Thanks to MyHeritage for sponsoring a portion of this video. Buy a DNA kit here: bit.ly/TheProperPeople and use the coupon code PROPERPEOPLE for free shipping and a 30 day free trial for their family research subscription. Check out more old photos and videos of this mall from when it was operational! th-cam.com/video/1Nu0YkkKJlk/w-d-xo.html
Just last year the barnes and noble was still open. I live like 4 minutes from this and my wife went here all the time as a kid. They are in the process of starting to tear it all down and develop something new here, but i forgot the details.
As a Columbia resident, you use to be able to walk through the entire thing until 2019. Barnes and Noble left in December in 2023 and the whole place is now being demolished. When my wife and I were bored we’d walk through it for the vibes on Friday nights
My husband, a welder, welded up the big marquee at the entrance. The company, Lexco Sales and Engineering has been gone since 2005. My husband retired at that time. He talked much about the round design and all the struts needed. He's been gone for 8 years now. He would have loved to see this.
Aw, I'm sorry for your loss. May he be resting in peace. I imagine seeing his work immortalized on the internet like this no matter what they do to the physical version must be something wonderful. A permanent way to look back on it.
This video helped heal me. I used to work in those cubicles for four years when it was pwc/vbo. It was for medical billing by the way. The way you guys talked about how awful it must have been and how we weren’t allowed to see the light of day ALL of it, helped me so much. Because I was so depressed working there (I have so much I could tell you) and we were so gaslit with how decaying the building actually was. You guys actually passed my old cubicle believe it or not, 2337 in the blue side. (It has three sections filled with cubicles I had a cube in every area with how much we moved) anyways. Thank you for going in the office. Seeing it one last time, it helped heal parts of me it was really emotional to watch.
I went to a Baskin Robbins that I had gone to in my childhood back in the 1970s. The place originally had a very open ceiling, but they put a drop ceiling in it and it just made it depressing.
This keeps happening in dying malls too, even when they aren't converted to offices. I wonder if it's an attempt to reduce energy costs from heating and cooling? Either way, it detracts from the appeal of the space.
Yall have no idea how much this means to me! This is in my hometown and since my husband and I are in the military I have not been home in awhile. I remember going to this mall with my grandmother who is no longer alive. My father and I spent many hours at the Barnes and noble. I saw many movies there in college. It was emotional to see this. Thank you so much 🫡🥹
Same!!!! I just went to the b&n last Christmas to get gifts for my cousins kids. This is so so surreal!!! I screamed at the animatronic bear orchestra being uncovered 😭😭 they STILL MAKE ME JUST AS FREAKED OUT AS THEY DID WHEN I WAS A KID!!!
My husband, a welder, welded up the big marquee at the entrance. The company, Lexco Sales and Engineering has been gone since 2005. My husband retired at that time. He talked much about the round design and all the struts needed. He's been gone for 8 years now. He would have loved to see this.
Mate that intro was probably an absolute pain in the ass but the result is spectacular. Bryan and Michael lots of appreciation for your dedication to content,from Australia
@@swil893 honestly I’d like to explore the places USA has buried away, haha. In Australia we really don’t have anything too exciting or noteworthy that’s “abandon” and fun to explore 🤣😅
Watching these is like watching someone walk through a lost fragment of memory in your mind from your youth or childhood. A memory that's decaying, going to be gone soon, maybe to free up space for a new memory or just gone as you get older and your mind is decaying. A memory that started out long ago where you were there in a moment, lots of people around, hustle-n-bustle, maybe you were excited to be there to buy something. But, now, you can't quite remember. You just remember the shape of the place. You don't remember the people, or why you were there. You just know that you were there at some point. Can barely make out the detail. The memory is falling apart, and it's better to let it die than to dwell on how hollow it feels now.
It's just terrifying to think in all those memories that get vanished with time and age. Those simple details, words, thoughts that once happened and then no longer can be recalled.
I have to be in the right mood to watch these because the emptiness of such once lively & occupied places reminds me of being at a funeral. It's this sadness at what has been lost to time.
@@ttintagel I'm more of a 90s kids but we still hung out at malls. I know it's just progress & how things change with time but there's just something about all that empty space & all the energy that went into creating it that isn't there anymore.
People had lives here, I just imagine the employees coming in hating their lives. The people walking by the stores wanting something they'll never buy. Celebrating a special occasion at the buffet all these memories that energy of 1000's of people's life's now still in quiet
I could literally cry. It's like all of my hopes for seeing everything about this mall have finally been answered! It's been over a decade since I first discovered this place and I've been extremely intrigued about it ever since. I never thought I'd get to see anything of the original food court (either vintage photos or what it looks like today), but you guys made the impossible come to fruition. Thank you so much! I thought no one would be able to top Sal's video back in 2020, but this is the true ultimate Richland Fashion Mall adventure. You guys covered every nook and cranny of this place. I can't thank you enough! This feels like a proper complete farewell to this extremely interesting, yet cursed piece of Columbia, SC retail history.
As a columbia resident (born and raised) I felt a great deal of emotion watching this as well. Especially since I took footage of it being torn down while in the parking lot of my dogs vet clinic that’s across from it 😢
It's interesting to see the rate at which a complex deteriorates once abandoned. It gives you an idea of how expensive and time consuming it would be to maintain such a huge complex for decades while it is open. Locating leaks, roof repairs, painting, etc. I imagine that's why the a/c systems are left on 24/7 to reduce the amount of moisture within the complex and prevent mold and mildew building up. Great video!
The building maintenance costs of malls makes store leases too expensive. With SC's hot summers air conditioning alone would kill you with all the glass letting the warming sun in.
I used to walk with my grandparents around the mall and we would get to go to the bottom floor to dollar tree and get the grab bags. Good memories at that place. Makes me miss my grandfather a lot.
The animatronic bears were a whole little orchestra they would put out at Christmas and they would play like every 30 min, and each cycle was a good length of time.
My mom and I loved Richland Fashion Mall! We were at the opening. The old open concourse mall was Richland Mall and it had JB White, Tapps and S&S cafeteria along with other local stores. RF mall had Bon Whit Teller(they lasted 3yrs then were replaced by Dillards, JB White and Persian as anchors. We felt so fancy shopping there. I hope they can restart demolition soon. They had a bad fire a week ago. Thanks for the video and memories
I’ve lived in Columbia since 2016 and remember walking through this mall before they closed most of it off to the public and before it got so vandalized. I’m glad y’all came and documented it before they demolished it. Loved seeing the areas I’ve hadn’t seen before!
It is so incredibly surreal to see the mall across the street from your high school that housed your best study spaces explored on the internet with over 200,000 viewers. They started tearing it down about a year ago and have taken about half of it by now it is so odd.
For those who don't know. Richland Fashion Mall is now mostly torn down. I live in the area and drive by it everyday. It's being torn down and being replaced with a mixed used complex of Shopping and Apartments.
It's probably what the did down here in Florida.. tore down a mall and built one of them drive malls, got a parking lot but there's no big mall like this. You'd have to walk across the street to see the other building or if you can get a parking spot in front of the place you want to see.
Basically they are tearing down the mall to put in another structure for stores that will be similar to the original open mall feeling back when s&s cafeteria was there. Crazy how it comes full circle.
I think I'm running around in the back ground with my brothers in part of that Intro no joke!!! Holy!!!!!! That was Our Best Memories in that mall! Skål🍻 Brother! Thank you!
@@My_Random_Brainamen. Sort of a helpless calm, like when you sprint all the way out to the road, & look both ways but realize they're gone, you're alone. they *actually left without you* Like "welp, might as well look around while I wait to die" type of calm.
