Thanks for this great video! I moved in Westminster in 2003, this mall provided a lot of first memories for me in America. I also went to Westminster High school and would often walk to the mall after school or when I skip class lol. I even worked at finishline in this malI. I really wish they won’t close but it looks like it’s happening soon. 😢. I’m gonna miss this place.
So sad, I'm 28 years old and spent my childhood here, as a kid my mother would walk with my from across town to the mall to buy toys and yugioh card tournaments, as a teen my friends and I would skateboard across town to the mall to look at chicks. So sad 😢
HB born and raised I grew up at that place. I went there with my mom when it opened and spent from the late 70's-late 80's there. Christmas was so amazing. Sad to see
The center had some weird metal hand sculptures that we’d climb all over as kids. There was a food court with Winchell’s Doughnuts and a croissant shop called La Boulangerie. I think I also remember Wix n Stix for novelty candles; we bought my teacher’s Christmas gift there.
I'm 44 graduated from FVHS in 97". I was going there since the mid to late 1980s. Literally watched the decline and death in real time since then. Used to be the happening place to hang out. Especially during Xmas time. So many good memories. RIP brick n morter retail stores and malls
I was also class of 97 but attended Foothill High, this Mall was my go to place in the 80s! Remember that pet store to the left of the Time Out Arcade?
For years this mall has been my go to place to spend my free time I go at least every other day just out of habit and yeah it’s dying..for a while it was subtle and stores were closing but the amount of people at the mall on weekends was still good and fairly busy so it looked like it could bounce back still if some changes got made but this last year was a real deathblow ..I was holding out hope for a little while that it could bounce back ..
I worked at Expressly Portraits between 1992-93ish, I will forever remember Westminster mall, so many memories, this is where my wife and I met, we are still married to each other after all these years. Now I work in nursing, I thank places like these that offered many jobs to young people like my friends and me.
I worked there when it first opened. There was 3 levels and the food court was the lower level in the middle. I worked at the Orange Julius, Pablo's Kitchen and Burger and Fries. Saw movies stars and more. Loads of fun and super busy. Christmas was crazy.
Also remember when you walked in where John's incredible pizza just was you'd see the arcade, pet store on the right, and the Edward's movie theater on the left? Ahhh good times
My family briefly lived in HB during the late 70's and occasionally shopped there or at Levitz, But in 1980 we moved back to Costa Mesa along with our old shopping habits at South Coast Plaza
The picture at 9:37 is fantastic. I remember the red ramp and community space as a kid, that’s where Santa or puppet shows might be, above the food court that was on a lower center floor that was somehow removed in the 80s. Thanks for sharing!
Good morning Eric. I never been to the Westminster Mall, but everytime I thought about, the first thing that would pop in my head was the Orange Julius (LOL). Thanks for letting us know the Orange Julius is Now Permanently Closed. At least there is still a location at Santa Anita Mall. 👏 🪵 🤞 😊
@@echang1976 Oh yeah how could I sincerely forget about the Burbank location. After I visited the Joel Magee 2023 Disney Auction Showcase at Burbank Mall, I made it a point to go upstairs and get a delicious Orange Julius.
I grew up in Westminster from 1966 through 1975. On my wedding day on November 15, 1975, as a prank, our friends "kidnapped" my wife. She was still in her wedding dress and I was in my tux. They took her to this mall and I had to rescue her by paying a ransom of 100 pennies. The pennies had to come from random customers at the mall. She was handcuffed to metal gates in front of a store. The whole thing was a blast and created some great memories and pictures. It was kind of a spectacle at the time. It's sad to see how it looks now. FYI...my wife and I are still happily married with two sons and four grandkids.
My fave memories of this place was a great casual restaurant called Jacks or Better, with a different weeknightly AYCE special, free silent movies and peanuts for the floor. I had 2 different jobs there after leaving the service...one as a janitor and one as security.
