I live in the Tri Cities. Thanks for showing our mall! The Fort Henry Mall in Kingsport TN is a decent building, but mostly vacant with just a few stores, mall walkers, and the movie theater. Sad really. Safe travels!
And yet they're building an IMAX there. Like, why there? No offense to Kingsport or anything, but like, the Fort Henry Mall is all but dead. The only thing keeping it alive is NGC Cinemas.
I went to college at ETSU in Johnson City. My best friend from high school/college roommate’s MIL was the manager of this mall for many years before retiring a few years ago. I haven’t been in there since around 2008, but it was always a really solid mall.
I always love seeing your videos come up. Your production value is off the charts. You and Sal are my two favorite dead mall channels. You deserve way more views and subs.
Seeing this on youtube is giving me so many emotions. This is just a regular part of my life that I've taken for granted for basically forever. When I was teen I used to hang out here with my friends and smoke pot and drink beer in our cars before spending way too much time in Hot Topic and Spencer's. The hallway between Forever 21 and Victoria's Secret shown at 11:23, we used to call Emo Row because that's where all us emo kids would sit on the communal sofa things. If it's not like blocked off or anything, I could show you the underground tunnel that goes from the mall to the local high school Science Hill. But now I take my 7 year old here to play in the playplace or get a Pal's milkshake or do the little hopscotch thing in the upstairs bathroom hallway, etc. My parents took me here every year to see Santa Claus and the Easter Bunny, and now I get to do the same for my kid. Every square inch of this building is full of somebody's childhood memories, it's so wild seeing it from someone else's perspective on a video.
So many memories here as a kid, and a teen. This was my mall. Haven't been here in a few years, but last I went it was still very healthy. It looks like it's still pretty healthy. Thats great.
I've been going to this mall regularly my whole life, and I'm so glad it's somehow STILL thriving. I shot a little footage of it last December to tell a story that happened in the early 2000s, and people thought I'd actually shot it back then! I think it got lucky enough to be in a really good place. I used to walk there all the time after high school, it's literally right down the road.
So great to see this..I'm a Gen X-er who grew up in this mall. I remember going to Ormond's, the Record Bar, The Goldmine Arcade, and Bookland...all long gone now. Still enjoy shopping in The Mall today...Hopefully, it will still be around for generation's to come. Thanks for the video!
You know it’s funny…I live in Huntington, WV and we also have a mall that’s doing unusually well. I think the malls in smaller markets sometimes have an easier time because they’re the only game in town,
I like how this mall mixes the old (retro colors) with the new and modern..so many malls have gone with this flat colorless vibe 😝. Hope this one stays!
@@rachelrivera91 Ive seen a couple of malls get a slight facelift keeping most of the classic & retro vibe and they actually wound up slowly bouncing back and getting new vendors.
Enjoyed your mall walk and narration, happy to see this one is thriving! Our closest mall ( a CDL property ) is just an imitation of what it used to be with only one of it's anchors remaining, J C Penny. Open since 1966, time was when parking lot was crowded all the way to the highway on all sides however store closings, robberies and shootings have all served to create the skeleton that exists today, traffic on a Friday or Saturday is usually a trickle . I used to go there on a Saturday purchase a fresh hot pretzel and walk around it until I spotted some items I wanted , wind up spending an entire day there and I loved it.
Thanks so much for cataloguing this; I didn't expect how many memories it would bring back. My dad would always take my brother, sister, and me to the Hallmark store here to get birthday cards for my mom, maybe get her something from Belk or Sears, and then we'd get stale gumballs from this great big bank of machines they used to have on the lower level. Spent a good chunk of time in the GameStop too. The Nintendo Wii had just come out and we couldn't get enough of the demo machine. There also used to be a Ruby Tuesday's at the upper exit; we ate a lot of after-church lunches there in the 00's. For some reason, I've still got a really vivid memory of sitting in a booth at that Ruby Tuesday's and watching a news segment about Steve Irwin's death.
Great video! It really takes me back to when I worked there at McCroy's in the 70s. Then the Flowerama from 83-99. Oh, the things I saw. A giant T-Rex in front of Miller's store on the upper level moving & roaring every 30 minutes. Chuck Norris with 2 bodyguards walking around when he was here filming in the 80's. Numerous Rock bands that used to come through the Recordbar. The long ago and far away. 😊 Good Memories for many here in East Tennessee.
This mall was such a huge part of my youth. I spent so much time here and at the Toys R Us across the street when it was still open. I’ve never had the chance to see this with so few people inside. Thanks for the great video!
