It was always busy the years I worked there. They had parking areas so far from the entrance along the highway, highway 35, that you would never see full, but usually at Christmas, all spaces were full. Every other Wednesday usually had A&S one day sales, holiday season was always a jungle, etc. Going to Sebastian's pub for a few beers on lunch break or after work, Supercade at the other end of the mall was great. It had a "Ground Round" restaurant, which was good too, which I believe was a separate building near where Supercade was. You would throw the empty peanut shells on the floor, but I am sure someone would complain today that it is not safe and would not allow it. Penny's entrance and the stair area in front of their first floor entrance was a popular meeting place. Except for the customers, it was cool. :-)
So sad to be hearing of this! I grew up in Tinton Falls and the Monmouth Mall and Freehold Raceway Mall were both my go-to malls. I remember when Monmouth Mall had JC Penney, Macy's, Abraham and Strauss, and Bamberger's, just to name a few. So many painful memories.
The red, yellow, blue and white tiles were from the Great American Cookies Company. Those wood chevron floors in Macy's are beautiful! I would have LOVED to have that 70s shelf seen in the last view into Penney's. I hope someone takes it home! Thanks for the tour, Ray. That Lord & Taylor store had a really nice facade.
Without you this would probably go forgotten. Seeing this is a necessary punch in the gut… sad to see them go but you’re doing history justice. Keep up the good work, buddy.
Yeah, sad to see this place go, i only went to this mall once before, definitely something interesting to see, i really hope they can keep the stores and parts they plan on preserving. It's up to them, it's their decision. 😔😔😔😔😔🥺🥺🥺🥺😥😥😥😥😭😭😭😭. Please excuse my overusage of emojis.
That’s what I said in my long response to someone else “Keep it up “ it’s great you’re doing this ❤thank you so much from all of us who can’t get out there to do it !! I grew up in this mall 🫶
The store next to Spencer's with the color grids was the old location of Spencer's before their remodel, the inside used to match, we had moved next door in may of 2013 where they remained until they closed
I'm 42 and grew up in that mall. I remember when it was just a single level, when they first added the second level, when they put the movie theater in and the last time I walked in was last year and you could tell it was on its way out. As a teen in the mid to late 90s I was fascinated with malls and every time I found one I would have to go. It's just so sad to see that it is just a dying industry. The only way they can survive is to either be an outdoor factory outlet or a gimmick like American Dream with a whole theme park. Gone are the days of just going to the mall Friday night or on the weekend, hanging with your friends, and just walking around to walk around.
I know right I also have so many memories there and I grew up in Neptune and we went to the mall all the time walking around with my friends on the weekends just to walk around Lol 😆 So much so that my older cousin used to call me “Mall Girl” 😂 I loved the mall 😂❤I’m 58 and I shopped my little legs off with my mom starting at 7 years old (younger actually when there was a Danskin store outside where we shopped bc I took dancing classes for years) through to when I had my own kids in 1995 and 1999 (which started a whole new era of mall going lol 😆 …. so we were going to the mall from the early 70’s through the 2000’s and later into the 2010’s ….2018 and 2019 were my last visits to the Monmouth Mall …one was a stop in bath and body works to get the Christmas time vanilla smelling cream I love and perfumes and the other time was with my daughter Nina for a haircut (which reminded me that my husband and I used to go for haircuts together from 1999-through the 2000’s from a guy named George ,❤at the big hair place on the right when you went into the Mall entrance called the JC Penny mall entrance where the bus dropped people off ….. and then my daughter worked at JC Penny in 2013 and she’s now 28 and has brought her own sons here to get Santa & Easter bunny pics and to walk them around with the stroller like I did with her ….but it makes me sad to see this mall go bc I recognize a lot of those old school tiled walls which one was a cookie place(you were right) and I recognized that striped wall paper where I used to go to the Children’s Place(which had a big round circle you could climb through to get into the store) this is when I was 10 years old and up…..And always at Christmas time My Mom would wait while I tried on a bunch of clothes I liked with the right sizes and then I’d go outside while she would pick out all my Christmas presents and then hide them (and of course surprise me on Christmas morning with what she picked out from all the stuff I had tried on) ….we shopped for my sisters who are twins and 8 years older then me and my Aunt who was 10 years older then me for Christmas presents and for birthdays too … I say all this bc it reminds me of being with my mom shopping for everyone in the family including my Dad too (theyre both gone now) and with my friends growing up , Lisa and Sharon who I never see anymore and my boyfriend who passed away at 15 in a car accident too….I took him to Brooks Brothers (which they had in the early 80’s) and I picked out a new look for him and he looked so good in an off white linen shirt with matching pants and shoes to match (I’ll never forget) and we’d go to The Ground Round which was a restaurant they had from the 70’s to 80’s where you could peel the peanuts (they served at the bar and tables)and you’d just throw the peanut 🥜shells on the floor 😮lol 😆 but we’d go there for dinner every Friday night ….i was 2 years older then him but we got along so well and we went there a lot together too …also the movies were right there connected to the mall where we all went a lot which was a Lowes Movie Theater…. the summer of 1995 when i was pregnant with my first daughter my mom and i used to go to the movies every really hot summer night (which was often bc our AC was broken) ….and the Lowes theater was nice and cool and we’d stay and see a 2nd movie sometimes too ….And my children’s father (my husband) worked in the food court for awhile when he first moved down here from Newark as his second job before we had our kids and we went there a lot together when our kids were little (he is gone now too)…and then my mom and I took my kids there to the mall and food court and the movies all the time too …and last but not least taking them for Easter bunny pics and Santa Claus pics right in the middle of the mall where those pretty open staircases are …where you walked into the mall there where the bus stopped and journeys was on the corner and Forever 21 later …I’m going to miss this mall and I thank you very much for doing this video because I have been disabled the past few years and can’t walk too good and I haven’t been there since 2019 (and only went to Macys and VS bc I couldn’t walk far) so I didn’t get to see all of the mall like you’ve shown us here so thank you very much for your lovely video and I wish you all the best with your movies and reporting !! You have a very calming and peaceful voice for narrating ❤All the best to you and keep it up ….🫶🤝 Valerie W 😊❤
Man…..so many memories of this mall soon to be gone😢. I actually bought a pair of Globe shoes from that Zumeiz back in 2022. Thank you for everything Monmouth Mall!
