I remember when this mall was built in the sixties [see correction in Comments, below- Editor], in a section of Bensalem called Andalusia, but actually a small subsection of it known as Cabbage Patch. It originally had a Woolco where the Home Depot is now, and it later became a Jamesway. The other anchor was originally a Gaudios holiday and garden center, and that chain was bought out by Frank's, a similar, now-defunct, chain. I worked in a Rite Aid there for many years. My friends worked in the Donut Shack that later became a small Chinese restaurant that moved to the front of the mall. There was a Keller's House of Music, Fashion Bug, Radio Shack, Guru of India, a camera store, a General Nutrition, and several other stores. Also, there was a great arcade with lots of pinball machines. The mall was completely remodeled at some point, and is really not a mall any longer but a shopping center, and the movie theater moved from deep inside the mall to outside.
| Publication date | Jun 24, 2018 |
| Neighborhood | Cabbage Patch |
I remember when this mall was built in the sixties [see correction in Comments, below- Editor], in a section of Bensalem called Andalusia, but actually a small subsection of it known as Cabbage Patch. It originally had a Woolco where the Home Depot is now, and it later became a Jamesway. The other anchor was originally a Gaudios holiday and garden center, and that chain was bought out by Frank's, a similar, now-defunct, chain. I worked in a Rite Aid there for many years. My friends worked in the Donut Shack that later became a small Chinese restaurant that moved to the front of the mall. There was a Keller's House of Music, Fashion Bug, Radio Shack, Guru of India, a camera store, a General Nutrition, and several other stores. Also, there was a great arcade with lots of pinball machines. The mall was completely remodeled at some point, and is really not a mall any longer but a shopping center, and the movie theater moved from deep inside the mall to outside.
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Cabbage Patch, .
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Email : sjkc0072@aol.com
Comments : There is a nice video with photos of the mall from 1986 at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tPg3NFeT0ws . I'm pretty sure the back of the head you see in the Rite Aid photo is the long-time full-time cashier, Toni Glenn. Her daughter, Louann, worked at the t-shirt kiosk in front of Rite Aid. I see from the Philadelphia Inquirer, 9/26/71, that ground was broken for the mall, and then Woolco announced its grand opening in the 10/15/72 Inquirer, so it was built pretty fast. I used to love the LPs for a dollar bin at Woolco and browsing the vinyl bins in Keller's House of Music in the 70s, which is when I worked at the Rite Aid. My sister had worked in the Florshein Shoes, a couple of the jewelry stores, and the eyeglass place. The mall meant a lot to us back then. The fellows at the camera store used to get softball games going after work, and I think the primary aim was to meet girls.
Date : 2019-12-17
Email : sjkc0072@aol.com
Comments : I remembered the name of the camera store. It was a Cutler Camera, which, if I remember correctly, became a Larmon Photo.
Date : 2019-12-17
Email : sjkc0072@aol.com
Comments : This page and the previous one speak of the area behind the stores being haunted: http://www.ghostsofamerica.com/1/Pennsylvania_Bensalem_ghost_sightings7.html.
Date : 2020-02-19
Email : sjkc0072@aol.com
Comments : A friend of mine was the mall Santa Claus here in the late 70s, early 80s. He was a tough, leather-jacket clad fellow in regular life. He got fired when he was caught smoking pot behind the mall during a break.
Date : 2016-10-30