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Outta Sight: 15 Closed & Abandoned Opticians

09 Oct

[ By Steve in Abandoned Places & Architecture. ]

The optics are all wrong when it comes to these closed and abandoned opticians, optometrists and ophthalmologist shops as anyone can clearly see.

There’s no optician like an Ophthalmic Optician, except of course when it’s closed and there’s, er, no Ophthalmic Optician no more. Such is the case in Castlehead, a declining district of West Paisley, Scotland, where it seems there are more steel-shuttered shops than stores still open for business. Flickr member David Cameron Paisley Photographer (dddoc1965) captured this sorry sight – or should that be “sorry site” – in early November of 2014.

Spec Easy

It takes some extra effort if you want to stand out between a Polish foods store and a tattoo parlor. Thus it’s not surprising this abandoned Bristol, England optician’s rainbow-hued sign is the last remaining sign of the store’s previous existence. Flickr member Graeme Dawes (HUNGRYGH0ST) snapped the store’s lurid yet eye-catching signage in May of 2016.

Innercity Vision

Touring downtown Detroit by bus and on foot isn’t such a great idea today and it wasn’t so wise back in 2004, when Flickr member Lucas (bilateral) did just that – and survived to show & tell the tale. We presume Drs. Phillip Aznik and Charles Benjamin also survived their exodus out of urban Detroit though their long-abandoned optometrist store (and its sign) didn’t quite make it.

Sol Survivor

Sol Moscot Opticians (founded 1915) was a Lower East Side landmark from 1935 to 2013, when the business moved to new digs on the opposite side of Delancey Street.

The old store sat sporadically abandoned for several years following the move, until demolition and construction on a 12-story mixed-use tower finally commenced in early 2017. We’re guessing the new development will be far less colorful which in hindsight (see what we did there?), would be a bit sad.

The Italian Jobless

While the late and lamented Sol Moscot store was, in its later stages, almost overwhelmed by a flood of (perfectly legal) graffiti, this unnamed abandoned optician in Rome, Italy has only the above painted panel to prove its previous occupation. Good thing that sole example is awesome! Flickr member Tobia Maschio (The Great Slug) snapped this brilliant work of anonymous street art on July 16th of 2010.

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Outta Sight 15 Closed Abandoned Opticians

[ By Steve in Abandoned Places & Architecture. ]

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Adobe unveils Photoshop Elements 2018: Can open closed eyes, find your best photos and more

04 Oct

A before and after of Photoshop Elements’ new Open Closed Eyes featured at work.

While the professional photography market waits with bated breath to see what Adobe has in store for us at AdobeMAX, the company behind Lightroom and Photoshop unveiled something that appeals to a bit broader of an audience today: Photoshop Elements 2018 and Premiere Elements 2018.

The new, user-friendly versions of Adobe’s photo and video editors come with some really creative and easy-to-use features that the company says are aimed at “memory keepers.” The idea was to create two programs that make finding, enhancing and sharing the precious memories hidden away inside random memory cards, hard drives and (most likely) smartphones almost totally automatic.

Photoshop Elements 2018

Photoshop Elements 2018 tackles the same problem that everyone—Google’s Photos App, Apple Photos, etc.—is trying to tackle: how do you help the typical shutterbug find their best images out of the thousands they take every week on their smartphone, and enhance those images so they look ‘professional’ and worth sharing on social media?

As with everybody else, Adobe is leaning heavily on machine learning and computer vision (different types of ‘AI’) for this trick.

It starts with an easy-to-use Organizer view and something called Auto Curation, which uses computer vision and some nifty algorithms to guess (because it can’t REALLY know, can it?) which of your images are the best. So if you have a group of 200 images, you can ask Photoshop Elements to cull those down automatically to just 15.

Once you’ve selected your shots, you can use the program’s new Guided Edits and a new feature called Automatic Selection to do things like drop in a new background, create a double exposure effect using two of your images, or add ‘artistic’ overlays.

The coolest feature, though, has to be Open Closed Eyes, which allows you to select two frames, and replace the closed eyes in one with the open eyes from another. The results are incredibly lifelike given that whole thing can be done in a matter of seconds.

