I can’t remember with perfect recall everything that was located in the mall, but I do remember that next to the K-Mart there was a video arcade (the Gold Mine, later a Tilt) Giovanni’s pizza, a shoe store that I believe later became a pet store (of all things) a Fashion Bug and a Hallmark store or locally owned facsimile.

Moving towards the center of the mall and turning left was a Stitches (clothing store, which meant in the 80’s “more pastels than should be legally permissible to wear”) a Camelot Music, a Cato, a Treasury Drug (later Ben Franklin Crafts) and and JC Penny’s.

Moving back from the center was a Peanut Shack, an Orange Julius (that later became something else that was Orange Julius in all but name) a Radio Shack, an optometrist and a hair salon.

Moving back to Belk’s there was another clothing store and a Waldenbooks, which stayed for the longest time.

I have a lot of fond memories of Becker Village Mall, but I can see why it’s on its last legs–as all the growth in Roanoke Rapids has moved towards the I-95 corridor, it’s too far away and too small for most potential tenant’s needs. So while I miss what it was, I have many years’ worth of fond memories of shopping there.

We’ve all been hearing for a while about great new things coming, but we’ve all gotten used to failure and the disappointment when that doesnt happen.

It was mentioned in the write-up above that the area was chosen for an entertainment center by Dolly Parton called Carolina Crossroads – this is only partially correct. It was actually her brother, Randy Parton who had his name attached to this miserable failure of a project. He was wooed to the area by the local government with a retardedly huge contract and offer for his services, amounting to millions of taxpayer dollars (including a massive house on the lake) – with zero input from the actual taxpayers. As for his sister, Dolly Parton never once performed there. Randy Parton himself only performed there for a short time, before being fired for substance abuse. Currently, the place sits vacant, and was recently sold to an out of state venue manager for a fraction of its initial cost. The whole theater complex was never even completed, with only 2 of the 8 planned theaters ever finished. Also, there was local council corruption issues surrounding the whole affair, where millions of dollars just disappeared into thin air.

Along with all of that was supposed to be a theme part of sorts, a marine wildlife aquarium, a new 12 screen multiplex, and a whole host of other retail places. None of those ever saw the light of day.

The whole ordeal was so heavily hyped up as being the savior of the whole region that it caused a whole cascade of crap for the residents. Speculation on the area becoming Branson, MO ver.2.0 caused realtors to hugely inflate property costs in anticipation, almost doubling the prices of homes in the area in less than a years time.

As a result of all this failure, a lot of the rumored companies coming to town either backed out or never showed up in the first place. As of this writing, there is a half-built, abandoned supermarket called Farm Fresh that was to be the anchor for phase III of Premier Landing, across the street from phase II. The outer shell of the building is all that exists, it otherwise hasn’t been touched in over 4 months.

In closing, the Becker Village Mall is but only 1 example of an entire town that is currently dying.

While I was on Spring Break a few months ago, the new owner of this place kept on sending me harassing emails telling me to take my entry off my blog. I threw him in the spam box. Rinky dink local stores aren’t going to save a mall, they never do.

It is not up to the mall manager or mall owners or mall management companies solely to make “progressive business decisions”. It lies also with the retail corporations themselves. Retailers look at income, population, and many other aspects of an area before “moving in”. And during this current economic situation, retailers are hesitant on expanding. There is a LOT more involved than just a mall manager or owner wanting retail to come into the area. I know this as I live in the area as well, and I have inquired as to why we haven’t seen too many new stores open yet. I do know the entire staff there is doing everything they can to get Becker Village Mall back to the busy shopping attraction that it once was. Please be patient and supportive, and you will surely see improvements happening in the very near future.