of all ages skating. It was changed into a food court years ago. Now I read that WalMart bought it and the plans aren’t made public.

watch people skate( I can't skate) Thank you livetohike. for sharing your memory with us.

... back when it was affordable for them to be in the big malls. Monroeville Mall had them at first.
And the variety at "Cench," which we called Century Three Mall.

Mall. It sold his paintings and had a fake fireplace inside,

I grew up in Monroeville & lived there until I moved to Atlanta in 1989. One summer, I even worked as a food court cleaner. I would amuse myself by playing Name That Tune with the Muzak versions of pop & New Wave songs that they played there (this was in the mid-80s.)

I remember going to Century 3 Mall back in the day too. Ah, memories.

My parents lived in the family home until their deaths 2004 and 2018. It was a great place to grow up.

--south of Denver. It is a large mall, but what stands out for me (and I haven't been there in years, as it is quite some distance from me now, but I'm guessing it hasn't totally changed) is the enormous fireplace (like a ski chalet) in the food court that faces a wall of windows. While a lot changed in the years since it opened, I remember security guards on horseback-- in uniforms almost like Canadian Mounties-- during that first opening period. It was really wonderful. But, of course so many of those anchoring stores are gone and even those chain stores as well. But, I'm betting that great fireplace is still there in the food court.

since Nordstrom left.

Neither is an option now in my city.

They’re too crowded and noisy for me. Besides, parking can be a hassle!

The music stores like Musicland, On Cue and Sam Goody. I honestly don't remember all the names of the music stores as it was a long time ago.


I also liked the Merry-Go-Round clothing store.


And way, way, way before an autoimmune disorder reared it's ugly head, I loved enjoying Auntie Anne's in the food court.

then i tried chicken + pea pod. now i can fake some chinese i like.

Chinese food.

Back in the 60s and 70s, when we get our Sear catalog, we'd sit and look through it at all the things we could buy. When malls became the go-to for shopping, we'd walk through the mall looking in the windows and stores seeing what we could buy. I still visit the Fashion Valley and Mission Valley malls, about one mile from each other, in San Diego but I rarely buy anything. I like walking around in them and see all the different things they sell.

Neither one are there anymore at my local mall.

Demolition,

I worked in general maintenance. The HVAC guy took me under his wing and mentored me into the trade.

Some fun memories.

There were bollards hung above the parking garage entrances to stop vehicles that were too tall for our parking structure. These were knocked down regularly... usually by over sized luggage racks. But one time a woman drove her husband's pickup in and the truck had a large, cast iron frame in the back, rising above the cab any number of feet. Anyway, the truck got jammed in pretty quickly. The security guys could usually get these types out by letting some air out of the vehicle tires... but not this time. So they called me on the radio. I (also a female driver) started laughing so hard as I walked up to this poor woman. I tried so hard not to. I kept covering my mouth 'cause I didn't want to upset her anymore... but then she started laughing too. I disassembled the rack and by the time I got back to our shop, she had delivered a box of Godiva chocolates!

We would hire extra security (local police) during the holidays... so most of Nov and Dec. One year, nerf guns were all the rage and I had frequent battles with the police. (This, obviously, preceded "regular" school shootings.)

The mall used to have a HUGE Christmas tree in the center court and the absolute best Santa Clause ever. Santa would join us in the break room for cigarettes. And his arms were almost solid tattoos.

As a shopper, my favorite store was a Warner Bros store that had a wonderful assortment of cartoon characters on any imaginable sort of products.

I never once thought about walking in there or paying money to have something superficial done to me for the sake of having some photos taken.


I got say as well, it's a massive turn off when anyone posts either subtle or obvious thirst trap style photos on any social media because they need that dopamine fix or the superficial connections. These people who display these thirst trap type of photos generally have "friends" that are in the high hundreds and low thousands.


To me, it's just weird. lol

done. Sort of sad.

Build A Bear workshops!

Oh well, I'll live however. lol

choice of stores better then Century III.

It's so f&cking cold here that enclosed malls are essential, and Southdale was quickly copied. By the time I was semi-mobile in the late 60s, there was a new one within bicycling distance called Har-Mar, which had the same big anchor stores as Southdale, but it was a lot closer. I mostly remember the bookstore and the pet shop. Later they added a couple of movie theaters. Both of these malls are still in operation. Then came the Mall of America, which is so insanely huge that I avoid it except if I need to go to the Apple Store.

of it.

I also liked record stores, but of course that dates me.

Newer malls, such as Ross Park, have narrower open spaces.

The decorations were so pretty and they had a little kids train for them. So very relaxing. It was fun.

Had a full-sized carousel... the kids loved it.

Carousel and Boardwalk Fries?...fun.

The sandwich and soda counter at JJ Newberry in South Bay Center in Redondo Beach, Ca. Always a treat.

It had a huge bird cage in the food court. The cage didn’t seem to hold the birds very well, so there were always birds flying around in the mall.

...there was a store in the Princeton Marketfaire mall called "Pipsqueak and Wilfred." As anticipatory parents we went there often, thinking of toys that would be interesting and stimulating.

People who were parents thought we were nuts, and perhaps we were, but I remember the place fondly, very happy memories going there until he was five or six and the place closed.

My oldest son had a lot of surgeries as a preschooler, and before each one we'd take hints there to pick out a "treatment prize," to put some kind of positive spin on the process. We'd give the prize in the recovery room.

It seems weird I guess to remember that otherwise painful stuff in a positive light, but somehow I do.

The place closed probably more than two decades ago, but I remember it fondly.

I'd like to think that store had something to do, in a small way, with the fine man he grew up to be.

I had to get dragged there and got out ASAP.

come out.

It's where I perfected Galaga to the point of really only needing a few quarters to play for a long time.

Every weekend unless there was a football game (I was in the band)

I could not afford anything else in the mall but I did work there for a few years

they stopped having them. Example $8000 to enter the boat show and $1000 for each boat, the local dealer I knew had to
put up $17000 for 9 boats. I was always under the opinion it should have a lot less or free, it drew shoppers for all the stores.
About 25 years ago we had a Ponderosa the mall raised the rent from $8000 a month to $12000. They moved out and that store front has been empty for the last 25 years.

cost $1.000 to get a space. Plus you had to have insurance. I decided to stay with the Craft shows at schools, churches and Fire Halls. Oh , yes, I remember Ponderosa.

We'd drive out to 2 or 3 in Northern NJ in the 60's, early 70's.
There was one that had more ? modern design, maybe more interesting stores, more plantings. i liked that one!

In fact I did a report for my Art College's Architectural History class. Unless art history was taught what I considered well - I often was sooo bored with it ! So when I had a chance to take Architectural History instead....
I talked about the development of Malls, and i think then contrasted two malls. My dad was kind enough to drive me out do I could take slides.

When my presentation came I somehow loaded the slides wrong, or something. However I'd gone over everything a few times so I could wing it! My fellow classmates all architecture students kind of rolled their eyes as I started - how mundane!
But a few that I knew told me afterwards I did a good job.