I miss the classic shopping malls where it was not intimidating to shop and it was just casual, fun, and sweet to shop. I hate the new pretentious "upscale" shopping malls of today. I miss video arcades, book and music stores like B. Dalton and Sam Goody and Tower Records, mom and pop or family owned eateries in the food court, Orange Julius, Mrs. Fields, and toy stores too like KB and Toys R Us and specialty stores, and pretty water fountains, and so many more. Malls back in the 80s, 90's, and early to the mid 2000s were awesome!!
Malls like this need repurposed into ultra cheap housing, schools or maybe homeless shelters. Letting them sit and rot is terrible. reduce, reuse and recycle
+Christine Strauss I fully agree: there is so much potential in this and other dead/dying malls. The buildings already have plumbing, heating/AC, electricity, kitchens, lots of parking now a new use has to be found for them. I read about one mall that was turned into offices and another was turned into condos. I would like to see malls that are on the outskirts of a town and far from social service offices and other help for the homeless be turned into inexpensive housing for working people who have transportation or at least access to public transit while homeless shelters could be in a more in-town location. If a mall did have a shelter for the homeless it would be great if social service offices could also be located in the same place; I think that arrangement would make things so much easier for so many people. These buildings are too good to be allowed to decay or to be torn down or both
I believe I can guess as to the excuses companies would give to not repurposing the buildings; the expenses of bringing it up to code, plus remodeling. The malls are 30-50 years old, meaning foundation, electricity, insulation, roof, plumbing, floors, & heating all need to be repaired or replaced, then there are the remodeling expenses. Cheapness is why they also don't bother demolishing the buildings.
Biggs used to be in this mall. I worked there for 2 years before going to Kroger. This mall was always packed when I worked here in 1992-1994. There was an amusement park inside with several rides and lots of games and awesome things to sit and look at. There even was a ferris wheel right in front of that food court and bumper cars and a beautiful Carousel. Putt Putt mini golf, laser tag and so much more! Even a rollercoaster as well. Lots of stores and lots of entertainment. July 4 fireworks were huge! It was hard to find parking spaces also. What a shame to see it in its current state. This mall will be torn down very soon! They are losing Bass Pro Shops next year as Bass Pro will be moving to Union Center. When Bass Pro leaves that mall, that will be that last nail keeping this mall somewhat afloat. Back in the day this was a beautiful mall and still is! Its just empty!! R.I.P. Forest Fair Mall, aka current name Cincinnati Mills.
Damn..you said Biggs...we use to have one Louisville,ky. But it closed down in 1998,then became a Burlington cost factory. Then that closed in 2000 and sat empty. I moved back to Florida,came back to Louisville in 2008,and they tore the old building down,and put a Wal-Mart there. Memories..smh
+Jim Ewen I spent a lot of time in this mall as a child... From helping mom shop at Biggs to watching movies in the theatre & browsing the countless amounts of stores. Although being a mostly vacant mall, the interior looks better than the tri-county mall in my opinion.. I would love to know the full story of how this once booming retail center fell into it's current demise.
Larry!! Big fan of your videos.. It's cool to see you here, I live about an hour from this dump. It was once the 3rd biggest mall in America.. Sad but true.
***** I've been to this mall yesterday, and I went to Arcade Legacy! www.arcadelegacyohio.com/ Best game store ever! You can play arcade games for hours! $8 for 2 hours and $10 until the store closes for the day! So many games to play! Like UMK 3, MK 2, Crazy Taxi, Star Wars Trilogy, Donkey Kong,etc. But not just arcade games, but even console games too! So once you go into the store and pay for the play thing,it includes BOTH arcades and consoles! They even have imports of games for different consoles,like,I've seen a cabinet/case dedicated to Japanese NES and SNES games!
This video is packed compared to what it looks like now. When me and my friends are bored we go walk around and were often the only people in there despite the 2 remaining stores, an arcade and a bouncy house place. Security actually told us you are no longer aloud to just walk around the mall, you have to be either going to the arcade or the other store or be leaving. there is one no named Chinese restaurant with one item and the whole place is falling apart. There are holes and leaks every step you take and you can't walk without stepping on a bucket placed to catch water falling from the ceiling. Love going to walk but it's a ghost town
This mall (in the video) has the chain stores that are always the last to go. The same stores that are in EVERY mall. The buckets catching water are not good. Once everyone leaves, this mall is totally going to fall apart. The leaky water totally ruins everything.
And, of course, Bass Pro Shops has always been the main attraction: a huge, two-story outdoor sporting store with a LOT to do as opposed to simply browsing for stuff like the other locations! Sigh... my grandparents used to drive my family and I to this place at the mall all the time too, and would sometimes go to Jungle Jim's if we had any spare time left before heading back to Dayton.
Looks like (it used to be) a fun and family friendly mall. It still looks clean. The right owners could bring it back. Burlington and JCPenney are usually the last to go, and they are already gone here. It is amazing that the entire upstairs is empty.
I grew up with this mall! =D my brother and I used to LOVE playing at that children's play place near Kohl's, and there was another one above it that had like a little mini roller coaster that he was terrified at first, but would not stop riding it with me afterward! Lol it's amazing with how much money was spent on making what was otherwise a very bland and generic-looking mall into a vast, artistic, and amazingly unique mall: despite having only a handful of places opened throughout the years because of how ridiculously expensive the leases are for the lots!
