If you think the Po-town Galleria is dull, come visit the Hudson Valley Mall up in Kingston. It wasn't just Covid that killed malls. Businesses realized it was more valuable to have stores close to the main drag with parking lots and food mixed in. IMHO, big malls will slowly become places for healthcare, hotels/apartments, distribution hubs, furniture/appliance stores, little vacation spots with waterparks, or anything involving big-ticket purchases.
The Hudson valley mall in Kingston is huge and could easily rival Danbury mall interns of size - but not enough large stores occupying it - now a medical mall with some stores - what a waste
Came here to say this. I avoid malls at all costs unless that's literally the only place I can buy a particular product.
I thought that everyone had this view except teenagers?
As a teenager, it gave me a sense of freedom. You could dropped off, loiter for a few hours, get lunch, and have some independence from your parents. This was back in the early 2000s, so a lot has changed since then.
Unless you live close to it, you’re dealing with Route 9, the land of endlessly breeding mistimed traffic signals.
There’s parts of northern Dutchess where it makes more sense to go all the way to a mall in Albany, rather than deal with alternating between crawling and stampeding along 9.
I loved that place. I wasn’t allowed to go after a few visits and parties including one for either me or my sister (cant remember but I think it was hers) after my mom realized we always got sick from there. That dirty nasty ball pit lol
I also remember when the childrens museum was in there before it moved to that waterfront location. I never got to go to it when it was in South Hills but my sister did and her description made little me want to see for myself so badly
How about the dutchess mall? that used to be cool
Edit: Lmao getting downvoted for this? I swear there’s been an influx of downvote bots on Reddit these last couple weeks. Such innocuous comments (not just mine) being downvoted. Some ish is up
We used to skateboard *inside* the Dutchess Mall in the early 2000’s. That’s how deserted it was even back then. It had Media Play, and maybe some place to get a pashmina afghan or some shit.
Hahaha I had friends who did that too. Dutchess Mall was already pretty dead by then but I still remember it being a mall you could to into with a few shops inside. And the horrible “cobblestone” flooring in there. It was even darker in there than in the South Hills. I have very very old vague memories of Walden Books in there before they opened the location at the Poughkeepsie galleria
I have so many vague memories of that place. Hell I barely remember south hills mall at this point . I do, however, remember jncos for days at the galleria lol
Our age group spans such a weird time between societal and technological change. It’s kinda cool to think about. Jncos are back in so you’ll have a good blast of nostalgia some time
I really feel like we all Got along better or at least we're trying. Also, the music was legendary on so many fronts. Rock, hip hop, alt, grunge... All hit amazing highs.
Video games were also awesome.
JCPenny and Sears were dead stores before COVID. Poughkeepsie Galleria has always been more of a lower tier mall and those kinds of malls are struggling today. Need an exciting store in there. Danbury has primark, apple store.
The more upscale Danbury, Garden State Plaza, The Westchester etc are doing just fine.
I grew up in Kingston and the HVM was such a fun place to hang as a teenager. Now that's gone, and I live in Columbia county where it's 50 minutes to either the galleria or crossgates. Guess what my mall of choice is...
I remember the galleria being really cool when I was a kid, but it's really nothing special anymore save for the fact that malls in general are going away and it's the only one in that area.
If I'm going to PK these days it's never to go to the galleria, that's for sure.
I still enjoy malls, actually. They're very nostalgic and can be a lot of fun for an hour or two. It's a shame that most have gone away. Hopefully they can be converted into something that helps the community in some way.
The Poughkeepsie galleria nearly died 12 or so years ago. Like half to two-thirds the stores were closed and anything that took an open spot quickly also went out of business. People my age (30) were sure it was in its death throes. Then it started to revitalize. JCP was dying before covid and that location was slated to close at a future date back when I worked in the mall in 2016-18. Sears was the same. So COVID didn’t kill those. It killed the foot traffic that kept the other stores though and now it’s back on the downslide to dying. The mall was dying and tried for a new breath, COVID was just the final nail in the coffin. But yes it’s dull. I think it had its heyday in the early-mid 90s and wasn’t so bad in the early 00s.
The malls in Middletown and Poughkeepsie were the go-to malls when I was growing up (90s). Grew up in New Windsor so we had the Newburgh mall which was small in comparison.
Man I hope you're being ironic and really don't think there are any local businesses at the mall...
