Do you still go to the mall? Do your kids (if you have them) go to the mall? Have you found yourself bringing up to '80s/'90s Mall culture? Do you miss said mall culture?
Posted by DHN_95@reddit | Xennials | View on Reddit | 190 comments
xWaterNerdx@reddit
Yes and yes - my 15 year old daughter and her friends love the mall. But I live walking distance to a really good mall indoor mall in California. When our out of town family visit, the teens also want to go to the mall. Its such a good 3rd space for teens!
Charming-Insurance@reddit
May I ask which one? The only one I’ve visited here recently is Ontario and it’s always dead and depressing.
EggandSpoon42@reddit
We have two good malls in Austin that are always pumping. My now adult kids loved them, and my pre-teen also loves going.
I was a super mall rat in high school, lol. Worked at Camelot music and would work at Merry-Go-Round part time during holidays.
clevelandexile@reddit
First time anyone has referenced Camelot music to me since I worked there 26 years ago!
anonymousca27@reddit
Yea, alot of teenagers still hangout the mall. Mostly in large cities but they still do.
Klutzy_Word_6812@reddit
Same. I moved to California from Missouri and was kind of shocked that the malls here are still alive. The mall in my hometown is empty stores.
Konnorwolf@reddit
I love the idea of malls if they had everything I currently go to. =)
ArchSchnitz@reddit
My kids love the mall and readily go. Unfortunately most of the malls here disallow groups or singles under 16 if unaccompanied by an adult. It's bullshit and gives kids the impression they're not wanted.
Malls are no longer the safe "third place" they once were. But, my kids still like to go. There's something about multiple retail stores, a movie theater, and food court that they appreciate.
bshr49@reddit
No; yes; no; yes.
I don't go to the mall anymore, but one of my kids got kicked out of Spencer's a few years ago for not being old enough to be in the "naughty" section. I laughed and told them that the same thing happened to me when I was younger.
TheDangDeal@reddit
Just went to the mall on Friday night to look around and visit our nephew in high school who works there. When we stopped by the second time to say goodbye and drop off food, he had a friend there visiting him. I feel like malls are starting to have a comeback…people are starting to try on clothes again, and also ensuring they’re actually purchasing what they think they are without doing a forensic investigation of the details online.
ScientistAsHero@reddit
Yeah, when I was like 15 the mall was still a pretty bangin' place. (This was like 1995.) I remember, like the stereotype, hanging out with my friends there. (And sometimes ducking out the entrances to smoke the occasional cig.)
But within just a couple of years, the mall had become a ghost town, and it was indicative of a nationwide shift. Even by the time I'd graduated high school in 1997, many of the stores I'd gone to just a couple of years earlier had turned into rental space for events, and a lot of them were just outright closed and shuttered up. The only stores that were left were the big staples - JC Penney's, Proffitts, and Sears. And they also opened it up for old people to mall walk.
Nowadays malls are something of a nostalgia trip for me, and I don't live in a town that has one. But if I am in a bigger city and they have one and I have a reason to go, you bet I'll take the opportunity.
LaughingCook@reddit
Our mall shut down, and I'm sad that our teenager can't grow up that way.
mtrxgltchs@reddit
Yes, yes, yes, and yes. I have a tendency to listen to mallsoft music too 😂.
jackfaire@reddit
In my area the mall is still around and still a thing. It's the only large communal space we have where people can go and hang out so it's still very popular. Everything else is either a park or somewhere you have to spend money to be at.
Oldpuzzlehead@reddit
A mall trip today is to the store I need and then leave. No more wandering or just sitting around wasting time.
redonkulousness@reddit
It’s like walking down a back alley in a deserted downtown district.
LilMushboom@reddit
I think a lot of it is that malls these days are all clothes, shoes, handbags and such. All the little quirky places like the nature store, sharper image, KB toys, radio shack, WB store etc have long been put out of business first by wal-mart and then by amazon. Unless you need clothes there's not much of just browsing interest.
PuppyJakeKhakiCollar@reddit
Walden Books and The Wall were my favorite places to spend my allowance as a kid.
VecchioDiM3rd1955@reddit
It's the same for me. I have one at walking distance, and I go to the anchor to buy groceries. I went also to the basper but they closed down and now there's another smartphone shop there. The ice cream shop it's meh, was better before, the anchor's cafeteria it's quite good, but at the end other shops are average.
AmputeeHandModel@reddit
That's how I've always been.
sprinklesadded@reddit
The malls are thriving here in New Zealand so my kid and her friends go all the time. I used to live near the Mall of America and was sad to see how dead it was on a recent visit.
_R_A_@reddit
One of the malls I worked in back in college turned the food court into an aquarium I heard. Also, one of the anchor stores is a medical center now. Haven't been there so don't know how it is first hand.
