I was the second manager of the Barrel of Fun Arcade, I went on to become a Regional Manager for the Company. It was owned by Herb Skinner and Dick Adams. The Barrel of Fun became Atari Expo, owned by the Atari Game Corporation. The it was bought by Namco and became Namco Cybertainment. I eventually had all stores in Northern Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Mass. & NY. I enjoyed working as Regional Manager, but my career started in Lenoir Mall .
discovering properties that have been shut down leaving vintage items and interior furnishings from so long ago its like a time warp are the best properties to explore.
Throughout my life, I have thrown many pennies into that fountain, it was very beautiful when running & the sound the water made while spraying out was so relaxing. As a kid, I always wanted to jump in & play in the water. -lol So many great memories of this mall...shopping & working in it...eating at Geri's Delight...hanging out with friends & spending time there on dates, as well. Oh, to be young again. :)
I used to love Woolworth's. Such a fun, nostalgic place to think about. Picked out many GIJoes and GoBots there as a kid in the early-mid 80s. They even had a pretty cool pet department and don't forget the classic Woolworth's diner counter instore!
Thanks so much for going here. I'm from Lenoir and used to go to this place a lot as a kid. I played Pac Man for the first time in the Barrel of Fun arcade. Good memories.
I'm 23 and I remember this mall being semi-popular when I was a kid. I remember going to Fashion Bug and Belk with my mom. Once Belk left, all business and customers left with it too. It was such a night and day difference. I'm sad to see it in this state. We still went to the mall on occasion to go to GNC. Thank you for doing this video, brought back many memories
I spent many of my childhood days in this mall. I live 3 miles down the road & its heartbreaking to see it going to waste! Thanks for the flashback & inside view!
What a powerful video! Seeing the Christian book store with the flowers along the dead facade of the mall was surrealistic. Mix in the Woolworth carts and you have a slap in the face of reality. Great work, Anthony. Proud to be a PATERON supporter.
Before this mall opened, we had a Crest, Sky City and KMart; Belk's and Spainhour's were downtown's anchor stores as well. When the mall opened, it killed downtown, Crest and Sky City. We got a Walmart and the mall struggled and Woolworth and KMart left. The furniture industry collapsed and that was the kiss of death. Lenoir is primarily served by Walmart now. Downtown is coming back, but it's been 30+ years in the making. I've often wondered why this space was never turned into a medical park or office complex (or just outright given to Google).
You should see our abandoned movie theater in downtown Lenoir. It's been shut down for as long as I can remember, and would probably look crazy for your videos, as well as our furniture factories that are no longer up and running.
I used to work in the Belk at the Lenoir Mall and stroll through this building back in the late 90s. It is so sad to see it like this. The building is such an eye-sore. Very, Very sad. :(
You are on a roll Anthony! Another great find! The Woolworths carts are definitely vintage, hard to find and collectors items. Maybe this Woolworth's was larger than the average one because it had a lunch counter/Restaurant. I remember getting fried chicken there and Coke at the counter. Seems North Carolina leaves it's dying malls frozen in the 80s, which is great for you to film these vintage malls. I'm not surprised the property manager let you film. You handle and request with respect, class and maturity and you will film this mall with respect and honesty. Glad you are able to share these Southern mall visits with us. #proudacesadventurespatron
In true 70's style. Neat little mall. Too bad it's in such a sad state. The realtor® was super cool to let you explore the mall (though it would help it sell, too).
We live in this area and there is so much potential here but I guess because hickory is so close and alot of the factory's closed they stoped so many businesses just dont survive and it sucks I'm originally from avery but settled here cause there isnt much in avery I've never gotten to see this mall it broke my heart seeing this video I wish they would totally revitalize this place that fountain looked so cool also kinda wish you showed more or had a better light North Carolina needs some love from businesses
Been to that mall many times as a child. Used to play in the arcade, get my hair cut, even lost a balloon above the fountain by the skylight. The music was spot on for the video. Well done.
Omg this is crazy. I’m from SC but I would always come up to lenoir to visit my great grandma and I remember this mall from when I was sooo young. Its so weird to see it dead now. I remember that fountain specifically
I am so glad that Bill Wall let you in! I have longed for someone to do a dead mall video of my hometown mall. I can look at every spot where you walk and tell you what store was there. This is so cathartic, but so incredible to watch!
When you look at all we have lost over the years it is just telling. Everyone talks about sales, earnings, etc and they make it sound like everything is growing. however what they don’t tell is what has been left behind. All of these store and mall closures tell an important story of history of how cities change and decline, the decline of industry in the area, the change in consumer taste and preferences over time, the loss of jobs, what store mergers have downsized, closed , or sold off and so much more.
