Valley View Mall — Attraction in La Crosse

It is a dying mall. They have the food court, another sit down restaurant, a few other little food places, one anchor store, barns and noble, pro image sports, a massage and acupuncture place, build a bear workshop, bathrooms in Starbucks, in the middle of the mall when you enter into the main entrance. A few hair salons, a few shoe stores, a couple of children's clothing stores a few teen and adult clothing stores, a GNC supplement store, a comic type of store with like comic pictures and stuff, Claire's accessories store where they also do ear piercing, a candle store, game stop video games and consoles, Spencer's gifts that have a lot of adult not a place for a child even thought they have some stuff in there to buy babies and toddlers. Every year that have Santa and the Easter Bunny and the babies toddlers and kids can get pictures but it is usually pretty expensive for the packets. There is a baby and toddler area you can take them to play while watching them. There are small carts to put your items you buy. There are also push cars to push your kid in but you have to pay for it. There are jewelry stores there. During the thanksgiving and Christmas holidays there are always extra kiosks. One they have every year at that time is one with games, puzzles and calendars. They always vary. Throughout the year you will find people setting up tables to sell something or promote something. So even though it is a dying mall it is still decent. A little bit...

I really want to love Valley View Mall. It's been a staple in the community since at least the late 70's. I was a teen and young adult in the 80's and 90's and often went there for clothes, shoes, haircuts, and did the bulk of my shopping.

These days, it's like an empty shell. Very stores remaining and it's heartbreaking to see how far this mall has fallen.

I understand the retail scene has changed significantly over the years with online shopping, but there are malls that are crushing it...for example - Hmong Village Mall in St. Paul. It's so busy, many times people have to park blocks away as it's also a local destination for school field trips and has a thriving loyal following. There is also performances that happen throughout the day (traditional Hmong dancing or singing for example) to entertain people as they explore all the vendors, discover the unique food kiosks, and shop a fresh daily farmer's market.

Valley View Mall is in dire need of a revival. There is no compelling reason to even go anymore and believe they need to become more community involved, start hosting local school groups again like the choirs and bands, and give people a reason to want to come out and enjoy themselves. I hope the mall is able to turn it around and become a bustling and vibrant shopping area in the community again but it's going to take some serious work. It's been left for dead...

Valley View Mall is a sad, mid-size monument to the mall culture. I grew up in the golden era of malls, when cinnabons were new and exciting; when Claire's 5 for $10 sales offered the pinnacle of low-cost adolescent accessories; when boys from other schools could be found in droves. There were fancy dress stores and shoe stores and a movie theater and a real person playing piano in my childhood mall. A McDonald's and an ice skating rink. A pottery Barn. Two booming, higher-end department stores. It was wonderful.

Conversely, Valley View mall is a sparsely populated skeleton echoing with the death rattle of consumer culture. I think its probably a good thing, since unfettered capitalism has a very good chance of destroying this beautiful planet and Valley View Mall is -- as all Malls are -- an Altar to Reckless Buying of Things. But it still made me sad to feel the absence of shoppers, the lack of enthusiasm, and the overarching sense of exhaustion palpable in nearly every store.

I hope we can turn the place into a community center when the mall finally surrenders to reality. Like, a homeless shelter and a library and a really fantastic day care center and an awesome cafeteria with affordable, responsibly-sourced, often organic meals....