Attention! Completely remastered episodes of the Dead Mall Series are now being archived in 4K at th-cam.com/channels/fCM_TfrSDMkkMpKuLNWuXA.html. The remasters have gone through an extensive AI Enhancement process as well as proper sound mixing and colorization. This Dead Mall Series Remastered project has been made possible through viewer support on Patreon. Go over now and watch in glorious 4K. ENJOY!
You should check out kaleidoscope Mall in Des Moines, Iowa. It's a small mall, but I think checking out the rest of the skywalk system would make the trip worth while. It's a series of walkways that go through buildings in the downtown area and was once bustling but is now dead and basically abandoned.
JCPenney that you were inside of at the end of the video is in absolutely horrible shape today and much like the Ames in Baltimore. It can never be used again.
I try never to copy anyone but I will say that most of my inspiration and drive to do better each video comes from Dan and he is the reason I started documenting these malls
@Mark C That's a really good question. I recall reading about one that was repurposed into a community college. Some malls have become more office space oriented, like having various government agencies (employment, etc) in the malls. I think a few have started to put in housing units.
The thing that really sells this series for me is the audio mixing. The sound effects and off in the distance music really just adds such incredible ambiance to an already particular vibe. Sometimes I can't tell if you've added in something or if you're using raw audio. Your videos put me in such an otherworldly place. Truly one of my favorite series on TH-cam
The Vaporwave community should make a shrine for Dan Bell. I believe he was insanely important for helping spread Vaporwave awareness and his dead mall series just works so well with the aesthetic. A true gift to the Vaporwave Community. Love you Dan Bell
Hey Yo, while Dan's Dead series is always welcome and top notch, please give respects to where it's due. Ace's Adventures is stellar and focuses primarily on dead malls across America in detail. Give him credit, he's awesome.
@@craftsmanceramics8653 Isn't that okay to be inspired by someone? As an artist, I find it hard to keep going and often get blocked until I might be inspired by seeing many different stylistic applications from other people. I don't see a thing wrong with that.
@@ghkillah1995 As a professional designer myself there is a big difference between 'being inspired' by someone and 'shamelessly ripping someone off' down to the same exact stylistic choices.
I love all of these malls. If I lived in any of these areas. I would frequent the mall. It doesn't make sense to not use these shops. I would go and just hangout. I would get food at their food court. I would get exercise there. I would be one of the mall walkers. I would purchase any and all of my stuff at these stores. Shopping locally is good for your area. Don't ever stop doing it. It gives townspeople jobs. It gives townspeople a place to go. Its a good place to see others. It's so wasteful to not use these resources.♏
@@CharacterInYourReality1127 - "Vickie's" does tend to close in malls like other retailers, it's B+BW and GNC that usually stand out in "dead malls" as being one of the last to leave because of both chains LONG-TERM LEASE policy....
I remember as a kid in the 90’s my parents would go to the mall all day long on Sunday. We would mall crawl every store. Discovery store, imaginireium , Cinabon, mrs fields cookies, museum store
Remember the DIsney Store if you had one in your area. We had them in our malls here in Columbia,SC. As a kid my parents used to have me go in there a lot. so sad all the dead malls in my area now. 3 dead malls and its expecting to grow. I miss the 90s
@@growingup15 ahh Disney stores, one of the malls near me (that is still operating) had one when I was little in the mid 90s, but it was gone in the early 2000s. That mall almost died but it came back to life (unless the pandemic killed it, haven't been up that way in awhile), but anyway, I went into a Disney store recently (like last year), and they're so expensive now, it sucks.
I had a 1990s Sears 💳 . After 2yr then sent me a shiney sticker to attach saying I was a "preferred customer" 😘... I mainly ran up charges renting vehicles.
man i just wish we had the technology to put on a VR headset and see exactly what a mall like this looked like at the height of its popularity. suuuuuper fascinating.
So glad you used the Pines mall footage! This was the mall of my childhood/teen years in the late 80s/early 90s, when the mall was new. All my new school clothes came from this mall and I had some of those weird, awkward high school dates here. The food court used to be great. This was the only place to buy the latest music (on cassette tapes!) and "alternative" music was not yet called "New Rock." If you wanted to see a movie, this was the only place to go (literally). They had an arcade off the food court with a claw machine that would steal your money. My 15th birthday party was in the Garfield's restaurant. This mall, believe it or not, was exciting and fun. You could spend all day here easily. Pine Bluff was rough then. Some of the highest per capita crime rates. But it didn't stop us from going out and having a good time, just made us more aware of our surroundings and grow up knowing the world wasn't always a safe place.
Wow, I literally just put into Google search "pine bluff" and the first result is " CNN 1 officer dead, another injured after shootout in Pine Bluff, Arkansas - 2 Hours ago" Makes me wanna head on down to Pine Bluff, maybe we can all meet at the mall!
And a Walmart that closed back in 2002-3 next to the pines then they and the Blake St. Walmart both moved to Olive St. as a supercenter and more stores are built as a shopping complex near the interstate plus service stations and eateries are built there too and I admit people in that town hated that they built the store a little far out near the interstate. JCPenney is closed and Dillard's is now a small clearance sell Dillard's. 🥴😢 Hopefully Saracen will bring it back to prominence.
@@JeNn0mic0n Yeah, I could live forever _without_ seeing any of those Sleeze Palaces. (I watched the first one and that was one more than I needed!) Stay safe.
@@JeNn0mic0n Yeah no mistake, I kinda do like his ADR series; but I think the thing that got ME hooked on Dan Bell in the first place is his "Dead Mall Series" (that and also the fact he comment on some of my older videos in the past -- before I've even knew about Dan Bell.) He'll pretty much still be considered the "Dead Mall"-guy. After all; I think he was the one who made this a bit mainstream (as well as maybe even *v a p o r w a v e* ). Glad to see he's still doing it and also adding more variety to his channel.
And it's one of the BEST. That shot with the "I thought it was someone" in the back of the empty store was CLASSIC. And his reading of the, "What brings you?" board, followed by that devilish laugh, was awesome. The transition between malls (that's Greensboro, NC) is just wonderful, too.
