I grew up in the Galleria 40 years ago. My family owned two stores here, Country Casuals (a clothing store) and Shooze (a women’s shoe store) for about 20 years. Yes, that flooring is original and so is the fountain; in fact everything you see in this video is original. I was visiting the Galleria yesterday to remember my mother (she passed recently)... I’m not exaggerating: this place is a time capsule that takes me back to my childhood, it has not changed. All the fake plants are still the same even. That small room on the ground level with the checkered flooring used to be a little deli called Frank’s. They had amazing hotdogs with poppy seed buns and my favorite treat: pistachio ice cream. I’d eat there at least 3 times a week with my dad. I grew up there with a friend whose parents owned the next door store called China Gifts, all the stores in the Galleria had a “secret” back door that led to the service hallways which was how store owners were supposed to accept their deliveries instead of through the mall. My friend and I would routinely get into trouble with security playing and running through them.
I just went there a couple days ago and they’ve renovated the carpeted area by the escalators. They redid the escalators and replaced them with stairs, put new flooring down by the stairs, added more neon lighting on the ceiling by the stairs, redid the elevators with wood paneling that looks even more 70s than what was there, and all the flickering lights were fixed - also the fountain is still on!
I know this is an older mall, but you can tell the architect was going for a ''fururistic' design/look. Really neat. I think these type of shopping centers would benefit from the night market culture. Its sad to see it empty.
Night Market is a great idea. Some of the most popular shopping in Portland comes in the forms of: First Thursday (art galleries in the Pearl & Old Town), Last Thursday (NE Alberta), the northeast Industrial District's night markets and our Saturday (and Sunday too) Market. Although some of the other "arcade" style shopping destinations in Portland from the 1970s have since shuttered.
At one time there actually was clothing stores, a Hallmark card store, more than one restaraunt in there. About 12 years ago is when many of the stores started closing up. When the Gap left that was when the majority of the businesses left. The big restaraunt that left use to be a favorite place to go eat and have drinks for people who worked Downtown.
Same here, as I live in western SC, and due to our sandy soil you very rarely even see houses with a basement here, let alone any kind of shopping that's underground.
Two words. “Apple store” a mall where I use it live was dying and the owner brides Apple to come to his mall with five years of free rent and I think he even paid them, of course all the other renters complained but it brought in so much traffic it saved the mall and even helped the fellow merchants that had complained. It paid off big time.
Wow this is SUCH a gem. There are so many things I love about this. The fountains and escalators go easily be on the cover of a vaporwave album. The exteriors of the defunct hair salon and restaurant gave them a miniature feel and made the mall feel like a city within a city, even when all of them are gone already. And I LOVE those glass-covered entrances. I can already smell that 80s-90s bank smell. So glad you got to document it before it's gone! 👍🏾
Yep. That restruant was owned by my freinds dad, he retired soon after he closed the shop, it was a nice place, just had no business. Online everything closed many brick and motor stores. But I love this place, another neat little mall is on San Mateo and Montgomery, called "montgomery crossings"
Shame the place is as dead as it is. Somebody could at least restore this place as it isn't too far gone like other dead malls. Got a nice 70' s aesthetic. Could put some retro type shops and maybe a few multi room barcades.
@@alejandrogonsalez2931 Ok I just hope when they renovate it they keep most of the old style. Its nice and not rotted like most malls its age. All it really needs in restoration is new lights, and some updated utilities. Its in a state that it can be renovated but not raised and built anew.
I honestly looks like it would make a great convention center. It reminds me of the convention center in Baltimore for otakon. Also great places for cosplay photos. Sorry. I’m a weeb lol
They really do have to renovate it, because it is part of the high-rise office building it's attached to. It's hard to believe it's been well over 25 years since I've been there, and the whole building is still solid as per this video.
malls are so modern now. I do miss the old dated 80s 90s look. I guess it takes me back when I was still a kid and was excited to go with my mom to the mall
Retail Archaeology The inside fountain has a lot of pool lights aimed upwards that were designed to light up the fountain water jet at night, I bet at night if you look through the glass on the outside enclosure it looks amazing! This place is incredible warm, inviting, modern, yet timeless....so much potential. Be nice to see them spruce it up and try with stores again! This is something that you don't want to "modernize" since it is timeless and with some minor refurbishing would be perfect once again.
irtbmtind89 the path though connects lots of office buildings and has things people might need to buy (one section even has an express version of longos) and is Also good when the weather sucks....
The Montreal's underground city also have similar looks, particularly under Place Ville-Marie. (Which mall opened in 1960). However the Montreal's underground shopping is lively - as is the downtown area.
The Man Who Fell to Earth was filmed in Albuquerque at the time this building was under construction, you can see it in some of the scenes from that movie.
Omg this is pure early 1980's ... It's my shangrala. The brown and cream brick work. The soft unvarnished wood. The perfect use of brass. The circles! What a beautiful place. Thank you.
That look just reminds me of childhood. Put on your cords, baseball tee and stride rite shoes because we are going shopping. If not to the mall then the shopping center. There is a 62% chance the shopping center is named Town and Country Village, and if not a 92.4% chance the word Village appears at the end of it's name.
Great find! These below level shopping concourses were quite common in the 60's and 70's. Many of them at the heart of internal padestrian networks connecting multiple buildings downtown. Some cities still have them doing well, some not so much. I could go on and on about urban planning and how we are wired to move and shop about our communities reflected by history. This kind of mid 20th century planning has been a passion of mine for over a decade. Always check downtowns for these little concourses. They will rarely disappoint you
There's a scene from 2009's film "Crazy Heart" filmed here where the kid Jeff Bridge's character's supposed to be taking care of gets lost...... That's the original parquet floors from the 1970's because I used to go to the movies there in the mid 1970's... Methinks that you can make out where the cinema was.... I loved that place because it used to remind me of the domed city from the film "Logan's Run"..........
