Tag Archives: Lost Laurel

Feb 21 2012
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Artifacts, Stores

Safeway + Dart Drug, together again

Awhile back, I found this wonderful little Dart Drug truck on eBay—remarkably, still in its original packaging. For me, it was a perfect reminder of one of my all-time favorite stores while growing up in Laurel. In fact, I grew up just around the corner from it at Steward Manor; and made at least as many candy and magazine trips there as I did to the 7-Eleven directly across Laurel-Bowie Rd.

At that time, (this being the early-to-mid-1980s) Dart Drug was situated beside Safeway—before the latter relocated to the new Laurel Lakes shopping center in 1985. And when I was a kid, I could simply cross Lafayette Avenue and the railroad tracks and already be in the parking lot. So, yes—in the context of Dart Drug and Safeway, I literally grew up on the other side of the tracks. But I digress.

As cool as my new (old) toy was, it just didn’t feel complete without a Safeway item to balance it out. For me, the two will always be inseparable. To this day, I can’t think of Safeway without thinking of Dart Drug, and vice versa. I had considered a Safeway railroad car, to represent the fact that “my” Safeway will always be associated with the aforementioned railroad tracks.

But, lo and behold, I eventually tracked down a matching vintage toy truck. They seem to like each other. Once again, all is right with the world.

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Feb 20 2012
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Artifacts, Stores

Dart Drug: Sodas

The local weather forecasters had been predicting some snow for the DC metropolitan area this Presidents Day weekend, but alas, there was little if any precipitation. Instead, it’s bright and dry; and the air is clean, crisp, and refreshing—not unlike a Dart Drug ginger ale.

I’m not sure if it’s exactly “caramel colored” outside as well, but I digress.

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Feb 17 2012
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Pizza Friday: Delaney’s Irish Pub

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.

Photo: Teresa Delaney Porrino (Facebook)

 

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Feb 16 2012
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Dr. Decker

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.

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Feb 15 2012
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Evans

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

 

 

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Feb 14 2012
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PACE Membership Warehouse

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.

From the Baltimore Sun, February 1, 1985:

From the Washington Post, October 28, 1985:

Washington Post display ads:
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Feb 11 2012
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Sherry’s Jewelers

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?

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Feb 10 2012
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Artifacts, Restaurants

Pizza Friday: Pizza Express

Everybody love Fridays (unless, of course, you have to work weekends).

And one of the best things about Fridays—while growing up as a productive member of the Prince George’s County Public Schools system—was that pizza was almost always served for lunch.

In fact, the pizza at Deerfield Run Elementary was surprisingly good, in my opinion. I don’t know if it was the pizza itself, the ovens, or a combination of both, but it never disappointed. The nearest I’ve come to replicating that Deerfield Run Friday pizza goodness is Ellio’s—the rectangular frozen pizza that, according to their website, remains the top selling frozen pizza in the Northeast. (So for all we know, Deerfield Run may have actually been serving Ellio’s).

Anyway, in honor of Pizza Fridays, I thought we’d start a recurring theme by taking a look back at Laurel’s lost pizza places. It’ll almost be like having a slice for lunch every Friday, albeit a slice of the past.

Today’s special comes to us from 1985, and includes free delivery!

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Feb 09 2012
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Artifacts, Stores

High’s Dairy Store

Ironically, one of the first places I probably would’ve gone to pick up my copy of today’s Laurel Leader was High’s. Along with a delicious ICEE, of course. Or Butter Brickle ice cream. Or both.

Apparently, the paper is no longer sold at the likes of 7-Eleven, CVS, Safeway, or Giant. Fortunately, though, complimentary copies are available at the Laurel Municipal Center and other areas around town. If the free copies run out, however, I’m told that you can still buy them—at the Quick Stop… otherwise known as the former High’s on Main Street. Hmm… I wonder if they sell ICEEs?

Photos of High’s locations at All Saints Road and Sandy Spring Road (center band across ad): Michael Cassidy (Laurel Patch).
Main Street photos: Richard Friend (top: 2008, bottom: 2012)
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Feb 08 2012
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Stores

Basics Food Warehouse

With forecasters calling for a bit of winter weather in the DC area tonight, you can rest assured that grocery stores will be packed. Traditionally, even the slightest hint of snow prompts residents to stock up on three essentials: milk, bread, and toilet paper. In other words, the basics.

Whenever I hear the word “basics”, I think of the store that once occupied the east corner space of Laurel Plaza shopping center at Routes 198 and 197. It was the former Grand Union, (which was actually still the parent company of the Basics brand), and for the past 25+ years, it’s been the Village Thrift Store.

I can still recall a sense of excitement in the air back in April 1980, at the notion of a brand new grocery chain opening up. Not that I had any reason to be excited about it, as I was only 7 years old at the time. But something about Basics just seemed different and markedly ahead of its time. And all these years later, I feel the same way.

There was a clear concept behind the Basics brand—simplicity. This was something unique in a time when Giant Food was flexing its local muscle against the likes of Safeway, A & P, and Pantry Pride, and each were promoting their own respective brands in a more conventional manner. But Basics stripped everything down, literally, to the point that its aesthetic was practically generic. And you saw this the moment you entered the store, passing through the produce aisle. Gone were the old molded plastic shelves with rubber shopping cart protectors; here, massive plain cardboard boxes contained oranges, grapefruits, and lettuce. Above each were impressive, hand-lettered signs that had been painstakingly rendered in chalk on black boards. There was a distinct, no-frills vibe all throughout the store, unlike the other chains who plastered their brand on anything and everything.

But by early 1984, despite the success of Basics, Grand Union was ready to call it quits. Basics had run Pantry Pride out of town within its first year of operation, but Giant and Safeway proved to be just too much.

Washington Post, January 17, 1984

There are little reminders of the Basics legacy in and around Laurel today, particularly at places like Shoppers Food Warehouse, which has capitalized on the same no-frills, basic (no pun intended) precepts that Basics founded. Be sure to warmly remember them while you’re out picking up your milk, bread, and toilet paper tonight… and know that wherever you go, Basics certainly would’ve been cheaper.

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