Yeah especially when he does the "funny edits." Dan Bell has an "interesting" sense of humor. I mean you've seen his other hit series Another Dirty Room; (especially whenever Rick gets involved) so yeah...
DBradshaw25 they’re supposed to set the atmosphere of a bygone era. Malls are an inherently 80’s thing, and these malls are the last remnants of that period of time. Basically the introductions are poking fun of that “great 80’s” nostalgia people have for places like this... idk I feel like I’m tryna explain it too much. It makes sense if you get it, but if you don’t already understand I probably can’t help you🤷♂️
Worked at Governors Square in Tallahassee Fl. The mall walkers were horrible. It’s nice to think that the majority of those hideous people are dead by now.
This was classic Dan Bell, over and above all the others documenting the great fall of the American Mall. Thanks Dan. You somehow made it not hurt so much.
"I'm not sure when I was here to film this mall. Of course I have quite a large archive of malls I shot that I haven't released yet" DAN. HOW DARE YOU TEASE US LIKE THIS.
Imagine being one of the few remaining stores open and seeing Dan Bell. That’s like seeing the grim reaper. I love the vapor wave music and commentary!
Opening music: Lupus Note - Sunset Day, Becker mall intro: Forever Sunset - City Lights, City Dreams. Sun certainly setting on these two melancholic malls.
@@adamjensen2304 To be fair, that is not true, he always does. In this case, the two tracks are not under copyright or license so are free to use without credit.
Grew up going to The Pines mall in the early ‘90s; we’d shop, dine, and catch movies at the theater that used to be there. But by the mid-‘90s, the mall became dead and not the safest place to be. we stopped going there and instead would make the longer drive to the Little Rock malls. The mall still looks the same as I remember it; I remember getting food from the Shanghai Express restaurant. Back in those days, the food court was packed.
I recently had my first dead (well, more like dying) mall tour at the Hot Springs Mall earlier this month. It's so surreal to be in a mall where there's just huge stretches of closed stores and stores that are open but about 3 remodels behind schedule
If I'm not depressed,I am now after watching this. What's happening in retail today is so sad. I worked in Wanamakers for 27 years in display; started in 1977. Going to the main department stores in Philadelphia was an incredible experience every time,back in the day. My mom would dress us up on weekends n with pop would go in to town shopping and playing I. The toy departments. It was a special experience and during the Holidays was the best. Sadly today kids will never have the excitement we had in 60s n 70s. Progress is great but sometimes it sucks 😢💜
Your answer to “why you go to the mall” (to be scared) is actually my LEGIT answer if someone asked me that because for some unknown reason I have nightmares about malls almost every night. I don’t know why I have them since I rarely ever went to the mall and if I did I had a good time if I stuck to the arcade, KB TOYS, and radio shack🤷🏻♀️. But today I decided to try and use your videos to help me lesson my nightmares if not get rid of them completely. 🤞🏻wish me luck.
Me, too! I feel a sad rush of nostalgia again---after his long absence from the strange yet familiar tiled spaces. At 80, I remember when the whole mall "thing" started, right about the time I graduated high school (1958). In fact, my girlfriend worked in a sandwich shop called Corned Beef Corner, in one of the first ones in our nearby Big City and I worked in one of the anchor stores (one of the very few Marshall Field's satellites) after graduating. They were all open malls in those days, so winter wasn't much fun. (Some malls had what the Brits call "hoarding," temporary walls with windows they used to enclose the sidewalks, which had overhanging canopies.) Dan, as he's said, has a file bulging with dead mall explorations he hasn't edited and posted yet. Wish he would. I really miss the food courts in our huge mall up on The Hill above our port city. I get really hungry for a hot sub from Steak Escape---and wonderful ice cream shops. Yum! C'mon, Dan, give us a "fix" from time to time---please. Stay safe.
Hello! Local to the Becker Village Mall here! It is indeed QUITE bad, the border that runs through the entire inside perimeter of the mall is often just referred to as a walking track. good cardio! The mall itself has gone though several changes in management , leading to a whole lot of nothing being able to stick. I do not remember which manager specifically it was, but one of them didnt want certain stores there because it would 'attract the wrong crowd'. So it's basically doomed. During the late 90s / Early 00s it was honestly very fun, lots of fun shops and outlets. Some timestamps for memories sake : 17:09 : This was an arcade ! I believe the name was Jackpot . it was VERY fun and was the place to go 17:25 : K-Mart ! Rest in peace to a legend Directly next to the arcade was a locally owned pizza shop called Giovanni's at 17:42 . It was the BEST place to eat in town, good eye Dan. other things of note were TONS of clothing outlets, lots of fun community activities, local food, and a pet store. Also that JCPenny? It's closed. Lots of great memories here. Sad to see such a waste of entertainment and space. The parking lot is HUGE and i would say , legitimately, maybe 1 percent of it is used at any given time. Definitely has a killer aesthetic inside though, its a time capsule.
As an update, Bright Sun Films walked through The Pines mall about a year ago. The whole building has gone to the crapper. TONS of vandalism, mold, and mildew everywhere.
I know you get a hundred comments, but the riverfront mall in Amsterdam NY would be a great video. It's stuck in the 1970s, and has a really interesting history.
The Pines is very similar to Oakwood Mall in Eau Claire, WI (the food court is nearly identical and the decor around the food court vendor names is exactly the same). It is a total flashback to see the gold panels on the ceiling. Oakwood’s gold panels were replaced in the early 2000s with boring white panels. The same architectural and design elements are also present in the late Mall of the Bluffs in Council Bluffs, IA. Incredible to see the copying mall developers did - they were building faster than they could design them back in the day.
I suffered from my first seizure about 1 month ago and was just released back home a couple of days ago. One of the only things that I enjoyed about my 3 week stay at the hospital was Dan bell's "Dead Mall Series" and shopping with Rick. I am thrilled that you have uploaded a new video! Thank you for keeping my spirits happy when my world has been turned upside down.