My earliest memories are the 80's, and maybe even possibly in the late 70's although I was only 4. It was a lot nicer before that central building was added. It was more open, interesting, and fun. There were catwalks/ramps in the middle, and plaforms, rest areas. Like you said, the carpet was red, but I think maybe also purple and orange in different areas. It was almost like a real life M.C. Escher drawing. The center was all open, a very well lit 3D space, with stairs, ramps, steel scultpures, trees, plants, benches, and even hanging sculptures of wood beams and purple ropes. The middle of the mall had some geometric moden art hands that very fun and challenging for small children to climb. That would be our #1 ask -- "mom, can we climb on the hands!?" Secondly, there were bronze bears in the sitting area by Sears which were less challenging, but cool, because it was like you could ride a bear. I think one was standing upright, one was walking, and there were a couple bear cubs. Those outlasted the other changes. There was no merry-go-round or anything like that, either, back then. No tacky massage chairs or rides. It was quite elegant. At some point, the orange and red carpets turned more blue and purple, then eventually neutral gray, or removed. The hand rails were stained wood everywhere I think, and the benches, too, sometimes. The upper platforms sometimes had a little balcony with benches, a few steps down, with carpet, wood benches, and glass walls, like a little observation / rest area. The food court was in the center, basement level, and the dining area had trees coming out of the ground. It was a black or dark brown mosaic tile floor, almost like rock, but the dirt/planters were recessed below and covered with thick black metal grates, so it was a very interesting space. You could walk right up to a tree, without there being any planter or dirt even. As for food, I just remember the Hot Dog on a Stick place. All the escalators always worked, and there was no elevator at all in the mall itself. I just don't think it mattered because you could get anywhere on the ramps / catwalks instead. As a 5 year old kid, that was great, because I didn't want to get sucked into an escalator having my skin stripped off, which seemed like a practical certainty at the time. May Co. also had an elevator. When they added that building in the middle, I no longer cared about "the mall" but only the wing by Sears which had Round Table, the arcade (Time-Out), Pets Unlimited I think, the theater, Radio Shack, and Software Etc. Then they put the much less interesting food court right there, so the rest of the mall was pointless after that. I only found one picture, which you can see if you search "Vintage photo of Westminster Mall, courtesy of a circa late 70s or early 80s slide." It helps to zoom way in.
I went there mostly in the late 70’s and early 80’s and I remember everything you described. I loved that mall and yes when they moved the food court they ruined it. We used to take our kids and they would play on the bears and the alligator. That was about 97 or 98. I miss that mall so much.
I grew up in Long Beach and my family often went there in the 80’s when I was a kid. You remember so many details of the mall so well. All I remember are the catwalks and the metal hands, which my sister and I used to play on. And now that you and someone else had mentioned the metal bears and alligator, I remember that now too. Although many of my memories of how this mall looked are hazy, I do remember that it was very elegant and unusual with sculptures. I may be remembering incorrectly, but I feel like there were also Bertioa diamond chairs scattered around in seating areas as well. I had been looking for old pictures and videos of this mall because I had always remembered this mall as very beautiful, cool, and unique in the 80’s, and I wanted to see pictures of the interior again, but have not found any. Your description has helped me remember it more. Another thing I remember is this very cool jacuzzi/whirlpool store. I think it may have been upstairs near one of the anchors.
@@marygracecoquia7091 Ah yeah I know Long Beach well. Started there, drove through it almost every week as a kid, went to CSULB, and worked there twice. I don't remember the chairs in the mall, but those would have fit in well with the style. Google this code and you'll find a good pic: 14x1joc
Typical summer day for me as a 11 year old in 1975. Go to mall with friends. 25 cents for candy at sears. walk around spencers and look at the adult stuff. Look at all latest tou stuff. eat at orange julius. watch Bigfoot Movie at the cinema. You could even take a bus to the beach. Visit my drinking age brother in the bar up in buffums. Come come exhausted.
I recently worked at four places in that mall... collected four pay checks. I would just open my four stores and spent my day walking from store to store... I got boring fast, but the money was pretty good.. lol
Funny how the middle class used to have money, not only to support the high mark-up at the mall stores, but also the cost of lighting, air-conditioning, and up-keep.