I remember while in elementary school, our class went on a field trip down there. At that time, (early 90s) there was an Explora science learning center in there. From what I understand, it's still in business. But as you can see just not there anymore.
I lived in Albuquerque in the early 90s. I was in college at UNM and had a cheap apartment very close to there. My mom was a teacher at the catholic school downtown right by that mall. I used to meet her there to have coffee and a pastry or a meal and chat before she went home for the day two or three times a week if the traffic was bad. It wasn’t ever crowded but there were people in and out through there. Mostly tourists or business people. I also ate at that restaurant with a guy I was dating before a Tori Amos concert in the early 90s. It was a quiet and classy type of vibe
There's a giant mall in Winnipeg that's underground called Winnipeg Square. It extends to 4 buildings with underground tunnels and also connects to a massive above ground skywalk that basically connects the entirety of downtown Winnipeg.
This mall freaked me out when I was a kid in the 80s living in Albuquerque. Downtown was weird for me, but this mall was really strange. I have memories of it lodged somewhere in the dark recesses of my mind.
You were in my stomping grounds and I didn’t even know it! I used to be a contractor for the Gap when they were here, and it was them who kept the place looking decent, probably the only real source of income to provide for quality upkeep. It is odd to see the fountain running again Too bad you missed the Kmart here on Carlisle, it still had the original 90’s neon at the time of close
I remember pulling up to Kmart one day and seeing an employee chase a couple chubby cholos out carrying fireworks while the getaway driver scooped them up lol
Cool space. Can really imagine the place in the Carter era (late 70s); the shape of those escalators has a certain futuristic opulence. And those windows have some real character. Thanks for posting!
World Trade Center once had a mall underneath it. It was called Mall at the World Trade Center. It was quite of a size, and was the biggest mall in New York City at its opening in 1975.
This mall is so rad. I remember going here in the 90's for some art junk with my Grandma. Whenever I visit clients next door in the US Eagle building I make a point to come over and walk around. I'm trying to work on a BP to open up a tap room in the old La Esquina front.
Nice to see a mall with the fountain on & no whitewash on the ceiling & no removed boiserie (wood paneling) & the unique windows. All it needs is a brick floor. Cyan is between sky blue & seafoam green.
I love the look of the place! It's got that 1970s futuristic sci-fi reject look to it! Sure wish they still build buildings like these today... Most of the modern building they build today really kinda lack that futuristic/sci-fi look to them (with the exception of the new WTC mall), especially all those round windows and smooth rounded corners, that's something you don't really see in today's buildings.
Same. The farther I got into this video, the more I was thinking that this would be a cool filming location for a sci fi TV show or movie that didn't want to blow its budget on building sets.
I wish modern buildings looked better too, Woodfield Mall in Schaumburg Illinois has been updated several times and the new for 2018 dining pavilion's styling is all squares and rectangles and floating logos on boring glass
@@realimbored668 Why is everybody into all squares and rectangles these days? Whatever happened to more organic types of architecture like this place has got?
I know what vibe I feel. Artsy. It’s really artsy and that makes the space extra cool. Those floors. Doesn’t need any updating. Those floors are timeless. Stunning.This would be a great spot for gallery and studio space for artists. Hartford did that with a few old buildings and it’s working very well. Thriving arts community and it helps everyone to give a lower lease for artists and then they bring money and more artists to the city enriching the community.
First thing that came to mind to me (as I am a Southerner) was Underground Atlanta. I haven't been there since I was a kid (probably 1991), but it was a pretty cool place back in the day. Atlanta has some cool malls.
I'm about 3 1/2 hours from Atlanta right on the GA border over in SC, and yeah I was thinking the same thing, and have not been myself in years, but as someguy23475 pointed out it's in bad shape, as one of my coworkers mentioned over lunch a while back having gone there.
By the comments made, sounds like an RA trip to Atlanta is in order (maybe not as dead as this Galleria, but still...). I was there when The World of Coca Cola Museum was still at one of the ends of the Underground before they moved it...
One thing I've noticed you have a "flair" for is, whether you're in Mesa or Scottsdale or Albuquerque, New Mexico, whether they be of the genteel or "rub & tug" variety, more times than not, you have a talent for scoping out and finding shopping centers that house massage parlors. ;) But this is definitely a first for me - a dedicated, underground mall. Almost has a secret, "exclusive" feel to it.
Absolutely love this underground menagerie and haven. My mom is a retired attorney and her offices were near here. We had a membership at the athletic club since I was a baby and I spent much of my childhood in this building. I feel so, so lucky that I did.
Nice recap of the mall. I really did like the structure and the vintage feel to it, and more than anything all those different shape windows. I felt like I was at the mall back when I was like 6 yrs old throughout the whole entire video, well done. Thank you.
I live in Houston and we have an underground mall too. It's downtown and under the skyscrapers. You should go check it out. It's been there for years! It's part of the 7 miles of tunnels running underground under the Theatre District. Awesome videos! I really enjoy them! ✌️🏼😊
Gorgeous.....had a nice vibe......reminded me of my favorite little hide away mall in bensalem, pa.....from the 70's..also had a fountain.....Woodhaven mall......long gone :(
Happy to find your video. I worked at a restaurant on the main floor in 1976-78 called El Prado. We occupied 2 floors with the restaurant on the main floor and our bakery, smoke house and cafe on the first level below ground. I was a waiter while attending UNM. It was one of the best jobs I've ever had, outstanding team spirit. We had a very serious Austrian Chef, baked all of bread and pastry in-house, smoked our own meats and generally delivered a 5 star experience. The restaurant was owned by 3 guys from San Francisco. We were a little too formal for 1976 Albuquerque but the service and the food were outstanding. The restaurant was hang out for the ABQ power brokers at that time. You should also know that the fountain originally was open to the street level and water cascaded 360 degrees to the lower level. The skylight was not there at that time. At the time I worked there the building was very new and it was alive with shops open and people visiting. If I remember correctly the building was an early attempt at urban renewal for downtown ABQ which definitely a mess at that time. Thanks again for documenting.
