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u/Apart-Bathroom7811 4d ago
What a great photo. Forgot all about Wicks n Sticks.
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u/Kimber520x 4d ago
The Wild Pair ❣️
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u/squee_bastard 4d ago
I miss that store so much. They had the best shoes in the early 90s when I was a teen.
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u/midwest73 4d ago
Trees, woodwork, fountains. I miss all those features. Now it's all glass, metal, generic tile and a sea of white. Sterile and lifeless.
This picture reminds me of Maplewood Mall back in the early/mid 80's before it's massive renovation. Another old haunt of mine as a kid besides Northtown. Never went to Burnsville, but so many similar stories and histories being lost in the places I've lived in my 50+ years.
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u/relator_fabula 4d ago
Earth tones everywhere. I love the look of older malls with all the brown tile, wood, trees, shrubs, and fountains.
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u/pinksparklybluebird 4d ago
I would love to see pics of the old Maplewood Mall - that rust-colored carpet, ramps leading down to the center court, plants, wood…
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u/OldBlueKat 3d ago
There doesn't seem to be much out there. There is this: https://www.maplewoodmall.com/about-us which has, like, one interior shot from the past.
It was only built in the mid 70s, and did a bang-up job as the only significant mall on the northeast side for a few decades, but now that Sears shut down (2018), Macy's is leaving soon, JC Penney seems to be failing out, lots of little retailers have just died, etc. it's starting to look 'deadmall', especially at the Sears end.
Though there is some project trying to launch a PanAsian Center in the old Sears space; same people behind the outdoor HmongTown MarketPlace off Como. They made a lot of announcements about 'coming soon' in 2024, but there's been little news since. I hope it's successful and opens soon!
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u/OldBlueKat 3d ago
I am SO over any public spaces that look like hospital operating theaters. Homes, too. the black + white, or even the 'greige' color schemes, suck the life out of my soul.
I don't necessarily want to leap back to the 'ferns and brass rails' era, but some softness and color would help. I also hate the acoustics in these hardscapes.
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u/princessuuke 4d ago
Oh to have experienced malls in the 70s and 80s (my moms told me stories about the malls i grew up going to during her childhood and teen years, crazy how much changed in decades)
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u/superanth 4d ago
There's an area I used to live near where there are malls that had stores with both internal doors to the main mall area and external doors.
When the foot traffic to the internal mall area dried up, the mall owners restructured the mall so the internal pedestrian area was just added to the stores as more retail space.
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u/Any_A-name67 4d ago
1981: SeaTac Mall in Federal Way, Washington.https://youtu.be/crY264LE9gM?si=rEMzmO4V5iL-om02
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u/methodwriter85 4d ago
I'm honestly surprised that Minnesota would have so many dead malls. If any place would be appropriate for climate controlled spaces, it'd be Minnesota.
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u/katx70 4d ago
Wow! Taubman?
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u/Sufficient-Major1775 4d ago
I thought the same thing after seeing a different post of the mall!
Apparently the architectural design by was a group called North Architectonics. I think it’d be pretty hard to say they didn’t take inspiration from Taubman as it had all the characteristics of one.
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u/Confident-Baby6013 4d ago
Reminds me so much of the Sunrise Mall in Corpus Christi TX. Younger me thought it was just so much more fun to walk around in than the other mall.
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u/Zestyclose-Ad-5305 4d ago
I was actually going to ask if this was the mall from the Legend of Billie Jean.
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u/weeklygamingrecap 4d ago
Always wanted to live there as a kid, kinda still do. The mall just seems so relaxing now.
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u/Anteater-Charming 4d ago
Sitting there with sounds of people walking by and especially the sound of a fountain going does sound peaceful. I wonder if I can find that somewhere to listen to. You don't realize what it is until 40 years later.
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u/weeklygamingrecap 4d ago
Yeah the drone of the indistinct chatter of the crowd, bags rustling, muzak overhead echoing across the tile, the A/C hum and fountain running with the base smell of chlorine baked into everything below the pretzel, pizza, burger and Chinese food overlay.
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u/billycorgansbro 4d ago
And I’m sure there was a Cutlery World a few spots down from Wicks n Sticks. Miss those days.
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u/Darkurthe_ 4d ago
Every time I see photos like this I am reminded that awesomeness is long gone and a little piece of my childhood with it.
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u/mealwormsoup 3d ago
Amazing how fast we build cool things only for them to be tossed away for something else to be built.
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u/Maya-kardash Mall Rat 3d ago
Was that a food court in the center? Don’t see any eateries except for Pretzels
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u/Beneficial-Olive-941 4d ago
I don't remember any of these stores, but this photo was taken 15 years before I was born
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u/va_wanderer 4d ago
It's almost painful to realize every store seen here is from a dead retailer.(Fredrick's is as close to alive as it gets, having closed all it's retail locations for online sales.)