Mandy's Drive-in, then Record Theatre, now a "dollar store"

...this 60s icon! First it was a restaurant.

These historical photos and information are at RoadsideArchitecture.com:

former Mandy's Drive-in (now Dollar Tree) Syracuse, NY

This building originally housed Mandy's Drive-in. It was built in 1964. The restaurant specialized in roast beef sandwiches. It was a walk-up stand with no car hops or indoor dining. The sign which is gone now, the roof, and the ball on top of the building were all turquoise at that time. The building was designed by Toby Nadel and Edward Fisher. Mandy's closed in 1969 and briefly became "Archie's Drive-in".The box-like building was added later when the place was turned into "Kid's Town", a toy store. In 2003, the building houses "Record Theatre Audio & Video". It is now occupied by a "Dollar Tree" discount store. Dollar Tree removed the circular counter which I believe was original but left the wood ceiling. The ball on the roof is still illuminated at night. [info thanks Frank Hammon]  [map]

From a Syracuse newspaper on Sept. 4, 2003, this article by Donna Reynolds. 

Syracuse is home to several independent record stores - Record Theatre on Erie Blvd is one of my favorites. RT has been in business for fifteen years and currently carries about 30,000 titles. Their inventory includes new and used CDs, Cassettes, DVDs and vinyl. Record Theatre will also special order any title in their catalog and call you when that title comes in. I love their building, too. Once home to Kiddie City, the round building is reminiscent of a circus tent (at least to me). The staff at RT is helpful and know their stuff and the selection within both the new and used sections is awesome. I love to browse through their used dance CDs and have found some real gems in there for very little money. What is also cool is that RT offers up CDs from local artists too!  Record Theatre is located at 3130 Erie Blvd. East in Dewitt (690E to Thompson Road exit and take a left).