The "Lancaster's 'Mr. Downtown' Has Died" Story

Steve's store at 315 North Queen Street in downtown Lancaster, PA.

It was an ordinary day.  Trying to remember when the last time was that I talked with Steve Murray.  Steve couldn't be missed since he was over 6 feet tall and always dressed in vintage clothing.  How he ever found clothes to fit his frame was always amazing to me.  There weren't many people his size who lived in the 1920s to maybe the 1970s.  But, he always seemed to find something different to cover his frame.  

Steve in his vintage clothing.

I never got to know Steve very well, but did stop many times at his shop at 315 N. Queen Street in downtown Lancaster.  Shop was known as Zap & Company and featured vintage clothing and furnishings, estate jewelry, objects d'art and Art Deco lighting.  He had fur pieces from the 1940s, Hawaiian shirts from the 1950s, pins, pearls, cigarette lighters of all types, cocktail shakers, classic movie posters and compact discs, to name a few other items.  He opened his store in 1973 and always seemed to have a few people shopping in the store when I would stop from time to time.  I did enjoy his vintage Hawaiian shirts that he wore all summer.  

Steve with mannequin Hilda outside Zap & Company.

Now, I tell you all this since Steve, The "godfather of downtown retail" died this past Sunday after suffering a brain aneurysm.  Steve was 68 years old.  Steve's Zap & Co. was a treasure trove for period clothing and pop culture memorabilia.  The store was a source of costumes and props for many Hollywood productions, from James Cameron's "Titanic" to TV's "That '70s Show" to Woody Allen's "Radio Days".  

Inside photo of his store.  It was jam-packed throughout.

You just couldn't walk past the store without stopping out front and see what was in the window display.  The mannequins were dressed, and in some cases very scantily, in inventive ways.  The mannequin that stood by the front door, known as "Hilda" greeted customers in her latest get-up which was always picked by Steve.  

Remains of Zap & Company.

I may not have made many trips to the store, but after meeting me in the mid-1970s, he never forgot who I was.  Always greeted me as if I was his best friend.  But, on January 20, 2011 Steve's dream store was destroyed when a fire consumed his entire store.  The reason for the fire was never determined and the biggest asset to the store, "Mr. Downtown", was almost lost in the fire.  He recalls trying to reach for a fire extinguisher that was at the top of the basement steps when he must have fell and smashed the side of his head open.  The firemen found him, at first thinking him to be a mannequin.  

One of the few remaining memories I have.  A business card.

They did mouth-to-mouth and CPR on him and determined if he had been in the building another three or four minutes he would have died.  He was rushed to Lancaster General Hospital where he was first treated, but the severity of his burns was so great that they flew him by helicopter to well-known Crozer-Chester Medical Center in Delaware County for treatment.  Over a third of his body was burned.  

"Mr. Downtown"
You most certainly will be missed!

Both his arms and hands were burned with his right hand sustaining fourth-degree burns; burned to the bones.  Steve was in a coma for six weeks then underwent the first of 15 surgeries.  He had no memory of the fire.  Back in Lancaster shops in the 300 block of North Queen had signs asking people to pray for Steve's recovery.  Flowers and notes were left at the boarded up store at 315.  Steve went through quite a bit of physical therapy during his recovery.  But, his prized store, as well as his pet cat, was gone.  His sister and daughter were his biggest supporters during his recovery.  Today his pride and joy still is a vacant lot with a six-foot high black wooden fence in the place where Hilda one stood.  Oh, Yea!  Hilda did survive, but somewhat charred.  What happens now to the lot remains to be seen.  Whatever it is, it will never be as interesting and entertaining as Zap & Co. used to be.  It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.