Lest there be any doubt that I’m a Jersey girl, yesterday’s activity was a trip to the mall. Sadly, the indoor shopping options in this region are not great. Poughkeepsie has the Galleria, which is shiny and full of the basics, but not big enough to compare to my Paramus darlings. Kingston has the Hudson Valley Mall, which is also disappointingly small, and can only be reached after you negotiate some killer traffic. Newburgh has the aptly named Newburgh Mall, but that place is not nearly clean enough to justify crossing the river to get there.
Since I can’t extol the virtues of truly great consumerism, I made a pilgrimage to a monument of what used to be: a dead mall.
The mall, like Rhoda, debuted in 1974. It was at that time, The Hudson Valley’s second enclosed shopping center (Fishkill’s Dutchess Mall being the first.) Sears and KMart anchored the mall, and the rest was filled with small local and chain stores. In the 80’s the pink and blue neon-lit food court was the place to be seen with your headband and leg warmers.
(That photo (from Wikipedia) makes me want to tease my hair, put on some roller skates, and listen to Flashdance.)
But as the decade came to a close, a new mall opened two lots north of the South Hills. Attached by interior roads, the Galleria became a more attractive place to shop for Poughkeepsians. It had a Lechmere, a Jordan Marsh, and a Filene’s, which were evidently better than Sears and KMart, or at least they were in 1990.
When I moved up here in 2006, The South Hills was already in decline. A Target was opening at the Galleria, superior to KMart in all ways. The South Hills’ other anchor stores, Media Play, OfficeMax, Bob’s Stores, and Discovery Zone were going out of business and closing. The mall’s movie theater was a second-run house, which is still in business, but serves as a perfect icon for the mall compared to the Galleria’s beautiful new stadium-seating multiplex where I saw “Forgetting Sarah Marshall” with the girls* last night.
As the 90’s came to a close, the mall was losing stores on a monthly basis. Some went to greener pastures, like the Galleria or the strip malls further north on route 9. Some just closed for good, making the halls of the South Hills emptier than the promises of a politician running for office. Last year, one could walk through the corridors, past all the shuttered businesses to get to the interior entrances of the three remaining businesses. (KMart, Burlington Coat Factory, the $2 theater.) As of the beginning of 2008, you can’t even do that anymore:
This is what it would look like if you could go inside:
The part of me that used to be a location scout just itches looking at this, and thinking of what a great filming location it would make: no crowds to quiet, no business owners to pay off, no planes overhead, plenty of room for actors and actresses to each have their own 2″ of table space that the actor’s union requires… but no! You want to shoot this effing scene on Grove Street which is beautiful and tree-lined, but has been Burned by the inconsiderate Sex and the City crews, who annoyed the residents so much that no one gets to shoot there now, and I’m not making another trip to the Mayor’s office to beg for a permit to open up the fire hydrants so you can have a wet-down of the street. (I’m sorry, that repressed memory came out of nowhere…)
Anyway, back to the mall. It’s dead. If we had tumbleweeds in New York, they’d flock to this place. It’s even listed on Deadmalls.com, a great website idea if there ever was one. But hope is on the horizon. There’s talk of something new opening. Some suggested a Wal-mart (ed. note: boo!), but that’s not likely. The name “Costco” has also been bounced around, but Hudson Valley residents are already serviced by BJ’s price club. (ed. note: why didn’t the owners of said business do a Google search before applying for a trade mark just to make certain the great name they came up with wasn’t also slang for a sex act? That goes for you too, Fuddruckers.) Anyhoo, it looks like what’s happening next is a proposal for a bunch of connected box stores called “The Shoppes at South Hills” (The extra “P” and “E” for “Phony Elitism”), including a Christmas Tree Shop. The three hangers-on get to stay, and the rest of the mall is going to be razed to make way for something pretty. And how do I know all this? Because it a streak of awesome, someone has created a MySpace page for the mall, including a blog. This is my favorite entry to date:
Saturday, April 5
The Rumors Are trueI do have a bit of abestos in me, and demolition is on hiatus until they clean it up.
But, this situation is much more like the movie 28 Days (the alcoholic comedy with Sandra Bullock), than the movie 28 Days Later (the apocolyptic zombie thriller).
So, I’m getting put on the straight and narrow, as opposed to total evacuation (::sniffles:: before my demise).
There is still some life left in me though! Shop Rite, Silver Cinemas, K-Mart, and Burlington Coat factory are still open and will remain open.
If only I was as good of a blogger as my local dead mall, I could probably retire on this hobby.
*”The Girls” includes Tucker and the Dutchess of Kickball’s new boy who’s a friend, who are honorary girls because they’re cool like that.
19 responses so far ↓
-R- // May 8, 2008 at 10:06 am
There is a dead mall in the “city” near H’s hometown. People now have to go to Super MalWart for all their shopping needs. Although the JC Penney might still be open- I’m not sure.
