Sunday, October 23, 2005

Remembering Carolina Circle Mall

I got an e-mail from someone suggesting that I should add a special feature on this blog allowing people to share their memories of Carolina Circle Mall. I will do just that.

You can now comment on your memories of the mall via this post. To keep it on top, I'll add a link to this post on the sidebar.

52 comments:

Anonymous said...

I'm sure you're too young to remember,but there was a kids disco
at the mall. Does anyone remember
it's name?

Anonymous said...

I really want ot say it was Called "Connections". It was around 1980-81 ish, located beside Mont. Wards. I will have to check with my sister becuase she remembers.

Anonymous said...

Do I ever remember Carolina Circle Mall!!!!! I used to walk a long through the woods by the Waste treament plant to get there as a youth! I even remember when "Steak and Ale" was down on the end by Wards and "Annabelle's" resturant was near the Ice Rink. There was a Hardees beside KB Toys, and there was another toy store outside of montgomery wards on the top floor too. I remember the uproar when they removed the ice rink too. I played many a video game at the arcade. It was located in two different spots, one close to the ice rink/carousel and then moved to the back behind the carousel. At one point in the very early 80's, there was an arcade located near Wards where there was a club called "Connections". That was a really weird 70's style mall. They still had the 70's orange carpet in Wards. I worked at the movie theater through college for a few years and most of the folks that worked at the stores were from my neighborhood or went to school with me (mostly Page High). Man, the theater folks RAN THE MALL. Everybody was in our business and constantly offer us discounts cause they wanted to get in the movies free. Clothes, music, food, free plays on Mortal Kombat and street fighter *LOL*, you name it. I moved away after finishing school 8.5 years ago and live in the Raleigh/Durham area and I went back to visit my parents recents and saw they had started tearing the place down. It really sadened me. That mall holds a lot of memories for me and I will miss it.

Billy said...

A hefty ammount of memories from the 90's are at Carolina Circle Mall. Probably the biggest was riding the carousel. I remember the lime green/pink color scheme all through the mall and the skylights. I vividly remember the smell the mall had. It was a combination of chicken and Chinese food with its source from the food court yet the smell filled the whole mall.

At Christmas, they had a little maze/Christmas village in the corridor outside of Montgomery Ward. I'd navigate my little self through the thing and have a ball.

I once almost got my hand stuck in a chair at the food court. Scared me to death.

I could go on for hours about these memories.

Livemalls said...

I can't tell you how much I'm learning about CCM becaue of this blog and these great posts. I was either too young or too far away to share a lot of the memories, but I'm fascinated.

Anonymous said...

Saw the article in N&R, and had to post. CCM was THE place to go in the early 80's. I used to go there on dates every weekend. We would eat, check out East West Gifts and then head over to see a movie. My friends and I loved DA Kelley's clothing and of course there's the ice rink! Oh, and the midnight movie! Lot's of good memories. Thanks Billy.

Anonymous said...

The mall was at it's best with the ice rink. I loved skating all hours of the day and the lessons with Betty Salter. This is where I fell hard enough, (attempting a jump) to have a concussion. Then the Aussies bought the place and took the rink out. What they didn't understand was that many, many people came to watch the skaters and then they spent MONEY. I loved the Orange Julius drinks while taking breaks from skating.

Anonymous said...

The name of the disco was Current Events. The memories are great Thanks Billy for keeping these memories alive. I'am 41 so this was my home away from home. I live close so I seen them tearing it down . It has been so sad. Thanks again Billy for having this site.

Anonymous said...

The AMC movie theater is the thing I remember most about CCM. So many great flicks that we caught there. I remember being 9 years old when we saw "Return of the Jedi" the first Saturday it was out. When Darth Vader picked up the Emperor, the entire theater went completely berzerk with applause. I've never experienced a moment quite like that either before or since. Think the last movie I saw there was "Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country" its first week out in '91. Oh yeah, CCM's used to be one of the theaters that ran "The Rocky Horror Picture Show" on Saturday nights at midnight. I never went to one but have heard plenty about what went on there: local fans would come in costume, and there were a whole bunch of local phrases that would get yelled at the screen.

