Glen Lennox Shopping Center

I love the mid century modern architecture of this shopping center. It is a pleasant alternative to most of the retail space you see today. I think it is great that this center still thrives today.

Those who drive along Raleigh Road (HWY-​54) are greeted by the eye-​catching ‘50s Glen Lennox Shopping Center sign. The Glen Lennox Shopping Center in Chapel Hill, NC has the honor of being the first suburban shopping center in Chapel Hill, NC and one of the first in the state after Cameron Village in Raleigh, NC. After WWII, the Glen Lennox Cottages were built for the returning GI’s who were attending UNC.
Due to the Glen Lennox Cottages being on the edge of town in the ‘50s there was a need for nearby retail and the captive audience made it very popular as well as its novelty, ushering in a new era of shopping. What was once the shopping destination in Chapel Hill in the ‘50s and ‘60s has now been eclipsed by the Glenwood Square Shopping Center, its younger sibling across the street, and all of the nearby shopping centers in the area. Despite the shortcomings, there is still a heartbeat in this shopping center.
Currently all businesses in the center are in the service sector, which fills a niche in the area. There are restaurants, a kitchen and bath renovation shop, an optometry practice, a tanning salon, a beauty salon, Time Warner Cable center, and an investment practice. While the optical store may appear to be retail, in reality it is the feeder store to the optometry practice housed within. One of the differentiating features of this strip mall is that it was built with a second-​story to house offices.
In the center of the strip is the walk-​up to the offices called the Lennox Building Offices; over time, a handicap-​accessible entrance was added on the side of the building. Among the nondescript offices are medical practices as well as Amy’s Alterations. Near Amy’s office suite there is a small seating area that looks like it came out of a Mad Men set.
This shopping complex, unlike other shopping centers built around the same time, has been capable of adapting to the changes over the decades and still draws people in. One of the factors that helped this property not decay was its affiliation with the ever popular Glen Lennox Cottages, plus the charm of this place lays mostly with its ‘50s Americana appeal.