As the seasons go by, your closet screams for some new clothes. Your shirts start to wear, and your jeans start to shrink. Could it be that your clothes have shrunk, or could it be that your body has grown? You outgrow your shoes, leaving them alone in the darkness. They are soon forgotten by the cruel person who bought them just to abandon them. Forgotten by the cruel person that once was thrilled for the shoes, and made the shoes feel special, just to push them to there misery in the back of a gloomy closet. Forgotten by that cruel person who, in fact, is you. You can almost hear the closet’s thoughts. You can hear it chanting “It’s time you get some new clothes. I need some new friends.”

Where could you go? You’ve looked everywhere in the mall, online, and even in your sister’s closet for something that stands out to you. It seems as if all the stores in the mall have been raided for all the cute clothes and shoes. Forever 21 used to be a girls #1 store. It had all kinds of styles and an endless sale section, which I think we can all agree came in extremely handy, from off the shoulder shirts, to crop tops and button-ups. From high-waisted jeans to overalls, and leggings of colors you wouldn’t even imagine. They had tons of sections where anyone could go and find exactly what suited them best. Forever 21 was known to make women, and men feel comfortable and confident in their products. That’s all gone now. Forever 21 is now a tiny store on the top floor of the Holyoke Mall. A tiny store where barley any shoes are sold, and where people are furious because they can’t find what they are looking for anymore. Plus size was removed, leaving lots of women to feel different emotions of anger and discomfort. Why shop at a store that body shames people in ways they claim to not notice?

A few years ago, the Holyoke Mall used to be filled with so many useful stores. Now, the mall is becoming more of a huge arcade with different things to do for “fun.” They are putting in a movie theater. They already have Billy Beez. Now they are putting in a bowling alley? I mean, what about all the other stores people love? Have they just become a memory to all the  customers who love to shop? Does the community not have a say in any of this? The people of the shopping community have been shut out from many things that occur in our own city. It’s time we speak up. “I don’t like how they are changing the stores, like A.C. Moore. I’m a creative person, and I won’t be able to be as creative because it will be harder to find the crafts I need,” says Aztiney Caudle. As you can see, some stores mean more to people than others think. Sometimes, a store can tell a lot about a person, and it wouldn’t be fair to have that ripped from them.

Leave a comment below to rate how the Holyoke Mall is doing in your opinion.