As a kid, I have to say that Bill’s Carpet Warehouse struck me as the most boring store in Laurel. Thankfully, my parents didn’t have to buy carpets all that frequently.
These days, the old building at 14815 Baltimore Ave—directly across from Laurel Shopping Center—is a Vitamin Shoppe… which, I suppose is a bit more exciting.
So, the Woolco experiment didn’t go quite as planned in the old Hecht Co. building. And just a little over a year later, in April 1983, another store tried its luck. So did hundreds of eager Laurel residents, who came out on opening day to try to catch ping-pong balls—being tossed from the roof by skydivers—in order to win free door prizes.
Jamesway, founded in 1961 in Jamestown, NY (hence its name), rapidly expanded over the next two decades—eventually peaking at 138 stores in the Northeast and mid-Atlantic regions. Woolco was one of several defunct stores that Jamesway subsequently acquired.
It was actually very much like Woolco, in that it was a large discount department store that seemingly carried everything under the sun; but it felt newer. And to those of us in Laurel, it was new—I’d certainly never even heard of Jamesway before those ads started coming out. And the Jamesway brand felt fresher, too, with its bright blue, orange, and yellow.
Photo: cooldude166861 (Flickr)
I’m still not sure why they went with those mint green shopping carts, but they too felt new.
Photo: snappyjack1 (Flickr)
Being the discount department store that it was, (competing with the likes of Zayre/Ames and Bradlees at the time) Jamesway certainly didn’t appeal to fashion-and brand-conscious kids of the 1980s. Nonetheless, it was a great resource for all other things; you just didn’t want your parents coming home with any kind of Jamesway clothing for you. Or worse, shoes. I don’t remember exactly what a pair of Jamesway sneakers looked like, but I assume they did, in fact, exist. And it’s a safe assumption that they fell under the dreaded “maypops” category. Which is a shame, of course, because the clothes probably weren’t necessarily bad. The shirts just didn’t have little alligators sewn on them.
Photo: BACKYard Woods Explorer (Flickr)
Jamesway definitely fared better than Woolco did, and the Laurel store proved to be a popular and successful location that remained through the decade. But the 1990s weren’t nearly as kind, and by 1991—despite the 138 stores and sales of $855 million, according to Wikipedia—changes were afoot. A refinancing saw 11 stores close that year; and by July 1993, Jamesway had filed for Chapter 11 protection. Additional stores continued to close throughout 1994, as the company spiraled downhill. Finally, between October and December 1995, Jamesway closed all of its remaining stores and liquidated its inventory… even down to all those unused price stickers.
Like the proverbial “2-for-1” special, today’s focus is on a restaurant within a department store—both of which, of course, are now long gone.
I remember Edgar’s—the restaurant within Hecht’s at Laurel Centre Mall—more for its distinctive, art deco logo that I’d often pass while walking the upper level parquet floors en route to the mall proper. Truth be told, I don’t actually recall ever having eaten there; but I remember that logo—particularly Edgar’s beady little eyes and pencil mustache. In fact, to this day, whenever I hear the expression “beady eyes”, I immediately think of Edgar.
While I’m pretty sure I could’ve drawn it from memory, I found a couple of Washington Post ads from 1985 and 86, respectively, which feature both the logo and the beady-eyed Edgar himself.
The prices, I have to say, look great—even for the mid-1980s. And from what I’ve heard, the food was actually quite good.
While they’re not Edgar-specific, I’ve noticed a few Hecht’s Restaurants glasses on eBay, promoting Lipton Iced Tea. Coincidentally, that Lipton Iced Tea logo guy also had quite a mustache, didn’t he? Fortunately, his eyes weren’t so beady, though.
Now surely you didn’t think we’d revisit Merry Go Round without also stopping by Chess King, did you? Fair is fair…
Check out that last ad—illustrated in 1986 by legendary fantasy artist Boris Vallejo. Even barbarians, it seems, shopped at Chess King back in the day.
