Abandoned Casa Grande Outlet Mall | Dead Mall & Retail Documentary | Retail Archaeology
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 4 ต.ค. 2024
- A documentary and complete video tour of the abandoned Casa Grande Outlet Mall off the I-10 near Casa Grande, Arizona. This outlet mall opened in 1991 and has been abandoned for many years. I used retro JRPG music throughout the video to help impart the sense of adventure we felt exploring this place. Song info is displayed in lower left corner of the video each time a new song starts.
This was originally uploaded as 2 parts but I've stitched it together as part of an upcoming DVD project.
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Hello everyone! This episode was originally uploaded in October of 2017 as two parts. I've combined them into one video as part of an upcoming DVD project I'm working on. I figured I should replace the two videos on my channel with the new combined one part video for ease of watching in the future. Thanks everyone!
I was just going to type that I've seen this before when I read this.
Before I read this, I had assumed I had traveled back in time, and am now a Time Lord. Thanks for shattering my dreams, jerk.
You should put in the title that it's a reupload as one part. Description only useful if one has access to it. Watching on tv you don't get the message. Just the title.
I went there in the early 2000s. At the time, I was buying and selling rare, out of print media. There was a huge discount store tucked away in the back corner. There was like 1 car in this huge parking lot. I thought it was closed, but I decided, what the heck, I drove all the way out here, I might as well try the door. To my surprise, it was open. There was only me and 2 cashiers in this Target sized store. It was surreal.
Anyhow, I looked around a bit and found a bunch of old, out of print VHS tapes from the late 80s to mid 90s still factory sealed, mostly of Olympic Ice Skating. They were like $2 to $4 each. I bought them all, spending a few hundred dollars. The cashiers seemed thrilled I was giving them something to do. They probably thought I was a nut. They were possibly right!
I sold those videos on eBay for $30 to $70 each. I went back there about a month later. They had new videos, but they were just cheap releases with crazy high prices.
I never went back, but I’ll never forget the time I struck video gold in a ghost mall.
I lived in Casa Grande from 2005 to 2008, and it was about the only place to shop for clothing when we first came there. Many of the stores were clothing stores. There was also a Chinese restaurant near the middle of the mall. Only ate there once as it wasn't that great. All in all, however, it wasn't a bad place to shop. There was a Big Dog clothing store and my (now ex) husband loved their big Hawaiian shirts. I also recall having lunch a few times at the Wendy's. A new mall opened in Casa Grande along about 2008, and everyone started shopping there as they had more stores, including anchor stores such as Dillards, PetsMart and Kohls. The outlet stores closed, one by one, and the Wendy's closed. Rumor had it the mall would be redeveloped, but it eventually became a ghost mall.
2019 update. There's one store in there now a Amish furniture store. Just one.
Did they close the clothing store.?Back ik 2014 I bought some clothes there.it was the only business open at the time.
Is it called “The Amish Gallery”?
@@democracy480 yes, i live near there and everything is closed and yes it was a huuuge deal when it came to town..
I remember eating at that Wendys in the 90’s...
Casa Grande cant even keep a Target store around...
It’s really eerie but at the same time fascinating to see something like this, especially so close to the highway. Maybe instead of their plan, it could be converted into something catering specifically to I-10 travelers? It could be a rest-stop-esque or truck-stop-esque area with gas stations, convenience stores, restaurants, and hotels. Still, nice job as always!
Some Guy there are plenty of truck stops and restaurants along that stretch of I-10 though (exits 194, 200, 203). I've heard plans of an amusement/water park though idk if that'll happen.
That was a Wendy’s for sure. That was always our stop on the way back to Tucson after going to Phoenix for a concert or ball game. We always used to go to the Reebok outlet store on the way up. They always had great deals. To this day, every time I go up to Phoenix I remember how busy that place used to be and then watching it go away between 2010-now. Thanks for the video!
suite 101 was a Liz Claiborne outlet store it was the very first store out in 1991 and was one of the last to leave.
