Absolutely... I would not be watching dead mall videos and found a whole new world of music if it weren't for the originator in my case, Mr. Dan Bell. Hats off! 🎇
Thank you for this, Dan. This episode has everything I love about your Dead Mall series. The gentle sway of the camera as you stroll along is always so comforting to me.
Back in 2012 I heard they were going to be tearing down the mall I had known since my early childhood. I started going a few times a week just to walk around and remember all the memories. Since 1969 when I was 3 it was the place to go. 43 years of back to school clothes, meeting friends and girl watching in high school, getting my hair cut by the same barber for 25 years, seeing movies and eating lunch, Christmas shopping, buying my wife’s engagement ring, buying home goods, pictures with Santa Claus with my kids. I never realized how hard it would hit me.
If you're truly desperate for the mall experience and are for some reason flush with cash head to Singapore. A friend who lives there told me "shopping is Singapore's national sport" and it shows in the number of crazy malls they've got that are all still thriving.
I am crying right now because this was my childhood. Many memories from being with my mom shopping as a kid, to being one of the mallrats into my my early college years. RIP, Lakeforest.
Dead malls (and other buildings) fascinate me so much, because once upon a time each of those stores was a place where people made their living. They came there every day, clocked in, worked, followed rules, saw to upkeep, stocked the store - and now the place means nothing. All of that time and effort, now its just a shell. Something hauntingly endearing about that whole concept to me.
Back in the 80s and 90s it was unthinkable that these places would ever die, they were so vibrant with commerce. Movie theaters, video game parlors, record stores, Radio Shacks, novelty shops.
Best Dead Mall episode yet? That feeling you describe, of it's all over. Just like the last day of school, but with a bit of panic, depression, and desperation.
Yes, kind of like graduating H.S. and cleaning your locker out for the last time. This is it... it's over and done. This is all I've known for virtually all my life... Now what? Great analogy.
@@seththomas9105 oh god I just remembered my last day of High school and just how depressing it was. Cleaning out my locker and returning books etc, I also remember that not alot of students showed up as it wasn't mandatory to come so the school felt empty and sad because I would never see some of my friends again.
I haven’t truly enjoyed TH-cam since your old days of regular Dead Mall series releases. It’s really great to see you back making content. If anyone was born to document these malls in a way we can all relate and enjoy, it’s you. Please, don’t stop making these, and hopefully, you can go back to making MANY of these on the regular. Dan Bell is the first thing anyone thinks of when we think of these old malls. You’re really a celebrity in this genre, and should run with it!
@Shoe Slideshows, yes, it's definitely one of the best. He really touched on many things. I miss so much from my childhood like those family gatherings in the mall. We played the arcades, watched ice skaters and sometimes the Zamboni ride around on the ice skating rink. We went to the movies, shopped at tons of stores, had various snacks, those warm peanuts and huge, delicious warm chocolate chip cookies! Chick-Fil-A was always handing out free sample nuggets. The waterfalls were so nice to sit nearby and just relax, toss in some coins etc., and there were sometimes special events. With my dad having passed, then my Pops and now my mother last Thanksgiving after taking care of her the last 4 years... Thinking about the times we had together make the memories sweeter yet even more bitter because those times and they themselves are all gone. It's a reminder tho to make sure you show those whom you love, just how much you love them because you never know when it's the last time you'll have the opportunity to do so.
Did Dan just invent... the Clothesrooms?!? I understand that feeling perfectly btw. It's sort of like, you took it granted all these years. Like "oh, I need a quick gift for someone, I'll just go to Macy's" and suddenly losing the option to just go do something like is undeniably strange. It's the world becoming less tactile in a way.
@@karnagefails333 AND laughing together about how WEIRD & abhorrent that wackadoodle David Gest is! It was so cringey listening to his ODD, sexual comments about her, trying a bit too hard...😩🥴🤭
These malls are fascinating but also so depressing :( As someone who grew up in the 90s and spent a lot of time in malls, it is so sad. It makes me think of all of the people who had great times in these. Thanks for continuing this series, I love it!
Malls need anchors, anchors draw people to the other stores. Why not have the currently trendy restaurants open locations inside of malls? Chick Fila (ALWAYS has a line), Cheesecake Factory, PF Changs, Five Guys, Chipotle, Texas Roadhouse, and every 10th spot a Starbucks? Most of those places are usually busy. They'd thrive if built on Love Canal.
Hey Dan, thank you so much for this. I made a video on Lakeforest Mall a few years ago for a school project in my sophomore year of HS. You inspired me to make that video, & now you came to Lakeforest. It all comes full circle.
This was my child hood mall in the early 90s. I bought so many rap cassettes and all my new school shoes there. I will never forget the recessed carpeted tiers they had in the center court so many people would sit there. Apparently they removed it in 2013. The small arcade took a lot of my money when Street Fighter 2 first came out. Babbage's was the spot for all the latest video games.
7:29 I love that diamond shaped glass elevator with the neon, it looks just like the ones on the Carnival Ecstasy cruise ship. I was on that ship's final sailing last October, definitely had that weird It's all over feeling, knowing the giant ship your on is heading to the scrap yard to be destroyed right after you get off, still covered in neon, gold and mirrors.
Actually their LED strips that I installed that a color changing I leave it on colors for different seasons and holidays light blue was supposed to be for Christmas snow very mad with Dan about saying we are allowing people to break in and damage the place that is not true and anyone doing that will be arrested
I love your work! I'm from Maryland and worked in production management/unit management at Discovery and Smithsonian Channels. One day, while walking to/from the Smithsonian Channel offices in Dupont Circle, I saw a utility man opening steel doors on the sidewalk. I looked down as I walked past (on my way to the Metro) and realized there were stairs that led to an enormous underground area. I did a little research and apparently there's an entire abandoned mall below Dupont Circle that's in pretty much pristine 80s condition. No one even knows it's down there. I'd love to learn more about it. I bet the food court looks just like Saved by the Bell. ☺️ BTW I got banned from Lakeforest when I was in 10th or 11th grade. LMAO 🤣😂
I grew up in Lakeforest mall and It makes me so sad its gonna be torn down. that mall represents my entire childhood. KB toys was a real treat after being with my mom all day at sears. Back then that space in the middle next to the elevator used to be like a playground for kids with plastic frogs and lotus flowers to jump on. We always went to the restaurants on the second floor instead of the food court they had a Ruby Tuesdays and American Café (my favorite restaurant as a 7yo I loved their mac&cheese). I would spend hours at the comic book store reading as many star wars comic as I could before we went back home. I bought a shit ton of CDs at the FYE store they had there it was huge back in the late 90s but got smaller over the years. I have so many memories from this mall I'd never finish posting this. I moved out of maryland years ago so thank you dan for this o n e l a s t g o o d b y e .
