well said on both counts.
I recall the great old malls of the 70s-early 80s with their MIXTURE of retail categories. Everything from Groceries to Hardware, and from Pets to Shoes. Sit down restaurants (including those at the Bay/Simpson's and Eaton's....even Woolworth/Woolco), along with nascent food courts. For me the big local mall was "Fairview Pointe Claire" (West Island of Montreal). And yes, Fairview also had a (two storey!) WHSmith. (which I would pronounce as "Whusmith!"). Plus Simpsons, Eatons, Ogilvies, Holt Renfrew, Marks and Spencer's, and Woolworth's as department stores, and a huge two-storey hardware store (Pascal's), pet store, hobby store, cool fountains, a extra-sized Steinburg's Supermarket. A German Delicatessan. Banks. Barber shops. 3 Record stores, plus you could also buy records at Eaton's/Simpson's. The whole nine yards.
Now it's all designer hand bags, overpriced women's shoes, and overpriced women's apparel. With a sprinkling of overpriced sporting wear, and nondescript yet overpriced food courts. Plus some kiosks selling useless cellphone bling. BORING AS FUCK.
You are spot on with your archaeological characterization of abandoned and dying retail. I suffer from an extreme case of nostalgia (while acknowledging that not everything was "Great" in the "good ol' days"). I can't help but imagine (and almost see and hear) the long-lost hustle and bustle that these places once possessed. Even the sad sack, world-famous Honeydale Mall.
Sadly, our urban environments have lost the magic that went with eclectic development and retailing. Everything is chains. Worst of all, the incredible sameness of the Banal Big Box Barf
powercentres (aka Dumbcentres). They all look exactly the same, with the same stores, in very similar arrangements. A vast ocean of parking. Nothing to beckon the casual shopper and would be mall rat.
1989 Sanyo CRT.
Threaded Mode