The Mall Chronicles - Volume 2

I have to admit; I was just going to post this volume with two words – Chess King. Yes, the thought of some of you nostalgic folks spitting up your coffee in your office cubes made me chuckle bit, but I guess there are people out there that don’t know what Chess King was… or maybe is, depending on where you live. I know the dark and seemingly mysterious clothing store is o longer an occupant at the Maine Mall, but I wouldn’t be surprised if there were a couple stores that didn’t get the memo about the 21st century. Regardless of whether there still is a Chess King by you, I know many of you have had a good laugh at the expense of some poor guy that thought a one-inch wide leather tie was truly cool. Interestingly I have found that the spirit of Chess King is actually alive and well in our malls, sort of. No, I’m not going to review clothing stores or clothing stores. I admittedly know little about what is truly considered in style, so to speak, but apparently I know more than the poor guys who run the plethora of cell phone kiosks that dot the mall hallways. (I’ve get to this phenomena at a latter date as it deserves its’ own post) And whereas I don’t want to beat this topic to the ground, I want you all to think. I want you to take a look back to 1985 and try to think of how many shades of black, white, and gray there were. If those thoughts don’t make you think about Chess King just a little, well, I guess you weren’t as fortunate as the rest of us… Fortunate? Hmmm.