Bygone Louisville stores/restaurants (Lexington, Valley Station: for sale, hotel, to buy)

[JefferyT]

The Target was originally a Grants. There was a bookstore in the mall, too, from what I remember. The place never leased out, and it had a twin over off of Bardstown Roadm between Beuchel and Fern Creek (the "Eastland Mall").

The Consolidated (and its supermarket) predated the mall by a few years. I think it was built in the late very late 1960s...maybe 1968/69/70 or so. The mall was built in the early or mid 1970s.

My aunt lived behind there. The subdivision she lived in was supposed to go closer to to Dixie, but the Consolidated people bought it up and tore down some of the houses (there used to be a dead street and old foundations from the demolished ranch houses in the fields behind the store).

[bw87a]

Originally Posted by missymomof3

Was westland mall the one that used to be where Burlington is now? If so I remember shopping there as a teen!

I thought that was park place mall? i remember the movie theater! i think they shut the movie theater down around 1994 or so.

[jtintheville]

I also remember a Dipper Dan ice cream shop in the westland mall.Speaking of its twin, eastland mall, the original anchor store there was Britt's.

[Nmissi]

Originally Posted by bw87a

I thought that was park place mall? i remember the movie theater! i think they shut the movie theater down around 1994 or so.

Park Place Mall was the "revitalized" Westland Mall of my childhood. We used to call it "wasteland mall" because it couldn't keep retailers for anything.

I remember climbing stairs to go into the old theatre in Westland mall in the seventies. Teeny thing, but pleasant, never crowded. (I guess that was the problem.) When the new movie theatre opened in Park Place, it never lived up to the original IMO.

Memories of Westland/Park Place mall... the makeup store, Ayr-way/Target (It was grant's when I was a baby, and they had a restaurant in that little bump that juts off the front of Target)..There was some kind of a pizza place, and over the years there were lots of little shops that lasted a short while. I had my ears pierced in that mall at some kind of a jewelry shop, and there was a lady who sold dolls in the mall and I used to love to look at her work. Sort of fake cabbage patches and such, I think. Mostly I recall lots of empty space and few security guards.

[lexingtony]

Seems like I remember a restaurant called Lum's from my childhood -- is that still around?

[valleyreport]

Not around anymore, but I remember it.

[tigerlillydownunder]

Originally Posted by valleyreport

Yes, that is it. I remember a Consolidated store, Ayr-Way (Target) and a car wash out front. I remember the mall. It had an arcade and a movie theater. There was a Merle Norman Cosmetics store, too. I got my ear pierced there!! LOVE to have a pic of Westland Mall for the book.

How well do I remember Consolidated! They used to have the snack bar at the front, and you could get hot roasted cashews. Consolidated was where Value City/ VCfurniture are now. The mall used to be chockablock full of stores and shops--there was either Baskin Robbins or Dipper Dan's or some such ice cream parlour--they had the old fashioned tiny round french-like chairs and tables!
I used to go to the Arcade a lot too, waiting for movies to start. And I remember Merle Norman cosmetics--I thought it was so glamorous!
And Air-Way--when they changed it to Target I just could get used to calling it Target--it sounded so.....stupid at the time! lol

OT but remember how you could go through Air-Way/Target into/through the Mall? There was the ramp at the Air-way end by the theatre, and at the other end there was a oneside ramp/one side steps by Consolidated.
Anyway, I was only about 5? 6? with my mom and my grandma at Air-Way, and I found this pair of sandals that I just had to have (they were "high-heels", as in they had about 1/2 inch heel on them, but to my young self they seemed high!). I tried them on, and they were simply too tight. But I HAD to have them. I pleaded and begged and walked around to show that, No they weren't too tight, they were just right! Mom finally relented and I wore them out of the store. By the time we got to the steps down by Consolidated, I had enormous blisters all over the backs of my heels, and they'd popped! I could barely make it up the steps. My mom and my grandma both said, No you wanted them, now you have to wear them! I wore them both down with my shrieking, I think and my grandma bought me a pair of beach slides! I can still picture them clear as a bell--they had a prismatic Mickey Mouse scene on the toe.

Sorry to ramble--it just brought back great memories!

Ah, Westland Mall. I've never worn shoes too small since then!

[tigerlillydownunder]

Originally Posted by Nmissi

Park Place Mall was the "revitalized" Westland Mall of my childhood. We used to call it "wasteland mall" because it couldn't keep retailers for anything.

I remember climbing stairs to go into the old theatre in Westland mall in the seventies. Teeny thing, but pleasant, never crowded. (I guess that was the problem.) When the new movie theatre opened in Park Place, it never lived up to the original IMO.

Memories of Westland/Park Place mall... the makeup store, Ayr-way/Target (It was grant's when I was a baby, and they had a restaurant in that little bump that juts off the front of Target)..There was some kind of a pizza place, and over the years there were lots of little shops that lasted a short while. I had my ears pierced in that mall at some kind of a jewelry shop, and there was a lady who sold dolls in the mall and I used to love to look at her work. Sort of fake cabbage patches and such, I think. Mostly I recall lots of empty space and few security guards.

I know the restaraunt you're talking about--my grandma used to take me and my sister there everytime we shopped at Air-Way/Target or in the Mall. They had awesome fried chicken!

I think the reason they never could keep shops open in the Mall was because the shop rents were so high; they got some business but not enough to make it viable.

And the steps in the movie theatre! They were awesome--my mom never let us go up there, but once when my friend and I were allowed to go see a movie by ourselves, we snuck up there! What a thrill! I don't think I've ever told my mom that!

I've got 2 dolls from that shop with the fake cabbage patches--I still have them! Well, they're at my moms, but eventually they are coming DownUnder with me! They still look like they did when I got them for Christmas--the year you couldn't find a real CP doll anywhere, and if you did you paid 4x more than it was worth!

[tigerlillydownunder]

We're having spaghetti and meat balls tonight and it reminded me of a pizza/Italian place that used to sell spaghetti and meat balls and you could get it carry out, and it came in a KFC-like bucket! It was SO GOOD!! I used to love to go with my dad to pick it up, my mouth watering the whole ride home.....

Anybody remember what it was called? We used to get it and bring it home on occassion when I was a little kid (about 30 years ago). From memory it was somewhere around Crums Lane??? I could be wrong about that--i was only little and didn't pay attention to the roads!

[Peter1948]

Can anyone remember their favorite downtown shops and restaurants? What percentage of them are now parking lots? I have become more and more interested in the history of the city.