Between the lack of Sears and the lack of arcades, I don't really have a strong desire to go to the mall. Sometimes I'll go check out a clearance sale when I need some new work clothes, but that's about it.
ineffable_my_dear@reddit
I rarely go to the mall. There’s nothing there I can’t get online and I prefer shopping in peace.
Our oldest (26) and his wife took our younger kid (14) to the mall yesterday for the teen’s birthday. They said they had fun and it was actually busy, which has not been my experience the last few times I’ve visited. Most of the stores are vacant, including former flagships.
PhatBoyFlim@reddit
Ah, West Edmonton Mall. A place with such a bad youth gang problem for awhile, they were banned after the parkade sections …
I miss the innocence of not knowing it was a monument to destructive, predatory capitalism and having it just be a place to hang out, have an Orange Julius, and buy novelty T-shirts and tapes with my allowance.
SlimJim0877@reddit
The idea of a bunch of kids starting mall gangs and naming them after sections of the mall is so dorky and hilarious
PhatBoyFlim@reddit
It might have just been the police and media. Hahah
Cockblocktimus_Pryme@reddit
This has to be the mall Dead Rising was based around.
cupcakebean@reddit
What in the Waterworld is this mall?
joecarter93@reddit
It was called the 8th wonder of the world when they built it in the 80’s. It has a waterpark, indoor theme park and a Seal Lion show (used to be Dolphins). At one time like 20 or so years ago it also had the largest nightclub in the world too I believe. It’s actually still very busy today, even though it’s scaled back some of its attractions and lost most anchor stores.
The same company that built and owns it also built the Mall of America and another massive mall in New Jersey.
TheThrivingest@reddit
This comment just made me viscerally recall throwing up in the parking lot after getting fall down drunk at Rum Jungle when I was 18
flittingly1@reddit
Ah yes and in Alberta, you could drink at 18!
mystiqueallie@reddit
It’s still 18 - both neighbouring provinces and the adjacent territory are 19, Montana is 21.
BogeyLowenstein@reddit
Did the Rum Jungle have go-go dancers or girls on swings or something like that? I lived there for a year and remember drinking at a club at WEM and then going out for hot dogs after. This was in 2004.
CarnivalColors@reddit
Hm, I don’t remember dancers or swings… I had friends who worked there so I think I’d have remembered that.
CarnivalColors@reddit
I’m pretty sure I went too hard at the Rum Jungle too, and the Joint… good times.
rebelangel@reddit
It used to have a submarine ride too. And it has a pirate ship you can rent out for parties.
Scary-Detail-3206@reddit
It’s actually got a full size indoor waterpark
rebelangel@reddit
I was sad when they removed the fire-breathing dragon at the movie theater.
Al-ex-Bee@reddit
Want to see MC Hammer ride a scooter in WEM? of course you do!
tlmz99@reddit
So glad to see this comment. I'm a born and raised Edmontonian. And it took me a minute to realize this wasn't posted in the Edmonton sub. Our mall used to be internationally recognized. So much so that anywhere I went when people learned I was from Edmonton I would be asked exclusively about the mall. Crazy a mall and Peter pocklingtons oilers put us on the world stage
Terrible_Salt7906@reddit
When I was a child I saw a documentary about your mall and dreamed of visiting. I remember the mall had apartments and it followed a woman who lived in the mall, worked in the mall, dined in the mall, and socialized in the mall. I thought that was goals at the time.
skaomatic32@reddit
When did we have a bad youth gang problem ?
PhatBoyFlim@reddit
This was a long, long time ago. I remember it from the 90s. I want to say the 90s.
HipHopChick1982@reddit
Our local mall is on the verge of being a dead mall at this point (Southern New Jersey), but my husband and I have travelled out of the area for better malls (Freehold, Cherry Hill, and American Dream), all of which make me nostalgic for mall culture in the 90s. I definitely miss those days!
tuxonator@reddit
Robin Sparkle can only be seen at mall shows so YES
GibsonMD5150@reddit
Love and miss the mall! We still go most weekends with our little one, but these days it’s more about said little running around in a safe environment because there are hardly any shoppers there on a Saturday evening. It’s wild to think what it once was.
IceSmiley@reddit
No not in general but I'd love to go to Mall of America!
Public-Grocery-8183@reddit
omg, I love the Mall of America! My cousin and I will pick something strange to try to find, and just let loose looking for it. We chat with the employees, sample Nespresso flavors, try out different scents at lotion stores. It's so much fun. We act like we did when we were teens at the mall, except we're 43 now.
ihavenoidea81@reddit
I live about 3 miles away and haven’t been there in years. Just too god damn big. Must have been poppin in the 90’s
Public-Grocery-8183@reddit
omg, I love the Mall of America! My cousin and I will pick something strange to try to find, and just let loose looking for it. We chat with the employees, sample Nespresso flavors, try out different scents at lotion stores. It's so much fun. We act like we did when we were teens at the mall, except we're 43 now.
paintedwoodpile@reddit
I used to go all the time until most places stopped stocking most things and offer to ship them to me. I wanted it today or I would have just ordered it online before making the drive here. Shoes, jeans, etc.