I was just at this mall over the weekend. I grew up outside Bristol, just about 20 minutes away... you should have seen this mall back at it's peek the mid-90s! Any given weekday evening it would be at full capacity like a Christmas mall scene from a 1980s film, just utterly packed on both the main floors. 🤔 It was so bad that on holidays you had to actually go to a neighboring mall because security would bar new people at some point in the evening from entering for safety concerns (meaning if you wanted to get something done, you had better be their earlier in the day). In 2006 there was a very popular videogame called _Dead Rising_ (a Dawn of the Dead type game) that was based on online images of this mall! They used a handful of remaining malls in the US (at the time) as reference, and this was the one that had the biggest inspiration for the interior layout of the mall in the game. These days the mall is a shell of what it was (even though the area is actually bigger than it used to be) thanks to all the new strip malls in the area - but compared to contemporary malls it's thriving. Oddly enough JC Penny used to be one of it's biggest Anchors. 🙃 *PS:* I wish you could have visited the Bristol Mall several years back. It was very much the opposite of the one in Kingsport. A extremely popular TH-camr called *Dead Malls* visited there when it was still opened, and said it was one of the creepiest malls he had ever seen. Most people refused to go there, because even in the 90s it was dying. When it closed it still had the early 1980s paint and decor (it's last paint job). Just a time capsule. Rumor was that a mafia-connected holding company (which turned out to be partially true) was involved in keeping it open for tax purposes, which is why it took so long to close it's doors - and I believe it has recently been sold to Hard Rock Cafe for a casino which they are currently breaking ground on! You wouldn't have wanted to walk around there early in the morning or at night, lol. 😅
This mall reminds me of a wing of my local mall that was built around 2000. That black and blue and peach tile screams the era. Beautiful mall and glad to see it doing well. Thanks for filming!!
Great video, and just a little surreal seeing a walkthrough of the local mall so early with hardly anyone in it! I go to it less and less now, but really enjoyed it back in the late 90s/early 00's when it still had an arcade and import shop.
TYVM for another video Kristin. I apologize for missing the premiere but I hadn't slept in nearly 4 days & fell asleep about 7PM. In the 4 years I lived in Blount County TN, I never knew there was a mall in Johnson City, which is surprising because I'd been dating a girl who was 5 years older I'd met in Pigeon Forge who worked at a t-shirt shop at the outlet mall there & she lived in Johnson City. Wish I could think of her name. She was a beautiful hippie chick who drove a yellow VW Beetle & loved wone coolers & Fleetwood Mac but was terrified to have her ears pierced. Oh BTW, you should check into the Sandusky mall, my brother says they've come back to life & business is booming. Supposedly they've even have a new anchor in what used to be Macy's. Sadly I haven't been to a mall since summer 2019 when I visited Polaris.
In the 90s when malls were booming, I had high school classes in this mall for one semester. This reminds me of how eerie and liminal the whole place was before the stores were open. The escalators were turned off, and besides some people who were working there setting things up, from time to time you’d see a few people walking around for exercise and that was it. I can see how such experiences must have inspired Silent Hill 3, because it really felt like you were somewhere you weren’t supposed to be, and like strange creatures could be lurking about. I miss the music store and book store, but with all things considered, the place is holding up. It’s cool that there’s a VR arcade there, and good sushi.
I'm glad that you were able to see it. Bristol had one to and it closed when they decided to make a casino out of it, now they demolished it, and now they're stands a Hard Rock .. it makes me soooo sad. I spent many years of my young Saturdays, just hanging with friends at that mall. Christmas time is very busy at this mall in Johnson City. It's actually pretty cool
Growing up in Bristol, TN, I went to The Mall in Johnson City a few times. Ironically, when I lived in JC to go college at ETSU, I didn't go there as often. I do miss the Piccadilly Buffet, though.
As a recent subscriber, I’ve been longing for your next video Kristin. You and all DMOD creators are my tops. Just so excited to see this retro mall thriving. That’s the kind of stories I like to hear, that mall owners don’t need to make huge updates. And that they can still keep these structures dated giving them a surreal nostalgic feel of the time when they were built. The pillars, fountains, ceilings, the colors, the lightings, the planters, and conversation pits should be left alone. Awesome job Kristin in bringing us this walk through nostalgia. 👍
Thank you so much! I’ve been very fortunate to fall into a crew of great creators (and people!) This mall really was a rare find. So many well-performing malls have been given the minimalist white makeover that this was just a joy to visit.
If you mentioned this in the narration, I missed it. The lower level Belk women's/accessories store was added in the 1992(?) remodel, replacing a twin movie theater. Movies I know I saw there were Back to the Future, Raiders, and Rattle & Hum. We had 3 multiplex theaters in JC at the time, now we only have one.
The movie theater detail I did miss. Thank you for clarifying that; I looked at old maps and aerials and it was still a tad difficult to parse where everything was at different times with how many changes and additions this mall had.
I live in Johnson city and I haven't been there in 12 years. Last time l was there l harassed by a mall cop in the parking lot as soon as I exited my vehicle with a small tool box to go to a store to fix a data problem. It took 3 hours of my time to prove my company was certified to do work there.
The foot traffic is helped by the bus stop and a couple of times a year food truck competition takes place. J C Penney moved from downtown to the mall as well. In the 80s one anchor store was Hess
I came here semi-regularly from around 2000 to 2010 with my grandma or sometimes my mom, but I wasn't a mall kid and was really only interest in the Gamestop and picking up a Metallica shirt or something at the Hot Topic. I do remember a sandwich shop that was to the left of the escalators that gave out free samples all the time to drum up business. Never ate there because they were pricey, but the the samples were great. Sorry for such limited insight.
This aesthetic is very much a vibe. I appreciate that this place still has that classic aesthetic, but adds modern conveniences like the places to sit that have the charging stations. I wish more thriving malls would look unique like this, instead of the Simonization we constantly see.
@@UniCommProductions I know, right? I hate that so much. Malls should have an aesthetic that creates an inviting atmosphere to make folks WANT to shop there.
There are bigger malls that are closer to me like Oprey Mills, but this mall has such a unique charm that i really wanna visit it more. I envy people who live in towns with a still-functioning mall
You’re very welcome! Your mall is a bit of a unicorn. It’s still doing better than 90% of other malls in 2024 and it’s doing it looking like 1991. It’s just gorgeous.
