Dead Mall: Golf Mill Shopping Center - Niles, Il
HTML-код
- Опубликовано: 2 окт 2024
- Originally built as an open air mill themed shopping center, it has gone through several evolutions to now become a space of multiple additions to keep the propery viable. Including a half remodeled to a half original 1980s interior separated by a vacant Sears.
Also check out the nearby Oak Mill Plaza. A step into 1980s nostalgia with a mixture of shops and a splash of medical offices.
Oak Mill Plaza - • Dead Mall: Pt. 2 Oak M...
1st visit to Golf Mill in 2017 where it was much less dead.
• Dead Mall: Pt. 1 (2017...
I grew up in this mall! Some of my sweetest memories are with my Nana shopping here. I believe I got my ears pierced here as a child. Visiting the old water feature in the center that was sunken under the big skylight before the remodel was always my favorite part of our trip to the mall! I'll cherish those memories forever.
I grew up in Park Ridge not far from this Mall. Went here all the time when younger. Haven't been there in over a decade. I wanted to go check it out and see how it was, but this video showed me. Good times back then in the 90's.
I have very fond memories of Golf Mill from back when I was in high school in the 1980's. This mall was always a prime location to see movies with friends or on dates. It is sad to see it in decline, but thank you for showcasing it in your video.
This mall represents a large part of my childhood. My family lived a few blocks down on Dempster and greenwood. Every time we went, my mom would give me a dollar or two and drop me off at cyberstation. That would last me an hr or so...she'd pick me back up, carrying a bag of back to school jc Penny clothes and some pens to fill my spacemaker. Life was good
This is really sad. Myself and many others basically grew up at Golf Mill. So many memories here. It’s going to be knocked down soon which is history down the drain.
Sorry about the late reply. It shouldn't be knocked down they said at least converted over to multie use like offices And keep the department stores. Lot of those places give good memories though.
I’m not from the Midwest but I’m from the east coast. Even here on the east coast we have had similar dying malls. It’s common all over America .
This place use to be bussin. I remember the arcade.
It was "Cyber Station" when I was a kid. Mostly in the 90's, they added a dollar store next door at that time too.
I used to spend hours in that arcade. That place and the card shop across from it got most of my money growing up.
That arcade was a favorite spot of mine when I was a kid!
Back in the 90's and early 00;s it was awesome. Boardwalk Fries, Cinnabon, McDonald's, Woolworth, Cyberstation, Taco Bell, Disney Store, Rock America, Bowling Alley (parking lot). The huge fountain in center court that would be covered over for holiday or events. Does the basement run under the whole mall? Anyone know what happened to the huge security guard with all the gold chains and gold earrings he looked like Mr. T and was there for many, many years.
I remember a lot of what you said. I used to come here often when I was little. I remember the Taco Bell, and the fountain in the middle of the mall. Just sad to see what has happened to this mall
I too wonder what ever happened to Mr. T.
I remember that security guard too, he was a mall legend.
His name was Michael. He would say don't call me Mike, my mother named me Michael. I worked on the fire alarm systems and he would walk with me and give me access to all the areas I needed to go. Unfortunately I heard he passed, not verified though. Looked scary but was actually a nice guy.
Many fond memories of Cyber Zone :(
The classic section is my favorite part of the mall. It’s like taking a stroll going back in time. Sadly this mall had flooding issues by the Sears section.
I hung out there almost every day in the 1990's. Had a huge arcade and that food court was double the size it is now!! That place was jumping back then. Sad to see it now. I also worked a few jobs in that mall. It was a great place back then!!
Cyber Station!!!!
@@bigjimmy428 facts I was a shortie back than till I was in high school everything changed
There used to be a wishing well there. We would jump in the water at night and grab $100s of dollars in change! LOL!
I used to go to that medical office as well as the mall with my mom back in the 1970's and 1980's. There was a toys r us across the street.
It's an interesting piece of architecture. Thanks for sharing the memories!
Remember the Barg intown before toys R us,
I was very surprised you didn’t talk about the arcade that was right next to the medical offices. You filmed the sign and bathroom area but didn’t talk about the arcade. It wasn’t much but it def was a attraction for the mall. Sadly it is close to being a dead mall. I’m enjoying watching these mall videos of IL. Bringing back some wonderful memories.
Didn't know there was an arcade sorry about that. I don't live in that area.