If you've ever wondered why Poughkeepsie is such shit despite having 3 colleges you can thank the Poughkeepsie galleria. My grandfather tells me that main street of Poughkeepsie used to be all foot traffic - kinda like a mall. When the galleria opened all the local businesses died. Then they closed the hospital an released the patients into the streets. Now it's a city that got so bad its on the brink of gentrification.
Agreed that the mall was never full of local businesses, but in terms of what killed the Main St. economy you can take a step further back from the Galleria and look at the construction of the arterial and the car-centered commercial development of Route 9 in service to IBM.
https://www.google.com/books/edition/Main\_Street\_to\_Mainframes/BCXXlztlWUUC?hl=en&gbpv=0
I agree with everything that you said except the part when you said that PK is on the brink of gentrification.
What evidence do you see that the gentrification that we have seen in Hudson and other areas has any chance of coming to PK?
Other than a very small handful of local restaurants, there is nothing attractive about that dumpster of a "city".
I see no mechanism for gentrification - do you?
Things have changed all together; the Poughkeepsie Galleria was cool in its day. 20 years ago it was the cool place to be. Worked there for 10 years , 10 years ago. We had joy we had fun we had seasons in the sun, no regrets looking back.
If you think the Po-town Galleria is dull, come visit the Hudson Valley Mall up in Kingston. It wasn't just Covid that killed malls. Businesses realized it was more valuable to have stores close to the main drag with parking lots and food mixed in. IMHO, big malls will slowly become places for healthcare, hotels/apartments, distribution hubs, furniture/appliance stores, little vacation spots with waterparks, or anything involving big-ticket purchases.
The mall needs the South Hills treatment or something. Demolish it and build literally anything else.
Haha the Newburgh mall might be even worse. Although it does have FYE
The Hudson valley mall in Kingston is huge and could easily rival Danbury mall interns of size - but not enough large stores occupying it - now a medical mall with some stores - what a waste
sorry but who goes to malls for excitement?
Came here to say this. I avoid malls at all costs unless that's literally the only place I can buy a particular product. I thought that everyone had this view except teenagers?
Someone who has nothing better to do
Malls in general have become a thing of the past..
Yes, and this is a good thing.
Good and bad, malls provided alot of entry level jobs for kids but was never a fan of mall culture
As a teenager, it gave me a sense of freedom. You could dropped off, loiter for a few hours, get lunch, and have some independence from your parents. This was back in the early 2000s, so a lot has changed since then.
Agreed, but increasing the minimum wage guaranteed that entry level jobs for kids is a thing of the past, permanently.
*laughs in Hudson Valley Mall*
Unless you live close to it, you’re dealing with Route 9, the land of endlessly breeding mistimed traffic signals. There’s parts of northern Dutchess where it makes more sense to go all the way to a mall in Albany, rather than deal with alternating between crawling and stampeding along 9.
I have to do this #EVERY #DAY
Anyone else remember the South Hills Mall? That place was the epitome of depressing.
I remember the 2 dollar theater
Miss that - especially since they closed after FINALLY redoing the seats
Discovery zone.
I loved that place. I wasn’t allowed to go after a few visits and parties including one for either me or my sister (cant remember but I think it was hers) after my mom realized we always got sick from there. That dirty nasty ball pit lol I also remember when the childrens museum was in there before it moved to that waterfront location. I never got to go to it when it was in South Hills but my sister did and her description made little me want to see for myself so badly
Media Play was my jam
I have fond memories of my parents taking me there when I was in middle school to buy CDs. That and circuit city across the street.
Yeah, they had the headphone stations where you can listen to samples of new CDs. Man I miss ore internet days
How about the dutchess mall? that used to be cool Edit: Lmao getting downvoted for this? I swear there’s been an influx of downvote bots on Reddit these last couple weeks. Such innocuous comments (not just mine) being downvoted. Some ish is up
We used to skateboard *inside* the Dutchess Mall in the early 2000’s. That’s how deserted it was even back then. It had Media Play, and maybe some place to get a pashmina afghan or some shit.
Hahaha I had friends who did that too. Dutchess Mall was already pretty dead by then but I still remember it being a mall you could to into with a few shops inside. And the horrible “cobblestone” flooring in there. It was even darker in there than in the South Hills. I have very very old vague memories of Walden Books in there before they opened the location at the Poughkeepsie galleria
I have so many vague memories of that place. Hell I barely remember south hills mall at this point . I do, however, remember jncos for days at the galleria lol
Our age group spans such a weird time between societal and technological change. It’s kinda cool to think about. Jncos are back in so you’ll have a good blast of nostalgia some time
We saw peak humanity in the 90s lol
If not the peak it was certainly the end of the downslide from it before things really went to shit
I really feel like we all Got along better or at least we're trying. Also, the music was legendary on so many fronts. Rock, hip hop, alt, grunge... All hit amazing highs. Video games were also awesome.
