Punk Rock Art Photos: "Dead Malls Don't Talk Back (Take II)"

<Take I The Squawker>

"Once more, with feeling..." Depending on your age, you'll either associate this lyrical sentiment with Buffy The Vampire Slayer ("But I can't find my sweet release/Let me rest in peace") or Kris Kristofferson ("Let's try it once more with feeling, and we'll call it a day"). But either way, it seemed like an appropriate backdrop for our return to the dead mall that The Squawker and I last visited in September.

The resulting photo essay sparked one of our best-received posts, so here we are again, this time, starting with the fading JC Penney sign on the right side. Basically, this is the rear view, as you're driving around the property. Its closing last summer left this area without a JC Penney for the first time in nearly a century, locals told us.

<Take II: The Squawker>

As we continue our drive around the property, we stopped behind this rear entrance. Note the overgrown grass now sprouting through the cracks in the parking lot. Apparently, regular maintenance is no longer a consistent feature, or else, it's been scaled back -- either for budgetary reasons, or there aren't people to do it regularly.

<Take III: The Squawker>

Here's a closeup view of that rear entrance, as The Squawker shot it. We briefly debated going inside, and nosing around, but decided against it, because our afternoon to-do list still beckoned. As you see, though, the grass is growing thickest and longest near the entrance, but doesn't show any distinct signs of regular maintenance.

<Take IV: The Squawker>

Here's a longer view of the rear parking lot, so you can get a sense of how far the grass has grown, and how empty it looks. On this particular day, on this side of the mall, we didn't see a single car parked here. As we drove back towards the main road circling the mall, we counted roughly two to three dozen cars, most of them belonging to the people still working here. How long that will last, who knows?

<Take V: The Squawker>

Swinging back around the left side, we came across this bygone anchor store, Carson's, that shut down in spring 2018, according to the locals. Our camera lens was giving us fits -- hence, the black shapes in the corner -- but I liked the effect, so I didn't crop them out. But you can see plainly enough that the C in the store's name is gone, now long reclaimed by the elements.

<Take VI: The Squawker>

Here's the defunct entrance for the defunct Carson's. The name itself is the newer version of Carson, Pirie, Scott & Company, whose ads I remember well as a child growing up. They always closed with the original name, ooh--oohed and ahhed over a light jazz background ("Carson, Pirie, Scott..."), followed by the tagline, spoken largely by itself ("AND Com-pany!"). That was in the '70s, of course, long before the American Dream withered off the vine for most people.

<Take VII: The Squawker>

Here's the parking lot in front of the dead Carson's store, as overgrown as the rest of the property. As you see, there's plenty of cracks in the surface, and -- though not apparent in this shot -- there's lots of potholes, too. So many, in fact, you'll feel like you're driving over a lunar landscape. Needless to say, it pays to go slow here.

<Take VIII: The Squawker>

And so, we end as began our original photo essay, with the shuttered Sears, and the truck standing in front of the now-defunct loading dock, its battered door still dangling open, waiting in vain for someone to finally shut it, and send it on its way.

The dishwasher that stood nearby, forgotten and forlorn, is finally gone, its place now taken by a yawning pile of dead brush. When will anybody clear it? Who knows? All that's left, it seems, is the tumbleweed rolling down the street, while the wind whistles in the distance. This is the sound of America today, the opposite face of the recovery that's being touted in established news outlets. 

Yes, the economy is working, but for what, and for whom? That is the question that looms large over landscapes like this one. When this mall finally closes, they'll blame specters ranging from the e-commerce boom, to the toughest retail climate seen  in 30 years, or a withering local economy. 

The subtleties will undoubtedly feel lost on those having to find new jobs or locations for their businesses, as these words from Kris Kristofferson ringing in their ears: "'Cause somehow, darlin', something good/Got lost along the way/And our song ain't nothing/Special anymore."  The Reckoner

Punk Rock Art Photos: "Dead Malls Don't Talk Back"

<Take I: The Squawker>

Now, we come to a different sort of view. Your favorite teenage go-to spot, a/ka The Local Mall, is having tough times these days. The town I used to live is no exception, as The Squawker and I found out on our visit here a couple months ago, while driving past this mall that's been around since 1979-ish, give or take a year. 

