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+This is Dan Bell. I was just reading an article about that. They aren't being very specific but I think they want to do what was done to Golden Ring Mall. Of course they mentioned the plans from 4 years ago and how that never happened so who knows.
+This is Dan Bell. I feel so sad. Me and my parents used to go here in the 90s and early 2000s. We bought EVERYTHING here. I just cried at parts of this video. :( :( :( :(
+This is Dan Bell. Saw this when they announced the mall closed a couple days ago. Sad to see this mall go down but not surprised, it's been struggling for many years. I will say after watching this, watched other videos from your series and am hooked. Hope you keep making them, it is interesting to watch
Another mall bites the dust... At least you can try to explore it a year or two later. But seriously, I wish it farewell even though I live in Indiana. Is Macy's or whatever anchor there is still open?
I cannot tell you how mad this makes me. I lived within a mile of this mall when it opened. To build it, they tore down one of the Owings family farms, which still had all its original buildings, and they tore down Ulm, which was the home of Samuel Owings, in order to widen the road into it. History that had stood for two centuries was razed to build a mall that lasted less than 20 years. The beginning of the end of this mall was building this behemoth within five years or so of the closing of Sparrow's Point. Everyone was trying to convince themselves that Baltimore was going to continue being wealthy and vibrant when the source of its wealth was gone. They built a mall for a population that no longer existed.
userunavailable3095 it is interesting to me that you mentioned this because that is exactly what I was wondering as I watched another video showing its demolition and division into huge broken and crumpled up piles of recyclables and disposables.
They didn't need to predict the internet or cell phones. All they needed to do was look at the economy instead of the hype. Bethlehem Steel was already shut down. Sparrow's Point was abandoned. Anyone with a lick of sense could have seen that with the major driver of the Maryland economy gone, that wasn't a good time to build a multi million dollar mall. Yeah, Don Shaeffer was great at conjuring up unicorns and lollipops, but the truth of the matter was, Baltimore was without jobs. People without jobs don't spend money. Anyone with a lick of sense could also have predicted the 30,000 abandoned properties in Baltimore as well.
I think it is still hitting people with slow motion shock that the 20th century is really over. If you personally remember and experienced the excitement of the 80s when high end malls opened, it is so hard to connect that to what now exists, post recession, post urban change, post internet shopping. In the 80s, this looked like the start of a big new world of wealth for everyone. In fact, it was the last gasp of 20th century general prosperity.
Spot on! I live in Illinois, Chicagoland Area, malls that flourished when I was young, are dying. So sad man. I'm NEVER political, but we are in big trouble with the disappearing of the Middle Class.
+Spacebaby Where I live, the mall is still going strong here. Really strong actually. Which is surprising. The Mall at Rockingham Park in Salem NH came into being and wiped out a mall in the next town over in Methuen Mass and one up in Manchester NH. The funny thing is, the original owners/developers of the mall from all appearances wanted the mall to fail when come to find out later they actually didn't expect or believe people would be willing to travel the extra distance, even if only a couple miles, especially just to avoid a %5 sales tax if from Mass. They were very wrong though, and it screwed them. The Mall at Rockingham Park was built on what was pretty much the only land in this region of New England that was zoned for gambling at the time and had seen attempts to build a casino there, which the residents of the town wanted and still want there but will probably never happen as of last month. The original owners of the mall were hoping to cash in on this. They actually built the mall just that bit more opulent than a lot of malls at the time architecturally. They also designed it so that there were absolutely no load bearing walls that would interfere with an open floor plan. Which there was no reason to do this in the design as a mall. Now as a casino, there is definitely a reason for it. Not only that, the mall was literally built right off of the highway at the first exit coming into NH on Route 93 I worked at Gloria Jean's Coffee during the holiday season one year and was able to see the areas of the mall the general public don't. After walking through the corridors knowing what I do about the property and the town wanting a casino, it all just clicked on figuring out the original owners' plans. When it was clear that the mall was going to survive, which it putting the Methuen Mall under and turning the Manchester Mall into a dead one, even with it's anchors, was a clear sign of, they sold to Simons. Now it could see itself dealing with tough times. The man who owns the Tuscan Kitchen here in Salem just bought Rockingham Park Race Track in two parcels and is looking to develop the area into a well to do living and shopping complex, for lack of a better term. With what he plans on bringing in for businesses, it could definitely hurt the mall now. I guess things really can go round and round.
