Cellular Mall, Jeffersontown

Short Stop Food Mart

The Jeffersontown branch of this chain is no more.

652 Baxter

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

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

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

Notting Hill Ltd.

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

Amerigo

Amerigo bye-bye.

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

Blockbuster, Taylorsville Road

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

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

Music Go Round

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

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

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?)