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May 3, 2023Liked by Heath Racela

Heath, I grew up not far from you in S. Euclid OH. Our shopping area was Cedar Center. We lived one block over. The shopping center was on both sides of Cedar Rd. We moved there because my Mom never drove, and there was a grocery store, 2 delis, a bagel shop, movie theater, barber shop, bowling alley, and much more, including a Radio Shack. They had a battery club, where you could get a pack of batteries each month. I would make time to get my pack every month whether I needed them or not. https://radio.drewdurigan.com/classic-vintage-products/battery-of-the-month-club/

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Oh man, this is incredible! I've never heard of the Battery of the Month Club, but what a strange, quirky promotion that's also kind of brilliant.

I know Cedar Center well, though I know it more for the Whole Foods that went in later. We used to hang out on Coventry a lot as kids and I remember driving by the department store there that's now the Target (was it a May Co back then?) and it had the huge bell on the corner! That held my interest as a kid every time we passed.

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May 4, 2023Liked by Heath Racela

May Co. with a bell. Classic department store dining room. Went there Friday after Thanksgiving to watch Santa arrive. Lived there from 1968-1980. It's changed over the years so much, but still a vibrant center. My best guess that it survives because it's so close to a college, much of the population is older, and the area is still the hub of the Orthodox Jewish population. I also know your area well. Our family owned a beer distributor in Painesville. We covered Lake, Geauga & Ashtabula counties. Delivered beer as a helper in the late 70's though college in the mid 80's. I've got some pictures, would love to send them. On a side note, I found your substack from Nick Offerman, then Michael Estrin by way of a substack suggestion, and Joe Posnanski, because I've read him for over 20 years. All from NE Ohio. As Joe writes a lot, the internet is a rabbit hole, and in this case, I love it.

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That's amazing! I'm glad the internet rabbit hole connected us. Yes, I lived in "Old Willoughby"- the neighborhood closest to Downtown Willoughby for my first 18 years, then spent a year in Kansas City, before coming to Boston for college and settling down out East. Much of my extended family is still in CLE, though I don't get back as often as I would like. We also (as I wrote on Sunday) drove A LOT and got all over the city- everything from Geneva on the Lake to Coventry/University Circle/Murray Hill to my dad's childhood neighborhood in Gordon Square on the near West Side was fair game.

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