Prescott Gateway Mall: A Dead Mall Gets Worse | Retail Archaeology

แชร์
ฝัง
  • เผยแพร่เมื่อ 17 ก.ย. 2020
  • In this episode we take a fresh look at Prescott Gateway Mall, a dead mall in Prescott, AZ.
    Intro created Pascal Schnyder
    =Social Media=
    Twitter: @Ret_Archaeology
    Instagram: @Retailarchaeology
    Facebook: @RetailArchaeology
    Patreon: / retailarchaeology
    #retailarchaeology #deadmall
  • บันเทิง

ความคิดเห็น • 814

  • @Dantes-_-Inferno
    @Dantes-_-Inferno 3 ปีที่แล้ว +51

    I went to Prescott for rehab. I’m a recovering heroin addict and have been clean for 2.5 years now. When I got out of rehab I went to this mall and bought myself a pair of shoes with the little money I had before making my way back to New Mexico. Thank you for the trip back in time and the good memory my friend!!!

    • @wroughtironmgtow9558
      @wroughtironmgtow9558 3 ปีที่แล้ว +8

      congrats on the 2.5 years,I'm a teetotaler so I never had to struggle with that sort of thing but whenever I hear someone has been sober or dry and has done it successfully I always make sure I let them know they're doing a good job.peace....

    • @sabrina.natalie
      @sabrina.natalie 3 ปีที่แล้ว +3

      Congratulations on your sobriety! 🥰

    • @pimbobar44
      @pimbobar44 3 ปีที่แล้ว +3

      Keep the good job!!!!

  • @daveocutter
    @daveocutter 3 ปีที่แล้ว +30

    Going to this mall is sad enough as a native Prescottonian, but hearing and seeing someone’s outside perspective really is defeating. Makes me wanna support some of those stores.

  • @OldbeanO
    @OldbeanO 3 ปีที่แล้ว +241

    There's just something so relaxing about being taken on a virtual tour of dormant and depressed shopping environments..

    • @frankyu553
      @frankyu553 3 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      Ikr?? One of my favourite things to do to unwind after getting home from work lol

    • @plaguex1
      @plaguex1 3 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      History and the knowing that everything is bound to the same ending

    • @DEFkon001
      @DEFkon001 3 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      I wonder if there's a channel about malls during their heydays.

    • @frankyu553
      @frankyu553 3 ปีที่แล้ว

      @@DEFkon001 There is. It's a music genre called vaporwave.

    • @jimmybrad156
      @jimmybrad156 3 ปีที่แล้ว

      Time has frozen. Interest rates confirm this.

  • @JamiRayVintage
    @JamiRayVintage 3 ปีที่แล้ว +133

    I remember walking this mall very pregnant with my first two kids. That cute little merry go round got lots of our money and my littles played in the play place. My favorite thing is when they had a place called Go Bannanas and you could pay them to watch your kids and let them play while you shopped the mall

    • @frankyu553
      @frankyu553 3 ปีที่แล้ว +12

      "Go Bananas" what a great name for daycare 😂

    • @garthkelly1668
      @garthkelly1668 3 ปีที่แล้ว +3

      Pregnant woman going to mall to have 2 children babysat while she shops. Hopefully they were having fun.

    • @woeisme9891
      @woeisme9891 3 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      Go Bananas is still there but they wont keep kids without a parent present anymore.

    • @dudeguy7347
      @dudeguy7347 3 ปีที่แล้ว +2

      @@garthkelly1668 I don't see the problem.

    • @martyzielinski2469
      @martyzielinski2469 3 ปีที่แล้ว +8

      @@woeisme9891 then what’s the point?

  • @TheRiddimSouljah
    @TheRiddimSouljah 3 ปีที่แล้ว +101

    I owned and ran all the games in nates arcade and pulled them out to move to downtown and expand into a much better and bigger location called Hideaway Arcade. I would fill it back up tho.. if it made even $100 a week, but sadly it may not be able to ever do that again.

    • @TheRiddimSouljah
      @TheRiddimSouljah 3 ปีที่แล้ว +8

      @Michael S. I tried to stay at the mall and had a hard time working things out, AND if you read my comment I would be happy to bring games back but, sadly wont even make rent. It would cost more for the power than what the games at the mall makes. I ran nates for a long time and never made more than $250 in a week. The mall is dead and it would take miracles to make business worth it again up there 💯

    • @TheRiddimSouljah
      @TheRiddimSouljah 3 ปีที่แล้ว +8

      @@Unpopularity Thank you for that👊 and your understanding. 💯💯💯

    • @SP-rx4tb
      @SP-rx4tb 3 ปีที่แล้ว

      You can have high score competitions and increase your flow

    • @TheRiddimSouljah
      @TheRiddimSouljah 3 ปีที่แล้ว +2

      @@SP-rx4tb We have been out of the mall since Jan 2020, Not sure if we will ever want to return when we are doing so well downtown 🤷‍♂️

  • @misseychavez1740
    @misseychavez1740 3 ปีที่แล้ว +52

    I was at this mall on opening day! I spent so much time at this mall when it opened. It was such a novelty for Prescott to have a mall and Gateway Mall was the place to be..lol so sad to see it deteriorate like it has. Thanks for the video!

    • @singrdave
      @singrdave 3 ปีที่แล้ว +4

      Before the Gateway, Prescott had Ponderosa Mall on Iron Springs Rd. That was a proper mall back in the 80s when I went to PHS

    • @earlkelly6696
      @earlkelly6696 3 ปีที่แล้ว +2

      In the end, it turned out to be just that - a novelty.

    • @kendalson7100
      @kendalson7100 3 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      @@singrdave I remember Ponderosa Mall! There was a big Osco and a Boston Store and a really strange Footlocker. The whole place is a Walmart now.

