Mall People

[jaF0]

I went to Malls when they were a new thing. Prior to them, shopping centers might have had awning or overhangs between stores, but you still had to deal with cold or hot.Inside between stores was something special meaning you didn't have to duck the rain running from one to another.

There was a whole world of new and odd stores inside the bigger fancier ones. Places like Sharper Image and Spencer's Gifts. Stores that focused on a single room of the house like the places full of kitchen gadget's you'd never seen on TV.

Some of them had community events like fashion shows or beauty pageants. The food courts were almost like carnival food concourses.

Nearly every one was different and they almost became destinations for families to go hang out for a weekend day.

Then the chains started taking over and before too long the malls were all the same stores, same foods, same decor'.

Then the web came into being and people found they could shop for their shit from thei9r couch.

Now many of the malls are dying and sit as vacant decaying hulks.

 

[SugarSpiceAndLace]

When I was a kid we didn’t have shopping centers. Back then we had to hitch the wagon to the horse and ride into town to the general store. Took ages. And god forbid you got there only to find the store was closed because the owner took a fever. You don’t know how lucky you young ones are with your fancy awnings and plague-free sho... oh. Wait a minute.

 

[Lonelywife1205]

I went to Malls when they were a new thing. Prior to them, shopping centers might have had awning or overhangs between stores, but you still had to deal with cold or hot.Inside between stores was something special meaning you didn't have to duck the rain running from one to another.

There was a whole world of new and odd stores inside the bigger fancier ones. Places like Sharper Image and Spencer's Gifts. Stores that focused on a single room of the house like the places full of kitchen gadget's you'd never seen on TV.

Some of them had community events like fashion shows or beauty pageants. The food courts were almost like carnival food concourses.

Nearly every one was different and they almost became destinations for families to go hang out for a weekend day.

Then the chains started taking over and before too long the malls were all the same stores, same foods, same decor'.

Then the web came into being and people found they could shop for their shit from thei9r couch.

Now many of the malls are dying and sit as vacant decaying hulks.

Sees you sitting there in your Chess King suit and offers you an Orange Julius.

 

[ydahecnot]

There are some great videos on YouTube of dying and dead malls. In reality, malls have always had a tenuous existence; it has often taken just a demographic change in the surrounding neighborhood to start keeping people away (so yeah, a racial element) The mall near me has lost two anchors, plus some of the businesses it brought in to upscale it. Maybe when the pandemic is under control, people’s desire to get out and do things may help, for a while, anyway. But societal trends are clearly not in favor of malls. Maybe they will find new life as glorified walking paths

 

[DeckardNYC]

When I was a kid we didn’t have shopping centers. Back then we had to hitch the wagon to the horse and ride into town to the general store. Took ages. And god forbid you got there only to find the store was closed because the owner took a fever. You don’t know how lucky you young ones are with your fancy awnings and plague-free sho... oh. Wait a minute.

I remember those days before malls. Perhaps a bit after SS&L's time (I'm talking 60's), but there was no mall, just the town with its tired old stores that emitted dust and decay. Every August we had the day long school outfitting trip -- just horrendous for a kid already facing the end of freedom -- and that was the extent of the store experience back then.

But I have to say, when they finally built a mall, just a 3 hour bus ride with two changes and bam! a spanking clean, rain free, climate controlled environment, with -- get this -- hot pretzels! This is before cable, so it was the best entertainment around. It was a "destination" in the 70's (but still in my once a year shopping-trip outfitted dweeb clothing).

We jest at the expense of the malls, those be-alls of American consumerism, but there are fond memories. In some ways, I'm sorry to see them go, but things change, they move on.

I personally don't like malls anymore, because they are so homogenous, and hard to navigate when you just want to get what you want and get out. But even the big department stores in the city like Macy's or Bloomies, or the smaller specialty stories in SoHo, are crowded and uppity and hard to navigate. The thrill is long gone, and I've moved to online shopping.

Crap. Maybe I'm a curmudgeon.

 

[johnnieblue44]

I went to Malls when they were a new thing. Prior to them, shopping centers might have had awning or overhangs between stores, but you still had to deal with cold or hot.Inside between stores was something special meaning you didn't have to duck the rain running from one to another.

There was a whole world of new and odd stores inside the bigger fancier ones. Places like Sharper Image and Spencer's Gifts. Stores that focused on a single room of the house like the places full of kitchen gadget's you'd never seen on TV.

Some of them had community events like fashion shows or beauty pageants. The food courts were almost like carnival food concourses.

Nearly every one was different and they almost became destinations for families to go hang out for a weekend day.

Then the chains started taking over and before too long the malls were all the same stores, same foods, same decor'.

Then the web came into being and people found they could shop for their shit from thei9r couch.

Now many of the malls are dying and sit as vacant decaying hulks.

I was in regional mall management and development for quite a few years. There are many reasons for the demise of indoor regional malls, but the main reason is the shopping center owners themselves. Painfully slow to adapt and change; inept, stubborn, and narrow-minded thinking and planning. They held prime real estate with a myriad of entertainment options, and in a nutshell, completely fucked up the industry. Dumb bastards.

