Mall Madness: War & Peace in Corpus Christi’s Sunrise Mall
This Week in Mall Journalism:
The Future of Westminster Mall Is in Your Hands
In a pure and beautiful example of civic engagement, the city of Westminster is inviting its citizens to give their opinions on how to revive the declining Westminster Mall. The Orange County Register reports that with Sears, “one of their longtime anchor tenants,” closing recently, the struggling mall is hoping for new life. Suggestions in the survey include small vendor kiosks, promenade, public art, fountains, and more gathering spaces.
Townsperson Andy Mendoza’s suggestion? Make it Disney! “Emulate the spirit of Downtown Disney now that Disney destroyed it. Outdoor family friendly shops, cool entertainment, and a movie theater.” Your mall, your future!
This Pennsylvania mall lost power!
Stores at Muncy Township, Pennsylvania’s Lycoming Mall lost power Tuesday for mysterious reasons. News station WNEP says they “went to speak with mall management to try to find out what caused the blip in service,” but mall management attributed the loss of power only to “multiple factors.” Stores opened late on Wednesday as a result, for which mall owner Mike Kohan apologizes.
Southwyck was The Mall for South Toledo
In their Monday memories column, the Toledo Blade waxed nostalgic about Southwyck Shopping Center, a mall that opened on August 3, 1972, and, like many malls, began to dip in occupancy in the 1990s. It closed for good in 2008, with its last four tenants being Deb (tell us more!), World Nail, GNC, and The Box Shoppe. The addition of the AMC Southwyck Seven Theaters was said to be the “first seven-screen theater in the world.”
“But the real showstopper of the mall was the 8,000-square foot glass dome greeting customers upon entering,” The Blade writes.
War & Peace In Sunrise Mall
This one is near and dear to our Very Famous hearts because, last month, we paid a visit to Corpus Christi’s Sunrise Mall. The mall’s interior, amazingly, seemed to be mostly untouched since it was used as a setting in 1985’s The Legend of Billie Jean. One of the stores we noticed still open, War & Peace, will be closing for good likely on November 11, Veterans Day.
The Corpus Christi Caller-Times reported that the military souvenir emporium owner Noe Bocanegra has been operating stores inside the mall for over 20 years. He first opened the Rock & Roll Plus store in 1996 and opened War & Peace in 2007. “One of his favorite collections are the thousands of pins for every branch of the military, even down to specific missions, squadrons and regiments,” Monica Lopez and Chris Ramirez write.
“Veterans come here and they can relate,” Bocanegra said. “They come here to talk and get help. Too bad it has to end.”
February 9, 2022
In "Features"