Saturday, July 25, 2015

Christmas in July: Half-way to the Biggest Shopping Season of the Year!


          Today we seem to celebrate the hallucination of Christmas in July week the weekend sales and all the Christmas specials airing today and again in another 151 days. Embrace in the dirty Southpark specials and hard to understand "end of the year holiday sale" half-way through the year and treat it better than a usual Saturday as today is Christmas, and be the best you can be as your points are adding up on Santa's list for whether or not you get the iPhone.

Thank you for reading and remember to ask questions and comment below.

Happy Holidays from TTTM! 

LiveMalls: Marshall Field's (later Kaufmann's and Macy's), Co...

LiveMalls: Marshall Field's (later Kaufmann's and Macy's), Co...: Marshall Field's  (later Kaufmann's  and Macy's ), Columbus City Center, Columbus, Ohio. (Various Sources) Macy's ...

Friday, July 24, 2015

Witmark is Still Visible in Grand Rapids, Michigan


          Well known to the shoppers of Western Michigan for nearly 30 years, in Plainfield Township outside Grand Rapids may be the last sign of recognition of what was Witmark Catalog Showroom. I saw the store late at night in December 2014 and was very pleased with how the rather "apocolypic" photos came out, no parking lot lights were on and the flash of the camera and headlights of the car both reflected off particles in the air to create orb's.

          The chain was in operation from 1969 until 1997, so this sign has been up as long as I have been around!, that is really saying something, I guess its up to the owner of the building to take it town or not, some places the day after it closes, the sign comes down, and the scar gets painted over, I guess its really up to the town.










Thank you for reading and please feel free to share your memories of the store below in the comments.

Reflection 3: Why These Subjects Relate and Whether or Not I Will Learn if They Do or Not?

         

          Between finding myself searching online in need of acquiring a 90's Saab's for the right price, checking the movie Vegas Vacation with the Blockbuster "Be Kind, Please Rewind" sticker on it off my list of VHS tapes I'm in dire need of adding to my collection finally from the local Goodwill, and coming to finalize where I am moving to further pursue my education, it seems that my idiosyncratic lifestyle is coming together quite nicely throughout he next few weeks.

          Why do all of these subjects of complete opposite directions when it comes to relatable possibly come together so smoothly, my life style, hobbies, passions, location, and the content covered in Trip to the Mall. Like so much of the point that such television shows Seinfeld and It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia alike never have a consistent balance in what the show is about, other than each show is 22 minutes in length and every time, a new problem or task takes the cast for a ride, and how it ends up to relate to the series.

          The point is that I am a Videocassette watching, Member's Only jacket carrying, Bottom Banded Polo wearing, Philly bound urbanophile and I am proud of it. How these things relate to each other is the kinds of cars that I am in the late 1960's up until the middle 2000's respectively, and because of the malls and shopping cultural background, I shop based on the car I drive and what movies I watch. Literally, the best example I had to make to know that what I am trying to explain is understandable was to a representative of an Ohio technical College that unlike all the other students here, I am like no other, I always try to cram cars and urban pop culture so I can relate to a great audience of people, to make more friends, and especially to feel relevant with the older generations. The point was a car joke that 

"...I rather take my Plymouth Reliant to the Montgomery Ward Auto Express, take a look at the new selection of cassette tapes, go to Roy Rogers and then go home and watch Charles in Charge than stand in the shadows."

          The guy I told this to was nearing his 40's and totally got where I was coming from, being able to relate to people older simply by reminding them of stuff that was new and cool for them, that I happen to have an interest in, and instant conversation strikes fire. This is really the complete opposite of what Urban Outfitters does, by introducing timeless, classic and rather some outdated styles to Generation Y, that it looks cool to us, but its nothing new to the people that lived through its initial introduction into the fashion world.

          Although growing up in Chicago, the windy city, and going to school in Philadelphia is really an experiment than a move, but all the same, a new chapter in my life. Unlike Chicago, that in a way, is surrounded by nothing, there is no such thing in Philly, and direction within 50 miles is plenty of shopping and entertainment, or another state, because unlike Illinois that takes nearly a whole day of driving to get to the border of Tennessee, in 8 hours time, I can go from Philly to Charlotte, North Carolina, or to Boston in 5 1/2 hours, the point is there are endless possibilities for shopping, fun, and entertainment, all the major cities of the nation are in the northeast, New York, Boston, Baltimore, and D.C., The Ivy League "belt" of universities which somehow shows this side of America has to be smarter, yet Apple and Microsoft are in the Gold Coast.

