@@abwildoutdoorsSpencer’s took over SF at polo park. Just on Friday I took my little ones on a tour of the Portage Place mall. I wonder if there is a vid on that place? Great memories as a country kid visiting Winnipeg and then later spent my college years nearby at UofW
Bought my beautiful red prom dress at the clothing store at the corner just next to Safeway back in 1988 for $13!! It was 85% off! I loved it. My Mom was never happier than when she walked out of Coles with a brand new book in her hands! I had lots of great times in the mall with my Mom and sisters back in the day when shopping was a treat and luxury. I miss it. 💔
Only $13?? I graduated in 1988 and got my dress for around $150 from a shop at Polo Park. $13 seems like a price you’d pay for a dress in the ‘50s! My daughter graduated in 2023 and with alterations her grad dress was close to $1,000. 😭
I was nearby Portage La Prairie Mall back in February of last year while I was out there watching my nephew play hockey and I thought it was completely abandoned…this was a fascinating trek through the mall and hearing your memories of it!
Yeah I used to work out near whitemud river and would stay in portage. Always drove through the parking lot to the Tim's next door and I didn't really realize it was still operating. The parking lot was BRUTAL to drive through
Even the old Via Rail station has been shut and vandalized. Back in 1989 I took the Canadian train from Toronto to Vancouver and stopped at Portage. Sad to see things deteriorated in Portage. At least the world's largest Coke can is still standing!
This harkens back to that song "Video Killed The Radio Star" which was also released in 1979, the year this mall opened. It gets one wondering if online shopping has taken over? That place is in excellent condition for its age. Kind of cool you worked at a couple of places. It's too bad to see this thing happening. Woolco was a great store in Vancouver, too. Too many people lost their jobs due to the closures, and that's a shame.
Those iconic round windows, used to love looking out of them as a kid. Always stopped here to have lunch/breakky with my bestfriend at the times grandparents/family when we'd stay with them. Was always such a cozy mall.
Thank you for capturing this mall and sharing all your memories! I'm sad I won't get to see such a cool, retro mall this with my own eyes. Thanks for making this video.
Tricky's, the Mall, Crescent Lake Park and the 7/11 on 8th Street are some of the good places I remember as a kid. Bought Aerosmith Pump when it came out at the Woolco.
I'm from Europe but I've been to the US a couple times, those malls are awesome, I can imagine if they tear it down some people feel like a piece of their youth kind of dies... a bit sad, so many memories there for so many people...
@@epicarts2105Close enough... im Canadian born and bread and am here now... but had lived in the US for 10+ years - 20 years ago, malls there looked just like malls here
The mall wasn't just a place to buy stuff, it was a way of life, especially for teens. It was the place where everyone met and hung out together. It was part of the cultural lexicon, movies were made about it. Its closure will be much more than the loss of a place to shop, it truly is the end of an era.
I remember driving out from Winnipeg after hearing the mall had the Titanic Museum, of all things. Don’t know how long it was around, and don’t remember exactly where in the mall it was, but it had some really interesting stuff.
Some malls in the US are being converted into Mall Apartments. Some people enjoy it, with centralized coffee shops and other little shops to support the dwellers. The problem is giving them access to windows to see the outside world, and to receive natural light. Despite those two challenges the people look quite comfortable, and it looks like a mini city.
Yeah, I like that idea. Some malls have a lot of sky lights, those places would work better for that. Maybe take some stores on an outside wall and put in a wall of windows?
@@jeffreyverse In general I understand skylights can sometimes leak and cause all kinds of expensive maintenance issues. I'm sure it's not impossible. Depending on the sizes of the space, maybe they could build mini shared courtyards. I know some malls are turned into government complexes and medical centres. I personally think they should turn them into medical universities. We desperately need medical professionals. Unless of course the mall's so antiquated and it would be cheaper just to start over.
The shopping mall was a creation of the automobile culture. Mom and pop corner shops went out of business in favour of big box stores and their mall satellite shops which could only be reached by car or bus. Now we are coming full circle, and malls are being killed by the rising cost of driving and growth of Internet and other shopping options. Maybe an unintended benefit of driving becoming less affordable will be a return to walkable neighbourhoods with local stores.
When you said Kopper Kettle and talked about knick knacks, my Gen X self thought "he means Kricklewood!" Loved Kricklewood and also Kopper Kettle, which made a fantastic beef dip! Sad that all those jobs are gone, and that meeting place. I 100% blame everyone who shops online.
@@opinionatedone It's a combination of many factors. Changing times, ease of digital currency, failure of businesses to update and adapt their business models, etc. I have a degree in business. It's a mistake to blame the consumer. Blame the business owners who fail to adapt. I love beef dip.
