Add Sam Goody’s Parent Musicland To The List Of Dead Mall CD Stores
Aquilino Neadstine
Throughout its half-century-long history, the Muncie Mall has embodied the economic and social trends of changing times, an impression driven home by a search through its years of local news coverage.
By 2020, the periodic closure of yet another Muncie Mall store because of the financial failure of a national or regional company felt like a recent trend that was gathering momentum. But in fact, the mall had seen just such losses within its first decade, as anchors and smaller stores disappeared from its halls, only to be replaced by others. The difference in 2020, however, is the question of what, if anything, might be the replacement this time.
Add Sam Goodys Parent Musicland to the List of Dead Mall CD stores
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1964: Indianapolis developer Melvin Simon and Associates begins waging "a long hard battle" over zoning to build a shopping mall on 56 acres at McGalliard Road and Granville Avenue, according to The Muncie Star. "Original plans called for a four-story office and medical building, plus three high-rise apartment units," in addition to retail, a 1967 article notes.
January 1967: The metro plan director says a northside shopping mall appears to be dead after rezoning for the land expires, but just two weeks later he reverses that, giving Simon the go-ahead to apply for a building permit.
May 23, 1969: A formal groundbreaking ceremony is held for the "multimillion-dollar Muncie Mall... (a) 550,000-square-foot shopping complex at Granville and McGalliard," The Muncie Evening Press reports. When completed, the mall is slated to have 45 retailers and "service firms" with parking for 3,200 cars. Department stores are Sears, W.T. Grant Co. and Britt's Department Store. Other tenants lined up so far include Standard Supermarket, Osco Drugs, Steck's, Singers, Paul Harris Co., Jonathans, Zales, National Shirt, Kinney Shoes, Goodman Jewelry, Nobil Shoes, Hoyt Wright, Goodyear, Fabric Lane and Neumode Hosiery.
February 1970: Mall construction progresses toward a possible grand opening in August, The Muncie Star reports, noting McGalliard and Granville will be altered by the mall developers later in the year to accommodate expected heavier traffic.
Aug. 5, 1970: Sears officially opens its new store, the first Muncie Mall merchant to do so. Muncie Star coverage warns of possible inconvenience for customers during the first few days of Sears' operation since entrance roads from McGalliard to the parking lot are still being completed. Ads for Sears later in the month don't hesitate to promise "acres of free parking." An Evening Press item also published Aug. 5 offers directions for those wondering "How do you get to the Muncie Mall."
September 1970: A Muncie Star article cites the new mall as the major reason that two-lane McGalliard Road has become "a bottleneck" between Wheeling Avenue and Broadway, especially during peak traffic hours. "...With the prospect of the (four-lane) Tillotson-McGalliard extension opening and the increasing traffic to the Muncie Mall, McGalliard Road may prove to be Muncie's road-to-avoid-if-at-all-possible," the article states with startling foresight.
Nov. 27, 1970: Santa Claus arrives at the new Muncie Mall at 11 a.m., according to an ad in the Thanksgiving paper promoting the appearance the next day. The Thanksgiving ad lists mall businesses open by this time: Merchants National Bank, Steck's Men's Shop, Kinney Shoes, National Shirt, Mode O'Day, Lloyd's Shoes, Osco Drugs, Suzy Boutique, Father and Son Shoe, Zales, Regal Shoes, Regis Beauty Salon, Sears, The Book Shelf, Hickory Farms, Standard Supermarket, Orange Julius, General Nutrition, 33 Flavors Ice Cream, Junior Threads, Michael Thomas, Musicland, Britts, Brooks Fashion, Hoyt Wright, Nobil Shoes, Russell Stover Candies, Neumode Hosiery, Mangels, So-Fro Fabrics, Dean's Magnavox, W.T. Grant, Goodyear, Paul Harris, Singer, Barker's Shoes, Goodman Jewelers, Hot Sam Pretzels and Children's Photographer.
June 1971: King's Food Host, a national hamburger chain, opens a standalone restaurant in the mall's parking lot. (During construction, dynamite attached to one of the non-union construction company's trucks in the mall parking lot explodes on a Friday night, shattering windows in the King's building and knocking some mall doors askew.) The restaurant closes in February 1974.
August 1971: In the wake of annexation that makes McGalliard Road the city's responsibility, Mayor Paul Cooley says widening McGalliard to four lanes between Wheeling and Ind. 67 to relieve the traffic bottleneck is a top priority, but finding the funds to do so will take at least two years.
November 1973: Mall merchants announce that Christmas decorations this year will be lighted only during peak customer traffic hours in order to save electricity during the nation's energy crisis.