Yes, my then-wife liked that shop, and the Levi's outlet further down. I'm surprised the place hasn't been vandalized.
I worked at this mall back in 2004, the window you look through at about 17:27 is the store I worked at it was a women's clothing store called Cato, we had regular and plus sized. This mall used to be pretty busy. I remember closer to when it was dying out there was also an Amish furniture store in the corner lot by the flag pole
The rusty sign with the palms is a really great image
Right when you picked up the pay phone my phone started ringing
The jewelery store at 16:00 was Mark's Artisan Jewelery. I remember watching him work through that little window in the back on the left.
It looks like it’s in the middle of absolutely nowhere, but it’s right by the highway. Just looks like an eyesore now.
Welcome to AZ!
Lol 😁
It’s in casa grande..Arizona’s arm pit
I live in Casa Grande. There's several abandoned buildings in town. They're all total eyesores and nothing is done with them.
The Phoenix Mart Welcome Center seems like something out of the Twilight Zone. You are walking through the dessert, come upon a fully functional business out of nowhere...and the guy inside tries to swindle you out of your soul.
Maybe, the outlet mall was murdered in expectation of the Phoenix Mart scheme. But, that never happened and all that remains is a corpse. So sad
I read a book like that.... Needfull Things by Steven King
@@playalol69 OMG, yes! Just like Needful Things!
I love that surprisingly nostalgic background music. Marble zone was my favorite.
I love the “no rollerblading “ sign at 8:21
I love the Sonic the Hedgehog Music you used in the video.
I remember this place from the 1990's and I am sure I used the bathroom you could not open. It has always been an odd place that was in the middle of nowhere when going from Tucson to Phoenix.The lack of vandalism and graffiti in this video suggests that there are still security guards patrolling it.
I came here when I was 13 or so. Visiting my grandparents who live in Arizona City. Amazing. I have not been there all these years and I still remember it. Including the Wendy's.
Very very sad. I remember going with my family to Scottsdale to visit my Grandpa in the 90s & stoping at this outlet on the way back to Tucson. I remember the Reebok Store, Osch Kosh, YES Levi’s, Wendy’s, don’t remember the Church LOL! Very interesting though. Thank you so much for doing this one and El Con Mall in Tucson. Keep up the AWESOME work!
I lived in Tucson in 92' used to drive up to my grandmas in phoenix..where I live now...and the place was packed back in the day...used to see the nike out let logo and beg my folks to go...never got to. great music on the vid !
That Wendy's was still open the last time I passed through there (senior year of high school, so 2007-2008). Kind of sad to see what's left of the outlet mall.
I'm surprised how clean it is. Even the landscape looks like it is being maintained. Drive by here a few times a year.
This felt like it should turn into a horror movie.
Not dark enough! Gotta have teens running around in the dark screaming & showing their big eyes to the camera which makes their faces look kind of a "Sea Sick Greenish Gray"🤢
I've been up and down this road lots of times over the years from Tucson to Phoenix. I always remembered seeing this place closed or very limited activity since the Great Recession. What's amazing though is that all the times I've been by it. It hasn't been severely tagged or vandalized, yet. Hopefully it stays that way.
I could just listen to that Sonic intro music for hours... nostalgia
I love your videos. First off, as someone who loves JRPGs, your musical cues are so on. Also LOL at the Compaq monitor and old IE. God, brings back the day!
Wow. I went to the Phoenixmart Corp office in Scottsdale... same thing... excited unassuming ppl. This was 4 years ago. I’m stunned by this video. Absolutely stunned. I’m sharing it on my twitter page. I’m appalled this hasn’t gotten the attention it deserves. Nefarious to say the least. Good job!! Nice reporting my friend. I really want to get to the bottom of all of this. Thank you!
It was always crazy driving past this in college watching it get more and more empty year after year.
Lol, I almost thought this was the place that had the ‘rub and tug’. I was wrong. Great video!
Poison he said it in another video about a shady ‘massage parlor’ he passed by. I’ve never heard that term until he made the comparison. Lol.
