Winter, spring, summer or fall--any season's a good season to make a trip to this mall

As noted before, even Money Magazine’s best place to live has a few eyesores. Plymouth Center being one of them and the Four Seasons Mall being another. If you’ve driven on Highway 169 in the Twin Cities within the last 30 years (who hasn’t?), you’ve probably seen this mall. And unless you live in the area, you probably have never been in it.  The back of the mall faces the highway, with signage on the structure noting what was probably at one time, a sexy lineup of stores. Today, most of the signs are blank white rectangles.

I made my first, only, and last visit to the Four Seasons Mall on a beautiful Sunday afternoon in August 2009. I have no warm fuzzies about this mall and I don’t know of many former tenants. The Four Seasons Mall was built in 1978 and judging by the wood paneling and totally awesome tiled floors with colored squares placed at random, it likely was never updated.

It’s pretty much empty. There’s a quilt shop, a Fresh & Natural Foods (which is actually pretty busy), one of those for-profit colleges advertised on daytime television, a bridal shop, a pizza place, and Thai restaurant. And that’s about it.

I only saw one other person in this mall: a blue-haired lady who was probably on her way to the quilt shop to pick up some batting for her latest creation. She gave me a funny look. I don’t blame her though; I’m walking around a dead mall with a camera dangling from my wrist. Probably thought I was casing the joint or a misguided tourist.

The barren hallway of the Four Seasons Mall

The interior gave me big time Village North flashbacks. (You know, when Village North was in its decline). I’m guessing they were built around the same time (late ’70s). The mall is depressingly clean and the pumped-in music echos down the empty hallways. And plenty of posted signs at every nook and cranny of this mall banning guns and rollerblades.

You really don’t see a lot of those gunbuster signs anymore, although they are still around. Back in 2003, Minnesota passed conceal carry, causing every business owner to freak out, throwing up knee-jerk reaction “No guns allowed” signs in their windows, thinking a trip to Starbucks was going to turn into a shootout. And rollerblading? Really? I don’t think you need to worry about delinquent rollerbladers, Four Seasons Mall, this isn’t 1992.

Okay, so no gunplay and no rollerblading down the hall. Got it.

Really though, this would be a kick ass place for a bunch of lawbreaking juveniles to break out the skateboard. Not to give anyone ideas. Nothin’ like a little rampz, rails, and trespassing!

According to this article, there is little hope for this mall. The property is up for sale and if it gets any takers, it will likely be razed & redeveloped.

I, personally, know nothing about this mall, but another Dumpy Strip Malls reader with the handle “AFS” posted information in the comments–if this isn’t a “sexy” line up of stores, I don’t know what is!

Four Seasons! Ah, the bygone days of my youth, running through the mall on Tacky Hat Day with the Armstrong cross-country team. Former tenants:

Erickson’s NewMarket: As a young lass I’d kick and scream to shop here instead of that blasted Holiday Plus across the street. If you’ve been in a NewMarket and a Holiday Plus, I shouldn’t explain.

This isn't 1992. Deliquent juvies don't rollerblade anywhere anymore, much less in a mall.

Summit School of Dance: if you weren’t quite snotty enough to go to the Dance Shoppe in “downtown” Plymouth, you went here. Was the feeder school for the Armstrong cheerleader squad, yet not the dance team.

Golden China: awrrrsome all-you-can-eat buffet. My now very obese aunt once walked off with one of the steam trays in Homer Simpson-esque fashion.

Woody’s Our Own Hardware-my dad preferred this place for some reason.

Some sporting memorabilia shop called Team Sports that lasted all of nine months. I remember my mom bought my dad a Quebec Nordiques hat from there for Christmas. Ah, they were a lovely team.

Hobby Time was the name of the hobby store on which the commenter above waxed nostalgic. I remember its train sets vaguely; I believed it was closed by the 1990s.

Some beauty school with students smoking out in front.

A bridal discount warehouse. My mom pointed out a pregnant teen girl shopping for gowns there as a “warning.”

The Fan Man: not once in my 13 years of residence in the 55442 did I see a customer in there. My dad posited that they ran some sort of mail order business, but for ceiling fans? Well, this was Plymouth.

Perfection Hair Stylists, just across the hallway from competitor salon Golden Razor. My parents always took me to GR whilst I secretly yearned for the KMS-ridden haze of Perfection.

Snyder Drug was the other anchor, after NewMarket. The source of many of my prescriptions filled through the years, where I once got a flu shot (meh) and the source of the annual coupon book with 5 free items in every book. Packing for college: 10% done. They didn’t hire me for a part-time job (bugger!) but the post office window inside was where I sent off an envelope to the UK in 1995 in the hopes of joining the Bjork Fan Club.

Some discount book shop that I had been inside all of 10 minutes when I left school early senior year of hs in 1999. The cashier gave me the stink eye.

At its high point, Four Seasons Mall got annual visits from Santa, monthly craft fairs and my Girl Scout troop setting up a table to sell Girl Scout cookies. Some 10 years later, it was where my mom called out fellow mothers of Armstrong’s class of 1999 for making and selling coffee with Four Seasons bathroom tap water.

Marcellos Pizza is still there I believe, and this former Chicago and current NYC resident will admit that its pizza was fanthasthico. Later on, it was where my track team would have carbo-loads. Going the distance, going for speed.

Photos taken August 2009.

[View with PicLens]

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The oddball artwork inside the Shoreview Village Mall makes this a great hangout for stoners.

It’s a proven concept that people go bonkers for places that have shit all over the walls. Just look at your average Applebee’s and TGIFridays. The parking lot is usually busy and on Friday nights, the wait list can get up to 45 minutes to get a table. The food isn’t very remarkable, so it can’t be the menu.  It’s gotta be the visual interest element. People are obviously coming because there’s a tire hanging from the ceiling and a leaf blower glued to the wall.

So why not apply that theory to a shopping mall?

This little-known Twin Cities treasure did just that, but judging from its exterior, you’d never know it. Located off of Lexington Avenue and Hwy 96, the Shoreview Village Mall looks like your average strip mall from the outside: an oversized parking lot, boring stores, a smattering of empty storefronts, and “Space Available” signs.  Blah and BLAH. Not a whole lot going on here right?

Slow your roll — it’s a foil. Don’t let the vanilla exterior fool you. Much fun lurks inside! Because someone turned this mall into an arts & craft project.

On the walls inside this shopping lair lies a 19th century-style village brought to life, mural-style, catching off-guard shoppers by surprise. An overwhelming — almost dizzying – Victorian-era mural hits you the minute you walk in the door, making you yearn for a Magic Eraser.

Uh oh! Looks like Charles Dickens is makin' a move for the groove.

No matter where you go inside this mall, the wall paintings follow you.  The mural runs throughout the entire mall, capturing that “Ye Ole Towne” charm & excitement with a vignette of happy townspeople wearing frilly dresses and overcoats, cobblestone roads, loony innkeepers, rolling hills, and lush vegetation. It takes you back to the “good ole days”, when children worked in unsafe factories, hammering away at the soles of shoes until they fainted.  Back when the village idiot would be hung in the town square while the townspeople watched with glee. The days of the Bubonic Plague! Gosh, I’m cheery today.

