The Antietam Valley Shopping Center was built in 1961 along St. Lawrence Avenue and Perkiomen Avenue on the edge of St. Lawrence and Mt. Penn. At the time of the picture above in 1969 various smaller stores included a state store, beer distributor, pastry shop, Merchants, insurance and more. Larger anchors included Woolworth’s and Pantry Pride. The strip mall was renovated in 1990.
The shopping mall has faced tenant issues and is a shell of its former self with at one point only half of the retail spaces being occupied. It was sold in 2016 for $2.45 million. Many blame the newer shopping centers built further down route 422 in Exeter for the lack of foot traffic and interest in the Antietam Valley Shopping Center.
In 2019, a fairly popular indoor flea market that called one of the retail spaces home was shuttered due to a real estate dispute. The owner wanted the space vacant so renovations could take place and to then raise the rent because the building would be newly renovated.
Currently the Antietam Valley Shopping Center is home to a gym, Dollar General, Rite aid, physical therapy center, laundromat, beer distributor and daycare center. It is unclear whether renovations have taken place but the property is actively listed online looking for new tenants to fill the empty spaces.
The Berks County Intermediate Unit’s administrative offices were located in the Antietam Valley Shopping Center from 1978 until 1992. occupying three or four of the buildings. One of the buildings was used for 2 child care centers.
My father and I had a podiatry practice there in the early 70s. We moved to a new location in the early 1980s
There used to be a Speed Zone indoor go-kart “slick” track where the Dollar General is today. It was owned by Vince Vicari, son of Lindy Vicary who owned the old Reading Fairgrounds. Back around 1997 I used to race at the Speed Zone on Sundays against a small group of guys who would gather for their one-price ride-all-day specials on Sundays. They had a small wooden bridge that crossed over the track and you had to climb a set of steps from the office area, cross the bridge then wait in line until the current race was finished then get into the cars for the next race. They were all gas powered cars and the fumes were so strong and the carbon monoxide levels so bad that we would have to take breaks and go outside for fresh air.