Rapids Mall Decline in Photos | Forum

Lol.

Okay, so I've got MORE NEWS on the Rapids Mall, but first, let me export the Mystery Atlas post over here for your viewing pleasure...

Suffice it to say, I fear the Rapids Mall, my old hometown shopping center, may very well be on it's way out after so many years of fighting. In the last month, it's last anchor store J.C. Penney announced it would be closing down it's store in the Rapids Mall, and I just heard word that another holdout from the old days, the Tea Shop, is going as well. The Tea Shop was one of the Mall's "destination" stores, selling all sorts of strange novelties, and until the rise of all the vape shops, probably the regions only place to get a Hookah if that was your thing.

With most remaining mall stores keeping rather eclectic hours at best, and with what few "chain" stores slowly vanishing, it's anyone's guess how long the place will remain open. So, to help remember the place, I have some photos to share. Enjoy!

A lonely plastic frog guards an otherwise empty planter at the Rapids Mall.


Former Christopher and Banks outlet store.


The former Smoothie shop in what could tentatively have been called the food court.


The "North Court" looking towards the former Younkers department store anchor.


The very 1970's looking chrome entryway to the former Younkers anchor store. The storefront is not covered, so any curious onlooker can peer into the vast empty space beyond.


Not that there's much to see inside.


Conversely, next to Younkers is the former Younkers Auxiliary, an empty store that Younkers conscripted for storage and seasonal sales. It's chain-link gate has always been covered with a tarp on the other side to prevent anyone from looking in. Until now, when the tarp has started to come down on one side, revealing that the former Auxiliary store is brimming with stuff. As Younkers moved out several years ago, it's hard to believe any of this would be theirs. Very strange.


The former Subway restaurant just inside the main entrance. Subway moved into a larger building nearby several years ago, and since then their former location has come to serve as storage for various chairs.


One of the most curious here is Genius Repairs, a store that has not been "open" for more than a year and has been covered up in the past, but not cleaned out inside. The mall had formerly covered this stall with a tarp and placed benches in front of it, and moved their sign inside the gate. The situation that exists between the store's operators and the Rapids Mall must be a strange one.


Next door, an old school wood panel entryway covers a deceptively large tanning studio beyond, which closed for good years ago. The lights in the front are still burning bright today.


A store that has been a variety of things, most notably for me the former home of Vernox Computers, before they went out of business. Most recently it was a craft/thrift store, though it is once again vacant.
​

It is very sad to see the place in the state it's in. The stores that are still in the mall are fighting hard to stay alive, and they do seem to have the community support to remain aloft for the time being, though losing the larger chain stores will doubtlessly be a blow to their ongoing operations. All the same, as grim as this looks, the mall administrator they have now is brilliant, and he's pulled off miracles before. What's one more?

In alphabetical order, on 4/15/17

Austin's Craft World
Aquarium Pet Store
Bath and Body Works (Chain)
Bethesda Thrift Store
CC Service (Rarely open)
Hallmark Gold Crown (Chain)
iSparkle Cupcake Shop
Junction City Clothing Company
Little Country Bakery
Rapid Rehab
Senior Craft Shop
Sylvios Pizza
Timeless Quality Imaging
The Bogs Cranberry Shop (gift shop)
Weight Watchers

Stores Closing:
J.C. Penney (Anchor)
The Tea Shop



(Originally Posted to MysteryAtlas.com on April 10, 2017)

EDIT: Added Store List.

Here's the two closing stores as seen side by side.





Serious question, where do they get those "Store Closing" signs. Every store that goes under seems to have the same ones... do they share them around? Strange...  (Originally posted April 28, 2017)

So, the local paper just announced that the Rapids Mall is in the process of a sale to the YMCA and Boys and Girls Club. They've been combining their forces the last few years to really ramp up what they can do across the region- they bought out an old school, and the YMCA continues to push for a new community center. Well, this is it now.

Story HERE.

...and for posterity, here is the original floor plan.



To help better explain my saltiness about this, I need to explain a couple things.

For those that don't know, I run a vending machine business. I have been in the Rapids Mall as a tenant in some capacity for 6 years now. I have watched three different administers come and go, and scores of startups that came and went. So, being me, I decided to pitch an arcade here. The idea was simple, a group of vendors and amusement operators and I would all go in together, where I would be the tenant, and outside operators would kick in a per-machine charge per month to cover the rent. It was automated and easy. Everyone liked the plan each time I pitched it, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, and you guessed it, probably 6 months ago. The first stall I was after was C-13, though later I set my sights on B-8A, as it has been vacant since 2008. Each time I was turned down financially. I was given a "good deal" monthly rent of $1200 a month on C-13, and then variations on B-8A, mostly in the $500 per month range. This year I really pushed hard, and the administrator gave me a deal- 3 months for $900 ($300 a month) and then renegotiate to "something reasonable".

