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Former Charlotte stores

mallguy

By mallguy
in Charlotte Coffee House

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mallguy Town

mallguy

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So now there was a Bang & Olufsen at Phillips Place? Plus a Brooks Brothers uptown? Both closed?

Any other stores that have tried the Charlotte market, but that have failed and are no longer in town? Or any fancy stores that were uptown or at SouthPark, Carolina Place or Eastland but that closed and now have locations only elsewhere?

Curious as to people's recollections- thanks in advance!

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ScottCLT Burg

ScottCLT

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Any other stores that have tried the Charlotte market, but that have failed and are no longer in town?

It was a sad day for me when Baja Fresh closed the last of its three Charlotte locations after only a year or so in the market. There was one on Park road near Tyvola, one at Scott & East, and one in Huntersville. Of all the Burrito joints in this town, Baja was my favorite -- even above Phat. And it was always packed at lunch time! I just don't understand why they closed all three locations!

Also, the Palomino restaurant closed here. It's not a huge chain, but it is present in many large cities. I ate/drank there a few times the last 2 or 3 months that it was in business, and never noticed a lack of customers. I know the rent in the O'Dell building is probably expensive, but they made it work for 7 years...I don't understand what changed.

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monsoon Gigalopolis

monsoon

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Stores that used to be in Charlotte:

  • Lechmere - Electronics, like circuit city
  • Kroger - Sold all their stores to Bilo in the late 80s
  • Home Quarters - hardware
  • Heichenger - hardware
  • Holly Farms Fried Chicken
  • Zayre - like Kmart
  • Grape Vine Music
  • Morrison's Cafeteria
  • Collins which later became Peebles
  • S&K Cafeteria - used to be one downtown and at Park Rd shopping center
  • A&P
  • Woolco
  • Woolworths
  • Weiner King
  • Wickes Lumber
  • Leinol Toy Warehouse
  • Harvey's Warehouse - audio chain

Downtown had the Diana Shops, Woolworths, TJ's Hi Style, Montaldos (high end women's clothes), NYC Clothier, Shazada Records. Of course the original Belk and Ivey's used to be downtown as well as a Sears.

Downtown also had and was known for its red light district in the late 70s. whores, XXX peep shows, massage parlors, etc. In those days it was said that "Trade" St. earned it's name.

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swampfox43 Hamlet

swampfox43

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^Ahhh, I missed that thread obviously. Reading that reminded me of 3 more former stores (more recent). Brendle's, Best, and another I can't remember the name of. There were 2 locations. One on Albemarle, right where Central comes into it. The other is at McMullen Creek Market on Hwy 51. It is now occupied by Burlington Coats. Not sure what is located at the old Albemarle Rd location.

What was the name of that store before Burlington, anyone remember? My mind has drawn a blank... :dontknow:

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DigitalSky City

DigitalSky

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^Ahhh, I missed that thread obviously. Reading that reminded me of 3 more former stores (more recent). Brendle's, Best, and another I can't remember the name of. There were 2 locations. One on Albemarle, right where Central comes into it. The other is at McMullen Creek Market on Hwy 51. It is now occupied by Burlington Coats. Not sure what is located at the old Albemarle Rd location.

What was the name of that store before Burlington, anyone remember? My mind has drawn a blank... :dontknow:

Upton's (just what you're looking for)

Can't forget Winn-Dixie, that's a more recent one

also Incredible Universe (!!!) and Zany Brainy

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Batou Whistle-Stop

Batou

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Oh yeah Upton's I still remember that "uptons just what your looking for" song

Also remember Media Play ? I miss that store, though the group that owns F.Y.E now owns the group that owned MediaPlay so I guess it's not all bad.