The  mural is intertwined with the mall tenants. For example, at Meister’s Bar & Grill, the mural depicts a gang of inebriated males drinking ale and toasting the town. The benches, potted plants, fake flowers hanging from the ceiling, and plastic tree stumps are strategically-placed, giving the artwork a 3-D effect. The artist did a nice job showing The Good Life, but should’ve done a real period piece by adding a headless horseman,  a toothless wench in a tight dress with her boobs spilling out of the top, and a scary troll hiding under a bridge to the montage.  And then throw in Jack the Ripper for good measure. Then again, Shoreview Village Mall is a shopping center, not a haunted house. Still would’ve been cool though.

So what’s all in this place, besides the creepy artwork? It houses your average strip mall tenants: A dry cleaners, a dance studio, chiropractic office, Snyder’s, Subway, Hallmark, and so on. There’s also a few places to eat: Wok Cuisine, Subway, an ice cream & coffee place, a pizza place, and a German bar.

A Fresh & Natural Foods anchors the mall, which is great if you like eating grass. This grocer used to be a Jubilee. As far as other former tenants, I really don’t know of any, other than one of those eBay “I’ll sell it for you” shops like on The 40-Year Old Virgin and my dentist’s old office.

This mall didn’t always have its creative flair.  Until 2002, the Shoreview Village Mall was your typical quiet strip mall with flat color walls free of any drawings of butchers, bakers, and candlestick makers.  It was built in 1982, but I never visited this place until sometime in mid ’90s.  My dentist moved his office to the Shoreview Village Mall in the ’90s (creatively named “Shoreview Mall Dental.” Clearly the work of an imaginative individual).  I remember this mall always being creepy, dark, and dingy, and because I associate this mall with going to the dentist (never a pleasant experience), I think of bitter “bubblegum” flavored fluoride treatments, and gritty “berry” flavored toothpaste whenever I drive by this mall.

I can't figure out if these outdated computer monitors & TVs-needing-converter-boxes are *supposed* to be here as part of some sort of artistic symbolism or if it's Shoreview Village Mall's version of a sidewalk sale. Oh yeah, there's a grill. Just in case of an impromptu BBQ.

Dental memories aside, this mall was always pretty dead, so in 2002, the mall owner poured money into this puppy to revive the sad shopping venue to win shoppers & retailers back. The exterior got a face-lift, but what could be done to perk up the inside?

Why, hire a local artist to draw painted lady rowhouses all over the walls and the fun will create itself! Of course.

The owner must’ve been high as a kite when he made that decision. Or perhaps he got the business idea straight out of the pages of Harold and the Purple Crayon and took the concept — if it doesn’t exist, draw it — a bit too far. Since no one is coming to this mall, we will DRAW people in the mall!

Okay then.

Did it work?

…Well, what do you think?

Fuck no, it just made the mall creepier.

I suppose it could’ve been worse — they could’ve went with macaroni art or Spirograph. Or put up velvet paintings of dogs playing poker WITH Elvis and Jesus and James Brown and–AND–AND!!! Have Michael Jackson ghost-moonwalking on the table!

Or did the mural Simpsons-style.

Wait, no. A Simpsons-style mural would’ve been wicked cool.

Photos taken June 2009.

[View with PicLens]

That’s because yet another anchor, Barnes and Noble, plans to close its doors next month.   It’s not economy-related; according to the StarTribune article, they’re succumbing to peer pressure and closing up shop because everyone else is.  I don’t blame them.

Last year at this time, Brookdale had all but one of its anchor stores in tact (no Mervyn’s).  There was a Macy’s, Steve & Barry’s, Barnes & Noble, and Sears. In general, if a dying mall can keep its anchors, there’s hope.

Today, the anchor stores are all but gone and so is the fantasy of Brookdale’s revival.  I highly doubt there will be an Eden Prairie Center-type rejuvination. If a resurgence was going to happen, it would’ve happened in the early 2000′s when the big remodel took place.

Just looking at this mall via Highway 100 & it looks downright spooky, even during the daytime. The old Steve & Barry’s has some sort of mold growing down the face of the building. Macy’s has garbage bags on its doors. The parking lot has no cars and is full of potholes, loose gravel, and trash. The lot fixtures and animal guideposts all have rust on them. If it weren’t for the random delivery trucks at Sears, you’d think this mall was closed.

There isn’t much shopping to be done here anymore. You could say that Brookdale is just one big, glorified bus stop: Shady characters loitering about, while waiting for the #5 Metro Transit bus to arrive.  Or blue-haired seniors congregating in the parking lot to board a casino-bound caravan to shove nickels down an “I Dream of Jeanie” slot machine in hopes of either hittin’ the jackpot or having some slapstick adventure to star in a “Grand Casino Story” commerical…like locking yourself out of your room while your hubby gambles away your retirement on a Cleopatra-themed slot machine, and then getting caught by the cleaning lady ( “an Angel”) in the hotel hallway, holding a bucket of ice and wearing your only your nightie.  “Not funny!!!”

Anyway.

It’s over folks. Board ‘er up and call it a day.

This is a perfect time for me to recite my favorite Jurassic Park line: "That is one big pile of shit!"

The Brookdale Macy’s is closing and Dumpy Strip Malls is there!

I paid a final visit to Macy’s  last Friday afternoon.

It was just as I expected it to be — incredibly depressing. The store was pretty messy – it looked like a TJ Maxx at closing time. If you’re thinking of

checking it out one last time, I wouldn’t bother.

This is NOT like the other Macy’s in Minnesota, mang.

Vinyl clothing strewn everywhere. Jeans in the color scheme of a child’s fingerpainting project. Porn star formal wear. Dinnerware locked up in the jewelry cases. Anti-theft devices on bags of Whole Bean Starbucks Coffee

and boxes of Frango Mints.

Yep, it’s details like this that set the Brookdale Macy’s apart.

The prices on the merchandise weren’t anything to write home about. 30% off here, 40% off there. Meh. Give it a few weeks though and the prices will be good enough to tell Winona Ryder about this place – the clearance sale prices will likely be equal to stealing.

Most of the shit in this Macy’s I wouldn’t even take if it were free. See example below:

Even Missy Elliott, queen of the Obnoxious Parka, is going, "Oh, girl, NO."

The urban designers are the heavy hitters at the Brookdale Macy’s.  If you’re trying to look like Master P, Fergie Ferg, Jenny from the Block, or that dude from the Sopranos who got whacked in the 3rd season, you’ll find a stockpile of blingity-bling-bling-blinged-out threads here.

Or, for this Halloween, if you’re thinking of going as Master P, Fergie Ferg, Jenny from the Block, or that dude from the Sopranos who got whacked in

I can't think of anything I'd rather wear than a plastic jacket that will crack after a few weeks of wear. In your choice of colors!

the 3rd season, you’ll find your supplies here. And at discount prices! Take THAT, Party City, and your ridiculously priced $70 adult costumes!

Macy’s wasn’t quite at the point of selling their in-store display cases and mannequins for cash quite yet, but they did have what looked like a raffle box set up at the front of the store where you could throw in your business card if you were interested in a headless mannequin or rolling rack.

I have a lot of memories of shopping at the Brookdale Macy’s…well, more like the Brookdale Dayton’s. I can’t say I ever really shopped here since it’s been a Macy’s or even Marshall Fields. My parents bought our Disneyworld vacation from Dayton’s travel. I got my first pair of jeans here when I was in elementary school – a pair of light blue stonewashed (but of course!) Levi jeans and I wore them on the first day of 2nd grade.  Most of my back-to-school clothes came from here. I remember when I finally got old enough to shop in the Juniors department instead of the girls’ section. I was so excited!  When Dayton’s decided to get rid of their electronic department, we  got some cheap Nintendo games & accessories, including the Power Glove and the Power Pad. It came with Track & Field, and my mom also bought us Dance Aerobics, which was an incredible

disappointment. Even though the Power Pad was like a prehistoric WII Fit, it never quite took off. Ahhh…so ahead of its time.

