Shoe Town (Gone)
New Hyde Park, NY
Photo courtesy Louis DiFazio

Here's a look back at a classic suburban shopping staple with this Shoe Town location in New Hyde Park, NY.

Situated in a busy retail plaza along the Hillside Avenue corridor near Lakeville Road, Shoe Town was a familiar everyday haunt for Long Island families for decades. Operating as part of the regional Northeast chain, the store was an essential neighborhood fixture, especially during the annual late-summer rush when parents brought their kids in to load up on new footwear for the school year. Anchoring the strip center alongside fellow post-war plaza favorites like Rockbottom, the storefront and its bold overhead signage greeted steady streams of suburban shoppers pulling into the front lot.

UPDATE: The Shoe Town chain has long since faded from the retail landscape, and the former New Hyde Park storefront was later occupied by a Walgreens before being overhauled and expanded into a HomeGoods store, with the vintage signage completely removed. 08-26

Singer Sewing Center (Gone)
Long Island, NY
Photo courtesy Louis Di Fazio

In the Lake Success area of Long Island is a shop with a true household name of the mid-century era. Yes, it's the Singer Sewing Center building, sporting its distinctive standalone mid-century design right in the bustling Lake Success Shopping Center along Union Turnpike.

Originally built to catch the eye of post-war suburban motorists cruising past Lakeville Road, this specialized storefront operated for years during the 1960s and 1970s as a dedicated Singer Sewing Center. Beyond selling machines and accessories, it served as a popular neighborhood hub where local homemakers gathered for group sewing lessons and embroidery classes. With its unique architectural roofline and striking script signage mounted across the upper facade, the building stood out as an unmistakable retail landmark in the strip plaza.

UPDATE: After Singer closed its doors, the iconic building was home to the beloved local kosher staple Deli King for many years before being fully remodeled into a modern Shake Shack, with the vintage Singer signage long since removed. 08-26

Austin's Homemade Ice Cream
Ceredo, WV
Photo courtesy John Salvatore

Austin's Homemade Ice Cream is about 2 miles west of Camden Park. It's closed for the season and will reopen in the spring. Fantastic ice cream! Many thanks to John Salvatore for info.

If you're cruising through the Tri-State area with a sweet tooth, make sure to stop by Austin's Homemade Ice Cream. While often associated with neighboring Huntington, this beloved roadside treat stand originally fired up the mixers back in 1947 just down the road in Ceredo, WV, not far from Camden Park.

Austin's has been a summer road trip tradition for generations of locals and passing motorists looking to cool off with a fresh scoop. Taken over by the Snyder family in 1983, the shop built a passionate cult following by churning out handcrafted, small-batch ice cream using traditional manual hand-variegation techniques to swirl in ribbons of fudge and fruit. The walk-up stand is legendary for its wild roster of homemade flavors, highlighted by their famous, one-of-a-kind Grape Pineapple concoction alongside award-winning chocolate and seasonal favorites.

UPDATE: Austin's Homemade Ice Cream continues to thrive as a regional roadside institution, operating its original seasonal walk-up stand in Ceredo while also serving up scoops year-round at downtown Huntington's Market and a new location in Barboursville. 08-26

Palmquist Jeweler (Gone)
Olean, NY
Photo courtesy Jay Lin

The Palmquist Jeweler has seen better days. One can imagine how many would be grooms have left these doors with a sparkling engagement ring for their sweetheart. It stands awaiting an unknown fate. If only these treasures of yesteryear could be preserved forever. Many thanks to Jay Lin for info.

Situated along the downtown retail corridor of North Union Street, Palmquist's Jewelers served as a familiar fixture for downtown shoppers for decades, operating out of the same location since the 1930s. Long run by Stephen Palmquist, the shop was nestled in the heart of what was once a bustling downtown jewelry and retail district. The storefront stands out for its distinctive architectural character, featuring an intact Victorian facade highlighted by sleek, high-gloss black Carrara structural glass tiling framing the display windows. Even decades after closing its doors, the shop remained a fascinating roadside time capsule, with its original display cases, retro tile floor, and vintage signage lingering untouched along the street.

UPDATE: The place closed and the front facade is gone. 08-26

Fashion Care Corp. (Closed)
Albany, NY
Photo courtesy Dirk Burhans

Check out the familiar "Norge ball" perched atop the Fashion Care Laundry building along Central Avenue in the Albany suburb of Colonie, NY.

These distinctive illuminated plastic spheres were originally designed by Rohm & Haas in 1962 for Borg-Warner's nationwide network of "Norge Laundry & Cleaning Village" franchises. Once a common roadside sight outside mid-century laundromats across the country, surviving examples have become increasingly rare over the years. Sitting on a busy stretch of Route 5 just down the road from Colonie Center, this location operated as Fashion Care Corp. for decades, providing dry cleaning and laundry services to local residents while keeping its retro rooftop globe spinning overhead.

UPDATE: Although Fashion Care closed down operations in 2011 and the building was later repurposed for other retail uses, including a formalwear and bridal boutique, the vintage Norge ball sign remarkably survives intact on the roof. 08-26

L.J. Herman's 2nd Hand Shop (Demolished)
East Windsor, NJ
Photo courtesy Louis Di Fazio

Here's a look back at the weathered roadside facade of L.J. Herman's 2nd Hand Shop, captured along Route 33 in East Windsor, NJ.

Often mistakenly indexed in travel logs as a secondary branch named "2nd Shop," this classic wooden building was actually an independent secondhand thrift and antique outfit that served central New Jersey bargain hunters for years. Operating out of a rustic, green-trimmed white frame structure right off the highway near the Hightstown line, the shop drew in passing motorists searching for used furniture, vintage housewares, and unique retro oddities. Long after the business shut its doors, the building sat abandoned and heavily weathered along the roadside, becoming a favorite subject for highway explorers and photographers documenting vanishing roadside Americana.

UPDATE: After sitting vacant along Route 33 for decades as a well-known local ghost structure, the historic L.J. Herman building was demolished in July 2018, with the hand-painted storefront signage lost with the structure. 08-26