Used to be such a vibrant shopping district with Mullin’s, Hanover, two Woolworth’s, and others. Then came the White Flight and suburban malls, and it was pretty much over for downtown Wilmington.
i very much disagree. there is a pretty good revival movement going on. the Queen theater has consistently good music, as does Xtreme Pizza. I’ll gladly take the loss of a department store if it means good drink and live music.
What you’re talking about happened decades ago and kind of sounds like “it was such a nice place until the blacks moved in” although im sure that’s not what you meant. There’s a lot of cool stuff in wilmington, just a mountain of unawareness and “i hear there’s nothing to do there so why bother”
I remember my Dad taking me Christmas shopping on Market Street pre-1968. Market Street was really the first destination for Christmas shopping. There were multiple department stores and lots of smaller shops. It was decked out for Christmas and had that real bustling city feel. The streets were so crowded, I remember having to tuck in my packages to keep from jostling people on the sidewalk. I think there were still trolleys, if I remember correctly.
There were no malls as we know them today. The big suburban stores were Prices Corner, Wanamakers on Augustine Cut-off, and Strawbridge & Clothier at Merchandise Mart (which itself was full of stores).
There’s a whole website devoted to this kind of Wilmington nostalgia:
i very much disagree. there is a pretty good revival movement going on. the Queen theater has consistently good music, as does Xtreme Pizza. I’ll gladly take the loss of a department store if it means good drink and live music.
What you’re talking about happened decades ago and kind of sounds like “it was such a nice place until the blacks moved in” although im sure that’s not what you meant. There’s a lot of cool stuff in wilmington, just a mountain of unawareness and “i hear there’s nothing to do there so why bother”
“The Blacks” were always there; my family has lived 5 blocks away on the Eastside for 70+ years. Market Street was vibrant until the late 70’s/early 80’s. After the malls came, and the suburbs expanded, it went downhill.
This is why Wilmington can’t have anything nice. Is there really no other option for senior housing in Wilmington other than tearing down landmark structures? There needs to be some kind of a swap deal that gives the developer the space it needs in some other location.
Until they build some schools in the city you may as well forget about anything nice happening here for a sustained period of time. The backdrop of the wealthiest banks skyscrapers over the shoulders of the crack and dope dealers will never be overshadowed by a new chain restaurant on the waterfront.
Whoever moves to the city eventually moves out and shops and dines close to their home and their kids schools. Until the idiot mayor stops blowing BPG the city will continue to bankrupt easily conned Philly restauranteers niave enough to believe a turnaround is just one more hotel or aptcomplex away.
800 block of Market street, wilmington, looking north
Used to be such a vibrant shopping district with Mullin’s, Hanover, two Woolworth’s, and others. Then came the White Flight and suburban malls, and it was pretty much over for downtown Wilmington.
i very much disagree. there is a pretty good revival movement going on. the Queen theater has consistently good music, as does Xtreme Pizza. I’ll gladly take the loss of a department store if it means good drink and live music.
What you’re talking about happened decades ago and kind of sounds like “it was such a nice place until the blacks moved in” although im sure that’s not what you meant. There’s a lot of cool stuff in wilmington, just a mountain of unawareness and “i hear there’s nothing to do there so why bother”
I remember my Dad taking me Christmas shopping on Market Street pre-1968. Market Street was really the first destination for Christmas shopping. There were multiple department stores and lots of smaller shops. It was decked out for Christmas and had that real bustling city feel. The streets were so crowded, I remember having to tuck in my packages to keep from jostling people on the sidewalk. I think there were still trolleys, if I remember correctly.
There were no malls as we know them today. The big suburban stores were Prices Corner, Wanamakers on Augustine Cut-off, and Strawbridge & Clothier at Merchandise Mart (which itself was full of stores).
There’s a whole website devoted to this kind of Wilmington nostalgia:
http://www.oldwilmington.net/
i very much disagree. there is a pretty good revival movement going on. the Queen theater has consistently good music, as does Xtreme Pizza. I’ll gladly take the loss of a department store if it means good drink and live music.
What you’re talking about happened decades ago and kind of sounds like “it was such a nice place until the blacks moved in” although im sure that’s not what you meant. There’s a lot of cool stuff in wilmington, just a mountain of unawareness and “i hear there’s nothing to do there so why bother”
“The Blacks” were always there; my family has lived 5 blocks away on the Eastside for 70+ years. Market Street was vibrant until the late 70’s/early 80’s. After the malls came, and the suburbs expanded, it went downhill.
This is why Wilmington can’t have anything nice. Is there really no other option for senior housing in Wilmington other than tearing down landmark structures? There needs to be some kind of a swap deal that gives the developer the space it needs in some other location.
Until they build some schools in the city you may as well forget about anything nice happening here for a sustained period of time. The backdrop of the wealthiest banks skyscrapers over the shoulders of the crack and dope dealers will never be overshadowed by a new chain restaurant on the waterfront.
Whoever moves to the city eventually moves out and shops and dines close to their home and their kids schools. Until the idiot mayor stops blowing BPG the city will continue to bankrupt easily conned Philly restauranteers niave enough to believe a turnaround is just one more hotel or aptcomplex away.