    • @singrdave
      @singrdave 3 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      @@kendalson7100 I used to bag groceries at AJ Bayless (85? 86?) then later I worked at the B Dalton Bookseller next to JC Penneys

    • @momokurama
      @momokurama 3 ปีที่แล้ว

      I grew up here during my middle and high school years and would go to this mall a lot and spent a lot of times at the barnes and noble. I'm kinda sad to see it this dead too 😢

  • @sagehiker
    @sagehiker 3 ปีที่แล้ว +6

    It is weird to see the death of a mall in Prescott. I am old, PHS in 71. My Prescott years, my parents would stuff the kids into the wagon or Suburban and do a mini-vacation to the malls of Phoenix twice a year. During the early 70's, Prescott was starting to emerge as an industrial community but it was the last gasp of that type of development in the Western US. The JC Penny was the anchor downtown store, the Sears Store was more a rural catalog center, and we had a few California based retailers. The hardware stores still sold blasting agents and mining equipment.

  • @bjv93
    @bjv93 3 ปีที่แล้ว +46

    It still looks brand new! So weird to see it with all those empty boxes, hope it's able to reinvent itself.

    • @wendymotogirl
      @wendymotogirl 3 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      They put up a bunch of ugly boxes, and Jesus, people bought em. - - the Eagles, The Last Resort, from the album Hotel California

  • @Madzblr
    @Madzblr 3 ปีที่แล้ว +6

    When it panned to the nice ceilings to the classless flea market with the moving mannequin holding a trump2020 sign 😂. God isn’t that fitting 😂

  • @johnqlunchbucket
    @johnqlunchbucket 3 ปีที่แล้ว +71

    When will these malls learn that they need to put grocery stores in the malls like in Europe? 🤓

    • @watershed44
      @watershed44 3 ปีที่แล้ว +6

      @JOHN Q LUNCHBUCKET
      Our local mall "Granite Run" in Lima, PA (western burbs of Philly) had a satellite supermarket that was separate but at the opposite side of mall parking lot and that was back in the mid 1970s...that mall is also gone now. But it was
      crime and loitering that killed it. The fact is that women with money don't want to visit a place where you are not safe. Lots of "fellas" creating havoc there for years...

    • @xr6lad
      @xr6lad 3 ปีที่แล้ว +22

      Pretty much every mall in Australia has a supermarket built within the mall, sometimes two or three. The way we set up our malls means they are still thriving as we have a mix of stores. I've noticed in the USA either they are high end stores or low end stores, rarely mixed. And things that bring customers inside such as banks, supermarkets and cinemas in the USA are built outside the mall whereas in Australia they are built inside it

    • @bobroberts2371
      @bobroberts2371 3 ปีที่แล้ว +15

      In the US, mall shopping is an escape from day to day chores like grocery shopping.

    • @bobroberts2371
      @bobroberts2371 3 ปีที่แล้ว +8

      @@xr6lad US malls are destinations where the shopping experience is part of the mall.

    • @watershed44
      @watershed44 3 ปีที่แล้ว +8

      @@bobroberts2371 @Bob Roberts
      Exactly the man that developed the concept of the modern indoor mall even said that the primary function was to create a social environment that was inviting to the folks that go there, the consumer aspect was actually secondary! Surprise. They were designed to be a the substitute for the old town center with shops, restaurants, and even community agencies and services.
      Online shopping might be cheaper but it isn't as satisfying, socially.

  • @sunspot42
    @sunspot42 3 ปีที่แล้ว +49

    Prescott and the area around it grew like a weed in the ‘90s and the aughts. I have no idea how it’s done since the real estate bust. A big problem is that a lot of its population growth was lower-income retirees. They just don’t consume all that much to begin with, and they can’t really afford to pay for the overhead of a mall unless you have a huge population of them. Seniors are also avoiding malls entirely due to COVID. I’d be surprised if that mall survives the next year - failure to pay the light bills is a strong sign they aren’t long for this world.

    • @IP0Monsturd
      @IP0Monsturd 3 ปีที่แล้ว +10

      sunspot42 senior citizens are notoriously known to be tight wads, cheapskates and skinflints. If your business model depends on old farts opening their wallets you are doomed to failure. Unless you are a funeral home or Viagra salesman.

    • @sunspot42
      @sunspot42 3 ปีที่แล้ว +3

      IPO Yup. I think the developers were probably banking on the population there in Prescott exploding like it did in Phoenix during the ‘60s and ‘70s and like it had been growing in Prescott (45% growth in the ‘70s, 33% in the ‘80s, a similar 28% in the ‘90s). Even tightwads can keep a mall going if there are enough of them. But Prescott’s growth since then has been comparatively anemic - 17% during the aughts thanks to the dot com bust and then the start of the Great Recession, and just 11%, this past decade.
      If Prescott had kept growing at 30% the past 20 years this mall would probably scrape by, but given Amazon, WalMart and Target plus the collapse of the middle class and now COVID? I don’t see how it’s going to recover.

    • @TheMadisonHang
      @TheMadisonHang 3 ปีที่แล้ว

      trump is into real estate so many he knows what he's doing. too much money in all the wrong places i'd say.
      all the goods in these stores were shipped there from china. american should be making just as much product, just from a logical stand point.

    • @TheMadisonHang
      @TheMadisonHang 3 ปีที่แล้ว

      @@IP0Monsturd your probably not talking about Florida

    • @joshfitch936
      @joshfitch936 3 ปีที่แล้ว +4

      The Prescott area is growing massively. Most seniors that move to Prescott are not low income as the average home in town costs well over $400,000. But, seniors don't shop. Also, this mall has suffered a downward spiral as shopping has moved online. The first major store to go was Barnes and Noble. That was terrible loss that precipitated the general downward spiral of the mall. I think it should be repurposed into a 55+ condo area. There is a very expensive one purpose built across the Hwy.