Probably my favorite memory of the Brookdale Macy’s was when my brother and I would play hide & seek inside the clothing racks when Mom would drag us clothes shopping. When she’d go in the dressing room to try on clothes, we’d hide out in the nearest rack to the fitting room door, and when she got out, we’d pop out and scare the shit out of her.  Worked EVERY time. One time, we knocked over an entire rack of corduroy pants. After that, we had the choice of a week of no Nintendo or wearing one of those kid dog leashes every time we went shopping.  She wasn’t kidding either – she had one for our little sister. It even reeled the kid in, like when fishing. *Zzzzzzzzzip!*

We went with the Nintendo option – even though taking away our gaming system hit us where it hurt, the public humiliation of being on a child

She had dem Apple Bottom Jean (jeans)...

...Boots with the Fur. The whole club waz lookin' at herrr

safety harness was much, much worse.

We stopped hiding in the racks after corduroy pants capsizing incident. We took up another

hobby instead: Whining. Because, as we learned, you can’t effectively whine at Mom to buy you toys if you’re hiding out in racks.

I haven’t shopped here in over 10 years, so I won’t miss Macy’s Brookdale as a shopping destination, but I will miss knowing that it’s there. Errr…that might sound strange. I guess I figure that if Macy’s can stay at Brookdale, then there’s some hope that the mall I grew up with as a child can stick around, and perhaps make a turnaround. But with Macy’s closing, it’s pretty much a death-blow to Brookdale.

Sure, I’ll poke fun at Brookdale, but do I really want a wrecking crew to bulldoze the place? No. I want someone to come save it. Will that happen? Highly unlikely, especially in this shit economy.

Reeboks with the Straps? The Brookdale Macy's is a triple threat for "getting low"! And check out those Laura Ingalls Wildler loafers in the foreground. My grandma would love those!

After visiting Macy’s, I decided to check out Brookdale again to see what’s changed. I last visited the Brookdale Mall in August 2008 – here’s my original post. In the short few months since I had last been there, there’s been some changes…

• Steve & Barry’s closed
• Macy’s is closing
• Victoria’s Secret is closed
• Pacific Sunwear is closed. I think Hot Topic is gone now too
• One of the jewelry stores closed.
• A slew of other stores closed & I can’t remember what they were

To my surprise, the mall was fairly busy (relatively speaking, of course) for a late afternoon on a Friday. I didn’t get harassed or threatened, but honestly, I did feel a bit unsafe. There were quite a few folks strolling through the mall who looked like they belonged on a police lineup . Lots of loitering teens “holla-ing” at each other.

I did witness a few interesting things though…

I overhead a little boy, probably not older than 6,  singing “Love Lockdown.” I suppose it could’ve been worse. He could’ve been singing “One More Drink” by Ludacris.

I saw a group of teens (a few with red bandannas tied around their ankles)

I kept expecting zombies to pop out of nowhere.

talking to a friendly law enforcement official. Yeah, a real cop, not Paul Blart.

A mom with about a half dozen elementary school aged children in tow, loudly dropping f-bomb a dozen times after finding out that Victora’s Secret was closed.

Two elderly ladies talking about how this mall has gone to pit. Awww. I should’ve told them to come visit my blog. Then again, they might not enjoy it, with the harsh language, stupid jokes, and lame pop culture references and all…

I spent about 15 minutes total strolling through Brookdale, which was more than enough time that I wanted to spend there. I probably won’t be back until I see the wrecking ball and bulldozer in the parking lot.

Well, I’m going to have to cut this entry short. I have to get back to writing my “25 random things about me” note on Facebook. I need to let friends, coworkers, former coworkers, high school classmates I haven’t talked to in at least 10 years, and the dude who works at my neighborhood BP station, and other random acquantices know that I have double-jointed thumbs, I still listen to the Backstreet Boys (their comeback material is shit, but I love the stuff from the “Backstreet’s Back ALRIGHT” days),  and my favorite cereal is Special K Chocolately Delight.

Enjoy the rest of the photos! (All photos taken Jan. 2009)

Check out the ORIGINAL Brookdale Mall post for more pictures and information about this mall.

MACYS:

Too much orange and black in this pic. Reminds me of those orange & black wrapped peanut butter taffy horseshit candy that’s given out by all the neighborhood grumps on Halloween

Wow. NEON BLUE jeans with fading. Flashback to 2001, no? You know, I bet Tara Reid would still wear these, paired with a baby-t

20 years ago, I got a Swatch Watch at this counter.

You know you're at the Brookdale Macy's when... Corelle dinnerware is locked up in the fine jewelry case

40% off??! And an extra 10% off if I use my Macy's card? Don't try to hard-sell me, bitch.

First thought: "Luggage! Aha, something NORMAL." Second thought: "It's fire engine RED. Yuck." Why does everything here have to be in some obnoxious color??

Maybe if Macy’s invested in a Bissel, they wouldn’t be going out of business.

60% off area rugs – I guess that’s not that bad of a deal. Those things are $$$$$!

30% off? Fuck that - I've got a friend in the diamond business. I'm sure he'll hooks me up.

BROOKDALE MALL:

Macy's is singing its swansong

Auntie Annie's Pretzels is closed.

Big Harry Deals- a dollar store with an “urban” touch

You know, would it be so bad if they tore down this mall and put in an In-N-Out burger? Mmm. Why can’t we have one in Minnesota??? So good.

Another view of Brookdale

Photo Gifts. Yep, just what I want. A grainy silk-screened picture of Grandma on 50/50 cotton poly blend.

This is where Stuarts, B. Dalton, and Maurices once were

The one good claim Brookdale can make is its "unique" selection of stores. Everything else seems to be Wal-Marted & Starbucked to death.

I love Brookdale's huge selection of stores!

Yay, the Brookdale Food Court. Don't bring anyone here on a date if you ever want to see them again

I can haz government bailout?

Will anyone save the Brookdale Mall in its 11th hour?

"Come See the Softer Side of Sears." Sears MUST have a soft side. For Brookdale, that is. Sears probably stays at Brookdale out of pity.

Lots of Minnesotans think that Brookdale should be razed and a Vikings stadium should be built in its place. 'Cuz you know, the Vikes will move if we don't get a new stadium soon and without the Vikings, Minnesota will just be a Cold Omaha.

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.

I insist to people that it was a nice area in which to grow up, but not everyone these days believes me. Rightfully so. The area has gone to pit.

But in the ’80s, it was nice. Even in the Zane Avenue area. Village North, you haven’t been forgotten!

Village North wasn’t just any old strip mall. Architecturally, it looked like a strip mall, with the shops arranged in a linear fashion, but it functioned more like a regular mall.  It was always busy, you could walk the interior of the mall, they held events like craft shows, and by golly, even Santa paid his yearly visit.

Yep, these ugly townhomes replaced Village North. This particular building style can be found in just about every suburb of Minneapolis. Someone stop Ryland Homes before they take over the metro.

