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Post by Halloween King on Mar 17, 2013 10:02:39 GMT -5
Yesterday I went out and decided to take a trip. I drove out to St. Charles Illinois. It was prob a year since I went out that way. I drove to the Charlestown Mall located in St Charles. I was pretty excited because they had a Toys R Us there.
Driving up to the mall the first thing you would be able to see is the Toys R us because it is outside of the mall. Sadly though as I pulled up I was greeted not by TRU but rather a Savers.
I was crushed. It's been a long time running now that it seems things I like close.
And then we walked into the Mall. Everything was shuttered. They have a Carsons, which is how we entered. And then you walk out of the carsons via the second floor and EVERYTHING is shuttered all the way down on one side, besides other anchor stores. And then you come back on the opposite side and everything is shuttered. Other than the Anchors and possibly 1 or 2 small businesses on the first floor, that mall is abandoned. The Anchors being, Carsons, a theater, Von Maur, Kohls.
We went to the food court and everything was shut down. I remember that mall had a McDonalds, Subway, Sbarros, and a Great Steak amoung others. Not anymore, it only had two small time chineese food places.
It was odd because it was later in the evening and it was starting to get dark but there were no lights on in the mall except for in front of the anchor stores. Any other mall I would have thought the lights were just late comming on, but at this mall I was thinking maybe they come on late to save money? But then that mall is pretty big but yet so warm. I was thinking it must cost a fortune to heat that place up and all for no one to set up shop in there.
So it was sad for a number of reasons. It was sad because TRU, a store I love since Childhood was gone. First we lost Childworld, then KayBee and now TRU are closing? And the sadder thing still is nothing is taking there place, other than really cheap dollar stores with a toy isle. And then you look at the mall, a big beautiful mall, and its abandoned. It just made me think of how many broken hearts and crushed dreams are sunken into that mall.
I wonder when things will bounce back.
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Post by Escape The Rules on Mar 17, 2013 11:09:24 GMT -5
That sounds pretty grim.
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Post by ~ Cymru ~ on Mar 17, 2013 11:36:28 GMT -5
Sounds like Nigtmare on Elm Street when everything has closed down because of Freddy killing all the teenagers and children, all the people there are have been driven crazy because of the horror they've lived through.....
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Post by mrbestintheworld25 on Mar 17, 2013 12:44:05 GMT -5
Lol.
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Post by Deleted on Mar 17, 2013 13:13:40 GMT -5
There is a mall out by me that is the same way.
In the late 90s-early 00s it was the place to be but now it's just a bunch of empty buildings and stores.
Even the anchor stores like Dillard's have left.
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Post by TurboEddie on Mar 17, 2013 15:02:54 GMT -5
The same happened to my local mall. I lost the only stores I shopped at, Steve & Barry's, K·B Toys, and f.y.e., among others. The only store left is Spencer's. They classed it up with their dozens of jewelry and douchey sports and shoe stores.
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Post by Darkhawk on Mar 17, 2013 15:27:25 GMT -5
I used to love going to the mall, because they have various of stores I was interested in. Especially K-B Toys which was pretty much my childhood, as Toys R Us was a block away, but they never had anything good, so K-B toys was the place. Everything I liked is closed and I'm no longer interested in going to the mall anymore, since everything I used to like was replaced by women clothing stores and shoe stores. The mall sucks overall.
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Post by JC Motors on Mar 17, 2013 15:48:53 GMT -5
sounds like you were at a dead mall
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Post by Deleted on Mar 17, 2013 18:04:26 GMT -5
That mall has been dead for a while now, it's really sad to see.
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Post by Deleted on Mar 17, 2013 18:10:08 GMT -5
Sounds like Nigtmare on Elm Street when everything has closed down because of Freddy killing all the teenagers and children, all the people there are have been driven crazy because of the horror they've lived through..... That and Tom Arnold and Rosanne were obviously peddeling cocaine. |
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Post by Halloween King on Mar 17, 2013 18:24:26 GMT -5
That mall has been dead for a while now, it's really sad to see. I did a google search and found some one who posted about how TRU had moving sales. Apparently they moved further west to South Elgin Illinois. And then I go on the TRU website, click store locate, and it directs me to the store that isnt open anymore and no mention of a store in South Elgin. |
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Post by ~*Young $ Money*~ on Mar 17, 2013 18:30:10 GMT -5
I have about 4 walls within 20 mins of me and none are empty like that. They are actually all pretty full.
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Post by Last Trent Barreta Fan on Mar 17, 2013 22:42:41 GMT -5
When we lost KB Toys in our mall, we were rumored to get a TRU but it never happened :/
I hate visiting our malls.