Dan, I’ve been obsessed with your channel as of late and was shocked to see this vid pop up in the algorithm. I grew up going to Becker Village mall, my mom used to work in one of the stores there! That abandoned pizza place was called Giovanni’s, and they had the best subs I’ve ever had in my life. I say this as a person who lives in NYC, who’s visited every major city and even Italy on multiple occasions: nothing will ever hold a candle to Giovanni’s. Anyway thanks for sharing, keep up the good work!
I moved out of Pine Bluff in 2013, before the Pines Mall closed. Back in the day, it was actually cool. It had an Arby's in the food court, Camelot Music and Disc Jockey/FYE, Waldenbooks, Bath & Body Works, Coach House Gifts, Circus World and Kay-Bee Toys, several apparel stores, and five anchor stores: Sears, Penneys, Dillards, Campbell Bell (a local chain), and a Wal-Mart. That may have been the only WM to be part of a mall. Pines Mall is on the east side of PB; WM also had a more typical, free-standing store on the west side of town. Then they built a Supercenter, and closed both of their older stores. Now that the Sarasen casino has opened (operated by the Quapaw Nation), maybe the mall could make a comeback under new owners?
I love the videos, but man, these used to be fascinating as we watched our culture change, but with the pandemic forcing so much more change so fast, it’s honestly kind of depressing more than anything. People keep talking normalcy, but I don’t know that we’ll ever return to quite what we had before all this started.
Dying malls almost have more of a "backrooms" feel than totally abandoned ones. Plenty of signs of life, without the life to go with it. Fully lit and 'operational' stores, without a soul in sight.
I live in Nottingham UK, and we've had a dead mall for at least a decade which we were just about to replace, but ironically because of the pandemic the company responsible for the demolition of the original mall went into liquidation and now we're stuck with a truly dead, dead mall.
What brings me to the mall? To be depressed. Because of the fact the mall nearby where I live is half dead and I end up getting hit with nostalgia each time I walk around it.
This makes me so sad. I loved shopping malls. I must confess that I have been guilty of on-line shopping. I do it as little as possible because I like to see what I am buying personally. We have a large mall in Springfield, Mo. , and it is slowly dwindling away. Dan Bell you do an awesome job with your Dead Mall series. Thank you
This happened at the mall in Burlington, WA. It had been going downhill for a while, but the shooting there didn’t help. It closed when COVID and they decided not to reopen. It was a ghost town just like this. Decent movie theater though.
Something about Dan's intros is such a harsh critique on consumerism, or emotional exploitation, or...something. I don't really know, but they're just dang awesome! Also, lol the owner of the mall got arrested.
Dan you are incredible. Every video you make is gold. And this is the greatest idea for a series anybody has ever had. You’re doing god’s work mate, and it’s a pleasure to be a subscriber
Becker Village Mall has been dying for close to 20 years now. I went back there when I was visiting family in the early aughts and it was almost completely empty. And yes, that was a pizza parlor. A darn good one, right next to where the Tilt arcade used to be, which was a Gold Mine arcade before the merger.
As someone who did, indeed, live through this wonderful period (my Mom LOVED to take us to all the malls in Baltimore and Pittsburgh), I'm glad that this gives you a sense of something important lost. These places were, in many ways, very cool.
Yeah if you can call Pathmark (a grocery store for those of you who don't know) an anchor. Or at the end AC Moore & Toys R Us. The only redeeming thing is Agean Pizza.
Is that why Roosevelt Field is always so crowded (at least pre-pandemic)? I have a ton of friends who worked there and they said it was the only good mall on the island
This series gives me so much nostalgia for the 80's even though I was born in 95. I often wish I could have been born in like '78 so I could have experienced some of the 80's and got to experience that aesthetic and the rise of personal computing and got a head start on that. But also so I could experience the world and life before social media ruined everyone's lives and turned them into extremists in one form or the other.
Many malls near me such as Bridgewater, Palmer, and Lehigh Valley are doing quite well near me. But the Phillipsburg Mall, which he did a video for nearly five years ago has recently closed for good.
I was born in 1970 so I remember when "Shopping Centers" were decimating Main Streets across America. By 1980 most Downtown department stores had about thrown in the towel and either moved to the Shopping Centers on the outskirts of cities or just went out of business. Lots of smaller retailers had done the same thing and in the mid 80's most small and medium sized towns and cities across the Midwest had Main Streets that looked like a Neutron bomb had gone off. My parents generation was nostalgic for the 40's and 50's when Main Street was the place to be and the Gen-Xers are nostalgic about malls. I look at the death of malls not so much with nostalgia(we lived almost 50 miles from the nearest malls and they were a weekend only thing) but as Karma biting 80's consumerism in the ass. It's just too bad that everyone is jumping on the Amazon band wagon as Main Street retail is what keeps a community healthy. As an aside I DO miss just having a phone on the wall in the kitchen, no GPS, no ATM's, no spy cameras everywhere and decent movies and music.
@@seththomas9105 I dont get it that was before the internet shopping boom by a few decades what exactly would of killed off the downytown shopping centers back then? Your comment confused me I was born in the 90s so if you might be able to elaborate on you comment that would be cool
@@coolelectronics1759 Before the mid to late 60's there were no malls to speak of and most all retail business was on "Main Street" USA. Private mom and pop or chains like Woolworths or Sears or JC Penny were in large department stores in the city centers. Shopping malls decimated the city core or Main Street in the 60's and 70's. Just look up any videos on TH-cam to see what I mean.
Your sense of humor is wonderful. That intro-- I haven't laughed so much in a while. And your mall tours are WONDERFUL. You look at all the stuff I want to see, your voice is relaxing, you talk about cool stuff and give info, and you use great music and use it well.
Attention! Completely remastered episodes of the Dead Mall Series are now being archived in 4K at th-cam.com/channels/fCM_TfrSDMkkMpKuLNWuXA.html. The remasters have gone through an extensive AI Enhancement process as well as proper sound mixing and colorization. This Dead Mall Series Remastered project has been made possible through viewer support on Patreon. Go over now and watch in glorious 4K. ENJOY!