I joke about tearing places down and building condos, but really, that’s exactly what happened to poor Village North. They tore it down sometime in 2003, and by 2006ish, up went a bunch of cookie cutter condos/townhomes. I really don’t know how bad the crime got in the mall – I last visited it in 1998, and it seemed safe enough then.

I apologize for the lack of OLD pictures. It’s not like I didn’t try! With the exception of the Circus Circus pics, all I have are current pictures of what the area looks like today.

You’d never know a landmark strip mall once stood here.

Now it looks like they’re trying to turn Zane Avenue/Brooklyn Blvd into another Plymouth, manufactured city center and all.

The Stores:

I listed these by location – from one end of the mall to the other. This is entirely based on memory, and I could be wrong. Please let me know if you have corrections or additions by emailing me or posting in the comments.

Korner Plaza: Closed in 1987. It was some sort of department store. I believe they sold juniors clothing, toys, and inflatable rafts.  Rafts? Yeah, random, I know. But my mom bought my brother and I each an inflatable raft to use up at the cabin. So they sold outdoor sporting goods too. Go figure.

Minnesota Fabrics: Korner Plaza became Minnesota Fabrics at some point.

Some big pet food store. Not sure if it was a Petco or what…? I can’t remember if  the pet store took over the spot of Minnesota Fabrics when it closed or if they coexisted next door to each other in blissful harmony.

Circus Circus: For us ’80s kids, this was the main draw of Village North. No, it was nothing like its Vegas namesake – this was not a fleabag motel & gambling establishment – it was a kid-friendly arcade. It was just like a Showbiz Pizza or a Chuck E Cheese — greasy pizza, a band of singing mechanical beasts featuring one hella scary gorilla, arcade games, skeeball, bumper cars, tickets redeemable for shit prizes, and the signature dark, dreary decor that gave this place a sinister feeling.

This Circus Circus location had a big ball crawl right near the entrance.  As adults, we all know it’s a bacteria farm. Unless they hired a Hazmat crew to come in to fumigate and sterilize every hour, if you went into the ball crawl, there was a pretty good chance you were going to come out with a rash and a case of the whopping cough. But at least Walgreens was right down the hallway, so you could pick up some Robitussin before heading home

My family at Circus Circus, April 1988

Sometime in the ’80s, Circus Circus remodeled and expanded. I’m not sure when this was, but it had to have been prior to 1988, as the photos below show the new & expanded dining area. The old dining area turned into some sort of sports bar with a bunch of TVs. It was separated from the main dining area by a glass wall (smoking was allowed in this area). You rarely saw families eating in this area; only really, really creepy old men hung out here, drinking beer and and chain smoking.  The guys in here creeped me out – if they want to drink beer and watch the Vikings, why not go to a bar? For pete’s sake, Blondies is right down the road. Yeah…that’s because today, these same men are probably on Dateline’s Chris Hansen’s shit list. I believe they kept the animatronic show in the old eating area, at least for a while.

The new eating area was much larger than the old digs – and had a 3-ring circus style Rockafire Explosion show! (The old stage only allowed the main band). The animatronic show would just start out of nowhere, scaring the crap out of everyone. Being serenaded by a rat cheerleader, a possum in a trash can, and a scary ass gorilla lip syncing Beach Boys songs while eating greasy pizza was every kid’s dream.

They also installed this glass box that looked like a telephone booth inside the eating area. It was used for birthday parties – the birthday boy or girl would go into the box, the Circus Circus mascot (a scary clown with a huge head) started up a fan and a bunch of tickets would fly around in the box. Your job was to catch as many as you could before the time ran out. All kids were envious of whoever the birthday kid was, regardless if you knew him or not. Because WE WANTED TICKETS. They were our passports to treasure, redeemable for a giant Styrofoam pellet teddy bear, a terrycloth wristband, or a plastic yo-yo!

Elegant family dining at Circus Circus. I'm missing from this picture - I was probably off getting a disease in the ballcrawl. My dad is missing too, but he's probably the one snapping the photo - April 1988

When you ordered food at the counter, you were given a number and instructed to watch the monitors for your order to be ready. While we waited for our pizza, Mom and Dad set us loose in the arcade to play games, but instructed us to watch the monitor for our number. And this was how my parents discovered I needed glasses. I kept playing skeeball long after our number came up. Mom thought I was being difficult; truth was, I couldn’t read the monitor. I wasn’t a happy camper! I thought glasses were fug. I only needed them for distance, I didn’t need to wear them full-time. Thank goodness too, because – LIKE, WHAT ABOUT FASHION?!

Great American Music. It had a wood store front. All I can remember is that it sold records and cassettes and was located right by Circus Circus. My mom bought Michael Jackson’s Thriller tape here!

Mario’s Movies & Games: Mario dealt in new and used movies and Nintendo/Sega games. So if you wanted, you could sell your 8-Bit NES and games to Mario (but don’t get your hopes up too high if the only game you had was Super Mario Bros/Duck Hunt. You’d be lucky if he’d give you a quarter for it). Too bad eBay wasn’t around in those days. I don’t know if the place was actually owned by a guy named Mario. Probably not. Chances are, he wanted to capitalize on the Nintendo trend and use the namesake of the chubby video game plumber to lure in the hardcore gamer demographic (a.k.a. impressionable 10 year olds). After all, how many MARIOS do you know?

Famous Footwear: Not much to say about this. Though the Village North location is obviously gone, the Famous Footwears of today still look pretty much the same way they did in the ’80s.

Brauns: I HATED THIS PLACE and I imagine if you grew up in this area in the ’80s, you hated it too. It’s where Mom shopped and where kids whined and fussed. Brauns made Mom look like a mom. They sold Mom Jeans, Mom Shirts, Mom Slacks, Mom Vests, and other various Mom Accessories. Hi Mom!

Simeks Meat & Seafood:  I LOVED their samples! They always had a plate of meatballs near the enterance, so while Mom finished checking out at Walgreens, my brother and I would wander over to Simecks to feast on some meat.  The cashier would give us the evil eye and alert her manager to boot us out of the store if we were sneaking too many meatballs. They also sold some really good RAW cookie dough too.

Radio Shack: If Village North still existed in 2009, this Radio Shack location would still be in business. This chain should’ve died sometime in the VCR age, but nope. It’s apparently harder to kill than a  cockroach. I guess there’s still enough demand out there for phone jacks, DC 12V car adapters, and metal dectectors to support this place.

Walgreens today. I believe it moved to this location in 1998

Walgreens: This was one of the busiest stores in Village North. Our doctor’s office was around the Village North area, so this is where we got all of our prescriptions filled when we were sick.  Today, Walgreens is located about a block down the road, in its own stand-alone building.

Sabo Flowers

Some dry cleaning place

Hallmark

A barber shop: Even had one of those rotating barber poles!

A pet store: I’m not sure if they actually sold pets other than fish and birds, because I only remember getting flakey fish food and tank equipment at this store. I can’t remember its name. They had a great selection of pretty colored fish tank rocks too.

Plaster Paradise:  Plaster Paradise was definitely different. They sold exactly what you think they’d sell – plaster. Yep, plain plaster sculptures, all ready to be colored in whatever lead-based paint hues you wish. Painting these spackle statues didn’t require a whole lot of artistic ability.  Sure, you could REALLY go all out with these plastered widgets, but for the most part, anyone could make these suckers look halfway decent, even my 8 year old brother who liked to destroy my Barbie coloring books by scribbling all over the pages using Crayola’s Raw Umber and only Raw Umber.