I am from columbia/forest acres and this video brought back so much nostalgia. I grew up going to richland fashion mall for so many different reasons. The christmas bears were definitely robotic and they would put them out every holiday season and they’d give little christmas carol performances, there were chairs set up and everything. I saw it as it became abandoned, as more and more of the mall was closed off to the public. And now it’s going to be torn down. Thank you for documenting such a niche place, I’ll be watching this video from time to time for the pure nostalgia. Awesome that you caught it on video before they started tearing it down!!
I used to frequent that mall at least once a month in the 90s and 00s. The Barnes and Noble, a sports memorabilia store that had Yu-Gi-Oh tournaments in the back. So many memories. It's sad to see it now.
I have been watching y'alls videos religiously for years, and am always in awe with the level of detail and albeit charm put into these videos. But the icing on the cake for me will always be the music. I dont know where y'all find it or its original, but it never fails to always meet the atmosphere of every location. Kudos on another fantastic piece of abandonment.
My wife works across the road from the now almost completely demoed mall. She said that when the work started, people asked if they could park in her work establishment's parking lot, just to observe the mall being tore down. That makes me think that they had alot of memories there...or they just found destruction of the building interesting. Back when Barns And Noble was in operation there, we walked in and looked around, eventually making our way to the back of the store with this glass wall, and metal door type thing. I recall the smell at that door not being very pleasant. I also remember there being 2 or 3 cars being on the other side (mall side of course) of the glass wall. They looked like dirt track cars to me. I wonder what happened to them? 🤔...probably junked. Any any rate, I never went into this mall (as far as i can remember)...other than the time i went into the book store with my wife. I always ended up Columbiana Mall, off Harbison. Richland Mall seemed a bit more classier to me. More sophisticated, due to ceiling designs, lighting arrangements, and all the glass for skylights, and certain entrance points from the roof top parking. I bet that food court with the glass walls and ceiling was LEGIT back in the malls prime. Certainly something to experience. But...I tell you one thing. That call center was DEPRESSING. It's a textbook example of what a call center would look like. Cubicles everywhere. Not a window in sight. Stereotypical office lighting. RIP to the mall. But not that call center 😅.
The old food court was so much better. It also had an arcade. Looking back it really did feel like the beginning of the end when they made those changes. Also, you are correct in that it was very awkward having to go through Belk to get to the other side of the mall.
Always find the Mall Management, Maintenance/Janitorial and Security offices. Sometimes you can find some interesting things there in regards to the Malls history.
So glad you did a video on this place, grew up going to this mall as a child living only 5 minutes away, and even spent days hanging out in the interior after it was mostly abandoned. As a student at the high school across the street from this place, it’s a huge part of where I spent my time with friends, so cool someone could capture and immortalize the interior of this place.
The locked room in the VZ call center with the Hazardous markings would have been a large UPS location to supply backup power to the call floor. Having a call center go down on customers creates more issues for customer perception so it is cheaper to power the call floor itself.
The numbers on the hazard diamond match one for sulfuric acid, per an MSDS for sealed lead acid batteries - the type used in a typical UPS system - so I'd say that tracks.
I worked at VZ at the center in Elgin. We did have an electrical room that had to be checked several times daily. There were call centers all over the country, so it wasn't that big of a deal to close due to no power.
I’ve always been such a big fan of this mall’s beautiful and obscure architecture, even in its decrepit state I still used to visit. Seeing this video makes me so happy, I never expected to see full coverage of the place! I was personally never able to experience the first food court, but my parents had, and always told me about how nice it was. Thank you for documenting this, it feels like the perfect closure to the mall’s present demolition.
This is soooo nostalgic for me. No lie, I used to set up Christmas decorations each year in that mall. We set up that animatronic bear concert band each fall, and set up a stage over that fountain area by the elevator that had a fireplace, and some other house type things. And we'd fill up the outsides of the fountain with white Styrofoam popcorn to simulate snow. I used to have a blast climbing up the outside of the elevator to hang wreaths. Seeing how it has deteriorated over the years has been kinda sad and crazy! Oh, and don't ask me how many busted tiles I helped replace throughout that mall. Haha Thanks for the video!
This is what gets me about videos like this. I always imagine how many people knew what was behind that door or how someone would replace the lightbulbs. Must have been super weird watching this video and having all the memories you have.
It reminds me of a word I first learned from another urban explorer, Jon Revelle -- obsolescence. We build these huge structures with the idea that they will last forever or at least for an age, but they fall into disuse and quickly become irrelevant. It's a clear lesson about the passage of time and the utter temporariness of everything.
Its funny, cause we still have dozens of big malls here where I live, dating back to the 70's, and they just keep on renovating them for the times. We're probably still the mall capital per capita of people, in the world, even 20 years later.😅
I have lived in columbia sc since 1985. I have worked, shopped, and hung out in this mall. I remember the old food court. It was depressing to see that we lost that beautiful, big, bright food court for such a horrific office space. Thanks so much for covering this! My husband and i were saying how much we hoped yall would!
Hard to believe the theater was still in operation just a few months before this video. I actually live not far from this mall, and it's sad to see how bad of a shape it's in.
How long is a few months? It seems so decrepit for that length of time, that's really shocking it got to that state so quickly but I suppose if you leave somewhere with moisture, air and time it doesn't take long for mould to grow like that.
Yeah I haven’t been in the mall for a few years but it is shocking to see it now or at least when this was filmed. LensCrafters was in there just a few years ago
@combatwombat2134 not even 6 months ago, there was an operational Barnes and Noble, the only one for over half an hour's drive on a good day. Now they've moved about 5 miles down the road to a completely different shopping center.
I live right around the corner and have seen every inch of this abandoned mall. I’m so happy to finally see coverage of this place since it’s been so unknown. There was a fire there a few days ago during demolition, and it’s so sad to see it go but I’m hopeful that what’s to come is actually good
The curtain in front of the movie screen used to be the norm. All movie theaters used to do it. It would split down the middle and pull back to both sides or it would raise up into the ceiling. I don't know why or when they stopped doing it but I remember it well from being a kid in the 80s. I also remember there being just curtains on the edges and they would be in one spot for the previews then when the movie started they would pull back further. And then the curtains just went away completely.
More equipment to maintain lol. Honest answer. Cost cuts, probably. Many theaters run very low margins, and they're already relying on that $10 popcorn.
I live right next to this mall, so cool to see this video. It was so cool seeing all the old shops I used to go to on the weekends. Sadly its almost all torn down now, being replaced with a new outdoor park area and a stage for small concert venues (and also an apartment complex and grocery stores which they tried to hide)
Much more than the primary colors and neon of stranger things, this sort of bluish green and bright brass with the soft pink accents is what I think of when I remember 80s design. Cool that you got to document it!
Wow, you guys! That intro was magic. I had so many memories come up when watching that, even though I've never stood foot into that building before. The classic shades of pink, teal and gold combo! I can only imagine how regal everything would have looked with the lighting. Its bittersweet to think about how the 80's-00's used to be so community based. Holidays, celebrations, fashion shows, time capsules, you name it; I even remember entering every colouring contests I could get my hands on when I was a kid... and for it to slowly fall apart and have it filled with cubicles, florescent lighting, covered windows and skylights creating a depressing grey abyss. Its heartbreaking... and makes you think...
As someone who shopped in that mall from the time it opened to the time it closed, Barnes and Noble shopping was odd with the dead mall all around it. But it was what it was. Thanks for filming this!
I thought this looked familiar! My wife and I lived in Columbia, SC for 6 months in 2019. We visited here when there was just a few stores open still. Crazy how much more rundown it looks now. Excited to watch this whole video!
It was a huge downgrade going from that one to the new one. Most people hated the changes and kind of knew that it was the beginning of the end for the mall
It was. I grew up with this mall in the early 90s. I think the last time I went to the theater there was 2015 or 16. and I went to Belk several times before they closed. The original food court, for me as a kid, was fantastic. There was a really great sit-down German restaurant. All of the mobile sculptures hanging from the ceiling going at once in the skylight area were so cool.
