Boscov's files for bankruptcy (Scranton, Wilkes-Barre: price, food, deal)

[SteelCityRising]

Originally Posted by scrantonluna

Yeah, that really irritates me; if you haven't seen it, they have asian looking girls working there who intentionally yell broken english at you as you walk by. It's hard enough to get through the day without someone with a fake asian accent screaming 'Chickie? Chickie?' at you.
He looka lika man.

That really IS irritating, isn't it? I thought I was the only one who was annoyed by this.

[blip]

Originally Posted by scrantonluna

This was brought up not too long ago, and I said at the time that I do not think it would be too costly to 'retool' the mall. Certainly, the side facing Lackawanna Avenue could be revamped to look like individual store fronts; the Shoppes is nothing more than a continuous cookie-cutter building with a little variation in the facades to give the idea of individuality. As for the inside, I suppose it would still be mall-ish, but a more open entry to the street might fix that. The bridge to the old Globe store is truly a 'bridge to nowhere,' and I would not hesitiate to rip that thing down; how many parade character balloons have been squeezed under that thing in the past decade or so? Some sort of walkway linking the 500 of Lackawanna project to the mall might be a good idea. I know it was suggested last time that sections of Lackawanna Ave be closed off for good, to allow a court of sorts to be built, but I really do not think the traffic could be routed in such a way as to make this happen. At the very most maybe you could get one or two blocks, but let's face it, Washington and Adams have to stay open.

Yeah, I think that's a great idea for the mall (esp for the shops on the side facing Lackawanna Ave), and a great idea for the city. I didn't see it in the 80s, but Lackawanna Ave. is one dreary stretch right now. For better or worse, the mall is there now and probably better than the empty lots or street-level parking that might replace it. So, may as well try to improve it and integrate it as best it can be.

Pasadena, CA had a similar downtown mall-blight on the streetscape that I remember when I visited ~15 years ago. Apparently they have since torn it down and put up a more street-oriented center.
Malls of America - Vintage photos of lost Shopping Malls of the '50s, '60s & '70s

Not sure how that's doing, but seems there's danger in this approach too-- next time shopping habits change, you may need to blow it up and start again. Better to make a climate better for businesses and let them build/re-use/move spaces how they want than to try to create demand with a huge artificial supply of space at today's specs.

I'm surprised there wasn't any outcry against Steamtown in the 80s from what I've heard-- I guess everyone was desperate for something to get done downtown?

Anyway, despite all this, I have to say that I find being in Viewmont *way* more depressing. It feels old, tired, and devoid of any energy.

[scrantonluna]

I'm pretty sure there was a protest, but when nobody wants to invest in what's there, what are you going to do?

[FightinPhils]

Originally Posted by blip

I'm surprised there wasn't any outcry against Steamtown in the 80s from what I've heard-- I guess everyone was desperate for something to get done downtown?

Anyway, despite all this, I have to say that I find being in Viewmont *way* more depressing. It feels old, tired, and devoid of any energy.

The only protest against the Steamtown Mall came from historical groups that wanted to preserve the existing buildings. Nobody else really put up a fight because downtown Scranton was really dead in the 80's, probably the worst period of time in downtown Scranton's history, and Lackawanna Avenue looked like a bombed-out street in Baghdad.

I agree about Viewmont being more depressing, despite not being as empty...the building is dark, too enlosed from the outside. At least with Steamtown, the building is nicer and feels more open due to the windows in the ceiling that let in the daylight.

[scrantonluna]

They're better off using the back side for professional offices and converting the street side to shops. They could probably also do something to make the department stores look more like stand-alone structures and not bookends. Giving each streetside business a front and back entry could be nice as well - imagine year-round sidewalk sales and an open court inside made to resemble an alley way, yet still protected by the glass roof.

[weluvpa]

Originally Posted by scrantonluna

They could probably also do something to make the department stores look more like stand-alone structures and not bookends.

I have an idea for the whole downtown.

[scrantonluna]

Good thing we have a stunt mayor

[SteelCityRising]

Originally Posted by scrantonluna

Good thing we have a stunt mayor

There's two Chris Dohertys running amok? Good lord! No wonder why Dan is always so p*ssed off!

[timbolv]

Originally Posted by blip

Yeah, I think that's a great idea for the mall (esp for the shops on the side facing Lackawanna Ave), and a great idea for the city. I didn't see it in the 80s, but Lackawanna Ave. is one dreary stretch right now. For better or worse, the mall is there now and probably better than the empty lots or street-level parking that might replace it. So, may as well try to improve it and integrate it as best it can be.

Pasadena, CA had a similar downtown mall-blight on the streetscape that I remember when I visited ~15 years ago. Apparently they have since torn it down and put up a more street-oriented center.
Malls of America - Vintage photos of lost Shopping Malls of the '50s, '60s & '70s

Not sure how that's doing, but seems there's danger in this approach too-- next time shopping habits change, you may need to blow it up and start again. Better to make a climate better for businesses and let them build/re-use/move spaces how they want than to try to create demand with a huge artificial supply of space at today's specs.

I'm surprised there wasn't any outcry against Steamtown in the 80s from what I've heard-- I guess everyone was desperate for something to get done downtown?

Anyway, despite all this, I have to say that I find being in Viewmont *way* more depressing. It feels old, tired, and devoid of any energy.

Maybe it's because I'm older with a photographic memory but I don't see Viewmont as Depressing or old. I remember in the 90's before they put the huge addition and the food court on it how depressing and old it was. Anyone remember when it was two hallways Like an 'L" shape? Sorry to be Mr. Nostalgia here, but like I said I have a photographic memory.

[NYRangers 2008]

Originally Posted by FightinPhils

A lot has changed...there are a lot of empty storefronts, the food court is dead, even Wendy's couldn't make it there. Although there is some Chinese place in the food court where the workers yell at you when you walk by....nothing makes me want to eat somewhere like someone yelling at me when i walk by trying to get me to eat there. Even stores like the Gap and Eddie Bauer have closed up shop, and there is no bookstore in the mall anymore (although it doesn't look like the people who hang around that mall are much into reading). I still go there sometimes for the Children's Place, and I hope that doesn't close as well, because they also have a store at Montage.

People just aren't into malls anymore....neither am I really, I never go to a mall just to go there. I'm hardly ever in the Viewmont Mall (once or twice a year maybe), and pretty much the Steamtown Mall only for the Children's Place.

As far as Boscov's is concerned, with a lousy economy, people just aren't shopping at the traditional department stores....nothing sold at a department store like Boscov's is a necessity that you can't get at a discount store, and people just don't have the money these days to pay more for name brands. People aren't going to Boscov's, the Bon-Ton, Macy's, etc....they're going to Target, Wal-Mart, and K-Mart. Personally, I like Kohl's for clothes...much cheaper than places like Boscov's....always running big sales.

Good points. Malls aren't the IN things anymore like they were in the eighties and nineties. I agree that an outdoor setting like the Shoppes at Montage would of been better suited in downtown Scranton that what is currently constructed on Lackawanna Ave. It never should of been put there in the first place with the Viewmont Mall just a few miles away in Dickson City. I guess the developers at the time didn't have an insight for things to come.