I've been walking down memory lane a lot lately. I get nostalgic when I drive past places that I used to love going to back in the day. One of my first jobs was at Record Town across from the old Naugatuck Valley Mall on Wolcott Street in Waterbury.

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When they tore the old mall down and built the huge Brass Mill Center Mall, at the time I thought it was great. Over the past decade, as with most shopping malls in America, it's slowly progressing into empty retail space. Now I find myself missing the formerly cozy Naugatuck Valley Mall and being sad about the big, empty Brass Mill.

I belong to a couple of Waterbury groups on social media and the big joke is that the Brass Mill Center Mall is going to eventually turn into an Amazon deliver hub or an indoor flea market-type of building.

What's in the mall now? Athletic shoes, nail salons, and cell phone stores. Sears closed down in 2018, Old Navy in 2021, but FYE is still there, Bath & Body Works, Spencer's, and Champs will never go away, but the loss of Macy's hurt. Who knows what's going to happen with the space? I do know that it's changed quite a bit in the past decade.

Here's a few photos that I found that shows you just how much it has changed.

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