  • @Aggort
    @Aggort 3 ปีที่แล้ว +72

    So is everyone is gonna gloss over the name of the clothing store at the start being "Foot Fetish and Beyond Clothing Co."?

    • @gra-emed3617
      @gra-emed3617 3 ปีที่แล้ว +3

      🤣🤣🤣🤣

    • @greatvalue2448
      @greatvalue2448 3 ปีที่แล้ว +6

      I’d watch a whole video just about that place.

    • @gra-emed3617
      @gra-emed3617 3 ปีที่แล้ว +3

      Marissa Stryker 😆 yup me too

    • @tyronewilliams96
      @tyronewilliams96 3 ปีที่แล้ว +2

      It's just a shoe store you freaking creep loser!

    • @Honey_Badger_
      @Honey_Badger_ 3 ปีที่แล้ว +7

      It's like a joke in GTA but in real life!! lol

  • @blue387
    @blue387 3 ปีที่แล้ว +49

    I wonder why a large outdoor mall out in Arizona like this just doesn't add some solar panels to the roofs and generate their own electricity or resell the juice to others

    • @SamnissArandeen
      @SamnissArandeen 3 ปีที่แล้ว +8

      $$$. That's why.

    • @wendymotogirl
      @wendymotogirl 3 ปีที่แล้ว +3

      @@SamnissArandeen if they have millions of dollars to buy the mall? The investment pays for itself fairly quickly.

    • @shawnsanborn2057
      @shawnsanborn2057 3 ปีที่แล้ว +3

      I dont think a mall fits into the kind of place prescott is. Probably should never been built.

    • @Ocelot80524
      @Ocelot80524 3 ปีที่แล้ว +4

      They're not that big on sustainability like that here. They'd call it communism or something, get mad at them not paying APS lol.
      The people who bought the mall don't have a good success rate though and the retirement community would rather walk around the food court for 4hrs a day like weirdos than actually spend money anywhere.

    • @phiksit
      @phiksit 3 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      Arizona... one of the places where solar would work the best and it's use has been de-incentivized... smh

  • @theKidd54
    @theKidd54 3 ปีที่แล้ว +3

    This mall brings back so many memories. Greenday on the radio, Friday and Saturday nights cruising the Square, 3 am trips to Denny's with friends. I couldn't have asked for a better place to spend my teenage years. Prescott, circa Y2K. Thanks for posting this!

  • @MissMTurner
    @MissMTurner 3 ปีที่แล้ว +56

    As soon as you walked in and showed the anchors as Sears, JC Penny, and Dillard's, you know the mall isn't doing well. Lol Sears is gone and JCP not doing much better.

    • @ignazs.5816
      @ignazs.5816 3 ปีที่แล้ว +4

      It's been predicted that Sears will be around longer than JC Penney. I don't doubt it.

    • @brianc5537
      @brianc5537 3 ปีที่แล้ว

      JCPenney is being bought out and debt paid off. I think they’ll be around a lot longer than Sears....

    • @ignazs.5816
      @ignazs.5816 3 ปีที่แล้ว +2

      @@brianc5537 who knows....? Sears and Kmart have actually outlasted many others, like Lord and Taylor etc.

    • @jbdragon3295
      @jbdragon3295 3 ปีที่แล้ว

      Well the Sears at the mall near me has been shut down now for a few years. I think JC Penny is still open. I'm going to have to take a look around. I can walk over the mall. They do have Tesla Charging Stations as the far end of that food court parking area. Charge up and get something to eat. Some of the food businesses are still shut down like Panda.

    • @MissMTurner
      @MissMTurner 3 ปีที่แล้ว

      @Michael S. its not funny that they closed, its just an ironic sign of a dead mall. You know a mall isn't doing well when those troubled stores are the anchors.

  • @jcp012000
    @jcp012000 3 ปีที่แล้ว +21

    You in my opinion are the best and the only mall reviewer I watch. Entertaining and informative.. Keep up the good work

  • @stonehands0249
    @stonehands0249 3 ปีที่แล้ว +18

    There's so much that they can do with that mall. Definitely drone racing tournaments, build an indoor running track, grab one of the larger stores and turn it into an indoor gun shooting range, or even into rental living spaces like up in Boston in an old mall. Or even middle, high school or college classrooms. They just need to think out of the box. Good video!

    • @amazingabby25
      @amazingabby25 3 ปีที่แล้ว +2

      Yes providence has those great mall apt

    • @stonehands0249
      @stonehands0249 3 ปีที่แล้ว +2

      @@amazingabby25 YES! It wasn't Boston. Providence was it. I saw it on a TH-cam video. Looked like the perfect place.

    • @M1llion_
      @M1llion_ 3 ปีที่แล้ว

      They’re adding an indoor skatepark

    • @Coconutscott
      @Coconutscott 3 ปีที่แล้ว +2

      I lived in Prescott for many years. An indoor shooting range would be hugely successful there.

  • @SearsCool
    @SearsCool 3 ปีที่แล้ว +20

    don't build a mall too late is probably the lesson, a lot of the newer malls struggle

    • @colormedubious4747
      @colormedubious4747 3 ปีที่แล้ว +3

      Don't build a mall AT ALL! Except for extreme climates, malls are an obsolete 1950s concept. They are resource-intensive, cannibalistic, wasteful, ugly, and an all-around insult to the built environment. Take off the nostalgia goggles and shout "Good riddance!"

    • @BusStopProductions.
      @BusStopProductions. 3 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      @@colormedubious4747 Cannibalistic?

    • @jamieyakimets839
      @jamieyakimets839 3 ปีที่แล้ว

      In the sense that malls kill other malls, yes. So many malls were built in the 80s and 90s that there was no possible way for them all to be financially viable.

    • @M50A1
      @M50A1 2 ปีที่แล้ว

      @@BusStopProductions. He didn't take his meds, its okay

  • @gmcnewlook
    @gmcnewlook 3 ปีที่แล้ว +104

    “ Sears is closed” lol you don’t say.....