I remember my route through the mall, depending on which side we went in, but I would always hit up Coles, look at the interesting knick knacks in the Copper Kettle, pop my head into Radio Shack and the music store, then head down towards San Francisco and then to the toy store before heading back if we went into Woolco, and reversed if we went into Safeway. I honestly miss doing those rounds.
Sad seeing a lot of malls closing... I living in IL near the MO side.. Ive see probably close to 10 malls from my childhood close.. lots of great memories from the mid 70's to the 80's.
the reason they are dying is the rental costs are ridiculous. the landlords act like it's a gravy train and economics are catching them up. that mall can still be full they need the cities to stop acting like malls are cash cows as well.
@@ironmaiden4746that’s correct. On-line shopping (Amazon etc..) has decimated the ‘small guy’. I still prefer to shop in person than on-line. Like to get a good look at what I’m buying. 👍🍻🇨🇦
It was kind of a living example of what Brandon Shoppers Mall originally looked like. They were built as almost architectural twins. The Brandon mall had multiple expansions over time, but the Portage mall kept the original footprint.
Also looks like the Guildford Mall in Surrey, BC. Almost a carbon copy of the decor - from the red "MALL" signs outside with the beige metal cladding and sable brickwork. Even the brown scale floor tile and trees with the wrought iron grating! And the Woolco anchor tenant! Guildford has had extensive renovations, so none of those aspects remain nowadays.
Makes sense... i grew up in Brandon and finished my degree at the UofM in Winnipeg... i was noting in a comment that the Smitty's lounges both had "secret" back door hallways
Bought some suits at Jack Frazer in the mall back then.I believe Reesers was the 1st jewelry store. Bought nice things for the lady. Thanks for posting Jeff.
I also remember playing music in the mall at a time when they brought in live bands ..We spent a night in the mall when the road was closed due to big snow storm in late April.
Thanks for documenting this! I live in Winnipeg and have never really gone to Portage. Interesting to see a big mall like this instead of the typical strip malls or downtown businesses that I see in other smaller towns. Feels very similar to Northgate mall in Winnipeg back before they converted it from an indoor mall to a strip mall to revive it.
Wow, I was there in 1990 when I was like 5. My mom used to work at the safeway and walmart there too. I lived like a 15 minute walk from there. I live in Vancouver now. Thanks for the trip down memory lane
8:30 It was Pizza Place. A high school friend Ron Rotiluk and his dad owned it. I worked at the Safeway when it was opened. Unfortunately people didn’t patronage the local stores. The cost to maintain it and heat it will bring it ultimately to demolision. I think they have tried everything possible to keep it going but behemoths are hard to turn around. Portage will be back to boutique stores in the downtown which will be good.
I Never been to that Smitty's. But it was engrained in my head from a cfry commercial that always used to run 20 times an hour. It had the most irritating Jingle. I had the opportunity to eat at that Smitty's 10 years or so later. I didn't because of that commercial 😂
It is a sad era for malls. I used to love going to the mall as a teen. It might be torn down and replaced by a big box shopping centre. In a place with a cold winter climate, it was a nice option to have a place to shop indoors.
@@jonk9748 The mall game reminds me of arcades industry; less is more. If you charge 25 cents, there will be a line. If you charge a loony, it will sit idle and money will be lost on the machine and retail space.
Sad to see this mall close, not sure if I was there in 80’s. Malls were always bustling, very busy back then. I remember the Polo Park Mall, & stores like Zellers, SAAN...ect. Blast from the past, miss those awesome days.
@ Yes in WPG. Not sure if I was at that mall, too many years ago lol Polo Park was packed with us trend setting 80’s teens. The photo both in the center of the mall was always a hit and record cassette stores playing loud 80’s hits lol fun times 😁 🎵
Oh yeah I remember going there a lot as a kid and a teenager through all of the 80's. We'd go to Safeway, the fuzzy orange, Radio Shack and San Francisco as a kid. Although I seem to remember the San Francisco being across from Smitty's and Safeway on the other corner. Hanging out at Smitty's Lounge as a teen, and getting a haircut next door. I think the stylist was from Treherne. Eating at the new McDonald's with a sign that said 'over a million people served'. Getting film developed at the camera shop. I think it was Don's then. Shopping at Woolco. Although I couldn't remember the name. I remember when Walmart went in though. Very fuzzy memories now LOL.
The malls were awesome,they were our internet of that time and better. A place to socialize face to face and shop. Teens now will never understand how great a place they were,the malls rocked! So glad I lived it and would trade it for today's world in a heart beat.