Great video! I live in the tri-cities, and I love our mall. It gets crazy during the holiday season! You should check out “College Square Mall” in Morristown, TN if you ever get the chance. I grew up with that mall being the closest to me, and it still remains pretty full too, though not as large as JC mall!
looks like typical late seventies & early eighties shopping mall … it’s definitely kept up nicely ! … reminds me of the mall in the stranger things series … thanks for sharing
I like that pink tile with the blue, I could go in there and put on some sun glasses with the pink lenses and be like duuude! The colors pink and blue just put you in a good mood.
I haven't been to this mall in years. It's wild to see it so empty. It's really amazing there's so many stores still in it given that it's that empty. I remember when i was a teenager, me and my friends would drive from Bristol down there, about 30 minute drive, and it would be PACKED. Didn't matter what time of day what day of the week, it would be absolutely just packed with people. Bristol had its own mall, and i actually worked in it at RadioShack, but it wasn't near as cool as this mall, and it was only packed on the weekends and during christmas season. That was in 2000. Once exit 7 area shopping blew up in around 2003-2005, bristol mall began declining fast. Bristol mall finally closed its doors in 2017, but in reality, it was "dead" like this video, for years, probably the last time i remember bristol mall being busy was in probably 2010 or 2011, maybe even earlier. Malls had their peak in the 1980s, with about 2500 malls across the nation, and that number dwindled down to about 1150 as of 2022. So, people projected there to be as few as 150 left by 2032, within 10 years of that study. However, in the past 2 years, perhaps in response or awareness of that fact, people have been again flocking to malls, with many remaining malls able to actually boost their store occupancy rates, with store vacancies nationwide at their lowest rate in 20 years, and many malls also reporting the highest foot traffic in decades as well. Unfortunately, that doesn't seem to be the case here with Johnson City Mall, at least not according to this video. Bristol Mall is now a casino called Bristol Casino, but soon to be Hard Rock Casino and Resort. It is supposed to bring a lot of tourism to the area because it will have a nice casino and resort, but importantly a nice concert space for huge artists to come and perform. Eventually they hope to connect the back side of that resort to the back side of the Pinnacle, an outdoor shopping center which has effectively replaced the mall. When the Hard Rock Casino was pitched to Bristol, VA, gambling was illegal in Tennessee AND Virginia, and so the idea was this would become a hotspot for gambling for the entire region, and with that bringing a huge surge to the economy. But i believe Bristol was "Scammed" in a sense, because not only is the casino now several years past its deadline, but also they built like 5 or 6 other casinos in virginia alone, and the Hard Rock Casino franchise now includes like 20 or 30 more being built elsewhere. So instead of being one of only a handful, by time this one actually opens, it won't even be on the list of many people's "casinos to visit." As for outdoor shopping centers, i don't like them. Even if it's nice outside, they're just huge parking lots that collect heat. How many times did you go to the mall, park your car and rush inside to get to where it was air conditioned? One of your first stops would be the ice cream store. Outdoor shopping centers lack many of those smaller food kiosks and gadget kiosks. They lack the free car giveaways, the boats on display. They lack so many of the cool things that make malls fun. And if you want to go from Best Buy to Marshall's you have to get in your car and drive. There's no food court either, and many of the restaurants are more pricey, time-consuming sit-down establishments instead of quick-to-eat, fun and social experiences. It's just not the same, and i really don't understand why the kind of decision was made. The only reason i can think of is money. It must be cheaper to maintain a parking lot and some landscaping than to maintain the community space of a mall.
Please note I was in the mall 90 minutes before it opened, which is why there is so little foot traffic. This mall is ordinarily packed with people. I don't like outdoor lifestyle centers/power centers either. I have no idea why they're so popular anywhere inclement weather is a reality.
@@UniCommProductions it was his vision, and he poured his heart and soul into it. He has a great bunch of young people working it, and it has been very successful. ♥️
@@UniCommProductions from bristol take bristol highway to gate City. It's a great motorcycle road, you'll pass a small town Johnny Cash used to hang out in, then to gate City, is a cool old town. There's a old diner called the hob knob in gate City. It's the perfect place to stop after a ride. It's a place that still looks like it's from the 40s. The highway isn't really a highway but a small scenic road. Then you could go to natural tunnel Park or a bunch of other country bike roads.
Fun fact: the Bristol Mall got bought and turned into a casino. No, I'm not kidding. That's what's going to be the gambling floor for the new Bristol Hard Rock casino.
So bizarre seeing my local mall here! You're right that the big anchors have changed a lot. The real anchor store, though, the one that has been in the same spot, unchanged since the 1980s at least... is the Spencer's on the second level.
I've spent many hours in this mall. About 90 minutes or less down the road, there is a mall in Morristown that seems to be doing fairly decent as well.
Its a great store, they used to be in the kingsport mall, which is pretty dead now. Add some terrible irony, in the kingsport mall, the Belk in kingsport sells Louis Vuitton whereas the JC mall does not.
I remember this mall from the late 80's the food court area was there but it the escalators were further back and it had a glass elevator, and an honest to God shoe repair shop where the Chinese wok place was, and that spencers, the thing thats been there the longest in the same spot
lots of brightly lit store fronts, and shiny displays help the overall look and feel of the space, one thing that stands out is the invisible shoppers..
