The current season of life took me to Tuttle Mall here in Columbus, Ohio and what I found there made me sad.
This morning I had to make a pick and delivery from a store at Tuttle Mall in Columbus, Ohio. As soon as I walked through the doors it was like going through some portal to a better time. The problem is, there was no portal and this is no better time.
The parking lot is empty.
There are only a few stores still open (likely for low rent) and barely hanging on.
Maybe I’m old. Maybe I miss the mall experience. The smells, the friends, the excitement. I miss the mall experience. The reasons it has died can be studied in business classes across this country. My kids barely remember it outside of the “Kids play area.”
They’ll never know the joy of Davy Jones Locker.
The shock and awe of Spencer’s Gifts (especially in the back of the store am I right?)
Finding your favorite album, cassette, cassette single or ’45 record and the Camelot.
Getting fitted for your prom tux at American Commodore Tuxedo.
Drinking an Orange Julius.
Eating Hot Sam.
Playing in the arcade.
I remember the day my car was stolen from Randal Park Mall while I was working. I remember my high school friends teaching me more about music. I remember working with the girl that broke my heart.
I remember seeing Heavy D, Bobby Brown, Ron Harper, Larry Nance, Hot Rod Williams and Mike Tyson walk by the store I worked at. There were no phones to take pictures “for the gram.” Just sweet memories of them and the stories I tell.
I remember buying a swatch watch from my best friend who worked at the counter in an anchor store where they sold them. I remember her bringing me Liz Claiborne samples because she knew it was my kryptonite. It still is.
This morning I walked through a mall (Tuttle Mall in Columbus) and it was so sad. So many stores gone. So few people there. It was a ghost town of what it once was. Not for my wife and I, but for our kids now.
There was a tattered paper on the entrance that simply said “Mall Walkers Welcome.”
Maybe that is the point. Us “Mall Walkers” might need the nostalgia. Even if it’s empty. We might still need to walk the halls and remember when our kids played in the play area. We might need the smell of Auntie Anne’s and know they will get that treat after.
We might still need to experience the food court and having so many options.
Now we door dash them.
Now we text. Now we post on social media.
If those mall walls could speak, they would have so many stories.
The gifts thoughtfully purchased.
The tuxes and proms.
The dresses.
The intimate apparel.
Meeting up with our friends.
Picking wedding rings at the jewelry store.
One final story…..
Many years ago, there was a Chi Chi’s attached to a mall here in Columbus. My bride and I went there after buying NEW rings because our cheap ones from our wedding were absolute trash. Long story short, she ate MY MEAL AND HERS that night. I knew something was up.
We found out shortly after that she was indeed pregnant with our first child.
That’s just a few examples of what the stories those malls could speak. Do you have one?
Let’s honor them well. I’d love to hear yours.
AARON CONRAD 