The Kalamazoo Mall is truly one of a kind. Outdoor malls are all the rage now, with many opening up in our own state. But Kalamazoo's Mall was the first of its kind to open in 1959 in Michigan and I recently stumbled across a video featuring the Kalamazoo Mall that looks like it came right out of a film strip. In fact, it did!

The video was made in 1967 and was taken from a film produced by Clark Cryor for the city of DeKalb, Illinois. They site how Kalamazoo was losing a lot of income based on trade, and how the city shut down three blocks, tore up the pavement and built the mall, which helped gain more revenue for the city. This portion of the video was extracted and uploaded by Greg Noll for the people of Kalamazoo and for those who have an interest in the mall. It's so crazy to see all the en-developed areas where the road is now. Can you make out any of the major stores in the video?

We've come a long way but our outdoor mall is still beautiful and full of fun shops.


BONUS VIDEO: ROCKET FIZZ IS ONE OF THE COOLEST SHOPS IN THE MALL!

 

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