I don't mean to turn the Almanac into a running commentary on retail stores (Alert Reader Steve does a good job of that already), but I can't help but comment on the news that Rite Aid is buying Eckerd Drugs.
Since Western Pennsylvania is prime territory for both companies, undoubtedly, a lot of local stores are going to close, and I expect they will be the Eckerds, not the Rite Aids. The Rite Aids tend to be free-standing, newer locations --- at least in the Mon-Yough area --- while many of the Eckerd stores are in shopping centers.
When the new Rite Aid being built in the 11th Ward opens, watch for the Eckerd (formerly the Thrift Drug) in Olympia Shopping Center to close. And I won't be surprised if the Eckerd in Oak Park Mall closes as well.
Eckerd has struck me as a profoundly mismanaged chain for a long time. When J.C. Penney Co. purchased Eckerd and combined the stores with the Thrift Drug stores that Penney's already owned, they scrapped all vestiges of the Thrift operation.
That was a big mistake, since (for my money, at least) the Thrift stores --- though a little dowdy --- had a better range of merchandise and more selection than Eckerd stores.
Eckerds seem to always be "out" of certain staple items, don't stock many brand names in some lines of merchandise, and are always pushing "seasonal" toys and decorations in lieu of health and beauty items --- you know, the kinds of things people actually need at a drugstore.
Chain Store Age notes that when J.C. Penney Co. sold Eckerd two years ago, the buyer, Canadian drug store operator Jean Coutu, had to borrow $2.55 billion to finance the deal. According to CSA, that left Coutu "with scant financial resources to upgrade stores and improve customer service. ... As a result, Eckerd lost market share and the assets floundered."
When I was in Florida last year, I noticed a lot of Eckerd stores had closed --- and I was all over Florida, putting 1,200 miles on the rental car in a week. And everywhere there was a closed Eckerd, there was a new Walgreen's nearby.
It's worth noting, by the way, that Eckerd was long a Florida-based chain. If they couldn't compete on their own turf, they had little hope elsewhere, I think.
Speaking of Walgreen's --- I know some people still go into apoplexy at the thought that Chiodo's Tavern in Homestead was torn down to make way for Walgreen's.
But in all fairness to Walgreen's, they did a very admirable job building a store in Homestead that looks like it's been there since the 1920s (minus the graffiti and broken windows that characterize too many real 1920s buildings on Eighth Avenue). In fact, it's very attractive. And arguably, it's improved that end of the Homestead High-Level ... er, Greys ... er, Grays ... Bridge.
Also in fairness to Walgreen's, I love Walgreen's. My friends are tired of hearing about it by now, but both the store at Bill Green's Shopping Center and the one in Homestead are fantastic. Good selections, good prices, and the service is first-rate, too.
Now, I don't get my prescriptions at Walgreen's --- I get those from my neighborhood pharmacist --- but he doesn't carry stationery, film, batteries, shoelaces and all of the stuff you used to find in a five-and-10. I can get those at Walgreen's.
In fact, Walgreen's reminds of nothing so much as a Woolworth's or a Murphy's with a prescription counter in the back. In every way, today's big chain pharmacies are pretty much just the "variety stores" of 30 years ago.
Do I have a point? No, not really.
. . .
Around The Town: I have nothing to add to Jonathan Potts' commentary over at The Conversation except, "I agree":
Why do so many Pittsburghers want to run away from our past? Part of it is old-fashioned elitism. A lot of people turn their noses up at blue-collar work, and they associate the steel industry with much of what they dislike about Pittsburgh -- like the way many residents talk, or their pathological devotion to the Steelers. It is also a reaction to the way many Pittsburghers cling too tightly to the past, which also is unhealthy. Yet it seems to me that we can work for the future without distorting or denying our past. Indeed, Pittsburgh's past provides many cautionary tales that we would do well to learn as we move forward--like the dangers in relying too heavily on a single industry for economic growth.
Today, we continue the Almanac's quest to be the Mon-Yough area's leading source of obsolete grocery store information.
