rcdjones

A few early Westown anchors and stores--the list is not even close to exhaustive: -Beerman's (of course!) located right at the corner of the complex, where the two legs of the "L" meet. -Kroger at (or near) the far west end, -Liberal on/near the opposite end of the shopping center, on the other leg of the "L". (Odd to have TWO grocery stores in the same shopping center, eh? But that's how it was!) -a record store -a laundromat (see my previous post) -possibly a beauty salon in another of the freestanding units--I'm not at all certain about that. (previous post) -I'm also not sure if a post office was there from the very beginning or not, but it was certainly there by the late 60s, located at/near the far west end. At the southwest corner of the property (intersection of Third & Elmhurst) was a Winters Bank, and just beyond that to the north, along the Elmhurst side of the property, was a Burger Chef (later Sandy's) restaurant.

Hi! I stumbled upon this site and it's positively fascinating. I was born in Dayton, and lived there until age 13. I'm 51 now, but still have plenty fond memories of Dayton. One of those memories concerns the Westown shopping center. My dad and grandparents lived nearby, and shopped there frequently. The grassy "mall" area noted in the narrative is not a (deliberate) design feature. I seem to remember at least some of those areas having small, freestanding structures that were additional tenant spaces. (This would have been the early-to-mid '60s) One of the structures housed a laudromat; I don't recall what the others were. Walking along the shopping center's sidewalk was a very different experience compared to what shoppers experience now. Back then it was almost like an enclosed corridor, with the main storefronts on one side, and the small freestanding units on the other, creating a visual and (intermittent) physical barrier between the sidewalk and the parking area. I don't know exactly when those smaller buildings were removed, but planting grass in their places certainly was a good idea.