+Frontenac Can't forget Caldor, Ames, Zayers, which Ames bought, Woolworth's, Montgomery Ward, or many others that have faded away either. I grew up with all of them in my life at some point.
I know it ended up being demolished but I think that would be a beautiful building to repurpose into something else. I think if people were creative, one could easily convert this into offices, housing, a small university, a shelter, an indoor rec center, or a community center, even a new city hall.
I lived in a development in the UK built on the grounds of a former whiskey distillery. The houses and apartments were fairly well built and it was a quiet area. Unfortunately about a year later, the village police station was closed due to post-2008 cuts. Petty crimes & break ins increased. I myself confronted 2 thugs who were breaking into cars on the estate one night. The police had to come from another town 10 miles away so they were gone by the time the cops arrived. But the experience shook me up. Then there was an armed robbery literally next door about a month later and I thought fuck I've got to get out of here. Luckily my lease was up a couple months later and I left. I wonder how the place is doing now.
It's better to demolish it and redevelop the land into mixed housing & commercial lots. There's a lot of empty unusable space inside (atriums, plazas, corridors, etc.), the glass roof will soon become expensive to maintain, the components from the 80s & 90s will need expensive upkeep or replacing, and the large indoor space will cost a lot to heat, cool, ventilate, and light.
Yes! Supposedly, there have been a few malls that have been converted into multi-purpose spaces. But out of the episodes of this series I think this one looks the best. It doesn't seem that outdated to me unless at night makes it more appealing to me. If it were somehow converted to be more outdoor, with even more plants, keeping the fountains, better restaurants, and bars it would seem like somewhere I could walk around.
+SneakerHeadInTheBay I know exactly how you feel. In my childhood, malls were the place to go on the weekend to shop and explore. Stores were bustling and hustling with busy shoppers, music was loud, commotion was everywhere, room was tight. Now across all america and all over the world, malls are shutting down to rot and decay due to online shopping and world recession. It brings a tear to my eye something once so majestic now is a massive pitfall, an eye sore, and a torn piece of my past. I hate it every time a mall shuts down.
You can "blame" online shopping for that. And also the rise of smaller streetfront shops in some areas. Why drive 15-30 minutes & get stuck in traffic, to buy something at full price when you can get the same thing for slightly less online & delivered to your home? Then, they also opened more malls of various sizes, which added to the competition. People like me who grew up in the 80s-90s also got sick of malls. Yea, they were the place to go when we were in our teens, but you grow up & tastes change. Young people in their 20s & 30s prefer to live in the gentrifying inner suburbs, where shopping centres there are smaller.
It's also true that shopping centres are destroying local businesses that rely on loyal customers - especially in the case of food establishments. I know this is an issue in Scotland where I currently live. Sad all around.
Malls were so new bright & shiny in the '80s - a sign of our economic boom and forward thinking...it's quite sad to see so many closing; even sadder to see the amount of closed small stores on our main streets, that gloomily stare out at us with shuttered eyes.
THEPOWER99FM You're right there - I realise it's easier (mostly) & cheaper (mostly) to shop online, but it means the slow death of the heart of our communities.
