User Panel
User Panel
User Panel
|
Posted: 7/5/2021 7:35:12 AM EDT
Watched a show on Amazon called Jasper Mall. Does anyone else find these old malls interesting? Guess it reminds me of my youth when going to the mall was the thing to do.
 Attached File |
|
|
|
Posted: 7/5/2021 7:55:49 AM EDT
[#1]
http://deadmalls.com/
If you grew up in the 70s or 80s, the place you hung out with your friends is probably in there. |
|
|
|
Posted: 7/5/2021 9:03:14 AM EDT
[#2]
I was just in a rundown mall I grew up in. It was like a dystopian time warp. Absolutely fascinating experience.
|
|
|
|
Posted: 7/5/2021 9:06:21 AM EDT
[#3]
Used to be you knew when the new Oldsmobiles were in early for the year. Not so much anymore.
|
|
|
|
Posted: 7/5/2021 9:06:50 AM EDT
[#4]
My wife and I watched that one night. It was interesting, and oddly poignant.
|
|
|
|
Posted: 7/5/2021 9:10:58 AM EDT
[#5]
The website above is pretty outdated and hasn't been updated in forever. At least locally it's pretty obsolete. It seems to have stopped sometime around 2006 or 2007 or so.
Landmark Mall is completely unoccupied and has gone through several different plans. It's still standing but designed to be a mixed-use center built around a hospital now. Strange. The Springfield Mall was alive when that site was active, went through a very dead phase where it was mostly drywall, was bulldozed and gutted, and finally reopened as a new fancy mall with outdoor-facing restaurants. The time from death to rebirth was about five years - 2009 to 2014. I don't live or work near there any more so I don't know how it was affected by the pandemic, but it was routinely difficult to get a table even during the week at almost any of the restaurants. Extremely busy. The Manassas Mall was only slightly damaged by the pandemic. It may have been dead or dying back in 2005, but it's reasonably alive now with the exception of the former Sears. Still pretty popular. I myself have a particular fascination with such malls and would love nothing more than to go back in time and walk around the things that were. |
|
|
|
Posted: 7/5/2021 9:14:15 AM EDT
[#6]
The Last Blockbuster…
Another good doc if you’re going down memory lane. |
|
|
|
Posted: 7/5/2021 9:27:06 AM EDT
[#7]
Quote HistoryQuoted: The Last Blockbuster… Another good doc if you’re going down memory lane. Watched that as well. Crazy how a company like Blockbuster is absolutely thriving then one day.....gone. |
|
|
|
Posted: 7/5/2021 9:33:24 AM EDT
[#8]
Since OP is in my general area now he should go check out Military Circle mall, or what is left of it.
MacArthur Mall used to be one of the area’s shining jewels but it’s now going the same direction that Military Circle is. Once the sports Jersey and hat stores start popping up you know a mall is on it’s down slide. |
|
|
|
Posted: 7/5/2021 9:33:29 AM EDT
[#9]
I started watching...then realized it was a metaphor for this country....depressed, so I stopped watching..
|
|
|
|
Posted: 7/5/2021 9:35:01 AM EDT
[#10]
Quote HistoryQuoted: Since OP is in my general area now he should go check out Military Circle mall, or what is left of it. MacArthur Mall used to be one of the area’s shining jewels but it’s now going the same direction that Military Circle is. Once the sports Jersey and hat stores start popping up you know a mall is on it’s down slide. I think I will. I’m assuming I need to go in the daytime? |
|
|
|
Posted: 7/5/2021 9:37:23 AM EDT
[#11]
Quote HistoryQuoted: I think I will. I’m assuming I need to go in the daytime? That would be the safe option, before noon to be honest, before the locals wake up. MacArthur had a shooting in it last year and several “youth” fights. |
|
|
|
Posted: 7/5/2021 9:37:55 AM EDT
[#12]
I forgot to add that I went to the Jasper Mall a few weeks ago when I was in the area. Fascinating and depressing at the same time. You can almost imagine what it was in the 80s. Now, it looks like a Call of Duty scene
|
|
|
|
Posted: 7/5/2021 9:59:15 AM EDT
[#13]
I think I went to the Hays mall in 2013 or 2014. If it wasn't Hays, it was another KC area dead mall. The only major store was Macy's. You could enter the rest of the mall which was entirely empty except for a GNC all the way on the other end. It was a bit weird to walk through such a dead place that you knew was once full of stores and people.