This is the video I've waited for from you guys. I have so many memories of this mall. I grew up going, and have made several nostalgia-driven visits in the last few years before it finally closed for good. It's sad to see it in a state of disrepair and now being demolished, but I'm glad that it has been documented for everyone to see. Thank you for the video.
Wow, that cubicle hell with the cliche motivational quotes all over the walls - what a depressing place to show up to every day. "Cubicle 2333, why aren't you at your post?!!"
I can practically picture that office being active, the low talking sounds, phones ringing, and the overall feeling of tension and depression. Is it 5:00 yet? Oh, it's only 2:54, oh well it's break soon at least.
As always, I greatly appreciate you guys' dedication and care in documenting these abandoned spaces. I also worry intensely about the condition of your lungs with all the mold and mildew exposure.
Very cool intro! One of my favorite things that you guys do is tell the history of the places you explore, and that took it up a notch! I also had to look into that time capsule and luckily it sounds like it will be reburied in the park that will be built in that area.
I live near here! This is my mall! I was last here in 2022, and it's facinating to see how fast things decay in just 2 years. They stopped actively maintaining the place a few years before covid, like they cleaned things and kept the elevator working but when lights went out they'd wait to put a new one in for months. Covid was just the nail in the coffin. The china max you saw, I don't remember ever being open, so it must've closed down before 2011 when I first visited. You should have tried using the elevator, the bell makes the most forlorn ding. I never knew the display cases near the front used to be stores, so much space back there. That hazard diamond you saw, if it is to be believed, means "extreme danger: health hazard", and based on the rest of the building, probably black mold. Be glad you couldn't open the door. Those verizon offices are straight up just the backrooms. That mold in dillards looks like its dissolving the mall. Pretty sad, and also understandable why they've decided to just demolish the whole thing. Thank you for this video.
I have a vague memory of eating at the China Max in high school. It must have been freshman year bc I graduated in 2015. It was the only place open, super depressing! Worst Chinese food I've ever had.
As a young chap in the 60's, the closest thing to a "mall" then was the Sears & Roebuck Dept. store. They sold everything from eye glasses to Ted William's shotguns and rifles. You could even pay your light and phone bill while you were there. My dad was a minister and thusly we moved around a good bit. In the early 70's, he pastored a church in Livonia MI. They had an actual Mall there. Their "anchor" stores were, of course, a large Sears and a smaller J.C Penney. What fascinated my, 11 or 12 year old self, were all of the smaller stores that was in between them, under one roof.
My first memory is of my parents holding my hands and walking me through a Sears to go have my Christmas picture taken. This would have been in 1995 or 1996. I also remember going with my Dad to get his tires fixed at the Sears auto center. Sad to think about how it isn’t around anymore.
Damn, it really became just the backrooms after barnes and noble left, nothing else left to redeem it. I remember going there every once in a while to spend time with family and then going to the Moe's across the street. Edit : seeing the theater made me cry. I remember seeing some animated movie as a kid when i was there. That ugly ramp, the neon lights. Its actually surreal.
I visited this mall in 2018, my wife needed to visit a glasses store. It was dark and mostly abandoned already. Funny coincidence about your sponsor, we also used MyHeritageDNA tests that year to see our own heritage. It was interesting and we've enjoyed the conversations that resulted from it. Actually, I think I can give this mall credit for me eventually finding your channel. I was intrigued by it and started watching Dan Bell's dead mall videos. That linked my youtube to recommend The Proper People.
Nice! Live 5 mins from this mall in Columbia. Used to frequent this place regularly in the early 90s when it was in its prime. After most of the anchors closed they chopped it up and turned a large part into office space, been going down hill slowly after that. Sad to see it finally go.
This really hits me in the feels considering my own local mall, the Charleston Town Center mall in Charleston WV, has been being slowly demolished. The core of the mall is still there but the two anchor stores of Sears and JC Penny were demolished with the latter in the last month.
This and the TRW video are my favourite so far. There is just something so enthralling about the 80’s. It feels like the world failed to become the place the 80’s promised.
I still remember going in there as a kid and singing for the Red Cross out front during Christmas! Wow man wow 🥹🥹That place had everything you could have wanted at one point…
Man, used to go to this mall for the theater and the Barnes and Nobles routinely when I was in college maybe 10 years ago. Would have loved to see this Mall in it's prime and not on the downward spiral.
We used to go there when we were in college too back in circa 06' It looked remarkably similar to what it looks like now. Sadly this is one of the few malls that never really had a heyday and struggled for it's whole life.
It's kind of sobering to me when I remember being a kid & enchanted by exploring the malls & never once thinking they wouldn't be there in twenty or thirty years. It makes me feel so old.
Your videos make me feel like I'm actually exploring with you. I love the energy of each video you produce. A lot of TH-camrs feel the need to add background music or commentary when touring places- understandably so- but the quietness of your videos greatly enhances the atmosphere. Huge fan!!!
I’ve been following you guys for many years , seeing your channel grow in professionalism and cinematography is amazing. Your knowledge of the places you explore is fabulous. Most importantly your respect that you have for the places you visit. Keep up the awesome work , be safe .
I live next to a mall that is alwyas changing - office space, empty stores, shifting food court, ever-changing stores - feels like the beginning of the end. I enjoy your videos but I find myself feeling sadly nostalgic for my youth when watching you wander an abandoned mall
My dad used too work there when he was younger, sometimes we go too the Barnes and Nobels still attached. It’s so uncanny looking through the windows into the mall, seeing how dark and empty it is. I’ve always wanted too explore it and see what was left behind, so this was super cool. Also pretty much the only thing South Carolina has that’s cool other than the beaches lol
If I'm not mistaken, Parisian was mostly exclusive to the Southeast, as their stores were all over the Atlanta area when I was little. The reason you've never heard of them is because they were bought out by Belk in 2006, as you see their logos in the beginning of this video. The childrens' area at 5:15 was something that most if not all their stores had. I remember visiting the one in Douglasville, GA when I was about five or six years old, there was an area for two to sit down and play some good ol' Double Dash while waiting for their parents to shop...so naturally, my sisters rush over to the GCN controllers on the floor, and I'm stuck watching them race around Yoshi Circuit, and shouting "C'MON, GIMME A TURN!"...good times indeed.
This was really fun to watch, the layout and build of this mall is almost identical to a mall local to me that is still doing well but at any point could fall into the death spiral so many malls have done. Great video.
The nice light buzzing of lights, the blank white walls in areas, you're like 2 steps from a liminal space. Also, I'm gonna count that messed up Gingerbread man as a a tally for Christmas decorations yall normally look for haha.
I visited this mall when it was in operation and so much was blocked off and the few stores were small and there were a lot of local teens just hanging around.
I first came to Columbia in late 2019 and was taken to the mall. At that time Belk and Barnes & Noble were still open, with one or two things - the children’s theater, maybe a smoke shop - open on the interior. The concourse was still open then, with mall walkers and security around. At that time, the elevator in the new food court still worked, albeit quite shakily. The next time I went back after the pandemic the concourse was closed off. I went to that Barnes and noble once before it moved, and saw a movie in the theater in early 2021 I want to say. My friend and I walked into the lobby with no one else around but one employee at the counter. It looked almost exactly like it does here and we couldn’t shake the feeling we had walked through a portal into hell. It was just so eerie. The employee made sure to tell us if we ever wanted a theater completely to ourselves, this was the place (she was sort of weird about it tbh). I’m sad to see it go. Obviously the space will be better used for the redevelopment, but it was sort of an icon of the area. All the teenagers up to no good went there, and it was nice to be able to go to that Belk without fighting the traffic to Harbison in Irmo. Thanks for documenting it as I will remember it.
this is actually so crazy. lived in columbia for a long time. (im 19) and spent a lot of time in this mall. mostly going to barnes and nobles and belk with friends. we were all super bummed to hear about the demolition and losing barnes and nobles(its been relocated so we’re not as depressed) its crazy to see the parts we werent able to explore and seeing the true condition that it was in 😢. apparently my sibling went into some of these parts and would mess around trying to avoid the cops that would be looking out for trespassers. lots of fun times here and its missed greatly
My cousin & I went there back in 2019 to watch a movie at the theater. It was sooooo eerily quiet as we made our way up to the theater. I was like “why tf are we here?!” 😂 We ended up getting locked out (bc she thought it was a great idea to park at the front of the mall). So one of the workers at the theatre had to drive us back down to get to the car. It was even creepier by nightfall. It’s an experience that I’ll never forget!
