I'm not sure if it's the same everywhere, but at least here in the Bay Area, malls seemed to hold onto their "older" look the longest. The general layout and stores were like an advanced form of the '80s during the '90s, and going out on a limb here, even the early '00s. By that, I mean there were still places like music stores or arcades inside, and other than interior design, it basically looked the same.

However, just around 2002 or '03, they seemed to take this hard left turn with gentrification of malls, along with shopping centers and main street plazas. Lots of new stores and restaurants in an urban styled, more cluttered setting were popping up, along with the old-school stores dying out.

Are there any '80ish malls in your area? I've seen a few, but in more suburban areas.

I'm not sure if it's the same everywhere, but at least here in the Bay Area, malls seemed to hold onto their "older" look the longest. The general layout and stores were like an advanced form of the '80s during the '90s, and going out on a limb here, even the early '00s. By that, I mean there were still places like music stores or arcades inside, and other than interior design, it basically looked the same.

However, just around 2002 or '03, they seemed to take this hard left turn with gentrification of malls, along with shopping centers and main street plazas. Lots of new stores and restaurants in an urban styled, more cluttered setting were popping up, along with the old-school stores dying out.

Are there any '80ish malls in your area? I've seen a few, but in more suburban areas.


yes, there are a few left in our area.  One of my favorite ones, Greengate Mall (http://www.freewebs.com/greengatemallrevisited/index.htm) was totally "old school"...but instead of renovating it, they opted to tear it down and build a HUGE super complex that contains a SUPER Walmart and a TON of restaurants/stores/etc. I miss Greengate mall SO much. I grew up going to that mall, worked there in my late teens/early 20's, and really hated to see it's demise. We do, however, have a few similiar malls that are still (barely) hanging on. One is called Laurel Mall, and it's nearly empty now....and then we have another one that is called, Uniontown Mall....it's a bit more thriving, but still has that retro type look to it.

yes, there are a few left in our area.  One of my favorite ones, Greengate Mall (http://www.freewebs.com/greengatemallrevisited/index.htm) was totally "old school"...but instead of renovating it, they opted to tear it down and build a HUGE super complex that contains a SUPER Walmart and a TON of restaurants/stores/etc. I miss Greengate mall SO much. I grew up going to that mall, worked there in my late teens/early 20's, and really hated to see it's demise. We do, however, have a few similiar malls that are still (barely) hanging on. One is called Laurel Mall, and it's nearly empty now....and then we have another one that is called, Uniontown Mall....it's a bit more thriving, but still has that retro type look to it.

Holy cr@p, that's almost worse. When they renovate it, at least it still has the structure and some of the former shops. Tearing something down seems so wasteful, especially since malls in general aren't that old (I think most were built in the '70s before exploding around 1982).

I bet that mall is like double nostalgia now. When you worked there, were you thinking, "Whoa this is cool. I remember coming here as a kid ten years ago!", now you can look back on that experience too?

As a matter of fact, that's the part I find the most saddening about anything changing hands. In other words, when I was 5 or even 10, I always kinda assumed when I got older, I'd be doing an advanced version of what I'd already known at the time. Like, I looked forward to taking my own kids to the mall, or listening to tapes in the car or something. Now, hell that's only a half generation away and most of it looks like relics of the past. Forget what it'll be like when I'm 40 in the early 2020s!

That's one reason I've gotten so nostalgic for the early '90s....it had the childhood innocence, but I have some ALMOST adult level memories of it. Plus, doesn't the early Simpsons/NES/Home Alone/power ballad/Paula Abdul/Full House era seem like one of the most kid-friendly, suburban lifestyle-accomodating times of all?

One in my city (which Tam will also remember) is the Frontenac Mall.  The main shopping mall here is called the Cataraqui Town Centre, but prior to it being built in 1984, the Frontenac Mall was the main shopping mall that served the people who didn't live downtown.  It had lots of popular stores (such as the now defunct 'Atlantique' Audio and Video store), a restaurant (which just recently went out of business), a Dominion Food store (which became A&P in the 90s, and is now a Food Basics), an arcade, and a Woolco Department Store (which became a Wal-Mart in 1994)

Wal-Mart moved out a few years ago, which left the mall in rough shape, but it still holds strong, with the new addition of a 'Value Village', a gigantic Fitness centre, and a 'Liquidation World' discount store.  The inside of the mall still looks the same since when I was a kid, but I fear that someday they might renovate it to attract more customers :(

The Frontenac Mall has been in business for 40 years.  Through all of it's changes, there are 3 stores that have been there since day one:  'Plants and Pots' (a flower store), a Coin Laundromat, and a Barbershop.  All 3 stores still have wood paneling on the walls, which tells you right away they've been in business for a very long time 8)

Holy cr@p, that's almost worse. When they renovate it, at least it still has the structure and some of the former shops. Tearing something down seems so wasteful, especially since malls in general aren't that old (I think most were built in the '70s before exploding around 1982).

I bet that mall is like double nostalgia now. When you worked there, were you thinking, "Whoa this is cool. I remember coming here as a kid ten years ago!", now you can look back on that experience too?

As a matter of fact, that's the part I find the most saddening about anything changing hands. In other words, when I was 5 or even 10, I always kinda assumed when I got older, I'd be doing an advanced version of what I'd already known at the time. Like, I looked forward to taking my own kids to the mall, or listening to tapes in the car or something. Now, hell that's only a half generation away and most of it looks like relics of the past. Forget what it'll be like when I'm 40 in the early 2020s!