Premiere Elements 2018

Like Photoshop Elements, Premiere Elements 2018 also leans heavily on AI-powered features to make video editing as automatic and pain-free as possible.

Smart Trim does for videos what Auto Curate does for photos, namely: it asks you what ‘style’ of video you want to create, tries to intelligently find the best clips that match this style, and tosses out the rest to create a coherent clip.

Another interesting addition is a feature called Candid Moments, which tries to find the best candid ‘photo’ hidden within a video clip and pull it out for you. With new smartphones like the iPhone 8 Plus shooting gorgeous 4K 60p, we could see this feature being a huge hit with those ‘memory keepers’ Adobe is all trying to target.

Admittedly, neither Photoshop Elements 2018 nor Premiere Elements 2018 are really targetted at more professional photographers out there (read: many of the people who enjoy reading DPReview). But as these beginner-focused programs get more and more powerful, amateur photographers who are allergic to the subscription model and don’t like to do much post-processing anyhow might actually enjoy using Photoshop and Premiere Elements 2018.

Of course, that’s not to say we won’t be keeping a very close eye on AdobeMAX this year.

To learn more about Photoshop Elements 2018 and Premiere Elements 2018, head over to the Adobe blog by clicking here, or visit their dedicated landing pages by clicking on the program names above. Both programs are available now for $ 100 new or $ 80 as an upgrade. You can also buy them together for $ 150 new or upgrade both programs at once for $ 120.

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

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Bar The Rays: 15 Closed & Abandoned Tanning Salons

24 Sep

[ By Steve in Abandoned Places & Architecture. ]

These closed and abandoned tanning salons, spas and studios made hay while the sun didn’t shine but sooner or later they (and their clients) felt the burn.

“Sun-Tan-Drews” may not have been the sunniest tanning salon in St Andrews, Scotland but it was by far the punniest. Note the “W” on the lettered sign had fallen off sometime in the past and was replaced by a slightly smaller version. Kudos to Flickr members Ian Macdonald (Ghiribizzo) and Jonathan Baldwin (artistry), and Panoramio member Richie W, all of whom captured the recently shuttered pun-tastic tanning salon in early 2007.

Smokeless

The sign on the door of this closed Bristol, England tanning salon states smoking inside is prohibited, assuring potential customers they won’t be burnt to a crisp for the sake of fashion. Another sign, hand-written this time, notes the business has moved to newer and more northerly digs. Shame they didn’t take the alluring window stickers with them when they moved. Flickr member Steve (Steve Lewis2009) snapped the abandoned Wells Road spa in May of 2010.

The Sun Isn’t There

This gloriously grainy photo of the late and unlamented “Sun Valley electric UV tanning salon” – in the words of photographer and Flickr member Boo (Lawrence Peregrine-Trousers) – was taken in early 2003 somewhere in Lancashire, northern England. Odd how many tanning studios there are in the UK, abandoned or not… then again, have you seen British people lately?

Hot Stuffed

The “Hot Staff” (yes, that’s its name) Tanning Salon in Naha, capital city of Okinawa, is a mass of contradictions. An information page states the salon is open year round but it’s “CLOSED” whenever you access the page. The salon’s website hasn’t been updated since 2011 but regardless… a tanning salon in Japan’s most southerly prefecture?? As for the spa’s curious name, well, typos are all in good fun until they create issues for employees.

One Lesstan

Founded in 2006, “Lextan” grew to become the biggest chain of luxury tanning salons in Wales with 16 locations. Erm, make that 15 – on the night of June 15th, 2016 the Lextan studio in Ebbw Vale (pop. 33,000) burnt to the ground and was totally destroyed in what local police have stated was an arson attack. Seems someone wasn’t happy with their tan lines or ended up looking like Tan Mom.

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Bar The Rays 15 Closed Abandoned Tanning Salons

[ By Steve in Abandoned Places & Architecture. ]

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Grand Slammed: Closed & Abandoned Denny’s Restaurants

04 Sep

[ By Steve in Abandoned Places & Architecture. ]

Denny’s has been a powerhouse of fast-casual family dining for over 60 years with over 1,600 restaurants but even Denny’s has to close some time.