This was before DIY mechanical keyboards were a thing. 12:03 That dead space is not likely because they weren't expecting big crowds. Malls of that era were packed. Most likely the tables were removed and sold/stored as the place was shutting down.
We used hangout in here all the time as kids, the entrance to parisians from the parking lot used to be open. We found a bunch of photos from a office Christmas party inside
You guys are always stretching it a bit - I appreciated the use of the original promo, slipping right into your intro. Nice. As a former mall rat, I was surprised by the rooftop parking and that a mall of that size had unknown anchor tenants. This was a great way to kick off the weekend, thanks!
@@andrewwhite5194 They're probably referring to Bonwit Teller and Parisian. No one in the South ever heard of Bonwit. Parisian was unfamiliar to most people outside of Alabama before the 90s and Dillard's was unfamiliar to the Southeast before the 90s. J.B. White (and later Belk) was the figurative AND literal centerpiece of this mall and the only department store that was well known in the state at the time. If it wasn't for that store, this mall would've never seen even the small ounce of success it ever saw.
I think the bears might be Leonard Bearstein’s Animatronic Orchestra. A few videos on YT show it pretty well and it looks similar or could be an older version perhaps.
There’s a large mall in Milwaukee Wisconsin my family always visited when we traveled to Milwaukee. It had a glass elevator and some other unique structures. The last time we visited about three years ago, most of the building was under construction and closed off. I think there was a sole Walgreens open for business. It was so odd.
As someone who suffered from mold toxicity this video was extremely triggering! Mold will wreak havoc on your health even if only exposed for a short amount of time. You guys should wear protective gear, it can take years to recover from mold toxicity.
Nice job! Lived in Columbia more than 30 years....big mall, hated to see it go. Love the theater and the giant escalators. Learn to ride a motorcycle on the parking roof, dodging all those ducts and vents that were around like an obstacle course. It was sad to see it go, but I've been seeing businesses leaving for more than a decade. Had a job out there working for Dillard's once, until they left.
The bears were part of the Leonard beartsein symphony orchestra. They had arm, mouth, and head movements, they performed at the Milwaukee grand avenue mall from 1999-2017. I hope this was helpful.
I lived near here throughout the '90s and in the early '00s. Richland Fashion Mall felt like a big, open, bright, brass & glass crystal palace and was one of the two main malls in Columbia. The movie theater on the top was the main spot we saw every new release up to the Recession. The Harbison area far out of town began expanding in the late '90s and by the '00s had quadrupled in size, drawing lots of the shopping traffic from Columbia Mall, Dutch Square, and Richland Fashion. I love seeing it memorialized and appreciated here.
Very neat video guys, and excellent job on the intro and the audio, I thought both the music and effects were very fitting for an 80's mall. I bet that chemical sign in the callcenter was likely a door leading to their server type room and had something to do with a battery backup and/or fire suppresion system for said room.
![[LIVE] : ONE ลุมพินี 88 | คู่เอก "ป้อมเพชร vs อัสลามจอน"](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/1ZqTVVbMgbo/mqdefault.jpg)
Thanks to MyHeritage for sponsoring a portion of this video. Buy a DNA kit here: bit.ly/TheProperPeople and use the coupon code PROPERPEOPLE for free shipping and a 30 day free trial for their family research subscription.
Check out more old photos and videos of this mall from when it was operational! th-cam.com/video/1Nu0YkkKJlk/w-d-xo.html
I don’t need this
they'll more than likely be hacked and data will be leaked as 23andme still hasn't recovered since they got hacked
@heyitsC1 because I can?
Sad what this current guy in charge in the USA is doing to Jews. I hope people wake up and vote red to protect the future is Jews.
@heyitsC1 ok?
It's so weird seeing things like "wifi" and "like us on facebook" in a building that is starting to rot and fall apart due to being abandoned.
Just last year the barnes and noble was still open. I live like 4 minutes from this and my wife went here all the time as a kid. They are in the process of starting to tear it all down and develop something new here, but i forgot the details.
Hopefully Facebook is right behind them lol
@@MSGsTreasureswow. Interesting.
@@MSGsTreasuresthe details were given at the end. Restaurants, apartments, supermarkets, and green space
@Scoobis925 yeah I watched the whole thing, jumped the gun a little lol
As a Columbia resident, you use to be able to walk through the entire thing until 2019. Barnes and Noble left in December in 2023 and the whole place is now being demolished. When my wife and I were bored we’d walk through it for the vibes on Friday nights
This! I used to do shows with the Columbia Children’s Theatre as late as 2015.
couple goals haha
I was literally about to comment about this mall being demolished. I remember going to this mall when I was a mall, especially when I was a kid.
I wish they wouldn’t demolish it but leave it as a legacy
Barns and Noble left this year
My husband, a welder, welded up the big marquee at the entrance. The company, Lexco Sales and Engineering has been gone since 2005. My husband retired at that time. He talked much about the round design and all the struts needed. He's been gone for 8 years now. He would have loved to see this.
Aw, I'm sorry for your loss. May he be resting in peace.
I imagine seeing his work immortalized on the internet like this no matter what they do to the physical version must be something wonderful. A permanent way to look back on it.
Aww rest in paradise he sounds like a sweetie ❤
This video helped heal me. I used to work in those cubicles for four years when it was pwc/vbo. It was for medical billing by the way. The way you guys talked about how awful it must have been and how we weren’t allowed to see the light of day ALL of it, helped me so much. Because I was so depressed working there (I have so much I could tell you) and we were so gaslit with how decaying the building actually was. You guys actually passed my old cubicle believe it or not, 2337 in the blue side. (It has three sections filled with cubicles I had a cube in every area with how much we moved) anyways. Thank you for going in the office. Seeing it one last time, it helped heal parts of me it was really emotional to watch.
I worked in a call center as well for around 8 years for IT, yah.. pretty soulless work.. glad you got out.
The fact that they went out of their way to cover up all those high ceilings and natural light in the converted office space makes it extra depressing
I went to a Baskin Robbins that I had gone to in my childhood back in the 1970s. The place originally had a very open ceiling, but they put a drop ceiling in it and it just made it depressing.
This keeps happening in dying malls too, even when they aren't converted to offices. I wonder if it's an attempt to reduce energy costs from heating and cooling? Either way, it detracts from the appeal of the space.
Cheaper to AC or heat. Profit over employees wellbeing always
@@bentucker2301 That's exactly why they did that
It's called capitalism, baby! Money above humanity, always. That's why I love the US 🌈 @@bentucker2301
Yall have no idea how much this means to me! This is in my hometown and since my husband and I are in the military I have not been home in awhile. I remember going to this mall with my grandmother who is no longer alive. My father and I spent many hours at the Barnes and noble. I saw many movies there in college. It was emotional to see this. Thank you so much 🫡🥹
And now it's mostly gone.. they started demolition in May 😢 I'm going to try to sneak over there and grab a chunk of something as a keepsake.
Same!!!! I just went to the b&n last Christmas to get gifts for my cousins kids. This is so so surreal!!! I screamed at the animatronic bear orchestra being uncovered 😭😭 they STILL MAKE ME JUST AS FREAKED OUT AS THEY DID WHEN I WAS A KID!!!