Anonymous said...

During high school at Page in the early 80's, we were allowed to leave campus to go to lunch. A bunch of us would speed to the mall on lunch break - had to slow down right around Cone Mills because the motorcycle cops would stop you! Lunch break was right after band class let out, and if we hurried we could beat the rush and not be late getting back to class.

THE place to eat was New York Pizza, right in front of the ice rink. They had a good deal on two slices of pizza and a Coke. There was a really friendly, BIG guy who worked there tossing pizza dough. This was the first time I'd ever seen pizza dough tossed high in the air, NY style, (I was born & raised in G'boro.)

Anonymous said...

Okay, this is kind of dumb, but I remember when I was very small I wanted to be a professional ice skater. One day as a surprise my mother and grandmother took me to carolina circle. I was only 4 and they didn't let me skate, but I got to watch and thought it was the greatest thing ever. From that day on, I begged and begged to go back to that mall, but we lived in Thomasville and would always go to Hanes Mall. I never forgot it and then one day when I was 11, I remember my friend's mom was taking us shopping and didn't tell us where we were going. When we pulled up I wondered if it was the same place I had went to 6 years ago. I knew it was, but you can imagine my sadness when I saw that there was no longer an ice rink. Several years later toward the end of high school my best friend and I would get up really really early on Saturdays and go have breakfast and then go to the Dillard's when it was the clearance center.

Anonymous said...

Not only do I remember the disco, but some department store [Belk's maybe?] actually had a dance contest! It was in early 1980 I think and there was a little boy and girl who had entered the contest as a couple. They were sensational. I don't remember the song they danced to, but it was funky! The actual winners of the contest were an older couple--in their late 20s, early 30s. They were VERY boring. Their dance was sort of like a "disco-shag". I remember my brother and I were so angry because we wanted the little girl and boy to win. THEY were the best.
My favorite stores were Montgomery Wards [affectionately known as "Monkey Wards"]. When I graduated from HS [in High Point], I bought myself a stereo at Wards as a graduation present for myself since I love music. I was so proud of that thing. It stopped working a month after the warranty ended! My future husband had the ugliest couch in history--it would have been right at home in Montgomery Wards with their organge carpet! Anyway, since we knew we were eventually going to get married, we went together to pick out a new couch. We bought it at Montgomery Ward's. Our first piece of furniture--what joy! Oddly enough, we still have the couch--it is NOT a '70's orange but we are very sentimental about it. Not long ago, I ran across the MW receipt for that couch purchase.
Let's see: Ward's was the first Department store Credit card I had, and I couldn't wait to rack up the debt at the Mall that was so backward, it was cool! My other fave CCM retail outlet was the Belk's Clearance Center. I think the Mail facility eventually wiped it out, but it was great because you could find vintage clothes before they were cool. Not everyone's dream then, I know, but we didn't have much money when I was growing up. I have always liked to make trends instead of following them and this was THE place. Apparently, all Belk's stores in the region gathered up all the stuff that didn't sell, was slightly damaged, or just a few seasons behind and dumped it at this clearance center in the basement of the Belk's at CCM. A savvy shopper could buy an entire outfit for 10 bucks-no kidding!There was a lot of junk, but a lot of cool stuff there,too. Mens Womens Teens and kids fashions. Old jewelry and hats, too. My grandmother lived near the Mall and that is where we went to buy our school clothes. I think that there was a Merchants clothing store there for a while and my brother and I found really cool CURRENT fashions there.
I remember the Picadilly cafe, where you could pay 5.00 for a goblet of cocktail sauce with 3 shrimp drowning in it, and THAT was on a good day! [Sorry, no good food memories at THAT place] We loved the Chick Fil A though because it was new and we had never seen anything like that before. The sales people would walk around the mall with trays and ask you if you wanted to sample the chicken pieces that were skewered with toothpicks. They were very generous, as I recall, because I remember my brother, my friends and I would follow the people with the trays and pretend we hadn't had a taste. It was piggy of us, I know, but we were just excited kids.
I remember when the Belk's clearance center eventually closed, thinking: "where will I find funky stuff to wear NOW?" [Remember: this was a long time ago and secondhand shops did not exist in this area at the time]. I kept my old Wards charge card as a souvenir of the store and actually cried when "Monkey Wards" finally called it a day at CCM.
I don't know if anyone else remembers this or not [probably blocked it out perhaps?], but when the mall was still open but in serious decline, you would go to the Food Court and look way up at the ceiling and there were live BIRDS that had gotten into the mall somehow and were just hangin' out! I remember my mother being completely grossed out by this and when she asked one of the clerks about it they said "Oh yeah, birds get in here all the time." It was one of those memories that was gross at the time, but now I cherish it.
You see, I grew up in sleeply little High Point, North Carolina. We had a mall [the now-defunct Westchester Mall], but somehow it was more fun to go hang out at a place where you wouldn't run into the same crowd you went to school with. Since GBO and CCM were so much bigger, there were always new people to meet and, in our young minds, better stores with better stuff. I have never liked Four Seasons. That is the Mall that I think is dangerous. There always seemed to be truly creepy people that were there and, I [an animal lover] got into it with the Pet store people at Four Seasons and that just made me an extra-loyal shopper at my beloved Carolina Circle. I know the Mall wasn't imploded when it was demolished, but a BIG deal was made over the demolished Burlington Industries building on Friendly in GBO. I know people who took the day off from work to watch that. I do not remember that same hullabaloo when the Carolina Circle was going to be torn down--I would definitely have played hooky to say goodbye to an old friend. I am sorry this is so long--hope it isn't too tedious to read! I love this website. Thanks for the memories.....