More than just a slogan, Denny’s famous “we never close” policy was put to the test in 1988 when all but six stores closed for Christmas. Several restaurants were unprepared by the corporate-wide closing: some had lost their keys while others – rumor has it – were built without lockable doors.

Contrast that open-door policy with the fate of closed and/or abandoned Denny’s restaurants and diners like this one in Dayton, Ohio, snapped by Flickr member vistavision in the fall of 2010. Stores like this one will never open again, at least not under the classic Denny’s hexagonal sign.

Shoreline Scar

The above abandoned Denny’s was snapped by Flickr member Curtis Cronn in early February of 2015. Looks like the crew charged with removing visual references to expired businesses, crashed airliners and so on neglected to erase the labelscar lingering on the Shoreline, Washington restaurant’s sun-blasted exterior wall. Guys, you had ONE job.

Laurel Turpitude

Denny’s wasn’t always “Denny’s”… the chain opened in 1953 with a single store in Lakewood, California named Danny’s Donuts. In 1959, the growing company changed its name to avoid any conflict with Coffee Dan’s, a Los Angeles-based chain of coffee shops. Known since 1961 as just plain “Denny’s”, the company expanded exponentially… by 1980 there were over 1,000 restaurants and diners spread across all 50 U.S. states.

The store above, located just off Route 73 in Mount Laurel, New Jersey dates from the 1970s, back when the corporate color scheme was heavily into pinks and oranges… no doubt a hangover from the psychedelic Sixties. Will the succeeding Chinese restaurant carry on that lurid theme? Flickr member John (JSF0864) captured this still-sharp-looking abandoned Denny’s in June of 2011.

Sign In Stranger

Now here’s something unusual: all that’s left of this former Denny’s restaurant in Lorain, Ohio is its main sign – the building was demolished in early 2011. What’s more, the sign (displaying Deny’s “new” logo instituted in 2001) appears to be in excellent condition having escaped the attentions of the de-branding crew. Maybe they forgot to bring a ladder. Kudos to Flickr member Nicholas Eckhart, who captured this rather bleak scene in December of 2014.

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Grand Slammed Closed Abandoned Dennys Restaurants

[ By Steve in Abandoned Places & Architecture. ]

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Battered: 15 Closed And Abandoned Fish & Chip Shops

04 Jun

[ By Steve in Abandoned Places & Architecture. ]

Fish & Chips are famed the world over as THE quintessential English food so why are there so many closed and abandoned “Chippies” in their home country?

American fish & chip shops have suffered a decline as well, especially fast food seafood restaurant chains like Arthur Treacher’s and H. Salt Esquire – both the chains and the affordable stocks of cod that sustained them are pale shadows of what they used to be. Family-run chippies linger on, however, though the once-charming Porto Restaurant in Edinburgh, Scotland’s seaside Portobello neighborhood is no longer them. Flickr users Dave Sinclair and Fabio Menna snapped the shop in long-abandoned and newly-abandoned states, respectively.

Dog’s Breakfast

One would hope “Helen” was able to retire from retail fish-frying with a modicum of grace when her self-titled chippie in Maidstone (a suburb of Melbourne) went belly-up. Then again, maybe Australians just aren’t that into fish & chips, what with all that “throw another shrimp on the barbie” stuff. Flickr user Warren Kirk (Westographer) captured the closed, abandoned, boarded-up and unlamented (save for a disappointed-looking dog) “Helen’s Fish ~ Chips” on a sunny December morning in 2011.

Parson’s Nose Best

As if a chippie on the High Street wasn’t Brit enough, the owners named the place “The New Parson’s Nose”… wonder what happened to the OLD one? Regardless, the sign on the window states the shop is “closed for refurbishment” and you know what that means: it’s gone like last night’s last pint of ale. Kudos to Flickr user leon S-D (littleweed1950) who snapped this pub-like former fish & chips shop in June of 2016.

