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| 70s/80s North Dartmouth Mall logo |
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| Vintage North Dartmouth Mall sign |
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| 80s/90s North Dartmouth Mall logo |
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| Mid-80s/early-90s North Dartmouth Mall sign |
I am updating this blog about the ONLY mall in the SouthCoast of Massachusetts that is STILL open today: the Dartmouth Mall. Why? Because this month makes it 55 years since it opened back in 1971.
55 years?!?!?!? That is insane for this day in age considering all the other malls in this country are either closed for good or slowly dying. Think about it for a second here:
The Harbor Mall in Fall River closed in 2016.
The Swansea Mall closed in 2019.
The Silver City Galleria in Taunton, MA (which I considered the mall of the 90s and many said that this mall was going to put the Dartmouth Mall out of business) closed in 2020.
What is even crazier is that I worked at the Dartmouth Mall for over half of those 55 years, 31 years to be precise with 15 years at Ruby Tuesday, when it was part of the mall from 1994 to 2016 and now 16 years currently as a housekeeper and still going today. I am very blessed to still have a job at the mall despite all the changes happening.
Do I miss the NORTH Dartmouth Mall? Sure, I do. I miss all the stores that were there. It is a good thing that I got the mall directories from years gone by so that I will know what stores that used to be there. Until Amazon and eBay came along, I used to enjoy shopping at the mall, especially when I worked at Ruby Tuesday at the time. I used to go to Dream Machine to play some arcade games (Check out my Capcom video games blog for the games that I played there). I miss going to Zayre/Ames....in fact, I got my first deck of playing cards from Zayre and I have that deck today thanks to eBay, where I found it! Later on in the 2000s, I used to go to fye for burning/mixing CDs and pre-ordering movies on DVD. I used to go to Olympia for whenever our Boston sports teams wins a title, I go there for the championship hats! I sometimes will get food from Rainoni's or Taco Bell nowadays because basically those are the only 2 restaurants I go to regularly but, on occasion, I'll go to Buffalo Wild Wings. I haven't ordered a lot from Olive Garden but maybe I could start soon. Friendly's Ice Cream? Yup, I used to get a Reese's Peanut Butter Cup Cyclone there.....now it is called a Friend-Z across the street from the mall on Route 6. The mall also had a Dunkin' Donuts.
We used to have a EB Games/GameStop at the mall where I bought many video games including Super Mario Advance 4: Super Mario Brothers 3 for the Game Boy Advance back in 2003, the timing of the game's release was perfect because playing this would help me cope with the Red Sox' ALCS series loss against the Yankees that year. We did have a Child World toy store as well, that was where I bought a majority of my Masters Of The Universe figures from there and when it moved across the street from the mall and it landed next to Ann & Hope, I bought my first Nintendo Entertainment System there. SEARS was a store where I got Chirstmas Wish Books from plus I used to play Super Mario All-Stars and Super Mario 64 and Mario Kart 64 at their Funtronics section. Speaking of gaming kisoks, the mall also had a Captron World Of Nintendo store but it suprisingly didn't last long there considering how much of a craze Nintendo was back in the day. The SEARS Auto Center was where my father worked from 1976- 2015...he retired during the holiday season in 2015. SEARS closed its doors in 2019. Woolworth was another place I miss, I used to but a majority of TOMY Pocket Games there but the final item that I bought from there before it closed its doors in 1997? An all-teal Florida Marlins baseball hat. Woolworth had a restaurant next door as well. Speaking of restaurants, it had a P.J. Kelley's as well but I think Ruby Tuesday put it out of business. CVS, bought a lot of video game magazines there.
I remember buying my first Reebok Pump sneakers at a store called Finish Line when it was there, cost me 40 bucks, LOL! I also will never forget Hulk Hogan being at the mall because his daughter Brooke was performing there. I also saw Nasty Boy Brian Knobbs with them as well. Four years ago, Power Ranger legend Jason David Frank was there as well but I did not know about it at the time but I do regret not seeing him there now since he passed away a couple of years ago.
Now, the one thing that I did the mall more times over the years outside of working there was going to the movies at the theater, whenever it was Cinema 8, General Cinemas 12 or AMC, I have seen more movies at the mall theater than any other mall or theater. In fact, I have seen a total of 49 movies at the mall theater over the years that I have worked and shopped there since I was a kid. I believe the first ever movie that I saw there was Disney's 101 Dalmatians back in 1986 with the Dennison Memorial after-school program when I was only 9 years old.
In conclusion, this will be the most legendary mall in the SouthCoast Massachusetts region and it already has been part of my life and more much so now no matter what. There are only 2 days I dread: One, the day that I might have to quit my job as a housekeeper there to find a job outside the mall or Two, the day that it is announced that mall is closing. Until either one of those 2 days come, I will try my best to make the mall a beautiful place to shop at and for people to enjoy by making sure it is clean every morning that I work there from Monday to Friday! 55 years of the Dartmouth Mall and it is still going strong today despite the pandemic and many other situations that has gone on over the years. But I never forget I was working at Ruby Tuesday when 9/11/2001 happened and the mall had to close early and we were all sent home for safety reasons. After that, mall is still going strong. Happy 55th Anniversary, Dartmouth Mall! I do not know if it will stay open forever but once it does end up closing its doors, its legacy will live forever until the end of time!