My hometown mall was partially demolished. They left the center area, Target, and the movie theater alone. The two wings were evened and outdoor shopping was constructed to replace it. The back part of the center section is a Cabelas. I'll add that when you also see the cheesey sword and knife shop also pop up, that mall is on its death spiral. |
|
|
|
Posted: 7/5/2021 9:59:20 AM EDT
[#14]
Quote HistoryQuoted: That would be the safe option, before noon to be honest, before the locals wake up. MacArthur had a shooting in it last year and several “youth” fights. Used to have dinner at Kinkaids in MacArthur with my wife a few times a month back in the day. You needed to call about a week in advance to get a table. When I retired in '15 we wouldn't get near that mall after dark. Military Circle was a no-go zone. |
|
|
|
Posted: 7/5/2021 10:08:02 AM EDT
[#15]
Town east and west malls in Wichita are still packed.
Malls in KC are another story. |
|
|
|
Posted: 7/5/2021 10:08:45 AM EDT
[#16]
Quote HistoryQuoted: Town east and west malls in Wichita are still packed. Malls in KC are another story. I remember going to the Bannister Mall as a kid. |
|
|
|
Posted: 7/5/2021 10:09:48 AM EDT
[#17]
Wonder if malls went tits up in other countries also, or if its just a US thing. Last time I was in the UK and NI a couple of years ago, I happened to be in hotels near malls and they were doing great...
|
|
|
|
Posted: 7/5/2021 10:10:14 AM EDT
[#18]
Quote HistoryQuoted: Wonder if malls went tits up in other countries also, or if its just a US thing. Last time I was in the UK and NI a couple of years ago, I happened to be in hotels near malls and they were doing great... Malls in Dubai are doing great |
|
|
|
Posted: 7/5/2021 10:10:50 AM EDT
[#19]
Quote HistoryQuoted: Since OP is in my general area now he should go check out Military Circle mall, or what is left of it. MacArthur Mall used to be one of the area’s shining jewels but it’s now going the same direction that Military Circle is. Once the sports Jersey and hat stores start popping up you know a mall is on it’s down slide. THAT brings back some memories of the 70s nd 80s. Chic-Fil-A, Spencers, etc.. I wonder how Greenbriar mall is |
|
|
|
Posted: 7/5/2021 10:10:51 AM EDT
[#20]
Quote HistoryQuoted: http://deadmalls.com/ If you grew up in the 70s or 80s, the place you hung out with your friends is probably in there. And 90’s |
|
|
|
Posted: 7/5/2021 10:11:41 AM EDT
[#21]
Quote HistoryQuoted: THAT brings back some memories of the 70s nd 80s. Chic-Fil-A, Spencers, etc.. I wonder how Greenbriar mall is Lynn haven is decent still. Just go in the day, which is good advice for any mall these days |
|
|
|
Posted: 7/5/2021 10:13:31 AM EDT
[#22]
Mall in the town where I grew up just finished up demolition last week. Building an Amazon wharehouse on the land.
|
|
|
|
Posted: 7/5/2021 10:14:15 AM EDT
[#23]
Quote HistoryQuoted: THAT brings back some memories of the 70s nd 80s. Chic-Fil-A, Spencers, etc.. I wonder how Greenbriar mall is Greenbriar, Lynnhaven, and Pembroke aren’t as busy as they used to be but they are still good malls. |
|
|
|
Posted: 7/5/2021 10:14:17 AM EDT
[#24]
Quote HistoryQuoted: Mall in the town where I grew up just finished up demolition last week. Building an Amazon wharehouse on the land. There’s a metaphor for ya |
|
|
|
Posted: 7/5/2021 10:14:23 AM EDT
[#25]
Quote HistoryQuoted: I started watching...then realized it was a metaphor for this country....depressed, so I stopped watching.. The great metaphor is how the narrative is always that malls failed because of economic conditions or Amazon or some inane bullshit. They'll never speak of how thriving American malls became a place where certain people dropped off their kids all day. |
|
|
|
Posted: 7/5/2021 10:14:42 AM EDT
[#26]
Providence Place mall is still good for you Yankees
|
|
|
|
Posted: 7/5/2021 10:16:09 AM EDT
[#27]
How technology killed the mall. Literally.