Billy said...

Thank you everyone for making this section of my blog such a success. Keep the memories coming. I'll contribute a few more of my memories.

I remember when the GNC store moved from near Montgomery Ward on floor one to the new location on the second floor near Dillard's. It confused me because they didn't remove their sign from their old location.

Since it's getting close to the famous Black Friday, I'll share some CCM Black Friday experiences.

When I was about 2, I was crying my head off at Montgomery Ward around 6:00 AM. My mom spanked me. I didn't cry. Instead, I showed a stunned facial expression. Don't really remember that, but my aunt told me a few months ago.

Another experience was seing the mall's corridor in the early morning hours. I slipped out of Wards and took a peak at the mall. Because it was so early, nothing was open. Looked weird.

Every Black Friday, Wards would give away Rudolph the Reindeer stuff because it was Montgomery Ward that created the Rudolph story.

Anonymous said...

in this site you will soon see a huge super walmart home depot ihop golden corral cook out ruby tuesdays applebees walmart gas station chinese buffet wendy's maybe a chick fil a...

Anonymous said...

The teen disco was called "The Current Event". I grew up at this mall. My first job was at the Ice Chalet before going to college. Thanks for the memories.

Anonymous said...

hi im the guy who ran the MONKS CHEESESTEAKS&CHEESEBURGERS RESTAURANT IN THE LOWER LEVEL NEXT
TO THE RESTROOMS, WE HAD A GOOD BUSINESS THERE FOR OVER 7 YEARS
1989-1996 WHEN THE ZAMIAS FAMILY BOUGHT THE MALL FROM THE AUSSIES
THINGS WENT DOWN HILL FROM THERE
WE HAD A 32 FLAVOR ICE CREAM SHOPPE AT THE SAME SPACE..AND MY OLDEST SON JAVIER RODRIGUEZ RAN THAT SHOPPE WHEN HE WAS ABOUT 8 OR 9 YEARS OLD MY WIFE AND MYSELF
WERE THERE ALL DAY EVERY DAY AND WE LOVED THE MALL, BUT IN LATER 96
ALL THE MERCHANTS STARTING PULLING OUT OF THE MALL..IT WAS SAD SUCH A BEAUTIFUL MALL HAD TO CLOSE DOWN....