A mall I am well overdue to take a run at! I went in late 2019 right after Christmas and it was way too busy! Now that I know you and many others are excited to see well occupied malls with nice architecture and aesthetics I am full of ideas.
I remember the Sears there, now we have to go to Lowes in JC or Jonesborough for Craftsman stuff, I've always heard there were all kinds of crazy tunnels under this mall where scary people hang out!
I live in kingsport, just a few miles north of JC. Grew up going to this mall and still do now. Also, the kingsport (Fort Henry) mall is still open, just VERY empty. One of the best parts about the kingsport mall is italian villiage, a little italian place that has the best Pizza in the Tri-Cities IMO.
Your voice is soothing. I love hearing a woman narrating these explorations. Most dead mall creators I enjoy watching from are males, it’s so refreshing to hear a woman’s narrative.
There's a few spots within the mall that are constantly changing. Im pretty sure the Versona has been replaced since you recorded this footage. So even for locals theres usually something new to see.
@@jakerez4666 NO. I ended up needing to head out before they ended up opening. They had a whole bunch of these “punk rock Disney princess” designs where they had tattoos and piercings and stuff lol.
Lived in Johnson City (and Jonesborough) since January 2018. I think I've been to the mall once when I first moved here just to look for shoes, not knowing the area.... Because I'm a man... and an adult I suppose. Very back roomsish though!
Watched the whole thing... as mentioned before elsewhere - very ASMR like and "chill" 😂 Was the music really THAT loud?? Or was it MuZAK backgroynd music? Was it the actual mall music or did you splice it in? If thats actual music while walk it seems excessively loud!!
the absollute whiplash I go from seeing my local mall. So excited for this, thank you!
When I get a comment from a local it makes me so happy.
I live in the Tri Cities. Thanks for showing our mall! The Fort Henry Mall in Kingsport TN is a decent building, but mostly vacant with just a few stores, mall walkers, and the movie theater. Sad really. Safe travels!
And yet they're building an IMAX there. Like, why there? No offense to Kingsport or anything, but like, the Fort Henry Mall is all but dead. The only thing keeping it alive is NGC Cinemas.
@@ClovisPicturesWHAT???? how is this how i find out we’re getting an imax
Also, the Kingsport mall is a shell of it's former glory. It's more empty than some rural Walmart
I miss the way Ft. Henry Mall used to be especially at Christmas 😢
The only thing that's missing is the "Toys R Us" that used to be across the street... a vacant lot now.
Most malls are abandoned and in dystopian ruins. This is like a trip
back to the 80s and 90s------amazing survivor!
I wouldn’t say most but an awful lot of them for sure.
I went to college at ETSU in Johnson City. My best friend from high school/college roommate’s MIL was the manager of this mall for many years before retiring a few years ago. I haven’t been in there since around 2008, but it was always a really solid mall.
I always love seeing your videos come up. Your production value is off the charts. You and Sal are my two favorite dead mall channels. You deserve way more views and subs.
I live in Johnson city, it was a surprise seeing this in my recommended 😂
You live in a great town! Such pretty scenery, and it seems so clean and peaceful for raising a family. I’m a bit jealous!
Same lmao
Seeing this on youtube is giving me so many emotions. This is just a regular part of my life that I've taken for granted for basically forever. When I was teen I used to hang out here with my friends and smoke pot and drink beer in our cars before spending way too much time in Hot Topic and Spencer's. The hallway between Forever 21 and Victoria's Secret shown at 11:23, we used to call Emo Row because that's where all us emo kids would sit on the communal sofa things. If it's not like blocked off or anything, I could show you the underground tunnel that goes from the mall to the local high school Science Hill.
But now I take my 7 year old here to play in the playplace or get a Pal's milkshake or do the little hopscotch thing in the upstairs bathroom hallway, etc. My parents took me here every year to see Santa Claus and the Easter Bunny, and now I get to do the same for my kid. Every square inch of this building is full of somebody's childhood memories, it's so wild seeing it from someone else's perspective on a video.
I'd really like to see that tunnel you mentioned?!
@@dead_head kinda rhetorical lol i'm not actually giving live tours, I just meant it's a known spot for locals
Love these Tennessee mall walks together. Thanks for what you do!
So many memories here as a kid, and a teen. This was my mall. Haven't been here in a few years, but last I went it was still very healthy. It looks like it's still pretty healthy. Thats great.
Wow, this mall still has the old razzle dazzle! Love it 🛍️🩵
I’ve grew up in this mall so cool to see a video of it!
This is a good-looking mall. That floor! Loads of fantastic tile. Thanks for another great cruise, Kristin!
I've been going to this mall regularly my whole life, and I'm so glad it's somehow STILL thriving. I shot a little footage of it last December to tell a story that happened in the early 2000s, and people thought I'd actually shot it back then! I think it got lucky enough to be in a really good place. I used to walk there all the time after high school, it's literally right down the road.
So great to see this..I'm a Gen X-er who grew up in this mall. I remember going to Ormond's, the Record Bar, The Goldmine Arcade, and Bookland...all long gone now. Still enjoy shopping in The Mall today...Hopefully, it will still be around for generation's to come. Thanks for the video!
Looks well maintained!
It’s incredible to see a mall in Eastern Tennessee this full, amazing video Kristin!!!!
You know it’s funny…I live in Huntington, WV and we also have a mall that’s doing unusually well. I think the malls in smaller markets sometimes have an easier time because they’re the only game in town,
@@UniCommProductions oh wow, I didn’t realize you live up there, I have a lot of family in the TriState so I know the area well!!