    • @WhittyPics
      @WhittyPics 3 ปีที่แล้ว +6

      Has anybody seen any recent news on Sears? Since Fast Eddie bought it out I haven't been able to find any news. They can't be doing any good in this enviroment

    • @SearsCool
      @SearsCool 3 ปีที่แล้ว +3

      Dennis W I don't understand how they're not bankrupt yet. Other department stores have filed for bankruptcy but Sears isn't one of them.

    • @watershed44
      @watershed44 3 ปีที่แล้ว +3

      @@WhittyPics So glad that more and more people know Eddie Lampert for what he is a "Fast" talking a con man. It is weird that the financial media outlets have gone silent about Sears over the past year or so way before the virus came along.
      But there is no question that endless mismanagement has made a US icon a walking zombie in retail. Such a shame.

    • @sourgrapekate1003
      @sourgrapekate1003 3 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      I’m honestly shocked they haven’t packed it up entirely by now. I read KMart was doing better with COVID, but that what they stock is very limited due to the bankruptcy and vendors not wanting to deal with them.

    • @gtw4546
      @gtw4546 3 ปีที่แล้ว

      @@SearsCool I think it's because Sears is more than retail. My Master Card is from Sears, so I know they do financial services as well. If they've restructured away from retail, that may be why they're still around.

  • @peejurtica7341
    @peejurtica7341 3 ปีที่แล้ว +9

    Heartbreaking seeing these once vibrant malls dying slow deaths.

  • @jeffbarnes54
    @jeffbarnes54 3 ปีที่แล้ว +25

    As soon as the "churches" show up you know its dead mall

    • @jeffbarnes54
      @jeffbarnes54 3 ปีที่แล้ว +3

      @ora et labora get a grip dude, I don’t hate God, it was a comment based on commercial economics of a dying retail space. If you had any education in economics you would understand that.

    • @Automedon2
      @Automedon2 3 ปีที่แล้ว +3

      It's the same with dead small town Main Streets. When the storefornt churches show up, put a fork in it.

  • @mb8987
    @mb8987 3 ปีที่แล้ว +35

    Prescott and Prescott valley residents should show more love to this place.

    • @Gen10civic
      @Gen10civic 3 ปีที่แล้ว +8

      The locals don’t even leave the house. Too much traffic and out of towners

    • @firevike2420
      @firevike2420 3 ปีที่แล้ว +9

      Prescott area wages could never support people to pay the mall prices... Besides Wal Mart has a choke hold on the whole county!

    • @coffeenow2382
      @coffeenow2382 3 ปีที่แล้ว +4

      Why should they?

    • @Nikember
      @Nikember 3 ปีที่แล้ว +12

      We try, but there's just a cluster of nonsensical stores in there now. Besides the mall walking, there isn't much to do. We really did try to keep this alive, because we don't want a depressing dead mall, but we can only do so much.

    • @ShoOKitssho_time
      @ShoOKitssho_time 3 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      There are two walmarts and a target (with a cheap, clean and large movie theatre next to it) super close to each other in Prescott/Prescott Valley area, while this mall was a little off from any of them.

  • @CharlieFlemingOriginal
    @CharlieFlemingOriginal 3 ปีที่แล้ว +9

    Sign twirling... on her own to nobody to see inside a dead shopping centre 3:50 (clicks full screen) OH ITS A ROBOT

    • @rachelanne3653
      @rachelanne3653 3 ปีที่แล้ว +2

      Lol I didn't notice that until I read your comment and went back to look

    • @phiksit
      @phiksit 3 ปีที่แล้ว +2

      "...that's not classy at all. That doesn't match this place. It's kind of gross looking..." -Trump2020 sign in middle of flea market.
      78 million americans would agree with that.

  • @snowontheweb
    @snowontheweb 3 ปีที่แล้ว +8

    LOVING THAT INTRO!!!!!! Makes me feel nostalgic!!

  • @beatswalking
    @beatswalking 3 ปีที่แล้ว +10

    I remember when they built this mall. It is one of the reasons I left Prescott. Corperate interests ruined Prescott. It should be noted that this mall was built on Bullwhacker hill. The top of the hill was leveled to build this eyesore. The material was used to fill in a valley for a highway. Disgusting.
    I lived in Prescott for many years and watched its rapid deterioration through the 90s and early 2000s. It used to be a wonderful place but now a shadow of its former self and has turned into a place people used to come there to get away from.

    • @infocyde2024
      @infocyde2024 3 ปีที่แล้ว +3

      Prescott Valley put out some videos in the 90ies indicating their plans for the future and you can smell the greed while you watched them. Since I've left the area there are now Phoenix style cookie cutter houses popping up all along Glassford Hill road and I guess now the Pronghorn that used to roam there freely are gone which makes me sad. The massive influx of mostly California retires pushed the pricing of housing up so many of the locals who are not connected to some government job or established family business have left. I was encouraged though being back just the other day and seeing some younger families out and about. I'm not sure what they all do for a living as decent jobs are scarce but somehow they are making it. The Prescott Metro area is still a nice area but yeah not what it once was at all. The views from where the mall is located are amazing, I wouldn't be surprised if 20-30 years from now it is replaced by retirement condos which have sprung up on two mountain peeks near it.

    • @Johanhojan
      @Johanhojan 3 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      @@infocyde2024 The condos and apartments keep coming. They just recently started breaking ground for apartments on Glassford Hill and the land the pronghorns used to graze is gone. All housing development.

  • @davinp
    @davinp 3 ปีที่แล้ว +18

    Pittsburg Mills Mall (a Mills Mall) opened in 2005 and has been struggling ever since. This dying mail is about to lose its JCPenney

    • @TheGreektrojan
      @TheGreektrojan 3 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      Any mall built after the year 2000ish should have know that the internet and the abundance of other malls would spell disaster for long term investment but the people with the capital to build them are often too old to really understand the implications of new technologies/consumer trends. Obviously seeing how much its killed off the retail sector in general is hard to predict but not that the segment was likely to grow at the pace it did for the 20 years prior.

