Sunday, May 04, 2008

in Petersburg it's Rucker Rosenstock





What I know or recall of Rucker Rosenstock would find spacious accommodation on the point of a needle. But the store is mentioned in a DeadMalls entry on the long gone Walnut Mall. And in this Labelscar entry.

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3 comments:

Anonymous said...

I know plenty about Rucker's - my mom was a manager there, I was practically raised in the Walnut Mall store, and worked several jobs there myself until I was about 18. She has some old advertisements, pictures, and lots of memories. Will try to get some of it digitized.

FYI, I arrived at your site through wsj.com, deadmalls.com, and the Virginia Film office site.

4:25 PM, May 22, 2009
K. R. Seward said...

Thanks for commenting--I've little knowledge of RR. The box was my mom's.

There's a lady who runs a vintage clothing store in downtown Petersburg, Second Hand Rose:

http://www.n2vintageclothing.com/

I'm not sure how much RR stuff she has, but she seems to have clothing & artifacts from mid-20th century Virginia stores like Miller & Rhoads, Thalheimers et al. If you're still in Petersburg or visit the area, may want to check with her.

Thanks again.

5:11 PM, May 22, 2009
Anonymous said...

Rucker Rosenstock was indeed a homegrown Petersburg department store on Sycamore Street. Yes it was similar to Thalhimers in Richmond. This store carried the desired labels of quality for all debs. You could purchase College Town, Bobbie Brooks and Aigner leather goods, purses, sandals, keychains and wallets. You could buy clothing here similar to Papagallo, unique,exclusive and slightly more expensive quality goods than any other stores in Petersburg before they put Miller & Rhoads in the Walnut Hill Plaza beside Food Fair. When they opened Walnut Mall in the spring of 1968, Thalhimers came to Petersburg. Rucker Rosenstock closed it's downtown store and opened a dual entrance store on the inside left of tbe main mall entrance. This store focused on name brand ready to wear for women and teens. The store closed in the late 70's. Barely making the ten year mark. I was a lucky teen to have shopped here in the heydey. I wore preppy, traditional and sometimes Mod things as shown in teen magazine and seventeen. The outside grocery store on the north end of the mall was Colonial Store. When it closed, Thalhimers expanded into it's space and forever dwarfed our own Rucker Rosenstock which led to its final demise. Ginger Gladin Birkner, Retail Merchants Board 1977

10:25 AM, March 21, 2013

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