Mall Kids of the 80’s Shreveport/Bossier Style

As I work my way through season three of Stranger Things, I can't help but get nostalgic for my days as a 'mall rat' in the 80s because much of the show is based at their brand spanking new Starcourt Mall!

Let's face it, the series is on point for what life was like in 1985, minus the whole 'Upside Down' thing. Heck, they even have a Stranger Things 3 soundtrack out, which you can get in retro cassette format at FYE.

After all, if you're of a 'certain' age and grew up in the area, you most likely spent a lot of time at Pierre Bossier (Haughton proud here!), Southpark Mall or Mall St. Vincent, especially on the weekend. If you had a job at the mall, especially if it was at Gadzooks, The Gap, etc... you were pretty much the pinnacle of cool. Too bad Steve in Stranger Things 3 is stuck scooping ice cream in the mall food court. lol

While I never worked at the mall, it holds a lot of memories for me. During my elementary school years, the best Saturday ever was when we loaded up and headed to town. I'm quite sure the workers at KB Toys hated it. After all, we had hours to peruse the aisles and turn on every single noise making toy in sight!

During my junior high years, yes, that was before we called it 'middle school,' you'd see tons of us tweens invading the movie theater hoping we got to sit next to our crush and checking out who else was 'going together.'

Then on into high school, we totally cruised the Pierre Bossier Mall parking lot. Of course, my family moved us away to Ohio by the time things started getting rough, but meeting up with your friends was the height of the weekend if it wasn't football season.

Ah, the years of big hair, earrings carefully matched to your Limited or Outback Red outfit and tight rolled jeans. I remember it fondly, but what were we thinking?

Remember stores like Chess King, Merry-Go-Round, Miller's Outpost, Service Merchandise, Bealls, Country Seat, Piercing Pagoda, Regis, and Contempo Casuals? If you were going to bring one of them back, which would it be? Let's wax nostalgic together!