You should check out kaleidoscope Mall in Des Moines, Iowa. It's a small mall, but I think checking out the rest of the skywalk system would make the trip worth while. It's a series of walkways that go through buildings in the downtown area and was once bustling but is now dead and basically abandoned.
JCPenney that you were inside of at the end of the video is in absolutely horrible shape today and much like the Ames in Baltimore. It can never be used again.
Others have tried to copy him, but nothing is better than original Dan Bell.
As long as he isn’t doing the “another dirty room” nonsense.
I wonder if they have any secret meetups within the order, you know, Dan Bell, Sal, Bright Sun Films, Retail Archaeology etc?
@@AndrewBarsky That's my favorite series! XD I'm now more educated about what to look out for when I go to hotels. Lol
I try never to copy anyone but I will say that most of my inspiration and drive to do better each video comes from Dan and he is the reason I started documenting these malls
I've got to say this is probably one of his better ones he's done with that intro.
Its not just about the malls closing, its about the jobs lost ,and the memories.
Nostalgia
Yeah especially the memories.
Malls are a good thing that just needs some retooling.
Not intended for the Costco Elite.
@Mark C ~ It's so sad isn't it?
@Mark C That's a really good question. I recall reading about one that was repurposed into a community college. Some malls have become more office space oriented, like having various government agencies (employment, etc) in the malls. I think a few have started to put in housing units.
My dad was a glassblower and made neon signs in their heyday in NYC. He's been dead almost 25 years but his work lives on.
I’m sorry about your Dad but his job sounds really cool, I have a love for anything 80’s
That's so cool. I miss the days before social media and technology.☹
It’s all blown in China now I imagine.
That’s where I get blown. Their thin little lips do a great job.
Who else is excited that Dan Bell is making Dead Mall Series videos again?!
Me!
I love the dan bell dead mall videos
i’ve watched all the old ones like ten times each 😂
I am totally stoked!
I know I am, they are so oddly relaxing, love em!
The thing that really sells this series for me is the audio mixing. The sound effects and off in the distance music really just adds such incredible ambiance to an already particular vibe. Sometimes I can't tell if you've added in something or if you're using raw audio. Your videos put me in such an otherworldly place. Truly one of my favorite series on TH-cam
I feel exactly the same. The audio ambiance in conjunction with Dans relaxing voice sold this series for me.
Yeah -- what is the song's name at 12:03, anyone know? Can't find it anywhere and it's awesome!
Yes! It truly is a unique vibe that always takes me back to when I was growing up going to the mall.
The Vaporwave community should make a shrine for Dan Bell. I believe he was insanely important for helping spread Vaporwave awareness and his dead mall series just works so well with the aesthetic. A true gift to the Vaporwave Community. Love you Dan Bell
Yeah -- what is the song's name at 12:03, anyone know? Can't find it anywhere and it's awesome!
He’s back: The one and only dead mall Reaper
Hey Yo, while Dan's Dead series is always welcome and top notch, please give respects to where it's due. Ace's Adventures is stellar and focuses primarily on dead malls across America in detail. Give him credit, he's awesome.
@@ghkillah1995 aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaand he totally copied Dan Bell; even down to the stylistic choice of the intros!
@@craftsmanceramics8653 Isn't that okay to be inspired by someone? As an artist, I find it hard to keep going and often get blocked until I might be inspired by seeing many different stylistic applications from other people. I don't see a thing wrong with that.
@@ghkillah1995 As a professional designer myself there is a big difference between 'being inspired' by someone and 'shamelessly ripping someone off' down to the same exact stylistic choices.
@@ghkillah1995 Retail Archaeology is great too
Tried watching other “Dead Mall” tubers... but Dan Bell has that certain quality and style that will never be replicated.
One of my faves is @Retail Archeology and @Sal.
Dan brings the AESTHETIC
@@mariasilva1044 yeah retail arc gives the same vibes :)
Sal is probably the closest Dan Bell clone we can get, but I don't think he's bad. Also, this community is mostly millennials
RA rocks! But hes mainly in AZ 🏜.
Yes!! Finally! This is what we all needed right now.
Have you visited the “Annapolis?” mall. I enjoyed hearing him talk about his childhood mall. BVM!!!! Love those trash cans 🗑
True
Dan Bell and Sal are the kings of the dead mall genre.
Sal!
@@nasirb3914 !!!
The Dead Mall Series is back! YESSSS! I knew this day would come eventually!
🥳
None of his other content is anywhere near as brilliant as his dead mall series. I wish he'd do more.
I would love to see The Shoppes at Buckland Hills mall in Manchester, CT!
I love all of these malls. If I lived in any of these areas. I would frequent the mall. It doesn't make sense to not use these shops. I would go and just hangout. I would get food at their food court. I would get exercise there. I would be one of the mall walkers. I would purchase any and all of my stuff at these stores. Shopping locally is good for your area. Don't ever stop doing it. It gives townspeople jobs. It gives townspeople a place to go. Its a good place to see others. It's so wasteful to not use these resources.♏
If you listen close you can hear the Bed Bath and Beyond scuttle out of the corpse to seek out a new host to latch onto.
this has no right being so funny omg
You mean Bath and Body Works
@@speedgraphic - actually you mean GNC (the dietary supplement store that closes more malls than any kind os store, even B+BW)...
@@speedgraphic definitely Bath and Body Works - always the last to go
@@CharacterInYourReality1127 - "Vickie's" does tend to close in malls like other retailers, it's B+BW and GNC that usually stand out in "dead malls" as being one of the last to leave because of both chains LONG-TERM LEASE policy....
I remember as a kid in the 90’s my parents would go to the mall all day long on Sunday. We would mall crawl every store. Discovery store, imaginireium , Cinabon, mrs fields cookies, museum store
Remember Gadzooks?
@@romanmanner Hell yeah!! Always liked that store, glad you reminded me about it 🤗
Spencers
Remember the DIsney Store if you had one in your area. We had them in our malls here in Columbia,SC. As a kid my parents used to have me go in there a lot.
so sad all the dead malls in my area now. 3 dead malls and its expecting to grow.
