Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Apr 23, 2011 11:48:14 GMT -5
This is kindof ironic...in my professional writing class I am doing a paper on a particular mall near me (Metro North Mall), the memories it held for me, why it went downhill, and me visiting it again after three years (already made the visit).
But yeah, good times...
I actually might be finishing up the paper today if anyone wants me to post it here.
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crash1984
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Post by crash1984 on Apr 23, 2011 11:53:00 GMT -5
This is kindof ironic...in my professional writing class I am doing a paper on a particular mall near me (Metro North Mall), the memories it held for me, why it went downhill, and me visiting it again after three years (already made the visit). But yeah, good times... I actually might be finishing up the paper today if anyone wants me to post it here. Might be an interesting read so go ahead
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Post by Cyno on Apr 23, 2011 11:54:35 GMT -5
I live in New Jersey. Malls, as a concept, will never die out here.
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Post by Dave the Dave on Apr 23, 2011 12:09:20 GMT -5
Our mall is doing alright. I actually went there yesterday. it was a sweet little old video game store.
There were some people, but it has a "no one under 18 after 4 pm" rule if unsupervised. That kills the teen hang out thing. Dumb move i think, even if it cuts down on the mall cops duty.
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crash1984
Unicron
Scavenger Hunt All-Star
You don't need pants for the victory dance
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Post by crash1984 on Apr 23, 2011 12:53:35 GMT -5
Location matters, too. Some stores fight for years to get a spot in this bustling new strip-mall, then realize - this isn't the best place for any type of business. Overbuilding in the housing market killed off a lot of malls that served no real purpose. Like the guy up there said, they get an "anchor store" signed up (let's say Sears) and who knew 5-10 years later Sears would go to crap? Now you have all these eyesores dotting the landscape with nothing to do with. I'm sure they'd be nice, but without that "one place" you want to go to, they have something like Big Lots or a Dollar Tree as the main store. (I love Dollar Tree, but not next to another dollar store and 3 nail places.) Kinda like that Seinfeld episode with the one store across the way that never keeps a business longer than 3 months. It's always something new: laundromat, food store, daycare, etc. They never realize maybe the location just sucks. That was actually part of the reasons one of our malls died. Originally this mall was very popular. About two miles away they opened up a new mall. Both malls were beside the interstate. The older mall was by the I-75/I-24 Split the newer mall was located along I-75. The big difference is that the new mall got a northbound exit and Southbound entrance on I-75. For southbound travelers wanting to get to this mall it is simple as well. You take an Exit, go over the freeway, turn right and you are on the road leading toward it. In 1998 they redid the TN-153/I-75 interchange and gave TN-153 (one of the the busiest highways in town) a direct exit to the mall. The older mall though to get to it from the interstate, requires a 3 mile drive along some pretty congested roads. I am certain had they wanted it the older mall could have got freeway access.
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Post by Hit Girl on Apr 23, 2011 12:54:52 GMT -5
Malls need more arcades. Consoles are be dominant but they still don't beat the charm of playing a coin-operated video game
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Post by wildojinx on Apr 23, 2011 16:02:05 GMT -5
Malls need more arcades. Consoles are be dominant but they still don't beat the charm of playing a coin-operated video game Only problem is that the GOOD games cost .50 to as high as 2.00 (seriously). Now occasionally an arcade will put in a few .25 "retro" games (nothing spectacular, usually along the lines of a pac-man game or street fighter 2) but thats the exception. If i have 2.00 to burn i'm sure not going to waste it on a game that i could potentially lose in 30 seconds.
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Post by priceless on Apr 23, 2011 19:11:13 GMT -5
Man this made me realize I havent been to a mall in about a year
the ones close to me really suck, The Hip (filled with a bunch of losers and old people and its a one floor mall ugh) and Brickyard Mall which is now outdoor but like 6-8 years ago it was indoor and was awesome, i cant stand outdoor malls so i refuse to go there
the 2 best in Chicago are North Riverside Mall and Ford City but they are so far south from me its not really worth the trek to get there
Side Note: Have to say when I went to Cleveland I loved Tower City Mall and when i went to KC the Independence Center were GREAT indoor malls
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Post by Bob Schlapowitz on Apr 23, 2011 19:22:02 GMT -5
The mall closest to me (South Shore Plaza in Braintree, Mass.) hasn't gone downhill, it's gone upscale. When I was a kid the place was a complete and utter shithole now it's pretty nice.
