An Afternoon at Randhust

Visiting the Randhurst Mall a few miles east of here to see the snow sculptures outside seemed like a good idea, and it even felt like a good idea at about noon today. The wind was light and temps maybe about 20 F -- highest they've been in a couple of weeks. A small relief from winter zeros.

But we didn't make it there at noon. We move slowly on Saturdays, and didn't get there till about 3:30. By then, 10 degrees had been shaved over the total, and someone had turned on the great outdoor wind machine. After about five minutes, we gave up on the snow sculptures, though the snow ape was pretty cool, as was the park bench with a man sitting on it, all made of snow. Cool, yes, but also cold, so we went inside the mall.

None of us had ever been inside this particular mall. I have, however, written about it. Some years ago, it lost an anchor tenant. Or maybe it was two anchors. Anyway, it was ailing. A sick mall: What's going to happen to Randhurst? was the thrust of the story. I even went there to take an exterior picture of it for my magazine, just missing the attention of a mall security patrol driving on one of the loops around the mall.

There's still some in-line vacancy in the mall, but it looked reasonable healthy today. People were there. And one of its three anchors is a Costco. That's a fairly new development in the world of malls. But it makes sense. Department stores ain't what they used to be, and something has to go in those anchor positions. The Costco at Randhurst, however, doesn't open into the mall. Guess management doesn't want people rumbling enormous shopping carts through the mall.