Category: Retail
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Be a Berks Billionaire – The 1984 Berks County Monopoly Board Game
Read more: Be a Berks Billionaire – The 1984 Berks County Monopoly Board GameBe a Berks Billionaire is a fairly rare board game developed by a citizen of Berk’s County; Joan C. Zintak of Wyomissing. The game was developed and sold in 1984. It was originally intended to have a print run of 5000 games. There was some competitive drama surrounding the game as apparently an organization called…
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A 100 Year Review of Berks – Happy New Year 2020!
Read more: A 100 Year Review of Berks – Happy New Year 2020!Happy New Year Berks County! Not only is it a new year but also the beginning of a new decade. As we leave behind the 2010s, let’s look back on the beginning of the last 10 decades, and some of the events that we experienced together as a community during them. The past is important…
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Berks County Christmas – Whitners & Sears
Read more: Berks County Christmas – Whitners & SearsOn the 23rd Day of Berks County Christmas – Department Store Cheer 1940s Penn Street, Reading PA – Whitner’s Department Store & Sears decorated at Christmas
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Penn Square at Christmas
Read more: Penn Square at ChristmasPenn Square in Reading PA during the Christmas season in the 1940s. In the distance is Pomeroy’s department store. A lighted Christmas tree sat in the very center of the traffic circle in the middle of the square. Lighting and decor were quite the spectacle for shoppers that were finding gifts for their family and…
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Miracle Mart – 2101 Centre Ave
Read more: Miracle Mart – 2101 Centre AveMiracle Mart was a 50,000 square foot department store on Route 61/Centre Ave in North Reading. There is very little information online about Miracle Mart or its origins, besides that there was a more well-documented and unrelated Canadian department store chain by the same name. Looking at aerial photos of the area leads me to…
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Happy Thanksgiving! November 28th, 1974
Read more: Happy Thanksgiving! November 28th, 1974Thanksgiving Day also fell on November 28th in 1974. Here is a look at that day’s Reading Eagle: Walter S. Shearer, who owns a poultry farm in Sinking Spring R.D. 6, holds one of his flock. To find out what eventually happened to this turkey turn to page 31 – Eagle Photo That homemade taste…
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Penn Square Reading
Read more: Penn Square ReadingIf you hear someone refer to Penn Square in Reading, they are speaking of the 400 and 500 blocks of Penn Street with the center being 5th Street. It marks the center of downtown Reading, which used to be adorned with shops on both sides of the street. Below downtown Reading is pictured in the…
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Kmart – 45 Years in Berks
Read more: Kmart – 45 Years in BerksKmart has been a staple nationwide big box store since the 60s. The company, originally called S. S. Kresge Corporation, dates back to 1899. It wasn’t until 1974 when it broke into the Berks County market, opening a store at the 94,500-square-foot Cumru Township location in Shillington Plaza. According to the Reading Eagle, it featured…
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Woolworth’s – Penn Street / Berkshire Mall
Read more: Woolworth’s – Penn Street / Berkshire MallWoolworth’s 6th and Penn Reading store was opened on September 20th, 1884, under the name, “Woolworth & Knox”. It was just three doors down Penn Street across from 6th street from the successful Pomeroy’s department store and later moved to the Berkshire Mall. Woolworth’s moved to the Berkshire Mall when it opened in 1970, as…
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Earl Building – 525 Penn St
Read more: Earl Building – 525 Penn StThe M. J. Earl Building pictured around the turn of the 20th century at 523/525 Penn Street in Reading. The Earl Building was built around 1880 on the site of famous Revolutionary War Doctor Bodo Otto’s home and practice. It appears there were a few offices inside. One was home to an office of Prudential…
