Do You Remember These 16 Now-Closed Augusta Turnpike Mall Stores?

In the fall of 1967, the City of Augusta got a new shopping mall.  This was not a plaza or a shopping center, this was the start of an actual mall.  Like the malls of the '80s and '90s, this mall even had an inside walkway that connected the stores.  According to some accounts, the Turnpike Mall, named because it was close to I-95, was the first actual shopping mall in the state.

The first business to open was a massive Sears store.  Encompassing about 70,000 square feet (yes, seventy THOUSAND!), the store sold everything from clothing to appliances, furniture, and shotguns.  The store opened on October 25, 1967, and remained as the anchor of the mall for half a century.  It did not close until the spring of 2017.

Sears was quickly joined by a variety of other stores and businesses.  There were salons, clothing stores, sports good stores, record stores, a movie theater, and more.

How many of the following stores do you remember frequenting?

While the old mall has gone through some serious changes in the last few decades, it is still alive.  Recently, both Hobby Lobby and Harbor Freight have opened stores in the old mall.

I am a big geek when it comes to recent history.  I am not really interested in what happened a thousand years ago, but I love learning about what happened 50 or 100 years ago.  And I love seeing what used to be in a town or city.  That is why I was so excited about what stores and businesses used to be in some of Central Maine's malls and shopping plazas.  If there is a shopping mall, restaurant, or now-closed store that I should write about, send me a message.  Thanks!