That’s Papago Plaza in Scottsdale. It just got the wrecking ball earlier this year.
"Warning security camera's in use"
Uh huh... sure _smashes window_
Kinda cool to see an abandoned place I have actually been to
Hey RA, thanks for making this! I've driven by these outlets somewhere between 50 and 100 times and never had time to stop, so I appreciate knowing what's over there!
Back in April a friend and I were spending a long weekend in Phoenix and decided to head to Tucson to check out the Pima Air and Space Museum. I remember seeing this as we drove down and back and couldn't tell if it was new and unopened or abandoned. I have my answer.
At the 16:03 is video of my former store. I was there for a sports memorabilia store followed by the start of hot Spot Gymnastic at the far end. Yes, I know so much about the drama and actions of the ownership, before and after AzSourcing took over.
19:27 they're obviously Chinese nationals based out of El Monte/Arcadia California (area code 626). Hundreds of Chinese Nationals with cash on hand have been buying up CA real estate like mad these past 3 years and have contributed to the housing shortage
Can we deport them and take back our lands
@@stressfree9780 yikes
Would make a great old school AZ scene.....
drive golf carts indoors, shooting range, full bar, strip club, oil change place, check cashing, and of course an indoor Harley track.
The 'Zone lost itself when painting things pink and green brought business.
It's nearly 6 years since this video was published. I remember the land before it was developed, the grand opening, the bustle of its heyday, the decline, the closing. Sweet memories, but it's time to start something new...maybe it already is.
This is super close to my house
when I was growing up and some kind of store or restaurant closed forever, and I saw the place gutted with a few lights on, I always felt bad for the building, never the people, I guess since they could move on, and the building was left to rot or whatever.
Liked visiting the outlet malls, but often didn't find as much as I anticipated.
Great video when I would go visit my friend in Tucson I would drive past this everytime heading down from Sky Harbor Airport. This really gives me a better understanding about the place. Thanks a bunch.
I remember that place was full and packed in the mid 2000's.
Those vases have a story. I wish i knew it.
My fiance told me that his previous job was as a locksmith in CG his boss was the one who got the call to have the Sears rekeyed by sears corporate because the franchisee for that sears outlet wasn't paying sears at all so they were locked out
I remember going to the Casa Grande Outlet back when my parents and I used to live in Arizona. It's such a shame to see this place go down hill. I was looking forward to seeing it when I visit Arizona, but now I can't.
Pfaltzgraff (the P is silent). My mom and I used to go to this outlet specifically for the Pfaltzgraff dinnerware: anytime she needed to replace a chipped item, we would come here to replace it. I still have the set (it's over 30 years old!). This outlet was super long, I remember thinking as a kid "we're still walking and we have more to go to get to the end...". I just stumbled across your channel but I'm really enjoying all of the areas you're visiting in the Phoenix area!
Lived in Casa Ghetto for years. This mall and The Mercado(now Palm Center,next exit up) where HUGE. some of the stores were Old Navy, Levi, Big Dog, I seem to remember I think a Shoe Outlet too. You could never find a place to park and bout pass out from heat stroke just getting to the stores. Hence the golf carts.actually up until a year or so ago there was a line rent a cop that would patrol the grounds nightly. The anchor store was the Liz Clayborn and it stayed open forever +1 day. The Mercado had Bugle Boy and TCBY. The gvmt was brilliant and opened an INS (immigration) office right behind there, so that basically killed what retail was left in the two at least Mercado was turned into doctor office.
We've been getting the runaround about PhoenixMart for years. I don't think it's really ever going to happen.
As far as what used to be at Tanger, there was PacSun, VanHousen, Dress Barn, a perfume store, PartyCity, Levis, Pfaltzgraff, a couple of home goods stores, possibly a Corel Ware outlet if I remember correctly, and some small time jewelry stores, as well as the Wendys. I vaguely remember the plaque, I think it just said when the outlets were opened.
