Old Supermarket Mystery North Wales/Montgomeryville, PA

Delaware, Maryland, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and West Virginia.

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Ephrata1966
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Old Supermarket Mystery North Wales/Montgomeryville, PA

Post by Ephrata1966 »

Whole Foods has a store on Route 309 (road from Philadelphia to Allentown PA) in Montgomery County, PA not far outside Northwest Philadelphia. I am not even really sure of the town. Could be North Wales, Montgomeryville, Lansdale, Ambler, or Fort Washington.

Many Whole Foods in this area started as other grocery stores. I hear this shopping center was only built in 1993, but it seems to have been remodeled in the 2000s. And I know the AMC cinema in the parking lot was built in 1986 but replaced a "Budco" theater on the same site. The Whole Foods in nearby Jenkintown (was an Acme/Super Saver) and Wynnewood both were a gourmet grocer called Fresh Fields, based in Maryland. IF the 309 store was, the center was probably updated when Whole Foods bought them in 2002. This shopping center seems to have the same owners as Eddystone Crossing in Eddystone, PA and Audubon Crossing in Audubon, NJ. Both of these have Wal-Mart/Walmart as anchors, detached from the rest of the center. I think Eddystone Crossing was all new in 2000 or 2001, and had a Festival Foods for a very short time (became ShopRite in 2004). So maybe the Whole Foods was a Festival Foods.

And both of the centers in PA have a PLCB Wine & Spirits store. The one in Eddystone moved from nearby Woodlyn Shopping Center (really in Chester) which had an Acme many years ago and is now mostly dead. The replacement store started as a "BestPrice Fashions", which may have coexisted with the "One Price" clothing store in Woodlyn Shopping Center. ShopRite also borrowed this space as a hiring office. The Wal-Mart/Walmart here looks a lot like the one in nearby Larkins Corner Shopping Center, but that one was a Caldor from 1992 which was paired with a Super Fresh. Wal-Mart/Walmart has an identical store on 309 in Quakertown too, with an empty Acme next to it.

Most of Audubon Crossing was built as a JCPenney that was carved up into smaller stores. This center sits right behind an Acme which was a Penn Fruit. I know A&P was represented across the street too.

Genuardi's and Weis used to have a strong presence near the Whole Foods but have been dying out. So did Super G/Clemens at one time, but this store was way too small to have been a Super G. Could have been a Thriftway or Shop 'N Bag that was Clemens later though. The store was surrounded by two older Acmes north and south, but neither were that close. One was later an IGA, then an A.C. Moore, and now a clothing store. Another became a CVS two years ago. The Wine & Spirits here also matches the one in Wyncote/Cheltenham further south on 309. That small center was anchored by an A&P that was later a Super Fresh and is now an Aldi. So does anyone know if this Whole Foods was a Fresh Fields? Or if another grocery store here was torn down between 1986-1993?
Last edited by Ephrata1966 on 01 Jul 2011 20:45, edited 2 times in total.
JoshAustin610
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Re: Old Supermarket Mystery North Wales/Montgomeryville, PA

Post by JoshAustin610 »

This store was in fact a Fresh Fields; I remember seeing it with that name when driving by around 2001. The center at that point looked as it does now, so I would assume that's how it always looked. The other anchors were Staples (still there) and Thrift Drug (later Eckerd and Rite Aid, which closed soon after the newer North Wales store on Rts. 202 & 63 was built). Everything in that area has the postal address of North Wales; the upscale shopping center across the street (English Village) wasn't built until 2002.
Ephrata1966
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Re: Old Supermarket Mystery North Wales/Montgomeryville, PA

Post by Ephrata1966 »

The Staples doesn't ring a bell, but I sure do remember the Eckerd/Rite Aid. Their closing sale scarred me for life. A customer who walked out the door right before me took out and smoked something that, well, didn't quite resemble a cigarette to say it nicely. This was on the sidewalk of a busy shopping center in broad daylight! A tour of the Asher's chocolate factory in Souderton brought me to that area (I live in Springfield Delaware County). And the same day, I had a bad accident on the way home.

But anyway, I just noticed something... why are Whole Foods and AMC close together but in different buildings both here and in Greentree NJ? That cinema was built as an AMC, and the Whole Foods was an IGA but never a Fresh Fields. And Plymouth Meeting Mall has a Whole Foods now on the site of the old Ikea. The AMC there was built as one of the last General Cinema properties. AMC 309 was the cream of the more local Budco's crop.
bobsjers
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Re: Old Supermarket Mystery North Wales/Montgomeryville, PA

Post by bobsjers »

I think the English Village was a Lohmann's Plaza at one time. I had a friend who owned a book store in the shopping center. One by one, the stores closed, and the whole shopping center was vacant. I don't know if they tore it down and rebuilt, or did a really major remodeling job.
Ephrata1966
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Re: Old Supermarket Mystery North Wales/Montgomeryville, PA

Post by Ephrata1966 »

Loehmann's? Interesting, the Loehmann's in Pennsauken NJ (really Camden!) was torn down in 1988 for a movie theater that didn't last and has been empty for years. And the Loehmann's in Upper Darby PA was right next to a TINY Thrift Drug/Eckerd that seemed to close overnight, and is now a Tuesday Morning. They also occupy the old salon next door which moved, and it still is very small for a Tuesday Morning! I hear the store started as the local "Evans Drug" in the 1950s. Loehmann's only other store nearby other than Moorestown, NJ was in Falls Church, Virginia (which coincidentally was at one time Acme, Food Fair, Grand Union, and Kroger territory).
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MikeRa
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Re: Old Supermarket Mystery North Wales/Montgomeryville, PA

Post by MikeRa »

Ephrata1966 wrote:And I know the AMC cinema in the parking lot was built in 1986 but replaced a "Budco" theater on the same site.
The AMC 309 Cinema 9 opened in the 1960's as Budco 309 Cinema. It had two screens added in the early 1980's, and had 5 theatres added in 1986. The shopping center that's across from the 309 Cinema is the old Budco 309 Drive-In.
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MikeRa
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Re: Old Supermarket Mystery North Wales/Montgomeryville, PA

Post by MikeRa »

Ephrata1966 wrote:But anyway, I just noticed something... why are Whole Foods and AMC close together but in different buildings both here and in Greentree NJ? That cinema was built as an AMC, and the Whole Foods was an IGA but never a Fresh Fields. And Plymouth Meeting Mall has a Whole Foods now on the site of the old Ikea. The AMC there was built as one of the last General Cinema properties. AMC 309 was the cream of the more local Budco's crop.
It's because the shopping center next to the AMC 309 Cinema 9 was the Budco 309 Drive-In.
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