Saturday Night Mall Crawl: SouthPark Mall

Center Court at SouthPark Mall, June 2021.

I went out to dinner with my friends on Saturday. We haven't been able to celebrate much of anything, so we decided to get together, dress up a bit, and grab some food. We went for tacos, which were great. The drinks were too strong, but that didn't deter us. Buzzed and full of chips and salsa, we decided to walk our dinner and drinks off at SouthPark Mall, right across the street from where we had eaten. We got there around 6:30pm, parked by Dillard's, and started our slightly buzzed, slightly busy mall experience. 

Dillard's stores all look the same to me. I suspect it's because Dillard's has never remodeled their stores, especially in our area. So when you walk into a Dillard's in Northeast Ohio, you're reminded of the old Higbee's stores. This mall opened in 1996, and by then I believe the chain was known as Dillard's, but they apparently kept the same interior designers. They use a lot of the same muted colors, signs with black lettering. It's stuffy without being off putting. I remember spending hours in the Dillard's Clearance Center when it was at Rolling Acres Mall. I still park by the Dillard's at Summit Mall, like I did when I worked in the mall in the late nineties. Dillard's is familiar.

We walked into the shoe department, full of Birkenstocks and Doc Martens and other shoes that we used to wear in high school. I love that Docs are back in style, because kids aren't patient enough now to properly break them in. So, it's easier to find barely worn Docs at resale shops. I'm going to be breaking in my newest pair for at least four more years. I was wearing a pair of  Birkenstock, and a dress from H&M that looks way fancier than it actually is. My friends were equally as dressed up; we all spent a lot of time at home, and dressing up feels good.

The sign I saw after we left.

 We made our way into the mall, where it smelled like body spray and cinnamon rolls and cheaply made clothing and escalator grease. The mall wasn't super busy, but it was busier than I'm accustomed to. We were doing a leisurely loop of the mall seeing the sights, enjoying each other's company. Our plan was to eventually make our way to H&M, and then we'd be ready to go by the time the mall closed at 9.

We stopped to look at puppies in the mall pet store, even though mall pet stores are the fucking worst. I needed that seritonin boost of seeing some puppies, I guess. We took our pictures by one of those silly photo walls with the wings, because I flatly refuse to ever pass up a mall photo opportunity, or a jokey mural photo opp.

At 7:45, a voice booms overhead: "the mall will be closing in 15 minutes".

What?

We made our way into H&M, showing our age by complaining to each other about "the mall is supposed to close at 9! It's Saturday!" These friends in particular have been my mall ride-or-dies for a long time. When we were young, we used to pile into my Buick and go to Rolling Acres Mall. My car would be packed with neighborhood kids. They'd sit on top of each other so that we could get more people into the car. Gas was cheap, usually around .99 a gallon. There was always gas money given to me; even if it was just change, it was something, and we all got to go walk around our favorite climate controlled simulation of a safe neighborhood, beset on all sides by capitalism, turning us into good consumers.

Trapped in the Mall

They've also both gone to malls that were in their death throes with me. We went to Canton Centre one year on my birthday; Carnation City Mall the next. We walked around a nearly empty Century III Mall together, soaking in the spooky vibes and feeling like suburban tresspassers. Empty malls are like that. I know i"m allowed to be there, but also, I feel like I'm not supposed to be there. It's been a very interesting way to challenge my anxiety, too. 

Things are different at the mall now. We left H&M at 8, and started to walk towards Dillard's. The escalators had been turned off. Walking down an escalator that has been turned off while I am still a little buzzed and now definitely a lot anxious sounded horrible, so we headed towards the elevators. My friend then said, "I didn't see an elevator car down there, what if they don't have one?" We all laughed, because I have ruined malls for them, too. It's ok, honey, this mall has people in it, and an elevator that works.

 

 

The security guy was wooshing around the now empty mall on his Segway. That is the mall cops' ultimate flex of power, and it's never not absolutely heartwarmingly hysterical to me. I was shocked by how quickly the mall had emptied out, but I imagine those people knew that the mall closed at 8.We enjoyed our walk through the now empty once busy mall. It felt familiar. Almost like muscle memory.

The other weird thing: department stores used to stay open a little later than the mall, so that you could get back to your car. Not anymore. We had to sneak out of a side door, then walk around half of the mall, to get back to our car.

 What an adventure!

Our less glamorous escape door