by s I drove past, I thought surely I couldn’t be seeing it right. A Saturday afternoon, and the parking lot is EMPTY? I had not heard anything about the mall being closed for construction or anything, so that must not be it.
It appears I was more out of touch than I thought. Northwest Plaza in St. Louis has been closed down for two months, turning the area into a desolate wasteland straight out of a Romero zombie movie…and I had not even known it.
In the 1990s, I worked in St. Louis, and found myself at Northwest Plaza on many occasions. Back then, it was an impressive, sprawling metropolis of specialty shops and eateries. The large fountains in the centers of the walkways provided enough echo and background noise to make the already intimidating caverns seem even larger.
Cars constantly filled the lot, and the bustle of shoppers and mall walkers continued year-round.
Growing up in the 1970s, I belong to the legion of the “indoor mall generation,” hopping on the bandwagon and catching the craze along with the rest. While I spent more than my share of time hanging out with friends at Alton Square or Jamestown Mall, I usually found myself breezing past the T-shirt shops, card stores, and Spencer’s to end up in one of two places-a book store (usually Waldenbooks), or the record store (usually Musicland or Sam Goody). I could spend hours browsing the LPs and cassettes or the shelves of science fiction novels and celebrity biographies.
Not only were indoor malls the craze of the 70s and 80s, they actually served a purpose. In addition to being a social Mecca, they also provided one-stop holiday shopping, often with an abundance of fast food choices and even entertainment such as rides and shows.
And I am one of those still in the area who remembers when Alton Square was pretty hopping on Saturday nights. 
The death of America’s malls is, of course, largely contributed to the Internet. During the early and mid-2000’s, many followed the same fate as Northwest Plaza, where shops closed, crime escalated, and suddenly no one, shoppers and business owners alike, wanted to be there anymore. Searching 15 companies and finding the cheapest golf club or purse (not to mention downloading music rather than browsing the aisles) from the comfort of your armchair just made more sense.
Shopping from your armchair just doesn’t make for as good a story as meeting your wife at Orange Julius or watching your best friend shoot soda out of their nose at A&W, though.
With Northwest Plaza gone, plans for a theater in Alton Square still in limbo, and Jamestown Mall continuing its downfall, it appears the indoor mall truly is destined to be a cherished memory very soon for our area