Wow what an awesome mall I wish that water feature was working. I love those old Foot Lockers w the wood paneling from the 80s I remember those stores so rad to see they still exist! From one Mallrat to another thank you for these sweet vids!👍
Wow, thanks for this. I've moved from this area long ago but took me back to many memories with my family. Then you went into the salon!! When I was 15 I finally talked my parents to letting me perm my hair and for my entire HS life, this is where my locks were born! Lol it was cool to see the inside of the place, really took me back to how I nervous I was about how my hair would look! Haha
I agree. Our mall used to have a fountain that was absolutely spectacular when the mall was new. Over the years, the fountain got to the point where it was NOT working more often than it WAS, and the maintenance costs were skyrocketing, so when they remodeled a few years ago, they turned off the fountain forever. Now it is basically a stage used exclusively for taking photos with the Easter Bunny, or Santa Claus, or whatever.
I wondered how this mall was doing. I remember seeing photos of this mall when the GNC was the last business in the mall corridors without an exterior entrance. The inside looks to be in decent shape in comparison to many other malls that close and get destroyed by vandals.
Well, the condition of the inside is probably due to the 24/7 police presence (paid for by Google, who uses part of the parking lot for their employees). Having police on-site all the time would certainly discourage most vandals.
They recently repainted the entire outside of the mall. I spent my entire childhood in this place going to Barrel of Fun arcade after school. There used to be a Curtis Mathis store & The Pet Den, Ollie's restaurant, KB Toys, Belk's, a little bit of everything. I still have my Barrel of Fun arcade tokens and a few of the skee-ball tickets that have Pac-Man on them. In the 80's this was the place to be and I can remember it vividly because those were some of the best times of my life. The door you walked in, in the video @ 1:36, to the left was Barrel of Fun, KB Toys, Happy Nails. The shot you have of the fountain, every Christmas they had a huge setup for Santa laid out so kids could get pics with him and they had changing light colors in the fountain. I truly miss this mall every day. On a side note...... when you went into Barrel of Fun, if you bought $10 worth of tokens they gave you this little brown velvet bag like a coin purse that had their logo on the side of it, I am still trying to find one of those though.
Wow what a time warp! It still looks like it’s in ok shape it would be so cool to revive it. I’m really glad you got to get in a big thank you to that realtor. I hope he watches it. Love your videos!
This was a beautiful mall. I would have loved to have seen the fountain when it was working. The history was very interesting. I never knew Woolworth's was ever in malls. I only saw them in shopping centers and downtown buildings. It used to be one of my favorite stores when I was a kid. I wonder how the plants are surviving? Many are still alive and the vines which look like philodendrons are running all over the place. Great find and my thanks also to Mr. Wall for allowing you to go in. It's great to see places not hit by vandalism. Twenty-four hour police presence onsite helps with that!
I'm glad you got video of this mall, Ace. They just turned the old mall into a self storage place. Everything has been renovated, and the place as it once was, is all but gone. It was just sitting abandoned for years. I've been a Lenoir resident for 15 years, and was born and raised in this county, so it's sad to see it go. Actually, a company from upstate New York brought it, I believe.
Nice work. I grew up in this town and live there to this day. I went on opening weekend in '79 and continued to patronize the place through the late 1990s After I was already an adult with children of my own in the early 90s the store owners and law enforcement contributed to the downfall of this place in their vigor of running off the teens. I'm sure losing Woolworth was the biggest blow to the place though. The Barrel of Fun, Sound Shop and B. Dalton Book Sellers were multiple stops on a weekly basis until I was probably 21 or 22 years old. My friends and I spent our teen years there every Friday and Saturday evenings. I worked at Matthew's Cafeteria and a Pet Shop there when I was a kid and I even met my ex wife at the record store. I have many fond memories of Lenoir Mall. I would LOVE to see it restored. If I ever won the lottery I might just lose all of it trying to do just that. Thanks for the video
This is so true I remember going there with my mom's younger sister and we where hassled by police probably because my aunt looked so young we made two turns around the mall and was told if we was not going to shop we had to leave my aunt said never again and my family never shopped there to offend after this it went from being packed on the weekends to goast town very fast also the downtown area had the same thing happen with there anti cruising law now they beg People to come there with car shows and cruise in weekends .it use to take two hours to go two blocks down there when I was a kid then they started ticketing anyone who made more than two passes and put a stop to that and to there down town .so sad I'm sure down turn in the economy played it's part but town leaders and bussness owners shot thereselfs in the door as well thinking all those kids sent spending any money but turns out they was.
In the late 70s, I worked for K&S Sprinkler. I spent several days cutting sprinkler drops in this mall while it was being built. In the early 80s, my wife worked at Woolworths. She would get a discount on Atari 2600 console games. We were one of the only couples in our circle of friends to have one. Also remember buying tropical fish from the pet department. Up into the 90s, my daughter visited the mall with a group from her school. Wasn't much left there then.
Spainhour's was NOT a furniture chain. It was a high-end clothing & depatment-type store & I shopped there a lot. They were the ONLY store around that carried the perfume I wore. The Google facility is farther away from Lenoir mall than "downtown", which is only a 10 minute walk away. Quest For Life is not just a rehab center, but a fitness center. I was a hostess & a waitress at the Mom & Pop's that was there when I was young. Lenoir Mall was a great place to people watch. I miss those times!
