- A
local mall
used to be thee place to go -- shopping, eating, going to the arcade, catching a movie, or just hanging out with friends.
- It was often busy, especially on weekends and at Christmas time, the place was always packed. I used to go there all the time. It was easy to get to as it had several entrances.
- I taught my daughter to walk in this mall. She would hold my fingers as we walked down the storefronts. The girls in the shops just loved her and would look for her to come by to spend a little time with her.
- Several years later, certain "groups" of young people started causing trouble -- being rowdy, shoplifting, purse snatchings in the parking lot, robberies and shootings in the surrounding neighborhoods, etc. There was even a homeless camp around back along Rock Creek. Those residents would use the mall as a place to escape the elements.
- Women who push strollers won't shop where they don't feel safe and were the first to abandon ship. The FSK mall across town became the beneficiary of FTM's decline.
- Mall management, realizing they were losing customers, increased security indoors and with patrol cars in the parking lot (vehicles with orange flashing lights), but all that did was call attention to the fact that increased security was now needed. The damage had been done.
- Also, people started accusing mall security and management of the "R" word because they felt they were being unfairly singled out for rowdy behavior, dress code violations, being asked to leave, etc. There was no way the mall could win at this point.
- What those causing trouble didn't realize is that they were killing the goose that lays the golden eggs -- unaware or unconcerned they were economically destroying themselves. In other words, there goes the neighborhood. One by one, the stores went belly up. It was sad to witness.
- This once booming economic and social hub finally closed in April 2013, and now looks like something out of The Walking Dead. Check out
this video.
From Riches
To Rags
