Oh wow, this is the first dead mall video for Central Mall. I was last at this mall in December and there were way more people there than this. I knew it wouldn’t be long until we got our dead mall video. This mall used to be so much better. I used to work at Sears in the 90’s. I have fond memories of this mall. I hope they can save it. Thanks for the video!
The middle of the mall used to have a fountain. They took it out many years ago. There were many fashion shows there for the stores. Not very many people in the city are for FISTA being there. Bringing them was a way to supposedly make the city more money. Some of the stores that are in your video are now closed and many to include Old Navy and Bath and Body Works are moving to new locations soon.
A few memories of how I remember this mall growing up... 1:28 - The military recruitment offices was the home of an Arcade back in the 90's where I first discovered my love for Simpsons arcade, Terminator 2 shooter, TMNT 4, and Street Fighter 2. 1:50 - The Army/Navy offices have been there possibly since the late 90's. 2:00 - That Hibbets was multiple clothing stores for many years. Mostly shoes. 2:23 - The Outpost was K.B. Toys in the 90's up until 2004-2005 when they closed it down, I believe, but I bought some memorable things from there. 2:23 - J.C. Penny has always been there and not much has changed since I was a little kid. 2:37 - That U.S. Patriot outlet was a weed store 10-15 years ago, but don't remember much before. 2:57 - Eclipse haircuts were many shoe stores that came and gone. And now seems gone forever. 3:07 - That abandoned store on the right was Walden Books from the early 2000's up until 2009 when it closed. But this was not the original location in the 90's. 3:24 - On right. Was mostly a jewelry store for many, many years. 3:29 - On the right again, that was original spot for Radio Shack. Funny how they turned out. 3:40 - This was the original spot of Walden Books. It's where I first laid on eyes on that four eyed nerd, Harry Potter. 3:47 - Abercombie & Fitch. Obsessed bro bought all his hole-y jeans from there. 3:54 - Kay's jewelry I believe. A jewelry store none the less. 4:05 - This is the center. And in the middle was a gushing water fountain where you could drop a penny and make a wish. God, I miss that. 4:09 - straight ahead the abandoned store was another jewelry store. Go figure. 4:24 - Journey's has lasted for a long while. Good on them, and I'm still shocked they're there. 4:54 - Here is where I have most of my memories of this mall. Sam Goody's was in this original spot up until 2005, I believe. I bought all my DBZ movies, and music from here. I cherish it. 5:15 - Chick-Fil-A was in this spot. It closed several years ago. 5:25 - Charle's Subs/Cinnabon was a western clothing store 20 years ago. 5:35 - The abandoned store on the right I believe was an aquarium store back 20 years ago as well. 5:35 - Fista is the original spot for SEARS. Opened in the late 70's I believe. 5:48 - Old Navy still going strong since the 90's. 6:45 - Foot Locker hasn't changed since I was a kid. 7:00 - Another Jewelry store. Mostly wrist watches. 7:02 - Claires on the right was a girl's craft store 20 odd years ago. 7:25 - Dilliard's. Last thing I bought from there was some nice dress pants and watches. Pricey place to shop. 7:48 - Memories vague, but there was either an ice cream shop where the love pink or cookie restaurant location is now. 10:00 - That hair saloon has been there as long as I can remember and changed sparsely over the years. BONUS: 11:09 - Food court. Same as always. At the very front entrance is the theater. Built back in the early 2000's. Seen a lot of films with a lot of memories from those screenings. Malls are dying. Before social media, and Amazon you had to go out and socialize in person, no cell phones to hold you back. Stores where packed and busy. Back then I always hated waited in line at the checkout for a DVD or movie ticket. Now looking back on it. I would love for it to come back just to see how much I appreciate the times. Good job on the video!
Wanted to say on a couple of things..my memory may not be AS great, as 20 years ago I was only 8, but I have also grown up here in Lawton and do remember the mall decently enough. I don't believe that Charley's/Cinnabon actually coincides with the entirety of the Crutcher's Western store. I think THAT was a little further down that walk-way, across from where T-Mobile sat (and where the nail salons are now). It is possible that the Charley's was walled off before they cut it out and built it, but I don't recall the Crutcher's store being THAT big. Also, you mentioned Sam Goody's, and I couldn't NOT mention how AFTER SG, there was F.Y.E. (For Your Entertainment) for quite some time too. Man, there are some wicked photos on the internet on different forums (if you do some digging) of the mall in the 90s, 00s, and EARLY 10s. Again, I could be wrong about the Crutcher's thing, but you nailed so many of those nostalgic spots for me, especially KB's Toys. Funny enough, as a mere tike, I always envisioned KB's Toys as a MASSIVE toy warehouse and would BEG my mom to stop there to buy the latest WWF(E) action figure to add to my collection. Had a laugh growing up when I realized that my kid perception of that store was WAY off and it was a VERY small store indeed. 😂
@@yaboi_LGK I think you might be right about the Crutcher's western store, it was a short memory, so I don't know what could of took its place if it wasn't. I don't recall it being named F.Y.E. after Sam Goody's took the logo off or not, but someone told me one time that they're owned by F.Y.E. which I assumed was the same thing. Then I went to OKC and found Suncoast. Good times. Especially in the hay day of DBZ's early VHS popularity. Yes, it was very narrow in size with probably only three toy aisles, maybe. I bought most of my DBZ figures from her back in 00-02. Agree very nostalgic.
The mall used to be so cool - like genuinely. I grew up coming to this mall all the time as a child and ever since most of the big stores have left (like Sears for example), this place has kinda gone downhill. It sucks knowing that eventually the place is gonna get shut down or something. I literally only go to the mall for Gamestop (because it's the quickest to access), Hot Topic, and for both Stir Fry 88 & Pholicious. The loss of Sears and even the movie theater in the mall have really made the place lack luster. Not to mention the really shitty curfew they implemented.