Taken Away

“Over the last 40 years or so (in Australia at least) the traditional old style strip of shops in the suburbs has come under pressure from large shopping malls,” states urbex blogger David Taylor. Just wait, Dave, those large shopping malls have begun to feel a similar sort of pressure from online retailers. There’s nothing like the unique ambiance and the sit-sown dining experience of a classic Chippie, mind you. Taylor snapped the above faded Seafood Take Away in Mt Gravatt, a suburb of Brisbane.

Over, The Rainbow

Fish & Chips, Burgers, Southern Fried Chicken and so much more… how could Rainbow Spicy Kebabs, snapped in the summer of 2013 by Flickr user Robby Virus, possibly go under? Well, they COULD have prepared all of those things poorly, for one thing. It just goes to show you, a prime location in the heart of London offers no guarantee your fish & chips (& more) shop will achieve lasting success. Also, rainbows aren’t colored that way. Just sayin’.

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Battered 15 Closed And Abandoned Fish Chip Shops

[ By Steve in Abandoned Places & Architecture. ]

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Search for Spoke: 8 Closed & Abandoned Bicycle Factories

27 Mar

[ By Steve in Abandoned Places & Architecture. ]

These closed and abandoned bicycle factories are relics of a bygone era before two-wheeled vehicles were supplanted by those with four wheels and an engine.

One of those old-timey bike factories was Memphis Cycle & Supply. Flickr user Robby Virus captured the still majestic though graffiti-marred exterior of the building in April of 2016. ADANAY documented the interior while helping to clear the place out three months later.

Memphis Cycle & Supply appears to have closed around 2010-11 as photos taken before that time show un-boarded windows with stock on display. Flickr user Joe Pusateri (Jo Teri) snapped the building after dark on June 19th of 2011… a brave endeavor as the neighborhood is a tad sketchy to say the least. Curiously, the slipping “S” of the signage was repaired by the time Robby Virus snapped his photos in 2016, after drooping perilously for roughly a decade.

Hungary No Longer

Schwinn is perhaps the most iconic brand name in American cycling history. Founded in 1895, the company’s products enriched many a child’s formative years. Schwinn declared bankruptcy in 1992 after losing a long battle to remain competitive with lower-cost manufacturers in the Far East. A failed joint venture with post-communist Hungarian firm Csepel shows the company didn’t go out without a fight, however. The images above by Flickr users Karl Eerola (keerola) and Waterford Precision Bicycles (waterfordbikes) were taken on November 28th of 2010 and July 26th of 2012, respectively.

Philadelphia Freewheelin’

The Haverford Bicycle Factory at 448 North 10th Street in Philadelphia made Black Beauty bikes “The bicycle with a national reputation” but that didn’t stop it from shutting the doors when the flow of red ink proved unquenchable. Why the company went under in 1924 – in the midst of the Roaring Twenties – is a mystery; the grand red brick factory wasn’t more than twenty or so years old at the time. Flickr user Neil Fitzpatrick (joiseyboyy) captured the color-saturated image above on July 9th of 2010.

After sitting abandoned for years, the imposing building together with its smaller white adjunct was finally sold in 2015 for $ 2.75 million. Construction is currently underway to re-purpose the gutted structure as an “office/creative space” overlooking the newly-gentrified Callowhill neighborhood. Nice that the developers saw fit to retain the building’s historic painted-brick signage; appropriate that future tenants should bike to and from work.

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Search For Spoke 8 Closed Abandoned Bicycle Factories

[ By Steve in Abandoned Places & Architecture. ]

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Fruitless: 10 Closed & Abandoned Apple Stores

20 Mar

[ By Steve in Abandoned Places & Architecture. ]

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Apple Stores and Apple authorized resellers are about as sure a thing as can be in business but even these b&m goldmines close shop and are left abandoned.

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There weren’t any official Apple Stores before May 19th of 2001, only authorized Apple resellers ranging from Mom & Pop computer shops to big box retailers like Best Buy and Circuit City. The sign above hales from the 1980s (the “rainbow” Apple logo was used from 1977 to 1998) and towers over the Roberts Court strip mall on Barrett Parkway in Kennesaw, Georgia. According to Rebrn.com, the sign advertised Rick’s Educational Products and although that store moved many years ago, the sign lingered on for decades. The images above date from April 8th of 2011 and April 10th of 2011 respectively.

