Ryan M.
Yelp
Wonderland of the Americas, nee Crossroads, nee plain ol' Wonderland has been on life support since *at least* the 90s. Long before "urban exploration" and "dead mall" videos were all the rage, I would visit Crossroads (its name in the 80s and 90s) with my mom and peer into the gates of abandoned storefronts. I remember gazing upon the majesty of darkened corridors and wondering how mall plants could survive on a diet of fluorescent light and cigarette butts. Why would I be fascinated by a mostly abandoned retail space, a relic of unbridled consumerism? The reason: I am a fellow who finds beauty in the banal and magnificence in the mundane. I despise bustling retail meccas and everything they represent, but a dead mall is a thing of beauty, a merchandising mausoleum full of nostalgia and wonder...a "Wonderland," so to speak. If you share my sentiments, then consider visiting Wonderland of the Americas before the retail reaper claims his next victim.
Stein Mart and Burlington Coat Factory continue to thrive at opposite ends of the mall, but customers are apparently uninterested in exploring the vast nothingness between these two anchors. On a recent visit, I spotted only four other "customers": an elderly mall-walking couple and two obnoxious, loud-mouthed women in their 40s. I loved having the mall practically to myself. The next time I visit, I'll dress like Tom Savini in "Dawn of the Dead" (replete with leather jacket and goatee) and hack up mall zombies with a machete.
The other tenants include a generic pan-Asian restaurant (presumably the last remaining vendor in the food court), several tacky kiosks (cell phone cases, cheap jewelry, etc.), and a GNC. How these places survive remains a mystery, but I applaud their perseverance. Their tackiness and irrelevance is part of the appeal of dead mall culture.
How does one rate a dead mall? As a retail outlet, it deserves but one star. As a dead mall brimming with gaudy late 80s charm, however, it is a five-star experience. Nothing has been renovated in at least thirty years, so stepping into this mall is like revisiting the pastel-obsessed late 80s. The next time you feel nostalgic for the Reagan era, put on those leg warmers, crank up the Debbie Gibson, head out to Wonderland of the Americas...and then invade Grenada.