Sears and Kmart and Columbus of Yesteryear

This morning as I read the paper about how Sears and Kmart plan to close 120 of its stores, I thought it would be interesting to go back and time and take a look at our old Sears, which is already gone, and our Kmarts, which will probably be gone soon.

Now, I tried to do a before and after photo shoot of how Macon Road looked back in October of 1984 (that's when the photo is dated but could be inaccurate) compared to December 27, 2011. After taking "After" photos and comparing them to the "Before" photo, I realized that the photo wasn't taken from the I-185 bridge over Macon Road, because the bridge wasn't even there! It must have been taken from the roof of possible the Mexican restaurant that stands there now, or maybe a cherry picker. Who knows.

Macon Road looking West - October 1984?

Macon Road looking West on the East side of I-185  - December 27, 2011

Now as you can see, it's hard to recreate the shot exactly as it was since there is a large bridge that now bisects the photo, but I took a photo on the East side of the bridge looking West, and right after crossing the West side. 

Even though 30 years have almost passed, there are still lots of identifying landmarks. McDonalds's golden arches still proudly rise above Macon Road, even though it's been torn down and rebuilt. Ironic that this is the second time it's been torn down and rebuilt. Before the newest McDonalds, a 1980s brown McDonalds stood at that location. It was always uninviting and after looking at this photo, I wish they had never torn down the original 1950s building, which looks almost identical to the oldest operating McDonalds, built in 1953. 

I'm not sure what the building was in the Before photo, but the building that housed the Ace Tire and Auto Center is still there, though it looks like it has been closed for a while. I never remember a Shoneys being there, even back when I was a little kid. I only remember the Captain D's being there, although it was painted monochrome blue all over, instead of the multi-color concoction that it is now. 

Even though the corporate logo has changed, the Kmart, and that loud red Kmart sign is still there, but now proudly displays a "BIG K" instead of just a regular one. Behind the Kmart sign, that same building that used to be a CB&T branch bank is still there, though it has long been closed. On the right of the photo, a heavily remodeled Cross Country Plaza is still there, but long gone is the almost forgotten Service Merchandise. 

Macon Road Looking West on the West side of I-185 - December 27, 2011

The only major difference between now and yesteryear is the Sears building and Columbus Square Mall that is now gone, and the Columbus Public Library and Muscogee County School District buildings that now stand in their place. 

I do remember the old Columbus Square Mall. I used to love going to the Corn Dog 7 over there, and shopping at the old Sears. Heck, even our current refrigerator that we have now came from the old Sears back in 1996. 

Columbus Square Mall Interior 1960s

Columbus Square Mall and Sears 1980s

Columbus Square Mall Exterior and Interior 1990s

The Sears logo is prominently displayed in the background.

These pictures are from Mike Dudley and show how almost everything, if not everything, was closed down inside the mall during the late 1990s with Sears being the only anchor store left open. I remember one of the last few times I went to the mall to buy a Jacuzzi tub at one of the hot tub stores, and also getting a corn dog from Corn Dog 7, which was about the only food venue left. That had to be no later than 1996 or 1997.

Digging around online, I found some old layout maps of Columbus Square Mall. 

Columbus Square Mall - 1965

Columbus Square Mall - 1975

Now of course, Sears no longer exists on this side of town, and is now located in Columbus Park Crossing. However, these are pictures of the Columbus Public Library and Muscogee County School District. 

Present Day Site of Columbus Square Mall 

Present Day Site of Sears (in-between the library and School District building)

Muscogee County School District Building - December 27, 2011

Expected Outcome Of Columbus Consolidated Government Center - Coming Soon

When this entire area is finished, it should look something like the rendered drawing. The Natatorium will house the large swimming pool that will be open to the public, and that parking lot looks like it will have room for a large Mercedes and pony. Hopefully the pony won't be put up wet since it's close to a swimming pool and sauna, mind you. And I don't know what is going to go on in the City Services Building - maybe that will be a large building where the mayor and city council compete athletically to decide who wins on city issues. *rolls eyes*

Macon Road looking East on West side of I-185 - December 27, 2011

Kmart on Macon Road - December 27, 2011

Kmart on Airport Thruway - December 27, 2011

Attention Kmart shoppers. Blue light special - aisle 13. Yeah, from the looks of these photos, they're not gonna be having too many more blue light specials. Who would want to shop there? The one on Macon Road has that lovely depressing brown exterior facade, and the one on Airport Thruway looks like a warehouse with "Big K" sign on it. 

The Kmart store on Airport Thruway was basically the store I grew up at, as my mom purchased almost everything from there. I've only been in there probably less than 10 times in the past 10 years, and it's always depressing. The electronics department has been out of stock of CDs since 2001, and one time I went in there to purchase a stapler, and they were out. Of staplers. Who doesn't restock staplers!? 

I won't be sorry to see the Kmarts go if they do indeed go under. They did it themselves. 

And can someone please put a damn dome on top of that library? 