The building is going to be the new home of TaskUs, with 695 new jobs in renovated space. There are bigger plans to renovate and transform the entire building with hotel and residential uses.
Japan has so many underground malls like this, I’d say the reason why they are so successful is because you can use them to get the the railways or go under really busy traffic instead of walking through it for a shortcut.
There’s actually a similar thing here in my hometown of Nis, Serbia. Basically it’s an underground passage that stretches along the entire city center and has multiple entrances. It used to be a cold war era bunker but it was renovated in the 90s to be a mall. It’s not dead however
I could see this mall possibly coming back somehow - at least during certain times. It's right next to city hall, and the Civic Plaza city park (which is how it got its name - "First Plaza Galeria"). And the city has done everything possible to bring people back to the plaza by hosting family movie nights during the summer, an artificial skating rink during the winter, and all sorts of attractions. But yeah, it's mostly just been forgotten more than anything.
Believe it was also used long ago as a temporary fall out shelter when those were believed practical during the Cold War. Thanks again for the memories.
I was lucky enough to take a tour of the Houston tunnels in February. There are so many restaurants and cafés down there, and also a few gyms. I think they’re doing so well because it’s not really aimed at the general public: it’s for all the office workers in the business district, so they don’t have to go out in to the heat and humidity.
Absolutely gorgeous old mall...i’ve always loved those little niche elegant high end malls, they always seem to have interesting small shops and art galleries to explore. Also the way the light is reflecting around the escalators around 6:45-6:50 totally gives me Mirrors Edge vibes.
Thanks for taking us on a tour of this! Very cool looking place; sad that it feel to abandonment. While there were no retail locations open, I'm still surprised at just how empty is was. Even if nothing else, so many spots there (such as 8:55) are screaming 'Instagram blogger' as a place to take a photo. And if I worked in the area, I'd certainly be using it as a quiet lunch spot/place to get a break from work. Is the city responsible for upkeep of it now? It looked surprisingly clean (I didn't see any litter or anything); I know if this were here in NYC, it would be filled with garbage in no time. And I didn't see any vagrancy/graffiti either; interesting that the place is abandoned, but it still seems to be in good shape.
When I was a little kid, we went on a field trip to the Galeria to a place that used to be there called Explora. It was so much fun. I went back a few times, but I forgot about it. When I saw your video everything just came back to me. I'm so happy you documented it. When I get back to Albuquerque I'm planning on a visit there.
Holy shit I've never seen a mall so beautiful. The crisp white, copper, wood, and live plants give a very peaceful minimalist aesthetic mixed with a little late 60's Sci-Fi. This place would be an awesome spot for portrait photography.
Absolutely stunning... and that fountain! Man if I lived in that area, that fountain area would be my main hangout spot and bring friends along too. That's a nice spot. I love the idea of an underground mall, I wish I could go to one. It makes me sad every time I visit a dying/dead mall or even watch videos about 'em, but interesting at the same time.
If you ever come to Southern New York State, it might be interesting to see you take a look at one of these malls: Arnot Mall in Horseheads and the Oakdale Mall in Johnson City. Mainly because these malls aren't dead yet, but they aren't exactly thriving and it could be nice to see the in between of thriving and dead.
I actually live near the Oakdale Mall and it's unfortunate to see it this way. There's only the two anchors left, Burlington and JC Penney, and I'm honestly surprised Burlington has lasted this long since last time I went in there it looked like half the store wasn't being used. I'm curious to see how long it will keep going, with three of the anchors lost in the past few years. I still enjoy going there, but with some pretty bad security and now more than half the anchors gone I'm curious how long it will last. I heard rumors that stores weren't being allowed to renew their rent (no solid proof of this yet though), so it might be the beginning of the end.
That building has a very classic Southwestern look with the stucco, round windows, and natural wood. It reminds me a lot of places I remember growing up in southern Arizona.
The structure has held up amazingly well for being 46 years old. Maybe if people want Albuquerque to "come back", they should make more Bugs Bunny cartoons. Thanks for sharing!!!
I've lived in Albuquerque all my life. At 23 years old, this is the first time ever seeing this. It's still open here in mid 2021 surprisingly. I'm sure older people know about this mall, but I know for a fact me and my friends never knew about it.
I did "running" work for a travel agent in this mall back in 1988. I then returned in 2008 with another company, and left again in 2014. It was a lovely, vibrant place in 1988, but not so much from 2008 to 2014. The latter visit was to an environment of homelessness, drugs and the element downtown can bring to a city. I'll never forget the woman bathing naked in the fountain in the courtyard area one fine day, or the smell of urine in just about any of the less traveled spaces (both memories from my second stay). And such a shame! It is truly a remarkable space!
I used to patronize a hair salon here, about 1977-78. The classic 70s look - hair, mustache - was in. They carried Redken products, and so that was my introduction to conspicuous consumption regarding hair products.
Before I even officially start watching the episode I have to say that the Tetris CDi soundtrack is definitely one of the greatest soundtracks ever composed!! dig the fountain under the skylight though especially the outside shot, neat!
The place was quite busy up until the early 90’s. The fountain used to be an enclosed waterfall from a giant pond above, (long since paved over and planted.) There was a twin movie theatre, a very swanky Mexican restaurant, (it was in the movie Crazy Heart with Jeff Bridges, in fact a lot of the Galleria was shown) a number of art galleries, no less than five sandwich shops, three at street level, two underground, the Galleria served the building above, and back then it was full of offices, banks, city and county offices, travel agencies, it even had a health spa with a pool! I went there in 19’ and it was indeed sad to see one of my teen hangouts abandoned. At least it is well kept and is now a nice retreat from the empty streets above...