Billy said...

Papito: So you're the guy who ran Monks? I remember getting ice cream at your ice cream section. I'd always want the vanilla with a cherry on top.

Everyone: What was your favorite store at the mall? Mine would be Montgomery Ward.

Anonymous said...

of course it had to be monks cheesesteaks and cheeseburgers
in the mall..any way we are opening again on summit ave in greensboro,n.c in april 2006
same great menu and great service
in the north east shopping plaza next to compare foods supermarket
336-275-1105 hours will be mon-sat
10:30am to 9:00pm and sundays 1:00pm to 8:00pm

Billy said...

Well folks, there you go. Carolina Circle isn't dead, it's just been spread out. Papito, I'll be there.

Does anyone remember one of those virtual roller coasters they had at the mall for most of its life? I remember something about it very vaguely and I mean very vaguely.

Anonymous said...

hi this is monks cheesesteaks&cheeseburgers restaurant on summit ave in greensboro n.c. we just had an artical in the paper today in the short orders section and bamm!!
all of my customers came back to see us again..that was awesome man the way they came in..it was a good day for me..thaks alot from the monkman...tito rodriguez

Anonymous said...

I have a lot of memories at the mall and it had it's own special energies and personality. Times spent and friends and decades no longer alive. Happy times when things were simpler.The beauty of watching skaters among the lit rink trees during my first kiss from the second story of the restaurant (Annabelles?) or the same love I shared with many of the magnificent carousel. The haunted house the drama department at Southeast hosted in the closed steak house with my friends who are no longer with me.Seeing Spiderman (his first go around)not long after the opening of the mall.Tons of movies at the theatre.The sound of birds and the occasional glimpse of deer (see opening of mall history for irony of that one.)The moon overhead while the mall was quiet in the countryside (try that at Four Seasons). I miss my old friend and apparently from all of the posts and emotional recollections from everyone here. It wasn't "just a mall" to any of you either-but a place for kind memories. Thank you for all the work you have done on this very touching (and very funny) sight. It's good to know others out there had the same dream I did.

Anonymous said...

oh wow circle6 refugee we might know each other.. we all knew about the "secret path" to the mall.. you went pass glass mountain.. cross the long stink pipe and came out were there use to be a skateboard park.. the arcade was my spot and i bought shows all the time from score :-) and you cant forget buying all music from camelot..
ahh and the good old holloween.. the hounted mansion..

Anonymous said...

Wow! I had no idea so many felt the same way I did about carolina circle mall! Some of my earliest memories in life are being at the mall with my mother and sister. Toys R Us, service merchandise, the ice rink, KB toys Camelot music, Dillards, Montgomery Wards, Chick-fil-A, and the arcade (that i'm still trying to remember the name of). I remember my last time walking through the mall itself and going to Montgomery Wards' liquidation sale.
Not to long ago (2004), I found a job across the street from the mall and watched as it was demolished to make way for a wal-mart (Do we really need another d@mn wal-mart!... sorry guys :) ).
Anyway I'll always hold on to those many fond memories of the mall amd look forward to reading more of yours.


p.s. If you haven't already, go to http://www.youtube.com and do a search on "carolina circle mall"

Anonymous said...

