Evolution of Carrolltown Center Sign

Since I keep my camera with me often, I have the opportunity to take pictures of the deteriorating Carrolltown Mall while I wait at the light of Ridge Road and Liberty Road. Here are 3 pictures of the fabled sign with different stages of disrepair.

This is a picture of the sign after their landscaping upgrade. Note the lovely brown plants and the rotting timbers. The sign also provides a good display of the peeling letters of the Peebles sign.


Here's the sign without the side panel.


Here's a picture with the Big Lots! sign blown-out. When I first saw this I got really excited thinking that Big Lots! had gone out of business. Much to my chagrin, this was not the case. Fortunately, Black Oak Associates placed an orange (brown) cone in front of the sign to warn passer's-by of the dangers of shopping at this mall.

Carrolltown Carnival!!!

While dropping my son off at Carrolltowne Elementary School I noticed that the parking lot at the fabulous and world-famous Carrolltown Center Mall was packed with vehicles. A splits-second closer inspection revealed that the vehicles were all carnival trucks. The Carnies are in town!!!


A couple of thoughts came to mind. First, why would they be having a carnival in April? It is still about 45 degrees at night, sometimes even in the 30's still. I can't imagine getting on the Hurl-a-Whirl when it's that cold.

The second thought that crossed my mind was - what a fantastic use of a parking lot of a nearly abandoned mall! I mean - it's not like Black Oak Associates, the owner of the Carrolltown Center Mall, needs the parking spots for customers. They need about 10 spots per day in front of K-Mart and probably about 20 spots in front of Big Lots (Big T's). Other than that, it's just a lot of cracked asphalt surface.


We all know that K-Mart has some kind of golden lease with that mall, which is the reason no one can get them out of the mall in order to improve it (which seems to imply that Sears\K-Mart endorses ghetto malls). I speculate that the carnival will pay some sort of lease to Black Oak for use of the empty parking lot. This should increase the revenue generated by the mall for April many times over. All speculation, of course.

While driving to the bank today I also noticed the sign litter all around town. Do you think they'll clean up this crap when they leave?


So bundle up, bring your hand sanitizer, lock your cars, leave your valuables at home, and come join your fellow neighbors at the Carrolltown Carnival!!!

Fun Times at Big T's

I make it a point to go to the ghetto Carrolltowne Center as little as possible. This is the mall owned by Black Oak Associates that appears to be neglected. Well, this week we made an exception.

My son has been looking for different Star Wars Lego sets and has not been able to find them. Apparently the ghetto Wal-Mart in Eldersburg hasn't replenished its stock of Legos since Christmas.

So we went into Big Lots, whose sign has several lights out, as you see from the picture. What's a Big T? I can think of something. I entered the store with much anticipation. I could go for some Big T's!!! Much to my chagrin, it was actually still Big Lots. Anyway, as we walk in I tell my 2 older kids to push carts, but slouch over them like you see white trash do. You've seen those people at Wal-Mart pushing the cart, leaning on it so much that if the cart were pulled away from them they'd fall flat on the floor. Yeah, we did that.


As we're slummin' around the store, my wife is getting visibly irritated. "What are we looking for?"

I quickly glimpse around the store for something interesting and in a split second see a guitar-shaped container filled with popcorn with an Elvis sticker on the front of it. "I'm looking for a guitar-shaped container filled with popcorn with an Elvis sticker on the front of it!" I proclaim.

We walk around a bit longer and my 11 year old daughter comes running up to my wife and me, her face as red as a tomato, hysterically laughing, carrying a a guitar-shaped container filled with popcorn and an Elvis sticker on the front of it. "You're not going to believe this!!!!"

I haven't laughed so hard in a long time. Thank you, Big T's!!!

Open In Eldersburg - Virginia's Rose

This has been there for a while, but I recently visited this store and thought it worth noting.



Virginia's Rose is a consignment shop that opened in the Oklahoma Plaza where the ReMax used to be and is next to the Thai restaurant that I suspect is owned by the mob because no one ever eats there but they never go out of business. The entire Oklahoma Plaza recently underwent a renovation making it 2 billion times nicer than the ghetto mall across the street, Carrolltown Center I think it's called - owned by Black Oak Associates.

Black Oak Associates
10055 Red Run Blvd. Suite 130
Owings Mills, MD 21117

Phone - (410) 356-5820
Fax - (410) 356-5822

The store is nice, mostly crafty inside. There is a lot of nice older furniture. Don't expect to get cheap deals there. They sell nicer furniture, so expect to pay a couple of hundred dollars for a dresser. But it is a really interested shop and the owner is super nice.

Check it out!

