Shopping malls were once part of the grand fabric of American life, where pre-smartphone-era kids would play arcade games and eat Chuck E. Cheese and adults could shop for their favorite designer brands all in one place. Consumer Reports' 1986 50-year retrospective even included the mall as one of the greatest consumer innovations, rivaling such society-changing inventions as antibiotics and PCs. But in an age of online shopping and younger consumers preferring indie retailers, America's cut-and-paste,
low-tier malls have suffered.
In these places, which are usually defined by empty anchor stores (think Macy's, JCPenney, Walmart, or Best Buy),you're now more likely to find vacant lots and a general atmosphere of malaise than the jaunty and colorful vibe of the malls of yesteryear. This is all the more reason to give these architectural relics a bit of a facelift. One such mall that has risen from the dead is the 1.4 million-square-foot Lloyd Center in Northeast Portland, one of the largest malls in America when it opened in 1960 (though it pales in comparison to America's largest mall today).
Once housing milquetoast clothing brands like Hollister and Aeropostale, and anchor tenants Nordstrom and Ross Dress for Less, it now hosts an indie comic book shop (where you can also sell your own zines), a vintage clothing store, a pinball museum, a games and anime store, and a music studio, all imbuing the space with much-needed character. The "ghost mall," as some of the building's proprietors refer to it, isn't looking so ghostly these days.
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The Lloyd Center 2.0
Variety is part of what makes the new-look Lloyd Center one of Portland's coolest attractions. A full two-thirds of the mall's tenants are non-corporate retailers, nonprofits, or public activity spaces. Enticed by cheap rent, independent sellers have introduced everything from an immersive Star Wars-esque shopping experience at Docking Bay 45 to Stoopid Burger, one of four new restaurants to land in the mall over the past year.
There's a cool selection of clothing stores, too, including vintage finds in Bauhaus Mode, women's fashion at La Tina's Style of Elegance, trendy streetwear in Citrus Hype, and wearable merch in Floating World Comics. But while "independent" sometimes equates to "expensive boutique," don't worry about burning a hole in your pocket: Oregon is considered one of the most budget-friendly states for travelers seeking a short-haul shopping trip.
Beyond the shops, you'll find an art gallery, called Virtua, showcasing immersive and contemporary art pieces in the lot vacated by Foot Locker, and Las Vegas-style trickery and illusions in the All American Magic Theater. Technically, the mall is in a transition period and plans are already underway to transform the mid-20th-century building into a modern commercial and residential complex. That doesn't mean business owners are deterred, though. One tenant, Jennifer Ottenberg, who runs roller skating classes in the mall, told OregonLive, "All of these different cool, creative ways to experience your time, you've just got to look a little deeper, ... I hope that people see value in this, and it morphs the idea of what the Lloyd Center could be."
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