We have something very similar in Toronto called "The PATH" its all underground and connects to multiple buildings and the subway system. you could live and work with out ever going above ground.
I’m originally from Albuquerque and I remember walking to the galleria for thanksgiving with my family years ago. It had some really unique shops it’s a shame it’s been forgotten! I wish the city would put money into it and bring it back!
If you ever go to Arlington, Texas, there's a Vietnamese mall called Ben Thanh Plaza. It's far from being a dead mall and it's very busy, which is the exact opposite of most American malls in the Dallas-Fort Worth Area
I spent so much time at this place as a kid, but I never thought of it as a mall like Coronado or Winrock; it was just...the "Galeria," I guess! The first time seeing those shiny rolling wood floors when it opened -- wow. My dad thought it would be great to ride a skateboard on them. On the right side of where you first walked down the stairs, there was a very modern, high-ceiling'd restaurant called the Tamarind. I think it would still look modern if it existed as it was then today. I wonder how much of it is intact. There were some fun events there, like a New Wave fashion show with a catwalk stage set up in the '80s. Across from the Tamarind was a salon called R's or Roberto's (?) I think. It was pricey, but my mom treated me to a very feathered hair style there once. Other shops I remember are a bookstore with a cute children's section where kids could hang out and read, a fancy Santa Fe-style clothing store, and an amazing delicatessen called Obermayer's, which influenced almost my entire foodie life. I was surprised when you mentioned that La Esquina opened in 1984, because I thought I saw it years earlier. I'm thinking now, it might have been built early on but didn't open right away. I recall other businesses like art galleries, but mostly, the otherwise empty space next to Obermayers where my mom and other artists had a show in the late '70s. I think the empty storefront at street level with the checkered tile floor (if it was on the north side) was the sandwich shop Frank's Other Place, which had delicious fresh-squeezed limeade among other things. There was a travel agency next door or nearby, too. Thanks for posting this video -- it brought back a lot of memories, although bittersweet. I don't think the Galeria was ever as crowded as other malls, but it was kind of heartbreaking to see it completely empty. Maybe if First Plaza were renovated to include condos and/or a hotel, it would breathe new life into it.
I grew up in the Galleria 40 years ago. My family owned two stores here, Country Casuals (a clothing store) and Shooze (a women’s shoe store) for about 20 years. Yes, that flooring is original and so is the fountain; in fact everything you see in this video is original. I was visiting the Galleria yesterday to remember my mother (she passed recently)... I’m not exaggerating: this place is a time capsule that takes me back to my childhood, it has not changed. All the fake plants are still the same even. That small room on the ground level with the checkered flooring used to be a little deli called Frank’s. They had amazing hotdogs with poppy seed buns and my favorite treat: pistachio ice cream. I’d eat there at least 3 times a week with my dad. I grew up there with a friend whose parents owned the next door store called China Gifts, all the stores in the Galleria had a “secret” back door that led to the service hallways which was how store owners were supposed to accept their deliveries instead of through the mall. My friend and I would routinely get into trouble with security playing and running through them.
Thanks for sharing. Comments like yours are one of the things I like about this channel.
I just went there a couple days ago and they’ve renovated the carpeted area by the escalators. They redid the escalators and replaced them with stairs, put new flooring down by the stairs, added more neon lighting on the ceiling by the stairs, redid the elevators with wood paneling that looks even more 70s than what was there, and all the flickering lights were fixed - also the fountain is still on!
Lol that guy was having a blast in that chair
either that or a meltdown lol
Mr Spectacals 🤣
I was waiting for him to fall backwards, break the glass, and take a huge fall downstairs. Yes, I know that sounds bad.
+lo1bo2 yes. that would sure spice up the video.
+Jason Juice 8:20
What an absolutely gorgeous place - it really has a '70s sci-fi vibe going on
Peter Stean This place is just begging to be the set for a remake of Logan’s Run.
LOL
This architect should make video game levels.
it reminds me of prey a bit
Reminds me of something from Ion Fury lol.
I usually find 70's architecture hideous, but this place is awesome!
8:26 That dude is having WAY too much fun in his chair
Lol! The electric pony ride must be broken. 😁
He's on crack everybody downtown is cracked out of there mind
I know this is an older mall, but you can tell the architect was going for a ''fururistic' design/look. Really neat. I think these type of shopping centers would benefit from the night market culture. Its sad to see it empty.
Night Market is a great idea. Some of the most popular shopping in Portland comes in the forms of:
First Thursday (art galleries in the Pearl & Old Town), Last Thursday (NE Alberta), the northeast Industrial District's night markets and our Saturday (and Sunday too) Market. Although some of the other "arcade" style shopping destinations in Portland from the 1970s have since shuttered.
Very cool mall, man. And I'm not shocked to see that there's a massage parlor in there lol...Unique structure, and fantastic commentary as always!
Massage parlor 😁 yep, sounds about right.
Daver G one can only hope.😂😂😂😂
Never knew watching a defunct mall could be so relaxing
issecret1 it makes us feel like we are with our parents haha 😂
Yeah, this guys videos are very relaxing and its interesting seeing how a place is no more. Sad, but interesting.
08:14 that guy rocking the chair looks like an animation that would be in mall tycoon.
I was waiting for him to go through the glass...Must've been a good phone call...
haha hes loving it!
At one time there actually was clothing stores, a Hallmark card store, more than one restaraunt in there. About 12 years ago is when many of the stores started closing up. When the Gap left that was when the majority of the businesses left. The big restaraunt that left use to be a favorite place to go eat and have drinks for people who worked Downtown.
I kinda adore the idea of an underground mall
Idk there's just something about places like that that just fascinate me
Same here, as I live in western SC, and due to our sandy soil you very rarely even see houses with a basement here, let alone any kind of shopping that's underground.
