Dead Mall: The Beautiful Hilltop Mall in Richmond, CA [CLOSED]
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 26 ส.ค. 2024
- Today we visit the Hilltop Mall in Richmond, CA in the San Francisco Bay Area. Of all the malls in the East Bay, this mall probably has the most vacancies. The mall still retains a lot of it's vintage charm and is worth a look!
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I used to come here so many times in the 90's. It was so busy, so full of life, so many stores. Now it's just dead
😔
I live in Berkeley and used to drive up to this mall occasionally to shop and I remember it being pretty busy, about 12 years ago.
🤣 I never noticed that light next to payless, and I been going there since the 90s.
So many memories. The Mangolian BBQ was sooo good!
I love this video for a million reasons. Reason 456,403: a shady massage parlor and a gorgeous fountain inside a dead mall. You deserve far more subs than you currently have.
So many memories for me at that mall. I remember shopping at that Payless, KB toys, Walden books, the movie theaters. EB games, suncoast, Disney store, sears and so much more.
Hi thanks for the memories. I worked at the mall 1978-1985 at California Federal Bank. It was right across from Wells Fargo I think. Used to buy my suits from Casual Corner. I’m a Richmond High School grad.
I remember a movie theater back in the 80s - y'all wrecking my childhood years
I use to work in this mall back in the 90's and it was not a fun place to work. I'd see a few fights per day. Lots of verbal altercations and employees that worked at night needed to be escorted to their car by security.
It is next to ghetto city san pablo.
@@dontennis2260 Haha well yeah, and it's *in* ghetto city Richmond :P I think I missed the worst years though. It was dead, but it never felt especially dangerous in the '00-'10s.
I watched all of your videos, bravo, excellent work man. You are an ASMR master, chill laid back yet informative and entertaining well shot videos. Definitely Dan Belle-ish and that is an extreme compliment from me. Hopefully look forward to some future videos, i told all of my dead mall friends about you. I also dig the Unicomm and Long Beach Explores channels you had in your community, thanks for quality recommendations. To answer your question about the odd pie store with pictures of tomatoes and onions on the front counter, it is most likely a tomato pie place which is an east coast NYC and Philadelphia thing, a sort of bland cold pizza, not my favorite and i am from the Philly area so have had many authentic tomato pies, ok at best. Keep up your excellent work, thanks
I moved to this area in 1991. It was very busy during the 90s. On weekends, in this mall, people bumped into each other. Now you could play ball inside this mall.
I came here almost everyday in the 80’s -played ms Pac-Man inside of lord byron’s pizza, watched people skate in the ice skating rink, shopped at contempo casuals and Judy’s. It was completely different back then.
I looked it up. Originally the current walmart was the original macys n the current macys was Capwells then The Emporium then closed when it was bought out by macys
That was a dangerous mall to be at. I seen people get beat up - jumped - shootings in the parking lot etc etc . Richmond is the grimiest city in the Bay Area.
Yup its not a place to go alone..
You ain’t never been to east Oakland
I'm pretty hard to sketch out, but Richmond is one of the few places to make me genuinely feel uneasy. I made the mistake of walking to Caspar's from Richmond BART at 9PM lol
Wow my childhood mall always went here it was amazing. I use to love coming here until I was about 13 and the stores were closing and a lot of people stopped coming.
Great video this is one of my malls I went to when I was young sad and hard to believe, years ago it was packed please go to sun valley in concord ca and Solano mall in Fairfield ca the other two from my young days
Ultimate irony-Amazon prime delivery trucks parked in the parking lot .
Boy, that carousel is completely AWESOME. Last time I went to Hilltop (November 2017), it was with my sister so she could score a few Walmart purchases and some perfume at the little corner store that had the grill down and the typical "We'll be back in . . . " sign. Hope they're still in business. I was shocked at how few people were shopping, but, like you, impressed at the high level of continued upkeep. I asked another You-Tube DeadMalls videographer if he could review Hilltop, and then I ran across you. This stroll through the aborning Hilltop is very good; very thorough. I remember back in the day when going to Hilltop was a retail thrill and a place to touch base with your homies. I only wish there'd been more video focus on that beautiful carousel. And is the music track yours or is it Mall Muzak?? I'm definitely subbing and hitting "Like." Thank you.
i just went back here and did a nighttime shoot. i got quite a few good shots of the carousel lit up at night. that video should be coming relatively soon, so keep an eye out for it.
Ahhh my childhood mall sad to see in this shape with no one in it. Glad you got to film it! It's in pretty bad shape compared to its glory days. Went there recently with my mom to buy some shoes but store was closed down rip.
totally had the same experience. i wanted to go into that shoe store but it was closed!
Gotta love the '70's era octagon tile floor.
the tile is awesome. and guess what? they're going to tear it all out very soon when they "remodel"
Since Hilltop is a 30 minute drive from my house, the final days of operation truly feels like the sinking of a boat ship where all the years of hard work/dedication ends horribly than expected. 😔😔😔
I used to live in Ricmond in the late 80's walking distance from this mall. It was super busy and crowded. so different and long ago, almost like it never happened.
