It's Christmas Time in Oakdale Commons.
It could have been so different.
Large retailer bankruptcies. Online shopping. A pandemic.
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| There was once an anchor store behind that wall |
But our mall isn't dead, after all. Perhaps, in its own way, our part of New York State is experiencing a Christmas miracle.
Our local enclosed shopping mall, like so many other malls in this country, has faced hard times these past few years. In 2019 it faced foreclosure.
Stores all over the United States have closed. Malls have gone out of business completely in other parts of our country, and I feared that would be our mall's fate.
There is an entire genre (not sure that's the right word, but let's try that) of music playing in abandoned malls on You Tube. (Thank you, John from The Sound of One Hand Typing, for letting me know about this spooky corner of the Internet).
Our mall, currently called Oakdale Commons but originally called the Oakdale Mall, is experiencing major changes. A brewery/brewpub took over space once occupied by a retail store. Another wing of the mall is now a health and fitness facility. Construction in our former Macy's for a Dicks House of Sports (the largest store ever for Dick's Sporting Goods, which originated in Binghamton, New York, just a handful of mile from this mall) is ongoing. It will have a climbing wall and will even have an ice skating rink.
There are government offices in another part of the mall.
Now, an entire wing is being emptied out. Several stores have either closed recently or are being relocated. Rumor has it that a Costco is going in.
Change can be good, but it always brings its own type of stress.
When you get to a "certain age" there is a tendency to remember the good old days. I could recite a long list of bygone stores in that mall, including Montgomery Wards, Bradlees, and so many more.
But the last thing any of us should do is dwell in the past, or think that the way it is is the way it has to be. We have to do the work to break out of that mindset. It's never easy to effect change. But it's necessary to try, if change is necessary.
Don't accept when things are bad.
...the last time that we visited you area (before Covid) we stayed at a Red Roof across the street for Oakdale Mall. Things sure do change.
ReplyDeleteMalls around our area have had to re-work their businesses. We have not been to the mall since before Christmas.
ReplyDeleteYeah, most of the malls in my area are dying or dead. A couple are still doing okay, but they were doing well before. Our shopping habits have changed.
ReplyDeleteYeah, malls either adapt to the new reality or die. Online shopping has made a lot of stores superfluous. But restaurants, fitness centers, activities, that’s what keeps a mall going.
ReplyDeletetwo malls are totally Gone. one was rebuilt to be more "yuppified,and it sucks a lot odf stores are empty!
ReplyDelete