Been waiting for this one for a while… and so glad Dan decided to document it. I too grew up in this mall in the early 80’s as a teen, learned to ice skate at the rink, my mother worked in the mall as well as my future wife I had not yet met. I took my two kids to see Santa here and play at the huge play area that was by the elevator. I’m 52 now and still live just minutes from the mall so I’ve seen it trough it’s glory days to it’s current state. It’s bitter sweet for me, so many incredible memories under one roof but it’s time for change…
i appreciate your videos. i’m only 21 but these places felt nostalgic to me. after experiencing many deaths involving family i grew up and went on mall outings with these videos are bittersweet
Great video! I've been in retail management since 1987. Back then, if you told me that malls would be "Dead" one day, I wouldn't have believed it. They were so alive! From the Easter Bunny, to Santa, to Center Mall fashion shows and music. Malls had it all. I love the "backrooms" vibe you put in at the end! Thanks!
Dan I love your video's. There's a lot of people doing closed mall video's but your's are the best. You struck a nerve with me when you were talking about Sears. My Dad worked for Sears and Roebuck for 43 years. He had to quit for 4 years to go fight in WWII but when he got out Sears had his job waiting for him. Sears was the best employer in America. It's so sad to see what happened to them. I live in the metro Atlanta area and we have several malls closing or near closing that you may want to visit. Take care and keep up the great work..
I unironically love that elevator, absolutely beautiful. I ironically love the completely empty Time Out Zone, just needs someone standing motionless in the middle of the floor. Or in one corner, facing the wall.
Magnificent !!! At 61, this evokes in me feelings of nostalgia, sadness, and depression, for a world and society now essentially gone. I enjoy your side trips into 80's/90's infomercials-(LOVE IT), another thing lost...
I grew up in Omaha in the 70s & 80s and have such great memories of the Southroads Mall in Bellevue Nebraska. It became a business park many years ago but the mall hasn’t changed…it’s just not a shopping mall anymore. I remember when Woolworths went out of business (several years before the mall closed) and it was so sad. There was an old woman who had worked there from the day it opened in the 60s until the day it closed.
Are you still in Omaha? Crossroads was torn down. I have fond memories of Southroads, too. That was the mall I went to most often, but damn if Backstage shoes at Westroads wasn't the greatest store of all time. "You can put them on layaway for a dollar!"
Alfred Taubman admired and designed his malls meticulously around European bazaars and art. Heartbreaking to see what's been done here in its final days.
Used to live in Gaithersburg, and got into Dan Bell's videos right when I moved there. I stepped into Lakeforest Mall one day and I felt like I was in one of his videos. So seeing this video is both a dream come true, and a bizarre fever dream. Exactly the type of content I love. Thanks Dan.
Love you Dan! You were extra witty in this episode. Great work. Also, always love your intros and the way you edit those people. It makes it extra funny cuz' I have no idea who they ever are!
Right?! I live in San Antonio, Texas, and we’ve got like 10 malls here and 9 of them are bustling with business and people. I feel like the dead malls are mainly up north which is sad.
@@DavidGavinETC It's funny - I live in a northern state, but there's a mall that's about 30-40 minutes away from the mall that I was initially talking about that's at least three times the size but has a quarter of the open stores. I think the indoor ice skating rink and the cosmotology school inside of it are about the only reason people go there anymore
@Gavin Priestley you'd think it be the opposite, because up North we need more places to go hang out in the Winter. Really interesting they're dying out up here but doing okay down South.
@@DavidGavinETCThey just demolished Valley View and Collin Creek in Dallas/and the suburbs. Stonebriar and Northpark are okay, but not what they used to be. Galleria (of all things) is pretty slow now. There were at least a dozen when I was a kid in the 80's that I can remember. Many more have closed than stayed open. They're all turning into expensive asf apartments and high end shopping that the majority of people can't afford. Wonder what San Antonio is doing right.
A new Dan Bell video!!! Honestly your videos are so strangely comforting to me, I love the way you meditatively move through the mall and really look and appreciate all the little details. Your appreciation for cool architecture, sculptures, and plants is so great to watch! ❤
Wow I started watching this on minute 3 of it being posted. That's a first. I love your videos Dan, and not just that -- you are doing a service by chronicling the history of malls and other such things. I feel is important for the future when they can look back and remember how great it really was -- and they will never experience it sadly.
This is a perfect mix of commentary, history, future, sarcasm, and vapor. Thank you for helping me realize this was a style of art and experience that I'm in love with.
If you are going to go to a mall out west I recommend Prescott gateway mall in Prescott Arizona,it is only 21 years old and as of 2020 was a dying mall with tons of shops full of junk.
There was something about the woman pushing her loved one in the wheelchair that made me unexpectedly sad. The woman looks incredibly similar to my mother (the hair, the jacket, boots, purse/handbag and even the way she walks) and I can't help to think that a large mall like this closing is a perfect metaphor for seeing something age out and slowly die. To think that these folks have lived long enough to see something that was probably apart of the their everyday lives for the longest time suddenly going away within a matter of a few months filled me with such and unexpected amount of sadness.
17:25 the backrooms moment here is terrifying. Trapped in a transdimensional void of clothing retail that extends infinitely in all directions, being chased by the demonic form of Liza Minnelli.
I was so glad he added that. I love dead malls because they feel like liminal spaces, which feel like the backrooms. I believe they're all connected, so seeing that was PERFECT! 😄
It's so sad that this or any dead mall could not be re-purposed into community/medical centers for people. In a different/better society, where profit was not the primary motive, spaces like this could be used to care of people's basic needs.
