Granite Ran

Let us toll a sad bell and light a wistful candle for the Granite Run Mall, as it is no more. It was born the same year as me yet I live on, another relic of the ‘70s.

That mall seemed like an extra far trip to us as kids because the Springfield Mall was much closer. We could take a bus to the Springfield Mall but Granite Run was like the place you had to get a ride to. It was bigger and seemed fancier.

I hadn’t actually been to the mall for some time. We were in the area a few years ago since we had free tickets to an AMC and that was the closest one. We saw a movie on a Friday night and I was shocked at how dead it was. You used to have to park like a mile away on the weekends. I drove by last weekend and did notice that there were about four cars in the parking lot when I used to have to park practically on Route 1 to shop, not that many years ago.

Remember going to the mall just to hang out? We did that all the time. Now you can’t drag me to a mall unless I absolutely need something. It’s not a leisure activity.

My main stop at the Granite Run Mall for many years was the comic book store. Half my collection must be from that place. I also liked the two or three music stores there: The Wall, Record Town and I think they had a Sam Goody. I was at Waldenbooks a lot. Remember the Bally’s with the weird dark glass front? How about the Farrah’s (?) ice cream place, way back when? Any Delco child of the ‘80s of course remembers the Children’s Place, which had that play maze with the slide and TV. Does anyone else remember when Sears had that big waterfall/fountain near the escalator, or am I senile?

I’m sure the mall will become some entertainment/retail/apartment extravaganza with cutting edge anchor stores and blah blah don’t really care because there’s absolutely no reason to shop there when a tax-free mall is five minutes away. I think they should just turn the mall directly into apartments — like people can live in the empty stores. When they want to go to bed, they can pull down those metal doors.

Like I said, I hadn’t shopped at the Granite Run Mall in years so I look back with nostalgia but I can’t get too weepy about something I left behind voluntarily. I can’t say, “No! They tore it down!” when I did nothing to support it for a long time. This happens as we get older: Places disappear and that’s sad but they’re just places we knew once and left behind. We take what we need from these things and go. It’s like if O’Hara closed, I’d be a little sad but I wouldn’t rail against it or protest or donate any money. I still have the friends I made in high school but I can only care so much about a place I once knew that I hadn’t set foot in for many years.