Drcornelius1983@reddit
I live near the Mall of America so I still go and so do my teenagers. But I’m sure our mall is much more active than most I..
SlimJim0877@reddit
I live in SoCal and the malls here are always packed. Mall culture is alive and well in this region.
prosequare@reddit
I went to the mall yesterday for the first time in about 15 years. It was more active than I expected, with almost all of the storefronts occupied by open businesses.
However, what should have been a ten minute stop wound up taking half an hour because everyone there walked like malfunctioning roombas, blocking every direction and making forward progress a halting and frustrating affair. Probably won’t go back.
PuppyJakeKhakiCollar@reddit
Your description made me laugh. I will from now on refer to the oblivious people in the grocery store as "malfunctioning roombas".
geekgirlwww@reddit
I would not be surprised if that’s still true.
cancerdancer@reddit
thats where people get shot now
PuppyJakeKhakiCollar@reddit
The one closest to me now was where we went Christmas shopping on Black Friday. It was an annual tradition for years in my family. Sadly, now you have a better chance of getting shot there than finding a good bargain.
seche314@reddit
Here too
PuppyJakeKhakiCollar@reddit
I haven't been to a mall in over 20 years. Even as a teen I didn't like it all that much, though did spend a lot of time there because my friends wanted to and there wasn't much else to do.
The malls I spent the most time in are either sad shells of what they used to be or gone completely. One is experiencing a resurgence as a restaurant mall. The mall near my job is thriving and opening new stores frequently.
frecklemimus79@reddit
The mall from the 70s is still alive and kicking, the 90s mall has been demolished to make room for a Hobby Lobby and a Target. Kiddo thinks malls are creepy, but I think that’s just cause they’ve never been to a decent one.
macklin_sob@reddit
I will use the mall near by to walk when temps hit over 100 in the summer. It's pretty busy and seems to do well. My 20 and 23 year old kids still go to shop and hang out.
xiaomayzeee@reddit
I still go once a month with friends just to walk around.
eannaj@reddit
I visited Sydney (Australia) for work last year and I was amazed at how malls seem to be everywhere in the shopping districts. Like every block is a mall. I think it’s really just an efficient use of the inner block space between buildings, but it became a running joke among my coworkers and I. We were always somehow in a mall. Seemed like every place we went in, you could make a turn somewhere and suddenly be in another mall. Hilarious
bovilexia@reddit
I miss hanging out at the arcade then getting an authentic New York slice a Sbarro. The only mall near me is mostly women's clothing, jewelry, empty space and Spencer's. Food court gone. Video game stores gone. Music stores gone. Outside of Christmas the place is a ghost town.
Cael_NaMaor@reddit
Occasionally for Lego; have none; nope, but the mall retirement home sounds cool af; was never a part of it
Ossmo02@reddit
Out of the 4 that were active in my teen years, only 2 are still open, on the other side of town, and they are a shell with hardly anything in them. For some reason Designers have it in their heads that people like to go to shopping plazas and have to go outside between stores, and forget that we have seasons here. Snow, Ice, rain, 100°f+.
So to answer your question, no, theres nothing in the remaining malls to go for.
Pleasant_Expert_1990@reddit
The last time I went to a mall was 2023. I visited my home town and this my home town mall. It was sad. The parking lot has been taken over by out buildings, presumably because they are newer and still cheaper. The inside of the mall is clean but about half occupied but there was a good amount of foot traffic, mostly around the food court.
The hanging decorations on the ceilings are gone. The big fountain that looked like a water faucet is gone. The big stores, like Sports Authority, have merged together into a cheap furniture store, US Furniture (all made in Vietnam). Half the AMC theater is gone. Like they cut it in half down the middle. I hope they turn the inside into a Gen X ALF and leave the out buildings for commerce. But I want the ceiling decor and the fountain back. And some 90s Stores like the Nature one where we played with rain sticks and an arcade dammit!
litesaber5@reddit
West Edmonton Mall?!!!
Deut008@reddit
Never went to the mall of America, but I wish I had. The Mighty Ducks made it look so cool.
localfern@reddit
My childhood mall
DeltaFlyer0525@reddit
No, malls are basically dead in our area.
jojotherider@reddit
I personally hate going to the mall. But i also have minimal fashion sense and no real use to go to the mall. But my daughter enjoys it. Its kind of refreshing actually.
vietbond@reddit
We go to the mall about once a week to get our steps in. Also, my son likes pretzels.