S Conaway Pac-Sun is defunct, AFAIK. Not too sure about the others.
Thank you for doing this video, its very well done and put together. I used to visit this mall when I was 5 years old to like 8 till it closed down. I don't remember many stores at all, I remember this one small antique store that sold AZ merchandise for new people to the area. I also remember this one small eatery too that had really great food and bacon. Ah yes the wendy's, remember them having pokemon toys while I was in there... great memories. I love the music you added too it's so nostalgic and it gives me great vibes. Casa Grande might be getting bigger soon and we may see a come back of this mall, but it seems highly unlikely.
Omg I also only remember that Wendy's because of a Pokémon toy I got there lmao Kekleon???
Great video I love filming these abandoned places!
I used to drive by this all the time when I lived in AZ! I always wondered what its story was; now I know! Great video!
I used to live near the tanger outlets in a town called Eloy back in 1998, I drove past this place on my way to casa grande this past January... I just felt like crying 😭 I moved out of the area in 2001 and this place was where my mom bought all my clothes from Oshkosh and we would get dreyers ice cream since there was an ice cream place there ... Oww I remember Christmas shopping there when my grandparents came to visit ... just so many memories there ! One of my friends sister used to work in that Wendy’s and she would always give us free frostys 😂 ❤️ I remember some of the stores there just vaguely since I was around 9 ...
Oshkosh bigosh
Dreyers ice cream
Perfumania
Big dogs
Perfumania
Levi’s
Mikasa (they sold fancy plates and glasses )
Famous footwear
Izod
It’s just sad they all went out of business there’s so soooo many memories there :(
I still remember the feeling of excitement when I jumped out the car ... 😭 ❤️
Eloy is a borderline ghost town now.
Daniel Daniels I know :( I was there a few months ago and it’s pretty sad to see how lonely it is in Eloy
Not sure why the mall failed so badly. It has a great location along I-10 and I-8, and is within reasonable driving distance of both Tucson and Phoenix. I used to shop there fairly frequently. I think the 'Promenade' Casa Grande Mall (now also in a very sad state) finished it off.
I lived in AZ from 91-01. I remember this place
When did it open
digging your channel. great choice in musics, too!
"A Still Time", particularly the PCE/TGCD arrangement, has kind of a proto-vaporwave vibe.
The first time I went to this outlet mall was maybe 2005 or so. My future wife was with me and scored a major haul at the dress barn. I recall it was very busy. I went to a discount book store and a custom sportswear store. The second time we went was sometime in 2009 or so and it was definitely different... and not looking good.
I went by here last week looked around a little. It looks almost the same as it did in this video, except no one's maintaining the premises so the parking lot is overgrown. I think there is a Meals on Wheels or something active at one end of the place.
The first baconator I ever ate was at that Wendys. Good times
10:13 that water tap has to be fixed.
My sister worked at osh kosh and factory brand shoes and my brother worked at reebok back in the late nineties. Every started closing or moving in 2007 when the promenade opened up. By 2009 it was pretty much abandoned.
I loved IZOD clothes too! I went through my preppy phase. That place was MASSIVE, just kept going. Enjoy all of your videos. PS, DONT DRINK THE WATER
I just went here today, and realized I've been in the area before because of the nearby K & L Furniture building. Absolutely wild.
update: sadly, part of the K & L building burned down at the end of may, including the glorious signage :(
We've been enjoying your Dead Mall Series on UTube! We used to live at Gila Bend (80mi S.W. of Phx on I-8 between Tucson & Yuma) I & our 2 sons were born & raised in AZ. We were all very familiar with all the places in PHX, Tucson, Casa Grande, Prescott & San Diego (Horton Plaza) that you've covered! We moved to E.TN in early 2001, and only one son has even gone back to AZ (business trip) In the time we've been in TN our city & surrounding cities has more than trippled but the places we used to frequent in AZ & CA barely exist anymore! What a shock! Looks like Tombstone isn't the only "Ghost Town"!! Thanks for sharing!