I remember the mall so vividly-I was an employee there at Hardees. This was my very first job. I enjoyed coming to mall very early in the morning and walking until our store was opened in the mornings. I also met my first husband there and before we were married, we would walk that mall until our feet felt like they would fall off. To the movies, music store, and of course, I would shop for those cool 80's clothes in clearance stores. I liked Cheap Joes better than anything since I was still in school and I would usually buy my jeans for school there with the money I earned on weekends. Eventually, I went full time after graduation & enjoyed the mall everyday. One thing in particular I remember about working at Hardees: whenever you walked out of the restaurant, you would feel the cold off the ice rink. I will say, it was sad when I learned they were tearing down the mall. Although it may be gone, the memories will live on.

Anonymous said...

This is so amazing! Brought tears to my eyes. I Loved that place. I grew up in danville, va and we would come up nearly every weekend to try to pick up girls at the arcade near the ice skating rink. The Chic-fil-a was the first I had ever seen. EVER! The first time I brought my brother to the Chic, he ordered a sandwich and sat down. He opened it up and was like, :What's the deal? No lettuce, no tomato. I just told him to eat it and shut up.. that;''s how they do it. He actually took it up to the counter and asked them if it was wrong. Dumba ass. I still get on him today about that. 24 years later. There was also a cool restaurant called like Wednesday's or Thursdays or something. Some day of the week. WAAAAY before TGI Friday. Had really cool chairs and stuff you could kick back on. Also, I really liked the japanese store. All the cool karate books and such. And you are right, when the did away with the skating rink, it was so over. Who was the dumbass who decided on that. He should be entombed under the damn walmart..

Ian Booth (R-NC) said...

A lot of my childhood was spent at the Carolina Circle Mall. For a while when I was very young my mom worked at the Carousel, and we visited her often during evenings. More importantly, though, from the time I was an infant I would be brought every weekday morning that it was possible for me to go and circle the mall's interior with the Carolina Circle Mall Walkers Club with my great uncle. First I was pushed in a stroller and then, when I was old enough, I walked, every single weekday I had off from school.

Through the mall walker I met many people who were very influential in my life, almost all of them older and many among them WWII veterans who would share stories from their lives that I remember to this day.

My great uncle died in 1999 and with him went our only real way to get to the mall during walking hours, though we managed a few more times. By then the writing was clearly on the wall, and for years my brother and I had made a game of counting the ratio of occupied stores -- even at our age we could see that it wasn't good.

I don't remember the stores as well -- the walkers generally moved across the street to McDonalds or Bojangles for coffee before any of them opened. But I remember those laps -- usually 9 every day, or about three miles -- very well.

Anonymous said...

So nice to see all this info on Carolina Circle. I grew up meeting friends at that mall and riding the carousel while our mom's waited for us in the food court. Wow, what great memories. It still saddens me when I drive by and see Wal-Mart....
Oh and I miss the Golden Coral too!

Anonymous said...

weel its good to hear great memories from the past i went to ne guilford and lived off n church street i rember going to the mall infact it was the first place in my life that my parents would drop my friends and i off alone i also remember staying with friends of mine and walking accross the stink pipe in efforts to get to the arcade i hated to see the death of carolina circle mall it was like loosing a child hood friend i evan had my first traffic accident in the parking lot of belk in 1993

Anonymous said...

The mall was the place I wanted to go as a small kid. I used to love to play at the arcade (Electronic America, if I rememebr right). My mom would go shopping and I played at the arcade until I ran out of quarters. Remmeber how the change machines were on the side wall closest to the Orange Julius? Then there was the toy store right across from the skating rink. I prowled those three aisles a million times. As I got older, I went on dates to Annabelle's(that was one of the names, I can't rememebr what it was before that). One time, my date touched the huge glass globe in one of the downstairs booths back by the kitchen. The light bulb sparked and the whole section went dark as the breaker tripped. We ate a bunch of meals there. winding up that huge wodeen staircase and getting a seat near the windows so you could watch the skaters and the zamboni. I never see a zamboni that I don't think about that rink. Anyone remember the sasparilla drink? Camelot music was where I bought one of my first cassette tapes. I remember going to East-West and looking at the ninja stars. I don't remember buying one, only looking.
I distinctly rmemeber going to one of the department stores to buy Pac Man for the Atari(waaaay before it was called a 2600). No Best Buys back then. They were out of stock and we had to come back a week or so later.

