As you can see, a few business still cling to this place. Customers were almost nonexistent. Music echoed through the building as if it were expecting to see crowds come back. All around were wonderful old signs such as this one for the restrooms. There was a definite feeling of time having passed and forgotten this place.
The Market Street Mall In Marshall Minnesota presents some very exciting opportunities to photograph what malls in America are becoming. By that I mean big box stores and Amazon have been killing off retail chains in smaller markets. I won't speak about big cities though as they are different from what we are witnessing here.
While the mall is losing one business after another, it is still in wonderful condition, clean, and totally ready to be revitalized into something new. As you can see from these pictures, it's ready for a new generation of small businesses to come in and take over. In the meantime though, it's an interesting place where anyone can legally go urban exploring.
As you can see, a few business still cling to this place. Customers were almost nonexistant. Music echoed through the building as if it were expecting to see crowds come back. All around were wonderful old signs such as this one for the restrooms. There was a definite feeling of time having passed and forgotten this place.
While we didn't strictly have permission to photograph here, there were no signs saying we couldn't and the few employees I talked to said there wasn't a problem. Still, I didn't press my luck with a tripod. The goal in a situation like this is to disrupt things as little as possible and to be polite as possible.
Just like with people, respecting places gets you a long ways. To the left here is what appears to be a closed Lewis Drug store. Several non-store businesses have moved in and are beginning to occupy the store fronts. This is great news for the mall's future.
The Sears is gone but you can still tell where it used to occupy. It took a lot of creativity with these shots in the dark corridors and lack of light. I missed my tripod.
Any guess what sat here? It's hard to believe a small city like Marshall could keep this place open at any point.
It seems so spooky with no one else here. Just the distant roar of ventilation and the echoing of pop songs from 15 years ago.
I wanted to check in with the office but found this.
One of the closed stores. So interesting. We didn't try to find a way in to anything that was locked like this though. Trespassing is a big no-no with us.
Wonderful shot around the corner allowed me to photobomb myself.
Totally awesome poses ladies!
So in conclusion. the mall in Marshall is a very interesting place to explore now. I like seeing the glimmers of hope for this place. It's got so much potential. But in the meantime. We'll photograph it and preserve it's memory.