"I gooooo to Pizza Place to get the flavour of Italy, And so do we. We knoooow that Manitoba likes a pizza, so join the race To Pizza Place. We're ready with spaghetti and we season it just right So look for the Tower of Pizza any night. And enjoy a treat at Pizza Place or even in your hoooome!! There's no better eating anywhere from Winnipeg to Rome!"
It’s not fair. I hate online shopping . All these beautiful malls are closing due to all this technology. There is barely any human contact left. Nowhere to go; this is also effecting people and their mental health.
Nothing beats being able to hold, touch, feel an item in person. Being able to try on clothing and knowing whether you'll like something just by seeing it infront of you. Just cant get that online. Ive got a whole closet of stuff that never fit right, but was more hassle to return than it was worth from online stores. Our parents could count on us middle age and teen kids being at the mall for hours at a time, giving them a break. You got to see all your friends. I just feel like people were all around nicer 10yrs ago too. Having to go into stores and be around others kept people in check. Oh well, I suppose everything changes! Shame though
Reminds me of the Kindersley mall. Also pretty much dead. Kindersley mall still has a grocery store at one end and peavey mart at the other to anchor it. so its still open despite only one or two other stores open in the whole rest of the mall.
It was later in the mall's history, after Wal-Mart had left, but there was a guy who moved his music shop from the Co-Op Mall into the Portage Mall for a time. I remember that one.
Ive never been to this mall but im pretty sure ive been in an almost identical one in a few different towns across Ontario. Woolco and Dominion. grocery stores anchored a couple of them..
worked in the P la P area for 9 1/2 years 1983 until spring of 1992. That mall was dsfinitely the place to shop in the 1980's Recal Southport air base downsizing , followed by the Cambell Soupbplant closure , seemed to hurt the local economy hard. French fry pkants expansion later on definitely a boom for the area.
Flashback to when mom was getting groceries at Safeway and we got run of the mall for half an hour asking as we all “stuck together!” Lol… Plus “Run and Racquet” was in the mall for a while too.
It was Pizza Place. They had a "tickle trunk" full of toys and kids under 12 could take a toy when you came in. I always got the fighter plane with the propeller powered by a rubber band.
Ask yourself, where did we shop before big malls that grew in the 70s & 80s? It's simply another shift in consumer shopping habits. Online certainly has taken over, but it's an opportunity for local downtown shops to come back.
Thanx for this vid!! So, if the logo had the Leaning Tower of Pisa on it, you can be almost sure it was Pizza Place, Winnipeg's first pizza restaurant - dating back to around 1960. IMO best pizza in Winnipeg. People used to order it in internationally.
It's funny to consider that so many malls are going out of business. And I do believe, as someone suggested, the problem STARTS with high rent. You can't keep milking that cash cow. But I've seen that in a lot of areas. So, what are they gonna do? Bring non-profit businesses into the mall and essentially get the GOVERNment to pay that non-profit's rent? I bet that's been one approach. I'm noticing it in Winnipeg. I'm wondering what will happen to Portage Place Mall, downtown. But back to old memories. Yeah. We moved to Bramalea, Ontario in the seventies and I was just up the street--about a twenty minute walk--to the Bramalea City Centre. There was a real big library beside it too. I was a little too old to be a mall rat, but I sure know the feeling. Thanks for posting this. Funny, how some malls all look the same. roo
Pizza Joint was "Pizza Place" - small chain of Pizza spots. There was a treasure chest with kids toys ! The Copper Kettle sold kitchenware. When you were trying to recall the name of San Fransisco you mentioned "Treasure Island" - there was a such a place. It was a retail "island" like K-vac was. Can't quite recall what they sold ( key chains and stuff maybe?)
There's a mall like this in Chatham, ON. Called Downtown Chatham Centre. The mall isn't closing and is much bigger than this one. But it's very dead only featuring about 12 businesses left. Though, the new owners are renovating the place hoping to restore it.
Yeah, on the south-east corner where the rumoured future Wendy's is going. I think it started as a Turbo, then became a Shell years later, then went out of business and was torn down.
Instead of tearing down the building, you should consider transforming it into one of the largest community centres in Manitoba. The areas where the old Safeway and Woolco/Wal-Mart would make a great gathering area for social and sporting events.
In the US, they are turning these places into one big condo development. They actually seem pretty cool. And some businesses moved back in to service condo owners.
nah, i think yer right about Smitty's lounges having "back door hallways"? Even in the Brandon Shoppers Mall, thecSmitty's louge had a "sorta hidden" backdoor hallway... I think its because they figured people didnt want to b seen going into a bar during the day?