They do that for some dying malls. Half the first floor of the Exton Square Mall in Pennsylvania where I grew up and even worked in is now leased out into a medical/dental center. But the rest of it is a Dead(ish) Mall, with majority of the anchor stores gone and less than 1/4 capacity. But without "profit", none of this would exist in the first place. And generally the reason for a mall's decline are numerous and not going to be turned around by replacing it with a different type of service or business. Nevermind the state and local regulatory requirements needed to convert a mall into some alternative community center is often costly and not worth it for any investor.
VPNs use the same ciphers web traffic is already encrypted with anyway. If the point is to hide which sites you visit, TorBrowser does that better, for free. Assume any major VPN that knows your real identity is compromised. And that the government tracks you the same ways ad companies do. If your goal is to bypass streaming service lockouts, you'd might as well pirate the content, because using a VPN is probably against the terms of service. Basically, for most use cases, a VPN is either not necessary or not sufficient.
Well Done, Dan. The Creepy tunes made it cool too. There is just something that makes a person Sad when a Mall closes... Growing up in Hillcrest Heights, Maryland in the 1970's. IVERSON MALL, Iverson St. ran under the mall. We lived in the old townhouses behind the mall. So, you know we spent time hanging out in there. The Mall opened in 1950 and was the first Air Conditioned, enclosed Shopping Mall in the Washington, D.C. area. It was still like new in the 1970's. Woodward & Lothrorp at one end, Montgomery Ward as the other end. Now I here it is drab, full of no name shops. The nice fountains all filled in and used as planters now. I last heard it is mostly used for MALL WALKERS. Enjoyed viewing, Thank You, Dan. Love your work. :)
Hey Dan, great documentation and narration as always. I really enjoyed this mall when I was here back in March 2022, and I hope to see it one more time next week. The builder of this mall, Taubman, built malls with similar architecture and features, he also built Marley Station Mall as well. I really hope some of these odd and cool sculptures can be potentially saved from the demolition.
I moved to Gaithersburg in December 2007. This mall was right around the corner from my apartment. I first found this place within a few days of moving there & it became one of my favorite places to go. I moved away in summer 2011, & the last time I was in here- February 2022, it was so sad to see it in this state. The steel sculptures always fascinated me. At least I have the memories & these videos. I miss living there at times, but I did what I came to do. I'd love to visit again someday. At least the Rio is still there.
It's always so much fun to watch you go through buildings like this, especially dying malls! Honestly your commentary is my favorite and the subtle humor of it makes it so fun to watch
Awesome episode. Dan has the greatest sense of humor, and a unique way of capturing the coolest little details. Thank you for all of your great work sir. 👍🏼
In this age of short attention span, the abilty to make a 20 min video feel like 5 minutes is a super power, thank you for coming back Dan, im so glad youre still making these and also thanks for introducing me to vaporwave back in 2017!
If I knew you had never heard of this mall, I would have recommended it to you ages ago! As a follower of yours for the past few years, I have always hoped to see Lakeforest pop up in this series and I'm so glad it finally did now that it's officially closing down! I grew up in the area and this was the mall my friends and I went to, soooo many memories. In the early 2000s it was still a popular hang out spot, and I had the bittersweet experience of growing up as the popularity decreased until it became a dead mall. One of the best spots in it as a really young child was the kid's play area, and I have many memories of going to the mall just for that. It was also a place where we'd be dropped off as middle schoolers and get to hang out somewhere without adult supervision, then get picked up hours later. There were a lot of cool spots to just sit and hang out in between shopping, and the food court felt massive at that age. You mention the recent violent crime, and I want to point out that crime was not infrequent at the mall since like 2010. It started to feel dangerous going there, and I never went back after a man was killed inside while trying to stop someone (possibly a shooter, but I can't find any articles about it). We started going to Montgomery Mall instead, and I wasn't a fan because my friends and I always considered it the bougie mall. I hope you were serious about the invitation to go urban exploring there once it's closed, because that would be a surreal experience having grown up with it!
The Mall (Town Center Mall in Kennesaw, GA to be specific) was such a huge part of my preteen and teenage life that I remember being so mad at my parents when we moved twenty minutes farther from it. You'd have thought we were moving to another planet! I had great times at the mall with my friends. It's sad that teenagers in the future won't get that thrill of wandering around the mall on a Friday night.
Holy shit lol. Was just talking about this mall with my mom yesterday! As someone who lives in Gaithersburg and used to go to the mall, I remember it still being super seventies in the early two thousands. I remember being really disappointed when the fountain and steps were paved over and replaced with empty space. Glad to see you visited and checked the place out!
I love these videos. Your commentary is always so great. You have a talent for describing feelings that I myself struggle to describe. Makes me feel like I'm actually in the mall and getting sad :')
I used to go to this mall in the late 00's to the late 10's a lot. Even later into it's life in the time I was there, the mall was still teeming with life. There would be a Christmas celebration ever year along with a performance for Chinese New Year. It was really cool. Sad to see it go. Happy you covered it, Dan. Maryland pride.
This is the mall I live near in Maryland. When I first moved to Maryland in 2006, the mall was fairly active, they'd do the holidays including Chinese new year decorations, but of course as the years passed I watched more and more stores leave, and slowly all the anchor stores, JCP, Lord and Taylor, Sears, all began to shutter. I think people around here have known now for years this mall was going to be going away.
My first professional job was in Rockville, MD, 1986. One of the things that attracted me to living in Gaithersburg was this mall. Heartbreaking that it's now gone.
Back to your best work Dan, Dead Mall is amazing and no copycat will ever have the talent of the original creatoer yourself Dan Bell. The one and only. Keep up the great work buddy
I loved the sears exterior. It looks almost monolithic- something in between a clean tiled 80’s bathroom and a huge sculpture. Such a strange but really provoking design
OK, I have to say this seems to be one of the most beautiful malls I've seen. It's full of sculpture, they took some time to lay out the lines of the place and keep it interesting, the lights have some variety, and that elevator is timeless. Sad to know it's going to have glass smashed out and dicks on the wall, and then it'll be gone.