Underground malls Are very common in Asia and Europe in certain parts of the US in the cities
Didn't the WTC had a mall underneath?
Stop
@@kathurtado13 Yes.
Two words. “Apple store” a mall where I use it live was dying and the owner brides Apple to come to his mall with five years of free rent and I think he even paid them, of course all the other renters complained but it brought in so much traffic it saved the mall and even helped the fellow merchants that had complained. It paid off big time.
What mall was this?
This mall could be like the one in NYC, just bigger.
Interesting, my town's mall has seen a nice uptick in foot traffic by adding a new Target with storefront and interior mall entrances.
Wow this is SUCH a gem. There are so many things I love about this. The fountains and escalators go easily be on the cover of a vaporwave album. The exteriors of the defunct hair salon and restaurant gave them a miniature feel and made the mall feel like a city within a city, even when all of them are gone already. And I LOVE those glass-covered entrances. I can already smell that 80s-90s bank smell. So glad you got to document it before it's gone! 👍🏾
Yep. That restruant was owned by my freinds dad, he retired soon after he closed the shop, it was a nice place, just had no business. Online everything closed many brick and motor stores. But I love this place, another neat little mall is on San Mateo and Montgomery, called "montgomery crossings"
M Crossings is still open?
Shame the place is as dead as it is. Somebody could at least restore this place as it isn't too far gone like other dead malls. Got a nice 70' s aesthetic. Could put some retro type shops and maybe a few multi room barcades.
The building is on its way to renovation.
@@alejandrogonsalez2931 Ok I just hope when they renovate it they keep most of the old style. Its nice and not rotted like most malls its age. All it really needs in restoration is new lights, and some updated utilities. Its in a state that it can be renovated but not raised and built anew.
I honestly looks like it would make a great convention center. It reminds me of the convention center in Baltimore for otakon. Also great places for cosplay photos. Sorry. I’m a weeb lol
They really do have to renovate it, because it is part of the high-rise office building it's attached to. It's hard to believe it's been well over 25 years since I've been there, and the whole building is still solid as per this video.
So you want to kill the mall indefinitely? Lol nobody is going to a mall for the 70s feel
The way the plants spill over into the fountain is so beautiful! The whole mall seems like it has a very cozy and inviting atmosphere.
malls are so modern now. I do miss the old dated 80s 90s look. I guess it takes me back when I was still a kid and was excited to go with my mom to the mall
That building is beautiful, thank you for taking the time to document it.
Retail Archaeology
The inside fountain has a lot of pool lights aimed upwards that were designed to light up the fountain water jet at night, I bet at night if you look through the glass on the outside enclosure it looks amazing! This place is incredible warm, inviting, modern, yet timeless....so much potential. Be nice to see them spruce it up and try with stores again!
This is something that you don't want to "modernize" since it is timeless and with some
minor refurbishing would be perfect once again.
It could be a train station! And that fountain is aesthetic af
fuck it the whole building is aesthetic af
It's barely 2 blocks from the downtown train station (Alvarado Transportation Center).
In the 90's and early 2000's the PATH system in Toronto looked like this. It's mostly all been renovated though, and it's not dead by any means.
irtbmtind89 the path though connects lots of office buildings and has things people might need to buy (one section even has an express version of longos) and is Also good when the weather sucks....
The Montreal's underground city also have similar looks, particularly under Place Ville-Marie. (Which mall opened in 1960).
However the Montreal's underground shopping is lively - as is the downtown area.
The architecture looks like it could have been used in a 70's sci-fi movie or something. Even now it's a mix of strange and cool.
The Man Who Fell to Earth was filmed in Albuquerque at the time this building was under construction, you can see it in some of the scenes from that movie.
I was just there, Sept 2023, and I saw a couple of Art Galleries that had very nice high level art.
Omg this is pure early 1980's ... It's my shangrala. The brown and cream brick work. The soft unvarnished wood. The perfect use of brass. The circles! What a beautiful place. Thank you.
That look just reminds me of childhood. Put on your cords, baseball tee and stride rite shoes because we are going shopping. If not to the mall then the shopping center. There is a 62% chance the shopping center is named Town and Country Village, and if not a 92.4% chance the word Village appears at the end of it's name.
Great find! These below level shopping concourses were quite common in the 60's and 70's. Many of them at the heart of internal padestrian networks connecting multiple buildings downtown. Some cities still have them doing well, some not so much. I could go on and on about urban planning and how we are wired to move and shop about our communities reflected by history. This kind of mid 20th century planning has been a passion of mine for over a decade. Always check downtowns for these little concourses. They will rarely disappoint you
There's a scene from 2009's film "Crazy Heart" filmed here where the kid Jeff Bridge's character's supposed to be taking care of gets lost...... That's the original parquet floors from the 1970's because I used to go to the movies there in the mid 1970's... Methinks that you can make out where the cinema was.... I loved that place because it used to remind me of the domed city from the film "Logan's Run"..........
clyde beck where was the cinema at? I honestly didn’t notice anything that jumped out as theatre like
@@jamieyakimets839 It was where the "Sports and Wellness" gym is now.
There is a calming familiar vibe to this mall. It's hard to explain, I'd love to see it.
8:24 I was totally waiting for that dude to flip backwards in that chair!
And that shoe shine chair was awesome. Good video! 😸🎃👻
Lol! That would have been hysterical. 🤣
I remember while in elementary school, our class went on a field trip down there. At that time, (early 90s) there was an Explora science learning center in there. From what I understand, it's still in business. But as you can see just not there anymore.
I lived in Albuquerque in the early 90s. I was in college at UNM and had a cheap apartment very close to there. My mom was a teacher at the catholic school downtown right by that mall. I used to meet her there to have coffee and a pastry or a meal and chat before she went home for the day two or three times a week if the traffic was bad. It wasn’t ever crowded but there were people in and out through there. Mostly tourists or business people. I also ate at that restaurant with a guy I was dating before a Tori Amos concert in the early 90s. It was a quiet and classy type of vibe
That restaurant is where a scene from "Crazy Heart" with Jeff Bridges was filmed, the scene of him losing the little boy, "Buddy".