You think in 10-15 years you will be doing an abandoned walk thru of freehold raceway mall. I remember the day it opened, sweet deals at the kee-bee toys,I made out like a bandit!
Freehold definitely doesn't have it's crowd like the 90s or early 00s but last time I was there it definitely wasn't as empty as Monmouth. Monmouth Mall has been pretty much been going downhill since the 2010s and the redesign has been in the works since I think 2015?
I was in that Suncoast in June of 2021, it smelled like the 90s in there. And they had The Phantom Menace playing on the overhead TVs in the store! I wish I spent more than a few minutes in there now that it’s gone.
This mall is 5 miles from home. My daughter worked at gymboree in 2017 or 18. Back in the late 70s early 80s, you couldn't move. 100s of people packed in side to side. Christmas time? Forget it. You parked out by route 35 and walked to the entrance. This really hits home for me. Spent teenage years there and beyond. I don't think the current plans are gonna save it. What's up with the bookstore? Staying or going? Thanks Ray for another great video.
I just posted and then noticed yours. I would always think that the parking next to route 35 was a waste of space until I worked there. Yep, those spots were always full at Christmas time. I would pull into the parking lot for work, see them full, and think %$$#^%!
It’s hard to imagine this mall is just within days of getting demolished with so much of it still intact and the lights on. Great video. Sad to see this being a victim of today’s modern shopping habits. This is a remnant of how people used to get together before WiFi, cell phones and Apps. Take us back to 1995 please!
Ray, thank you so much for the accurate and extensive coverage of Monmouth Mall. I have been going there since it was Monmouth Shopping Center in the 60s. Ironic how it is now going to come "full circle" and convert back into what it once was: An open air Shopping Center (to be known as Monmouth Square) I have lots of fond memories of going there as a young child, teen,then an adult, and I will truly miss it. I'm hoping the new venue will live up to expectations. Thanks once again for this extraordinary coverage of an iconic place.
Love the details highlighted throughout & the endless escalators. We were just in our own semi-lively mall this afternoon and the relative blandness of its corridors compared to these older stores really stands out.
I remember being a kid and my brother and sister brought me to the movies and then we ate at The Ground Round, a restaurant that has long since vanished from that mall. When I got my driver's license, this was one of the places that I'd always come to. I worked around the corner for several years and would often stop at the mall on my way to or from work. More recently, I worked at Barnes & Noble at the mall. Great people. Its sad to see this mall fade into history.
I used to go to the Ground Round when I was a kid and through my teens until they left the mall and I loved that place and it’s sad to me cause I grew up shopping with my mom and hanging out with my friends and then bringing my kids here with my husband and my mom who are both gone so it makes me sad to see this go too …I hope what they do build does it justice ! Idk about condos on the highway there but we do need more spaces for people to live ..but not more million dollar condos like they’re building all along the coast that only people who work in the city can afford and is pushing local people ,who grew up in this area, out !! Hope some good comes out of this ❤but yes thank you for making the videos too ❤very good shots and your voice is soothing as well
Nice job documenting the transition going on in retail away from suburban shopping malls. Malls ( and suburban big box retail ) replaced central business district retail several decades back. Some of these structures are getting repurposed, but it seems they are a small minority. It seems a waste to demolish so much when residential housing has been scarce and costly.
I remember at one end of the mall, it was right outside the first floor entrance to "Caldors" which became Target and not sure what other stores were there, that in the early 90's, they had a few sections of the Berlin Wall on display. That was cool. I remember when I was a kid and they were enclosing the shopping center. Walking past the stores, I think the roof was being built, but the hallway floors had not been laid yet and it was dirt with wood in spots so you could walk through the puddles and not in the mud. There was also a bank in a small building right outside of Bamberger's, next to the area that supercade was at, that I got a plastic blue piggy bank from to save my change in. It was Eatontown Savings and loan, or something like that.
I have lived 5 minutes away from this mall most of my life. It is/was not a stand out mall, but it was my mall and I love it. I remember A&S and Bambergers, but besides K-B Toys and Babbages, the place I miss so very much is York Steak House. It was a medieval aesthetic restaurant that served a wicked quarter-chicken meal deal with killer chocolate pudding.
Great video! We still have our Suncoast in Beavercreek Ohio, neon sign and all. I guess we are one of the last in America. So unfortunate to see this mall heading for demolition, it looks like it was really upscale and nice back in it's heyday. Appreciate you documenting and taking us along, as always!
I went to the Suncoast at this same mall in 2019 and one of the customers asked the clerk, " this is an amazing store! Is it a franchise?" I found it very funny because this was a middle-aged guy and I figured he would have been familiar with Suncoast Video from his youth. But maybe he grew up in a place that didn't have Suncoast.
Thanks for this extensive video once again. Never been here but I can imagine the impact on the community with all the jobs being lost as this is going down
Great job Ray!! Always nice to see your work preserving and documenting these malls so that once they're gone, their memory can live on. Cool mall and you're right, the outside that JCPenney has very nostalgic architecture ... and it looks totally awesome!! Thanks as always.
Crazy how this mall is completely dead now. Came here all the time as a kid and it used to be packed I even worked at the Lord and Taylor from 2013-2017 and there were tons of shoppers. Pretty sad, it’s gone all the way downhill
Well if Americans wouldnt have let their overlord government shut a whole country down this wouldn’t have happened so soon all over. It was their agenda though
Things really started to gradually go downhill after the fiscal panic of 2008. Now we have car dwelling zoomers, CEOs suggesting we have cereal for dinner, macys/jcp selling secondhand clothes, $18.00 big macs in CT, etc
Hi Ray! another great video you never fail keep them coming we use to shop at this mall back in 70"s it was one of the top malls in the state all we have now is memories
I was waiting for you to bring up the Suncoast. That one on particular has so many good memories for me, especially as many of the others closed early on. Walking in there just gave you such a feeling. You knew you were walking in there and would definitely come out with at least one item and no matter what it was, you were going to be excited to open it up at home.