ObsoleteOddity I'm in Fort Smith AR and the first mall we had here is repurposed to two different call centers, a pain treatment center and another doctors office. they still have room and but it's not nearly as sad as it was for a while.
is it odd that I'm actually really fascinated with dead malls? I don't know yeah it's creepy but like the rolling hills mall, it looked really cool during a blizzard
+fueledby_fandoms , there's nothing odd about being fascinated with dead malls...don't worry, your normal and not alone..lol. We're all here with you and your in great company with all these fine and really nice commenters (: After all, we're a special breed...us UrbanEx fans and we gotta stick together.. it's the rest of the world at large that I worry about...lol
+fueledby_fandoms The mall in my town is dead as hell. It's always so sad whenever I go in. It's just phone case stores, a jewellery store, used books, like three convenience marts, and a Staples. The rest are just empty shops. But there's, like, three floors of office space above the mall. It's weird.
If you liked this mall and were amazed with the Rolling Acres Mall, you should check out the circa 2010 videos of the Dixie Square Mall (this was the Chicagoland mall that the Blues Brothers and Illinois State Police tore up in the Blues Brothers movie. Then play Portal 2...
Dan is it possible for you to interview some of the employees? I would love to know what they think and feel about the mall's decline. LOVE this dead malls series btw. Wish the episodes were longer, can't get enough.
Any somewhat major chain will likely have a media clause saying no one is authorized to speak to media except for some PR person in the corporate office. Doesn't mean employees won't do it, but they may unknowingly jeopardize their job if they do.
Good marble comes from Italy. It comes with Italians to install it too. For real they ship out with the rock. They don't let anyone a touch it either. The union is cool with it because mafia.
+alison davis I'm 22, I find this sad as well, this was my childhood on the weekends with my grandparents when I got into my teens. I mean our mall was small and still is in that area and is still relitively thriving but last time I went there were more stores closed and I wondered. Is it happening here to? It's sad, people have good memories.
I seen a video of a mall that was on the brink of closing do something very cool. They transformed the upper levels into condos and the lower level had some office space, small shops, food and a small grocery store. It really worked out because people that lived in the condos helped support the shops. Plus anyone else could shop there as well.
Being a native Baltimorean, I have a lengthy history with this Owings Mills Mall. I used to shop there a lot as a teen in the 80s, worked as a busboy at Ruby Tuesday's in the food court, and had a few temp assignments there through Kelley Services. They had some great stores there and their food court was badass. They started to go downhill in the late 90s, although the addition of the AMC Theatre out behind the mall helped. I'm sorry to see it go
For those of you who don't live in the area, Owings Mills Mall got a bad rep starting in 1992 just as Dan mentioned. However, the violence didn't really stop with the incident in 1992. Although there were never any severe cases like the incident in 1992, assaults and muggings were fairly common. I never went to that mall just because of the countless stories I heard from people. I've met several people who were assaulted at the mall or in the parking lot. I've met many more who knew someone who was also mugged or assaulted. The malls in Central Maryland are um... unique. In the area we have Arundel Mills Mall, Towson Mall, Baltimore Galleria, and Mall of Columbia. All of these malls are beautiful and very, very busy. It's very difficult to find a parking space on the weekend. Arundel Mills Mall even has multimillion dollar Casino which is one of the biggest in the state. All of these malls are in high income areas. Yet, muggings and assaults are so common. On top of that, there are car theft and vandalism. Someone was even murdered at Columbia Mall which is located in Howard County. If you look up Howard, you'll see that's it's named one of the best places to live in and one of the richest places. Yet, it's pretty ghetto. The Baltimore Galleria also has a unique problem. You'll usually find homeless men in the bathroom bathing themselves by using the sink and paper towels. They'll also ask for money inside the actual mall.
+lazyla27 That's so true. Our justice system is messed up here in Baltimore which is one reason why the city isn't making progress on the Freddie Gray trial.
The Inner Harbor of Baltimore - with its facelift and increased high police presence was like spraying perfume on a rotting corpse... For the sake of safety, the ghetto element required that you maintain prudent situational awareness and beggars (pseudo and otherwise) would approach every few minutes. With these elements, why even bother to go- for any reason? There was a Brooks Brothers over there and ultimately I just couldn't bare going even only for that purpose.