 Chopping Mall (Killbots) (1986) - Trailer HD 1080p |
|
|
|
Posted: 7/5/2021 10:16:47 AM EDT
[#28]
Quote HistoryQuoted: I think I went to the Hays mall in 2013 or 2014. If it wasn't Hays, it was another KC area dead mall. The only major store was Macy's. You could enter the rest of the mall which was entirely empty except for a GNC all the way on the other end. It was a bit weird to walk through such a dead place that you knew was once full of stores and people. My hometown mall was partially demolished. They left the center area, Target, and the movie theater alone. The two wings were evened and outdoor shopping was constructed to replace it. The back part of the center section is a Cabelas. I'll add that when you also see the cheesey sword and knife shop also pop up, that mall is on its death spiral. CBD store also equals terminal mall. |
|
|
|
Posted: 7/5/2021 10:22:04 AM EDT
[#29]
Quote HistoryQuoted: I'll add that when you also see the cheesey sword and knife shop also pop up, that mall is on its death spiral. Let’s have an honest moment. The thing that kills malls are blacks turning the mall into feral battlegrounds where shoppers no longer feel safe because of shootings and group assaults. |
|
|
|
Posted: 7/5/2021 10:22:14 AM EDT
[#30]
It is funny how things change. I remember as a child and teenager I loved going to the mall. Now I fucking hate it. I usually get drug there a time or two a year at Christmas time or whatever.
|
|
|
|
Posted: 7/5/2021 10:25:00 AM EDT
[#31]
Our mall here seems to be doing ok, but it is slowly dieing. More and more of the major stores that were there are moving out. Not like a mass exodus but like one a year or something.
|
|
|
|
Posted: 7/5/2021 10:25:18 AM EDT
[#32]
Quote HistoryQuoted: Watched that as well. Crazy how a company like Blockbuster is absolutely thriving then one day.....gone. Quote HistoryQuoted: Quoted: The Last Blockbuster… Another good doc if you’re going down memory lane. Watched that as well. Crazy how a company like Blockbuster is absolutely thriving then one day.....gone. And almost everyone thinks they know why they failed...and they are pretty much all wrong: https://thegreatfail.com/episode/the-blockbuster-bust-2/ |
|
|
|
Posted: 7/5/2021 10:26:10 AM EDT
[#33]
Quote HistoryQuoted: Providence Place mall is still good for you Yankees But Lincoln Mall is the queen of dead malls. |
|
|
|
Posted: 7/5/2021 10:27:39 AM EDT
[#34]
Quoted: Watched a show on Amazon called Jasper Mall. Does anyone else find these old malls interesting? Guess it reminds me of my youth when going to the mall was the thing to do. https://www.ar15.com/media/mediaFiles/404323/C63B6823-2E8E-47E3-A651-A9B3BD1943B9_jpe-2002330.JPG I thought the story was interesting. It brought back a lot of memories. The people still trying to operate that mall, along with the seniors who go there every day to socialize, reminded me somehow of parasites still doodling around on a corpse, because they don't realize it's dead. |
|
|
|
Posted: 7/5/2021 10:31:10 AM EDT
[#35]
I've not seen this documentary, but I'm guessing it is about the mall in Jasper, Al.
Over the years, I've seldom got up that way. Like twice in twenty years. Wife and i through on a trip to hike the Sipsey about ten years ago. The JC Penney was still open and she needed some socks, so she went in. The last time we'd been through Jasper was about a decade earlier. I noticed that the whole town was shockingly run down, not just the mall. Not just Jasper, but most of the smaller towns up that way in NW AL. Just a decade earlier there was a lot of manufacturing and mining. Now, if a business does not relate to ag, Walmart, fast food or some niche retail, it was shuttered. Twenty years ago, Jasper was a jumping place. It us a shadow now. I will check this documentary out, OP. |
|
|
|
Posted: 7/5/2021 10:35:30 AM EDT
[#36]
They have a story about Crossroads mall from 2008. Crossroads went so urban it is now named Plaza Mayor. Best story about Crossroads was a deputy getting a 50+ yard one shot stop on a thug during a gunfight.