Hey Ray, great video man! You've really captured all the Monmouth Mall vibes, especially that JCPenney with its backrooms feel. And you're spot on about the liminal space vibe in that dead mall. It's like time froze, and you're walking through a place that's both familiar and strange. Keep up the awesome work!
This video is a great final tribute to this mall, nice job. Also neat to see the juxtaposition of the old footage with the new. As much as I would like to see the mall stay in its present form, I seem to be in the minority as most people have stopped shopping there. I have to admit the complex that they are building there seems like it would be a cool place to live or work. Anyway thanks for the great video.
Hey! I've been going to this mall since I was a kid, and it's been a nostalgia punch to see it closing. I do know Disney Store lore because I remember the old one so, so clearly: It used to be on the 2nd floor, I don't remember exactly which store it was but it had that mid-90s "theater" aesthetic you may recall, with the middle section stuffed with plushies around a projector/TV in the back. It did eventually move to that other store before it closed and became East Meets West!
Amazing video Ray. Despite I never visited this mall, I have always looked into updates of this place since 2021 so it has been heart breaking watching this place die off. Honestly though, this small glamorous mall has hit its end in this chapter so hopefully a new exciting one can start in the next few years.
Haven’t been to this mall in a long time. The last time I was there, it was Boscov’s grand re-opening. The medical building next to the store was already built. The mall itself was quiet, probably about 75% of the stores were closed. It’s hard to think that this is going to be the future site of 1000 apartments. Probably rent will be $2500 for a one bedroom. Hope that all of these changes are for the best.
Hi Ray Great.Video! Always sad to see these malls get demolished I guess it’s a sign of the times there is one in my neck of the woods that is still going strong no signs of closing
@@RayOutThere True the mall in my area once Sears closed the mall kinda went through a transformation now there are all these fancy stores and restaurants that are always packed
It’s like watching part of my childhood die. I remember going on “group dates” here because we were too young to solo date or going to the movies and having that friend that worked there who let you into the R movies. This is sad!
Hey. It is shame that they are going to tear it down. They should take our taxes and do something with it instead (we pay enough). Another great video. Thanks for the content and hard work.
Oh yeah. I forgot about Le Crepe too! Ground Round was cool. Peanut shells all over the floor. Sebastian's pub was nice too for a few beers after work. They opened up TGI Fridays in a separate builing right across from Penney's parking lot when I worked there and that became a new hangout. There was also a Firestone, Midas, or some automotive shop right across from TGIF.
@@RayOutThere It had toys, swords, New Age stuff, some CDs, D&D stuff (the guy I dated at the time was into that). I bought a Billy doll there in 1997 (the first "Out & Proud" gay doll). I still have him in the box with the Intrinsic price sticker on him.
It’s surprising to see that asbestos sign given the renovations the mall underwent through the years, it’s been a known problem for a while. You’d think it would have been addressed way back when. Good video preserving this mall before it’s gone forever.
Good vid Ray! Thanks for posting. This mall was part of my life in the early 20s and also while going to MU. I’m curious how Brunswick Square is doing. I heard it’s not dying so no one seems to be filming it…
I've been to Brunswick Square a few times and its just kinda unremarkable. Its not dead, its not super busy either. And it just looks rather boring. If there was enough interest I would make a video on it thought
@@RayOutThere oh, I understand. I go back to the days when it had York Steakhouse, Roy Rogers, Fun-n-games arcade, KB Toys, Hot Sam pretzels and McCrory’s… it was great!! Thanks for the reply!
There was a sporting goods store here back in the 80's I used to love coming to as a kid. They had an authentic Chicago Bears NFL football helmet up on a high shelf behind the counter, next to a little tv. I wanted that helmet SO badly!
Was that the one down by the Sam Goody on the first floor at the end by the entrance to A&S, Macys, or whatever it was and is now Boscov's, I think? It was near the escalators? Was it Wilsons Sporting Goods?
East meets west was a great store for metal tees. They used to have one in quakerbridge but not sure if they still do. My favorite wast east in Burlington center right next to heros world.
Man, I have not been to this mall in about 10 years. It was a good mall back in the early 2000's but like most malls they can not keep up with all the online shopping. I just hope that the Ocean County Mall in Toms River does not go the same way as the Monmouth Mall.
Here in florida malls thrive. Of course most Floridians dont agree with authoritarian governments shutting us down and trying to force us to go digital either
At the 4:44 mark, I don’t remember the name of that store but i do remember it used to be an “against all odds” back in the day. Then the store after it was similar but just can’t recall the name. I remember getting a hat there
Good to see you back, buddy. I was wondering when we'd get an upload. Yesterday I was watching some vids of the old Sherman oaks galleria in LA. I recognized it from commando, but didn't realise how many other films it had featured in. I sat and watched that phantom of the mall, lol. Great that they shot almost all the film in the mall. It wasn't the best film I'd ever seen, lol. But, it was good 80s cheese. Plus, ill watch anything pauly shore is in.😂
This one took me some time. And I've just had real life things to do. Sherman Oaks is an iconic movie mall. I always think of T-1000 saying "the galleria?"
This is kinda corny to say but this mall really was my childhood. Real sad to see it go. GameStop midnights were so fun at the upstairs store, I remember waiting in line with my parents to buy the Wii in 2006. Time doesn’t stop does it 😭
I’m hoping you do an episode about Livingston Mall. I think the Macy’s there is going to be one of the locations that Macy’s will close this year, causing the death blow for the mall itself as there would only be one anchor tenant left. I was there recently and even the “God Is Great” store closed along with the Victoria’s Secret.
