As I have noted in the past we have some good groups in town keeping old Fresno pictures and memories alive. I would like to add a nerdass entry with my memory maps – hand drawn maps of an area of Fresno with memories of things that once were.
Today we are at Palm & Bullard.
NW Corner
- Home of the Opus 1 shopping center. It’s always been there since I have been alive.
- Outside of a few shops changing to something else, it’s the same.
- There used to be a cool little record shop. It was around at the tail-end of the 80s and maybe at the beginning of the 90s. Now would be a great time for it it be there again. I believe it was in the spot that the Grape Tray is in.
SW Corner
- At one time a nice little Foodland Market. Then a Walgreens. Now a yarn place of some kind. Has a neat little green space next to it where Bullard kids would go have their fights after school.
- Foster’s is still there and thankfully hasn’t changed… like, AT ALL.
- There once was one of the Fotomat places that looked like the one pictured above.
NE Corner
- Old Save Mart location. Still empty. Seems like it will be empty forever. My Grandmother lived in the apartments behind the shopping center and we got to bring the carts home when shopping – for some reason I thought that was cool.
- There used to be a Sierra Nut House. Now there is a car wash.
- Bullard Village Drugs was the jam before all the Walgreens and CVS style places took over. Good magazine section and a good Pharmacist.
- Bullard Liquor is now nothing.
- The dry cleaner is still there and hasn’t changed. ?
- Mama Mia’s is thankfully still there – home of my favorite gnocchi in town.
SE Corner
- 7-11 has always been there. Not a whole lot has changed. Although when I was a kid there was a little video game room where the Slurpee machince is now. I dropped many quarters into those.
- There was a little one of those Fresno PD phones on the side of 7-11 (maybe it is still there). Ironically, the parking lot is where Bullard kids would go to find out where the “illegal” parties were at.
- The 76 station is now one of those dinosaur gas stations.??
Feel free to share any history or stories you have about the area, in the comments.
I have another memory map post about Blackstone & Shaw too.
???
Prior to Opus 1, there was a Chevron Service Station at the northwest corner run by George Winther, also known as Pinky. He closed the station and moved his repair business to Bullard and Blackstone. George ultimately retired in the 1990s to Carmel and died a few years back. Great guy. Opus 1 also used to be home to one of the finest French restaurants in town. The name escapes me at the moment. The record store you reference was run by a guy named Dana. It was called “Rent a Record” and you could rent new releases for a couple of days.
That’s awesome information about George and the Chevron station, I never knew that.
And I totally forgot about the renting aspect of the record store, I remember that now. Very cool.