Moving on to Bigger and Better...

The mall in Holland is facing difficulties like the grocery stores in the area. Originally built in the late ‘80s, the Westshore Mall was a huge success. It was built in an area where there was nothing but cornfields previously, alongside US-31 which leads north towards Grand Haven. I was young, but remember this mall being built since it was such a major part of Holland. Growing up I remember begging my mom to take me to the Westshore Mall on Saturdays so that I could walk around and be amazed by the people and busy stores. I played in the arcade Aladdin’s Castle with my friends. I played laser tag at the small arena called Laser Storm. Even in middle school to high school, kids my age hung out at the mall, only to have their parents pick them up later on. Kids would go on “dates” with their young boyfriends and girlfriends in big groups and walk around the mall and eat fries at County Fair Fries.

Then one day, there was news of a new mall being built in Grandville. “What’s Grandville?” many of us asked, wondering why anyone would want a mall in a place like that. Once the mall was built, word didn’t take long to spread. “Go to Grandville, the RiverTown Crossings mall is AWESOME!” and they were right… This new mall became the place to go for us high school students. We found shops that we had only heard about before, and some we never had. The mall was huge, and exciting. This was so wonderful, why would anyone want to shop in Holland anymore? This mall is well-worth the drive!

So, sadly began the demise of the Westshore Mall. Apparently everyone began to think similar thoughts as me when they discovered the RiverTown Crossings mall. It was closer than the Grand Rapids malls, and better. Slowly but surely, stores began closing in the Westshore Mall; and the parking lot became less and less filled. Soon, there wasn’t anyone left besides the older mall-walkers in the mornings. The mall’s anchor stores stayed for the most part, but the little ones really struggled. Sears moved out of their large space, and into a tiny little building near the mall. Chucky Cheese moved in, making the little kids happy and driving away any teenagers that were left.

So now the Westshore Mall has to start making some decisions. I believe that they had trouble paying their bills, and were sold to another company that wanted to try to revive the mall. Since then their never-updated website is mediocre. It now has mall events posted, and has an updated store directory and phone numbers. They are working to have events that coordinate with the season. For example they now have Santa coming in for children to visit, and other events posted.

Will these ideas create new life for the Westshore Mall or is it on a downward spiral? It’s hard to say, but we do know that the situation is not looking good.