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CharNative1966 Unincorporated Area

CharNative1966

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Alot of the ones I remember have already been mentioned but here's a few others I can think of -

  • Po Folks restaurant
  • Godfathers Pizza
  • Tart's audio/video

Here are a few more restaurants that I can't for the life of me recall the names of but maybe someone else will remember -

  • A fancy "build-your-own" burger joint that came to town at about the same time as the original Fuddruckers did. I get them confused but they were only a few blocks apart. One was at the Sharon Amity/Albemarle intersection and the other at Albemarle and Independence. Neither one lasted very long but eventually Fuddruckers returned to the area by opening up in Matthews on Hwy 51.
  • There was a "healthy" fast food joint based in Atlanta that opened up at the Tyvola/Old Pineville intersection long ago. It was a new concept and apparently an ill-fated one as it never caught on.
  • There was a mexican chain restaurant located at South Blvd/I-485 in the Carolina Pavilion Shopping Center. I went there several times and always enjoyed it.

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CLTNative Whistle-Stop

CLTNative

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Not really a store, but a restaurant: Planet Grill that was on East Blvd beside Caribou. I loved that food. It was build your own stir fry. You would pick all your ingredients from a buffet style cart and drop it off with the chef to have it grilled. If you didn't like what you created, you made something else free of charge. Great place!

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monsoon Gigalopolis

monsoon

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...

There was a "healthy" fast food joint based in Atlanta that opened up at the Tyvola/Old Pineville intersection long ago. It was a new concept and apparently an ill-fated one as it never caught on....

That was DeLite's and they had another place on Albemaro Rd. I met the owner of the local franchise once. Nobody really wants a healthy hamburger.

I am like you. I can't remember the name of that other hamburger bar, but I did eat there once.

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fortyniner Whistle-Stop

fortyniner

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Stores that used to be in Charlotte:
  • Lechmere - Electronics, like circuit city
  • Kroger - Sold all their stores to Bilo in the late 80s
  • Home Quarters - hardware
  • Heichenger - hardware
  • Holly Farms Fried Chicken
  • Zayre - like Kmart
  • Grape Vine Music
  • Morrison's Cafeteria
  • Collins which later became Peebles
  • S&K Cafeteria - used to be one downtown and at Park Rd shopping center
  • A&P
  • Woolco
  • Woolworths
  • Weiner King
  • Wickes Lumber
  • Leinol Toy Warehouse
  • Harvey's Warehouse - audio chain

Downtown had the Diana Shops, Woolworths, TJ's Hi Style, Montaldos (high end women's clothes), NYC Clothier, Shazada Records. Of course the original Belk and Ivey's used to be downtown as well as a Sears.

Downtown also had and was known for its red light district in the late 70s. whores, XXX peep shows, massage parlors, etc. In those days it was said that "Trade" St. earned it's name.

That was S&W Cafeteria on W. Trade St. and at Park Road Shopping Center

Barclay's Cafeteria on Independence, and a cafeteria on the Belk 2nd level at SouthPark

National Shirt Shop at the Square

Efierd's Department Store on N. Tryon (later absorbed into Belk's)

Baker's Qualicraft Shoes on N. Tryon

Tanner's Snack Bar (great oj and peanuts)...couple of uptown locations, including N. Tryon

Kodak store on S. Tryon where the Il Grande Disco is now (had a giant sign)

Liggett's Drugs at the Square...also had a diner in the rear part of the store

Auto Burger on Independence

The Cupboard on S. Blvd.

Wad's Drugstore on E. Blvd. (also a good snack bar there with fresh squeezed oj and sugar water)

Lanny's on Monroe Rd. (also on Albemarle)

Johnny's Restaurant on Monroe Rd.

Johnny's Hobby Shop on Kings Dr. (great model trains and science stuff)

The White Horse on East Blvd. (had several locations...still one in Rock Hill)

The Plantation Restaurant at Wilkinson and Morehead

Stonehenge on E. Blvd.

Rhineland House on Park Rd. (just been closed within the last year or so)

Ernie's Records at Park Rd. Shopping Ctr.

Colonial Grocery Stores (Park Rd. and the Plaza were 2 locations)

Old Smokehouse No. 2 (closed when work began on new runway at the airport)

Bell's Hamburgers (S. Blvd at Scaleybark and at the end of the Plaza median)

Rock O la on Albemarle and on Woodlawn

Just to name a few of the old names...

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ncwebguy Burg

ncwebguy

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There was a couple of train themed places near the Albemare/Sharon Amity intersection.

