Monday, April 26, 2010

The Beach Store



I believe this was toward the end of the Beach Store & the beginning of the change of 50's, 60's & 70's Naples. Odd things that slip your mind the city's fiberglass garbage cans & the old telephone booth...

Photo's taken June 1974 courtesy Howard Green

Jim B thank you for your comments, it truly makes this worth doing! BH

7 comments:

  1. Lots of memories here! Great soda fountain and the best vanilla cokes. The Haines were good people and friends with my parents and kept a good eye on me. LOL Afternoons at the movies, (my first movie was here), my first date was here, long walks on the pier after the movies with the mist of salt water on your face and reflected lights dancing across the water. I loved the water and the smell. It was beautiful and life was good.

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  2. This photo must have been taken right before of the end of the Beach Store. The "Beach Store" name is gone from the front of the building. Margaret and Arnold never had a Sale. Margaret watched every dime. They sold the property for around 3 million.
    I spent the last 10 days in Naples visiting with my 92 year old father who first arrived in Naples in 1948 with a neighbor of ours from St. Louis. We spent about an hour going over this wonderful web site. I hooked the computer up to his TV so he could see the pictures better. We had a blast looking at the old pictures of our favorite city. He told me that before the theater at the Beach Store there was a theater across the street in the old library building on 3rd and Broad. I think they call it the Olde Collier building built in 1921. There is a part of the building that sticks out in the front where the name is now that he told me was the projector room for the theater. My dad knew most of the people in listed in the 1946 phone book. He brought up Andy's BBQ house and was excited when I showed him the photo you posted. It was one of our favorite places to eat.
    Since finding this site I have come to appreciate Naples more than I thought I could. I thought I really knew the town but realized how much I was missing. Brookside and Seagate were just names. As I drove around town last week I visited Seagate and Brookside, areas I had passed so many times, but this time with a different outlook. Crossing the Gordon River bridge I imagined the big bugs that have been mentioned on this site. Publix on the trail even had a different feeling knowing what I do about it now.
    Naples has always been a very big part of my life. I really appreciate the effort you have put into this site which helps add more meaning to this great little town.
    The rain storm yesterday morning was one of the heaviest I have ever seen.

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  3. I've made more than my share of egg salad sandwiches in my life but the best egg salad sandwich in the whole world came from the lunch counter at the Beach Store. Each one was made fresh on the spot. Crust on or crust off, your choice.

    Some of you may recall the big glass syrup dispenser at the soda fountain that had an etched glass logo on it that said "CHERRY SMASH". Man, a double pump of cherry along with the coke syrup, followed by the "fizz water" from the fountain was tough to beat.

    Many thanks to the Haines family and all who worked that counter over the years.

    Seagate Homeboy
    NHS Class of '67

    2:58 p.m. PDT

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  4. Great, GREAT comments JIM B!

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  5. Spent many hours at the Beach Store and theater. Brought my tiny newborn son to see "Love Story" in 1971. There was a "baby room" you could sit in, in the theater. It was up in the back, an enclosed area so crying babies wouldn't disturb the other patrons. Nicky Cooks laundromat was across the street. Pop your clothes into the washing machine, head over to the Beach Store for a cherry coke.

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  6. The "Cooks Coin Laundry" 1/2 block north of the Beach Store at 3rd Street South and Broad Avenue South was owned by Chris Cook's father Andy. Nicky Cook's mom owned the beauty shop at the corner of 10th Street South and 6th Avenue South.

    SH

    11:19 p.m. PDT

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  7. One day my brother and I got the the bright idea to take the slurpees we just bought from the 7-11 and throw them against the north side wall of the beach store.Of course if it hadn't been for the thick sand and the sandspurs, trying to ride our schwinn typhoons through this we might have gotten away.Now normally like everything else we did , we would have goten away with this.Not this time.My mom was called immediately seeing how we only lived 2 blocks away.and we spent the whole day cleaning and painting the side of the beach store.

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