Wow, that was a huge mall when i lived in Winnipeg from 1989 to 1992 (as i finished my degree at the UofM)... i havent lived in Manitoba since 1992, BUT am back in Brandon (my home town) every Christmas season, and one or two other times during the year? Malls are a thing of the past tho? Social media and online shopping has killed their relevance to teenagers snd young adults ... The socisl relevance is always what sustained malls
We actually had 3 at one time. The Portage Mall, the Westward Village Mall (across the road) and the Portage Co-Op Mall just east a bit. But this mall was the biggest we had.
My lil family moved to portage back in 1996, I would take my kids with me shopping at this mall. My kids loved the cafeteria and the lil kids place on the corner near the Walmart. They use to have lil rides for kids there. Awww it was a nice place to check out. How times change. Does anyone know what’s gonna replace this area once it’s demolished?
Huh. I have memory of a mall with a Jean Machine and some sort of junior department store with a short name, and I associated it with Portage la Prairie, but I guess we didn't go in to the mall, only McDonalds, or I just don't remember this mall. (Probably 1999 that we were visiting?)
It was about time for it to close. Portage la Prairie Mall looked dead whenever I'd stop there travelling by Greyhound. Small communities are slowly dying as many people move to Winnipeg.
I swear I spent half of my youth in that place! Long John Silver's, COLES book store, Woolco, Hans Christian Toys, Radio Shack. So many good times.
San Francisco?!? That business rocked!!! Everything from swearing keychains to gag stuff, miss that.
I was wondering what ever happened to San Francisco. We're did they go?.. did they go bankrupt or just closed all there stores. Or changed there name.
What ever happened to San Francisco did they close there doors or changed there name..
@@abwildoutdoorsSpencer’s took over SF at polo park. Just on Friday I took my little ones on a tour of the Portage Place mall. I wonder if there is a vid on that place? Great memories as a country kid visiting Winnipeg and then later spent my college years nearby at UofW
San Francisco ahhh that was my fav store as a child I always wanted/needed something from their store front
Oh the memories of my youth! Thanks so much for sharing! I’m a former Smitty’s and Coles bookstore employee 😊
What a throwback and memories I got when you said San Fransisco gifts, i totally forgot about that place.
Same
Bought my beautiful red prom dress at the clothing store at the corner just next to Safeway back in 1988 for $13!! It was 85% off! I loved it. My Mom was never happier than when she walked out of Coles with a brand new book in her hands! I had lots of great times in the mall with my Mom and sisters back in the day when shopping was a treat and luxury. I miss it. 💔
Only $13?? I graduated in 1988 and got my dress for around $150 from a shop at Polo Park. $13 seems like a price you’d pay for a dress in the ‘50s! My daughter graduated in 2023 and with alterations her grad dress was close to $1,000. 😭
Sad the Portage La Prairie Mall is closing, remember being there to shop in the 80s even in early 2000s, Thanks for sharing
The fuzzy orange was awesome and the doughnuts at Robin's. The mall was awesome in the late 90s
I was nearby Portage La Prairie Mall back in February of last year while I was out there watching my nephew play hockey and I thought it was completely abandoned…this was a fascinating trek through the mall and hearing your memories of it!
Build a Costco wholesale nice big parking😊
Tiny homes for the homeless… affordable housing ❣️🙏🏻
Yeah I used to work out near whitemud river and would stay in portage. Always drove through the parking lot to the Tim's next door and I didn't really realize it was still operating. The parking lot was BRUTAL to drive through
@@katherineh-v5w "tiny homes... affordable housing" 💯👍
Even the old Via Rail station has been shut and vandalized. Back in 1989 I took the Canadian train from Toronto to Vancouver and stopped at Portage. Sad to see things deteriorated in Portage. At least the world's largest Coke can is still standing!
Oh my goodness. I lived in Portage 78 - 87. This video brought up so many memories. Awesome times at that mall in my teens.
This harkens back to that song "Video Killed The Radio Star" which was also released in 1979, the year this mall opened. It gets one wondering if online shopping has taken over? That place is in excellent condition for its age. Kind of cool you worked at a couple of places. It's too bad to see this thing happening. Woolco was a great store in Vancouver, too. Too many people lost their jobs due to the closures, and that's a shame.
Most of our big malls here in the mericas are gone as well, thanks for sharing, makes me remember going to parmatown mall in the 70's
Yeah.. sure takes ya back huh? I could do that all over again. 🇨🇦🤜🤛🇺🇸
I remember stopping here on a road trip with my family in the 80s.
Did you go to the Bonanza next door too???
Those iconic round windows, used to love looking out of them as a kid. Always stopped here to have lunch/breakky with my bestfriend at the times grandparents/family when we'd stay with them. Was always such a cozy mall.
Nice video, thanks for giving a tour and sharing your memories so that this part of portage history is not lost to time.
Excellent video. Thanks for archiving this place. Loved the photos of the place in its prime.