I remember when this place was built. Belk was on the left where the church is today and Woolworth was on the right where the med center is today, Spainhour's was in the center and was a clothing store back then rather than a furniture store. Most of the stores uptown moved to this mall after it was built but never made a profit. Bob Lee of Lee & Robins next to Belk told me as he was closing his store that he always did well uptown but never made a profit in the mall. Sad that it's all gone now. Uptown has yet to make a comeback.
Thank you for sharing this! I too, had great memories of going here, back in the 80's, mostly with my own sweet grandmother. So nostalgic looking back inside after so many years. It once was a lovely place!
Interesting and sad video. Like so many others that have mentioned here, dead malls represent to me how this country is slowly dying as well.. The internet has totally changed us (economically, socially, culturally). I feel sorry for today's kids and what they've missed. I would not want to be a young person in their 20s today. You really don't have much of anything that's 'fun' to do. What's ironic, I know many young people who like to do what I did at their age---record shopping! They love vinyl and one of the places most of these malls had was a record store. Remember those? I know I may sound old, but I miss hanging out at the mall on Friday nights. RIP
I grew up in the town where this mall is located and you are correct. The rest of the town is just as dead as this mall. After the furniture industry left us the town just dried up and died. This mall has always been a symbolic measure of our towns prosperity. It's sad. It was gorgeous back in the day and the water fountain was something so unique you'll never see something like that anymore.
I grew up visiting its mall far past its prime, but when stores were still open and there were patrons at the stores. That fountain in the front was home to many wishes I made as a little girl! Hate it is in such a bad state but it's amazing that it's been able to be seen for the architectural beauty💗
I remember Woolworth from the 1970's. They had a pet section and they had an old style lunch counter. Does any body remember Sky City, Sam Solomon's, Key catalog showroom and JM Fields. Time flies! I used to work in Lenoir, NC. I lived in a town house near Blowing Rock, NC. It was at about 4100 feet above sea level. In the summer I remember a few days when the temperature got up to 98-99 degrees in Lenoir and I lived about 15 miles away and it would be 98 degrees or so in Lenoir and once I climbed the mountains it would be in the mid 60's. On a clear day I could see Charlotte, NC about 70 miles away. And great snow skiing too! Did you go up the mountains to Boone and Blowing Rock after your mall visit?
I remember going to this mall as a kid with my parents. Even had a school field trip to see a dinosaur bone collection that was brought in and filled the mall like a museum.
Finally got to watch this video(been busy with work), and this was amazing! Very nice find of a closed mall, to visit. Glad that unlike some landlords(i.e. I doubt the owner of Charlestowne Mall in Saint Charles, IL will let anyone inside there to look, now that it's closed except for the theater and Von Maur, and excluding the fact Carson's recently closed along with all other remaining stores), that the owner was nice enough to let you inside and film!
It's very very sad to see what used to be so prevalent in the 80s! That was a thing to do and go as a teen like myself in those times. I grew up as a kid in neighboring Wilkes County. We had Wilkes Mall which now doesn't even exist anymore. It belongs to the Lowe's company. The nostalgia was just a great place to go to meet friends when I was young, and hang out.
One of my earliest memories was when I was probably 3 and eating at a place called the Apple House restaurant that was right at the entrance of this place. Was around 1987.
Great video that brings back alot of memories. I spent alot of time in this mall as a kid, as my parents would come here pretty much every weekend to do their shopping at Woolworth, Belk, and the neighboring Harris Teeter
Looks like the plant vines are thriving in there somehow. And those Woolworth carts were an amazing find! Shame there isn't like a 'mall museum' for stuff like this.
I was just thinking, he should start some sort of retail museum or something like that. There might be one someday. Start it in a former mall, that'd be awesome.
I still have my photo of my sister and I just getting done at Regis hair Salon for Free in the late 80's by the fountain it would really be nice to have a great restaurant in there and other store's again I really miss walking in the mall for exercise and seeing family it was the only way I got to see them now I'm alone no visitors
My home town !! I'm from lenior NC , but I moved when I was young raised in MI came back after high school ! I have never seen the inside of this mall , I was just here on the 4th of July. They had the fireworks at mulberry next to here and used the parking lot ! 1st time ever seeing it to. Thank you !
I grew up in Lenoir. My dad was a security guard, at the Woolworth, when I was a kid. I remember the Barrel of Fun arcade, and that there was once a small mini-golf place immediately next to the arcade. I spent so much of my lunch money in those places, during the couple years my dad and I lived a couple blocks away, from that mall. It's absolutely surreal to see how few things ever actually changed, even when everything faded away.
Really good video with ghostly atmosphere. Someone must be watering those plants for them to survive indoors like that. Perhaps a mysterious caretaker that cannot be seen.
Spainhour sold clothes. The mall shut down because Walmart moved in. There used to be a Sky City in town too but they shut down too shortly after Walmart moved in. That mall was the place to go when I was growing up. The furniture businesses in Lenoir were using it for stores but moved to a bigger location on 321 in Granite Falls.
I'm from this area! I didn't know this video existed until I just now stumbled upon it. Just subscribed! I have been requesting Dan Bell to make a video on it, but so glad I found yours!
