The Market for Commercial Development in Lansdowne
Physical Description of Lansdowne’s Shopping Districts
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Lansdowne totals 1.2 square miles. Within this area are 25 acres of parks, two miles of trails along Darby Creek, and six distinct areas in which people can shop. Following is a brief description of each.
Lansdowne Avenue and Baltimore Pike is the major shopping area in the Borough, and the location of its “100% corner”, where the greatest concentration of stores and the maximum amount of foot traffic occurs. The unit blocks of North and South Lansdowne Avenue are probably the one location in the community where there are a variety of retail goods and services available, and where the atmosphere of a traditional retail center in a small town has been retained. In addition, there is an office building/retail complex at 10 West Baltimore Avenue that is currently for sale, and which could become an important anchor in the Borough. There is a music store that draws its customers from other locations, as well as a jeweler, a frame store/art gallery, and several offices.
East Baltimore Pike, from Highland Avenue east to the Upper Darby border. There are several popular destinations on these blocks of East Baltimore Avenue, including the Lansdowne Station Café and a veterinarian, a new CVS, and several business services. There are also several vacancies, including the old Bell Atlantic building, and the recent loss of the Barksdale Studios is unfortunate. The blocks closest to the Upper Darby border have fewer retail establishments and more business services, building contractors, and automotive related uses.
West Baltimore Pike, from Runnemede Avenue to the Clifton Heights border. Most of West Baltimore Pike is in fact multi-family residential. The unit block is the location of a small convenience commercial strip center, and the 100 block consists primarily of apartment buildings. The 200 block of West Baltimore Pike is the location of a small, early 20th century strip center with angled parking in front whose tenants are primarily business or medical services, rather than traditional retailers.
Shadeland Avenue, between Berkeley and Drexel, on the Upper Darby Township border. This small convenience center was built in the early 20th century, and is currently 100% occupied by several food/convenience stores, a cleaner, two schools, and a building contractor.
West Marshall Road, between Owen and Windemere, is on the Borough’s northern border, across from Upper Darby. This small convenience commercial center has a Shop n’ Bag which has just doubled in size, an antique store, a bank, and a realtor. It is strengthened by another row of stores facing it on the Upper Darby side of the street, including two take-out restaurants, a flower shop, a hair salon, dog grooming establishment, a dry cleaner, and a neighborhood bar.
Plumstead Avenue, between Crawford and Lansdowne’s eastern boundary with Upper Darby. Plumstead runs one way east, and the commercial area extends for a little over a block. In addition to a Wawa, a furniture store, a pharmacy, and several take-out or fast food restaurants, there are business, personal, and medical services, and building trades.
Union Avenue, between Baltimore Pike and Florence. Union Avenue forms the eastern boundary with Upper Darby Township. Most of the retail establishments on Union Avenue are actually located on the Upper Darby side of the street. The Lansdowne side of Union Avenue is primarily automotive related. South of Baltimore Pike lies a stretch of Union Avenue that is industrial space, much of it under-utilized. Users are primarily automotive, but some other tenants, including a caterer and a cabinetmaker, have located there as well. Discussions about the future of Union Avenue are underway as part of the Delaware County Renaissance Program.
A brief analysis of the businesses that are located in Lansdowne was done on the basis of the business inventory that was conducted by the LEDC in the summer of 2002, and subsequent field updates carried out by this firm in December 2002. Following is a table summarizing the results and describing, by type of business, the economic base of Lansdowne.
Lansdowne Business Inventory
| Automobile Sales and Service | 17 |
| Building Trades | 20 |
| Business Services | 26 |
| Financial Services | 7 |
| Food/Bakery | 1 |
| Food/Convenience | 7 |
| Legal Services | 10 |
| Medical Services | 27 |
| Other | 22 |
| Personal Services | 19 |
| Photography | 6 |
| Real Estate | 4 |
| Rental complexes | 37 |
| Restaurant/Take Out | 12 |
| Other Retail | 29 |
| School | 7 |
| Theater/arts/ entertainment | 5 |
| Utilities/Public Services | 3 |
| Total | 260 |
The 19 personal service establishments included five dry cleaners, two nail salons, and six hairdressers. Restaurants were a combination of Chinese, pizza, a deli, a diner, a café, and take-out. The 29 “other retail” stores included two apparel stores, two book stores, a dollar store, four drug stores, two home furnishings and supplies, a floor covering store, a vacuum repair shop, two hobby stores, three music/radio/electronics and video, one sports store, six stores that sold either antiques or used merchandise, and three that sold miscellaneous goods.
Several issues came out of the inventory of Lansdowne businesses. First, it has a few stores that are or could become destination stores. Second, there appears to be a fairly high rate of turnover, judging from stores that had closed between the LEDC survey and this office’s two field trips in November and December. Third, it is primarily a location for small business offices rather than retail establishments.