Pizza Hut - New London, CT

Pizza Hut - New London, CT

  July 08, 2018    Robby S.

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©Ciry of New London

PIZZA HUT
S. FRONTAGE ROAD
NEW LONDON SHOPPING CENTER
NEW LONDON, CT
CLOSED 2014

So truth be told, I don't really know what the trend is with Pizza Huts nationwide, but right now, there are just under twenty remaining Pizza Hut locations in the state of Connecticut including Pizza Hut Express locations within Target. I'm not sure if this massive downsizing of the Pizza Hut chain as affected other areas of the country, but I know it sure has taken its toll here.

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Circuit City and Six Flags

Circuit City and Six Flags

  July 05, 2018    Robby S.

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Okay here's a bit of an odd story:

A few weeks ago, I was with my buddy Matt at Six Flags New England in Agawam, MA. I didn't want to bore him at all with any of this picture-taking stuff (although there totally was an Ames at one point in Agawam) so we stayed at the park all day

Towards the end of the afternoon, however, we were walking across the park when I saw a park employee pushing a red trolley around. I took a quick peek at the handlebar on it, and sure enough it was an old Circuit City trolley!

So of course me being me, I had to talk to the employee and awkwardly ask if I could take a picture of the trolley. He was actually super nice and didn't seem to care, but I'm sure he was a bit weirded out by the whole thing, as was my friend!

Also, like I said, I wasn't exactly expecting to take a picture and I didn't have my camera or phone on me and I had to use Matt's phone to get the picture. The glare on the handlebar kind of blocks out the Circuit City logo, so in case you can't get a good view, it's the newer circle logo that reads 'Circuit City', not 'the City' as the latest rendition of the logo does. I tried to find a picture of an identical cart elsewhere online, but it seems like there aren't any other pictures of Circuit City trolleys. Let me know if you know of/have any pictures of similar carts.

So what was it doing at Six Flags? I have absolutely no idea... But it also gets me wondering what other carts they may be holding hostage. So keep an eye out for carts everywhere you go because sometimes they'll turn up in the strangest of places!

I thought that was a funny story you guys might like to hear. I posted a condensed version of the story alongside the picture a few days ago on my Flickr page, so be sure to check that out if you haven't already seen it

Anyways, I'll see you guys next time!

~RS

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Underground Atlanta - Atlanta, GA

Underground Atlanta - Atlanta, GA

  July 01, 2018    Robby S.

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UNDERGROUND ATLANTA
50 UPPER ALABAMA STREET
ATLANTA, GA
CLOSED 2017

Here's something I'm quite excited to be talking about. For those of you that don't know, Underground Atlanta is this underground shopping center in South Downtown Atlanta, located beside the Five Points MARTA Station.

The area was constructed during the American Reconstruction era after the Civil War, however the site was not purposed as a shopping center until 1969

The center received an update in 1996 to accommodate heavy traffic that the Atlanta Olympics would bring. Many of the signs in the area still bear the Olympic rings, now 22 years since the city hosted the event.

The City of Atlanta sold off the property in August 2017 to a South Carolina based developer, where it plans to reconstruct the lot. While some of the above-ground properties remain in business, everything below the ground has been shuddered.

There's also an above-ground entrance which remains unused. The escalators in the entry pavilion have since been decommissioned and are no longer powered.

On the basement level of the plaza, there's not much that remains. The outside has been left abandoned and all signs have been removed, but on the inside, the mall virtually remains untouched.

Just behind the signs that reads Shops, Restaurants, and Entertainment, there are some neon lights that still remain powered.

As I mentioned earlier, the inside portion of the mall has been left virtually untouched. It's unclear if the space will be repurposed or demolished and rebuilt, but as of now not much as been done.

Something odd that you might notice in some of the pictures is that there is actually a maintenance worker on the inside cleaning the floors. Keep an eye out for him in the blue shirt.

There was one remaining vacancy on the upper floors of the mall, and that is a former Häagen-Dazs Ice Cream Parlor

Additionally, despite the Underground's closure, the MARTA station across the street still retains signage directing patrons to the mall

So that's about it for the Underground Atlanta. I'll report updates should anything new come of the property, however it's future doesn't look too bright. Be sure to check back next Sunday for another article from BrandHistoryUSA

Until next time!
~RS

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