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abandoned-apple-store-1c

Later that month, something – most likely a weather-related event – twisted the top of the sign 180-degrees and shattered the plastic on both sides. A Reddit user who lives nearby fortuitously picked up some of the pieces as seen above. Not sure what his plans for them are but we hear pretty much anything sells on eBay these days.

Dublin Down

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The number of Mac authorized resellers dropped by almost half between 1997 and 2000. Around that time Tim Cook, Apple’s Senior Vice President for Worldwide Operations since 1998, announced the company would “cut some channel partners that may not be providing the buying experience (Apple expects). We’re not happy with everybody.” Perhaps the late and lamented Apple Centre on Kildare Street in Dublin, Ireland was one such partner that aroused Cook’s ire – no pun intended. Flickr user Fintan Palmer (fintanp) snapped the shuttered shop in October of 2008; fellow Flickrer twrbl noted no change in its abandoned status five months later.

Simply Closed

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Simply Mac may have referred to itself as “the greatest Apple partner in North America” but according to a January 2017 announcement by the West Acres mall in Fargo, North Dakota, “Apple Corporation (is) ending its national agreement with Simply Mac to sell them Apple product, making it impossible for them to continue.” The Fargo store and the other depicted store in Billings, Montana are not the only Simply Mac stores closing and no doubt the signage pictured above will be coming down sooner than later.

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Fruitless 10 Closed Abandoned Apple Stores

[ By Steve in Abandoned Places & Architecture. ]

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Lost Connection: 15 Closed & Abandoned Internet Cafés

06 Mar

[ By Steve in Abandoned Places & Architecture. ]

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Before WiFi and smartphones stole their thunder, internet cafés like these closed and abandoned relics offered cheap & easy access to the World Wide Web.

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As the original public hotspots for intrepid internet explorers, these ‘net cafés were homes away from home, free from nagging parents and other annoying housemates wont to pick up the phone while you’re trying to download a GIF.

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The Cyber Café in Worthing, West Sussex, UK was one such early example. Shopfront Elegy saved some snaps of the closed café circa 1999. Note the charming conjunction of the sign’s hand-painted digital type with the classic mosaic facade below. Sadly, both were lost in the unit’s 2015 renovation as Attic Solutions.

A Galaxy Far Far Away

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The heyday of internet cafés lasted about 15 years give or take a few, with the first practical operations opening in the early 1990s. By the end of the next decade, however, the increasing power and utility of Apple’s iPhones and their ilk began to narrow the cafés’ market niche. Flickr user Johan van Elk (jmvanelk) captured the late & unlamented Galaxy Internet Cafe – no accent – in Duisburg, Germany, on July 28th of 2009.

Wanks For The Memories

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Flickr user Ivan Bandura (mac_ivan) just couldn’t resist snapping the Wank internet café during a visit to Bali, Indonesia in the summer of 2009. One presumes he maintained control of ALL of his other urges as well. It may well be that the rise of online p0rn and the need (by most purveyors, at least) for privacy whilst viewing such contributed to the decline of ‘net cafés in recent years.

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In any case, a more recent photo indicates Wank patrons – “wankers”, if we may – will need to get their kicks somewhere else as the AC units and decorative storefront potted plants have been removed.

Morocco’s Modern Life

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Flickr user Michela (micny259) snapped this sun-baked empty internet café “somewhere close to Ouarzazate” in south-central Morocco on November 4th of 2006. The age of the image notwithstanding, internet cafés enjoyed a generally longer lifespan in developing nations due to lower per-capita GDPs. No telling if the pretty-in-pink Cyber@Lilane is still operating today, though it’d be cool if it had been bought out by a bitter and lovelorn American expatriot and re-named Rick’s Internet Café Américain. Here’s lookin’ at you, cyberkid.

