Whitewashed Windows and Vacant Stores

Springhurst Starbucks

2011-06-17T22:26:00.003-04:00

How can a Starbucks go out of business? They're like pizza places; there's just no point of saturation for them. Granted, this wasn't my favorite Starbucks, and believe me, I know them all in this town - even the ones hidden inside hotels and Krogers and Targets. This one was rather computer-unfriendly, having only ONE electrical plug that all us rovin' ramblin' wi-fi rounders were constantly competing for. And on two separate occasions, I went in there to find that their wi-fi wasn't working, and when I told the counter help to reset their router, on both instances it was some giggling youth who said she had no idea what that was or where it was.

Since you asked (you did ask, right?), my favorite Starbucks in Louisville is the one on Blankenbaker, who hosted my solo art exhibition All History Does Unfold back in 2008.

Vinnie's

2011-06-13T23:05:00.004-04:00

The 1970s-style nightclub Vinnie's, along with all the other classic City Block tenants, is sorely missed.

Below: Vinnie's in the good old days, still visible on Google Maps Street View:

Ray's Monkey House

2011-06-12T17:31:00.008-04:00

Words can't express how glad I am to see this place gone. Ray's Monkey House was an ultra-left-wing coffee house that prided itself on being "child friendly". A coffee house that actually encourages parents to bring their toddlers just doesn't fly with me. And though there was a sign near the children's play area stating that kids were expected to behave properly, it was never enforced during the times I was there - it was a cacophonously noisy day-care-like setting.

You'd sit at dirty furniture and look at garishly painted walls that were plastered with lefty political screeds and pictures of Barack Obama, Hugo Chavez, and Cindy Sheehan. A malnourished-looking woman with tattoos on her face actually berated me angrily there for bringing a Starbucks travel mug into the place, and started babbling uninvitedly about "fair trade", corporate responsibility, blah blah blah, etc. Mind your own damn business, lady; this sort of preachy crap is exactly why I prefer Starbucks!

They had a blog that featured unappetizing things like Abu Ghraib photographs, exhortations to its readers to complain to Congress about Israel's presence in Gaza, and info on Vegan events like "The Great American Meatout". I always think of myself as a liberal until I go into hippie places like this, and then I realize that I want nothing to do with these sort of people.

Some may say I'm being way too hard on them. To be fair, I never went there at night when they had live music, which would probably have made a much more favorable impression on me. But the vibe I got from the place in the mornings was an offensive turn-off, and I just couldn't get past their goofy and disrespectful in-your-face politics.

(Before Ray's, this was one of my favorite bookstores, Twice Told Books. I keep hoping I'll wake up and find that it was all a bad dream and that Harold's Twice Told is still there.)

Pure

2011-06-08T11:34:00.003-04:00

What was Pure, anyway? Last I noticed, this location at 2009 Highland Avenue was the Key Lime hair salon. Things move pretty fast in Lou-town.

House of Bleu

2011-05-30T22:31:00.001-04:00

They've moved to 2208 Dundee, according to the sign.

Corbett-Frame Jewelers

2011-05-23T00:00:00.001-04:00

This jewelry store has been my guidepost to alert me of the oncoming turn off Shelbyville Road onto Whipps Mill, for as long as I've lived in Louisville. (It's hard to miss that profoundly annoying Enviro Regular font they used for their sign; it's almost like an Art Deco version of Comic Sans MS.)

Their location was a bit bizarre - like the failed Drexel Heritage furniture outlet on Linn Station, this upscale jeweler was attempting to do business in a residential area that doesn't have much foot traffic.

Their Lexington location still exists, however, and has a much more sensible location - right in the lobby of downtown's Hilton hotel, 369 W. Vine St.

Genny's Diner

2011-05-22T00:00:00.001-04:00

Although I rarely ate there, Genny's Diner was a Louisville tradition and I will miss it. Their deep-fried "frickled" pickles were a unique local item which you don't see every day.

Owner Frank Faris, after years of battling with the city over his property next door, has been put out of business. Part of it is his own fault: he steadfastly refused to make ordered upkeep improvements to the home, despite court orders to do so. But I think Faris got a raw deal in the end: when he announced his intention to bulldoze the house to make more parking spaces for his diner, a group of concerned citizens got together and colluded to hurriedly designate the dump a "historic home", specifically so he couldn't do what he wanted to with his own property.

And when he still refused to cooperate, a judge ordered him to sell the house. And when he couldn't find a buyer, the judge actually ordered him to give it away for free. Can a judge really do that? Well, this one did, and I didn't hear many people squawking about it.

The way the whole thing turned out for Faris leaves a very unsavory taste in my mouth. It's true that his own behavior is why it all ended in drama and Faris' arrest, but I nevertheless sympathize with Faris for trying to conduct himself as if he was still living in an era when people were allowed to do what they wanted to with their own personal property. Those days are gone, and with their passing we've all lost something bigger than fried pickles.

A gourmet ice cream place called the Comfy Cow is slated to take over the Genny's Diner location. Ironically, they're going to bulldoze it and start over with a new building of their own.

Red Pepper

2011-05-21T12:12:00.002-04:00

So bummed to see this place go. Loved the food and the ambience. Everyone I ever knew who ate there adored the place, so what went wrong?

Before Red Pepper, it was Maharajah Indian restaurant, and before that, Shariott's.

