Do dead malls go to heaven?
Not quite. But if they’re lucky their memories live online.
The Web site, Deadmalls.com, is a virtual gravesite of bygone malls. Operated by a couple retail historians, it’s a site where people share memories and often lament the closing of their favorite mall.
For Jeff Postelwait, Eastland Mall holds several childhood and adolescent memories.
“My first girlfriend and I had pictures taken in one of those automatic photo booths in the food court,” he wrote. “As a teenager, my brother and I would drive through the parking lot to moon shoppers — back then there were still shoppers to wave your butt at.”
Kent Ahrens remember shopping at Shepherd Mall when it was anchored by TG&Y, and had a Gold Mine video arcade.
“At one time, this was the place. Now, it’s a place,” he posted on the site.
He goes on to say that Shepherd Mall is a classic case of a dead mall success story, and now has another use — office space.
Heritage Park Mall, although not quite dead but teetering around 50 percent occupancy rate, is the last mall listed on the site, www.deadmallls.com
Trisha Evans
Retail reporter