Shiny Happy People, 1978

I love this ad for Rolling Acres Mall, my childhood mall located in Akron, Ohio. The ad is for the expansion of the mall, which included the bubble elevator.

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Johnstown Galleria's Storage Wars

The owner of Johnstown Galleria mall in Johnstown, Pennsylvania is mad and ready to go to court, following the sale of the former Sears to a storage company. Johnstown Galleria is a two story mall, which according to their website, has typical mall staples (Hot Topic, GNC, Claire’s, Auntie Anne’s), but is otherwise populated by local businesses. It is owned by Leo Karruli, who is a longtime business owner in the area. In 2022, he purchased the mall at auction for $3m, pledging to bring the mall back from death. , From what I’ve read, he’s doing just that. He took an entire dead food court and repopulated it with local businesses, and it looks to be working well in the interior of the mall, too. The mall has very few empty spaces. I have yet to visit Johnstown Galleria, but it is on my map of places to visit, especially after reading about all of the revitalization and seeing the fountain in Ray Out There's Johnstown walk-through (hot tip: rayoutthere is also a great IG fo...

A Mall and a Movie: Sherman Oaks Galleria / Fast Times At Ridgemont High (1982)

Sherman Oaks Galleria starring as Ridgemont Mall in Fast Times at Ridgemont High Welcome to a mall and a movie, with me, flannelkimono! When I wasn't hanging out at the mall, I was definitely at home, watching movies. My family always prioritized having cable over everything, so we always had cable with HBO and Showtime. Ridiculous, right? But I'm thankful for that digital babysitter. Now I'm a wealth of ridiculous pop culture nuggets! Fast Times at Ridgemont High was absolutely one of the movies I watched repeatedly on HBO. I still wear the same black and white checkered Vans slip-ons that Jeff Spicoli wore in the movie. And the carrot scene from that movie was absolutely in my head the first time I ever gave someone a blowjob. Ah, youth. Like many of the movies of this time, the mall acted as a central character; it was where all of the stories and the people came together. It could absolutely be argued that this movie is the one that planted the idea in my head that t...

Mall Memories: Rodney Mullen Skate Demo Sponsored by Swatch at Great Northern Mall, June 11, 1989

Photo from the Swatch collection of skateboarder Jürgen Blümlein. Found online. Swatch watches were all the rage in the late eighties. And it felt like they came out of nowhere, too. It's like one day, you're reading a pile of magazines, and in every one of them- from Sassy to Thrasher-there was an ad for Swatch. Swatch watches were fairly cheap, usually around $30-$35. They were colorful plastic, you could switch the bands, and they were waterproof. They provided a nice alternative to the standard Timex watches all the nerds would wear. They caused Beanie Baby-levels of hysteria in some markets. It was no surprise that these tough little watches crossed over perfectly into skate culture, where bold prints and individuality were celebrated. Around 1987, Swatch started to sponsor skateboarders, who they would then send out on skate demos at malls around the United States. One of their featured skaters was Rodney Mullen, who is now known (and rightfully so) as the godfather of ...

Rust Belt Mallwalker

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