Kiddle Kastle

2011-05-20T17:08:00.002-04:00

Kiddie Kastle in St. Matthews is gone, but not for long: sign says they're expanding and moving to a nearby location in the same shopping center, near Off Broadway Shoes.

Jones Bargain Center

2011-04-11T19:39:00.003-04:00

When I first moved to Louisville this was one of the first places I frequented - Jones Bargain Center, a flea-marketty junk and furniture place in Clifton. Sad to see it boarded up and deserted.

Proof positive, if you really needed any, that I've got my finger on the pulse of the city (even if it may be a slightly bizarro alternate universe version of it): in Googling the place just now, I found that Broken Sidewalk put a piece up online TODAY about this very location, and how it's earmarked to be demolished for a gas station.

Stephens Drugs

2011-01-30T17:52:00.004-05:00

Another classic old Louisville business goes bye-bye.

St. Matthews' beloved old-guy drugstore, Stephens Drugs on Shelbyville Road (previously Holdaway Drugs) has shut its doors forever and put up a sign sending all its former clientele to Wish's Drugs in Whipps Mill.

It's always puzzled me whether the establishment is meant to be called "Stephens" or "Stephen's" - the building itself lacks the apostrophe on their main sign and in many of their printed advertisements, yet they also have a smaller sign (visible in the top photo) that includes the apostrophe. Online listings almost universally disinclude the apostrophe.

Building, Frankfort and Ewing

2010-10-21T00:31:00.001-04:00

What used to be in this building at the corner of Frankfort and Ewing? I don't remember. And why is it for sale directly from the Louisville Metro Government? I could probably do some snooping around online and figure it out, but I am a profoundly lazy man and besides, I hear the voice of a pork chop calling my name.

Ear X-Tacy

2010-10-20T11:12:00.004-04:00

No, Ear X-Tacy didn't go out of business after their desperate plea for more business- they've just moved down the street a piece, to the old Fed Ex/Kinko's building at 2226 Bardstown Road.

Presumably, the rent here is much cheaper and/or they have a landlord who's willing to work with them (which is something all too rare these days). Meanwhile, their old location at 1534 Bardstown Road sits empty.

But now who's going to move into a place this expensive? Good question.

On the Border

2010-10-18T00:13:00.001-04:00

On The Border is no more. How can a Mexican restaurant go out of business in this town? Along with pizza joints, they're like the basic building block of American civilization nowadays, with seemingly no upper limit on how many of them any given city can sustain. And yet, like Los Chubascos, it's vamoosed.

When it comes to authenticity, though, On The Border was probably near the bottom of the scale, what with so many great Latin restaurants in this burg. On the other hand, its close promixity to Tinseltown Theater should have guaranteed that even a Taco Bell could thrive out here. (Oh, wait - there is one nearby, and it is.)

Drexel Heritage

2010-10-17T08:50:00.003-04:00

Drexel Heritage (9801 Linn Station Road) is having a big going-out-of-business sale. I never really paid attention to them and didn't even know what they were - I had to Google them when I got home to find out that they're a furniture store. Tucked amongst mostly residential and office spaces on Linn Station Road, I'm surprised they managed to make a go of it at all. Location, location, location.

Markdowns

2010-10-14T17:21:00.005-04:00

Sad to see Markdowns (104 Fairfax Avenue) go. Although the sign says "clothing outlet", they actually had all kinds of interesting Big Lots-type finds in here. Most notably, I scored a bunch of great discontinued-colors Fiestaware here a few years ago.

Furlongs

2010-10-08T18:33:00.004-04:00

Whoops, Furlongs on Shelbyville Road has gone wayward; when did that happen? I never actually dined or drank here, but I did apply for a bartending position here last Winter. Some middle-management guy shook my hand, and said "Hello there, the manager's not here right now, he's home sick with Swine Flu." I doused my hands with sanitizer when I returned to my car, and never returned for a follow-up.

Zone Comics/Superhero Cafe

2010-08-01T00:08:00.003-04:00

At first I thought this place was another victim of the ongoing economics crunch and the ongoing cultural downfall of America (meaning, more and more kids today are too numb with Ritalin and video games to care about reading comic books). But rejoice - Zone Comics still lives on to fight the good fight, just a few doors further down at 291 Hubbards Lane.

Utopia

2010-07-21T16:40:00.003-04:00

When Utopia is out of business, it's time to worry. Someone should change the sign to "Dystopia" now.

The Pink Door

2010-04-18T08:54:00.002-04:00

When did the Pink Door give it up? I hardly ever frequented the place but always enjoyed its style. Their myspace and twitter haven't been updated since last summer.

4111 Oechsli

2010-04-04T19:50:00.002-04:00

Right down the way from 4109 Oechsli, another vacancy in the real estate desert.

Louisville Gold Club

2010-04-01T00:29:00.002-04:00

Another Louisville strip club, lost to the aether. Louisville Gold Club, formerly at 319 E Market Street, is now vacant and for lease.

The Pitchin' Wedge

2010-03-31T23:53:00.002-04:00

This place always reminded me of one of Daniel Clowes' absurd storefronts in the backgrounds of his comics. Sadly, it seems to have gone the way of Ice Haven. I walked by there the other day on my way to La Catalana and noticed it's empty. And for the rest of the evening, I drove myself insane singing Frank Sinatra's "Summer Wind" over and over but substituting the words "Pitchin' Wedge".