It's slow death started around the middle of 1992 with kids fighting around the arcade and the $1.50 movie entrance, which us teenagers used to refer to as "The Epilepsy". The reason for that name was the movie entrance had these sequenced blue and red flashing lights similar to strobes behind burglar-proof glass all up and down the wall. Once in a while someone with epilepsy would see it and it would cause the person to go into an "episode", so us Colerain kids referred to it as such. By early 1993, it's reputation was on the rocks, so various resuscitation efforts began around 1994 with the reconstructed parking lot, fireworks, different stores and the addition of Bourbon St, which was a string of sausage-party bars. Those held on, barely, until about 2005, which was around the time the Forest Fair ownership sold it to another company and it was renamed "Cincinnati Mills", but it was done and over with by that time. It is interesting seeing this video, though. My memory recalls it's inside as lots of late 80's pastels, white tile gold flaked floors and wallpaper that read "LARGER THAN LIFE!" in the standard promo fonts of that period.
I remember when I was around 7 years old back in 05 when the mall was always crowded we used to go to Cincinnati to vist my family every year and we would go to this mall together was a family now it's sad to see its slowly dying.
This place used to be elbow to elbow busy in the early 1990's. My girlfriend and I used to go there at least 3 times a month. They had a ferris wheel by the cinema, arcade, every store was open. I think at 2:56 that used to be Suncoast music and movies. That place was huge. It was a cd, dvd and novelty store.
Thank you so much for sharing this! I had a lot of memories in this mall when it was full and alive. And then I came back later on in life, and I found this mall to be like this. I now call it a Ghost Mall. It did make me sad to see this when I walked through the whole mall, but at the same time, I am grateful that there are still some stores there and it's a great place to do exercise/walking while being inside and cooling off.
I was in this mall back in the wintertime-probably around January-Febuary. The heat was off, most of the power was off. The escalators did not work and it was freezing cold inside. At one time many years ago this was a very nice mall, now it is only a shell.
One problem is malls have such a high cost to lease the space. Malls are stupid for not lowering the lease cost to attract business. They would still have way more income than they do when 90% of the space is unleased. The outdoor shopping squares are also killing the traditional mall.
Don't let the looks fool you. I was in this mall recently and it's showing signs of decay. Water damage from damaged roof areas are plentiful here. They had buckets on the floors to catch the water. The abandoned Showcase Cinemas 10 has a lot of visible damage to the ceiling in the entrance. Whole pieces of ceiling have fallen etc. Not to mention...this is a mall you don't want to stay in late at night coming from a movie in the cheap theatre. It has and always will attract some shady looking people lurking around. Never park in the garage...and always park either in Bass Pro Shops or Khol's lots for your own safety.
It's open with MAYBE one or two stores, but it's so sad when you see it in person, it's such a beautiful, clean building just sitting empty, it's lucky Bass Pro is technically connected to it and at least that is a busy place
When I was young this mall was booming. It had an amusement park with a double decker marry go round and a full size ferris wheel. It got baught out by people who wanted to market to people with a higher income than the city around them. They started making rules like no hats or visible tattoos. With bad PR like that the place died.
During the winter, people use that mall for walking and running during the winter. The Kenwood mall killed the one you are walking in. I actually liked this one...closer to home.
I still have a portrait of my father, Cal Poly San Luis Obispo graduate, c/o 1990. It was taken by his wife, who worked as a photographer in Vallco, a dead mall in Cupertino, later demolished November 2019.
It looks like it was a really nice mall at one time it looks like it was decorated beautiful I don’t know why I was never there wen I came to visit I’m originally from there
Holy crap! That's busy compared to what I saw today. I was there at Bass Pro, decided to walk around in the mall. There were maybe 10 people in the entire mall walking around. Escalators weren't running. Poor lighting and disrepair. Few shops open in the A and B concourses, but the C concourse was EMPTY. There was NOTHING there but an outdated food court with nothing open.
I remember going when they were renovating it -- half the mall was a construction zone, and in the middle was a carousel... the only things "open" was biggs and gold star... this was back in 2002.... sure didn't take it long to collapse...
Tony, don't count on that. This mall has been this dead for many years, been revived several times, and died again... The anchor stores and restaurants outside it (parking lot facing the main street) keep it afloat... As long as those restaurants and anchors are there, that mall won't die.
Thanks for this video. I played many games back in the day there in the arcade. There use to be a kids roller coaster in the kids play area. I took my kids there when they were young.
There used to be an old abandoned mall on the east side of Austin, TX...HUge building with late 1970s architecture, very "futuristic" it was re-purposed for a branch of the community college. Before that the mall had been used as a movie set for several B movies involving malls...zombie flicks, haunted mall, apocalypse...etc.
from what i understand the mall was bought out by another group that wanted to build a elderly apartment complex there. but was rejected by Hamilton county on the account that "it brings in too much revenue" so they charged double for rent on the tenets. causing them to vacate. there plan was to go for it again after showing the county its "dead" the county laughed at them and saw what they where trying to do. and denied them anyway. they recently sold the property
Although a good effort check out "I am Dan Bell" Dead mall series. Your camerawork makes us a little dizzy with all your panning and ups and downs and try to give a little of the history of the mall, why is it dying, etc, etc. Thanks for posting anyways.
