Only in York County

OK, if my comments are any indication, you guys can’t get enough of reminiscing about the stores that used to be around York County. In fact, it’s been such good fodder for posting that I’m soon going to need to make an updated index of all those stores and their posts.

Here are some more from recent (and in a couple of cases not-so-recent) comments.

Mark says from Austria: “Two-Guys was where the Builder’s Square was … now it’s Tractor Supply … been a while since I have been home. Mailman’s was at Queensgate and People’s was downtown. The Gino’s I knew was where Taco Bell stand on the corner of the Trail and Arsenal Road. There have been a few restaurants come and go along Route 30 in my life. Anyone remember Arthur Treacher’s? Now it’s a Hooters … that seems like a fair exchange for me when I visit. There was a Best’s store in east York too right near the old Roll’r’Way. I think it’s now (or recently was) the AAA building. Before it was Best’s, it was a Green Stamp redemption store. This is great!! Thanks for opening up this Pandora’s box of memories Joan!!!”

Melanie checks in from down south: “I remember Hess’s and GeeBee’s! I was so excited when we got a Hess’s down here in Virginia because I liked the one in York so much. I was sorry when they closed. Mark, I also remember Mailman’s and Two Guys! I remember going to Mailman’s with my aunt and grandmother a few times when I was young. Does anyone remember People’s Drug Store? I’m pretty sure there were a couple of them in York … I worked for them in Virginia for a long time before I quit to raise my kids. I still miss their soda fountain. They served the best milkshakes.” She also wrote, in another note, “I remember the People’s Drug Store in downtown York and the one in the North Mall. Don’t know why I don’t recall the West Manchester Mall location, I usually hit that mall at least once every time I come north to visit the family. They do say that the memory is the first thing to go…”

Joe says: “The York Mall is where the East York Walmart is now, no Sears there. Sears was where the Giant is now, further east on Market Street. Two Guys is where Old Country Buffet is now, well that shopping center, not sure of its exact spot there. Rax was great, I came across one in western PA a few years ago and had to stop. Growing up I lived down the street from two classics – Roy Rogers and Bob’s Big Boy. Mailman’s I think was at Queensgate and possibly Delco (I was really young then.)”

My wonderful brother-in-law Mike is an AMAZING source of York County memories. I love this blog because I’d never have had such great conversations with him about these things if I hadn’t started thinking about them through this! He writes: “If I recall, Gino’s first location was in east York across from the Red Lobster on Market Street. One of the best sandwiches was the Gino Giant, which was similar to the Big Mac. The store was owned by one of the Baltimore Colts players, Gino Marchetti. I am fairly certain that Jack’s was a women’s clothing store in downtown York. At the time there were quite a few clothing stores in downtown York, including Weist’s, Bon-Ton, Bears, Gregory’s, the Hub and Grant’s. People’s Drug store was in the square in downtown York with stores later in the West Manchester Mall and the North Mall. I believe they were a Green Stamp redemption center.”

And I had a funny one from a new commenter, Charles, when I posted about Rax. He wrote: “I used to work at the Rax in the salad bar. I remember going up to Hershey for a corporate mtg. Sadly it went kaput and I moved on.”

Then I found another memory from Mark. He wrote: “People’s Drug!!! Now there’s a memory … Wow, really digging deep! I remember going there with my mom for a real fountain soda. My mom (a child of the 40s and teen of the 50s) said it always made her feel young! GeeBee’s, there is another store I almost forgot about. I also remember the ‘scare’ when the West Manchester Mall opened … the folks at the York Mall thought they might be put out of business … but I think that was just an urban legend rumor. Every now and then, when I used to still live in the states, I would visit my dad in York and go to the York antique mall, when you bought something there and needed a bag, you would get paper bag from Mailman’s … how cool is that!? The memories are wonderful!” He also had another post about Hess’s, and then said, “I remember Hess well … but here some more deep thoughts on long-gone York stores … Does anyone remember Mailman’s and Two-Guys? We always went to Mailman’s for back to school clothes shopping and Two-Guys was one of my dad’s favorites … one of my fondest memories of my childhood was the occasional trip I would make with my dad to Two-Guys and was allowed to choose a new Matchbox car from the display after we would be finished shopping. Some things in life will never be so well remembered!!!”

You guys are making my day with all these memories. This is why I love being a Yorker!