Another mall I used to visit as a child. I haven’t been in there in over 20 years and seeing the ceiling, the floor, the lights all brought back the memories. I remember having to throw my parent’s pocket change in the fountain. I also remember going to the Service Merchandise across from the mall. Its only a matter of time when we see these 70’s/80’s time capsules disappear forever. Thanks for another great video
Why did we do that? I used to do the same thing at Eastgate Mall. My mom and grandma must have thought I was being dumb but always gave me a penny or two.
As an 80s kid and 90s teen I remember the days of malls allowing smoking and restaurants having a smoking section as well and never understood after all the smoker's how these places still don't smell like cigarette smoke. If only time machines were real I'd go through all the second hand smoke again and run back to the 80s and early 90s. I'm now to the point where even seeing an open Sears in a mall is shocking and soon it'll be the same way with JCP. I know the economy, too many newer shopping options and to a small degree online hurt malls but after earlier this year what happened with reddits wallstreet bets and Gamestop I can't help but wonder when I hear of old retail dying like Sears, Bonton, JCP and sadly so many other's if hedge funders weren't part of what delivered the finishing blow to some?
You can always tell the malls that allowed it because of how yellow/brown the ceilings are...my local mall had a tobacco store that let people smoke inside it until the early 2000s. Eventually the smell dissipates but those yellow walls are kind of forever unfortunately
Like how you sing All by Myself from Eric Carmen at the beginning! Different for that movie theater having where it just says cinema and no other names attached to it on the outside. Pretty much generic looking and nothing fancy schmancy say like an AMC theater would have. Kinda miss how the early 70s design for theaters were plain and simple on the outside.
I was told that particular location was originally a “General Cinemas”. I agree-and it seems like none of them are standing anymore. Thank you for suffering through my mediocre singing!
You do such a great job with these. Also, I love to read the comments of the people who shopped or worked at these malls. Malls were such a central part of growing up in the seventies. It's just tragic that so many of them are dead or dying.
It is fortunate that you captured Upper Valley Mall on video now that Clark County Land Bank owns the property. It looks like they are doing their best to keep the Mall maintained and operating in some manner, for now. Nevertheless, with no anchor stores and a 20% (and falling) occupancy rate, no one would be too surprised if Upper Valley Mall ultimately meets the same fate as the long gone Salem Mall. Great video Kristen! P.S.: Loved your rendition of “(M)All By Myself”...
What's discouraging is that the town doesnt really seem to need it torn down to build more shopping--over on Bechtel Ave they have plenty of it. BUT it's a nonstarter for a small business just opening up, the cost is too much. They might benefit from turning it into some kind of recreational business like a skatepark or a NERF arena (why isnt that a thing?).
I empathize with your discouragement and I’ll freely admit that I usually see the glass as half-empty. The most significant problem is that all these mall buildings were originally designed with little thought given to long-term sustainability and zero thought to any alternate use or function. These buildings were constructed rapidly, and are minimally insulated to get them into operation generating revenue as quickly as possible. To overcome the heat and cold, with essentially no insulation to blanket their large footprint, they employ massive and expensive-to-operate HVAC systems. In the past, at +98% occupancy, that whopping electric bill was easy to spread over all the individual merchandise stores. Especially when they had 3-or-4 large anchor chains that easily swallowed a larger percentage of the overall electric bill. Then, on top of that huge electric bill, you’ve got the additional costs of building maintenance, cleaning, plumbing, paving, landscaping, etc… In today’s world, at a 20% occupancy rate with no anchor stores, the operating costs on these old mall buildings reach a point where even a Warren Buffet or Bill Gates would say, “That operating bill is completely crazy - I can build a brand-new, specific-use, modern building and still operate it at lower cost.” And they do. Unfortunately, most all mall buildings were created in this manner. Massive buildings, designed to be constructed quickly, at the bare-minimum initial investment cost and little consideration to environmental operation and impact. This mall building doctrine made economic sense in the past. But, like it or not, the world has changed and that past is gone. Unfortunately, the economic reality is that some malls are still going to fall victim to the wrecking ball and bulldozer. I’m not saying it’s impossible for these malls to be reused in another manner. However, it’s going to take a younger generation like yours to recognize and act upon unseen possibilities that make economic sense and sound viability for the community where these malls were originally constructed.
@@Mark-qw8lc you're absolutely right--its like any building, some are too expensive to bring up to modern efficiency/safety/cosmetic standards, and those HVAC systems are hard-wired in. Dayton was in a bit of an arms race in the early 90s because Rouse and DeBartolo were trying to both stake their final claim to the Dayton metro--there was a bit of a fight over who would build what became The Mall at Fairfield Commons...so Dayton ended up with at least one more mall than they needed and it was first-in, first-out. I feel the most bad for Clark County missing out on the sales tax revenue that used to come from the mall they now own and don't seem to have a solid plan what to do with.
Yes, I don’t know how they even begin to recoup even part of all that lost sales tax revenue. You’ve hit directly upon an underlying current that most who decry all these unoccupied malls may miss -- Hubris and ego of the developers. Plenty of that human fallibility to go around. And let’s not ignore those same traits in the politicians that set laws and organized zoning to ensure these monuments to capitalism located in their community. In the larger and longer view of history, all this reminds me of a great quote from the 1989 motion picture “Field of Dreams”: “America has rolled by like an army of steamrollers. It has been erased like a blackboard, rebuilt and erased again…” It may not seem like it at this moment, but that’s exactly what you are recording. Keep having fun visiting these malls.
For some more 80s-90s, across the street from the mall the shopping center had lots of stuff you don't see anymore. Gold Circle which became a K-Mart, Fulmer's, Big Bear, Hill's, Noble Roman's Pizza, Service Merchandise, Chi-Chi's, lots of other stuff I can't remember. As far as I know the skating rink and the Chuck-e-Cheese are still in business.