I don't believe online ordering is the death of these malls. Some ppl still like to try things on and buy them and take them home without waiting for things to be shipped and delivered.. I'm not sure of the exact reasons malls go dead, but online shopping can't be the main purpose.
You're right. Malls started dying way before online shopping became huge. People forget that these big malls were expensive to operate and charged all their tenants a lot of money to operate in them. This, in turn, made shopping at a mall expensive vs. stand-alone stores. People eventually chose with their wallets. Why drive to the mall, deal with crowds and pay higher prices when WalMart or other stand-alone store has the same thing for a lot less money? I loved shopping in the mall in the dead of winter with a few feet of snow on the ground, walking around with a short sleeve shirt on. But those days are over, sadly.
I agree, I think a lot of times they go dead because of the area. There's either an increase of violence and incidents or the area gets bad and more poor. The only mall in my general county that closed years ago was due to that sort of thing, and plus it was far away for the road and hidden. Other malls are still doing really good and got bigger. I think malls that are in rural areas and poor areas are certainly dying.
I always wondered how these dead malls can afford keeping the power on. All the utility bills.... the HVAC... for a place this size, even at reduced rates, they're still looking at tens of thousands of dollars a month... where does this money come in?
Woodville Mall in suburban Toledo actually had the heat shut off due to non payment. Winters in NW Ohio can be brutal, the mall was around 37 degrees inside!
money laundering. The actual owner must be having some illegal business and they use these dead shops as a front to show their wealth is legitimate. Also if you check their cash/accounts book, you will also notice that most (99.9%) of their sales are cash sales and not through debit/credit cards. Most money laundering fronts are cash intensive businesses. So if you see a dead shop that survives more than a year of paying rent, staff salaries and bills, its probably a money laundering front. This is important to take note especially in the era of online shopping
+This is Dan Bell. No I mean like, how everything was lively and now it is very quiet and subtle, I don't mean it is litterly depressing, it is just sad. Plz don't hate me =)
heads up: all of the interior stores have now officially closed. the gymboree closed on the 20th, victoria's secret closed the following day, and bath and body works closed today (the 23rd). macy's official date of closing is 11/13, according to a cashier. almost all of the lights inside were off tonight, versus when you were here the other night.
+This is Dan Bell. right?! i'm assuming that the macy's announcement really pushed everyone who had stayed over the edge. it took so many years to finally start to slow down (I used to run the caribou coffee down the street), but things really happened quickly these past few months...
It's crazy to think that I used to go here every weekend with my family. So many memories there. I'm happy you got this footage before the demolition. It kinda gave me closure, I guess. Thank you.
+Howard Mayo Let me guess. You're young or a lefty? If the city bureau weenies had any business savvy they would be out making large chunks of change, not pushing paper, or doofy ideas.
+Howard Mayo I started watching videos like this within the last day or so & was thinking things like this - either schools or shelters for homeless people, etc.
Your reflection at 7.48 reminded me of the movie 1408 with John Cusack where he's trying to get the attention of someone in the window on the other side of the street in another building when he realizes he's trapped in the room and it's just his creepy reflection in the window.
+Tnb Spotter That's true, because the problem with violence at malls occurred way before internet sites such as Amazon. Similar problems occurred at Irondequoit Mall in Rochester, NY and slowly but surely many vacancies occurred through the 1990's. Now it's a vacant eyesore. The problem is that certain malls that are accessible via public transportation bring in the bad element from the inner cities. People become afraid to go to these locations, word gets around and business is lost.
I've lived in in Texas, Florida, Alabama, both of the Carolinas, and in Maryland. It's been the same situation in each of those states. Colin Flaherty has a TH-cam channel, he can tell you all about it.
Sadly our ruins will not last as long, the oldest abandoned malls are already decaying as they are made of cheaper material not solid stone like old castles.
