Picture Enfield - Then and Now

ENFIELD, CT — Today's installment of this weekly Enfield history series, courtesy of the Facebook group Picture Enfield, features a mid-1970s look at the southern end of the State Line Plaza, located at 130 Elm Street (which ironically is nowhere near the state line). This picture shows the former Zayre department store and J. Homestock Furniture.

Zayre came into operation 100 years ago in 1919 in Boston, Mass. The company operated numerous stores in the eastern United States before being sold to the Ames Department Stores, Inc. chain in Oct. 1988.

J. Homestock, a subsidiary of R.H. Macy & Co., was sold to the Levitz Furniture Company in 1977, according to an article posted on fundinguniverse.com.

Other businesses located in the plaza, which town records indicate was built in 1972, around the time of this photo included Shop Rite Supermarket (remember Sylvia Gottlieb, their ridiculously boring TV spokesperson?), Genovese Drug, Marek Jewelers and Bonanza Steakhouse.

The area depicted in this photo now contains Dick's Sporting Goods, AutoZone and Costco. Here is a more recent picture posted on the Enfield town assessor's web site.

Last week's trivia answer:
Last week's Enfield trivia question was, "Bradlees department store and Stop & Shop supermarket used to share a building. Where was it located?" A number of readers correctly said the property at 1559 King Street, adjacent to Interstate 91, which is depicted in the photo below. It later became Pace Warehouse, then Bernie's TV & Appliances, and currently houses UL Verification Service, A.H. Harris & Sons, All Phase Electric Supply and Baker Properties.

Some other readers say the two stores had previously been together in a building at 481-483 Enfield Street, near the North Thompsonville Fire Department. After they moved, Budget Foods operated in that space prior to conversion to Enfield Roller World.

This week's trivia question:
Prior to opening its complex at 293 Elm Street in 1992, what was the address of the Enfield Police Department? Post the answer in the comments section below, or on the Enfield Patch Facebook page.

Do you have an old photo of Enfield you would like featured in this column? Email it, with a description, to tim.jensen@patch.com.

Photo credits: Zayre and Stop & Shop/Bradlees courtesy of Picture Enfield; Costco courtesy of Enfield Town Assessor's Office

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