A friend of mine was back in town last week (she lives in Queens but grew up in SGV) and we had the following conversation:
Me: What have you been doing since you’ve been back?
Her: Last night I went to Punky Reggae at La Cita.
Me: Oh yeah, how was it?
Her: [long pause] uh…mmm…
Me: What? Too many hipsters?
Her: No…it was more like…if the Montebello Mall exploded!
Me: Ah…
[visuals flood my mind]
Another SGV friend claims the first Hot Topic store opened in the Montebello Mall (officially known as the Montebello Town Center). Can this be true? I think I was going to Schurr High School at the time (I lasted less than two months) when one of the punks came to school and said: “Oh my god, you guys! They’re selling Doc Martens at the mall!”
Hey, some of us have no choice but to go there. It’s a fact of life when you work up the street. And, while I hope for things to change there, they don’t. Almost every time I go, I run into someone I knew in high school–twenty years ago.
every time I go, I run into someone I knew in high school
That’s the exact reason I don’t go to Stonewood or Lakewood Mall at all. (I also dislike malls. Hehe.) If I need to buy anything, I buy it Downtown or on Pacific in Huntington Park.
I’m not big on malls either but Montebello is so bereft of entertainment options that I don’t blame folks for going there. It’s also the only mall that is easily accessible (by Montebello 40 bus) from Boyle Heights and other Eastside communities.
What’s funny is, I knew exactly what kind of people my friend was referring to when she said the Montebello Mall exploded. It was such a random SGV reference, totally unexpected and totally hilarious!
I started chuckling at work because of you CHIMATLI!
Oh man…”No…it was more like…if the Montebello Mall exploded!”
So funny. I got kicked out of the Montebello Mall when I was 15 because they thought we had a knife. Stupid bum story to kick out some crusty punk kids.
If it wasn’t the Montebello Town Center (hey–I didn’t know it was called the Montebello mall now)…it was the Pasadena mall and that was when it was still enclosed and they had a Lerner’s and Leed’s and a big mamma-jamma Lane Bryant. Now it’s all open air and snooty.
Doc Martens…I coveted those shoes for soooo long. Finally, during my senior year in high school, my Dad bought them for me. Black, ten holes–DOCS!! I was sooooo excited. But they hurt one of my feet so much. Everytime I wore them, they freakin’ killed. In my fervor to get my Dad to buy me $100 boots, I didn’t realize they gave me a pair with two different sizes. Aargh!! That one still hurts to this day!! Heehee
Got my Docs at Warbabies on melrose in 88. i would go to Montebello Town Center on my scooter on purpose to meet others in the scene,plus watch the fights that happened in the food court it was great plus the store GHQ always had hot disco/new wave girls that worked there..lol goodtimes.