Memorable city businesses are history
The following is a Counterpoint.
By Billy Coore
I have been a proud Greensboro resident my entire life and have had the opportunity to watch businesses come and go. However, this interesting privilege has many drawbacks.
I was a kid in the early to mid- 1990s and would go to the old Carolina Circle Mall, shop at the many Kmarts, eat at Sally’s Hot Dogs and Western Steer on High Point Road, and play miniature golf at Putt-Putt Golf and Games. The ’90s were a very nice decade for our city.
Unfortunately, many of the places I grew up going to no longer exist. The only Kmart left has downsized considerably over the past years, leaving nothing but a shell of its former self. Where did Little Caesar’s Pizza and the store’s grocery section go?
There’s one place where you can still play miniature golf, Celebration Station on Wendover Avenue. Mini golf is a dying trend, but many people here still enjoy it. The problem is Celebration Station isn’t only dedicated to miniature golf, which just about ruins the feel.
I won’t forget going to Sally’s Hot Dogs for the first time in 1994. I remember my first footlong hot dog. They had a wonderful variety of food and a fun Pac-Man arcade machine. Unfortunately, Sally’s closed in the early 2000s. Some foreign restaurant uses its building now.
I remember Western Steer having just about everything, including a full buffet. It closed in the mid-1990s and was demolished. A doctor’s office is in its space.
And, of course, there was Carolina Circle Mall. I would go to the mall to ride the carousel many times a week, as well as eating at the large food court, shopping at Montgomery Ward, and seeing movies at Circle Six. The mall was demolished in 2005 and a Walmart is in its place, which includes no interesting features at all.
Greensboro needs some new businesses for people to hang out and have fun. Emerald Pointe is only open five months a year and costs $30. Think about that.
The writer lives in McLeansville and is a senior at Huffine Mill Christian School.
Comments (8)
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Carolina Circle Mall had three strikes against it from the beginning. Cone Mills was dumping dye in a nearby creek, making the place smell like rotten eggs. Four Seasons was much nicer. And last but not least, Carolina Circle was a haven for crime. How can you enjoy a movie with the sounds of your windshield being shattered outside?
And when outraged soccer moms shooed their mall chicks to Four Seasons, it got down to moseying welfare daytimers pushing strollers into poorly managed stores chocked full of cheap merchandise.
Location, location, location...
Posted on May 9, 2009 5:55 AM
Kmart sucks
Posted on May 9, 2009 6:48 AM
Wal-Mart sucks more!
Posted on May 9, 2009 7:57 AM
I would hardly classify Kmart as an interesting store. Lil Cesears was a chain, just like Poppa Johns, Pizza Hutt and so on. What's so unique and interesting about them for Greensboro?
Who visits from out of state to play miniature golf?
Greensboro has much more coolness to it than that. Like the battlefield at Guilford Courthouse, the revived and vibrant downtown, and the hopefully soon to open Civil Rights Museum.
We've got the ACC tournament, and the High Point Market a skip and a jump away.
What do we need a bunch of chain stores and malls for?
Posted on May 9, 2009 8:51 AM
Billy, you need to stop lusting after grilled processed pork guts and try some ethic food. There's a great selection of Vietnamese restaurants in town.
Take advantage of living in the country and get your parents to buy you a .22 and find a place to plink soda cans. Does your crowd not have a place off the road somewhere to build a fire at nights, drink Pepsi and make out with your girlfriends?
How much gas are you burning up to drive into town for frivolous entertainment? Think of the environment. You know global warming is real because it's taught in your school. Will guilt not eat you up when we are all roasting in a few years because you and others drove into town looking for hot dogs and mini-golf?
Wait a minute...the world ends in Dec. 2012 anyway, so, what the heck, go for it, enjoy yourself while it lasts!
Posted on May 9, 2009 9:12 AM
If you can't have fun at Wal-Mart, you can't have fun anywhere.
Beyond that, I think boredom with your hometown is common for high school seniors.
Posted on May 10, 2009 7:30 AM
I got outbid on that Putt-Putt elephant and giraffe. It now stands in front of a furniture store on High Point road. I wanted it for my backyard.
If you want mini-golf, I'd suggest trying the course at City Lake Park in Jamestown/High Point. It's about $3.
They also have a couple of waterslides and a pool there. I think that runs about $3 too. You can take a whole busload of younguns there for the price of one Emerald Point ticket.
Posted on May 11, 2009 10:38 AM
I agree with Billy.I loved Carolina Circle Mall.It was the place to go when I was a teenager.Mind you I am in my 40's now.I remember having my mom drop my sister and I off there on Friday and Saturday nights if we were lucky.We had so much fun .There was so much to do. We went ice skating,went to the movies,game room and of course shopping.We also went there to see our friends.I don't think there are many teenagers from the late seventies and eightes that do not have fond memories of Carolina Circle Mall.My own children are much like Billy they enjoyed the merry go round,arcade and Chic Filet being there.It was safe to go there then.I do not remember crime getting bad there until the nineties.I also miss Toys R US they closed there several years ago too. I guess we have to take the good with the bad .It was sad to see Carolina Circle close but at least we have other places there now.I will always have happy memories of Carolina Circle back in the day that was the place to be.
Posted on May 11, 2009 5:11 PM