Russ at Springfield Rewind has a great collection of photos and articles about White Oaks Mall. The mall is reaching it’s 30th birthday here soon.
As a kid, the mall was always a treat to go to. Many times I would go with my mom and grandma on the city bus. Yes, we actually used public transportation. If I was a good kid and didn’t give too much of a fuss about them scouring through shoes and bargains at Bergner’s, I would get candy from Mr. Bulky, some kind of toy (usually a hot wheels car) from Kaybee toystore. That was always a treat. It seemed like those days were the longest days.
Check out the list of stores that opened with the mall. I didn’t realize how many had been there the whole time.
I kind of miss the old school mall. Remember with all the brown tile-flooring type thing…. Did there used to be a fountain of some kind in there, or am I making that up?
There was also that cool atrium thing in the middle with trees. My grandparents would take me and Andrew, buy us treats at the cookie factory and let us run around.