Boudreaux's

2010-03-28T19:30:00.002-04:00

Well, that was certainly a short run. Boudreaux's at 116 East Main opened just a few months ago and they've already packed it in. Just happened to be walking by the other day and noticed the place is empty and for lease. I only went in here once and was treated pretty snootily, so I can't say as I'm shedding a tear to see them go.

4109 Oechsli

2010-03-11T07:58:00.002-05:00

How can anyplace so close to Havana Rumba, a virtual hub of hipsterdom, go out of business? Then again, a Google search shows that this spot has most recently been Girlfriends Gift Shop (who seem to still be in business online) and the Louisville Bridge Club (who have since moved to Dutchmans Lane). I suppose rum-soaked inebriants (like myself) aren't the sort of traffic these places were hoping for.

Clothes Encounter

2010-02-20T22:23:00.006-05:00

Right next door to Scrub A Dub Dog. Wash your clothes, wash your dog, one-stop washing. It was a perfect block. And now it's all gone. Sad, I tell you, sad.

Smith's Furniture

2010-02-19T22:39:00.003-05:00

I'm going to miss Smith's Furniture, and those old commercials with the owl... "Smith's Furniture, that's whoooo!" The last of their locations was here on Shelbyville Road and it finally followed its departed sister stores and gave up.

Of course, I never bought so much as a lampshade or a bobeche there; I just liked that the place existed, for its own sake.

The Patron

2010-02-15T00:40:00.004-05:00

Aaarrgh!! One of my top five restaurants of all time, The Patron, has given up the ghost. They were unfortunately just too cool to live: in a nation with a dying economy and an increasingly dullard population, The Patron delivered stunning cuisine and specialty drinks (remind me to do a full feature on Lee Look, their supremely multifaceted bartender, one of these days on one of these blogs).

Someday, if I ever open a high-end cafe, I'm going to pattern it exactly after the way they did things at the Patron.

Kentucky BBQ Company

2010-02-14T00:14:00.001-05:00

Well, I'll be damned. I just wrote about these people on Louisville Mojo a couple months ago and now they're gone. When I interviewed the guy there in December, he was enthusiastic and gave no sign that the ship was taking on water. Did they just move somewhere else, perhaps? Maybe. But their website's gone too.

Ray Parrella's Italian Cuisine

2010-02-01T01:01:00.003-05:00

Ray Parrella's Italian Cuisine, a Louisville area institution since 1961, has closed its doors. The building at 2311 Frankfort Avenue is for sale, complete with fixtures and ready to go as another restaurant.

Scrub A Dub Dog

2010-01-31T08:12:00.002-05:00

Dog gone. Building at 816 Cherokee Road empty and their website is scrubbed.

Corner of Rowan and Bank

2009-12-27T20:18:00.003-05:00

I don't know what this building at the corner of Rowan and Bank used to be, but it appears to have been business, not residential, at some remote time in the distant past.

Wilder Electronics

2009-12-10T00:27:00.002-05:00

This spot at 9420 Shelbyville Road, formerly a home-theatre installation company called Wilder Electronics, has been empty for awhile now.

Rogers Jewelers

2009-12-02T00:27:00.002-05:00

Okay, so it's not exactly a photo of a store, but I didn't feel like going into both Mall St. Matthews and Oxmoor Mall to take photos. So here's this guy standing out in the freezing cold holding the sign announcing the closure of both of these Rogers Jewelers locations.

Pig City BBQ

2009-11-29T00:00:00.001-05:00

Not sure when it happened, but Pig City BBQ seems to have gone away. They haven't been open in awhile, their website is down, and there's a huge angry unremovable sticker from the Coca-Cola Company rudely slapped on the glass, wanting their drink machines back.

It's a shame, because this was a great place right down the road from me that had a dee-lish variety of BBQ sauces at the tables (Though the brisket was so tasty, truly, no sauce was needed).

The furniture and fixtures seem to all still be there, though, so maybe they're just remarshaling their forces for a new barbecue attack....

Portland Bait and Tackle

2009-11-28T00:53:00.003-05:00

I would have liked to have done some tradin' here back in Portland Bait & Tackle's heyday. I've never been to a fishing shop that also dealt in used tires.

Charlie's Used Furniture

2009-11-25T18:44:00.002-05:00

Near the corner of 15th and Market.

Starlight Frozen Custard

2009-11-23T22:53:00.006-05:00

Earlier this summer, Twysters Frozen Custard, owned by the same folks, went out of business, and now its sister store has given up the ghost as well.

(I hate to say "I told you so", but the owner really should have let me take a picture of his damn cone and feature him in my book, instead of running me off. Sad, I tell you.)

It's a shame, too, because they had great custard. I went for an extended year-long jag where I had one of their chocolate malteds every day. Somehow I managed to break the spell. I think discovering the joys of Starbucks Mocha Frappucinos is what weaned me off the malts.

Main Street Ice & Cold Storage

2009-11-20T23:36:00.003-05:00

One of downtown Louisville's most memorable old buildings, loaded with character. A year ago, Broken Sidewalk reported that the Arctic Building would soon be converted into affordable apartments.