I really liked the video. I am glad to see the Upper Valley Mall (or Springfield Mall as it was often referred to) fully covered as a dead mall. I grew up shopping at this mall and it holds a special place in my heart. I will correct you and state that this mall opened with five anchors: Sears, J.C. Penney's, Rike's, F.W. Woolworth and Wrens. JC Penney's and Sears remained unchanged at the mall until their closures in 2015 and 2019 respectively Rike's was the Dayton Federated Department Store and went through several name changes becoming Shillito-Rike's, then Lazarus before becoming Macy's. It closed in 2015. F.W. Woolworth closed in 1992 when the chain failed and was replaced with Elder-Beerman, Dayton's independent department store. Elder-Beerman closed in 2013 and the chain failed in 2018 after being sold to Bon Ton. This space became the Boonshoft Museum branch campus for a time. Wrens was the Allied Department Store in Springfield. It changed its name to Block's around 1980 and closed around 1985 when Allied was sold to Federated Department Stores. It was replaced by Old Navy which closed in 2013 There was also a Liberal grocery store which could be counted as an anchor. My memory fails me, but this site may have been Stump's Grocery for a while as well. The grocery store at the mall did not last long and was gone by the end of the 1970's. For a time it was a tool store (Harbor Freight I think). I never really considered Woolworth's to be an anchor store, however if you include it and the grocery store, that makes for a huge number of anchors. It had more anchors than either the Dayton Mall or the Salem Mall (the primary competitors). This large number of anchors contributed to the luxury presentation of the Upper Valley Mall. I believe that Spencer's is the last original tenant, outliving even Sears. They are still there in your video. As to the lack of a food court, this is technically true, however at opening, most of the restaurants (perhaps all except the Harvest House which later became a York Steak House) were in the entry to the mall, along with a video arcade and a couple of banks. It created a kind of pseudo-food court. It was not only DeBartolo/Simon Group that failed to ever put any money into updates to this mall. Sear never updated their location during the 47 year run of their store. The store had a awkward layout that did not age well. When product lines were discontinued (like the paint department), they simply roped them off and continued doing business. I am not sure that they ever even repainted the store. It was ugly! J.C. Penney's did only minor minor updates over their 42 years in the Mall. At the time of the Mall's opening, Springfield was a relatively self sufficient city that had few ties to Dayton. In fact, most of the mall stores were in the Columbus reporting areas for their chains, not Dayton. This meant that pricing and advertisements were not the same as the Dayton stores, making the Upper Valley Mall an outlier on many fronts. As a teenager in the 1970's, it used to irritate me that calling my parents in Yellow Springs (ten miles away and the next town to the South) on the mall pay phones to pick me up was over a dollar a minute, whereas calling Xenia, over 20 miles away (and the next town South of Yellow Springs) was still a local call. This is part of the districting problem caused by the location of the mall. As a young adult, I moved to Los Angeles and was fascinated that the malls were all carpeted but had bare girder ceilings. The Upper Valley Mall has a very fancy sculpted acoustic tile ceiling and a terrazzo floor. To this day, I am fascinated by the by the contrast. I wonder if the people in Los Angeles are too bummed out to look up.
That really takes me back. I remember going to that Cinema in particular with my Mom to see Return of The Jedi. On the first floor as you first come in, there was an arcade on the left, and if I remember right, there was a Hot Sam and Pet Shop next to it. There are so many memories there and Spencer's is still there, though I think it moved to a different spot in the mall.
I lived in Springfield when this mall opened. The arcade you spoke of was a Sultans Castle if I remember right. The older kids were obsessed with the foos ball tables. They had a Piranha in a tank at the pet store and the lady that worked there really thought it would bite off one of my fingers if I put my hand in the tank. The soft pretzels were the last thing my parents would buy us kids as we strolled out the front door. Spencers was a highlight also. Lots of black lights day glow posters and incenses. Bought my first vinyl album at the Camelot record store that was there. Everyone blames Amazone for the demise of these kind of places but IMO it started with Walmart and the obsession with lowest price. This is a perfect example of the high cost of low price. I seriously doubt any of todays kids will look back with nostalgia and fond memories of the walmart they us to go to as kids and that's kind of sad. Its no wonder so many of them seem so discontent. Happiness is a difficult thing to attain when money is the only thing that matters.
Crazy how it faded out so fast. In 2000-2004 in my high school years it was still always full of cars and hard to find a place to park. Even 2009ish it was still mainly full of stores.
@@UniCommProductions I left Springfield in 2006 and every trip I've taken back since the mall became more and more empty. I was there actually the same day this was filmed oddly enough. Looks like there's a new CVS built in the parking lot.
Fairfield Commons Mall opened in 1993, but Upper Valley was far enough away that it didn't seem to affect it much. It was still mostly full of national chain stores until probably the later 2000s. The development on Bechtle Road about 2 miles away was what killed it.
Stores I remember being there in the early/mid 1990s: Pet store near the entrance (has the glass viewing enclosure for puppies) Cassano's Pizza Gloria Jean's coffee Arcade (also in the entrance hallway) Hot Sam Orange Julius Friendly's Wendy's (on front of mall, could be accessed from outside or from the hallway leading to mall restrooms) Lazarus/Lazarus Kids Naturalizer shoes Northern Reflections Limited/Limited Too Electronics Boutique Radio Shack (near Sears) Kaybee Toys (near Sears) Woolworths, later Elder Beerman NRM Music Camelot Music Claire's County Seat Revco, later CVS Rave B Dalton (had a cool upstairs area) Waldenbooks Spencer's (amazingly still there!) I also remember there being a free Crystal Pepsi machine during the early 90s launch for awhile.
There was also York Steakhouse down by Lazarus. Also remember a short-lived Sbarro down towards Sears. I could probably also rattle off a list of all the stuff that used to be across the street!
In 2021 the old JC Penney store became a COVID-19 vaccination site. Soon the entire mall is closing, (if it hasn't already). It was once the center of every thing it seemed. Thank you for preserving it in a positive way.
No I recorded it just a couple weeks ago, December 27th 2018. :) Thank you for watching...I try really hard to get a full history of each one we visit. This one had a lot of material to go with it.
Sad to see... Watched my first inside theater movie there when I was nine. It was E.T.. Performed with school choirs, marching band, had science projects on display, bought my first record, had my first date, all at that mall. It used to be the place to be! Thanks for the video!
If there is any example of a shopping center that we’ve filmed-with the possible exception of Forest Fair/Cincinnati Mills-that felt like it had echoes of a vibrant past echoing though it, this is it. You can absolutely tell this was a place with a lot of firsts. I love comments like this. Thank YOU for watching!