My husband, a welder, welded up the big marquee at the entrance. The company, Lexco Sales and Engineering has been gone since 2005. My husband retired at that time. He talked much about the round design and all the struts needed. He's been gone for 8 years now. He would have loved to see this.
Imagine the money spent to build this place! I know of a similar mall, and it is for sale for $5 million!?!?
Same!
Mate that intro was probably an absolute pain in the ass but the result is spectacular. Bryan and Michael lots of appreciation for your dedication to content,from Australia
It's cool that y'all, all the way across the pond, got to see something from my hometown. Love to Australia
@@timfreeman8656 aussie here, america has amazing abandon places to see. so jeloussss
@@Nes924 Not sure it's something to be proud of 😅
@@swil893 honestly I’d like to explore the places USA has buried away, haha. In Australia we really don’t have anything too exciting or noteworthy that’s “abandon” and fun to explore 🤣😅
If you guys get a chance to come to the USA, definitely check out the ghost towns too in the middle of nowhere
Watching these is like watching someone walk through a lost fragment of memory in your mind from your youth or childhood. A memory that's decaying, going to be gone soon, maybe to free up space for a new memory or just gone as you get older and your mind is decaying. A memory that started out long ago where you were there in a moment, lots of people around, hustle-n-bustle, maybe you were excited to be there to buy something. But, now, you can't quite remember. You just remember the shape of the place. You don't remember the people, or why you were there. You just know that you were there at some point. Can barely make out the detail. The memory is falling apart, and it's better to let it die than to dwell on how hollow it feels now.
This comment is beautiful.
wow I agree this comment is amazing
It's just terrifying to think in all those memories that get vanished with time and age. Those simple details, words, thoughts that once happened and then no longer can be recalled.
I have to be in the right mood to watch these because the emptiness of such once lively & occupied places reminds me of being at a funeral. It's this sadness at what has been lost to time.
Especially for an 80s kids like me; so many of my happy memories are at the mall!
@@ttintagel
I'm more of a 90s kids but we still hung out at malls. I know it's just progress & how things change with time but there's just something about all that empty space & all the energy that went into creating it that isn't there anymore.
I get the same feeling watching where they explore old abandoned once-beautiful homes.
People had lives here, I just imagine the employees coming in hating their lives. The people walking by the stores wanting something they'll never buy. Celebrating a special occasion at the buffet all these memories that energy of 1000's of people's life's now still in quiet
Well said. It breaks my heart to see this once beautiful and vibrant space look so ghastly and horrific.
I could literally cry. It's like all of my hopes for seeing everything about this mall have finally been answered! It's been over a decade since I first discovered this place and I've been extremely intrigued about it ever since. I never thought I'd get to see anything of the original food court (either vintage photos or what it looks like today), but you guys made the impossible come to fruition. Thank you so much! I thought no one would be able to top Sal's video back in 2020, but this is the true ultimate Richland Fashion Mall adventure. You guys covered every nook and cranny of this place. I can't thank you enough! This feels like a proper complete farewell to this extremely interesting, yet cursed piece of Columbia, SC retail history.
As a columbia resident (born and raised) I felt a great deal of emotion watching this as well. Especially since I took footage of it being torn down while in the parking lot of my dogs vet clinic that’s across from it 😢
It's interesting to see the rate at which a complex deteriorates once abandoned. It gives you an idea of how expensive and time consuming it would be to maintain such a huge complex for decades while it is open. Locating leaks, roof repairs, painting, etc.
I imagine that's why the a/c systems are left on 24/7 to reduce the amount of moisture within the complex and prevent mold and mildew building up.
Great video!
The building maintenance costs of malls makes store leases too expensive. With SC's hot summers air conditioning alone would kill you with all the glass letting the warming sun in.
This mall was falling apart before the closed, most malls are. Leaky roofs were the biggest killers of malls before they stared dying off.
I used to walk with my grandparents around the mall and we would get to go to the bottom floor to dollar tree and get the grab bags. Good memories at that place. Makes me miss my grandfather a lot.
The animatronic bears were a whole little orchestra they would put out at Christmas and they would play like every 30 min, and each cycle was a good length of time.
❤️
And now they look like 12 Nights of Christmas at Freddy's
I screamed when they uncovered those!!! WHAT MEMORIES!
I found them in a news article, looks like @TheProperPeople discovered The Leonard Bernstein Symphony Orchestra.
@@o0GreyKnight0o i knew it was a bear pun, but for the life of me I couldn’t remember which famous musician it was. Thank you!!!
42:42 This is very high risk for legionnaires disease. Be careful in these situations, that's a very old and clearly unmaintained chiller system.
They're not careful. You can hear how heavy they were breathing in the moldy JackSons buffet without masks or respiratory equipment 😂😢
They never wear respirators anymore man, it sucks
I've seen a few of these videos and I'm wondering why they don't take precautions for these sorts of things. Got to adventure safely.
@@ryatt1 YOLO
After surviving my last apartment, I am convinced I am immune to almost anything.
That intro was awesome!! 😄
FOR SURE!
This is why I LOVE THIS CHANNEL 🙏💯
it is epic!
I had a bunch of those panasonic green and black SVHS cassette tapes back in the day!
Best freaking intro off any video that I've seen in a good ol minute!!
My mom and I loved Richland Fashion Mall! We were at the opening. The old open concourse mall was Richland Mall and it had JB White, Tapps and S&S cafeteria along with other local stores. RF mall had Bon Whit Teller(they lasted 3yrs then were replaced by Dillards, JB White and Persian as anchors. We felt so fancy shopping there. I hope they can restart demolition soon. They had a bad fire a week ago. Thanks for the video and memories
I’ve lived in Columbia since 2016 and remember walking through this mall before they closed most of it off to the public and before it got so vandalized. I’m glad y’all came and documented it before they demolished it. Loved seeing the areas I’ve hadn’t seen before!
It is so incredibly surreal to see the mall across the street from your high school that housed your best study spaces explored on the internet with over 200,000 viewers. They started tearing it down about a year ago and have taken about half of it by now it is so odd.
Go Falcons 😂
For those who don't know. Richland Fashion Mall is now mostly torn down. I live in the area and drive by it everyday. It's being torn down and being replaced with a mixed used complex of Shopping and Apartments.
Do I know you?
I drove by it the other day. It's looking sad. I was 2 when this mall opened.
It's probably what the did down here in Florida.. tore down a mall and built one of them drive malls, got a parking lot but there's no big mall like this. You'd have to walk across the street to see the other building or if you can get a parking spot in front of the place you want to see.
Basically they are tearing down the mall to put in another structure for stores that will be similar to the original open mall feeling back when s&s cafeteria was there. Crazy how it comes full circle.
😂 So American it's funny! Mall life or van life? Both please! 😊
I think I'm running around in the back ground with my brothers in part of that Intro no joke!!! Holy!!!!!! That was Our Best Memories in that mall! Skål🍻 Brother! Thank you!
What timeline? Btw that is pretty cool to see yourself in an old video
VHS, light buzz sound, moist carpet.. welcome to the backroom
Yeah… I really like abandoned malls that just give off that vibe. It seems calming almost
@@My_Random_Brainamen.
Sort of a helpless calm, like when you sprint all the way out to the road, & look both ways but realize they're gone, you're alone.
they *actually left without you*
Like "welp, might as well look around while I wait to die" type of calm.
Why do backrooms always have that buzzing sound?
