Dumpy Strip Malls

A tongue-in-cheek look at Minnesotas dead malls and other retail establishments

Posts Tagged 1990s

Circuit City: Roseville, MN

Aug 19

Posted by dumpystripmall in Roseville | 14 Comments

Closed Circuit City

Old-skool Circuit City stores, like the Roseville store, had an entrance shaped like a UL standard plug.

Circuit City has been circling in the drain for years and in early 2009, it finally kicked the bucket.  Its demise was a long time coming. Circuit City has been living on borrowed time this past decade. With its empty parking lots and deserted stores, it was one of those places you wondered how it stayed in business. I swear, places like Circuit City and some of these other companies must have a deal with drug cartels to stay open and never have any customers.

Alright. So, it’s seven (or so) months later since the second-fiddle big box electronics dealer closed its doors and I’m finally getting around to writing about this. Better late than never, right? I can’t ignore a huge chain store closing – so it’s about time to pay homage to the giant red plug in the ground.

The pictures in this article are all from the Rosedale store, but I didn’t shop at that location very often.  I shopped at the Brooklyn Center location. Actually, I think the only time I ever went into the Roseville store was during the liquidation “sale”, but we’ll get to that later.

For the record, here’s a list of the other locations that were in the Twin Cities at some point:
Brooklyn Center
Burnsville
Coon Rapids
Edina
Mall of America (Circuit City Express. They sold stuff like cables and wires and cell phones. So, kind of like a Radio Shack.)
Maple Grove
Maplewood
Minnetonka
Woodbury

Retailers everywhere are BEGGING for Circuit City's square footage

Retailers everywhere are BEGGING for Circuit City's square footage

I was never a huge fan of Circuit City, but I can’t say I ever had a problem with it. It’s not like I’m hoping the chain is burning in hell as we speak. In a way, it kinda blows that Best Buy now has no real competition here.  I always shopped at Best Buy for my electronics needs, but on occasion, I did stop in at Circuit City. Why didn’t I care for CC? A few reasons:

#1: Circuit City had checkout stations located haphazardly throughout the store and no one was ever manning them. When you wanted to purchase something, you had to wave down an associate or bring your purchase up to the Customer Service desk and get in line with people doing returns or filing a complaint. Best Buy has easy-to-find checkout lanes all located at the front of the store, where they should be.

#2: The entire checkout process was annoying. When you finally did find someone to ring you up, it was always complicated, arduous process, even if you were just buying a CD. The sales associate would ask you for your name, address, and whatnot. You had to stand at the station for like 10 minutes while they typed god knows what into the computer. All I wanted was a Smash Mouth CD! You expect paperwork when you buy a car or a house, but a CD?  I’ve gotten bank loans faster.

#3:  Circuit City was a confusing mess. The VHS (later DVD) and CD sections were one giant clusterfuck. Plus, Circuit City kind of had a slimeball feel to it; it always felt like something shady was goin’ on there, but I could never quite put my finger on it.

#4: I don’t like shopping in the dark. Upon entering Circuit City, you felt like you were entering an electronics bunker.

#5: Best Buy is a Minnesota company, so they’ve got that whole “Hometown Hero” thing going for it, just like Target. I don’t even know where CC is based out of, nor do I care.

#6: Their coupons were full of holes & you needed to read the fine print carefully. You couldn’t use them on anything you actually wanted. They basically amounted to, “Good for $15 off a purchase of $100 or more in USB cables.” I can’t say Best Buy is any better though. Plus, Best Buy makes you join some silly little club to get their 5% off coupons in the mail or whatever. Meh.

That said, I did make my first big purchase as an adult at the Brookdale Square Circuit City (you can see photos on the Brookdale Square post). I still have the paper trail to prove it.

The receipt

My cell phone has more storage capacity than this $2,000 computer.

The year was 1997. I graduated high school that spring and was ready for college.  I wasn’t going away to school to live in the dorms — I was going to continue living with my parents and commute to school. I insisted to my parents that our family computer, a Packard Bell 486SX purchased in 1995, was getting slow and I needed something that could handle the projects, papers, and tasks my professors would require.

My parents aren’t the most tech-savvy people out there, but they weren’t stupid and they certainly weren’t buying my plea. I wasn’t majoring in Computer Science or Graphic Design — I was going to major in Journalism (at the time).  I’d be writing papers, not creating Shockwave animations. In their eyes, I could’ve gotten by with a typewriter. In the end, they gave me two options — they offered to buy the Compton ‘97 Encyclopedia CD-ROM for me (uhhh..thanks, but no), or I could buy the computer myself with some of my graduation money.

That was good enough for me! My graduation money was to be used for college-related expenses ONLY (books), not for buying fun stuff like makeup, shoes, or CDs.

Visions of Windows 98, 56K modems, and After Dark screen saver software packages danced in my head, as I took a hammer to my piggy bank and headed out the door.

Now I could continue this charade of me telling you that I wanted a new kick-ass computer system to write papers, but I think you’ve already figured out my MO. The truth was, I bought the computer to fuck around:  To play my cheesy games (SimCity2000), have more hard disk space for MIDI and WAV files, work on my Geocities homepage, and have a faster modem so I could download shit like AOHELL 9.0 and spam chat rooms with 50-line macros of Bart Simpson getting blown by Lisa.  Sure, I’d use it for my coursework, but if that alone was the sole reason for wanting a new computer, I could’ve gotten by just fine with the 486. For a while anyway.

Circuit City wasn't in the electronics business, they were in the insurace business (Warranty Plan, 1997)

Circuit City wasn't in the electronics business, they were in the insurance business

After pricing out computers at Best Buy, Computer City, and Circuit City, I ended up buying my PENTIUM (!!!) Packard Bell computer from Big Red. I don’t know what made me buy it at Circuit City– it must’ve been the price, or perhaps I thought that the sports coat-wearing commissioned sales guy was cute (An 18-year old girl is swayed easily by these things).

I purchased the entire package — computer, monitor, printer, and according to my receipt, I must’ve been strong-armed into buying the 5-year warranty plan,which I never cashed in on.  The computer also came with a software bundle with shit like Word Perfect, Corel Draw, and MS Encarta (which made Mom happy).  (Oh Mom…sorry to break this to you, but I don’t think I even clicked on the Encarta icon. I probably ended up deleting the program so I could free up hard disk space for more WAV files and Photoshop Plug-Ins).

