First, a quick stop in Sarasota- This Staples store was built in 1979 for the supermarket chain Grand Union. It was later a Kash n Karry supermarket and a WORKplace, Staples' short lived discount warehouse concept. It converted to Staples in 1993, and appears to have changed little since then.
Onto downtown Arcadia, FL; starting with some signs
- Treasure Alley Past & Present is one of the many antique malls to be found in downtown Arcadia, which seems to fashion itself an "antiques district". Treasure Alley moved here in 2015 from elsewhere in downtown Arcadia.
- The Caribbean Cafe sign was inside the window of another store, and doesn't seem to have been a business in Arcadia. It's a sign produced by prolific small business sign manufacturer Signtronix. I don't know what "PVP Catering" is.
- The Old Opera House/The Heard Opera House was built in 1905, but this sign came later in it's life as Eaton's Department Store. You can see a vintage postcard of it without it's sign here
and now tile entryways!
- Jake-Wey was a drugstore in Arcadia dating back to 1906, but this building was built in 1918.
- Dozier's is "Dozier's General Store"; this space was originally part of the Opera House, and later became Eaton's Department Store.
- This trimmed tile is on the corner entrance to the Opera House, at Oak & Polk Ave.
- E. T. Smith was a hardware store in Arcadia since at least 1897. This building was built for them in 1912 at a cost of $22,000 ($686,000).
and a pair of ghost signs.
- I unfortunately can't discern much of this sign. There's a large circle and at least two lines of block text- possibly "GROCERY" or "MARKET". The circle could be anything, but maybe it was a Coke or Pepsi roundel?
- This building was built in 1921, and the double-layerd ghost sign appears to have at one time had a specific name of a Garage & Repairs business, later painted to just say "CHEVROLET".
And finally, general buildings.
- This shopping arcade was built in 1926. It used to have a kind of awkwardly proportioned marquee over the entrance, which obscured the presumably original "ARCADE" tiling, but thankfully that has been removed. It was apparently once called the Koch Arcade.
- This building was apparently originally built in 1920, but has been very obviously rebuilt sometime in the 1960s or 70s, as shown by the blindingly.... unique shingle-mansard roof. It's possible the remodel was as late as 1980, when First Federal of DeSoto moved in; I consider banks notorious for hideous remodels of downtown structures in the 50s-80s.
- "Mercers", on the right, is the same space Jake-Wey was once in. Mercers was a western wear store that opened in 1975.
- The J. L Jones building is named for Arcadia Electric Light and Telephone Company treasurer & secretary J. L. Jones. Built 1926.
- This railroad station was built in 1911 for the Atlantic Coast Line. Passenger service ended in 1971, and the rails were (mostly) removed by 1980. Since renovated to offices and retail spaces.
- I don't have much info on this building; property records claim it was built in 1900, but this is likely inaccurate as much of downtown Arcadia was destroyed in a severe fire in 1905. I mainly wanted to photograph the metal "Friedman Shoes" sign; Friedman was a brand of shoes marketed across the US.
- This building was built in 1906, and I really like the color scheme and rounded windows. And hey, it's also a deli, bonus points.
- Another view of the opera house.
- This charming low-rise building was built in 1938. Blue and white is a severely under-rated color combo.
And finally, a misc sweep-up:
- The Arcadia Rodeo is the oldest rodeo in Florida, tracing back to a 1928 American Legion fundraising event. This mural was painted by Tim Haas and Linda Cassels-Hofmann in 2009.
- This Winn-Dixie store is a former Sweetbay Supermarket that was built as a Kash n Karry Supermarket in 1991.