When they priced out the mom and pop stores and had nothing left but corporate garbage in the late 90s it really made malls boring... oh what fun to go to a mall full of boring corporate stores target and wallmarts at malls ? , no thanks ... boring shops of only corporate crap i can sit at home and order online no reason to go to a mall anymore nothing unique or original anymore only corporate garbage.. very sad they used to be fun
yeah i worked there and at the buena Park locations sad to see westminster location shutdown it hurts but it is what it is but i dont work anymore due to personal reasons
I never even heard of that. My favorite pizza place is long gone, but it was Big O Pizza To Go, which about a mile away from the mall on Springdale. At the mall was Round Table!
Sorry, but even though I lived nearby and went occasionally I'm not nostalgic for this, or ANY mall. Monuments for consumerism, they had a dystopian feel to them. Like going into an underground bunker! Devoid of almost all natural light and air.
thank you for your criticism. I could say the same about your videos but I encourage everyone to post content on TH-cam. That is why we have channels to produce content of what WE want. So thanks. Thanks for taking time to watch my video.
Thanks for this great video! I moved in Westminster in 2003, this mall provided a lot of first memories for me in America. I also went to Westminster High school and would often walk to the mall after school or when I skip class lol. I even worked at finishline in this malI. I really wish they won’t close but it looks like it’s happening soon. 😢. I’m gonna miss this place.
thanks for watching my friend.
So sad, I'm 28 years old and spent my childhood here, as a kid my mother would walk with my from across town to the mall to buy toys and yugioh card tournaments, as a teen my friends and I would skateboard across town to the mall to look at chicks. So sad 😢
HB born and raised I grew up at that place. I went there with my mom when it opened and spent from the late 70's-late 80's there. Christmas was so amazing. Sad to see
The center had some weird metal hand sculptures that we’d climb all over as kids. There was a food court with Winchell’s Doughnuts and a croissant shop called La Boulangerie. I think I also remember Wix n Stix for novelty candles; we bought my teacher’s Christmas gift there.
I'm 44 graduated from FVHS in 97". I was going there since the mid to late 1980s. Literally watched the decline and death in real time since then. Used to be the happening place to hang out. Especially during Xmas time. So many good memories. RIP brick n morter retail stores and malls
I was also class of 97 but attended Foothill High, this Mall was my go to place in the 80s! Remember that pet store to the left of the Time Out Arcade?
For years this mall has been my go to place to spend my free time I go at least every other day just out of habit and yeah it’s dying..for a while it was subtle and stores were closing but the amount of people at the mall on weekends was still good and fairly busy so it looked like it could bounce back still if some changes got made but this last year was a real deathblow ..I was holding out hope for a little while that it could bounce back ..
I worked at Expressly Portraits between 1992-93ish, I will forever remember Westminster mall, so many memories, this is where my wife and I met, we are still married to each other after all these years. Now I work in nursing, I thank places like these that offered many jobs to young people like my friends and me.
I worked there when it first opened. There was 3 levels and the food court was the lower level in the middle. I worked at the Orange Julius, Pablo's Kitchen and Burger and Fries. Saw movies stars and more. Loads of fun and super busy. Christmas was crazy.
last time this mall was fully packed was Black Friday 2019
Sad to see this mall go, back in the day it was always packed full of people
Also remember when you walked in where John's incredible pizza just was you'd see the arcade, pet store on the right, and the Edward's movie theater on the left? Ahhh good times
My family briefly lived in HB during the late 70's and occasionally shopped there or at Levitz, But in 1980 we moved back to Costa Mesa along with our old shopping habits at South Coast Plaza
I can't bare to see this Mall now :(
The picture at 9:37 is fantastic. I remember the red ramp and community space as a kid, that’s where Santa or puppet shows might be, above the food court that was on a lower center floor that was somehow removed in the 80s. Thanks for sharing!
Good morning Eric. I never been to the Westminster Mall, but everytime I thought about, the first thing that would pop in my head was the Orange Julius (LOL).
