the way down the wall. It was very much oversized, so the smaller new department isn't necessarily a bad thing.

Turning around 180 degrees from the last photo, we're back where we started. This trip was a couple of loops that each covered half the store, we've just finished the Pharmacy side- now let's get on to the produce side.

In almost every Quality Built remodel, the produce flooring is swapped out for a wood grain treatment. This one not only retailed the Santa Fe floors, but actually expanded it. The first two general merchandise aisles were taken out to make produce larger, and the floor was pretty seamlessly extended to fit the new footprint.

My one complaint about this decor is that it's much flatter than Santa Fe was. The trimwork and letters are 3-dimensional, but it doesn't stick out at all beyond that.

If I remember correctly, the pillars are where Produce originally ended. The beer department in the distance are where the Starbucks and Citizens Bank originally stood. Starbs later became Seattle's best, then Bucks County coffee before disappearing in 2016. Citizens remained in place until they got booted for the remodel.

Pictures and phrases are a great way to break up the wall, instead of just repeating "Meats" a couple times along it.

Shop N Bag/Wawa, Malvern, PA

Here's a conversion you don't see too often. This was originally built as a Shop N Bag supermarket (in the 50's?), which closed by the late 70's. It was then split between Wawa and a local independent pharmacy, who remain there to this day. Despite being a very unconventional location, Wawa did remodel this at the end of 2017.

This store did not have restrooms up until the remodel. I think they cut out some backroom space for it.

There was a time in the 90's that Wawa decided to try ceramic tile flooring. They went back to terrazzo before long, and many of the locations that had it have either since relocated or remodeled so there are not many of these left. Interestingly, this one kept the tile in its remodel, which may have something to do with the fact that it's a recycled building and not purpose built.

Eckerd/Rite Aid, West Powelton, Philadelphia

Eckerd built this location in 2003 and turned it over to Rite Aid in 2007. It is a very high-volume location, and as a result got a thorough Customer World renovation shortly after the purchase, despite only being a few years old. In spite of its volume, it has not been remodeled since (aside from getting the new logo in 2020). The building was bought by a developer a few years back, who plans to demolish it for a new office building once they finish their current building next door. I suspect Rite Aid will be moving into the ground floor retail space of that building once it is finished.

Overall a very clean, spacious store. I think Eckerd was planning a West Philly expansion when this store opened and was trying to make it a flagship. Their financial troubles that followed stopped that from happening, and this was the only purpose-built Eckerd to open here.

It has a raised ceiling area by the entrance, where neon Eckerd signage would have been originally. Unfortunately, Rite Aid wouldn't do the same.

This store feels a lot more modern than the typical old Eckerd too. Not having the blue ceiling brackets helps.

Jacob Reed & Sons/Barnes & Noble/CVS, Rittenhouse Square, Phila

This building originally opened in 1913 as Jacob Reed & Sons, a men's clothing store. They had a pretty good run here and lasted until 1983. It was not vacant for long before Barnes & Noble took the ground floor, and upper levels were turned into offices. B&N moved to Walnut Street in the mid-90's, and CVS opened its doors in 1995. Interestingly this isn't the only CVS in town that used to be a B&N- their University City location was UPenn's Barnes & Noble prior to their moving. CVS redid the lighting and updaed the logo in 2019, but closed last October. The store currently sits vacant, but as of March is now one of only 5 buildings in Philly to have their interior historically designated as well as their outside.

Aside from some minor alterations, the building's interior is remarkably intact from when it opened. 

The Pharmacy takes up the back three bays of the building, but the arch and column design continues all the way back. There's a stained-glass window facing Sansom Street in back, but is covered on the inside.

I know CVS operates some unique stores, but this is by far the most interesting one I've been in. Have you guys found any unusual ones? Let me know in the comments!

This store's design is well suited for Barnes & Noble too, but the appeal of a larger location was enough to drive them away.

The wooden features on the right were added in 1983 as a means to access the offices. They did a good job trying to match the glass to their existing faux skylights.

There were some neat murals over the checkout, but I couldn't get close enough to get a photo without attracting too much attention. I'd assume the air vents above the pillars are from the 1983 conversion.

Here's how it looks from the street. The interior is impressive, but is nothing compared to the outside!

These plaques were the original signs. They were replaced with the heart logo in 2019. 

Wawa, Wayne, PA

Here's another remodeled Wawa. This one was one of the last to open with the old wood-frame design in the mid 90's. It carried some features of more modern stores, like the arched entry and entrances on both the front and back. Otherwise, the interior is typical of a standard older location.

Didn't get a great photo of the arched entry, but you can see a little on the left here.

I'm not sure how they decide which older stores keep the cigarette bulkhead above the checkout versus replace it with something in the middle of the checkout island. I thought it would have something to do with the size of the store, but this is a bigger one and kept it.

Also of note is that this had an exceptionally large coffee area for an older location.

Market 16/Wawa, University City, Phila

The bottom floor of Drexel University's parking garage was originally home to offices in front and maintenance shops in back. In 2012, the western half of the offices were gutted out and opened up to the street, becoming Market 16 & Noodle Bar, as part of the university's initiative to expand campus dining. This was not a very successful part of that plan. A few different ideas floated around, including turning the entire ground floor into a Whole Foods (There's a rendering of it online somewhere but I'm having trouble finding it- UPDATE: Here it is)- but ultimately, in early 2018 it was announced it would become a Wawa. Here it is right before the old market was gutted out. Part of the maintenance shop behind the market was taken for the Wawa too. Wawa was open by the fall and is presently the second largest in the chain (and a lot of students' unofficial dining plans). I've made more drunk 2AM journeys here than I'd care to admit.

Whiteland Town Center Update, Exton, PA

This building, which had recently been significantly reduced in size to build a new CVS, was the last part of the center to be remodeled. And I use the term remodeled lightly, as it wasn't near the amount of work the rest of the center got- they just added the wood to the peaked roof and then painted the green roof black. Unlike the rest of the center, the stucco was not repainted gray here as it had just been redone when the right side was demolished.

Taco Maya Update, Lionville, PA

Taco Maya had recently moved to a larger strip mall location from their original home in the old Char-Lee's/Butcher Burger. Not long after, it got torn down to make way for a new Freddy's. Let's check out the rubble pile!

The main building came down in a day, the foundation took a little bit longer though.

The Taqueria was reduced to a pretty small rubble pile. All of it was pretty destroyed too, not much recognizable stuff was left. It's interesting seeing the flooring survive here.

We're in the heart of summer now, hopefully you guys are taking it easy!