Walgreens stands at 10320 Main Street in Fairfax presently. Harris Teeter didn't last long there but it was a very nice two-story grocery that I used to like to patronize. That corner location has changed hands quite a number of times over the decades. In fact, since the early 1980's, the corner of Main Street and Old Lee Hwy has been truly and thoroughly cleared, revamped, pruned, groomed, re-cleared, scraped out, undone, redone, re-purposed and redeveloped. Before any of the suites against Old Lee Hwy existed on that corner, and before the current main building (Walgreens) facing Main Street went up, there was a Pfaltzgraff Factory Outlet store there. It was situated in an old, dank, musty, antiquated warehouse style building outfitted with a big huge sweeping curved semi-dome poured concrete roof - like the roof of an old-school mid-century Safeway grocery building. That old Pfaltzgraff building had meant something to me and I was sorry to see it go.

I moved to Fairfax in 1979 and the old Pfaltzgraff building came down not too long thereafter. I'd been in that store just a handful of times prior to its closing. I recall how forlorn and lonely that place felt. And I had wondered how long it had been in that state or if it had ever seen better, brighter, livelier days. The store seemed as if it were staffed with souls who'd long since lost all interest and just clearly didn't care. There were no customers, and I had felt sad about that. The place was drab and lifeless. It was eerily silent at midday. You could hear a pin drop. The shelves were perpetually only half stocked and there were broken and cracked pottery items on offer that, well, obviously were never going to get sold.

I recall thinking how queer it was that nobody ever seemed to be doing any kind of work there. On one occasion, I'd entered through the front of the store and had wandered all the way to the very back upstairs corner where the curved roof/ceiling sloped downward to within just a few feet of the floor. And then I had made my way all the way back out the front doors again without ever having seen anyone, all during broad daylight business hours. I remember feeling convinced that nobody would have noticed or cared if I'd have decided to depart with my arms full of un-purchased merchandise. The place seemed indeed forsaken. It saddened me but didn't surprise me at all when at last the doors were shut for good. I'd had the sense that there was just nothing left to be gained or lost there, whereby closing the place down was the only meaningful action left to be taken.

And so the old Pfaltzgraff store by and by had served its purposes and then had passed into history. Quietly and with no farewells or liquidation sales events, it just simply, unceremoniously ceased its existence. And its closing had become, for me, emblematic of an older, quieter, simpler Fairfax - a Fairfax that was, itself, passing into posterity in deference to the not-so-old, and the not-so-quiet, and the not-so-simple.

Does anybody else remember any of this?

1979 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Walgreens stands at 10320 Main Street in Fairfax
> presently. Harris Teeter didn't last long there
> but it was a very nice two-story grocery that I
> used to like to patronize. That corner location
> has changed hands quite a number of times over the
> decades. In fact, since the early 1980's, the
> corner of Main Street and Old Lee Hwy has been
> truly and thoroughly cleared, revamped, pruned,
> groomed, re-cleared, scraped out, undone, redone,
> re-purposed and redeveloped. Before any of the
> suites against Old Lee Hwy existed on that corner,
> and before the current main building (Walgreens)
> facing Main Street went up, there was a
> Pfaltzgraff Factory Outlet store there. It was
> situated in an old, dank, musty, antiquated
> warehouse style building outfitted with a big huge
> sweeping curved semi-dome poured concrete roof -
> like the roof of an old-school mid-century Safeway
> grocery building. That old Pfaltzgraff building
> had meant something to me and I was sorry to see
> it go.
>
> I moved to Fairfax in 1979 and the old Pfaltzgraff
> building came down not too long thereafter. I'd
> been in that store just a handful of times prior
> to its closing. I recall how forlorn and lonely
> that place felt. And I had wondered how long it
> had been in that state or if it had ever seen
> better, brighter, livelier days. The store seemed
> as if it were staffed with souls who'd long since
> lost all interest and just clearly didn't care.
> There were no customers, and I had felt sad about
> that. The place was drab and lifeless. It was
> eerily silent at midday. You could hear a pin
> drop. The shelves were perpetually only half
> stocked and there were broken and cracked pottery
> items on offer that, well, obviously were never
> going to get sold.
>
> I recall thinking how queer it was that nobody
> ever seemed to be doing any kind of work there. On
> one occasion, I'd entered through the front of the
> store and had wandered all the way to the very
> back upstairs corner where the curved roof/ceiling
> sloped downward to within just a few feet of the
> floor. And then I had made my way all the way back
> out the front doors again without ever having seen
> anyone, all during broad daylight business hours.
> I remember feeling convinced that nobody would
> have noticed or cared if I'd have decided to
> depart with my arms full of un-purchased
> merchandise. The place seemed indeed forsaken. It
> saddened me but didn't surprise me at all when at
> last the doors were shut for good. I'd had the
> sense that there was just nothing left to be
> gained or lost there, whereby closing the place
> down was the only meaningful action left to be
> taken.
>
> And so the old Pfaltzgraff store by and by had
> served its purposes and then had passed into
> history. Quietly and with no farewells or
> liquidation sales events, it just simply,
> unceremoniously ceased its existence. And its
> closing had become, for me, emblematic of an
> older, quieter, simpler Fairfax - a Fairfax that
> was, itself, passing into posterity in deference
> to the not-so-old, and the not-so-quiet, and the
> not-so-simple.
>
> Does anybody else remember any of this?