Went there two weeks ago to stop in at the arcade. Fun place, what sucks is when you get hungry you either pay 7 dollars for Japanese food or you walk to McDonalds or stake and shake. Or even chipotle. Its a damn shame that place is dead...
What a shame- looks like a nice mall. In Austin, Texas they have transformed two malls into Acc's. The malls are now Austin Community Colleges. One other mall, they turned into a nice conference center.
That mall was dead years ago when my children were small. I could not believe it then! There was an amusement area that interested my children. It was ready for destruction then...
Our community has a shopping mall that has thrived for years. Within the last several years business has decreased dramatically since the city purchased the property with the complex. Now the city has torn down 2/3 of the mall complex and despite remaining space available the city won't allow new retailers to occupy the store shops. Boaz Outlet Mall in Alabama had so much potential and has gone to waste at taxpayer expense. The city is sitting on a prime real estate property and not doing anything with it. None of this makes any sense has anyone seen a trend like this going on in other communities?
I was there a few months ago with my friends and they had blocked off the Bass pro shop from the inside of the mall and that was the only store really open. I took some video because it was so unreal. They told me not to film or I would have to leave. It's such a shame to see a nice, large mall like this go to waste.
There are Mills malls that are still very successful like Gurnee Mills, north of Chicago and Arundel Mills outside Baltimore. Arundel Mills has a casino and Medieval Times attached to it.
The cell phone, computer and hourly wage has killed it, People are now preoccupied with gizmos and meaningless digital banter and have removed themselves from normal human interaction.
mysticblu999 Hey next time listen to your wife.: I can't walk much farther You: Ok we go back .... YOU keep filming closed stores.. Be nice... she is a pretty girl
Melanie Raleigh Yes, the mall closest to me (Yorktown Mall/Oak Brook Terrace) seems to still be getting a large flow of shoppers coming through. The malls that are located towards a largely suburban and wealthy group of people are likely the ones that will survive through the future. The malls in middle class-lower class neighborhoods with less population density and less money to spend will eventually, if they haven't already, see their day.
All that glass needs constant maintenance. If they don't keep it up, leaks will develop. I have seen countless dead malls with lots of glass roofs that is not maintained will lots of buckets to catch the leaks.
was there yesterday. less than 5 stores left 2 stores still has doors connecting to inside. half the lighting is burned out. holes in celing everywhere from leaking roof. and the wood floors are getting ruined from the leaks. cool place. its sad to see it getting ruined
So weird that place was always packed with people it was so lively and we enjoyed just going and spending family day out there..as well so weird with everything going on I've been in Florida for 9 years since this all started its just odd
the guys who most recently acquired the property is trying to bring it back to life. but its a long process to convince the old tenets the price is no longer jacked to high heaven.
If I had the money I would do all I can to bring all those stores back. Or even gut those empty stores and the entire dead half of that mall and turn it into a amusement park or some giant arcade area.
It used to be called Forest Fair Mall and in the 90s they actually had a small amusement park inside of this mall with lots of people coming to this mall they changed it to Cincinnati Mills and in the 2000's this mall started losing stores and going downhill now it's only a few stores that are left this month is on its way to closing its doors
I just visited there a couple days ago and it is booming in your video compared to now. There are literally zero stores in the mall. The only thing in there is Legacy Arcade. 3 Anchors are still there, Bass Pro, Kohls and Babies R Us. I found it funny that even though Babies R Us is open, the mall entrance has the gate pulled down and can't be used. In your video I could actually hear some background noise. Now none of the escalators are on and it is complete silence inside.
That was the whole thing with the mall from day one. With the exception of the large chain anchor stores (but certainly not the rule) the prices were always far more expensive than anywhere else. Then places like walmart, target, kohls, etc started becoming bigger market players selling the same china made crap in bulk far cheaper than anyone else. The developers made malls so huge they had to charge outrageous rents just to break even. The mall as we know it just wasn't going to survive, it was a very, very expensive fad of the times. Too bad, because those of us who grew up with the mall feel like we're losing a part of our childhood.
Sad. I was there years ago, had a lot of fun. I thinks its good to make videos of these malls because they are becoming a dying breed. One day kids wont know anything about them, and with efforts like yours, we can show them what we grew up with and how we had fun.
swan4568 There will be a time when people won't even come out of their houses. People will be able to do everything from their homes. Society is really going downhill.
Fortunately the mall closest to me is very thriving with a still large consumer flow. Granted, this mall is surrounded by a wealthy community in an area with a dense population, it's still a rare thing nowadays to see a mall with people in it.
Growing up in the 70's & 80's malls in the 70's hadn't quiet started yet. I remember my parents going to Knotts Berry Farm in Buena Park Ca. The Sears that was connected to the now mall near by was all open. They had these huge rocks kids climbed on in the middle of the shopping area. To compete with the upcoming malls in Orange Co. the owners inclosed the mall.
Depressing, scary (how many people working there are afraid of soon being unemployed?), fascinating place. I like the architecture and the big skylights but I can't stand the colors or all the suspended fish or the winged pigs on the gazebo by the dry fountain; I wouldn't spend more time in this particular mall than I absolutely had to. I've read that when non-stop transatlantic jet travel became possible and people switched from ocean liners to jets that there liners sailing with far more crew aboard than passengers. I would imagine passengers in whatever class they were traveling in could roam though their section of the Queen Mary or Queen Elizabeth and hardly meet anyone on deck or in the salons and dining rooms and lounges and corridors. It would be like a dead mall today.