When you ask folks who grew up in the 1980s about “Merry Go Round“, they’ll undoubtedly remember the store… and its trendy fashions that they’d probably just as soon forget. Do the brands “I.O.U.” and “Skidz” ring any bells?
For those who grew up in Laurel at that time, our Merry Go Round was located on the lower level of Laurel Centre Mall, not far from the Hecht’s entrance. And coincidentally, just a few short yards away was another merry go round of sorts—the Carousel shops, which were literally located on a revolving platform in the center of the mall. These seven small boutiques were surrounded by a moat, no less—into which everyone in Laurel likely threw at least one penny at some point. (Perhaps wishing for a new red leather jacket from Merry Go Round, or something).
It wasn’t obvious, but the Carousel did actually rotate. According to this press photo which ran in the October 28, 1979 issue of the Baltimore Sun, the platform did a complete turn every 50 minutes. It did, at least, until maintenance costs proved to be too prohibitive, and then it just sat still. For that reason, many people probably never realized that it ever rotated at all.
And as for Merry Go Round, the store, I hope you didn’t think I’d miss this opportunity to showcase some of its many wares. Enjoy. Or cringe, more likely.
This week’s Pizza Friday features arguably the greatest of them all—Delaney’s Irish Pub.
Delaney’s, of course, is a true Laurel legend; and while I’ve posted briefly about it in the past, there’s so much more to be said about its time at Montpelier Plaza, including its very untimely (and unfair) fiery demise—which we’ll save for a later date. But for now, just think of that wonderful, thin crust pizza. Suffice it to say, there hasn’t been another like it since.
If you lived in Laurel in the 1980s, and you needed braces, chances are you knew this gentleman… AND his impressive team of hygienists.
This caricature from a 1985 Laurel Community Guide advertisement is exactly how thousands of 30-something, 40-something, and probably even 50-something adults with nice smiles remember Dr. Robert Decker—who was the premier orthodontist in Laurel for an entire generation.
They also undoubtedly remember his easygoing chair-side manner, the luxurious open workspace that saw dozens of patients simultaneously, the large swordfish mounted in his personal office, and of course, that team of attractive and capable hygienists.
Dr. Decker had an office at Steward Tower prior to opening his larger practice at the new Laurel Pines Professional Building in the early 1980s. That practice is still operating in the same location today, as Lavine, Esi & McTavish Orthodontics.
Thankfully, Dr. Decker still maintains a connection to the practice. According to a former employee, Dr. Lavine is his nephew, and took over the reins when Dr. Decker retired in 1999. In fact, their website still features him on their “Meet the Doctors” page.
What time is it? It’s Evans time! Check out this sweet Seiko watch display ad from a 1986 Laurel Leader supplement.
Evans Distributors & Jewelers was the largest and most visible of the department stores in the northern section of Laurel Lakes Center, situated on the corner of Baltimore Ave. and Mulberry Street. Only Bradlees (the original centerpiece of Laurel Lakes) was bigger and more versatile—a precursor to today’s Target. Evans, on the other hand, was a slightly different animal; a catalog showroom in the same mold as Best and W. Bell & Co.
The basic concept behind such catalog showrooms was to feature the majority of products (primarily housewares and electronics) as out-of-the-box display models. Customers could browse aisles of these display models; but rather than place a product in your cart and proceed to the checkout line, you’d have to submit an order at the counter. If the product was in stock, it would be retrieved and delivered to a customer service area for subsequent purchase. Sound like a pain? It usually was. And that’s only the half of it—because more often than not, they didn’t have your item in stock. “Rain checks” were quite popular amongst shoppers at Evans, Best, and W. Bell & Co.
Archaic shopping concept aside, Evans was a fairly popular store in its time. And thankfully, not everything in their inventory was catalog-based. I still have a camera bag and tripod that I purchased in the early 90s, which I bought off the shelf. Others have mentioned still having items such as travel alarm clocks from the same era. And like Best and W. Bell & Co., Evans published an annual catalog that was always a treat to peruse, especially at Christmas time.
