What's happening to NorthEast Mall?

[loves2read]

I am not native to this area--- moved in early 80's so I probably fall into that group you criticize
I know part of the lure of NE mall is that it falls into a good geo- zone
Most people in Keller, east side of FTW, north Arlington and MidCities, Grapevine still need to shop there for some things/stores
And while the robbery at NE Mall is cautionary--- from what I read they were doing several things that can put anyone in similar situation---
They were standing in parking lot talking--- vs walking to their cars and leaving efficiently
Think it was borderline dark and I don't think the lot is lighted that well really
They were talking to each other and likely not paying that much attention to their surroundings
If they had been sitting in car talking they would not have been picked out because outside they were more vulnerable

I am sorry it happened to them and wish it hadn't but it could have been any mall in DFW
The mall has security patrols but think only one most of time driving in lot so it would be easy to evade that one guard

[padcrasher]

Originally Posted by dfwgirl

Lovestoread -

You are completely right in your assessment, I am a real native and attended the NE mall opening with Miss Universe! It had Leonards- not Dillards and anyone not from this area wouldn't know what that means. Transplants have no history of this area and how it has been bastardized and in comparison to where they came from it might be wonderful. It was a great mall with Wicks n Sticks and all the great anchor stores, the only decent shopping now is NorthPark. SL town center will become like NE mall within 10 years. I am so over folks with have lived here 5 - 10 -15 -20 -25 years thinking they have a real understanding of this area and what should or shouldn't be.

Yes I recall hanging out a Spencer's corner and "Wizards" arcade there..lol

When all is said and done, these depressed areas of HEB are not even in the same ballpark of what you will find in Irving, Arlington, Dallas, Ft. Worth. It's only bad when compared to the areas nearby. It's no wonder lower income families want to live there because you get allot of value for the money, with a good school district and relatively low crime rates. I own a rental house in the "bad part" in South Euless...oooooh ... off of Main St. Never had any problems, rents on time, no vandalism, no theft.

SL Town Center is fairly immune from this cycle as Southlake, Trophy Club, Westlake, and Colleyville have zoned out lower income housing. Old homes in SL get torn down and replaced with new houses. You don't find that much in other cities.

[ClarenceBodiker]

Originally Posted by dfwgirl

Lovestoread -

You are completely right in your assessment, I am a real native and attended the NE mall opening with Miss Universe! It had Leonards- not Dillards and anyone not from this area wouldn't know what that means. Transplants have no history of this area and how it has been bastardized and in comparison to where they came from it might be wonderful. It was a great mall with Wicks n Sticks and all the great anchor stores, the only decent shopping now is NorthPark. SL town center will become like NE mall within 10 years. I am so over folks with have lived here 5 - 10 -15 -20 -25 years thinking they have a real understanding of this area and what should or shouldn't be.

I'm not sure what you're getting at. As a native of Fort Worth that was raised in the NE Tarrant County suburbs, what great understanding of history does it take to "get" Northeast Mall?

I get that a lot of the storefronts and faces has changed. And it's a good, suburban "Anywhere, USA" mall that has served its purpose well for decades. But that's it. The mall, for better or worse, has only changed with the times. There's nothing historic or particularly great about it, nor has there ever been, in the grand scheme of things. It's not North Park. It's not half as historic as Big Town Mall was, which isn't even around anymore. In fact, lots of old malls aren't even around anymore, and it's lucky it expanded when it did and didn't go the way of North Hills Mall as people kept moving further out. I love the mall for nostalgic childhood associations, but that's it. To me it's a good mall that's still as valuable as it ever was. But let's not pretend like it was ever anything bigger than what it is.

[hal2814]

Originally Posted by dfwgirl

Lovestoread -

You are completely right in your assessment, I am a real native and attended the NE mall opening with Miss Universe! It had Leonards- not Dillards and anyone not from this area wouldn't know what that means. Transplants have no history of this area and how it has been bastardized and in comparison to where they came from it might be wonderful. It was a great mall with Wicks n Sticks and all the great anchor stores, the only decent shopping now is NorthPark. SL town center will become like NE mall within 10 years. I am so over folks with have lived here 5 - 10 -15 -20 -25 years thinking they have a real understanding of this area and what should or shouldn't be.