Love this 1970s mall. looks like my childhood malls of the 70s. one is still barely open the one we school clothes shopped at Westland Mall Westland Mi. 48185
I remember back in the 80's to mid 00's that place was great i even worked at bradfields restaurant as a teen. So many changes over the yrs crazy seeing it this was. Moved out of springfield in 07
whats going to happen all shopping will be done online and small people need to try on before buying some shoes i need a 3 and some a 5 pants if the waste fits legs a mile long same for shirts and i dont want to send back wait send back and pictures allways look better , but if all malls go to amazon where house no jobs people wont be buyin no money we are being setup for Socialism be only rich and poor , if all shopping turns online dont buy flip the tables buy goods created by regular folk in small shops
Great vid, Kristin! I haven't been to UVM in ages, but I remember the good old days of grabbing a pretzel at Hot Sam's and heading over to Camelot Music to load up on cassettes ;-)
Good video. Just as an update. The cinema was demolished in 2022. Sears still owns their store and automotive center. New developer turned into a warehouse complex. My firs job was in that mall. It was the summer of '85, fresh high school graduate and attending local technical college. Worked around a year at York Steak House. It was a growing up year. Learned about reverse racism. Met many winderful people, many who were regulars. Saw one of my former managers on the news several years later on local news. They were interviewing him about rising gas prices. My late mother would work at Sear's in the late '80s and be there until mid-90s. I did much shopping there until late '90s. Local heritage society did an online forum about a year ago in which they showed some of their emphemera from the mall.
It’s not everywhere in Ohio-oddly a lot of the downtowns are experiencing a revival but that’s leaving a lot of the suburbs in disarray. (We live in Cincinnati and our downtown is blooming again but it’s left us with 4 dying malls.). Springfield seems like they could use some of that revival these days.
A step back in time! Here is a classic example of people buying properties and having no clue how to gain and retain tenants. One way could have been changing the ceiling to just even architectural style tiles, modern light fixtures out and just adding some color to the walls while working with the brick and floor colors to give it a new look. Clean off the brick work on the outside and add some colorful landscaping. Terrazzo floors are a nightmare to try and keep up with heavy foot traffic because it is much softer stone than granite. It looks nice but requires a lot of work. A great video and thank you for the tour! 👍
I've noticed that a lot of malls built in the 70s that have had minimal updates seem to have what we consider now to be pretty low ceilings. This one doesnt have any skylights either. Thank you for watching!
@@UniCommProductions That is true and the reason being it is easier to heat and cool making the HVAC "less complicated". Now with technology it makes it much easier with electronic sensors all over and complicated systems. In the "Old Days" many systems were pneumatically controlled.
@@jvatell6111 I've been in a few 80s era malls with small skylights that the owners have covered up with translucent material, possibly to help make them less hot. Did you know the Mall of America is not artifically heated? They do all their heating with skylights.
@@UniCommProductions I had heard the Mall of America was heated by skylights but I did not know it as a fact and thank you for sharing that. I actually have managed large office buildings cooled by large ice tanks on rooftops. Those are complicated systems and if you change the original tenants in mind upon building the structure with the design they aren't worth crap. In our State at least when you used the ice system to cool you got a much lower electric rate. (I love the fact that you like facts, statistics and have a good knowledge base 👍...It's refreshing!)
@1977Melville Real Estate either commercial or residential is always a ballet dance or Tango. Few owners know how to "flow" with the times and many do no keep a cash reserve either. They spend all the profits foolishly. I worked with enough of them over the years and there is a lot of hindsight in the industry not foresight. If you stammer too long...you lose! Let's just put it this way...MANY lost opportunities!
Sears is gone now, as well as the Auto Center. The mall has no anchors now and is supposed to close as soon after March 31st as possible (I believe). EDIT: The plan is to turn the property into an outdoor mixed-use center, but there's almost no one from Springfield itself with the money to come and shop, and local public transit doesn't run on weekends. The upcoming center will mainly rely on Xenia, Urbana and Bellfountaine citizens who already have better shopping options.
UniComm Productions I visited Springfield, OH but, I didn’t get a proper tour. I am considering buying a home there and try to develop a business there. I felt the same feeling there as my hometown.
Talk about getting in the DeLorean and going back in time about 30+ years...lol. It's amazing to see places like this still exist. I wonder if they still sell Atari 2600 games there?
I haven't been there in almost 20 years. It was actually still somewhat open a year ago? That's actually surprising considering the state it was in back then.
Amazon is buying up malls and turning them into distribution centers. That would be a perfect use for the Upper Valley Mall. Plenty of space and more jobs for Springfield.
did you go into the antique shop shown at 4:12? on my most recent trip i walked in and the guy inside was just staring into the tv, not noticing i was there at all. i walked through the whole store and back out without any greeting or acknowledgement. it was really creepy. they also had a massive disco ball (like, bigger than me. i'm 5'4) sitting in the middle of the store so that was fun
A person was sitting in comics store reading a comic when a pipe in the ceiling broke open and flooded tiles, pooled up and caved in on the guy and injured him. It was also on the news.
Another great video! I'm not going to lie though, I missed Ron a little. You more than made up for that with with the hilarious rendition of "Mall by Myself" though! :-D
Ron will be back in the mix very soon...I had some time off last week so I went on an adventure while he was at work. It's much more fun when we go together!
... unfortunately I don't think many thought Sears was going to stick around much longer but I hate to see them leave this mall anchorless. I would have loved to see this mall in it's heyday!
thanks very much,this mall was part of my teen years! a social mecca of the area back then!!! i save my money when i was even younger to go shopping with my family, woolworths was my destination the all in one store great toys, crayons, and lots of cool stuff!! woolworths snack bar all the food a 10 year old wants! later a stop at harvest house cafeteria for early supper i can choose any thing i want! but when mom and a friend her age went shopping it was the blue fox restraunt in rikes. and mall visit not complete with out a stop to kb toys!! on to mollier music to hear people try out the instruments. also could get a hot sam pretzel. springfield bank across the way, my girl friends mom worked there. and spending time at spencers, the coolest place for the older kids hickery farms and all those great samples to eat,this is why so many people my age still eat their stuff. and check out gnc and maybe walk through wrens. this mall was a really cool destination in my childhood up to my early twenties!! for a while after just stop to get what i needed,when craftsman tools were still made in america. oh, last but not least, liberal groceries had a store no inside mall entrance, but it was part of mall back then. another great job!! i enjoy your videos!! malls the social meccas of our youth! thanks again!
