Nancy Ceja
Staff Writer
There was a time when online shopping wasn’t a part of everyone’s daily routine. We would have to muster up the energy to get dressed, drive to the store and shop in real stores. Unlike today, we couldn’t simply browse on our preferred websites like Amazon, Wish and Fashion Nova. If you wanted something, you went to the store and bought it.
It may not be as bad as some people think, because people often still shop in person to socialize with friends and buy what they wouldn’t find easily on websites, but it’s simply not as common as it was before.
Pine Ridge Mall has been Pocatello’s leading shopping center since 1981. In addition to stores, it has classic arcade games, escape rooms, 25-cent pool tables and air hockey tables.
It’s been in an ideal time-waster for the city for a long time. However, shopping at actual stores has decreased quite significantly since the mall first opened nearly forty years ago.
“The mall is a great place to do something when you have nothing better to do, but it’s a complete ghost town,” said long-time resident and ISU student Madeline Smith. “We nicknamed it the “ghost-mall” in our family.”
Even on roaring Saturdays, the mall is quite deserted compared to many other malls, such as the Magic Valley Mall in Twin Falls. Despite Pocatello being a college town and the larger city overall, the lack of customers is putting some small businesses out of work fast.
Pine Ridge has a small store called the Farmer’s Market, which usually supplies homemade goods such as honey, cinnamon rolls and house decorations such as plants. It’s a cute store with excellent service and the classic farmer market vibes, but stores such as these usually never last long without the public’s support.
“A busy day would be around thirty people at most,” said Janet Greene, who used to work for the outlet spot Sears before its closing. “I would say online shopping and cheaper stores killed Sears.”
With nationally known stores such as Payless ShoeSource closing now, it’s become harder to decipher whether or not the mall will continue to stay open as the years go on. Most shopping centers have online shopping, leading to a decline in the number of people who shop in stores.
However, despite its ghost-town atmosphere, Pine Ridge mall has a wide range of places to go on a full shopping spree. Favorite stores such as Hobby Lobby, Rue 21, Claire’s and Zumiez are at the mall. They even have an exclusive hobbyist store near the arcade games for card game and board game lovers.
Even though we may not shop in person as much as we shop online, it’s always good to check out the deals and goods being sold at Pine Ridge Mall.
As silly as it sounds, having a “ghost mall” is one of the best things about Pocatello’s shopping outlets. If there’s one good thing to come out of it, at least you can always bet Pine Ridge will have your size.