Urbex- A Peak Inside yeah, the arcade was a cyberstation (just in case you didn't know it was everywhere back then). it was converted to a "replay" arcade sometime in the 2000s, with retro arcade machines. it closed in 2015, but a "golf mill dance" opened there in maybe 2016 or 2017. it is still there today
i am surprised no mention of the mill run theater , even Jonny Carson tonight would talk about it on air
There used to be an arcade called Replay right across from JC Penney!! God, I had so many memories there discovering all these retro arcade classics and playing games while my mom shopped in JC Penny. They sadly got rid of it around 2016 I think. Had way too many good times at this mall.
Wasn't it called cyberstation as well back whwn I was 5 when we mibed to the area from Rodgers park I remember that's what it was called my iksr brother would always go over there with his friends
I used to live in Park Ridge, Illinois. I remember going to the mall loads of times with my friends. There was a school district that encompassed both students from Park Ridge in Niles and I went to that school district. So many memories from that mall, sad to see it go.
Robert PL9501 I went to Field and Emerson myself, actually, up until 7th grade. I now live in Ohio. I moved here three years ago, and when I came back to visit, the place was empty. Mind you, this is before the pandemic, around October 2019. I’m just so sad to see it tank like this. The Target looks good, but it’s cut-off from everything else, and the hallway that was attached to the now closed Sears was sketchy and dark. I hope they utilize it well if it does go.
I used to go to the arcades in that mall. As well as McDonald's, or The Great Steak and Potato Co. Man, times just flies by, and now the mall is almost dead, like 92% dead.
went to mark twain, gemini, then maine east from 2005-2014! golf mill during middle school was a great era of the mall for me. taco bell, gamestop, a candy shop, an arcade, the DISNEY STORE..
only reason i go now is for the medical offices every month and sometimes target but the sounds of the liveliness and the joy i once felt being in that mall play faintly in my head when i walk thru it nowadays.
It’s similar in many parts of America. On the east coast, we have suburbs too with old malls. Similar stories
I went to Field and Lincoln because Emerson had been made into a Japanese school in the 80s and 90s. By the late 80s we could get here ourselves with bikes or that free bus Niles had if we rode over into Niles. PR has moved up the food chain, but Niles seems to be the exact same.
I’ve only been to two malls with an anchor in the middle of it, Peachtree in Columbus, Georgia (Dillard’s) and Dadeland in Miami, Florida (Macy*s). At least their stores are still open because i know it would be a nightmare like Golf Mill to have that literally connecting anchor to close. Hanes Mall in Winston-Salem, is another mall like that with their JCPenney.
Golf Mill was the place during the 80s and 90s for high school kids and families. Ironically, at that point, Old Orchard was on its last legs.
That's definitely dead. I like the brick looking floors in that one section
Deader than it was when first filming. The flooring was spectacular.
Moved to burbs in 99, and the place was already pretty much dead. They had few good stores but from year to year it got worse, the only thing that kept me going back there was the food court. The mall was a hang out spot for bunch of senior citizens that had nothing better to do.
Dang I remember it being really crowded in there when I was little. Especially the old food court
Facts
I remember being a kid growing up with this mall - My family used to eat at the Chi-Chi's, have dessert at the ice cream stand in the food court, buy video games at Babbages, and I got my ears pierced here when I was 10. I have very fond memories of this place, it's sad to see it like this.
Fucken nasty!! The fountain in the middle that was memorable!
This mall was on a steady decline even two years ago, when I was last inside. Everybody flocks to Old Orchard Mall instead of here
This mall has been in decline for many years. Even when I worked at the Budget car rental that was in the Seats auto back in the early 2000s it was starting to die.
Ironically, in the 80s, Old Orchard was on its last legs
RIP Christmas Santa, the waterways and of course Hot Topic.
So sad. . I saw Batman in June 1989 here and ate at SBARRO and spent many weekends here with my friends
It should be a "peek" inside. Unless that's an intentional play on words. Nice channel.
Thanks for watching the channel. Its peak as in mountain peak
@@UrbexAPeakInside Very nice. That was my guess. Keep up the good work!
