Dirt Mall Ghost Town

There's dirt, then there's a mall, now there's dirt again...

In 1974 a new enclosed shopping mall opened in Fishkill, New York, the Dutchess Mall. I first found it sometime in the late 70's, a modest, respectable mall anchored by couple of regional department stores that have since gone out of business. At that time I was Sales Manager for a line of Swiss woodworking machines, and I found that a competing manufacturer was giving demonstrations  of their machines at the mall. In the spirit of research, I decided to go watch.

Living in New York City, I didn't have a car at the time, so that Saturday I took the train to the Beacon station, figuring on a taxi between there and the mall. What I didn't count on was one of the major industries in that area: prisons. A lot people on the train got off at Beacon to visit relations. Everyone carpooled into the taxis but the driver said he would take me to the mall after he dropped everyone else off. Fair enough. At the last prison, everyone was out but me. The driver looked at me funny, but shrugged and dropped me at the mall.

The mall was fairly standard at the time. Neat, well kept, about fifty stores along with the anchors at either end. A main concourse and a few crossing corridors provided space for seasonal set-ups and product demo's like the one I was there to see. I watched a few times, they did a fair job and closed a few sales. I walked around the stores a little and found my way back home.

About twenty years later the mall reappeared in my life. By that time I had married and had a child who grew up and went off to college not far from Fishkill.

One day she said,
"Dad, next time you come to visit, I'm going to take you to the Dirt Mall."
"What's that, a Flea Market?" I asked.
"Kind of. But a flea market would be a step up from this. You know how the very best old stuff ends up at Antique Markets, and the other stuff ends up at the Fleas?"
"Okay, yes, sure."
"Turns out there's even more stuff. It's what doesn't get to the landfill. The old toys that disappeared from your room when you were a kid, this is what happened to them. All the games for video systems that haven't been made for years. Old rugs, furniture. You've got to see this, its surreal."

Next time I visited we went to the Dirt Mall and, don't you know, it's the old Dutchess Mall taken over by a giant market. Outside, table and stalls like a regular Flea Market or Swap Meet. But inside, that's where the strange began. We stepped through the doors into one of the old department stores, I don't know if it was the old Mays or the Lucky Platts. Once inside, a cacophony of sights and sounds overwhelms me. Lots of people, lots of merchandise. But most of the goods are old, second hand. Not antiques. Just old.

And the really strange thing was that the old store's fixtures, carpets and signage was still in place. And, used to advantage. The old "Carpets" section was the home of a rug vendor. "Electronics" was taken over by a guy who sold old radios and computers (from the very first home computers on up). "Jewelry:" a used jewelry and collectible vendor. "Furniture," "Toys," "Clothing," look up at a sign and beneath it the matching goods. I wandered through the market, slack-jawed.

On one side, where the old department store had opened onto the mall, were the old glass doors to the mall. They were open. I stepped onto the concourse and looked up and down. Every store was closed, shuttered. I could see where years before product demonstrations had taken place. Demos that I saw. It wouldn't have surprised me to see sagebrush blowing toward me: a ghost town of retailing. Since then most of that mall has been torn down, a Home Depot is in its place. Interesting recycling.

Old downtown stores closed, moved to malls.
Malls transformed into store ghost towns.
Old malls replaced by big box stores.


New chances downtown,
In stores long closed,
Dirt, a mall, then dirt once more.
People love to jabber and shop,
Watch something new happen.
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