One was a wait-staffed restaurant in rail cars on the SW corner.. something station? The other was a sandwich place with a Grand Central Station theme and a model train that whirled around overhead in the ordering area.

There was a D'Lites on the NE Independence and Idlewild intersection.

The Zayres on Independence and South Blvd. were converted to Hechinger's when they closed.

When I lived there, the Idlewild/Independence/Conference Drive area used to be the "edge of town" and had the first wave of big boxes, with Harris Teeter, Zayre, Richways, and Service Merchandise nearby. There used to be a Mayberry's ice cream parlor between the Harris Teeter and Zayres I think.

There was a Wicker Furniture (with a big red and blue W) on Independence that turned into a Toys R Us?

Does anyone rember some weird sci-fi themed burger place on Central that was in a dome-shaped building?

Looking at google maps, it looks like it would have been at the Rosehaven intersection?

Is the Hungry Fisherman still around? I think they had locations at Central/Eastway and Lake Wylie near the SC border?

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lptk Whistle-Stop

lptk

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There was a couple of train themed places near the Albemare/Sharon Amity intersection.

One was a wait-staffed restaurant in rail cars on the SW corner.. something station?

Wow, that's right. Victoria Station.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Victoria_Station_(Restaurant)

I remember sitting in the top of the caboose as a kid (two tables up there as part of the bar area).

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CharNative1966 Unincorporated Area

CharNative1966

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That was DeLite's and they had another place on Albemaro Rd. I met the owner of the local franchise once. Nobody really wants a healthy hamburger.

That's it! Man that was probably back in the early eighties!

Rio Bravo! It was quite good

Right on! Rio Bravo Cantina was it!

The place like Fuddruckers was called Flakey Jakes. It was on Albemarle where the Eckerd is now.

Thank you, thank you, thank you! That was killing me trying to remember the name of it. I do clearly recall that Flakey Jakes was my favorite between the two. :)

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CharNative1966 Unincorporated Area

CharNative1966

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The other was a sandwich place with a Grand Central Station theme and a model train that whirled around overhead in the ordering area.

I remember going there once or twice as a kid. Those overhead trains were the coolest thing to a young boy! Was it called "Mr C's" or is that the name of the restaurant that later took over that building?

Is the Hungry Fisherman still around? I think they had locations at Central/Eastway and Lake Wylie near the SC border?

The Hungry Fisherman is long gone. Our family used to go to the one on Lake Wylie and the big excitement of the night was getting to feed those giant catfish the leftovers afterwards! Speaking of area seafood restaurants that are no more...Captain Lyle's was about a mile south of the Buster Boyd bridge and it remains the best (fishcamp) seafood I ever tried. It's been gone forever it seems but I'll never forget the quality food and huge portions!

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fortyniner Whistle-Stop

fortyniner

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Andrews Music Company on N. Tryon used to sell pianos. Always a classy feel to the old store. This was in the 60's. Mellon's on W. Trade sold men's clothing. Acme Paint Store on the corner of 5th and College was another place that thrived before sprawl. And who among the oldtimers can forget Al Rousso's jewelry shop. Seems like he fought forever to keep the park off Independence Square.

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queensguy06 Hamlet

queensguy06

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Speaking of area seafood restaurants that are no more...Captain Lyle's was about a mile south of the Buster Boyd bridge and it remains the best (fishcamp) seafood I ever tried. It's been gone forever it seems but I'll never forget the quality food and huge portions!

Down the road a little ways in Fort Mill is a place called Capt. Steve's. Small place with a gravel parking lot, but has to be my favorite fish camp style restaurant in the region. That place is packed out on the weekends, you should check it out.

There was a great, cheap burger joint at the corner of Idewild and Harris Blvd. called Spoon's in a strip mall with a grocery store I think. I remember the walls were painted as a silhouette of the Charlotte skyline - when Wachovia had the tallest building in town. Anyone know if this restaurant is still there?

This is a recent photo of what used to be the Hungry Fisherman. It is a place called TBonz today. (if I remember correctly been a long time since I was at the HF)

Picture%20008.jpg

I wouldn't suggest Tbonz. It is decent food, but I have heard horror stories about the way the kitchen is run.

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