This craft was kind of like Ukrainian Egg Art for the less talented. They had a huge selection of various spackle statues – you could paint your own knock-off Precious Moments doll or Hummel statuette. Besides the statuettes, they sold pretty much every other dust-collecting home decor item you could imagine – doorknockers, bookends, wall hangings, napkin rings, Christmas ornaments, weapons of mass destruction… All with a completely blank slate for the do-it-yourself hobbyist. They sold all kinds of painting supplies here too – different sized paint brushes and every color of paint you could imagine.  Most importantly, it was MISSION CRITICAL not to leave this store without an aerosol can of shellack. Your precious artwork was not complete until you doused it with a coating of glaze, giving your brainchild a shiny varnish, ready for household display.

Company’s Coming: They sold everything you needed to throw a kick ass party, without the liquor. Company’s Coming was a “mom and pop” version of a Party City. It was a very tiny store, which really is the ideal size of a party store. I don’t get why places like Party City occupy a building as large as a Wal Mart. A party store need not to be that damn big!

Ben Franklin: I wrote about this place in my 10 Stores I Wish Were Still in Business post – basically, it’s a scaled-down version of a Michael’s. I went here to stock up on  embroidery thread for my BFF Friendship Bracelet business.

Northwest Book Store: A Christian book store that sold bibles, Billy Graham posters, Precious Moments trash, and Sister Theresa bookmarks. I didn’t like this place because they didn’t sell Babysitters Club or Sweet Valley High books. Probably because a Christan book store would think  Jessica Wakefield ranked right up there with Judas.

IGN Super Valu: I wasn’t a fan of Super Valu. Or its red-headed stepchild, Red Owl (located across the street). This grocer had two good things going for it: #1: The chicken clucking machine at the front of the store, where you’d put in a quarter, the chicken would cluck to the beat of a nursery rhyme, and when the song would finish, you’d get a plastic egg with a surprise inside…which was usually incredibly disappointing. I once got a “gold” smiley face ring that broke me out in a nasty rash.

#2: They had baggers who would sack up your groceries for you, place them in a plastic numbered bin, and put them on a rolling belt at the front of the store. You’d go out to your car, pull up to the curb, and the friendly stock boy would place your bags into your car. How nice.

Burger Bros: Took over the grocery store location.  Burger Brothers was a locally-owned company that was acquired by Gander Mountain in 1995. They sold sporting goods and had a giant bear in the store. Burger Brothers closed in 1997.

Around Village North:

The area around Village North was quite memorable too, so it’s worth covering.

In the parking lot area:

Arby’s: Arby’s was located in the Village North parking lot. It probably faced a lot of competition from the Rax across the street. In the end, Arby’s won the Roast Beef War and stayed in business long after Rax shut its doors.

An ATM: There was an ATM in the middle of the Village North parking lot. I don’t know why I remember this, but for some reason, whenever I picture the Village North shopping center, I always remember that ATM.

Marquette Bank: This was a circular shaped building with glass windows all around it in the Village North parking lot.

AMF Village North Bowl: Even back in the ’80s, my parents wouldn’t take us to this particular bowling alley. They thought it was really seedy. And it was – I think I only went there once as a child, for a birthday party. As an adult, I went there once in 2003, and got my drink on. Enough so that I sang at the karaoke bar and cleared out the place in 7 seconds flat. I sure liked their wireless microphone… The bowling alley was in the “back” area of Village North. I think it MIGHT have been connected to the mall, but I’m not sure. This was demolished in 2005. To fill the void, Brunswick Lanes opened up sometime in 2006. Call ahead to get your name on the lane list and don’t forget your glock!

McDonalds: This was a nasty, noxious McDonalds, even back in the ’80s. It was a franchised owned, not a company-owned restaurant, so they did things their way, and it showed. They served seasonal items like an orange milkshake months after the other Mickey Dees ceased sales. They never got your order right, most of the time the cold fries were knocked upside down and spilled all over the bottom of the bag, their hotcakes tasted & looked like glow-in-the-dark frisbees, and when you bit into their chicken nuggets, you often spotted a pink, cordlike tail.

Other places around the area:

Heaven help us, it's still here...

Godfather’s Pizza: I can’t believe this dump is still around. The proof is in the photos!

There was also some sort of cowboy/hee-haw/Cattle Company style restaurant located in the Godfather’s Pizza/Century Court apartments/Blondies vicinity. You couldn’t see it from the main drag, and I can’t remember the name. It didn’t last long, and we only ate there once. All I remember is that ties were not allowed, and if you wore one, they make you take it off and replace it with one of those cowboy Randy Travis-style bolo ties — you know, with the ugly sheriff’s star pendant and a leather rope looped through it.

Century Court/Huntington Pointe Apartments: Brooklyn Park’s version of Cabrini Green. Was notoriously known as the ‘Most Dangerous Place in Brooklyn Park” by my

Brooklyn Park needs more slum lord apartments, not fucking PARKS.

circle of friends. You did NOT go here at night! Century Courts was owned by Harv and Marv – 2 notorious slumlords. It was renamed  “Huntington Pointe” in the late ’90s to improve its image. The entire complex was razed in April 2008 and in its place is a park. Like Brooklyn Park NEEDS more parks….

Blondie’s: This bar is trouble – recent murder scene. Nice.

Across the Boulevard:

Ponderosa Steak House: If you’re not familiar with Ponderosa Steak House, please, for the love of god, don’t let the name fool you. Technically, yes, it’s a steak house, but if you’re expecting Ruth Chris’, Murray’s, or even Timberlodge, you will be quite disappointed. Ponderosa tried to pass itself off as a chophouse, but really it was a toned-down version of the Old Country Buffet.  When a “chophouse” offers a smograsboard (with a taco bar) AND a western-style atmosphere, you’re not going to get a prime cut of meat. You couldn’t pop bottles here (no liquor licence), but you could pop buttons – since you could order a steak AND graze the buffet, you buckaroos could really get your gorge on.

Rax:  It was a fast food roast beef chain, similar to Arby’s. This location used to be a Country Kitchen. We didn’t go here very often, because my mom hated this place. I don’t remember much about it except that they had good shakes, the building looked like a solarium with all the windows, and had wicked cool alligator shaped plastic bottles for the drinks. (Don’t get too excited, Rax didn’t have a liquor license either. Can you imagine what fun drinking a cap’n coke would be in an Uncle Alligator bottle? Blondie’s has the liquor license & it’s across the street, but they sure as hell don’t serve moonshine in an alligator glass. If you asked for something like that, you’d probably get a cap in your ass.

Burger King, photo courtesy of the City of Brooklyn Park

Burger King: Closed in 2004. Demolished in 2006. According to the city of BP, there’s supposed to be a medical building up in its place.

Koops Red Owl: Yuck. Didn’t like grocery shopping here either. It reminded me of a small town grocer, especially with the hanging vinyl strips in the freezer sections, that you had to dip in and out of to get your foodstuff. It was a tiny grocery store and we only went here when we were waiting for our pizza to be ready at the nearby Little Ceasers. The fresh produce section was a mess – you really had to watch your step since half of the produce was smeared all over the floor. The fruit looked too nasty to buy, anyway – wormholed apples, peaches so bruised that it looked like they got in a bar fight, and bananas so spotty it looked like they had a case of the herp. Koops is now a Family Dollar.