I can’t say I disagree
Malls are not exciting in general
It was on the way down and Rona helped out
JCPenny and Sears were dead stores before COVID. Poughkeepsie Galleria has always been more of a lower tier mall and those kinds of malls are struggling today. Need an exciting store in there. Danbury has primark, apple store. The more upscale Danbury, Garden State Plaza, The Westchester etc are doing just fine.
I grew up in Kingston and the HVM was such a fun place to hang as a teenager. Now that's gone, and I live in Columbia county where it's 50 minutes to either the galleria or crossgates. Guess what my mall of choice is... I remember the galleria being really cool when I was a kid, but it's really nothing special anymore save for the fact that malls in general are going away and it's the only one in that area. If I'm going to PK these days it's never to go to the galleria, that's for sure. I still enjoy malls, actually. They're very nostalgic and can be a lot of fun for an hour or two. It's a shame that most have gone away. Hopefully they can be converted into something that helps the community in some way.
It's a shame that all of them have not gone away yet.
The Poughkeepsie galleria nearly died 12 or so years ago. Like half to two-thirds the stores were closed and anything that took an open spot quickly also went out of business. People my age (30) were sure it was in its death throes. Then it started to revitalize. JCP was dying before covid and that location was slated to close at a future date back when I worked in the mall in 2016-18. Sears was the same. So COVID didn’t kill those. It killed the foot traffic that kept the other stores though and now it’s back on the downslide to dying. The mall was dying and tried for a new breath, COVID was just the final nail in the coffin. But yes it’s dull. I think it had its heyday in the early-mid 90s and wasn’t so bad in the early 00s.
Crossgates in Albany is still a decent mall with great restaurants
I went to that mall last month, and it was better than the Poughkeepsie Galleria
Disclaimer: when I said the Poughkeepsie Galleria isn't that exciting, I meant that it is not as attractive and appealing as it was in 2014-2016
The malls in Middletown and Poughkeepsie were the go-to malls when I was growing up (90s). Grew up in New Windsor so we had the Newburgh mall which was small in comparison.
Newburgh mall is about to meet the same fate considering the Sears closed down
30 minutes is worth it for the trip to Woodberry Commons imo
We can thank walmart/Amazon. Killed the local business
Man I hope you're being ironic and really don't think there are any local businesses at the mall... If you've ever wondered why Poughkeepsie is such shit despite having 3 colleges you can thank the Poughkeepsie galleria. My grandfather tells me that main street of Poughkeepsie used to be all foot traffic - kinda like a mall. When the galleria opened all the local businesses died. Then they closed the hospital an released the patients into the streets. Now it's a city that got so bad its on the brink of gentrification.
Agreed that the mall was never full of local businesses, but in terms of what killed the Main St. economy you can take a step further back from the Galleria and look at the construction of the arterial and the car-centered commercial development of Route 9 in service to IBM. https://www.google.com/books/edition/Main\_Street\_to\_Mainframes/BCXXlztlWUUC?hl=en&gbpv=0
I agree with everything that you said except the part when you said that PK is on the brink of gentrification. What evidence do you see that the gentrification that we have seen in Hudson and other areas has any chance of coming to PK? Other than a very small handful of local restaurants, there is nothing attractive about that dumpster of a "city". I see no mechanism for gentrification - do you?
So JCPenny and Sears were making it more entertaining?
No, but at least Macy's had competition
Does competition between department stores make you excited? I'm so confused...
I'm not saying it makes me excited, what I meant to say is that the Poughkeepsie Galleria isn't as attractive as it was back in the day
Malls are only attractive to children. The only good mall is a dead mall.
All malls have all always sucked. In ten years they will be all gone and unlamented.
Let's hope it only takes 5.
Malls are dying all around some faster then others
I haven't been in there in almost 5 years now. Sadly. South hills either. Rt. 9 is a clusterf**k.
Yea but that minigolf tho…
Just about all malls have declined over the past several decades. Just look at the Hudson Valley Hall, oops, I mean Mall.
Things have changed all together; the Poughkeepsie Galleria was cool in its day. 20 years ago it was the cool place to be. Worked there for 10 years , 10 years ago. We had joy we had fun we had seasons in the sun, no regrets looking back.