Thursday, September 17, 2015

There is Already a Mall to Document in Comedy Central's New Series: Moonbeam City Starring Rob Lowe!


          Totally excited about last night's Comedy Central premier of Moonbeam City, a show that takes you back into the 80's, drenched in the neon and pastel colors, hairstyles and clothing trends, and because the main characters are casual detectives, the show is very similar to another Comedy Central series, Archer, and also the characters created are based on the prints of Patrick Nagel, this all makes for something I just had to watch.

          Here is the show, based in Moonbeam City, seem below at sunset, much of what the show displays is a parody of the 80's show Miami Vice starring Don Johnson and Philip Michael Thomas.



The main characters are Dazzle Novak, voiced by Rob Lowe, Pizzaz Miller, voiced by Elizabeth Banks, Chrysalis Tate, voiced by Kate Mara, and Rad Cunningham, voiced by Will Forte.


Why I write about this new series, episode 1 already showed there are several "80's-named" malls within the city of Moonbeam.

Here is Dazzle disguised as a janitor in one of the mall's of Moonbeam, I do not know which one, but check out "Town World", a parody of Tape World.



Close up of a surveillance camera in the spy van that Chrysalis Tate is sitting in watching Dazzle. the closest store to Tate's shoulder has a "Sega-like" font.


          Dazzle and the singer with a name no one can pronounce eating in the food court. Following this seen is when they get intimate in the broom closet, and Dazzle promises her he will get her singing gig's in all the malls in Moonbeam.


          The malls that are in Moonbeam are the Moonbay Springs Galleria, the North Moonpoint Cove Metroplex Cerium and the Del Moonridge Oaks North South Circle Square.

          I wonder which one is better than the others, I can't guess which one is dead because its the 80's, what mall was dead in the 80's, none...that's right, none.

What a great show and I highly encourage anyone to watch it and I can't wait to see what the next episode brings!

Thank you for reading and remember to check out Trip to the Mall on Facebook.

Tuesday, September 15, 2015

What Was the Lincoln Village at Chicago and Kimball?


          Brought up in conversation, like most items of conversations, I hear what we are talking about, and look into it for myself to better understand what I was asked, or acted like I knew what this person was describing to me. The topic of conversation was the Lincoln Village in the Peterson Park neighborhood bordering north Chicago.

          Opening in 1951, with what appears as Wieboldt's, possibly Goldblatt's, two local Chicago department store chains, various other small stores, and a grocery store, was a nice little shopping center away from the open air centers of Old Orchard and the Evergreen Plaza, which proved distant from this location, and was constructed a few years before the "official" mall opened around 1955.

          Further reading into this article from Me & My Shadow: A Life in Chicago, the story about the Lincoln Village depicts great advancements in architectural design, choices of brick and colors, and how it was designed to fit an organic flow, and meant to feel like it was always there, came with the natural land, not built to fit, if that makes sense.


          Other than what I stated above, like Old Chicago in Bolingbrook, and Kiddleland in Melrose Park, I guess you had to be there to fully understand the idea set by the creator of this place, as not a lot of history is said at this time of this shopping center, and unless you have your own memories or photos, going by what is only on the Internet for now is the closest you will get knowing what is the Lincoln Village.


          The plaza seen today...or in the case of this photo, a few years ago, but nothing has really changed other than some small stores, like Dot's, or Quizno's.


Thank you for reading and remember to check out Trip to the Mall on Facebook.

Saturday, September 12, 2015

The Only K's Merchandise Commercial on Youtube


This is really the only commercial for the former catalog store on Youtube, search K's Merchandise on Youtube and this is the only content of relevance.

Thank you for reading and do not forget to check out Trip to the Mall on Facebook.

Spring Hill Mall: 9/15 Update


          Since the last visit to the Spring Hill Mall in West Dundee, Illinois, the stores have all vacated from the former JCPenney's wing and the former furniture store. Here is the wing of the mall waiting demolition and renovation, the sign for the new movie theater is now visible for unsuspecting people to know what is going on, and what they can look forward to in the coming year.