FungiStudent@reddit
My local mall is dead. They filmed some of the Stranger Things episodes in there but its closed AFAIK
nohearn@reddit
The one where I grew up and hung out at doesnt allow anyone under 18 to be there without a parent. Too many fights and theft. NW Indiana
Sidehussle@reddit
What kind of mall is this? Where is it! I’ve never been to one like this one in the photo.
geekgirlwww@reddit
King of Prussia in the Philly area is always packed when I go
Sad_Nefarious@reddit
KOP is nuts. In the early 2000s, I was told it had more open actual stores than Mall of America. That was before they built the whole connector between the buildings that’s also full of stores.
AM_710@reddit
I didn't go to the mall for years but now my kids want to be taken all the time
BeatrixFarrand@reddit
Yes and yes. I live in The Valley, like totally, fer sure. It's so ingrained here; you hit up the Topanga Plaza for the movies and some food.
Faustus_Fan@reddit
I really miss mall culture. When I was a teenager in the late 90's, it didn't matter what time of day or day of the week you went to the mall. It was always busy and there was always stuff I wanted to buy. Now, it doesn't matter what time of day or day of the week, it is a ghost town and nothing but overpriced shit. The cool stores (e.g. Natural Wonders) are long gone.
Shigglyboo@reddit
Didn’t even have to buy. You could wander and window shop. Scope out what new stuff there is. I loved Natural Wonders. The science store. And Wicks n Sticks. Free to smell candles.
Shigglyboo@reddit
I’m in Spain and we go once in a while. It jas a great playground in the middle (outdoors). Lots of restaurants and stores surrounding it. Inside there’s a theater. Food court. Bowling alley. Great place for teenagers. The bus comes from the city every 30 mins.
presidentdracula@reddit
If you've seen one, you've seen a mall.
spinereader81@reddit
No. It just stopped being exciting for me after I grew up. It's pretty much just clothes and things I can find everywhere. And my favorite stores went out of business long ago. I'll always miss The Nature Company.
Crans10@reddit
My mom did not believe in dropping me off at the mall to hang out. I only went there with a purpose. I got real efficient in my shopping and patient with others shopping I was with. Portable handhelds and later smartphones made it easier to entertain myself while waiting for others.
Wise_Command9407@reddit
where is that mall with water and a boat in the picture
MoneyPresentation610@reddit
My daughter likes to get jeans from Charlotte Russe, in the mall, and I pop in once or twice a month to get some Asian food to go.
jgnp@reddit
Absolutely. We have a great mall and it’s got the r/mallninja shop and everything.
Roland-Of-Eld-19@reddit
West Edmonton Mall, in the good old days the waterslides were reasonably priced!
flittingly1@reddit
My 11th grade class field tripped (8 hour drive) to West Edmonton Mall for 2 nights. Lol!! That place was the best in it's hay day! IMAX, Playdium, skating rink, water park (water slides, wave pool, bungee jumping) adjustment Park with rollercoaster, water tanks w/dolphin show, pirate ship lol wtf. I've still never stayed at Fantasyland though.
goingofftrack@reddit
My 11-year-old son and I were at the mall today.
Miami_Mice2087@reddit
no and i don't miss it. the mall stores got very expensive like 15 years ago, then except for the department stores, the stores stopped selling things i wanted or needed. I never really enjoyed shopping as a hobby so ... no, I don't miss it, I don't want to be there.
Bulky_Yak_8626@reddit
The last time I was in a mall I didn’t see anyone else for like 20 minutes. I felt like I was in Dawn of the Dead.
Some_Big6792@reddit
My favorite mall shut down and I rarely go to the one that’s still open
EmmalouEsq@reddit
I just realized my son has never been to a mall. I miss them especially the vibes around the holidays.
fruitjerky@reddit
Yes, yes, yes, and yes. We have several malls nearby that aren't dead, though the sheer volume of knockoff Japanese blind box toys is somewhat depressing. Our nearest mall added a soft play area a year ago that's nice to visit during the summer. Our largest department stores are mostly dead, but I saw Escondido mall turned one of theirs into a little flea market, so I hope we get to see more of that. It's mostly Pokemon card dealers, but there are some nice vintage booths.
FruitMustache@reddit
They're is a mall near me that is just as busy as malls used to be in the last 90's and I love it.
Ok-Bag-9710@reddit
There is still a mall near us. My kids love to go. Me, it depends. I loke the mall when i have money and time to spend. I loke that the kids (now 16 and 20) like me to come with them sometimes too.
big_ringer@reddit
We have a really good Mall where I live. But I live in the city.
ApprehensiveAnswer5@reddit
No. I didn’t really grow up with malls either.
There weren’t any in the inner city, and the public transport didn’t go all the way out to the newer and nicer ‘burbs with malls.
I think we only went to a mall once a year to do Back-to-School shopping, lol
Allenrw81@reddit
I haven’t been in the mall that’s closest to me (an hour drive) in almost 20 years. I just don’t see a reason to go there.
