Met an old guy at the Meriden Square Mall who knew every single store that ever opened there

I was poking around the old food court area by myself last weekend, and this older gentleman walks up and asks if I was looking for something specific. Turns out he worked maintenance there from 1985 until it closed in 2019. He pointed to a weirdly tiled spot near the escalator and said that's where the Orange Julius used to be, and he remembered the girl who worked there always gave him free samples. Then he showed me a faded outline on the floor where the Waldenbooks was, and he told me about how they had a midnight release for one of the Harry Potter books and the line wrapped around past the Sears entrance. It was wild hearing someone talk about a dead mall like it was a living thing... he knew the smells and the sounds and even the dumb little quirks like which fountain always sprayed on people if the wind was right. Did any of you ever run into former employees at a mall you were exploring? What kind of stories did they tell you?

2 comments

2 Comments

abbyl492d ago

You ever talk to someone who knew every inch of a place like that? That Waldenbooks story is cool. Those midnight releases were huge back then. Bet he could tell you where the best spot to hide from mall security was too.

evan_harris142d ago

Oh absolutely, that guy knew every nook and cranny (probably memorized the floor plans from the mall directory maps they used to have). And you're right about those midnight releases being huge - I remember waiting in line for the last Harry Potter book and my friend's brother worked at the bookstore and told us the best spot to stash our candy wrappers so we didn't get yelled at by the night manager. It's funny how those little insider details stick with you, like knowing which food court bathroom had the cleanest toilets or which payphone actually worked. I bet that security guard could've drawn you a map of every storage closet and hidden hallway behind the stores, no joke. Those guys see everything when the mall's empty at closing time.