Crossroads Break

Below is a picture of the Crossroads Mall in Omaha, as it appeared when I was a kid. It was the first "real" mall in Omaha, and quite fabulous at the time. It had two anchor stores: Sears (still there) and Brandeis (Long gone) It also had Amusement Park rides in the center of the mall, which was quite amazing to us simple country folk.

Other stores included Woolworth's (always fun), Nebraska Clothing (very glamourous, for the menfolk) Goldstein-Chapman's (glamour for the ladyfolk) and Haney's shoes, which had a funhouse mirror in the front and an actual old fire truck in the children's department. But the best thing was the cocktail lounge: A dark, sinister place with lots of turquoise. Of course, I was drawn to it. There was also a place called THE SPOT where the Teens went for hotdogs and colas.

Brandeis had an Atrium (ooo! Futuristic!) between the escalators with a very mod sculpture, and a restaurant called The Chuck Wagon (I think) with a covered wagon theme. Sears had a doorbell department, a tent department, and a refrigerator department that I simply adored.



Those eagle-eyed individuals among us will note that this picture was taken from the roof of the "Lawn and Garden" center. That's where the riding lawn mowers were, and that was almost as exciting as tents or doorbells, and much more exciting than refrigerators.

Crossroads looks nothing like this anymore. But it did then.