@@proxy4620 what precisely do you think malls are made out of? Because I've built malls and they're concrete and steel. Which are pretty solid materials. You look at the interior decorations and think they're the building. They're not. Malls are steel and concrete boxes. But you cannot see any of that because it all gets covered up. Along with building malls I've gutted them for remodeling too. Every store has a demarcation wall. It is its own separate box.
@@1pcfred I suppose you're right, maybe they will last that long. But so far the abandoned malls do appear to be crumbling quite a bit... But it could leave the bones of the structure behind like what happened with old castles
@@proxy4620 castles were built with longer occupancy expectations than commercial buildings today. Now we design for a 50 year life cycle. By then the world has changed so much things become obsolete. Malls themselves have certainly outlived their usefulness. Castles were built with rubble construction. So they're basically piles of crap. They build two walls then fill in between them with rubble. Piles of rubble undisturbed do have long shelf lives.
Why does it seem like all faling malls are stuck in a 1980's time warp? No updated architecture and 1980's elevator music (as opposed to current music). Perhaps that has something to do with failure? The #1 demographic of mall shoppers are teen and 20-something girls... and girls that age don't want to shop where their moms shopped when they were teenagers.
Ah, I'd just love to stroll around a mall like this at night. The neon glow and soft music. Nothing like this in the UK as far as I'm aware, the largest shopping complex to me is the Metrocentre, modelled on American style malls, and they ripped out all the 80s decor years ago. Now its all white and clinical and has no atmosphere anymore. There was a theme park inside called Metroland, which closed in 2008 I believe. There's only one part of the original design left, a small section called 'the village', themed like a small cobbled street. Sad.
Between the Costco and Lowe’s it’s certainly much more active than the old mall. My father, who works in the nearby office buildings, said it’s a lot busier in the entire New Town area
customer: excuse me where can find the food court customer service: im sorry find what? customer: food court....? customer service: we dont do food courts here...keep straight and you will find our *CONSERVATORY*
I was there on 9/14/15. The same 3 store were open. And yes there were buckets everywhere. I walked around the mall and talked to a security guard who told me only Macys and JC Penny would stay open till the end of this year. It felt weird walking around an empty mall, but I felt safe doing it. They still had the music playing. I think Lord and Taylor became Boscov's?? You are correct about the woman killed on the subway path. Very dark in Owings Mills. The county said that mall will be torn down and made into a town center like Hunt Valley. That was a few years ago. I find it funny that they are building a small town center right next door to the mall. The library and CCBC have a building there along with luxury apartments. Most of the stores there are unoccupied as well, and they are still building today. That town center is even closer to the subway. CRAZY, CRAZY!!
Thanks for covering my teenage mall. I worked at the Britches Great Outdoors in ‘’87-‘88. It was at the bottom of the grand staircase. There were actually four Britches stores (2 casual, 2 dressy, for both men and women). I can still smell the Benetton cologne, which was one of my favorite stores to shop in. I remember working Black Friday in ‘87 and the mall was packed. It took me 20 minutes to make my way through the Conservatory to get to work. There was the occasional fashion show on the grand staircase, which of course was right outside my store. I remember hearing Roxette “The Look” and Sheena Easton “Strut” while women in overly-shoulder-padded suits and dresses walked the runway.
hats off to you my friend for being able to film these. Dead malls make me feel like im in severe isolation and really depressed. Just watching this makes me feel like im the last person on earth
I can order twenty items on Amazon or eBay, yet I don’t have the same appreciation for those items as I have for one that I had to go out to the store or mall to purchase. There’s just something about venturing out, interacting with others, strolling through a mall, and picking out just that one thing you wanted. Shopping should be an experience. In a way, going out and foraging for your goods and needs. But e-commerce is like someone getting it for you. Just not the same. I do hope the mall experience comes back.