Does anyone in the comments know when Braddocks men’s store closed at this mall? I still have some very nice suits that cost a lot of money decades ago hanging in the back of my closet.
What determines that the only choice is between luxury apartments or the wrecking ball. An old mall could become the nucleus of a small town with moderate housing in the expansive parking lots, Small local college teaching tech trades more relevant to current needs and a place for small or local business to start? Perhaps this is a crisis of the same stores in all the malls across the entire country dominating the corporate market place. In most cases they are insignificant but you need small business and a place for them to evolve.
I believe those were the Disney Stores that were renovated by the Children's Place when they bought them out for a short period of time which is why it has that red look. It was one of the worst versions of the Disney Store.
Municipal expenses in most NJ towns continue to climb but raising taxes is out of the question. Instead of doing the sensible thing and merging NJs many Podunk towns, they are chasing more rateables by building 'luxury' apartments everywhere.
I really don’t know how some of these arcades are making profits. Those newer raw thrills type games are astronomically expensive. They constantly wind up at the arcade auctions. I have seen arcades with just old school 8 and 16 bit cabinets do amazing with all age groups.
This use to be a great mall. What do you think about the future for Quakerbridge, Marketfair, Freehold, and Woodbridge? Thank you, I love your content.
Yes it's very sad to see all the Malls and Stores Closing, it's making it very bad for customers why all three good favorite Department Stores and Malls are closing so bad, l miss many old Department Stores so bad the closed long time ago like Gimble's Ohrbach's Steinbach"s B.Altman Alexander's Abraham and Straurs Fortunoff full line Stores Stein's and Sears and Lord &Taylor, not that l all we's you'll to shop at old Department Stores l all so you'll to work their too it's very sad to see they closed so bad but l'll always remember them.
Hello! I am a reporter for The U.S. Sun. I have written an article about this mall and we were wondering if we could feature your video in an article? We think our readers would love it. With your permission, we will credit your page. Thanks!
Thats part of the reason. Other reasons----decline of disposable income, mall chain stores like Waldenbooks either liquidated, heavily downsized, or closed all their brick/mortar locations, changing consumer shopping habits, no new fashion trends, people can now hang out with others via tech without having to leave their home.
Hello! I am a reporter for The U.S. Sun. I have written an article about this mall and we were wondering if we could feature your video in an article? We think our readers would love it. With your permission, we will credit your page. Thanks!
The sheer size of the parking lot shows how busy this mall once was...
It was always busy the years I worked there. They had parking areas so far from the entrance along the highway, highway 35, that you would never see full, but usually at Christmas, all spaces were full. Every other Wednesday usually had A&S one day sales, holiday season was always a jungle, etc. Going to Sebastian's pub for a few beers on lunch break or after work, Supercade at the other end of the mall was great. It had a "Ground Round" restaurant, which was good too, which I believe was a separate building near where Supercade was. You would throw the empty peanut shells on the floor, but I am sure someone would complain today that it is not safe and would not allow it. Penny's entrance and the stair area in front of their first floor entrance was a popular meeting place. Except for the customers, it was cool. :-)
So sad to be hearing of this! I grew up in Tinton Falls and the Monmouth Mall and Freehold Raceway Mall were both my go-to malls. I remember when Monmouth Mall had JC Penney, Macy's, Abraham and Strauss, and Bamberger's, just to name a few. So many painful memories.
The red, yellow, blue and white tiles were from the Great American Cookies Company.
Those wood chevron floors in Macy's are beautiful!
I would have LOVED to have that 70s shelf seen in the last view into Penney's. I hope someone takes it home!
Thanks for the tour, Ray. That Lord & Taylor store had a really nice facade.
I thought it had to be something like Great American Cookies! Glad you enjoyed the video!
grew up with malls they were a big part of my life I get very sad when i see malls disappearing I have so many fond memories of my life with malls
Without you this would probably go forgotten. Seeing this is a necessary punch in the gut… sad to see them go but you’re doing history justice.
Keep up the good work, buddy.
Thank you. I just want there to be a record of the place
@@RayOutThere There’s so many that I wish had been done.. all I got left is memories. Like I said you’re doing the lords work, bro!
Yeah, sad to see this place go, i only went to this mall once before, definitely something interesting to see, i really hope they can keep the stores and parts they plan on preserving. It's up to them, it's their decision. 😔😔😔😔😔🥺🥺🥺🥺😥😥😥😥😭😭😭😭. Please excuse my overusage of emojis.
That’s what I said in my long response to someone else “Keep it up “ it’s great you’re doing this ❤thank you so much from all of us who can’t get out there to do it !! I grew up in this mall 🫶
So depressing. Our childhoods are disappearing. Ugh. Thanks for documenting it Ray! 😊😊😊
Thanks for watching!
The store next to Spencer's with the color grids was the old location of Spencer's before their remodel, the inside used to match, we had moved next door in may of 2013 where they remained until they closed
Thank you so much! I've been scratching my head on that one for a while now
I'm 42 and grew up in that mall. I remember when it was just a single level, when they first added the second level, when they put the movie theater in and the last time I walked in was last year and you could tell it was on its way out. As a teen in the mid to late 90s I was fascinated with malls and every time I found one I would have to go. It's just so sad to see that it is just a dying industry. The only way they can survive is to either be an outdoor factory outlet or a gimmick like American Dream with a whole theme park. Gone are the days of just going to the mall Friday night or on the weekend, hanging with your friends, and just walking around to walk around.
