Comments

1. 

   What a wonderful story Filled with a lot of memories really enjoyed reading this. I grew up in Scott I didn’t know much about the Lebanon shops till the early 70’s I don’t remember seeing Murphy’s I do remember seeing a big hardware store there to this day that Mall is still a wonderful little mall with everything you need in it all but a Grocery store. thanks for the memories.

2. 

   Adding to my early remark and yes it was a every girl’s dream to go to a National Record mart and buy the latest song that you heard on KQV.

3. 

   Thank you for this walk done memory lane. My father was the morning DJ on KQV in the 60’s so it may have been his show that influenced the LP purchases. Good stuff!

   1. 

      Gilbert Jewelers too…

4. 

   What a lovely, well written piece about the melding of past and present here in Mt Lebanon!

5. 

   Great shopping center. My grandmother worked at DeMar Beauty Salon. I worked there in high school as well. Graham’s Bakery was the best. Also Thrift Drug had a sandwich counter and the Village Dairy!!! Greatest memories 😊😢

   1. 

      Karley, my mother and father owned DeMar Beauty Salon. What was your grandmothers name? I have so many memories of Lebanon shops. Especially sliding down the middle of the escalator and running down the upstairs balcony.

6. 

   I loved EVERY morsel..super memories in the memory bank..

   1. 

      What a great story. I am 60 now in Florida.
      I used to work at H&R Radio from age 11(1972) to 13 for 75 cents an hour. We lived on Brucewood across from “The Shops”
      Yes! VILLAGE Dairy, Roger’s Associated Hardware, Lebanon Stationary in the arcade.not directly in but next to, The Conference Room.
      KFC, Ray Bourg Texaco.

7. 

   Ive seen many famous Patty King Brown used to shop there, ED Walker Walker Pontiac fav store the old foodland then became bottom dollar

8. 

   I used to supply all the record dividers for NRM nationwide long ago when they were very popular

9. 

   Love the memories. The first time my parents bought Mount Lebanon was on Brucewood, right across from the shops. We live there from 69 to 78, and then they moved to another part of Mount Lebanon. Does anybody remember or have pictures of when the Lebanon shops burned?

   1. 

      My dad was a fireman fighting that fire. His gear stunk up the house after that fire.

10. 

    The hardware store was called Rodgers Hardware and there was the Village Dairy

11. 

    The village dairy……..hub of the center

    1. 

       Yes!!!!

12. 

    Hey Village Dairy where a young Dennis Miller used to sling cole slaw and potato salad.

    This was many years before he was on Saturday Night Live.

13. 

    Too much, my name is Charles Dague, I lived in Castle Shannon until 1978, Poplar Street-Yellow Brick. I walked to Lebanon Shops Many times through Myrtle Avenue School grounds or take the tracks, My Aunt Via was a cashier at Thrift Drugs, first job was at Graham’s Bakery – used to neck with Cindy Graham, my best friend Craig Seifert’s Mom worked at Ruby’s, Dad used to buy lunch meat & Lotto most nights at the Village Dairy-can remember staring at Dennis Millers face-it looked rubbery w/ maybe a grimace-more
    Dennis Miller-ism’s; Craig Seifert and other friends attended Saint Anne’s School as did DM, and we all attended Keystone Oaks HS,
    Mom had her Beehive hair due done on the 2nd floor by Donna Brinski, and I did slide down the escalator slippery slope-often. Dad & brother were Shannon volunteer firemen-I went with them to the Lebanon Shops fire-early AM, Dark, Snowing.

14. 

    Many fond memories of all the stores as a child…my Dad had his office on the 2nd level, always on the escalator going to his office…remember the January 19th 1977 fire…cold day! My Dad was one of the Architect’s who redesigned after the fire. As a child would go to Murphy’s for penny candy & did Christmas shopping there! Great story! Birthday cakes and Sunday donuts after church at Graham’s bakery. Thx for the memories!

15. 

    My gram would walk me down to the Village Dairy for ice cream and a root beer float. And there was Dimlings Candy in the middle by the shoe repair guy. I lived up that huge hill off of Hoodridge Drive. And my Dad and I worked at the far end, above the bank from the late ’60 until he sold out in early ’90s. Met my husband in the office hallways upstairs in 1985. Leb Shops will ALWAYS have a special place in my heart.

    1. 

       Hi! Kim!!! Nice walk down Memory Lane. Happy Holidays!

16. 

    I savored every word of your memories. Living my teen years on lower Washington Rd made the LebanonShops (of Castle Shannon) part of my orbit. I love that Ruby’s and Graham’s are still there. Let’s make an historic registry! I shared your love of the record mart, KQV and eerily your escalator phobia! My yellow “galoshes” got stuck and stopped the escalator in the downtown Hornes, which embarrassed my mother who imagined I did it on purpose!
    Your writing conjured up some vivid and sweet memories for me.