February 1974: An ad from the Muncie Mall Merchants Association lists current businesses in the mall: The Animal Fair, Barker's Shoe Store, Bresler's 33 Flavors, Britts, Brooks, Check'rd Flag, The Children's Photographer, Dean's Magnavox and Frigidare Center, Grant City, Hickory Farms, Cinderella Shoppes, Holland House Cafeteria, Dr. Tavel, Father and Son Shoes, General Nutrition Center, Goodman Jewelers, Goodyear Service Stores, Hot Sam's Pretzel, Hoyt Wright, Junior Threads, Keros Coney Island, King's Food Host, Kinney Shoes, Lloyd's Shoes, Mangels, Merchants National Bank, Mode O'Day, Motherhood Maternity Shop, Musicland, National Shirt Shop, Neumode Hosiery Shop, Nobil's Shoes, Orange Julius, Osco Drug, The Party House, Paul Harris, Regal Shoe Shop, Regis Beauty Salon, Russell Stover Candies, Sears Roebuck and Co., The Singer Company, So-Fro Fabrics, Stecks, Stecks Tree House, W.K. Stweart Book Store, Sultan's Castle, Tiffany Bakery, Tony's Pipe Towne, Town Finance and Zales Jewelers.
March 1974: A business column in The Muncie Evening Press notes the Muncie Mall's concourse is being used by people who specifically walk laps for exercise, perhaps the first mention of local "mall walkers."
June 1975: A consumer survey conducted for Muncie Mall merchants shows about half of the mall's shoppers are from Muncie, and the other half are "mainly (from) Albany, Anderson, Dunkirk, Eaton, Gaston, Hartford City, New Castle, Parker City, Portland, Redkey, Winchester and Yorktown," The Muncie Evening Press reports.
Oct. 31, 1975: About a month after starting bankruptcy proceedings, the struggling W.T. Grant Co. closes 280 of its stores in the Midwest, including both Muncie stores, one at the Southway Plaza and the other in one of the anchor spots at Muncie Mall.
December 1976: Plans for a "major facelift" for the mall are announced, including a new color scheme of yellow, beige, burnt orange and brown, live-landscaped seating areas and a fountain in the center commons area in front of Britts, which is "soon to be taken over by L.S. Ayres." The rededication ceremony for the newly renovated mall in April 1977 features celebrity guest Ed McMahon.
January 1977: J.C. Penney moves from its downtown store at Charles and Mulberry streets to the former Grant department store's space at the mall, a move that nearly doubles its floor space and allows the store to offer more than 40 retail departments, a hair salon and a 100-seat restaurant.
April 1977: L.S. Ayres opens at the mall in the former Britts space. Rezoning of land adjacent to Muncie Mall is approved to permit construction of a new building for more retail space, development that eventually becomes Muncie Mall Shoppes to the west along McGalliard.
June 1978: Ball Stores announces plans to open a shop specializing in men's and women's clothing at Muncie Mall while continuing to operate its existing stores downtown and in The Village. Ball will take over the space previously occupied by Robert Hall Clothes and several other nearby storefronts, making it the fourth largest mall retailer, The Muncie Evening Press reports.
December 1980: L.S. Ayres at the Muncie Mall advertises special breakfasts with Santa for kids and senior citizens in its in-store restaurant, and features singers from local schools, churches and other groups caroling through the store during the Christmas shopping season.
August 1982: The mall announces that Tex Critter's Pizza Jamboree, a chain of "youth oriented" restaurants featuring mechanized animals and video games, will open in an empty space next to Sears. That will bring the mall's total occupancy to 58 businesses; the only vacancy is a 250-square-foot stall near Osco Drug, The Muncie Evening Press reports.
February 1983: Naturalizer shoe store opens at Muncie Mall in the spot formerly occupied by Regal Shoes. Sporting goods chain store the Athletic Department announces plans to open that spring in space occupied by Western World, a mall tenant since the mid-1970s that is moving to the long-vacant building last occupied by Perkins Pancakes in the mall's east parking lot.
April 1983: Mutual Home Federal Savings and Loan Association advertises free "play money" demonstrations for those who want to try out its new MoneyMover 24-hour Automatic Teller beside Osco Drug at the Muncie Mall entrance.
November 1983: A newspaper ad lists "53 Muncie Mall merchants to serve you": Athletic Dept., Athlete's Foot, L.S. Ayres, Ball Stores, Barker's Shoes, The Bottomhalf, Bresler's 33 Flavors, Brooks Fashions, Check'rd Flag, Cinderella Shoppes/Just Guys, Connie Shoes, Dobbs-Mathew Bootery, Dr. Tavel Vision Center, Earring Tree, Fashion Crossroads, Father and Son Shoes, General Nutrition Center, Goodman Jewelers, Goodyear Service Store, Hot Sam Pretzels, Hoyt Wright, J.C. Penney, Keros Coney Island, Kinney Shoes, Lloyd's Shoes, MCL Cafeteria, Merchants National Bank, Merle Norman Cosmetics, Motherhood Maternity, Musicland, Mutual Home Moneymover, National Shirt Shop, Naturalizer Shoes, Nobil Shoes, Orange Julius, Osco Drugs, Party House, Paul Harris, Peanut Shack, The Pet House, Reader's World, Regis Hairstylists, Russell Stover Candies, Sears, So-Fro Fabrics, Stride-Rite Bootery, Stuarts, Sultan's Castle, Things Remembered, Town Finance, United Artists Cinema, Western World and Zales.
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