‘Waiting for a Star to Fall’, one of the best songs ever!
It’s one of those buried one hit wonders from the 90s that everyone has heard somewhere. I have actually heard this song in dead malls several times!
That is a good song.
Thanks and Keep em Rolling!
Thank you!! I plan to!!
I like how this mall mixes the old (retro colors) with the new and modern..so many malls have gone with this flat colorless vibe 😝. Hope this one stays!
Totally agree!! Malls don’t necessarily need a full on upgrade. Yeah, upgrade but keep some of their vintage aesthetics.
@@rachelrivera91 Ive seen a couple of malls get a slight facelift keeping most of the classic & retro vibe and they actually wound up slowly bouncing back and getting new vendors.
@@coolcat8867 That is so cool to hear!! Thank you for your input. Love that malls can be revived when they can keep some of their original aesthetics.
Enjoyed your mall walk and narration, happy to see this one is thriving! Our closest mall ( a CDL property ) is just an imitation of what it used to be with only one of it's anchors remaining, J C Penny. Open since 1966, time was when parking lot was crowded all the way to the highway on all sides however store closings, robberies and shootings have all served to create the skeleton that exists today, traffic on a Friday or Saturday is usually a trickle . I used to go there on a Saturday purchase a fresh hot pretzel and walk around it until I spotted some items I wanted , wind up spending an entire day there and I loved it.
Well done and I love your history narrations, which is important to me.
Thanks so much for cataloguing this; I didn't expect how many memories it would bring back.
My dad would always take my brother, sister, and me to the Hallmark store here to get birthday cards for my mom, maybe get her something from Belk or Sears, and then we'd get stale gumballs from this great big bank of machines they used to have on the lower level. Spent a good chunk of time in the GameStop too. The Nintendo Wii had just come out and we couldn't get enough of the demo machine. There also used to be a Ruby Tuesday's at the upper exit; we ate a lot of after-church lunches there in the 00's. For some reason, I've still got a really vivid memory of sitting in a booth at that Ruby Tuesday's and watching a news segment about Steve Irwin's death.
This place is gorgeous. Fantastic video as always, sis.
Great video! It really takes me back to when I worked there at McCroy's in the 70s. Then the Flowerama from 83-99. Oh, the things I saw. A giant T-Rex in front of Miller's store on the upper level moving & roaring every 30 minutes. Chuck Norris with 2 bodyguards walking around when he was here filming in the 80's. Numerous Rock bands that used to come through the Recordbar. The long ago and far away. 😊 Good Memories for many here in East Tennessee.
Not just a survivor but thriving 😊
This mall was such a huge part of my youth. I spent so much time here and at the Toys R Us across the street when it was still open. I’ve never had the chance to see this with so few people inside. Thanks for the great video!
You're welcome! Thank you for sharing your mall with us!
Thank you for another wonderful video!
Nice to see this mall thriving and about half the retailers are slowly coming back to The Eagle Ridge mall in Lake Wales, Florida! 🎉
What store are there?
Nice to hear that!!
I did NOT expect to see my local mall!! Me and my friends frequent the Johnson City Mall all the time!!! :D
I hope I did right by you! You have a fantastic mall to hang out in.
Glad to see this mall doing well. It looks great also.
I was just at this mall over the weekend. I grew up outside Bristol, just about 20 minutes away... you should have seen this mall back at it's peek the mid-90s! Any given weekday evening it would be at full capacity like a Christmas mall scene from a 1980s film, just utterly packed on both the main floors. 🤔
It was so bad that on holidays you had to actually go to a neighboring mall because security would bar new people at some point in the evening from entering for safety concerns (meaning if you wanted to get something done, you had better be their earlier in the day). In 2006 there was a very popular videogame called _Dead Rising_ (a Dawn of the Dead type game) that was based on online images of this mall!
They used a handful of remaining malls in the US (at the time) as reference, and this was the one that had the biggest inspiration for the interior layout of the mall in the game. These days the mall is a shell of what it was (even though the area is actually bigger than it used to be) thanks to all the new strip malls in the area - but compared to contemporary malls it's thriving. Oddly enough JC Penny used to be one of it's biggest Anchors. 🙃
*PS:* I wish you could have visited the Bristol Mall several years back. It was very much the opposite of the one in Kingsport. A extremely popular TH-camr called *Dead Malls* visited there when it was still opened, and said it was one of the creepiest malls he had ever seen. Most people refused to go there, because even in the 90s it was dying. When it closed it still had the early 1980s paint and decor (it's last paint job). Just a time capsule.
Rumor was that a mafia-connected holding company (which turned out to be partially true) was involved in keeping it open for tax purposes, which is why it took so long to close it's doors - and I believe it has recently been sold to Hard Rock Cafe for a casino which they are currently breaking ground on! You wouldn't have wanted to walk around there early in the morning or at night, lol. 😅
I didn't know that about Dead Rising. That's awesome.
This mall reminds me of a wing of my local mall that was built around 2000. That black and blue and peach tile screams the era. Beautiful mall and glad to see it doing well. Thanks for filming!!
Great video, and just a little surreal seeing a walkthrough of the local mall so early with hardly anyone in it! I go to it less and less now, but really enjoyed it back in the late 90s/early 00's when it still had an arcade and import shop.