Great job on this. There a mall right by me that is about to go through this also. Only one mall in my area seems to have a good amount of people and that is King Of Prussia
Good video, Dan. One addendum: At about the nine-minute mark you get into the history of the mall's downfall. Although you're correct that that specific crime was the beginning of the end, you make it seem like the mall's declining reputations was just that - a reputation. What you fail to take into account is that there were a myriad of other petty crimes going on and it's the cumulative effect of this that brought the mall down. For example, a friend of mine had his car stolen there. This real turning point was when they put in the light rail, which brought in a less desirable element from the city.
"This real turning point was when they put in the light rail, which brought in a less desirable element from the city." Because when I think of committing a crime, I think I'm going to hike a mile then wait N minutes for a train rather than...I dunno...getting into a car...
@@BalooUriza people don't set out to do crime but when you're poor and dumb, you get into shit anyway and have no impulse control to say "maybe I should stop myself from doing this"
@@smalltiny Maybe set a maximum legal rent, and move a lot of funding from the police to welfare and education, and make both more accessible. Otherwise you're just criminalizing being poor and putting the means of upward mobility out of reach.
@@BalooUriza bro did they drop you on your head as a baby, what the fuck can a mall goer do when faced with a dumb fuck from the poor parts of town lol "oh no, there is no upwards mobility, please do harass my teen daughter and throw punches at me when I say something, you are so oppressed!"
@@smalltiny Fix the problem, not the symptom. Trying to fix and criminalize the symptoms is more expensive and prone to abuse, which is the situation that we have now. There's no incentive to do blue-collar crime when you're not living in poverty.
The story you told about the tragic event that caused the decline of this mall sounds very similar to the story of a mall in north Houston, Texas called Greenspoint Mall. The mall was later nicknamed “Gunspoint Mall” after a crime-related incident.
im laughing at that ATM machine. its just so crazy. the deader the mall the more grotesque it is. Beautiful grotesqueness. i just find it funny in a im going madddd kinda way
Why aren't there any horror movies about being stuck in a mall that's like this? And zombie movies don't count. It would be cool if it was a ghost movie, or something like that. Hell, even a game could work, just take my misconception of what FNaF was, where you would have to watch the events going on in your security feed until eventually then stuff gets violent (I originally thought that FNaF was just going to be a game where you watch a security feed that slowly unravels a story while ghosts are mucking about, I didn't think that the robots would be enemies)
Or have a serial killer following someone in a dead mall, and there are 150 empty stores for him to hide in...oooh! That gives me goosebumps just thinking about it!
I used to hang out at that mall and work there. It was beautiful back in the late 80's early 90's. The metro killed that mall just as the light rail killed Hunt Valley Mall not to far away. I used to go to Hunt Valley for lunch and always get a floor show of the cops arresting somebody. The last time for me is when guns were drawn. MTA - Moving Trash Around.
Finally someone in these comments says it. Owings Mills Mall wasn’t killed by online shopping or the economy. It was the decision to extend the Baltimore metro into Owings Mills. You can plot that malls decline on a timeline beginning at that moment.
4:06 I agree, it was refreshed in 1998 and still looks fairly modern to me. If back in 1998 it was worth being refreshed, what happened since to cause it's abandonment?
+this is Dan Bell As creepy as it sounds , you are my bedtime story guy 😂 I've seen your videos enough to now put the headphones in and listen as I go to sleep without having to watch . And I'm not ashamed either . Proud to be a dead mall addict !
This was posted on my birthday and this mall is very close to my house. I used to go here all the time when I was little and I still go to the movie theater down the street. I watched it go down hill from the early 2000's. Watching this made me sad but also a little creeped out because I remember when all of these places were open and doing ok at least.
I went to this mall all the time when I was growing up. This would have been around the early to mid 90's to the mid 2000's. Very surreal to see this, its exactly as I remember it, only much less lively.
