Oregon Trail

 We were in South Philly last post, but I couldn't stay away. This time, we're headed back to check out what's along Oregon Avenue, which is home to a large number of South Philly's big box stores. Then, we're gonna finish off with a Stour of the ACME down there.

Marianne, Midtown Village, Philadelphia, PA

This building was originally home to a Marianne store, which was at one point in time was a major clothing chain. They appear to only exist in Puerto Rico now. Their impala relief remains intact here. I'm not sure when this closed, but for the past several years this was home to a luxury furniture showroom. That closed during the lockdowns, but work is now underway to turn this into a restaurant. 

Rite Aid/PLCB, Midtown Village

Rite Aid opened in this building in the 70's, and relocated to Market Street in the 90's. The PLCB then took it over and converted it to a Wine & Spirits store. That too relocated in 2016 to a new building a few blocks down the street. It remains vacant but has gotten some seasonal use as a Spirit Halloween. A few months ago, the interior was gutted out, exposing some of Rite Aid's stripes on the walls that had been hidden by PLCB. This one apparently closed with the rare Blue & Green (instead of red) decor from the late 80's. The store in Clifton Heights PA is the only one I'm aware of that still has that decor. 

Franklin Court, Old City, Phila

Ben Franklin's one of the most famous people in Philly history, so naturally his house would be a tourist attraction. One small problem- his kids tore it down right after he died to make rental units. Fast forward about 150 years, the National Park Service buys out the units and clears them out as part of the Independence National Park. While having the park is a good thing, the amount of city they destroyed (literally everything in the park footprint built post-Revolution was demolished, with no regard to history) to make it is regarded as one of the city's many urban renewal blunders. In preparation for the Bicentennial, the city commissioned Philly native and inventor of postmodernism Robert Venturi to build an interpretive replica of Franklin's house on the site. Beneath the frame, the surviving cellars and sewers of Franklin's original house were unearthed and put on display.

I believe the row of buildings separating Franklin's house from Market Street is original. His printing press and post office were both located in these buildings.

Here they are from the Market Street side. The coolest part about this is that this post office- the very first to open in the country back in 1775- is still in full-fledged operation in its original spot.

Whiteland Towne Center Renovations, Exton, PA

This center operated pretty much untouched from when it opened in the mid-80's on the site of the Exton Drive-In, aside from the anchors. It didn't look bad, but started shedding tenants in the 2010's. It sold to a new owner in 2017, who quickly began renovations. They were pretty tasteful, not making it totally bland, but repainting the green and tan features black and gray, adding some wood paneling, and some steel features. They've since done a good job filling in most of the vacancies.

This was originally TJ Maxx, which moved across the street in 2011. It sat vacant for several years, but was finally filled with a Gabe's shortly after the center sold.

Philly Express Steak & Bagel, Callowhill, Phila

This area has a large railroad heritage- it is right next to part of the Reading Viaduct and sits adjacent to the Reading Railroad warehouse building. They had a car parked here operating as a restaurant serving bagels, cheesesteaks, and Philly staple Levi's Hot Dogs. They closed in 2013, leaving the car abandoned. More recently, plans have been made to turn this into a visitor's center for the nearby Rail Park on the viaduct.

Lasher Printing Co, Callowhill

The only references I could find for this building refer to it as the Lasher Printing Co, though it sits directly adjacent to the former Inquirer printing press, making me think this may have been part of that originally. I don't have a date built for this, but I would assume late 20's/early 30's. Its art deco design makes it one of the more interesting industrial buildings around here.

Terminal Commerce Building, Callowhill

By volume, this is one of the largest non-skyscrapers in the city. It is 12 floors, plus a basement and occupies an entire half block. It was built in 1929 by the Reading Railroad as a storage facility to rent out to anyone carrying on their lines. In the present day, it sees a mix of uses. The front portion of the building is mainly offices, while the back is still mainly used for storage. 

Mansion, Passyunk Square, Phila

And now we're back on South Broad Street! This stretch of the road is famous for its late 1800's mansions- not your typical estates, but rather very large, luxurious rowhomes. The standard Philly rowhome is 16' wide, while these are about 25'. This is one of the more interesting ones- it retained its Victorian copper bay window, but had some extensive work done to the outside in the 50's. That remodel added the Formstone exterior, glass blocks, and curved wall by the entryway. This was likely when the building was split up. It like many of these mansions, turned its ground floor into offices for the people (Lawyers, doctors, dentists, etc.) who lived above it. 

Mansion, Passyunk Square

Here's another mansion that appears to have taken a more commercial route. The ground floor here looks like it was turned into a storefront in the 50's.