SlapHappyDude@reddit
My kids are now 10 and 14 and the mall (which has an attached target) can be a decent evening destination. Admittedly aside from target it ends up being a lot of browsing and very little buying, which probably isn't helping balls stay in business. Except the pretzel store.
_6siXty6_@reddit
Shout out to OP for using West Ed Mall picture.
Classic_Breadfruit18@reddit
Hawai'i has never left the 90s. Our mall still has a full arcade, movie theater and retailers such as Hot Topic, Specers gifts, Journeys, Auntie Anne's pretzels and yes even Orange Julius. As well as a smattering of sirfwear places. Yes the teenagers including mine all hang out there on the days it is too rainy to go to the beach.
lsp2005@reddit
I live in NJ and we have both incredibly thriving and dead malls. Short Hills ($$$$$$) and Bridgewater Commons ($$$$-$$$$$) and thriving. Whereas Livingston Mall is dead. Then we have American Dream with a water park and a theme park. It has a lot of attractions and activities, including skiing, golf, and escape rooms. I think the aquarium you can swim in closed though. But it seems to be doing okay.
Glendale0839@reddit
The first time I walked through Short Hills as a teenager in the mid-late 90s, it was mind blowing. The Bentley and Mercedes on display inside the mall hallways, the live piano player, the old-style Abercrombie and Fitch decorated like a country club grill room, the Neiman Marcus with a restaurant inside it, valet parking, some old timey "Gentlemen's Accessories" store that looked like the Monopoly Man would shop there, etc.
It was like walking into a whole different world of rich people that I otherwise had little exposure to.
lsp2005@reddit
I’ve been to the high end shopping areas in NYC, LA, London, Paris, Rome, and Tokyo. None of them have the depth and breadth of the Short Hills Mall. It is a Mecca for wealth that is unparalleled.
Small_life@reddit
Our town still has one. We're a medium sized town.
I went semi-regularly until around 2016 because that's where the movie theater was. A much better theater opened up in town and that one quickly died.
The only time I've gone since then was to get my ears pierced as the legit piercing shop in town is there.
danksince98@reddit
mall near is me is jammed on weekends ..rest of week is steady
Out-There1013@reddit
Once in a great, great while. And it's always either:
I need to go to the Best Buy to look at phones, laptops, or TVs,
I'm using Kohl's to return something I bought on Amazon, or
I'm buying new bed sheets at Penny's.
And every time I'm tempted into walking around, and every time it's just a depressing waste of time. Because there's no more bookstores, no more Suncoast, no more KB Toys. I keep wanting to have lunch like in the old days but there's no real restaurants anymore. I can see a movie if there's something I like and that's it.
Twanlx2000@reddit
Strangely enough, my wife and I wanted to get out of the house this afternoon and travelled about 30 minutes to a mall we hadn't visited in a few years. It was absolutely hopping with people and flooded with well-behaved teenagers. It was the medicine my heart didn't know it needed!
CSWorldChamp@reddit
We have a mall, but it’s a good 20 minute drive. Still, it has the only free indoor playground in town, a candy store, and a Bricks & Minifigs, so it’s a great place to take the kids on a rainy day.
I grew up a short 5 minute bike ride from a mall, so I was there all the time…
likesblackcoffeebest@reddit
I do not go to malls. I hate shopping. I also grew up really rural and never experienced mall culture in the 90's.
My 17-year-old daughter went through a phase in middle school where she loved going to the mall with friends. All my kids will occasionally go. Therefore even though I don't enjoy malls, my money does go there sometimes. lol
Automatic-Nature6025@reddit
My kid doesn't quite understand why our local mall even exists, and I don't blame him. It's a big Mall with only a handful of operational businesses. The majority of people inside are old folks who walk circles around it all day. Practically no one under 30 in there. When I told him how it was when I was his age, I could tell he was having difficulty putting together a picture in a way that made it sound appealing to young folks.
Andi_Lou_Who@reddit
Only if I’m already in town for work. It’s not a place to hang out anymore. Barely anything there, nowhere to sit and security will kick kids out now.
luxtabula@reddit
Yes, but I'm in a place with many malls.
I seem to notice there are three tiers of malls.
A thriving mall.
A struggling mall.
And a dying mall.
I'm next to several of these. The thriving malls look like the 90s didn't die, but they became incredibly exclusive. All the high priced venues and shops are in them, some started doing valet parking. The exclusivity is keeping them alive but I don't enjoy going to them anymore since they don't feel inviting anymore.
The struggling malls have decent traffic on the weekends or during popular holidays, but are practically ghost towns during the day, even during the evenings. Some have hallmark signs like a lot of novelty and niche shops to try to stand out from the Internet, or things like escape rooms or convenience stores.