Some of the photos here really bring back memories. Thanks for the effort.

Anonymous said...

I posted the following addition on the Wiki site:
Carolina Circle Mall was a "kid friendly mall" with an ice rink, game room, toy stores and a "Teen Disco" called Current Events. In the early eighties a restaurant/bar that overlooked the ice rink named Annabelle's was the place for the "yuppie crowd" of northern Greensboro. With glass windows that allowed diners to watch ice skaters as they enjoyed an adult beverage and a good meal,and decor reminiscent of an old Inn the restaraunt was packed most nights.

The addition of a skate park on the eastern mall property near the waterslide also contributed to the "kid friendly" atmosphere. Teens could be regularly seen "cruising" in search of "dates" in the parking lot at the rear exit as well as inside the mall itself. Many a romance was begun by a young lad yelling from a car at a girl sitting on the wall outside the theater exit.

The demise of the mall can be traced to the low income apartments that were located behind the Kmart store near the mall and off White Street to the southeast. Older shoppers no longer felt safe going to the mall due to packs of roaming thugs and incidents of crime in the parking lot. Consequently, affluent shoppers began to stay away and returned to Friendly Shopping Center. But they also would not allow there children to venture to the mall on Friday and Saturday nights as had been customary, thus causing a mass exodus of retailers the likes of which has not been seen since the Israelites left Egypt.

The Greensboro Police took up satellite offices inside the mall which was believed to be a solution to the conditions mentioned above. But this only reinforced the apparent decline of the area. Roaming hooligans and a terrible odor from a waste water treatment plant nearby sealed the malls fate.

Today a WalMart Supercenter stands on the parcel that was once Carolina Circle Mall. The loss prevention reports from this WalMart show the area has not changed. According to confidentail corporate reports this store has one of the highest reports of pilferage in the region and will be slated for shutdown if it does not decrease dramatically.

Anonymous said...

I remember CCM from the early 80's as the place to go for throwing stars and nunchucks (East West Gifts) and, of course, for Rocky Horror. Junior and Senior years, many Saturdays, I was part of a group that would for Rocky. I think that's where the AMC actually made their money at the time...we could see the degradation starting.

By the way, does anyone remember the skate park out back ca.1980? Wasn't that where it was?

Anonymous said...

Wow! Thanks so much for making this site!

This just answered a question I've had for 30yrs.
Why do I vividly remember the Mad Hatter scaring the hell out of me in my stroller @ the mall?? LOL! I knew it happened at "the Circle", but had know idea Alice n Wonderland was the mall's theme.
Quite intresting.

I used to love coming to the Circle to shop. It was always so pretty. Loved Iveys and Wards!

Back in 93 my first job was at Starship Music. The best and must fun job of my life...I worked there twice! I'd quit a long time before the mall closed but I did see it coming during my time there.

Reports of purse robbing, assults...all in the new Pyrimids Village have been in the news here and there since Wally World opened.

Unfortunately there are some unruly,gangster mentalitied people;a lot in walking distance;living or loafing around the vicinity. Until the cops can help crackdown on these happenings, many people will take their business elsewhere. I know I do. I reside about 3 miles away, but choose to go to other Wal-Marts.

On the otherhand, Wal-Mart is going to get business regardless, so that is probably the best store to go on that property.

Overall, I do wish Carolina Circle Mall could of made it. I do have fond memories though and this site to cherish.

David Craine said...

I worked at Montgomery Ward in Carolina Circle Mall from 1978-1982 in the TV/stereo, sporting goods, lawn and garden, and major appliance departments and I have some fond memories of the place and the people I worked with. I'm kinda testing the waters here - I could write a fairly lengthy piece on those memories. I think I have a picture or two from that time. Is there is any interest?