I didn’t pay with this purchase in cash like I had originally intended — I ended up getting approved for a Circuit City credit card. Being that I was only 18 and had little credit history, I wasn’t approved for the entire price of the computer, so I paid part of it on the CC card, and part with my Visa. The idea was to pay the cards off with my graduation money as soon as the bill arrived to build some credit history, and I did just that.

After buying the computer, my mom and I had to wait around in the pick up area of the store for it to be “delivered.” It was kind of like waiting for your luggage at the airport. They had this procedure for a lot of the stuff you’d buy at CC, not just computers.  Most of the time, you couldn’t just pick up a VCR or whatever off the shelf…you had to flag down a sales dude (who was busy blowing spit bubbles and starting at the ceiling), tell him which model you wanted, then listen to an annoying sales pitch and extended warranty ballyhoo before you could actually buy the damn thing & be directed to the pick up area.

My precious Packard Bell

Check out this sweet $2,000 setup! Rory the Lion beanie baby keeps me company while I get into a flamewar on the AOL message boards. The diet Cherry Cokes and a bag of Easter M&Ms give me enough fuel to keep my trolling fresh and sassy.

I was thrilled with my purchase and my new system allowed me to be the AOL Renegade that I had always wanted to be.  I could hop from chat room to chat room,  harassing other AOLers with {S duckjob in 56K warp speed!

(if you get the duckjob.wav reference, kudos to you!)

Other than the computer, I really didn’t buy much at Circuit City. I remember stopping in one time, thinking about buying a Minidisc player. I requested help from an aloof sales guy, and in response to my question, he picked up the item I was holding and began reading the side of the box to me. (I didn’t end up buying a minidisc player. Even at the time, I felt that Minidiscs weren’t going to catch on & that MP3s would be the next big thing).

I bought a few CDs here and there, but shopping here was only out of desperation. I’d only stop in if Best Buy or Target didn’t have the oddball CD I wanted. It was too much of a hassle to shop here. Even their Black Friday loss leaders never tempted me. It was just too much work & effort to go to Circuit City.

When the liquidation sale was announced earlier this year, I didn’t rush down the same day to pick over the bones of the dead company in hopes of irresistible savings, but I did stop in a few times. At the time, I was looking for a new computer (a Macbook), and checked out CC, hoping they sold Macs . They didn’t.

The going-out-of-business sale sucked. I think I stopped in 3 times. The first two times, I went to the Roseville store. It was packed, it was messy, and it was loud. Everyone was looking for the same thing — the good stuff, like discounted WIIs, cheap HDTVs, and after-market car stereos for pennies on the dollar. We knew Circuit City was closing FOR SURE. They weren’t fucking around, like Wilson’s

The Circuit City Rosedale was in a poor location

The Circuit City Rosedale was in a poor location

Leather or mall jewelry stores. This was it. Circuit City’s gettin’ snuffed and electronics junkies everywhere were lookin’ for deals.

Like most big stores that go out of business, they turn the sale over to a liquidation company. The company they chose couldn’t even run a going out of business sale properly. Everything was marked back up to its original MSRP. The 20% off a $19.99 DVD of Pretty in Pink wasn’t tempting; it was insulting. Target has the same DVD for $5.

“Up to 30% off”. What’s 30% off? CD disk cleaning solution, laser pointers, and candy bars. Right, time to hurry in! Anything you’d actually want was only 10% off. The discount gradually increased over time, but even in the sale’s final days, I didn’t see anything good. Even if I did find anything good, those frightening “All Sales Final” signs pretty much deterred me from purchasing any big-ticket items. I did buy a candy bar though (Baby Ruth, if you must know). It was delicious.

I went to the Maple Grove store during Circuit City’s final weekend. The store looked like a warzone.  We went there looking for speakers, but there were none to be had. What was left? A bunch of CDs no one wanted, J-Lo movies on DVD, cables, and broken shit.  The store was in complete disarray, with broken store displays, cords hanging from the ceiling, and empty CD-R spindles and plastic twist ties from speaker-wire packaging littering the floor. We walked out of Circuit City for the last time, empty-handed. There wasn’t even a discounted candy bar to buy. :(

Fourty years from now, I can’t say I’ll be waxing nostalgic about Circuit City to my grandkids. It wasn’t my favorite place to shop, but it wasn’t horrible either. However, throughout the years, it changed for the worse.  The sales guy who sold me the computer in 1997 was great. He was helpful & knowledgeable. Sometime after that, Circuit City made a turn for the worse. The sales associates no longer wore dapper blazers; instead, they sported red polo shirts. Sales folks all became non-commissioned hourly employees, and in 2007, many of their high-paid store associates were let go to make way for cheaper, less knowledgeable employees to save the doomed company money. Because of all this, Circuit City’s customer service reputation took a hit throughout the last decade. The poor service combined with the confusing store layout and high prices resulted in Big Red going down in flames.

Adios, Circuit City. You reap what you sow.

Photos of Circuit City taken June 2009. All other photos are circa 1997.

Did you find any treasures during the Circuit City liquidation? Former employee? Any Circuit City memories you’d like to share? Post in the comments!

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Abandoned Target Store: Coon Rapids, MN

Jun 4

Posted by dumpystripmall in Coon Rapids | 21 Comments

I love Target way more than anyone should. I’m 100% Minnesotan and Target is in my blood. I do all my grocery shopping at Super T and I’m probably there twice a week. I even loved Target as a kid. Going to Target was much more special to me than going to Kmart, even though they sold the same thing. I much preferred getting my Barbie dolls, My Little Ponies, and coloring books from Target than Kmart. We didn’t have a Target store in Brooklyn Park/Center until 1986, so prior to that, we always had to shop at the Crystal Target. When I grew up, I got a job my senior year in high school as a Target cashier and worked my way into HQ & ended up working for the company for 7 years.

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The solution is easy. Buy this Target store and bulldoze it. Hold on to the land until they decide to build a Cheesecake Factory next door (hope you're patient, it might be a while). Then, sell the property for millions! It's simple, really.

So, back in 1998, I heard it through the company grapevine that the Coon Rapids Blvd (store T-42) was closing, and I got a little teary-eyed. I didn’t frequent this store, but I did shop here once in a while. Prior to this, I had never heard of a Target store in Minnesota closing!

