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!