I met my first girlfriend here at 579 Erica
I remember visiting here various times over the years, and it caught me a little off guard when I briefly walked through here this week, and saw how dead this mall was starting to get. It was a little bit of a miracle Gloria Jean's and Bath and Body Works were still open here, with how dead it's starting to get. Also I talked to someone when I was leaving this mall, who told me Kohl's was planning to open a store within a new big box strip mall development in nearby Morton Grove, and move from Golf Mill. That person told me the grocery store Shop 'n Save(which never had indoor mall access, I'll note), even had recently closed. Along with it having a fancy movie theater with alcohol(Studio Movie Grill? forget which one of those chains it was, it wasn't an AMC Dine-In theater btw), that would open there. GNC even was closing down their store here and removed merchandise inside, along with whatever shoe store(Finish Line, I think?) had closed since my last pre-2020 visit. And we of course know lol that stores like Bath and Body Works(still here for now), GNC, and shoe stores usually are the last stores to hang on at dead malls. Never mind GNC is pulling out of a lot of malls, with their bankruptcy this year.
Also back in 2007, General Growth did an interior renovation of this mall, but at that time chose not to renovate the north wing between the ex-Sears and Kohl's. It did fine for a few years after that renovation, but I started to see more signs of it struggling as the early to mid 2010s hit. Sadly to say I wouldn't be surprised if this mall decides to shut down the inside, in a few years. And with Sycamore perhaps purchasing JCPenney and allegedly only keeping 250 stores(if their bid is the winning one) and closing the rest, I have a bad feeling they wouldn't keep the Penney's as an open store here. Never mind I think it's a horrible as crap idea to rebrand all their stores to Belk, and IMO I'd rather see the Simon/Brookfield bid be the winning one for Penney's.
If you check out the outside of this mall between the entrances into the Gloria Jean's/ex-Sears wing of the mall, and also the north entrance past the movie theater, you can see a former entrance and faint labelscar for what used to be Woolworth. Google street view image: goo.gl/maps/Ui6iBPC26PzgsyzR9 Woolworth was cut up into several inline stores(one of them being a former FYE), after they closed(sometime in the mid 90s?) in case you didn't know. There's also a good writeup with older pics of this mall on the Labelscar blog, if you want to read more about this mall's history, along with pre-renovation pics(before 2007) there. The center court(by the ex-Auntie Anne's and Zevar Jewelers) used to have a kid's play area, but that was moved closer to the movie theaters in General Growth's 2007 renovation.
Finally an article about Sawmill Station in Morton Grove, which I hate to think might be the final knockout punch perhaps forcing Golf Mill to close the inside(except anchor stores) in the future. The talk I had with a shopper outside Golf Mill when I left, said she told me that somewhere she had heard a rumor that Kohl's may open at Sawmill Station in October 2020. More info about that proposed redevelopment, and it also shows that the current Golf Mill owner was thinking about doing some redevelopment for this mall: www.journal-topics.com/articles/are-niles-kohls-ross-stores-moving-to-morton-grove/
Finish Line was the first store of the many closings of 2019, then came the barber, then I believe Victoria's Secret and Express closed around the same time. Yes they do have redevelopment plans, and there was a story about Chick-Fil-A being added, set to open in 2021, but it's not in the food court section. www.chicagotribune.com/columns/ryan-ori/ct-biz-chick-fil-a-openings-michigan-avenue-ryan-ori-20200729-nipbuziiwjg4pogehklox4r5qy-story.html They actually planned to open a food court next to AMC when Ulta took over, but it was scrapped.
The play area was in the center of the mall at one point, but during the '86 remodel, there was actually a water fountain. It was removed in the 2000s for the play area (I think). Then, during 2007, it was moved near AMC (before it was a Kerasotes).
2020 can't get worse
August: Kohl's to relocate to Sawmill Station
That's sad.
I heard also the Ross dress for less might close soon!
the plaza that kohl’s moved to ended up having a Raising Canes tho which most of them are near the city so that’s nice 😊
@@ssh_disney oh ok
Its so sad i have been here multiple times the only stores are value city furniture,target,and burlington
I could have visited the Oak Mill Mall in December 2018 instead of Westfield Old Orchard!
I taught guitar there in the 6o's !! Golf Mill Studio next to the Mill Run theater "in the round". Weird playing on that round rotating stage..
I remember the rotating stage saw quite a few plays there as a kid.
I remember walking through the mall at night in December 1969. Nothing was enclosed. It was cold and windy with snow blowing everywhere. I never really shopped at the mall, but I occasionally went to the movie theatre just south of the mall and saw movies like Z and Midnight Cowboy. The theatre is long gone, I think it's a fitness center now.