Everyone throwing in their two cents so I will too. Yes that arcade is where Navy Marines was. Used to love walking in there. They had Mortal Kombat 3 on this big screen with speakers and it blew my mind, I stood their for hours watchin the big kids play because they knew all the moves, and you actually had to be good to play on the this screen. I used to walk around because the arcade was in a circle, and played Simpsons and Mortal Kombat 1. I also remember T2 and Aerosmith Revolution game. And the restrooms were always across from there. Then up the hall on the corner was a store called Babbage's, it was the GameStop before being there was a GameStop. It was classy, walls were white, the workers dressed like office workers. Had lots of PC games and Sega Saturn, I think even Jaguar games there. I'd buy those gaming guides there, and gaming magazines. And Wizard magazine. Across from that was Walden Book, I'd buy my art books from there. They always cool books, especially if you were a kid. I bought this pop out weather book from there, totally awesome. Then about that time, I slide over to KB toys and see what came out. When I was a kid they had simple spider man capitan america figures from toy biz and simple batman and superman from Kenner. Then wave after wave of movie and TV show came out and they had toys for everything. Batman movies, Kevin Costner robinhood, jurassic park, aliens, terminator 2, they pretty much had everything. Then X-Men the animated series dropped and I was in there weekly picking up whatever came out. Then a little later Image Comics came out and and McFarlane toys had all these Spawn toys. And there was a big toy soldier in the back of the store. If you press a button he comes out of the box and sings the kb toys song. Later they encased him in a clear barrier, because people would hold him down so he wouldn't come out of a box Then I'd swing over to the northwest side entrance and they had this card store I think. I just remember seeing marvel comics cards in there from Flare. Man those cards were expensive but nice. It was a small store that later became a toyshop I believe. Then once all that is done. I'd slide over to the fountain and look at all the pennies inside it. It was big square fountain. People would sit on the edge of it I sat there because it made a relaxing sound People just sat around the fountain literally like a watering hole Typically I would never go past the waterfountain, no stores down that way would interest a kid like me, I liked the east side with the games, books, and toys About that time my grandpa would pick me up and we would head into fort sill, he retired from there and still would go by his friends shops and say hi. Back then, goin onto fort sill was not a big deal, but now and days it is a major deal. Further down was footlocker and a cowboy store. Footlocker had this wood trim around it and I remember being really small even for a kid. My dad use to work at the mall in the 80s, he said he met many a woman there. He had a friend from a shop around the corner and when they would both get off work, they would go hang out together. 80s 90s lawton was alright Things do change its not their fault I do have fond memories of the mall In my memory I treasure them Enjoy life while it is happening now, because it does change. So if you like something make the most of it now, because it will never be again Treasure the time provided Make good memories
Bro the memories flooded back when you brought up the fountain. That's the one thing I remember as well as the bank that had a shoe shine stand inside and the Mexican restaurant.
The intro's to your videos give me that mythical feeling of being on a road trip. Strange new towns, places to explore. Who lives here? What goes on during a busy weekend?
It's a military town only thing keeping it alive is the army base. Most neighborhoods are run down, a lot of unmowed lawns, loose dogs, and thieves. Lived here my whole life always been that way my dad says it used to be nice when he was growing up.
ever since they removed the theatre in this mall, it's kinda gone downhill from there, now it just looks depressing the only place i like from there is the Chinese takeout, the spicy bourbon chicken slaps
Tbh the Mall in Lawton is really only a figment of what it used to be. I don't think it will ever go back to how it was before. As someone who has lived in Lawton my whole life, almost 25 years, it's in a tragic state now.
I have very fond memories of this mall. I remember the Sam Goody, El Chico and Waldenbooks that used to be in there. Saw Signs, The Day After Tomorrow, Shrek 1 & 2, The Others, The Grudge, Passion of the Christ, The Mummy Returns and Van Helsing at the theatre that also used to be there. The chain was called Dickinson if I remember correctly. It was never an amazing place to shop, but for kids in a town as small as Lawton, we took what we could get. I haven't been to Lawton in nearly 20 years, and this has me reminiscing. Great video!
I worked in Central Mall between 2005 and 2011. I can tell you exactly what kick started its downfall. The town is pretty rough when it comes to violent crime and gang activity. The mall was no exception and saw its fair share of violence. There was a shooting in the parking lot my very first night working there. Despite this, the mall was still very busy all days of the week and ESPECIALLY Friday and Saturday. The management eventually decided to start a curfew and kick out any minors after a certain time. This wasn't such a big deal by itself, but to enforce this rule the mall put security guards at every entrance and they demanded an ID from absolutely everyone, regardless of how old they looked. The security there was VERY heavy handed when it came to this as well, kicking out many people who were clearly of age. We would get tons of complaints from people despite it being a mall policy. The security also started removing people during the day as well if they "felt" like the person wasn't a customer anymore. The mall had a movie theater and an arcade. People would spend money in those places but get kicked out of the mall when found in the main building with no product to show. Security guarded all of the entrances for several months, and even after they moved inside, they still stood close to the entrances, harassing most people as they walked by. The places I worked (I worked at two) both saw an almost 50% loss in total business immediately and neither of them ever recovered. Even before the curfew time, there was a clear massive decline in people inside the mall at any time. There are tons of things that central mall's management did that undoubtedly would have led the mall to the same place it is today, but I am convinced that the heavy handed security is the primary cause of its premature decline.