Faith Lutheran Church's New Electronic Sign

There are signs that Black Oak Associations is not the only ones that are trying to bring Randallstown to Eldersburg. Faith Lutheran Church on Liberty Road, ironically, right next to the ghetto dead mall Carrolltown Mall, recently put up this lit sign.

Like other low-class fly-by-night establishments offering check cashing and bail bonds, Faith Lutheran installed this red-lit sign on their front lawn facing Liberty Road.

Now we'll be able to see from a mile away what the message of the Lord is as it scrolls by with its flashing yellow-ish lights.

Carrolltown Mall Update

It's been a couple of months since my last update, so I know that you're anxious to know about all of the renovations and new tenants at the Carrolltown Mall owned by Dixon Harvey's company Black Oak Associates.

Closed:

Unfortunately, the renovations have not started. And there are no new tenants. And Black Oak Associates seems to have forgotten that they own the property. They have chosen to let the opportunity of owning prime shopping destinations in the upper middle class neighborhoods around Eldersburg disperse in the wind.

In fact, Black Oak Associates seems to be going out of their way to make the mall as horrible as they possibly can. Perhaps they are hoping that their next tax assessment will prove that the mall is useless. To those of us who have lived in Eldersburg for at least 10 years, we know that the mall has been useless for a long time.

What spurred this series of pictures is that I was in a hurry one day and needed something quick so I regrettably stopped into the ghetto K-Mart. I quickly got what I needed and raced to the cash registers. And wouldn't you know it? Only 1 lane open. The lady in front of me had many items. The cashier rang them up. The customer handed her a coupon and the cashier says, "Sorry. We don't accept coupons at this K-Mart." What????? She informs the customer that there isn't enough sales volume to accept coupons. So do you think not accepting coupons will help generate more volume? It's a downward spiral and we can do nothing. Here's an idea - close the K-Mart!!!

Take a look at the landscaping updates. There are some new dead trees. Some older dead trees were cut down and the stumps left in the ground. Because why should they go through the whole process of properly removing the tree when they can do it half-ass for one quarter of the money?



There was a fitness place in the back of the mall where Manco used to be. They had a nice canopied sign. It's gone now. Some low-budget operation has taken it's place and a skeleton of the canopy remains.


You know a mall is going downhill when they start advertising churches and other religious centers that operate in former shops. You know a mall is a dead mall when those churches and religious have front-facing store-front.


So when do you think Dixon Harvey and his Black Oak Associates will do something about this nearly abandoned ghetto mall? Unfortuntely, it looks like it won't be for a while. Instead, it will sadly continue to crumble and be a false image of what a nice community Eldersburg is. Shame on you Black Oak Associates.

If you're getting tired of the nonsense, please call and complain to them:

Black Oak Associates
10055 Red Run Blvd. Suite 130
Owings Mills, MD 21117

Phone - (410) 356-5820
Fax - (410) 356-5822

Qdoba to Eldersburg

Good news from Eldersburg.net. I cross-verified this in the Baltimore Business Journal. Qdoba is opening a new store in Eldersburg. It will occupying the old Hollywood Video store that's next to the Papa John's on Liberty Road.

I think this is fantastic news. I really like Qdoba. It's no Chipotle, but Qdoba is a good second choice.


Also in the restaurant news, the A&W \ KFC will no longer offer the A&W portion. It will now be a stand-alone KFC. This is a shame because I really like their burgers. But then again I can't remember the last time I went there to get one. The problem with the A&W \ KFC in Eldersburg is that you wait in line for 15 minutes to order, then you stand there and wait another 20 minutes to pick it up. And one time they even told me they had no chicken. Are you kidding me? KFC has no chicken? That's be like the Maryland General Assembly not having any crooked politicians.

I'd also like to take this opportunity to list all of the new stores and restaurants that are coming to the Carrolltown Center, also known as the Dumpster Mall.

The new stores are:

*
*
*

That's right. Nothing. Black Oak Associates has been busy doing a lot of nothing. But then again, we're kind of used to that.

Carrolltown Mall Update - December 2009

I know you've all been dying to see what's new and exciting at Carrolltown Mall since that big renovation started. However, I am sad to inform you that we've been duped.

Fortunately there is some good news. You may recall that the mall had leased space to a beat-up storage trailer. Well, they've upgraded to 2 new shiny pods. So if you need storage space, please contact Pack Rat at 1-800-Pack-Rat.


Speaking of rats, we all heard that the Flagshit (oops, Flagship) Cinema, the only movie theater in the South Carroll (Eldersburg \ Sykesville area) closed. I decided to capture a picture if it before it collapses from neglect.