Supermarkets in malls are something that isnt really done anymore and it makes you wonder if something like that would help--there are a lot of really vital malls nationwide with Walmart and Target as anchors now. I would have loved to see this place in its heyday. Thank YOU for watching!
ever thought about becoming a mall turn around specialist. we apparently know what people need more than the people who do it for a living. take one dying mall add a target, a grocery chain store and or a discount drug store. get foot traffic rent empty space to smaller retailers. you could some malls bloom again. check out country side mall near clearwater fl,
Today, 5:00 news says that the entire century 3 mall in west Mifflin pa apart from J.C. PENNY and Dicks sporting goods is deemed unsafe and is now been condemmed. Unfortunately due to further damage and a recent incedent. I'll explain in next text.
I saw that earlier today-that’s really sad, but I suppose inevitable given the condition in September when we filmed it...are you referring to the pipe breaking or was it something else?
That Cinema sign was the exact same one they had on the theaters outside of Monroeville mall but that is long gone. Another excellent video but I don't think it counts as date night if your alone and its during the morning. :)
True. I've corrected the branding in the additional "solo trip" videos. We'll say I've had some extra time on my hands for the last four weeks while my other half has been at work, so there may be more.
We both work; I happened to be off last week. :) It's much more fun when we go together so I don't think this will be something that becomes a regular feature. Thank you for watching!
Excellent video and narration. You do a much job at describing the history and reasons of why it's faltering. Great job. Question, what Big Box store opened nearby?
I really wasn’t sure how to label this one...cause you’re right I was by myself LOL. Any future videos without the two of us are “Unicomm Presents...” :)
Yet another mall from my area that you might as well take a shovel to. I'm surprised Victoria's Secret hasn't set up a new shop over on Bechtle Ave (the newer retail corridor about a mile to the east of this mall.)
tonight channel 11 news just announced that in springtime, 3 JC PeNNY locations, most likely century 3 malls location in West Mifflin PA. just informating.
I have a bad feeling too, that the JCPenney at Century 3 will be among the 2019 closings. Probably won't be long till Dick's Sporting Goods also pulls out, and Moonbeam kicks out the remaining 5ish stores and seals that mall, sadly to say.
@@BoratWanksta Century III is such a sad story...and JC Penney is in such a bad way already. I'm being told that the Century III JCP still continues to do well but it's an aging location.
dont buy amazon ,hey im good with family dollar or dollar general truthfully i use to buy from good will till i caught them stealing running yard sales letgo and any other lil way they could charging same price as Meijer on their cloths use , but the best stuff where see they donate in the back they bring nice piece of furniture home items , they bring them inside , and if you try to buy they say we haven't got them priced yet ask when will you have it priced , answer is tomorrow , next day its gone or has a sign sold or on hold i have seen them doing it , i like yardsales , true story i went to a yard sale reconized the lady from the goodwill then i saw items that was in the store omg i went way off track , was just gonna say buy from creative people with their little shops problyy get better made cloths . wish we had a platos closet , i got my girls shopping once upon a child
Another mall I used to visit as a child. I haven’t been in there in over 20 years and seeing the ceiling, the floor, the lights all brought back the memories. I remember having to throw my parent’s pocket change in the fountain. I also remember going to the Service Merchandise across from the mall. Its only a matter of time when we see these 70’s/80’s time capsules disappear forever. Thanks for another great video
Why did we do that? I used to do the same thing at Eastgate Mall. My mom and grandma must have thought I was being dumb but always gave me a penny or two.
As an 80s kid and 90s teen I remember the days of malls allowing smoking and restaurants having a smoking section as well and never understood after all the smoker's how these places still don't smell like cigarette smoke. If only time machines were real I'd go through all the second hand smoke again and run back to the 80s and early 90s.
I'm now to the point where even seeing an open Sears in a mall is shocking and soon it'll be the same way with JCP.
I know the economy, too many newer shopping options and to a small degree online hurt malls but after earlier this year what happened with reddits wallstreet bets and Gamestop I can't help but wonder when I hear of old retail dying like Sears, Bonton, JCP and sadly so many other's if hedge funders weren't part of what delivered the finishing blow to some?
You can always tell the malls that allowed it because of how yellow/brown the ceilings are...my local mall had a tobacco store that let people smoke inside it until the early 2000s. Eventually the smell dissipates but those yellow walls are kind of forever unfortunately
Like how you sing All by Myself from Eric Carmen at the beginning! Different for that movie theater having where it just says cinema and no other names attached to it on the outside. Pretty much generic looking and nothing fancy schmancy say like an AMC theater would have. Kinda miss how the early 70s design for theaters were plain and simple on the outside.
I was told that particular location was originally a “General Cinemas”. I agree-and it seems like none of them are standing anymore. Thank you for suffering through my mediocre singing!
UniComm Productions you did great changing it from all to mall in there 😃
You do such a great job with these.
Also, I love to read the comments of the people who shopped or worked at these malls.
Malls were such a central part of growing up in the seventies. It's just tragic that so many of them are dead or dying.
I was here the last opened day. RIP to another great mall.
It is fortunate that you captured Upper Valley Mall on video now that Clark County Land Bank owns the property. It looks like they are doing their best to keep the Mall maintained and operating in some manner, for now.
Nevertheless, with no anchor stores and a 20% (and falling) occupancy rate, no one would be too surprised if Upper Valley Mall ultimately meets the same fate as the long gone Salem Mall.
Great video Kristen!
P.S.: Loved your rendition of “(M)All By Myself”...
What's discouraging is that the town doesnt really seem to need it torn down to build more shopping--over on Bechtel Ave they have plenty of it. BUT it's a nonstarter for a small business just opening up, the cost is too much. They might benefit from turning it into some kind of recreational business like a skatepark or a NERF arena (why isnt that a thing?).
I empathize with your discouragement and I’ll freely admit that I usually see the glass as half-empty.