A lot of the closing and downfall with this mall is that the owners of it now, aren’t renewing contracts and raised the price of rent up so high it’s forcing buisnesses out. Most of them are moving to the west side of lawton now!
i live in lawton its sad to see the state its in the mall was a go to hq for me and friends security knew us and we knew them and never once did i or friends get caught up in anything luckily i still give em business do to Carolina comics being right next door
Yeah, Security in the early 2010s got super heavy-handed. Prior to the private security guys masquerading as police, there USED to be off-duty Comanche County Sheriff's Dept. Deputies that would moonlight as security for the mall. Those guys were super friendly, always chill, and would greet people. Then comes the contractors and they would legit threaten anyone standing around for more than 5 minutes without "reason." Some have already mentioned that they would ask for IDs and I VAGUELY remember that time period, but enough to know that most of my friends and I would go STRAIGHT to the movies and STRAIGHT out as to avoid dealing with those chumps.
I was approached by mall security. They asked for my ID. I couldn’t imagine why until they pocketed it and told me to follow them to their security office. They accused me of speeding through the parking lot a few days prior. I hadn’t been there for over a month so I went off on them and nearly had to get physical just to get my license back. They took my picture and got banned from that dump. That was like 20 years ago lol
You’re correct Lawton how much of a richer district around back then beer bars, liquor bars, hotels motels, a few houses of the night we were in military town still are today. This whole area was built on military pay day still is somewhat today. We have tons of ex-military living in this town who retired here and I don’t know if the author seen it why he was here, but there was an old Barry. That’s been there since his towns origin. About the rainfall in more of the seasonal thing sometimes we have a rainy season in the whole parking lot looks like a lake and sometimes we have a dry season. Apparently when they planned this area, nobody thought of putting in any drainage. You should see the snowy this area is a hit or miss when it comes to winter snow but when it hits that’s the first area to get flooded
The movie theater closest stores due to Covid and I guess the company that had that movie theater decided to shut her for good and we did have a movie theater tickets please sort of for years. We’ve had a movie theater called the Vaska it’s been in here since about the 40s or 50s it’s never really closed used to be a place where we used to go watch all movies it been out for like five or six months but after the mall theaters shutter its stores, Vaska took over with brand new movies and it’s been semi-successful ever cents unfortunately, that’s only one of two theaters we have in town. We have a huge theater completely on the other side of town new state of the art of the mall Sutters so goes businesses such as cell half this town just wanted that more or less be over with the town purchased the mall and decided to stick its technical trade school in there but truth be told given the fact that we have a technical trade school already it’s more or less doomed to fail one sign that know you have a failing is when a church set up an office in the mall
Sad that our city council ( good ol boys) bought the mall so the owner could escape financial ruins. Now the bigger stores went to strip mall on west side of town.
Hopefully they’ll be open next time I go to Lawton, it has to be cooler in there for a walk about then it is here in Duncan. Today is 7-20-23 it’s been rather warm lately, so be seeing you soon Lawton…
I loved this mall when I was a kid! The huge fountain in the middle was so cool. Loved going to KB toys, McDonald's, Ups N Downs, Waldens book store, and so many more. It was a great place back in the day, and now it's like a ghost of its former self. Pretty sad.
A couple of unique things at this mall. #1 The former Sears corridor is the busiest with few vacancies. #2 The Lids kiosk, I have never seen one of those before. Usually Lids picks the smallest store spaces but a kiosk is new to me. As for the mall, bland hallways with excellent high ceiling courts throughout. There are enough chain stores left to keep this one viable for now.
The Lids in Westland Mall in Westland Michigan was a kiosk of that type in 2009 when I started working at that mall. It ended up converting to ... basically a kiosk against a wall of Macy's. It had the same blue metal paneling and 2 drop down gates, but one wall was the outside wall of Macy's. But yeah, most lids I've seen are in the tiniest stores. I think this is only the 2nd kiosk I've seen
I live in Lawton and frequent this mall at least once a week, only for the Chinese takeout place that's in the food court. That's about the only reason why people go to Central Plaza anymore.
Huh, was surprised to see this pop up in my recommendations. Yeah, it's pretty dead earlier in the year. It only really gets busy staring in Fall for, of course, holiday shopping. The year Covid hit though, is when the domino effect truly started. With Dillards gone, there's nowhere left to shop for dress clothes, everyone has to drive out to a bigger city to even buy something appropriate for a funeral or party. The amount of customers I had to turn away looking for prom dresses was depressing. If you ever end up going to New Mexico, there is a pathetic excuse of a mall in Clovis. North Plains Mall, that everyone in my family called the "Hall". I don't know how, but they're still chugging along.
This mall reminds me of Glennbrook Square in Ft. Wayne Indiana in ONE way... the "courts" have 8 corner stores versus 4. Kind of genius design in order to jack up the rent on the most desirable spaces.
I'm still in high school so I never got to experience all of the cool events that you listed in the video and it makes me sad that I wasn't around to experience it. All I know it for is being a sad excuse for a mall.
Sad. My grandfather helped developed that area along with a lot of Lawton. They were suppose to tear down Taft area and build the biggest mall in America there. That of course never went through.
Really has gone down since 2020. My first job was at the Zumiez there in 2016 and the mall was at least steady then. Now you go on Fridays & Saturdays and it’s just as dead as this video. Zumiez, Hot Topic, Spencer’s & GameStop are the only reason i pop in.. About a 30 minute trip usually
At this point if it's getting de-malled anyway they might as well try to restore at least some of the street grid. I could have sworn there's a formerly enclosed mall that's doing that.
