The Neshaminy Mall in Bensalem, PA is closed for good. I’m writing kind of an obituary, as well as a tribute and a trip down memory lane.

It opened in 1968, the year before I was born. My earliest memories of it dates back to the 1970’s when I was a child and visited the “real” Santa. Christmas at the mall was magical: the decorations, the piped in Christmas music, the people hustling by with packages.

Yes, that is me with the Neshaminy Santa, circa 1974

My mom loved to shop in Woolworth’s, it had everything, even parakeets for sale. Sometimes, a parakeet would get loose and fly around the store, which I found hilarious as a child. She also liked the jewelry sections in both Strawbridge’s and Sears. She’d spend over an hour or two looking through the displays, to the point where I’d say, “Can we go now? Come ON..”  She got her car repaired at Sears Auto Center. One day when we came out of the mall, we found that our car had a flat tire. Luckily, we were near the Auto Center. We had to wait for a long while because they were busy, but we were still lucky that they were there. She wasn’t too happy about spending money on a new tire though. That wasn’t in the day’s plans.

She bought many personalized, thoughtful gifts at Things Remembered, and even had our cats’ names engraved on small brass tags, which dangled from their collars.

I remember the original brown flooring, the ceiling before skylights were installed, and when people smoked in the mall. I remember the dioramas depicting American history scenes, they moved and lit up, but as a small child I did not fully understand them yet.

I remember the Wurlitzer organ store and someone would be in the front playing peppy tunes on an organ. I loved to eat at Roy Rogers, Friendly’s and later, the Hardshell Café, which my mom called “The Hardshell Crab-fay.”

I liked to toss coins into the rock fountain with The Neshaminy Indian (as it said on the plaque). The word Neshaminy comes from the Lenape (Lenni-Lenape) Native American language, loosely meaning “the place we drink twice” or “double drinking place“. At around 7 years old, my friend Beth, who always had a mind of her own, started to climb the rocks and I told her, “No…we’ll get in trouble!” and security yelled at her to stop.

I’m 99% sure this mall is where my grandfather took me to have my ears pierced when I was around 8. He didn’t even tell my mother first! By the time I was 10, he died of cancer, so I had very little time with him. I cherish that memory. I still remember the earrings I picked out. I got my second set of ear piercings there when I was 18.

I remember Fluff N Stuff, the stand-alone booth with all the stuffed animals. My friend Elisa was crazy about that store. I was more into B Dalton books and Sam Goody. Elisa and I once ate in the restaurant in Strawbridge’s that overlooked the mall, we thought that view was the coolest thing. It was a bit pricey for our teenaged budgets, but I didn’t regret it.

In my pre-teens and teens (Gen Xer here!), my friends I would take SEPTA’s route 58 bus from my Somerton neighborhood to the mall, which was the last stop. When I learned to drive, I drove the same route as the bus. I passed the driving test and got my driver’s license at the DMV  in a strip mall across the way , which we called “the Neshaminy DMV”, it is still there. I considered that location very lucky, since I had failed at 2 other DMV locations! In that strip mall, many years later, the St. Jude Religious Shop went out of business in 2023. I was ordained as an Episcopal deacon in 2022, so I went and grabbed up some deeply discounted clergy wear and other items.

When I was around 14 or 15, my friend and I  were walking around my neighborhood and we decided to take the 58 bus to the mall. When I got there, I called my mom on a payphone (remember those?) to tell her where I was. I said, “Hi, I’m at Neshaminy.” She said, “You’re at Neshaminy??!” in a “What are you doing, I thought you were going to stay near home?” tone. But she said, “OK” and was just glad I let her know where I was.

I went there with high school friends and college friends, and later, my first serious boyfriend, holding hands as we strolled along. Date night usually meant going out to eat and heading to the mall, any local mall, but Neshaminy was my favorite. I distinctly remember sitting the food court with my mom, saying to her , “This is my favorite mall.” I’ve been to the Willow Grove, Oxford Valley, King of Prussia and Cherry Hill malls, but none of them had the same feeling of “home”. My old friends and the boyfriend are long gone from my life, but the memories remain. I remember laughing with various friends at the gag gifts and dirty jokes in Spencer’s, and grabbing a meal (usually pizza or Chinese) at the food court.  In those days, you had to physically shop for things and see your friends in person. Now, shopping is done online and we chat by text. I miss the escape from the world that the mall offered. You do not get that from online shopping.

