New Media from a Journalism Veteran
The Big Lie
False advertising times three
The huge sign towers over the trees along Interstate 81 just south of the intersection with I-77 near Fort Chiswell, claiming a factory outlet mall with 36 stores.
But the sign is a lie. Fort Chiswell Outlets is a dying mall of just 10 stores and some of the few surviving merchants admit business is so bad they expect the place to close in the near future.
Grass grows through cracks in the asphalt in the parking lots where empty stores showcase only dust and vacant space. I browsed a bookstore for 30 minutes before buying a Robert B. Parker hardback Spenser mystery for $7. The girl behind the counter said I was their only customer that morning. Amy checked out the remaining nine stories, including a kitchen place, a shoe store and some clothing outlets.
I sat on a bench along a stretch of vacant stores and read the book while waiting for my wife to finish browsing. A couple in a silver BMW with Delaware plates pulled up.
“Excuse me,” the driver asked. “Where can I find this factory outlet mall?”
“You’re in it,” I replied.
“You’re kididng,” he said as he and his wife gazed at the empty storefronts. “This is it?”
“Yep.”
“Well that’s a crock,” he said. They drove off.”
Call it a crock, a con-job or a lie. The sign that towers over I-81 is, at the very least, false advertising.
Long neglected parking lot
Reno
August 25, 2005 at 3:59 pm
Adding insult to injury, that sign and the ugly-assed hulk of a building will sit there for years as blights on the landscape, long after the investors have collected their tax incentives and moved on.
Maybe the Virginia Film Commission could promote this site as a location for some cheesy Planet of the Apes remake.
elgee
August 25, 2005 at 10:36 pm
Doug, Yesterday’s RANT hit the nail smack on Dubya’s head! When I write the White House I call him our ‘fauxPOTUS’ and ALWAYS refer to Iraq as his ‘Dirty Little War!’ A crack of light looms on our horizon with increasing GOP defectors. This gives me a sliver of hope for the survival of our country – and indeed, our planet. elgee
Amanda
August 25, 2005 at 3:19 pm
I’m concerned we witnessing the G.W. Bush suffering a mental break down. That is the leader of the free-world, has the largest arsenal in the world, and apparently is the biggest dick-head in the world increases my concern. I know this is not a world history first, but where do we go from here?
Charles Everett
August 25, 2005 at 10:59 pm
Somebody could use this nearly-dead mall for another remake . . . “Attack of the Killer Tomatoes”.