This Is Framingham

Especially when the weather is nice out, I miss having the old Shoppers World around.  All that’s left are these steel beams at Rt. 30 and Speen Street that used to hold the neon sign.  I know some people say it was ratty and ugly (and outdated towards the end) but I think it was really special.
It was so great to just walk around from shop to shop without having to worry about getting mowed down by a car and getting some fresh air at the same time.  Where else could you find a Windsor Button Shop, a House of Zodiac AND see live reindeer all at the same mall? 
I remember going there with my mom and sisters when we were little, shmying around and taking train rides, being a teenager and going to the movies with my friends and working at Joan and Ed’s deli when I was in college.  I feel like Shopper’s World was such a terrific place and now it’s just chain stores and asphalt.  I don’t want to sound like an old lady shaking her cane into the air but, the new shoppers world isn’t even worthy of the name Shoppers World!  They should call it Another blob of generic stores you can find anywhere in America with bland, unoriginal structures and no trains or reindeer”
I know it would be a big sign but they can afford it.
Check out this link  and this link to see some great old shoppers world photos.
Also thanks to Mitch Cohen, here’s a last look at Jordan Marsh before the old girl was torn down.

Feel free to comment about any of your favorite stores or experiences at Shoppers World (the real Shoppers World).

A true Framingham tragedy! In December this Friendly’s on Union Ave closed all of the sudden.  I drove by it on my way home one day and the sign read “Thank you Framingham” and was shut down.  I never even got to have a farewell Fribble!
This stinks because it was in walking distance of my house and on a hot day after doing hours of yard work there was no greater reward than walking down the street to get a well-deserved cone.
Hopefully this won’t become an addition to the many vacant stores in Framingham but nothing seems to be happening with it.