The dying malls have a lot of vacant storefronts and a major anchor that's no longer relevant or out of business. Some of them already closed down since the land they sit on is worth more than the mall.
If you have a little one, bringing them to a struggling mall is a fun time. There's few people to bump into, plenty of kids venues trying to find a niche store they can play in, and now a lot of kids playgrounds in the common areas.
Ordinary_Aioli_7602@reddit
I remember when I went to the popular mall from the 90s for the last time in 2012, I knew that it was gonna be the last time. It was a bummer. They could come back, but I think Covid dealt a lethal blow for the most part.
Ok_Neighborhood2032@reddit
I miss this specific mall. I saw all of The Lord of the Rings there.
jesusmansuperpowers@reddit
I did today. Oddly there were quite a few people there.
FalseVeterinarian881@reddit
If this was my mall I certainly would.
Suns_In_420@reddit
This mall looks cool as fuck.
Possible-Jerk0138@reddit
I can’t remember the last time I was in one.
NoShameMallPretzels@reddit
Never got truly into mall culture, but I do miss this specific mall! Lived in Edmonton for several years and miss it terribly. This was the closest mall to us and my daughter took skating lessons at the rink
tres-vip@reddit
I don't have kids, but yes, I go to the mall. Which is ALWAYS busy and full no matter the time of day, but I am in NYC.
echochilde@reddit
I honestly can only think of two times I’ve been to the mall in the last 15ish years. Once to get my mom’s favorite Sees chocolate, and a few months ago to hit up the GameStop because I accidentally knocked my husband’s Xbox controller off the dresser and broke a stick.
I’ve never enjoyed shopping in general. Or people. I grew up in BFN so the closest mall was about an hour and a half away, so it was just for special trips. Obviously too far for a hangout.
Independent_Dig_142@reddit
Get some mallsoft vaporwave into ya:
NEON PALM MALL (Vaporwave Mix + Video)
MALLSOFT VAPORWAVE VHS Vol.4 - by driftive dreams
Cat System Corp - Palm Mall
Ckn-bns-jns@reddit
We love going to the mall with our kids, granted we have good ones still where we live. Both our kids are in sports so we always have to pick something up at Dick’s so we usually end up making a bigger mall trip out of it.
optimaloutcome@reddit
Our mall is still pretty busy and my kid loves going shopping there.
Weird_Squirrel_8382@reddit
I miss it but not a whole lot. I never had the money to go around and do whatever, so if I did go with friends I was on the fringes.
My nieces go every so often and seem to enjoy it.
ShortBrownAndUgly@reddit
My daughter does sometimes although she kind of grew out of that already. I go very rarely, less than once per year
hairburner4@reddit
I'm really hoping they build our generation's retirement homes to be like 90s malls.
djsynrgy@reddit
I'm hoping more for '80s malls.
LonghornJct08@reddit
Oh wow, West Edmonton Mall before they got rid of the submarines! That mall was so big it actually had two Eaton’s stores back in the day. I think it had two Bay stores more recently.
These days, I go to the mall reluctantly. It’s an experience that’s tolerated, not enjoyed anymore.
TheThrivingest@reddit
Yes but not the mall in the OP because I’d rather walk on a bed of nails than have to go into WEM.
Thats a cool throwback pic of it tho.
seche314@reddit
No. I didn’t let my kids go there either. That’s where younger teens go to fight in groups. No thanks
bowleggedgrump@reddit
I am sitting in the gigantic mall in my city. My mom would take my brother and me here at least 1/wk.
It has changed dramatically and 75% of the malls in my city have just vaporized and gone long ago.
My kids come here so rarely that it’s a novelty.
MonkeyBred@reddit
No. No. Huh? And no.
What I miss is being a kid whose family took him to the mall, either as a day out with my parents or to tag along with my older cousins.
The mall as a social 3rd space was cool to just inhabit, but by the late 90s, it stopped being cool to hang out without compulsive buying.
Radiant-Avocado-3158@reddit
Oh West Ed, you really had a moment didn’t you? I can blame Fantasy Land for not being all that impressed with Disneyland haha. The Drop of Doom was epic.
joecarter93@reddit
They recently got rid of the roller coaster too. It never reopened after COVID. However I think they might be building a new one in its place. The rest of Fantasyland/Galaxyland now has a Hasbro Toys theme.
Amy_Macadamia@reddit
Yes. My teens are growing, so they need to try on shoes and clothes
Jolly-Context-2697@reddit
Our local malls are really busy. Kids get dropped off or take the city bus. Our malls also have lots of restaurants so they are a destination.
poop-money@reddit
I don't, and avoid it at all costs. But my nephew who lives in my Mormon dominated hometown does because there's no other good 3rd spaces (that aren't controlled by the church).
jennifer_m13@reddit
My 12 year old loves to go to the mall. He can’t wait until he’s old enough to work, his dream job right now is to work for Barns & Noble at the mall. His other favorite stores are Hot Topic and Box Lunch.
