Mr. Swiss / 1 Stop Party Shop (aka Cromartie Liquor Store & Party Shop No 2), 3525 West Beltline Boulevard: 2011 11 comments
This interesting little building sits on the left side of Beltline, just past Farrow if you are headed towards Forest Acres, right where those two streets with the stoplights that aren't synchronized to *anything* are.
Obviusly it wasn't orginally a liquor store, but I'm not sure what it would have been. The exaggerated 'A' frame shape suggests some type of branding, and is somewhat reminiscent of this building on Airport Boulevard, at least in the back part, but I don't know what that one was originally either.
At any rate, I noticed on a recent Saturday evening, when you would expect a liquor store to be hopping, that the lights were off and the place was deserted. It's in this year's phonebook (February 2011), but the phone has been disconnected.
UPDATE 17 October 2011: Commenter jhill supplies the name for this building's incarnation as a fast food and ice-cream restaurant, Mr. Swiss.
UPDATE 12 Marck 2012 -- Open again as OneLove Food Mart:
11 Responses to 'Mr. Swiss / 1 Stop Party Shop (aka Cromartie Liquor Store & Party Shop No 2), 3525 West Beltline Boulevard: 2011'
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Dennis
17 Oct 11 at 6:12 am
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I believe this was built in the late 60's or early 70's and was called Swiss Chalet or something close. Fast food, similiar to Dairy Queen.
CJB
17 Oct 11 at 7:59 am
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Mr. Swiss was the name. My family operated the fast food and ice cream franchise from 1969 to 1977. Thanks.
jhill
17 Oct 11 at 8:52 pm
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jhill, thanks! Added to the post title.
ted
17 Oct 11 at 10:47 pm
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Yes! Mr. Swiss. How could I forget. Here's a neat bunch of photos of other repurposed Mr. Swiss buildings:
http://www.agilitynut.com/eateries/aframeswiss.htmlDennis
18 Oct 11 at 6:11 am
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@Jhill- did it not operate prior to 1969? I recall it being promoted on the old Abushi-ya-ya (sp?) show on WOLO.
Tom
18 Oct 11 at 9:32 am
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Did the mr. Swiss chain have any affiliation with Village Inn Pizza Parlor?
http://skycity2.blogspot.com/2011/09/village-inn-pizza-parlor-lenoir-nc.html
Similar architecture.
tonkatoy
19 Dec 11 at 12:42 pm
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in response to some of the earlier comments, I checked loopnet on this proterty and it shows it being built in 1968 and is 1,047 ft²
Andrew
19 Dec 11 at 5:00 pm
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make that property
Andrew
19 Dec 11 at 5:00 pm
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As a former South Carolinian, something has always piqued my curiousity....
Why do all the liquor/package stores in SC have those red dots on them?
Mike M.
26 Apr 12 at 2:36 am
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Copy and Paste from myrcpl.com
It is believed to have its origin in the South Carolina Constitution of 1895, article 8, section 11, which prohibited alcohol sales between sundown and sun-up. The red ball designates the sun and identifies the store as one that sells alcohol. The State newspaper, 10/03/1984, gave the following theory:
In the 1940s, the state was forcing liquor stores to shrink their signs dramatically, so as not to advertise alcohol too blatantly. Stores were allowed to use lettering only a few inches high on doors or windows. A Charleston liquor store "highlighted" the tiny lettering with a dramatic red dot, and everyone else followed suit.
Sidney
26 Apr 12 at 5:32 am
I seem to remember this was a fish market for a time . Way back it was some kind of walk-up-to-the-window burger place but it just won't come to me. We need a 1969 phonebook -- Richland County says it was built in 1968.