Yep, it's time for another part of this overwhelmingly large set! As I've discussed before, my plan is to break down the many hundreds of photos I have into chunks of around 100 photos each, ideally each relating to some specific topic (but there may be some awkward breaks from time to time). This set will focus on the Macy's (Bon Marche) building, probably my favorite part of this mall, with photos primarily from my summer 2021 visit.
Hey, a long line of cars trying to get to the mall! I guess that is a good sign for the mall. Maybe everyone is trying to get to Sears. Ok, maybe not, lol.
ReplyDeleteI know where Tukwila is, but even if I didn't, I could probably make a good guess about it based on the cars in the traffic queue! There is a Subaru, but only one. Thus, it would probably be clear that this mall somewhere south of Seattle, but not quite to Tacoma yet, lol.
Speaking of architecture which is perhaps not completely removed from that Bon Marche, there is some recent news from the Houston Safeway Preservation Society (Membership: 5, lol). One of the 'column' ex-Safeways in my general part of town is undergoing a significant exterior remodel as the shopping center the ex-Safeway in is getting prepped for a new tenant moving into the old Kmart in the center which had previously been serving an indoor go-kart track. The thrift store in the ex-Safeway will be staying, but it looks like the river rock is going to be covered up (or at least painted) and the Spanish tile facade is going to be boxed in and stucco'ed over. I think the columns themselves will stay simply because I'm not sure how they can get rid of them without also boxing them in or something. Here's how the store looked pre-remodel: https://maps.app.goo.gl/Dvt9kigpUPLUwU55A
It is sad to see a Safeway with that design remodeled like that, but I will admit that shopping center did need a modernization. I'm sure you won't complain about the river rock going away though!
Most likely, most of the people here aren't actually heading to the mall -- the picture may make this look like a mall access road, but it's a major link in the extremely convoluted road network around Southcenter (thanks to the major I-5/I-405 interchange just out of view to the right). There's a lot of retail stuff in the area around the mall, along with warehouses and such (including the one that Nintendo rented from Mario Segale), plus plenty of traffic bypassing the freeways. I have visited this place several times when there was actually a line of cars backed up onto the street waiting to get into the parking lot, but those visits were in December, not summer!
DeleteIt's too bad to see that, since it looks like that was a pretty cool store! You know my feelings about rock walls, though! 🙂