There's a giant mall in Winnipeg that's underground called Winnipeg Square. It extends to 4 buildings with underground tunnels and also connects to a massive above ground skywalk that basically connects the entirety of downtown Winnipeg.
Seems to me, it would be aperfect place for micro apartments!
beautiful!
This reminds me of some underground mall at crystal city VA that I used to go to as a kid.
This mall freaked me out when I was a kid in the 80s living in Albuquerque. Downtown was weird for me, but this mall was really strange. I have memories of it lodged somewhere in the dark recesses of my mind.
You were in my stomping grounds and I didn’t even know it!
I used to be a contractor for the Gap when they were here, and it was them who kept the place looking decent, probably the only real source of income to provide for quality upkeep. It is odd to see the fountain running again
Too bad you missed the Kmart here on Carlisle, it still had the original 90’s neon at the time of close
I remember pulling up to Kmart one day and seeing an employee chase a couple chubby cholos out carrying fireworks while the getaway driver scooped them up lol
Cool space. Can really imagine the place in the Carter era (late 70s); the shape of those escalators has a certain futuristic opulence. And those windows have some real character.
Thanks for posting!
World Trade Center once had a mall underneath it. It was called Mall at the World Trade Center. It was quite of a size, and was the biggest mall in New York City at its opening in 1975.
This mall is so rad. I remember going here in the 90's for some art junk with my Grandma. Whenever I visit clients next door in the US Eagle building I make a point to come over and walk around. I'm trying to work on a BP to open up a tap room in the old La Esquina front.
Nice to see a mall with the fountain on & no whitewash on the ceiling & no removed boiserie (wood paneling) & the unique windows. All it needs is a brick floor.
Cyan is between sky blue & seafoam green.
This is a beautiful. Love that 70's look. Thanks for sharing!
This was a cool busy place circa 1979 when I briefly lived here as a kid
Looks more like a college student center rather than a mall
The college students avoided the place like the plague, because they would associate it with working stiffs and government employees.
The mall reminded me of my college. I got the same vibe ad you
They opened up coding courses in some of the spaces. Janitors been working there since the late 80s
Yeah I could definitely see myself going to this community college to make up for the Algebra class I failed in High School.
I love the look of the place! It's got that 1970s futuristic sci-fi reject look to it! Sure wish they still build buildings like these today... Most of the modern building they build today really kinda lack that futuristic/sci-fi look to them (with the exception of the new WTC mall), especially all those round windows and smooth rounded corners, that's something you don't really see in today's buildings.
Same. The farther I got into this video, the more I was thinking that this would be a cool filming location for a sci fi TV show or movie that didn't want to blow its budget on building sets.
I wish modern buildings looked better too, Woodfield Mall in Schaumburg Illinois has been updated several times and the new for 2018 dining pavilion's styling is all squares and rectangles and floating logos on boring glass
@@realimbored668 Why is everybody into all squares and rectangles these days? Whatever happened to more organic types of architecture like this place has got?
This mall pleases me greatly. My god it's gorgeous x
I know what vibe I feel. Artsy. It’s really artsy and that makes the space extra cool. Those floors. Doesn’t need any updating. Those floors are timeless. Stunning.This would be a great spot for gallery and studio space for artists. Hartford did that with a few old buildings and it’s working very well. Thriving arts community and it helps everyone to give a lower lease for artists and then they bring money and more artists to the city enriching the community.
I love the Galleria, used to drink at that restaurant bar whenever I got super depressed LOL
First thing that came to mind to me (as I am a Southerner) was Underground Atlanta. I haven't been there since I was a kid (probably 1991), but it was a pretty cool place back in the day. Atlanta has some cool malls.
I was at Underground Atlanta last year. It was in sad shape and mostly abandoned.
I'm about 3 1/2 hours from Atlanta right on the GA border over in SC, and yeah I was thinking the same thing, and have not been myself in years, but as someguy23475 pointed out it's in bad shape, as one of my coworkers mentioned over lunch a while back having gone there.
someguy23475 it’s sad to hear. I was there in the early 90s and I have fond memories of the underground
By the comments made, sounds like an RA trip to Atlanta is in order (maybe not as dead as this Galleria, but still...). I was there when The World of Coca Cola Museum was still at one of the ends of the Underground before they moved it...
I am only 2 1/2 hours from there. Yes, trip time indeed. I hear Lennox Square Mall is still thriving!
Threw me off when you said abq nm had no idea this was here and I live here my whole life I’m 21 Ty :)
There is a place like this in Akron, OH called Shoppes at Akron Center. Not quite as big but same underground vibe.
One thing I've noticed you have a "flair" for is, whether you're in Mesa or Scottsdale or Albuquerque, New Mexico, whether they be of the genteel or "rub & tug" variety, more times than not, you have a talent for scoping out and finding shopping centers that house massage parlors. ;)
But this is definitely a first for me - a dedicated, underground mall. Almost has a secret, "exclusive" feel to it.
Absolutely love this underground menagerie and haven. My mom is a retired attorney and her offices were near here. We had a membership at the athletic club since I was a baby and I spent much of my childhood in this building. I feel so, so lucky that I did.
