Thursday, July 07, 2005

Granite Run Mall


Media, Pennsylvania. 1970's

Man, Pennsylvania sure had a lot of shopping malls (still does)! This is a 2-level "super-regional" mall that is still there today. Current website.

30 comments:

  1. Wow Keith! I just found your blog and I'm doing what I love to do best, tripping away, lost in another time. What a great concept for a blog! I live in southeastern, Pa., not far from the Oxford Valley Mall, Plymouth Meeting, Neshaminy and Montgomery Malls. I spent many hours of my youth in all of them. Love seeing the individual stores in your photos like Woolworth's, Kresge's and Bambergers. What flashbacks! I hope you'll keep this up!

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  2. Thanks, Pat! Welcome in and I'm glad you're digging my trip! :) Don't worry, lots more to come.

    Hey, also feel free to share any old mall memories or details you remember in any of the mall entries here. In my book, this site will really be enhanced by all of YOU adding to the visuals and meager words I add. I welcome any fragments no matter how foggy or insignificant seeming. I'd like to sort of recreate what these old malls were really like in the good old days, both through the pictures and memories that get posted. So I'll need everyone's help in doing this! :)

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  3. Oh, wow! We used to drive up from Delaware to go here- I think I bought my prom shoes here at Boscov's in 1994 :-)

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  4. I loved this mall in the late 70's and early 80's. I had my 4th birthday party at a restaurant in Granite Run called "Farrell's". My mom was a personal trainer at Holiday Spa which was located at the far corner of the mall. It was a two story gym with an indoor pool on the lower level. To this day, I can swear I still smell the chlorine from a pool that has been long gone.

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    1. Lol, my Dad was a member there. I know exactly what you mean by the pool smell!

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  5. I used to work at Sears and had many friends I hung out with at the Mall in 1977 thru 1979. They used to have a bakery called Hansel and Gretel that had the best Cherry Danish. I have many good memories of this place. Although now I live in Connecticut, I have not visited the place in years.

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  6. Here is a question...anyone remember the name of the nightclub that was in there in the early 80's? It had a 50's theme to it with cars...

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  7. The name of the dance club was the Be-Bop Cafe. I used to work security at the mall from 1986 to 1988. Then when the mall closed for the night we would head right into the club. I was a cool little place. Plus the manager used to comp us drinks because he knew if a fight broke out we would jump in and help the bouncers. I think I had about 30 free drink vouchers at one time. Plus we never had to pay the cover charge. Thanks for jogging the old memory. If any of the old security crew ever see's this I would like to say hi to Danny,Chad,Rick,Jim and Will. Hey Chad (WE DIVE AT 5 MD UNION LOCAL 69)

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  8. I remember The Be-Bop Cafe. Dj Joe Zacco use to spin there. My first taste of a dance club, and I was hooked. The lights, '57 Chevy inside, and the booming music was amazing. Really nice set-up inside the Granite Run Mall.

    Cange30

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  9. does anyone remmeber a video store that was located near sears. in the 80's i think it was between 1984-88 called Stage Door Video???

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  10. I found 5 Aladdin's Castle Arcade tokens recently, talk about a trip down memory lane! That place was my second home at this mall. Now, it's a Borders bookstore. The mall is slowly losing its vibe over the years.

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  11. I was at Granite Run Mall this past February (3 1/2 months ago). I rode a coin operated horse there. It was AWESOME!!! :)

    -ilovehorseyrides

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  12. The hole mall will be torn down in 2015 R.I.P Granite run mall

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  13. Taking a trip down memory lane with my husband of all the old stores at the Granite Run Mall in the late 80s. Does anyone remember the name of the steakhouse that used to be on the upper level? I loved it there but can't remember the name.

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  14. I am so glad I found this blog! I have been trying for months to remember the name of the fantastic ice cream parlor upstairs. Thanks to Capt Jay for mentioning his birthday at Farrell's. I can remember loading up the car with friends and going to Farrell's just to get "The Trough" sundae. If you ate it all on your own, they would blow whistles, sound a siren and make a big deal of it all while slapping a pig snout on your face and taking a Polaroid for their wall of fame. Good times!

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  15. It was called "What's Hot" before the New Wave. I remember those skate demos....a lot of fun. I actually bought all my skateboards there as a kid. Will miss the Granite Run Mall, but glad it gave me the memories.

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  16. I used to love going to that mall in the 90's with my friends. The Merry Go Round was the best clothing store back then.

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  17. I fell in love with a princess there in 1987

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  18. I worked at the Farrell's in 1983-1984. I was one of the very few female cooks, most of the ladies waitressed or scooped ice cream. They got to wear the Styrofoam banded hats, being behind the scenes I did not. It was crazy busy at lunch and around the holidays. My parents took me there when I was a kid in the 70's. My mom worked at the Gimbels department store selling draperies. Granite Run Mall was a special place.

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  19. So so many memories of the Granite Run Mall. My parents moved there when it was still a quarry and I was an infant. It was a mainstay of my youth from yearly pictures taken at the Sears Prortait Studio as young kids, to many many quarters spent at Aladin's Castle, buying shoe string licorice and window shopping with my girlfriends. It was where I got my hair cut and opened my first bank account. We were close enough to walk to the mall. I worked at Fluff N Stuff the stuffed animal store on lower level behind the glass elevator. My brother worked at Carmamel corn. In the 80's as a teen, the Mall was the place to be. It holds fond memories for me.

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  20. Holy flashbacks

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  21. When I was 12-13 I would visit my grandmother for the summer in the mid to late 70s. Hansel and Gretel was awesome!

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