Remember the dead trees in the parking lot next to Hemlock Drive across from the Eldersburg Library that I complained about recently? Well they finally cut them down. Unfortunately, in typcal Black Oak Associates-style, they only paid them enough money to cut them down, not haul away the wood. So in an effort to save money, I suspect Dixon Harvey requested that the tree company strew the dead branches all over the parking lot. Oh, and leave the stumps. That way the thousands of people that visit the mall each day will have a nature-like place to sit.



Remember the liquor store that was in the Carrolltown Mall? That space is now empty, like 90% of the mall. However, if you look across the street, you will see the new liquor store. And next door to the liquor store is a new pharmacy. Now Eldersburgers can conveniently get their liquor and drugs at one stop.

Carrolltown Center - Dixon Harvey & Smelly Rhetoric

Black Oak President Dixon Harvey must be practicing to be a politician because he's so full of smelly poop.

In an article posted Sunday in the Carroll Eagle and cross-posted on The Sun, Harvey commented about the closing of the Flagship Cinema by stating that they are in the early stages of planning a new theater.

Early stages? If anyone understands rhetoric, 'early stages' means that he thought of it on the spot when asked about a replacement. The thought being in his head. I seriously doubt there's anything on paper. If there is - Mr. Harvey, I challenge you to share that with the community.

I'm in the early stages of planning my vacation in 2025. I'm in the early stages of buying presents for my grandchildren. I'm in the early stages of planning my move to South Carolina.

The Flagship Cinema in Eldersburg was closed on November 30th amid health concerns with moisture. I guess I should hope that K-Mart and the rest of Carrolltown Center Mall needs to close because of health concerns. Every time I go in there it makes me sick. And the condition of the mall and the stores it offers the citizens of Eldersburg makes us all sick.

Eldersburg's Only Theater Closes

In an effort to keep Eldersburg as ghetto as possible, Carrolltown Mall owner Black Oak Associates has decided to close the theater.

The closing is officially due to concerns about health and safety in the building. In an article in the Carroll County Times, patrons complained about water leaking from the ceiling while rows within the theater were roped off or blocked with cones.

I was hoping that Black Oak would let the roof collapse and we could have an outdoor theater. How many open roof theaters are there in the area? I think none!

Additionally, just like the other crumbling buildings in the Carrolltown Center, Black Oak Associates President Dixon Harvey said he has no immediate plans to repair the derelict building and it will remain closed. I love it when my friends come to visit me and they comment about having a ghetto mall in such a nice area of Carroll County. Dixon - can I give them your number every time I get that comment?

No word on the rat problem at the theater either. Perhaps if no one talks about it then it doesn't exist.

UPDATE
Two of the dead trees that face the Eldersburg Library were taken down. Fortunately they didn't remove the stumps and most of the limbs and sticks are still strewn across the parking lot. I would hate to think that Black Oak would spend money and actually hire professionals to do the job. They came through for us and I think they hired the weasels from Who Framed Roger Rabbit to do the tree work.

National Night Out

If you don't already know - August 4th is National Night Out. In Eldersburg, festivities will be held in back parking lot of the derelict Carrolltown Mall. Get there early because half of the parking lot lights are burned out, so when it gets dark, you won't be able to see anything.

The event will be jam-packed with exciting activities like the self-defense demonstrations near the walls of graffiti of the abandoned stores, emergency preparedness lessons by the Lions Club near the abandoned storage trailer by the theater, and an exciting moon bounce on the cracked and crumbling asphalt near the dead trees that line the parking lot.

And to help with deal with massive parking problems that the mall deals with on a daily basis, CATS, the Carroll Area Transit System, will be providing free transportation to the event. Additionally, overflow parking will be available at Faith Lutheran Church.

Local politicians also plan on attending the event to drum up support for the upcoming campaigns.

This will also be a prime opportunity for Carrolltown Mall owner, Black Oak Associates, to showcase their property: Carrolltown Mall - the diamond in their crown. I recommend they have a representative on site, such as president Dixon Harvey, to discuss the advantages of Carrolltown Mall over other ghetto malls such as the ones in Randallstown and Woodlawn.

Harvey could explain why spending money to keep up the appearance of the mall is a fruitless effort and why it makes more sense to let the mall decay to the point where it just collapses. He could explain why his mall is geared to residents not of Eldersburg, but to those of western Baltimore County. Harvey can gleefully detail the benefits of dead trees abutting our community and the opportunities he's providing to suburban gangsters to showcase their graffiti skills and territorial markings.

The event is free, but because of the thousands of people expected to attend, I recommend that you camp out tonight so that you can be guaranteed entrance to the event.

Carrolltown Mall Update

Carrolltown Mall in Eldersburg, owned by Black Oak Associates, continues to sit in a vat of its own filth, slowly decaying into a suburban slum. Unconcerned Black Oak continues to let the mall rot and die like an unwanted 3-legged runt with a stomach virus.

