Speaking of dearly departed shopping malls, I have very fond memories of the Twin City Mall that once existed in North Palm Beach, Florida. It had a few department stores, including Sears and one called Jeffersons. I still remember strolling through Jeffersons one day and seeing an Intellivision video game system for sale. It was hooked up to a TV, ready for someone to try out. Of course, I gave it a try and had a blast. Sears also was selling video game cartridges for the Atari home video game system that was a top selling item back then.
I still remember some of the stores at the Twin City Mall, such as one called Musicsmith. They sold cassettes, LP’s and 45’s, but no compact discs as those had not been invented yet. There was another store called Booksmith that sold books.
Oh, how could I dare forget drooling to the irresistible smell of freshly made caramel popcorn from Karmelcorn? That was always the highlight of my trip to the mall.
And of course, there was the arcade. I always had fun feeding my quarters to the video games there. One game I enjoyed playing was Star Wars, which didn’t have the sophisticated graphics as today’s games do. On the contrary, it used very simple vector graphics, but still, it was fun blowing up the Death Star again and again.
Sinistar was another game I loved to play. It was the one where your ship had to collect crystals needed to defeat a giant floating robotic head that was threatening the galaxy. I still remember those haunting words from the game’s onboard speech synthesizer: “Beware, I live!” Those games might be classics today but back then they were as good as video games got.
My most haunting and touching memory of the Twin City Mall was during holiday season when my mother took me there for some shopping. As we were walking around the mall, we passed the Talking Christmas Tree, which was the most magical thing I’ve ever seen in my life. In fact, I still get chills up my spine thinking about it. I remember standing there, speechless, in front of this huge, beautifully decorated tree, even after it said hello to me.
For years, even after it closed, the Twin City Mall continued to stand, completely abandoned and empty, doing nothing but creating a huge eyesore for the city. I don’t know exactly why the city waited so long to demolish the mall, but I think there was some debate going on about how to dispose of the pieces. I think that’s the story but I’m not sure. Anyhow, the mall was finally demolished to make way for a thriving shopping center that stands in its spot today.
I really had fun going back and reliving my vivid memories for this blog. I have other memories I will share in future posts.
Remembering the Twin City Mall.
MJBDiver.com 
Interesting…I'm only 22, I remember this place vaguely, having gone to it once in the early 1990s. I remember when it sat empty in the late 1990s. The shopping center there now is actually comprised of buildings from the mall, they didnt build anything new really, they just demolished 65% of the mall and used the rest to make a shopping center.
I created a group on Facebook named “Bruce's Twin City Mall.” If you don't have a Facebook account, Google the group name and you can still see the pictures.
Hello,
Gone but not forgotten. I remember they had a stamp and coin shop in a weird circular building, right inside the mall itself. Now, most stamp and coin shops are gone, and it seems like malls are going too.
Thanks for the interesting piece! Hope you find a job soon.
Karl
I grew up in North Palm, and I met many milestones at the Twin City Mall. I bought my first makeup at Jeffersons. I got my ears pierced at the Piercing Pagoda for my 12th birthday. I bought my first records with babysitting money at the Musicsmith. You'd go for Orange Julius with friends after school. Does anyone remember that weird sort of octagonal head shop in the middle? The airbrushed custom t-shirts were amazing! I used to ride my bike to the movies all the time–saw Flash Gordon, Friday the 13th, and all the National Lampoon movies there.
Kim
I really miss the mall. My very first pair of roller skates were bought there & I remember showing them to every shopper that got near me that night! I was only 6 years old, 1976. Remember the psychedelic carpet? Giant swirls of plum, orange & lime green. Spiderman came through the big skylight down by Murphy's one Saturday too. I think I looked at every album cover & poster in Musicsmith while Dad shopped at Booksmith. I'm glad to see other people have fond memories of the mall & miss it too.
I moved out of FL a long time ago but grew up in North Palm Beach working at Twin City Mall off & on since I was a teen. It’s crossed my mind a lot lately wondering if it was still there. I’m sorry to hear that it’s been torn down, that was the MODest mall I’ve ever scene with those at the time HIP colors, IT WAS GREAT. I used to work at Orange Julius, the book store & a little clothing store that was on the outside, we used to go eat at a little restaurant just outside the main entrance, they had great chicken parmesan sandwich, I. I have a lot of good memories at that mall, including my very first date, going to the movies to see Grease. The 70’s were part of the good old days and TWIN CITY MALL was a major part of it. Pam