A year later, no sign of any progress whatsoever, and the Ice House Lofts blog doesn't sound like "affordable apartments" to me - it's talking about loft condos starting at $189,500.

I think I'm in no hurry to see the Arctic Building and its lime green loading dock be modified. I like it just the way it is.

D & W Silks

2009-11-13T00:17:00.001-05:00

Speaking as someone with a less than urgent need for silk flowers, I never patronized D&W Silks. But I always enjoyed driving by it and being triggered to burst into song with "D.W. Washburn" by the Monkees.

According to their website, their corporate office is at 3301 Dixie Highway.

Looks like quite a bit of stuff on this block is being demolished. I shudder to speculate on what's to come.

Boland-Maloney Lumber

2009-11-12T18:32:00.003-05:00

Boland-Maloney Lumber has closed its Main Street location. You can still find them at 4010 Collins Lane, however.

Sandman Pottery

2009-11-04T10:36:00.002-05:00

A former Chevron gas station, Sandman Pottery did business here on Shelbyville Road for a short time, then departed this past summer.

Falls City Theatre Equipment Company

2009-11-02T00:00:00.003-05:00

Last winter, I featured this old storefront's sign on the Unusual Kentucky blog but didn't delve into the building itself.

It's located at 429 S. 3rd Street in downtown Louisville, next door to Kentucky Typewriter in the abandoned Morrissey Building. Act fast if you want to see it - I suspect it's earmarked for destruction just like most other cool old buildings, and there's been some recent activity inside. Let's keep our fingers crossed that someone's actually about to rehabilitate this amazing structure.

When you look through the window, you can see the remains of what must have been spectacular old painted murals on the walls. And check out those marble-swirl columns.

Roth Realty

2009-11-01T00:00:00.002-04:00

Roth Realty on Brownsboro Road in Clifton's lookin' mighty empty.

Kentucky Typewriter

2009-10-31T01:49:00.000-04:00

The Typewriter business was struggling by the 1980s, was clearly doomed by the 1990s, and nowadays no one uses them except stubborn cranks like Hunter S. Thompson and myself. That being the case, it's not a real shockeroo that Kentucky Typewriter (425 South 3rd Street) is no longer with us.

French Quarter Cajun Cuisine

2009-10-30T09:48:00.003-04:00

French Quarter Cajun Cuisine was right next door to Zaps in the long-deserted Molee Building, which has been acquired by Blue Properties so maybe we'll see the same kind of rebirth here as with Mendel Hertz's resurrection of the Starks Building.

Zaps

2009-10-29T00:00:00.000-04:00

Zaps Gourmet Hot Dogs, 423 W Muhammad Ali, closed abruptly in 2006 and the place is still unrented today.

Arby's, Shelbyville Road

2009-10-28T20:05:00.005-04:00

This used to be one of the last remaining Arby's restaurants to still retain its glorious old 1960's-style neon sign.

You'd think it would be enshrined as a national treasure, right? Wrong.

The place was torn down last year and a sign was put up stating that a Mini Cooper dealership is coming. But so far, the lot is still empty and ugly.

Meanwhile, a new, modernized Arby's was erected down the street. Whoop-de-doo.

Los Chubascos

2009-10-27T10:03:00.002-04:00

This location at 10000 Linn Station Road was previously a Tumbleweeds.

415 E. Market St.

2009-10-26T00:00:00.001-04:00

I don't know what was here last, but at some point I'm assuming it was Greene Furniture. Broken Sidewalk reported a year ago that this was about to become "The Bacon-Debrovy Lofts". So far, it looks like they haven't gotten very far on the project. (Not that I'm complaining)

Freshway Produce

2009-10-25T23:47:00.004-04:00

At the corner of Watterson Trail and Bardstown Road, way out Fern Creek way. Before Freshway Produce, it had been an Amoco gas station.

Blue and Gold House

2009-10-22T15:48:00.003-04:00

This was, most recently, a campaign headquarters for Bruce Lunsford, and before that it was a store that dealt in unusual musical instruments from around the world. Today it sits empty and available, waiting to see who will inhabit it next. I hope its next tenant chooses to retain that wonderful blue-and-gold color scheme!

Cafe Metro

2009-10-21T00:00:00.003-04:00

Cafe Metro, at the corner of Bardstown Road and Duker Avenue, R.I.P.

I ate here only once - almost twenty years ago, on a lunch date with a girlfriend. In those days, I was even more of a strictly meat-and-potatoes man than I am now, there was nothing on the menu that even remotely interested me - it was all salads and quiches and casseroles and sauteed vegetable dishes. Even the few meat dishes on the menu were ruined for me by being saturated with weird gravies and sauces that didn't sound terribly appetizing.

I watched her eat some sort of spinach something-or-other, while I munched the table's bread and drank the complimentary water, putting on my best Arthur Dent placid smile and counting the minutes till I could get out of there and get to a good steak house or BBQ joint.

As my palate has greatly matured since then, I probably should've gone back to the Cafe Metro after moving to Louisville a few years back. But I never got around to it. There were just too many more interesting places nearby. Cafe Metro was extremely pricey, and if I wanted to spend $70 on a meal on Bardstown Road, there's always been someplace far better. Like Seviche or (sometimes) Palermo Viejo.