The most significant problem is that all these mall buildings were originally designed with little thought given to long-term sustainability and zero thought to any alternate use or function.
These buildings were constructed rapidly, and are minimally insulated to get them into operation generating revenue as quickly as possible.
To overcome the heat and cold, with essentially no insulation to blanket their large footprint, they employ massive and expensive-to-operate HVAC systems.
In the past, at +98% occupancy, that whopping electric bill was easy to spread over all the individual merchandise stores. Especially when they had 3-or-4 large anchor chains that easily swallowed a larger percentage of the overall electric bill.
Then, on top of that huge electric bill, you’ve got the additional costs of building maintenance, cleaning, plumbing, paving, landscaping, etc…
In today’s world, at a 20% occupancy rate with no anchor stores, the operating costs on these old mall buildings reach a point where even a Warren Buffet or Bill Gates would say, “That operating bill is completely crazy - I can build a brand-new, specific-use, modern building and still operate it at lower cost.”
And they do.
Unfortunately, most all mall buildings were created in this manner. Massive buildings, designed to be constructed quickly, at the bare-minimum initial investment cost and little consideration to environmental operation and impact.
This mall building doctrine made economic sense in the past. But, like it or not, the world has changed and that past is gone.
Unfortunately, the economic reality is that some malls are still going to fall victim to the wrecking ball and bulldozer.
I’m not saying it’s impossible for these malls to be reused in another manner. However, it’s going to take a younger generation like yours to recognize and act upon unseen possibilities that make economic sense and sound viability for the community where these malls were originally constructed.
@@Mark-qw8lc you're absolutely right--its like any building, some are too expensive to bring up to modern efficiency/safety/cosmetic standards, and those HVAC systems are hard-wired in.
Dayton was in a bit of an arms race in the early 90s because Rouse and DeBartolo were trying to both stake their final claim to the Dayton metro--there was a bit of a fight over who would build what became The Mall at Fairfield Commons...so Dayton ended up with at least one more mall than they needed and it was first-in, first-out.
I feel the most bad for Clark County missing out on the sales tax revenue that used to come from the mall they now own and don't seem to have a solid plan what to do with.
Yes, I don’t know how they even begin to recoup even part of all that lost sales tax revenue.
You’ve hit directly upon an underlying current that most who decry all these unoccupied malls may miss -- Hubris and ego of the developers. Plenty of that human fallibility to go around.
And let’s not ignore those same traits in the politicians that set laws and organized zoning to ensure these monuments to capitalism located in their community.
In the larger and longer view of history, all this reminds me of a great quote from the 1989 motion picture “Field of Dreams”:
“America has rolled by like an army of steamrollers. It has been erased like a blackboard, rebuilt and erased again…”
It may not seem like it at this moment, but that’s exactly what you are recording.
Keep having fun visiting these malls.
From what I've been told by the county is that there is going to be a new owner that will convert part of it to a sports complex
For some more 80s-90s, across the street from the mall the shopping center had lots of stuff you don't see anymore. Gold Circle which became a K-Mart, Fulmer's, Big Bear, Hill's, Noble Roman's Pizza, Service Merchandise, Chi-Chi's, lots of other stuff I can't remember. As far as I know the skating rink and the Chuck-e-Cheese are still in business.
Wow. A comment that mentioned Gold Circle AND Chi-Chis. For a moment I was six years old again and it was glorious.
@@UniCommProductions Chi-Chi's is now Fricker's and the Gold Circle/K-Mart appears to be Rural King.
I really liked the video. I am glad to see the Upper Valley Mall (or Springfield Mall as it was often referred to) fully covered as a dead mall. I grew up shopping at this mall and it holds a special place in my heart.
I will correct you and state that this mall opened with five anchors: Sears, J.C. Penney's, Rike's, F.W. Woolworth and Wrens.
JC Penney's and Sears remained unchanged at the mall until their closures in 2015 and 2019 respectively
Rike's was the Dayton Federated Department Store and went through several name changes becoming Shillito-Rike's, then Lazarus before becoming Macy's. It closed in 2015.
F.W. Woolworth closed in 1992 when the chain failed and was replaced with Elder-Beerman, Dayton's independent department store. Elder-Beerman closed in 2013 and the chain failed in 2018 after being sold to Bon Ton. This space became the Boonshoft Museum branch campus for a time.
Wrens was the Allied Department Store in Springfield. It changed its name to Block's around 1980 and closed around 1985 when Allied was sold to Federated Department Stores. It was replaced by Old Navy which closed in 2013
There was also a Liberal grocery store which could be counted as an anchor. My memory fails me, but this site may have been Stump's Grocery for a while as well. The grocery store at the mall did not last long and was gone by the end of the 1970's. For a time it was a tool store (Harbor Freight I think).
I never really considered Woolworth's to be an anchor store, however if you include it and the grocery store, that makes for a huge number of anchors. It had more anchors than either the Dayton Mall or the Salem Mall (the primary competitors). This large number of anchors contributed to the luxury presentation of the Upper Valley Mall.
I believe that Spencer's is the last original tenant, outliving even Sears. They are still there in your video.
As to the lack of a food court, this is technically true, however at opening, most of the restaurants (perhaps all except the Harvest House which later became a York Steak House) were in the entry to the mall, along with a video arcade and a couple of banks. It created a kind of pseudo-food court.
It was not only DeBartolo/Simon Group that failed to ever put any money into updates to this mall. Sear never updated their location during the 47 year run of their store. The store had a awkward layout that did not age well. When product lines were discontinued (like the paint department), they simply roped them off and continued doing business. I am not sure that they ever even repainted the store. It was ugly! J.C. Penney's did only minor minor updates over their 42 years in the Mall.
At the time of the Mall's opening, Springfield was a relatively self sufficient city that had few ties to Dayton. In fact, most of the mall stores were in the Columbus reporting areas for their chains, not Dayton. This meant that pricing and advertisements were not the same as the Dayton stores, making the Upper Valley Mall an outlier on many fronts.
As a teenager in the 1970's, it used to irritate me that calling my parents in Yellow Springs (ten miles away and the next town to the South) on the mall pay phones to pick me up was over a dollar a minute, whereas calling Xenia, over 20 miles away (and the next town South of Yellow Springs) was still a local call. This is part of the districting problem caused by the location of the mall.