You may recall (no matter how hard you try to forget) that we recently discussed the grocery store lineup at Olympia Shopping Center, in light of the new Shop 'n Save there.
Alert Reader Terry pointed out that the A&P at Olympia was originally located in the building that later became R. Kaplan Furniture (remember the sign, with the silhouette of Mr. Kaplan sitting on the piano bench?) and is currently Auto Supermarket?
But another Alert Reader, Bill, sent a newspaper ad that showed the local chain Bartolotta's having had a store at Olympia as well.
Well, just for you, our devoted Almanac readers, I did a little bit of research, using old copies of Polk's City Directory.
The problem, of course, is that the "city" directory officially stopped at the Versailles Borough line, so the listings for Versailles are incomplete or missing in most years.
The 1962 city directory, for instance, doesn't list anything for Olympia Shopping Center, though (unless I miss my guess) it opened in 1960.
Besides all of the locally-owned neighborhood grocery stores in the city, it lists:
It's hard to believe, but the latest charge of dirty politicking levelled against U.S. Sen. Rick Santorum, R-Not in Pennsylvania, concerns one of his campaign commercials, set against a backdrop of happy polka dancers.
Tony Norman of the Post-Gazette and Chris Kelly of the Scranton Times-Tribune claim that the ad was faked --- that Santorum wasn't actually interacting with the polka dancers, but was added electronically, either with digital-editing software or chroma-key.
Norman says the ad looks "as if it were shot on the holodeck of the Federation Star Ship Enterprise ... Mr. Santorum looks like he's moving in front of a green screen. The crowd looks bogus and immaterial."
Kelly alleges that Santorum "isn’t actually in the room with the snappy seniors and is more likely shuffling in front of a 'green screen' with images of an incumbent-friendly hootenanny projected behind him."
The stories led Maria over at 2 Political Junkies to go so far as to accuse Sen. Torquemada of using a Cleveland polka band as a backdrop.
Well, in a story you will only read in Tube City Almanac, numerous sources have confirmed that not only is the ad authentic, it was shot at the James Centre in Pittsburgh's West End with Bridgeville's Larry Placek Combo.
Indeed, the distinctive proscenium arch over the stage at the James Centre --- pictured on the first page of the hall's website --- can be seen in the ad.
(In the interest of full disclosure: I part-time at a radio station where Placek hosts a weekly polka show, but I don't really know him, except to say "hi" once in a while. I like his music, though, and you can buy his CDs online. If you enjoy polka music, and I do, you'll like the Placek band --- it has a nice, tight sound.)
International Village attendees probably saw Placek and his band performing in the Jakomas Blue-Top Pavilion last week, and numerous polka buffs tell me that it's definitely Placek's band in the background.
In short, the band isn't from Cleveland, and it is a real band.
I also have it on good authority that Santorum was there for the shoot --- a sizable group of local polka fans was rounded up to participate as extras, and they all saw him.
I don't think I'm telling any tales out of school, because when I started asking around about this on Saturday and Sunday, it seemed that everyone knew except me. I don't want to bring anyone any unwanted publicity, but I do want to set the record straight.
So, although I'm no Santorum booster, fair's fair --- the ad is authentic.
(Also in fairness, the people I've talked to like the fact that their music is getting mainstream TV exposure, but every one of them has told me they're still not voting for Santorum!)
The polka ad is creative, and it places Santorum in a light-hearted atmosphere where he can poke (or is that "polka"?) fun at himself. Ads like these humanize candidates.
It certainly jumps out from the typical cliched campaign commercials that show the candidates shaking hands with guys at a factory gate, listening thoughtfully to a bunch of senior citizens, and sitting on the front porch with his wife and children as the American flag waves gently in the breeze, while sappy strings play in the background.
Can we move onto more important subjects now?
Such as: How come Bob Casey Jr. isn't running ads that are this interesting?
Because while Santorum polkas toward November, Casey is standing on the side of the dance floor with the rest of the wallflowers. He'd better start stepping lively, because defeat is within his grasp.
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