Little Ceasers, Clean N Press For Less, Cost Cutters: These were all located in a small strip mall near Koops. The strip mall is still standing but the standard Brooklyn Park lineup of a check cashing place and an employment office prevails. I got my first perm at this Cost Cutters when I was in 3rd grade. I was going to write about how crazy my mom was for letting me get chemically-enhanced hair at that age, but these days, 9 year olds are getting botox, so I guess a perm is pretty tame.

Mr. Roccoo is still here!

Rocky Rococo: And it’s still here! Rocky himself looks more Panama Jack than Italian Pizza Connoisseur but hey, whatever works. They have great pizza! For Valentine’s day, pick your lover up a heart-shaped pizza pie and prepared to get laid. Hubba, hubba!

Goodyear Tires: Still around today!

Denny’s: Yep, Brooklyn Park once had its own Denny’s, a soulless, homogenized version of a greasy spoon-type diner. The only time it’s okay to go to a Denny’s is if it’s 3AM and you’re trying to sober up by eating a chicken fried steak after a night of painting the town red. I didn’t eat at this Denny’s much, maybe a handful of times. When it comes to the 24-hour diner type places,  I always preferred Perkins to Denny’s any day of the week. Two words: WISHING WELL. When I eat greasy diner food, I’m going to shit it all out anyway, so by god, I at least want a cereal-box quality souvenir to commemorate the event.

Dunkin’ Donuts: They served donuts when donuts weren’t kool, krispy, or kremey. There were no community service officers directing traffic in and around this place. No reporters from WCCO. No people pitching tents and camping out for a fucking bear claw. Just donuts, no drama. Donuts didn’t become “cool” in Minnesota until the Krispy Kreme in Maple Grove opened in 2001. I’m guessing this place was closed by 2001 but I’m not entirely sure. I know it was open in 1998, but that’s the last I remember it.

Budget Power: I believe there was a Budget Power in this area, across from Village North. Budget Power was a local hardware chain. I don’t think we ever shopped there. All I remember is that the logo had a lightening bolt.

More places

Rapid Oil Change: Rapid Oil Change turned into some car audio equipment store sometime in the late ’90s. Now it’s some place that’s part barbershop, part spinning rims dealer. Not surprising in the least.

The former Rapid Oil Change location

White Castle and Dairy Queen: Yep, both are still standing to this day!

Seedy Strip Mall off of Brookdale Drive: I can’t recall ANY time we EVER stopped here because even back in the day, this place was a little shady. They had (and still have) a Chinese restaurant here. I’m not sure if it’s the same one or not.

Moonraker Apartments: (At least I think they were the Moonraker Apartments. Please correct me if I am wrong). They always had that sign that said, “If you lived here, you’d be home by now.” These apartments were shit even back in the ’80s.

Please enjoy the rest of the photos – all photos (except where noted) taken December 2008.

Feel free to share your memories of Village North Shopping Center in the comments!

The backend of what was Village North

Another view down the Boulevard

Another view of the Godfather's Pizza. It's empty, yet open for business

Woo hoo! Dairy Queen's still around

Brunswick Zone - come for the lanes, stay for the knife fights

Koops is now a Family Dollar...and it's probably just as nasty inside as it used to be

This was the strip mall right by Koops. There used to be a Little Ceasers, Great Clips, and Clean N Press for Less here

A sign for the seedy strip mall off of Brookdale Drive & Zane (right across from the Dairy Queen...and MORE slummy apartments)

Century Court Apartments, pre demolition *Photo courtesy of the City of Brooklyn Park*

Moonraker Apartments

Rocky Rococo sign

Another view of the townhomes

It's no surprise that White Castle survived

Godfathers Pizza sign

With Blondie's reputation, showing the UFC fight might not be a good idea. Recipe for trouble?

Another view of Blondie's

Yates & Brookdale Drive. More icky apartments tarnish the BP skyline

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, 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!

I apologize for the lack of updates in the past few months. Finding time to write has been pretty difficult these last few months, but I promise you, I’ve got lots of good stuff coming up! I’ve taken a bunch of pictures of local shopping centers, but I haven’t had the chance to write the blog posts yet.

I’m currently working on posts for the Rosedale Mall (no, not a “dumpy mall” by any means, but it’s a mall in MN, so it must be covered!) and (by popular request!) the defunct Village North Shopping Center in Brooklyn Park, MN.

I’ve been putting off writing the Village North post because I’ve been trying to locate pictures of the now-demolished shopping center, and I’ve come up with exactly ZERO. I even went through old photo albums at my parents’ house, just in case, and, yep – NONE. If you have any pictures, PLEASE send them my way. I’ve had so many requests to do a write-up on this shopping center that I know a lot of people would be thrilled to see them! I’ll be posting it without pics, but if anyone has any, please send them my way.

Researching shopping centers is not an easy thing to do – there’s not a whole lot of information out there, even at the libraries! So, I need your help…

Here’s what’s upcoming that I need a little help with – these are the places I’ve had requests for, but I just don’t have enough information to go on.  Of course, pictures – especially anything “old” -  are ALWAYS welcome!

* Crossroads Center in Roseville: Pics and info pre-renovation?
* All those old, abandoned industrial buildings in Roseville, right off of 35W: Why is this area all abandoned? Tenants? Etc?
* Eden Prairie Center: Pics and info pre-renovation?
* Woodbury’s old outlet mall: Name of the actual mall? Tenants? When/Why was it demolished? Anything else?
* Four Seasons Mall, Plymouth MN: Any idea of old tenants?
* A strip mall off of Silver Lake Road-New Brighton. Had a Lunds that closed in 1999. Mall was demolished in 2006 & there’s now an LA Fitness, Subway, medical center, etc – any info of the old strip mall would be helpful, especially its actual NAME!
* Anoka’s Downtown: Any info?

If you have any info, please post to the comments or shoot me an email.

Thanks to those of you who’ve emailed me/posted comments – your information is very helpful!

A new blog post will be up later this week, so check back soon!

With MGM Liquor as a neighbor, the Northtown Mall gives off that high class, puttin' on the Ritz kind of vibe.

Now that the Minnesota State Fair is over, us Minnesotans will have to wait an entire YEAR before we can see Minnesota’s best mullets, rat-tails, and muffin-tops on parade.

Don’t deny it – we all know you’re not going to the fair to oogle the riding lawnmowers or fawn over all that informerical shit in the bazaar. Quit kidding yourself; you go there for the PEOPLE WATCHING. And when the Minnesota State Fair shuts down for the season, the people-watching side show also shuts down. So how’s a people-watching afficiando supposed to get their jollies the other 50 weeks of the year? Well folks, I have the answer.

Come to the Northtown Mall.

Along with Billy Big Mouth Bass and mounted deer heads, these moving light pictures are a popular fixture in the local homes

Normally, you'd see several Camaros with flamed-out paint jobs in the parking lot. I must've visited on an off day

Serving the exquisite north suburban communities of Spring Lake Park, Fridley, Coon Rapids, and Blaine, the Northtown Mall naturally attracts some very interesting clientele. Common creatures include -

• Mulleted men in wife-beaters with a round can popping out of the back pocket of the wranglers (Chicks dig that)
• Pregnant teens
• Toby Keith fans
• Middle-aged ladies with bottle-blonde frizz, teased mall bangs standing 8 inches high, hot-pink nails, and a stained NASCAR t-shirt pushing a stroller with 5 screaming brats fighting over a bag of rapidly cooling Burger King french fries.

