Thursday, February 25, 2010

Dying Malls













Man how the mighty have fallen. These were once premiere locations for upper class working families...teens to hang out and women to go nuts and have shopping sprees. Alas, those days for these Malls are long gone. Chris Rock said it best, " You have two Malls, the White Mall and the Mall that White people used to go to."

That is about an accurate assessment. I can remember the hayday of Eastpoint Mall. The arcade, the Value City that my Mother would spend hours in, and King's Court, we used to catch the 23 alllllllllllllllllll the way out there and back...it was an event. Owings Mills was the uppity Mall. It used to have department stores, a nice food court, and a nice interior design. Now it's pretty much a ghost town. I haven't even been in about 5 years or more, but remembering my last visit of empty walkways and corridors that lead to closed stores was a bleak one.

Mondawmin was always a pretty average "Hood Mall" to my recollection. Nicknamed the "Murder Mall" it was always a good place to buy the newest tennis shoes athletic wear, baby clothes and jewelry. Not really much of an improvement with the redesigned interior ( they just turned the lights on and moved some stuff around) and the Target attached to the side of the building it's still pretty sub par as far as Malls go. Security Square Mall is Mondawmin's cousin the only positive is it's Food Court, which I can also remember growing up going to Friendly's which is no longer there.

Marley Station --- wooooo!! This here used to be the Grand Daddy of excellence. Movie Theatre, Food Court, 2 Levels, Top Notch Stores, Department Stores and an Arcade. My Father used to take us to that Arcade many times and I remember just how packed it used to be with kids trying to play Killer Instinct 2 and Street Fighter 3. Now its pretty abandoned, the Cinnabon is gone, the Theatre is out-dated and all Arcades across America are shutdown.

Reisterstown Plaza and Westview have suffered the same fate while Towson and Columbia Mall continue to flourish. When will Arundel Mills turn into the next used to be hip Mall if ever?? It has all the right elements, but only time will tell if it has what it takes to withstand the economically challenged consumer world around it.

Demolition Man

DRAG

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