What exactly was "bastardized" in the North East Mall area? The area's golden age is over. Growth came and went but as padcrasher points out, the HEB area weathered the growth cycle more gracefully than places like Arlington or Mesquite. Personally, I'm tired of people who think that living in an area longer gives them more of a say in what "should or shouldn't be" than any other tax-paying, law-abiding citizen.

[hypocore]

Originally Posted by dfwgirl

Lovestoread -

You are completely right in your assessment, I am a real native and attended the NE mall opening with Miss Universe! It had Leonards- not Dillards and anyone not from this area wouldn't know what that means. Transplants have no history of this area and how it has been bastardized and in comparison to where they came from it might be wonderful. It was a great mall with Wicks n Sticks and all the great anchor stores, the only decent shopping now is NorthPark. SL town center will become like NE mall within 10 years. I am so over folks with have lived here 5 - 10 -15 -20 -25 years thinking they have a real understanding of this area and what should or shouldn't be.

I don't quite get what you mean by bastardized either.

I lived just a hop skip and jump away from Northeast Mall and watched it being built. (there are pictures in my yearbook of the construction! lol)
I also worked in retail, the last 10 years of my career at North Hills Mall, when Malls were in their prime.

You can walk into numerous malls and feel you are in the same place each time these days. There really isn't anything special about most of them anymore.

All of the family owned stores either merged with another and then eventually sold to larger companies or were simply bought and folded into other existing companies.

-Leonard brothers sold out to Tandy Corp who eventually turned them into Dillard's.
-Striplings started out at NE Mall, but then sold to a company who in turn bought out Cox's becoming Stripling and Cox and are now completely out of business

-Sanger Bros first merged with Harris to become Sanger-Harris, then merged with Foley's and lost their branding (now they are all Macy's). They were THE draw to North Hills Mall.

As all the smaller companies began to be swallowed up by the larger ones they lost their community roots and many things changed all around. Malls are no longer lengths of local companies offered indoor shopping pleasure but instead long walks of brand name stores of which are mostly national names all trying to outdo their neighbor. Ironically, many of the stores are actually owned by the same parent company but still compete directly against each other.

So, NE Mall has fallen into the same path that pretty much all have fallen into. Leaving virtually none of them with any significant individual draw to make people desire to come to THAT mall and only that mall. Instead, people shop at the nearest one and if they don't find what they want there they head to the next closest one.

So if NE Mall was bastardized by those changes, so were all the other malls. At least they still exist. Poor Valley View mall, North Hills Mall and many others, simply don't exist any more.

[indfw155]

Okay, so far Saks Fifth Avenue is the only anchor to close at North East Mall for now, North East Mall is just so Upscale now, and Grapevine mills is only 23 Miles away from Hurst ( If you take SH 121), My Prediction is that SEARS would closed next and i know its always the last anchor to close, but really, look how sad the store looks.

[jbb303]

Anyone who calls North East Mall "upscale" has obviously never been to an upscale mall.

[robbed]

Originally Posted by dfwgirl

Lovestoread -

You are completely right in your assessment, I am a real native and attended the NE mall opening with Miss Universe! It had Leonards- not Dillards and anyone not from this area wouldn't know what that means. Transplants have no history of this area and how it has been bastardized and in comparison to where they came from it might be wonderful. It was a great mall with Wicks n Sticks and all the great anchor stores, the only decent shopping now is NorthPark. SL town center will become like NE mall within 10 years. I am so over folks with have lived here 5 - 10 -15 -20 -25 years thinking they have a real understanding of this area and what should or shouldn't be.

I am a true native to dfw, and must I tell you that your are the reason why senior citizens get no respect. "30 years ago when I was your age." No I am not some street thug, but a college graduate living in Westlake, Southlake and Trophy club area my whole life. Your generation has left too many problems for the new generation. We don't care about what you did 30yrs ago. This is irrelavent, and the time is now. This new generation controls everything, and you are a bitter old (expletive delete). Talking about how things were 25+ years ago. On the bright side, I laughed my ass off.
Last thought, North East Mall does suck.

[dfwgirl]

How's that working for you? Hahahahahahahahahaaha