[Sources] Photos courtesy of Mike Dudley and 

"Going Going Gone." Weird Georgia. Web. 27 Dec. 2011. <http://www.angelfire.com/weird2/georgia/page3.html>,
"September 2009." MALL HALL OF FAME. Web. 27 Dec. 2011. <http://mall-hall-of-fame.blogspot.com/2009_09_01_archive.html>.

Paramount Turns 100!

In honor  of Paramount's 100th Anniversary, they released their new logo today.  Hard to believe that an entertainment company is turning 100. Have films really been around that long? Seems like only a few years ago I saw all those Paramount 75th anniversary logos, and the 90th anniversary logos all over those VHS tapes that I used to watch so much.

Yes, Virgina, we are all getting older.

 

Here is a video of Paramount's logo history.

What is going to happen next that is going to make us do a double take and think "OMG has it really been that long? It seems like just a few years ago..."

Meanwhile.

   At least she's always available...

New iMac!

For those of you who know me well, my workhouse computer that I create everything on and store everything important to me is my beloved iMac from 2006 still running OS X Tiger. Ouch. It's never frozen up, but damn if it isn't slow running PhotoShop or rendering a video. And did I mention, I only have 200MB of hard-drive space left?

So I finally ordered a new computer that won't be obsolete, at least to my needs, for a while. I can't wait to have enough room for PhotoShop projects and a new webcam to record better quality videos. Which reminds me, I need to find my Canon camcorder battery charger. It's only a year old and I've already lost it. Sad.

Old House Dreams.

I recently came across a blog called, Old House Dreams (oldhousedreams.com), and it's a site where each posting is any historic house built earlier than the 1950s that's for sale is showcased, usually from listings from Zillow.com.

What's interesting is that most of these old houses are from around 1880s-1900s, yet some even go far back as 1690! A lot of these are in dire need of fixing up and are listed as low as $30,000, but some of these houses are fully restored to their Victorian grandeur, and look absolutely amazing.

For this post, I'm going to use an example of this 1895 Queen Anne home located in Barnesville, Ohio. It looks like it hasn't been touched too much except for hideous white-out paint and some wallpaper I wouldn't put on a 1958 single-wide trailer, but just think of what could be done to this house.

That staircase! That staircase! THAT STAIRCASE! OMG!

 

The original link can be found here, http://oldhousedreams.com/page/33/, but with each new posting, the links change in ascending order.

I've always wanted to restore an old house. Of course, I'd be hiring some slave labor to take care of that, because it's not like I'm going to hurt my back.

sources: [oldhousedreams.com]

To Celebrate My 100th Post

Mobley Road Has Washed Out.

It has come to light that the bridge on Mobley Road near my house has indeed collapsed.

The night before last, North Columbus received about 5 inches of rain in some parts in a 2 hour period, according to my rain gauge. The creek that is a branch of the Chattahoochee River that runs through Green Island, Brookstone, and out towards Double Churches Road obviously had too much water flowing through it, which damages the large concrete culvert that runs under the bridge, which caused the bridge and asphalt to collapse.

 This has greatly inconvenienced me since I live in this socially acceptable area. I walk down Mobley Road when I go on my walks. I have to detour through socially less fortunate areas just to get downtown. How very dare they.

 They better fix this problem fast and do it right.

image sources: [Ledger-Enquirer, WTVM, yours truly]

Bon Voyage.

Notice my matching luxury executive luggage with the genuine leather embellishments and initials. I do like to travel in style and let everyone know that I have in fact arrived. 

Socially Acceptable Things I Must Have.

 These glass sculptures are from Chic Evolution in Art displayed at Neiman Marcus.

 Gucci Backpack at Neiman Marcus. It's only $950 and very exclusive. Of course, I would like a larger size.

This is the chair that has been calling my name since I was born. Luxurious, smashing, exquisite, it's so ME! I would tell you the price, but if you have to ask, you can't afford it. Get off my blog.

 I want the fish.

Madonna Loathes Hydrangeas

Say it isn't so, Madge!

A fan actually had the courage to go up to Madonna and give her a flower. What does she do? She rolls her eyes and mutters, "I absolutely loathe hydrangeas. He obviously doesn't know that."

Wow.

That poor fan probably went home thinking he was on top of the world, and probably has seen this video tonight, and now he's probably locked himself in his bathroom, and cutting his wrists with the 5 copies of the Immaculate Collection CD after he realized Madonna's love for him was OVAH.

Me? I am a fan of Madonna's music, but I am not a fan of Madonna as a person. I think this proves why. Ever year, her true colors come out more and more. By 2020, her colors will have come out of the closet wearing earrings, a caftan, and pearl-clutching Liza Minelli's latest album, Liza Minelli's Corpse Sings The Music of Judy Garland.

Of course, the one thing that pounds into my mind like Momma's mussy being pounded on a Saturday night after she visits Fox's Cinema on Victory Drive, is that of course I would absolutely be devastated if Barbra Joan Streisand did something comparable to this after I gave her a gift. I'd be just devastated. Devastated wouldn't even begin to describe how just devastated I would be.

 This is Momma.