I visited this mall with my parents frequently in the 90s. Time to go back.
TYVM for another video Kristin. I apologize for missing the premiere but I hadn't slept in nearly 4 days & fell asleep about 7PM.
In the 4 years I lived in Blount County TN, I never knew there was a mall in Johnson City, which is surprising because I'd been dating a girl who was 5 years older I'd met in Pigeon Forge who worked at a t-shirt shop at the outlet mall there & she lived in Johnson City. Wish I could think of her name. She was a beautiful hippie chick who drove a yellow VW Beetle & loved wone coolers & Fleetwood Mac but was terrified to have her ears pierced.
Oh BTW, you should check into the Sandusky mall, my brother says they've come back to life & business is booming. Supposedly they've even have a new anchor in what used to be Macy's.
Sadly I haven't been to a mall since summer 2019 when I visited Polaris.
Good to see you again Kirsten, what a little gem this mall is! It’s nice to hear that it’s doing well 😊👍🏻
In the 90s when malls were booming, I had high school classes in this mall for one semester. This reminds me of how eerie and liminal the whole place was before the stores were open. The escalators were turned off, and besides some people who were working there setting things up, from time to time you’d see a few people walking around for exercise and that was it. I can see how such experiences must have inspired Silent Hill 3, because it really felt like you were somewhere you weren’t supposed to be, and like strange creatures could be lurking about.
I miss the music store and book store, but with all things considered, the place is holding up. It’s cool that there’s a VR arcade there, and good sushi.
thanks for showing us this place, it's rare to see this time period still represented!
Especially doing this well!
@@UniCommProductions Right?! Usually malls that do well get Simonized.
Look is so cool. Very classic and they didn’t waste money to update it. But it’s missing neon.
My hometown!
I'm glad that you were able to see it. Bristol had one to and it closed when they decided to make a casino out of it, now they demolished it, and now they're stands a Hard Rock .. it makes me soooo sad. I spent many years of my young Saturdays, just hanging with friends at that mall. Christmas time is very busy at this mall in Johnson City. It's actually pretty cool
Wow, I worked at that mall from 1995-2004 (most of those years at JCPenney). Probably the peak years for this mall.
Growing up in Bristol, TN, I went to The Mall in Johnson City a few times.
Ironically, when I lived in JC to go college at ETSU, I didn't go there as often.
I do miss the Piccadilly Buffet, though.
born in 1980 near this mall it's been booming my whole life
I just happened to scroll up on this one from 3 weeks ago and what a nice mall! 😁👍
As a recent subscriber, I’ve been longing for your next video Kristin. You and all DMOD creators are my tops. Just so excited to see this retro mall thriving. That’s the kind of stories I like to hear, that mall owners don’t need to make huge updates. And that they can still keep these structures dated giving them a surreal nostalgic feel of the time when they were built. The pillars, fountains, ceilings, the colors, the lightings, the planters, and conversation pits should be left alone. Awesome job Kristin in bringing us this walk through nostalgia. 👍
Thank you so much! I’ve been very fortunate to fall into a crew of great creators (and people!) This mall really was a rare find. So many well-performing malls have been given the minimalist white makeover that this was just a joy to visit.
That is a BIG forever 21, so clean! I also love the polka dotted pink store.
The F21 has only been there since late 2021; it might be the newest store in the mall
@@UniCommProductionsthe one at Patrick Henry Mall always has giant dust bunnies on the floor. So gross.
@mst3kanita ew!
If you mentioned this in the narration, I missed it.
The lower level Belk women's/accessories store was added in the 1992(?) remodel, replacing a twin movie theater. Movies I know I saw there were Back to the Future, Raiders, and Rattle & Hum. We had 3 multiplex theaters in JC at the time, now we only have one.
The movie theater detail I did miss. Thank you for clarifying that; I looked at old maps and aerials and it was still a tad difficult to parse where everything was at different times with how many changes and additions this mall had.
I live in Johnson city and I haven't been there in 12 years. Last time l was there l harassed by a mall cop in the parking lot as soon as I exited my vehicle with a small tool box to go to a store to fix a data problem.
It took 3 hours of my time to prove my company was certified to do work there.
Thanks for taking the time to create and share this
Thank you for taking the time to comment!
Didnt expect to see my local mall in a video neat
I live just outside of Knoxville, and West Town Mall is also very large and thriving. We love it there.
The foot traffic is helped by the bus stop and a couple of times a year food truck competition takes place.
J C Penney moved from downtown to the mall as well. In the 80s one anchor store was Hess
Exelent video great vaporwave music!❤❤
I remixed it myself! :) Everything in this video started out “normal speed”
This is my local mall! Yay!!! I hope they never update it.
oh sweet summer child, I was a wee lad in the 80's the layout is the same but I remeber drug stores, book stores, a shoe repair shop
Getting recommended my local mall out of nowhere on TH-cam is wild!
Thank You, This Was a Lovely Video
Good work. Gosh from all brown in the previous to these retro colours!
I came here semi-regularly from around 2000 to 2010 with my grandma or sometimes my mom, but I wasn't a mall kid and was really only interest in the Gamestop and picking up a Metallica shirt or something at the Hot Topic. I do remember a sandwich shop that was to the left of the escalators that gave out free samples all the time to drum up business. Never ate there because they were pricey, but the the samples were great. Sorry for such limited insight.