Tombstone is a really big town/small city now.
I live in Tucson, and I often worked in Maricopa County. I used to eat at that Wendy"s.
You somehow managed to miss a major part of the Phoenixmart story that would be right up your alley for this channel.
Part of it has been built, just east of the Promenade mall just north of these outlets. Millions of dollars were spent on a huge structure from late 2016 and it stalled in mid 2017.
The official website is phoenixmart.com
There's a Lucid Air auto plant under construction just a few miles west, just south of I8. Production was planned to start before the end of 2020, but will probably be delayed due to the pandemic. The latest I've heard is that they are hiring.
I’m surprised the police or security didn’t show up. Have you ever had them show up before on any of your outings?
March 2021- There's still a Tanger Outlet Mall in Branson, Missouri still open and running. I've never been there, but from what I hear it does a decent amount of business.
This place is HUGE.....
That store with giant vases was selling chinese antiques i guess, they even have some alcohol place at the window
:0
I worked at the Pfaltzgraff Store from 1997 to 1999. The plaque by the flag area just said it was a Tanger Outlet and the date of the build on a brass plate. I'm sorry I don't have any pictures of it or the mall from when I worked there.
That place was so busy back then. I used to regularly drive from Phoenix to Tucson. Never stopped there for anything other than Wendy’s, but was always impressed by how that parking lot was so full with that place being so far removed from everything.
In the late 1980s and early 1990s, I played in a semi-professiinal tuba quartet. We were hired to play at the grand opening ceremony of this Tanger Outlet Center. We played near the Wendy's. While we were playing, a group of parachuters landed right behind us.
I believe there was a guess outlet there if I remember right I went with my bff to Tucson Arizona when I was 19 so she could visit family and we stopped at guess to buy blouses. My first road trip as an adult.
Sorry three years late. If you get off on the exit before these outlets down Florence and drive a few minutes you can see where they your building in the area of "Phoenix Mart" area. I remember you could go in to take a look I don't know now. There's so much random wildness out there. Like an old asylum, those futuristic eco houses that are half built, and the Bahai institute in the middle of nowhere.
I feel really stupid that I watch the first 12 minutes of this video before realizing it was a repeat..... In fairness dead malls do tint look a little similar :)
Jonathan Jennings Yeah by repeat I really just mean something I've seen before, making fun of the way I just mindlessly consume TH-cam videos .
I just drove by this place on the way to Tucson from Phoenix and I wondered what this was on the side of the highway.
when I searched google, and your video popped up!
I wonder if it’s delivered was a result of the outlets in Chandler/Gilbert or north Tucson that recently opened??!! I wish someone would repurpose this space for something ….
We used to drive there from Chandler to go to the Levis and Guess outlets in the early/mid 90's. Only a few years later it was pretty dead
cool, that place is HUGE :)
I went there a couple of times in late high school for back-to-school stuff. Yes, the place is huge, the video almost doesn't do it justice. Walking all the way back to your car with a lot of bags was no fun, I remember wishing the place was circular. It was packed with people back in those days, sometimes you'd have to walk out off the curb to make it around a crowd. The noise of people talking drowned out all that traffic, I don't recall hearing the cars at all. I do recall thinking that a couple of water fountains in an outdoor strip mall wasn't enough, especially in the hot Arizona sun. Did I mention the place is huge?
The FBI was involved because the PhoenixMart project is using EB-5 financing and there is a lot of shady people involved in this visa program. The EB-5 visa provides a method of obtaining a green card for foreign nationals who invest in a "new commercial enterprise" in the United States. The EB-5 program "affords foreign nationals and their spouses and unmarried children under age 21 the ability to obtain a U.S. visa based solely upon a minimum investment in a for-profit enterprise that creates or retains a specified number of jobs".To obtain the visa, individuals must invest $1,000,000 (or at least $500,000 in a Targeted Employment Area - high unemployment or rural area), creating or preserving at least 10 jobs for U.S. workers excluding the investor and their immediate family. Bonus fact: nearly 90% of all EB-5 visas are granted to Chinese (PRC) citizens.
