Book preserves downtown Sharon’s department store history

SHARON, Pa. (WKBN) – The downtowns of cities around Youngstown all have rich histories. A Sharon author has preserved that history in a new book about the department stores that have lined State Street.

Before it was Allie’s Sweet Tooth, it was the Army-Navy Store, and before that, G.C. Murphy’s. Those are the types of stores you can read about in Taylor Galaska’s new book, Lost Department Stores of Sharon, Pennsylvania.

“In the 1950s, I can’t even remember the exact number, but I would say there were probably 15 to 20 different shoe stores in downtown Sharon,” Galaska said.

The Winner opened in 1988. It was originally The Sharon Store, which moved into the building in 1938.

“The Sharon Store was the major department. Their motto was, ‘Always the best place to shop.’ So it was kind of the downtown department store until it was absorbed by the May Company,” Galaska said.

There’s a whole chapter on Christmas. G.C. Murphy’s was always popular with children.

“One year, they had a talking Christmas tree that had a walkie-talkie inside and the lady in the back would talk through the walkie-talkie to kids,” Galaska said.

The book includes descriptions of the former Wilson’s Furniture Store, which opened in 1845, and the Reyers Shoe Store, which opened in the 1880s.

There was also a Sears, JCPenney, and Montgomery Ward downtown.

“McCrory, Woolworth’s had a store here for a while in the 1920s. So all those names that you kind of knew in other towns — and that’s in the book, too. You know, same store, different town,” Galaska said.

This is Galaska’s sixth book, and the seventh, which will focus on Sharon and its involvement in World War I, will be coming out in the fall.

For those interested in Galaska’s book, it can be found through the Sharon Historical Society website or purchased in-person at Dot Ju’s (42 East State Street) and Daffin’s Candies flagship location in Sharon (496 East State Street).