Interesting. I personally hope that malls can make a comeback. Maybe there doesn’t need to be as many, but I still like shopping malls.

True confession; I got a DVD of "Wonder Woman 1984" as the mall scenes in the early movie were filmed in the "dead" Landmark Mall I frequented often until it closed. It's been bulldozed since then.

I left a small rural town in 1965 and moved to a large twin city environment to attend college. On the way into town, there was construction in a former corn field on the East edge of town. Not having a car, I didn't get off campus much. However I did observe a huge building rising out of the construction site whenever I found a ride home for the holidays or breaks.

When I returned to start my second year, there was talk of a "mall" on the edge of town. I soon had a car and traveled to see this. I was amazed at the size and variety of stores. It was a great and cheap place for dates and I went there often. There was a huge grocery store and a Walgreens that had the largest liquor section I had ever seen.

Three years after graduation and the Army, I returned to town married to one of the dates I had taken to the mall and with a baby. We bought lots of things at the mall and since we were living in a mobile home, we hurried there whenever there were storm warnings. Our family grew, we got better jobs, and bought stereos, tv's, and furniture at the mall. I bought suits, shirts and ties there. I bought my first set of radial tires (nylon) at J.C. Penney. A very high end department store had one of the nicest display of S&W's and Colts. I had ever seen. I saw my first of many new models including the very nice nickel models. I saw my first M-29 upstairs from the theater where I saw Dirty Harry.

Sears, J.C. Penney and other stores fled the once thriving downtown area for the mall. The largest employer in town built their new headquarters next door and a large hospital also relocated to the East side. Over the next 50 years, the center of town rushed East. Thousands of new homes were built and many thousands of new people moved in.

Now, it is in disrepair, mostly abandoned, and the anchor stores are all gone except for Kohl's. I witnessed the birth and death of an American institution since I moved here.

Any child of the 80's and 90's in New Jersey (and no doubt other places) knows what a big part malls played in his or life. Good times, good times.

I'd hate to see them go the way of the dodo as well.

No Orange Julius at our mall anymore...what's the point?

Internet shopping with better selection and prices, retail crime and urban yout's using them for shootouts, lifestyle changes and a number of other things are about to put most of them under forever.
A few in very special circumstances will survive but the mall of the 70' and 80's, gone.

I’ve always disliked malls and done my best to avoid going shopping in them.

quote:

Originally posted by arfmel:
I’ve always disliked malls and done my best to avoid going shopping in them.

Same here, mostly because the sq ft rent cost is very high and I know I'm paying for it.

Even as a much younger guy, my back always hurt shuffling around a mall. Hard floors, slow pace, I dunno why. Walking a lot of golf rounds never bothered me.

Sadly it seems so many brick and mortar stores, especially clothing, are a thing of the past. Things come and go. A mall was such a good idea as you had tons of stores along with a food court in an air conditioned environment; especially in harsh environments.

One of my first investigative jobs was working loss prevention at JCPenney in a major mall catching shoplifters and employees stealing. The mall was like its own world and was really cool to work in at a young age. It started my career.

I experienced a lot of stuff there! Unfortunately our store was next to the city bus stop so we had tons of through traffic and gangs LOVED the mall back then. A Friday or Saturday night was 200% different than daytime hours. You would see the shock on family’s faces as they rushed out of the mall on the weekend once it got dark. We had to have 3 off-duty cops working with us in just our store due to how bad the violence was on Fridays and Saturdays. The work I did back then I would NEVER do now with how bad violence has increased. We had a wall of weapons seized from so much stuff as gangs would do initiations to have members try to successfully steal from us as we were known for catching people. Got into a lot of fights with knives and guns pulled. Crazy!!!!

The mall here in MQT has been circling the drain for a while now. The only bright spot has been the opening of a Dunhams at one end of the mall.

quote:

Originally posted by Balzé Halzé:
Any child of the 80's and 90's in New Jersey (and no doubt other places) knows what a big part malls played in his or life. Good times, good times.

I'd hate to see them go the way of the dodo as well.

Absolutely. Even before I worked in one, I was a teenager going to the mall every weekend to hang out, go to Spencer Gifts, go to the music stores, eat in the food court, and flirt with girls. Such great times! I won’t forget that back then Chick-Fil-A was only in malls. I liked them and then the first time I saw a free standing one I laughed saying who is going to go eat at a mall food store. How wrong I was!!!!!

When I was growing up and a young teen during the late 80's we would cruise the mall on Friday nights to look for girls. When the mall closed we would then cruise Atlantic Avenue at Virginia Beach. Good times !!! God Bless

quote:

Originally posted by YooperSigs:
The mall here in MQT has been circling the drain for a while now. The only bright spot has been the opening of a Dunhams at one end of the mall.

Austin, TX had 4 malls back in the day. Now 2 are left and they are circling the drain.

The need for high margins due to high overhead was a major factor.

Eddie DeBartolo invented the mall and made a fortune.It allowed his kid to buy the 49ers until he got into some trouble.

I can't recall the name of the mall or even its exact location, but there was one in Phoenix that was pretty much a "no-go" because of all the crime. And this was 15 years ago.

Most malls have been leveraged to the hilt. There is little equity left. As soon as the loans come due or a group of tenants leave, the owners will be handing the keys back for the bank. Seen it too many times.

Sad thing is, the guy that forecloses on the loan typically buys it back for Pennie’s on the dollar. Total shit deal for the banks.