That was a fun trip down memory lane
Thank you for capturing this mall and sharing all your memories! I'm sad I won't get to see such a cool, retro mall this with my own eyes. Thanks for making this video.
Tricky's, the Mall, Crescent Lake Park and the 7/11 on 8th Street are some of the good places I remember as a kid. Bought Aerosmith Pump when it came out at the Woolco.
I'm from Europe but I've been to the US a couple times, those malls are awesome, I can imagine if they tear it down some people feel like a piece of their youth kind of dies... a bit sad, so many memories there for so many people...
The mall is in Canada
Go to Phillipines , their malls are huge
@@epicarts2105Close enough... im Canadian born and bread and am here now... but had lived in the US for 10+ years - 20 years ago, malls there looked just like malls here
The mall wasn't just a place to buy stuff, it was a way of life, especially for teens. It was the place where everyone met and hung out together. It was part of the cultural lexicon, movies were made about it. Its closure will be much more than the loss of a place to shop, it truly is the end of an era.
Wow! I remember this mall when I was a kid!
Coles book store was my fave. That's where I got all my Star Trek books. Good times.
I remember driving out from Winnipeg after hearing the mall had the Titanic Museum, of all things.
Don’t know how long it was around, and don’t remember exactly where in the mall it was, but it had some really interesting stuff.
My gramma took me to the titanic museum, and I got my picture taken with a live tiger in the main walkway. Random, malls were weird.
Would make a great school. Always liked the skylights.
Community College too.
Some malls in the US are being converted into Mall Apartments. Some people enjoy it, with centralized coffee shops and other little shops to support the dwellers. The problem is giving them access to windows to see the outside world, and to receive natural light. Despite those two challenges the people look quite comfortable, and it looks like a mini city.
Yeah, I like that idea. Some malls have a lot of sky lights, those places would work better for that. Maybe take some stores on an outside wall and put in a wall of windows?
@@jeffreyverse In general I understand skylights can sometimes leak and cause all kinds of expensive maintenance issues. I'm sure it's not impossible.
Depending on the sizes of the space, maybe they could build mini shared courtyards.
I know some malls are turned into government complexes and medical centres.
I personally think they should turn them into medical universities. We desperately need medical professionals.
Unless of course the mall's so antiquated and it would be cheaper just to start over.
The shopping mall was a creation of the automobile culture. Mom and pop corner shops went out of business in favour of big box stores and their mall satellite shops which could only be reached by car or bus. Now we are coming full circle, and malls are being killed by the rising cost of driving and growth of Internet and other shopping options. Maybe an unintended benefit of driving becoming less affordable will be a return to walkable neighbourhoods with local stores.
When you said Kopper Kettle and talked about knick knacks, my Gen X self thought "he means Kricklewood!" Loved Kricklewood and also Kopper Kettle, which made a fantastic beef dip!
Sad that all those jobs are gone, and that meeting place. I 100% blame everyone who shops online.
@@opinionatedone It's a combination of many factors. Changing times, ease of digital currency, failure of businesses to update and adapt their business models, etc. I have a degree in business. It's a mistake to blame the consumer. Blame the business owners who fail to adapt.
I love beef dip.
I remember my route through the mall, depending on which side we went in, but I would always hit up Coles, look at the interesting knick knacks in the Copper Kettle, pop my head into Radio Shack and the music store, then head down towards San Francisco and then to the toy store before heading back if we went into Woolco, and reversed if we went into Safeway.
I honestly miss doing those rounds.
What a memory. Tricky owned Long John Silver and The Players Box. I worked for O Cairns Realty and both businesses my husband had.
Sad seeing a lot of malls closing... I living in IL near the MO side.. Ive see probably close to 10 malls from my childhood close.. lots of great memories from the mid 70's to the 80's.
Yeah... I know what ya mean. 🍻
the reason they are dying is the rental costs are ridiculous. the landlords act like it's a gravy train and economics are catching them up. that mall can still be full they need the cities to stop acting like malls are cash cows as well.
You are absolutely right. The mall in my home town is in the same state for the same reasons.
No online shopping is the culprit
@@ironmaiden4746that’s correct. On-line shopping (Amazon etc..) has decimated the ‘small guy’. I still prefer to shop in person than on-line. Like to get a good look at what I’m buying. 👍🍻🇨🇦
Online stores too like Amazon are doing a lot of business that makes it very hard to compete if you are running a store.
Natives were stealing,all the time.
It was kind of a living example of what Brandon Shoppers Mall originally looked like. They were built as almost architectural twins. The Brandon mall had multiple expansions over time, but the Portage mall kept the original footprint.
