Category: Retail

  • Berks County Christmas – Whitners & Sears

    On 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

    Penn 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

    Miracle 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

    Thanksgiving 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

    If 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

    Kmart 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

    Woolworth’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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  • Introducing Berks Nostalgia Community Forums

    We now have a place for our followers to communicate with each other and the blog here at Berksnostalgia.comNavigate to the Forums using the “Community” tab on the menu bar or at the link https://berksnostalgia.com/forums/ There are different forums including; Hot Topics: place to talk about current news in Berks and how it relates to…

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  • Earl Building – 525 Penn St

    The 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…

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  • Paul’s Men’s Shop

    Paul’s was a men’s clothing store at 527 Penn St in the 50s and 60s. Couldn’t find a date on when it closed. Today the building is occupied by a pizza place.

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Berks Nostalgia