I miss the 90s
@@growingup15 ahh Disney stores, one of the malls near me (that is still operating) had one when I was little in the mid 90s, but it was gone in the early 2000s. That mall almost died but it came back to life (unless the pandemic killed it, haven't been up that way in awhile), but anyway, I went into a Disney store recently (like last year), and they're so expensive now, it sucks.
I get a small burst of energy whenever I get a Dan Bell notification. Man I love this series so much
Yes, the dead mall series
Soul Extractor 🙂
Hell yeah
Sameeeee!!!
Katie Bracey - yes!!! 👍👍👍 👋
sent here by Jake's recent video showing the now deceased mall.
Dan - your intro with the boats is hilarious. superb editing
DAN BELL: *Enters completely empty mall with no one to interact with*
THE MALL: “ RULES OF CONDUCT”
Algoma One „no foul language“.. LOL
@@mats7492 Its fine Dan will swear in post.
You know your mall is in trouble when you've got urban explorers showing up.
When your escalators stop functioning, you're done! Get the Spongebob meme...
The older Sears logo from the 80s is just the coolest. Very nostalgic
I Loved What They Did For Me: Sears, Roebuck, and Co...
I remember growing up the Sears in my hometown had a demo cabinet for the Super Nintendo.
I had a 1990s Sears 💳 . After 2yr then sent me a shiney sticker to attach saying I was a "preferred customer" 😘... I mainly ran up charges renting vehicles.
"This looks like a hospital in Yugoslavia" I literally spit coffee out laughing so hard!!
Yugoslavia stopped existing 29 years ago...
Honestly, it STILL looks better than a hospital in Yugoslavia! X^D
@@lexmoloch -- Yes, that's part of the joke.
@@rebekkahdruck1392 I can confirm - some hospitals in the poorer parts of Yugoslavia look much worse.
They make good AKs though
man i just wish we had the technology to put on a VR headset and see exactly what a mall like this looked like at the height of its popularity. suuuuuper fascinating.
i wanna do that idea not with just malls. but there are areas in my city...i wish i could see how they used to be.
Ive been there. Its pretty depressing. I watched Avengers Age of Ultron there and there was a hole in the screen
We literally have that technology, its just that nobody is bothering to make a 3D model of this mall.
malls were always very crowded back in the 80's and 90's, especially on the weekends. Christmas time was a madhouse
There are simulators for everything. I'm sure someone will make a mall walk simulator at some point.
The unholy trinity of dead malls; Sears Dillard's and JC Penney.
Today I learned Dillard's is still in business.
Yesssss
LMAO!
Ticks me off that JCPenney is goin under; I'm a tall guy and they always had my size of pants! LOL
@@EphemeralProductions username checks out 🗿
Why does that Food Court look so wholesome yet so stale at the same time? I’d still bring my work lunch and eat there...
So glad you used the Pines mall footage! This was the mall of my childhood/teen years in the late 80s/early 90s, when the mall was new. All my new school clothes came from this mall and I had some of those weird, awkward high school dates here. The food court used to be great. This was the only place to buy the latest music (on cassette tapes!) and "alternative" music was not yet called "New Rock." If you wanted to see a movie, this was the only place to go (literally). They had an arcade off the food court with a claw machine that would steal your money. My 15th birthday party was in the Garfield's restaurant. This mall, believe it or not, was exciting and fun. You could spend all day here easily.
Pine Bluff was rough then. Some of the highest per capita crime rates. But it didn't stop us from going out and having a good time, just made us more aware of our surroundings and grow up knowing the world wasn't always a safe place.
Wow, I literally just put into Google search "pine bluff" and the first result is "
CNN 1 officer dead, another injured after shootout in Pine Bluff, Arkansas - 2 Hours ago" Makes me wanna head on down to Pine Bluff, maybe we can all meet at the mall!
And a Walmart that closed back in 2002-3 next to the pines then they and the Blake St. Walmart both moved to Olive St. as a supercenter and more stores are built as a shopping complex near the interstate plus service stations and eateries are built there too and I admit people in that town hated that they built the store a little far out near the interstate. JCPenney is closed and Dillard's is now a small clearance sell Dillard's. 🥴😢 Hopefully Saracen will bring it back to prominence.
Lived in Pine Bluff from either '86-87 until 1990. I remember going to Aladdin's Arcade and Kay-bee Toy Store. Good times.
I love how Dan edits the vintage footage/commercials into a weird mess! It highlights how weird the footage was to begin with lol!
Imagine waking up, getting dressed, fixing your hair/make up and driving all the way to a mall for the latest DVD ugh.
I was starting to think we would never see another beautiful, random, sexy, funny, nostalgic Dan Bell dead malls intro, and here we are. Praised Be.
Same here. I'll be honest and say that I'm not a fan of the Dirty Room series, and I thought he wouldn't do Mall videos again. Glad to see it back ♥
@@JeNn0mic0n Yeah, I could live forever _without_ seeing any of those Sleeze Palaces. (I watched the first one and that was one more than I needed!) Stay safe.
@@JeNn0mic0n Yeah no mistake, I kinda do like his ADR series; but I think the thing that got ME hooked on Dan Bell in the first place is his "Dead Mall Series" (that and also the fact he comment on some of my older videos in the past -- before I've even knew about Dan Bell.) He'll pretty much still be considered the "Dead Mall"-guy. After all; I think he was the one who made this a bit mainstream (as well as maybe even *v a p o r w a v e* ). Glad to see he's still doing it and also adding more variety to his channel.
And it's one of the BEST. That shot with the "I thought it was someone" in the back of the empty store was CLASSIC. And his reading of the, "What brings you?" board, followed by that devilish laugh, was awesome. The transition between malls (that's Greensboro, NC) is just wonderful, too.
@@JeNn0mic0n Aww, I absolutely loved that series. Sooo funny. :) Dan is just awesome. A little of everything, something for everyone. :)
80's mall music has such a way of bringing you back, and then you get slammed with memories
God, those vintage mashups of 80's and 90's ads at the beginning always get me. Hilarious!
Really? They seem super weird and out of place and don't make any sense to me. But hey, that's my opinion.
Truly an art form!
