It's Strange...Seeing The End Of An Era

 When you've lived for almost six decades, you're old enough to see things. You see people--parents, kids, yourself--grow and change. You see trends in fashion, cars, communication, almost everything, change. Things get really interesting when you see the complete life cycle of a thing like the popularity of a song or movie...

Even how people shop.

A few months ago I stood in the nearly empty halls of a once great institution.  Many may not think of it as such, but to the millions of people who entered the halls and shops of the Cache Valley Mall, the place was important...

Important in ways we've most likely forgotten.

I'm sure malls existed before me, but I remember they became popular in the 1970s, and by "popular" I mean, they started building them where I lived. Bountiful Utah had a mall called Five Points Mall. It was, well...sorry for those who loved the place, but it was not impressive. They did have a huge Hallmark Store, though...I remember that. They also had a theater where I did a show while in high school, and they had Top Hat Video, a store that outlived the mall in which it once resided. 

The next best mall near where I lived was in Layton, the apt-named Layton Hills Mall. I spent a good share of time in that mall, not slumming, but shopping. We even watched movies in the near by theaters.

Over the years and decades, malls have fallen into disfavor with the public, so much so, that many are closing. The mall I visited in January was the Cache Valley Mall and it's slated for demolition. 

End of an era.

I've lived long enough to see malls crop up all over the world, the malls put other businesses out-of-business, achieve huge success, then eventually close due to the changing habits of the consumer.

I didn't frequent the Cache Valley Mall enough to say I'll miss it. I know there will be times when I will miss what made malls great in the first place...the ability to find so many things you need (and many you don't...) under one enormous roof.

I wonder how long it will be until we will wish malls once again dotted the landscape, which may never happen.

Time will tell.