Groceteria.com

It would look something like this oddity in suburban Harrisburg PA. I drove by it the other night and thought “that looks like a Food Fair pylon But there’s no building there.” Turns out they tore down the store about six years ago but left the pylon (see “before” image from Google Street View).

If memory serves, this is Camp Hill correct? Drove by it many times heading down to Northern Va over the years. Somewhere before that when you're headed south on the opposite side of the road there was a Weis that dates back to the '60's I believe.

That's right. 32nd Street, I think.

I'll be adding a list of Harrisburg suburban stores soon BTW.

The old Food Fair is on 32nd Street (US 11-15) just north of Market Street. Market Street is the old route into downtown Harrisburg from the west before PA 581 and I-83 were built. I had no idea this was a Food Fair until I saw this reference. I too, both on my own and with family, have passed this building more times than I can count on the way to north central PA to visit family. I was looking at the Food Fair building on Google Street View. When the building was a Food Fair, would the entrance have been oriented towards the parking lot or towards the street? 32nd Street has always been a major thoroughfare. However, I don't think it was ever a walking shopping strip. There have been pictures posted elsewhere of stores in this same type of setup that have a main entrance towards the parking lot and then a secondary one at the street.

TW-Upstate NY wrote: ↑19 Apr 2024 22:00 Somewhere before that when you're headed south on the opposite side of the road there was a Weis that dates back to the '60's I believe.

The old Weis was at 21st Street and US 11-15. The September 2011 Google Street View has a nice view of the store after Weis closed. The old store is now part of the Penn State Hospital complex. The old Weis Project web site has an entry for this store. The page has a couple of nice pictures of the store when it was still open.

Also, there *may* have been a Weis at Simpson Ferry Road and Lower Allen Drive. I seem to recall a grocery store with a similar pylon to the 21st Street Weis in that center. That would have been in the early 90s when I worked at the Camp Hill Hechinger (now partially a Michael's), just a bit up from Lower Allen Drive. There has been a Weis further down Simpson Ferry closer to Mechanicsburg for a while. A bit further down from said Weis is a Grocery Outlet which is one of the former central PA Food Lion locations. David's location list also shows an independent there prior to Food Lion and originally an A&P.

mjhale wrote: ↑20 Apr 2024 23:07When the building was a Food Fair, would the entrance have been oriented towards the parking lot or towards the street? 32nd Street has always been a major thoroughfare. However, I don't think it was ever a walking shopping strip. There have been pictures posted elsewhere of stores in this same type of setup that have a main entrance towards the parking lot and then a secondary one at the street.

Food Fair had a lot of different configurations, but my guess on this one is that the entrance was on the front of the building, probably right at the corner adjacent to the parking lot. Some variation on that seems to be how FF handled most of their locations that fronted directly onto a sidewalk.

Groceteria wrote: ↑21 Apr 2024 09:16

mjhale wrote: ↑20 Apr 2024 23:07When the building was a Food Fair, would the entrance have been oriented towards the parking lot or towards the street? 32nd Street has always been a major thoroughfare. However, I don't think it was ever a walking shopping strip. There have been pictures posted elsewhere of stores in this same type of setup that have a main entrance towards the parking lot and then a secondary one at the street.

Food Fair had a lot of different configurations, but my guess on this one is that the entrance was on the front of the building, probably right at the corner adjacent to the parking lot. Some variation on that seems to be how FF handled most of their locations that fronted directly onto a sidewalk.

Great photo, btw.................

That pylon is always a dead giveaway and is often the only thing left.

I agree, the entrance was more likely in the front especially if you take into consideration the year it was built.

The question now becomes why not just tear down everything pylon and all? Don't get me wrong-I'm glad they left it but it's just kind of odd. Was it that well constructed it would be more difficult to take down vs. the building? Were they afraid to demolish it for fear it might fall into the road? A temporary street closure would've solved that. Whatever the reason it's all in all a nice retail artifact that hopefully will endure for many years to come.

Could be that they left it because current zoning would not have allowed construction of a new tower sign. Just a thought.