This aesthetic is very much a vibe. I appreciate that this place still has that classic aesthetic, but adds modern conveniences like the places to sit that have the charging stations. I wish more thriving malls would look unique like this, instead of the Simonization we constantly see.
This mall is really one of a kind in that way; almost every thriving mall I've been in has been blandified in some way shape or form.
@@UniCommProductions I know, right? I hate that so much. Malls should have an aesthetic that creates an inviting atmosphere to make folks WANT to shop there.
@@NightSprinter 💯% correct!
There are bigger malls that are closer to me like Oprey Mills, but this mall has such a unique charm that i really wanna visit it more. I envy people who live in towns with a still-functioning mall
I love the look of this mall. Last year I calculated the occupancy of it last year at 96%
It’s doing remarkably well!
Walkabout Sally used to have a store in the Kingsport mall when it was around.
Little chicago my home turf thank you for showing off a true landmark ive loved since i was knee high to a grasshopper 🎉😊
You’re very welcome! Your mall is a bit of a unicorn. It’s still doing better than 90% of other malls in 2024 and it’s doing it looking like 1991. It’s just gorgeous.
Great video! I live in the tri-cities, and I love our mall. It gets crazy during the holiday season! You should check out “College Square Mall” in Morristown, TN if you ever get the chance. I grew up with that mall being the closest to me, and it still remains pretty full too, though not as large as JC mall!
I visited this mall a few months ago. I was surprised to see how well it was doing. Thanks for the history!
looks like typical late seventies & early eighties shopping mall … it’s definitely kept up nicely ! … reminds me of the mall in the stranger things series … thanks for sharing
You’re right about the Starcourt Mall-I’m surprised I didn’t make that connection sooner
That floor! 💜
Awesome video! This is a pretty nice mall.
I like that pink tile with the blue, I could go in there and put on some sun glasses with the pink lenses and be like duuude! The colors pink and blue just put you in a good mood.
I haven't been to this mall in years. It's wild to see it so empty. It's really amazing there's so many stores still in it given that it's that empty.
I remember when i was a teenager, me and my friends would drive from Bristol down there, about 30 minute drive, and it would be PACKED. Didn't matter what time of day what day of the week, it would be absolutely just packed with people. Bristol had its own mall, and i actually worked in it at RadioShack, but it wasn't near as cool as this mall, and it was only packed on the weekends and during christmas season. That was in 2000. Once exit 7 area shopping blew up in around 2003-2005, bristol mall began declining fast. Bristol mall finally closed its doors in 2017, but in reality, it was "dead" like this video, for years, probably the last time i remember bristol mall being busy was in probably 2010 or 2011, maybe even earlier. Malls had their peak in the 1980s, with about 2500 malls across the nation, and that number dwindled down to about 1150 as of 2022. So, people projected there to be as few as 150 left by 2032, within 10 years of that study. However, in the past 2 years, perhaps in response or awareness of that fact, people have been again flocking to malls, with many remaining malls able to actually boost their store occupancy rates, with store vacancies nationwide at their lowest rate in 20 years, and many malls also reporting the highest foot traffic in decades as well. Unfortunately, that doesn't seem to be the case here with Johnson City Mall, at least not according to this video.
Bristol Mall is now a casino called Bristol Casino, but soon to be Hard Rock Casino and Resort. It is supposed to bring a lot of tourism to the area because it will have a nice casino and resort, but importantly a nice concert space for huge artists to come and perform. Eventually they hope to connect the back side of that resort to the back side of the Pinnacle, an outdoor shopping center which has effectively replaced the mall. When the Hard Rock Casino was pitched to Bristol, VA, gambling was illegal in Tennessee AND Virginia, and so the idea was this would become a hotspot for gambling for the entire region, and with that bringing a huge surge to the economy. But i believe Bristol was "Scammed" in a sense, because not only is the casino now several years past its deadline, but also they built like 5 or 6 other casinos in virginia alone, and the Hard Rock Casino franchise now includes like 20 or 30 more being built elsewhere. So instead of being one of only a handful, by time this one actually opens, it won't even be on the list of many people's "casinos to visit."
As for outdoor shopping centers, i don't like them. Even if it's nice outside, they're just huge parking lots that collect heat. How many times did you go to the mall, park your car and rush inside to get to where it was air conditioned? One of your first stops would be the ice cream store. Outdoor shopping centers lack many of those smaller food kiosks and gadget kiosks. They lack the free car giveaways, the boats on display. They lack so many of the cool things that make malls fun. And if you want to go from Best Buy to Marshall's you have to get in your car and drive. There's no food court either, and many of the restaurants are more pricey, time-consuming sit-down establishments instead of quick-to-eat, fun and social experiences. It's just not the same, and i really don't understand why the kind of decision was made. The only reason i can think of is money. It must be cheaper to maintain a parking lot and some landscaping than to maintain the community space of a mall.
Please note I was in the mall 90 minutes before it opened, which is why there is so little foot traffic. This mall is ordinarily packed with people. I don't like outdoor lifestyle centers/power centers either. I have no idea why they're so popular anywhere inclement weather is a reality.
My son owns Vision Quest VR and arcade in the Johnson City Mall 🌟
It looks like a really cool place! He must really put a lot of work and care into it.
@@UniCommProductions it was his vision, and he poured his heart and soul into it.
He has a great bunch of young people working it, and it has been very successful. ♥️
How did you like our little town? I came here in 2002 and fell in love with the place and the people
I liked it so much I'm headed back this fall with my motorcycle. You have some beautiful scenery and some of the greatest roads in the country.
