Heritage Park Mall officially closing

[MonkeesFan]

I haven't been in there for longer than 3 years. I say the last time I was there was shopping for an aunt's birthday. I guess... 5 years? Maybe more. lol

You should go back and see the mall one last time before it closes, I am thinking of going there on Friday to see one last time and maybe I will remember some stores that used to be there

[Thunder]

It's depressing. Would I really want to go into a depressing place. It's gonna make me cry. :-(

[MonkeesFan]

It's depressing. Would I really want to go into a depressing place. It's gonna make me cry. :-(

Good point but I did have good memories going there!

[Thunder]

Me, too. *cries*

[Lauri101]

I think I'll go over this weekend and take some pictures. Both my daughters live out of town and they are sad they can't go one more time.

If you see an old fat gal takin' pictures, that might be me

[mmonroe]

LifeChurch is EVIL!! pos

[stratosphere]

I still miss the original pizza place where they hand tossed the dough. Still some of the best pizza I've eaten.

i believe that was La Pizza. It was great eating a slice (or two) and watching Radiers of the Lost Ark on their big screen tv they had in there, funny all of the people that would get beer in a cup and hang out and watch movies. I was too young for the beer back then. We also used to go to the arcade next to La Pizza and play Pac Man or whatever game of the moment. Also saw Empire Strikes Back in that mall, along with Jedi and Temple of Doom. The 80's, and being a little kid in that big mall, was really kinda fun.

[Bostonfan]

I think I'll go over this weekend and take some pictures. Both my daughters live out of town and they are sad they can't go one more time.

If you see an old fat gal takin' pictures, that might be me

Please try and post them if you can. Also, anyone know of any old pictures of the mall are out there, say 80's?

[Bostonfan]

i believe that was La Pizza. It was great eating a slice (or two) and watching Radiers of the Lost Ark on their big screen tv they had in there, funny all of the people that would get beer in a cup and hang out and watch movies. I was too young for the beer back then. We also used to go to the arcade next to La Pizza and play Pac Man or whatever game of the moment. Also saw Empire Strikes Back in that mall, along with Jedi and Temple of Doom. The 80's, and being a little kid in that big mall, was really kinda fun.

Great memories. I remember getting a slice, sitting down, and watching the Rocky movies on that big screen they had.

[Soonerus]

The City moved its interest to the 29th Street "re-development" and abandoned the mall and further, the mall is also not ideally located...malls are not "in" anymore, thus failure...

[bombermwc]

I don't think anyone here would argue that it's the city's fault that the mall crapped out. It was on it's way down the toilet LOOOONG before 29th started....or they even started buying up land for it. Poor management and lack of investment in the property doomed it long ago. Remember that there isn't a single store on 29th that was in HPM so it's not as though they stole the actual store....the stores just went away.

And you are correct, malls just aren't "in" anymore. Our lazy fat selfs want to park outside the door of a store and walk in, not have to walk through a mall to get to it. That's an ongoing rant of mine to see people move their car on 29th st. instead of walk from one store to the next. I've walkd from Kohls to Lowe's plenty times. You park around Best Buy and haul around...sunshine/exercise/not lazy fart.

It's unfortunate that malls took that turn though. The self-contained shopping experience isn't met in a strip mall (and 29th is just a fancy version of one). I'd still take a mall over outdoors, but that's me...and apparently I'm in the minority.

[smooth]

I don't think anyone here would argue that it's the city's fault that the mall crapped out. It was on it's way down the toilet LOOOONG before 29th started....or they even started buying up land for it. Poor management and lack of investment in the property doomed it long ago. Remember that there isn't a single store on 29th that was in HPM so it's not as though they stole the actual store....the stores just went away.

And you are correct, malls just aren't "in" anymore. Our lazy fat selfs want to park outside the door of a store and walk in, not have to walk through a mall to get to it. That's an ongoing rant of mine to see people move their car on 29th st. instead of walk from one store to the next. I've walkd from Kohls to Lowe's plenty times. You park around Best Buy and haul around...sunshine/exercise/not lazy fart.

It's unfortunate that malls took that turn though. The self-contained shopping experience isn't met in a strip mall (and 29th is just a fancy version of one). I'd still take a mall over outdoors, but that's me...and apparently I'm in the minority.

I don't see how Heritage Park's closing is the city's fault. Many cities build strip centers and shopping areas and can still have a successful mall. Just look at Norman as an example. Plus the investment and management are not the city's fault. The blame should be on the property owners.

[bombermwc]

Um, that's exactlly what I was saying...that it was the property owners, not the city.....