I agree. It really is a nice space that has some interesting architecture and art. It's still.a mall. but a pleasant one that isn't quite as cookie cutter as most malls.
By the time I moved to (roughly) this part of Montgomery County - at least close enough that the mall might have been in contention - Lakeforest had already acquired a reputation. I tried it once or twice and quickly decided I preferred the smaller Montgomery Mall and if larger selections were needed, a trip to Tysons. Lakeforest had 'an element' - indeed so did sections of Montgomery Village - dragged the whole thing down and that was a shame. All that said, wish I'd hit the Macy's about a month ago - probably would have been some decent stuff then.
Oh I can’t tell you how much I love this! This is the essence of Dan Bell! Love love love! This was super depressing and creepy and cool and I loved it and it was so well done. ❤❤❤❤
Another great video. I remember that you did a video on the Laguna Hills Mall in Laguna Hills, California. I don’t know if you know this, but now the mall is completely demolished.
This looks just like Fair Oaks Mall in Virginia from back in the day. I loved those seating pits and that center area (at Fair Oaks) had a cool infinity pool wishing fountain kinda thing that, as kids, you had to run your hands under and you walked past.
Wow this is almost identical in spots to my childhood mall, Fair Oaks in Fairfax VA! -- Pretty sure it was the same developer. They all have that 'Geo-Glam' angular look with some luxurious materials, disco-glam neon, globe lights & cove lighting, conversation pits, fake plants, fountains, and abstract modernist sculptures
Yep. Same developer, Taubman. Fair Oaks was 1980, I believe. Lakeforest was 1978. Also check out Marley Station in Glen Burnie--1987 I believe. Taubman has malls around the country and many of them from this era look similar. I think they made some of the nicest looking malls.
that large center area used to have layers that went down and was filled with plants, waterfalls, and walkways. during christmas it was a huge event that turned that area into almost a “santas wonderland” but eventually it was covered and all that remained was the differing materials indicating where it once stood :(
The editing, the vaporwave, the humor. Thank you Dan, we're glad you're back!
@@chuck2517 well, they are and have been closing locations every year since 2020.
Well said. Fastastic comeback, Dan. Love all of it. Vaporwave track in the intro is slick. Whats the name of the track?
And liminal spaces.
@Ryan Piccolo that's fitting
FINALLY
that lazy PHUK
It's not just the malls themselves, a Dan Bell dead mall video is pure TH-cam nostalgia.
Thanks for the wholesome vibes.
Absolutely... I would not be watching dead mall videos and found a whole new world of music if it weren't for the originator in my case, Mr. Dan Bell. Hats off! 🎇
Its his voice and the background music
I watch Stranger Things for the nostalgia
Thank you for this, Dan. This episode has everything I love about your Dead Mall series. The gentle sway of the camera as you stroll along is always so comforting to me.
Reminiscent of a rocking chair on the cracker barrel front porch..
It can make you feel sleepy!
I fell asleep watching this actually. Had to come back later to finish it.
Back in 2012 I heard they were going to be tearing down the mall I had known since my early childhood. I started going a few times a week just to walk around and remember all the memories. Since 1969 when I was 3 it was the place to go. 43 years of back to school clothes, meeting friends and girl watching in high school, getting my hair cut by the same barber for 25 years, seeing movies and eating lunch, Christmas shopping, buying my wife’s engagement ring, buying home goods, pictures with Santa Claus with my kids. I never realized how hard it would hit me.
this is sweet
70’s kid here, watching memories fade in history. The Mall experience is officially gone.
sadly, you’re right.
If you're truly desperate for the mall experience and are for some reason flush with cash head to Singapore. A friend who lives there told me "shopping is Singapore's national sport" and it shows in the number of crazy malls they've got that are all still thriving.
@@Kheekostick - 500 store Mall in Dubia. Been there, done that . .
....end of an Era.
All downhill from here 😥
@@JimJones-gd2jy How was it mate
I am crying right now because this was my childhood. Many memories from being with my mom shopping as a kid, to being one of the mallrats into my my early college years. RIP, Lakeforest.
So many laps around this place. What was the pizza place that always had the cheap slices not Sbarro?
I think it was Jerry's Pizza, I left the area in 95 so I have not seen that chain again.
Me too.
Dead malls (and other buildings) fascinate me so much, because once upon a time each of those stores was a place where people made their living. They came there every day, clocked in, worked, followed rules, saw to upkeep, stocked the store - and now the place means nothing. All of that time and effort, now its just a shell. Something hauntingly endearing about that whole concept to me.
Yes, you stated my same thoughts so eloquently!
Just like life man, just like life.
"Vanity of vanities; all is vanity. What profit has a man of all his labor which he takes under the sun?"
Back in the 80s and 90s it was unthinkable that these places would ever die, they were so vibrant with commerce. Movie theaters, video game parlors, record stores, Radio Shacks, novelty shops.
Yep, just what I think when I watch it ! Wow it feels so weird ! I love how you explained it
Best Dead Mall episode yet? That feeling you describe, of it's all over. Just like the last day of school, but with a bit of panic, depression, and desperation.
Yes, kind of like graduating H.S. and cleaning your locker out for the last time.
This is it... it's over and done. This is all I've known for virtually all my life... Now what?
Great analogy.
@@seththomas9105 oh god I just remembered my last day of High school and just how depressing it was.
Cleaning out my locker and returning books etc, I also remember that not alot of students showed up as it wasn't mandatory to come so the school felt empty and sad because I would never see some of my friends again.
I haven’t truly enjoyed TH-cam since your old days of regular Dead Mall series releases. It’s really great to see you back making content. If anyone was born to document these malls in a way we can all relate and enjoy, it’s you. Please, don’t stop making these, and hopefully, you can go back to making MANY of these on the regular. Dan Bell is the first thing anyone thinks of when we think of these old malls. You’re really a celebrity in this genre, and should run with it!
1:55 - "At the Crash Site" by ELFL
18:25 - "Another Pineapple Please by The Fly Guy Five
Great looking mall, really like some of the skylight designs.
I was wondering what that song was
Thank you for the song!
Thanks!!
THANK UOU!! 🎉🎉🎉
Dan definitely knocked it out of the park with this upload. Thank you, Dan!