When I had a DnD group my sister and I would drive to Lawton every weekend to meet with them. We'd stop at the mall and get dinner at the stir fry noodle place and some game snacks at the candy store next to it.
hot take: As someone who likes malls, I've started to feel a bit of a resentment for downtowns. Why? I think it's a mixture of things. Maybe it's a lifetime of seeing old salvageable malls always getting sentenced to the wrecking ball while downtowns seemingly get infinite chances at revival. Or maybe it's just all the people who repost the same comment of "Wull, dying malls are a good thing because muh downtowns" Either way, I can no longer feel much sympathy for downtowns anymore.
The mall killed downtown used to have lot more going on then they built this pile of shit drove a lot of businesses out. My dad always talked about how busy and full of life it used to be now you only go to that side town if you got court or to pay the water bill.
This video was made 4 months ago and they still haven’t said when everything is supposed to go underway from the “new outside outlet mall” maybe when I come back in 30 years it’ll be done
I live in Lawton Oklahoma I miss going to that mall me and my family would go catch a movie or get something to eat I would go to GameStop there to see what games they have a lot of things are closed down but a lot of things are still open I hope they find something to fill in that empty void!
it was so strange to see this pop up in my recommended feed since ive never watched a video like this, and i currently live in lawton. guess youtube knows my location? i moved here in 2020 from illinois. im gen z so ive barely seen what a popular mall looks like. the mall in alton illinois looks about like this, but a bit better. very void of patrons, but there were lots of store. at least the last time i was there, there was. the only actual popular malls ive seen are mills mall in stl (now shut down apparently) and the mall in okc. its so surreal to think that malls can actually be populated since 90% of the malls ive been to in my life have... been not great. every time me and my bf and roommate come here, we get a duck from the claw machine at 9:24. you win every time! we only come here for hot topic, bath and body and spencers.
this is in my hometown and let me just say.. its been bad over the last couple years. They have shut down atleast 10 + stores in the last 5 yrs and not just little ones. Chick fil la, dillards, american eagle, pacsun, sephora, and those are just a few. There used to be a movie theater but that also got shut down in 2015 i think.
The theatre was bought out by AMC, but when lockdowns hit, AMC cut their losses and closed the theatre for good. There are still a couple of dedicated theatres in town, but damn will I miss that one, and the arcade attached. Neither of the mall's dedicated arcades compare.
Carolina Comics is open! they have amazing down to earth owners and the place is only owned by the two! they are so genuine and greg definitely knows what he is doing!
@@DoomieGruntVentures The opening one, and the security guard booth as you exiting were the most obvious 2. Ah well, since I more watch the videos to see what these malls look like, not so much to count the number of Blarts within the mall.
I don't like this mall. It's way too bland and boring for me. It doesn't even have a fountain. One of my least favourite malls you covered by far.😐 The only reason why I would shop here, would be for some of the stores and not to enjoy the actual mall itself. But either way, good documenting Doomie.
I've seen worser looking malls than Central Mall(Lawton), as well. You guys also forget the company Cafaro, where their malls are VERY boring looking as well. I'd argue their malls are just as boring looking, as Hull.
Lawton downtown needs to be upgraded and the theater leaving the mall hurt. COVID 19 or not this town discriminates by race and sex also looks. You see a lot of mixing the races here as African Americans lie to White women to get sexual favors. The police is corrupt here don't get jumped by three guys because cops won't do much but take you to hospital and then charge you big bill and won't do anything to the ones accused of the fight. Military even take lots of civilian jobs here and retired military aren't so friendly here to outsiders of small towns like Duncan 45 minutes away personally I think the governor needs to come to Lawton and change things. Express personnel and Workforce Oklahoma are not good here I caught them watching TH-cam videos when they should be helping get jobs as they will find women good jobs and men shitty ones. The Walmart supercenters also treat employees like dirt and lots of racism.
victoria's secret, baskin robbins, a big cookie place, a cigar place, a drug store, a hallmark, christian book store *the salt cellar , pretzel place, corndog 7, even a dollar tree
I'm all for supporting Pho Delicious (their food and boba is indeed delicious) but you can also get boba at DragonLeaf, which is located behind Long John Silvers ^^
More security guards than shoppers, classic Lawton. What a dump.
Oh wow, this is the first dead mall video for Central Mall. I was last at this mall in December and there were way more people there than this. I knew it wouldn’t be long until we got our dead mall video. This mall used to be so much better. I used to work at Sears in the 90’s. I have fond memories of this mall. I hope they can save it. Thanks for the video!
The middle of the mall used to have a fountain. They took it out many years ago. There were many fashion shows there for the stores. Not very many people in the city are for FISTA being there. Bringing them was a way to supposedly make the city more money. Some of the stores that are in your video are now closed and many to include Old Navy and Bath and Body Works are moving to new locations soon.
A few memories of how I remember this mall growing up...
1:28 - The military recruitment offices was the home of an Arcade back in the 90's where I first discovered my love for Simpsons arcade, Terminator 2 shooter, TMNT 4, and Street Fighter 2.
1:50 - The Army/Navy offices have been there possibly since the late 90's.
2:00 - That Hibbets was multiple clothing stores for many years. Mostly shoes.
2:23 - The Outpost was K.B. Toys in the 90's up until 2004-2005 when they closed it down, I believe, but I bought some memorable things from there.
2:23 - J.C. Penny has always been there and not much has changed since I was a little kid.
2:37 - That U.S. Patriot outlet was a weed store 10-15 years ago, but don't remember much before.
2:57 - Eclipse haircuts were many shoe stores that came and gone. And now seems gone forever.
3:07 - That abandoned store on the right was Walden Books from the early 2000's up until 2009 when it closed. But this was not the original location in the 90's.