So, seeing as the project was intended to draw people to the mall, and would have cost quite a bit in marketing to make it viable in the first place, I was shocked at how inflexible the admins were about stall pricing. Right now, half of the mall is empty, with many stores nearing a decade of vacancy. I'm not saying I could have turned the mall around or anything like that, what I am saying is that these empty, derelict malls have no one to blame but themselves when they can't find tenants to fill their spaces. Even low-paying tenants are better than no tenants, and they'll bring in people to serve your other businesses. But, I digress...

I've been in there for years and years trying to do this thing, and what do I read the YMCA thing will have? "A game room for YMCA members."



That is all.

Oh, here's what the YMCA wants to do to the outside. Woohoo and whatnot.

Quote from Maklarr4000 ...and for posterity, here is the original floor plan.



To help better explain my saltiness about this, I need to explain a couple things.

For those that don't know, I run a vending machine business. I have been in the Rapids Mall as a tenant in some capacity for 6 years now. I have watched three different administers come and go, and scores of startups that came and went. So, being me, I decided to pitch an arcade here. The idea was simple, a group of vendors and amusement operators and I would all go in together, where I would be the tenant, and outside operators would kick in a per-machine charge per month to cover the rent. It was automated and easy. Everyone liked the plan each time I pitched it, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, and you guessed it, probably 6 months ago. The first stall I was after was C-13, though later I set my sights on B-8A, as it has been vacant since 2008. Each time I was turned down financially. I was given a "good deal" monthly rent of $1200 a month on C-13, and then variations on B-8A, mostly in the $500 per month range. This year I really pushed hard, and the administrator gave me a deal- 3 months for $900 ($300 a month) and then renegotiate to "something reasonable".

So, seeing as the project was intended to draw people to the mall, and would have cost quite a bit in marketing to make it viable in the first place, I was shocked at how inflexible the admins were about stall pricing. Right now, half of the mall is empty, with many stores nearing a decade of vacancy. I'm not saying I could have turned the mall around or anything like that, what I am saying is that these empty, derelict malls have no one to blame but themselves when they can't find tenants to fill their spaces. Even low-paying tenants are better than no tenants, and they'll bring in people to serve your other businesses. But, I digress...

I've been in there for years and years trying to do this thing, and what do I read the YMCA thing will have? "A game room for YMCA members."



That is all.

Lol

More photos, taken in late August. You thought things were bad before?


Ouch.

Also, as a rather strange aside, the former Younkers Auxiliary has "changed" so whoever has that space, they are doing something with it...

A few more shots of the former J.C. Penney Court (Now the "South Court" but they won't replace the signs now).



The Tea Shop's neon lights are still on the wall, and I've seen them turned on once since the store closed for good.



A somewhat shaky picture of the South Court vendors row (I took a bunch of pictures, but this was the least blurry of the bunch upon review). The equipment (rides) in stall D2 are owned by a large amusement group out of Waupaca WI (great folks btw) while the candy machines are operated by longtime operator Valley Vending. The Black machine is unit 003, and the red machine is Unit 059. Unit 003 now resides in a Chinese restaurant in Stevens Point, WI; Unit 059 was seriously damaged sometime around the 20th of October so it was retired from service on 10/30/2017. Behind them in the chalet themed stall is CC Service, a clock, watch, and antiques repair shop that everyone knows of, but is pretty much never open without an appointment.



From left to right, the rear half of the former Tea Shop Location, the former Regis hair salon which closed back in 2013 (but left tons of their fixtures behind, strangely enough) and the big J.C. Penney store in the center. It's far better illuminated inside than the former Younkers anchor in the North Court as it has two different sets of glass doors allowing lots of natural light in.



Inside the former Tea Shop; crowded with candles and novelties no more. The strange darkened object in the center is actually a stained glass "skylight" light fixture. It used bright florescent lights behind it to give the illusion of daylight shining through, casting colors all around the store. That combined with all the neon fixtures inside the shop, their crazy music, and wild array of candles, it was quite the trippy effect just walking in the door- you definitely felt like you were in a different world in there. Alas, those days are gone for good.