@Shoe Slideshows, yes, it's definitely one of the best. He really touched on many things. I miss so much from my childhood like those family gatherings in the mall. We played the arcades, watched ice skaters and sometimes the Zamboni ride around on the ice skating rink. We went to the movies, shopped at tons of stores, had various snacks, those warm peanuts and huge, delicious warm chocolate chip cookies! Chick-Fil-A was always handing out free sample nuggets. The waterfalls were so nice to sit nearby and just relax, toss in some coins etc., and there were sometimes special events. With my dad having passed, then my Pops and now my mother last Thanksgiving after taking care of her the last 4 years... Thinking about the times we had together make the memories sweeter yet even more bitter because those times and they themselves are all gone. It's a reminder tho to make sure you show those whom you love, just how much you love them because you never know when it's the last time you'll have the opportunity to do so.
Did Dan just invent... the Clothesrooms?!?
I understand that feeling perfectly btw. It's sort of like, you took it granted all these years. Like "oh, I need a quick gift for someone, I'll just go to Macy's" and suddenly losing the option to just go do something like is undeniably strange. It's the world becoming less tactile in a way.
Amazon
@@archiemisc Yeah it undoubtedly killed the big retail store. It's only a matter of time until they're all dead.
it's the realization that the United States is a dying civilization
@@claireredfield624 I wonder what will kill amazon one day
@@eily_b there is always a top chain…plus Walmart will still exist…
A Dan Bell upload is a magical moment
Especially when it involves Liza Minelli's mucus!
You got that straight. 👊
@@karnagefails333 AND laughing together about how WEIRD & abhorrent that wackadoodle David Gest is! It was so cringey listening to his ODD, sexual comments about her, trying a bit too hard...😩🥴🤭
when STiP0 comments its a magical moment, thought you were a fan of zombie infested malls not dead ones XD
@@PLANET123100 ALL malls 😇
These malls are fascinating but also so depressing :( As someone who grew up in the 90s and spent a lot of time in malls, it is so sad. It makes me think of all of the people who had great times in these. Thanks for continuing this series, I love it!
Malls need anchors, anchors draw people to the other stores. Why not have the currently trendy restaurants open locations inside of malls? Chick Fila (ALWAYS has a line), Cheesecake Factory, PF Changs, Five Guys, Chipotle, Texas Roadhouse, and every 10th spot a Starbucks? Most of those places are usually busy. They'd thrive if built on Love Canal.
Me too Quake120. It's sad and it's a feeling that weighs heavy but i wouldn't trade it for anything.
Hey Dan, thank you so much for this. I made a video on Lakeforest Mall a few years ago for a school project in my sophomore year of HS. You inspired me to make that video, & now you came to Lakeforest. It all comes full circle.
👍🏼👍🏼👍🏼
This was my child hood mall in the early 90s. I bought so many rap cassettes and all my new school shoes there. I will never forget the recessed carpeted tiers they had in the center court so many people would sit there. Apparently they removed it in 2013. The small arcade took a lot of my money when Street Fighter 2 first came out. Babbage's was the spot for all the latest video games.
7:29 I love that diamond shaped glass elevator with the neon, it looks just like the ones on the Carnival Ecstasy cruise ship. I was on that ship's final sailing last October, definitely had that weird It's all over feeling, knowing the giant ship your on is heading to the scrap yard to be destroyed right after you get off, still covered in neon, gold and mirrors.
Canal Place in New Orleans has one of those elevators
I believe these are OTIS scenic elevators. Fair Oaks Mall in Fairfax, Virginia has similar ones. They are so 70s. I love finding them too.
Actually their LED strips that I installed that a color changing I leave it on colors for different seasons and holidays light blue was supposed to be for Christmas snow very mad with Dan about saying we are allowing people to break in and damage the place that is not true and anyone doing that will be arrested
I love your work! I'm from Maryland and worked in production management/unit management at Discovery and Smithsonian Channels. One day, while walking to/from the Smithsonian Channel offices in Dupont Circle, I saw a utility man opening steel doors on the sidewalk. I looked down as I walked past (on my way to the Metro) and realized there were stairs that led to an enormous underground area. I did a little research and apparently there's an entire abandoned mall below Dupont Circle that's in pretty much pristine 80s condition. No one even knows it's down there. I'd love to learn more about it. I bet the food court looks just like Saved by the Bell. ☺️
BTW I got banned from Lakeforest when I was in 10th or 11th grade. LMAO 🤣😂
Love that you're still doing these ❣️
I grew up in Lakeforest mall and It makes me so sad its gonna be torn down. that mall represents my entire childhood. KB toys was a real treat after being with my mom all day at sears. Back then that space in the middle next to the elevator used to be like a playground for kids with plastic frogs and lotus flowers to jump on. We always went to the restaurants on the second floor instead of the food court they had a Ruby Tuesdays and American Café (my favorite restaurant as a 7yo I loved their mac&cheese). I would spend hours at the comic book store reading as many star wars comic as I could before we went back home. I bought a shit ton of CDs at the FYE store they had there it was huge back in the late 90s but got smaller over the years. I have so many memories from this mall I'd never finish posting this. I moved out of maryland years ago so thank you dan for this o n e l a s t g o o d b y e .
Been waiting for this one for a while… and so glad Dan decided to document it. I too grew up in this mall in the early 80’s as a teen, learned to ice skate at the rink, my mother worked in the mall as well as my future wife I had not yet met. I took my two kids to see Santa here and play at the huge play area that was by the elevator. I’m 52 now and still live just minutes from the mall so I’ve seen it trough it’s glory days to it’s current state. It’s bitter sweet for me, so many incredible memories under one roof but it’s time for change…
i appreciate your videos. i’m only 21 but these places felt nostalgic to me. after experiencing many deaths involving family i grew up and went on mall outings with these videos are bittersweet
Great video! I've been in retail management since 1987. Back then, if you told me that malls would be "Dead" one day, I wouldn't have believed it. They were so alive! From the Easter Bunny, to Santa, to Center Mall fashion shows and music. Malls had it all. I love the "backrooms" vibe you put in at the end! Thanks!