    • @Nenezilla
      @Nenezilla 3 ปีที่แล้ว

      One of the most unfortunate malls built in the area, hands down (Hi from the Burgh!)

  • @kathyrosen2593
    @kathyrosen2593 3 ปีที่แล้ว +14

    Nice play on Stephen j cannell lol

    • @BrokenCurtain
      @BrokenCurtain 3 ปีที่แล้ว

      Thanks, I couldn't remember which 80s TV producer used that intro - kept thinking it was Bellisario or Larson.

  • @Moonbeam143
    @Moonbeam143 3 ปีที่แล้ว +21

    This mall looks really awesome. I wish it wasn't dying. The model train place, and Games People Play are two stores I would love to check out if I lived in the area.

    • @LindaFromSeaAtTull
      @LindaFromSeaAtTull 3 ปีที่แล้ว +7

      It's a nice mall to be honest. It's so sad to see it dying

    • @kennethsouthard6042
      @kennethsouthard6042 3 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      The model train place is not a store. The space is probably donated to the hobbyists that run it as in the hope that it may bring in some traffic. The Games People Play does seem interesting, but I just can't see how that works here.

  • @JaredJonesAZ
    @JaredJonesAZ 3 ปีที่แล้ว +3

    A small, relatively young mall that was doomed from conception. It's existence is just the result of developer hubris. It's unfortunate they leveled a small mountain for it.

  • @JeepNetwork
    @JeepNetwork 3 ปีที่แล้ว +5

    I love your content, I love large/small retail and hospitality and your videos perfectly fit it! Keep it up! 😃

  • @deniagarrett7698
    @deniagarrett7698 3 ปีที่แล้ว +2

    We drive from Phx once a month to shop at Blue Note. LOVE!!!! The owner hand makes crazy guitars.

  • @jadenova
    @jadenova 3 ปีที่แล้ว +10

    6:48 Interesting. A mall near me that is dying has had a model railroad club for years now.

    • @nogardmarith
      @nogardmarith 3 ปีที่แล้ว

      Same here, they ended up having to move shop due to a pet store wanting the bigger space. So they were in the middle of redoing the train model when covid hit.

  • @SeanStrife
    @SeanStrife 3 ปีที่แล้ว +5

    Man, you wanna talk time warps, the Dead Mall that I used to go and visit (before it shut down earlier this year) had a Spencer's with the old Neon signage on the storefront, but the last time I was in there, that Spencer's was in the process of closing, unfortunately.

  • @overlookers
    @overlookers 3 ปีที่แล้ว +11

    For a property that opened in 2002, it already looks 10 or 15 years older than it should be.

    • @wolfgang1097
      @wolfgang1097 2 ปีที่แล้ว

      There are certain areas where the 90s did last an extra two or three years tops.
      If you ask me how long the 90s lasted, I would say even though it ended on night of the new millenium, it actually lasted until 9/11.

    • @M50A1
      @M50A1 2 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      @@wolfgang1097 i feel like if that never happened, the 90s influence would've stuck around longer

    • @wolfgang1097
      @wolfgang1097 ปีที่แล้ว

      @@M50A1 at least until the 2008 recession, perhaps. Unless 9/11 played a possible factor in the long run. But you're definitely correct.

  • @Northwest_Railfan
    @Northwest_Railfan 3 ปีที่แล้ว +1

    Great video as always! The interior of this mall reminds me a lot of the Supermall in Auburn, WA before it was remodeled, especially the white walls, steps and ramps between areas, and the windows along the top of the walls. Always neat to see model railroad stuff in your videos too.
    -Aaron

  • @Snorlax_808
    @Snorlax_808 3 ปีที่แล้ว +6

    Prescott and Prescott Valley are such cool places to go explore and get away for the day! I can’t imagine this mall stands much of a chance unfortunately tho. You should do the outlets at anthem too!!

  • @AmbientWalking
    @AmbientWalking 3 ปีที่แล้ว

    An incredible journey! Really love this. Appreciate you sharing it. Thank you!

  • @mrf3175
    @mrf3175 3 ปีที่แล้ว +4

    That mall is a sore thumb. It's nice to get a picture with Santa there in the winter, but asides that there is nothing going on there ever.
    Mall hasn't had very much love since Amazon became a powerhouse. Nobody shops in person at malls anymore.

  • @historiclift27
    @historiclift27 3 ปีที่แล้ว +9

    Memorial City Mall in Houston TX has a model train place too. However Memorial City is one of the top thriving malls in Houston. Sears left but that did not really effect them. They are tearing it down to build an outdoor extension. Even since covid that mall continues to be really busy.

    • @wooferjr169
      @wooferjr169 3 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      Oh yeah. I used to go memorial city years ago and it was shoulder to shoulder packed. I don't see that mall die any time soon.

    • @aeiouna
      @aeiouna 3 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      Yeah we lost the Sears at Park Place Mall here in Tucson and it didn't hurt the mall in the slightest. Round 1 Entertainment quickly moved into the vacant lot.

  • @larrydj7571
    @larrydj7571 3 ปีที่แล้ว

    I love these mall tours you do...Some say theres almost a relaxing feeling coming ot of it. In reality its documenting failing stores and malls which in reality can be depressing. ,I love all the information, history and trivia you provide when touring the mall.The background music is always perfect when you are touring.

  • @SKnope
    @SKnope 3 ปีที่แล้ว

    Yesssss ive been looking for a channel like this thats local. I love the content and the updates! Please keep up the great work

  • @StageRight123
    @StageRight123 3 ปีที่แล้ว +3

    You know your mall is in trouble, when Gamestop is one of your premium stores.