Allot of people in America.
Just not allot of Americans
Some shady dealings going on there.
Really interesting video, I like your choice of music.
Heard about your channel from Sal's channel. Good to see you hitting up western locations!
Can you revisit this place? Please? :)) i like the atmosphere in this video
Do a video on the Casa Grande Promenade!!
2001-2002 I lived in Tucson and frequently drove back and forth to Phoenix and regularly stopped at that Wendy’s. Service was always fast, food good, and it was super convenient and fast to get off and on I-10.
I pass that place all the time I go to Phoenix!
You really should mention there’s a brand new mall a mile away in Casa Grande that they keep adding on to
But that mall, the Promenade, has about 1/3 of it’s stores already empty and abandoned, maybe even 1/2 if them closed. Target, Best Buy, Sports Authority all gone. Penney’s and Dillard’s are always empty. Some of the abandoned stores are rented out on weekends for crafty stuff. It’s a darn shame
Erin B May damn. That mall is still so new. It sure didn’t last long.
@@erinbmay1954 really? A new mall and already dying?? That sucks. 😕
@@deendrew36 not to mention the abandonment of Phoenix Mart and Dreamport Village…never got off the ground. 🙀
I'm from the east coast NYC area and I was a kid in the 70s and teen/adult in the 80s and I can't tell you really without sounding hyperbolic about how awesome the 70s/80s mall era was.
The excitement, consumerism and just overall vibe was one of optimism. Christmas at the mall was especially awesome. During the early to late 80s there were so many girls looking for guys that all you had to do was trip and get a girlfriend.
Getting old sucks ass.
So, Tanger Outlets are all over. The newest set I know of it near WestGate in Glendale, AZ.
What a fascinating and intriguing mystery this property is. Just boggles your mind there is so much wasted space and materials, and kind of ironic considering there was a homeless dude with no place to sleep on the outside of it. Maybe the FBI was investigating shady ties with the Chinese underworld funding the project by selling that phony looking oriental merchandise? Those giant vases looked a bit too extravagant for just anyone to own...
Also, absolutely love the retro game music...you have good taste! Really adds that sense of adventure and mystery while your exploring with a dash of nostalgia.
8:23: that hallway looks like a videogame's. Also, those huge vases were the most random thing ever
You are sad about the plaque being gone? I am amazed that the AC Units are still intact. The strip mall by my house has a sign that says "AC Units are monitored by a Camera" That Wendy's would of been loooted a long time ago here. Also that Patio furniture would of been gone in a night or two.
That place is just so far removed from everything else that it’s not worth the drive there and back for anyone to loot it.
@@danieldaniels7571 You'd be surprised. Graffiti and looting happens in the most bizarre locations and places that are so far out in the sticks it's mental. On the old Route 66 places that are literally nowhere get vandalized and looted. They must have some sort of security or deterrent at this mall.
an outlet mall went up in my area in the late 90s. was empty in 2 years. now doctors and social services are in that mall. People realized around here that the outlet malls cost more then going to other stores for the same product. It outlet thing was really an advertisement gimmick.
Always loved that "Marble Zone" Sonic tune.... and meanwhile, on the OTHER end of I-10, the Tanger Outlet Mall in Foley, AL is still doing quite well, I believe. ;) My wife and sister always go while I'm at the beach in neighboring Gulf Shores. The last thing I want to do while beaching it is shop for clothes. Luckily for me, my wife enjoys it and fetches what I need there a few times a year ;)
They still use it for a home show/car show a couple times a year.
At 21:50 is where it is located.
I visited this mall first in about 2000... there was only a handful of stores then if I remember correctly.
I used to stop & shop there when travelling to Gila Bend o business from Nogales. Liked the Kitchen Collective, book store, Reebok and the Samsonite store.
The last time I used a pay phone was 2010 .Morgan Hill , CA.
The entire mall is now for sale for $15,500,000 on Loopnet