Facing away from the north court towards the main mall entrance payphone kiosk (which is bolted to the floor, much to one of the former admin's chagrin) is the vending wagon. It's operated by a large chain operator now, who switched out a battery of nice-looking Beaver vending machines selling candy and toys over to electronic carnival amusement machines (flanked by a Northwestern 60 and 80 selling bouncy balls) several years back.

How long he plans to stay now that the mall's fate is sealed remains to be seen.

Stores remaining, in alphabetical order, on 11/4/17

Austin's Craft World
Aquarium Pet Store
Bath and Body Works (Chain)
Bethesda Thrift Store
CC Service (Rarely open)
Hallmark Gold Crown (Chain)
iSparkle Cupcake Shop
Junction City Clothing Company
Little Country Bakery
Senior Craft Shop
Sylvios Pizza
The Bogs Cranberry Shop (gift shop)
Weight Watchers

Stores Closing:
Timeless Quality Imaging

Before I get too far off track, I do have an update on the YMCA takeover plan, and what it may affect. Or, rather, rumors that I've heard and found credible enough to share.



Firstly, the Veterans Affairs clinic that moved into and expanded onto the main structure (B2) will not be changing, aside from maybe some exterior updates (their entryway, like the rest of the mall, is falling apart in places). Likewise, the Centralia Center (Purple area), the mall's 3rd "Anchor" that was once Walmart is owned by the city of Wisconsin Rapids and won't be changing at all. It holds offices and services for senior citizens, as well as the Community Theater offices and stage. The YMCA stated that the short overlap between the Mall and the Centralia Center the Community Theater uses (parts of C14/C14a) will not be disturbed.

Rumors of course are floating around that the proposed YMCA plan cedes more space to both the Veterans Affairs clinic (though it's not clear if they'd even want it), and to the Community Theater (who would definitely take it). The plan I find most credible would cede much of the "lower" area of the Southern end of the mall to the community theater, allowing the YMCA to wall off the "sunken" area and give the theater some extra room (D7) and their own (albeit somewhat disused and hidden) public entrance (between D7 and the Centralia Center wall).

This of course is all just conjecture on my part, again based on rumors I've heard, but are impossible to verify just yet.

Well, more bad news for the mall's last technical "anchor" store, and the one people really expected to do well after the mall was gone. Story is HERE.

Here's the Rapids Mall as seen from above in Google Maps from at least three years ago.



Here's the Bing (Microsoft) satellite image. It's somewhat more recent, as the car wash is gone in this one.



Stores remaining, in alphabetical order, on 11/16/17

Austin's Craft World
Aquarium Pet Store
Bath and Body Works (Chain)
CC Service (Basically never open for business, but still technically there)
Hallmark Gold Crown (Chain)
iSparkle Cupcake Shop
Junction City Clothing Company
Little Country Bakery
Senior Craft Shop
Sylvios Pizza
The Bogs Cranberry Shop (gift shop)
Weight Watchers

Stores Closing:
Bethesda Thrift Store
Timeless Quality Imaging

So, while looking up some details on another facet of the Rapids Mall, I ran across an article about the enigmatic "Genius Repairs" store from back when it first opened. The full story is HERE, and screenshot below.



Doing a little more digging, their Wausau location is gone and replaced by a drywall company which has been there since late 2016. Their phone number is disconnected, and their website is gone. But, their store in the Rapids Mall remains- closed up just how they left it sometime in the winter of 2015 (judging by the posters and promotional items visible from the mall through the bars). Totally bizarre.

Fun fact, TLC Travel moved out of the rapids mall to a store on 8th Street, then went out of business in the spring of this year. Their website is still up, and it's a mess (X). Now, in a curious twist of fate, the Aquarium Pet Store is going to move from the Rapids Mall to the former TLC travel building.

To recap, the Aquarium Pet Store has now survived and escaped the closing of TWO dead malls, and a strip mall.

A few storms over the last year or so have been gradually pulling the exterior of the former Younkers store off the mall entirely, and management has been laying the pieces truly in the bushes, for lack of a better fix. It's only gotten this bad recently, and it's unlikely anything will be done about it.

Some more photos of the Rapids Mall. Businesses were given their final notices today- get lost by the 31st. Most are going out of business as they can't afford to move, or don't have anywhere suitable to go to which is a real shame.



It appears that someone is borrowing some of the Mall's electricity.



Good thing it's pretty much hidden by this giant bush. Lucky nobody with a camera saw it, phew!



Sign on the Bethesda Thrift Store's donation door, telling everyone they are closing down for good.



The arched entryway over the main entrance, installed in the mid 2000's, and really showing it's age now.