Nice recap of the mall. I really did like the structure and the vintage feel to it, and more than anything all those different shape windows. I felt like I was at the mall back when I was like 6 yrs old throughout the whole entire video, well done. Thank you.
i miss mall fountains , used to be a lot at malls i used to go to and still go to but they were removed as they were renovated over the years
I live in Houston and we have an underground mall too. It's downtown and under the skyscrapers. You should go check it out. It's been there for years! It's part of the 7 miles of tunnels running underground under the Theatre District. Awesome videos! I really enjoy them! ✌️🏼😊
damn the architectural design aesthetic on this mall is so ahead on its time it feels like it was build on the 2000's but it was from the 70's
Gorgeous.....had a nice vibe......reminded me of my favorite little hide away mall in bensalem, pa.....from the 70's..also had a fountain.....Woodhaven mall......long gone :(
Happy to find your video. I worked at a restaurant on the main floor in 1976-78 called El Prado. We occupied 2 floors with the restaurant on the main floor and our bakery, smoke house and cafe on the first level below ground. I was a waiter while attending UNM. It was one of the best jobs I've ever had, outstanding team spirit. We had a very serious Austrian Chef, baked all of bread and pastry in-house, smoked our own meats and generally delivered a 5 star experience. The restaurant was owned by 3 guys from San Francisco. We were a little too formal for 1976 Albuquerque but the service and the food were outstanding. The restaurant was hang out for the ABQ power brokers at that time.
You should also know that the fountain originally was open to the street level and water cascaded 360 degrees to the lower level. The skylight was not there at that time.
At the time I worked there the building was very new and it was alive with shops open and people visiting. If I remember correctly the building was an early attempt at urban renewal for downtown ABQ which definitely a mess at that time.
Thanks again for documenting.
The building is going to be the new home of TaskUs, with 695 new jobs in renovated space. There are bigger plans to renovate and transform the entire building with hotel and residential uses.
Hope they leave the amazing timeless design and just refurbish it. DEFINITELY KEEP THE FOUNTAIN!
And all the 70's charm will be ripped up and thrown away. :(
@@watershed44 yes! it should be designated a heritage site or something, it's perfectly preserved
See I love this from Americans. It's from the 70s, stick a preservation order on it. History man. Over here, God its from the 70s, rip it down.
Thank you
Japan has so many underground malls like this, I’d say the reason why they are so successful is because you can use them to get the the railways or go under really busy traffic instead of walking through it for a shortcut.
There’s actually a similar thing here in my hometown of Nis, Serbia. Basically it’s an underground passage that stretches along the entire city center and has multiple entrances.
It used to be a cold war era bunker but it was renovated in the 90s to be a mall. It’s not dead however
Great video. Goodbye malls, they will soon be a thing of history, gone but recorded in rare videos kept alive on the internet
So this is what happens when you make a left in Albuquerque.
dunbrine47 Bugs Bunny said that.
3:56 Those Barcelona chairs are the classiest sitting furniture i've ever seen in a mall (and they are worth some money).
i love the aesthetic, i really like the wood parts, i feel nostalgia because of the design that came from a previous era.
I could see this mall possibly coming back somehow - at least during certain times. It's right next to city hall, and the Civic Plaza city park (which is how it got its name - "First Plaza Galeria"). And the city has done everything possible to bring people back to the plaza by hosting family movie nights during the summer, an artificial skating rink during the winter, and all sorts of attractions. But yeah, it's mostly just been forgotten more than anything.
What a cool mall and what a beautiful fountain.
Yeah you don't see that many malls today that have a fountain in them, let alone--built-in planters.
Really cool vid. Most people don’t know that there’s a underground pedestrian tunnel system in downtown Houston. They used to sell food etc there.
Believe it was also used long ago as a temporary fall out shelter when those were believed practical during the Cold War. Thanks again for the memories.
I was lucky enough to take a tour of the Houston tunnels in February. There are so many restaurants and cafés down there, and also a few gyms. I think they’re doing so well because it’s not really aimed at the general public: it’s for all the office workers in the business district, so they don’t have to go out in to the heat and humidity.
Absolutely gorgeous old mall...i’ve always loved those little niche elegant high end malls, they always seem to have interesting small shops and art galleries to explore. Also the way the light is reflecting around the escalators around 6:45-6:50 totally gives me Mirrors Edge vibes.
Thanks for taking us on a tour of this! Very cool looking place; sad that it feel to abandonment.
While there were no retail locations open, I'm still surprised at just how empty is was. Even if nothing else, so many spots there (such as 8:55) are screaming 'Instagram blogger' as a place to take a photo. And if I worked in the area, I'd certainly be using it as a quiet lunch spot/place to get a break from work.
Is the city responsible for upkeep of it now? It looked surprisingly clean (I didn't see any litter or anything); I know if this were here in NYC, it would be filled with garbage in no time. And I didn't see any vagrancy/graffiti either; interesting that the place is abandoned, but it still seems to be in good shape.
Thx soo much for your uploads!! As someone who grew up in the 80s and 90s I find these uploads Erie yet extremely interesting
When I was a little kid, we went on a field trip to the Galeria to a place that used to be there called Explora. It was so much fun. I went back a few times, but I forgot about it. When I saw your video everything just came back to me. I'm so happy you documented it. When I get back to Albuquerque I'm planning on a visit there.
Greetings from Albuquerque. I've lived here 20 years and regretfully have been to that mall once. Thanks so much for taking the time to film it.
ahhhhh!!! I've been here! Visited ABQ for a convention 2 years ago and jeez, what a bleak and depressing city.
Holy shit I've never seen a mall so beautiful. The crisp white, copper, wood, and live plants give a very peaceful minimalist aesthetic mixed with a little late 60's Sci-Fi. This place would be an awesome spot for portrait photography.
Absolutely stunning... and that fountain! Man if I lived in that area, that fountain area would be my main hangout spot and bring friends along too. That's a nice spot. I love the idea of an underground mall, I wish I could go to one. It makes me sad every time I visit a dying/dead mall or even watch videos about 'em, but interesting at the same time.
I love the uniqueness of this mall, very cool. Thank you for documenting this place.
So sad . What a pretty building. Love the soft padded seats around the fountain.
If you ever come to Southern New York State, it might be interesting to see you take a look at one of these malls: Arnot Mall in Horseheads and the Oakdale Mall in Johnson City. Mainly because these malls aren't dead yet, but they aren't exactly thriving and it could be nice to see the in between of thriving and dead.