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Post by Deleted on Mar 18, 2013 9:23:52 GMT -5
Yesterday I went out and decided to take a trip. I drove out to St. Charles Illinois. It was prob a year since I went out that way. I drove to the Charlestown Mall located in St Charles. I was pretty excited because they had a Toys R Us there. Driving up to the mall the first thing you would be able to see is the Toys R us because it is outside of the mall. Sadly though as I pulled up I was greeted not by TRU but rather a Savers. I was crushed. It's been a long time running now that it seems things I like close. And then we walked into the Mall. Everything was shuttered. They have a Carsons, which is how we entered. And then you walk out of the carsons via the second floor and EVERYTHING is shuttered all the way down on one side, besides other anchor stores. And then you come back on the opposite side and everything is shuttered. Other than the Anchors and possibly 1 or 2 small businesses on the first floor, that mall is abandoned. The Anchors being, Carsons, a theater, Von Maur, Kohls. We went to the food court and everything was shut down. I remember that mall had a McDonalds, Subway, Sbarros, and a Great Steak amoung others. Not anymore, it only had two small time chineese food places. It was odd because it was later in the evening and it was starting to get dark but there were no lights on in the mall except for in front of the anchor stores. Any other mall I would have thought the lights were just late comming on, but at this mall I was thinking maybe they come on late to save money? But then that mall is pretty big but yet so warm. I was thinking it must cost a fortune to heat that place up and all for no one to set up shop in there. So it was sad for a number of reasons. It was sad because TRU, a store I love since Childhood was gone. First we lost Childworld, then KayBee and now TRU are closing? And the sadder thing still is nothing is taking there place, other than really cheap dollar stores with a toy isle. And then you look at the mall, a big beautiful mall, and its abandoned. It just made me think of how many broken hearts and crushed dreams are sunken into that mall. I wonder when things will bounce back. I feel ya. I use to go there back in the 90's to do all my X-mas shopping. It beat going to Woodfield or Stratford or any of the other malls. I went there last year and was amazed that everything was closed down. I walked around and counted all the stores that were open. Including those little kiosks where they sell sunglasses and whatnot, I counted 15 stores. It seems the movie theater and Von Maur are the only things that make that mall money. They are suppose to put in an ice rink or roller skating rink in there, I think. I also know they have store front theater you can do there. That Toys R US they had there was big. I remember going there all the time when I worked in Geneva. |
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Post by T R W on Mar 18, 2013 10:53:38 GMT -5
A lot of malls are like that now. Shopping malls are kind of a dated concept these days. With stores like Wal-Mart and Target carrying more items than ever, and with online shopping, the need for all those stores in one giant expensive place isn't there anymore. Plus, the cost of putting a store in a mall vs. a strip mall or standalone store is usually higher.
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Post by Boy Wonder on Mar 18, 2013 11:00:15 GMT -5
I had the same feeling when they tore down the City Center in Columbus. I have a lot if memories of going there as a child, especially around Christmas. Writing letters to Santa at the little kiosk they had, visiting KB and the WB store, those weird bronze child statues they had in the fountain. (someone will know what I'm talking about)
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nikesandtoys
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Post by nikesandtoys on Mar 18, 2013 11:00:40 GMT -5
That's so sad :[ Your story reminded me of when I was younger, My dad used to always take me to two different toysrus stores, I remember when they both closed down...not even sad because I couldn't buy toys there anymore, but sad because I grew up going there and now it's gone.. Now one is a BABIE R US (only) and the other is a Pier 1 Imports...WEAK!
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Post by T R W on Mar 18, 2013 11:16:31 GMT -5
I used to go to Lionel Play World as a kid. Toys R Us didn't hit our area until I was a little bit older. I was pretty sad when they shut down. You can kind of see it happening with TRU as well. Their stores aren't nearly as nice and well kept as they used to be.
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nikesandtoys
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Post by nikesandtoys on Mar 18, 2013 14:17:30 GMT -5
I used to go to Lionel Play World as a kid. Toys R Us didn't hit our area until I was a little bit older. I was pretty sad when they shut down. You can kind of see it happening with TRU as well. Their stores aren't nearly as nice and well kept as they used to be. the TRU closest to me now (about a 30 minute drive depending on traffic) is ghetto!!! floors are dirty, workers are all grouchy, and you'll find empty ripped open toy packages inside... :[ sometimes I ask myself why I even bother looking.. |
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BigEvilNerd
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Post by BigEvilNerd on Mar 21, 2013 19:46:36 GMT -5
One by one the big malls are going by the wayside. Around here there are still some big ones left over from the big expansion of shopping malls in the early to mid 70's but several of them have basically ceased to exist. Even the big time department stores that usually form the 'courts' at the malls are bailing out and leaving these giant behemoth hulks of empty space behind.
The trend now is towards sort of these open space plans where you have several mini-blocks of stores separated by streets and sidewalks. Those are springing up all over where I live.
I am going to miss the big malls. A lot of my childhood was spent in the mall. It's where I got my school clothes, a lot of my toys, and all manner of other stuff. A day out to the mall was a big deal growing up, and you got this feeling while you were there that you had entered a separate, insular world with all its own rules and features separate from the world outside. For me, my local mall pretty much died the day KB Toys shut its doors.
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