Skokie Dokie

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Ahh, Skokie, home of those hateful Illinois Nazis and this abandoned internet café in a mostly deserted strip mall. Who can say why this cybercafe couldn’t cut the mustard – easy access from the Yellow Line should have appealed to area non-drivers. In any case, Flickr users Katherine (katherine of chicago) and Marshall Rosenthal (mmmmarshall) captured the former Internet Zone‘s eerily anonymous state on March 26th, 2008 and April 2nd of 2009, respectively. Speaking of eerie, why does this miserable plaza boast TWO Subways?

iMac iNside

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Flickr user benwagner chanced upon an abandoned internet cafe in Cienfuegos, Santiago, Dominican Republic, on April 29th of 2007. Though amateur and folk-artsy in its execution, the graphic representation of an iMac painted on the café’s outside wall is well worth a thousand words. Or, say, a couple.

Faded Hulkamania

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You gotta admit, this internet cafe’s graphics really reach out and grab ya! How bow dah, Donald? You’ll find this closed internet café in Higham Hill, East London. Flickr user zall krishna (iotar) captured the café’s “hulking” facade in all of its sun-faded glory back on June 26th of 2013, several months after MSN Messenger was discontinued. Coincidence, or merely convergent devolution?

Net Loss

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There’s not much we can say about the above closed and abandoned internet café above, other than that its graffiti-encrusted roll-down corrugated metal door looks out onto downtown Barcelona, Spain. Maybe that’s all you need to know… or WANT to know. Move along, citizen, nothing to see here.

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Lost Connection 15 Closed Abandoned Internet Cafes

[ By Steve in Abandoned Places & Architecture. ]

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Let’s Make A Dill: 11 Closed & Abandoned Pickle Factories

05 Feb

[ By Steve in Abandoned Places & Architecture. ]

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The Age of Pickles ended when home refrigeration arrived, souring prospects for pickling businesses and leaving abandoned pickle factories hither and yon.

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Folks living in tropic and desert climes depended on preserved foods of all kinds so it’s no surprise A Pickle House (formerly the Arnold Pickle and Olive Company) managed to pump out the pickles from 1905 through 1994.

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The brick factory building/warehouse at 1401 E. Van Buren Street in Phoenix, Arizona was built in 1934 and has lately been repurposed as the CPLC Pickle House Makerspace Business Incubator. Nice that they kept the signage. Kudos to Flickr users Ira Serkes (berkeleyhomes-dot-com) and Amy Brown (amybrownphoto) for snapping the brine-infused building in its abandoned pre-CPLC state.

Detroit’s Booming

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Is Detroit booming again? Well, yes and no… while the much-maligned Motor City continues its inexorable decline, there are a few bright spots amid the gloom. One involves an old pickle factory.

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In May of 2015, Detroit Boom City temporarily transformed an abandoned pickle factory on Detroit’s rough east side into “a site-responsive, fully immersive (art) exhibition” featuring a host of Detroit-based creative artists, painters and sculptors. Good to know not all Detroit booms are gunshots.

All Puckered Out

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The old abandoned Seacoast Packing Company building located at 100 Dill Drive in Beaufort, SC is better known as the “Old Pickle Factory”, though pickle-packing was merely one of its many incarnations. We wonder what came first: the pickle factory or the street being named “Dill Drive”.

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Built in 1921, the factory was originally intended to be a meat-packing plant but sour economic conditions in the region put the kibosh on that plan. The completed building sat vacant for seven years before re-opening, respectively, as a grocery storage facility, a tomato-canning plant, a pickle factory, and a lumber storage warehouse.

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The Old Pickle Factory’s current distressed state looks to be the result of arson and that’s sort of true: the Beaufort Fire Department used to practice there. Hopefully their real world responses turned out better.

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These days, the much-deteriorated Old Pickle Factory is considered to be unrepairable but nobody’s in any hurry to tear it down. Besides, many of the locals find its presence oddly comforting. “It speaks to our hearts rather than our eyes,” states Beaufort native Ryan Copeland. These haunting images were taken by Eye and Eye Photography in June of 2010.

