I can remember the Old Town Mall which I never liked. The original (?) central part was a fakey old time “village” but it was all indoors. The lighting was on the dim side, so it was creepy AF. I hated going there.
It was remodelled as a more traditional mall year ago and still exists. I still don’t go there. Residual creepiness hangover?
That was the one by the 405 Big Bend in/near Torrance, right? Not far from Alpine Village.
Yeah, creepy.
I’ve found that that’s only true if you only need to pick up one thing, and the place you need to pick it up at is also not popular and crowded. Plus I always settle for the closest spot I can see at first glance instead of circling around. If I need things from multiple places, (possibly including food from the food court), it still is more convenient to get all of them at one big mall than to go to multiple strip malls/driveins and/or walk outdoors in who knows what weather between businesses.
The only outlet mall I’ve been at occupied sort of an in between space because it had large covered walkways. I wonder why more outdoor malls do not do that, since it would alleviate a good chunk of the downsides to outdoor malls (eliminating precipitation from the equation, and taking the harshness off of all but the worst heat/windy cold,) while still being cheaper to condition. Of the dozen or so outdoor malls I can think of off the top of my head, none have a thoroughly-connected or adequately-wide covered sidewalk.
That’s the place.
Brrrrrrrr.
Old Town Mall used to advertise like crazy on TV when I was 13 (1976). The commercials often featured a comic book store (something I’d never heard of) and I pestered my parents for years to take me there. I think I finally got there when I was 15 but they really didn’t have any comics I wanted that I couldn’t get at my local 7-11. I ended up buying some mylar bags. I don’t remember anything about the rest of the mall, although I remember the trolley and the rides from the commercials.
I’m a few years older than you, but yeah I remember they used to advertise like mad.
This was also the era of lots of minor league tourist traps aimed at least as much at bored locals as at out-of-town tourists. The Japanese Village in Buena Park, the Cars of Stars & Planes of Fame museum, Ports O’ Call in San Pedro, etc., etc.
Clearly Old Town was trying to establish themselves as also a destination. The idea of a “shopping destination” is commonplace now. They were just 20 years ahead of their time. And terminally creepy.