Finally caught why the tile pattern in Meriden Mall food court bugged me so much

I kept looking at pictures from my trip to the old Meriden Mall last month and something felt off about the fountain floor. Then I realized every single tile was laid at a slight rotation from the grid, like someone set them drunk in the 80s. Has anyone else found a weird detail in a dead mall that they couldn't unsee?

2 comments

2 Comments

harris.vera1mo ago

Yeah the tile thing is real in older malls... I worked retail in the late 90s and the floor in our wing was off by a half inch on every other row. Best fix I found was to just focus on the ceiling lights when you walk through, the pattern stops messing with your head after a while.

the_kim1mo ago

That drunk tile theory is interesting but I have to disagree. I grew up near that mall and the rotation was actually part of a 1984 renovation meant to mimic a riverbed for the fountain. The installer they hired was known for doing custom work like that on purpose, not by accident.