Mallrat memories: Remembering when the mall was the place to hangout

Just about everyone yearns for the social element, especially boomers through millennials who remember when malls were the hangout or when downtown was the heart of every city.

"It used to be downtown, the center of any town with the shops and eateries," said Steve Burch, recently retired professor at UA's Department of Theatre and Dance. "Then malls came along out on the fringes and replaced downtown, though by offering much the exact same thing.

"Always a place to hang out, idle away some time, meet up with friends. It’s the communal need."

G. Barry Adams can remember back to downtown's JCPenney, S&H Kress, Adrian's and Pizitz, with a major Sears store on 15th Street and Hargrove. In Alberta, the Leland Shopping Center had been a major outlet, a draw for customers back when Alberta was way out of town. Leland also endured after the rising popularity of McFarland Mall.

More:What should replace McFarland Mall in Tuscaloosa? Readers weigh in

But "... old Tuscaloosa Christmas shopping wasn’t too fun. We had oak trees lining downtown streets and parking in the middle, where streetcars once ran on Broad Street, before my time," Adams said. "The pigeons crapped everywhere, the stores had upper floor windows missing, with flocks of pigeons nesting downtown. Cold nights in and out of stores after walking blocks often in bad weather was not too Christmas cheery, either.

"The store window decorations were nice enough, but weather didn’t slow for enjoyment. University Mall was all the rage the weekend in 1980s it opened, over 100 stores, nice weather always, and activities and shows used to take place in the mall, from cars, to fashion, to holiday events. Malls killed the old downtowns. Now boutiques revamp downtowns, with nightspots and eateries."

In what was once Adrian's, DePalma's restaurant opened in 1994; some of its founders also started the Catch-22 bar on Sixth Street, roughly across from the Bama Theatre, helping revive a moribund downtown that now offers a mix of dining, drinking and retail again. The city's Government Plaza, Tuscaloosa Amphitheater and other developments have helped revive the entertaining aspects of the downtown.

"I'm an elder millennial but grew up with malls," said Valerie Trull, project director at UA's School of Social Work. "I think ones that pivot to more than shopping will find a way to hang on: amusement parks, trampolines, Lego Discovery centers. The idea of just shopping and food courts is likely not sustainable at this point.""I would only bother with an indoor mall now if there were activities in it, and we could make it an outing," said April Zark.

"I grew up hanging out at the mall, whether playing video games or pinball in the arcade, or eating pizza or ice cream, or just walking around seeing who all else was there that I knew," said Rebecca Todd Minder, director of Alabama Heritage magazine. "It was a great way for kids to actually socialize in a safe space. I agree that indoor malls are great for shopping because it is like a one-stop shop where you can go in and find lots of different things and not have to worry about driving from one store to another.

"But now that I’m older, I do the majority of my shopping online, and rarely go into a store or even a mall to shop."

As a millennial, Ashley Enoch understands online is more convenient, but she still misses the mall experience: "Nostalgia, no shipping costs, trying things on before you buy, mall food courts, holiday time with crazy sales, Santa photos, trains, and decor. Good place for teens to hang with friends and stay out of trouble."

Cathy Newman, now an assistant teaching professor at the University of Southern Mississippi, was among those hanging-out, out-of-trouble kids.

"I think maybe my childhood/teenhood concept of 'mall' may be a dying breed," Newman said, "where we'd go to hang out on the weekend, buy some clothes, get some cheapo jewelry. But large malls in relatively wealthy areas of good-size cities, anchored by modern well-off staples (e.g., Apple Store) seem to be doing very well.

"Specifically I'm thinking of the Mall of Louisiana in Baton Rouge and the Galleria in (Birmingham), and similar (unless they're actually not doing well and it just seems to us like they're fine). I feel like in a way maybe malls are in a transition period of being 'reinvented' in the sense that only the strongest will ultimately survive our modern obsession with online shopping.

"And maybe it's because I haven't been in the mall-going age group for years, but it also seems like they've changed culturally too, as more a place you go with specific shopping goals in mind, rather than the place to walk around aimlessly with friends to window shop."

Before he became a teacher, at Thompson High School, a husband and father, Jake Huggins thrived in Tuscaloosa's malls. He still visits them, though largely online.

"I will go down this rabbit hole of websites and YouTube videos where people explore abandoned malls," Huggins said. "I once spent three hours researching McFarland Mall, the Bama 6 strip, etc. I researched all of the stuff regarding the early '90s McFarland Mall renovations.

"In short, I get super emo about malls. I LOVE malls. The nostalgia. I feel safe in malls. Friday nights with friends. The echo-ey buzz. I hate that they're dying. I think the concept is super workable. It's super-duper fun to shop and eat all in one place....

"One of my favorite pastimes, pre-children, was to sit in a Barnes and Noble chair and read a book while conversations and overhead music swirled around me. If I wanted to strike up a conversation, I could, but I didn't have to. I could feel like I was being social without being social. The mall was that: a place to be around people. The noise, the smiles, the euphoria, it just felt right.

"Not to sound like an old fart, but I feel like social media and online shopping make people feel like this is all obsolete. But it's kinda like Blockbuster. The need to go rent a tangible movie may be obsolete, but the experience it provided (the fun) is never obsolete."

This article originally appeared on The Tuscaloosa News: Mallrat memories: Remembering when the mall was the place to hangout