I know this mall from being a semi-poor hourly worker in Glenview residing on Chicago's northwest side; not having a car, I relied on the Pace bus system which had a major connection hub at Golf Mill. I have bittersweet nostalgia for the place because my job was both tough and relatively low-paying, and hanging around Golf Mill during any transit layovers was a time to decompress after work, or a few minutes of unpressured leisure before my taxing job. One time I'd been visiting my upper middle class family of origin in New York, and I had a "doggie bag" of leftovers from my favorite rather expensive restaurant where we ate before going to the airport; I was going straight from my flight to work (took the Blue Line and a Pace bus from Jefferson Park, or maybe it was the Harlem bus from closer to the airport), and was on one of those Golf Mill layovers. I was not hungry, but took out my ultimate "comfort food" to eat on a bench in the semi-deserted mall.
Bittersweet, in other words, is how this mall and my memories of it will always be, but in its weird, semi-sad way will be an indelible part of my life.
I worked there in 1999-2000. Their were a lot of Eastern Europeans who came there and sat and did whatever they do. I bought my first computer from Sears using my store card. It was a Compaq Presario. I thought I was getting the top of the line( ok a good anyway) computer. I was even given 2 different Sears Cards. Yes, life was good for Sears and that Mall back then. I was generally happy. Good times and had fun working there
Omg this place use to be bussing until 2019. I miss the food court now there’s just only half of it no more sears and the entrance to target through sears then a pathway to target. It is good at least in a couple of years there are pallet in buying gold mill tearing everything down and turning it into a outdoor mall and changing it completely. The mayor went to me school and announced it. But the problem is the doctor I go to for my im entire life works at the dorm at golf mill and I hope they don’t tear that down. I have been seeing the same doctor taking care and checking if I’m ok for my life. It’s sad to see this once wonderful place fall. But I hope the new version of the mall will look good but that’s what the Nile’s mayor said. Goodbye
I used to live around there and was always dead the last 5-10 years I’m surprised they never tore this place down yet and I heard of roomers that they will. Bty I vlog too and I posted a video about this mall
I worked at Stuart's in Golf Mill 1978-1980. It was still outdoors and halfway between Sears and Penny's . They should have left it alone.
According to the mall website it is scheduled to be mostly torn down and refurbished with only Target and J.C. Penney remaining from the current configuration. Target is the only part of the mall that is still busy. J.C. Penney and Burlington do okay, and a new center section might allow them to return to success.
I went here with my Mom as a little girl late 60's possibly early 70's. She would park at a woman's clothing store & you could walk through to the open other side of the Mall. My Mom bought a lot of clothes at that woman's clothing store & they had live monkeys in the window. I used to wait for her watching the monkeys until my Mom came to get me & the monkeys were masturbating. I hadn't a clue what was going on, but my Mom's like it's time to go Now 😬😳
Anybody remember that woman's clothing store I forgot the name? LoL
😆😂🤣
I went up there and few months ago and it is abandoned, nothing is left.
Guess I'm lucky to have been a kid in the 80s/90s. I would hop on the free bus with $5-10 in my pocket and could have fun all afternoon.
This is sad I pretty much grew up in this mall. My grandfather worked there for many years. My cousins and I used to be at the mall almost everyday.
Good video. Thanks. Its sad what has happened to that mall.
I remember the Disney store that was there. They always had pretty displays.
I was just in town for a few days and wanted to go just for nostalgia purposes. Truly unfortunate.
Also grew up with this mall in the early 2000’s. Very nostalgic to see this but also sad. Feels like a huge liminal space now…
I grew up in this mall back in the late sixties and early seventies. I wish you showed some pictures of the the open space mall.I have fond memories of walking across the mill island with bridges that went over a goldfish pond. I used to ride my schwinn stingray bicycle to the mall and actually rode in through the Sears store you mention in this video!! I almost forgot about the Mill Run Playhouse this was located at the very north corner of the parking lot and if my memory is correct the stage used to rotate, and the mill run theater at the south west end of the mall I remember seeing Jaws there, and my little brother jumping off the balcony and landing on someone’s back.
Thank you for covering this mall! It surprises me that Golf Mill isn't more well-known in the dead mall community. It's crazy that the north and south portions are cut off from each other now.