Nature seems to be gradually reclaiming this once grand go-to spot. Note the grass growing through cracks in the concrete, an unthinkable sight, I suspect, during the mall's '80s and '90s heyday. Squawker shot these photos outside the recently shuttered Sears, near the loading dock. 

<Take II: The Squawker>

The weirdest thing is seeing the truck with its door hanging askew. It's truly a surreal but sinister sight, that begs the question...What happened to the driver? Did somebody just yank that person out, and apply some bareknuckled street justice, like the LA rioters gave to that poor trucker back in 1992? But the surrealism didn't end there.

<Take III: The Squawker>

The strangest sight of all, which inspired us to snap these photos, is the orphaned dishwasher, waiting patiently, it seems, for someone to pick it up and give it a good home. That didn't happen after Sears closed, obviously. Note the additional grass and weeds in the background, growing through those proverbial cracks in the sidewalk. The brick facade still looks good, but the concrete? It's like driving over a lunar landscape.

<Take IV: The Squawker>

According to the locals, Sears was the third of four anchor stores to close after Carson's and JC Penney went belly up last spring and this summer, respectively. Only Kohl's is hanging on. (Kohl's comes up just before Sears, which is why it's not in this sequence of photos.) That makes sense, since they're now the nation's second largest retailer, based on sales...though it's fair to ask how long they can keep this particular high wire balancing going here. 

<Take V: The Squawker>

As you'll see here, the seagulls are having a grand time socializing in a largely empty parking lot. On this day, a Wednesday or Thursday, we counted a couple dozen cars, most probably belonging to the employees (the ones that still have a job, at any rate). Once upon a time, I imagine, this lot would have filled to the rafters.

Many reasons have been tossed around for the decline of malls, including lack of novelty. In America, the mall -- or shopping center, perhaps -- has existed since the 1920s, so periodic reinvention is undoubtedly necessary. Other pundits suggest that, as more and more people shop online, they feel less need, and less inclined, to actually step inside a store.

"Stuff and nonsense!" shouts a third faction of analysts, who point out that high-end malls -- and, to some degree, smaller, more compact strip malls -- are holding their own in the most turbulent retail climate in decades. They also note that significant numbers of people resist the siren song of e-commerce, citing security and privacy issues (a fear undoubtedly magnified by Facebook's string of public blunders on both scores, to name one example.)

Still other experts, naturally, cite the pressures on consumers' wallets. U.S. Census Bureau figures released today showed the median household income at $63,179 for 2018, barely a blip above the $62,626 logged in 2017. The number of uninsured Americans also rose to 27.5 million over the same period (from 7.9 to 8.5%, or two million more people overall).

Judging by these two figures, not everyone is benefiting from the largest run of economic growth in American history. On that evidence alone, the seagulls will be dancing in an empty parking lot for some time to come. -- The Reckoner

PS The Squawker and I went back a couple weeks ago. The truck and its open door are still there, but the dishwasher is gone...having a good home, at last.

Links To Go
Hurry, Hurry (See How 
Ancient Civilizations Lived):

Rush: "Subdivisions" (1982 Video):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EYYdQB0mkEU&list=RDEYYdQB0mkEU&index=1

Dead Stores

As the American way of life dies out, and we become a Third World country, one's childhood memories of stores can be pretty intense in seeing so much closed down. Many remember going shopping at some of the stores above, and now they are all gone. Some try to blame the internet for the defunct retail store but that is not the whole story by any means. Jobs disappeared and so did expendable income, and thusly, so did shopping, except for bare necessities. Say goodbye to a thriving retail market!

What other stores could be added to this list?

Blockbuster
Borders Books
Frank's Nursery & Crafts

Radio Shack has been struggling.
Sears is having major problems.
JC Penny has had to lay off many people.
K-Mart is on the way out

Here's a far more comprehensive list:

DEFUNCT RETAILERS IN THE USA

Here's a video about dead malls in America:



America is becoming a waste land of empty store fronts. We have the closed stores here in our local area and a zombie mall, where a church rented one of the old big department stores and only a few stores remain open--The Squawker.