But like its competitors, the 1990s weren’t kind. And not just to Evans—to the entire quadrant of Laurel Lakes Center that abutted it, including T.J. Maxx, Kids ‘R’ Us, the Laurel Lakes Cinema 12, and about a dozen smaller stores in between. After multiple changes of ownership, miscommunication with tenants, and other snafus, this entire section of the shopping center was summarily bulldozed by 2002—to make way for the Lowe’s Home Improvement Center that currently occupies the space.
In the end, Evans—a company that prided itself on affordable fine jewelry and timepieces (as evidenced by the aforementioned sweet watch display ad above) had been operating on borrowed time, itself.
This 2000 Laurel Leader article reveals exactly how little the tenants of Laurel Lakes actually knew about its future.
Photo: historicaerials.com
It’s funny how these things come together sometimes. No matter how hard you try to remember everything, or how much research you do, you’re bound to completely forget a few places. And sometimes, the biggest, most unlikely-to-ever-be-forgotten stores are the ones most easily overlooked. Such was the case with PACE Membership Warehouse.
At least I wasn’t the only one. None of the 700+ folks on our Facebook page had mentioned it thus far, either.
So last night, while glancing at my WordPress dashboard, I noticed something new in the search engine terms module. Typically, the phrases I’ll see are things like “laurel movie theater”, “irish pub laurel maryland”, and “laurel mall closing”. These are terms that someone has entered into a search engine (Google, etc.), which subsequently led them to this blog.
But last night’s search engine terms—three separate tries—were more specific:
a warehouse off route 197 in laurel, md that sold food out of a warehouse in the late 80s and early 90s not shoppers
name of old store in laurel, md that sold food in late 80s like a warehouse not shoppers
list of food warehouses in laurel, md in late 80s and early 90s not shoppers
As you can tell, they were pretty adamant that it wasn’t Shoppers Food Warehouse. It took a moment to register what this place could possibly be, but then it hit me. PACE.
It had to be PACE Membership Warehouse, the innovative wholesale giant that opened in Laurel in 1985. At the time, it was a whole new concept: a massive, spartan warehouse filled with bulk buys for membership-based customers. According to reports, there were only 8 other companies like it in the entire country, and none in the Baltimore-Washington region.
According to Wikipedia, PACE was founded in 1983, and was part of the Kmart Corporation. Not coincidentally, two other warehouse clubs also began operations in 1983: Costco and Sam’s Club. Right behind them, in 1984, came BJ’s Wholesale Club (which was started by another familiar Laurel retailer, by the way—Zayre.) All of these followed Price Club—recognized as the very first warehouse club—in 1976.
By the early 1990s, the competition was pulling away, however; and PACE, unfortunately, just wasn’t able to keep pace. In 1993, Walmart acquired it from Kmart and converted many (but not all) locations into Sam’s Clubs.
After posting just the logo alone on Lost Laurel’s Facebook page, dozens of people began to reply—including many who worked at PACE. Surprisingly, they apparently hadn’t thought about it in years, either.
Below are a number of press photos from 1986 and 1992, respectfully, which are being sold by the Historic Images photo archive on eBay. And following those are a couple of particularly interesting articles (as well as display ads) from local papers leading up to the opening of the Laurel store. With today’s prevalence of big box stores and its effects on small town commerce, these articles are somewhat prophetic. It’s also ironic that PACE itself would be absorbed by Walmart, with whom so many countless small businesses simply haven’t been able to compete.
I’m still hoping to track down some photos of the actual Laurel store; but in the meantime, hopefully whoever was searching for PACE returns to see what what their initial search prompted… and what we’ve uncovered so far.
With Valentine’s Day nearly upon us, shouldn’t you be thinking of where you might’ve gone to buy something nice for your sweetheart… if it were still the 1980s?
Lost Laurel 