  • @SynchroSk8
    @SynchroSk8 3 ปีที่แล้ว +3

    I am so glad you went back. I love the ceilings as well, the look is very Prescott for sure and its not mall ‘cookie cutter’. Crazy how ‘new’ this mall is though.

  • @kelsmister
    @kelsmister 3 ปีที่แล้ว +2

    You're right those ceilings are gorgeous.

  • @Prettytony0627
    @Prettytony0627 3 ปีที่แล้ว +1

    I gave thumbs up just for the intro alone. Nostalgia overload!!!

  • @AllAboutParker
    @AllAboutParker 3 ปีที่แล้ว +9

    Damn the intros lately have been giving me massive nostalgia. Maybe malls will become nostalgia destinations in the future and will prop up some of them.

    • @alexdavis5360
      @alexdavis5360 3 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      They should embrace it and remodel with that in mind

    • @watershed44
      @watershed44 3 ปีที่แล้ว +2

      @Parker Lupine
      Indeed I think people will get bored with internet shopping eventually and it is still gratifying to actually get to see what you are buying in person and being able to actually touch and see it in front of you. Internet shopping can lead to BIG disappointments, and of course you have to ship returns back which can cost quite a bit, when you can simply return by driving a few minutes down to the mall and no charges.

  • @airking1881
    @airking1881 3 ปีที่แล้ว +2

    I love these videos its like going everywhere without going everywhere and the history is fun too!!!

  • @sludgebeastt
    @sludgebeastt 3 ปีที่แล้ว

    i was just about to type your channel in to check and see for any new videos! love ur stuff!

  • @SimplySage854
    @SimplySage854 3 ปีที่แล้ว +1

    That memorial is awesome.

  • @eeyore.official
    @eeyore.official 3 ปีที่แล้ว

    MAN! Wish I would've been there! I love your videos, and was very fascinated with your last prescott video. Cool to see you revisit it!

  • @c.keefer332
    @c.keefer332 3 ปีที่แล้ว +1

    Awesome as always!!

  • @bjarkusmcfarkus6737
    @bjarkusmcfarkus6737 3 ปีที่แล้ว +22

    Never thought I’d describe a mall as cozy till now

    • @RetailArchaeology
      @RetailArchaeology  3 ปีที่แล้ว +6

      That's the perfect way to describe it 🙂

    • @watershed44
      @watershed44 3 ปีที่แล้ว +6

      @Norman Gruber
      I agree it has a warm comfortable and inviting feeling almost a modern take on the late 1970s malls in a way.
      I also love the ceilings and wood. Too many malls today are cold looking and have antiseptic looking designs.
      Also the pictures of historic Prescott.

    • @andysorensen1737
      @andysorensen1737 3 ปีที่แล้ว +3

      Same thing with my local dead mall. It’s fairly small and feels very 80s at the same time.

    • @molonlabe9635
      @molonlabe9635 3 ปีที่แล้ว +2

      When this mall was much busier in the 2010-2014 time it was really nice at Christmas. Hot cocoa by the fireplace with the kids and Santa and his helpers walking around sometimes

  • @misterhot9163
    @misterhot9163 3 ปีที่แล้ว +9

    When my parents moved to Prescott in 2010, this mall was thriving. Yet a year later Barnes and Noble shuttered (where the Christmas trees were stored). It wasn’t because B&N was underperforming, just the opposite. Yet corporate had to choose between two locations in AZ to close and this location was selected. Since then, there’s been a rapid domino effect of other store closings like the Hallmark store near Dillards and a significant drop in foot traffic. Like other struggling malls and changing consumer trends, PGM is just a sign of the times.

    • @Nikember
      @Nikember 3 ปีที่แล้ว

      Agreed. This place was busy. Barnes and Noble closing was the start of it all.

  • @woeisme9891
    @woeisme9891 3 ปีที่แล้ว +2

    I live in Prescott and frequent this area a lot. When I moved here 16 years ago, the mall was always busy. The big empty spot near Spencer's was a Barnes and Noble. More stores close each month. Dillards and JCP own their stores but I feel our JCP will soon close. The people who own it now are actually known for bankrupting their own properties.

  • @straycat1674
    @straycat1674 3 ปีที่แล้ว +3

    I love it when I turn these old malls into living facilities. Either homeless shelters or apartments.

    • @Automedon2
      @Automedon2 3 ปีที่แล้ว

      Yeah, imagine those pristine hallways littered with meth addicts and alkies. It would be lovely.

  • @zephyr2731
    @zephyr2731 3 ปีที่แล้ว

    Love your videos! Keep up the great work!

  • @mathewmclean9128
    @mathewmclean9128 3 ปีที่แล้ว +1

    Awesome! I'm from Phoenix and I never knew Prescott had a mall LOL.
    I will definitely be checking this out hopefully in the near future.

  • @katowens
    @katowens 3 ปีที่แล้ว

    My hometown (and everyone else’s lol) I’ve been waiting for this since I started watching your channel about a year or two ago, thanks!!!

  • @dracofirex
    @dracofirex 3 ปีที่แล้ว +1

    "Oh there's still a BUckle here!"
    I know what you mean. Our Buckle buckled.

  • @GR-ji9fw
    @GR-ji9fw 3 ปีที่แล้ว +3

    They need to turn these into senior citizens housing with bingo in the food court and big box stores for the things they need, etc.

  • @grantbatzli3311
    @grantbatzli3311 3 ปีที่แล้ว +1

    3:36 that space use to be a Barnes and Nobles book store but it closed some years back.

  • @Fwufikins
    @Fwufikins 3 ปีที่แล้ว +1

    3:40 The big empty spot with the Christmas trees USED to be a Barnes and Noble Bookstore. It was probably the best store in the mall. Once that closed down, most of us locals agree that was the start of the mall's death. There's a few spots that are still worth checking out, namely the staples like Hot Topic, Game Stop, and Sepncer's but there's also a few local shops like The Cosmic Potato and Raven's Relics that are fun spots to stop. But as far as the overall mall goes, well... It's not so much on its last legs as it's on the stumps that were once legs.

