Went to the old Clearwater Mall yesterday and realized I'd been entering through the wrong door for years

I always parked on the east side near where the food court used to be, but that entire section has been sealed off since 2018. The trick was that the only working entrance is the old service door behind the Gap (which is now just storage for some furniture liquidator). I wasted like 15 minutes walking around in the rain before some guy loading boxes pointed me to the right spot. Has anyone else discovered that their childhood mall's layout has become totally unrecognizable?

2 comments

2 Comments

betty1444d ago

My friend Carol had a similar experience at the Woodfield Mall outside Chicago. She used to go there as a teenager and always entered through the entrance near the old fountain, but that whole area is now a mattress store and some kind of vitamin shop. She walked around for twenty minutes trying to find the food court and ended up in a hallway full of offices and a UPS store, not a single slice of pizza in sight. A janitor finally told her they moved the food court to the lower level three years ago and the only way down now is through the parking garage elevator. She said she felt like she was in some kind of mall version of The Twilight Zone.

the_john4d ago

You mean the whole layout shifted without you even noticing until you were literally walking in circles? That happened to me with the mall near my old apartment in 2021. I used to park by the movie theater that closed down, but they turned that whole wing into a DMV and some kind of call center. The main entrance is now where the old arcade used to be, and I only found out because a security guard saw me looking confused and pointed me there. It took me three visits before I could find the restroom without asking someone. Your mileage may vary, but I started taking a quick walk around the outside of the building before going in, just to spot any new doors or signs.