A portion of the entryway roof is broken off, while the one next to it is held on by a pair of rusted C-Clamps. There is another entryway like this over the entrance to the Veterans Affairs clinic, and it is in worse shape, but the VA gets weird about people with cameras milling about. Can't say that I blame them, so I'll leave that one to your imagination.



A community theater (I think) Halloween display is still up as of December 1st, 2017. In a sick way, I think this little guy is the mall's mascot now; it's rather fitting.

Stores remaining, in alphabetical order, on 12/1/17

Austin's Craft World
Bath and Body Works (Chain)
CC Service (Basically never open for business, but still technically there)
Hallmark Gold Crown (Chain)
Junction City Clothing Company
Little Country Bakery
Senior Craft Shop
Sylvios Pizza

Stores Closing:
Bethesda Thrift Store
Timeless Quality Imaging
The Bogs Cranberry Shop (gift shop)

A few more looks around, for good measure. Photos taken during the last week of November, 2017.



A glimpse down the ramp towards the Wisconsin Rapids Community Theater, which will (according to everything stated thusfar) be inheriting this "slice" of the mall, or at least everything you see here. Behind me is a doorway that leads out to the back of the former JC Penney store, and the parking lot for the US Bank. To the left, through the big door, is the Wisconsin Rapids City-owned Centralia/Lowell center, which will not be moving or changing whatsoever.



Speaking of things not changing, this wall above the doorway has remained unchanged since the last tenant, Walmart, moved out. It is hard to see here (I will get some better photos) but when you look at it you can clearly see the outline of the old letters for the logo with the star. All the planters sit empty, which is too bad.



Out the doors I was talking about, you are greeted by the well worn street and sidewalks, and the remnants of JC Penney's signage. Near the bushes on the left are a series of overflowing garbage cans, really filling out this dreary scene.



Back inside, we can see not all is well at the Lowell center either, as it seems to be missing a few things...



A few lights seem to be out here and there.



A glimpse into the Regis salon, which seems to have left pretty much everything behind. The clock on the wall reads 7:42, and I'm rather reminded of "Great Expectations", or rather the part with the crazy old woman with the clocks that were all stopped on her wedding day that was ruined. Spooky.



Even more spooky is the literal ghost town in the middle of the afternoon on a weekday. I was among maybe 10 other people in the whole building, virtually all of whom work at the stores in the mall.

Some additional photos from the South Court (JC Penney side), and savor the memories of good times gone by...



Another look into JC Penney.



What's worse, dead plants, no plants, or fake plants?



Paneling above the mirrored "display" window for the former Tea Shop.



The former Regis Salon



The South Court. Still empty.



A tree hangs on in the South Court, where only Valley Vending's candy machines remain open for business.



One of the last days that The Aquarium pet shop was still in the mall, with their big yellow awning. With them gone, there is only one store and one restaurant left in the South Court.



Rainwater keeps these plants nice and healthy, but I doubt anyone is too pleased about it. This hole has been gradually getting bigger over the last few years. :(

While seeking out the Mall Administrator on December 1st, I stopped by the open doors of the service area and went inside as the door was propped open and the lights were on. Inside, I did not find the Administrator, but instead ran across something I haven't seen in years- this is one of the Rapids Mall's old directory maps, judging by the logo and the stores present on the directory, from 2008-ish. It's about 4 feet across, on a solid wooden pedestal, and covered in a thick layer of dust. This is one of two that I know the mall has, and I know the other one is more up-to-date (though not wildly), but the location of the other one I do not know. Both of these were taken off the floor sometime in 2011, with only one returning, before it too vanished in after the boat show in 2013.



This is the first time this sign has been seen by the public in almost a decade, and wow how times have changed. Many of the stores listed here have been replaced two or even three times over, or have gone under altogether.