October 1, 2008 6:55 PM

David Craine said...

As I mentioned above, I worked at Montgomery Wards in CCM from 1978-1982. It's interesting to me that many of the aspects of the mall that others here remember, I have no recollection of. For example, for the life of me, I don't remember a skating rink. And I worked there full-time for the better part of four years. My roommate at the time owned and managed the Gingiss Formalwear store at the exact opposite end of the mall. I walked the length of the mall several times a week to see him, have lunch, etc. But I don't remember a skating rink. I do remember once in 1979, I believe, that the mall had on display the Pontiac Firebird that James Garner drove in the television show The Rockford Files. If there are any other former employees from that time who are reading this, feel free to email me at dcraine56@comcast.net. I'd be interested to share stories and catch up.

Anonymous said...

I'm so happy that so many people remember CCM as fondly as I do. One of the more vivid memories I have is eating breakfast at Chick fil a and seeing mall walkers and wondering what they were doing walking around the mall when most of the stores weren't even open yet. I remember seeing Troll dolls for the very first time at a store in the mall, and seeing a CD for the very first time after see the Lion King and wanting the soundtrack my mom and I went to the music store and bought one, but we had no idea what it was so we had to go back and exchange it for a cassette tape.
I don't remember the ice rink but the carousel has stayed with me so much it's developed into an obsession all on it's on.
Then I remember not going to the mall for a few years and then having to do a school report that need travel brochures I went back and it was so sad and scary to walk in and have maybe ten stores open in the whole of the mall and even more distressing was that the carousel was gone. Then to walk into MWs in it's final days and the store wasn't even half the area it used to occupy.
More fondly I remember that staircase that you could walk up to the second level and I always thought I would fall through the openings because the steps weren't backed just one board above the other.
One last thing, a question. There was a store on the second level I want to say near the center of the mall but I could be off, to my young mind it was huge, it had a gold interior and and only windows on the front of the store. I want to say it was a lingerie store but it was probably just woman's apparel. Does anyone remember the name? I spent a lot of time hanging out on the white chairs in there while my mom shopped.

Gary B said...

I worked at Montgomery Ward from 1976 to 1979 as dept manager of the men's clothing dept. I transferred here from the Montgomery Ward store in Hillcrest Heights, Maryland in 1976. I have good memories of the store as well as the whole mall.

Anonymous said...

Ice skating to the sweet sounds of New Edition, dining at Annabelles overlooking the rink, man good times. I also saw T2 featuring the governator at the theater. This is a great blog

Anonymous said...

i used to love to go to the restaurant that overlooked the skating rink. i liked their onion soup and i always hoped to get one of the tables overlooking the rink.

Anonymous said...

I vividly remember ice skating at CCM when I was a pre-teen in the 70's. It was truly a great place. As a teenager I worked for Belk at Westchester Mall in High Point. Later down the road, after college, I began working for Belk again, this time as a member of management. Back then all full-time and part-time employees were sent to CCM to be trained in Belk's training room which would later become the flea market. Now all training is done in the store using video, etc. What a change! I still work for Belk all these years later and miss both CCM and Westchester Mall.

Unknown said...

I remember coming to Carolina Circle Mall Every Friday Night with my grandparents to eat at Piccadilly. When I would finish I would go and play video games in the arcade. I also remember seeing all three original Star Wars Movies at the theater.

Anonymous said...

Wow this really brings back memories...I actually worked 2 jobs through High School in CCM..One job at the Chippery (the cookie shop) downstairs by the food court and the other was the lil wooden name keychain stand in the open area in front of the food court. I practically lived in CCM from 1993-1997. Thanks for the site!
Melissa

Anonymous said...

wow..cool site. I'm definitely a fan of the Ice Rink era. CCM was by far the cooler of the two G'boro malls in its heyday. In addition to the Ice Rink, they had a kick-butt video arcade and the K&K Toys had a much better selection of stuff.