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mcd
Don Corleone
Posts: 1,283
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Post by mcd on Apr 24, 2011 14:59:13 GMT -5
Hmmm, agree with a few of the posts that mention what we used to kill time in, those of us that went to the local malls. For me it was bookstores (Waldenbooks), KB toys just to find older toys that were not in Wal Mart or Toys R Us, and of course the arcade. I miss all of it and would actually pay good money to see someone put up a Malibu or Swaders style place chock full of upright cabinets!
As for where I am now; near Ft Lee, Va we have a one-story mall in Colonial Heights which will probably NEVER die due to the constant influx of new trainees here! It even had an arcade as recently as 6 months ago, sadly now shut down. Other than that, head to Richmond for the "higher-end" mall...Short Pump. That one has the Harley store, Neiman Marcus, Godiva and is an open-air mall to boot.
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Ben Wyatt
Crow T. Robot
Are You Gonna Go My Way?
I don't get it. At all. It's kind of a small horse, I mean what am I missing? Am I crazy?
Posts: 41,552
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Post by Ben Wyatt on Apr 25, 2011 19:39:18 GMT -5
The mall closest to me (South Shore Plaza in Braintree, Mass.) hasn't gone downhill, it's gone upscale. When I was a kid the place was a complete and utter s***hole now it's pretty nice. Still too many Psuedo goths poser-ing around Hot Topic/Spencers for my liking.
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Post by Son of a Pregnant Dog on Apr 25, 2011 19:49:56 GMT -5
When K-B toys, arcades, Suncoast (no, FYE is not a good substitute) and that one hobby shop that sold RPG books left my local malls, they were dead to me. But I (and my teenage crew, when we'd mall hangout) am a nerd.
I think there was a downturn locally at the malls in the early-mid 00s but something of a rebound lately as all those empty spots vacated in the mid-00s have been refilled (with stores of no use to me) and one mall even expanded its building.
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Post by priceless on Apr 26, 2011 7:41:51 GMT -5
Powerline that was an great read, one question though ive been to KC once before and we went to the Independence Center and loved it how is that mall doing?
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default
Bill S. Preston, Esq.
Blames Everything On Snitsky. Yes, Even THAT.
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Post by default on Apr 26, 2011 8:15:32 GMT -5
Malls need more arcades. Consoles are be dominant but they still don't beat the charm of playing a coin-operated video game Sadly, the youth (and their parents) won't support them. There used to be an arcade in the back of the FYE at my mall. They started selling off their equipment and then it turned into fye's discount room. They had a cramped but decent selection including some skee-ball and similar ticket games that you could cash in for prizes. There was another kick ass arcade up at State College (non-mall) that closed down as well. They had tons of retro games and almost everything was 25 or 50 cents to play, minus some of the newer fighting games which were $1 and people gladly paid to play them. But as awesome as arcades are, rent is usually too damn high. My mall is still doing pretty well. There's a Wal-Mart, Target (and huge shopping area attached to it with Kohl's, etc.) but again you have to travel a fairly decent way to reach another mall. It also provides the only theatre in a roughly forty-fifty mile radius (and easily the best quality one) and is nearby a private college. And the college-aged girl demographic is probably one of the top for the mall. There's talk though of redirecting traffic and people are up in arms about what will happen to the mall. I can't imagine much, I know people who ignore that area just because of traffic and it's not like people driving out of state on the road are spending a lot of time and money on the mall. The fast food places don't even do well since they're pretty much all a pain to get in and out of.
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Post by Clash, Never a Meter Maid on Apr 26, 2011 12:56:44 GMT -5
The mall closest to me (South Shore Plaza in Braintree, Mass.) hasn't gone downhill, it's gone upscale. When I was a kid the place was a complete and utter s***hole now it's pretty nice. Still too many Psuedo goths poser-ing around Hot Topic/Spencers for my liking. Mall goths are the biggest sign that you've got a healthy mall.
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Ben Wyatt
Crow T. Robot
Are You Gonna Go My Way?
I don't get it. At all. It's kind of a small horse, I mean what am I missing? Am I crazy?
Posts: 41,552
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Post by Ben Wyatt on Apr 26, 2011 12:58:03 GMT -5
Still too many Psuedo goths poser-ing around Hot Topic/Spencers for my liking. Mall goths are the biggest sign that you've got a healthy mall. I wasnt arguing that, I was moreso expressing that Im not a fan of them
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