@@AcesAdventures1I LOVE Dead Malls! They are so fascinating. I can binge watch these videos for hours. I remember when this mall had 3 stores, total...but it was just like stepping back into time when you went in.
I worked at the mall at Kenny Shoes. Me and a couple friends after work would do doughnuts in the back parking lot. i had a 78 trans Am and it was fun.
Love this vid .I grew up in and around this mall. The store fronts are drastically different they had a real 70s wood glass and brass aesthetic. And the happy nails and the store was front right across from it was totally open .i think the other store was a pretzel and dried fruit place. it made the area around the fountain very open .it looks very boxy and cramped now .the store fronts use to be amazing. Also behind the fountain was a whole other area behind the main stage it was always very drak as a teen with my boyfriend we loved to cut behind the stage area .thanks so much for this .Wish you could have saw in its prime .A big part of it going down hill was the citys decision to stop kids from hanging out there also thats what happened to the downtown area with the anti cruise law they killed any attention the area got now they are trying to bring the cruiseing back .ironically.
Quest for Life took over the old Woolworth's area and the church took over the old Belk's store. The copper clad awning stood for years after Belk's closed until the church took it down for the remodel.
I've been in this mall while it was almost completely dead, but you could still wander the dark empty halls. And we shopped at that GNC. Eventually you could only have access to the book store(which is no longer there if I'm not mistaken).
Well, the real question is who would you pay? The realtor? Woolworth's (which is out of business)? The original founders of Woolworth's? One of their descendants? The company that made the shopping carts in the first place (probably Americana Companies, Technibilt, or R.W.Rogers)? Figuring out who you're supposed to buy them from might be a massive headache.
I spent my child hood weekends in this mall. last time I was there (early 2017) it had been cleaned up and was being used mainly for indoor walking. I think there are still a cpl bible book stores there currently.
I loved this mall growing up. It was my favorite place to go and had everything a family needed down four hallways. Please note Spainhours was more a clothing store than anything like Belk.
Ugh, I'm OLD. Well, I'm 30. Born and raised in Lenoir, left and never looked back. Couldn't pay me to raise my child there as bad as it is now. Had holiday pictures with Santa here as a kid, family pictures at Belk, and senior pictures in 2009 in one of the empty spaces. Remember being all excited in middle school when there was talk of it being a bowling alley and arcade....then nothing ever happened. All Lenoir has for youth now is Bo's and it's a druggie hotspot.
I grew up in lenoir North Carolina and we went to this mall all the time when I was little the fountains worked and it was full of Coins that people had thrown in. There was only two stores left before it closed down a dollar store and a Christian bookstore that eventually went out of business. Back when I was growing up this mall was packed with stores and people. It's still standing and it's actually sad to see it so empty.
Watching this video brings back so many wonderful memories from my childhood!! I got my haircut in that hair salon all the time. And I remember visiting the dollar store in that mall and my mom and grandmother would always go to the catos and bells store and get they're summer clothes. And this is totally off topic but were you the only one in the building? When you looked in the window of the sherrifs place there was a silhouette of a man in the background and that creeped me out a bit lol. Thanks for the video 😊😊😊
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I was the second manager of the Barrel of Fun Arcade, I went on to become a Regional Manager for the Company. It was owned by Herb Skinner and Dick Adams. The Barrel of Fun became Atari Expo, owned by the Atari Game Corporation. The it was bought by Namco and became Namco Cybertainment. I eventually had all stores in Northern Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Mass. & NY. I enjoyed working as Regional Manager, but my career started in Lenoir Mall .
discovering properties that have been shut down leaving vintage items and interior furnishings from so long ago its like a time warp are the best properties to explore.
Throughout my life, I have thrown many pennies into that fountain, it was very beautiful when running & the sound the water made while spraying out was so relaxing. As a kid, I always wanted to jump in & play in the water. -lol So many great memories of this mall...shopping & working in it...eating at Geri's Delight...hanging out with friends & spending time there on dates, as well. Oh, to be young again. :)
I remember standing next to that fountain as a kid. There was a sweet smell all around it. There must have been a ton of chlorine in it!
I used to love Woolworth's. Such a fun, nostalgic place to think about. Picked out many GIJoes and GoBots there as a kid in the early-mid 80s. They even had a pretty cool pet department and don't forget the classic Woolworth's diner counter instore!
I almost forgot the pet department with all of its bubbling fish tanks.
Thanks so much for going here. I'm from Lenoir and used to go to this place a lot as a kid. I played Pac Man for the first time in the Barrel of Fun arcade. Good memories.
I'm 23 and I remember this mall being semi-popular when I was a kid. I remember going to Fashion Bug and Belk with my mom. Once Belk left, all business and customers left with it too. It was such a night and day difference. I'm sad to see it in this state. We still went to the mall on occasion to go to GNC. Thank you for doing this video, brought back many memories
I spent many of my childhood days in this mall. I live 3 miles down the road & its heartbreaking to see it going to waste! Thanks for the flashback & inside view!