I know right I also have so many memories there and I grew up in Neptune and we went to the mall all the time walking around with my friends on the weekends just to walk around Lol 😆 So much so that my older cousin used to call me “Mall Girl” 😂 I loved the mall 😂❤I’m 58 and I shopped my little legs off with my mom starting at 7 years old (younger actually when there was a Danskin store outside where we shopped bc I took dancing classes for years) through to when I had my own kids in 1995 and 1999 (which started a whole new era of mall going lol 😆 …. so we were going to the mall from the early 70’s through the 2000’s and later into the 2010’s ….2018 and 2019 were my last visits to the Monmouth Mall …one was a stop in bath and body works to get the Christmas time vanilla smelling cream I love and perfumes and the other time was with my daughter Nina for a haircut (which reminded me that my husband and I used to go for haircuts together from 1999-through the 2000’s from a guy named George ,❤at the big hair place on the right when you went into the Mall entrance called the JC Penny mall entrance where the bus dropped people off ….. and then my daughter worked at JC Penny in 2013 and she’s now 28 and has brought her own sons here to get Santa & Easter bunny pics and to walk them around with the stroller like I did with her ….but it makes me sad to see this mall go bc I recognize a lot of those old school tiled walls which one was a cookie place(you were right) and I recognized that striped wall paper where I used to go to the Children’s Place(which had a big round circle you could climb through to get into the store) this is when I was 10 years old and up…..And always at Christmas time My Mom would wait while I tried on a bunch of clothes I liked with the right sizes and then I’d go outside while she would pick out all my Christmas presents and then hide them (and of course surprise me on Christmas morning with what she picked out from all the stuff I had tried on) ….we shopped for my sisters who are twins and 8 years older then me and my Aunt who was 10 years older then me for Christmas presents and for birthdays too … I say all this bc it reminds me of being with my mom shopping for everyone in the family including my Dad too (theyre both gone now) and with my friends growing up , Lisa and Sharon who I never see anymore and my boyfriend who passed away at 15 in a car accident too….I took him to Brooks Brothers (which they had in the early 80’s) and I picked out a new look for him and he looked so good in an off white linen shirt with matching pants and shoes to match (I’ll never forget) and we’d go to The Ground Round which was a restaurant they had from the 70’s to 80’s where you could peel the peanuts (they served at the bar and tables)and you’d just throw the peanut 🥜shells on the floor 😮lol 😆 but we’d go there for dinner every Friday night ….i was 2 years older then him but we got along so well and we went there a lot together too …also the movies were right there connected to the mall where we all went a lot which was a Lowes Movie Theater…. the summer of 1995 when i was pregnant with my first daughter my mom and i used to go to the movies every really hot summer night (which was often bc our AC was broken) ….and the Lowes theater was nice and cool and we’d stay and see a 2nd movie sometimes too ….And my children’s father (my husband) worked in the food court for awhile when he first moved down here from Newark as his second job before we had our kids and we went there a lot together when our kids were little (he is gone now too)…and then my mom and I took my kids there to the mall and food court and the movies all the time too …and last but not least taking them for Easter bunny pics and Santa Claus pics right in the middle of the mall where those pretty open staircases are …where you walked into the mall there where the bus stopped and journeys was on the corner and Forever 21 later …I’m going to miss this mall and I thank you very much for doing this video because I have been disabled the past few years and can’t walk too good and I haven’t been there since 2019 (and only went to Macys and VS bc I couldn’t walk far) so I didn’t get to see all of the mall like you’ve shown us here so thank you very much for your lovely video and I wish you all the best with your movies and reporting !! You have a very calming and peaceful voice for narrating ❤All the best to you and keep it up ….🫶🤝 Valerie W 😊❤
sad to see this mall fall off like this. I remember going here as a little kid and thinking the place was huge!
Man…..so many memories of this mall soon to be gone😢. I actually bought a pair of Globe shoes from that Zumeiz back in 2022. Thank you for everything Monmouth Mall!
So sad :(
Lots of memories from the 80's for me.
Love the transition between old and new footage, it's like having time machine on your hand, excellent music choice too.
Thank you so much! My last video was kinda bad and I wanted to "resurrect" it
You think in 10-15 years you will be doing an abandoned walk thru of freehold raceway mall. I remember the day it opened, sweet deals at the kee-bee toys,I made out like a bandit!
I think Freehold will stick around. Simon usually keeps their malls alive
as a 08 baby who grew up going to both malls , this truly breaks my heart
Freehold definitely doesn't have it's crowd like the 90s or early 00s but last time I was there it definitely wasn't as empty as Monmouth. Monmouth Mall has been pretty much been going downhill since the 2010s and the redesign has been in the works since I think 2015?
I was in that Suncoast in June of 2021, it smelled like the 90s in there. And they had The Phantom Menace playing on the overhead TVs in the store! I wish I spent more than a few minutes in there now that it’s gone.
I know. 😢 Wish I spent more time there too
This mall is 5 miles from home. My daughter worked at gymboree in 2017 or 18. Back in the late 70s early 80s, you couldn't move. 100s of people packed in side to side. Christmas time? Forget it. You parked out by route 35 and walked to the entrance. This really hits home for me. Spent teenage years there and beyond. I don't think the current plans are gonna save it. What's up with the bookstore? Staying or going? Thanks Ray for another great video.
I think that the B&N will be moved somewhere else and a whole foods put in that area.
@@RayOutThere moved somewhere on the property or no?
I just posted and then noticed yours. I would always think that the parking next to route 35 was a waste of space until I worked there. Yep, those spots were always full at Christmas time. I would pull into the parking lot for work, see them full, and think %$$#^%!
That footage of Suncoast is such a throwback! 🤩 it’s a massive shame there’s no more Suncoasts in the North East anymore…
I miss them so much!
Me seeing that Simpsons Konami arcade cabinet brings back memories.
Great game. I remember playing it at the movie theater when i was a kid
It’s hard to imagine this mall is just within days of getting demolished with so much of it still intact and the lights on. Great video. Sad to see this being a victim of today’s modern shopping habits. This is a remnant of how people used to get together before WiFi, cell phones and Apps. Take us back to 1995 please!
Great editing on this video Ray! Love the transitions between the before and now and all the history you incorporated into it!
Thank you Mom!
Ray, thank you so much for the accurate and extensive coverage of Monmouth Mall. I have been going there since it was Monmouth Shopping Center in the 60s. Ironic how it is now going to come "full circle" and convert back into what it once was: An open air Shopping Center (to be known as Monmouth Square) I have lots of fond memories of going there as a young child, teen,then an adult, and I will truly miss it. I'm hoping the new venue will live up to expectations. Thanks once again for this extraordinary coverage of an iconic place.