Also looks like the Guildford Mall in Surrey, BC. Almost a carbon copy of the decor - from the red "MALL" signs outside with the beige metal cladding and sable brickwork. Even the brown scale floor tile and trees with the wrought iron grating! And the Woolco anchor tenant!
Guildford has had extensive renovations, so none of those aspects remain nowadays.
@@alanmorris2933. I lived in Winnipeg from 75-86. The mall in the video reminds me of the Unicity Mall on Portage Ave. in St. James.
I wouldn’t be surprised if brandon mall closes too. A lot of stores are closing. Sad.
Makes sense... i grew up in Brandon and finished my degree at the UofM in Winnipeg... i was noting in a comment that the Smitty's lounges both had "secret" back door hallways
@@jaysrz7025the food court is essentially all that is left
Sad but fascinating to watch. I appreciate your doing this
Thanks for watching!
I remember Woolco and there restaurants that sat on the side of the shopping part.
Loved it with those stools you could sit on right at the counter.
Bought some suits at Jack Frazer in the mall back then.I believe Reesers was the 1st jewelry store. Bought nice things for the lady. Thanks for posting Jeff.
I also remember playing music in the mall at a time when they brought in live bands ..We spent a night in the mall when the road was closed due to big snow storm in late April.
Thanks for documenting this! I live in Winnipeg and have never really gone to Portage. Interesting to see a big mall like this instead of the typical strip malls or downtown businesses that I see in other smaller towns. Feels very similar to Northgate mall in Winnipeg back before they converted it from an indoor mall to a strip mall to revive it.
Wow, I was there in 1990 when I was like 5. My mom used to work at the safeway and walmart there too. I lived like a 15 minute walk from there. I live in Vancouver now. Thanks for the trip down memory lane
8:30 It was Pizza Place. A high school friend Ron Rotiluk and his dad owned it. I worked at the Safeway when it was opened. Unfortunately people didn’t patronage the local stores. The cost to maintain it and heat it will bring it ultimately to demolision. I think they have tried everything possible to keep it going but behemoths are hard to turn around. Portage will be back to boutique stores in the downtown which will be good.
I forgot about Smitty’s. Used to love going there.
I Never been to that Smitty's. But it was engrained in my head from a cfry commercial that always used to run 20 times an hour. It had the most irritating Jingle.
I had the opportunity to eat at that Smitty's 10 years or so later. I didn't because of that commercial 😂
@@OneWhoWas. I don’t remember their jingle, but the food WAS good. Fun place to be. Good coffee too.
Everything goes away. Psalms we blow away like dust before the wind and are place remembers us no more.
got my first stereo at radio shack.
Maybe I sold it to you?
Wow, the memories 🥹 thanks for this post.
You're welcome. Thanks for watching.
It is a sad era for malls. I used to love going to the mall as a teen. It might be torn down and replaced by a big box shopping centre.
In a place with a cold winter climate, it was a nice option to have a place to shop indoors.
That reminded me of Unicity mall in Winnipeg. The trees, stores, brick, and that mall sign.
....and just as empty when it closed down.
@@jonk9748 The mall game reminds me of arcades industry; less is more. If you charge 25 cents, there will be a line. If you charge a loony, it will sit idle and money will be lost on the machine and retail space.
Sad to see this mall close, not sure if I was there in 80’s. Malls were always bustling, very busy back then. I remember the Polo Park Mall, & stores like Zellers, SAAN...ect. Blast from the past, miss those awesome days.
Polo Park on Portage Ave. In Winnipeg? I haven’t been there since 2010. Do you remember the Unicity Mall near the west end of Portage Ave.? 🇨🇦 🍻
@ Yes in WPG. Not sure if I was at that mall, too many years ago lol Polo Park was packed with us trend setting 80’s teens. The photo both in the center of the mall was always a hit and record cassette stores playing loud 80’s hits lol fun times 😁 🎵
@@northerngrace6108 Yup. I wish I had a time machine. 🤔
Oh yeah I remember going there a lot as a kid and a teenager through all of the 80's. We'd go to Safeway, the fuzzy orange, Radio Shack and San Francisco as a kid. Although I seem to remember the San Francisco being across from Smitty's and Safeway on the other corner. Hanging out at Smitty's Lounge as a teen, and getting a haircut next door. I think the stylist was from Treherne. Eating at the new McDonald's with a sign that said 'over a million people served'. Getting film developed at the camera shop. I think it was Don's then. Shopping at Woolco. Although I couldn't remember the name. I remember when Walmart went in though. Very fuzzy memories now LOL.
Hard to believe it’s finally closing
Hard to believe it hadn't already! But yeah, the thing was open so long with so few stores, you might start to think its some sort of immortal mall.
Remember ‘Sam the Record Man’? Did your mall have one of those? I betcha it did. 🇨🇦🍻
Or HMV
The malls were awesome,they were our internet of that time and better.
