My Memories At The Mall
by contributor Vivian M. My first visit to Phillipsburg Mall was in 1990 after my older sister got her license. We often mall-hopped and came out specifically to go to the Trains N Lanes location in the mall. A decade later, I moved closer and frequented the mall for great stores like East Meets West, Suncoast, The Wall, Waldenbooks, Radio Shack, Oriental Gifts, EB Games, and Sears. I also liked a few kiosks, some of which sold trading card games from Japan as well as domestic games that I collected. I remembered the fountain across from Bon-Ton, and one time when I visited, it was gone. I second-guessed myself and it took years before I confirmed that the mall once had a fountain. The loss of the food court was a huge blow from which the mall would never recover. A mall without a food court made little sense. A phantom fifth anchor was never built, and a new food court and other mall upgrades never happened, keeping the mall stuck in limbo. Losing the Waldenbooks was one of the greate