They didn’t arbitrarily chose to close this store to meet numbers or whatever. There was a rhyme to the reason they were shuttin’ this store down. And that reason was Riverdale, the latest and greatest North Suburban retail hotspot for the new millennium.

Riverdale is the reason why, 11 years later, the entire northern corridor of Coon Rapids Blvd looks like Chernobyl. This empty Target store is just one of many abandoned retail establishments along the Coon Rapids Boulevard of broken dreams.

The Coon Rapids store closed in the fall of 1998. At the time, Riverdale was newborn retail center, only consisting of a Rainbow Foods, a Green Mill, a Hollywood Video, a Panera Bread,  and of course, a Target store. They area was very underdeveloped at the time, but big plans were in place for this new area dubbed “Riverdale.” It was going to be the next big thing for North Suburban retail and rather than give this store a makeover, they threw up a Target Greatland in the nearby Riverdale area and eventually closed old T-42. This also happened to the Rainbow Foods (where the Big Lots is now). Can’t say I miss that Rainbow store. It was one of the most incredibly disgusting grocery stores I’ve ever been in, ranking right up there with that Columbia Heights Rainbow Foods pigsty. I remember going in there, looking for O’Boises chips and walking out empty-handed (so disgusted I couldn’t purchase a sealed bag of potato chips) and feeling like I needed to take a shower.

Target
Old Target stores all had a distinct architectural look. Without me telling you this was a Target, you could probably figure that out on your own, you smart cookie, you!

This was a pretty rough-looking Target store anyway.  This was store # T-42, and judging by its low store number, it likely opened in the late 1960’s or early 70’s and never had a remodel. This particular store was a good example of a Tar-GHETTO, not a Tar-jay. The former Target store (T-180) off of West Broadway in North Minneapolis was an even better example…that was a Target experience like no other!

The Coon Rapids Blvd/Crooked Lake store is from a lost era of Target. Even in ‘98, this store felt decrepit and passe.  This store was from the pre-hipster days of Target. It’s from a time when Target sold only Cherokee, Chic Jeans, ProSpirit, and Honors. The popcorn smell from Food Avenue hit you the minute you walked in and wafted throughout the store.  They had paper gift certificates.  McGlynn’s bakeries were inside the stores instead of Starbucks & you could watch the bakers decorate cakes and cookies. They placed individual price stickers on all of their items. You could buy computers, cigarettes, and the StarTribune. They had an intercom up at the service desk and parents would request help from employees to round up their missing kids.   SuperTargets were just being introduced (in 1995) and still very much a rarity and only found in Utah and Iowa. Target still put out a garden center every spring. You could get cash for returning things without a receipt.  The checkout  lanes had aluminum hand railings, and as kids, my brother and I would treat them as a jungle gym and climb all over the bars while Mom checked out, until the cashier yelled at us to stop monkeying around.

An old Target price tag

An old Target price tag

These things, for the most part, are all gone from today’s Target.   McGlynn’s is plum out of business. Food Avenue (Food Express in some stores) has been replaced by a Pizza Hut/Taco Bell Express fusion. They don’t use the intercom system anymore. You can’t go five miles without finding a SuperTarget, and come hell or highwater, you will NOT be getting cash back if you don’t cough up your receipt.

Target was always considered more upscale than other discount mass merchandisers, but it pushed itself to a new level of chic with the introduction of the Michael Graves housewares collection, Caphalon cookware, and Mossimo clothing in 1999ish. Today’s Target sells Xhilaration, Converse, Menora, Mossimo, up-and-coming designer clothes made specifically for the store, and $80 100% cashmere sweaters. Sure, you can still find Cherokee and Honors clothing (ProSpirit is gone and Chic Jeans can be found at Fleet Farm if you really want them), but it’s not as prevalent as it once was.

Big Lots

Big Lots used to be Rainbow Foods.

Back in the day, Target selling food was a weird thing. Nowadays, every Target store — SuperTarget or not — has a mini grocery store inside of it. But back then, the only food you could buy at Target was candy, soda, and crackers.

Today, there’s a Goodwill store taking up part of the Target store’s old space — this is the new location of the Goodwill that was in the Springbrook Mall. There’s also a Big Lots. Oh joy.

The Firestone tire place is still kickin’ and the Arby’s is still here. The White Castle is boarded up and I believe there also was a Ground Round restaurant near the Target premises that burned down many, many years ago.

When I was up in this area to take pictures, I was quite surprised that the Target store was still standing. It’s been 11 years since it closed – you’d think the city would’ve razed it by now. The likelihood of retail redevelopment plans for this spot are pretty slim, since Riverdale gets all the shopping traffic.And what retailer in their right mind would want to be situated across from the fucking Coon Rapids Family Center Mall??

This entire area of Coon Rapids is absolutely depressing and miserable. It’s dirty, unkempt, empty buildings everywhere…and come nightfall, it’s very spooky. It’s like a mini Detroit, minus the automobile plants and Eminem. But go a few files up to Round Lake Blvd and everything changes into a bright, overdeveloped, sprawling shopping mecca. I’m not sure what the plans are for this area – if there are any. It’s been a hole for quite sometime, even pre-Riverdale days.

STOP!

STOP!

All pictures of the outside were taken May 2009.

But I also have interior pics! YAY.

The interior pics are all screenshots taken from clips of the 1991 movie Career Opportunities. I picked out the best screencaps of the store from the movie, so you don’t have to comb through a bunch of video clips from this shitty movie. These pics are not from the Coon Rapids store, however, the CR Target floorplan CR was the exact same style as in the movie, so it probably didn’t vary much from these pictures. If you shopped at Target in the ’80s and ’90s, these screenshots will bring you back! It’s interesting to see what it used to look like – it almost looks like how Kmart looks today.

Enjoy all of the photos!

A typical interior of a Target store in the 80's and 90's

A typical interior of a Target store in the 80's and 90's

Another view of an old skool Target

Another view of an old skool Target

The tape cassette display at Target. Holy FLASHBACK! I remember searching through these, looking for New Kids on the Block's Funky Funky Christmas!

