Citi Trends interior
Citi Trends (13,150 square feet)
4027 West Mercury Boulevard, Hampton Plaza, Hampton, VA
Opened in 2004, renovated in January 2020; originally part of GEX (August 9th, 1962-1977), later Chuck E. Cheese's Pizza Time Theatre (May 1982-1993), Chuck E. Cheese's (1993-May 2002)
This is the store's back wall, and where the showroom was located. Having opened in 1982, Hampton began with a "balcony" stage, as seen in this video from 1988. Not too long after that the stage received a "porch" façade, and in 1993 it was converted to a 2-stage, which is the form it was in when I visited as a kid. When CEC moved in 2002 it got a brand new Studio C Beta, and this location's stage and animatronics were sent to the store in Florence, Kentucky, which was owned by the same franchisee; Pasqually's bass drum head, however, ended up at Chesapeake Sams Circle. Florence is a store I had on my bucket list, but unfortunately by the time I had a trip planned there in April they had already begun renovating and the stage was trashed.
There is a doorway leading into the Citi Trends' stockroom, which utilizes the majority of the old showroom space. On this visit I opened the door a little to take a quick peek inside, but a motion sensor alarm started loudly chiming so I quickly shut it and walked away. From the brief glance I got of their backroom it just looks like a large gutted space, but I wish I had just a few more seconds to take a photo unsuspectingly.
Citi Trends interior
Citi Trends (13,150 square feet)
4027 West Mercury Boulevard, Hampton Plaza, Hampton, VA
Opened in 2004, renovated in January 2020; originally part of GEX (August 9th, 1962-1977), later Chuck E. Cheese's Pizza Time Theatre (May 1982-1993), Chuck E. Cheese's (1993-May 2002)
This is the store's back wall, and where the showroom was located. Having opened in 1982, Hampton began with a "balcony" stage, as seen in this video from 1988. Not too long after that the stage received a "porch" façade, and in 1993 it was converted to a 2-stage, which is the form it was in when I visited as a kid. When CEC moved in 2002 it got a brand new Studio C Beta, and this location's stage and animatronics were sent to the store in Florence, Kentucky, which was owned by the same franchisee; Pasqually's bass drum head, however, ended up at Chesapeake Sams Circle. Florence is a store I had on my bucket list, but unfortunately by the time I had a trip planned there in April they had already begun renovating and the stage was trashed.
There is a doorway leading into the Citi Trends' stockroom, which utilizes the majority of the old showroom space. On this visit I opened the door a little to take a quick peek inside, but a motion sensor alarm started loudly chiming so I quickly shut it and walked away. From the brief glance I got of their backroom it just looks like a large gutted space, but I wish I had just a few more seconds to take a photo unsuspectingly.