Yeah we had a discussion about Pfaltzgraff on the Old pictures of fairfax county thread a few months ago.
I still own and use some of the factory seconds airline dishes that they used to sell there.
Attachments:

Sell those old ailine dishes on eBay. Profit.

That place was there longer than 1979.

I think that store was a Safeway before it was a Pfaltzgraff outlet. The aforementioned curved ceiling was standard in Safeway stores at one time.

wha? Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> That place was there longer than 1979.


If memory serves me correctly Pfaltzgraff was in business there until the late 80's/early 90's.

I could swear that when we moved back here in 1994 it was open. Not too long after that it became Harris Teeter.

Ah what a cool photo!! Does it have a date?

Yes, I acknowledge that Pfaltzgraff was there beyond 1979, which was the year I first touched ground in Fairfax. To put it into context, when an old guy like me says "not long after" it may actually be years long in duration, but relative to the number of years I've lived in this area by now, it seems as if it was a mere handful of months or so to me. I'm sure it was a number of years though, in actuality.

There was a Safeway store there until 1978. A new Safeway was opened in the brand new Courthouse Plaza.

The Pfaltzgraff store was a seconds store, so all of the pottery had issues.

Meowch Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I could swear that when we moved back here in 1994
> it was open. Not too long after that it became
> Harris Teeter.


_________________________________________


yes, the pfaltzgraff store was there well beyond 1979. i was in high school and recall going there ( for whatever reason i sure as shit cannot recall now ), so that would have been around 86/87/88. after it left the space became a christian or childrens bookstore, and if memory serves correctly here, it then got split into two stores, whatever they were, and then sat vacant for a while. the hairless peter didnt open until around 1999/2000. i moved to an apt in ffx city ( PROVIDENCE PARK, FTMFW!!! ) in 98, and shortly thereafter signs went up announcing a HT coming.

no your crazy. they were a budget store. back then stores weren't pimped up like they are today, to throw your sense of "conserve your spending" off balance. today's stores every thing has to be polish finish and play stupid music to get you off your guard so you'll forget: this world sucks maybe i should spend money like an asshole!

they sold cheap import dishes and etc. the store was find and not smells that's not true.

some people didn't like it because "buy union". they were not union made, not made in the usa. it was all imports from china.

they started going out of business when the "big box stores" came in and competed.

people aren't going into the middle of fairfax for "cheap dishes" if they can stop at a more convenient strip mall with a big box store that also sells cheap dishes

------------------------------
i saw the new shoping center only from a distance

i'm guessing county workers who stole allot of money are behind the opening of those stores

have ZERO idea if i'd go there for anything useful (ie, instead of lowes or sears)

the new center is often packed to the brim with cars: and there also my guess is the customers are mostly overpaid government workers or a few people who's business and work depend on government workers and how they spend money (very badly)

the new center looks great

but when i see they've been selling green cards for profit

that they are paying, ie, green cards $45,000 a year to fricking cut a single field (not to mention other jobs). and that while on tv while an old man is telling them not to do it !!! yea.

i expectably get angry and wish to seek justice

these people belong in jail really

1979 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I moved to Fairfax in 1979 and the old Pfaltzgraff
> building came down not too long thereafter.

I guess "not long after" is relative - I worked there in high school 20 years after that. It actually closed in this location because the landlord sold the property to a developer. Pfaltzgraff moved down the street to Fair City mall... then closed.

1979 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> The store seemed as if it were staffed with souls who'd long since
> lost all interest and just clearly didn't care.

We smoked a lot of weed in the back - probably had something to do with that.

1979 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> There were no customers, and I had felt sad about
> that. The place was drab and lifeless. It was
> eerily silent at midday. You could hear a pin
> drop.

That's true, and we loved it. We took turns hiding from customers in the front office or sleeping in the back. Or smoking weed.

1979 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
>The shelves were perpetually only half
> stocked and there were broken and cracked pottery
> items on offer that, well, obviously were never
> going to get sold.

It was a seconds store, so yeah, most of it had defects. Fun fact, when we couldn't sell the pallets of imperfect stoneware, we spent hours smashing them against the walls in the back. And smoking weed. Good times.

1979 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I recall thinking how queer it was that nobody
> ever seemed to be doing any kind of work there.

Did I mention the weed? Oh and the lack of customers. But mostly the weed.

1979 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> On one occasion, I'd entered through the front of the
> store and had wandered all the way to the very
> back upstairs corner where the curved roof/ceiling
> sloped downward to within just a few feet of the
> floor. And then I had made my way all the way back
> out the front doors again without ever having seen
> anyone, all during broad daylight business hours.

That was essentially my job description. You should have clocked in.

1979 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I remember feeling convinced that nobody would
> have noticed or cared if I'd have decided to
> depart with my arms full of un-purchased
> merchandise.

Yeah, it was easier to go out the back, walk it around the front and return it without a receipt for cash. Probably didn't help the bottom line, but funded our weed smoking.

1979 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Does anybody else remember any of this?

I do my friend. I also remember a homeless man explosively sharting diarrhea on the bathroom walls. Was that you?

And the Safeway at Pickett too,, with the storefront sitting in the parking lot April 1st 1973 .. Commonwealth Christian School Bus Parked in the front window of the Pickett ABC store..LOL..

DAJAX