The cassette display at Target. Holy FLASHBACK! I remember searching through these, looking for New Kids on the Block's Funky Funky Christmas at the Brooklyn Center store

This is how Target used to display CDs. (Yes, that's Jennifer Connelly)

This is how Target used to display CDs. (Yes, boys, that's Jennifer Connelly)

Old style Target checkout lanes

Old style Target checkout lanes

Target Food Avenue looks like a hospital cafeteria

Target Food Avenue looked like a stark hospital cafeteria

How the housewares section looked in the '80s and '90s. Those lamps are so fugly

How the housewares section looked in the '80s and '90s. Those lamps are so fugly

Vintage Target service desk!

Vintage Target service desk!

Target
Looking out from the Target parking lot, you can see Firestone
Target

The bright lights of a Target parking lot spotlight.

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All boarded up

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I'm guessing this fenced off area was for the garden center.

xcvx

I think it would be kind of creepy living across the street from an abandoned Target store.

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The Goodwill is tacked on to the Target store. What used to be here, if anything? You'd think the GW would just take over the Target store, unless there was something here I don't remember

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Target Store #42: Staying spooky since '98

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For being abandoned for 11 years, this place has held up pretty well.

White Castle

The nearby abandoned White Castle - just another Riverdale casuality.

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Gasoline Alley: Blaine, MN

Jun 1

Posted by dumpystripmall in Blaine | 13 Comments

Let’s face it, when you’re 12 years old, you have a lot of stress in your life. Your report on “The Voyage of the Mimi” is due on Wednesday. On Thursday, they’re separating the boys and girls to teach us about public hair and penises – OMG how embarrassing! You still have to hit up a few houses in the neighborhood to sell pricey gift wrap for the school FUNdraiser (vinyl duffel bag, you will be mine!). And on top of all that, during computer lab time, your classmate Jessica died of dysentery in Oregon Trail. …Meh, she was a bitch. More food for the rest of us! *presses space bar to continue”

Gasoline Alley!

Gasoline Alley!

‘Ya gotta have a way to blow off that steam and during trying times like these, swinging from the monkey bars and playing tag just won’t cut it. Going for a long drive to clear your head would be ideal but you’re still three years away from your learner’s permit. What else could you do to ease your troubles? Badger your parents to take you to Gasoline Alley!

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This place just looks creepy now

Located in Blaine off of Highway 65 next to a trailer park community, Gasoline Alley was one of those mini amusement parks with go-karts, mini golf, bumper boats, and an arcade. It’s the kind of place where a kid could be a kid (the same could be said about Vegas, but I digress). These types of mini family fun rec areas were pretty popular in the ‘80s and ‘90s, but you really don’t see these places around much anymore. Lilliputt is still in business, but whenever I drive by the place, it’s empty. What, kids these days would rather play Mario Kart or mini golf on the WII? The WII is great and all but nothing can beat planning your perfect hole-in-one shot by aiming your dirty neon orange golf ball at a fiberglass rhino’s tusk…have it ricochet off the wall and go through the windmill tunnel and into the hole…only to have your whole strategy foiled by a ruptured seam in the Astroturf. Seams don’t happen on a WII.

I don’t know when this place closed. Looking at it now, the place just looks spooky but back in its glory days, Gasoline Alley (much like Skateland) was a big elementary/middle school birthday party and field trip destination in the ‘80s and ‘90s.

We didn’t get to go to Gasoline Alley as much as we went to LilliPutt. It was either because LilliPutt was closer and/or Gasoline Alley was too expensive. Both amusement centers offered the same attractions, but Gasoline Alley was bigger and known for its go-kart track (though calling itself an “international raceway” is a bit of a stretch). Looking at it through adult eyes, it looks awfully lame. I couldn’t tell where the bumper boats used to be, the go kart track looks tiny, and the either they removed all the giant mini golf statues (except the windmill) or Gasoline Alley took a minimalist approach to mini golf and didn’t have any fiberglass animals. What’s the point of playing mini golf without a plastic yellow hippo giving you the stinkeye as you putt for par on hole #14?

Usually when my brother would pester Mom to bring him here, she would usually tell him no and to go ride his Big Wheel or play with his Micro Machines instead. On those rare occasions (i.e. his birthday) when my parents actually would bring my brother here (and a bunch of his friends), I would always tag along. I didn’t care much for go-karts, but like any kid, I did enjoy a game of mini golf (it really helped my short game!) or bumper boats to pass the time.

Gasoline Alley provided golden opportunities to bring out the wild child in any well-behaved kid. On the track, my brother would always try to side-swipe his buddy’s car to thwart him from winning the race. Out on the high seas of the bumper boat lagoon, I’d always try to ram my watercraft (which looked like an inflatable inner tube with a steering wheel & a cheap trolling motor) into some random unsuspecting stranger’s vessel and give them whiplash.

No need to sneer at me, you crybaby! Tough shit. This is bumper boats, not the fucking lazy river. Pushing and shoving with a side of whiplash is to be expected.

Trouble didn’t take a holiday on the links either. Kids have a short attention span, and after about 12 holes of putt-putt, let’s face it, you get bored and all the holes start looking the same (that’s what she said?) One hole has a slight hill and a giant spider. The next has a giant rocks that are supposed to resemble landmines and a water hazard to the right.  Rinse and repeat. There’s only so many times you can get your ball stuck in a tube that’s filled with dead leaves and candy wrappers before you get frustrated. So it was around this point in the course where hitting the fiberglass tiger square in the eye with your golf ball was much more entertaining than actually trying to make par on the hole and pencil in a decent score.

The windmill was the only mini golf statue left behind

The windmill was the only mini golf statue left behind

But even that got boring after a while. Sure, the loud “ping” the ball made when it hit the statue was a riot, but sometimes, you need to cause a little more mischief.  If you wanted to add insult to injury to the helpless synthetic beast, you could reach in your pocket and pull out anything with a sharp edge (utility knife, an well-worn slap bracelet, a fork) and carve an “I love Brian!” tattoo on the unfortunate tiger’s cheek.  So many of the fiberglass monuments had innocent teenage graffiti on their plastic bodies and unfortunately, I admit to doing this once (sorry, I don’t know if it was at Gasoline Alley or at Lilli Putt).