          To give everyone some knowledge on the recent history of the mall, here is my post with photos from 2012 and 2013, things seem to be adequate, but some of the mall is in a downward spiral. Here is the August 2015 update when I saw the wing of stores open for the last time.






Thank you for reading and do not forget to check out Trip to the Mall on Facebook.

Very Few Chains Worked Out in Illinois Part 3: Gordmans



          As chains struggle to get there foot in the door of competition, the Chicago area is no exception, as Gordmans may not have closed all its Chicago-land locations, according to an article from Crain's Chicago Business, Gordmans plans to exit the suburbs after entering the market years ago, nothing about other Illinois stores, like in Bloomington, Peoria, or Champaign, those are probably thriving in sales, but these stores don't seem to be. Although the other stores in the article mentioned have been contacted by me and claim they are not closing, of the stores stated to leave, the Algonquin, Illinois store is now closing. Here is an article from the Chicago Tribune stating the store is not leaving Vernon Hills, but we will so find out if that is true or not, Gordmans may not have left yet, but the likely hood of them doing so is very high.


Here is the store the first week of September, still pretty full, I was not aware of this news until driving past the store, and researching to find out the companies plans for the windy city's share of the market.










Thank you for reading and remember to check out Trip to the Mall on Facebook.



Friday, September 11, 2015

Where Did BIZMART Go?


          Was Bizmart an office supply store chain that competed with Office Max and Office Depot back in the 90's? Were they a regional chain, or only a few stores in one specific area? So many questions, what do you think, they look cool, and the logo with a paperclip for an "I" is so cute.

Here is a series of trademark logo's from the BIZMART brand:

These cart pictures are provided by a contributor of Dead and Dying Retail on Facebook:




A sales ad:



Thank you for reading and remember to check out Trip to the Mall on Facebook.

Kmart's Pre-9/11 Commercial Featuring Blue Light Special


          How 2000... Kmart is successful, the blue light is shining bright, and the World Trade Center preeminent over the city of New York. Its a wonderful time, and today Septembert 11th, 2015, we rogizine the tradegy that happened shortly after this commercial was filmed, the horror that struct American and why we rocognize this day to remember the thousands of lives lost today 14 years ago.

Here is the Kmart commerical, all blue and New Yorker filled for 30 seconds.


World Trade Center.


Statue of Liberty blue light.



Thank you for reading and remember to check out Trip to the Mall on Facebook.

Reflection 5: Mall Rats Sequel Filming Location Confirmed and Changing Philly Malls + 9/11 commemoration



          Definitely some major news happening in the retail and cultural world that revolves around it, the announcement by Kevin Smith on where Mall Rats 2 will by filmed, which relates to the changing malls around Philadelphia, and remembering September 11th, 2001. What honestly comes first in this reflection today, the most important being remember the tragedy that struck New York City 14 years ago today that ultimately changed America, if not the World ever since.

          Although today may be Friday, it was a beautiful Tuesday morning sun rise that welcomed the city to the morning of September 11th, 2001. This day, like any other was just an ordinary day, just a number like 9/10/01, or 9/12/00, but unlike a year prior, or the day before, this date will be known around the world the day tragedy hit New York. Described by the morning shows, and in documentaries, it was a clear morning, almost unnaturally clear, not a cloud in the sky. As everyone that worked in the World Trade Center, the epicenter of Business and market commerce, were entering there offices and places of business near by, hours before realizing they would never exit. Any writer knows you can't make an event like this sound good, its not good, but it has to be written in the right light to not come off as offensive.

