Thrift Store

Vintage thrift store sign in Philadelphia.  Image at ffffound!
On my way into work each morning, I would pass this vintage thrift store on Walnut Street.  Sadly, one morning a couple weeks ago, as I made my way towards my office building, I noticed that the sidewalk was blocked off and the whole area surrounding the building was fenced in.  This did not bode well for the building surrounded by the makeshift fence.  The following morning, the building was leveled.   As I walked past this morning, they filled in the hole and it looks like they plan to eventually make it into parking spaces....tragic!

I used to live a few blocks from this groovy looking building, but for as long as I can remember, it has been vacant.  It seemed such a perfect location for a fun and funky thrift shop, since there are many cool shops on Walnut Street.  I would have loved to have seen what it was like back when it first opened up....I bet it was amazing!  The exterior is a faded aqua color, that was probably very vibrant at one time,  and I've always loved the retro styled font used on the sign...but I guess when the sign was made, it wasn't considered retro.

In 1995 I had moved to Center City Philadelphia, and recalled seeing this vacant building, and thought to myself how cool it would be to open my own thrift store at that location.  Now my dream is gone.  I wish I knew more about the building and the store, before it closed its doors and was finally leveled...but finding it difficult to find any information about the building.  At least I was able to find this fabulous photo of it!  
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Comments

Debra She Who Seeks said…
How quickly buildings can disappear and parking lots appear.
June 14, 2011 at 1:03 PM
SUZY8-TRACK said…
I'm surprised...usually Philly is known for folks getting together to save buildings from destruction...just not in this case.
June 14, 2011 at 3:55 PM
Eartha Kitsch said…
Oh gosh! That's SO sad! :(
June 14, 2011 at 6:18 PM
SUZY8-TRACK said…
It is very sad. I had always hoped that someone would buy the building and fix it up, but I suppose that since it was vacant for so long, it was too expensive to fix. One thing I did notice was that the sign was gone by the time they were getting ready to tear it down...so its out there somewhere.
June 15, 2011 at 9:13 AM
Mandi Johnson said…
It is SO depressing when building are torn down. There was an old factory in our neighboring city that they tore down a few months ago, and I was devastated. Ugh.
June 21, 2011 at 9:10 PM
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