Totem Lake Mall

This is where the souls of retail workers go to die and lounge around like an episode of Man vs. Wild, where every customer that goes in is a potential predator out to GET THEM.
Every second that I spend in here is like one little regret and they just kinda pile up over time. All of a sudden the walls are closing in and I’m like «OH, NO, I WANT OUTTA HERE». When I escaped from the mall, I felt reborn into a sexless husk, eight years into the future, and I was surprised Key Bank was still around.
At least there’s toilet paper in the bathroom. Are the people here even real?
1 outta 5

I love this mall. It has two businesses, a mattress store and a christian book store. One stop shopping! It also gives off a creepy «Am I supposed to be in here» vibe. I’m still hoping Old Country Buffet will come back, then you could truly call this mall fun for the whole family!

I love this mall. Too bad it’s so vacant. It has an interesting history

LONGEST.
WAIT.
FOR.
REMODEL.
EVER.
It’s been years since the contractors have been planning to remodel the lower part of the mall. Half the store spaces are vacant and dark. Whatever is left is a Sleep Country and a small Christian store. (Not counting Ross, Car Toys, and the shoe store as the «mall»)
The upper mall which has Trader Joes, Guitar Center, and some other stores is quite nice, and you can actually enjoy yourself there.
The only reason I’, m even thinking of giving this place 2 stars is because of the awesome Spirit Halloween store they open in the middle of the «mall» every October for Halloween costumes and goodies. It’s all that this «mall» in the lower part is usually good for anyways.

Um… this «mall» definitely has bad Feng Shui.
Just sayin’.

One Star. One Lonely Star trying to hang onto life before it all fades away. Come visit the Totem Lake Malls («Malls» because there are two parts to the mall, with one part being a strip mall and the other a small enclosed mall) while you still can. Honestly, this is about the closest thing to a ghost mall that I have ever heard of. I remember coming here as a kid and eating at the Old Country Buffet back when there was still a department store here. Now it is essentially a dead mall with less than ten tenants (mostly if not entirely located in the strip mall area), which are still worthy tenants but no matter how you look at it this is a sorry excuse for a mall.
Unfortunately, as a Mall Rat who grew up in the area but now lives on the opposite side of the country, I cannot afford to make the trip out here to visit. I may be the only person on the Internet who actually REGRETS being unable to hop in the car and hang out at Totem Lake Malls. You either have to be morbid, a Hollywood producer looking for a vacant mall to shoot up during an action scene, or a truly die-​hard Mall Rat to actually want to drive more than a few miles to visit.
My hope is that a developer will find a way to completely renovate this mall. More likely, a deal will be made that won’t simply fall through (as has already happened at least once) and the «mall» will be torn down to be replaced by mixed-​use space or just another strip mall. I hope, though, that this mall won’t come to such a sorry end.

The Totem Lake Mall is one of the creepiest, eeriest, and least attractive places I’ve ever been to. Period.
There are two parts to the mall; the upper mall, and the lower mall, divided by a small street.
The upper mall is a strip mall, with some small shops, namely Trader Joe’s, Guitar Center, Denny’s Pet World, and Big 5 Sporting Goods.
The lower mall is a more typical enclosed mall, with the anchor tenant being some sort of self-​described, «modern flea market», and a small Christian bookstore, and a Sleep Country. As well, there’s a Ross Dress for Less, and a Car Toys. (Shuck’s, Old Country Buffet, and Comp USA are now gone, btw.)
The upper mall is far more encouraging than the lower mall, but still, with the limited shops, provides an air of loneliness, and age. It’s telling of the current economic times.
The lower mall provides this feeling of sorrow, sadness, and genuine eeriness. The halls are stone silent, and one can easily tell that this mall was once a thriving place that over time, lost almost everything. The central information desk sits vacant, and the transit racks are filled with schedules no one will ever need.
The restrooms, at the far, far end of the mall, by the long-​abandoned sweet shop, are tiny, and have a sink with a sign, aged and handwritten, ‘OUT OF ORDER’.
The mall has long past it’s prime, and there are far, far better uses for the land.

This isn’t so much a review of the management office as it is a review of the insult that Totem Lake Malls is to the word «mall,» — this is a ghostland. What kind of mall has a Chevron station listed in its directory as an actual store? A bad mall, that’s what.
My boyfriend got excited when he found out his apartment would be walking distance to a mall… ’til I informed him it was the Totem Lake Mall. With the exception of the little strip which includes Trader Joe’s, this place is little more than a place to laugh at with friends: ha ha, lets look at what old school suburbia used to think of as a mall! Hop on 405 and head to Bell Square… even that crap is miles beyond Totem Lake. This place definitely continues to live up to the reputation that rents are so high that it’s impossible to run a successful business.
Phew. Glad to get that out!