3:24 - On right. Was mostly a jewelry store for many, many years.
3:29 - On the right again, that was original spot for Radio Shack. Funny how they turned out.
3:40 - This was the original spot of Walden Books. It's where I first laid on eyes on that four eyed nerd, Harry Potter.
3:47 - Abercombie & Fitch. Obsessed bro bought all his hole-y jeans from there.
3:54 - Kay's jewelry I believe. A jewelry store none the less.
4:05 - This is the center. And in the middle was a gushing water fountain where you could drop a penny and make a wish. God, I miss that.
4:09 - straight ahead the abandoned store was another jewelry store. Go figure.
4:24 - Journey's has lasted for a long while. Good on them, and I'm still shocked they're there.
4:54 - Here is where I have most of my memories of this mall. Sam Goody's was in this original spot up until 2005, I believe. I bought all my DBZ movies, and music from here. I cherish it.
5:15 - Chick-Fil-A was in this spot. It closed several years ago.
5:25 - Charle's Subs/Cinnabon was a western clothing store 20 years ago.
5:35 - The abandoned store on the right I believe was an aquarium store back 20 years ago as well.
5:35 - Fista is the original spot for SEARS. Opened in the late 70's I believe.
5:48 - Old Navy still going strong since the 90's.
6:45 - Foot Locker hasn't changed since I was a kid.
7:00 - Another Jewelry store. Mostly wrist watches.
7:02 - Claires on the right was a girl's craft store 20 odd years ago.
7:25 - Dilliard's. Last thing I bought from there was some nice dress pants and watches. Pricey place to shop.
7:48 - Memories vague, but there was either an ice cream shop where the love pink or cookie restaurant location is now.
10:00 - That hair saloon has been there as long as I can remember and changed sparsely over the years.
BONUS: 11:09 - Food court. Same as always. At the very front entrance is the theater. Built back in the early 2000's. Seen a lot of films with a lot of memories from those screenings.
Malls are dying. Before social media, and Amazon you had to go out and socialize in person, no cell phones to hold you back. Stores where packed and busy. Back then I always hated waited in line at the checkout for a DVD or movie ticket. Now looking back on it. I would love for it to come back just to see how much I appreciate the times.
Good job on the video!
Wanted to say on a couple of things..my memory may not be AS great, as 20 years ago I was only 8, but I have also grown up here in Lawton and do remember the mall decently enough. I don't believe that Charley's/Cinnabon actually coincides with the entirety of the Crutcher's Western store. I think THAT was a little further down that walk-way, across from where T-Mobile sat (and where the nail salons are now). It is possible that the Charley's was walled off before they cut it out and built it, but I don't recall the Crutcher's store being THAT big.
Also, you mentioned Sam Goody's, and I couldn't NOT mention how AFTER SG, there was F.Y.E. (For Your Entertainment) for quite some time too. Man, there are some wicked photos on the internet on different forums (if you do some digging) of the mall in the 90s, 00s, and EARLY 10s.
Again, I could be wrong about the Crutcher's thing, but you nailed so many of those nostalgic spots for me, especially KB's Toys. Funny enough, as a mere tike, I always envisioned KB's Toys as a MASSIVE toy warehouse and would BEG my mom to stop there to buy the latest WWF(E) action figure to add to my collection. Had a laugh growing up when I realized that my kid perception of that store was WAY off and it was a VERY small store indeed. 😂
@@yaboi_LGK I think you might be right about the Crutcher's western store, it was a short memory, so I don't know what could of took its place if it wasn't.
I don't recall it being named F.Y.E. after Sam Goody's took the logo off or not, but someone told me one time that they're owned by F.Y.E. which I assumed was the same thing. Then I went to OKC and found Suncoast. Good times. Especially in the hay day of DBZ's early VHS popularity.
Yes, it was very narrow in size with probably only three toy aisles, maybe. I bought most of my DBZ figures from her back in 00-02. Agree very nostalgic.
The mall used to be so cool - like genuinely. I grew up coming to this mall all the time as a child and ever since most of the big stores have left (like Sears for example), this place has kinda gone downhill. It sucks knowing that eventually the place is gonna get shut down or something. I literally only go to the mall for Gamestop (because it's the quickest to access), Hot Topic, and for both Stir Fry 88 & Pholicious.
The loss of Sears and even the movie theater in the mall have really made the place lack luster. Not to mention the really shitty curfew they implemented.
Everyone throwing in their two cents so I will too. Yes that arcade is where Navy Marines was. Used to love walking in there. They had Mortal Kombat 3 on this big screen with speakers and it blew my mind, I stood their for hours watchin the big kids play because they knew all the moves, and you actually had to be good to play on the this screen. I used to walk around because the arcade was in a circle, and played Simpsons and Mortal Kombat 1. I also remember T2 and Aerosmith Revolution game. And the restrooms were always across from there.
Then up the hall on the corner was a store called Babbage's, it was the GameStop before being there was a GameStop. It was classy, walls were white, the workers dressed like office workers. Had lots of PC games and Sega Saturn, I think even Jaguar games there. I'd buy those gaming guides there, and gaming magazines. And Wizard magazine.
Across from that was Walden Book, I'd buy my art books from there. They always cool books, especially if you were a kid. I bought this pop out weather book from there, totally awesome. Then about that time, I slide over to KB toys and see what came out. When I was a kid they had simple spider man capitan america figures from toy biz and simple batman and superman from Kenner. Then wave after wave of movie and TV show came out and they had toys for everything. Batman movies, Kevin Costner robinhood, jurassic park, aliens, terminator 2, they pretty much had everything. Then X-Men the animated series dropped and I was in there weekly picking up whatever came out. Then a little later Image Comics came out and and McFarlane toys had all these Spawn toys.
