I am sad malls are dissappearing.

Post Reply New Topic

As a kid I just liked the ambeince didn't care so much about all the stores but the had sitting areas with fountains and idk they just seemed like nice places to be. In my city we had Cinderella City I guess(don't really remember it entirely) but my mom says she did take me and my siblings there a few times..

But they tore it down in 1999 now thinking back I think a very vaguely remember going there but I was probably like 5, that said I get reoccuring dreams and there has been a reoccuring like mall bit in my dreams which maybe is just memories from going to that one before it was torn down.

Anyways I am not even a big shopper, I more just liked the ambeince of malls with fountains and places to just sit and chill in the mall growing up....idk. So I am kind of sad about it, like what happened to malls with cool fountains and inside environment falling out of popularity? LIke even seemed perfect for autism if you got to overwhelmed in a store you could just find a secluded bench to sit on near the fountain or whatever till you regain your composure.

And now I am finally an adult that could go enjoy those things, but they are all torn down so guess I was too late.

Its disconcerting. A big change in the American scene. Thats for sure.

Since Im a boomer I remember when ...well there were always shopping malls in my time...but they really took off in the Seventies and Eighties. So everyone kinda loved to hate, and hated to love malls because they seemed like an unstoppable future to come.

Kids who hung out in them were called "mallrats".

There was one upscale mall called "White Flint" that was major place in the DC suburbs. A reporter on TV talking about the country of Singapore once said "imagine a whole country run like White Flint Mall...thats Singapore" and everyone in the Washington instantly knew what he meant. There was a "White Flint" stop on the subway. Now White Flint is a fenced in ghost town, and the Metro stop is called "North Bethesda". Makes me feel like Mathuselah.

There are still long standing malls that carry on. But they get snazzier to compete.

But I guess teens still hang out in these remaining ones. So we will still have mallrats for some time to come.

But outdoor "shopping centers" with big box stores are not being threatened.

Westfarms Mall is still busy in Connecticut. They have intentionally moved to appeal to upscale consumers over the decades.
https://youtu.be/yt_ddrQJpV8
Last year the See's Candy kiosk sold out of chocolate well before Christmas.

I think big brands like to have a presence and sell to the wealthy.

[opinion=mine]

The rise and fall of shopping mall commercial success correlates with the rise and fall of Boomer commercial influence.

[/opinion]

We call them shopping centres or complexes here. They're indoors, sometimes with fountains, always with seats. However, the shops inside are all big brands. No independents. I think independents used to exist in them, but they have long since gone.

I'm not sure what an outdoor shopping centre is and how it differs or if it differs much at all. Although I do know one that has a circular courtyard area that's outdoors and has a mini water fountain for filling up water bottles. All of the shops face inward. I think they call that a shopping village.

Indoor markets have been suffering. The type that have stalls set up or the only separating factor between shops is a curtain or two. So it all blends together in one space. I went to one not too long ago. There were dolls that looked possessed. If you walked a bit further, there was a butcher and next to that a collection of vinyls. Always rather chaotic in such places.