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Monday, May 1, 2017

Malled

Palm Beach Mall - 1980
When I move to Palm Beach County in the late 70’s I was so impressed with the beautiful area.  There was year round green, flowers, trees that bloomed, cultural experiences and the beach. 

Something else - a beautiful mall. Growing up in Southern Virginia, we had to drive miles to a shopping center and even more to an indoor mall. I have written about how I enjoy shopping and always have. My mother made a big deal of getting dressed up and going to “town” to shop, so I came by it naturally.

Upon arriving in Florida, The Palm Beach Mall quickly became my favorite place. Burdines, Jordan Marsh, and Richard’s were the anchor stores. There was even a Harvest House Cafeteria and the later addition of a food court. My office was right next door and on many days I would just walk over for lunch.

A while back I wrote about the Mall of America.  It was a fun visit, however I had a feeling that the pinnacle has been reached and now we are in a time of rapid change.  When I saw this cartoon it spoke volumes. The "You aren't here" hit home.   

My new shiny mall is The Gardens Mall. Built about 20 years ago it is beautiful, upscale, and a fun experience for any dedicated shopper. It too has been hard hit by changes in the shopping culture. Since Christmas the following stores have closed: BeBe, Bose, Nine West, The Limited, Gucci, Ralph Lauren, Boston Proper, Justice and near closing, Sears.  These are just the ones I remember seeing shuttered the other day - likely others. 

There is a web site dedicated to Mall "Retail History" called Dead Malls.  A place to reminisce and lookup your favorite gone-but-not-forgetting shopping haunt.   

Please share you mall memories. What stores do you miss? As retail changes what are your favorite online virtual stores? Enough - Must stop writing now. Time to get my iPad, sit by the pool and shop.


The Palm Beach Mall before demolition


   

1 comment:

  1. Rhonda I was just at a big mall north of Montreal and I saw more stores closing than had ever seen before. It looks like the concept is slowly dying. I had a conversation with a young woman who was despondent over this since she loved her job but she noted that she herself often shops online..

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