Lakeside Mall Nostalgia – Lakeside Mall is scheduled to close for good on July 1, 2024. Like many Metro Detroiters, Lakeside Mall was “my mall”, we’re practically the same age.
Lakeside Mall Nostalgia – The J.L. Hudson Building of My Generation
I feel only a bit sad talking about Lakeside Mall now because the mall (and mall shopping in general) has been so irrelevant to me for the past couple of decades. E-commerce has taken what was once the most cultural shopping experience in America and completely obliterated it… and it happened quickly. Now, shopping at a mall seems so archaic. I miss the experience, but it’s been gone from my life for so long now that I’ve moved on. Make sense? Also…. I think the J.L. Hudson building set me up for this so I’m not really that surprised or extremely saddened.
When I first heard that Lakeside Mall was shuttering good, I was reminded of how it felt like the time when I heard that the J.L. Hudson in Detroit building had closed and was set to be demolished.
The J.L. Hudson building was my parents’ Lakeside Mall experience. When that building was set to be demolished there was nostalgia pouring out of people my parents age about taking the bus downtown to the Hudson’s Building, the many floors and departments, seeing Santa Claus, etc etc. I didn’t discount their nostalgia, I was just too busy living to really think about if that would ever “be me someday”.
I remember thinking then that the Hudson’s Downtown Detroit shopping experience didn’t seem at all like my suburban Lakeside Mall experience and I couldn’t really relate so when “old people” talked about how much it meant. It just didn’t register with me. Now, with Lakeside Mall closing, I’m “old people” and I’m well-aware my sentimentality about my 80s/90s upbringing seems as alien to my kids as my parents memories of their shopping at the Downtown Hudson’s building did to me.
Lakeside Mall Nostalgia – As a Kid
OK, now for the memories. I’ll never forget how I first felt as a kid being taken (from Fraser) to visit Lakeside Mall for the first time. The large hand railings on the 2nd floor, watching the glass elevator disappear into the fountain like it was a Cedar Point ride, the massive natural skylights… It felt so rich and awe-inspiring to 8 year old me. “The Mall” had everything to me, even had an ice rink.
Lakeside Mall Nostalgia – As a Teen
Lakeside Mall was THE hangout, the place to be seen. Our parents would drop groups of friends off at the mall all wearing our satin Jr High jackets or leather-sleeved varsity High School jackets and there’d be pockets of kids clumped together wandering the mall and looking for other kids to hang out with. It was a teenage meat market.
I’ll never forget the roving gangs of Malow Jr High jackets, Stevenson High School jackets, Romeo High School jackets, Eppler Jr High jackets, Ford High School jackets, and dozens of others wandering aimlessly from store to store. Hair parted down the middle / feathered back on the sides, Jordache jeans (with a Goodie hair comb hanging out the back pocket), Ocean Pacific shirts, Izods, Docksiders, Van Halen shirts, Forenza sweaters, denim skirts everywhere. Every day at Lakeside was a John Hughes movie in real life.
OAKLAND COUNTY MOMS BLOG ENTRIES
Everyone talks about their favorite stores. I loved Record Town, Harmony House, Tilt, Thingz… Mrs. Fields’ was appointment visiting too. I liked that popcorn store that sold popcorn with your choice of about a million candy toppings (it wasn’t there long). Sure, everyone talks about that crazy Hydrotube Waterslide that was at Lakeside for a little while, but I never got a chance to ride it. $5 a ride (or whatever it was) was too rich for my blood. Plus, wasn’t the Hyrotube concept kind of stupid? I wasn’t going to ruin my perfectly gelled mullet and carry a wet bathing suit around the mall the rest of the day.
Lakeside Mall Nostalgia – Working at Lakeside Mall
I worked at Lakeside… Pizza Hut Express… so I not only got to explore the outside of the mall, but the inner tunnels and catacombs (I always wanted to play laser tag or paintball in the mall after it closed for the day).
You know how in high school there are cliques, groups, and tons of gossip? Lakeside Mall was all that TIMES 10. Because I worked at Pizza Hut, where the whole mall would stop for lunch or to get a Pepsi refill, you heard it all. The manager of Chess King is dating that guy from Sibley Shoes, The Crowley’s Manager got caught stealing, The Friendly’s waitress rage quit and slapped her boss… the funniest stuff. The stores all had their own dating pools too. A lot of the guys at our Pizza Hut were dating some of the cuties from Freshens Yogurt across the hall. I mean, it was only natural to get to know everyone from all the stores around you. My “mall” friends often meant more to me than my high school friends.
Lakeside Mall Nostalgia
So yes, Lakeside Mall used to mean a lot to me. I miss those days, a little… but not too much. I know I’m old, I know it’s not coming back, and I know that way of life isn’t going to return either.
PHOTO CREDIT – HEADER PHOTO – This Reddit Thread about Lakeside Mall
PHOTO CREDIT – FOOTER PHOTO – I took from this YouTube video
What’s your Lakeside Mall nostalgia or what are your memories of Lakeside Mall, or mall shopping in general?
