Decades-old auto parts store in Southern New Jersey abruptly demolished

Here's another case of "here today, gone tomorrow" in South Jersey.

A decades-old auto parts store right in the heart of Gloucester County is quickly being reduced to rubble.

That store is the old Pep Boys right off of the corner of the Black Horse Pike and Ganttown Road in Turnersville, Washington Township.

If you grew up in that area like I did, you know that store was there forever. When I was a kid, I remember that store having statues of Manny, Moe, and Jack up on the roof of the corner of that building — and perhaps you remember Manny's cigar being removed back in the early 90s, which left an awkward hole in his face. Those statues would come down for good a few years later.

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What you may not know about Pep Boys is that the century-old company was founded in Philadelphia; its headquarters are now in Bala Cynwyd, PA.

The original Pep Boys were Emmanuel "Manny" Rosenfeld, Maurice "Moe" Strauss, Graham "Jack" Jackson, and Moe Radavitz. In the summer of 1921, those four each put $200 toward opening an auto parts store, Pep Auto Supply Company.

Over the decades that followed, ownership changed hands several times and Pep Boys bought several other auto parts-related companies. Long story short, by 2016, they had 9,000 service bays in nearly three dozen states. Today, Pep Boys has split into two companies — they still operate their auto repair business while the auto parts side has spun off into another company.

Pep Boys store in Turnersville, NJ, demolished

After decades in business, it was announced in the summer of 2021 that Pep Boys in Washington Township would close soon, which it eventually did.

That store sat vacant until news broke last summer that the Raising Cane's fast food chain was interested in developing a rather large restaurant on that site, which was approved.

To make way for the new eatery, the old Pep Boys had to be demolished, which began just a few days ago.

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Pictures posted to Facebook by the Washington Township Police Department show workers quickly tearing down the building.

Obviously, we're still several months away from being able to eat chicken fingers here, however, multiple job openings have already been posted online.

In the meantime, we can now add this old Pep Boys store to our growing list of things that have disappeared from South Jersey...