Whatever. The fucker was looking at me funny. He deserved it. Besides, he looked like a kill-azz muthafucka with my wicked ink job.

adasd

Back in the day, this place was infested with kids

So, what about the go-kart track? Well, looking at it now, it doesn’t look like anything special. Calling itself an “International Raceway” is a bit misleading – this isn’t the Indy 500. It’s just another loud and annoying go-kart track filled with screaming kids and mid-life crisis dads who wanting to take a quick break from their giant SUV with ample seating and an excellent safety rating and pretend to be Jeff Gordan for a few short minutes. The course itself looks like it had a slight hill to it, with lots hairpin turns allowing for chain-reaction braking and no acceleration lanes – what, did MNDOT design the track?

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A view of the building

Gasoline Alley had an arcade so when you’ve had enough racing, bumper boating, and destroying the landscaping around the mini golf course, you could try to play some video games and hope they didn’t eat your quarters. The game room was pretty decrepit and had outdated games like Burger Time and shitty crap like a Love Calculator. On the arcade games that worked, you’d have to be a very good player to beat the computer; not because the artificial intelligence was set for super hard, but because your character was constantly walking to the right when you clearly were thrusting the sticky joystick to the left. And the “A” button had a coating of dried up soda all over it.

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A view of the finish line. If Gasoline Alley was around today, I'd come here and coast into the finish line, step out of my ride, rip my helmet off and shake out my hair, just like Danica Patrick.

They also had a snack bar that had the shittiest food known to man. Yeah, I know, it’s a kiddie amusement park, so you can’t expect gourmet food, but the overpriced grub here was worse than SuperAmerica food. Decade-old wrinkled hot dogs on spinning on rollers, Totinos Party Pizzas cooked in a microwave, and a dessert cooler filled Flintstone Push Up Pops, Chipwiches, and those chocolate malt cups with the little wooden paddle spoon.

Okay, I admit, those desserts are pretty good…I could really go for a Chipwich right now.

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Another pic of Gasoline Alley

Any memories of Gasoline Alley? Share in the comments!

Photos taken May 2009.

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Skateland: Brooklyn Park, MN

May 15

Posted by dumpystripmall in Brooklyn Park | 10 Comments

Cheap, awkward, and always a great time.

No, I’m not talking about yo’ mama.

We’re talkin’ SKATELAND, the setting of my Junior High Soap Opera.

Skateland

Skateland was always kinda sketchy

This is where the shit went down. Too old for playgrounds & swingsets, and too young for keg stands, teens and tweens from around the area would come here to goof off, pine for their crush, snark on other classmates, play arcade games, and cut each other up with slap bracelets.

Skateland was a popular choice in the ’70s, ’80s, and ’90s for birthday parties, school field trips and lock-ins, or even as a special night out for getting an “A” on your Amelia Bedelia book report.

I frequented Skateland between the years of 1989 – 1992ish and I have no idea when this place closed. I also know I don’t have any old pictures of this place.  After I started high school, my friends and I outgrew Skateland and never felt the urge to go back. As you can see from the recent pictures, Skateland is now a furniture store.

So pin your jeans, fan out your bangs like a peacock’s butt, throw a scrunchie in your hair, pop in a Milli Vanilli cassette — we’re going back to the early ’90s!

Skateland

Skateland was a great place for lovelorn teens

My most vivid memory of Skateland was when I was in 7th grade, on Valentine’s Day, 1992. We held our class party at Skateland, so they bussed us over here from the middle school for the afternoon.

On the bus, tension was “snowballing” (tee hee!). Throw a bunch of 12 & 13 year olds going through puberty at a roller rink on Valentine’s day and the shit’s going to hit the fan. So many thoughts were swirling in my head! Which boy will ask me to skate? Will ANY boy ask me to skate? What if I fall on my rump in front of Matt? I am SO not skating with Pete if he asks me! HE IS SO GROSS!!! He put M&M’s in my Veryfine apple juice at lunch when I wasn’t looking! EWWWW!

Rowdy and jittery, the scene on the bus was pure pandemonium. This was PRE “video cameras-on-the-bus” days, so spitballs were flyin’, girls were engulfed in shrill “OMG WILL MY CRUSH ASK ME TO SKATE?” conversations, and Pete and Matt were taking turns whacking each other over the head with their Addison-Wesley Math books.  Our teachers and chaperons tried to give us stern warnings to stop, collaborate, and LISTEN, but it wasn’t working; we were too worked up.

The wheels on the bus went ’round and ’round until we pulled into the parking lot.

Time to get your ball bearings ‘cuz it’s ON.

Skateland was always kind of creepy, come to think of it. The place was dimly lit, smelled like soiled sucks, had gaudy dirt-disguising carpeting …hell, they probably allowed smoking for all I know.

Skateland MN

The Butterfly, uh oh, that's old! LET ME SEE THAT TOOTSIE ROLL

My BFF’s and I rented our musty brown skates with orange wheels, and wheeled into to the creepy, dingy women’s bathroom. This was 1992 and bangs were an art. They could get pulverized by the strong weather elements from a short walk from the bus, and we just couldn’t let that happen.  Especially on Valentine’s Day.

Jenny brought the Aqua Net and I had the Malibu Musk.  Tracy had Love’s Baby Soft, but I quickly informed here that we are 13 now, and too old to be spraying ourselves in that shit. Boys are more sophisticated at our age & don’t want to hold hands with a girl smelling like she just changed a baby’s diaper. They crave a more worldy scent, like Exclamation or Malibu Musk.

We were holed up in the dimly-lit bathroom for a good 20 minutes, fixing our bangs in the streaky mirror and offering words of encouragement to each other before we rolled out onto the floor such as, “Oooh, Christy, you are ROCKING that scrunchie, girl!” “Oh no, Tracy, just a few light spritzes won’t do! You want Brian to ask you to skate, don’t you? …If you dump the rest of that bottle of Vanilla Fields on your neck, he will surely notice you!”

We skated out of the bathroom in a cloud of cheap perfume that followed us around like Pigpen’s cloud of dust.

We immediately noticed many of our classmates were skating around the rink, holding light-up roses in their hand.  Skateland was hawking glowing roses at a booth near the snack bar to celebrate the holiday. Here I was hoping that Matt would give me a TMNT Valentine’s Day card and handful of conversation hearts…but damn. A $6 rose? I hope he brought his allowance money…

Skateland MN

The DJ started up our 7th grade anthem, Bohemian Rhapsody, so my BFFs and I headed out to the floor. We whizzed around, laughing and dancin’ and groovin’ to the music, and chasing boys around the slippery rink.

