When the mall ruled  

By JEFF LUND

December 17, 2019
Tuesday PM

(SitNews) Ketchikan, Alaska - There was a time when it was a thing for people from Prince of Wales to go to Ketchikan to Christmas shop. It still happens, but I’m talking about the days before the IFA, when the stars aligned and the Aurora would depart Hollis on a Friday and the LeConte would be island bound on a Sunday. My history is likely wrong about the frequency of Alaska Marine Highway servicing the island, which is probably a hint that I shouldn’t troll those waters and instead keep the research-based journalism to qualified local historians like Dave Kiffer. What I do know is that there was consistent, but not routine service to POW when I was in high school, which meant we sometimes left for cross country meets on a Wednesday even though the race wasn’t until Saturday. My favorite writer John Gierach has a great quote about the reliability of someone’s memory, especially fly fishers, but I forgot it. 

Anyway, a lot has changed since I graduated high school from Klawock in 1999. And I know, some of you are saying, ‘Heck, 20 years is nothing!’ Yes, more things happen given a longer segment of time, but it’s still worth noting that a time not too long ago, the Plaza was the place to shop, and if you had seven hours before the ferry left for Hollis, it was the place to loiter. 

My buddies and I burned through leftover food money on the basketball game and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles at the arcade which was next to the bathrooms, which was across from Jay Jacobs which was up and to the left of the Walden Books which was next to Foot Locker that sold that Nike Ketchikan shoe that was ironically not water proof. That unpopular shoe was for sale below the Bon Marche which was almost the entire land-side of the mall. I read that went out of business in 2001 which wasn’t just the end of an era for the mall, but also Ketchikan commerce. Apparently, The Bon was opened in 1913 and moved to the mall in 1990. 

(Woah, really? 1913? Where’s Dave?)

I think I bought a rose for a girl from the florist that was across from McDonalds. I know I bought a card for Mom from Hallmark. 

I bought Aerosmith’s Get a Grip album for $20 at the CD store that was directly in front of patrons who entered the main doors, which I think was RadioShack before RadioShack moved and stopped carrying CDs. (Dave!)

The sad thing about so much of this, in addition to the admission that I’m now one of those dudes who is old enough he can’t remember specifics about his own life, but the information I want regarding when the mall fell apart, happened in that time period when technology and big box stores were pushing out local stores, but media hadn’t been digitized in time to cover it. So, it’s recent enough that people remember what was in the mall 20 years ago but no one I talked to can be sure when the stores left and the internet has no recollection either. 

Anybody got a microfiche or know Dave’s number?

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