This past weekend I drove around the mall and took some pictures to show you the continued decline. However, not everything looked bad. Here's the new landscaping theme of the Carrolltown Mall. The theme is either Death of Nature or Year-Long Halloween. Here are two former trees in the rear parking lot. This is on an island in the parking lot. It's easy to spot this island in the parking lot. It has all of the surface cracks in the asphalt full of grass leading up to it. And the mall groundskeeping team is allowing nature to run its course by leaving fallen branches strewn about the parking lot.


You have to give it to the expert groundskeeping team. They went above and beyond with this tree repair. You'll notice the duct tape used to hold the broken top of the tree to the main trunk. This repair easily costs in the hundreds of cents.


Not all of the parking spaces at the Carrolltown Mall are safe for parking. Fortunately for us, the security team at Carrolltown Mall used this 20 ft dropped tree limb to mark off some spots that are unsafe. If you haven't read the safety policy of Carrolltown Mall, section 8 reads, "Do not park in spots containing 20 ft dropped dead tree limbs. These spots are unsafe."


On the west side of the mall between the empty and decaying K-Mart and Hemlock Drive near the Eldersburg Library, you'll notice a row of dead evergreen trees. Ironic that they call them evergreens. They're all black and brown. Perhaps they are now black oaks. I suspect that Black Oak has decided to keep the dead trees there as it offers a natural barrier between the mall parking lot and the street. This will help keep the throngs of pedestrians and car traffic from making inadvertent ingresses and egresses.


Black Oak, not satisfied to just offer the upper middle class Eldersburg fine Class-A shopping establishments like Big Lots, K-Mart, and Dollar General, they now offer top tier 1 storage. This desirable rusted mobile storage unit is located next to the derelict movie theater. If you are interested in storing your personal treasures in this convenient parking lot storage unit, please contact Storage Trailers at 410-287-5277.


So the next time you're in Eldersburg, take a minute and thank Black Oak Associates for the wonderful unused crumbling pile of shit mall laying in the middle of our town. You can call them at (410) 356-5820 and ask for Dixon Harvey or send an email to steve@blackoakusa.com. I'm sure they'd love to hear from you!

Carrolltown Center

People always bitch about how they have no real say in politics or the government. To a degree, this is true. Martin O'Malley and the Maryland General Assembly will continue to do what's in their political careers' best interests rather than what's best for the people. But there are things that you can do to make a difference. Tonight is one of those times.

If you live in Eldersburg, Maryland, then you are familiar with that dump in the middle of the Liberty Road. The dump is named the Carrolltown Center. None of us shop there. We drive to Westminster or Columbia. No, this dump is reserved for the residents of Randallstown.

As I have mentioned before, Black Oak wants to tear that shit-hole down and replace it with something nice. Sears Holding Company, the owner of K-Mart, seems to prefer Carrolltown Center as an absolute shit-hole. And can you blame them? Cheap rent. Plenty of hons and thugs from Randallstown to make it worth keeping.

The problem, as I have also mentioned, is that this shit-hole shopping center does not serve the local residents. If this shit-hole was in Randallstown, no one would give a rat's-ass. But it's in Eldersburg, an upscale community. They wouldn't build a Nautica store or a Wegman's in Randallstown. Why? It doesn't fit the demographics. Then why are subject to shit-crap stores?

So the tug-of-war continues. Sears doesn't want to negotiate. Black Oak can't tear down the crap stores. And in the meantime the stores are not being upkept and it's looking worse and worse. Now we get to look at white-trash flea-markets on weekends and the occasional hot-rod show.


If I was looking for a new home and saw that, I would immediately drop the price I would expect to pay for a house in Eldersburg. Why would anyone want to live near that shit-hole? I would think that the people of Eldersburg don't give a crap for their town if this shit-hole shopping center was right in the middle of town.

This evening, the Freedom Area Citizen Council will be holding their monthly meeting at the South Carroll Senior and Community Center, 5645 Bartholow Road at 7:30pm (Thursday, September 18th). At this meeting, there will be a petition requesting a compromise between Sears, the owner of K-Mart, which in total disrepair, and Black Oak Associates, the owner of the Carrolltown Center Eyesore.


So get out there and attend that meeting and sign the petition. Let your voice be heard. Tell them you are not pleased.

And if you REALLY want to heard, contact Black Oak:

Black Oak Associates
10055 Red Run Blvd.
Suite 130
Owings Mills, MD 21117
Phone - (410) 356-5820
Fax - (410) 356-5822
steve@blackoakusa.com

And contact Sears:

Sears Holdings Corporation
3333 Beverly Road
Hoffman Estates, IL 60179
(847) 286-2500