As a young adult, I moved to Los Angeles and was fascinated that the malls were all carpeted but had bare girder ceilings. The Upper Valley Mall has a very fancy sculpted acoustic tile ceiling and a terrazzo floor. To this day, I am fascinated by the by the contrast. I wonder if the people in Los Angeles are too bummed out to look up.
You may have forgotten about the Cosmopolitan store which was to the north of Revco? It was there at least by 1980 (the year we moved to Springfield).
The windshield wipers at the beginning were epic
That really takes me back. I remember going to that Cinema in particular with my Mom to see Return of The Jedi. On the first floor as you first come in, there was an arcade on the left, and if I remember right, there was a Hot Sam and Pet Shop next to it. There are so many memories there and Spencer's is still there, though I think it moved to a different spot in the mall.
I lived in Springfield when this mall opened. The arcade you spoke of was a Sultans Castle if I remember right. The older kids were obsessed with the foos ball tables. They had a Piranha in a tank at the pet store and the lady that worked there really thought it would bite off one of my fingers if I put my hand in the tank. The soft pretzels were the last thing my parents would buy us kids as we strolled out the front door. Spencers was a highlight also. Lots of black lights day glow posters and incenses. Bought my first vinyl album at the Camelot record store that was there.
Everyone blames Amazone for the demise of these kind of places but IMO it started with Walmart and the obsession with lowest price. This is a perfect example of the high cost of low price. I seriously doubt any of todays kids will look back with nostalgia and fond memories of the walmart they us to go to as kids and that's kind of sad. Its no wonder so many of them seem so discontent. Happiness is a difficult thing to attain when money is the only thing that matters.
You're right. I remember well. Think I'll listen to Clapton's "River of Tears" now.
Crazy how it faded out so fast. In 2000-2004 in my high school years it was still always full of cars and hard to find a place to park. Even 2009ish it was still mainly full of stores.
It seems like it went downhill very quickly-which seems to be why the building is still in such good shape.
@@UniCommProductions I left Springfield in 2006 and every trip I've taken back since the mall became more and more empty. I was there actually the same day this was filmed oddly enough. Looks like there's a new CVS built in the parking lot.
@@disinfected85 that's so funny--I wonder if we ran into each other. (I was there before the mall opened and it was me and mostly mallwalkers).
Fairfield Commons Mall opened in 1993, but Upper Valley was far enough away that it didn't seem to affect it much. It was still mostly full of national chain stores until probably the later 2000s. The development on Bechtle Road about 2 miles away was what killed it.
Stores I remember being there in the early/mid 1990s:
Pet store near the entrance (has the glass viewing enclosure for puppies)
Cassano's Pizza
Gloria Jean's coffee
Arcade (also in the entrance hallway)
Hot Sam
Orange Julius
Friendly's
Wendy's (on front of mall, could be accessed from outside or from the hallway leading to mall restrooms)
Lazarus/Lazarus Kids
Naturalizer shoes
Northern Reflections
Limited/Limited Too
Electronics Boutique
Radio Shack (near Sears)
Kaybee Toys (near Sears)
Woolworths, later Elder Beerman
NRM Music
Camelot Music
Claire's
County Seat
Revco, later CVS
Rave
B Dalton (had a cool upstairs area)
Waldenbooks
Spencer's (amazingly still there!)
I also remember there being a free Crystal Pepsi machine during the early 90s launch for awhile.
Oh WOW! This is the most comprehensive list I've seen anywhere. Thank you very much for contributing this (a lot of old favorites here!).
There was also York Steakhouse down by Lazarus. Also remember a short-lived Sbarro down towards Sears. I could probably also rattle off a list of all the stuff that used to be across the street!
@@disinfected85I worked in the York Steak House in 1985-86. 'York' sat adjacent to Penney's
@@JayYoung-ro3vu my sister did as well in the early 90s
Was a Mr. Clements still there? A Mr. Vanharlingen (Mr V.)? Saw Mr. V on the Dayton news years later being interviewed about gas prices.
In 2021 the old JC Penney store became a COVID-19 vaccination site. Soon the entire mall is closing, (if it hasn't already). It was once the center of every thing it seemed. Thank you for preserving it in a positive way.
It’s closing on June 15th. I’m working on trying to make it up there one last time before then.
I like how you include a lot of history and details about the mall in your videos.
No I recorded it just a couple weeks ago, December 27th 2018. :) Thank you for watching...I try really hard to get a full history of each one we visit. This one had a lot of material to go with it.
@@UniCommProductions I just went back and checked and I must have completely misheard the first time because you definitely say December 2018!
No problem! I went back and checked myself to make sure I didn't make a mistake!
Sad to see... Watched my first inside theater movie there when I was nine. It was E.T.. Performed with school choirs, marching band, had science projects on display, bought my first record, had my first date, all at that mall. It used to be the place to be! Thanks for the video!
If there is any example of a shopping center that we’ve filmed-with the possible exception of Forest Fair/Cincinnati Mills-that felt like it had echoes of a vibrant past echoing though it, this is it. You can absolutely tell this was a place with a lot of firsts. I love comments like this. Thank YOU for watching!
That place is awesome.
Nice mall
Love this 1970s mall. looks like my childhood malls of the 70s. one is still barely open the one we school clothes shopped at Westland Mall Westland Mi. 48185
I remember back in the 80's to mid 00's that place was great i even worked at bradfields restaurant as a teen. So many changes over the yrs crazy seeing it this was. Moved out of springfield in 07
you should see it now ghost town 2or 3 stores left you go in and go hello an eco Hello hellooo hellloooremember circling tryin to find a parking spot
@@ladybugsutton117 oh yeah, even had my first date at c5 theater back in the early early 90's when i was in 6th grade
whats going to happen all shopping will be done online and small people need to try on before buying some shoes i need a 3 and some a 5 pants if the waste fits legs a mile long same for shirts and i dont want to send back wait send back and pictures allways look better , but if all malls go to amazon where house no jobs people wont be buyin no money we are being setup for Socialism be only rich and poor , if all shopping turns online dont buy flip the tables buy goods created by regular folk in small shops
Great vid, Kristin! I haven't been to UVM in ages, but I remember the good old days of grabbing a pretzel at Hot Sam's and heading over to Camelot Music to load up on cassettes ;-)
Camelot Music! Now that's a long forgotten name. I always liked them better than Sam Goody. Thanks for watching and for your support! :)
Good video. Just as an update. The cinema was demolished in 2022. Sears still owns their store and automotive center. New developer turned into a warehouse complex.