|
|
|
|
Posted: 7/5/2021 10:36:00 AM EDT
[#37]
Quote HistoryQuoted: And almost everyone thinks they know why they failed...and they are pretty much all wrong: https://thegreatfail.com/episode/the-blockbuster-bust-2/ Quote HistoryQuoted: Quoted: Quoted: The Last Blockbuster… Another good doc if you’re going down memory lane. Watched that as well. Crazy how a company like Blockbuster is absolutely thriving then one day.....gone. And almost everyone thinks they know why they failed...and they are pretty much all wrong: https://thegreatfail.com/episode/the-blockbuster-bust-2/ I haven't listened to the podcast, but I did read this: https://www.forbes.com/sites/gregsatell/2014/09/05/a-look-back-at-why-blockbuster-really-failed-and-why-it-didnt-have-to/?sh=55a461e51d64 It still boils down to the same thing: Blockbuster senior management did not believe the threat from Netflix's business model was real. By the time they did realize it, and the CEO tried to adjust, it would cost $400M to adjust and the Board and other senior mgmt STILL fought to do things the old way. |
|
|
|
Posted: 7/5/2021 10:40:19 AM EDT
[#38]
Quote HistoryQuoted: I think I went to the Hays mall in 2013 or 2014. If it wasn't Hays, it was another KC area dead mall. The only major store was Macy's. You could enter the rest of the mall which was entirely empty except for a GNC all the way on the other end. It was a bit weird to walk through such a dead place that you knew was once full of stores and people. Also The Great Mall had a Burlington Coat Factory that was left as a stand alone when it was dozer'd. It has done fairly well despite the local area around it has largely gone way of the dodo. I think of the dozen food joints, maybe 2 are left, and a few have changed to something else. That mall was doomed from the start. |
|
|
|
Posted: 7/5/2021 10:42:45 AM EDT
[#39]
Quote HistoryQuoted: Let’s have an honest moment. The thing that kills malls are blacks turning the mall into feral battlegrounds where shoppers no longer feel safe because of shootings and group assaults. Quote HistoryQuoted: Quoted: I'll add that when you also see the cheesey sword and knife shop also pop up, that mall is on its death spiral. Let’s have an honest moment. The thing that kills malls are blacks turning the mall into feral battlegrounds where shoppers no longer feel safe because of shootings and group assaults. As mentioned above about how you can see when a mall is in the death spiral, as soon as a bus stop is put there, the mall is done. Mass transit makes it easier for those types of people to get there. |
|
|
|
Posted: 7/5/2021 10:44:39 AM EDT
[#40]
Quote HistoryQuoted: And almost everyone thinks they know why they failed...and they are pretty much all wrong: https://thegreatfail.com/episode/the-blockbuster-bust-2/ Quote HistoryQuoted: Quoted: Quoted: The Last Blockbuster… Another good doc if you’re going down memory lane. Watched that as well. Crazy how a company like Blockbuster is absolutely thriving then one day.....gone. And almost everyone thinks they know why they failed...and they are pretty much all wrong: https://thegreatfail.com/episode/the-blockbuster-bust-2/ Blockbuster failed due to a failure to adapt, which can be boiled down to "bad management" at the simplest level. |
|
|
|
Posted: 7/5/2021 10:47:02 AM EDT
[#41]
We've had two in our town. First one is gone and a Home Depot is there now. And the second one opened and closed inside of 10 or 12 years.
Oddly enough, the book linked above has our first mall in it. Edit for spelling |
|
|
|
Posted: 7/5/2021 10:48:36 AM EDT
[#42]
I lived on the west side of Indianapolis for a while growing up. The local mall was Lafayette Square. It was really nice for quite some time, then gradually became known as Lafayette Scare.
It got to be the vibrant hangout. That became its death blow. |
|
|
|
Posted: 7/5/2021 10:51:07 AM EDT
[#43]
I remember when malls were big. I lived near St Louis at the time, went to many of them. StL has a long list of closed malls (deadmalls.com) has a nice long list of them. They started having problems as far back as the 80s. Same story at each one. Ghetto started showing up and suburbanites decided to go elsewhere. They fought tooth and nail to keep mass transit away but eventually mass transit made it in. That was the death knell for many.