Fabulous-South-9551@reddit
I have a really busy and nice mall in my city. My daughter does go there a lot, sometimes with friends and sometimes alone as just something to do. From Thanksgiving week up until maybe the first week of January, it’s so packed it’s almost impossible to go because there’s just not enough parking. If you want to go badly enough, you have to park across the street in a different shopping center and walk in. They have a really nice movie theater (the old sears), arcade and bowling alley and a couple of nice restaurants and a Cheesecake Factory.
Appropriate-Food1757@reddit
I have a nice mall nearby. The ones that have a Nordstrom, your nicer malls, aren’t struggling. The others are in a pretty sad state.
small___potatoes@reddit
I only go to the mall because that’s our local movie theater.
bgva@reddit
I've become the old person who gets his steps in at the mall, so sometimes I'll stop by to see what it looks like. Definitely a far cry from what it was in 1998, but I still see teens in there every once in a while. Around here, there's two dead malls about 10 minutes apart and the city is dragging his feet on what to do with them. Two malls were converted to town centers, and the one closest to me is busy and dead at the same time.
About a year-and-a-half ago, I posted in this sub a photo of what Spencers now sells in the T-shirt section. I know I missed a lotta crude jokes as a kid, but I was blown by what some of the shirts were saying.
djsynrgy@reddit
I used to have a shirt from there that said "nobody knows I'm a lesbian." I thought that was hilarious. 😆
Context: I'm cis/white/hetero/male, and it was the late '90s.
weyoun_clone@reddit
There’s an active mall near me that I still go to.
I’m actually sitting in a LensCrafters right now in said mall waiting for my appointment.
Moxie_Stardust@reddit
I don't go unless I have specific business there. My local REI and Total Wine are attached to the mall, but I can enter without going into the mall.
It was mostly appealing as a place to go hang out that was free when I was younger, and I have different ways to fit those needs now (and more money)
cbih@reddit
I haven't gone to a mall in 15-20 years
Gonna_do_this_again@reddit
Ours is a small town mall in its death throes. There's a movie theater, a Dillard's two open spaces in the food court and a couple of speciality stores that are only open 3 or 4 days a week.
doorman666@reddit
Still go to the mall fairly regularly. Our mall is surprisingly still thriving. Valley River Mall, Eugene, Oregon. All the anchor stores are filled,and there's only a handful of vacant spots. Good food options at the food court, including some local options and a few chains. Really good Japanese steakhouse and hibachi grill attached to the mall. The anchor stores seem to be doing well, and one of the anchors is an absolutely world class Japanese arcade. My family and I feel lucky we have such a a gem in our community!
the_ballmer_peak@reddit
Rarely. Not by themselves (too young). No. No.
We_wanna_play@reddit
At a mall right now as I type this, was at the west ed about 2 months ago, and was just at the Eaton center in Toronto last week, they are all busy.
broadwayallday@reddit
realizing in many ways we have a "mall at home" or the ability to recreate a lot of what we miss about the mall. one can make their room look like Spencer for fairly cheap these days. still, not the same
Kellzy1212@reddit
We still have really nice mall options here in Vegas. Quite a few people do hang out at ours, but the nice neighborhood ones are more like outdoor malls with surrounding restaurants and grocery stores, so it’s more of a one stop shop.
Ok_Researcher_9796@reddit
My daughter still goes to the mall. Mostly for hot topic and Spencer's and Starbucks in the Barnes and Nobles
Ishvale@reddit
In my home area, that shallow water feature would have led to 7 drownings
Throwaway_inSC_79@reddit
Meh. I’m in Myrtle Beach, we really only have 1 mall and it’s alright. The movie theater has nice seats, so if I ever go to the movies I prefer that one. And there’s a good wing place in the food court. Stores though… i see a bunch of younger people there but it’s not for me.
Strange-Employee-520@reddit
I can't stand the mall, but we're on our way there now because kiddo needs to try clothes on. And get Cinnabon. The malls near us (San Francisco) are always packed with tweens and teens afterschool and on weekends.
Obsidianrunner@reddit
Only thing I did at the mall was play Mortal Kombat and Street Fighter 2, so yes I do miss that.
BlueMeBeWhoMeBe@reddit
Bought my first bong in that mall. Orange plastic double bubble with knuckle duster grip. Circa 2000-2001
ThePolemicist@reddit
Yeah. There are some malls in our area that are suffering and closing, but there are also some that are jumping. We just dropped our daughter off at one of the busy malls with two friends. They were just there last weekend, too, so it's definitely still a thing!
MotorCycologist@reddit
I don't go often, but I went to two malls as recently as yesterday (for separate things).
