First off, the Lord & Taylor redevelopment was unofficially called “Galleria V”, it was never really “official”. Secondly, Saks is not the second-largest store, there are larger ones (Chicago Place).

Bed Bath and Beyond was there already in 1999 as well and shared what was originally the main floor of the store. It is my understanding that BB&B replaced Marshalls, which was already gone when I moved here.

however, in its defense when my family first moved to Flossmoor, Lincoln Mall had a small Gap store in it.

this was excellent for the one year it was open and we could go to it. then we only ever went to the old navy. which is perfectly acceptable. but that mall….oh boy.

its very frustrating to drive to Orland to go to a Gap that we used to have.

also this mall has been claiming it was bringing in new stores and remodeling for almost 10 years now. I remember my family and friends talking about it and reading the articles in the Daily Southtown telling us how fancy our mall was going to be. My mom even got most of our community to write letters to businesses asking for them to bring their stores to Lincoln Mall. Because there is a market for it, there are many wealthy suburbs nearby including Homewood and Flossmoor which I did not see mentioned in this article but are frequently called “the diamond of the south suburbs.” Silly, but proves the point that there is business to be had! But there were a few years of silence about the topic, the most recent campaign’s tagline is “were serious!” which is funny, because there is no apostrophe, so it reads “WERE serious” which may be true, at one time they probably were serious, but now. its just a joke.

I put the blame of Reno’s economic downfall dirtectly on the shoulders of those that chose to ban “Cruising” downtown Virginia Street., which was the One experience that held the true Magic of Reno, and had enabled it to prosper.
What an enormous, city killing, unnecessary blunder. some group of fools had made. Who had voted to put an end to Cruising Virginia? Did any of them grow up in Reno? If so, hadn’t they cruised? It is just so clearly the one Major thing that had created an interest for the Downtown area among the youthj, that would grew to be the adults, that kept the phrase “Biggest Little City” alive and active in their hearts and minds. And, that is just a part of what having a busy, crowded “Main Street” was doing for our once unique city. It’s hard for me to imagine how out of touch in understanding the very heart of Reno the worthless idiots were, and are, that voted in favor of ending the cruising that one very short, yet most beloved stretch of asphalt.
At least it once had a special meaning to the youth and young of heart of the community, as well as visitors worldwide.
So, stop scratching your empty heads wondering what in the heck happened, you pretentious asses, and realize that your votes to kill our spontaneous desire to enjoy our town by “Dagging Main” was what strangled the life out of it.

I would like to, and could go on giving you the verbal beating you so deserve, but I’m sure you are at a loss and don’t get what I’m saying. I would enciourage all those who do know what I’m talking about to join togethter and reinstitute and encourage Cruising Virginia, as it may not yet be too late to resuscitate our city, as I deem it will be incredibly popular, were the Soul of Reno to be allowed to return and dwell with uis, and whithin us.

I can’t believe I’m the only one who knows and realizes this, and I would encourage those that share my small amount of common sense and have the ability to bring it to the public’s attention to do so.
I can’t say for certain that banning Cruising caused Park L:ane Mall to ultimately be completely demolished, but I’m pretty sure it did. It certainly caused our World Famous “Biggest Little Strip” to become, when compared to the years that teens and others were allowed to Cruise, little more than a ghost town. So, here’s to you, what’s left of Reno, I wish I could see a better future for you than Park Lane, but I imagine the current “Leaders” are far more clueless about your nature and what drives you than those that had originally outlawed your citizens to celebrate and honor you.