Bethel Park Ames

[HatTrick]

The last of the Bethel Park trio of former Ames stores was recently turned into a Lowe's. They demolished the entire Baptist Road strip mall and turned it into a huge Lowes. The Village Square Mall Ames had turned into a small version of Home Depot a few years ago. The district store on Route 88 had turned into a Wal-Mart ( a smaller version than what we usually have here and I believe they remodeled some of the backroom into salesfloor from what I remembered). I had heard rumors that they were going to buy out the grocery chain next door and turn it into a Super Wal-Mart but that has never materialized and with the Big W's expansions on hold(they caused a major road mudslide here at a proposed new store). Anyone else from the Western PA area?:roll:

[NJxxJon]

Originally posted by HatTrick
The last of the Bethel Park trio of former Ames stores was recently turned into a Lowe's. They demolished the entire Baptist Road strip mall and turned it into a huge Lowes. The Village Square Mall Ames had turned into a small version of Home Depot a few years ago. The district store on Route 88 had turned into a Wal-Mart ( a smaller version than what we usually have here and I believe they remodeled some of the backroom into salesfloor from what I remembered). I had heard rumors that they were going to buy out the grocery chain next door and turn it into a Super Wal-Mart but that has never materialized and with the Big W's expansions on hold(they caused a major road mudslide here at a proposed new store). Anyone else from the Western PA area?:roll:

And that sucks. ::no:: Lowes isnt the best either.

[beachgal26]

Wow!  I used to live in Bethel Park in the late 70's and remember that area really well.  When I visited Pittsburgh to attend a friend's wedding in 2004, she drove me around to all the places we used to go to and I could not believe all the changes.

I can't believe that they tore that store down except for the fact that the shopping center area was so out of the way on that hill and you'd have to know that it was there to look for it.  Whatever happened to the Murphy Mart that was in the shopping center at the base?  (I remember that there was a Wendy's located out on the parking lot and it was the first one that I had ever seen.)

What was the mudslide story??   :o   :o  :o

[HatTrick]

If you are thinking of the Murphy Mart on Route 88-it turned into Ames and was the district headquarters. The store on Baptist Road was always a Hills from 1976 until we became Ames in 1999. The Gold Circle closest to us became a Value City. The Rt.88 former Murphy Mart became Ames and then it closed in 2002 (I had left a few months before that happened) and has since turned into a Wal-Mart.
Wal-Mart had tried to build a Supercenter in Killbuck Twp. and there was a huge mudslide that literally closed down Route 65 for weeks. The mudslide was so bad that they fired the company excavating it and are holding off plans for the Supercenter. The slide went all the way to the railroad tracks near Rt.65(this is North of Pgh) and had railroad traffic backed up throughout the country for weeks. It did not set well, especially with the people who fought the development saying the hillside was unstable-which it obviously was!
I had heard rumors that the old Hills on Baptist was going to be a Target (Co. where I work now) and that Giant Eagle was moving from Rt. 88 and leaving Caste Village to anchor the Target there while the Rt.88 Wal-Mart was turning into a Supercenter but no such luck-it turned into a Lowes after they tore everything down!:( but there is still a Wendy's at the Rt.88 site. Yes, much has changed in this area. In fact, where I work now used to be steel mills now renovated into one of the most popular shopping and dining destinations in Pittsburgh.

[Jamesway_princess]

HatTrick, I'm guessing you work down at the Waterfront? Where was Zayre located at (if there even was one)? I once heard it was where the Value City on Curry Hollow Road is. I have pix of the Baptist Ames & part of the now gone shopping center. I even snag myself a nice lil clearance sign that had the Hills logo on it. :tumble: I'll post the pix later.

[TheFugitive]

I am in Western PA.  The Route 51 (Southland Shopping Ctr.) store is now DSW Shoes.  After the merger with Hills, it ended up in competition with an acquired store roughly a mile up the hill in Century Square.  That one is now a Big Lots.  I remember that Route 88 store all the way back to it's days as a Murphy's Mart.  The manager for that location (Don Sturdevant) was my first DM when I went to Michigan.

[C3Nostalgia]

Here are some pictures of the Baptist Road plaza taken before it was all demolished.

A Wide Shot of the plaza


Another wide shot


The Ames/Hills


The Karate Dojo corner


Hacker's Helper


Kuhn's Grocery Store/Foodland

[C. Fontaine]

Nice!  I'll have these up in the store locator as well.

[patk]

i think that last pick is a k-mart?

[jmcnamara96]

when did the plaza close?:huh:

[rjstheiv]

That unknown store was first a Foodland and in the late 1980's became a Kuhns Grocery Store. One of my favorites.

[beachgal26]

C3, thanks for the pics!  I live in Bethel Park from early 1979 until we moved to FL in mid-1985.   I'm still trying to remember where the Baptist Road shops were from your photos.  What was it near?  When did the area open and when did it close?
;)

[C3Nostalgia]

Originally posted by jmcnamara96
when did the plaza close?:huh:

Originally posted by beachgal26
C3, thanks for the pics!  I live in Bethel Park from early 1979 until we moved to FL in mid-1985.   I'm still trying to remember where the Baptist Road shops were from your photos.  What was it near?  When did the area open and when did it close?
;)

I'm not familiar with the Baptist Road Shops.  But these photos were taken in 2003, and it looks like everything was already closed a while.

[TheFugitive]

Got to chatting with the lady who rung me out at Walmart yesterday, and she told
me her first retail job was at this location when it was still under Hills.

It was considered a plumb assignment.  Nice location, safe area, low-volume store.
I on the other hand was assigned to a "ghetto" store a few miles away.

[TheFugitive]

Major developments across the road from this plaza, which is now a Lowes store.

There was a driving range/miniature golf course called Cool Springs which had been there
for many, many years (I recall going there when I was in high school).  Kind of a sleepy little
place back in the woods.  It became progressively more run-down over the years.

Then it was sold.  The new owners had BIG plans.  They cut away a lot of the forest that
faced the Lowes plaza and started building.  The complex now has lots of condos, a sports
medicine complex, fields, gyms, and more retail. 

http://playcoolsprings.com/

[TheFugitive]

I was just thinking about this store the other day as I had to stop by that Lowes for something.

I was the Operations Manager at a Hills location down by Kennywood.  It was a real combat store in a very tough neighborhood.  The girl who held my job at this Bethel Park location (which was the total opposite of mine when it came to working conditions) was a young woman named Kim.  What I remember about her was that she was 26, blonde, from Ohio, and her 3 favorite hobbies were macrame, needlepoint, and......deer hunting!

Very interesting! I wonder if she still does all three?