That's one reason I've gotten so nostalgic for the early '90s....it had the childhood innocence, but I have some ALMOST adult level memories of it. Plus, doesn't the early Simpsons/NES/Home Alone/power ballad/Paula Abdul/Full House era seem like one of the most kid-friendly, suburban lifestyle-accomodating times of all?


Yes, when I worked there...I would walk down the mall on my break, and I would reminisce about all of the fun times I had there when I was young.


BTW, if you happen to take a look at that Greengate Mall website that I linked....you will see some pictures of me and my family back in the day, at Greengate Mall. I let the owner of the site have several of my old pictures. One of them is my birthday party in Burger King (which was located in the mall foodcourt)...and the other pictures are of my sisters on the train, the mall decorated at Christmas, etc..

^ You were in the pictures? That's cool, both for personal memories and being a part of history. :) I'll go take a look. 8)

EDIT... Those are cute, and it didn't take me long to recognize you. I guess the fact that those areas don't exist anymore makes them even more sentimental. BTW, I'm guessing the Lazuryths picture was taken around the early '90s too, 'cause the parking lot has almost entirely boxy cars, and even some Uncle Buck-type models from earlier, lol. It's got the older lettering style as opposed to the way they modernize logos now.

Around here, we've got quite a few malls that haven't really changed that much since the '80s. I know the Galleria mall in Warner Robins, hasn't changed at all since the early '90s, and the Macon Mall hasn't been changed since the mid '80s.

One of my favorite places to go here is the Sportscenter showroom. It used to be K-Mart back in the '80s, and up until 1993, when they moved it across the street to a new building. Because of that it was never renovated, and made into one of the Big-K K-Mart stores, so even though there's something else in there now, pretty much nothing has changed. There's still some K-Mart signs up around the store, and they even use the old K-Mart buggies.

In alot of ways, walking in there is like going back to 1988. 8)

^ You were in the pictures? That's cool, both for personal memories and being a part of history. :) I'll go take a look. 8)

EDIT... Those are cute, and it didn't take me long to recognize you. I guess the fact that those areas don't exist anymore makes them even more sentimental. BTW, I'm guessing the Lazuryths picture was taken around the early '90s too, 'cause the parking lot has almost entirely boxy cars, and even some Uncle Buck-type models from earlier, lol. It's got the older lettering style as opposed to the way they modernize logos now.


aww, thanks! :) Actually the Lazarus store didn't close until like the end of the 90's. I worked at the mall up until, I believe 1999...and in that particular picture...it had a "store closing" banner on the building...so I think it was like sometime in 1998 or so that they closed that store. It's strange that in my mind that seemed like yesterday...but looking at the picture makes it seem so long ago. :o

There's an "old school" mall near where my sister lives, in Chambersburg, Pa. (not far from Gettysburg or Harrisburg). We went there this past weekend, and I noticed they had some stores that our malls haven't had since the late 80's....for instance, DEB (clothing store for women), and Aladdin's Castle (video arcade room).

There's an "old school" mall near where my sister lives, in Chambersburg, Pa. (not far from Gettysburg or Harrisburg). We went there this past weekend, and I noticed they had some stores that our malls haven't had since the late 80's....for instance, DEB (clothing store for women), and Aladdin's Castle (video arcade room).


Oh that's cool, did you guys go into any of them? :)

The one in Fairfield (about 50 miles west of Sacramento) had alot of stores like this, too. I even saw a Wherehouse in there...which is a music and video retail place that largely closed down most of their stores circa 2003. It was extremely old-school looking. If it weren't for people walking around with cameraphones and stuff, I might've been fooled into thinking it was the actual, real 1990s. Even '80s.

Maybe my theory about smaller towns holding onto the past longer (because of less demand to change it to fit with the population or layout of an inner city) is kinda true.

Oh that's cool, did you guys go into any of them? :)

The one in Fairfield (about 50 miles west of Sacramento) had alot of stores like this, too. I even saw a Wherehouse in there...which is a music and video retail place that largely closed down most of their stores circa 2003. It was extremely old-school looking. If it weren't for people walking around with cameraphones and stuff, I might've been fooled into thinking it was the actual, real 1990s. Even '80s.

Maybe my theory about smaller towns holding onto the past longer (because of less demand to change it to fit with the population or layout of an inner city) is kinda true.



We went into a few stores, and we ate dinner at Bonanza (similiar to Ponderosa) Restaurant, which was located within the mall. We didn't go to the arcade though...Vaughn was getting tired and restless...so we just perused a few stores that had Halloween and Christmas decorations and such. It was cool though, being in this mall. It reminded me of our old mall, Greengate Mall..that was torn down a few years ago.  And as you said...it reminded me of the late 80's/early 90's as I was walking through there....it's almost like they are maybe 10 years behind us, in some ways...nevertheless, it was quite refreshing. 8)

Most of the malls I went to over the years have been renovated at least a couple of times over the years. The last time I went to Metrocenter in Phoenix (in 2004) it still had an old school vibe to it, despite the renovations. It was one of my favorite malls in the Phoenix area. The Meadows Mall here in Vegas (where I currently live) still has an 80's-like feel to it, despite its own renovations. Especially since the Hot Dog on a Stick I used to frequent is in the same place in the food court.  :)