Many of us remember the halcyon days of the O’Neil - Sheffield Center, with pleasant memories of the grassy courtyard and the talking Christmas Tree.
The shopping center opened on May 1, 1954 and changed the way that Lorainites shopped forever.
I’m fairly sure that the Sheffield Restaurant became Sheffield House Restaurant in March 1960, and later, McGarvey’s Party Center in December 1961. Does anyone know for sure?
It’s been the subject of many posts on this blog over the years.
When the O’Neil - Sheffield Center opened in 1954, the newspaper publicity noted that there would be a restaurant there. That restaurant was the Sheffield Restaurant, and was included in the shopping center’s ads later that year.
Interesting, the restaurant passed into local ownership in May 1956, as noted in the ad above, which appeared in the Lorain Journal on May 1, 1956. A fire would gut the restaurant in late January 1957, but it would eventually reopen.
I’m pretty sure that the restaurant can be seen at the far right (next to Probst) in the undated photo below.
I have no idea what that place was in the 60's as I wasn't born yet, but is that the same place that would later be Chi-Chi's Restaurant?
ReplyDeleteI’m fairly sure it is. That space at the shopping center seems to have been the home of a restaurant since the start. We went to that Chi-Chi’s as well; it always seemed to be slow business-wise, but you had to wait 15 minutes for a seat anyways before they seated you just a few steps into the almost-empty dining room.
ReplyDeleteWas never a fan of that Chi-Chi's. The one in Sandusky was way better.
ReplyDeleteI’d still love to know what the inside of the old May Company looks like.
ReplyDeleteIn the early 90's, the bottom floor of the May Co. was set up for their computer billing center. I worked on a crew that tore out all the remaining store fixtures.
ReplyDelete