What a powerful video! Seeing the Christian book store with the flowers along the dead facade of the mall was surrealistic. Mix in the Woolworth carts and you have a slap in the face of reality. Great work, Anthony.
Proud to be a PATERON supporter.
Spainhour was not a furniture store. It was a high-end clothing retailer, similar to Belk.
Love seeing the plant life growing out of control
Before this mall opened, we had a Crest, Sky City and KMart; Belk's and Spainhour's were downtown's anchor stores as well. When the mall opened, it killed downtown, Crest and Sky City. We got a Walmart and the mall struggled and Woolworth and KMart left. The furniture industry collapsed and that was the kiss of death. Lenoir is primarily served by Walmart now. Downtown is coming back, but it's been 30+ years in the making.
I've often wondered why this space was never turned into a medical park or office complex (or just outright given to Google).
You should see our abandoned movie theater in downtown Lenoir. It's been shut down for as long as I can remember, and would probably look crazy for your videos, as well as our furniture factories that are no longer up and running.
It’s almost like going into a lost world
Thanks for the video. I pretty much grew up in here.
I used to work in the Belk at the Lenoir Mall and stroll through this building back in the late 90s. It is so sad to see it like this. The building is such an eye-sore. Very, Very sad. :(
You are on a roll Anthony! Another great find! The Woolworths carts are definitely vintage, hard to find and collectors items. Maybe this Woolworth's was larger than the average one because it had a lunch counter/Restaurant. I remember getting fried chicken there and Coke at the counter.
Seems North Carolina leaves it's dying malls frozen in the 80s, which is great for you to film these vintage malls.
I'm not surprised the property manager let you film. You handle and request with respect, class and maturity and you will film this mall with respect and honesty. Glad you are able to share these Southern mall visits with us. #proudacesadventurespatron
In true 70's style. Neat little mall. Too bad it's in such a sad state. The realtor® was super cool to let you explore the mall (though it would help it sell, too).
We live in this area and there is so much potential here but I guess because hickory is so close and alot of the factory's closed they stoped so many businesses just dont survive and it sucks I'm originally from avery but settled here cause there isnt much in avery I've never gotten to see this mall it broke my heart seeing this video I wish they would totally revitalize this place that fountain looked so cool also kinda wish you showed more or had a better light North Carolina needs some love from businesses
Been to that mall many times as a child. Used to play in the arcade, get my hair cut, even lost a balloon above the fountain by the skylight. The music was spot on for the video. Well done.
Omg this is crazy. I’m from SC but I would always come up to lenoir to visit my great grandma and I remember this mall from when I was sooo young. Its so weird to see it dead now. I remember that fountain specifically
Spainhour was not a furniture chain! It was a clothing store!
I am so glad that Bill Wall let you in! I have longed for someone to do a dead mall video of my hometown mall. I can look at every spot where you walk and tell you what store was there. This is so cathartic, but so incredible to watch!
When you look at all we have lost over the years it is just telling. Everyone talks about sales, earnings, etc and they make it sound like everything is growing.
however what they don’t tell is what has been left behind. All of these store and mall closures tell an important story of history of how cities change and decline, the decline of industry in the area, the change in consumer taste and preferences over time, the loss of jobs, what store mergers have downsized, closed , or sold off and so much more.
Wow what an awesome mall I wish that water feature was working. I love those old Foot Lockers w the wood paneling from the 80s I remember those stores so rad to see they still exist! From one Mallrat to another thank you for these sweet vids!👍
Another fantastic video, thank you. The spray heads in that fountain alone were a treat to see.
This is really cool! I love that the plants are still alive. What a great find.
I can still smell that fountain. 💙 It’s wild seeing it this way compared to what it was like growing up in the 80s.
You did a great job with the video filming and the history as well ! Keep up the great work !
WOW that transition and drive by at the end was awesome.
Wow, thanks for this. I've moved from this area long ago but took me back to many memories with my family. Then you went into the salon!! When I was 15 I finally talked my parents to letting me perm my hair and for my entire HS life, this is where my locks were born! Lol it was cool to see the inside of the place, really took me back to how I nervous I was about how my hair would look! Haha
Love this little mall.Wish we could all step back,just for one afternoon and shop here...
Love the fountain and the Woolworth carts!!
It's remarkably well-preserved. So many abandoned malls deteriorate rather quickly but this one seems to have held together pretty well.
Damn everything about that mall is a treat, I'm glad you got this place on video!
That fountain must have been stunning when on! And that Woolworth cart....! 👍👍
I agree. Our mall used to have a fountain that was absolutely spectacular when the mall was new. Over the years, the fountain got to the point where it was NOT working more often than it WAS, and the maintenance costs were skyrocketing, so when they remodeled a few years ago, they turned off the fountain forever. Now it is basically a stage used exclusively for taking photos with the Easter Bunny, or Santa Claus, or whatever.
I can tell you as a little boy that walked by them a lot, they were.
It was a great fountain. I thought it was so cool when I was a kid.
IT WAS!💕
Great video. Very interesting. Thanks for filming.