    1. 

       Hello Leslie, Enjoyed your post, given the number of identical memories shared on this forum some of us may have rubbed shoulders a few short decades ago.
       Chuck Dague fb

17. 

    The Sports Spot was a great local sports store. You could buy all the golf tees that you could scoop up with one hand for
    $0.50.

18. 

    We lived on Jefferson Drive from 1963-1979. Our backyard was above the “cliff” behind McDonalds and that was our favorite way to get to “the Shoppes” before we could drive. We always seemed to tick off some blond Karen that worked at Hallmark. Lol! Fries and cokes at the Village Dairy, and loved going up to the second floor of Murphy’s! Also slide down the escalator in the arcade. Our Dr. (Challinor) was on the second floor and I can still remember his frosted window door. Worked at Foodland in HS and then college breaks, with both brothers working at Rogers. Graham Bakery was an after mass treat- with those walnut frosted knots. Best childhood memories imaginable. ❤️ Thanks for sharing this!

19. 

    Don’t forget the Sports Spot, and there was a radio and TV repair shop on the second level along with Gordon’s Travel Agency. I lived on Hoodridge Drive in Lebo and regularly walked to the “Shops”.

20. 

    Village Dairy. Ice cream cones at the counter. Chipped ham to take home. Then Grahams Bakery for sandwich bread etc. Loved all the shops.

21. 

    Great article brought back so many memories. My daddy had an office on the second floor from the mid 60’s to the early 70’s. I had forgotten about the post office. Thank you for sharing.

22. 

    What wonderful memories! I grew up on Ordale and could walk down to the National Record Mart and buy the latest 45. Roger’s Hardware, Murphy’s 5 & 10, Village Dairy and the 2 grocery stores brought back great memories! Don’t forget about Lebanon Lanes Bowling above the grocery store – was it the A & P?

    1. 

       Yes to the bowling alley. I’ve just been down there Recently no one’s ever heard of it. Searched for an online picture and nothing found. To bad we don’t have pictures.

23. 

    I remember, in the early 60’s, the bowling alley and duck pin bowling. I can still smell the hamburgers we got out of a vending machine. And, we got vanilla cokes at the drug store counter.

24. 

    What a great article although I didn’t grow up in MT Lebanon or castle shannon I grew up in Bethel Park and got my first full time job at Rubys cleaners in 1987 as a shirt presser. I was there for 10 years and rode the trolley to come back and forth to work in the earlier days before I got a car.
    I’ve since moved to Belle Vernon and haven’t been in that area in years but reading this article brought back alot of great memories

25. 

    I worked on the second floor and remember getting coffee at the VD, as we called it. They cleaned the coffee with a toilet brush.

26. 

    I worked at that Village Dairy for almost 3 years in High School. One night one of the guys lost his finger while cleaning the chipped ham machine. Don Asti quickly wrapped it up in deli-paper and we took it up to the hospital with the victim – whose name I can’t remember. Alas, the medics were unable to reattach the finger.

    1. 

       Bob Basil (spell) was the guy who lost his finger(s) I believe there were a couple injured. I worked there for a year as a bus boy

27. 

    Hi y’all– I just stumbled on this site, and was happy to find reminiscenses about the Lebanon Shops. I was born in ’44, so I recall when the shops were built during the mid 1950s. I don’t remember the name of the grocery store at the Castle Shannon end– might have been an A&P.

    I do remember a shoe repair shop to the right and behind the escalators, past the post office. There was a nice gift shop to the left of the escalators with windows in the front of the shops. I recall a couple of the offices on the 2nd floor: Dr. Cary Walters (chiropractor), and the Grant Bricker insurance agency.

    It’s the first I’ve heard of a fire. Was that in ’91? Glad they re-built.

    And we spent many hours bowling at the Lebanon Lanes. My folks belonged to a bowling league there.

    I was happy to see that the Lebanon Shops are still there, in constrast to how downtown Mt. Lebo has changed! My name is Art Tripp. I graduated from Lebo in 1962. Cheers!

28. 

    The shoe repair shop was run by Mr Jim Kelley, an Irish immigrant who raised a beautiful family of 3 girls, including red haired Peggy, on Ashland Avenue in Mt Lebanon. We lived 4 doors down at 279 Ashland with 9 kids before moving to a larger home on Mohawk Dr in 1964.

29. 

    I worked at Murphy’s all through high school- 1966 to 1968. I was the evening stock boy, maintenance (always changing light bulbs), and Santa at Christmas time. I didn’t fool my baby brother! He know who Santa was immediately!

30. 

    I worked for United Airlines for 11 years and our office was at 250 Mt.Lebanon
    Blvd. I remember going to the Village Dairy, The Conference Room and Hallmark for cards. It was a very nice place. I’m glad it’s still exists.

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