Burlington Coat Factory sells CLASS and STYLE to Northtown Mall shoppers

See, it’s just like the people-watching at the state fair! Only in an enclosed, climate-controlled enviroment, open year-round! What fun.

110 stores? Really? I think someone's doing a little fuzzy math here... (photo taken August, 2007)

OH NOES! (2008, Herberger's remodel)

Herberger's is coming to save the mall! And hopefully help the Northtown shoppers dress like they're from this decade)

Northtown Mall is a one-level mall, which opened in 1972 with a whopping 33 stores. It was remodeled in 1988 and, at the time, had 120 stores. Prior to this renovation, I’ve read that this mall was very dark & dreary (probably very Brookdale-esque), but I never visited this mall until 1992. I was a tween in 1992, and the best part about going to the Northtown Mall was checking out Spencer Gifts, Mr. Bulky, and Woolworth’s for their selection of “RUSS” Troll Dolls. Actually, I shouldn’t include Woolworth’s on that list – they only sold the “Treasure Troll” brand Troll Dolls, which weren’t as desirable as the Russ trolls. Anyway.

So if Brookdale is the Twin Cities’ ghetto mall, then Northtown is its trashy counterpart. I wouldn’t quite say it’s in Brookdale Center dead mall territory yet, but it has seen its better days. This isn’t a mall around which you’d plan your entire afternoon – unless you’re people-watching.

A popular smoke break hangout for Northtown Mall workers

Northtown’s anchors have seen a lot of turnaround. Here’s how some of the anchors have changed (I am going completely by memory – if you have corrections, please let me know!)
Donaldsons (closed early 90s) > Carson Piere Scott (closed early 90′s) > Mervyn’s (Closed 2004) > empty space/hallway/Banks (sealed off early 2008) > Herbergers
MainStreet (closed 1989) > Kohls (closed Summer 2004) > Burlington Coat Factory
HomeGoods (Closed 2001) > Steve & Barry’s (opened 2003)
Montgomery Wards (closed 2001) > sealed off > demolished to make way for Home Depot
Woolworth (closed early ’90s) > Best Buy

Ahoy, mateys!

Another view of old skool Northtown signage

Other former non-anchor stores in the Northtown Mall include:
Applebee’s (now moved to a location in the middle of the mall parking lot)
Petite Sophisticate
Casual Corner
First Barber Stylists
Some pet store, next to the hair salon
Mr. Bulky
Picadelly Circus Arcade
Kay Bee Toys
…I honestly can’t remember any other stores. If you know of any, please let me know!

The old Mervyn's location was converted into a mall hallway. This was sealed up in 2008 to make room for the Herbergers

Another view of the creepy hallway, July 2007

In 2006, this was a "Banks" store for a little while

Today, Northtown mall keeps chuggin’ along. In the past year, LA Fitness and Home Depot have set up shop, as well as a new Herberger’s store that’s expected to open within the month. Sure, it’s a trashy mall, but it has character, which many of the new malls simply do not have. In all honesty, it might not be the prettiest place, but it’s an okay-place to shop. It’s safe, has your typical mall offerings, and it usually isn’t terribly crowded (especially when NASCAR races are on the boob tube).

Enjoy the rest of the photos! (Photos taken August 2008)

This way to Steve & Barry's!!! Hurry, quick! Ill-fitting highwater olive green chinos are on sale! ONLY $8.98 (or less!) Supplies are limited!

Northtown Mall has a kids play area with equipment that looks like a giant piece of dog shit atop a blue bowl

Creepy mall hallways have been frightening Northtown shoppers for decades

Lockers at the mall. WTF. I suppose if all the lockers at LA Fitness are in use, you can stuff your gym bag in here

Applebee's is closed. You'll have to walk across the parking lot to get your microwaved dinner, folks

Another view of the dead Applebee's

Ladies, if you're looking to flirt with the Federline-type, pick up a man at the Northtown Best Buy! Hubba, hubba!

The Northtown Bath & Body Works still uses the old store front

Speaking of old store fronts, Express hasn't updated its signage since 1986! A rare sight indeed! "Camgainge Internationale"

This shiny blue tiled wall once housed the Picadelly Circus arcade, ripping off thousands of teens back in its heyday

At Victoria's Secret, they just don't leave you alone until they've chased you around the store a few times and forced a black shopping bag in your hand

Seduce your man by picking up some new polka dot lingerie at Victoria's Secret. That's hot.

Upon entering Victoria's Secret, a perky sales associate will chase you around the store, pestering you to apply for an Angels card

Radio Shack is still in business. I bet you could even find a VHS deck inside, if you looked hard enough!

A picturesque view of the cosmopolitan food court

Northtown's recently renovated food court

Which way to the Dollar Tree?

Nothing says "class" better than an outfit from DEB

This is where Kohls used to be.

Even though the mall logo was updated, Brookdale keeps it real by hanging on to its original sign

When it comes to Minnesota Malls, (other than the MOA), Minnesota is known for its “dales” – Ridgedale, Rosedale, Southdale…and then there’s Brookdale, the black sheep of the “Dales” family. While the other ‘Dales are known for their massive amounts of stores and stylish decor, this miscreant mall is known more for its perception of criminal activity than it is for its shopping activity.

You know your mall's in trouble when "The Mobile Phone Co." is listed on your giant sign

Growing up in Brooklyn Center, this is where we shopped. Even with its dowdy, dreary decor and strange coffee smell wafting through the air, I thought this place was the be-it-all, end-it-all of malls. I didn’t know any better – my parents never took us to Southdale or Rosedale because “they’re too far away.” I guess when you live in Brooklyn Park, a 10 mile drive to Edina is just too remote of a trek to go to a mall when there’s Brookdale in your backyard. Brookdale is the smallest of the ‘dales with only one level (because it was built over a swamp), so when my parents finally took me to Southdale, I thought I was in fucking Disneyland.

Brookdale was known for its giant wooden rafters and faux cobblestone flooring *photo courtesy of MN HistSociety*

I don't know what the hell this decoration is supposed to be. It looks like a faux stone/cement intermix retaining wall with a fountain in the middle. Except there's no water. Note to Brookdale architects: Leave the fountain shit to the Bellagiao.

The Sears exterior, in the 1960s *photo courtesy of MN HistSociety*

Brookdale never had the glowing reputation that, say, Southdale did, but it was a safe, decent place to shop. It had between 70-80 stores, a few restaurants, strong anchor stores, and up until 1992, you could smoke in designated areas within the mall. Dad could light up a ciggy and puff away to his lungs’ content, on a bench in the commons outside of Dayton’s while Mom and the kids shopped for back-to-school clothes! Yep. Brookdale Center was fun for the whole family.

How Sears stays in business is beyond me

Take your ride in for a tune-up at the Sears Auto Center. They'll get you in & out quickly, so you can get back on the road & ridin' dirty

Throughout the ’90s, the suburb’s demographics changed dramatically, and as a result, Brookdale tenants started deserting the mall. At the beginning of the ’90s, Brookdale was a passable place to spend an afternoon with a good selection of stores. At the end of the ’90s, it had turned into a creepy, dreary locale. If you absolutely HAD to go to Brookdale, you didn’t want to spend any time “hanging out” – get in, get out, and make sure not to leave any valuables in your car. Thank goodness Brookdale has lockers.

Don't want your four-finger ring to get ganked? Detain your valuables in Brookdale's rusty 1960's lockers.

In case you get lost...