Melrose Diner, Melrose, Phila

The Melrose Diner is inarguably the Philly Diner. It's been here since 1935 but switched out the stainless steel dining car in 1940 and again in 1956. The 1956 one remains, though has seen its share of renovations- surprisingly only in recent years. The first was in 2010 after the original owners sold it. This completely redid he interior, and added the curved steps on the roof. It was redone again in 2019 after a fire broke out inside. If you're curious to learn more about Philly's remaining original (as of 2015 [3 have since been demolished, with a 4th on the way]) diners, I'd highly recommend this article. The diner situation here isn't as dismal as they make it sound though, as this doesn't account for the more modern Greek-run megadiners that have Northeast Philly saturated.

Renaissance Banquet Hall, West Passyunk, Phila

Not too much information out there on this one, but it was home to a banquet hall for a few decades. Given the Tudor revival design on the front, I'm guessing Renaissance was the original name. It changed hands a few times in the 2010's before closing permanently at the end of the decade. As of last year, it is now home to a small independent church that relocated from West Philly.

Amoco/BP/76/Conoco, West Passyunk

This legacy Amoco BP was one of a few in the Philly area to test out the 76 brand but did not last long. Parent company Conoco decided pretty quickly afterwards to use their name instead, and rebranded all of the 76's as well as most remaining BP's in Philly.

Modell's, South Philadelphia Shopping Center, Girard Estates, Phila

The South Philly Shopping Center dates back to the 50's, and for several decades was the largest suburban-style strip mall on this end of town. Since then, faced by competition by newer and more modern centers, it's started to slip. However, things might be looking up for it. Owners are looking at a pretty major redevelopment plan here, involving demolition of about two thirds of the existing center, construction of two new mixed-use buildings- apartments on top, Target on the ground floor of one and inline stores in the other- as well as a new freestanding LA Fitness. The Modell's portion of the center is supposed to remain. At least, that was the plan before they went under in 2020. Plans have been quiet since then. I'm curious to see what's to come here.

Penn Fruit/ACME/Ross, South Phila SC, Girard Estates

While some heavy modifications have been made to this, it's still pretty easily identifiable as a former Penn Fruit. This was one of the locations sold to ACME when it went under in the late 70's. ACME ultimately moved to a new store in the early 2000's (which we'll be seeing later this post), and this became a Ross. This part of the center is staying around, and I'm hoping if they do wind up redoing the facade they keep Penn Fruit's arches intact.

The main center is three buildings in a row attached by a contiguous awning. The Nothern end (which we were just looking at) is the largest block of stores, separated by a quasi-freestanding laundromat from a smaller block of inline stores. The laundromat is on the right here, and small store block on the left. It looks like before the awning was added, the laundromat would have had a neat, winged glass facade. It has since closed, and plans call for both this and the small block to come down in the redevelopment.

Dots, South Phila SC

No idea when this store opened, but I can tell you it didn't last long with the look you see here. It remodeled and had the logo updated from the button one in 2014, then closed with the chain a year later. This has been a few pop-up stores over the years, but nothing permanent as it is slated for demolition.

Another angle through the window.

Quizno's, South Phila SC

This location had a decent run for a Quizno's in the Philly area. It opened as they chain rapidly expanded in the late 2000's but hung around a little while after they shriveled back up. It closed sometime between 2011 and 2014. Philly's last Quizno's (on UPenn's campus) closed in 2018.

Kid City, South Phila SC

Kid City is a bit of a Frankenstore- a pretty huge kid's accessory store spanning several former inline spaces stitched together with minimal effort to keep them cohesive. It opened in the early 2000's. I couldn't tell you what the stores stitched together for it are.

Anna's Linens, South Phila SC

2015 really delt a blow to this center. It lost both Dots and Anna's Linens when their respective chains went under. The Anna's Linens space appears to be serving as storage in the interim.

Citi/OneMain Financial, South Phila SC

Similar to Quizno's but in a very different business, Citi had an aggressive expansion campaign in the Philly area in the late 2000's, only to retreat a few years later. This one was sold to OneMain, who operated here through 2015. This store sits adjacent to Ross, and serves as the dividing line between what is staying and what is getting demolished.

Bally's/LA Fitness, South Phila SC

I suspect this second story gym wasn't an original part of the center. Comparing to other shopping centers of this vintage, I'd assume this level was offices originally. It became a Bally's in the 80's or 90's and sold to LA fitness when they went under. Plans call for a new LA Fitness to be built in the parking lot here before this comes down.