Dan I love your video's. There's a lot of people doing closed mall video's but your's are the best. You struck a nerve with me when you were talking about Sears. My Dad worked for Sears and Roebuck for 43 years. He had to quit for 4 years to go fight in WWII but when he got out Sears had his job waiting for him. Sears was the best employer in America. It's so sad to see what happened to them. I live in the metro Atlanta area and we have several malls closing or near closing that you may want to visit. Take care and keep up the great work..
I unironically love that elevator, absolutely beautiful. I ironically love the completely empty Time Out Zone, just needs someone standing motionless in the middle of the floor. Or in one corner, facing the wall.
But did you notice Time Out Zone II?! It looked awesome. #1 was for the bad kids.
My kid LOVES that elevator there. He's sad it's going away.
Thank you I did that
Magnificent !!! At 61, this evokes in me feelings of nostalgia, sadness, and depression, for a world and society now essentially gone. I enjoy your side trips into 80's/90's infomercials-(LOVE IT), another thing lost...
I agree, Covid ruined the world and so did guns in america
I grew up in Omaha in the 70s & 80s and have such great memories of the Southroads Mall in Bellevue Nebraska. It became a business park many years ago but the mall hasn’t changed…it’s just not a shopping mall anymore. I remember when Woolworths went out of business (several years before the mall closed) and it was so sad. There was an old woman who had worked there from the day it opened in the 60s until the day it closed.
Are you still in Omaha? Crossroads was torn down. I have fond memories of Southroads, too. That was the mall I went to most often, but damn if Backstage shoes at Westroads wasn't the greatest store of all time. "You can put them on layaway for a dollar!"
@@princesspeanut2322 I moved to the northwest in 2000, but I know that the Crossroads was demolished.
Alfred Taubman admired and designed his malls meticulously around European bazaars and art. Heartbreaking to see what's been done here in its final days.
Caldor's!! Omg
Used to live in Gaithersburg, and got into Dan Bell's videos right when I moved there. I stepped into Lakeforest Mall one day and I felt like I was in one of his videos. So seeing this video is both a dream come true, and a bizarre fever dream. Exactly the type of content I love. Thanks Dan.
Love you Dan! You were extra witty in this episode. Great work.
Also, always love your intros and the way you edit those people. It makes it extra funny cuz' I have no idea who they ever are!
love you too
It's so weird watching these videos when the nearest mall to me is still a thriving and favourite spot of so many people
Right?! I live in San Antonio, Texas, and we’ve got like 10 malls here and 9 of them are bustling with business and people. I feel like the dead malls are mainly up north which is sad.
@@DavidGavinETC It's funny - I live in a northern state, but there's a mall that's about 30-40 minutes away from the mall that I was initially talking about that's at least three times the size but has a quarter of the open stores. I think the indoor ice skating rink and the cosmotology school inside of it are about the only reason people go there anymore
@Gavin Priestley you'd think it be the opposite, because up North we need more places to go hang out in the Winter. Really interesting they're dying out up here but doing okay down South.
@@DavidGavinETCThey just demolished Valley View and Collin Creek in Dallas/and the suburbs. Stonebriar and Northpark are okay, but not what they used to be. Galleria (of all things) is pretty slow now. There were at least a dozen when I was a kid in the 80's that I can remember. Many more have closed than stayed open. They're all turning into expensive asf apartments and high end shopping that the majority of people can't afford. Wonder what San Antonio is doing right.
@@lucianaromulus1408 . Yeah I don't get it. Malls are great but people are flocking to the trendy "town square" outdoor malls now. SMH
A new Dan Bell video!!! Honestly your videos are so strangely comforting to me, I love the way you meditatively move through the mall and really look and appreciate all the little details. Your appreciation for cool architecture, sculptures, and plants is so great to watch! ❤
Wow I started watching this on minute 3 of it being posted. That's a first. I love your videos Dan, and not just that -- you are doing a service by chronicling the history of malls and other such things. I feel is important for the future when they can look back and remember how great it really was -- and they will never experience it sadly.
This is a perfect mix of commentary, history, future, sarcasm, and vapor. Thank you for helping me realize this was a style of art and experience that I'm in love with.
Just the first few minutes really bring my day! When we see the notification I plan my meal around this and it's a date.
If you are going to go to a mall out west I recommend Prescott gateway mall in Prescott Arizona,it is only 21 years old and as of 2020 was a dying mall with tons of shops full of junk.
Lakeforest! One of Taubmans finest. Liza has the laugh of an angel. Thanks for this lol
my video is better. f you. when you coming over again??
An angel that smokes 80a day maybe 😁 Hi Sal
@@ThisisDanBell Let's f around this week and do a podcast or something. Miss you.
I'm so glad this series is back. Good to have you back, Dan.
You can tell its a Taubman mall. My uncle knew and worked for Alfred for years in Detroit. Thanks Dan
There was something about the woman pushing her loved one in the wheelchair that made me unexpectedly sad. The woman looks incredibly similar to my mother (the hair, the jacket, boots, purse/handbag and even the way she walks) and I can't help to think that a large mall like this closing is a perfect metaphor for seeing something age out and slowly die. To think that these folks have lived long enough to see something that was probably apart of the their everyday lives for the longest time suddenly going away within a matter of a few months filled me with such and unexpected amount of sadness.
This made my day, Dan! Thank you!
I will mourn that elevator. It's amazing.
I actually love the design of the whole place. A really neat mall, sad it's closing.
17:25 the backrooms moment here is terrifying. Trapped in a transdimensional void of clothing retail that extends infinitely in all directions, being chased by the demonic form of Liza Minnelli.
so subtly tweaked and twilight zone-ish
That sounds like a great idea actually, to use this as a set for a horror flick, being chased.
I was so glad he added that. I love dead malls because they feel like liminal spaces, which feel like the backrooms. I believe they're all connected, so seeing that was PERFECT! 😄
Came to the comments for this. Dan the type of guy to get stuck in the backrooms and start recording.
And her breasts, the left in particular.
What a banger for a return to the series. Beautiful mall. Sculptures. Elevator. Ceiling.
And the footage of its heydays in the end…
It's so sad that this or any dead mall could not be re-purposed into community/medical centers for people. In a different/better society, where profit was not the primary motive, spaces like this could be used to care of people's basic needs.
