Cinderella City: Englewood, Colorado on DeadMalls.com

CINDERELLA CITY: ENGLEWOOD, CO

Jason Beam's Commentary

User submitted March 6, 2026

I lived in Denver in the 80s and 90s, and Cin City was a frequent destination for my mom and I. In the 80s when I was around 10 years old, we frequented the mall often - my mom was a shop-a-holic and I had my very first "pull order" at the comic book shop in Cinder Alley. I can't recall the name of the shop, but it was great. Long boxes of comics in the middle, the "comic wall" to the back of the store, and the front counter - obviously - at the front.

When I would finish up at the shop, I'd meet my mom upstairs at one of the giant department stores there at a pre-determined time. I can close my eyes and still hear the big fountain in the middle and the bustling of everyone in the mall, everything glimmering in white and chrome. As an aside, something I'll always remember about my trips there: I would routinely ask my mom to stop at the 25¢ Hamburger Stand that was near the mall - and she flat refused to ever eat there out of concern for what was "in" a 25¢ burger.

I moved away in the late 80's as my mom got transferred for work, but I did come back in the mid-90s for college. I was super excited to show my friend (who moved with me to Colorado) Cinderella City - this was in 1994. We pulled into the parking lot - which hadn't been maintained very well and filled with few cars. We walked in and the mall was so very dim. The lights were either operating at 50% or they were burned out and no one to replace them. The place had easily lost 85% of the stores. For every store that was open, it was surrounded by 5-6 empty spaces. I can't remember the status of Cinder Alley, I think it may have been empty all the way (I went there to see if my comic shop was still there).

There's not a lot of things at 20 years old that are "heart-breaking". You're just too young to have seen many things that cause that kind of sadness or dismay. But I distinctly remember about that moment: I was heartbroken at the state of Cinderella City. So dark, no fountains running, no crowds buzzing around.

In the 80's I was a latchkey kid, my mom was single and working more than full-time. The Mall was my babysitter as well as my entertainment in the 80s. I have about as many memories of hanging out at the mall as I do hanging out in my own house back then. Out of all the closed malls in my life, I miss Cin City the most. Thanks for letting me ramble down Memory Lane - and thank you for this website.

Links:

Cinderella City on Wikipedia
City Of Englewood brief blurb of the mall, scroll down to "Progress". The city center is now on the property of the former mall.
City Of Englewood Archive from Web.Archive.org, what they used to say about Cinderella City
Gregory Ego lyrics to a song he wrote about the mall.

Jerad Walters’ Commentary:

User submitted in 2025

Without question the most legendary mall in Colorado history, if you meet anyone that grew up in Colorado, and lived here as a tween or older from 1968 up until the early 1990s, ask them about CinCity, as it was commonly called. If they went there, ask them their favorite part of the mall and you are 99% certain to get a wistful look, perhaps a little misty-eyed, and a response of “Cinder Alley,” the downstairs portion of the mall that had winding little “roads” for shoppers as well as lights that looked like antique gas lamps. I remember a very fine toy shop down there, and an Independent Records that was also a head shop, and a small pizza parlor where my brother and I would see what three weeks of saved allowances and $5 extra dollars each from Mom bought us, and compare our books, refrigerator magnets, vinyl records, toys, or what-have-you. There is a lot of information on the mall, but photographs of the interiors, especially in the lates 70s and early 80s, are surprisingly scarce.There’s a “Cinderella City Project” on YouTube where someone has created a virtual walk through of the mall, too!

Gregory Ego’s Commentary:

User submitted Nov 2006

Hi,

I heard the story about Deadmalls.com on NPR today.

I thought I'd share with you the lyrics to my song about the defunct mall Cinderella City in Englewood, Colorado:

There's a demolition photo at the URL, as well.

I'll send off a CD with the song on it by snail mail, if you like.

Kyle’s Commentary:

User submitted Aug 2006

I found out that the downtown Beloit Library is planing to move into the old JC Penney's building, and they are going to expanded it to 50,000 sqare feet from 22,000 sqare feet. And the Elder Beerman store is going to stay. And Beloit Mall is in very good shape. And so the former JC Penney's is going to be Beloit Library, and Weise/Bergner's which was ripped down in 1993 and rebuilt on the site is a Elder Beerman store which is still open today and the only current store in Beloit Mall. And in this new project for the Beloit Mall there will be some more new stores, and even possibley in the mall a ice arena. Like the Cinderella City Mall. I found some photos of the old Kohl's Food Emplorium which closed in 1993 or 1994 and here is where you can find them and put them on your site http:/www.flickr.com/photos/rocketjim54/16256948/in/photostream/. And I also found a photo of the old Woolworth's/Woolco store which closed in 1993 or 1994 here is were you can find them https:/www.flickr.com/photos/rocketjim54/16256947/in/photostream/.