Thank you so much, I really appreciate that! I do think its funny that this mall has come full circle to being an open air plaza once again
Love the details highlighted throughout & the endless escalators. We were just in our own semi-lively mall this afternoon and the relative blandness of its corridors compared to these older stores really stands out.
Everything is so bland nowadays, I think its affecting people's moods in a bad way
I remember being a kid and my brother and sister brought me to the movies and then we ate at The Ground Round, a restaurant that has long since vanished from that mall. When I got my driver's license, this was one of the places that I'd always come to. I worked around the corner for several years and would often stop at the mall on my way to or from work. More recently, I worked at Barnes & Noble at the mall. Great people. Its sad to see this mall fade into history.
I used to go to the Ground Round when I was a kid and through my teens until they left the mall and I loved that place and it’s sad to me cause I grew up shopping with my mom and hanging out with my friends and then bringing my kids here with my husband and my mom who are both gone so it makes me sad to see this go too …I hope what they do build does it justice ! Idk about condos on the highway there but we do need more spaces for people to live ..but not more million dollar condos like they’re building all along the coast that only people who work in the city can afford and is pushing local people ,who grew up in this area, out !! Hope some good comes out of this ❤but yes thank you for making the videos too ❤very good shots and your voice is soothing as well
Was hoping youd go back. This was by far the best and most detailed video on Monmouth Mall that I have seen. Great job!
I really appreciate that, thank you so much!
Rainy day here! Perfect time for your video❤
Glad you like it!
Nice job documenting the transition going on in retail away from suburban shopping malls. Malls ( and suburban big box retail ) replaced central business district retail several decades back. Some of these structures are getting repurposed, but it seems they are a small minority. It seems a waste to demolish so much when residential housing has been scarce and costly.
I remember at one end of the mall, it was right outside the first floor entrance to "Caldors" which became Target and not sure what other stores were there, that in the early 90's, they had a few sections of the Berlin Wall on display. That was cool.
I remember when I was a kid and they were enclosing the shopping center. Walking past the stores, I think the roof was being built, but the hallway floors had not been laid yet and it was dirt with wood in spots so you could walk through the puddles and not in the mud. There was also a bank in a small building right outside of Bamberger's, next to the area that supercade was at, that I got a plastic blue piggy bank from to save my change in. It was Eatontown Savings and loan, or something like that.
I belive the Caldor space became Old Navy. That's the first I've heard about the Berlin wall being there, that's wild!
Good job Ray! I have never been to this mall but I bet there were a lot of memories in that place.
I never spent much time there myself until I started getting into mall exploration
I have lived 5 minutes away from this mall most of my life. It is/was not a stand out mall, but it was my mall and I love it. I remember A&S and Bambergers, but besides K-B Toys and Babbages, the place I miss so very much is York Steak House. It was a medieval aesthetic restaurant that served a wicked quarter-chicken meal deal with killer chocolate pudding.
Medieval themed steakhouse? Sounds amazing!
Great video! We still have our Suncoast in Beavercreek Ohio, neon sign and all. I guess we are one of the last in America. So unfortunate to see this mall heading for demolition, it looks like it was really upscale and nice back in it's heyday. Appreciate you documenting and taking us along, as always!
Thank you for watching! I would love to see a Suncoast just one more time.
I went to the Suncoast at this same mall in 2019 and one of the customers asked the clerk, " this is an amazing store! Is it a franchise?" I found it very funny because this was a middle-aged guy and I figured he would have been familiar with Suncoast Video from his youth. But maybe he grew up in a place that didn't have Suncoast.
Thanks for this extensive video once again. Never been here but I can imagine the impact on the community with all the jobs being lost as this is going down
I wonder if the new development will be better for the community. I really don't know the answer
Great job Ray!! Always nice to see your work preserving and documenting these malls so that once they're gone, their memory can live on. Cool mall and you're right, the outside that JCPenney has very nostalgic architecture ... and it looks totally awesome!! Thanks as always.
Glad you enjoyed it. This place will be gone but at least its been captured
I think it was done in the mid 80's. If I remember correctly, it was being done when I worked there 84-88.
Crazy how this mall is completely dead now. Came here all the time as a kid and it used to be packed I even worked at the Lord and Taylor from 2013-2017 and there were tons of shoppers. Pretty sad, it’s gone all the way downhill
Well if Americans wouldnt have let their overlord government shut a whole country down this wouldn’t have happened so soon all over. It was their agenda though
I used to come here all the time with my dad and get anime at Suncoast. Better times :c
I too used to get anime on vhs at the Suncoast in my local mall. Good memories
Things really started to gradually go downhill after the fiscal panic of 2008. Now we have car dwelling zoomers, CEOs suggesting we have cereal for dinner, macys/jcp selling secondhand clothes, $18.00 big macs in CT, etc
This is actually very heartbreaking😢
yeah😥 thanks for watching
Hi Ray! another great video you never fail keep them coming we use to shop at this mall back in 70"s it was one of the top malls in the state all we have now is memories
It used to be quite a busy mall until the owner decided to redevelop it.
When they opened the Freehold mall, it seemed like they did the 90's remodel to compete with them, but it just did not seem the same after that.
I was waiting for you to bring up the Suncoast. That one on particular has so many good memories for me, especially as many of the others closed early on. Walking in there just gave you such a feeling. You knew you were walking in there and would definitely come out with at least one item and no matter what it was, you were going to be excited to open it up at home.
Hey Ray, great video man! You've really captured all the Monmouth Mall vibes, especially that JCPenney with its backrooms feel. And you're spot on about the liminal space vibe in that dead mall. It's like time froze, and you're walking through a place that's both familiar and strange. Keep up the awesome work!
Thank you so much, and you do the same!
The past 16 yrs have been absolutely brutal for the retail sector and to think the retail apocalypse still isnt over!