Yeah especially when he does the "funny edits." Dan Bell has an "interesting" sense of humor. I mean you've seen his other hit series Another Dirty Room; (especially whenever Rick gets involved) so yeah...
DBradshaw25 they’re supposed to set the atmosphere of a bygone era. Malls are an inherently 80’s thing, and these malls are the last remnants of that period of time. Basically the introductions are poking fun of that “great 80’s” nostalgia people have for places like this... idk I feel like I’m tryna explain it too much. It makes sense if you get it, but if you don’t already understand I probably can’t help you🤷♂️
@@YoungBasedChefBeezy I understand what you are saying but I don't think those montages accomplish that message. 🙄
Coming here from the Bright Sun video, so fascinating putting together the before and after!
Also here from Bright Sun Films. I wanted to see the mall before it fell into further disarray. Thanks for documenting this!
I love mall walkers, look at 'em go🚶♂️🚶♀️🚶🏻♂️🚶🏾♀️
In pine Bluff mall runners
@@dr.roberts4508 🏃♂️🏃🏽♀️🏃🏼♂️🏃🏾♀️
Do you mean mall wankers?
Worked at Governors Square in Tallahassee Fl. The mall walkers were horrible.
It’s nice to think that the majority of those hideous people are dead by now.
@@BrennerBay What was it that was so bad about them?
This was classic Dan Bell, over and above all the others documenting the great fall of the American Mall. Thanks Dan. You somehow made it not hurt so much.
"I'm not sure when I was here to film this mall. Of course I have quite a large archive of malls I shot that I haven't released yet"
DAN. HOW DARE YOU TEASE US LIKE THIS.
Just a matter of him putting in the work. X^D We have so much goodness in store!
Imagine being one of the few remaining stores open and seeing Dan Bell. That’s like seeing the grim reaper. I love the vapor wave music and commentary!
Opening music: Lupus Note - Sunset Day, Becker mall intro: Forever Sunset - City Lights, City Dreams. Sun certainly setting on these two melancholic malls.
Just a correction to the intro music it's Lupus Nocte - Sunset Dew it took me a while to find yours until I found the correct names!
Fermonx bless both of you, couldn’t find these songs for the life of me
Thank you :) I appreciate you crediting the artists and the music since it was absent in the description. ♫
This dude never credits the artists. My suggestion is to let the creators of the music know, in case they didn’t work out a deal beforehand.
@@adamjensen2304 To be fair, that is not true, he always does. In this case, the two tracks are not under copyright or license so are free to use without credit.
You know your mall is in trouble when Dan Bell comes to film it.
Makes me want to get a job at one just to wait to meet him.
Dear lord, I remember the "stimulator." Turns out it was a gas grill ignition switch. What a scam!
LOL
Is that what it was? I'm 99% sure my dad had one of those stimulator things lol
@RavenclawAtHeart it was supposed to be misleading, so you'd buy a gas grill ignitor.
A DAMN SC😠M IT
W😠S!!!!
@@DM-rh4eh The 80's were amazing! ☹️
Grew up going to The Pines mall in the early ‘90s; we’d shop, dine, and catch movies at the theater that used to be there. But by the mid-‘90s, the mall became dead and not the safest place to be. we stopped going there and instead would make the longer drive to the Little Rock malls.
The mall still looks the same as I remember it; I remember getting food from the Shanghai Express restaurant. Back in those days, the food court was packed.
Dan's voice is so soothing. I tried other dead mall channels. They just weren't the same so I returned. I'm never going back. Lol🤣
His voice has a perfect timbre, low and mellow while still being quite warm. It's in peak form for this video.
I recently had my first dead (well, more like dying) mall tour at the Hot Springs Mall earlier this month. It's so surreal to be in a mall where there's just huge stretches of closed stores and stores that are open but about 3 remodels behind schedule
As a resident of Arkansas, I've heard many a horror story about Pine Bluff, they probably closed the gates at lunch to prevent theft Dan.
If I'm not depressed,I am now after watching this. What's happening in retail today is so sad. I worked in Wanamakers for 27 years in display; started in 1977. Going to the main department stores in Philadelphia was an incredible experience every time,back in the day. My mom would dress us up on weekends n with pop would go in to town shopping and playing I. The toy departments. It was a special experience and during the Holidays was the best. Sadly today kids will never have the excitement we had in 60s n 70s. Progress is great but sometimes it sucks 😢💜
Your answer to “why you go to the mall” (to be scared) is actually my LEGIT answer if someone asked me that because for some unknown reason I have nightmares about malls almost every night. I don’t know why I have them since I rarely ever went to the mall and if I did I had a good time if I stuck to the arcade, KB TOYS, and radio shack🤷🏻♀️. But today I decided to try and use your videos to help me lesson my nightmares if not get rid of them completely. 🤞🏻wish me luck.
"Mother mother mother please. Be kind to the children. Its just going to sleep." Still makes my blood run cold.
Caught me off guard to hear ol Jim in the intro!
I came to the comments to see if anyone else mentioned it.
Who wants cool aid?
Same
Like what the hell? Is this supposed to be funny, Dan Bell? It's not
Damn, those neon signs are mesmerizing. That Cafe Court sign is beautiful.
I’ve been missing the dead mall series, good to see it back
Me, too! I feel a sad rush of nostalgia again---after his long absence from the strange yet familiar tiled spaces. At 80, I remember when the whole mall "thing" started, right about the time I graduated high school (1958). In fact, my girlfriend worked in a sandwich shop called Corned Beef Corner, in one of the first ones in our nearby Big City and I worked in one of the anchor stores (one of the very few Marshall Field's satellites) after graduating. They were all open malls in those days, so winter wasn't much fun. (Some malls had what the Brits call "hoarding," temporary walls with windows they used to enclose the sidewalks, which had overhanging canopies.) Dan, as he's said, has a file bulging with dead mall explorations he hasn't edited and posted yet. Wish he would. I really miss the food courts in our huge mall up on The Hill above our port city. I get really hungry for a hot sub from Steak Escape---and wonderful ice cream shops. Yum! C'mon, Dan, give us a "fix" from time to time---please. Stay safe.