My parents were always partial to Four Seaons Mall, so, it was always a treat for me to go out to Carolina Circle. My last visit out there , I think, was in 1991 to see "The Doors" movie. I also remember taking trips out there to see "Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom" and "Return of the Jedi" the weekend each of those movies opened. The place was packed.

Jamie D. said...

Was it CCM or Four Seasons that had the McDonalds on the first floor? I remember the large statue of Ronald at the entrance. If there was one memory from my childhood I could revisit, it would be CCM.

Billy said...

Jaime D: It was Four Seasons that had the McDonald's. It was where that Mr. Dunderbak's German restaurant is now.

jan maroun said...

having grown up right across the street from the mall... i remember the farm and all the cows that were out in the pasture, before it became a mall.. i used to sit on the front porch with binoculars and watch people walking into mw's or remember( ivey's) before it became dillards........it was a great mall and lots of fun times where had there in my youth and into adulthood......i now live just outside los angles, ca....but do visit my hometown 4 times a year....the house i grew up in right across the highway from the mall is still owned by a familt relative....but very shocked to see the mall gone and a walmart there now....times sure change but memories live on........

Doug said...

My biggest memory of CCM is buying a Sega Saturn video game system at Montgomery Ward in 1995. My parents along with me would drive from Burlinton to CCM on the weekends. After visiting the mall, we went to Toys R Us. Can't forget eating at piccadilly! Someone told me about it being demolished and a Wal-mart being put in its place so I road up there and checked it out. Sadly, the crime destroyed CCM and similar situations are happening with Four Seasons. Burlington Sqaure Mall, the mall I grew up in Burlington NC, is fading away too :(

scottcpa said...

Great web site. I have many great memories of CCM and checking out Billy's web sites really sent me back to my childhood. Thanks Billy!

I remember sitting in the parking lot on July 4th watching fireworks. The arcade at the ice rink and later the carousel was always my favorite stop. Camelot music was my favorite place in Greensboro to buy music. Anyone remember the water slide at CCM? Lots of fun! Also, for several years, it was the best place to see movies. I agree that the crime killed the place. When the crime reports increased, I stopped going there. I grew up closer to Four Seasons Mall but always enjoyed CCM. I do still miss McDonalds and McCroy's (with the arcade in the back) at Four Seasons.

Mike Fox said...

I used to go to the skate park behind the mall, i was like in the 6th or 7th grade and it seemed so big. i remember the huge snake run with the gigantic wave at the end. does any one have pics of that park. man i miss that hit me up mefoxco@yahoo

Sandra said...

Skate Park! I'm so glad you mentioned that. I thought I was making it up in my mind. I think I saw the skate park just before it was removed, so I never knew if it had really been there.
Sandra

Sandra said...

Skate Park! I'm so glad you mentioned that. I thought I was making it up in my mind. I think I saw the skate park just before it was removed, so I never knew if it had really been there.

Mike Kaz said...

I was there in the late 90's I believe on vacation. We stopped off the highway and decided to check it out. We didnt normally stop at malls as my dad didnt like them that much, but, it was quite the trip. It was DEAD inside. Plenty of empty stores and not many shoppers. I recall a guy either at a kiosk or at the carousel, smoking inside the mall. I recall seeing a Montgomery Ward, though i dont remember a Belk, and we went into the Toys R Us.

Mike Kaz said...

I was there in the late 90's I believe on vacation. We stopped off the highway and decided to check it out. We didnt normally stop at malls as my dad didnt like them that much, but, it was quite the trip. It was DEAD inside. Plenty of empty stores and not many shoppers. I recall a guy either at a kiosk or at the carousel, smoking inside the mall. I recall seeing a Montgomery Ward, though i dont remember a Belk, and we went into the Toys R Us.