"huh weird I don't remember my basement having this hallway"
@@christiangonzales7429the ballast is what runs fluorescent lamps and commonly buzzes during operation
I am from columbia/forest acres and this video brought back so much nostalgia. I grew up going to richland fashion mall for so many different reasons. The christmas bears were definitely robotic and they would put them out every holiday season and they’d give little christmas carol performances, there were chairs set up and everything. I saw it as it became abandoned, as more and more of the mall was closed off to the public. And now it’s going to be torn down. Thank you for documenting such a niche place, I’ll be watching this video from time to time for the pure nostalgia. Awesome that you caught it on video before they started tearing it down!!
Used to do mold removals. When you guys walked into this area, my chest tightened a bit. I would recommend a respirator, bros. 42:00
I used to frequent that mall at least once a month in the 90s and 00s. The Barnes and Noble, a sports memorabilia store that had Yu-Gi-Oh tournaments in the back. So many memories. It's sad to see it now.
I have been watching y'alls videos religiously for years, and am always in awe with the level of detail and albeit charm put into these videos. But the icing on the cake for me will always be the music. I dont know where y'all find it or its original, but it never fails to always meet the atmosphere of every location. Kudos on another fantastic piece of abandonment.
My wife works across the road from the now almost completely demoed mall. She said that when the work started, people asked if they could park in her work establishment's parking lot, just to observe the mall being tore down. That makes me think that they had alot of memories there...or they just found destruction of the building interesting. Back when Barns And Noble was in operation there, we walked in and looked around, eventually making our way to the back of the store with this glass wall, and metal door type thing. I recall the smell at that door not being very pleasant. I also remember there being 2 or 3 cars being on the other side (mall side of course) of the glass wall. They looked like dirt track cars to me. I wonder what happened to them? 🤔...probably junked. Any any rate, I never went into this mall (as far as i can remember)...other than the time i went into the book store with my wife. I always ended up Columbiana Mall, off Harbison. Richland Mall seemed a bit more classier to me. More sophisticated, due to ceiling designs, lighting arrangements, and all the glass for skylights, and certain entrance points from the roof top parking. I bet that food court with the glass walls and ceiling was LEGIT back in the malls prime. Certainly something to experience. But...I tell you one thing. That call center was DEPRESSING. It's a textbook example of what a call center would look like. Cubicles everywhere. Not a window in sight. Stereotypical office lighting. RIP to the mall. But not that call center 😅.
The old food court was so much better. It also had an arcade. Looking back it really did feel like the beginning of the end when they made those changes. Also, you are correct in that it was very awkward having to go through Belk to get to the other side of the mall.
Always find the Mall Management, Maintenance/Janitorial and Security offices. Sometimes you can find some interesting things there in regards to the Malls history.
So glad you did a video on this place, grew up going to this mall as a child living only 5 minutes away, and even spent days hanging out in the interior after it was mostly abandoned. As a student at the high school across the street from this place, it’s a huge part of where I spent my time with friends, so cool someone could capture and immortalize the interior of this place.
The locked room in the VZ call center with the Hazardous markings would have been a large UPS location to supply backup power to the call floor. Having a call center go down on customers creates more issues for customer perception so it is cheaper to power the call floor itself.
The numbers on the hazard diamond match one for sulfuric acid, per an MSDS for sealed lead acid batteries - the type used in a typical UPS system - so I'd say that tracks.
I worked at VZ at the center in Elgin. We did have an electrical room that had to be checked several times daily. There were call centers all over the country, so it wasn't that big of a deal to close due to no power.
I’ve always been such a big fan of this mall’s beautiful and obscure architecture, even in its decrepit state I still used to visit. Seeing this video makes me so happy, I never expected to see full coverage of the place! I was personally never able to experience the first food court, but my parents had, and always told me about how nice it was. Thank you for documenting this, it feels like the perfect closure to the mall’s present demolition.
What a trip. Used to go here in high school for movies, Barnes and Nobles, and Christmas tree lighting each year. That was about 12 years ago now
This is soooo nostalgic for me. No lie, I used to set up Christmas decorations each year in that mall. We set up that animatronic bear concert band each fall, and set up a stage over that fountain area by the elevator that had a fireplace, and some other house type things. And we'd fill up the outsides of the fountain with white Styrofoam popcorn to simulate snow. I used to have a blast climbing up the outside of the elevator to hang wreaths. Seeing how it has deteriorated over the years has been kinda sad and crazy! Oh, and don't ask me how many busted tiles I helped replace throughout that mall. Haha Thanks for the video!
This is what gets me about videos like this. I always imagine how many people knew what was behind that door or how someone would replace the lightbulbs. Must have been super weird watching this video and having all the memories you have.
It reminds me of a word I first learned from another urban explorer, Jon Revelle -- obsolescence. We build these huge structures with the idea that they will last forever or at least for an age, but they fall into disuse and quickly become irrelevant. It's a clear lesson about the passage of time and the utter temporariness of everything.
Who knew the younger generations would be afraid to leave the apartment or house?
Its funny, cause we still have dozens of big malls here where I live, dating back to the 70's, and they just keep on renovating them for the times. We're probably still the mall capital per capita of people, in the world, even 20 years later.😅
?
I miss Dan Bell . You all are keeping this history going. Thank you.
Remember, everything is temporary if you give it enough time......
I have lived in columbia sc since 1985. I have worked, shopped, and hung out in this mall. I remember the old food court. It was depressing to see that we lost that beautiful, big, bright food court for such a horrific office space. Thanks so much for covering this! My husband and i were saying how much we hoped yall would!
Did they ever open the time capsle
Hard to believe the theater was still in operation just a few months before this video. I actually live not far from this mall, and it's sad to see how bad of a shape it's in.
How long is a few months? It seems so decrepit for that length of time, that's really shocking it got to that state so quickly but I suppose if you leave somewhere with moisture, air and time it doesn't take long for mould to grow like that.
Yeah I haven’t been in the mall for a few years but it is shocking to see it now or at least when this was filmed. LensCrafters was in there just a few years ago
@combatwombat2134 not even 6 months ago, there was an operational Barnes and Noble, the only one for over half an hour's drive on a good day. Now they've moved about 5 miles down the road to a completely different shopping center.
@@gmsloep Jesus... That's alarming. It really doesn't take long at all; that leaking water has really, really screwed the place up.
The theater went downhill quick after it closed!
I live right around the corner and have seen every inch of this abandoned mall. I’m so happy to finally see coverage of this place since it’s been so unknown. There was a fire there a few days ago during demolition, and it’s so sad to see it go but I’m hopeful that what’s to come is actually good
The curtain in front of the movie screen used to be the norm. All movie theaters used to do it. It would split down the middle and pull back to both sides or it would raise up into the ceiling. I don't know why or when they stopped doing it but I remember it well from being a kid in the 80s. I also remember there being just curtains on the edges and they would be in one spot for the previews then when the movie started they would pull back further. And then the curtains just went away completely.
More equipment to maintain lol. Honest answer. Cost cuts, probably. Many theaters run very low margins, and they're already relying on that $10 popcorn.
I had completely forgotten about the big curtain reveal.
I live right next to this mall, so cool to see this video. It was so cool seeing all the old shops I used to go to on the weekends. Sadly its almost all torn down now, being replaced with a new outdoor park area and a stage for small concert venues (and also an apartment complex and grocery stores which they tried to hide)
Much more than the primary colors and neon of stranger things, this sort of bluish green and bright brass with the soft pink accents is what I think of when I remember 80s design. Cool that you got to document it!
Agreed! Teal + light pink + brass is quintessential 80s in my mind, it was everywhere when I was growing up in the 90s.
Yeah it really peaked from 1987-1993.
Wow, you guys! That intro was magic. I had so many memories come up when watching that, even though I've never stood foot into that building before. The classic shades of pink, teal and gold combo! I can only imagine how regal everything would have looked with the lighting. Its bittersweet to think about how the 80's-00's used to be so community based. Holidays, celebrations, fashion shows, time capsules, you name it; I even remember entering every colouring contests I could get my hands on when I was a kid... and for it to slowly fall apart and have it filled with cubicles, florescent lighting, covered windows and skylights creating a depressing grey abyss. Its heartbreaking... and makes you think...
