Jackson Jambalaya

The metro area was once a really good place. So much was happening, the area was growing. There are still many nice places to live but the rot from Jackson is expanding into the suburbs.
The video brings back good memories while making me sad to see where we are now.

“Video Unavailable” in Brave. Probably because it wont let Zuck stick his slimy tentacle into my privacy.

I miss a lot about mid-90s Northpark. I tried to go back in 2022 and it looked like a favela flea market in Rio.

Also, I recently heard that there was a commotion when a huge rat ran out of one of the kitchens in the food court into the dining area. Yummy.

I haven’t been to north park in almost 20 years. North park has a lot of car break in’s Little metro center

I remember how nice Northpark and Metrocenter were. I went to Northpark recently on a Friday afternoon and felt OK in the big department stores but felt very unsafe in the mall itself.

Must have been free balloon day

Because I was a loyal fan of Rainbow Whole Foods Co-Op, I shopped in their stores as the bulk grocery went from Triangle Mart to Fondren and, financially wounded, to NorthPark mall in a short death throes moment, 2020. When it performed that last sad hurrah, I've not gone into NorthPark again.

Thanks for video KF. Joy to see lean, well dressed shoppers and families of yore.

Malls are flourishing the Middle East and Asia. I wonder what changed in North America and Europe to cause the majority of paying customers to stop visiting?

Lawd. I was in that video. I was 14.

People did.not go on a rampage if they got the wrong sauce with their chicken nuggets back then.

Not long after Northpark opened, the manager at that McRae's was arrested for opening the store on Sunday.

Internet sales and crime at malls. Maybe if malls here would do a better job with security people would come back

A person could get mauled in their parking lot.

I was in Northpark last Monday afternoon and was surprised by the number of people in there. There are a few empty storefronts that have been disguised with decorations, but overall it’s as nice as it ever was (I lived on County Line Road in 1984 so I well remember it opening). Ignore the Scrooges on here, break that Amazon addiction, and give it a try.

Y'all can try and blame this on Jackson but there are very very few indoor malls in the south that are still decent. Everyone wants to be outdoors at a place like the Renaissance. The faster they turn Northpark into an outlet center like they did with the mall in McComb, the better.

I got the the hubcaps stolen off my Ford LTD II at Metrocenter in about 1983. Being from western Hinds County, I spent a lot of time at Metrocenter as a teenager.

For years I lived around the corner at Northpointe. I remember when the land where Northpark sits was a giant
open field on the Madison County side of County Line Road.

The only things out there was a lone Tote-Sum at County Line and Wheatley, the Zebra motel ... a biscuit /breakfast joint ... along with one or two bait shops for the fishermen going to the Rez.

I moved out of the Jackson area during the 90s,
but returned for a visit to this mall around 2013.
It was a different and dangerous universe.

So 1:29, I'll take Amazon ANY day.

Ridgeland Crime Stats do not support that statement, and RPD does not underreport stats like DemocRat run city police departments

I've heard from one shopper that talks about poor service at the department stores there and access to a dressing room is limited due to only offering one and some shoppers take their time trying on a multitude of items...sad..

So dawn goes down to day. Nothing gold can stay.

Franks Biscuits as I recall; also the Callaway's Yard & Garden, as well as the Putt Putt and the people that made bank that used to live on the Ridgeland side of County Line/Ridgewood Road Extension... ♫..memories..♪

1984 was one the last years of a once great Capitol area "metro".

Danks was still the Emperor in Rome ( I mean Jackson) , the suburbs were growing rapidly, business owners seemed to open something new every week.

Life in the Jackson metro was very good during 1984.

But to "keep it real"... a phrase I often hear by some ... not everyone was happy with the 1980's prosperity .

For some unknown reason, many "pastors/reverends/self appointed bishops and community organizers" from south & west Jackson had already started howling about this prosperity.

They won.

They put Kane Ditto in office and that started the fall of the Western Roman Empire.
( Sorry , I meant the fall of Jackson,Mississippi)

Now look at that city in 2026.

I'd say we probably saw you there, Krusatyr, because that's the last time WE went to NorthPark, too. But my BFFs and I were the only customers, that day. I think we'd already left Mississippi, at that point, and were back for the day. But wasn't Rainbow wonderful?!!! There should be a monument to Blue Berry (the Founder), somewhere. I think she was one of the early guiding lights of Madison, too (back when it was a mecca for free-thinking, high-IQ mavericks).

I still miss Rainbow's bulk spices, which were so fresh and so cheap, the metro's top chefs could be seen stocking-up. And where else could you find rolled rye, rolled barley... ?

But Jackson essentially ran Rainbow out of business, by not fixing a storm water drainage issue which mysteriously appeared, after Dale Danks ceased to be Mayor. TWENTY floods? More? We donated paintings, silk pillows - whole collections of things from the house, every time there was a flood, followed by a rummage sale to recapitalize the store - not to mention writing one check after another - every time there was a flood and a fundraiser - all because the City of Jackson couldn't be bothered with MAINTAINING INFRASTRUCTURE.

NorthPark, on our final day there, seemed in the midst of an unfortunate re-do, the zany, exciting Postmodern look was gone, replaced by a whitewashed look that seemed designed to repel "undesirables", by making the place depressing, enervating, drab, and spooky. Unfortunately, the 'Jersey Kid With a Bucket of Whitewash Look' seems to have repelled EVERYBODY.

My favorite stores in Northpark as a kid.

Suncoast Video
Software, Etc.
Electronics Boutique
The Nature Co. (Later Discovery Channel Store)

And across the street was CompUSA (now its Harbor Freight)

We didn’t know how good we had it until it was gone.

The Dillard's store at Northpark is still fantastic. One of the best places to shop in the entire state. (I'm a woman, so I can't vouch for the men's department.)

1:29, I fell out laughing at the "break that Amazon addiction" comment. Priceless, and I 100% agree.

I loved going to Northpark after it opened. Taking Christmas lists and hitting so many stores. And I'm a huge Sears fan, was there all the time. And the quiche at Widow Watsons, yum. It would be great if some stores could do business there. It would be so good for the folks who live in the area.

Well played.

If the Northpark Mall was in Jackistan it would have gone the way of the Metrocenter a long time ago due to crime. What a difference a line makes.

2:49 - Frank’s world famous biscuits! Little Big Store was there for awhile. I bought a Ted Nugent 8- track there.

"Franks Biscuits as I recall; also the Callaway's Yard & Garden, as well as the Putt Putt "

Yes! yes! yes !

Thank you !!!
I thought it was Frank's, but wasn't 100% sure.

And oh yeah ... when Callaways built their Pear Orchard store, every kid in Northeast Jackson applied for a job there.

Most were not hired.

Apparently there was some kind of internal Callaway's conflict... ... (about a similar business being built in the far flung Pearl River swamps along Lakeland Drive at Airport Road).

Almost all of the rejected Callaway's kids were hired by the new swamp place.

The Callaway's owners laughed at this little upstart place that called itself "Lakeland Yard & Garden Center".

Thank's for the memories 6:48 !

5:42 SEARS wasn't at Northpark.. it was at Metrocenter