Hello! Local to the Becker Village Mall here! It is indeed QUITE bad, the border that runs through the entire inside perimeter of the mall is often just referred to as a walking track. good cardio!
The mall itself has gone though several changes in management , leading to a whole lot of nothing being able to stick. I do not remember which manager specifically it was, but one of them didnt want certain stores there because it would 'attract the wrong crowd'. So it's basically doomed.
During the late 90s / Early 00s it was honestly very fun, lots of fun shops and outlets.
Some timestamps for memories sake :
17:09 : This was an arcade ! I believe the name was Jackpot . it was VERY fun and was the place to go
17:25 : K-Mart ! Rest in peace to a legend
Directly next to the arcade was a locally owned pizza shop called Giovanni's at 17:42 . It was the BEST place to eat in town, good eye Dan.
other things of note were TONS of clothing outlets, lots of fun community activities, local food, and a pet store.
Also that JCPenny? It's closed.
Lots of great memories here. Sad to see such a waste of entertainment and space. The parking lot is HUGE and i would say , legitimately, maybe 1 percent of it is used at any given time. Definitely has a killer aesthetic inside though, its a time capsule.
Quintessential Dan Bell. This is what got me hooked as a subscriber in the early days.
This episode serves as a reminder of the ability, acumen and artistry that Dan has when filming. I am so proud of his work! Great video as always! ♡
I don't know what it is, but I'm loving the music in this episode.
Great soundtracks in general, but this IS one of the finest.
As an update, Bright Sun Films walked through The Pines mall about a year ago. The whole building has gone to the crapper. TONS of vandalism, mold, and mildew everywhere.
I know you get a hundred comments, but the riverfront mall in Amsterdam NY would be a great video. It's stuck in the 1970s, and has a really interesting history.
Would love to see that!
I would still frequent that Mall. That floor in that food court was so pretty. It had brown tiles. I love the color brown. 🌈 🍭
I just randomly typed dead mall in to see what new would come up thinking I’d just see old videos of yours and wow this was a lovely surprise
The Pines is very similar to Oakwood Mall in Eau Claire, WI (the food court is nearly identical and the decor around the food court vendor names is exactly the same). It is a total flashback to see the gold panels on the ceiling. Oakwood’s gold panels were replaced in the early 2000s with boring white panels. The same architectural and design elements are also present in the late Mall of the Bluffs in Council Bluffs, IA. Incredible to see the copying mall developers did - they were building faster than they could design them back in the day.
Here from Jake's new video! Such a beautiful mall! (Pines Mall)
I nearly died laughing at the intro with the boat crash and the lady getting run over by the other boat...genius editing. Brilliant! I love it!
It feels like covid-19 was the last nail in the coffin for many of these dying malls/stores. Pretty sad.
RIP JCPenney 🙁
Thanks Joe!
I suffered from my first seizure about 1 month ago and was just released back home a couple of days ago. One of the only things that I enjoyed about my 3 week stay at the hospital was Dan bell's "Dead Mall Series" and shopping with Rick. I am thrilled that you have uploaded a new video! Thank you for keeping my spirits happy when my world has been turned upside down.
Love the rock music blasting into the emptiness.
Dan, I’ve been obsessed with your channel as of late and was shocked to see this vid pop up in the algorithm.
I grew up going to Becker Village mall, my mom used to work in one of the stores there! That abandoned pizza place was called Giovanni’s, and they had the best subs I’ve ever had in my life. I say this as a person who lives in NYC, who’s visited every major city and even Italy on multiple occasions: nothing will ever hold a candle to Giovanni’s.
Anyway thanks for sharing, keep up the good work!
The motel you guys filmed in Pine Bluff was the stuff of nightmares.
I think that motel is gone now but it's up there with the Sierra Motel. They're both the creepiest urbexs I've seen
@@_BeaverDuck Which one was the Sierra Motel? I don't think I've seen that one.
*Siesta
At this point, the only thing that will surprise me is if they walk in and find a body.
Ex-Arkansan here. Pine Bluff in general is a really nasty place.
I moved out of Pine Bluff in 2013, before the Pines Mall closed. Back in the day, it was actually cool. It had an Arby's in the food court, Camelot Music and Disc Jockey/FYE, Waldenbooks, Bath & Body Works, Coach House Gifts, Circus World and Kay-Bee Toys, several apparel stores, and five anchor stores: Sears, Penneys, Dillards, Campbell Bell (a local chain), and a Wal-Mart. That may have been the only WM to be part of a mall. Pines Mall is on the east side of PB; WM also had a more typical, free-standing store on the west side of town. Then they built a Supercenter, and closed both of their older stores.
Now that the Sarasen casino has opened (operated by the Quapaw Nation), maybe the mall could make a comeback under new owners?
the music and editing is always on point in this series. thank you for these works of art and preservation of our dying malls
I love the videos, but man, these used to be fascinating as we watched our culture change, but with the pandemic forcing so much more change so fast, it’s honestly kind of depressing more than anything. People keep talking normalcy, but I don’t know that we’ll ever return to quite what we had before all this started.
We won’t
Yeah. Ruined our entire way of life, over a sham.
So masterful as always!! Thank you Mr. Bell!
The Pines Mall caught on fire a few weeks back. The only store that’s still open is Dillards Clearance Center (my favorite).
Dying malls almost have more of a "backrooms" feel than totally abandoned ones. Plenty of signs of life, without the life to go with it. Fully lit and 'operational' stores, without a soul in sight.
I live in Nottingham UK, and we've had a dead mall for at least a decade which we were just about to replace, but ironically because of the pandemic the company responsible for the demolition of the original mall went into liquidation and now we're stuck with a truly dead, dead mall.
Came from Bright Sun Films latest episode. Love your content. I think that neon sign is available now, take a saw lol.
Often imitated, never duplicated, Dan Bell!. Perfect, as always sir!.
What a great way to wind down after difficult college classes. Thanks Dan! 👍
Haley Vernon 🙂👍👍👋
Love the Dead Mall Series with Dan Bell! Intro at 1:07 'Oh, Chuck... You really DO love me... You brought me to the Mall!'