25:57 A chair just chillin' _and_ Christmas decorations in one spot.
As someone who shopped in that mall from the time it opened to the time it closed, Barnes and Noble shopping was odd with the dead mall all around it. But it was what it was. Thanks for filming this!
I thought this looked familiar! My wife and I lived in Columbia, SC for 6 months in 2019. We visited here when there was just a few stores open still. Crazy how much more rundown it looks now. Excited to watch this whole video!
Dan Bell vibes on the intro. Liminal spaces/backroom vibes in the offices spaces. Kane Pixels Oldest View vibes in the mall. Great explore.
That original food court looked nice
It was a huge downgrade going from that one to the new one. Most people hated the changes and kind of knew that it was the beginning of the end for the mall
@@alantherock225 If you want to breathe new life into a mall, downgrading things seems like a dumb way to go.
It was. I grew up with this mall in the early 90s. I think the last time I went to the theater there was 2015 or 16. and I went to Belk several times before they closed. The original food court, for me as a kid, was fantastic. There was a really great sit-down German restaurant. All of the mobile sculptures hanging from the ceiling going at once in the skylight area were so cool.
@@andrewwhite5194 There was an arcade at the original food court as well. That's what I missed the most as a kid.
I’ve been to that mall! I remember there only being a Barnes and noble and the elevator still worked!
This is the video I've waited for from you guys. I have so many memories of this mall. I grew up going, and have made several nostalgia-driven visits in the last few years before it finally closed for good. It's sad to see it in a state of disrepair and now being demolished, but I'm glad that it has been documented for everyone to see. Thank you for the video.
Malls were such a staple of my childhood and teenage years. It's incredible to watch them all just...fall down now.
Same
Wow, that cubicle hell with the cliche motivational quotes all over the walls - what a depressing place to show up to every day. "Cubicle 2333, why aren't you at your post?!!"
Why are you commenting on TH-cam videos? Where are your TPS reports?!!
You would have thought that office with the cubicles was run by Lumburgh.
There's no way it was one single call center with that many cubicles.
I can practically picture that office being active, the low talking sounds, phones ringing, and the overall feeling of tension and depression. Is it 5:00 yet? Oh, it's only 2:54, oh well it's break soon at least.
looks like something Budget Cuts VR would have gotten inspiration from or something....
As always, I greatly appreciate you guys' dedication and care in documenting these abandoned spaces. I also worry intensely about the condition of your lungs with all the mold and mildew exposure.
Very cool intro! One of my favorite things that you guys do is tell the history of the places you explore, and that took it up a notch! I also had to look into that time capsule and luckily it sounds like it will be reburied in the park that will be built in that area.
I live near here! This is my mall! I was last here in 2022, and it's facinating to see how fast things decay in just 2 years. They stopped actively maintaining the place a few years before covid, like they cleaned things and kept the elevator working but when lights went out they'd wait to put a new one in for months. Covid was just the nail in the coffin.
The china max you saw, I don't remember ever being open, so it must've closed down before 2011 when I first visited. You should have tried using the elevator, the bell makes the most forlorn ding. I never knew the display cases near the front used to be stores, so much space back there. That hazard diamond you saw, if it is to be believed, means "extreme danger: health hazard", and based on the rest of the building, probably black mold. Be glad you couldn't open the door. Those verizon offices are straight up just the backrooms. That mold in dillards looks like its dissolving the mall. Pretty sad, and also understandable why they've decided to just demolish the whole thing. Thank you for this video.
I have a vague memory of eating at the China Max in high school. It must have been freshman year bc I graduated in 2015. It was the only place open, super depressing! Worst Chinese food I've ever had.
Awesome to see a local exploration here in Columbia! Would love to see more SC explorations.
Surprised it closed because there ain't $_!t do do in Columbia.
As a young chap in the 60's, the closest thing to a "mall" then was the Sears & Roebuck Dept. store. They sold everything from eye glasses to Ted William's shotguns and rifles. You could even pay your light and phone bill while you were there. My dad was a minister and thusly we moved around a good bit. In the early 70's, he pastored a church in Livonia MI. They had an actual Mall there. Their "anchor" stores were, of course, a large Sears and a smaller J.C Penney. What fascinated my, 11 or 12 year old self, were all of the smaller stores that was in between them, under one roof.
My first memory is of my parents holding my hands and walking me through a Sears to go have my Christmas picture taken. This would have been in 1995 or 1996. I also remember going with my Dad to get his tires fixed at the Sears auto center. Sad to think about how it isn’t around anymore.
They dug up the time capsule and relocated it to a more, suitable location. IIRC, they are going to build a new community.
I thought the time capsule was a bit optimistic, given the circumstances, but at lest it was moved.
Damn, it really became just the backrooms after barnes and noble left, nothing else left to redeem it. I remember going there every once in a while to spend time with family and then going to the Moe's across the street.
Edit : seeing the theater made me cry. I remember seeing some animated movie as a kid when i was there. That ugly ramp, the neon lights. Its actually surreal.
I visited this mall in 2018, my wife needed to visit a glasses store. It was dark and mostly abandoned already. Funny coincidence about your sponsor, we also used MyHeritageDNA tests that year to see our own heritage. It was interesting and we've enjoyed the conversations that resulted from it.
Actually, I think I can give this mall credit for me eventually finding your channel. I was intrigued by it and started watching Dan Bell's dead mall videos. That linked my youtube to recommend The Proper People.
Ahhh i had no idea this mall closed. What a shame. I've been away from SC for so long. Thanks for preserving what was left of it at rhe time.
Nice! Live 5 mins from this mall in Columbia. Used to frequent this place regularly in the early 90s when it was in its prime.
After most of the anchors closed they chopped it up and turned a large part into office space, been going down hill slowly after that. Sad to see it finally go.
Used to got there and shop with my grandma back in the 90s. They started tearing it down a few months ago.
I went here as a teenager back in the day! Moved, decades later came back around 2013 and it was sad spooky. Much love Columbia.
I never miss an episode of 'The Proper People' You guys show so much history that everyone should see. It's truly amazing. Love your work.
This really hits me in the feels considering my own local mall, the Charleston Town Center mall in Charleston WV, has been being slowly demolished. The core of the mall is still there but the two anchor stores of Sears and JC Penny were demolished with the latter in the last month.
This and the TRW video are my favourite so far. There is just something so enthralling about the 80’s. It feels like the world failed to become the place the 80’s promised.
I USED TO GO TO THIS MALL! I CANT BELIEVE YOU CAME TO MY HOMETOWN!
I still remember going in there as a kid and singing for the Red Cross out front during Christmas! Wow man wow 🥹🥹That place had everything you could have wanted at one point…
Man, used to go to this mall for the theater and the Barnes and Nobles routinely when I was in college maybe 10 years ago. Would have loved to see this Mall in it's prime and not on the downward spiral.
We used to go there when we were in college too back in circa 06' It looked remarkably similar to what it looks like now. Sadly this is one of the few malls that never really had a heyday and struggled for it's whole life.
80's malls were awesome places to hang out in.
It's kind of sobering to me when I remember being a kid & enchanted by exploring the malls & never once thinking they wouldn't be there in twenty or thirty years. It makes me feel so old.
@@christophercatoe8841 It was actually pretty full in the 90s. I would definitely say it had a heyday...it just didn't last very long.
It was pretty full in the 90s when I went when I was little. I remember the Disney Store in there and I remember going to see Santa every December :)
Your videos make me feel like I'm actually exploring with you. I love the energy of each video you produce. A lot of TH-camrs feel the need to add background music or commentary when touring places- understandably so- but the quietness of your videos greatly enhances the atmosphere. Huge fan!!!