My firs job was in that mall. It was the summer of '85, fresh high school graduate and attending local technical college. Worked around a year at York Steak House. It was a growing up year. Learned about reverse racism. Met many winderful people, many who were regulars. Saw one of my former managers on the news several years later on local news. They were interviewing him about rising gas prices. My late mother would work at Sear's in the late '80s and be there until mid-90s. I did much shopping there until late '90s.
Local heritage society did an online forum about a year ago in which they showed some of their emphemera from the mall.
Excellent commentary. A beautiful voice ... and intelligent insights!
Mr. Butch awwww thanks!
@@UniCommProductions I am your newest subscriber!!!
@@MrButch-ls8vl Welcome! I'm so glad you've joined us!
Thumbs up for intro alone 👍🏻
Great video, as always. Always looking forward to your updates!
Grew up here in the late 70’s- mid 80’s. Many great memories. Total shame what is happening to all of Ohio !! 😢
It’s not everywhere in Ohio-oddly a lot of the downtowns are experiencing a revival but that’s leaving a lot of the suburbs in disarray. (We live in Cincinnati and our downtown is blooming again but it’s left us with 4 dying malls.). Springfield seems like they could use some of that revival these days.
A step back in time! Here is a classic example of people buying properties and having no clue how to gain and retain tenants. One way could have been changing the ceiling to just even architectural style tiles, modern light fixtures out and just adding some color to the walls while working with the brick and floor colors to give it a new look. Clean off the brick work on the outside and add some colorful landscaping. Terrazzo floors are a nightmare to try and keep up with heavy foot traffic because it is much softer stone than granite. It looks nice but requires a lot of work. A great video and thank you for the tour! 👍
I've noticed that a lot of malls built in the 70s that have had minimal updates seem to have what we consider now to be pretty low ceilings. This one doesnt have any skylights either. Thank you for watching!
@@UniCommProductions That is true and the reason being it is easier to heat and cool making the HVAC "less complicated". Now with technology it makes it much easier with electronic sensors all over and complicated systems. In the "Old Days" many systems were pneumatically controlled.
@@jvatell6111 I've been in a few 80s era malls with small skylights that the owners have covered up with translucent material, possibly to help make them less hot. Did you know the Mall of America is not artifically heated? They do all their heating with skylights.
@@UniCommProductions I had heard the Mall of America was heated by skylights but I did not know it as a fact and thank you for sharing that. I actually have managed large office buildings cooled by large ice tanks on rooftops. Those are complicated systems and if you change the original tenants in mind upon building the structure with the design they aren't worth crap. In our State at least when you used the ice system to cool you got a much lower electric rate. (I love the fact that you like facts, statistics and have a good knowledge base 👍...It's refreshing!)
@1977Melville Real Estate either commercial or residential is always a ballet dance or Tango. Few owners know how to "flow" with the times and many do no keep a cash reserve either. They spend all the profits foolishly. I worked with enough of them over the years and there is a lot of hindsight in the industry not foresight. If you stammer too long...you lose! Let's just put it this way...MANY lost opportunities!
Sears is gone now, as well as the Auto Center. The mall has no anchors now and is supposed to close as soon after March 31st as possible (I believe). EDIT: The plan is to turn the property into an outdoor mixed-use center, but there's almost no one from Springfield itself with the money to come and shop, and local public transit doesn't run on weekends. The upcoming center will mainly rely on Xenia, Urbana and Bellfountaine citizens who already have better shopping options.
Close the interior? This is the first time I’m hearing this; I need to go investigate!
I hope life getting pumped back into the places. Seems to be a lovely place.
It's very unique in that it's been so well taken care of and is completely unsullied from its 1973 design (except the fountains have been removed)
UniComm Productions I visited Springfield, OH but, I didn’t get a proper tour. I am considering buying a home there and try to develop a business there. I felt the same feeling there as my hometown.
Its a warehouse now, what a shame
Talk about getting in the DeLorean and going back in time about 30+ years...lol. It's amazing to see places like this still exist. I wonder if they still sell Atari 2600 games there?
There's a game store in there, so they might!
@@UniCommProductions Epic Loot Games & Comics does in fact carry Atari games.
I’m laughing with the singing 😂
I haven't been there in almost 20 years. It was actually still somewhat open a year ago? That's actually surprising considering the state it was in back then.
Amazon is buying up malls and turning them into distribution centers. That would be a perfect use for the Upper Valley Mall. Plenty of space and more jobs for Springfield.
Sometimes that's what the area needs--this mall has 3 vacant anchors that could be used for *something* that will give people decent jobs.
did you go into the antique shop shown at 4:12? on my most recent trip i walked in and the guy inside was just staring into the tv, not noticing i was there at all. i walked through the whole store and back out without any greeting or acknowledgement. it was really creepy. they also had a massive disco ball (like, bigger than me. i'm 5'4) sitting in the middle of the store so that was fun
I didn’t get to because they weren’t open yet when I was there but it looked pretty interesting-and I did see that big disco ball!
Marichii Sounds funky!
Loving the vapourware from 7:20 👍
Thank you! It is VHSテープリワインダ from the album "Night Thoughts"--I really enjoy their stuff.
Come check it out again. It's less good now.
You know, I may just do that.
You should take movies of the antique malls in Springfield
A person was sitting in comics store reading a comic when a pipe in the ceiling broke open and flooded tiles, pooled up and caved in on the guy and injured him. It was also on the news.
Mark denne I heard that too! I hope he wasn’t badly hurt!
When?
Another great video! I'm not going to lie though, I missed Ron a little. You more than made up for that with with the hilarious rendition of "Mall by Myself" though! :-D
Ron will be back in the mix very soon...I had some time off last week so I went on an adventure while he was at work. It's much more fun when we go together!
I loved this mall as a teen. Sears will unfortunately close in March.
