I loved the old "downtown" business district. Each store was different, had its own unique look and scent. There were few chain stores in the '50s and '60s, so less cookie-cutter sameness. The grand old department stores of the were a marvel, with many levels, starting with the "bargain basement" and going up, up and up...
Always HATED malls. Good riddance. Hope they are bulldozed to smithereens and allowed to go back to nature.
I only experienced the tail end of the central business district as a child. My mother worked at an old main-line department store (Sperry Brothers). If anything it reminds me of the Department store in “Are You Being Served?” with different clothing and hardlines occupying different floors. There was a Kresge’s across the street along with a Rexall druggist. Further down the street was a men’s clothier and haberdasher. (When was the last time you saw a haberdasher?). It was all very nice, less impersonal and formulaic. I am not loathing malls demise either. Online shopping is even more impersonal. But given the choice between snotty, untrained sales clerks and impersonal, I’ll take impersonal.