What It Was Like to Hang Out at the Mall in the ’90s

Before smartphones and Amazon, there was one place to be on a Saturday afternoon in the ’90s — the mall.

It wasn’t just for shopping either. It’s where we went to socialize. Friendships made there, crushes were formed, and it’s where we got some of our first tastes of freedom.

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Our parents would drop us off at the entrance with a $20 bill and in we went with our independence. We would walk around with our friends, flip through CDs at Sam Goody, check out the cute clippies at Claire’s, sift through all of the clothes we wanted at Limited Too, or get our giggles out in the Spencer aisles.

We’d stop by Claire’s to check out the latest butterfly clips, mood rings, and maybe even get our ears pierced.

Not only were the stores a place of excitement, but the food court was really the heart of it all. We’d sit with our groups, share the latest gossip, or just people watch. It was like a school cafeteria on steroids. You could probably smell the Auntie Anne’s pretzels now just thinking about it.

There really was something special about hanging out at the mall in the ’90s. Let’s take a scroll through some of the best parts about spending the afternoon there back in the day.

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Sad to think what once was a lively place of socialization and shopping is now, in many areas, a quiet environment with a ton of vacant spaces.

There were so many iconic places that are now nostalgic. Like remember all of the hot spots in the food court?