Part one of a series documenting the seven malls I visited during the 2024 holiday season

Above: Santa Land at Crystal Mall

Hello and Happy late Holidays from the MOLR! Between 7 December 2024 and 4 January 2025, I visited seven malls. Six malls were in Connecticut, one was in Massachusetts. I wanted to see them during the holidays, at the peak of retail consumerism. I wanted to see if malls were still able to convey that childhood feeling of Christmas. How were they decorated? Will Santa be there for pictures? Will there be a Santa Land?

Admittingly, except for the Ingleside mall in Massachusetts, all the malls I visited are known dead malls. I also arrived at each mall around opening time (10am-11am). I’d love nothing more than my early arrival to be the reason I saw nothing open in these malls, no stores, no people. In their heyday, these malls would have been packed to the gills at opening time on a Saturday in December. I know, I saw it myself as a child of the 80’s. The harsh reality is all of those stores and chains have gone out of business and no longer occupy the hallowed halls of our malls. There is nothing left in malls for people to go to! Food courts are empty, movie theatres are closed, and arcades have been reduced to a small room with broken games and trash on the consoles.

I visited these seven malls in order: East Brook Mall in Mansfield, Ct (7 Dec 2024), Ingleside Mall in Holyoke, Ma (14 Dec 2024) Enfield Square Mall in Enfield, Ct (14 Dec2024), The Shoppes at Buckland Hills in Manchester, Ct (15 Dec 2024), Brass Mill Center in Waterbury, Ct (21 Dec 2024), Meriden Mall in Meriden, Ct (21 Dec 2024) and Crystal Mall in Waterford, Ct (4 Jan 2025). Of all the malls I visited, Crystal Mall hurt and bothered me the most.

Above: Small court, what a sight!

Let me start by saying that the Crystal Mall evokes a special feeling in me that I can’t quite describe. Even though the spaces are huge and ceilings high, I feel perfectly at home there. I feel comfortable, I feel like I’m somewhere familiar and special. I have only been there twice, but I feel like I’ve been going there my whole life. I love the architecture; it really makes you feel so small!

Above: The same small court from a different angle

I arrived at the mall just before noon on Saturday 4 January 2025. I entered through the food court which leads to the former JC Pennys court. When walking into the court, it’s hard not to notice how cavernous this mall is. The ceilings are very high with magnificent small courts enclosed by four columns that travel all the way to the ceiling. Standing on the first level of the former Sears court and looking up to the skylights is an awesome spectacle. The spaces are truly huge.

Above: It’s a long way up to the sky lights from the first level!

The lack of stores and people made the mall feel exceptionally empty. There couldn’t have been more than 75 people in the whole mall. I literally had the whole Sears wing to myself! It was an eerie feeling. Even eerier was that most of the lights on the second floor between the anchors were shut off. It was very dark in some places.

Above: You can see how dark some sections of the second floor are.

Above: In this picture you can see how dark the second level is. The court is somewhat illuminated by the sun, but I imagine it would be quite dark on a sunless day.

Eerier still, the elevator was down and there is not one working escalator in the main part of the mall. The only way to travel between the floors is the central staircase with a beautiful chandelier hanging above it.

Below: Magnificent chandelier and un functioning equipment.

Even though I visited after Christmas, I consider January prime retail time for store certificates, exchanges/returns and post-holiday sales. Crystal Mall has no anchors and hardly any stores to have such sales. There is nothing in the mall to create a holiday buzz. The Crystal Mall suffers the same situation as Buckland hills, they are surrounded by non-enclosed shopping plazas that house the remaining big names in retail. Both Target and Walmart are close by as well. The loss of JC Pennys in May of 2024 was the final nail for this once great architectural beauty. There simply isn’t anything left for people to come out for. Their needs and services are being met elsewhere.

Above: Santa Land!

There was a Santa Land for pictures with the big guy located in the former Sears court on the first level (more pictures earlier in post). In olden days this probably was a great location with a bustling Sears and Roebuck behind it. Now, it sits in a lonely and empty wing of a mall that time forgot. I think it would be more advantageous to have it in the Former JC Penny court or Former Macy’s court. It seems the food court has become the new main entrance of the mall, and the food court leads directly to Pennys and Macy’s. Most of the action in the mall is in this area, it doesn’t make sense to travel past this area to the other end of the mall where half the lights are out, and you might be the only person down there.

Santa Land was well done. It was big and spacious, and the tree looked great spanning the two levels of the court. It really does look good in the former Sears court; it’s just a shame its so far away and lonely! I sat on the couch for selfies and had a great time in Santa Land!

I don’t know if Santa Land was well attended. My wife and I went last year and there were two families getting pictures with Santa. It was in the same location and the rest of the wing was empty. Outside of Santa Land there were no other decorations. Last year there were a few trees here and there in the main hallways and there was a wreath on the elevator.