In order:
Family Dollar: closed this location and was replaced by Bethesda Thrift shop.
Victory Lane: a NASCAR and racing memorabilia store. Closed in 2010 and was absorbed by Bethesda for more floor space.
Tropical Smoothie Cafe: A local smoothie shop that moved out to the former Starbucks location in town. They are still open today.
Reusch Gallery: Photography gallery, replaced briefly by the county tourism board as a gift shop of sorts before being shuttered. It too was absorbed by Bethesda for yet more floor space.
CC Service: The story as I understand it was that Bethesda wanted the space. So, they moved CC to the vacant stall D3 and gave Bethesda the space. As of this writing, CC service is still technically open as it has been for as long as the mall has been standing.
Subway: Subway moved from their shoebox-sized store in the front of the mall to the vacant Chicken restaurant that had been built in the outlot. Still open in that building today.
Upscale Resale: Closed, space purchased, expanded on, and then utilized by the Veterans Affairs clinic system.
Christopher and Banks: Christopher and Banks closed this location in 2012, before opening a new (and larger) store in Plover Wisconsin, about 25 minutes away, in the Crossroad Commons Shopping Center. The store has been the site of the Bethesda Christmas Shop every holiday season since 2015.
Vanity: Closed sometime in 2010, though I can't find an exact date. Was the second (and final) site for the Senior Craft Shop in 2014.
Timeless Quality Images: A Photo studio, framing shop, and film development center that, as of this writing, is still open as they wind down their business after all these years.
PC Doctors: A computer repair shop that I don't even remember being there. B-8A has been empty (barring a few very brief takeovers by Bethesda for the Christmas Shop in 2013 and 2014, and as a short-term meeting place for clubs) since 2012.
Weight Watchers: Weight Watchers still (technically) has a space at the mall in the form of stall D4, but pretty much everything has since been removed. It's expected Weight Watchers will move elsewhere in the city soon enough.
Winslow's Hallmark: One of the two remaining "Chain" stores in the mall, the Hallmark is still there and still open.
B11: Stall B11 was empty then, and it's empty now. The town's "Candy Bouquet" store moved in there in 2012 for a few years before closing for good, and most recently in 2016 it was the local headquarters for the Democratic Party for the election.
The Tea Shop: As discussed previously, the Tea Shop was an original that we shall never see the likes of again.
Scanlan Jewelers: A Jewelry store in a very small corner slot (as can still be seen in many malls today) that became "The Bogs" in late 2009.
Regis Salon: Regis shut down for good in 2012, at roughly 7:42 according to their left behind clock.
Sandy's Coffee and Flour shop: A bakery and coffee shop combo that commanded a fair amount of space and ample praise from the community in it's heyday, the shop was bought out by "Higher Grounds" coffee shop, which moved out of the mall in 2011 to a location near Walmart, and they are still open today. The former iSparkle Cupcake bakery inhabited roughly half of their former space, with the Little Country Bakery taking up another small portion on the end, leaving an empty void between them.
The In Boutique: A trendy fashion store of sorts that closed sometime before Vernox Computers moved into the space in 2010.
Bath and Body Works: The second remaining "Chain" store, Bath and Body Works is a notorious dead mall holdout judging by other malls across the nation, so they're expected to stay open through Christmas before closing right before the deadline.
Austin's Craft World: The former Footlocker is still Linda Austin's Craft World, likely through to the very end.
Grand Creations Salon: The salon/tanning studio that closed up in 2012-ish, and has been vacant ever since.
Game Exchange: Is now the mysterious Genius Repairs store.
C10/Montessori: Merged together to become the Rapid Rehab superstore.
Karate America: Closed late last year, and was briefly replaced by a Scratch and Dent grocery store. Empty now.
The (Senior) Craft Shop: The first location for the Senior Craft Shop. The store was the Aquarium pet shop until a few days ago. Empty now for good.
Rapids Mall Community Center: The Rapids Mall Community Center was an idea to turn former administrative spaces and turn them into a series of small format business stalls. one of them was used by the Wisconsin Rapids Community Theater, another by the Central Wisconsin Railroaders model railway club, and a larger room utilized by Jazzercise. By 2012, both the Rail club had left and Jazzercise had faded, and the Theater successfully claimed both spaces, forming one unified space again, which will remain as it is after the Mall is broken up.
Younkers: Curiously, this map lists the Younkers store as stall C-15. I'm not sure when the map was changed, but both anchors are now listed as M1 and M2.
Silvio's Pizza: Still open, for now.
D2: Empty, save for the Bob the Builder coin-operated ride that D&D Amusements has in the otherwise empty room.
Uncle Bob's Barbecue: This place came and went; I never set foot in it. CC Service eventually got the space.
Rapid Rehab: Moved into the aforementioed C10/C11 space, leaving this space for Weight Watchers to slide into.
GNC: Closed in March of 2015, and has been empty since then.
Paper City Savings: Closed and vacated.

The out lot is also of some interest,
Associated Bank: Still there.
Rapid's Family Restaurant: Has been at least 2 other things since then, and the restaurant itself has been sitting vacant and falling apart for some time now.
Rapids Mega Car Wash: Burned down in 2014. Story HERE.
Big Apple Bagels: Closed.
Hollywood Video: Wikipedia

Now you know entirely too much about the changes between when that directory was made and now.