Club Cawthon

2009-10-20T22:45:00.003-04:00

Regrettably, another of Louisville's old-school watering holes has dried up. Club Cawthon closed after the building was damaged by a fire last year, and now there's a notice on the front earmarking 818 S. Seventh Street for demolition.

Louisville Billiard

2009-10-14T10:38:00.003-04:00

A vacant store in progress: Louisville Billiard is closing its doors and going out of business afte 31 years. According to the Courier-Journal:

Sales have slumped at the store, which sells pool tables, bar stools and other game-room items, for about three years, president Mike Nilsson said. He blames a decrease in new home construction, which prompts people to finish basements, and a tightening of consumer credit.

“Basically the entire billiard industry nationwide is in a severe downturn right now,” Nilsson said, adding that Louisville Billiard closed its other store in Lexington in August after 19 years.

Chevron, 2501 Bardstown Road

2009-10-08T00:00:00.000-04:00

Why do some Chevrons live and others die? Some are in remote places with little traffic yet they survive, while this one was at a highly populated fork in the road between Bardstown Road and Taylorsville Road.

Duke's Appliance Center

2009-10-07T22:58:00.003-04:00

This building at 931 E. Main Street was most recently Duke's Appliance Center, and before that it was the Butcherblock Gallery and before that it was the Cinderblock Gallery, which I ran for almost a year, having taken it over from Katie Beach who took it over from Scott Scarboro. Before that, I think it was a dry cleaners at some point way back in the day.

Cellular Mall, Jeffersontown

2009-09-23T20:19:00.003-04:00

Short Stop Food Mart

2009-09-10T02:11:00.000-04:00

The Jeffersontown branch of this chain is no more.

652 Baxter

2009-09-09T00:45:00.000-04:00

I've always wondered about this little building at 652 Baxter that seems as if it should be part of the Phoenix Hill Tavern complex (their sign is actually mounted on the roof of this building) but apparently isn't.

Boss Petey Auto Mart

2009-09-08T00:58:00.000-04:00

This place on Mellwood Avenue in Butchertown has been closed and fenced off for quite awhile now. Did a Google search on 'em and found this business directory which lists them as having been a DBA of the U.S. Customs Service and, in turn, the Department of Homeland Security. Interesting, to say the least.

Comp USA

2009-09-07T00:32:00.001-04:00

Comp USA closed its Louisville operation quite awhile ago, and its former location remains desolate.

Notting Hill Ltd.

2009-09-06T07:14:00.002-04:00

The building that formerly housed the Notting Hill Ltd. antique store at 921 Baxter Avenue is now empty.

Amerigo

2009-09-05T23:54:00.000-04:00

Amerigo bye-bye.

Previously, Harper's was in this location. Like Neil Diamond says, "That died too".

Blockbuster, Taylorsville Road

2009-09-02T00:19:00.001-04:00

Another empty video store. Good riddance to them all, say I. (Well, except Wild and Woolly Video, of course, and the unlikely prospect of Voodoo Video's eventual resurrection.)

AAA, Northfield

2009-09-01T18:29:00.003-04:00

The former location of the AAA office in Northfield, at the curve where Northfield Drive becomes Brownsboro Road.

Music Go Round

2009-08-30T00:50:00.001-04:00

The music goes round and round, and it comes out here... at the end of the road, the graveyard of American commerce, another empty building.

The Crystal Menage

2009-08-29T00:36:00.003-04:00

What was the Crystal Menage, anyway? Google searches for it bring up directory listings that categorize it as "Gifts, Novelties, and Collectibles" which could mean literally any kind of store, from Spencer's to Hallmark. It used to be located at 3830 Ruckriegel in J-town. (Does anyone else besides me ever use "ruckriegel" as a cussword?)

Middletown Book Shop

2009-08-28T00:08:00.000-04:00

This place (11804 Shelbyville Road, #106) has had a long history of rotating inhabitants. In my recent memory, it lasted the longest as the Middletown Book Shop, which was pretty mediocre as used-paperback places go - it relied primarily on romance novels.

Although it's true that romance novels are among the most popular genre for that rapidly diminishing sector of the population who actually still read, it's also an extremely disposable genre - I know of many middle-aged to elderly women who buy their used romance novels at places like this by the bagful, then throw them away when they're done reading them, not even bothering to take advantage of the trade-in policy these sort of places offer. For many, it's just not worth the trouble of saving the books until they're all read and having them clutter up the house in the meantime, just to save a few coins by shlepping them back down to the used bookstore.

Therefore, having a used bookstore that focuses on romance and other similarly disposable popular genres of the masses is a recipe for failure. Used paperbacks in general are already so cheap, it's practically like giving them away, so I can't imagine how or why anyone would see a good business angle in opening such a place - even back when the economy wasn't collapsing. Anyway, end of business lecture.

Before the bookshop, someone had some sort of adult educational assistance place in here, I think. Can't recall exactly what the deal was with that. And after the bookshop, it had a brief run as a place that sold, as the window still says, "Air Brush Tattoos" (groan), "Air Brush Tanning" (double groan) and "Made T-shirts and hats" (as opposed to, uh, unmade ones?)

Bazo's

2009-08-27T00:06:00.002-04:00

323 Wallace Avenue (just a few doors down from the also-empty Close Knit Cafe space) was Bazo's Fresh Mexican Grill. Never went there, so I didn't really miss it when it left. There was another branch of it on Dutchmans Lane, but I'm not sure if it closed too - maybe so, since their website seems to be defunct.

