An architect’s drawing of the proposed $1,500,000 expansion and modernization project at Pomeroy’s, Inc., is shown in the top photo, while below inside the outlined area, are the five buildings which will be razed and the diner, at 6th and Cherry streets, which will be moved to make way for the new construction. (Eagle Staff Photo)

Pomeroy’s expansion planning and acquisition of the adjacent structures south of it on Sixth Street took roughly three years. The buildings to be razed included a three story building which housed equipment for the radio station WRAW and a two story building that once housed Kennedy’s Drug Store.

The facade was to be upgraded to a modern tile front. Due to the store being air-conditioned there was no longer a need for the copious amount of windows on the building. Max Heller, vice-president of Pomeroy’s was quoted in the Reading Eagle saying that Pomeroy’s decided to proceed with this expansion program because it reflects the store’s faith in the downtown shopping area of Reading. In hindsight, the height of Pomeroy’s success was already behind it. The department store would have another solid decade before the slow decline of being put out of business by shopping being driven out of downtown and into the malls.

While Pomeroy’s did end up updating the facade, it didn’t quite look like the image rendered above that ran in the August 2nd, 1957 Reading Eagle. In fact, they never actually razed the buildings as is viewable in this 1966 90th anniversary ad for Pomeroy’s;