One night as my mom and I were out shopping she decided she wanted to take a trip down memory lane and visit her old stomping grounds: Valley West Mall. I have hazy memories of visiting the mall when I was younger so I was a little excited, but my mom, a former self-proclaimed “mall rat”, was ecstatic to be able to relive her high school years. At first, we were only going to walk through JC Penney, but then when we were met with the mall entrance we knew we had to journey further into the mall. 

As we walked through the once lively concourse we were hit with a wall of dread. A place that was once, in my mom’s words, “poppin” appeared to be deserted on a Saturday night. We were the only people in sight, quickly shifting our moods from excited to melancholy.

The lack of shoppers can be attributed to the rise of online shopping. After the COVID-19 pandemic online shopping has seemed to trump shopping in malls. The blame can also be pushed onto social media. Social media continues to push online shopping only feeding into the death of malls. Although malls are on the surface only for shopping, they give us so much more. Malls used to be a place to hang out with friends and people watch, now that is only a thing of the past. 

While most malls share a similar experience to Valley West Mall there seems to be some exceptions; for example, Jordan Creek Mall. By no means is Jordan Creek Mall as popular as it once was, but it is not on the verge of abandonment like most malls. Jordan Creek Mall continues to be a place for shopping and people hanging out, something Valley West Mall had strived to be once more. Unfortunately, even though the mall went through several owners trying to reignite it, the property has now been purchased with plans to become an urban renewal site. This means, they are taking the property and changing it into something that will be more economically efficient for the city. This most likely means the old mall will turn into apartment buildings. 

Even though this news brings me some sadness, it seems as though the closure of the mall was only a matter of time. Walking through the mall, my mom and I only came across about five businesses, all of them appearing to only have employees in them. My mom and I continued walking through the mall until we reached the playground. I also started to relive my childhood, much like my mom, when every few seconds I quickly turned to her saying, “I remember playing with this”. I also distinctly remember one of my favorite childhood photos that was taken in that very place. We instantly knew we had to recreate it. Valley West Mall filled my mom and I with nostalgia and I know we both are going to miss it dearly. I highly encourage you to take a walk through the mall before it closes. Even if you have never been, it was really interesting to see the irony of a place being so empty that was designed to be so lively. The memories Valley West Mall has created for the people of West Des Moines will continue to live on as the mall closes for good. 

Sources:

WDM council approves Valley West Mall Urban Renewal Plan – Business Record

Why malls across America are dying | PBS NewsHour Classroom

The death of mall culture and the new age of shopping – The Arizona State Press