And there was a big toy soldier in the back of the store. If you press a button he comes out of the box and sings the kb toys song. Later they encased him in a clear barrier, because people would hold him down so he wouldn't come out of a box
Then I'd swing over to the northwest side entrance and they had this card store I think. I just remember seeing marvel comics cards in there from Flare. Man those cards were expensive but nice. It was a small store that later became a toyshop I believe.
Then once all that is done. I'd slide over to the fountain and look at all the pennies inside it.
It was big square fountain. People would sit on the edge of it
I sat there because it made a relaxing sound
People just sat around the fountain literally like a watering hole
Typically I would never go past the waterfountain, no stores down that way would interest a kid like me, I liked the east side with the games, books, and toys
About that time my grandpa would pick me up and we would head into fort sill, he retired from there and still would go by his friends shops and say hi. Back then, goin onto fort sill was not a big deal, but now and days it is a major deal.
Further down was footlocker and a cowboy store. Footlocker had this wood trim around it and I remember being really small even for a kid. My dad use to work at the mall in the 80s, he said he met many a woman there. He had a friend from a shop around the corner and when they would both get off work, they would go hang out together.
80s 90s lawton was alright
Things do change its not their fault
I do have fond memories of the mall
In my memory I treasure them
Enjoy life while it is happening now, because it does change.
So if you like something make the most of it now, because it will never be again
Treasure the time provided
Make good memories
Bro the memories flooded back when you brought up the fountain. That's the one thing I remember as well as the bank that had a shoe shine stand inside and the Mexican restaurant.
The intro's to your videos give me that mythical feeling of being on a road trip. Strange new towns, places to explore. Who lives here? What goes on during a busy weekend?
Yes, I understand why you would say that and have that feeling.
It's a military town only thing keeping it alive is the army base. Most neighborhoods are run down, a lot of unmowed lawns, loose dogs, and thieves. Lived here my whole life always been that way my dad says it used to be nice when he was growing up.
ever since they removed the theatre in this mall, it's kinda gone downhill from there, now it just looks depressing
the only place i like from there is the Chinese takeout, the spicy bourbon chicken slaps
Okay but their honey mustard chicken is also delicious
Tbh the Mall in Lawton is really only a figment of what it used to be. I don't think it will ever go back to how it was before. As someone who has lived in Lawton my whole life, almost 25 years, it's in a tragic state now.
Another great mall vid from an area of the county we don’t see too many mall vids! Thanks!
I have very fond memories of this mall. I remember the Sam Goody, El Chico and Waldenbooks that used to be in there. Saw Signs, The Day After Tomorrow, Shrek 1 & 2, The Others, The Grudge, Passion of the Christ, The Mummy Returns and Van Helsing at the theatre that also used to be there. The chain was called Dickinson if I remember correctly.
It was never an amazing place to shop, but for kids in a town as small as Lawton, we took what we could get. I haven't been to Lawton in nearly 20 years, and this has me reminiscing.
Great video!
There was a time, when it was a legit mall, with a fountain in the middle, it stayed busy every weekend, kind of sad to see it fall
I worked in Central Mall between 2005 and 2011. I can tell you exactly what kick started its downfall.
The town is pretty rough when it comes to violent crime and gang activity. The mall was no exception and saw its fair share of violence. There was a shooting in the parking lot my very first night working there. Despite this, the mall was still very busy all days of the week and ESPECIALLY Friday and Saturday. The management eventually decided to start a curfew and kick out any minors after a certain time. This wasn't such a big deal by itself, but to enforce this rule the mall put security guards at every entrance and they demanded an ID from absolutely everyone, regardless of how old they looked. The security there was VERY heavy handed when it came to this as well, kicking out many people who were clearly of age. We would get tons of complaints from people despite it being a mall policy. The security also started removing people during the day as well if they "felt" like the person wasn't a customer anymore. The mall had a movie theater and an arcade. People would spend money in those places but get kicked out of the mall when found in the main building with no product to show. Security guarded all of the entrances for several months, and even after they moved inside, they still stood close to the entrances, harassing most people as they walked by.
The places I worked (I worked at two) both saw an almost 50% loss in total business immediately and neither of them ever recovered. Even before the curfew time, there was a clear massive decline in people inside the mall at any time. There are tons of things that central mall's management did that undoubtedly would have led the mall to the same place it is today, but I am convinced that the heavy handed security is the primary cause of its premature decline.
A lot of the closing and downfall with this mall is that the owners of it now, aren’t renewing contracts and raised the price of rent up so high it’s forcing buisnesses out. Most of them are moving to the west side of lawton now!
i live in lawton its sad to see the state its in the mall was a go to hq for me and friends security knew us and we knew them and never once did i or friends get caught up in anything luckily i still give em business do to Carolina comics being right next door
Yeah, Security in the early 2010s got super heavy-handed. Prior to the private security guys masquerading as police, there USED to be off-duty Comanche County Sheriff's Dept. Deputies that would moonlight as security for the mall. Those guys were super friendly, always chill, and would greet people. Then comes the contractors and they would legit threaten anyone standing around for more than 5 minutes without "reason." Some have already mentioned that they would ask for IDs and I VAGUELY remember that time period, but enough to know that most of my friends and I would go STRAIGHT to the movies and STRAIGHT out as to avoid dealing with those chumps.
I was approached by mall security. They asked for my ID. I couldn’t imagine why until they pocketed it and told me to follow them to their security office. They accused me of speeding through the parking lot a few days prior. I hadn’t been there for over a month so I went off on them and nearly had to get physical just to get my license back. They took my picture and got banned from that dump. That was like 20 years ago lol
LMAO.