The two major obstacles for what was then known as Forest Fair Mall- the mall was far too big for the area and the stores, again this was in 1989, were too high-end, for ex., Bonwit Teller.
I was always kind of curious why none of these abandoned malls were transformed into upscale condominiums and town homes. Leave the major walkways open and you pretty much have a year round sort of outside and natural sunlight.
LOL No one bothered me, we were just in shock how nice the place is and no shops. Guess thats what happens when you force out all the tenants for renovation.
Green Hills in Nashville, TN. is a big mall, probably not as big as this one. I have been there a couple of times, since I live a couple of hours from there. Only thing I remember about it was an $80,000 Jaguar sport sedan I really enjoyed looking it. Still couldn't afford the darn thing.
I'm only 21 and I don't get the death of malls either. Why would you play Russian Roulette with an online purchase, rather than get off of your technology crazed, lazy butt and make a trustworthy in person transaction and experience human to human communication. Smartphones and online shopping have killed the social aspect of society and it is sickening.
So strange to see but nice for mentally memories of when me and my children and family was there so much wow I just cant beli6 anything I've been seeing today no wonder we fill crazy and they wonder why we fill lost in these times..
I remember when this place was called forest fair mall and they had a putt putt course in it and had a big Ferris wheel in it I think it was under the skylight windows by the food court but I'm not sure, that was probably 20 years ago
@mysticblu999 That looks like an Awesome Mall! Nice video. It would be nice to keep that mall going. Sounds like you were just passing through. I guess you're not from that area.
Suburban shopping malls are suffering the same fate as the downtown shopping districts did before them, they are out of style and in decline. With internet retail, why would anyone want to fight the traffic and other people when you can purchase just about anything from the comfortable privacy of your home.
What a sad shame! These grand galleries were the gathering places for teens and adults alike in the 70's and 80's.Now, they are ghost towns. I don't believe they can be resurrected, refurbished, or reconstructed. The internet and modern technology has killed them. Time marches on . . . these places will only become a fond memory to those of us who had lived those times! They were memorable and a heady place when we were in our youth! Fast Times . . .
I miss the classic shopping malls where it was not intimidating to shop and it was just casual, fun, and sweet to shop. I hate the new pretentious "upscale" shopping malls of today. I miss video arcades, book and music stores like B. Dalton and Sam Goody and Tower Records, mom and pop or family owned eateries in the food court, Orange Julius, Mrs. Fields, and toy stores too like KB and Toys R Us and specialty stores, and pretty water fountains, and so many more. Malls back in the 80s, 90's, and early to the mid 2000s were awesome!!
+materialgirl8707 online shopping became the norm
Yes..I especially miss music stores. Nothing like visiting a music store and searching cd's just for the fun of it.
materialgirl8707 I was just in this mall yesterday and it was very silent. Only 4 stores were open
Once Facebook became the #1 thing going on the internet.. Downhill from then on. Everything cool is disappearing
FYE is still around and is very much like those 80s and 90s stores. I still see Orange Julius and Mrs. Fields at some malls.
Malls like this need repurposed into ultra cheap housing, schools or maybe homeless shelters. Letting them sit and rot is terrible. reduce, reuse and recycle
+Christine Strauss
It would make a great slaughterhouse.
It is still in use
It would make an adorable elementary/middle school without much remodeling.
+Christine Strauss I fully agree: there is so much potential in this and other dead/dying malls. The buildings already have plumbing, heating/AC, electricity, kitchens, lots of parking now a new use has to be found for them. I read about one mall that was turned into offices and another was turned into condos. I would like to see malls that are on the outskirts of a town and far from social service offices and other help for the homeless be turned into inexpensive housing for working people who have transportation or at least access to public transit while homeless shelters could be in a more in-town location. If a mall did have a shelter for the homeless it would be great if social service offices could also be located in the same place; I think that arrangement would make things so much easier for so many people. These buildings are too good to be allowed to decay or to be torn down or both
I believe I can guess as to the excuses companies would give to not repurposing the buildings; the expenses of bringing it up to code, plus remodeling. The malls are 30-50 years old, meaning foundation, electricity, insulation, roof, plumbing, floors, & heating all need to be repaired or replaced, then there are the remodeling expenses. Cheapness is why they also don't bother demolishing the buildings.
Wow, that dead mall looks nicer than our open malls. Much nicer.
What a wonderful looking mall!
It really is, hope they can bring it back.
mysticblu999 what if they can't
MISSEMILY kardashian Then it will be a huge waste!
OMG IT'S ARTZIE!!!
You should have seen Owings Mills. Marble, brass. Stunning, all gone!
Biggs used to be in this mall. I worked there for 2 years before going to Kroger. This mall was always packed when I worked here in 1992-1994. There was an amusement park inside with several rides and lots of games and awesome things to sit and look at. There even was a ferris wheel right in front of that food court and bumper cars and a beautiful Carousel. Putt Putt mini golf, laser tag and so much more! Even a rollercoaster as well. Lots of stores and lots of entertainment. July 4 fireworks were huge! It was hard to find parking spaces also. What a shame to see it in its current state.
This mall will be torn down very soon! They are losing Bass Pro Shops next year as Bass Pro will be moving to Union Center. When Bass Pro leaves that mall, that will be that last nail keeping this mall somewhat afloat.
