JB's Warehouse & Curio Emporium

Alas, Wonderland Mall's bag was full for only two more decades. The shopping centre closed in 2004 and was demolished to make way for a big box centre with the more genteel moniker of Wonderland Village . I have never been to either incarnation—we never spent time in the western suburbs of Detroit when I was a kid, and Dad and I rarely ventured through Livonia during our exploratory drives around southeast Michigan. Since any stores or services were available in the suburbs we usually went to (Southgate, Taylor, Troy, anywhere with "Heights" in its name), there was little reason to go wandering through the west. Water Winter Wonderland has a lengthy piece on the birth and death of Wonderland . Also in the July 1985 issue of Monthly Detroit : * A cover story on longtime Detroit Free Press columnist Bob Talbert , the source of at least one quote I've used on this site ("outta my mind on a Monday moanin'"). * Interviews with author Elmore Leona...

A large domed centre court with a long set of steps that were ideal for kids to run up and down until they ran out of breath. A nearby carousel when running lost its charm. Restaurant chains such as Friendly's , Frisch's Big Boy and McDonald's that were suited for young'uns. A department store named after the king of the jungle. Welcome to wonderland for a kid on a family vacation in Toledo, Ohio in the late 70s/early 80s. *** The death notice has just been signed on another element of my childhood. As of June 30, Southwyck Shopping Center in Toledo will shut its doors permanently . Opened in 1972 on the west side of Toledo along US 20 (Reynolds Road), the anchors by the time we shopped there were Montgomery Ward and Lion , a local department store chain which operated two locations in the mall (the main store on the east wing, a home store on the north end that replaced an earlier tenant). My parents usually had good luck shopping at Lion, while my ma...

And there you have it - White Woods Mall is no more. The piles of rubble and half-demolished sections of the west wing were gone, with only the fitness centre and a dollar store remaining. From its ashes, outlots in the back signal the property's next incarnation. The old southwest entrance, now all by itself. Note the orange signs - the building, construction fence and parking lot were plastered with signs indicating the dollar store was still in business. One can debate whether these large stones in the back parking lot were randomly placed, stand as a memorial, protect the fire hydrant from errant shovel operators or function as art. Previous entries . Full set of pictures . All photos taken July 2, 2007

I spent most of Victoria Day weekend back home in Amherstburg, which meant another opportunity to trace the ongoing demolition of White Woods Mall. It looked like someone decided to bring a chair for a front-row view. The pace had quickened since my last visit - the east wing and A&P were history, though rubble in the lot may have belonged to either. Left: Bundles of twisted metal occupied the area around the old northeast entrance. Right: Clearing away the rest of the lot for the Bentonville Behemoth was well underway. Have not checked on the number of calls Crimestoppers has received in relation to this site. Years ago, Crimestoppers ran weekly ads before SCTV reruns on Windsor's CBC affiliate. The last one I remember, regarding an incident at a Burger King at Tecumseh and Lauzon Rd, ran for months. The narrator was more dramatic than usual, placing slow, heavy emphasis on "SUS-PECT NUM-BER ONE". Left: Anyone need an air conditioning unit? Note ...

Before driving back to TO last weekend, I decided to check out the progress on the ongoing demolition of White Woods Mall . Quite a bit had changed since Christmas ... In the back, two new rows of retail are nearing completion. A couple of businesses, such as First Choice and Eye on Video, have already moved into the north set, even if their storefronts are incomplete. The white storefront on the right will be the new home of the Royal Bank. The northwest mall entrance still stands, though you can see there's little to its left, as the old movie theatre/bingo space has been cleared. On the right is the west row of new stores. My grandmother lived in the brown apartment building in the rear in the late 1980s - she was on the top floor, with a great view of town and Boblo Island. A sign of businesses still in the mall cleaning up. Over on the front side of the mall, a sign indicating that a few businesses are still operating. Note the "Road Closed" sign....

Amherstburg can join the list of towns across North America that have a dead mall. After 30 years, most of them known as Fort Malden Mall, White Woods Mall will breathe its last within the next few months, to be replaced with a power centre anchored by the Bentonville Behemoth. For most of its life, the mall was filled with small local businesses and Windsor-based chains. Few national retailers passed through its doors over the first half of its life. The original portion of the mall, the east corridor, opened in 1976, with A&P and The Met (Metropolitan stores) as its anchors. The Met was a second-tier discount chain owned by Gendis, who later converted it to a SAAN store. For several years, both chains operated across the street from each other. Don't really remember much about the Met, other than Dad used to pick up cutout records there and Amy and I had childhood portraits taken there. It was considered ultra-low-end shopping by late childhood. The only other Met locat...