Fotomat

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Dean
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Fotomat

Post by Dean »

Noticed an old FOTOMAT site today in Azusa CA. It is on Azusa Avenue @ Gladstone.

It is currently a key shop and car seat cover store. Now that's a combo!

Made me wonder how many others are still standing.

Found the following on Wikipedia:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fotomat

The listing has a number of original sites listed, sans what they currently are.

I remember as a kid...my dad and I took a load of junk to the dump. A flatbed of old FOTOMATS arrived, to be dumped. I BEGGED my dad to bring one home! He did not agree!
hojos
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Re: Fotomat

Post by hojos »

I don't know if I could've forgiven my dad! It would have made for a cool playhouse.

There's one near my house that has been several things over the years, but is currently a coffee stand. There used to be two others nearby, but both have been demolished in the last few years as the shopping centers were remodeled.
Dean
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Re: Fotomat

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bigbubby
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Re: Fotomat

Post by bigbubby »

I can remember a Fotomat in Tracy, CA, in the early 1980s. It was on Tracy Blvd. in front of Tracy's first Save Mart location (which was moved next door into a bigger building years later).
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BK31
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Re: Fotomat

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There's still an old booth sitting in the Dinkytown neighborhood of Minneapolis right near the University of Minnesota on 15th Ave near 4th Street or at least there was 2 years ago last I was there and its been captured by google street view.

http://maps.google.com/maps?hl=en&q=din ... .98,,0,4.9

It was a bunch of different things when I was in college there from 98-02, but I mainly remember it being a little flower shop.
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buckhead
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Re: Fotomat

Post by buckhead »

I've seen a few ex-Fotomats still around as well as some former Fox Photo Express units being used for things as diverse as automobile window tinting stores, cigarette stores, locksmiths/key replacements, coffee kiosks, florists, and even tennis racket restringing shops. Some are still largely recognizable for their original use while others have had significant exterior changes made.
Dean
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Re: Fotomat

Post by Dean »

BK31 wrote:There's still an old booth sitting in the Dinkytown neighborhood of Minneapolis right near the University of Minnesota on 15th Ave near 4th Street or at least there was 2 years ago last I was there and its been captured by google street view.

http://maps.google.com/maps?hl=en&q=din ... .98,,0,4.9

It was a bunch of different things when I was in college there from 98-02, but I mainly remember it being a little flower shop.
Yup. That was a Fotomat!
Dean
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Re: Fotomat

Post by Dean »

On an episode of The Golden Girls, Rose (Betty White) discusses her hometown of St. Olaff, and the neighboring St. Gustaf.

She states that St. Gustaf is "much more progressive, and even has a Fotomat!"
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tesg
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Re: Fotomat

Post by tesg »

BK31 wrote:There's still an old booth sitting in the Dinkytown neighborhood of Minneapolis right near the University of Minnesota on 15th Ave near 4th Street or at least there was 2 years ago last I was there and its been captured by google street view.

http://maps.google.com/maps?hl=en&q=din ... .98,,0,4.9

It was a bunch of different things when I was in college there from 98-02, but I mainly remember it being a little flower shop.
Going slightly off-topic...after looking at this old Fotomat, flip the picture to the left and take a virtual walk just a bit up 15th and check out the goofy McDonald's.
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BK31
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Re: Fotomat

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tesg wrote: Going slightly off-topic...after looking at this old Fotomat, flip the picture to the left and take a virtual walk just a bit up 15th and check out the goofy McDonald's.
The intersection there is actually a giant bridge over a number of railroad tracks. The McDonalds there is like that since the bridge is somewhat elevated on that side of 4th. What you're seeing on the street view is actually the second floor of the McDonalds where they have extra dining space that only ever seemed to be open for big sporting events or graduations. It's only two blocks off campus and right near where the buses pick up to take students to the Metrodome for football games. To get to the counter you had to walk down stairs from the street level. The doors on fourth are to the interior set of stairs and there was an exterior set of stairs on 15th. If you did eat inside on the first floor, what few windows were down there looked out onto concrete stairs and the retaining wall for the road, plus they've got possibly the tightest radius drive through ever. I had problems getting up to the pick up window regularly even in my little VW.

Another interesting thing about a block NW at the corner of 4th and 14th is the Loring Pasta Bar in the Grodnik building. Street view link here. They renovated the place when I was in school there taking off all the 50's-60's ceramic and steel panels that were badly damaged and all of the later renovations and found the original Gray's Drugs clerestory windows with "DRUGS" painted on them intact and left them in place. The whole inside exposes pretty much all of the floor structure and ceiling structure of the building and is pretty interesting in a deconstructivist sort of way. Though its hard to tell what is original and made to look original in their renovation.
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Re: Fotomat

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