When I was a kid my dad would take us to the arcade in the mall on weekends, which was ridiculously fun as they still had a lot of classic arcade games in there, including tabletop Galaga. The mall was already going downhill so we were usually the only kids in there. This was around 2006-2009. I didn't see it in the video so I'm guessing the arcade is no longer there? That's sad. I'll have to visit Golf Mill one more time before it's gone.
well, I recommend you go soon because it's truly declining quicker than you think. Yeah for sure, I remember being there as a kid too and it already was dying.
one time me and my friends tried watching IT 2 for my brothers bday at the amc in golf mill and they kicked us out at the start of the movie since we weren’t 18 and the total amount for all of us to get tickets was around 120$ which they did not let refund for us so i have so love hate memories with this place
I used to live in cyberstation. Best arcade ever. I saw Mortal Kombat 3 on a giant big screen when it dropped
i saw a film here sometime in the 90s. Back than it was a successful middle class mall. Now it just looks so dated. Not dirty, not abused, just past its time.
They are about to redo this entire mall, including bringing back a water mill. You need you go back there before they tear it all down.
I’m am 11 and I remember going to the sport shop for Pokémon cards😅 that were very expensive a I was young like probably like 4 years old and never took care of them
Remembering here a lot in the late 90s and early 00s mostly to KB Toys
Same here. I remember going to Sears here, as well as Kohl’s and target. I know the target was added back in the late 90’s
I went to the paint n party when I was really young I remember painting a pirate
9:42 there used to be a karmelkorn popcorn there.
As always, how sad to see Golf Mill in such sad shape, I remember the movie theater, they used to have the theater in the round, the Toys R Us was across the street, Golf Mill Ford used to be White & Cronen, so it shows how much change there is in memories past
it used to be called Fergus ford, one of my tenants use to work there, his name was chucky
khols sadly shut down and now theres berlington
interesting ..thank you for going out there to firm for us who can't make it out there 👍🏼
golf mill was dead long before covid that's for sure. I was there in like February this year and it was pretty much just as empty as it is in the vid. This really hurts though. My mom hates driving so when I was younger, she'd bring me here at the end of the school years and it'd be like a fun road trip. This place is so much bigger than Harlem Irving, so it just felt like I was living the dream when I was 10. I remember there was a fountain there too, it felt alive and dead at the same time. Sears closing is what I think ended it and now the mall is dying such a slow death. The size is also a big factor in it's death for sure. Especially because of the surrounding malls, it just doesn't work. Not to mention the elimination of like half the food court to build Ulta. Imo, if they renovated to make a small part of the mall outdoor again and made it like a nostalgia spot, they could save it but it wouldn't really be a mall. So many people have fond memories of this place so if they took a fraction of the mall and made it into some sort of like nostalgic museum kinda thing that would be cool. idk lmao it's sad to see golf mill in such a state. but great video!!
edit: spelling mistake
Just sad. Of course with a crazy pandemic, everything is going downhill. I remember coming here quite with my mom when I was little. We would shop at a few places here. I remember in the 90’s and 00’s, this place was always crowded. There were people at the other end of the mall where Kohl’s and Target are. The sad part about it is that everything is all about online shopping now. Amazon is really hurting the retail industry, and many stores are trying to keep up with them. I don’t do online shopping. I go to a store. I want to see for myself what I’m buying
When I was a kid I used to go here all the time
How crazy, I was born in 65 and I can remember going there with my Mom and even being left to shop on my own when my mom had to go Christmas shopping. Back then you had to go outside to get from store to store. The Sears had fresh candy and nuts sold by the pound and you could smell the nuts as they were warm!
One of my favorite stores was a Woolworths with soda fountain/ sandwich grill. I’d get a patty melt.
How in the world was it OK to have been left alone to wander back then? No way I’d drop my kids or Grandkids off to shop solo anymore!
i remember going to Sears with my mom and brothers to christmas shop and we would buy candy and nuts and thye smelled so good. I was in a fashion show with the neighborhood girls at sears. I was only 5 years old and i wore a white dress with brown velvet dots. It was all a blur. I was so nervous on stage. it was not so beautiful at the mall later but i shopped for fabric in one of the stores a lot and i bought some dresses at this nice dress shop and the gap we would buy our jeans and also our gym shoes at the converse store. Minnesosta fabrics was acrosse the street, another great fabric store. I loved seeing the stars advertised at the mill run theatre but never went there. and loved that big white golf ball thing. they should preserve it and make it more rustic like it used to be when they had a water wheel there and nice plants and fish ponds and fountains.