Aaron's, South Phila SC

I've been jumping around the center a bit here on this tour- I did a couple laps. Aaron's was on the Modell's end of the building and had a street front entrance onto Passyunk Ave. It closed during the pandemic lockdowns, leaving everything north of Ross vacant even though it is supposed to remain.

ACME/Pep Boys, Girard Estates

While this isn't technically part of the South Philly Shopping Center at this point in time, I suspect it was built as part of it based on its layout relative to the rest of the center. It opened as an early pitched roof store in 1964, but relocated to the Penn Fruit seen earlier in the late 70's. Not sure what happened after that, but Pep Boys took over the space in 1995 and has been operating out of here ever since.

While the front doesn't quite look like a traditional pitched roof store from the front, the back matches almost every one out there.

Royal Jewelry, South Phila SC

I wouldn't exactly call the main center "nice," but it sure was compared to the smaller back building. While this store looks like it's been empty for years, it had actually only been 2 at the time I took this. 

South Phila SC

Royal Jewlry was in the space closest to us here, RadioShack was next door. Dollar Tree and the Post Office were both still in operation when I visited but didn't stay around much longer. The two mixed use buildings will be the first part of the complex to get built, one of which will go here. The post office was moved to the former Payless across the street, while Dollar Tree closed in favor of another location less than two blocks away. This building and the one next to it were demolished in early 2020, which so far is the only progress that has been made on this project.

Drug Emporium/National Wholesale Liquidators, South Phila SC

For a while, this center had two drug stores. In addition to Drug Emporium here, the Dollar Tree seen in the last photo was a Thrift Drug/Eckerd that closed in 2000. This closed with the chain in 2003 and became a National Wholesale Liquidators. This location closed in their 2008 bankruptcy and remained vacant until the building was demolished in 2020. NWS left a labelscar here, uncovering a little sliver of Drug Emporium's labelscar.

Here's a zoomed-out view, showing the other demolished building in the background. The mixed-use buildings will occupy roughly the same footprint as these.

Strauss Auto, South Phila SC

The other end of the Drug Emporium building was home to Strauss Auto, which operated here until the chain went under in 2012. It opened up directly onto Oregon Avenue. 

Snellenburg's/Lit Bros/Shoprite, South Phila SC

My picture's pretty bad, you can't tell how unusual this building looks from further away. That's because when the center fist opened, this was a Snellenburg's department store. It closed alongside the main center city location in 1962, and became a Lit Bros. They closed in the 70's. Not much is known between that and when Shoprite opened in the late 90's. The store got a facelift and new decor in the late 2000's, but still feels pretty old inside. Fortunately, as part of the redevelopment it is slated to be expanded and given a pretty massive remodel. I'm hoping the remodel also finally answers the mystery as to what the second floor has been used for the past 20 years.

Burger King/???, South Phila SC

Bad news- Burger King closed in 2019. Good news- a new tenant is taking the space and is doing enough work I think it has to be a big name. But more bad news- I can't tell who it is yet. Maybe another new Raising Cane's?

Blockbuster Sign, Girard Estates

Don't be fooled, this Blockbuster is long gone. It closed in 2011. The building is now split between a beauty supply store and a Little Caesar's. However, neither of those chains had the desire (or budget?) to climb this 50-foot pole intended for drivers passing by on I-76 and take down the sign. So it remains, 11 years later and likely many more to come.

GC Murphy/Dollarland/Deals/Dollar Tree/Grocery Outlet, Girard Estates

This small strip mall was originally anchored by a GC Murphy variety store (later Murphy's Mart). As the chain didn't completely go under until 2001, I can't say if it was anything between them and Dollarland, but Dollarland was looking pretty tired by the time it converted to a Deal$ in 2009. Deal$ then rebranded to Dollar Tree. Late last year, Dollar Tree downsized into a few combined inline store spaces right next to this one, which became a Grocery Outlet last month. The neat old sign at the top remains though!

Penn Fruit/Shop N Bag/CVS, Girard Estates

This is another one of South Philly's well-preserved former Penn Fruits. After they went under, this became a Shop N Bag, which had closed by the mid-90's. CVS opened here in 1995 and despite their long tenure have made minimal changes to the exterior of the building. Allegedly Penn Fruit's logo is still up on the pylon beneath CVS's signage.

While they weren't exactly strip malls, a lot of Penn Fruit's freestanding stores did have a couple small inline spaces. They remain intact here as well, with this one now being home to a Rita's.

