Dead Malls dot com

Thanks for the link. I have been going to the outlet mall at Eddyville, KY for years, and yes, it is now struggling. I really like this type of shopping over Walmarts and malls. They had 48 stores at one time, now about 12. They are making a come back. What I like about it is a store focused on one catagory instead of the Walmart everything on earth that attracts everyone on earth (ie people of Walmart clips). For example, there was one store that sold nothing but knives, hunting, cooking, and general purpose. There was one store for comic books and one for model trains. The most unique store I guess was the store that sold board games. Believe it or not, one section of the store had an amazing display of dice. There was every color, shape and size one could imagine.

The store I got the biggest kick out of was the "As Seen on TV" store. Some of those items are amazing and some are comical.

Anyway, this is one way I enjoy shopping. I have gotten to where I can hardly stand to walk into a Walmart and look at someone's armpit hair braided with pink ribbons at the end.

 

I live near a mall known as Hickory [as in "Old Hickory" {a/k/a Andrew Jackson}] Hollow Mall.

In the late 1980's - early 1990's, you couldn't find a parking space so that you could shop there-----let alone walkway space to maneuver around in if, by a stroke of fate, you somehow DID manage to get a parking spot.

Fast forward about 15 years.....Metro Nashville-Davidson County Police Department opens up a new South Precinct Substation right inside the mall. The mall is now referred to as Hickory Hollow Shooting Gallery. The few stores that dared to remain open there are struggling to survive.

Fast forward to last month (June, 2012). Hickory Hollow Mall closes. All remaining stores must clear out within 30 days.

Various local media talking heads offer their version of why this once flourishing center of business/commerce (not to mention the establishments who purchased space in the dozen or so out buildings) has seen its demise. (One local media outlet went so far as to have "Taps" played over the TV visual of a helicopter flyover of the mall !)

"Lest we forget.............Lest we forget." :tear:

 

Malls followed "White Flight" of the '80's and '90's-----for a while there ---- there was "Peace" and "Safety" in the malls-----then first thing you know---there's a robbery----or a shootin'----then the Po-Po set up headquarters----like the 82nd Airborne---patrol the area and stuff like that----but once the Titanic scraped against that Iceburg---the Ocean became the Titanic's #1 public enemy

 

LE ---

Yes I can fondly remember several of those places.

When I arrived in middle TN c. 1973, 100 Oaks was touted as the best thing since sliced bread & Harding Mall ran a close 2d.

Today they're trying their best to re-invent 100 Oaks. How successful they'll be remains to be seen.

Harding Mall was leveled a yr or 2 ago & in its place now stands a big Super Wal-Mart. Most of the outlying retail/dining places now cater to either Hispanic and/or oriental tastes.

You're right in that Providence Market Place in Mt. Juliet has weaned off most of the business that may have otherwise remained at HH Mall. It's a lot bigger and a lot more customer-friendly than HH Mall ever was.

Cool Springs Galleria (+ its nearby retail, dining, & high-end motels) near I-65 S and Franklin/Brentwood pretty much drained whatever was 100 Oaks original drawing card.

The current demographic of southern Davidson County is drastically different than it was some decades ago. What was essentially a collection of small, somewhat closely-knit neighborhoods has turned into a magnet for transient displaced refugees from such diverse backgrounds as southern and/or western Asians to that of several of the Latin American people groups.

What outreach approches/methods may have worked in our communities 20-30+ years ago don't seem to work in our contemporary situation(s) any more.

We don't have to send out missionaries to foreign nations as we once did. God is sending those folks that those missionaries would once seek to minister to RIGHT HERE in our own back yards!!

Our challenge today is to find out how God would have us best reach out to those whom He has chosen to send here (right here in our own community[ies]), and then, by His HS-directed leadership, "Go ye therefore....."

My church ( www.lighthouseministries.org ) not only has our "American" congregation meeting on our campus, but we also have both an Ethiopian and a Korean congregation who meet separately in some of our other buildings. This is in addition to a Laotian congregation (now its own autonomous local church) we've had for c. 30 yrs now.

About a year ago we began a church plant in another nearby part of S Nashville with the idea of reaching out to those displaced (often from Islamic backgrounds) folks in that area.

Imagine that church plant's pastor spending his July 4th telling an Iraqi man how he can receive real and eternal freedom through God's Son!! That's what God gave him the privilege to. All that while another one of his neighbors from Guatemala listened on.

I just wonder how many of us (me included) were doing what God the HS gave him the pleasure of doing this past Wednesday.

 

I have long thought that housing should be built over single story mall buildings. People who live in apartments anyway, store clerks, mall workers, even commuters would find it handy. Most large malls have public transportation. Retire people would be attracted because they would not need cars. Many old people walk in the malls for exercise and because it is safer than the streets.

If a mall had a pub and a couple of Chinese/Korean eating places we would have given it serious consideration when we were looking for a condo. Northgate Mall in Seattle, for example, in the middle of a real city. Walk to church, even.