I wasn’t a bad skater. In fact, I was a MENACE on the rink. My years of figure skating paid off whenever I’d go to Skateland. When I noticed that Matt and Pete were watching us from their table in the snack bar, I’d do a “shoot-the-duck” move as I skated by their booth, hoping to turn their heads. Well, hoping to turn Matt’s head. I also got a few jealous evil eyes from this chick Jessica and her posse. My BFFs and I did not like Jess & the gang. Plus, she had a thing for Michael, a boy Sarah had her eye on.

When I wanted to pull out the REALLY fancy tricks, I’d make my way into the middle of the rink. This was the designated place where doing the type of jumps that only Kriss Kross can make you do. You didn’t dare do this stuff outside of the middle or else the Skateland “referee” would blow his whistle and scream bloody murder.

Chaperons and teachers kept a close eye on all of us, making sure no one breaks a tailbone or had any other type of maiming that would make Schwebel, Goetz & Sieben salivate.

Lots of skating games were played in-between the Paula Abdul/Rhythm is a Dancer/En Vouge-type songs…the Hokey Pokey, red light/green light, backwards skate, girls-only, boys only. You get the idea.

We were having a blast! Well, all but Christy. Christy was having a hell of a time on her skates and kept falling and disrupting the flow of the rink. She tried making a few laps by clutching the wall around the rink but eventually she was tired of being skating rink road kill, so she gave up and holed herself up in a snack bar booth, reading Sweet Valley High#48,  “Slam Book Fever.”

Then it happened.

The DJ announced COUPLES SKATE.

….

SHIT JUST GOT REAL.

A stunned hush blanketed the arena. This was IT.

The rink cleared off as the 13 year old bachelors skated off the rink to find a suitable bachelorette with which to cruise around the rink and hold each other’s clammy hands. If they could work up the courage to do so.

Sarah, Tracy, Jenny, and I all sat down on a bench, looking around for our crushboys. Christy was still at the snack bar, oblivious to the whole thing, enjoying a Tombstone-style pizza and reading her novel. Tracy spotted her crush, Brian over at the claw machine, trying to fish out a fake Rolex. Matt was playing some pinball game with a couple other boys.

WTF are these boys doing? It is COUPLES SKATE!

Shawn made his way over to us and asked Jenny to skate. Jenny was ecstatic! And he even gave her a rose!

Sarah was pining away for Michael, but she spotted him already on the rink, skating with Jessica. That bitch!

Sarah angrily stomped away to join Christy at the snack bar to drown her sorrows in a Dr. Pepper.

I looked over and saw Matt still very into his pinball game. Brian was still trying to win claw machine jewelry.

Boyz II Men’s “The End of the Road” was just starting up. Looks like no couples skate for me :(

I sat on the bench, completely dejected, trying to hold back my tears as I  pretended to tie my skate laces. I had been looking forward to this field trip since the day I had my parents sign the permission slip. And all Matt cares about is that stupid Addam’s Family pinball game. My Valentine’s day was pretty much RUINED. The HORROR. I was just about to get up from the bench and make my way to the locker, to get my coat and coin purse, and to join Sarah and Christy & get some cardboard pizza at the snack bar, when I felt a light tap on my shoulder.

Skateland

I looked up, seeing a boy in a No Fear shirt and bowl haircut. It was Pete. And he had a light up rose.

“Would you like to skate?” Pete asked as he handed me the electric flower.

I was stunned. This was the boy who teased me at lunch 5 days a week, putting grapes in my potatoes and smearing peanut butter on my long dog roll-up. At first, I thought, “Don’t stress, don’t stress, don’t stress, just tell him to the left left left!” but he was smiling and…and…kinda looked cute.

I obliged. Pete and I rolled out on the floor, holding hands, and waving to Christy and Sarah sitting at the snack bar.
When couples skate was done, I was in 7th grade heaven. Pete LIKED me. And…even after all the teasing he did to me, I found myself kinda liking him. Matt was STILL playing pinball. Fucker.

The day was soon over and we boarded the buses to head back to school. The ride home was much tamer, as we were all pretty tuckered out the skating, loud music, and eating too many cheesy pretzels. The lucky girls, including me,who got light-up roses played with them on the bus the entire ride home. Brian did end up getting his “Rolex” out of the claw machine, and was showing it off to all the kids on the bus. Pete pointed out that Brian’s wrist was turning green from the watch, but that didn’t stop Brian. He played it up and told everyone he was turning into the Incredible Hulk.

Skateland Strip Mall

And that was pretty much it. I’m not going to wrap this story up by telling you Pete and I got married or anything. I don’t really remember what the fallout of the Skateland Valentine’s Day party was. We probably still ate lunch together in our little group, and Pete probably still put corn kernels in my milk. Hell, Pete and I really didn’t talk much when we got to high school, nor did we go to Skateland. When we left middle school, we also left Skateland behind.

Yep. You get old and your idea of fun no longer involves showing off some fancy moves in the center of a roller rink. You’d rather hang with your buddies, drinking beer from a crock pot.

:(

Feel free to post your memories of Skateland in the comments!

sdfsdf

This is next to Carousel Bingo

Photos taken May 2009.

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The final blow to Brookdale?

Jan 8

Posted by dumpystripmall in Brooklyn Center | 9 Comments

It was only a matter of time. According to the StarTribune this morning, the Brookdale Macy’s store will close. No date was announced, but a final clearance sale will begin next week.  Great time to stock up on Apple Bottom jeans and boots with the fur.

Like many Minnesotans, I loathe Macy’s, and I’m shocked at how long this store has lasted at Brookdale, but I honestly feel a little sad about this. We did so much of our “back to school” shopping back when it was Daytons.  I can thank the Brookdale Daytons for my reputation as a teenage fashion plate! I would spend HOURS in the Dayton’s juniors department, trying to put together an outfit that make me look like a dazzling recreation of Six from Blossom.

Most of my teenage wardrobe came from the Brookdale Macy’s. Esprit sweatshirts! Esprit book bags! Girbaud jeans! Champion sweatshirts (along with the required white turtleneck to wear underneath)! Calvin Klein “Ck” t-shirts! Long, shapeless button-front floral dresses!

These days, there’s pretty much nothing I’d want to buy at the Brookdale Macy’s. It’s run down, it’s dirty, and it seems to cater to the taste of a hooker. Back in the day, the only “ghetto” clothing the Brookdale Macy’s sold was Cross Colours and those t-shirts with thugged out Looney Tunes characters on them.

