Let's see which mall gets worked on first
The race is on in St. Charles to see what can be revitalized first -- vacant property where the St. Charles Mall once stood on the city's west side, or the struggling Charlestowne Mall on the east side.
Ideas presented for both projects are intriguing on the surface. The owners of Charlestowne Mall would prefer an open-air mall to begin a process that could convert it to something along the lines of the Geneva Commons.
Kent Shodeen, in the meantime, has plans in place for Towne Centre at the site of his long-gone St. Charles Mall. It appears he's shooting for more upscale restaurants, stores and recreation -- maybe a bigger version of his Dodson Place center in Geneva?
For whatever reason, and I'm guessing part of it has to do with demographics, St. Charles has never been able to secure its place in the hearts of shoppers as a "shopping destination." These proposed changes could be critical in finally changing that.
But take my speculation with a grain of salt. I was a fan of the old St. Charles Mall because it was small, and I liked Spiess. And I'd be among those who felt the Valley Shopping Center of yesteryear with Grimm's, S.S. Kresge and the A&P Store would have been all we needed.
Holiday continues: Happy Boxing Day! And I'm not saying that because I enjoy the pugilistic sport. It's Boxing Day in Canada and England today, so what does that mean?
Apparently, historians disagree on the exact origin of this holiday, but it has generally been agreed that it has to do with folks in the English commonwealth generally having to work on Christmas Day, so their employers presented them with gift boxes on the day after Christmas.
This all sounds odd to me, considering that even Ebenezer Scrooge let Bob Cratchit have Christmas Day off, though begrudgingly.
Not many spots: The parking lots at shopping malls were built with year-round service in mind, not just the heightened holiday shopping season. And most seem large enough so that the thought of having a hard time finding a spot, even at this time of year, never crosses your mind.
Forget that. I was a bit surprised a few days before Christmas when I had to drive around Geneva Commons for quite some time looking for that elusive open parking space. But the string of bad-weather weekends we had prior to Christmas Day meant shoppers flocked to stores and filled parking spots on those few days that weren't too bad.
What's the key point here? Good luck today when returning gifts, using gift cards, or spending Christmas cash.
Costly treats: Don't forget to add sugar when tallying up your holiday expenses this season.
The key ingredient in all of that sweet stuff we've been consuming for the past week, and will continue to do so for at least the next week, costs about twice as much as it did at this time last year.
At least that's what my wife claims. Of course, I probably haven't purchased a bag of sugar in my life.
dheun@sbcglobal.net