They do that for some dying malls. Half the first floor of the Exton Square Mall in Pennsylvania where I grew up and even worked in is now leased out into a medical/dental center. But the rest of it is a Dead(ish) Mall, with majority of the anchor stores gone and less than 1/4 capacity.
But without "profit", none of this would exist in the first place. And generally the reason for a mall's decline are numerous and not going to be turned around by replacing it with a different type of service or business. Nevermind the state and local regulatory requirements needed to convert a mall into some alternative community center is often costly and not worth it for any investor.
Yes!!!
Even though Nord VPN helped financially make this possible, Dillon making Dan happier is the real unsung hero.
I love looking thru the Nord VPN logs of Dan Bell.
@@BDBD16 As insecure as Nord is, everyone's logs are free to view.
@@misterhat5823 tell us exactly how insecure NordVPN is
@@archiemisc One of their vendors had an incident where they were hacked. Nord hid that from their customers.
VPNs use the same ciphers web traffic is already encrypted with anyway. If the point is to hide which sites you visit, TorBrowser does that better, for free. Assume any major VPN that knows your real identity is compromised. And that the government tracks you the same ways ad companies do. If your goal is to bypass streaming service lockouts, you'd might as well pirate the content, because using a VPN is probably against the terms of service. Basically, for most use cases, a VPN is either not necessary or not sufficient.
Well Done, Dan. The Creepy tunes made it cool too. There is just something that makes a person Sad when a Mall closes... Growing up in Hillcrest Heights, Maryland in the 1970's. IVERSON MALL, Iverson St. ran under the mall. We lived in the old townhouses behind the mall. So, you know we spent time hanging out in there. The Mall opened in 1950 and was the first Air Conditioned, enclosed Shopping Mall in the Washington, D.C. area. It was still like new in the 1970's. Woodward & Lothrorp at one end, Montgomery Ward as the other end. Now I here it is drab, full of no name shops. The nice fountains all filled in and used as planters now. I last heard it is mostly used for MALL WALKERS. Enjoyed viewing, Thank You, Dan. Love your work. :)
Hey Dan, great documentation and narration as always. I really enjoyed this mall when I was here back in March 2022, and I hope to see it one more time next week. The builder of this mall, Taubman, built malls with similar architecture and features, he also built Marley Station Mall as well. I really hope some of these odd and cool sculptures can be potentially saved from the demolition.
Many people are sharing that sad feeling. So do i. But there also many new things! to come. Thank you for this beautiful video. xx
My day was made when I saw Dan released another video. Thanks so much for all you do and the great content!
I moved to Gaithersburg in December 2007.
This mall was right around the corner from my apartment. I first found this place within a few days of moving there & it became one of my favorite places to go. I moved away in summer 2011, & the last time I was in here- February 2022, it was so sad to see it in this state. The steel sculptures always fascinated me. At least I have the memories & these videos. I miss living there at times, but I did what I came to do. I'd love to visit again someday. At least the Rio is still there.
It's always so much fun to watch you go through buildings like this, especially dying malls! Honestly your commentary is my favorite and the subtle humor of it makes it so fun to watch
Awesome episode. Dan has the greatest sense of humor, and a unique way of capturing the coolest little details. Thank you for all of your great work sir. 👍🏼
In this age of short attention span, the abilty to make a 20 min video feel like 5 minutes is a super power, thank you for coming back Dan, im so glad youre still making these and also thanks for introducing me to vaporwave back in 2017!
Your originality, editing, and palpable devotion/love to the craft that I've seen in your videos astounds me. Thank you for doing what you do!
If I knew you had never heard of this mall, I would have recommended it to you ages ago! As a follower of yours for the past few years, I have always hoped to see Lakeforest pop up in this series and I'm so glad it finally did now that it's officially closing down!
I grew up in the area and this was the mall my friends and I went to, soooo many memories. In the early 2000s it was still a popular hang out spot, and I had the bittersweet experience of growing up as the popularity decreased until it became a dead mall. One of the best spots in it as a really young child was the kid's play area, and I have many memories of going to the mall just for that. It was also a place where we'd be dropped off as middle schoolers and get to hang out somewhere without adult supervision, then get picked up hours later. There were a lot of cool spots to just sit and hang out in between shopping, and the food court felt massive at that age.
You mention the recent violent crime, and I want to point out that crime was not infrequent at the mall since like 2010. It started to feel dangerous going there, and I never went back after a man was killed inside while trying to stop someone (possibly a shooter, but I can't find any articles about it). We started going to Montgomery Mall instead, and I wasn't a fan because my friends and I always considered it the bougie mall.
I hope you were serious about the invitation to go urban exploring there once it's closed, because that would be a surreal experience having grown up with it!
Thank you for still making these!! ❤
The ending felt like the back rooms but with racks n racks of clothing 😆 thank you for another great video.
I swore I was watching a segment made by Kane Pixels. The way the camera moved, the sounds... It was uncanny.
Better to see a mall like this being demolished than to see it in these conditions, all that unused space. A big hug from Brazil.
Finally! Another new Dead Mall Series upload this has literally made my week.
There used to be a restaurant in this mall called Spinnaker's and they made the best flower pot bread. 😢
You don't realize how much you miss these episodes until they're gone. Glad you're back!
wow your really actually back with an epic episode with your humor in it!
its obvious you're feeling much better. 🎉💕
Always glad to see someone I enjoy come back especially you Dan!
Chefs Kiss for this episode, Dan! Love the 70s aesthetics. I'd totally buy that sunken conversation pit and put it in my living room.
He's a real liminal man,
siting in his liminal land,
making all his liminal plans for nobody.
The Mall (Town Center Mall in Kennesaw, GA to be specific) was such a huge part of my preteen and teenage life that I remember being so mad at my parents when we moved twenty minutes farther from it. You'd have thought we were moving to another planet! I had great times at the mall with my friends. It's sad that teenagers in the future won't get that thrill of wandering around the mall on a Friday night.
Holy shit lol. Was just talking about this mall with my mom yesterday! As someone who lives in Gaithersburg and used to go to the mall, I remember it still being super seventies in the early two thousands. I remember being really disappointed when the fountain and steps were paved over and replaced with empty space. Glad to see you visited and checked the place out!