Google Maps Street View captured Bazo's during its existence:

Electric Blue Print & Supply

2009-08-26T00:12:00.001-04:00

Electric Blue Print & Supply has occupied this building on Story Avenue for as long as I've lived in Louisville. From the looks of the structure, it may have been some sort of fancy furniture store or department store way back in the day.

A couple years ago, they announced a big unexpected "going out of business" sale and hurriedly ditched everything in the place. I gleefully loaded up on cheap art supplies and fixtures but hated to see them go - at the time, I was running the Cinderblock Gallery just a few doors down and relied heavily on Electric Blue for all my art needs.

Shortly after going out of business, though, they promptly reappeared at a new location on Frankfort Avenue. This confused me. And still does. And their old location remains on the market but still sits empty to this day. Someone's paintings have been displayed in the windows for a long time now (Hey people, that's really not good for the paintings).

Aetna/Deem Gas

2009-08-25T00:00:00.001-04:00

Here's an example of a nice old abandoned building that someone actually did the right thing with.

Originally this was an Aetna gas station (in those days Aetna was an oil company, not an insurance firm) and later a Deem station, which was the forerunner of today's J.F. Deem Oil & Gas. It was Middletown's very first gas station.

According to the sign out front, after the 1930s the building went through other tenants such as Wright's Dry Cleaners, a taxicab company, and the Middletown Medical Center (must have been just an info kiosk - I don't see what else a medical center could do with this building that's smaller than my living room), then ended up in the city's hands in 1996. The building was restored to some semblance of its 1920s-30s glory and today it stands empty but impressive, as a sort of museum exhibit unto itself.

This mummified gas station can be found at the corner of Main Street and Harrison Avenue in downtown Middletown.

Red Tree, Middletown

2009-08-23T02:49:00.003-04:00

I guess the Red Tree store on Market Street downtown does an OK business - I mean, they're always packed to the rafters during Gallery Hop nights. Although I never see anyone actually buying anything during all the wine-soaked revelry.

Someone thought it was a good idea to open a second one on Shelbyville Road in Middletown. Perhaps they were thinking that the affluent Middletown/Anchorage populace made the location an obvious choice for lightning to strike twice with that Red Tree magic.

Not so.

Middletown doesn't really have anything comparable to the downtown Gallery Hop, and there is zero foot traffic here. Absolutely none. They've even done away with a couple of TARC stops in the area since no one ever used them. Downtown, Red Tree is hipster party central personified and sparkles like a crown jewel, but in Middletown it was just another knick-knack shop among many, and on not a particularly attractive block at that. (All the "elegant junk" action is one street over, on Middletown's much more swingin' Main street.)

Henderson Music Co.

2009-08-22T14:33:00.004-04:00

Last chance to get a piano cheap from Henderson Music Company on Shelbyville Road - they're almost out of business and don't have long left on their goodbye sale. Not a lot of people plunking down the chunk o' change, even on sale, for a piano in this economy, I fear.

Hanson Realty

2009-08-20T00:09:00.000-04:00

This place on S. Clay Street doesn't seem to have been in operation in many, many, many years, and frankly, it doesn't look like it was a very reputable place when it was open. I mean, come on, what good is a realtor that can't find decent real estate for themselves?

FB3 Development

2009-08-19T00:00:00.003-04:00

I'm not sure if they went out of business, or if they just moved elsewhere. Their website is still up but their "news" page hasn't been updated in two years.

I was always sort of confused about what was going on here at 624 E. Market, although it seemed very exciting. I took a tour of the place last year and was shown their "test kitchens" that could be rented by professional chefs wanting a Kitchen Stadium quality setting to experiment, or for development of prospective new food products. They also offered marketing services to help people push those new products.

These were apparently the same folks behind Havana Cola, a soft drink I heartily endorse.

Close-Knit Cafe

2009-08-18T22:38:00.007-04:00

This combination yarn store and coffeehouse was located at 311 Wallace Avenue in St. Matthews. Being a yarn fetishist myself, I can't see having a place that encourages people to handle the goods while also handling food and drink. Their logo even depicted a ball of yarn floating in a cup of coffee, for God's sake; wrong message!

When I open a yarn store - and someday I will - it'll be lined with shelves containing only one skein of each type available for sale. Let that one display skein get handled and shopworn, and keep the rest stashed in a back room, safe from the coughing sneezing unwashed masses.

Building next to Genny's

2009-08-04T13:12:00.004-04:00

There's an old crumbling house to the left of Genny's Diner & Pub on Frankfort Avenue, and it's been deteriorating as long as I can remember. Even though it was a home, it was surely zoned commercial because it's completely surrounded by businesses and other old houses converted to storefronts.

So what was in here before it fell on hard times? Who owns it, and why don't they save it from ruin?

DeHart Paint and Varnish Co.

2009-07-29T00:04:00.003-04:00

This old paint factory at 900 E. Main, right along the line where Butchertown starts to become Downtown Louisville, was built in 1880 and is sitting totally empty. At one time there had been big plans for $250,000 condos here but apparently the economy's kiboshed that project, because the realtor's signs are back up on the property now.