Back in the day this was a beautiful mall and still is! Its just empty!!
R.I.P. Forest Fair Mall, aka current name Cincinnati Mills.
Sad indeed. Sounds like it used to be awesome. Thank you for sharing.
Damn..you said Biggs...we use to have one Louisville,ky. But it closed down in 1998,then became a Burlington cost factory. Then that closed in 2000 and sat empty. I moved back to Florida,came back to Louisville in 2008,and they tore the old building down,and put a Wal-Mart there. Memories..smh
Jim Ewen wow!
+Jim Ewen I spent a lot of time in this mall as a child... From helping mom shop at Biggs to watching movies in the theatre & browsing the countless amounts of stores. Although being a mostly vacant mall, the interior looks better than the tri-county mall in my opinion.. I would love to know the full story of how this once booming retail center fell into it's current demise.
In a word, niggaviolent.
I love how '90s the place looks!!! It's like a TV set you'd see on Nickelodeon.
Larry!! Big fan of your videos.. It's cool to see you here, I live about an hour from this dump. It was once the 3rd biggest mall in America.. Sad but true.
*****
I've been to this mall yesterday, and I went to Arcade Legacy!
www.arcadelegacyohio.com/
Best game store ever!
You can play arcade games for hours!
$8 for 2 hours and $10 until the store closes for the day!
So many games to play!
Like UMK 3, MK 2, Crazy Taxi, Star Wars Trilogy, Donkey Kong,etc.
But not just arcade games, but even console games too!
So once you go into the store and pay for the play thing,it includes BOTH arcades and consoles!
They even have imports of games for different consoles,like,I've seen a cabinet/case dedicated to Japanese NES and SNES games!
*****
The games at A.L.:
www.arcadelegacyohio.com/game-list
Tyler Morelock
Ah thank you!!!
*****
You're welcome and it's nice to meet you Mr.Bundy!
How are ye today?
This video is packed compared to what it looks like now. When me and my friends are bored we go walk around and were often the only people in there despite the 2 remaining stores, an arcade and a bouncy house place. Security actually told us you are no longer aloud to just walk around the mall, you have to be either going to the arcade or the other store or be leaving. there is one no named Chinese restaurant with one item and the whole place is falling apart. There are holes and leaks every step you take and you can't walk without stepping on a bucket placed to catch water falling from the ceiling. Love going to walk but it's a ghost town
This mall (in the video) has the chain stores that are always the last to go. The same stores that are in EVERY mall.
The buckets catching water are not good. Once everyone leaves, this mall is totally going to fall apart. The leaky water totally ruins everything.
And, of course, Bass Pro Shops has always been the main attraction: a huge, two-story outdoor sporting store with a LOT to do as opposed to simply browsing for stuff like the other locations! Sigh... my grandparents used to drive my family and I to this place at the mall all the time too, and would sometimes go to Jungle Jim's if we had any spare time left before heading back to Dayton.
Looks like (it used to be) a fun and family friendly mall. It still looks clean. The right owners could bring it back. Burlington and JCPenney are usually the last to go, and they are already gone here. It is amazing that the entire upstairs is empty.
I like the positive nature of the video. Not just cheap melodrama, it's like we get it, the mall is not doing well financially.
This was one of the funniest malls to see the details and decor was fun to see and the always keep it up and fun wow crazy...
I grew up with this mall! =D my brother and I used to LOVE playing at that children's play place near Kohl's, and there was another one above it that had like a little mini roller coaster that he was terrified at first, but would not stop riding it with me afterward! Lol it's amazing with how much money was spent on making what was otherwise a very bland and generic-looking mall into a vast, artistic, and amazingly unique mall: despite having only a handful of places opened throughout the years because of how ridiculously expensive the leases are for the lots!
It's slow death started around the middle of 1992 with kids fighting around the arcade and the $1.50 movie entrance, which us teenagers used to refer to as "The Epilepsy". The reason for that name was the movie entrance had these sequenced blue and red flashing lights similar to strobes behind burglar-proof glass all up and down the wall. Once in a while someone with epilepsy would see it and it would cause the person to go into an "episode", so us Colerain kids referred to it as such.
By early 1993, it's reputation was on the rocks, so various resuscitation efforts began around 1994 with the reconstructed parking lot, fireworks, different stores and the addition of Bourbon St, which was a string of sausage-party bars. Those held on, barely, until about 2005, which was around the time the Forest Fair ownership sold it to another company and it was renamed "Cincinnati Mills", but it was done and over with by that time.
It is interesting seeing this video, though. My memory recalls it's inside as lots of late 80's pastels, white tile gold flaked floors and wallpaper that read "LARGER THAN LIFE!" in the standard promo fonts of that period.
yeah
The Simpson's arcade game?! There's a great find! Rare to see those in arcades these days, classic game
I remember when I was around 7 years old back in 05 when the mall was always crowded we used to go to Cincinnati to vist my family every year and we would go to this mall together was a family now it's sad to see its slowly dying.
An arcade? That's one of the things I'd NEVER expect to survive in a dying mall. Those are the first to go, usually.
I went in that arcade just a few months ago for my friend Andy's birthday and buisness was booming. The place was packed
SoulboundOps
That is strange. Maybe that one is bucking the trend, as arcades died out almost everywhere else.
Good for that place.
I remember when it first opened. It was state-of-the-art all the way.