It’s so sad to see our mall dying, they used to have Romance in the stone and I loved to play with the Hermit Crabs
You’re correct Lawton how much of a richer district around back then beer bars, liquor bars, hotels motels, a few houses of the night we were in military town still are today. This whole area was built on military pay day still is somewhat today. We have tons of ex-military living in this town who retired here and I don’t know if the author seen it why he was here, but there was an old Barry. That’s been there since his towns origin. About the rainfall in more of the seasonal thing sometimes we have a rainy season in the whole parking lot looks like a lake and sometimes we have a dry season. Apparently when they planned this area, nobody thought of putting in any drainage. You should see the snowy this area is a hit or miss when it comes to winter snow but when it hits that’s the first area to get flooded
The movie theater closest stores due to Covid and I guess the company that had that movie theater decided to shut her for good and we did have a movie theater tickets please sort of for years. We’ve had a movie theater called the Vaska it’s been in here since about the 40s or 50s it’s never really closed used to be a place where we used to go watch all movies it been out for like five or six months but after the mall theaters shutter its stores, Vaska took over with brand new movies and it’s been semi-successful ever cents unfortunately, that’s only one of two theaters we have in town. We have a huge theater completely on the other side of town new state of the art of the mall Sutters so goes businesses such as cell half this town just wanted that more or less be over with the town purchased the mall and decided to stick its technical trade school in there but truth be told given the fact that we have a technical trade school already it’s more or less doomed to fail one sign that know you have a failing is when a church set up an office in the mall
Sad that our city council ( good ol boys) bought the mall so the owner could escape financial ruins. Now the bigger stores went to strip mall on west side of town.
Great video Doomie! At least this Mall could maybe have a small chance with Kohan away from ownership
I live less than 10 minutes away. This is pretty much how it looks all the time. So sad
Hopefully they’ll be open next time I go to Lawton, it has to be cooler in there for a walk about then it is here in Duncan. Today is 7-20-23 it’s been rather warm lately, so be seeing you soon Lawton…
I loved this mall when I was a kid! The huge fountain in the middle was so cool. Loved going to KB toys, McDonald's, Ups N Downs, Waldens book store, and so many more. It was a great place back in the day, and now it's like a ghost of its former self. Pretty sad.
A couple of unique things at this mall. #1 The former Sears corridor is the busiest with few vacancies. #2 The Lids kiosk, I have never seen one of those before. Usually Lids picks the smallest store spaces but a kiosk is new to me. As for the mall, bland hallways with excellent high ceiling courts throughout. There are enough chain stores left to keep this one viable for now.
The Lids in Westland Mall in Westland Michigan was a kiosk of that type in 2009 when I started working at that mall. It ended up converting to ... basically a kiosk against a wall of Macy's. It had the same blue metal paneling and 2 drop down gates, but one wall was the outside wall of Macy's. But yeah, most lids I've seen are in the tiniest stores. I think this is only the 2nd kiosk I've seen
I live in Lawton and frequent this mall at least once a week, only for the Chinese takeout place that's in the food court. That's about the only reason why people go to Central Plaza anymore.
I stopped going when they stopped having Stir Fried noodles.
I live in Duncan and would always come over here for GameStop and to catch a movie and do some shopping after. Miss the good old days
We can have them again.
Doomies mall videos give you a brief moment of feeling uplifted due to the simplicity of real nostaglia. He shall not be stopped.
Huh, was surprised to see this pop up in my recommendations. Yeah, it's pretty dead earlier in the year. It only really gets busy staring in Fall for, of course, holiday shopping. The year Covid hit though, is when the domino effect truly started. With Dillards gone, there's nowhere left to shop for dress clothes, everyone has to drive out to a bigger city to even buy something appropriate for a funeral or party. The amount of customers I had to turn away looking for prom dresses was depressing.
If you ever end up going to New Mexico, there is a pathetic excuse of a mall in Clovis. North Plains Mall, that everyone in my family called the "Hall". I don't know how, but they're still chugging along.
This mall reminds me of Glennbrook Square in Ft. Wayne Indiana in ONE way... the "courts" have 8 corner stores versus 4. Kind of genius design in order to jack up the rent on the most desirable spaces.
I worked at the hot topic not even a year ago, what times
Our mall is dead
I'm still in high school so I never got to experience all of the cool events that you listed in the video and it makes me sad that I wasn't around to experience it. All I know it for is being a sad excuse for a mall.
The 7 up jail sounds like so much fun.🥤
I remeber the fountain ... and big toy store !
Sad. My grandfather helped developed that area along with a lot of Lawton. They were suppose to tear down Taft area and build the biggest mall in America there. That of course never went through.
The reason that the mall was built there is because it was old poor people neighborhood. Urban renewal.
Really has gone down since 2020. My first job was at the Zumiez there in 2016 and the mall was at least steady then. Now you go on Fridays & Saturdays and it’s just as dead as this video. Zumiez, Hot Topic, Spencer’s & GameStop are the only reason i pop in.. About a 30 minute trip usually
At this point if it's getting de-malled anyway they might as well try to restore at least some of the street grid. I could have sworn there's a formerly enclosed mall that's doing that.
When I had a DnD group my sister and I would drive to Lawton every weekend to meet with them. We'd stop at the mall and get dinner at the stir fry noodle place and some game snacks at the candy store next to it.
Love me some DND and love me some Lawton.
hot take: As someone who likes malls, I've started to feel a bit of a resentment for downtowns. Why? I think it's a mixture of things.
