Scanned directly from my journal back in 2002, hence the spiral in the middle. This was either right before or right after Circuit City closed at Mercury Plaza, and when Barnes & Noble just opened at Coliseum Mall.
Now both of them are torn down and replaced. The Burlington Coat Factory at Mercury Plaza moved to the mall around 2003, and when the mall was torn down, it moved back to the ground the Mercury Plaza was back on.
Coliseum Mall went on to be the Peninsula Town Center.
CVS expands reach in Hampton Roads
By Veronica Chufo | 247-4741
April 2, 2009
CVS/pharmacy has purchased five sites on the Peninsula and plans to open four stores this year.
Opening this summer are stores at 13000 Warwick Blvd. in Newport News and 2315 W. Mercury Blvd. in Hampton.
Stores opening in the fall are at 4432 George Washington Memorial Highway in York County and at 11117 Jefferson Ave. in Newport News, CVS/pharmacy spokesman Mike DeAngelis said.
The company also bought a second Mercury Boulevard site but doesn’t plan to open a store there in 2009, he said.
At a time when retailers across the country are closing stores, CVS is looking to expand into the Hampton Roads area, where it only operates three stores. Nationally, the company plans to open 250 to 300 stores, DeAngelis said.
“Our business is not recession-proof but to a degree we’re recession-resistant,” he said. “People are still getting sick. They’re still getting their prescription drugs. The other products we sell are essential items, they’re not big-ticket items. They’re toothpaste, shampoo.
“Nationally, the population overall is aging. Baby boomers are hitting retirement age. That is certainly fueling the demand for prescription services.”
The company already operates stores at 700 Merrimac Trail in York County; 1187 Jamestown Road in Williamsburg; and 1109 Benns Church Blvd. in Smithfield.
Two Virginia Beach stores are slated to open this year, DeAngelis said.
Walgreens, a competitor with nine stores on the Peninsula and 26 in South Hampton Roads, is opening two stores this year on the Peninsula.
A store at 2400 George Washington Memorial Highway in York County is expected to open this summer, and another at the corner of Warwick and Denbigh boulevards in Newport News is scheduled to open in the fall, spokesman Robert Elfinger said.
Together, the new CVS and Walgreens stores will create between 130 and 160 jobs.
The Walgreens stores will span more than 14,500 feet, employ 25 to 30 people and include a pharmacy, groceries and a one-hour photo lab, Elfinger said.
The CVS stores will span more than 13,000 square feet and employ 20 to 25 people.
The stores will have drive-through pharmacy services, one-hour digital photo processing, multiple kiosks for customers to print photos, and health and beauty items and greeting cards, DeAngelis said.
“It will have all the earmarks of a full-service retail pharmacy,” he said.
The company offers an ExtraCare customer-rewards program. Cardholders get 2 percent back with every purchase in the form of “Extra Bucks.” They also get one Extra Buck for every two prescriptions filled. The rewards are doled out quarterly. Throughout the year, cardholders can take advantage of special offers and savings, DeAngelis said.
I looked up on Google Maps where the Mercury Blvd location is, and its here, where this old car dealership is. I think when I was in high school this place sold fancy pants cars nobody in their right mind would buy from a dumpy auto dealership like Rolls Royces and BMW’s:
Here is the Newport News one, I guess they’re tearing down that old Arbys to put the CVS up:
//edit, July 30, 2009//
This is actually up the street some, I was wrong. Silly google maps.
This video is lol.
I think it was made 3-5 years ago when Staunton Mall went under the moniker “Colonial Mall” for a short while. I couldn’t watch it on Firefox for OSX, so I had to use Safari.
I don’t know when this closed. The ones in Newport News and Suffolk closed like in 2003-ish, so maybe that’s when this one closed too.
I remember when I went to Ghetto Kee Business College, the school would treat us once a month to a meal at Ryans, and the food was always overcooked or bland.
It’s tucked sorta in front of walmart.
This picture is from Decmeber of 2004 when Spongebob Squarepants first graced the roofs of Burger Kings. Although I live in Staunton now, I still read the local news from time to time. I found out that some of the Burger Kings in Smithfield, Suffolk, and Franklin closed due to issues with the franchiser.
I lived in Franklin for two years, and I never took a picture of the Burger King there, or anywhere near the Burger King, so no picture of that one.
Photo: Ángel Franco/The New York Times
Article about the dead Pyramid in Memphis
NO SMALL WONDER The Pyramid in Memphis opened in 1991 as an arena for sports and concerts but, because money fell short, never became the attraction it was intended to be. It stands vacant now, 150,000 square feet of unused space that the city is trying to find a use for
A couple of weeks ago a friend and I drove out to Afton to visit the long abandoned mint condition Howard Johnsons in Afton.
I can’t believe the weather vane has survived!
The Freezer had been pried open. There was nothing in it, just really smelly.
—
This burned out abandoned motel was next to the Howard Johnsons:
Orangeroof.org page on the Howard Johnsons back when it was open
Ok, so you know last week I visited Staunton Mall for the first time? Well, the girl across the hall from me wanted to find a bookstore, and I told her there was a Books a Million in Staunton Mall, so I drove her there.
THE BOOKSTORE PACKED UP AND WENT AWAY. It was perfectly normal last Friday when we went in there. I thought it had closed down completely, but turns out it just moved to Waynesboro.
Ok, this place is officially a dead mall. I mean its mostly mom and pop places, two of the anchors are closed/in the process of closing, I’m sending my pictures to Brian over at deadmalls.com tonight.
//edit, September 25 2008//
Article from the News Leader’s website:
So a friend and I visited the Staunton Mall, a few minutes from Mary Baldwin College. We walked in it expecting that it would be dead, but its actually somewhat full, mostly mom and pop stuff, but its full, so I can’t really call it a dead mall. More like a small mall.
Here are some pics I took with my iPhone:
This store was awesome. It was stuck in about 1982.
Steve & Barrys is closing down shop. There was a lot of t-shirts left.
There were a LOT of vending machines here since there are only three tenants in the food court.
Old style Bath & Body Works. I love this design.
///edit, September 21st, 2008///
The Books a Million moved away about a week after I posted this.
//edit, January 27, 2009//
//edit, March 21, 2009//
I have a Category for Staunton Mall now.
A video from let’s say five, six year ago when Staunton Mall went by the moniker of Colonial Mall
Oh right, I moved to Staunton last week.
The abandoned Lowes next to it is also part of the warehouse. Nice use of a former Wal Mart.
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