With Macy's about to close more stores, we're about to see another wave of malls closing
@@RayOutThere now only 150 macys left!
@@chm9935 wow and almost 20 yrs ago there was 800 plus
@@retroguy1976 Yes. Its unreal. They are struggling not to go the way of liquidation like Lord & Taylor
Amazon crushed retail and malls.
I’m with you, it makes me sad.
Thanks for the video. Sad to see these places go. Safe travels.
Thank you!
Beaumont Texas still has a Suncoast as of late 2023. They even fixed the neon sign and run the TV's again.
How much is a plane ticket?!
Awesome video. Wish I could have seen this place before it closed.
Just a few years ago it was pretty lively
This video is a great final tribute to this mall, nice job. Also neat to see the juxtaposition of the old footage with the new. As much as I would like to see the mall stay in its present form, I seem to be in the minority as most people have stopped shopping there. I have to admit the complex that they are building there seems like it would be a cool place to live or work. Anyway thanks for the great video.
Glad you enjoyed it!
Hey! I've been going to this mall since I was a kid, and it's been a nostalgia punch to see it closing.
I do know Disney Store lore because I remember the old one so, so clearly: It used to be on the 2nd floor, I don't remember exactly which store it was but it had that mid-90s "theater" aesthetic you may recall, with the middle section stuffed with plushies around a projector/TV in the back. It did eventually move to that other store before it closed and became East Meets West!
I had to search around but eventually I found a picture of it on flicker
Amazing video Ray. Despite I never visited this mall, I have always looked into updates of this place since 2021 so it has been heart breaking watching this place die off. Honestly though, this small glamorous mall has hit its end in this chapter so hopefully a new exciting one can start in the next few years.
I will be interested to see how the new development turns out. I will definitely check it out when its complete
Haven’t been to this mall in a long time. The last time I was there, it was Boscov’s grand re-opening. The medical building next to the store was already built. The mall itself was quiet, probably about 75% of the stores were closed. It’s hard to think that this is going to be the future site of 1000 apartments. Probably rent will be $2500 for a one bedroom. Hope that all of these changes are for the best.
Only time will tell
Hi Ray
Great.Video!
Always sad to see these malls get demolished I guess it’s a sign of the times there is one in my neck of the woods that is still going strong no signs of closing
Malls that have good management can still thrive
@@RayOutThere True the mall in my area once Sears closed the mall kinda went through a transformation now there are all these fancy stores and restaurants that are always packed
I've visited Monmouth Mall a couple weeks ago. The only businesses operating today are Boscov's, Macy's & the movie theater.
Its a ghost town
I lived right around the corner, I used to shop there all the time.
Such a shame
It’s like watching part of my childhood die. I remember going on “group dates” here because we were too young to solo date or going to the movies and having that friend that worked there who let you into the R movies. This is sad!
Good memories!
Hey. It is shame that they are going to tear it down. They should take our taxes and do something with it instead (we pay enough). Another great video. Thanks for the content and hard work.
Thank you for watching!
@@RayOutThere welcome!
I forgot all about Le Crepe. I loved it there.
And the Ground Round back in the day
Oh yeah. I forgot about Le Crepe too! Ground Round was cool. Peanut shells all over the floor. Sebastian's pub was nice too for a few beers after work. They opened up TGI Fridays in a separate builing right across from Penney's parking lot when I worked there and that became a new hangout. There was also a Firestone, Midas, or some automotive shop right across from TGIF.
Ah, yes! La Crepe! Going there for the first time was the start of an obsession with those little French pancakes! :)
Whoa. I used to go there all the time! I remember a store called Intrinsic.
Was it like a new age shop?
@@RayOutThere It had toys, swords, New Age stuff, some CDs, D&D stuff (the guy I dated at the time was into that). I bought a Billy doll there in 1997 (the first "Out & Proud" gay doll). I still have him in the box with the Intrinsic price sticker on him.
That sounds so cool, stores like that are so much fun
It’s surprising to see that asbestos sign given the renovations the mall underwent through the years, it’s been a known problem for a while. You’d think it would have been addressed way back when. Good video preserving this mall before it’s gone forever.
Yeah that surprised me too.
Good vid Ray! Thanks for posting. This mall was part of my life in the early 20s and also while going to MU. I’m curious how Brunswick Square is doing. I heard it’s not dying so no one seems to be filming it…
I've been to Brunswick Square a few times and its just kinda unremarkable. Its not dead, its not super busy either. And it just looks rather boring. If there was enough interest I would make a video on it thought
@@RayOutThere oh, I understand. I go back to the days when it had York Steakhouse, Roy Rogers, Fun-n-games arcade, KB Toys, Hot Sam pretzels and McCrory’s… it was great!!
Thanks for the reply!
There was a sporting goods store here back in the 80's I used to love coming to as a kid. They had an authentic Chicago Bears NFL football helmet up on a high shelf behind the counter, next to a little tv. I wanted that helmet SO badly!
I remember stores like that!
Was that the one down by the Sam Goody on the first floor at the end by the entrance to A&S, Macys, or whatever it was and is now Boscov's, I think? It was near the escalators? Was it Wilsons Sporting Goods?
I remember the air soft range in there a few years ago
East meets west was a great store for metal tees. They used to have one in quakerbridge but not sure if they still do. My favorite wast east in Burlington center right next to heros world.
I think there still is one in Quakerbridge. I think there's still lots of stores around in other malls too.
Just..., memories. Sad.
Man, I have not been to this mall in about 10 years. It was a good mall back in the early 2000's but like most malls they can not keep up with all the online shopping. I just hope that the Ocean County Mall in Toms River does not go the same way as the Monmouth Mall.
Here in florida malls thrive. Of course most Floridians dont agree with authoritarian governments shutting us down and trying to force us to go digital either
I was there last month sad to see
At the 4:44 mark, I don’t remember the name of that store but i do remember it used to be an “against all odds” back in the day. Then the store after it was similar but just can’t recall the name. I remember getting a hat there
Shopping Malls you just not only Shopping you meet friends and Entertainers too.