That was a sick transition from the intro to title theme
@@jakespeaks6095 transitions won't be the only sick thing, so will they
@@Foxfire_forty-nine Why?
@@AJ-vi4nl they don't wear masks or respirators when walking through all those moldy mildew areas
I’ve been following you guys for many years , seeing your channel grow in professionalism and cinematography is amazing. Your knowledge of the places you explore is fabulous. Most importantly your respect that you have for the places you visit. Keep up the awesome work , be safe .
I live next to a mall that is alwyas changing - office space, empty stores, shifting food court, ever-changing stores - feels like the beginning of the end. I enjoy your videos but I find myself feeling sadly nostalgic for my youth when watching you wander an abandoned mall
My dad used too work there when he was younger, sometimes we go too the Barnes and Nobels still attached. It’s so uncanny looking through the windows into the mall, seeing how dark and empty it is. I’ve always wanted too explore it and see what was left behind, so this was super cool. Also pretty much the only thing South Carolina has that’s cool other than the beaches lol
If I'm not mistaken, Parisian was mostly exclusive to the Southeast, as their stores were all over the Atlanta area when I was little. The reason you've never heard of them is because they were bought out by Belk in 2006, as you see their logos in the beginning of this video. The childrens' area at 5:15 was something that most if not all their stores had. I remember visiting the one in Douglasville, GA when I was about five or six years old, there was an area for two to sit down and play some good ol' Double Dash while waiting for their parents to shop...so naturally, my sisters rush over to the GCN controllers on the floor, and I'm stuck watching them race around Yoshi Circuit, and shouting "C'MON, GIMME A TURN!"...good times indeed.
Teal and pink with brass accents...classic 80's. Same decor in the mall where I used to live in the 80's. Awesome when new and popular. I miss it!
Your abandoned malls episodes are my favorites because I get the 80s nostalgia .. You really made my day
This was really fun to watch, the layout and build of this mall is almost identical to a mall local to me that is still doing well but at any point could fall into the death spiral so many malls have done. Great video.
The nice light buzzing of lights, the blank white walls in areas, you're like 2 steps from a liminal space.
Also, I'm gonna count that messed up Gingerbread man as a a tally for Christmas decorations yall normally look for haha.
I visited this mall when it was in operation and so much was blocked off and the few stores were small and there were a lot of local teens just hanging around.
I first came to Columbia in late 2019 and was taken to the mall. At that time Belk and Barnes & Noble were still open, with one or two things - the children’s theater, maybe a smoke shop - open on the interior. The concourse was still open then, with mall walkers and security around. At that time, the elevator in the new food court still worked, albeit quite shakily.
The next time I went back after the pandemic the concourse was closed off. I went to that Barnes and noble once before it moved, and saw a movie in the theater in early 2021 I want to say.
My friend and I walked into the lobby with no one else around but one employee at the counter. It looked almost exactly like it does here and we couldn’t shake the feeling we had walked through a portal into hell. It was just so eerie. The employee made sure to tell us if we ever wanted a theater completely to ourselves, this was the place (she was sort of weird about it tbh).
I’m sad to see it go. Obviously the space will be better used for the redevelopment, but it was sort of an icon of the area. All the teenagers up to no good went there, and it was nice to be able to go to that Belk without fighting the traffic to Harbison in Irmo. Thanks for documenting it as I will remember it.
this is actually so crazy. lived in columbia for a long time. (im 19) and spent a lot of time in this mall. mostly going to barnes and nobles and belk with friends. we were all super bummed to hear about the demolition and losing barnes and nobles(its been relocated so we’re not as depressed) its crazy to see the parts we werent able to explore and seeing the true condition that it was in 😢. apparently my sibling went into some of these parts and would mess around trying to avoid the cops that would be looking out for trespassers. lots of fun times here and its missed greatly
My cousin & I went there back in 2019 to watch a movie at the theater. It was sooooo eerily quiet as we made our way up to the theater. I was like “why tf are we here?!” 😂 We ended up getting locked out (bc she thought it was a great idea to park at the front of the mall). So one of the workers at the theatre had to drive us back down to get to the car. It was even creepier by nightfall. It’s an experience that I’ll never forget!
This gave me chills, but good chills
One thing I noticed whenever something gets repurposed for office space it closes not long after.
I used to go to that mall when I was a kid. It’s so strange to see it completely empty.!
This was before DIY mechanical keyboards were a thing. 12:03 That dead space is not likely because they weren't expecting big crowds. Malls of that era were packed. Most likely the tables were removed and sold/stored as the place was shutting down.
We used hangout in here all the time as kids, the entrance to parisians from the parking lot used to be open. We found a bunch of photos from a office Christmas party inside
You guys are always stretching it a bit - I appreciated the use of the original promo, slipping right into your intro. Nice. As a former mall rat, I was surprised by the rooftop parking and that a mall of that size had unknown anchor tenants. This was a great way to kick off the weekend, thanks!
What do you mean by stretching it a bit?
Those weren't really unknown department stores in the South... JB White's was really big, as was Dillards and Belk.
@@andrewwhite5194 They're probably referring to Bonwit Teller and Parisian. No one in the South ever heard of Bonwit. Parisian was unfamiliar to most people outside of Alabama before the 90s and Dillard's was unfamiliar to the Southeast before the 90s. J.B. White (and later Belk) was the figurative AND literal centerpiece of this mall and the only department store that was well known in the state at the time. If it wasn't for that store, this mall would've never seen even the small ounce of success it ever saw.
@@TheNewgreatlife Sure, but Parisian was common in the broader southeast in the 90s and 2000s
@@MrCarGuy Yes....hence why I said unfamiliar outside of Alabama BEFORE the 1990s.
What a stunning mall! Its such a shame to watch it stand still in time. Something very relaxing about this video ♡
I think the bears might be Leonard Bearstein’s Animatronic Orchestra. A few videos on YT show it pretty well and it looks similar or could be an older version perhaps.
There’s a large mall in Milwaukee Wisconsin my family always visited when we traveled to Milwaukee. It had a glass elevator and some other unique structures. The last time we visited about three years ago, most of the building was under construction and closed off. I think there was a sole Walgreens open for business. It was so odd.
As someone who suffered from mold toxicity this video was extremely triggering! Mold will wreak havoc on your health even if only exposed for a short amount of time. You guys should wear protective gear, it can take years to recover from mold toxicity.
Nice job! Lived in Columbia more than 30 years....big mall, hated to see it go. Love the theater and the giant escalators. Learn to ride a motorcycle on the parking roof, dodging all those ducts and vents that were around like an obstacle course. It was sad to see it go, but I've been seeing businesses leaving for more than a decade. Had a job out there working for Dillard's once, until they left.
The bears were part of the Leonard beartsein symphony orchestra. They had arm, mouth, and head movements, they performed at the Milwaukee grand avenue mall from 1999-2017. I hope this was helpful.
I lived near here throughout the '90s and in the early '00s. Richland Fashion Mall felt like a big, open, bright, brass & glass crystal palace and was one of the two main malls in Columbia. The movie theater on the top was the main spot we saw every new release up to the Recession. The Harbison area far out of town began expanding in the late '90s and by the '00s had quadrupled in size, drawing lots of the shopping traffic from Columbia Mall, Dutch Square, and Richland Fashion. I love seeing it memorialized and appreciated here.
Very neat video guys, and excellent job on the intro and the audio, I thought both the music and effects were very fitting for an 80's mall. I bet that chemical sign in the callcenter was likely a door leading to their server type room and had something to do with a battery backup and/or fire suppresion system for said room.
Awesome video as always Bryan and Michael. Y’all always do the most awesome story telling on each location y’all explore. Keep up the great work guys.
I live 10 minutes from here. I’ve always wondered, but I wonder no longer! Thanks for awesome upload PP!
I have a lot of memories at this mall. Thanks for covering it!