Retail Forever

ACME #883 Opened:  1958 Address: 907 Paoli Pike Photographed:  December 2021 Now that we're done with York (at least for now), let's head up to West Chester for another ACME, before heading to New Jersey. Another store to have opened in the 1950s, ACME #883 opened on August 20, 1958. It was remodeled in 2010, reopening on July 9, 2010. As of February 2022, this is one of the oldest ACME stores still in operation.

We've featured quite a few Tom's Convenience Stores here on Retail Forever over the past year, and before starting this post, I'll link them all here: Enola Etters Shrewsbury York (E. Market St) And now, continuing that series, we find ourselves at another of their former stores, which has quite a history. So, without further ado, let's get started on today's spotlight, store #11.  TOM'S #11 Opened:  2000 Address:   1954 Old Philadelphia Pike Photographed:  February 2022 / March 2022 Tom's #11 was the York-based chain's entry into Lancaster County. But to fully understand what happened here, we must go back to 1982, when Shipley-Humble, Inc opened a new type of gas station, the first of its type in Lancaster County. What made it so special, you may ask? What if I told you it sold two brands of gasoline. The new station would sell both Arco

ALDI #421 Opened:  1992 Address: 280 N. Northern Way Photographed: December 2021 As mentioned last week, we'll be taking a quick pit stop in York this week for Aldi #421, which is one of two York Aldi stores to be featured on the blog. The first store in the area for Aldi, the store at 280 N. Northern Way opened on August 13, 1992. It was later remodeled in 2017, bringing the store to what it is today. Pre-remodel (Google Maps Streetview)

WALGREENS #12593 Opened:  2009 Address:   1303 St. George Ave Photographed:  January 2022 For the blog's first venture into New Jersey, we have just one drugstore to look at, although since there are over 750 Rite Aid, CVS, and Walgreens in the state, we'll definitely be back for more in the future! Walgreens' second Colonia store, at 1303 Saint George Ave (the first is on Inman Avenue), opened in 2009. 

ALDI #2596 Opened:  2019 Address:   15 Wilderness Trail Photographed:  November 2021 After Wilmington, our next stop chronologically should be West Chester, although due to my to-do list software putting new entries at the top and pushing older ones to the bottom, I forgot all about this store, and the one in York, which will be posted next week. The newest Aldi in Berks County (at time of writing), store #2596 in Hamburg opened in January 2019 as an addition to the Tilden Ridge shopping center. It features the latest Aldi store design and decor package. Aldi #2596 under construction in 2018 (Google Maps Streetview)

SHEETZ #717 Opened:  2021 Address:  2149 State Rd Photographed:  May-December 2021 This post is a little different than the blog standard. Instead of a drugstore, today we'll be looking at one of the latest Sheetz convenience stores from start to finish. Construction Started: (around) April 2021 Opened: September 2021 October 2019 (Google Maps Streetview) May 28, 2021 June 2, 2021 June 4, 2021 June 9, 2021 June 20, 2021 June 30, 2021 August 8, 2021 September 30, 2021 October 4, 2021 October 4, 2021 December 25, 2021 December 25, 2021 December 25, 2021 December 25, 2021

ACME #874 Opened:  1954 Address:   1901 Concord Pike Photographed:  December 2021 For our second and final stop in Wilmington, before moving on to Hamburg and York, we have one more store to take a look at -- ACME #874. One of the oldest ACMEs still in operation, store #7874 in Wilmington opened on November 3, 1954. It was later converted to a Super Saver in the 1970s, before being converted back to an ACME in the 1980s. Store #7874 was remodeled around 2010. ACME #7874 pre-remodel (Photo by Otherstream on Flickr)

WALGREENS #11006 Opened:  2006 Address:   2119 Concord Pike Photographed:  December 2021 Continuing our Happy-Harry's-Turned Walgreens series, which we haven't had an installment of in a while, we have one of the oldest of the chain's stores, located in the Fairfax area of Wilmington. This store has a long history, dating back to 1973 when Happy Harry's acquired a Cash Saver Drug store at 2303 Concord Pike, converting it to store #6 for the small chain. Happy Harry's later relocated to 2119 Concord, in a space formerly occupied by 'Fabric Den'. In 2006, with all the other Happy Harry's stores, this store was sold to Walgreens and was rebranded in 2011. Happy Harry's #6, August 2007 (Google Maps Streetview)