If you ask an older generation, Lloyd Center holds many vital memories. If you ask my Grandma, this is a place packed with first dates, the start of friendships, and a place for her coming-of-age.

“You would meet your girlfriends there, you know, and go shopping, you bought your prom dress there, all these things happened, and in my lifetime, it was quite a memory,” reminisced Jane Doe.

Growing up in the ’50s, this was a considerable place for teens to hang out. The ice skating rink opened up opportunities for cute dates. The new construction impressed people as well. It was the first time many people had seen automatic sliding doors, and it was also the first mall shopping experience a lot of people had. Before, it hadn’t been where all stores were centralized into one place. You’d go to multiple stores.

“What happened is that it literally destroyed the shopping in the Hollywood district, and that’s where I would go as a girl. It was just, times change, and people’s buying habits change,” stated Jane Doe.

As we can see with Lloyd Center’s soon-to-be closure, this statement holds true. People’s buying habits do change, especially in the age of Amazon and online shopping. Lloyd Center has experienced a fall in popularity. Although it is busy for the holidays, year-round, they can’t afford to stay open. 

According to a survey done by Oregon Live, people have their own ideas. The top-ranking ones are a baseball stadium, an amusement park, a year-round haunted house, and a youth sports facility. However, this soon-to-be freed-up space will more than likely just become housing like it was in previous years. 

All in all, Lloyd Center’s closing is going to take a big chunk of Portland’s shopping history away, along with a place where people went to hang out with friends.