Well it's finally happened. After reading older people lamenting about how a piece of their past no longer exist, a door to the past in my life has been closed for good. And surprisingly that door opened up to a grocery store.

In a Northern Illinois town during the late 1980's throughout the 90's I experienced my late childhood, adolesence, and young adulthood. Now throughout the 1980's the community had not had any real new additions to its commercial base while the similar size town down the expressway continued to build up. Then in 1991 it was announced that the local Eagles grocery would expand from it's location in the circa late 1970's shopping center to a super-sized flag ship store that would be the cornerstone for a new shopping center. This store would be the begining of a new age of prosperity for the community which would eventually turn the economic tables on the neighboring town.

For the first time in over ten years the local landscape of the town was changing ,as the new Eagles and shopping center was being laid in what was the failed site of a proposed Wal-Mart six years previous. The work began during the begining of my freshman year and the store opened near the end. There were a few unique features of this grocery for the area at the time. Besides being the largest grocery store in the area, it featured a faux main street for different services including a bakery, seafood, deli, resteraunt, fruits and veg stands, and florist as well as other services along the front. Another uniqueness of that establishment were the pleasant smells of fresh foods being prepared.   

Thus as I went thru my high school and young adult years some of my memories involved with that store, including buying a new magazine so that I could learn more about a new video game called Final Fantasy 7. Throughout these years other new business final came into the community including resteraunts, retail ,small businesses, motels, etc. Eventually I moved away in 1999 to a community about an hour away. However when I came back into town Eagles was one of those places I go into and recapture a bit of my youth. Even when the chain folded in 2003 and the store was sold to Jewel Foods the place still retained it's unique atmosphere.

Then last week I came back into town to find the place shuttered. Some said that ironically it was the new Super Wal-Mart which had put it out business. However the two 50's era grocery stores in town still remain. Whatever the case another portal into my past had closed.     

I can relate and feel your anguish. This has happened with one of our local malls (now defunct). I was crushed when it closed down...and then they tore it down in order to build, yet another Super Walmart. I just hate when things change like this. :(

I can relate and feel your anguish. This has happened with one of our local malls (now defunct). I was crushed when it closed down...and then they tore it down in order to build, yet another Super Walmart. I just hate when things change like this. :(


Whether it's individual storefronts or mall structures, building that are abandoned way before their time are a waste of time, capital, and resourses. I know what you're saying about Super-Walmarts concerning Malls, this has been a common downfall of the malls listed on Deadmalls.com. Oddly though this isn't the case with the town I'm refering to. We already were forced to shop at the Wal-Mart then Super Wal-Mart just a few miles over in the next town. So building it in town just meant htat the community was finally able to retain some of it's lost retail revenue. Also the two other older stores have still remained opened. So I'm afaid what happened was what is typical of that town, closing a business due to poor management, taxes problems, or personal issues with the owner.

Whether it's individual storefronts or mall structures, building that are abandoned way before their time are a waste of time, capital, and resourses. 


Yes...very true. I was hoping that they would have opted to renovate that mall, instead of tearing it down. It was built in the mid 60's....so it still had LOTS of years left...it just needed cleaned up a bit. I hate going to that complex that sits atop that land now...it's so impersonal and cold...all the same types of typical boring stores and restaurants adjacent to the stinkin' Super Walmart. Ugh. ::)

Yes...very true. I was hoping that they would have opted to renovate that mall, instead of tearing it down. It was built in the mid 60's....so it still had LOTS of years left...it just needed cleaned up a bit. I hate going to that complex that sits atop that land now...it's so impersonal and cold...all the same types of typical boring stores and restaurants adjacent to the stinkin' Super Walmart. Ugh. ::)


The Mall of Memphis (again checkout Deadmalls.com) was a beautiful structure built in the 80's that was quickly abandoned in the early 00's

The Mall of Memphis (again checkout Deadmalls.com) was a beautiful structure built in the 80's that was quickly abandoned in the early 00's



wow, I read up on it...that's such a shame. It's also shocking at how much crime happened around there, and how many bodies they found in the surrounding area of that mall...creepy. :o

I read a lot of the stories posted on Deadmalls.com and they're both fascinating and sad. Until Tri City Mall and Los Arcos Mall (in the greater Phoenix area) closed and eventually torn down, I never thought it was possible for an entire mall to shut down completely.

This site has plenty of great stories about vintage malls:

http://mallsofamerica.blogspot.com/

I can understand your pain, too. Now that I'm getting older, I often reminisce over places I use to go t as a child. It's amazing at even my young age how much I've seen come and go. A few months back I went to my old downtown, and they had shut down an establishment that had been around since the 1850s!! I couldn't believe it was gone. The building is still there because it's historic, but the stores and diner were such a part of it's unique draw to the downtown. Oh well  :(