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| - I give this place credit. I am fascinated by malls they call "dead malls". This is one of those malls. It was once packed to the brim with stores for a while. Then the big guy, the West Towne Mall moved in just a bit of the ways to the west in 1970. And with that, a lot of the major names here at West Gate, like JC Penney's moved over to the West Towne Mall, and the rest is history.
This mall still has a major anchor, a TJ Maxx, which honestly isn't the best of the major chain anchors, but is keeping this mall afloat. It has a few odd and neat shops remaining, such as the Raven Works store, and a Wisconsin Athletic Wear shop. Rocky Rococo's also remains, and always gives the center court of the mall a great smell. A smell that throws me right into my childhood.
For what this mall is, its good. Its clean, its well kept for the most part. It could use some work and updating of course. And I wish that movie theater in the back was still open. I remember my mom taking me there to see some movies as a kid.
I have hope that maybe someday something will spark up this mall again. Maybe a bunch of local shops inside would be great. Don't get me wrong, I love the major retailers in the bigger malls, but I think its something this mall would benefit from. Now, to just get more local businesses to open up shop here!
Long live Westgate Mall!
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