Space Port, Wicks 'N' Sticks, Tinder Box, Walgreens (with a cafeteria), Hausmann's, B. Dalton, Collage, Brentano's (outlet of the famous New York City store), Gryders Shoes, Ponsetis Shoes, Oshmans, Fiesta Mexican Restaurant, Lerners, Kay Bee Toys, Vision Plaza, Halpern's Fabrics, etc. Decline The mall thrived until about the late 1980s when the economic downturn of southern Louisiana after the "oil bust" took an especially heavy toll on New Orleans East. Through the 1990s, as the neighborhoods around it deteriorated and became unsafe, the mall felt the repercussions. Originally New Orleans East was an upper/middle-class neighborhood with many well-heeled subdivisions and several large upscale apartment complexes. When the economy hit the skids in the 1980s with the loss of the oil business, New Orleans East became less affluent. Many residents fled to the North Shore/Slidell area, which wound up with its own mall, (North Shore Square), which had many of the same anchors and mall stores as Lake Forest. Sears was the first large anchor to close at the Plaza. Despite a major renovation in the late 1980s which replaced the by now drab earth tone tiling to a generic white/aqua color scheme, as well as removed the ice rink, it was too late to save Lake Forest. White flight to Jefferson Parish bolstered Lake Forest's competitor Lakeside Shopping Center in Metairie in the battle for wealthier patrons, although New Orleans East (where Lake Forest was located) had a sizable black middle class population at the time. Just prior to Katrina, the mall was left with only one large anchor in the former Maison Blanche building, which became a Dillard's when they bought out the MB stores. Earlier on, when Dillard's bought out the Holmes stores, they shuttered the Lake Forest Plaza location rather than converting it. The cinemas closed when Gulf States Theatres decided to concentrate on the East Lake Cinema 8, located across the interstate from the plaza. In quick succession many of the national retailers closed also. Eventually they were replaced by independent stores catering to an urban clientele. Entire corridors of the mall were boarded up with sheetrock, which dramatically decreased the square footage accessible to the public. It seemed as if practically overnight the plaza became a "dead mall". In 2005, Hurricane Katrina destroyed most of what remained of the mall. It would eventually be demolished following the hurricane. The mall was originally developed and managed