Target, Hubbards Lane

The Target store at the corner of Hubbards and Westport has been closed for a few months now, and I happened to drive by it last night during the big spooky thunderstorm, and snapped a couple quickies through the passenger's side window while doing 40mph. Hence, the pictures are looking rather Stipely.

It's all grist for my someday-to-be-released book Blurry Photographs Taken From Moving Cars; start reserving your copies now.

1101 Dixie Highway

The sign on the front, faded and barely readable, seems to have said "J & D Dispensary", but I'm not certain of that. C & O? T & O? T & D?

According to numerous realtor sites, the place has been completely ruined inside by a fire, and is available for sale strictly for the purpose of the land it's standing on, not the building itself. So, it sounds like a safe bet we won't be seeing this structure rehabilitated in the future. More likely, it'll be torn down and rezoned residential so as to build a fourplex apartment building or something.


Then I found an entry on findagrave.com for one Edwin B. Kaplan. It says here that at one time 1101 Dixie Highway was a pharmacy called Kaplin Drugs, which explains the ancient "Prescriptions Filled Accurately" Ghost Sign painted on the side of the building. An intriguing, even ghostier, painted sign can barely be perceived beneath that one, possibly an ad for chewing tobacco.



Google Maps Street View features what seems to be a much older image of the building, in which its front signage is ("We Accept Food Stamps - Deli - Meats - Ice Cream", etc.) is much more readable.

This stretch of Dixie Highway is in a small Jefferson County community called California (not to be confused with another California, KY, located in Campbell County).

McCrory's

The perenially empty building that once housed the McCrory's department store on Fourth Street remains desolate. According to Broken Sidewalk, it almost had a tenant last summer, but the deal fell through:

Earlier this summer plans were announced that a local nightclub would open in the old McCrory’s building on Fourth Street between Muhammad Ali Blvd. and Chestnut Street. This was excellent news as the local response to 4th Street Live has been timid to put it mildly. In August, workers were clearing the interior of the building in what we hoped was a precursor to construction. Broken Sidewalk has now learned plans for the site have fallen through and the property is back on the market. Financing the project seems to be largely to blame.

Ice Cream Corner

Took me forever to find any information online about this abandoned cone-zone at 2100 W. Broadway. But I tracked down an old entry from Business First Louisville that noted the store's inception in the Summer of 2000:

New ice-cream shop for West End

When Stephanie Tran's family opened Chopstick House on West Broadway about three years ago, she began thinking about what kind of business would do well at the property next door. She came up with the Ice Cream Corner, which opened at 2100 West Broadway in late May.

Tran, who operates the business with one employee, said its popularity is increasing, and she believes having a variety of ice-cream flavors is what is drawing customers. "I think people in the West End are glad we're here because before, they had to go a long way away to find what we've got."

The Ice Cream Corner is open from 12:30 p.m. to 10 p.m. Monday through Saturday.

7 Thunder Church

The old 7 Thunder Church at the corner of 22nd and Madison is closed and available for rent or for sale. Would be nice if some other church group would just take it over, adopt the name, and leave everything about the facade intact.

Mercury Paw

Although Mia Frederick's nightclub The Mercury Paw was shortlived, it carved out a huge swath in Louisville music history. My Morning Jacket, Speed to Roam, Blacklisted, Freakwater, Glasspack, King Kong and Sean Garrison all played there. Even national acts like Man Or Astroman played there.

It was a wonderfully decrepit old venue in the old, old, ancient, dirty, old part of downtown. And before Mercury Paw, it had been something called The Zodiac Club.


Today the building at 117 Main Street stands empty, and hey, when did their sign get taken down? At least the handsome old wrought-iron front gates are still there. For now.

Snappy Tomato Pizza

When did the Snappy Tomato Pizza on Shelbyville Road disappear?? Seems like it was just there the other day. They're droppin' like flies out there, man, I'm tellin' ya.

Burwinkle Hendershot

I don't even know whatever happened to Burwinkle Hendershot. Their old location on Main Street downtown is still there, empty as ever. There's been talk of swanky lofts going in there for an eternity, but it never happens.

Calico Corners

Took a photo of this empty storefront on Shelbyville Road, but couldn't for the life of me remember what had been there.

I had to check Google Maps Street View to refresh my memory... it was Calico Corners, a "fabrics and furniture" store, so says their sign. Never went there, and was only peripherally aware of their existence before.

Azalea

Many rumors have flown wildly in the air since Azalea (3612 Brownsboro Road) abruptly slammed its doors shut with zero warning awhile back. It was a nice place, but their former head chef John Varanese now runs the superb Varanese Restaurant on Frankfort Avenue.

Mama Rosa

The chain-restaurant Mama Rosa used to be here at the corner of Bardstown and Richland in Buechel. Before that, I think it was something called The Rib Tavern. Not sure how long ago Mama Rosa's closed, but the place is visibly empty in the Google Maps street view mode, whose images are often at least a year old.

S&K

For once, I've caught a store in the midst of its meltdown, on its way to being vacated.

I never went in S&K; honestly, I had never really even noticed its existence until just the other day. I usually get my suits on the cheap at consignment and thrift stores, and if I must buy new, an off-the-rack Arnold Palmer special from Kohl's is fine by me.

This is the same Shelbyville Road Plaza that used to have Wild Oats, Linens and Things, Circuit City, etc.