I wondered how this mall was doing. I remember seeing photos of this mall when the GNC was the last business in the mall corridors without an exterior entrance. The inside looks to be in decent shape in comparison to many other malls that close and get destroyed by vandals.
Well, the condition of the inside is probably due to the 24/7 police presence (paid for by Google, who uses part of the parking lot for their employees). Having police on-site all the time would certainly discourage most vandals.
They recently repainted the entire outside of the mall. I spent my entire childhood in this place going to Barrel of Fun arcade after school. There used to be a Curtis Mathis store & The Pet Den, Ollie's restaurant, KB Toys, Belk's, a little bit of everything. I still have my Barrel of Fun arcade tokens and a few of the skee-ball tickets that have Pac-Man on them.
In the 80's this was the place to be and I can remember it vividly because those were some of the best times of my life. The door you walked in, in the video @ 1:36, to the left was Barrel of Fun, KB Toys, Happy Nails. The shot you have of the fountain, every Christmas they had a huge setup for Santa laid out so kids could get pics with him and they had changing light colors in the fountain. I truly miss this mall every day.
On a side note...... when you went into Barrel of Fun, if you bought $10 worth of tokens they gave you this little brown velvet bag like a coin purse that had their logo on the side of it, I am still trying to find one of those though.
The store you were in before gnc was foot locker. It looked like that before renovations
Wow what a time warp! It still looks like it’s in ok shape it would be so cool to revive it. I’m really glad you got to get in a big thank you to that realtor. I hope he watches it. Love your videos!
This was a beautiful mall. I would have loved to have seen the fountain when it was working. The history was very interesting. I never knew Woolworth's was ever in malls. I only saw them in shopping centers and downtown buildings. It used to be one of my favorite stores when I was a kid. I wonder how the plants are surviving? Many are still alive and the vines which look like philodendrons are running all over the place. Great find and my thanks also to Mr. Wall for allowing you to go in. It's great to see places not hit by vandalism. Twenty-four hour police presence onsite helps with that!
I'm glad you got video of this mall, Ace. They just turned the old mall into a self storage place. Everything has been renovated, and the place as it once was, is all but gone. It was just sitting abandoned for years. I've been a Lenoir resident for 15 years, and was born and raised in this county, so it's sad to see it go. Actually, a company from upstate New York brought it, I believe.
Good video, good history and behind the scenes effort that goes into these documenations.
Nice work. I grew up in this town and live there to this day. I went on opening weekend in '79 and continued to patronize the place through the late 1990s
After I was already an adult with children of my own in the early 90s the store owners and law enforcement contributed to the downfall of this place in their vigor of running off the teens.
I'm sure losing Woolworth was the biggest blow to the place though. The Barrel of Fun, Sound Shop and B. Dalton Book Sellers were multiple stops on a weekly basis until I was probably 21 or 22 years old. My friends and I spent our teen years there every Friday and Saturday evenings. I worked at Matthew's Cafeteria and a Pet Shop there when I was a kid and I even met my ex wife at the record store. I have many fond memories of Lenoir Mall. I would LOVE to see it restored. If I ever won the lottery I might just lose all of it trying to do just that. Thanks for the video
This is so true I remember going there with my mom's younger sister and we where hassled by police probably because my aunt looked so young we made two turns around the mall and was told if we was not going to shop we had to leave my aunt said never again and my family never shopped there to offend after this it went from being packed on the weekends to goast town very fast also the downtown area had the same thing happen with there anti cruising law now they beg People to come there with car shows and cruise in weekends .it use to take two hours to go two blocks down there when I was a kid then they started ticketing anyone who made more than two passes and put a stop to that and to there down town .so sad I'm sure down turn in the economy played it's part but town leaders and bussness owners shot thereselfs in the door as well thinking all those kids sent spending any money but turns out they was.
In the late 70s, I worked for K&S Sprinkler. I spent several days cutting sprinkler drops in this mall while it was being built. In the early 80s, my wife worked at Woolworths. She would get a discount on Atari 2600 console games. We were one of the only couples in our circle of friends to have one. Also remember buying tropical fish from the pet department. Up into the 90s, my daughter visited the mall with a group from her school. Wasn't much left there then.
Spainhour's was NOT a furniture chain. It was a high-end clothing & depatment-type store & I shopped there a lot. They were the ONLY store around that carried the perfume I wore. The Google facility is farther away from Lenoir mall than "downtown", which is only a 10 minute walk away. Quest For Life is not just a rehab center, but a fitness center. I was a hostess & a waitress at the Mom & Pop's that was there when I was young.
Lenoir Mall was a great place to people watch. I miss those times!
You should check out the Boone mall in Boone NC. It's still open and it's like stepping through a time warp. Love your work! Thank you!
I remember when this place was built. Belk was on the left where the church is today and Woolworth was on the right where the med center is today, Spainhour's was in the center and was a clothing store back then rather than a furniture store. Most of the stores uptown moved to this mall after it was built but never made a profit. Bob Lee of Lee & Robins next to Belk told me as he was closing his store that he always did well uptown but never made a profit in the mall. Sad that it's all gone now. Uptown has yet to make a comeback.