          Its really all of these completely unrelatable subjects of shopping, architecture, school, entertainment, cars, and people that somehow I manage to relate incredibly well to one another. People need cars to go to school and work to know how to work and be a part of working America, these people design and create these shopping utopia's after learning how to in school and people do the same in the car industry to get us to these places as quickly and as safely as possible, and all of this entertains us with lights and colors, and brings us all together, so these all seem to relate to each other, but I guess I will really learn this or not when I move to Philadelphia.

What do you think? Please leave comments below as well as questions about how I think or what is something you want me to cover in the next reflections, whenever that may be and thank you for reading.




Former Borders in Dekalb, Illinois

          Here is the former Borders Book store in Dekalb, Illinois, and it has since been converted into a Ross Dress for Less.

February 2012:





March 2012:




Thank you for reading.

Former Borders in Bloomington, Illinois

         Seeing the Borders logo etching on the windows of this storefront, I had to get pictures, but at the time I could not place what was opening in the store until a year later when I see Michael's moved from the Kmart plaza to hear in Bloomington, Illinois.







Thank you for reading.

Former Circuit City in Rockford, Illinois


          Driving along State Street in Rockford in May 2013, I spot and spot to take a further look at what seemed to be a perfectly intact Circuit City sign still on the store not covered or altered in any way, I could not pass that up.

          Since these pictures were taken, the Office Depot closed and the Circuit City sign was taken off the building.

May 2013:












Thank you for reading.

Former Circuit City in Oswego, Illinois

          Opening in the summer of 2007, and closing in 2009 as the 300 other stores did, the Circuit City store in Oswego, Illinois sat empty until the spring of 2012 when Ross Dress for Less took over the store, as many other former Linens 'N Things, Borders's, and Circuit City stores were. From March until, May when it opened, here are some pictures from the renovation process and a before and after Circuit City to Ross.

March 2012:









I would have wanted those signs


May 2012:


Thank you for reading.

Review: This is Dan Bell. (DEAD MALL SERIES)


By: John Bozic

Summary:
          The name Dan Bell is becoming familiar in this hobby as he navigates himself primarily through the Northeast in search of dying and decaying malls and shopping centers, at least this is only one of the many series Dan Bell has produced for his YouTube channel. Dan has been uploading videos for the past year, yet I came across him in a search of a mall in New Jersey and pursued his channel to see just how many malls he has been to and at that, has such a way of walking through them, his filming techniques and the knowledge he provides aside with pictures and narration.

          A lot of what Dan covers is a pretty general consideration for the forgotten, old hotels, abandoned houses, malls in particular and so much more on the depressed economy of small towns in various states.


Clips:
         
          There are currently 18 videos of malls he has reported on and walked through, some creepier than others, some I have been to, some I want to go to, and ones that do not always allow photo or trespassing at, but that doesn't seem to stop this young explorer on preserving someones forgotten dream that so desperately needs attention. He pins each mall videos with #DeadMallSeries and below you can watch just a few of his excellent work.

Here is the Schuylkill Mall:


Here is Ownings Mall Mall, which from the looks of it, will not remain open much longer:


Here is the famous Rolling Acres Mall in Akron, Ohio, where a little surprise comes to find Dan has he is leaving the mall:


          Watch some of Dan Bell's videos and see the pictures he posts on social media as he seems really cool and a new face in this hobby to promote the overlooked.

Thank you for reading and remember to ask questions and comment below.

-TTTM



Tuesday, July 21, 2015

The Websites of The Great A&P Tea Co. Chains


          This is the loss of another famous American chain for the last 156 years!, It is official, after the company filed for bankruptcy on Sunday July 19th, all the stores operating under the names Superfresh, A&P, Waldbaums, Pathmark, and The Food Emporium will be sold to competition Acme, Stop & Shop, and Key Foods, 25 stores have already closed, and the rest that are not sold will close permanently, details on when the closures will commence are not released at this time.

          I have taken screen shots of the division main pages, because in the next few weeks, the addresses will no longer be valid on the Internet, so I have saved what is available.








Thank you for readin and remember to ask questions and comment below and stay tuned on all the A&P company information.