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!