Thank you for sharing this! I too, had great memories of going here, back in the 80's, mostly with my own sweet grandmother. So nostalgic looking back inside after so many years. It once was a lovely place!
Interesting and sad video. Like so many others that have mentioned here, dead malls represent to me how this country is slowly dying as well.. The internet has totally changed us (economically, socially, culturally). I feel sorry for today's kids and what they've missed. I would not want to be a young person in their 20s today. You really don't have much of anything that's 'fun' to do. What's ironic, I know many young people who like to do what I did at their age---record shopping! They love vinyl and one of the places most of these malls had was a record store. Remember those? I know I may sound old, but I miss hanging out at the mall on Friday nights. RIP
Agreed, it is sad the mall experience isn't like what it once was like in the 1990s, and even into the early 2000s.
I grew up in the town where this mall is located and you are correct. The rest of the town is just as dead as this mall. After the furniture industry left us the town just dried up and died. This mall has always been a symbolic measure of our towns prosperity. It's sad. It was gorgeous back in the day and the water fountain was something so unique you'll never see something like that anymore.
I remember meeting Santa there every year when I was a little kid
I grew up visiting its mall far past its prime, but when stores were still open and there were patrons at the stores. That fountain in the front was home to many wishes I made as a little girl! Hate it is in such a bad state but it's amazing that it's been able to be seen for the architectural beauty💗
Dayuumm..im from the 70s...does that make me absolutely vintage also? Hahaha..I do look like I'm in my 20s though!! 😂😂😂
Wow love that Retro fountain! Thanks for the tour Ace. You do great work.
I went concerts in this mall as a kid and it had a awesome game room.
Plenty more here to investigate.
Thank you for this video. I definitely have memories of this as a kid in the 90s since I spent weekends with my dad in Lenoir!
Killed by Walmart. Downtown Lenoir is hurting too. So sad.
Yes true, Walmart monopolized Lenoir. Very sad!
I remember Woolworth from the 1970's. They had a pet section and they had an old style lunch counter. Does any body remember Sky City, Sam Solomon's, Key catalog showroom and JM Fields. Time flies!
I used to work in Lenoir, NC. I lived in a town house near Blowing Rock, NC. It was at about 4100 feet above sea level. In the summer I remember a few days when the temperature got up to 98-99 degrees in Lenoir and I lived about 15 miles away and it would be 98 degrees or so in Lenoir and once I climbed the mountains it would be in the mid 60's. On a clear day I could see Charlotte, NC about 70 miles away. And great snow skiing too! Did you go up the mountains to Boone and Blowing Rock after your mall visit?
I remember going to this mall as a kid with my parents. Even had a school field trip to see a dinosaur bone collection that was brought in and filled the mall like a museum.
I was the assistant manager at the Sound Shop sometime in the early 90s
Finally got to watch this video(been busy with work), and this was amazing! Very nice find of a closed mall, to visit. Glad that unlike some landlords(i.e. I doubt the owner of Charlestowne Mall in Saint Charles, IL will let anyone inside there to look, now that it's closed except for the theater and Von Maur, and excluding the fact Carson's recently closed along with all other remaining stores), that the owner was nice enough to let you inside and film!
It's very very sad to see what used to be so prevalent in the 80s! That was a thing to do and go as a teen like myself in those times. I grew up as a kid in neighboring Wilkes County. We had Wilkes Mall which now doesn't even exist anymore. It belongs to the Lowe's company. The nostalgia was just a great place to go to meet friends when I was young, and hang out.
One of my earliest memories was when I was probably 3 and eating at a place called the Apple House restaurant that was right at the entrance of this place. Was around 1987.
Again, I love the aesthetics of this Mall. I wish I could have shopped there. Congrats to the realtor and super👍 to you Anthony. I love Mall vids. 👊
Great video that brings back alot of memories. I spent alot of time in this mall as a kid, as my parents would come here pretty much every weekend to do their shopping at Woolworth, Belk, and the neighboring Harris Teeter
Looks like the plant vines are thriving in there somehow. And those Woolworth carts were an amazing find! Shame there isn't like a 'mall museum' for stuff like this.
I was just thinking, he should start some sort of retail museum or something like that. There might be one someday. Start it in a former mall, that'd be awesome.
Wow those plants are still growing
I miss this place so much 😭🥺 THNKXZ BUNCHES for a look back in better times of my life than I have now
I still have my photo of my sister and I just getting done at Regis hair Salon for Free in the late 80's by the fountain it would really be nice to have a great restaurant in there and other store's again I really miss walking in the mall for exercise and seeing family it was the only way I got to see them now I'm alone no visitors
My home town !! I'm from lenior NC , but I moved when I was young raised in MI came back after high school ! I have never seen the inside of this mall , I was just here on the 4th of July. They had the fireworks at mulberry next to here and used the parking lot ! 1st time ever seeing it to. Thank you !
I grew up in Lenoir. My dad was a security guard, at the Woolworth, when I was a kid. I remember the Barrel of Fun arcade, and that there was once a small mini-golf place immediately next to the arcade. I spent so much of my lunch money in those places, during the couple years my dad and I lived a couple blocks away, from that mall.
