Sunday, September 24, 2006

UNDEAD ZOMBIE DIMESTORE!!!

Now here's something you don't see every day--at least not in the last 15 or 20 years...A Woolworth's sign.
They're remodeling Concord Plaza, a shopping center in south St. Louis County that dates back to about 1963, and as they tear off the previous facade (which appears to have gone up in the '80s) to make way for the new one, the original brick facing is revealed for the first time in years.The first "ghost sign" to be uncovered belonged to a defunct department store called P.N. Hirsch--but I didn't have my camera on me when I saw that stage of remodeling. A few days later, half of the old Woolworth's logo had been uncovered--and it was revealed in its entirety later in the week. (I haven't found the closing date of the Woolworth's yet, but I do know it survived at least into the mid-'80s.)

Apparently, the shopping center's facade was of red brick; when it was repainted in a lighter color, the painters simply masked around the signage--leaving the store logos basically stencilled on when the signs were removed later. Hopefully, the marks of more long-gone stores will be revealed as the construction continues!

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

As akb used to say, "wowneat." Seriously that's very cool, kinda time-capsule'ish. Glad you got pics!

Anonymous said...

I was THERE one weekday afternoon on vacation when I was 26. The waitress at the lunch counter asked me if it was "senior skip day." Better than being carded!

bin_swanson

Anonymous said...

That's my 'hood!

Go Concord Village.

You know, when I was a kid, I used to think people were saying Conquered Village when they were talking about that place. It seemed like a horrible name for a town. But, I lived in Hillsboro, not too far from Ware and Frummit.

;-)

-joe

Sam Roberts said...

Nice one, we still have Woolworths in UK!
ore on how these signs can be protected:
http://brickads.blogspot.com/search/label/Protection