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Someone on another post was talking about the mall and got me thinking about the cool stores that were there when they first opened it. I thought that would be fun to talk about.
I was a almost a teen when it opened. I can remember
It had Hardees, you could slip out a back door where the bathroom was and POOF there was your car...we always parked there.
Orange Julius,
Tobacco Rd LTD, With the colored cigarettes..that was cool.
Directions...had such an odd store layout with its downstairs area.
Parisians had a candy store and also a talking Chrstmas tree in season.
Castnor Knotts
Hickory Hill Farms (they had these whiskey sour and martini candies... my friend and I thought we could get drunk eating themLOL)
Big Top Deli..with all those ceiling fans!
Morrisons
Aladdins Castle
Baskin Robbins ..pralines and cream was the BEST!
Radio Shack
Jeans West
Sears and J C Penney both had tire centers if I remember correctly.
Spencers
Eckards or some kind of drugstore
There was a mexican rest next to Big top but I don't know if it was originally there.
There was a a Toy store beside Hardees Anderson bookstore..maybe where Hallmark is now.
Some kind of music store beside Radio Shack.
That's about the extent of my memory...
Can anyone add to that?
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Toy's R Us I think was an original. After more thought, the back parking lot used to be my dove hunting field before it all was built. Used to ride my bike up and down Cox Creek Parkway with a shotgun on my shoulder. We also rode dune buggies, there because there were no cars. Couldn't understand why they built that four lane out there with nothing there. There was nothing between Diebert Farm and where Lowes is now. Way back when.
I remember Big B Drugs in the mall. It was beside Orange Julius (Old Dillard's childrens store)It had a rear entrance to the parking lot. On Sundays it and Morrison's were the only two stores open. I remember when the mall first opened it has a bank where Honey Baked Ham is now. It was 1st National Bank of Florence, had a post office in it.
[quote] We lived way in the country, so we didn't do fast food OR shopping very often, so that was a real treat for us. :-)[/quote]

Same here. We always lived way out in the country and it was always exciting and fun for me and my little brother when we'd go with mom. Sometimes we would eat at Morrisons and that was always a treat.
The toy store in the mall was not Toy's R Us but I can't remember what it was. Record Bar was awesome!!!! I used to spend hours in that place! I also miss Morrison's and Baskin Robbins too!!!! I wish we still had one. When I got old enough to pick out my birthday cakes, they were always Ice Cream Cakes from Baskin Robbins!!!
the toy store was called circus world, and the candy at hickory farms was great! hard to forget whiskey sour hard candy! the record store was called record bar, patterson hood of the drive by truckers worked there for years, most of the original stores are gone, i worked at spencers during my high school years, boy was that fun!
If I am not mistaken, the original toy store in the mall was named Circus World. Lynn’s Hallmark Shop was across from Pitziz. Lynn’s Hallmark was owned by the same people who owned Pitziz.

My wife was working at the Pitziz Bakery when I met her in 1983. Lynn’s Hallmark shop was located across from the bakery, along with the original Spencer’s and GNC.

Eckard’s Drugs was located next door to Orange Julius. There was a store, similar to Orange Julius that I do not remember the name of, located where the pretzel store is located now.

Gordon’s Jeweler’s was located next to where Spencer’s is currently located.

With the exception of Sears, J. C. Penney’s, Chick Filet and Orange Julius, the rest of the stores have either changed names, owners, closed or relocated from their original locations within the mall.

With the exception of Sears, I rarely visit the mall now.
I remember many of the stores mentioned,from 1983 to1989 I worked at 3 of the stores mentioned, Circus World Toys was the toy store, my 1st day was the after Thanksgiving Day Sale, I had no clue what a Care Bear,Cabbage patch or Glow Worm was,but had to stop 2 grown men fighting over a Glow Worn. From Circus World I went to Aladdins Castle while I went back to UNA, so for one summer I worked Aladdins Castle and Radio Shack, spent 5 years with the Shack. One place that was not one of the original stores but came later was Cardwells, a spin off of Speedy Pig from Russellville. This resturant had the best chicken fingers and it is where it met my most wonderful wife!! The mall also used too have giant planters with real trees and that aweful brown tile. Many stories i could tell. I amstill friends with many of the people I met during my time at the mall.
There was also a waterbed place up by Sears (where the Shoe Dept is now... the space was shared by the waterbed store and World Bazaar), a MotherCare store, a Singer Sewing Center, and a Kimball Organ center. Eckerd's Drug store was next to Orange Julius and if I remember correctly Orange Julius and the arcade are the only 2 stores still in their original places... and there was also Morrison's Cafeteria....
savin, I keep coming back to look at Directions, trying to remember. I know I should know that store, but can't get my memory to cooperate! Did it have kids or juniors clothing?

I was usually in the mall with my grandmother because she "needed a blouse from Penny's" ...hee/hee...I bet that woman had enough blouses to cloth everyone in Franklin County. HA!

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Last edited by _Joy_
Directions was a jr.'s jeans store on the same wavelength as Jeans West if memory serves correctly. It was located close to world bazaar. It had a downstairs area that you could see from the regular part of the store..kinda like an overlook. It had 4 stairways in each "direction " coming out of the pit. There were maybe 6-8 steps on each set.
Hope this helps.
If I'm not mistaken, the booster chairs for kids at the shoe store in the mall came from Kaye shoes
in downtown Florence. My mom always took me down there when I was really young and there was always an employee which actually put the shoes on your feet and helped find the right size.

I remember another shoe store called the Bootery which was originally behind Kreisman's in downtown - wasn't there one in the mall in the early years, also?
I remember as a kid being fascinated by the Christmas decorations. I was really little, but I think they put some kind of foam in the fountains to look like snow. I always thought it looked like dish soap. I also remember they had different Christmas scenes in the fountains with mannequins, some of them moved.

Somewhere in the middle of the mall was the Santa Claus scene. I remember a stable with reindeer, some of them moved their heads. After you sat on Santa's lap, you got a candy cane and a plastic ring with a Santa face on it.

I also remember the talking Christmas Tree. I never liked it, it was just too creepy for me.

When I was a little older, I used to go to Aladdin's Castle which was next to Baskin Robins'. Big Top Deli was on the other side of it I believe. Circus World was the toy store and it was on the opposite side of the mall from Sears, I think near JC Penny's. They used to always have the toy dog out front moving and barking. There was a cookie store next to it and I still remember how awesome it smelled right there.

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