Elm Grove

Remember malls?

It seems over the last 40 - 50 years or so, the idea of putting a bunch of stores under a roof with little daylight was created, flourished, and fell apart.

The old style shopping center - like Elm Grove's Park & Shop is getting new life as today's customers want to pull in front of the store they want - go in; get out; and get moving.

Elm Grove is a small Wisconsin city in metropolitan Milwaukee with it's own identity and Main Street business district, complete with a shopping center anchored by a variety of stores and shops.

In other places, the outdoor mall might be separated from traffic with an outdoor pedestrian mall complete with real grass and fountains. 

Surprisingly, even in the north - where it can be cold for nearly half the year - the idea of outdoor shopping is gaining traction again.

Malls may still have their place, the Mall of America comes to mind, and I remember a lot of times it was the place my friends and I turned to when there was nothing to do.... "Wanna go to the mall?"

Janesville's Mall went up in stages during the mid 1970s.  First a Montgomery Ward's store went in (now a Kohl's in the same location) and a few years later J.C. Penney's anchored the other end with a Wiese's as a center anchor. 

It included a triplex movie theater which seemed like a lot at the time, which was well before 16 screen theaters became common.  That's where I saw Star Wars the first time.

Locals flocked to it as stores formerly not available were open for business, but that change in traffic left a hole downtown as the merchants there struggled to keep customers coming through their doors.  Downtown in many cities now consist of offices and small businesses while the big box stores and centers dot the fringes of town, growing like dandelions near major intersections.

Yesterdays become tomorrow all the time, so I imagine like the fat tie - thin tie - fat tie fashion trends; it will not be long before the idea of getting out of the rain, cold, and heat while shopping becomes the latest and greatest idea in retail.

As with many things in life, it seems there are no new ideas - just recycled ones.   The right approach for a fickle public.