Above: Former Jordan Marsh, Then Macy’s. They don’t make them like this anymore.

Above: Interior of Macys, first level. Of special note are the escalators in the back of the store.

Above: JC Penny, second level.

Above: Interior of JC Penny, second level. The “down” escalator can be seen in the back under the exit sign.

Taken as a whole, Crystal Mall and its former retail giants are a poignant reminder of days gone by. It truly saddens me to see it like this. I really enjoy the huge spaces and skylights. I can really imagine the mall in its heyday when we were all a little younger and life was a little easier. It reminds me of an old, retired luxury ship that is opened for tours. When walking down its halls you can still feel a certain beauty and wonder that has become obsolete. The energy of those people and that age still resonates through it. I feel the same way about the Crystal Mall. I can still feel the old energy of the mall. I can imagine the laughter and the good feelings of a different time. I can imagine teens buying Purple Rain and G.I. Joe flying off the shelves! Getting your ears pierced at Piercing Pagoda! I can imagine these things easily, I did them myself 100 miles away at a different mall. I think that’s what saddens me the most, it is the passing of my own sacred generational things. I hope to visit the mall more this upcoming year while it is still open. Anything can happen between now and next Christmas.

Please comment on your childhood experiences at Crystal Mall! Part two in the series coming soon as well as other projects!

Take Care!

The above picture was taken one year ago. It was ten days before the mall closed forever. It was the areas first enclosed mall and was a local icon for 55 years.

I went to the mall almost every weekend for seven months shooting the interior, the exterior and its dismemberment. I stood along the fence on Boston Road in the rain, the snow and the freezing cold. It took me months to recover from the emotional roller coaster of watching it being torn apart. As a teenager I spent quite a bit of time there when I would spend the weekend at my dad’s house in Indian Orchard. My era of the mall was after the 1986 renovations which added the food court and changed the Steiger’s court to the sunken water fountain.

The four columns with the light fixtures were the only reminders of the once iconic main court. Whether it contained the light up gazebo, the second-generation water fountain or nothing at all, it was always the focal point of the mall.

Soon I hope to create a YouTube channel for the museum to upload my pictures and videos of the closing and demolition process. Take care and check back soon!

What more can be said? The above picture says it all. Thank you, Eastfield Mall, for all the great and wonderful memories!

Take Care!

The picture above was taken this morning (Monday). Except for the Sears mall entrance sign and entrance planters, there is no other indication that Eastfield even existed. For the first time in 56 years, we can see what the lot looked like before the mall was built. Sears was built first and was operating while the mall and other anchors were being constructed. I wonder if the mall went up the way it came down. If that’s true, it is rather fitting that Sears entrance still remains. I wonder what will happen to the entrance sign. It’s a shame it can’t be incorporated into the new development. The developers have a real chance to save a piece of history.

Take Care!

Yesterday, on the News 8 WTHN Hartford website, it was reported that the Pennys store at the Crystal Mall in Waterford, CT will close by May 15, 2024. It’s no secret that both the mall and the one-time retail giant have fallen on hard times. Unfortunately, it is another nail in the coffin of the once great mall. Closing stores and closing malls has been a prevailing theme for years. It is a theme that will not be changing anytime soon. Get out there and document it while you can.

Take care!

In the back of Sears at the Eastfield Mall there is an old boarded up entrance. A bunch of kids signed their names on it and wrote ” Goodbye Eastfield Mall”, “Mallratz For Lyfe” and “Mallratz 4 Eva”. I thought it was so cool! It was like a going away card for an old friend. It was really touching.

Heck yeah, I signed my name too! The Sears building is supposed to be incorporated into the new development and has been spared the wrecking ball. It stills stands so make an effort to go there and sign your name. If anyone knows what this entrance was, please reach out in the comments. As an honorary Eastfield Mallrat, I proudly declare MALLRATZ FOR LYFE, MALLRATZ 4 EVA!

Take care!

A few days ago, it was reported that the final wall of the Eastfield Mall fell. I watched it on the Eastfield Mall 1967-2023 Facebook page. It has been an emotional roller coaster for me watching it close and sadly watching its dismemberment. It is a stark reminder that time marches ever forward and only forward. Generation X is getting old! My parents often speak of the old glory days of downtown Holyoke. They saw the heyday of downtown retail, featuring department stores with many floors, elevator operators and glorious Christmas window displays. As a little kid I caught the tail end of the downtown Steiger’s store. My mom always made sure my school uniforms came from Steiger’s. To my mom and countless other Holyoke working-class parents, Steigers was considered the finest store around. It was upscale and classy with almost 100 years of history on High Street. It had the kind of history to make a Holyoker proud.

