Orr's (department store)

Orr's was a department store located in Downtown Bethlehem, Pennsylvania.

History

Orr's of Easton was begun by Matthew Orr and later sold to the Bixlers. In the late 1950s, Orr's was opened in Bethlehem when the Bush & Bull store previously occupying the space left.^[1] (Before Bush & Bull the store was a Lerch & Rice Co. location.) In the 1970s, Bethlehem's downtown was declining, similar to that of neighboring Allentown and Easton. The block of W. Broad Street was closed off from Guetter Street to N. New Street to create an outdoor pedestrian mall. This plan failed and was recently re-opened as a street. Bethlehem's downtown had continued to struggle, and in 1993, Orr's of Bethlehem closed. The building was renovated into an indoor mall, Main Street Commons. The parking deck adjacent to Orr's was kept and is still in use for the mall today. The Easton location also closed and was renovated to The Crayola Factory and Two Rivers Landing. Orr's locations were the following, all of which were closed:

• Bethlehem, 559 Main Street, Bethlehem, Pennsylvania
• Easton, 306 Northampton Street, Easton, Pennsylvania
• Phillipsburg, Hillcrest Mall, Phillipsburg, New Jersey
• Flemington, Flemington, New Jersey

References