Found you from your TED talk. I thoroughly enjoyed it. I was born in early 1974 so I truly grew up in the golden age of the American mall. When malls were a magical oasis of society. When a trip to the mall was a special day long activity complete w a haircut from Kaplans, Woolworths, lunch at Bambergers Carriage House restaurant, a run down the spiral ramp, sitting by bubbling fountains, smelling chlorine, the sound of water drippling, John Wanamakers with the giant eagle, and bringing home dinner from Mr. dunderdinks. My mall, Oxford Valley, was the most gorgeous mall in the Philly burbs in 70s/80s when KOP was a dump. Now it's a sad, grey toned shell of its former self with creepy foreign kiosks and 3 dead anchors-Sears, Penneys, and a messy level C Macy's. One end store is filled w water and hasn't been filled since 06 when boscovs left.
That is such a gorgeous mall...I mean, I know that there might be zoning issues or something but I can imagine that mall being made into apartment dwellings with the common areas used for lounging areas/communal library/ect. Exterior windows would have to be cut to allow natural light and a massive renovation would have to be done. I wish that I were wealthy :/ this place should be preserved and utilized somehow :/
The thing that makes these dead mall videos so nostalgic and creepy is the consistent music echoing in the background. It's like it's still in it's prime and playing like it did 30 years ago and it doesn't know there's no one there to hear it anymore.
I lived there, and attending the grand opening. It was beautiful and vibrant.When interest rates were 12-1/2% and everyone had a job. Now it comes to this sad ending. I remember the murder, and the gang related violence at Tysons.
It was sad to watch this place implode. It seemed to be driven by the collapse of the Hecht Company and Lord and Taylor anchors. I was glad when they announced an open air model. I was hoping for an Avenue like the one in White Marsh or the overhauled Hunt Valley Center. I dont know what possessed the Owings Mills developers to choose a scattered handful of unattractive stores. Its like a badly executed Kohls/Petco centers.
I went there a couple times in 1987-1989 time frame. That place was absolutely stunning how beautiful it was, especially decorated for Xmas. Better days...
I think there should be a tv show dedicated to dead malls/shopping centers so america/the world can see how sad this is and maybe things will turn around
I think it would be amazing to hear you interview someone working at one of these last gasp stores. What must it be like to go to work and know you're trudging through a dead mall to get to work?
+William Cale Many years ago I worked at a dead mall at one of the few locations still open. It was us, Dollar Tree, Victoria's Secret, Rex's, and Bath and Body Works. VS and BBW will stay in dead malls until the very bitter end, I've found. JC Penney's and Sears were the remaining anchors (two others had closed and their spaces remained unoccupied by the time I started working there). All of the open non-anchors were in the same wing of the mall and there were probably a good 30-35 vacant storefronts. The movie theater had long since been closed. Everything in the food court had left and the only option if you were hungry was a place that sold pretzels and slushee-type drinks near the center of the mall. As for what it was like, it was pretty depressing, especially since I could remember being a kid and how absolutely full and vibrant that place was. There were three malls in my town and this was the smallest, but it had some great stores. I fortunately didn't have to do a walk of shame down a completely empty wing to get to work, but it's not like our section was full. I would always feel a little bit of nostalgia because there used to be a mom and pop music store in there that sold a ton of stuff you couldn't really get anywhere else in town (imported metal stuff from Europe was what I went there for, but of course that was just a small selection of what they had) but that it had long since shuttered. The real decline started after a terrible storm did significant damage to the place and just absolutely wrecked some of the places inside. The mall's owners talked about all these great "renovations" and "additions" they were going to make, but like so many of these types of malls, they never happened, and people just stopped coming. Even after one of the other three malls in town closed down completely, that still didn't drive any additional traffic to this place. I took the job there knowing that the store was closing once its lease was up (approximately 4 months later). I was up for a promotion and it was essentially a test to see if I could handle running a store. My store was of course never busy; you'd get maybe 20 transactions on a Saturday when other stores in the company that I worked for would have closer to 150. Weekdays were like 7 or 10 transactions. I'd have days where because of returns, I'd wind up not even being able to deposit money in the bank. Evidently it had been like that for close to two years by the time I got there. Eventually my company broke its lease and pulled the plug on the location after I'd been there about 6 weeks. Closing the store was fun but a really frustrating experience. We didn't have a closing sale, so we basically had to package up all of the inventory (and it was a large amount) and ship it to other locations. It took forever. You would not believe the insane amount of paperwork that was just shoved everywhere that all had to be looked at and either sent off to corporate, sent to the new store I would be running, or shredded for security/privacy purposes. We wound up leaving a bunch of fixtures and other things in the location that it just made no sense to try to relocate.