Higher & Dreher

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There’s not much left of the former Dreher Pickle Company plant in Fort Collins, CO, and there’ll be even less after the Fort Collins Community Solar Array is expanded. If you have a “pickle where the sun don’t shine” joke, here’s your cue to relate it.

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At one time, the Dreher Pickle factory processed cucumbers grown for miles around in hundreds of wooden pickling vats. The clever factory owner adapted the vats from disused wooden steam-train watering tanks made redundant after the railroads moved from steam to diesel/electric power. Much of the old plant burnt down in a 1990 fire and five years later the City bulldozed everything remaining except for one small office.

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Lets Make A Dill 11 Closed Abandoned Pickle Factories

[ By Steve in Abandoned Places & Architecture. ]

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Silk & Sadden: 15 Closed & Abandoned Lingerie Shops

01 May

[ By Steve in Abandoned Places & Architecture. ]

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The thrill is gone and so are the thongs! These 15 closed & abandoned lingerie shops have nobody else to blame for their sagging level of support.

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Cue “Thunderstruck”… but whether you’re AC or DC, Thunder Lingerie and More is, er, no more. Located at 100 Greenwich Street in NYC’s Financial District, this boldly named ex-lingerie store was open as late as early April of 2011 as can be seen by the last of three images above. Kudos to Flickr users H Y (Haruko16), Scott Lynch (Scoboco), and Andy (ho_hokus) for capturing the late and lamented lingerie (and more) retailer in all of its Old Glory.

Secret Garden of Delights

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Lingerie AND flowers? Shoot, a fella’ could have a pretty good weekend in Vegas with all that stuff. But enough about strange love, The Secret Garden in Hamilton Square, NJ closed shop some time before Flickr user Brian McGann came across it on January 1st of 2009. “ASK ABOUT R HOT RESS”… nope, in this case ignorance really is bliss.

We Had Everything

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It would seem that even having everything (including “Bras Of All Sizes”) wasn’t enough to stave off retail oblivion for We Have Everything, a quaint and charming now-abandoned lingerie shop on Chicago’s gritty north side. Flickr user John W. Iwanski (Chicago Man) snapped the sad state of the screened & shuttered store on January 25th of 2011.

The Writing’s on the Wall

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Netherlands-based lingerie retailer Lindessa is still going strong but the outlet above, according to Flickr user oerendhard1, is closed tighter than the clasps of an outgrown brassiere. The photographer snapped the shop’s graffiti-encrusted exterior on a gloomy, overcast day in December of 2008.

Lead Us Into Temptation

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Jesus, what lovely knickers! You knew the Germans always make good stuff but were you aware their shop signs often fill viewers with shock and awe? Take CHRIST, for example, a lingerie shop whose mission it was to make perfect angels look their devilish best. One might’ve called it the best lingerie shop in Berlin, bar nun. Flickr user Squiggly Diggums captured the semi-sacrilegious storefront in Berlin’s central Mitte district on December 8th of 2005.

Posts Tagged ‘Closed’

Spec Easy

Innercity Vision

Sol Survivor

The Italian Jobless

Next Page – Click Below to Read More: Outta Sight 15 Closed Abandoned Opticians

Photoshop Elements 2018

Premiere Elements 2018

Smokeless

The Sun Isn’t There

Hot Stuffed

One Lesstan

Next Page – Click Below to Read More: Bar The Rays 15 Closed Abandoned Tanning Salons

Shoreline Scar

Laurel Turpitude

Sign In Stranger

Next Page – Click Below to Read More: Grand Slammed Closed Abandoned Dennys Restaurants

Dog’s Breakfast

Parson’s Nose Best

Taken Away

Over, The Rainbow

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Hungary No Longer

Philadelphia Freewheelin’

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Dublin Down

Simply Closed

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A Galaxy Far Far Away

Wanks For The Memories

Morocco’s Modern Life

Skokie Dokie

iMac iNside

Faded Hulkamania

Net Loss

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Detroit’s Booming

All Puckered Out

Higher & Dreher

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Secret Garden of Delights

We Had Everything

The Writing’s on the Wall

Lead Us Into Temptation

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