This place used to be elbow to elbow busy in the early 1990's. My girlfriend and I used to go there at least 3 times a month. They had a ferris wheel by the cinema, arcade, every store was open. I think at 2:56 that used to be Suncoast music and movies. That place was huge. It was a cd, dvd and novelty store.
I think dead mall videos are fascinating especially during this bad economy we're in.
A Kohl’s at a mall is so rare, I’ve never come across any malls with Kohl’s where I live
Thank you so much for sharing this! I had a lot of memories in this mall when it was full and alive. And then I came back later on in life, and I found this mall to be like this. I now call it a Ghost Mall. It did make me sad to see this when I walked through the whole mall, but at the same time, I am grateful that there are still some stores there and it's a great place to do exercise/walking while being inside and cooling off.
I was in this mall back in the wintertime-probably around January-Febuary. The heat was off, most of the power was off. The escalators did not work and it was freezing cold inside. At one time many years ago this was a very nice mall, now it is only a shell.
One problem is malls have such a high cost to lease the space. Malls are stupid for not lowering the lease cost to attract business. They would still have way more income than they do when 90% of the space is unleased. The outdoor shopping squares are also killing the traditional mall.
Couldn't tell you how many stores in outdoor strip malls on Pacific Highway have bailed because of rent prices.
+WaybackTECH Shopping malls pay huge taxes to the community they are in. When it dies, the tax rate for residents must go through the roof.
Don't let the looks fool you. I was in this mall recently and it's showing signs of decay. Water damage from damaged roof areas are plentiful here. They had buckets on the floors to catch the water. The abandoned Showcase Cinemas 10 has a lot of visible damage to the ceiling in the entrance. Whole pieces of ceiling have fallen etc. Not to mention...this is a mall you don't want to stay in late at night coming from a movie in the cheap theatre. It has and always will attract some shady looking people lurking around.
Never park in the garage...and always park either in Bass Pro Shops or Khol's lots for your own safety.
It's open with MAYBE one or two stores, but it's so sad when you see it in person, it's such a beautiful, clean building just sitting empty, it's lucky Bass Pro is technically connected to it and at least that is a busy place
When I was young this mall was booming. It had an amusement park with a double decker marry go round and a full size ferris wheel. It got baught out by people who wanted to market to people with a higher income than the city around them. They started making rules like no hats or visible tattoos. With bad PR like that the place died.
During the winter, people use that mall for walking and running during the winter. The Kenwood mall killed the one you are walking in. I actually liked this one...closer to home.
Be Strong and Take Heart The Lord is with You + Kenwood mall is lit , mills is dead.
IT WAS A BEAUTIFUL MALL.
I loved it I like right by it
I still have a portrait of my father, Cal Poly San Luis Obispo graduate, c/o 1990. It was taken by his wife, who worked as a photographer in Vallco, a dead mall in Cupertino, later demolished November 2019.
That mall is stuck in circa 1989 with the bright colors and crazy looking architecture.
I grew up there right by there. In the early 90's they had a Bonwit Teller and B. Daltman - both super high end stores.
This is still a beautiful mall-reminds me of Northwest Plaza back home in St Louis, it was still polished and modern up until it closed.
It looks like it was a really nice mall at one time it looks like it was decorated beautiful I don’t know why I was never there wen I came to visit I’m originally from there
I used to go to this mall sooooo much as a kid. It brings back so many memories and its sad to see it so empty.
Holy crap! That's busy compared to what I saw today. I was there at Bass Pro, decided to walk around in the mall. There were maybe 10 people in the entire mall walking around. Escalators weren't running. Poor lighting and disrepair. Few shops open in the A and B concourses, but the C concourse was EMPTY. There was NOTHING there but an outdated food court with nothing open.
I remember going when they were renovating it -- half the mall was a construction zone, and in the middle was a carousel... the only things "open" was biggs and gold star... this was back in 2002.... sure didn't take it long to collapse...
I haven't been to that mall in decades, but damn ... that place hasn't changed except that there's absolutely nothing there.
Stores can pay up to $30,000 dollars a month to lease space.
Tony, don't count on that. This mall has been this dead for many years, been revived several times, and died again... The anchor stores and restaurants outside it (parking lot facing the main street) keep it afloat... As long as those restaurants and anchors are there, that mall won't die.
Wow 7 and a half years later and practically nothing's changed. Can't believe it's still there.
Thanks for this video. I played many games back in the day there in the arcade. There use to be a kids roller coaster in the kids play area. I took my kids there when they were young.
That Is a very colorful mall! Very nice. Not dull. Just dead unfortunately
There used to be an old abandoned mall on the east side of Austin, TX...HUge building with late 1970s architecture, very "futuristic" it was re-purposed for a branch of the community college. Before that the mall had been used as a movie set for several B movies involving malls...zombie flicks, haunted mall, apocalypse...etc.
from what i understand the mall was bought out by another group that wanted to build a elderly apartment complex there. but was rejected by Hamilton county on the account that "it brings in too much revenue" so they charged double for rent on the tenets. causing them to vacate. there plan was to go for it again after showing the county its "dead" the county laughed at them and saw what they where trying to do. and denied them anyway. they recently sold the property
Although a good effort check out "I am Dan Bell" Dead mall series. Your camerawork makes us a little dizzy with all your panning and ups and downs and try to give a little of the history of the mall, why is it dying, etc, etc. Thanks for posting anyways.
