Silver City Galleria Ghost Town Over Thanksgiving Weekend

As I pulled into the Silver City Galleria on Saturday night, it occurred to me that I hadn't been there in years.  My wife and I were bringing our kids to Round One to meet up with Christine Fox and her family for some bowling.

I have to say that Round One was a lot of fun.  What they have done inside the former "Pump and Jump" location at the mall is truly amazing.  What was more amazing, however, was the brow raising crowds (or lack thereof) on what is traditionally the busiest retail weekend of the entire year.  Thinking back 15-20 years ago, the Silver City Galleria was "the" mall on the Southcoast.  In my mind, it was a little step up from the Dartmouth Mall.  I was nothing short of stunned to see the Silver City Galleria in its current state over the weekend.  The only thing missing (other than shoppers) was tumbleweed blowing across the parking lot.  It was downright eerie pulling into the parking lot approaching what used to be a bustling Macy's.  The former anchor was shut up tighter than a Florida liquor store preparing for the arrival of a hurricane.

We continued around the parking lot to see JC Penney in a similar state.  I don't know why it all seemed so creepy.  I guess it's just a cold, hard, reality check that the world has drastically changed over the past decade or two.  It was a concrete and mortar symbol of mortality--not only for retail--but also for a guy in his 40's suffering a mid life crisis.  The contrast was stunning.  I explained to my kids that this mall used to be as busy as the Wrentham Outlets years ago.  So busy, in fact, that you'd consciously avoid it over Thanksgiving weekend.  Years ago Yogi Berra might have said about the Silver City Galleria, "Nobody goes there anymore, it's too crowded."  Now Yogi would say, "Nobody goes there anymore.  They're shopping in their pajamas on Cyber Monday."