Love that old floor tile that still looks great!
Having a walmart is usually the kiss of death of most malls. All walmart is gonna do is suck up all the business from the shops at the mall
Y'know I never thought of that. It makes sense. It's a huuuuuuge Walmart too. It's in the original Macy's building. Macy's moved into the old Emporium building when that closed and Walmart moved into the vacant building years later.
I remember that there used to be a Disney store and a toys R Us I think in that furniture store.
Wow, just watched a more recent video of this mall completely deserted, with trash and dirt and desolation. Who would think malls and mall culture would crash so spectacularly.
A church????? A church inside of a mall? Omg 😯 I’ve never heard of such a thing lol 😂
In the store at Walmart there was a Burger King and sees candy’s
My, my memories. I worked here 1979-1985
Remember the ice scatting ring at the hilltop mall yrssss ago? Well, I do.
I do
Wow thanks for this V I R T U A L treat. I never went into hilltop but i did go to the Walmart there once in 2012.
The beautiful center courtyard with the cool sculpture and waterfall are the only things this mall has going for it. Really sad :(
The curved ramp looks nice. With the upper level being a little higher in front of the anchor, it's possible the ceilings are a little higher. The Neiman Marcus at Scottsdale Fashion Square is like that as Sakowitz built the anchor with higher ceilings (and awesome bubble ligjts that are still there today). The floor climbs upward level for the mall entrance. The mall's floor climbs upward in the Nordstrom wing, but that's because the mall has to climb high enough to get over Camelback Rd and line up with the 2nd and 3rd floors of Nordstrom (the mall crosses over 2 roads). Metrocenter (the Bill and Ted mall) gained a Walmart. They tore down The Broadway to do ot. The old amchor portal was walled. You have to turn left through the exit, go out the door, and follow the walkway.
Was the pie shop with the tomato and onion perhaps an Italian restaurant or a pizza shop?
Before that it used to be a McDonalds believe it or not. You know the mall is going downhill when even McDonalds leaves.
@@Qb3ify Yep, and now McDonalds is leaving the state of California
Love the muzak!
Here's what you don't know. The last owner of the mall was laundering money to fund his other properties like the mall in Pleasanton. He basically was sucking Hilltop mall dry and pocketing some and funding other properties in ritzier neighborhoods. Hilltop is back on the rise however after being purchased by a development company and is due for major renovations in 2019.
Good to hear!!!
Do you know when JCPenney closed?
Here's the company that bought the place and is coordinating the reno. www.mercurynews.com/2017/10/29/theater-grocery-store-and-up-to-40-restaurants-planned-for-richmonds-hilltop-mall/
Lol my last name is langston
@Aimee Webber They were in the process of renovating the mall earlier this year. The pandemic (of course) shut that down.
I love shopping here
I always used to go there when I was little but it’s sad how it is dead now
I did some consulting work at a mall in Richmond 20 years ago. I think this was it. It seems like it had an all you can eat buffet by one of the entrances.
oh man i miss that great steak shop so much, also the restaurant with green and red detailing used to be a pizza shop
Hi there. wow I
This mall's architecture definitely screams A Alfred Taubman!
In this video at 9:50 that clothing Store with the old color tiles all over..previously was the Disney store
Omg the restaurant you saw was Mac Donalds
It must have been very depressing going there for work during its last years, 2018-2019. Literally barely any patrons walking around.
Im actually glad that you filmed this, cause my dad actually works in one of their resturants!
SUB
I used to come here in the 80's&90's with my friends. I have sense moved up by Lake Tahoe ,15yrs ago. Surprised to see all these malls closing ...What happen?😢
Ramps and such are more common in one level malls out east where they make the mall rise a handful of steps. My childhood mall has 2 check ramp/step areas where the mall rises about 4-5 steps worth.
As a non materialist. I hate to say it's better off closed. The amount of trash i ised to haul away from homes in San Pablo and Richmond was unforgettable. I can only imagine how much rotten shit ended up in Pinole and the cleaner side of town
I grew up in North Berkeley. This place is a dump! I remember it in its glory back in 1981-82
The store with converse shoes in the window was the Disney store
Reconstruction of the Shops of Hilltop.
The Wal-Mart was an Emporium Caplwell. The 24 fitness use to be a theatre and before that was annice skating rink. The pie shop was actually a donut shop tg at gad pies too.
Actually, Walmart is where Macy's was originally. Where Macy's is now, use to be where Emporium Capwell originated. Hilltop Mall opened in 1976 and my uncle worked in the Men's department at Emporium Capwell back then.
Damn, I could not remember for the life of me what Walmart used to be. Do you remember when the Walmart opened? I know it's less than 20 years old.
@@ecor150 2007. The old Macy's was empty for almost 10 years before Walmart moved in.
The “restaurant of some kind near the doors” that’s gone was “Sweet River.”
Nothing of any remote quality lasts in that area. Total dump. It’s why they bailed on the redevelopment.
