Tag: defunct
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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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The Hitching Post
Read more: The Hitching PostThe Hitching Post was a very popular restaurant located in the Springmont section of West Lawn. Built in the 1930s, it was originally a Howard Johnson’s. It then became an establishment called the Imperial Club. Finally, it became the Hitching Post in the 1960s. Countless anniversaries, birthdays, organizational meetings and other celebrations were held here…
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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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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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On this day, 1985 – Downtown Pomeroy’s Closes
Read more: On this day, 1985 – Downtown Pomeroy’s ClosesPomeroy’s Department Store in downtown Reading closed in 1985 after 109 years in business on Penn Square. The business itself was sold to competitor BonTon who took over Pomeroy’s remaining location in the Berkshire Mall. Pomeroy’s history in downtown Reading dates back to 1876, when Josiah Dives, an Englishman, John Stewart, a Scot, and…
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Kaleidoscope at Berkshire Mall
Read more: Kaleidoscope at Berkshire MallThe Kaleidoscope was a store in the Berkshire Mall in the 70s. It sold jewelry, black lights and other psychedelic things. You could also get your ears pierced there. Do you remember this store?
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DeLuca’s Camera Center
Read more: DeLuca’s Camera CenterDeluca’s Camera Center was originally located at 617 Penn Street in Reading. It was founded in 1947 by Louis and Antoinette DeLuca. The article above from June 1990 mentions that the store moved to 518 Penn Street from 520 Penn Street. However it mentions nothing about it’s original location on the 600 block. In the…
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Gadgets Restaurant
Read more: Gadgets RestaurantLets talk about Gadgets, the lesser-known and not as successful (as the likes of Showbiz Pizza Place and Chuck E. Cheese) animatronic themed restaurant from the early 1980s. From 1982-1984 this cutting edge restaurant was upstairs at the Berkshire Mall. It featured animatronic singing robots as entertainment. A 20-minute show entertained guests every half hour.…
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Ye Olde Spring House
Read more: Ye Olde Spring HouseThe Ye Olde Spring House building is now Bean Funeral Home, and its address is 3825 Penn Avenue. The restaurant’s address was formerly 425 Penn Avenue. According to Bean’s website, “Our Sinking Spring funeral home has a fascinating history. The two story early-colonial structure was constructed in 1802 as a farmhouse, and was used through…