It's absolutely surreal to see how few things ever actually changed, even when everything faded away.
That was awesome , Thanks
Really good video with ghostly atmosphere. Someone must be watering those plants for them to survive indoors like that. Perhaps a mysterious caretaker that cannot be seen.
Spainhour sold clothes. The mall shut down because Walmart moved in. There used to be a Sky City in town too but they shut down too shortly after Walmart moved in. That mall was the place to go when I was growing up. The furniture businesses in Lenoir were using it for stores but moved to a bigger location on 321 in Granite Falls.
I grew up in Lenior, I remember when the mall here was a great place..haven't been home since the 80's, sad to see!
I miss the late 90s running around that mall was enjoyful at times
I'm from this area! I didn't know this video existed until I just now stumbled upon it. Just subscribed! I have been requesting Dan Bell to make a video on it, but so glad I found yours!
Kristy Hefner welcome! Dan is an inspiration!
@@AcesAdventures1I LOVE Dead Malls! They are so fascinating. I can binge watch these videos for hours. I remember when this mall had 3 stores, total...but it was just like stepping back into time when you went in.
Omg I just came across your page, and I literally live 10min from here.
I worked at the mall at Kenny Shoes. Me and a couple friends after work would do doughnuts in the back parking lot. i had a 78 trans Am and it was fun.
good video and thanks to the owner for letting him check out the property
Love this vid .I grew up in and around this mall. The store fronts are drastically different they had a real 70s wood glass and brass aesthetic. And the happy nails and the store was front right across from it was totally open .i think the other store was a pretzel and dried fruit place. it made the area around the fountain very open .it looks very boxy and cramped now .the store fronts use to be amazing. Also behind the fountain was a whole other area behind the main stage it was always very drak as a teen with my boyfriend we loved to cut behind the stage area .thanks so much for this .Wish you could have saw in its prime .A big part of it going down hill was the citys decision to stop kids from hanging out there also thats what happened to the downtown area with the anti cruise law they killed any attention the area got now they are trying to bring the cruiseing back .ironically.
It kills me all the details architects and designers put into these retail spaces, so sad, part of a bygone era.
Quest for Life took over the old Woolworth's area and the church took over the old Belk's store. The copper clad awning stood for years after Belk's closed until the church took it down for the remodel.
AWESOME!!!!!!!!!!!!
Video quality is good considering one thing that is missing. LIGHT. I know the light must have been crap but you got footage anyway.
I've been in this mall while it was almost completely dead, but you could still wander the dark empty halls. And we shopped at that GNC. Eventually you could only have access to the book store(which is no longer there if I'm not mistaken).
I live down the road from here lol
I am from Lenoir. Wow! I played so many arcade games and ate so many hotdogs from there
You should have offered to buy those carts! Awesome find! Rare too!
Well, the real question is who would you pay? The realtor? Woolworth's (which is out of business)? The original founders of Woolworth's? One of their descendants? The company that made the shopping carts in the first place (probably Americana Companies, Technibilt, or R.W.Rogers)? Figuring out who you're supposed to buy them from might be a massive headache.
SpearM75503 probably the mall owner
I spent my child hood weekends in this mall. last time I was there (early 2017) it had been cleaned up and was being used mainly for indoor walking. I think there are still a cpl bible book stores there currently.
I loved this mall growing up. It was my favorite place to go and had everything a family needed down four hallways. Please note Spainhours was more a clothing store than anything like Belk.
Ugh, I'm OLD. Well, I'm 30. Born and raised in Lenoir, left and never looked back. Couldn't pay me to raise my child there as bad as it is now. Had holiday pictures with Santa here as a kid, family pictures at Belk, and senior pictures in 2009 in one of the empty spaces. Remember being all excited in middle school when there was talk of it being a bowling alley and arcade....then nothing ever happened. All Lenoir has for youth now is Bo's and it's a druggie hotspot.
I live about two minutes from this mall, I had always wandered what it looked like on the inside.
I grew up in lenoir North Carolina and we went to this mall all the time when I was little the fountains worked and it was full of Coins that people had thrown in. There was only two stores left before it closed down a dollar store and a Christian bookstore that eventually went out of business. Back when I was growing up this mall was packed with stores and people. It's still standing and it's actually sad to see it so empty.
I remember as a kid going into the barrel of fun many of times
I used to live right down the street from this mall from 2014 to 2017, it's only a mile from downtown
Cool video :)
Watching this video brings back so many wonderful memories from my childhood!! I got my haircut in that hair salon all the time. And I remember visiting the dollar store in that mall and my mom and grandmother would always go to the catos and bells store and get they're summer clothes. And this is totally off topic but were you the only one in the building? When you looked in the window of the sherrifs place there was a silhouette of a man in the background and that creeped me out a bit lol. Thanks for the video 😊😊😊
Amazing how the ivy spread from those planters, alone in the dark..
And this mall that lies floating on the floor
Shall be lifted-nevermore!