Anyway I got out of that hell hole and found my way south. We had one mall here in Bradenton and it just closed. Thankfully not due to crime but simply the fact that nobody goes to the malls anymore. |
|
|
|
Posted: 7/5/2021 10:54:45 AM EDT
[#44]
Quote HistoryQuoted: Lynn haven is decent still. Just go in the day, before lunchtime, which is good advice for any mall these days FIFY.  I always thought old malls would make for great indoor ranges. |
|
|
|
Posted: 7/5/2021 10:56:47 AM EDT
[#45]
Quote HistoryQuoted: I haven't listened to the podcast, but I did read this: https://www.forbes.com/sites/gregsatell/2014/09/05/a-look-back-at-why-blockbuster-really-failed-and-why-it-didnt-have-to/?sh=55a461e51d64 It still boils down to the same thing: Blockbuster senior management did not believe the threat from Netflix's business model was real. By the time they did realize it, and the CEO tried to adjust, it would cost $400M to adjust and the Board and other senior mgmt STILL fought to do things the old way. Message in the podcast -- Blockbuster had an innovative CEO who embraced online rentals very early and had the brick and mortar advantage over Netflix before Netflix really got going. You could rent online and return the disc in the mail or to the store...and do the same for store rentals. Best of both worlds - mail for convenience but also stores for instant gratification. And he got rid of the hated late fees. The CEO also made deals with the movie studios to essentially get as many copies of each movie as they wanted/needed so they could guarantee movies in stock. And he did this by cutting the studios in from the start, rather than fronting the retail cost for tapes/discs and having to rent each one 10-30 times just to break even. The CEO had some other pretty innovative things going, but then the primary investor fucked him out of his bonus and he walked. The new guy smoked a many of these initiatives, doubled down on store rentals, and brought back the hated late fees. It was far more complex than they didn't see Netflix coming. There is literally one guy that can be assigned the blame. |
|
|
|
Posted: 7/5/2021 10:59:38 AM EDT
[#46]
Quote HistoryQuoted: Watched that as well. Crazy how a company like Blockbuster is absolutely thriving then one day.....gone. Quote HistoryQuoted: Quoted: The Last Blockbuster… Another good doc if you’re going down memory lane. Watched that as well. Crazy how a company like Blockbuster is absolutely thriving then one day.....gone. We always got a kick out of boating in the Intracoastal and going by Wayne Huizenga's house. He had a huge flag pole on his dock with a Blockbuster flag swinging on it |
|
|
|
Posted: 7/5/2021 11:04:19 AM EDT
[#47]
I want to watch that. When they first released it they charged for it.
I wonder if mall dude worked for Tiger King. |
|
|
|
Posted: 7/5/2021 11:07:05 AM EDT
[#48]
We used to have two here. Everyone left the mall part, but the Sears and JCP stayed in business, you could still walk through, but it was very strange. I used to shop there when I was a kid. Had to be the worst security guy job ever.
|
|
|
|
Posted: 7/5/2021 11:12:45 AM EDT
[#49]
Quote HistoryQuoted: Let’s have an honest moment. The thing that kills malls are blacks turning the mall into feral battlegrounds where shoppers no longer feel safe because of shootings and group assaults. Check out the mall in Akron Ohio. Use to be one of the best in the country. Out in the suburbs. Then the dipshits in government decided it was racist to deny the mall to the diverse inner city demographics. They started running buses from the city to the mall. It didn't take long for crime to increase and for the mall to deteriorate. Completely shut down now and has been for a long time. |
|
|
|
Posted: 7/5/2021 11:25:26 AM EDT
[#50]
Quote HistorySuzee Slater |
|
|
Win a FREE Membership!
Sign up for the ARFCOM weekly newsletter and be entered to win a free ARFCOM membership. One new winner* is announced every week!
You will receive an email every Friday morning featuring the latest chatter from the hottest topics, breaking news surrounding legislation, as well as exclusive deals only available to ARFCOM email subscribers.
AR15.COM is the world's largest firearm community and is a gathering place for firearm enthusiasts of all types.
From hunters and military members, to competition shooters and general firearm enthusiasts, we welcome anyone who values and respects the way of the firearm.
Subscribe to our monthly Newsletter to receive firearm news, product discounts from your favorite Industry Partners, and more.
Copyright © 1996-2024 AR15.COM LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Any use of this content without express written consent is prohibited.
AR15.Com reserves the right to overwrite or replace any affiliate, commercial, or monetizable links, posted by users, with our own.