Sunoco, Girard Estates

Despite the updated logo, this sign is an antique. You don't see many of these 60's v-shaped Sunoco signposts left, and even fewer that still have the sign on top spinning freely on the motor. Granted, the motor here hasn't worked in years, but when the wind hits it right the top will still spin around.

Sign of the Times

Even though it was Foles that had just won the Super Bowl for us, Wentz was still getting plenty of attention. So much so that a number of people down here thought he should be president. I doubt many still think that since he left the team.

Corner Store, Melrose, Phila

Philly's got no shortage of little corner stores like this, but with its green awnings and Formstone facade really embodies the neighborhood's style. It also gets bonus points for the Italian flag-influenced logo.

State Farm, Melrose

A sleek black tile front like this indicates this was a luncheonette back in the 30's. While that's long gone, its subsequent tenants have done a great job preserving it. The State Farm office here has since closed, and I can only hope it returns to being a restaurant that will restore this facade. 

ACME/Rite Aid, Marconi Plaza, Phila

Prior to opening the pitched roof store seen earlier in this post in 1964, the neighborhood ACME was briefly located here. It opened in 1953, presumably replacing an ASCO-era neighborhood store. There's not much info what it was in between, but Rite Aid opened here in 1995. It got the Wellness decor in the early 2010's, and new logo in 2020.

Packer Plaza Shopping Center, Packer Park, Phila

You're probably thinking, "Hey! That's gotta be an old A&P!" While it is an exact match for their centennial design, surprisingly it was never one. This building was always a strip mall filled with smaller inline stores. A&P was next door in an identical building.

If you don't believe me, here's a close-up of a vintage sign that's gotta be for an original tenant. They make a solid pizza too. Actually, this strip mall is great for eaters- there's a Termini's pastries in here, as well as Pastificio, home of the greatest hoagie I have ever eaten.

I would love to have seen how this center looked when A&P was still up and running next door. 

The A&P building's seen quite a bit more work done to it. They became a SuperFresh in the 80's, which closed in the late 90's. It has since become a Chickie & Pete's, a Philly staple sports bar famous for their Crab Fries. It is not their original location, but is their flagship given its massive size and proximity to the stadiums.

United Savings Bank is an outparcel to the center. It is the bank's second location and main office, which opened here in 1962, making it an original tenant.

ACME, Marconi Plaza

We've spent a large portion of this post chasing around the various former ACME's in this corner of South Philly, now lets see their current digs. It opened in the early 2000's, replacing the old Penn Fruit in the South Philly Shopping Center. Let's head inside and check things out!

These pictures are a few years old, but aren't outdated yet. This store is still sporting the Santa Fe decor, and is one of the last eight stores in the chain to have it (and the only one in Pennsylvania)! Despite that, this is a very high-volume location.

This is evidenced by its Frosted Mug beer department. It was one of the earliest stores in the chain to get this. Albertsons shoppers may recognize this signage as their decor and not ACME's- this was added in 2013, before ACME got their own version of the Quality Built decor and was dabbling with their sister chain's variant. Previously, this part of the store was home to Customer Service.

This store has a more deluxe version of Santa Fe. Quite a few locations built with the look had plain white tile in all of the aisles, while this one had some fun patterns in frozen.

Stores of this era had floral inserted in the aisles. Remodels usually bring it out to the edge of the store, so these are getting sorta rare.

I have a bit of a love/hate relationship with Santa Fe. Signage for major departments looks awesome, but in areas like this it just gets boring. So much blank space on the walls.

Taking a step back to further prove my point. I will say I do like the wrought iron designs sticking out, but there's not enough in between them. Here, you can also appreciate how this look morphed from ACME's Chalkboard Market decor from before Albertsons bought them- the green ceiling, tan walls, and hanging signage all came from it.

This is the part of the decor that really carries the look in my opinion. I'm glad to see the blue light boxes have been maintained. Prior to ACME's recent remodeling campaign, a lot of stores let these burn out.

This store's a little unusual, the bakery is on an island separating produce from the rest of the store as opposed to being on the exterior wall like most stores of this era.

Here's looking across the back of the store from the edge of produce. It's smaller than a standard suburban store, but for this part of South Philly is a pretty impressive size. This site was previously a block of parking lot for the old Naval Quartermaster Depot next door.

Looking down one of the aisles. These have a little less going on visually.

Deli is on the front wall here, adjacent to the main entrance. It is also usually on the exterior wall next to the bakery.

Instead, produce cases line this wall. Another change this store saw in the past few years was the removal of the produce spotlights and replacement with more fluorescent strips. It brightens up the store, but comes at the cost of some of the classy feel it has.

I've been listening to a lot of Van Morrison lately. I think you should too! :)