I love these videos. Your commentary is always so great. You have a talent for describing feelings that I myself struggle to describe. Makes me feel like I'm actually in the mall and getting sad :')
You outdid yourself with the Liza bit. 😅
Nothing like a Friday night when a Dan Bell Dead Mall Series drops!!! I love your work so much!!
My GOD, I love his sense of humor!!🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣 CLASSIC Dan Bell, I love it!
Glad you’re back Dan. The Adam the Woo co-op was also a good deal. Yet you’re own editing style and narration with humor is unmatched.
One of my most favorite shows on TH-cam! The amount of effort put into the editing in these is so damn incredible!
I used to go to this mall in the late 00's to the late 10's a lot. Even later into it's life in the time I was there, the mall was still teeming with life. There would be a Christmas celebration ever year along with a performance for Chinese New Year. It was really cool. Sad to see it go. Happy you covered it, Dan. Maryland pride.
This is the mall I live near in Maryland. When I first moved to Maryland in 2006, the mall was fairly active, they'd do the holidays including Chinese new year decorations, but of course as the years passed I watched more and more stores leave, and slowly all the anchor stores, JCP, Lord and Taylor, Sears, all began to shutter. I think people around here have known now for years this mall was going to be going away.
It was still pretty full before COVID, but COVID and the anchor stores leaving really killed it dead.
@@Joelsef 2019 it was quite dead...until 2017 middle it was busy
Now THIS is Dan Bell. Awesome video….I spit water out at 9:53 LOL
Oh I have needed this so much! Great to see you back Dan! And proud of all the work you’re doing on YOU. ❤
My first professional job was in Rockville, MD, 1986. One of the things that attracted me to living in Gaithersburg was this mall. Heartbreaking that it's now gone.
It’s good to see you back at it Dan. You sound great too!
Just pausing at 12:18 is such a cool shot. So many words to describe, but I'll just say it feels "beautifully sad"...
Back to your best work Dan, Dead Mall is amazing and no copycat will ever have the talent of the original creatoer yourself Dan Bell. The one and only. Keep up the great work buddy
No, Dan Bell's best work is the "Another Dirty Room" series... not even close.
@@wolfshanze5980 All his work is his best, whatever the video. Devils Well was one of my faves
@@woogieman007 well let's just say he's always entertaining
@@wolfshanze5980 Absolutely right very entertaining
I loved the sears exterior. It looks almost monolithic- something in between a clean tiled 80’s bathroom and a huge sculpture. Such a strange but really provoking design
OK, I have to say this seems to be one of the most beautiful malls I've seen. It's full of sculpture, they took some time to lay out the lines of the place and keep it interesting, the lights have some variety, and that elevator is timeless. Sad to know it's going to have glass smashed out and dicks on the wall, and then it'll be gone.
I agree. It really is a nice space that has some interesting architecture and art. It's still.a mall. but a pleasant one that isn't quite as cookie cutter as most malls.
By the time I moved to (roughly) this part of Montgomery County - at least close enough that the mall might have been in contention - Lakeforest had already acquired a reputation. I tried it once or twice and quickly decided I preferred the smaller Montgomery Mall and if larger selections were needed, a trip to Tysons. Lakeforest had 'an element' - indeed so did sections of Montgomery Village - dragged the whole thing down and that was a shame. All that said, wish I'd hit the Macy's about a month ago - probably would have been some decent stuff then.
Oh I can’t tell you how much I love this! This is the essence of Dan Bell! Love love love! This was super depressing and creepy and cool and I loved it and it was so well done. ❤❤❤❤
Another great video. I remember that you did a video on the Laguna Hills Mall in Laguna Hills, California. I don’t know if you know this, but now the mall is completely demolished.
This is a damn good day for dead mall fans. I hope Sal sees this soon!
I love this mall. Headed over on its last day next month.
@@sal fantastic, I’m really looking forward to seeing that!
There is something spiritual about these videos and the nostalgia is overwhelming. Your doing an important thing here Dan.
This looks just like Fair Oaks Mall in Virginia from back in the day. I loved those seating pits and that center area (at Fair Oaks) had a cool infinity pool wishing fountain kinda thing that, as kids, you had to run your hands under and you walked past.
Hey, Dan... Its always Good to see u visiting these Malls, and remembering the Good ol Days that once were... Thanks Dan.
So this might seem lame, but I'd kinda dig a series on thriving malls too. Just random tours of busy spots from your perspective would be cool!
Wow this is almost identical in spots to my childhood mall, Fair Oaks in Fairfax VA! -- Pretty sure it was the same developer. They all have that 'Geo-Glam' angular look with some luxurious materials, disco-glam neon, globe lights & cove lighting, conversation pits, fake plants, fountains, and abstract modernist sculptures
Yep. Same developer, Taubman. Fair Oaks was 1980, I believe. Lakeforest was 1978. Also check out Marley Station in Glen Burnie--1987 I believe. Taubman has malls around the country and many of them from this era look similar. I think they made some of the nicest looking malls.
This is some top tier content! Thank you Dan for taking us on a nostalgic journey that's both comforting and existentially disturbing.
There are not many pieces of art that reliably give me pure joy, but your Dead Mall series is one of them. Thank you, Dan. This means the world.
This is your best Dead Malls episode to date. Absolutely brilliant, and the Minnelli clips are hysterical! 😂
The vaporwave and sarcasm makes your videos. Love it!
Thanks for this content Dan. The vibes are so nostalgic and comforting
I love the commentary too 😂
that large center area used to have layers that went down and was filled with plants, waterfalls, and walkways. during christmas it was a huge event that turned that area into almost a “santas wonderland” but eventually it was covered and all that remained was the differing materials indicating where it once stood :(
There's always the chance they delay destroying the mall and just make the whole thing a Spirit Halloween come October
🤘
Biggest Spirit Halloween ever!
And/or a huge "haunted mall" attraction. Indoor go kart track. How bout stores? Oh wait.
That cut scene into the hole and to the retail abyss has a very odd “back rooms” feeling. Wonderful!!