          As flights leaving New Jersey, New York, and Pennsylvania airports depart, there routes were taken over, hijacked and the planes, an exceptional means of transportation created to get people from one place to another quicker than cars or trains, were used as weapons to show America someone else is in charge. At around 8:45 A.M., a plane hit the North Tower, and less that half an hour later, another struck the South Tower, and a plane crashed into a field outside Pittsburgh. The flights were United and American Airlines, what flight went where is what I choose to leave out, I am writing this completely from memory of what I have read, and I will not be documented for being wrong, or giving incorrect information.

          When I mentioned "someone else is in charge", who can think that an attack this large, and so devastating will bring America to its knees, like Jon Stewart said in his 9/11 speak on The Daily Show, people with buckets and buckets carrying debris and rebuilding days later shows that they didn't win, we didn't give up, and from the window of his apartment, he could see the Statue of Liberty, we looked at this as only a set back, we will never forget and today stands in its place, One World Trade Center, a beacon to the memory of the 3,000 people. FDNY, and NYPD that lost there lives 14 years ago today. So please take a moment where ever you are today to stop and think about what today means, and where you were on September 11th, 2001


          On  a brighter note, the news of Kevin Smith making the new Mall Rats at Exton Square Mall in Exton, PA over what originally purposed White Flint Mall, which now it too far gone to recognize it as a mall was dropped.

          Now 20 years ago since the cut classic came to theaters, Kevin Smith will bring us another, hoping instant classic in the next year of so. I personally hope it is good, as the culture of the mall has changed so much, I hope this will not effect the vibes the characters will play in the movie, with technology and phones and online shopping, many people say the new movie, if it sticks to a realistic storyline, will the mall be dead and empty, or like when Impractical Jokers goes to the Mall, which I just make that connection, Impractical jokers when they go to the mall to embarrass themselves, is like a modern Mall Rats. We will see what happens, all I know is that I am excited to see how it turns out, am disappointed I can't buy it on VHS.


          Speaking of Mall Rats, the use of the Exton Square mall in Exton, Pennsylvania is about 40 minutes from downtown Philadelphia, and like King of Prussia mall, The Gallery at Market East, could have been a good filming location, it is dated to the 80s, brick tile floors, cement pillars, and that sweet neon sign, all of which will be gone in a year, because most of the mall will be closed off in the next two weeks to be transformed into a new lifestyle center of downtown.


Thank you for reading and remember to check out Trip to the Mall on Facebook.

Friday, September 4, 2015

FLASHBACK: What the Shopping Mall Was Like in 1989 (My Perspective)



          Here we are again, some of the best, and craziest crap from humanities history came out of the 1980's, a decade filled with neon, re-enforced shoulders, hair, and individuality, and we can take a long, hard, look at it again, my first exclusively 80's post, FLASHBACK: 1980's Academic Consumerism Synopsis post was a big hit, and like Back to the Future, part 2 will be the most iconic!

          Thanks to this wicked article from Mashable, here is a series of photos provided by photographer Michael Galinsky and RUMUR.

          Sit back, relax, get a can of Tab and some Tato Skins, click on the era appropriate tunes and bask in the glory of 80's shopping malls!




What a great assortment of colors and patterns, most of which can be found in my closet today.


Woodfield anyone?


Does this picture remind anyone of the SNL skit of Chris Farley, Adam Sandler, and David Spade as mall girls in the food court?






James Dean.




Classic Reebok.


Is this Wards, Sears, or another store?





Fannie May





When will my watch repair be finished?


So many dress code violations by today's rules. (not to mention Herman's World of Sporting Goods)


When you see it?



Billy Idol called...






Is he on a phone... time travel...possible, or its just a calculator?


Sweet Sears!






Smokin.



This should be in a museum, it stands for so much what Sears once stood for.


Smokin







Designated Smokin





The cup is as big as him, but at least medium sized meant medium sized.


There here...


Thank you everyone for reading and I hope you enjoyed this flashback into the 80's, I hope you liked it, based on how your opinion of the decade was whether or not you lived through it, any what it may or may not have meant to you.

Thank you for reading and do not forget to check out Trip to the Mall on Facebook.