@@UniCommProductions take a ride up towards the Nullichuckey river it’s Gods country and worth the bike ride especially that time of the year
@@larrysamples9406 I'll add that to my list--thank you!
@@UniCommProductions from bristol take bristol highway to gate City. It's a great motorcycle road, you'll pass a small town Johnny Cash used to hang out in, then to gate City, is a cool old town. There's a old diner called the hob knob in gate City. It's the perfect place to stop after a ride. It's a place that still looks like it's from the 40s. The highway isn't really a highway but a small scenic road. Then you could go to natural tunnel Park or a bunch of other country bike roads.
Fun fact: the Bristol Mall got bought and turned into a casino. No, I'm not kidding. That's what's going to be the gambling floor for the new Bristol Hard Rock casino.
Favorite mall to go to
So bizarre seeing my local mall here! You're right that the big anchors have changed a lot. The real anchor store, though, the one that has been in the same spot, unchanged since the 1980s at least... is the Spencer's on the second level.
If I recall correctly yes, it’s on the upper floor (and thank you!)
The nomad and me used to chase pie at this mall. 😂
my local mall!! i love to shop here
I would too! Hope you and yours are safe from the storms 🩷
I've spent many hours in this mall.
About 90 minutes or less down the road, there is a mall in Morristown that seems to be doing fairly decent as well.
I wish i could visit Walkabout Sallys
I am a sucker for that kind of store
Its a great store, they used to be in the kingsport mall, which is pretty dead now. Add some terrible irony, in the kingsport mall, the Belk in kingsport sells Louis Vuitton whereas the JC mall does not.
I was there once and I thought that the mall was really cool!
I remember this mall from the late 80's the food court area was there but it the escalators were further back and it had a glass elevator, and an honest to God shoe repair shop where the Chinese wok place was, and that spencers, the thing thats been there the longest in the same spot
lots of brightly lit store fronts, and shiny displays help the overall look and feel of the space, one thing that stands out is the invisible shoppers..
Fairfield commons mall in Ohio also opens at 11am . Ever since covid.
A mall I am well overdue to take a run at! I went in late 2019 right after Christmas and it was way too busy! Now that I know you and many others are excited to see well occupied malls with nice architecture and aesthetics I am full of ideas.
I remember the Sears there, now we have to go to Lowes in JC or Jonesborough for Craftsman stuff, I've always heard there were all kinds of crazy tunnels under this mall where scary people hang out!
Tunnels under the mall? Don't threaten me with a good time!
@@UniCommProductions Ha! I bet they're still there
I live in kingsport, just a few miles north of JC. Grew up going to this mall and still do now.
Also, the kingsport (Fort Henry) mall is still open, just VERY empty. One of the best parts about the kingsport mall is italian villiage, a little italian place that has the best Pizza in the Tri-Cities IMO.
The cadence and tonal quality of your narration is like ASMR for me Kristin. 👊🙏❤️
@@ttocselbag5054 awww thank you! I used to really hate my voice but doing these videos for this long has made me more comfortable.
Your voice is soothing. I love hearing a woman narrating these explorations. Most dead mall creators I enjoy watching from are males, it’s so refreshing to hear a woman’s narrative.
Shoestring lived there. He’s a local legend.
Does anyone remember when there was a mini golf in this mall, and they had remote control boats in the front? It was in the 90s 😅
Both things I would have LOVED.
I was REALLY little, I don't think I remember the boats, but I *definitely* remember the golf!
I remember.... I was part of the team that built it. I was the interior landscaper. I shaped and placed all of the trees that were around the course.😊
Nice beautiful mall
There's a few spots within the mall that are constantly changing. Im pretty sure the Versona has been replaced since you recorded this footage. So even for locals theres usually something new to see.
I worked in this mall in the mid to late 80’s. First Thom McAn and later RadioShack.
When they opened up the mall, it really killed the downtown area. Thankfully, downtown is starting to come back with a lot of cute shops and good eats
Whoa wait - vaporwave colors in TENNESSEE of all places?! Did I just slip into an alternate universe or something?
Were u able to get the hoodie ?
@@jakerez4666 NO. I ended up needing to head out before they ended up opening. They had a whole bunch of these “punk rock Disney princess” designs where they had tattoos and piercings and stuff lol.
@@UniCommProductions bummer !!!! Sounds awesome haha
90 minutes before it opened? It is a wonder the doors weren't still locked
I was surprised too. I thought the rule was an hour most places--I think because it was cold they let people come in and walk earlier?
Surprisingly nice mall for Tennessee. Wouldn't have expected that on my visit to Memphis ages ago.
I walked in here not really knowing what to expect and I was so impressed!
This mall is 8 hours from Memphis.
Lived in Johnson City (and Jonesborough) since January 2018.
I think I've been to the mall once when I first moved here just to look for shoes, not knowing the area....
Because I'm a man... and an adult I suppose.
Very back roomsish though!
Watched the whole thing... as mentioned before elsewhere - very ASMR like and "chill" 😂
Was the music really THAT loud?? Or was it MuZAK backgroynd music? Was it the actual mall music or did you splice it in? If thats actual music while walk it seems excessively loud!!
@BAMAJiPS it’s background music to mimic Muzak. I can’t often use the actual music playing in the mall for copyright reasons.
I live not far from there; I'm in western NC.
That whole area is just stunningly gorgeous.