Over the years, the retail of my parents’ generation either closed, burned down through arson or was demolished. The woes of downtown were already in motion well before the Ingleside Mall opened although it did help finish it off. My mom always blamed the mall for the fall of downtown. Now, malls are falling. My version of downtown is falling. Malls, Kmart, Caldor, Ames, Bradlees, Sears, Toy R Us, Kay Bee toys, Steiger’s, G Fox and more was my version of downtown. That is the version of downtown Generation X got. We got big, awesome malls with glorious water fountains. We got national chain stores that anchored those malls. We got pinks, purples and neon’s, we got the 80’s! Now, just like our parents, our generation is losing our beloved things. All over the country malls are falling. There are three Kmart’s left in the whole country. THREE!

Even though we have lost so much in the last 25 years, I can’t complain in 2024 about Gen X nostalgia. He Man has a cartoon again and Mattel has rebooted the Masters of the Universe toy line. 80’s thrash bands are touring again and there’s no shortage of nostalgia driven branding out there for Gen Xer’s. Stores like Hot Topic and Box Lunch and are filled with 80’s stuff. Let me tell you, it’s not kids buying that stuff either, its grown adults! My wife and I hit those stores all the time when we visit local malls, guilty!

Take care of yourselves!

Take care!

  The picture above was taken yesterday (Saturday) and there are literally two walls left of the Eastfield Mall. There is nothing behind the Old Navy wall or the wall facing Sears. I would imagine by early this week they will be gone as well. And just that 55 years of history will be gone. It’s incredible to think of the different phases of the mall and generational changes as well. I love seeing pictures of the pre-80’s renovated mall! Honestly, that is my favorite version of the mall. The mall was dark and the decorating very heavy. On the Eastfield Mall 1967-2023 Facebook page there is a great commercial from the 70’s that shows quick glimpses of the mall in its early days. I love it! I grew up with the second-generation fountain in the Steiger’s court and the much brighter 80’s version of the mall. And speaking of brighter, today I want to get away from the doom and gloom and concentrate of some positive things.

Familiar things

  Since the demolition began, little familiar nuggets would be visible as layers of the mall were stripped away. As rotten as it was that the mall was leaving us for good, I jumped for joy every time something could be seen during the demolition process. It was heartwarming to see certain things again months after the mall closed. Sometimes they were visible while I was shooting, others revealed themselves later after looking at the pictures.

  Eastfield had very unique architecture. Sears was constructed first and operated independently for two years before the mall opened. Forbes and Wallace was constructed next followed by Steiger’s. All of this was connected by the halls, courts and entrances of the mall itself. The stairs and planters were there from the beginning, covered by rocks and trees. The Steiger’s court was always there, whether it had trees, birds, a light-up gazebo or nothing at all. Although the food court and fountain came later, it was so revered that it might as well had been original. Yes, I’m sad to see it go knowing what used to be. But I’m also joyful looking at the following pictures:

After the theatre was demolished and cleared, the Rave hallway was visible along with neon lights!

The Forbes and Wallace building was beautiful. The main and side entrances were original and a glimpse into the architectural mind of the 1960’s. I don’t know what the court looked like in the old glory days; I always knew it as the Penny’s court. Even so, when I visited the mall the week before it closed the Penny’s court felt the best to me. It felt old. I loved the old brick hallways leading outside that were since painted over white. Here they are!

Any guess where this is?

Steiger’s escalators. It took about 15 minutes to get one of them out. Then it was pushed into a scrap pile and ripped to pieces. I’m glad I saw it happen.

The food court fountain as seen through the Rave theater entrance behind the mall. By this point the mall was completely gutted making this view possible.

I loved being able to see the Steiger’s court again. Slowly it was revealed and stood fully visible for quite a while before it fell. It’s wild to think of the crazy things that were in that court at one time. From dark colors, birds, ramps, fountains, a crazy gazebo that lit up to the 80’s water fountain and neon lights, it was always the focal point of the mall. In its final days it had a few candy machines, I made sure to get one last gum ball.

The once awesome food court was wide open for a few days before being toppled over. The week before the mall closed, I sat in the court at a table bathed in sunlight. I drank my coffee and thought ” one day this will all be gone”. It is gone but not before it gave us once last look. Thank you, Eastfield mall Food Court, for all your years of service.

One last look at the sky lights of the Steiger’s court. Thank you, Steiger’s court, you will be sorely missed. Not only by me, but by countless others.

Just to the left of the white tarp is the following picture:

It’s crazy to think that out there in wasteland of the former mall still stands the fire hydrant from in front of Forbes and Wallace. I’m not sad about the mall’s passing anymore. She fought a long, hard fight and ultimately lost. Even now, as she is mostly gone and her innards strewn about, she still has some hidden gems to be found. There are still clues to be found, small signs as to what was there for 55 years. She’s holding on to the bitter end. How can I be sad about that?

See what I mean? Take care!