Thanks for letting us know the Orange Julius is Now Permanently Closed. At least there is still a location at Santa Anita Mall. 👏 🪵 🤞 😊
There is an Orange Julius at the Burbank Town Center.
@@echang1976 Oh yeah how could I sincerely forget about the Burbank location.
After I visited the Joel Magee 2023 Disney Auction Showcase at Burbank Mall, I made it a point to go upstairs and get a delicious Orange Julius.
❤ Retail Archeology
Westminster Mall was my old stomping grounds!
Pacifica High School - Class of 1986
Thank you Eric, for this upload!.😎
I grew up in Westminster from 1966 through 1975. On my wedding day on November 15, 1975, as a prank, our friends "kidnapped" my wife. She was still in her wedding dress and I was in my tux. They took her to this mall and I had to rescue her by paying a ransom of 100 pennies. The pennies had to come from random customers at the mall. She was handcuffed to metal gates in front of a store. The whole thing was a blast and created some great memories and pictures. It was kind of a spectacle at the time. It's sad to see how it looks now. FYI...my wife and I are still happily married with two sons and four grandkids.
I worked at the UA cinemas inside the Mall back somewhere in 88 to 90
Also, there was actually a THIRD level of shopping, if you count the original food court.
Westminster Mall was at one point the largest mall in California.
My fave memories of this place was a great casual restaurant called Jacks or Better, with a different weeknightly AYCE special, free silent movies and peanuts for the floor. I had 2 different jobs there after leaving the service...one as a janitor and one as security.
I had forgotten about Jacks or better , there was one in Buena Park mall too.
My earliest memories are the 80's, and maybe even possibly in the late 70's although I was only 4.
It was a lot nicer before that central building was added. It was more open, interesting, and fun. There were catwalks/ramps in the middle, and plaforms, rest areas. Like you said, the carpet was red, but I think maybe also purple and orange in different areas. It was almost like a real life M.C. Escher drawing. The center was all open, a very well lit 3D space, with stairs, ramps, steel scultpures, trees, plants, benches, and even hanging sculptures of wood beams and purple ropes. The middle of the mall had some geometric moden art hands that very fun and challenging for small children to climb. That would be our #1 ask -- "mom, can we climb on the hands!?" Secondly, there were bronze bears in the sitting area by Sears which were less challenging, but cool, because it was like you could ride a bear. I think one was standing upright, one was walking, and there were a couple bear cubs. Those outlasted the other changes. There was no merry-go-round or anything like that, either, back then. No tacky massage chairs or rides. It was quite elegant. At some point, the orange and red carpets turned more blue and purple, then eventually neutral gray, or removed.
The hand rails were stained wood everywhere I think, and the benches, too, sometimes. The upper platforms sometimes had a little balcony with benches, a few steps down, with carpet, wood benches, and glass walls, like a little observation / rest area.
The food court was in the center, basement level, and the dining area had trees coming out of the ground. It was a black or dark brown mosaic tile floor, almost like rock, but the dirt/planters were recessed below and covered with thick black metal grates, so it was a very interesting space. You could walk right up to a tree, without there being any planter or dirt even. As for food, I just remember the Hot Dog on a Stick place.
All the escalators always worked, and there was no elevator at all in the mall itself. I just don't think it mattered because you could get anywhere on the ramps / catwalks instead. As a 5 year old kid, that was great, because I didn't want to get sucked into an escalator having my skin stripped off, which seemed like a practical certainty at the time. May Co. also had an elevator.
When they added that building in the middle, I no longer cared about "the mall" but only the wing by Sears which had Round Table, the arcade (Time-Out), Pets Unlimited I think, the theater, Radio Shack, and Software Etc. Then they put the much less interesting food court right there, so the rest of the mall was pointless after that.
I only found one picture, which you can see if you search "Vintage photo of Westminster Mall, courtesy of a circa late 70s or early 80s slide." It helps to zoom way in.