Looks pretty, sad it will be gone
Good to see you back, buddy.
I was wondering when we'd get an upload.
Yesterday I was watching some vids of the old Sherman oaks galleria in LA.
I recognized it from commando, but didn't realise how many other films it had featured in.
I sat and watched that phantom of the mall, lol. Great that they shot almost all the film in the mall.
It wasn't the best film I'd ever seen, lol. But, it was good 80s cheese.
Plus, ill watch anything pauly shore is in.😂
By the looks of it, i never got a notification for your last video. I don't recognise the title.
I'll make sure to watch it tomorrow.
This one took me some time. And I've just had real life things to do. Sherman Oaks is an iconic movie mall. I always think of T-1000 saying "the galleria?"
@@RayOutThere yes!
John playing after burner.
That was a great arcade game.
That's one of the thing's i miss about malls, the arcades.
Great video!
Thank you!
Great video
Thanks!
At one point the colorful panel store was Spencer's
Cant believe it’s shutting down, I’ve been going there for years….
This is kinda corny to say but this mall really was my childhood. Real sad to see it go. GameStop midnights were so fun at the upstairs store, I remember waiting in line with my parents to buy the Wii in 2006. Time doesn’t stop does it 😭
Man I remember going there
That Planet Fitness entrance looks like the old movie theater entrance
I’m hoping you do an episode about Livingston Mall. I think the Macy’s there is going to be one of the locations that Macy’s will close this year, causing the death blow for the mall itself as there would only be one anchor tenant left.
I was there recently and even the “God Is Great” store closed along with the Victoria’s Secret.
I plan on filming that one soon.
Gonna go from an empty mall to an empty 'luxury' apartment complex
Most likely
Does anyone in the comments know when Braddocks men’s store closed at this mall? I still have some very nice suits that cost a lot of money decades ago hanging in the back of my closet.
We used to go to Suncoast.🎬
I miss it so much!
What determines that the only choice is between luxury apartments or the wrecking ball. An old mall could become the nucleus of a small town with moderate housing in the expansive parking lots, Small local college teaching tech trades more relevant to current needs and a place for small or local business to start? Perhaps this is a crisis of the same stores in all the malls across the entire country dominating the corporate market place. In most cases they are insignificant but you need small business and a place for them to evolve.
A mall near me called the nanuet mall they converted it partially to an outdoor mall and removed parts of the indoor.
The mall looks so clean and modern, how'd it become abandoned?
The owner has let the leases expire in order to demolish and redevelop the mall
I believe those were the Disney Stores that were renovated by the Children's Place when they bought them out for a short period of time which is why it has that red look. It was one of the worst versions of the Disney Store.
We don't need more apartments in NJ the roads are already to crowded.
Municipal expenses in most NJ towns continue to climb but raising taxes is out of the question. Instead of doing the sensible thing and merging NJs many Podunk towns, they are chasing more rateables by building 'luxury' apartments everywhere.
I really don’t know how some of these arcades are making profits. Those newer raw thrills type games are astronomically expensive. They constantly wind up at the arcade auctions.
I have seen arcades with just old school 8 and 16 bit cabinets do amazing with all age groups.
I feel like these little mall arcades are just passive income for whoever owns them.
Mixed use. Smh. Smh. Thats been so hit or miss. Luxury apts?! Who the hell can afford that now?!
I agree. I've seen so many go up in NJ and most of them are half full
@@RayOutThere Yup! The one at voorhees town center half full.
This use to be a great mall. What do you think about the future for Quakerbridge, Marketfair, Freehold, and Woodbridge? Thank you, I love your content.
I think the malls you mentioned will survive for as long as the owners take care of them
Been to this mall in 70s and early 80s..my grandmother worked at Abraham and Strauss.. Jared kushner bought this out is demolishing it
7:53 is very - a e s t h e t I c -
Have any of the multi use centers been built and actually worked. This seems like the way they're doing it now to these dead malls
I've seen many built in recent years that are still sitting half vacant. Seems to me they're just as dead as the malls.
What about the Caldors Dept srore
so much to salvage - think of all the elements that could be reused
98% goes to the landfill
Yes it's very sad to see all the Malls and Stores Closing, it's making it very bad for customers why all three good favorite Department Stores and Malls are closing so bad, l miss many old Department Stores so bad the closed long time ago like Gimble's Ohrbach's Steinbach"s B.Altman Alexander's Abraham and Straurs Fortunoff full line Stores Stein's and Sears and Lord &Taylor, not that l all we's you'll to shop at old Department Stores l all so you'll to work their too it's very sad to see they closed so bad but l'll always remember them.
It was the 6th biggest mall in New Jersey.
No more hats here.
1000 new luxury apartments no one can afford, Cool
exactly
I thought before Haynes, it was A&S
Dead and dying malls---the result of America converting to a "service economy" (e.g. bartenders, retailers, food servers).
kind of ridiculous everything is luxury development and apartments
Yeah, I really wonder how this will turn out
Hello! I am a reporter for The U.S. Sun. I have written an article about this mall and we were wondering if we could feature your video in an article? We think our readers would love it. With your permission, we will credit your page. Thanks!
Yes that sounds good, just give credit to my channel.
Wonder if the internet and amazon kills all the mall business.?
Not as much as you would think. Mall location and good management matters more.
Thats part of the reason. Other reasons----decline of disposable income, mall chain stores like Waldenbooks either liquidated, heavily downsized, or closed all their brick/mortar locations, changing consumer shopping habits, no new fashion trends, people can now hang out with others via tech without having to leave their home.
of course they did plus Covid
Actually it's Jared kushner who bought this mall out
Hello! I am a reporter for The U.S. Sun. I have written an article about this mall and we were wondering if we could feature your video in an article? We think our readers would love it. With your permission, we will credit your page. Thanks!
Hello and yes I am interested. Could you contact me via DM on Instagram? There should be a link on my main page
@@RayOutTheresure! I just did.