  • @karmabeachtique5971
    @karmabeachtique5971 3 ปีที่แล้ว +5

    Please do a follow up on the Seville Mall in Scottsdale on Scottsdale Road.

  • @anonymousadult
    @anonymousadult 3 ปีที่แล้ว +3

    I worked retail as a teen and thru my twenties; 1985-1992.
    It was crazy busy and THE place to be.
    The Mall is Dead now, online sales killed it, case closed.

    • @s.sestric9929
      @s.sestric9929 3 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      Back then teens could hang out at the mall unsupervised, hell they could even drive themselves and their friends there when they turned 16. Now parents "structure" their kids' lives.

    • @Automedon2
      @Automedon2 3 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      I managed an art supply store in the late 80s. It was like a community of all the people who worked in the different stores. That mall is dead now. Talk of making it into apartments, but I don't know if that would work either - there plenty of vacant apartments in town.

  • @Stricklinator
    @Stricklinator 3 ปีที่แล้ว +1

    I used to visit Prescott nearly every summer as a child to visit my Grandparents who retired there. I miss it a lot and may retire there if the housing prices don't get too bad. My Grandfather has a park in Prescott named after him which I have visited near his old house.

  • @williamharris8367
    @williamharris8367 3 ปีที่แล้ว +3

    I agree that the wooden ceiling (and skylights) looks just amazing. I have seen this same architectural style in several churches, though they were much older than this mall.
    Maybe it was the camera's perspective, but the main hallways all looked to be unusually narrow, as compared to other malls I have visited.

  • @vibesNstuff
    @vibesNstuff 3 ปีที่แล้ว

    I'm new to the channel and that was the best intro i have seen on TH-cam.

  • @MrShaunG
    @MrShaunG 3 ปีที่แล้ว +1

    Lol I’m old enough to remember that intro and different versions of it from numerous shows... nice twist

  • @LastOneLeft99
    @LastOneLeft99 3 ปีที่แล้ว +3

    The foodcourt area used to have TVs where you could pick music videos, it really declined when Barnes & Noble left. I can't understand why they didn't give them a break on rent.

  • @Jeicto24
    @Jeicto24 3 ปีที่แล้ว

    Omg, that intro is everything!!

  • @wendymotogirl
    @wendymotogirl 3 ปีที่แล้ว +9

    In Australia they do these kinds of things right. I visited family in Sydney, and a mall we went to was called Macquarie Centre. Public transportation stopped right there in the mall. Also, aside from the normal Mall type stores, there was also a post office, grocery stores, liquor stores, Medical Offices, and I think even the equivalent of a Department of Motor Vehicles. Any sort of Center like this has to be diverse and have essential Services there. I was really quite impressed.

    • @Alex-cl4ci
      @Alex-cl4ci 3 ปีที่แล้ว

      Prescott doesn’t have any effective public transportation. Also those things would be useful, but the location of the mall isn’t quite great. It’s much faster for residents to do this in town, as the Prescott Mall is kinda in the middle of Prescott and Prescott Valley, not very close to either

  • @perspectivelee
    @perspectivelee 3 ปีที่แล้ว

    amazing video, lovely filming and voiceover!

  • @willcartoons
    @willcartoons 3 ปีที่แล้ว

    So cozy with those wood ceilings. Love the ski resort look 🙂

  • @tjsogmc
    @tjsogmc 3 ปีที่แล้ว +1

    That mall is positively humming compared to the usual dead malls.

  • @StephanieG1
    @StephanieG1 3 ปีที่แล้ว +1

    A nice looking mall. Here in GB my local shopping centre is full of phone shops,cheque-cashing places,pawnbrokers,betting shops,fast food places,charity shops and shops selling cheap,in all senses of the word,clothing.

  • @InsidiousDr9
    @InsidiousDr9 3 ปีที่แล้ว +2

    Those "sky lights on the wall" the technical name for those is windows.

    • @rays8928
      @rays8928 3 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      clerestory windows - in general he does not let facts interrupt the story.

  • @breannanicole1393
    @breannanicole1393 3 ปีที่แล้ว +1

    Funny I was working at the dillards the day you filmed this which I know because it was Saturday and we have to be there. I work in the mall entrance so its funny to see no employees around. It has been dead for weeks and employees are struggling to make goals even on Saturdays. Today was my last day working there because i’m moving to a different state. At least i’ll have this video to memorialize my time there lol

  • @myperspective5091
    @myperspective5091 3 ปีที่แล้ว +7

    One of the things I have always advocated for was turning dead malls into combined retail and residential real estate. One of the things that could be done is to turn them into schools or nursing homes, especially for baulk immigrant refugee groups.
    Instead of having a nursing home feel like a hospital or even just an apartment complex you can actually feel like living in a community complete with retail and restaurants.

  • @shontoo6979
    @shontoo6979 3 ปีที่แล้ว

    I love how you keep zooming in on that beautiful ceiling.. you are so enamored 😆☺️

  • @markstrouse3101
    @markstrouse3101 3 ปีที่แล้ว

    Another great video.thank you.

  • @uwumarii
    @uwumarii 3 ปีที่แล้ว +2

    That ceiling is gorgeous, reminds me of a classy cabin but looking down its ugly and tacky. Doesn't match at all

  • @s.sestric9929
    @s.sestric9929 3 ปีที่แล้ว +1

    The ceilings and light fixtures recall the "Craftsman" bungalows from the early 1900s that were popular all over the West. The design was part of the greater Arts and Crafts movement that included furniture and interior design as well.