... unfortunately I don't think many thought Sears was going to stick around much longer but I hate to see them leave this mall anchorless. I would have loved to see this mall in it's heyday!
thanks very much,this mall was part of my teen years! a social mecca of the area back then!!! i save my money when i was even younger to go shopping with my family, woolworths was my destination the all in one store great toys, crayons, and lots of cool stuff!! woolworths snack bar all the food a 10 year old wants! later a stop at harvest house cafeteria for early supper i can choose any thing i want! but when mom and a friend her age went shopping it was the blue fox restraunt in rikes. and mall visit not complete with out a stop to kb toys!! on to mollier music to hear people try out the instruments. also could get a hot sam pretzel. springfield bank across the way, my girl friends mom worked there. and spending time at spencers, the coolest place for the older kids hickery farms and all those great samples to eat,this is why so many people my age still eat their stuff. and check out gnc and maybe walk through wrens. this mall was a really cool destination in my childhood up to my early twenties!! for a while after just stop to get what i needed,when craftsman tools were still made in america. oh, last but not least, liberal groceries had a store no inside mall entrance, but it was part of mall back then. another great job!! i enjoy your videos!! malls the social meccas of our youth! thanks again!
Supermarkets in malls are something that isnt really done anymore and it makes you wonder if something like that would help--there are a lot of really vital malls nationwide with Walmart and Target as anchors now. I would have loved to see this place in its heyday. Thank YOU for watching!
your right mall developers in the past knew to put in stores people need and they will come and also buy things they dont really need but they want!
ever thought about becoming a mall turn around specialist. we apparently know what people need more than the people who do it for a living. take one dying mall add a target, a grocery chain store and or a discount drug store. get foot traffic rent empty space to smaller retailers. you could some malls bloom again. check out country side mall near clearwater fl,
I've thought about that, there are a few companies based here that manage malls.
you could do very well at that job, you understand how to create foot traffic!
Today, 5:00 news says that the entire century 3 mall in west Mifflin pa apart from J.C. PENNY and Dicks sporting goods is deemed unsafe and is now been condemmed. Unfortunately due to further damage and a recent incedent. I'll explain in next text.
I saw that earlier today-that’s really sad, but I suppose inevitable given the condition in September when we filmed it...are you referring to the pipe breaking or was it something else?
That Cinema sign was the exact same one they had on the theaters outside of Monroeville mall but that is long gone.
Another excellent video but I don't think it counts as date night if your alone and its during the morning. :)
True. I've corrected the branding in the additional "solo trip" videos. We'll say I've had some extra time on my hands for the last four weeks while my other half has been at work, so there may be more.
UniComm Productions Don't change the format, I like it the way it is.
Thanks...we gotta film when we can even if the situation isn't perfect!
🎸..ROCKIN VIDEO KRISTEN!!!!
THANKS SNAKE!!!!!
@@UniCommProductions UR WELCOME ...UR A GREAT SINGER!!! KRISTEN!!!
Date Night video shot solo? So Sad! Oh well, nice role reversal with you out having fun and Ron left working at home. Keep up the good work.
We both work; I happened to be off last week. :) It's much more fun when we go together so I don't think this will be something that becomes a regular feature. Thank you for watching!
IS the Ollie's Bargain Outlet still across the street?
IIRC, yes!
I used to work there over the summer.
Yep
Excellent video and narration. You do a much job at describing the history and reasons of why it's faltering. Great job. Question, what Big Box store opened nearby?
It was a Kohl's, a Meijer, and I believe a Home Depot. They're also much closer to the highway than the mall is.
Great job on this and every video y'all do, were Subbd to Faded Commerce
Still remember the smell of that place.
No, they said he wasn't hurt bad. 😇
It happened in bankrupcy court.
need do an update snce sears left lot followed suit
I also mall by myself lol.
It’s sad to see the mall today compared to what it used to be back in it’s heyday!
It was a pipe in the cieling.
nice singing voice too.i see
I don’t know about all that but that’s a nice thing to say 😳
What was the restaurant that was by the old JC Pennies
It began its life as a York Steakhouse that closed at some point during the 80s...it was last a local bar and grill-type place that closed in 2013
After york steakhouse it was renamed bradfields that place was my first job as a bus boy dishwasher as a teen.
York steakhouse turned in to bradfields restaurant work there as a teen
I am pretty sure it started life as a Harvest House Restaurant before becoming a York Steakhouse. Later it was Bradfield's.
But, but... it's not a date. 😿
I really wasn’t sure how to label this one...cause you’re right I was by myself LOL. Any future videos without the two of us are “Unicomm Presents...” :)
@@UniCommProductions Or something to convey a date was longed or skipped. Not easy to rhyme. oh well!
Yet another mall from my area that you might as well take a shovel to. I'm surprised Victoria's Secret hasn't set up a new shop over on Bechtle Ave (the newer retail corridor about a mile to the east of this mall.)
Clark County is one of the bigger towns in Springfield ohio
…are you sure you don’t mean that Springfield is one of the bigger towns in Clark County?
tonight channel 11 news just announced that in springtime, 3 JC PeNNY locations, most likely century 3 malls location in West Mifflin PA. just informating.
That will be a fatal blow to this mall, if it's not headed there already. Thanks for the update!
I have a bad feeling too, that the JCPenney at Century 3 will be among the 2019 closings. Probably won't be long till Dick's Sporting Goods also pulls out, and Moonbeam kicks out the remaining 5ish stores and seals that mall, sadly to say.
@@BoratWanksta Century III is such a sad story...and JC Penney is in such a bad way already. I'm being told that the Century III JCP still continues to do well but it's an aging location.
Yep, ill keep you updated on everything i can find out.
dont buy amazon ,hey im good with family dollar or dollar general truthfully i use to buy from good will till i caught them stealing running yard sales letgo and any other lil way they could charging same price as Meijer on their cloths use , but the best stuff where see they donate in the back they bring nice piece of furniture home items , they bring them inside , and if you try to buy they say we haven't got them priced yet ask when will you have it priced , answer is tomorrow , next day its gone or has a sign sold or on hold i have seen them doing it , i like yardsales , true story i went to a yard sale reconized the lady from the goodwill then i saw items that was in the store omg i went way off track , was just gonna say buy from creative people with their little shops problyy get better made cloths . wish we had a platos closet , i got my girls shopping once upon a child