I wanna see him visit Southland Center here in Southeast Michigan
Southland is far from dead. Westland is slowly dying, and Eastland is the real dead mall.
I actually live near the Oakdale Mall and it's unfortunate to see it this way. There's only the two anchors left, Burlington and JC Penney, and I'm honestly surprised Burlington has lasted this long since last time I went in there it looked like half the store wasn't being used. I'm curious to see how long it will keep going, with three of the anchors lost in the past few years. I still enjoy going there, but with some pretty bad security and now more than half the anchors gone I'm curious how long it will last. I heard rumors that stores weren't being allowed to renew their rent (no solid proof of this yet though), so it might be the beginning of the end.
@@someguy23475 agreed, the OP brought up the idea of doing videos on some thriving malls which Southland would be a good candidate for
That building has a very classic Southwestern look with the stucco, round windows, and natural wood. It reminds me a lot of places I remember growing up in southern Arizona.
The structure has held up amazingly well for being 46 years old. Maybe if people want Albuquerque to "come back", they should make more Bugs Bunny cartoons. Thanks for sharing!!!
You mean he always "made his left turn" under that building, right?
The building actually opened in April,1975, so it's 43 years old.
I've lived in Albuquerque all my life. At 23 years old, this is the first time ever seeing this. It's still open here in mid 2021 surprisingly. I'm sure older people know about this mall, but I know for a fact me and my friends never knew about it.
OMG, the CDi Tetris music, officially the chillest Tetris ever.
Thank you! I was wondering what the background music was.
I used to Walk thru there to the City Bus stations. Lots of tweakers roaming downtown Albuquerque.
Nice look and feel. I got kind of an "early 90s upscale" vibe for some reason, but I guess the wood and weird angles are more of a 70s thing.
The wood flooring reminds me of the floors at Pike Place up here in Seattle. Along with the lighting.
I did "running" work for a travel agent in this mall back in 1988. I then returned in 2008 with another company, and left again in 2014. It was a lovely, vibrant place in 1988, but not so much from 2008 to 2014. The latter visit was to an environment of homelessness, drugs and the element downtown can bring to a city. I'll never forget the woman bathing naked in the fountain in the courtyard area one fine day, or the smell of urine in just about any of the less traveled spaces (both memories from my second stay). And such a shame! It is truly a remarkable space!
I used to patronize a hair salon here, about 1977-78. The classic 70s look - hair, mustache - was in. They carried Redken products, and so that was my introduction to conspicuous consumption regarding hair products.
Before I even officially start watching the episode I have to say that the Tetris CDi soundtrack is definitely one of the greatest soundtracks ever composed!! dig the fountain under the skylight though especially the outside shot, neat!
The place was quite busy up until the early 90’s. The fountain used to be an enclosed waterfall from a giant pond above, (long since paved over and planted.) There was a twin movie theatre, a very swanky Mexican restaurant, (it was in the movie Crazy Heart with Jeff Bridges, in fact a lot of the Galleria was shown) a number of art galleries, no less than five sandwich shops, three at street level, two underground, the Galleria served the building above, and back then it was full of offices, banks, city and county offices, travel agencies, it even had a health spa with a pool! I went there in 19’ and it was indeed sad to see one of my teen hangouts abandoned. At least it is well kept and is now a nice retreat from the empty streets above...
There was a movie shot here With David Bowie in about 1975...ish called the Man who Fell to Earth
We have something very similar in Toronto called "The PATH" its all underground and connects to multiple buildings and the subway system. you could live and work with out ever going above ground.
I’m originally from Albuquerque and I remember walking to the galleria for thanksgiving with my family years ago. It had some really unique shops it’s a shame it’s been forgotten! I wish the city would put money into it and bring it back!
The architecture of the mall and the building above are very claustrophobic.
omg, memories from 1987, me my mom and brother were standing right at the front door
If you ever go to Arlington, Texas, there's a Vietnamese mall called Ben Thanh Plaza. It's far from being a dead mall and it's very busy, which is the exact opposite of most American malls in the Dallas-Fort Worth Area
what dfw has a lot of busy malls
only ones i know that are dead are willow bend, collin creek, and valley view
I spent so much time at this place as a kid, but I never thought of it as a mall like Coronado or Winrock; it was just...the "Galeria," I guess! The first time seeing those shiny rolling wood floors when it opened -- wow. My dad thought it would be great to ride a skateboard on them. On the right side of where you first walked down the stairs, there was a very modern, high-ceiling'd restaurant called the Tamarind. I think it would still look modern if it existed as it was then today. I wonder how much of it is intact. There were some fun events there, like a New Wave fashion show with a catwalk stage set up in the '80s. Across from the Tamarind was a salon called R's or Roberto's (?) I think. It was pricey, but my mom treated me to a very feathered hair style there once. Other shops I remember are a bookstore with a cute children's section where kids could hang out and read, a fancy Santa Fe-style clothing store, and an amazing delicatessen called Obermayer's, which influenced almost my entire foodie life. I was surprised when you mentioned that La Esquina opened in 1984, because I thought I saw it years earlier. I'm thinking now, it might have been built early on but didn't open right away. I recall other businesses like art galleries, but mostly, the otherwise empty space next to Obermayers where my mom and other artists had a show in the late '70s. I think the empty storefront at street level with the checkered tile floor (if it was on the north side) was the sandwich shop Frank's Other Place, which had delicious fresh-squeezed limeade among other things. There was a travel agency next door or nearby, too. Thanks for posting this video -- it brought back a lot of memories, although bittersweet. I don't think the Galeria was ever as crowded as other malls, but it was kind of heartbreaking to see it completely empty. Maybe if First Plaza were renovated to include condos and/or a hotel, it would breathe new life into it.