[Redskin 70]

Um, that's exactlly what I was saying...that it was the property owners, not the city.....

I agree whole heartedly.
THe mall changed hands to many times, each time a a financial investment.
The structure became old and the infrastructure became to expensixe to maintain, fix or upgrade so they stopped putting money into it.

The City had nothing to do with it.

[oneforone]

Citi Trends will be moving into the space between Party Galaxy and Aarons. The signs were installed today on the building.

The funnything about it is they have not even moved into the building and a "Grand Opening Sale Today" sign is already on the building. You would think that would come after the move in. I will note that the stores interior is complete so they may be moving in today and opening in the next few days.


http://www.cititrends.com/index.html

[bombermwc]

Makes me wonder where GNC is going to go. I'm in there enough that I'd rather go to that one than the one on 240 because of distance. But at the same time, you can almost always get the same thing online for cheaper...but those "don't want to wait 3 days" times make GNC convenient enough to pay it. There are so many places they could move to, so I hope they don't leave MWC all together. They've enjoyed a rock bottom lease for so long at HPM, it will be a shocker to them no matter where they go. Air Depot seems the natural place since that's where the gyms are.

[oneforone]

I noticed today that Hollywood Video on Reno is finally closing. I was wondering how much longer they would hold out because I never see any traffic at that store.

[Lauri101]

Not surprised about Hollywood. We haven't gone to a store to rent a movie for years. Cox On Demand is about the same price when you factor in convenience and drive time, etc.

[kay]

Yesterday the guys at Blockbuster said their business really picked up when Hollywood closed. "Doubled" was their description of it. I think they had more business then you think.

[Thunder]

Yeah, Hollywood did have steady business there.

[bombermwc]

Well the nice part about them closing is now that entire corner is free if someone wants to buy it all up. Carl's Jr. is nothing in comparison to the rest of the lots....and you know they do poor business and would love to be bought out. There are so many things that COULD go in there, but the question is, will someone do it.

[Becka]

I don't think it's the people's fault for not shopping there or the city's fault. The blame lies soley in the jackhole that owns it. I used to work in the mall and I remember when he bought it and long-term tenants started skipping out in the middle of the night because he jacked up the rent so high that they couldn't afford to stay.

He wouldn't maintain the place at all. Lights were out, several of the stores didn't have heat or air and they did no repairs. He didn't even run the a/c in the summer in the mall common areas. If you went into a store with air, it was a bigger tenant who had separate units and paid their own bills.

People stopped going there because there wasn't anything left in the mall to keep them coming back. I suspect the only reason the stores that stayed did is because they were still locked into a lease.

[decepticobra]

OK, people get on this rant, and i dont understand it.

Pepboys went bankrupt. It had nothing to do with the productivity of the store.

Popey's is now Basil - which is successful.

Captain D's is now a much nicer insurance office.

K-Mart is Anthony's and that tinting place

Circuit City is Goodwill and the other businesses are still there in that center.

.

basically every national business you mentioned has become some sort of private local business or something mom & pop.

by your analogy, HPM was still successful AFTER all of its various national chain stores closed up shop and were replaced by stores selling cheap imported urban apparel, fake jewelry, cell phone accessories, and nik-nak stores.

[decepticobra]

I noticed today that Hollywood Video on Reno is finally closing. I was wondering how much longer they would hold out because I never see any traffic at that store.

you can blame redbox and netflix for that.

[db411]

I stopped by the mall this evening to try to take a few photos. Unfortunately, it was too dark to get any good photos with my old digital camera. If anyone decides to go, take a camera that can take good low light photos!

Here are a few shots from my Photobucket album:

West Courtyard looking toward old Radio Shack


Theater Box Office


Looking East from near the Bookstore


Center Courtyard looking South

I was amazed at what poor condition the mall was in. I had not been in the actual mall (not counting Sears) since the bookstore closed. I had always imagined there was a chance that it could be redeveloped into something but my visit today dashed those hopes. There is water damage in several parts of the mall. A piece of drywall maybe 2 sft in size was hanging perilously in front of Wards. The mold growing in one of the windows (I think it was a Finish Line or Foot Locker at one time – it was across and down the hall from the theater) was just shocking to see. It was also sort of creepy to hear the creaking of the skylights above the courtyard areas. I bet they always did that but with it so quiet in the mall it was very apparent. You could gut it as the structure is probably in decent condition but by the time you replace the roofing, insulation, drywall, and building systems (electrical/HVAC) it might be just as easy to start from scratch. Of course, after all that work I think the only real option for redevelopment right now would be offices. Retail or a theater is not going to want to be that far from the highway.