  • @sonicmoremusic1
    @sonicmoremusic1 3 ปีที่แล้ว

    Love the robot/mannequin with the sign outside the flea market place

  • @raymondmartin6737
    @raymondmartin6737 3 ปีที่แล้ว

    Enjoy your videos of the Phoenix area,
    having lived there in NE Phoenix in
    1976, and went back there in 2003.
    Metrocenter was new then, and we
    went to Prescott once, and the Thunder-
    storm over the rolling hills was very
    impressive.
    Also we went back to Payson and saw
    how it had grown.
    Did visit the Grand Canyon and Flagstaff
    once. The ride over the mostly unpaved,
    then Superstition route past Tonto to
    the Roosevelt dam was exciting sliding
    down some of the road with only a rear
    wheel drive 1976 Olds Cutlass.
    My wife and I just moved to Nashua, NH,
    near MA, from Florida after several years
    there from being mostly in the NYC north suburbs.
    We wanted to be back in the Northeast,
    and I was stationed at Pease, AFB, in
    Portsmouth, NH, about an hour away
    from here.
    There is a mall here of some age, the
    Pheasant Run mall, which at it's south
    end is located in MA, but has no sales
    taxes in that part by agreement between
    the two states. The Anchor stores are
    still here, and so is the food court, but
    there are numerous empty storefronts.

  • @ERA_Productions
    @ERA_Productions 3 ปีที่แล้ว

    Awesome video

  • @robertsilva8097
    @robertsilva8097 3 ปีที่แล้ว

    Thank you for the Great video

  • @fearlessjones
    @fearlessjones 3 ปีที่แล้ว

    I remember taking day trips from Phoenix just to go to this mall when it was new. It was always so pretty with the wood and the fireplace. I’d visit the outside shops more than the inside.

  • @GregSilverado
    @GregSilverado 3 ปีที่แล้ว +3

    that place is gonna make a great FEMA camp

  • @airratchetjockey7605
    @airratchetjockey7605 3 ปีที่แล้ว +2

    I’m going to miss the indoor malls as a kid of the 80s, Hopefully the mall owners get it together and figure out they can’t charge top dollar for leases. Oh and yes those ceilings are sweet.

  • @plutoplatters
    @plutoplatters 3 วันที่ผ่านมา

    Love the Renegade clip at the start of this video !!! lol

  • @jhsteddy
    @jhsteddy 3 ปีที่แล้ว +1

    What other nostalgic bumpers could be next on the horizon? Sit, Dead Mall, Sit. Good dog. Woof.

  • @firenicefilms2492
    @firenicefilms2492 3 ปีที่แล้ว

    This is such a memory I did most of the layout and and and concrete work at this mall if you look at the out side concrete ring around the tree planter there are layout marks I purposely left in the wet concrete.

  • @aspfilms1085
    @aspfilms1085 3 ปีที่แล้ว +1

    The Christmas trees that you see there in storage is for the "Enchanted Christmas" indoor tour of lights that they have. Pretty cool, I think admission is 4 bucks per person - or if you donate 4 canned food items admission is free.

  • @peachykeane7771
    @peachykeane7771 3 ปีที่แล้ว +1

    I remember when this place used to be packed. I used to play in the play area as a kid. Part of my childhood. Very sad.

  • @brookeg6670
    @brookeg6670 3 ปีที่แล้ว +1

    I used to work at the sears here for a few months till it closed. The Christmas tree place was a tree maze or something for people to look at.

  • @boweandrew3
    @boweandrew3 3 ปีที่แล้ว

    there is also Westfield Shaopping mall in Schaumburg IL and Northbrook Court in Northbrook IL that opened in 1976 and Gulf Mill Mall in Niles IL and Old Orchard Mall in Skokie IL but I have never been to the Prescott Mall in Arizona but I hope it can be saved I miss going to malls like what you just did a video about great work keep up the great work

  • @BoratWanksta
    @BoratWanksta 3 ปีที่แล้ว

    This mall really only was built in 2002? Wow, didn't realize it was THAT recent of a mall, when it was built. Thought it was older, for whatever reason.
    Really like that wood ceiling, and it reminds me of Three Star Mall in McMinnville, TN. Nice tour of this mall, and thanks for filming it. Also love that model railroad place, you found inside Prescott Gateway.

  • @mfb3042
    @mfb3042 3 ปีที่แล้ว

    There was a boom when it was built. New homes, freeways, Costco, Sams Club, two Home Depots, and Lowes came. Prescott Valley was exploding with a new city hall. Big stadium for concerts was built in PV. Opening night was like rush hour at a major subway station in Manhattan.

  • @paradigmshift55
    @paradigmshift55 3 ปีที่แล้ว +7

    They could convert it to apartments or office spaces. Repurpose.

    • @vetlungs
      @vetlungs 3 ปีที่แล้ว

      There’s already a few local companies who use this as office space lol. I live here and I was surprised at how many people he taped in the food court . But then again I have no reason to go there so I never do 😩

    • @Automedon2
      @Automedon2 3 ปีที่แล้ว

      A lot of them are talking about making them into apartments, but the big covered spaces cost a fortune to light and air condition so they would be real expensive apartments and, at least in my town, there are plenty of empty apartments already.

    • @phiksit
      @phiksit 3 ปีที่แล้ว

      Yeah, but the owners wanna get their $200 per sq. foot rental fees (or whatever they consider profitable). And when it's not making their profit margin anymore they try to sell it or just let it rot. They should be donated and repurposed instead of just left to rot. But that capitalism for ya. Then taxpayers get stuck with it's eventual demolition costs.

    • @Automedon2
      @Automedon2 3 ปีที่แล้ว

      @@phiksit You'll have to show an instance where taxpayers paid for the demolition of a mall in the past. There are empty eyesores all over the country that aren't being demolished at taxpayer expense.

  • @Locutus
    @Locutus 3 ปีที่แล้ว +2

    Can you do a follow-up to Fry's please? Either in NV, AZ, or in general!