You'd think that at least ONE other person would be at the mall.
it's pretty quiet in there in the morning. check out my video where i go at night and you'll see there are more people in the evening, although it's certainly not a crowd.
If you had looked closely to the restaurant you saw then you can see a ad for a mc latte
I am surprised there are no kiosks in the open space for phone repair. It's easy enough to set up a one man shop to fix cracked screens, batteries, etc. plus sell cases, charges, adapters, back up devices, etc.
The Walmart used to be a Capwell's, which changed to Emporium-Capwell and then The Emporium. They were bought by Federated, Macy's parent company in 95-96. They ran two Macy's stores for a bit, like Stoneridge and Sunvalley do now, but then abandoned it for a while before Walmart came in about ten years ago. Oh, the space next to the closed-off second floor entrance of Walmart was a Burger King up until maybe the start of 2017.
oh yeah, burger king! i had totally forgotten. youve got some great info here. it also sometimes blows my mind to think about the emporium still existing up through the mid to late 90s
Actually, Walmart is where Macy's was originally. Where Macy's is now, use to be where Emporium Capwell originated. Hilltop Mall opened in 1976 and my uncle worked in the Men's department at Emporium Capwell back then.
@@TheVintageSpacesChannel I was born in 89, but I still have a lot of fond memories of going to the Emporium in downtown SF. Even as a little kid I was sad when it closed.
This was a great mall in the 1980's, skating rink, Lord Byron's pizza, among others, packed on the weekends.
That pie place used to be a McDonald's
This is my childhood in the 2000’s I remember there was a McDonald’s and Burger King 👑 🍔 🍟 and some stories I remember but know they making this one Macy’s or jcpenny store into a 99 ranch supermarket.
The bathroom might be busier.
That mall used to be the shit, now is just dead
Interesting video. Thanks.
This mall used to have a movie theater and all types of koo shit
Your voice is so soothing.
The last time is was in that mall was 2000, and it looked sad then. Now the place just looks pathetic.
Hilltop was great until the early '90s. Then after some fights, it got a reputation for being a not-so-safe place to go, and the life was sucked out.
Torn Down
Hmm no. It hasn't been torn down yet.
I have been there when I was two mouths old and I have pictures
Where did everybody go!!
Emporium Capwells was once where Walmart is.
Actually, Walmart is where Macy's was originally. Where Macy's is now, use to be where Emporium Capwell originated. Hilltop Mall opened in 1976 and my uncle worked in the Men's department at Emporium Capwell back then.
Do a follow up after the remodel in 2019
i will. i originally thought the remodel would be in 2018, so recently i shot some nighttime footage there thinking it would be the last chance. i'll post that soon.
The remodel in 2021 is exciting: all entrances boarded up, Macy's and all anchors except WalMart abandoned, vines growing over the theatre/24 Hour Finess side of the structure, parking lots abandoned except for a large amount of Amazon and other logistics vehicles parked in two sides of the mall lots.
Everybody goes to sun valley mall
I use go payless n foot locker n food court n movie theater n all store n take bus from there
What is the song at 3:20? Please thank you
oooh good question. i'll try to find it but it was so long ago i'm not sure if i still have the individual files.
@@TheVintageSpacesChannel thank you very much
Can you check out New Park Mall?
❎. I think the only vender now is Walmart. 04-29-21
The consumer age
The rents were so outragous
It priced itself out of business.
I wonder if that was on purpose
Why?
Talk of redevelopment
🤺💐
The Mall killed Kmart. Now Amazon killed the Mall 🤣
Would appreciate if you guys can describe the smell. Do they use air freshners, does it smell like cinnamon buns, stale, new cloths, leather, salon chemicals, or pine sol cleaner. That will add to the experience for us!!!
It actually smells like it has a mildew problem. Lots of yellowing on the white parts of the upper level - probably leakage from deferred maintenance.
Do you remember the name of the ice cream shop in the corner ?
need to play Tom & Jerry - maximum style- nasty jungle remix 1994
You should do serramonte in Daly City.
it's on the to-do list!
Scott E LOL
Scott E its packed there
Traffic af in and around the entire mall.
Y? Serramonte is not even close to being a dead mall. One of the few thriving malls actuslly.
i live near that mall 30minsaway
you should go check it out soon, if you want. they are going to drastically remodel it in the coming year or two.
AMAZON SQUEEZING OUT COMPETITION?
Have you heard of video stabilization???
yes, i have.
Do you know how to use it???
can you point to parts of this video that are detrimental or unwatchable without it? i'm always looking to improve, but with the equipment and resources i have, stabilizing interior shots with low light levels will just cause blurring and a heavily cropped image. i'd rather leave it as is.
But Walmart is hella pack
Hilltop Mall Sucks!!!!! When you have a church in your mall believe thats a sign things are going downhill. That Steak and Potato is the only reason I go to this mall
Wait a church
It was never a church. Dude got it wrong. Grew up going there & never saw a church.
Liked n Subbd your channel!
Pizza pie :p