I remember going there as recently as 2004, and even though the ghetto fab clothing was slowing creeping in, this Macy’s carried decent brands that I would buy, such as Free People and Lucky. Not anymore! It’s all Sean John, Ecko, and G-Unit clothing these days.

Now, all that’s left are Sears and Barnes & Noble to hold down the fort. No crystal ball needed to predict the future here; Brookdale isn’t going to last much longer. Bring in the wrecking crew…

I’ll try to stop in the store later this week to snap some photos, since I didn’t do that in my Brookdale Mall post.

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No Virginia, there is no Santa at the Brookdale Mall

Dec 15

Posted by dumpystripmall in Brooklyn Center | 1 Comment

WordPress provides me with some great blog stats, including search engine terms on how people are finding this site. “Brookdale Mall” is an extremely popular search term for this site, but lately, these types of search terms are taking over in popularity for Dumpy Strip Malls – at least for the time being:

brookdale mall santa
santa at brookdale mall
is santa at the brookdale mall?
and other variations….

I googled this myself to see if any webpages out there actually had the answer these internet surfers were looking for, and nope, there’s not. I feel for those frustrated Santa groupies, so here’s the deal ~

No, Santa will not be making an appearance at the Brookdale Mall.

(yes, I verified it)

In related news, the Minneapolis Star-Tribune has a Brookdale Mall article! It’s really nothing new or groundbreaking, but it’s definitely worth a read if you’re interested in this woebegone shopping mall, so take a look at it if you get a chance.

I updated my Brookdale Mall post, updating some store listing info, adding a few blurbs, and posted a picture that I scanned from my personal photo album – here it is if you don’t feel like digging through the old posts:
Click to enlarge -

July, 1994 at Centerbrook Golf Course (the golfer is my brother). Brookdale Mall is in the background

July, 1994 at Centerbrook Golf Course (the golfer is my brother, decked out in his Mighty Ducks T-shirt!). Brookdale Mall is in the background

This is a July 1994 picture of Brookdale Mall taken from the Centerbrook Golf Course across Highway 100. You can see the JC Penny’s and Sears clearly in the photo.  The exterior today looks slightly different and the blue & white building, which I believe was part of Sears’ auto center or it might’ve been like a Tires Plus or something – really not sure), was demolished at some point. Sears is still there today, and JC Penny’s is now an empty Steve & Barry’s.

If you have any pictures or information regarding the Brookdale Mall that you’d like to contribute, please feel free to email me directly at dumpystripmalls@gmail.com.  Any older pictures from the mall would be greatly appreciated!

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10 Stores I Wish Were Still Around

Nov 26

Posted by dumpystripmall in Uncategorized | 4 Comments

In the spirit of my previous post – 10 Mall Chains I Can’t Believe Are Still in Business - I present to you the top 10 stores I wish were still in business. Not saying that I would actually shop at these places nowadays. There’s a reason these places aren’t around any longer. I miss them strictly for nostalgic purposes.

In no particular order…

County Seat: This store was was a ’90s staple. The ’90s style was all about “casual fashions” and County Seat took full advantage of it. It was FLANNEL FLANNEL, EVERYWHERE. The “nicer” clothing was located at the front of the store – the itchy sweaters, wrap-around skirts, denim shirts, khakis, and long, shapeless button-down floral “Elaine from Seinfeld”-style dresses.

ACHOO!

A typical sweater found in a County Seat store. Your typical '90s girl would pair it with a white turtleneck underneath and a velvet choker.

The denim was located in the back of the store. Most of the denim was displayed in cubby holes on the walls, arranged by size and color (yeah County Seat sold colored denim…remember, this WAS the ’90s. I had a pair of purple jeans…yeah! That’s right! Color me BADD!). The sale merchandise was displayed on the racks.

If you were looking for ANYTHING denim, County Seat had it. Denim button-down shirts, “jorts” (jean shorts, for those of you not in the know), lots of high waist, tapered leg jeans…which looked fab when paired with my tucked-in “Figure Skating is Life. The Rest is Just Details” t-shirt.

And you can’t forget denim overalls! County Seat had those, too.  You didn’t DARE wear them with both straps up. Oh no. You wore them with ONE strap up and a flannel shirt tied around your waist. Popularized by ’90s rap music, this fad took over my junior high and resulted in scrawny white kids from a Minnesota suburb thinking they were from the Wu Tang Clan.

The County Seat store where I shopped (the Crystal location), closed in 1997. I think most County Seat stores closed around that time.

Ben Franklin: I think Ben Franklin is still around in some small towns, but it does not have a presence in the Twin Cities, so on the list it goes. My mom used to take me to the Ben Franklin in the Village North Shopping Center. I loved this place. Ben Franklin was every do-it-yourself hobbyist’s DREAM. Latch hook kits, silk flowers, matchbox cars, wall-to-wall fabric, and my favorites – EMBROIDERY THREAD and BEADS.

I was a very creative, enterprising child, and made friendship bracelets, beaded necklaces, and fabric headbands – NOT for my BFFs, but FOR FUCKING PROFIT. As a damn 11-year old! So Ben Franklin was an important part in my business plan.

I’d safety-pin some embroidery thread to my pants (yeah, these days I would’ve had OSHA on my ass for a safety violation) and start braiding away, friendship-style, creating my “inventory” while watching Picket Fences and eating Giggles cookies (bought with my petty cash, of course). My handmade accessories were sold at neighborhood garage sales, to my BFFs (they’re not getting that shit for free!), door-to-door in the neighborhood, and even at craft shows (yes, I had my mom rent out a booth at a CRAFT SHOW for me to sell my wares!). A lot of the times, I’d end up keeping the handmade accessories for myself because they WERE JUST SOOOO CUTE OMG. (apparently, I hadn’t heard of the phrase “never get high on your own supply” yet. Live ‘n learn, right?).

St. Paul Book & Stationary: There was a location in Brooklyn Center, near Brookdale, but I’m sure there were more.  I’m guessing this place went out of business sometime in the early ’90s. It sold mostly art and office supplies. I was a crafty kid so any artsy store was right up my alley. They sold it all – puffy t-shirt paint,  whimsical stickers, peg-loom potholder kits, pens with 15 colors of ink, and any color of play-dough you could imagine. Mmm. Play-Dough. I would totally GRUB on that shit! And then chase it with a crayon. Oh come now, I know I’m not the only one!