I remember the artist Bill Fischer telling me that Jackson Pollock had ordered a pallet-load of specially-formulated paint from a Louisville paint factory just before he died, and that Bill was only too happy to take the stuff off their hands. I'm wondering if this is the paint factory in question, because I was watching the documentary Who the #$&% Is Jackson Pollock? the other day on Sundance, and noticed some DeHart paint cans in footage of his studio.

Autobahn Motors

2009-07-28T11:15:00.002-04:00

Formerly located at the corner of Spring and Mellwood (you can still see them open on Google Maps Street View).

Rayluma Gallery

2009-07-27T10:02:00.002-04:00

Their website is still up, but this art-glass gallery is long gone. Google Maps Street View shows the building empty last year, back when Magnolia Belles was operating next door (it's Friends Lapidary and Jewelers now).

Danielle's

2009-07-25T16:30:00.003-04:00

I knew as soon as this place opened that it probably wouldn't last - there's just too many other white-tablecloth upright-folded-napkin nicey-nicey upscale places in the Clifton/Crescent Hill area, and this one just didn't seem to have anything to set it apart from the rest of the pack. The empty storefront at 2206 Frankfort Avenue quietly awaits another entrepreneur to risk all, so that others may eat.

The Corner Dog Food Store

2009-07-24T00:02:00.001-04:00

I dunno what's up with this one. A building with two different storefronts, both of which are now empty, and both of which are actually sort-of connected inside. I forget now what was here before, but after they left, a sign reading "The Corner Dog Food Store" appeared. But this theoretical dog food store is almost completely empty and I've never seen it open, except once I caught the landlord/owner puttering around in there.

I inquired about what it cost to rent the space but instead he gave me a looooong convoluted speech about unfair city zoning laws, flaky tenants he has known, minutiae of the circus-poster collecting subculture, and of course, dog food. And it was peppered with those annoying kind of leading questions that should be rhetorical but weren't: "And you know what happened next?" "Can you guess what that scoundrel told me then?" "Do you know what the single most important thing to remember is for a small business?", and so forth. (And of course, acknowledgement was expected for each question.)

I never did find out what he was asking for the place.

Berley's

2009-07-23T00:05:00.000-04:00

Always admired this empty building at 947 Franklin Street in Butchertown. Was once Berley's plumbing company.

Home Skate Shop

2009-07-22T18:45:00.003-04:00

After I snapped this pic of Home Skate Shop's old empty location on Bardstown Road, I then realized that they now occupy the building right next door. Guess the rent must have been seriously cheaper.

Club Premier

2009-07-22T00:01:00.004-04:00

I never went there, but I always loved the eye-poppingly orange diamond-patterned facade of Club Premier on Story Avenue in beautiful Butchertown. Prior to this, it had a good run as lesbian bar called The Alternative. Originally, this was the historic Do Drop Inn way back in the day.

What will go here next, amid the grimy industrial edifices and the rotten odor of burning snouts and hooves wafting from the friendly neighborhood Swift plant? We shall see. Maybe I'll finally open my long-projected Voraxium house of sequined subversion here and put on our own hillbilly-flavored Grand Guignol shows.

Jarfi's Bistro

2009-07-21T17:36:00.006-04:00

Poor Jarfi's. First they left a cushy gig at the Kentucky Center, then they moved into the former Lentini's Little Italy spot on Bardstown Road, where it's reported by Louisville Hot Bytes that they were spending $10,000 a month on rent. Think on that. Ten Grand a month for an upscale bistro to hawk carpaccio and vichyssoise to Highland hipsters, in a sinking economy just an anchovy-hair away from Weimar-itude. What is past is prologue.

(Did I say "poor Jarfi's"? Well, don't shed a tear, friends, they're actually marshaling their forces for yet another reinvention that promises to be their best ever: Jarfi's Diner opens in September on the first and tenth floors of the newly-completed Zirmed Towers on 9th and Market. I'll be there on their opening night - come join me, won't you?)

Hollywood Video, Highlands

2009-07-15T00:00:00.001-04:00

Another dead soldier in the fight against the end of all media - Hollywood Video at 2470 Bardstown Road. Google Maps Street View still shows it livin' and breathin':

Skyline Chili, Downtown

2009-07-14T21:27:00.005-04:00

I've always loved the Brooklyn-esque quality of the corner of 4th and Market, and having a greasy joint like Skyline Chili on hand always helped that mystique. Here's hoping something else with the proper mythic resonance moves in quick, and not something lame.

J. Gumbo's, Highlands

2009-07-11T15:30:00.004-04:00

There are several J. Gumbo's locations - I've eaten at this one, plus the Summit Plaza, Lyndon, and Frankfort Avenue ones and loved them all.

Last week, my theatre company had intended to have our weekly Thursday meeting here, but I was stunned to roll up and find it gone, finis, kaput. I hope the other ones survive - the Drunken Chicken Po-Boy here is grrrrrreat.

Louisville Antique Mall

2009-07-10T19:15:00.005-04:00

After 24 years on Goss Avenue, the Louisville Antique Mall closed its doors and was reborn at 834 E. Broadway in January 2008. And now, in the words of Neil Diamond, "that died too". According to bizjournals.com:

The Louisville Antique Mall will close at the end of June.

Owner Denise Golden told dealers at the mall of the closure at a meeting Monday night.