Picture it. Atlanta. 2013. I can see myself at a Bojangles drive-thru checking out the latest news on my glass iPhone 7, when all of a sudden a video of Barbra Streisand surfaces talking about "that fat kid had the nerve to ask me to take a photograph with me while he was wearing an orange t-shirt, mind you." I would instantly floor my Mercedes V12 into the car in front of me.

I would start driving like a Jehovah's Witness out of Heaven after they got kicked out for being just straight up annoying. I would drive worse than Billy Joel after he got a glimpse of himself in the rear-view mirror. This would gain national media coverage as I drove myself cross country in high speed pursuit to Malibu, where I would beg for forgiveness from The Holy Messiah of Buttah. Tragically, my margarine fountain would have sploshed all over the back seat by then. (Do they make margarine fountains? If they make fondue fountains, I don't understand why I couldn't have a margarine fountain.) Moreover, I would be doing this all why wearing Morticia Addams's black dress and veil. Tammy Faye Bakker would be appalled, along with Sheridan, of the mascara that would be running from my tear stained eyes.

[image sources]: zimbio.com

My Dream Bedroom

Would look like this.

Just kidding.

Suzanne Sugarbaker.

"How do you feel about gays and lesbians in the military?"

"Personally, I think that homosexuals have as much right to kill and be killed as anyone else. Of course, I really wouldn't want to leave the beauty salons short handed." - Suzanne Sugarbaker

Barbra Streisand - Number One Album On Amazon

Barbra Streisand's 64th album, What Matters Most, is already #1 on Amazon. After her last album, Love Is The Answer, was a #1 album on the Billboard Top 100, it would be nice to see What Matters Most as a #1 album as well.

Is this Amazon sales rank a precursor to that? One would hope. If What Matters Most becomes a #1, then Streisand will be the only artist to have a #1 album in 6 consecutive decades. After all, she is the only artist to have a #1 album in 5 consecutive decades.

I've Always Been Fascinated By Disaster.

Don't get me wrong, I hate that buildings collapse, ships sink, stages fall on audience members, but I would be lying if I said these things didn't fascinate me. I've always been very interesting in the engineering aspect of structural failures.

Anyway, a lot of people were discussing the stage collapse of the Indiana State Fair that happened just a few hours ago. I somehow found myself to the WikiPedia page of historical structural collapses and found one of the most interesting articles I've found in months, which was about the collapse of the Hyatt Regency walkway collapses in 1981.

I considered myself to be pretty read-up on major historical events. I'm pretty sure everyone of my generation knows about the collapse of The World Trade Center towers, and the Oklahoma City bombings in 1995 that took down part of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building. But I had never heard of this disaster that stuck the Hyatt Regency.

Picture It. Kansas City 1981. A beautiful Friday night tea dance was taking place in the lobby of the hotel right below the atrium. There were 3 bridge-ways overlooking the dance floor, and 4th floor bridge was directly over the bridge of the 2nd floor. Luckily, the 3rd floor bridge was a few feet away. Spectators of the dancers were lined up viewing the dances, and all of a sudden the 4th floor bridge-way collapses onto the 2nd floor bridge-way, which causes the 2nd floor bridge-way to collapse as well.

114 people died. 216 were injured.

Before

                                                       After

After

After

Apparently, the failure of the bridge-ways were due to fastening the 2nd floor bridge-way to the 4th floor bridge-way, which doubled the weight. You can read all about it on Wikipedia here: Hyatt Regency Disaster

Interesting enough, the hotel is still open today, but there isn't remembrance of that tragic disaster back in 1981. There is no plaque, no before and after pictures in the lobby (of course there wouldn't be, would there?), nothing informing hotel guests of events of yesteryear.

While I was researching, I also found out about the 2001 incident of The Versailles Wedding Hall Dance Floor Collapse. There really are no words for this one, so I'll just post a video.

I'm posting these 2 events because if I haven't heard of them, I'm quite sure there are others that haven't, and might find them interesting. 1981 and 2001 were not that long ago, and something like this could easily happen again if contractors/engineers/owners cut corners in buildings.

[image source]: Wikipedia, commandsafety.org, and groups.yahoo.com/group/sofiariff.

Continuing With My Bathroom Remodel.

Yes, this remodel has been an ongoing process for 6 years. I tore out the shower and redid the wallpaper summer of 2005, and I kinda got lazy and didn't finish.

The plan was that we were going to rip out the bathroom counter as well, but that never exactly happened.

So what we now have is a luxurious modern-esque shower with a dated bathroom cabinet and knobs.

So I ordered new knobs today and can't wait to install them!

They are going to look like this!

Here is another view of the shower doors and shower behind the glass.

Now, I would like to update the sink faucet. I've always thought it was way too low. Speaking of low, I'd like to raise the entire counter since I'm 6'7", but that would really cost too much money. But I would at least like a faucet that a glass could fit under. 

A little at a time, Andrew. A little at a time. Of course, if I keep renovating, I'll never move out. I'll just have to put my parents in a home and keep the house all to myself. Mwuuaaahahhahaha.