He's filming with a phone, Dan films with a professional camera. Huge difference. This guy did a pretty decent job.
Went there two weeks ago to stop in at the arcade. Fun place, what sucks is when you get hungry you either pay 7 dollars for Japanese food or you walk to McDonalds or stake and shake. Or even chipotle. Its a damn shame that place is dead...
What a shame- looks like a nice mall. In Austin, Texas they have transformed two malls into Acc's. The malls are now Austin Community Colleges. One other mall, they turned into a nice conference center.
That mall was dead years ago when my children were small. I could not believe it then! There was an amusement area that interested my children. It was ready for destruction then...
Our community has a shopping mall that has thrived for years. Within the last several years business has decreased dramatically since the city purchased the property with the complex. Now the city has torn down 2/3 of the mall complex and despite remaining space available the city won't allow new retailers to occupy the store shops.
Boaz Outlet Mall in Alabama had so much potential and has gone to waste at taxpayer expense. The city is sitting on a prime real estate property and not doing anything with it. None of this makes any sense has anyone seen a trend like this going on in other communities?
I was there a few months ago with my friends and they had blocked off the Bass pro shop from the inside of the mall and that was the only store really open. I took some video because it was so unreal. They told me not to film or I would have to leave. It's such a shame to see a nice, large mall like this go to waste.
Wait one of these dead mall vloggers actually has a girlfriend?!!
There are Mills malls that are still very successful like Gurnee Mills, north of Chicago and Arundel Mills outside Baltimore. Arundel Mills has a casino and Medieval Times attached to it.
The cell phone, computer and hourly wage has killed it, People are now preoccupied with gizmos and meaningless digital banter and have removed themselves from normal human interaction.
This is exactly the truth couldn't have put it better myself.
No, it was in the wrong area, not enough people and many more convient options around. Bridge water falls is doing fine.
I absolutely loved your comment about Somerset Mall! I don't know how it has managed to survive for over 30 years.
The theater just closed, but most of the stores are open. just need some one to open in the old Dawahares. I go at least once a week to support them.
mysticblu999 Hey next time listen to your wife.:
I can't walk much farther
You: Ok we go back .... YOU keep filming closed stores..
Be nice... she is a pretty girl
Melanie Raleigh Yes, the mall closest to me (Yorktown Mall/Oak Brook Terrace) seems to still be getting a large flow of shoppers coming through. The malls that are located towards a largely suburban and wealthy group of people are likely the ones that will survive through the future. The malls in middle class-lower class neighborhoods with less population density and less money to spend will eventually, if they haven't already, see their day.
+hecky vera If the stores had been open I bet she would have been able to walk all day.
Classic80sStuff Or maybe not
All that glass needs constant maintenance. If they don't keep it up, leaks will develop. I have seen countless dead malls with lots of glass roofs that is not maintained will lots of buckets to catch the leaks.
Tri-county mall is dying as well. There's the main part-Food Court, Hot Topic and the rest is generic stores. Most of it is empty
was there yesterday. less than 5 stores left 2 stores still has doors connecting to inside. half the lighting is burned out. holes in celing everywhere from leaking roof. and the wood floors are getting ruined from the leaks.
cool
place. its sad to see it getting ruined
So weird that place was always packed with people it was so lively and we enjoyed just going and spending family day out there..as well so weird with everything going on I've been in Florida for 9 years since this all started its just odd
the guys who most recently acquired the property is trying to bring it back to life. but its a long process to convince the old tenets the price is no longer jacked to high heaven.
Guile's theme really DOES go with everything!
If I had the money I would do all I can to bring all those stores back. Or even gut those empty stores and the entire dead half of that mall and turn it into a amusement park or some giant arcade area.
i have been to this place. it is huge and empty, except for bass pro. one of my favorite malls.
Great mall. Needs more open stores but great layout.
It used to be called Forest Fair Mall and in the 90s they actually had a small amusement park inside of this mall
with lots of people coming to this mall they changed it to Cincinnati Mills and in the 2000's this mall started losing stores and going downhill now it's only a few stores that are left this month is on its way to closing its doors
I just visited there a couple days ago and it is booming in your video compared to now. There are literally zero stores in the mall. The only thing in there is Legacy Arcade. 3 Anchors are still there, Bass Pro, Kohls and Babies R Us. I found it funny that even though Babies R Us is open, the mall entrance has the gate pulled down and can't be used. In your video I could actually hear some background noise. Now none of the escalators are on and it is complete silence inside.
Hotels and convention center. Maybe hold wedding receptions.
That's a pretty mall. I like the bright colors. It's a shame its dying.
That was the whole thing with the mall from day one. With the exception of the large chain anchor stores (but certainly not the rule) the prices were always far more expensive than anywhere else. Then places like walmart, target, kohls, etc started becoming bigger market players selling the same china made crap in bulk far cheaper than anyone else. The developers made malls so huge they had to charge outrageous rents just to break even. The mall as we know it just wasn't going to survive, it was a very, very expensive fad of the times. Too bad, because those of us who grew up with the mall feel like we're losing a part of our childhood.
Want to know what else mall is dying near Cincinnati? The tricounty mall.
Celina Padilla agreed
Sad. I was there years ago, had a lot of fun. I thinks its good to make videos of these malls because they are becoming a dying breed. One day kids wont know anything about them, and with efforts like yours, we can show them what we grew up with and how we had fun.