A place to socialize face to face and shop.
Teens now will never understand how great a place they were,the malls rocked!
So glad I lived it and would trade it for today's world in a heart beat.
There was a music store.Hildebrants and a photo store. I worked at Woolco. Every month we had 1.44 day
Yes my friend who lives in Brandon mb and i would meet at the mall Smitties to visit. We called it our PLAP visit
The only 80's pizza place in Manitoba with a leaning tower of Pisa logo I could find was Pizza Place. lol
Yup, that's it. Someone else commented and I looked it up. They're still around...I didn't know!
We were driving across Canada in 2015 and stopped at this mall. It wasn't very busy then either.
This sure brought back memories 😢
So good ! Great trip down memory lane. The pizza restaurant was PizzaPlace. Also Happys DryCleaners was a tenant with outside access.
"I gooooo to Pizza Place to get the flavour
of Italy,
And so do we.
We knoooow that Manitoba likes a pizza,
so join the race
To Pizza Place.
We're ready with spaghetti and we season it just right
So look for the Tower of Pizza any night.
And enjoy a treat at Pizza Place or even in your hoooome!!
There's no better eating anywhere from Winnipeg to Rome!"
My word, I remember going to this mall when I worked at the Manitoba Developmental Centre. It is weird to see what has happened to the mall.
It’s not fair. I hate online shopping . All these beautiful malls are closing due to all this technology. There is barely any human contact left. Nowhere to go; this is also effecting people and their mental health.
Nothing beats being able to hold, touch, feel an item in person. Being able to try on clothing and knowing whether you'll like something just by seeing it infront of you. Just cant get that online. Ive got a whole closet of stuff that never fit right, but was more hassle to return than it was worth from online stores.
Our parents could count on us middle age and teen kids being at the mall for hours at a time, giving them a break. You got to see all your friends. I just feel like people were all around nicer 10yrs ago too. Having to go into stores and be around others kept people in check. Oh well, I suppose everything changes! Shame though
Great video 😊
Hopefully they put something new in there. We lived in portage for many years, and still come back often. ☕️🇨🇦☕️
Was Born in Portage in 1968
Woolco was owned by F.W. Woolworth & Co. (now Footlocker). Walmart got into the Canadian market by buying out the Canadian stores in the 1990s.
Reminds me of the Kindersley mall. Also pretty much dead. Kindersley mall still has a grocery store at one end and peavey mart at the other to anchor it. so its still open despite only one or two other stores open in the whole rest of the mall.
There was a music shop in here somewhere that sold instruments. And another place that sold some cassette tapes and stuff.
It was later in the mall's history, after Wal-Mart had left, but there was a guy who moved his music shop from the Co-Op Mall into the Portage Mall for a time. I remember that one.
@jeffreyverse ah that could be. I didn't get to this place until the early~mid 90s somewhere. I think I first visited around the start of its decline.
Bring back wheelies and we all can rollerskate again!😎🤘
Ive never been to this mall but im pretty sure ive been in an almost identical one in a few different towns across Ontario. Woolco and Dominion. grocery stores anchored a couple of them..
It was happening like 30 years ago, got back and the place was depressed, I always loved going into San Francisco.
worked in the P la P area for 9 1/2 years 1983 until spring of 1992. That mall was dsfinitely the place to shop in the 1980's Recal Southport air base downsizing , followed by the Cambell Soupbplant closure , seemed to hurt the local economy hard. French fry pkants expansion later on definitely a boom for the area.
We were there a few years ago and it was basically abandoned back then.We took a video because we were amazed that a mall could be so dead.
Flashback to when mom was getting groceries at Safeway and we got run of the mall for half an hour asking as we all “stuck together!” Lol…
Plus “Run and Racquet” was in the mall for a while too.
I don't remember what Run and Racquet was - what was it and where was it?
It was Pizza Place. They had a "tickle trunk" full of toys and kids under 12 could take a toy when you came in. I always got the fighter plane with the propeller powered by a rubber band.
And Treasure Island was the little kiosk on front of the Scotiabank where you could buy smokes and lighters and Lotto tickets and the like.
And that hallway went back into GP Geez lounge. Which was one of the restaurant/lounges that took over the space where Pizza Place used to be.
@@michaelbuhr3601 Ok, that makes more sense. I thought it was an offshoot of Smitty's, but I think you're right it was GP.
As a mall rat who was born in PLP but moved when I was young I thank you for this vid
Thanks for the video! Sad to see
It was a sporting goods store. I think it was beside Appelts somewhere.
The top 40 music store was big in Dauphin Manitoba
Ask yourself, where did we shop before big malls that grew in the 70s & 80s?