 

[DeckardNYC]

I was in regional mall management and development for quite a few years. There are many reasons for the demise of indoor regional malls, but the main reason is the shopping center owners themselves. Painfully slow to adapt and change; inept, stubborn, and narrow-minded thinking and planning. They held prime real estate with a myriad of entertainment options, and in a nutshell, completely fucked up the industry. Dumb bastards.

Johnnieblue, what of things like American Dream, the behemoth in New Jersey. More of the same on a bigger scale, or an evolution?

 

[Modern_drunkard]

Say what you will about malls but I am a goddamn biproduct of Peaches and Camelot Music.

 

[Lonelywife1205]

Meet me at Spencers and then we can go to Time Out.

Then a new outfit from Casual Corner and cute shoes from Thom McAn?

 

[QuietCanadian]

Can't wait to go get the newest CD at Sam the Record Man.

 

[ydahecnot]

I got the cutest puppy from PassPets, and picked up some books at B. Dalton

 

[Justadesperatewifeandmom]

Ah malls. When I was young, my city had 2 nearby malls. One fancier mall in the suburbs where the "rich" people lived (turns out they were middle class) and the one near another suburb best described as "well at least you made it out of the city". That mall was dingy, dark, it even still had smoking all through out, had about 60 stores, and was the home of many a teen mall rat. You had the skaters, the goths, the stoners, the hip hoppers. The smell of smoke, Exclamation perfume, Aquanet, and teen angst all though out. As a female, if you stood still, alone, long enough to say Abracadabra, a "model scout", "music video producer", or "photographer" would appear out of nowhere, imply he thought you looked especially gullible, while offering to make you famous. The first and only time I ever shoplifted was in that mall. Our girl group each took something from the Dollar Store. Obviously, we were hard core criminal masterminds, fleecing the Dollar Store for a lipstick and keychain. Eventually, I finally became old enough to get a part time job. I worked at Deb, a low end teen/young adult clothing store. I briefly dated a piercer a Claire's Boutique, who had big dreams of one day becoming a body piercer at any shop whose main clientele wasn't preteen girls. Come a week before Christmas, Deb was filled with men staring blankly and wandering around confused. Hi, is there anything I can help you with? I am looking for a gift for my wife. Ok sir, what size. Um, she is kind of built like you. So she has 2 arms and 2 legs, excellent sir. Let's go with medium stretch pants and a medium oversized sweater, save the receipt just in case. When I would go on break and pass Taco Casa, if Ted the Teenage Taco Guy was standing there all by himself, and no one was looking, I'd flash him for shits and giggles. It started one day as an accidental wardrobe malfunction, but then I kept it up because it made me laugh how he tried so hard to convince the other Taco Guys it was happening, but they never believed him. He was also funny as hell, cute, and always gave me free Tacos for dinner all the time. I haven't been to that mall in about 25 years. I just looked it up, apparently in 2018 it still had 12 remaining stores, then it closed. I also wonder what ever happened to Ted, however Google did not have much luck with Ted the Teenage Taco Guy from Taco Casa. I guess all I can do is wonder.

 

[missyunderstanding]

Being Mauled

The world is getting more toxic everyday. It is true that Malls were cool when America was great. Now the swamp has mauled us all.

 

[BlackCashmere]

Then a new outfit from Casual Corner and cute shoes from Thom McAn?

Hey dont you guys forget about Lerners and Fashion Barn...or was it Fashion Bug

Although I did love Casual Corner

 

[BlackCashmere]

And then a top off at Claires to finish the look...lol...

 

[jaF0]

I guess all I can do is wonder.

Or at least try paragraphs.

 

[ydahecnot]

And then a top off at Claires to finish the look...lol...

Your top off?

 

[BlackCashmere]

Your top off?

Ha ha ha...well, I mean some stunning accessories to give that polished look...

 

[ydahecnot]

I mean, nipple rings are an accessory

 

[BlackCashmere]

I mean, nipple rings are an accessory

Ha ha...Indeed...

 

[Justadesperatewifeandmom]

And then a top off at Claires to finish the look...lol...

Need a banana barrette to go with that.?

Ha ha...Indeed...

Hey, Claire's told me they weren't insured for that.

Or at least try paragraphs.

I reserve those for strongly worded complaint letters to management.

 

[BlackCashmere]

Need a banana barrette to go with that.?


Hey, Claire's told me they weren't insured for that.



I reserve those for strongly worded complaint letters to management.

LMAO...I forgot about the Banana Barettes...ha ha ha...I loved the ones with the colored cubic zirconias

 

[Justadesperatewifeandmom]

LMAO...I forgot about the Banana Barettes...ha ha ha...I loved the ones with the colored cubic zirconias

If you are going to go for the banana barrette you must go for the bling. Either the cubic zirconias or the more reserved feathers lol.

 

[mulehead61]

All the men sitting on the walkway seats while their wives shopped...thinking we’d rather have our nails yanked out with pliers than be there...

Made some good friends...