All Yellow. All Commuter.

Patrick Henry Mall’s renovation is coming along swimmingly:

{I took these in September}

{That’s the entrance I usually use}

Here’s a pic I took in June of the renovatons the old Dillard’s Mens and Children’s Department:

Here’s a really bad pic I took in August of one of the entrances:

It’s Worse Now

Now I have known Brian at deadmalls.com for about six months now. Little did I know he had crappy photos of one of my dead malls; Coliseum Mall in Hampton, VA. I asked him if I could have them and he said yes.

Here is his story on why they look so bad:

I had a digital camera that crapped out . I couldn’t download the pics off the camera, so I took pics of them on the crappy display screen on the camera, then brought the camera back. It was a 1 MP camera from target I got on clearance for $16.

These are from May of 2002:

{this is Wards that isn’t there anymore, a Burlington Coat Factory is where Wards was, and the stores next to it are now Barnes and Noble and Steve and Barry’s}

{this is practically the only time that I’ve seen a “modern” Wards fixture in a dead mall. Most dead malls that had Wards were using the 70’s or 80’s signs until Wards went bankrupt. I also forgot about the ghetto painted palmtrees they had up when Wards closed}

–My “main” Coliseum Mall blog entry.

Robots To Clean Rooms With

I found a BEST store ad on Retrojunk.com.

I saw that robot in the ad at a thrift store in 2001, and I almost bought him. One half of me wishes I did, but the other half doesn’t. He’d be in storage right now anyway.

"BTW, whatever happened to Geoffrey’s family? Divorced? Kids in jail?"

From a recentl x-entertianment.com blog entry about an old Halloween Toys R Us ad from 1980:

But yeah, I hear TRU is in trouble, which makes me sad. I think they went downhill when they got rid of those totally ginchy rainbow wooden plank exteriors, if you ask me.

Word.

Newmarket Fair Mall Santa! (1989)

Newmarket Fair Mall Santa! (1989)
Originally uploaded by Look In The Tunk.

There’s this website/blog called Santa & Me and I sent it along to the guy who works on the site.

I was six in the photo. I remember my dad took me that night to see Santa while mom went Christmas shopping at Sears—this was back when Newmarket actually had stores, you know?

When the mall got remodeled in 1990, the “Santa Wonderland” (it wasn’t called that, but that’s what I’ll call it) had like these 40 foot wooden turquoise and teal solders, and like an 18 foot tall teddy bear. I wish I had photos of it.

Where VA Diner Signs Come To Die

Where VA Diner Signs Come To Die
Originally uploaded by Look In The Tunk.

This garage was next to my old house in Wakefield where the VA Diner packing plant is. It’s the parking sign for the Virginia Diner, a very popular eatery for tourists.

I swear this sign had just been taken down within the last year, but dad says its an old sign.

I took that pic back in May.

Mobil Gas Station (closed Oct. 2005) Franklin, VA

I swear I saw this place open Friday when I passed by it, and it was closed Saturday morning.

I also spotted a newly renovated Shell station in Suffolk, VA that had recently closed, its gas pumps taken out.

///edit — October 9, 2005///

Apparently the people who own this gas station is changing it over to a Sunoco. It will open early next year. If I can remember, I’ll take pics during the changeover.

Oh, Hills!

I went by the dead Hills in Hampton again Friday. This place closed in January of 1997.

The cars in the parking lot are either for the shoe store nearby or the postoffice.