I went there mostly in the late 70’s and early 80’s and I remember everything you described. I loved that mall and yes when they moved the food court they ruined it. We used to take our kids and they would play on the bears and the alligator. That was about 97 or 98. I miss that mall so much.
@@Sades1990 That's good to hear! I eventually remembered the alligators after I typed that message, but I really had to strain my brain.
I grew up in Long Beach and my family often went there in the 80’s when I was a kid. You remember so many details of the mall so well. All I remember are the catwalks and the metal hands, which my sister and I used to play on. And now that you and someone else had mentioned the metal bears and alligator, I remember that now too. Although many of my memories of how this mall looked are hazy, I do remember that it was very elegant and unusual with sculptures.
I may be remembering incorrectly, but I feel like there were also Bertioa diamond chairs scattered around in seating areas as well.
I had been looking for old pictures and videos of this mall because I had always remembered this mall as very beautiful, cool, and unique in the 80’s, and I wanted to see pictures of the interior again, but have not found any. Your description has helped me remember it more.
Another thing I remember is this very cool jacuzzi/whirlpool store. I think it may have been upstairs near one of the anchors.
@@marygracecoquia7091 Ah yeah I know Long Beach well. Started there, drove through it almost every week as a kid, went to CSULB, and worked there twice. I don't remember the chairs in the mall, but those would have fit in well with the style. Google this code and you'll find a good pic: 14x1joc
@@marygracecoquia7091 P.S. If you zoom in behind the paintings you can see both of the hand sculptures!
Typical summer day for me as a 11 year old in 1975. Go to mall with friends. 25 cents for candy at sears. walk around spencers and look at the adult stuff. Look at all latest tou stuff. eat at orange julius. watch Bigfoot Movie at the cinema. You could even take a bus to the beach. Visit my drinking age brother in the bar up in buffums. Come come exhausted.
I recently worked at four places in that mall... collected four pay checks. I would just open my four stores and spent my day walking from store to store... I got boring fast, but the money was pretty good.. lol
Funny how the middle class used to have money, not only to support the high mark-up at the mall stores, but also the cost of lighting, air-conditioning, and up-keep.
When they priced out the mom and pop stores and had nothing left but corporate garbage in the late 90s it really made malls boring... oh what fun to go to a mall full of boring corporate stores target and wallmarts at malls ? , no thanks ... boring shops of only corporate crap i can sit at home and order online no reason to go to a mall anymore nothing unique or original anymore only corporate garbage.. very sad they used to be fun
Even the corporate places were good in the 80s.
5:22 Me remembering it being a Verizon
HI ERIC ITS MONDAY
Merry Christmas Monday!
Remember BEST in the North Parking Lot?
The John’s incredible pizza is closed as well.
It was the cleanest John's too 😢
yeah i worked there and at the buena Park locations sad to see westminster location shutdown it hurts but it is what it is but i dont work anymore due to personal reasons
I never even heard of that. My favorite pizza place is long gone, but it was Big O Pizza To Go, which about a mile away from the mall on Springdale. At the mall was Round Table!
Could you do Crossroads mall in OKC?
Thank you for your suggestion. I will put it on my list and it will be posted on my other channel, Eric C Productions. Stay tuned!
yeah why close in 2025 when i notice last week when i stopped by there were like new stores slowly oppening like it makes no sense
In 2021, I got my covid shot from Kaiser in the abandoned auto service building in the parking lot of this mall
I saw that set up but no way I was going to participate.
Rip DuB mall
I think it opened at 9:32am, not 9:30! Please try to be more accurate 😂😂😂
Bro
Chat, do you have club feet?
Sorry, but even though I lived nearby and went occasionally I'm not nostalgic for this, or ANY mall.
Monuments for consumerism, they had a dystopian feel to them. Like going into an underground bunker! Devoid of almost all natural light and air.
Oh, this is so badly written and narrated.
thank you for your criticism. I could say the same about your videos but I encourage everyone to post content on TH-cam. That is why we have channels to produce content of what WE want. So thanks. Thanks for taking time to watch my video.
The 21st century just had to swing by and mess things up for everyone!!!🫤