Mr Bulky: Bulk candy at its finest, this place would make Willy Wonka blush. The Gene Wilder Wonka, not the Johnny Depp Wonka. Mr. Bulky was located in shopping malls and sold, well, BULK CANDY. No icky Brachs candy here – Mr. Bulky sold the good stuff, like Jelly Bellies, Runts, and designer gummy worms. Bulk candy is an enigma in itself though. How many grubby hands have been in that bin??? Who touched the scooper?? And when did it last fall onto the floor?? Bulk candy is still found in grocery stores these days, so sanitary reasons are not why this place went under. Not sure what happened. I mean, there’s all those studies out there saying candy is GOOD for you! …After all, my “small square” of dark chocolate will go nicely with my “moderate amounts” of red wine.

B Dalton: It was located next to Stuarts at Brookdale, so if I was patient enough while my mom shopped for clothes and not start throwing a whining fit, I was allowed to get the new Babysitters Club book (that is, if I didn’t already have it on order from the Troll Book Club) and read about Claudia Kishi hiding candy in her room (can you imagine the bugs & rodents she probably had in that room? DISGUSTING).

B Dalton was, well, just a bookstore. You don’t see that very often these days, with the presence of Barnes and Noble or a Borders. A bookstore is like a hangout place these days. Kind of like a libary, without all the strict rules.  At least at a B&N, you can sip coffee, page through a magazine, have a conversation, and not get harrased by bitchy librarians on a power trip.

There’s no way could you read read an entire book at B Dalton, the way you can at B&N. There was no coffee shop inside. No chairs or tables.  Just books. I miss bookstores like that.

Inside a McGlynn's store

Inside a McGlynn's store

McGlynn’s Bakery: They used to have a presence in most Target and grocery stores. I’d always, always beg for a large frosted cookie whenever we’d shop at the Crystal Target, but MOM SAID NO! (frequent readers of this blog probably think my mom deprived me of every joy of childhood, the way my poor mom is written about in this blog – so far, she’s deprived me of a slushie in Kmart...movies, and a wood-paneled mini van. But no, that’s really not the case :) )

Mom might’ve said no, but GRANDMA said yes! After all, Grandma didn’t mind if I was loaded up with sugar – I’d be out of her hair in about 10 minutes. After we were done at Target, we’d drop Grandma off at her house, and I’d have my mom to pester and annoy while on my sugar high from that damn cookie.

I worked at a McGlynn’s Bakery for about 3 days when I was in high school. I took the job expecting to, you know, BAKE stuff. Cookies! cakes! Bread! Oh how I LOVE the smell of baking bread! You can keep your meth; there’s no better high.

To my utter disappointment, I found out that all of McGlynn’s products were “baked” offsite and sent to the stores. Nothing was fresh. All you did is heat it up in the toaster oven, Applebees-style. It forever ruined McGlynn’s bakeries for me. I was expecting to decorate cakes and bake cookies, but no, all I did was shove stuff into toaster ovens and pull cakes out of the fridge, even though I had to wear the plastic white chef hat and apron.  I can only imagine what a TGIFriday’s “chef” feels like. McGlynn’s closed in December 2003

Builders Square: Whenever we’d shop for lumber for the cabin, it was either here or Menards, never Knox. My parents hated Knox for some reason. My mom did all the shopping for the supplies instead of my dad, and she would always write the check out to “Builders” and then draw a square. It always caused the cashier to LOL. The Brooklyn Center location was located next to a County Market grocery store. The whole strip center was razed though, sometime in the ’90s when the Rainbow Foods came to

Builders Square logo

Builders Square logo

town (which is now closed). I think Builders Square went out of business in the late ’90s, around ‘97 or so. I know why, too. They didn’t have a decent candy section, like the other home improvement stores. I don’t know about you, but Menards has a damn good candy and beef jerky selection! I’ll go there just for the candy sometimes.

Contempo Casuals:  Contempo died out long ago – around the time Britney Spears was carousing around in a Catholic school girl’s uniform….that she probably bought at Contempo. They sold that sort of shit there.  This is where ALL the girls in high school got their wardrobe. Backless shirts, asymmetrical skirts, pleather jackets with shoulder pads, plaid flannel babydoll dresses with matching t-shirts to wear underneath, velvet chokers, plaid mini skirts, and BODY SUITS – those always confused me – how are you supposed to go to the bathroom?? Snaps on the crotch area, but that’s a lot of fiddling around to do…

Contempo Casuals is now Wet Seal. It just isn’t the same.

Two + Two: PLASTIC JEWELRY AHOY! The jewelry this place sold could be compared to the stuff you’d find in the Perkins Wishing Well. This is where you bought those plastic charm necklaces that were so popular

I don't think my friend in the diamond business would approve

I don't think my friend in the diamond business would approve...

back in the ’80s. It was a neon-colored plastic chain-link necklace and you’d buy random colorful plastic charms to hook onto it. The charms were very random. I had baseball bat charm, a strawberry, an eagle, a hairdryer. a soda pop bottle…it really didn’t matter what the charm was – the more charms on your necklace, the cooler you were. The 2+2 I went to was located in the Brookdale Mall, in a tent-like structure in the middle of the mall, right outside of Dayton’s and next to the Piercing Pagoda (also in a tent).

LaBelle’s/BEST: This store was a catalog showroom. They sold a lot of glass knick-knacks, bridge sets, best-logohousehold items, and jewelry – TONS of jewelry. This is the place where you’d get a gadget for $19.99 and only use once before it ends up forgotten in a storage closet. They’d have a display model out on the shelf, and if you wanted it, you’d take a ticket to a store employee who would give it to somebody in the “back” and your purchase would be rolled out of the stockroom. It was kind of cool – my mom worked there for a little while, so we bought a lot of stuff there with her discount. The LaBelle’s/BEST store in Brooklyn Center is now the Best Buy.

RUNNER UP: Abercromie & Fitch: I only miss OLD SKOOL A&F. Back in the old days when they sold camping supplies, pop-up bathtubs, and guns. It had a men’s smoking room type feel to the place. Now you step into the place and walk out with a pounding headache, smelling like a whorehouse.

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