Indoor malls are way better then outdoor malls. So that when the weather is crappy, you can stay warm.
That is a shame. We take too many things for granted. Nice places, we just throw them to the wayside and abandon them.
barnesfam Sigh, sad but true. Thanks to the internet making shopping easier than driving out to places like this. Damn shame.
swan4568 There will be a time when people won't even come out of their houses. People will be able to do everything from their homes. Society is really going downhill.
Fortunately the mall closest to me is very thriving with a still large consumer flow. Granted, this mall is surrounded by a wealthy community in an area with a dense population, it's still a rare thing nowadays to see a mall with people in it.
+MidnightClub x96 this mall isnt in a rich neighborhood. its in Fairfield which is kind of a shit hole
+MidnightClub x96 this mall isnt in a rich neighborhood. its in Fairfield/forest park which is kind of a shit hole
I can remember in the early 90's, the food court area being so packed, you could barely squeeze through. Now look at it.
This really reminds me of Nickelodeon Universe in Minneapolis.
Growing up in the 70's & 80's malls in the 70's hadn't quiet started yet. I remember my parents going to Knotts Berry Farm in Buena Park Ca. The Sears that was connected to the now mall near by was all open. They had these huge rocks kids climbed on in the middle of the shopping area. To compete with the upcoming malls in Orange Co. the owners inclosed the mall.
Mid-90's they turned about a third of it into a bar/ nightclub complex... Maybe 8 big clubs.
It would be great to keep this mall going.
Depressing, scary (how many people working there are afraid of soon being unemployed?), fascinating place. I like the architecture and the big skylights but I can't stand the colors or all the suspended fish or the winged pigs on the gazebo by the dry fountain; I wouldn't spend more time in this particular mall than I absolutely had to. I've read that when non-stop transatlantic jet travel became possible and people switched from ocean liners to jets that there liners sailing with far more crew aboard than passengers. I would imagine passengers in whatever class they were traveling in could roam though their section of the Queen Mary or Queen Elizabeth and hardly meet anyone on deck or in the salons and dining rooms and lounges and corridors. It would be like a dead mall today.
+Andrew Brendan, the sad thing is that this mall has been pretty vacant for years and years. I am amazed it's still open every time I drive by.
The two major obstacles for what was then known as Forest Fair Mall- the mall was far too big for the area and the stores, again this was in 1989, were too high-end, for ex., Bonwit Teller.
sadly once mall gets this abandoned there is no turning back
I was always kind of curious why none of these abandoned malls were transformed into upscale condominiums and town homes. Leave the major walkways open and you pretty much have a year round sort of outside and natural sunlight.
LOL No one bothered me, we were just in shock how nice the place is and no shops. Guess thats what happens when you force out all the tenants for renovation.
Green Hills in Nashville, TN. is a big mall, probably not as big as this one. I have been there a couple of times, since I live a couple of hours from there. Only thing I remember about it was an $80,000 Jaguar sport sedan I really enjoyed looking it. Still couldn't afford the darn thing.
Forest Fair Mall was creepy even years and years ago too..
I'm only 21 and I don't get the death of malls either. Why would you play Russian Roulette with an online purchase, rather than get off of your technology crazed, lazy butt and make a trustworthy in person transaction and experience human to human communication. Smartphones and online shopping have killed the social aspect of society and it is sickening.
Uuuuugh I used to have some good times there when I was little.
So strange to see but nice for mentally memories of when me and my children and family was there so much wow I just cant beli6 anything I've been seeing today no wonder we fill crazy and they wonder why we fill lost in these times..
Whats so sad is that it still looks like that
this place looks new to me I don't know why they closed it. it looks like it's in a good shape by about 97%
Not enough people going to this mall. Plus last time I was there, it need repairs badly. They had a leaking roof
And there was an amusement park, merry-go-round and Ferris wheel where the guys are planning video games.
I had some fun with my now ex boyfriend in one of those bathrooms. Good times. ;)
I remember when this place was called forest fair mall and they had a putt putt course in it and had a big Ferris wheel in it I think it was under the skylight windows by the food court but I'm not sure, that was probably 20 years ago
@mysticblu999 That looks like an Awesome Mall! Nice video. It would be nice to keep that mall going. Sounds like you were just passing through. I guess you're not from that area.
Kohls is where B. Daltmans was. I think it was a Chicago based lux clothing store.
Wow that mall is so 1980's. Be awsome if they made it look like the mall in the movie Commando.
Suburban shopping malls are suffering the same fate as the downtown shopping districts did before them, they are out of style and in decline. With internet retail, why would anyone want to fight the traffic and other people when you can purchase just about anything from the comfortable privacy of your home.
What a sad shame! These grand galleries were the gathering places for teens and adults alike in the 70's and 80's.Now, they are ghost towns. I don't believe they can be resurrected, refurbished, or reconstructed. The internet and modern technology has killed them. Time marches on . . . these places will only become a fond memory to those of us who had lived those times! They were memorable and a heady place when we were in our youth! Fast Times . . .
Dead/Abandoned and Ohio seem to go together like peanut butter and jelly...
that's really depressing and sad when it reopened it was booming I went with my aunt and i cousin all the time its sad
Even the Bass Pro is moving out. Most malls in the nati are dying out. Only the Kenwood Mall is doing well and there are so many people there.