The restaurant was "Pizza Place," a Manitoba chain which is gone now, I think. There was still one in Grant Park a few years ago, but I don't know if it's still there. It operated in Portage since at least 1970, and as it was the first pizza I ever had, it formed my opinion of what pizza should taste like. It remained my favourite until I moved away in 1987. Boston Pizza seems closest to what it tasted like. I was at the mall the weekend it opened in March 1979, and I actually worked for a year at Woolco. When I moved away the mall was still full, but every time I returned for a visit it was less so, eventually emptied by the big-box farm between the mall and town, just as the mall had emptied the downtown. It's like the iron law of Portage: for something new to succeed, something else has to fail.

best review and tutorial ever!!!

canada is not part of the US

Does it sound good with headphones?

it would be cool if you could daisy chain foot pedals

I remember visiting portage mall about 13-14 years ago, and there was a small guitar shop owned by a really nice old man, i hope he's alive and well

Thanks for this indepth tour of in and around Grant's Mill. Lots of detailed video and narration. Much appreciated!

I have fond memories of playing the orange helicopter machine game in the food court, the Hat trick arcade game, listening to music at the record store, getting Gi-Joes and Transformers from Woolco, and reading Mr. T children's books in the circle windows at Smitty's. Portage seemed like a city everytime we came into town from Austin. This was great nostalgia, thanks for that.

One very bad thing about Allis-Chalmers wide front-end they have a tendency to go a different direction than the rear wheels. A relative was driving his wide front-end wd-45 thru a barn lot when he wound up on the ground in front of his tractor. All the years of bouncing over just plowed, corn stalk rows and other rough terrain had taken its toll. Believe this was 1959 model wd-45. This was in 1980 I believe. The weld of the bracket had cracked (not sure if it was welded or bolted!) The wide front-end stopped in front of rear tires with the front end plowed into the dirt !!!! If u have a wide front-end tractor regardless of manufacture check the top of the front end where its attached to the tractor frame, PLEASE !! The relative went thru the air cleaner and the exhaust muffler before hitting the ground unconscious !!

It's the same thing everywhere. All my local malls when I was young are pretty much all dead with 70-80% of empty lots.

Putting it up for sale is crazy considering running it back up would take nearly a millionaire to fix the whole joint. If anything it’s gonna go to waste if they don’t fix the issues it has.

I never got to go there unfortunately, but this is really cool to look at

I remember going to the portage Mall a few years ago when I would go to Winnipeg mom and I would eat at Smittys

time will tell, thing change and move around

Wow amazing 🎉🎉🎉🎉

😂😂😂 another one bites the dust

I travel to Portage regularly and never realized yall had a mall.

Too exspensive to operate in these malls. Covid mandates probably did it in. Thanks Trudope. you got what you wanted.

The pizza place you couldn't remember was likely either Pizza Place or Santa Lucia's ... Based on your description of the logo with the tower of pisa

I remember going to this mall in the 80's as a teenager. It was always busy and was incredibly crowded during the holidays with Christmas shoppers. Driving by it recently, wondered what was going to happen to the building. Thanks for the memories and for uploading your video.

This place is a real life liminal space. Last time I went that's how it felt lol.

Very similar to Thompson and Leaf Rapids mall. Probably all of them were built by the same company.

My aunt had a store in there Gail Lyn’s but she moved locations near the stride credit union it’s to bad that it’s getting closed down and more than likely bulldozed

Very sad. I have never been there but all those stores are gone from here in Ontario too.

The auto dealerships should get together .. .. The portage auto mall just seems right

I havent been to portage in years thank you for the tour.

spent a few weekends there as a teen in the early 2000s... I miss malls like this honestly, was so fun as a kid

I miss this mall

The Smitty is gave it away for this being a Canadian video.

The Smitty is gave it away for this being a Canadian video.

Thanks for taking us through the old Mall. I have many similar memories in there as a kid too, we must be around the same age. Loved San Francisco, the arcade, and drinking Tahiti Treat at the food court. I remember playing Mario outside the Radio Shack when Nintendo first came out, and going to my Dad's car club meetings at Smitty's. Sad to see it go, another piece of our youth gone.

People don't go to malls anymore because Wal-Mart is taking over and people stay home and go on the net.

Used to be a great mall, a lot of variety. The mall in Winkler is in the same state but still operating somehow.

I left Portage in 1978 (I was 16) before the Mall opened. I prefer the old days when there were lots of stores in Downtown Portage. Unfortunately, the Mall made so many downtown businesses pack up and move there. It's a shame how many downtown businesses burnt down and nothing was ever built there, so the land became a Park, or a Parking Lot.

Thanks for doing this! I meant to stop by before it closed for old times' sake but just ran out of time.

Are they going to do anything with the building in the future? That’s too bad I use to go there around2008ish.

Late 90s my parents and I would make the trip from Winnipeg to Grandview to visit my grandmother, and on our way we'd stop at this mall to eat at Smitty's. We'd eat looking out those windows. Both my parents are gone now. Time flies.

When Safeway left a mall the mall usually died. Some are still hanging on but just barely. Malls were pretty cool back in the day and I still like malls. I really don't like driving around town to go to different stores. It can be a real pain.

Plaza pizza

I could be wrong but I believe bills sticky fingers was around for quite some time. Not sure if they were thefirst pizza joint but definitely one of the first in portage.

Great Video Jeff! I remember the topic of the Mall and the different stores would come up at work once in a while.

I worked at Woolco all through high school (1979-83). It was the busiest place in town-especially the weekends. Bought all my clothes at Mariposa and Marr Fashions who opened a second store in the mall (the original store was downtown). Haven’t lived in Portage for over 40 years but it makes me nostalgic for a bygone era.

Somehow gives me nostalgia for a place I've never been lol cool video though! Enjoyed the stories!😊

My favourite funny memory occurred while shopping at Walmart with my grandmother, who always called me Kid. The cashier's display featured colourful 🍭 lollipops. Even though I was around forty, she asked in all seriousness, "Do you NEED one of these, Kid?" 😄🤣

It was happening like 30 years ago, got back and the place was depressed, I always loved going into San Francisco.

That little space on the left hand side of Walmart was where my sister opened her lingerie store. “Peepers Lingerie”.

Dang. The end of an era. I grew up near Dauphjn. And wonder what’s happened to the Dauphin Marketplace mall.. likely gonna suffer a similar fate soon. If it hasn’t already.

I swear I spent half of my youth in that place! Long John Silver's, COLES book store, Woolco, Hans Christian Toys, Radio Shack. So many good times.

Appreciate good. No more

I am glad I visited it a couple years ago & got to see it. However with me saying that, perhaps it was not profitable for the owners nor the businesses. Profit is what keeps a store open. Even if a mall is busy, it does not mean people are parting with their money. Lots just go for something to do.