A Corner Store on Troost

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4 responses to “A Corner Store on Troost”

1. 

   celeste cody gogel

   January 6, 2015

   I remember this area well. We moved to 5012 Forest in 1948. The drugstore at the time was called Polsky’s and there was a soda fountain with stools that swiveled and a gum ball machine in then corner that we used to try and get the charms out of to trade. The gum machine had yellow and red stripped balls that were worth a nickle that you could redeem for some candy. Just to the north was the grocery store where there was the butcher that would cut meat for you. We used to take pop bottles that we would find and redeem them for 2 cents each and then would buy ice cream with the money, fudge, dream and pop sickles. My mother would send me with a wagon, list and money to buy groceries and if I didn’t have enough money with me they would just put your name on list and you could pay when you came in the next time. The garage that was just to the East of the drug store had a jeep that belonged to one of the workers and we would sit in it and push the choke button to make it jump. We would also try and rollerskate through the garage as there was an exit that went out to Troost avenue. The floor in the garage was very slick and we would just fly through the garage. We would also try and climb on the roof as you could easily get on the roof from the back yards on Forest. We would look for shinny rocks that were on the tar roof but the men in the garage would hear us and would chase us away. Several of the apartments were owned or rented out by Rockhurst College in those days, for some of the faculty to live in. I believe that our house on Forest is the one that is 17-30-21

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2. 

   Jim Byler

   August 18, 2015

   What years was the pharmacy called Polsky’s and was that the family name of the owner(s)?

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3. 

   Richard Hart

   October 18, 2017

   The pharmacy was owned by Morris Polsky, a pharmacist, and I believe it had just two employees. It was called Troostwood as long as I can remember. It was very small compared to modern drugstores, perhaps 1,000 sq. ft. But it seemed to have whatever most people needed, including liquor, tobacco, film processing, food, soda fountain, and medicines. I went there many times as a child in the 1960’s with my father, who was a friend of Morris and his wife, Tudie. I believe it closed by the mid to late1970’s as the area became quite run-down by then. I think he then worked for a while for a store in Raytown, called Sam’s (no relation to WalMart) before he retired completely and passed away in the 1980’s.

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4. 

   Vicki Smith Kistler

   April 29, 2019

   Oh my yes! Polsky’s! We lived at 5025 Forest in the 50s. Polsky’s were such nice people and it was always fun to go there. Besides going there, my brother, sister and I would go play in what we called “the woods” which ran along between the houses on Forest and the apartments in Troost. As an adult, doesn’t seem like much of a Forest, but as a little kid it seemed huge. Great memories!

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