tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19346366.post9041709702096253173..comments2024-03-28T16:34:48.716-04:00Comments on Face to Face: Shopping centers in the 1980s: Before every store was food-relatedagnostichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12967177967469961883noreply@blogger.comBlogger8125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19346366.post-34795751498334909432013-04-18T19:38:38.560-04:002013-04-18T19:38:38.560-04:00Yeah I remember the other mall here had a pet stor...Yeah I remember the other mall here had a pet store before a major food court renovation which rendered the part with the pet store unrecognizable. Gosh, even KB Toys left that mall now that I think about it. There is a Build-A-Bear and a Disney Store there, but it isn't the same. Thanks for the labelscar suggestion. I've actually been there on a previous search. I'm sure you've seen it, but deadmalls.com is another decent resource. FWGnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19346366.post-40908902160203821372013-04-18T16:11:30.936-04:002013-04-18T16:11:30.936-04:00During the '90s, the topic of the Vietnam War ...During the '90s, the topic of the Vietnam War became increasingly awkward. It showed up in Forrest Gump and a handful of war movies, but the '90s saw a shift away from Vietnam, which was murky, and toward WWII, which was more clear-cut.<br /><br />There used to be a decent number of Vietnamese restaurants wherever there was a Vietnamese community, all unpretentious and operated by recent immigrants. Then when people started to feel awkward associations with the Vietnam War, they needed a substitute, and that was the Thai restaurant. agnostichttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12967177967469961883noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19346366.post-20431483634941059532013-04-18T16:07:41.934-04:002013-04-18T16:07:41.934-04:00Malls used to have shoe repair, legal offices, oth...Malls used to have shoe repair, legal offices, other professional services, mini-churches, community meeting spaces, toy stores, novelty/gift stores, pet stores (as in, where you could buy a variety of baby animals), all kinds of stuff.<br /><br />You should check out www.labelscar.com -- it's the best site documenting the decline of malls over the last 20 years, though their writing begins in the mid-2000s. Each post is devoted to a specific mall.<br /><br />They sometimes get nostalgic, but never sentimental. They cover the whole country, and usually have lots of pictures. And they usually place the history of a single mall within the larger context. The comments section fills in a lot of detail as well.agnostichttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12967177967469961883noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19346366.post-87421968789426610082013-04-18T10:15:02.215-04:002013-04-18T10:15:02.215-04:00Although I have great memories of malls, I honestl...Although I have great memories of malls, I honestly can't remember every store that used to be in them. I can say that there was a mall here locally that they demolished and erected a "lifestyle center" in its stead. It's still a little weird for me moving back here and seeing this change. And also, they are in the process of demolishing the old movie theater I went to as a child. All those memories, just swept away.FWGnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19346366.post-80505207165773850232013-04-18T03:39:37.368-04:002013-04-18T03:39:37.368-04:00The shopping center near me must be a bit aberrant...The shopping center near me must be a bit aberrant. It's got a couple of cafes, a couple of restaurants and a couple of big supermarkets, but it's mostly clothes retail, with a few jewellery, cosmetics, book and electronics shops thrown it. There was a big department store, but that has kind of gone the way of the dodo now.<br /><br />Idea of having anything like a estate agents or a cleaners or furniture store in a shopping center seems a little odd to me, also true of pet stores, etc. I've seen banks and things in them, but in my country they tend to put that stuff in walkable and drivable high streets. Anything like a bank where you might be making a special visit just to that place tends to be located somewhere where you can (I won't say easily) park near that place.<br /><br />The restaurantification of the high street though, that's more of a recognizable phenomenon.<br /><br /><i>We were still cool with Vietnamese things back then; only when political correctness set in during the '90s did we have to change our tastes because, um, hello, that whole war, y'know? </i><br /><br />???Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19346366.post-34625091025878967112013-04-17T16:04:33.657-04:002013-04-17T16:04:33.657-04:00Yeah, the proliferation of indie coffee shops is o...Yeah, the proliferation of indie coffee shops is one of the worst trends. The crowd at Starbucks is fairly anti-social, though less so than the population at large.<br /><br />At the indie coffee shop, they're way more insulated with their cocooning devices, and way more into constantly monitoring and adjusting their public image. You've never seen such an irritating bunch of dorky posers.<br /><br />I miss the food court at the mall. So much variety, so little posing, and so much commotion. The pictures I've seen from the automats of the 1920s have that same feel.agnostichttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12967177967469961883noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19346366.post-22917512014443338522013-04-17T09:50:35.333-04:002013-04-17T09:50:35.333-04:00Not to mention the bajillion coffee shops on colle...Not to mention the bajillion coffee shops on college campuses(and fastfood restaurants!)<br /><br />(though granted, public dining halls is one of the things I liked about college)<br /><br />-CurtisAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19346366.post-8054029106535515872013-04-17T06:56:44.100-04:002013-04-17T06:56:44.100-04:00I've noticed this trend as well. Sad really.I've noticed this trend as well. Sad really.Retrenchednoreply@blogger.com