Haven’t been there since 1977
I remember been to this Mall with my best friend around late 2007, I thought it was already struggling little bit that time.
As a kid I watched Golf Mill being built. So sad to see it go. Thanks, Amazon.
Such a dying state, probably gonna close it sooner or later for good
Hopefully not but they're still a lot of good things about it like the department stores and the medical office building
The last of us vibes!
Burlington Coat Factory is opening in a few months where the kohls was
Enjoyed the history lesson, preservation, and music 🎶
Kohl’s is Is now gone it moved to Morton Grove the mall is definitely dying
My childhood mall:(
Haven't been there in years and I live close, last time was to go to a movie.
Even though we lived a couple blocks from the Randhurst Mall, my parents would visit Golf Mill as it housed the Sears store which I believe was the closest to our house (at that time). It would have been the early 1960s and I remember walking across the parking lot in very cold Chicago weather and stepping inside Sears and right away smelling the aroma of the hot popcorn that they would make over by the candy counter. I always enjoyed looking at the housewares department and seeing the demo dishwasher with the clear plexiglass door...you could see the dishes being washed. We didn't have a dishwasher at home, so I thought this was magical!
I remember as a kid going here in the 90’s and 00’s. The mall was always busy, and there were great stores too. Just sad that the mall has gone to this. Almost nobody in the mall, and stores leaving. There’s another dead mall near where I live. It’s Stratford Square Mall in Bloomingdale. I have heard that they’re going to tear down most of the mall, and build apartments and make a small subdivision
Used to go there in the 70s when it was an open air shopping center.
come to danville
I used to drive by Golf Mill on my way to work. I never found a reason to stop by since my office was across the street from Old Orchard. How about a non-dying mall episode on Old Orchard?
Collin Creek mall is becoming a mixed-use development with shopping, residential, offices and entertainment. It's a slow process, though; the demolition is taking a long time.
I currently have a video for Old Orchard. Plan on doing a redo of that property soon.
I have so many good memories from this mall.
They need to make those dead malls into massive partying clubs after the Covid is all done with.
@Beelzebot
Nope, just peace, love, unity, and respect.
PLUR
No need to be a Debbie Downer.
it's not a desirable place to live around so i have no idea what they are going to do with this eye sore as retail continues to die a slow death.
This place definatly outdated i heard they want to remodel to make it look like the Glen which is kind of a mall/apartment place
I remembered when the sears closed
How about cystal Pont mall. In. Crystal lake Illinois
I would think about it. Is that a strip mall.
@@UrbexAPeakInside Crystal Point is a strip mall, in Crystal Lake. It used to have an indoor mall portion, but that part was torn down years ago, and it's just a strip mall with mostly big box and other retail chains today. Kmart was the only store left there from the days of Crystal Point Mall, but that store closed in the mid-2010s as a result of a past round of store closings. I remember that Kmart also remained unrenovated and dated, to its end.
Will be honest when I briefly went there a few years back, that IMO there are more interesting retail related things(if you're trying to find vintage such shopping centers, or dead ones) to film elsewhere, vs. the Crystal Point shopping center. The current shopping center there is mostly filled up w/stores, and is doing well. I do wonder how the shopping center that used to have Super Kmart in Round Lake Beach, is doing today?
Kohl’s left do you only thing left is JCPenney And Ross
A couple of problems with malls non-covid related. #1 - They are just too big. The population is getting older and who wants to spend so much time and effort to get a couple of items? #2 - Disposable Income, gone are the days of people driving for an hour just to wander for additional hours spending their money on every carefree whim they may have. People buy just what they need now and that is it. There are no bargains in a mall.
Maybe its dead because of COVID-19
You made this video during COVID-19
no it's not bc of covid. It's been on a steady decline even before Sears closed. so sad smh
Or going to it to buy some new Jordan’s
adore the look of golf mill, i've taken quite a few photos there in recent years.
never even heard of oak mil though - i'll need to make it over there before its gone
Oak Mill Mall has been a ghost town for as long as I can remember, and I lived in Niles for about half of my life. When it was first built, it had some definite attractions, like Maloney's Ice Cream Parlor, Reggie's (sp?) Book Store and European Village. There was also a magic store/prank shop whose name I've forgotten. For the longest time, European Village was essentially the last good reason to go to this mall, and it closed about a year or so ago, the ice cream parlor and book store having closed long before.