What brings me to the mall? To be depressed. Because of the fact the mall nearby where I live is half dead and I end up getting hit with nostalgia each time I walk around it.
This makes me so sad. I loved shopping malls. I must confess that I have been guilty of on-line shopping. I do it as little as possible because I like to see what I am buying personally. We have a large mall in Springfield, Mo. , and it is slowly dwindling away. Dan Bell you do an awesome job with your Dead Mall series. Thank you
This happened at the mall in Burlington, WA. It had been going downhill for a while, but the shooting there didn’t help. It closed when COVID and they decided not to reopen. It was a ghost town just like this. Decent movie theater though.
I used to live around there and it's so sad to see people's livelihood being like a dead mall right now
Loved the opening!! Dead mall series makes the pandemic not as bad!!!! Takes u back in time..... thanks for sharing Dan!!!! 😊
Anyone else here after Bright Sun's newest video?
My Vaporwave collection was legit happy for this
I'm so excited I have my bowl of snacks and I'm all snug in bed! Thank you for the new dead mall episode, Dan! :)
Always appreciate these. I hope malls make a comeback.
Thank you !!!! Yes !!!! Start my day off right with your videos - hope everyone is well - stay safe
✅🙂👍👋
Something about Dan's intros is such a harsh critique on consumerism, or emotional exploitation, or...something. I don't really know, but they're just dang awesome!
Also, lol the owner of the mall got arrested.
“I came to the mall to be scared.” 😂
You know, I’d be happy to just watch these intros. The dead mall walkthrough is a bonus.
Those mall walkers look like paid extras
They're npcs
Dan you are incredible. Every video you make is gold. And this is the greatest idea for a series anybody has ever had. You’re doing god’s work mate, and it’s a pleasure to be a subscriber
Becker Village Mall has been dying for close to 20 years now. I went back there when I was visiting family in the early aughts and it was almost completely empty.
And yes, that was a pizza parlor. A darn good one, right next to where the Tilt arcade used to be, which was a Gold Mine arcade before the merger.
OtakuUnitedStudio that arcade was the shit! It was by Kmart back during the late 90’s early 2000’s
Loved playing in Tilt and eating pizza at Geovanni when my mom shopped at Kmart.
i absolutely adore your background music choices and the way you edit them, i could listen to it forever
I love the weird nostalgia this dead mall series gives me even though I’m not American or even lived in the 80s
As someone who did, indeed, live through this wonderful period (my Mom LOVED to take us to all the malls in Baltimore and Pittsburgh), I'm glad that this gives you a sense of something important lost. These places were, in many ways, very cool.
Pine Bluff, Arkansas: the home of terrifying motels and malls.
Yea, I can see the outbreak finishing off these dead malls.
It ain't a dead mall video if it isn't a Dan Bell production. Miss ya Dan, glad to you back on here.
You gotta visit a Long Island mall. I recommend Sun Vet. That one has such bad luck when it comes to anchors
Yeah if you can call Pathmark (a grocery store for those of you who don't know) an anchor. Or at the end AC Moore & Toys R Us. The only redeeming thing is Agean Pizza.
Is that why Roosevelt Field is always so crowded (at least pre-pandemic)? I have a ton of friends who worked there and they said it was the only good mall on the island
Man oh man @Kim Jong-un, why do I see your comment on every video I watch! Lol!
i love your narrating & chuckles. you're my favorite. thanks for all...so enjoyable & relaxing🦋
I was just thinking that it’s been too long since I’ve seen a Dan Bell video!
@11:24 "What brings you today? :*laughs*: I came here to be scared." I love it, Dan.
This series gives me so much nostalgia for the 80's even though I was born in 95.
I often wish I could have been born in like '78 so I could have experienced some of the 80's and got to experience that aesthetic and the rise of personal computing and got a head start on that. But also so I could experience the world and life before social media ruined everyone's lives and turned them into extremists in one form or the other.
Many malls near me such as Bridgewater, Palmer, and Lehigh Valley are doing quite well near me.
But the Phillipsburg Mall, which he did a video for nearly five years ago has recently closed for good.
I was born in 1970 so I remember when "Shopping Centers" were decimating Main Streets across America. By 1980 most Downtown department stores had about thrown in the towel and either moved to the Shopping Centers on the outskirts of cities or just went out of business. Lots of smaller retailers had done the same thing and in the mid 80's most small and medium sized towns and cities across the Midwest had Main Streets that looked like a Neutron bomb had gone off. My parents generation was nostalgic for the 40's and 50's when Main Street was the place to be and the Gen-Xers are nostalgic about malls. I look at the death of malls not so much with nostalgia(we lived almost 50 miles from the nearest malls and they were a weekend only thing) but as Karma biting 80's consumerism in the ass. It's just too bad that everyone is jumping on the Amazon band wagon as Main Street retail is what keeps a community healthy. As an aside I DO miss just having a phone on the wall in the kitchen, no GPS, no ATM's, no spy cameras everywhere and decent movies and music.
@@seththomas9105 I dont get it that was before the internet shopping boom by a few decades what exactly would of killed off the downytown shopping centers back then? Your comment confused me I was born in the 90s so if you might be able to elaborate on you comment that would be cool
downtown department stores
Did that concept predate shopping malls or what
@@coolelectronics1759 Before the mid to late 60's there were no malls to speak of and most all retail business was on "Main Street" USA. Private mom and pop or chains like Woolworths or Sears or JC Penny were in large department stores in the city centers. Shopping malls decimated the city core or Main Street in the 60's and 70's. Just look up any videos on TH-cam to see what I mean.
Your sense of humor is wonderful. That intro-- I haven't laughed so much in a while. And your mall tours are WONDERFUL. You look at all the stuff I want to see, your voice is relaxing, you talk about cool stuff and give info, and you use great music and use it well.
OMG! 1980 is considered vintage - I am from 1962, am I antique then? Haha - freat to see this series back again
I could listen to you while I sleep every night...
That's a compliment BTW.
His voice is very soothing