This...is the Walla Walla Valley's only mall. When I arrived in 2001 it was a pathetic excuse for a mall. It has only gotten worse. Currently the sign is only half correct; Sears and ShopKo are still there, but the Food Court and Gottschalks are long gone. Granted, our "food court" consisted of a pretzel and lemonade place and a Chinese food shop that may or may not have been laundering money. (We joke about that because no one could figure out how they stayed in business otherwise, and they had a sign up that they only accepted cash.) What you can see in this picture is actually a building separate from what used to be the mall. (The actual mall is behind this building.) A rich individual from California (or so I've heard) bought the property and was all set to fix it up...but this is the second time this has happened in the last five years and both times work was started and then abruptly ended without being completed. This building was supposed to be (at least partially) a Ross Dress for Less, but the sign saying "Coming Soon!" has started to fade over the months.
While the mall used to contain a hair salon, several jewelry stores, a health food place, a cutlery store, a Payless Shoe Source, a Bath & Body Works, a toy store, and a couple of other small things outside of the anchor stores listed on the sign above, they slowly closed, one by one, until all that was left was a jewelry store, the two food places, Sears, and ShopKo. Now all that is left is Sears and ShopKo, and you can't walk between them inside because the mall itself is closed and - if you could get to it to see it - open to the air outside because they knocked out several walls.
One of these days we may have a useful shopping area. Perhaps by the time my unborn children are in high school?