Anyway, did you like Forgetting Sarah Marshall?
Allie // May 8, 2008 at 10:14 am
I remember the Dutchess Mall! We made a pilgrimage when I was a kid. I think it was actually the first time I’d ever even been in a mall. And I was old enough to remember it.
apollocreed // May 8, 2008 at 10:19 am
wow - it’s amazing what people will do when faced with the finality that is being unable to shop at Spencers anymore.
Aaron // May 8, 2008 at 10:42 am
Oh, Christmas Tree, thank you! I’ve been so strangely obsessed with dead malls and stores lately, and disappointed that almost everything near me has been torn down/rebuilt. I’m totally jealous.
lizgwiz // May 8, 2008 at 11:09 am
Why is it that empty buildings/closed businesses always make me strangely depressed? Even if they’re places I never stepped foot in, I see them, and they seem so…sad.
Anika // May 8, 2008 at 11:16 am
For some reason, dead malls and dead buildings have always reminded me of a Steinbeck novel. Desolate, lonely, and hopeless. But they also remind me of The Shining. Empty reflections of the past. Either way, a dead mall is a bit depressing.
Laurel // May 8, 2008 at 1:40 pm
Do you have Trader Joe’s? If not, I would lobby for a MALL-SIZE Trader Joe’s. Could be great!
3carnations // May 8, 2008 at 2:03 pm
I also debuted in 1974!
A mall from my hometown is on that site. Everyone saw it coming when they built the big new mall with a merry go round right next door!
The Modern Gal // May 8, 2008 at 2:47 pm
I have a hankering for Xanadu now.
And why is it that Burlington Coat Factory is always the last surviving store at a dead mall? It’s like when a sitcom took a trip to Hawaii you knew the sitcom was dunzo.
alexa // May 8, 2008 at 3:39 pm
that mall is like a monument!
and great research on your end. i don’t believe there is a myspace page for it, CLASSIC.
also, this line was awesome, “The Shoppes at South Hills” (The extra “P” and “E” for “Phony Elitism”)
HA!
peppylady // May 8, 2008 at 4:26 pm
I just came over from Hollowing Hill and you left a comment on her blog “Hunting down blog” which I found your comment very interesting.
So I decided to stop over and take a gander.
Lara // May 8, 2008 at 4:31 pm
That dead mall is very sad. However, I would like to roller skate there with you - but to the Xanadu soundtrack instead of Flashdance.
ann // May 8, 2008 at 4:35 pm
Wow! I have such memories … I grew up near Peekskill NY and to go to a “good” mall we had to drive 40 minutes to White Plains or 40 minutes to the South Hills Mall. And it was usually Poughkeepsie since the 16-year old drivers that we were found it easier to navigate the nonexistent Poughkeepsie traffic than scary White Plains city traffic. We’d go Christmas shopping there and spend all day. I remember it was a big deal when it opened, as the Dutchess Mall was pretty lame and not much better than the “Westchester Mall” closer to home in Mohegan Lake.
Scary that I’m old enough to have a mall open and close in my lifetime!
mickey // May 8, 2008 at 7:34 pm
Nice post. Dead malls are sad.
Damn, I don’t know what it is, but I can’t even comment worth a darn anymore. Really, I did like this post, I just can’t express myself in a particularly witty or humorous way. Ugh.
stefanie // May 9, 2008 at 10:16 am
Like 3Cs, I debuted in 1974 as well. Good things came out of ‘74, I say.
Also, last week I went to a K-Mart for the first time in at least five years. It was just as sad as I remembered it. It’s strange that there’s a poor man’s Wal-Mart, when Wal-Mart is the poor man’s everything, and yet, that seems to be the best way to sum K-mart up.
Ann // May 9, 2008 at 6:26 pm
Paramus Park Mall. How sad is this - we had to drive from Ohio to NJ every year to visit my dad’s family. Besides getting to see the family, this trip always had three highlights for us: swimming in the neighbour’s in-ground pool, going to the Bronx Zoo, and going to Paramaus.
Kristabella // May 12, 2008 at 5:05 pm
I always get 28 Days and 28 Days Later mixed up. I’ve never seen 28 Days Later. I just figured it was a happy story how Sandra Bullock was able to maintain her sobriety and that gay guy didn’t kill his plant.
bing // June 2, 2008 at 12:04 pm
I moved to Poughkeepsie from GA, and I remember I almost died when I first saw the South Hills Mall. It was so run down 9 years ago. I can only imagine how horrible it was in recent years. Rest in peace, sketchy little buddy…
J // June 20, 2008 at 5:40 am
Great post! Although if I have to ask, what malls in NJ are bigger than the Galleria? That place is huge!
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