Maybe it's a lifetime of seeing old salvageable malls always getting sentenced to the wrecking ball while downtowns seemingly get infinite chances at revival. Or maybe it's just all the people who repost the same comment of "Wull, dying malls are a good thing because muh downtowns"
Either way, I can no longer feel much sympathy for downtowns anymore.
The mall killed downtown used to have lot more going on then they built this pile of shit drove a lot of businesses out. My dad always talked about how busy and full of life it used to be now you only go to that side town if you got court or to pay the water bill.
This video was made 4 months ago and they still haven’t said when everything is supposed to go underway from the “new outside outlet mall” maybe when I come back in 30 years it’ll be done
I live in Lawton Oklahoma I miss going to that mall me and my family would go catch a movie or get something to eat I would go to GameStop there to see what games they have a lot of things are closed down but a lot of things are still open I hope they find something to fill in that empty void!
One only gets a hangover if you quite drinking
it was so strange to see this pop up in my recommended feed since ive never watched a video like this, and i currently live in lawton. guess youtube knows my location?
i moved here in 2020 from illinois.
im gen z so ive barely seen what a popular mall looks like. the mall in alton illinois looks about like this, but a bit better. very void of patrons, but there were lots of store. at least the last time i was there, there was. the only actual popular malls ive seen are mills mall in stl (now shut down apparently) and the mall in okc. its so surreal to think that malls can actually be populated since 90% of the malls ive been to in my life have... been not great.
every time me and my bf and roommate come here, we get a duck from the claw machine at 9:24. you win every time! we only come here for hot topic, bath and body and spencers.
this is in my hometown and let me just say.. its been bad over the last couple years. They have shut down atleast 10 + stores in the last 5 yrs and not just little ones. Chick fil la, dillards, american eagle, pacsun, sephora, and those are just a few. There used to be a movie theater but that also got shut down in 2015 i think.
The theatre was bought out by AMC, but when lockdowns hit, AMC cut their losses and closed the theatre for good. There are still a couple of dedicated theatres in town, but damn will I miss that one, and the arcade attached. Neither of the mall's dedicated arcades compare.
There is a pretty decent comic book store across the street. Though the roof caved in a few weeks ago
Carolina Comics is open! they have amazing down to earth owners and the place is only owned by the two! they are so genuine and greg definitely knows what he is doing!
The city of Lawton own it
I saw 1 security guard, so I did 1 shot. I was hoping for a parade to go thru the mall.
I didn't notice a lot of Blarts, inside this mall. And I thought there'd be a lot more....
There were 3 total I counted. 4 if you count the guy in the security booth as we walk in.
5 or 6 if you count repeat appearances.
@@DoomieGruntVentures The opening one, and the security guard booth as you exiting were the most obvious 2. Ah well, since I more watch the videos to see what these malls look like, not so much to count the number of Blarts within the mall.
Nice video 👋
Wow, some halfway decent stores for almost no shoppers. What day of the week and time was this filmed?
as someone who lives here, it literally looks like this on fridays and saturdays unfortunately
Mall of the Bluffs in Council Bluffs, IA used to have all four recruiters in it.
no more mall walkers. no music shops anymore. terrible.
9:59 i saw an actual pile of poo on the ground right there once.. seriously.
i saw a latino take a dump in a huge potted plant once in this mall
That mall was trash in the 90's now its just hanging on to take up space.
I don't like this mall. It's way too bland and boring for me. It doesn't even have a fountain. One of my least favourite malls you covered by far.😐 The only reason why I would shop here, would be for some of the stores and not to enjoy the actual mall itself. But either way, good documenting Doomie.
I disagree. Partially because I have seen far worse, and have documented far worse on the channel.
Keep in mind, Hull Property Group exists.
@@DoomieGruntVentures I believe you. Yes Hull Property is even worse.
I've seen worser looking malls than Central Mall(Lawton), as well. You guys also forget the company Cafaro, where their malls are VERY boring looking as well. I'd argue their malls are just as boring looking, as Hull.
My memory is a little foggy but I'm pretty sure it did have a fountain back in the early 90's.
This mall sucks I use to work at JCPenney it takes you 2 minutes to get from one end to the other
Been there many times tbh OKC's is better cause of escalators lol.
You think THIS is dead? You should check the malls in Tulsa my dude, way more dead.
Wait awhile. I've got footage for Tulsa's malls.
Lawton downtown needs to be upgraded and the theater leaving the mall hurt. COVID 19 or not this town discriminates by race and sex also looks. You see a lot of mixing the races here as African Americans lie to White women to get sexual favors. The police is corrupt here don't get jumped by three guys because cops won't do much but take you to hospital and then charge you big bill and won't do anything to the ones accused of the fight. Military even take lots of civilian jobs here and retired military aren't so friendly here to outsiders of small towns like Duncan 45 minutes away personally I think the governor needs to come to Lawton and change things. Express personnel and Workforce Oklahoma are not good here I caught them watching TH-cam videos when they should be helping get jobs as they will find women good jobs and men shitty ones. The Walmart supercenters also treat employees like dirt and lots of racism.
FIRST
Sucks that's what it looks like now I havnt been there in years I remember being excited as a kid to go and visit gamestop lol damn Shame it's dead af
victoria's secret, baskin robbins, a big cookie place, a cigar place, a drug store, a hallmark, christian book store *the salt cellar , pretzel place, corndog 7, even a dollar tree
I live here. This mall is ass. Only time I go there is to get boba for my wife, or to go by hot topic / gamestop
I'm all for supporting Pho Delicious (their food and boba is indeed delicious) but you can also get boba at DragonLeaf, which is located behind Long John Silvers ^^