A major renovation was completed in 2004, including an addition to the mall. This transformation was supposed to help the mall get back on its feet. The tiles and the ceilings were given a makeover to help give the mall a brighter ambiance. The renovation draw new tenants to the mall – among those were Gap, Old Navy, and Barnes & Noble – but it didn’t help. Stores continued to vacate the property.

More empty storefronts of this woebegone shopping center

Prior to its renovation, the mall did not have a food court. Restaurants were scattered all around the mall, so if you were there with a group of friends, and one person wanted Rocky Rococo, one wanted Baskin Robbins, and another wanted Subway, your group would have to branch out all around the mall.

That said, the closet Brookdale had to a food court was a Taco Bell and a frozen yogurt stand (I think it was owned by Daytons) in the middle of the mall, near the tent stores – 2+2 and Piercing Pagoda, and some stationary store) They had a few tables and chairs, but it certainly was not your traditional food court.

Brookdale boasts of having a Kohls store. As if! Time to come back from Make-Believe Land, Brookdale! In reality, the Kohls store is across the street.

Today, there is no reason to go to the Brookdale Mall, unless you have a taste for danger and like urbanwear, fake “gold” that will turn your skin green, dollar store shit, and knockoff sunglasses. You won’t even find many of your typical mall chain stores here. Many of the stores are shady local businesses lured into the mall by the cheap rent.

Fashion-forward Steve & Barry's will make your whole family look straight out of 1998

Amazingly, two of the mall’s anchors – Macy’s (formerly Dayton’s/Marshall Fields) and Sears – are still around today.

Brookdale isn’t much of a destination for shopping anymore as it is for loitering and mall walking. Early in the morning, you can see elderly people holding 1lb neon handweights walking laps around the mall. As the day goes on, Grandma leaves to go play Canasta and in come the baby mamas, teens skipping school, and hoodlums packing heat.

Nothing to see here - just your typical day at the Brookdale Mall *photo courtesy of WCCO*

The perception of crime at Brookdale is probably worse than ACTUAL crime. It stays out of the local 10pm newscasts, so I guess that’s a good thing. In recent years, the only newsworthy item from the mall was in 2005, when a tween riot broke out over some boyband no one’s ever heard of.

Helpful parking lot animals will direct you to your car

I’ve read articles of yet ANOTHER renovation coming Brookdale’s way, with perhaps a Home Depot, Wal-Mart, and an LA Fitness coming to save the day. In my opinion, Brookdale’s day in the sun has come and gone. No amount of home improvement centers or chain gyms is going to save it, so might as well tear it down and build some condos

Just outside the mall, Applebees tempts shoppers with their delicious menu of reheated entrees

A list of FORMER stores in Brookdale:
1 Potato 2
American Eagle
Arby’s
An arcade
B. Dalton:
Bachman’s: Closed 1994
Bakers Shoe Store: Closed prior to 1990
Baskin Robbins
Bath & Body Works: Opened in 1996, closed in winter 2008.
Brauns
Bridgeman’s Ice Cream
Brookdale Pet Center: Closed prior to 1990
Burger King: Closed in 1995
Carlton Cards
Champs
Contempo Casuals
Daytons/Marshall Fields
Dejaiz (young men’s clothing)
Donaldsons: Turned into a Carson Pierie Scott in 1987, then later into a Mervyn’s in 1995. Mervyn’s closed in 2004 and has remained empty since.
Duling Optical
Fanny Farmer
Foot Locker
Forever 21: Opened 2004, closed 2008
Fredelle Shoes: Closed prior to 1990
FYE
Ganger’s Hobby Store
Gantos: Closed 1991
GAP: Opened ’00s, closed 2005
Glamour Shots: Closed in 1995
Gloria Jeans Coffee Beans: This place alone gave the Brookdale Mall its distinct smell of day-old coffee
Golddiggers
Gordan’s Jewelers
Hal’s (men’s wear): Closed prior to 1990
Hallmark: Closed early ’00s
Haugland’s for Kids: Closed prior to 1990
Helzberg Diamonds
J. Riggans
Jarman Shoes
JC Penny’s: Currently a Steve & Barry’s. Went out of business in Feb. 2004
Jo-Ann Fabrics: Closed prior to 1990
Kay Bee Toys: Closed in 1995
Lady Foot Locker
Lechters Housewares
Limited: Closed Summer 2007
Maurices
Milton’s Bridal: Closed prior to 1990
Mr. Bulky: Opened around 1992/1993. Closed: ??
Musicland
National Uniform: Closed prior to 1990
Northern Reflections: Closed 2001
Old Navy: Opened ’00s. Closed 2006
Piercing Pagoda
Pinstripes Petites
Pipe Seller: Closed prior to 1990
The Record Shop
Rocky Rococo Pizza: Closed prior to 1990. It was awesome – 2 stories tall!
Sbarro: Closed in 1995
Snyders: Closed in 1991.
Stride Rite
Stuarts
Susie’s Casuals: Closed prior to 1990
The Closet
The Eye Guys
The Limited: Closed August 2007
The Wooden Bird
Things Remembered
Trade Secrets Salon
Two Plus Two
Wicks N Sticks
Wilson’s Leather
Wonderful World of Pets
Wrangler Roost

This used to be the Old Navy. Brookdale shoppers will now need to go to Maple Grove to get some Performance Fleece

A few of the CURRENT stores in Brookdale:
AJ LOMAX Famous Labels
Barnes & Noble
Big Harry Deals (WTF??)
Boba Café
Champs Sports
Charlotte Russe
d.e.m.o
Footlocker
GNC
Golden Razor
Journeys
K Fashion
Macy’s
Orange Julius
Payless Shoe Source
Sears
Steve & Barry’s
T-Moblie
TwinsTown
Victoria’s Secret

ENJOY the rest of the photos!

***Updated 9.2.08: Steve & Barry’s is closing, but no word yet on an exact date. Another one bites the dust!

Inside the entrance at the Brookdale Mall

Wet Seal, in the former Contempo Casuals location

From a distance, this mall looks quite quaint

Lord knows what lurks down the creepy yellow hallway...

The closed Mervyn's store

Brookdale Mall: Duck & Cover

Barnes & Noble is the busiest store at the mall

Sears has been in this mall since Day 1. Now that's loyalty!

Best thing about the Brookdale Mall? There are no "Dead Sea Salt" people to harass you

You will not find an Abercrombie & Fitch lurking around the corner in this mall

It's no surprise that this cell phone kiosk is the busiest spot in the mall. In the background, a Forever 21 (now closed. Formerly MAURICES) *photo courtesy of T-Mobile*

Shop at Steve & Barry's for the $8 fashions of Sarah Jessica Parker.

The Brookdale Food Court has plenty of tables, just in case.

Another view of the spacious food court

Bath & Body Works is closed, depriving Brookdale's DOZENS of shoppers of the joys of Cucumber Melon and Sun Ripened Raspberry

Victoria's Secret is one of the few national chains still left in this mall

To my surprise, TwinsTown is closed.

A labelscar of the Brookdale Mervyn's

Updated 12.15.08 – NEW PHOTO! Found this in one of my old photo albums and thought my readers would like to see this – note the slight change in the mall exterior. Sears now has a white exterior, JC Penny’s is now an empty Steve and Barry’s, and the blue & white building (an auto repair place) has since been demolished)

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

UPDATE: 01.09.09: The Brookdale Macy’s is closing. No word yet on an exact date. With another anchor leaving, Brookdale Center is headed for the guillotine.