“The antique business has been hit especially hard during this economic recession,” Golden said in a news release. “Antiques are not essential purchases, and although traffic has been good through the mall, people just aren’t spending as much.”

I don't really get what Golden is really saying here. I can tell you, as someone who's been in the antique-mall biz for most of my life, it makes no difference whether traffic is good or bad or whether anyone is buying anything at all. An antique mall makes its money on the blind naive optimism of the dealers who pay rent for their booth there. Period.

If the people who paid rent on antique-mall and flea-market booths just stepped back and looked realistically at what they were doing and did the math, all such places would shut down overnight. You can't pay $75-$150 a month on a booth, keep it filled with items, and expect to make any profit. Next time you're in such a place, look at people's booths and add up how much they'd make if they sold EVERY SINGLE ITEM in their booth - sometimes the total doesn't even add up to a month's booth rental.

And yet, people do it, again and again, month after month, year after year. Why? I don't know. I think people just like the idea of it, even though they're flushing money down the toilet and have been operating on a loss ever since their first month. Especially the elderly, who just want to "keep busy" and don't bother to consider that there are far better ways to do so than paying over a thousand bucks a year to display worthless junk. Like whipped 1980's vinyl records whose book-value is near worthless even in mint condition. Or baby clothes that couldn't be given away for nickels and dimes at a yard sale. Or items that are technically "antique" but whose value has plummeted in the post-eBay economy, like McCoy pottery or Depression Glass. Or - most common in larger antique malls - furniture of dubious origin, some of which once might have been valuable before someone "restored" them with sandpaper, Old English stain, cheapo varnish, and crudely executed store-bought decorative stencils.

If it sounds like I'm down on the antique-mall business, I am. Take it from someone who used to run one - like a casino, only the house makes money. If you have something to sell, you're better off just going to straight to eBay with it and letting the world market determine whether it wants it or not.

I used to love browsing all the dusty old stuff here, but it was in the same spirit as when I would browse a museum. That is, I rarely ever bought anything here, except when I managed to beat the other vultures to an item whose booth-vendor had mispriced and/or didn't know the value of what they had.

Finally, I'm not sure what all this means for the Colonnade, which had operated for nearly 100 years on South 4th Street before moving into the fifth floor of the Louisville Antique Mall.

The Good Feet Store

2009-07-08T20:57:00.004-04:00

Another departed business in Middletown. Never understood how a place can stay in business just selling arch-support inserts for shoes. (Evidently, they can't.)

But hey, if you wanna take over the local franchise, this coveted territory could be yours!

107-109 W. Main

2009-07-05T12:50:00.006-04:00

Built in 1905, this was originally the J.T.S. Brown & Sons building. Brown & Sons were a whiskey company that eventually transmogrified into the Brown-Forman company we know and love today.

The building was designed by Dennis Xavier Murphy, who also designed Waverly Hills Sanitarium.

After prohibition shut down the Browns, there was a grocer here and then a coffee company, and then the place has sat dead since 1960, amazingly. It's one of the most strikingly beautiful facades on the block, with yellowy-golden trim that still looks shiny and shimmery today.

Supposedly this whole block is to get a facelift and a new lease (no pun intended) on life with fancy loft condos, but that's something that's been yapped about endlessly and never seems to happen. We continue to wait and hope.

1912 W. Broadway

2009-07-04T19:36:00.003-04:00

I don't know what this 1960s-looking place used to be, but I like it. Kind of has an institutional feel.

Pennzoil Car Wash

2009-07-03T09:26:00.003-04:00

Right next door to Candyjacks. Originally was going to post this as "The Nameless Car Wash", but a check of Google Maps Street View revealed it to have been a Pennzoil production.

Candyjacks

2009-07-02T19:05:00.005-04:00

Candyjacks Antiques and Collectibles was run from this residential home at 703 Lyndon Lane. Never went in here, but always passed it on my way to Choi's Asian Market and wondered what dusty goodness transpired within its walls.

"Candyjacks" seems like a wacky name for an antique store. I always wondered if this place had been a candy store prior, and they just took over the name and recycled the sign since it was there.

Schoolhouse Preschool & Daycare

2009-07-01T12:50:00.004-04:00

I guess Schoolhouse Preschool & Daycare was originally here at 3020 Hunsinger Lane, then moved across the street? You can sort-of see their new location in the reflection of the glass in this photo.

This place has sat empty for a long time now. (Probably still smells like a daycare center inside. Ugh.)

Bluegrass Powersports

2009-06-30T08:28:00.002-04:00

This dealer of scooters, mopeds and ATV vehicles at 5524 Bardstown Road scooted on out recently.

The 110 Building

2009-06-29T19:57:00.003-04:00

So whatever was in this building at 110 E. Main Street? It's been empty and available for seemingly an eternity, and a quick Google search didn't yield anything immediate - just a realtor's page and of course, Google Maps Street View.

Lee Roy's Sports Bar & Grill

2009-06-28T16:21:00.002-04:00

Never patronized Lee Roy's Sports Bar & Grill at 5000 Poplar Level Road, but it must have been quite a swingin' spot. For years now it's been boarded up and abandoned, not even currently for sale or lease. Prior to Lee Roy's, it was something called Ballatore's Restaurant.

Their sign, now gone, was still intact whenever the Google Maps Street View images were taken.