I never worked there, but I knew some people who did. Through my teen years, I worked at Leo Mall, now also gone, which was walking distance from my home.

Other random memories:

Hickory Farms (and the yummy samples they’d give out!)

Claires (I always came out with a few sets of earrings)

Sam Goody and The Wall (later FYE)

Kittens and puppies at the Docktor’s Pet Shop. It was always crowded in there, but I had to see the kittens!

B Dalton books and Waldenbooks

Wicks N Sticks smelled great

Kinderfoto stand. The photographer shaking toys to get the child’s attention

The Pampered Pup hot dogs. The logo was of a dog sitting on a fancy pillow

Makeup Mecca with the Arabian style doorway

Survey people who would stop you and try to ask you questions

Sugar Mountain had cute gifts and collectables like Boyd’s Bears

Pomeroys, Bon Ton , Boscovs, Macy’s

Sometimes I’d see people I went to school with there. Even in adulthood, I’d run into people I knew. I recognized at lady I used to see at a downtown church, I thought  “Wow even the Center City folks like this mall!”

The shows/expos that were advertised on the big sign on the hill as you drove in.  Gem and nature show, baseball cards, rock memorabilia shows. I still have a big shell I bought at a show.

Of course, the totem pole landmark you could see from US1.

Then it was announced that the mall’s days were numbered. We can play the “blame game” forever: is it the fault of Amazon, or the 2020 pandemic, or the big anchors like Macy’s, Sears and Strawbridge’s leaving, or mismanagement, the economy, or too-high operations costs, we, the consumers, becoming too lazy, or a combination of all? It is probably all of these plus more reasons.

For those of us who grew up with the mall, this was devastating news:

Shuttered by October 31^st 2026.

Demolition starting in December 2026.

Demolition. Rubble. Bulldozers.  I still can’t wrap my mind around it. I do not want to see it or even drive by it.

Torn down, in the festive month of December.  How cruel.

That month  used to be “peak season” for the mall.

Someone was kind enough to organize a “Final Walk Through Neshaminy Mall” event on October 24^th. It spread like wildfire through Facebook.  A musician came to play. There was a trivia table and some food.

Dozens came. They were all ages. Some pushed babies in strollers. An older lady sat in the middle of the mall in a rollator walker, just taking it all  in. Plenty of people around my own age were there too. Someone posted flyers around the mall with a phone number connected to a voicemailbox where you could leave a message about the mall. The messages will be used in a documentary.

There was one empty store after another. Many had metal gates pulled down. Some mannequins were tossed on the floor. Video games and kiddie rides were unplugged. The large wall clock was missing both hands, as if to say “Time is done here.” The plants around the Indian fountain were dying, and the water was shut off.

Only a handful of businesses were sticking it out to the bitter end: the luggage store, a perfume kiosk, a chair massage kiosk, a smoothie and snacks stand and Zen Spa- a shop that offered foot massages and Asian gifts for sale. The shop owner was desperate to unload what was left. So, I bought 2 winter scarves, a wooden carved vase and a cat figurine. I kept the receipt, a record of the last purchase I would ever make there.

People walked around and chatted. I ran into 3 people I knew. Many had cameras- professional equipment as well as phones. We pointed to spaces and discussed what used to be there.

My mom called, I sat down on a bench to take a break and talk; she asked how it looked and I described everything. She said she was glad she did not go, “It’s too sad.“ We then spoke about the various memories we had. We made so many together there. She said, “I’ve got to hang up, I’m getting too sad.” I hung up and sat silently for a few minutes, actually holding back tears. I felt like I was at a funeral, I mean, that’s what you do at one: you share good memories of the departed, and then you are mourning the loss, and the sighs and tears come. You just can’t believe this is the end.

I stopped in Barnes and Noble (which is staying intact- along with Boscov’s and the AMC 24 movieplex) for a cup of coffee and I existed the mall’s doors for the last time.

The following day, someone told me that they did not understand all the emotions. “It’s just a building.”, they said.

But it wasn’t. It was a place full of priceless memories more valuable than anything that was sold there.  It was  an emblem of something we can’t get back: of times that we should have appreciated more.

Farewell and Rest in Peace, Neshaminy Mall.