It's simply another shift in consumer shopping habits.
Online certainly has taken over, but it's an opportunity for local downtown shops to come back.
Thanx for this vid!! So, if the logo had the Leaning Tower of Pisa on it, you can be almost sure it was Pizza Place, Winnipeg's first pizza restaurant - dating back to around 1960. IMO best pizza in Winnipeg. People used to order it in internationally.
It's funny to consider that so many malls are going out of business. And I do believe, as someone suggested, the problem STARTS with high rent. You can't keep milking that cash cow. But I've seen that in a lot of areas.
So, what are they gonna do? Bring non-profit businesses into the mall and essentially get the GOVERNment to pay that non-profit's rent?
I bet that's been one approach. I'm noticing it in Winnipeg. I'm wondering what will happen to Portage Place Mall, downtown.
But back to old memories. Yeah. We moved to Bramalea, Ontario in the seventies and I was just up the street--about a twenty minute walk--to the Bramalea City Centre. There was a real big library beside it too.
I was a little too old to be a mall rat, but I sure know the feeling.
Thanks for posting this. Funny, how some malls all look the same.
roo
Fuck yeah love malls dude hell yeah
Nice video . Garden city had the first Walmart in Winnipeg yes it was a Woolco lol can’t remember how to spell it.
The malls where I live in Canada are pretty healthy
I remember I got my first hannie job at the portage mall
Long John Silver's! Galaga, Wardner, Kid Icarus Double Dragon...good times.
Pizza Joint was "Pizza Place" - small chain of Pizza spots. There was a treasure chest with kids toys ! The Copper Kettle sold kitchenware. When you were trying to recall the name of San Fransisco you mentioned "Treasure Island" - there was a such a place. It was a retail "island" like K-vac was. Can't quite recall what they sold ( key chains and stuff maybe?)
There's a mall like this in Chatham, ON. Called Downtown Chatham Centre. The mall isn't closing and is much bigger than this one. But it's very dead only featuring about 12 businesses left. Though, the new owners are renovating the place hoping to restore it.
That's too bad, Our mall in Moose Jaw will probably close eventually, not many stores left in there.
Use to deliver to the Safeway way back when. Didn’t know Portage had a Fuzy Orange. I thought Kenora was the only place that had one.
3:33 the exterior reminds me of a former Woolworth store.
I remember my mom ordering pizza in portage le prarie in the early 90's and the pizza was a huge rectangled sized pizza called the bigfoot pizza .
There was a gas station at the far east end. Turbo maybe?
Yeah, on the south-east corner where the rumoured future Wendy's is going. I think it started as a Turbo, then became a Shell years later, then went out of business and was torn down.
Instead of tearing down the building, you should consider transforming it into one of the largest community centres in Manitoba. The areas where the old Safeway and Woolco/Wal-Mart would make a great gathering area for social and sporting events.
In the US, they are turning these places into one big condo development. They actually seem pretty cool. And some businesses moved back in to service condo owners.
Was there a place in the mall that had a photo booth?
I want to say there was, but I can't remember where. Maybe by the food court somewhere?
nah, i think yer right about Smitty's lounges having "back door hallways"? Even in the Brandon Shoppers Mall, thecSmitty's louge had a "sorta hidden" backdoor hallway... I think its because they figured people didnt want to b seen going into a bar during the day?
Omg!! Fuzzy orange.
Wow, that was a huge mall when i lived in Winnipeg from 1989 to 1992 (as i finished my degree at the UofM)... i havent lived in Manitoba since 1992, BUT am back in Brandon (my home town) every Christmas season, and one or two other times during the year? Malls are a thing of the past tho? Social media and online shopping has killed their relevance to teenagers snd young adults ... The socisl relevance is always what sustained malls
interesting! I had no clue that Portage la Prairie even had a mall.
We actually had 3 at one time. The Portage Mall, the Westward Village Mall (across the road) and the Portage Co-Op Mall just east a bit. But this mall was the biggest we had.
My lil family moved to portage back in 1996, I would take my kids with me shopping at this mall. My kids loved the cafeteria and the lil kids place on the corner near the Walmart. They use to have lil rides for kids there. Awww it was a nice place to check out. How times change. Does anyone know what’s gonna replace this area once it’s demolished?
Long John silver arcade I still miss you.
Huh. I have memory of a mall with a Jean Machine and some sort of junior department store with a short name, and I associated it with Portage la Prairie, but I guess we didn't go in to the mall, only McDonalds, or I just don't remember this mall. (Probably 1999 that we were visiting?)
It was about time for it to close. Portage la Prairie Mall looked dead whenever I'd stop there travelling by Greyhound. Small communities are slowly dying as many people move to Winnipeg.