Senor-Cockblock@reddit
Went to a Westfield Mallon LA yesterday. It was nuts, the place is massive and was packed.
There was a Spencer’s and a Pac Sun!
gromvar@reddit
I grew up in the hills of Ky. The closest mall was 4 hours away. So I didn’t do the mall life. Now the Walmart life absolutely. That was our local mall was the Walmart.
DHN_95@reddit (OP)
Walmart in the middle of the night was something else.
Skipper0463@reddit
The only LEGO store near us is in the mall. It’s pretty much the only reason we go anymore, and even that has become less frequent.
General-Carob-6087@reddit
I went to the Galleria mall in Dallas recently at lunch on a Tuesday and the place was slammed. I was kinda shocked.
OrganicAverage1@reddit
All these 90s posts about mall culture that keep appearing. Those of us who grew up up in an urban environment (as opposed to suburban) didn’t grow up with this culture. We were in the streets.
DHN_95@reddit (OP)
No one is stopping you from brining up nostalgia from your youth. You all had a different childhood than we did in the suburbs, and I'm sure you wouldn't trade it for the world, in much the same way that we wouldn't either. We just had fun in different ways. While you all were running around the streets, lots of us associate the mall with waiting hours for concert tickets (or free concerts), perusing record stores for the soundtrack of your youth, and knowing that was where you'd find all your friends, and heaing what was going on.
therealpopkiller@reddit
I miss mall culture so much. I also hate the mall.
Intelligent-Camera90@reddit
It was a huge part of my formative years, since we lived so close and I worked there for years and years and years.
Now, I live in a different state and the malls here are both far away and abysmal in comparison. When I go back to the mall of my youth, it’s really overwhelming.
she-dont-use-jellyyy@reddit
We do, yes. My kids are teenagers and our local mall is still doing really well. We do a lot of shopping there.
flatulating_ninja@reddit
I grew up rural - 50 miles from the closest mall and never got to experience mall culture. The last time I went to a mall was to an Apple store last year, that particular mall was pretty busy.
VincentMac1984@reddit
The Mall near us remodeled/ repurposed the Sears and use it as a VA Clinic now (which I’m happy they did). That being said I had a routine appointment and they informed me that it was going to be about 30 minutes so I took a walk around the mall and it was dead, like eerily quiet few shops even open. This was like a Tuesday. I think many of the shops are only open on weekends there now.
I was never into Mall culture really so it’s the first time I had been to one in over 12 years, so the difference to me was pretty stark.
Commercial_Ad6857@reddit
My middle school son and his friends love hanging out at the mall.
Not_a_werecat@reddit
No kids. I go to our tiny mall occasionally. Mostly for incense at the anime/hippie store.
There's a really good burger place there too.
ButterscotchAware402@reddit
I go to the mall once every 6 weeks to get my eyebrows threaded. I park was close to the shop as I can and I'm in and out. I very rarely go outside of that.
When I was 19ish the big/main mall in our city made it so Friday-Sunday if you were under 18 you had to have someone over 18 (with ID) with you at all times. They hired people to walk around and check IDs and stop/kick out kids.
I don't know when they changed that but now it's 24/7, 365 anyone under 18 needs a legal parent or guardian with them.
On top of that all the smaller malls here are dead and gone. Mall culture here is dead and it's a damn shame. Those are some of my favorite memories. Now teens just swarm Target and it makes me want to scream.
Deep-Interest9947@reddit
As a person who inadvertently made shopping/fashion/the mall my entire personality from like 13-20 something. No. I think twice in the last decade to go the Apple Store for repairs. There was no other choice. I’ve changed, a lot.
But I do have good memories of old mall days.
fromthedarqwaves@reddit
There’s a mall near me. It’s pretty depressing to go. There are still stores there and a food court but I don’t really trust the food at a food court that’s so slow.
OtiumInUmbra@reddit
We still go to the mall monthly, do some shopping, hit the arcade. The kid loves it.
Due-Vegetable-1862@reddit
My son is 6 & loves walking around at the mall. It’s a good place to go on super hot or extremely cold days
blixxic@reddit
The mall in my town is thankfully still a thing. I take my kids there sometimes because they have those quarter ride machines, a tiny arcade, a toddler play area, and a store that rents ride-on stuffed animals that you can use in the mall. Obviously we also go there to buy things, but sometimes it's just to use the play area or quarter rides.
Jimmy_McAltPants@reddit
Went to a mall today trying to find a particular pair of shoes for my 13 year old. Couldn’t find them, but we got some other things for her while there.
There’s a high end mall in Charlotte that we go to fairly frequently, as our daughter does best when she can try things on
Living-Video-3670@reddit
The mall in my town has been hanging on by a thread for the last decade or so. Its a bummer to go there now remembering how it once was.
Workamania@reddit
Not nearly as often as I would like. There are plenty of good reasons to go. I just can’t be bothered.