i work at a salon in a dying mall right now. the holidays have brought more people in lately on the weekends, but on the weekdays it is truly dead. took a walk around once and encountered only one other person. i’m still getting paid though, so i’m kind of ambivalent. just enjoying everything.
That's what happened to Evergreen Plaza here in Chicago.When stores like Montgomery Ward's,Marshall Field,Silo,Footlocker and many other stores plus the Evergreen Plaza movie theater closed the mall declined and it closed in 2011.They demolished it in 2013 it's suppose to return to its original plan when it opened in 1961.The only thing that's still open is Applebee's
I was a building engineer in the buildings connected to the mall. On weeks when I was on night shift and had to do my walk thrus, bro that was the creepiest shit. So glad I don't work there anymore.
Dan, are you familiar with mallsoft or vaporwave music? You should check em out as I feel that kind of music would definitely be a better fit for the background ambiance/music of your Dead Mall Series videos.
My favorite video on this series. It is really unsettling even if I'm watching this in the daytime in the comfort of my home. Pretty awesome work here +This is Dan Bell.
Attention! Completely remastered episodes of the Dead Mall Series are now being archived in 4K at th-cam.com/channels/fCM_TfrSDMkkMpKuLNWuXA.html. The remasters have gone through an extensive AI Enhancement process as well as proper sound mixing and colorization. This Dead Mall Series Remastered project has been made possible through viewer support on Patreon. Go over now and watch in glorious 4K. ENJOY!
You should check out the Montgomery Mall in North Wales, PA
Yeah, if you walk in the door and the first thing you see is a sign that says, "For Assistance Call 911", that's a good indication of a dead mall.
Max Zomboni Your comment made my day!
No, that's just how you know you're in Baltimore.
@@jayjayjames2332 I was going to ask why this mall is dead, then you said Baltimore.
You’ll be dead by the time police come
jayjayjames2332 lol true
**UPDATE** Less than a week after this video was posted, Owings Mills Mall shut it’s doors. End of an era. 1986-2015.
+This is Dan Bell. I was just reading an article about that. They aren't being very specific but I think they want to do what was done to Golden Ring Mall. Of course they mentioned the plans from 4 years ago and how that never happened so who knows.
+This is Dan Bell. I feel so sad. Me and my parents used to go here in the 90s and early 2000s. We bought EVERYTHING here. I just cried at parts of this video. :( :( :( :(
you should consider a 360° camera. On mobile youtube, us viewers can use our phones to change the field of view. it's awesome
+This is Dan Bell. Saw this when they announced the mall closed a couple days ago. Sad to see this mall go down but not surprised, it's been struggling for many years. I will say after watching this, watched other videos from your series and am hooked. Hope you keep making them, it is interesting to watch
Another mall bites the dust... At least you can try to explore it a year or two later. But seriously, I wish it farewell even though I live in Indiana. Is Macy's or whatever anchor there is still open?
I cannot tell you how mad this makes me. I lived within a mile of this mall when it opened. To build it, they tore down one of the Owings family farms, which still had all its original buildings, and they tore down Ulm, which was the home of Samuel Owings, in order to widen the road into it. History that had stood for two centuries was razed to build a mall that lasted less than 20 years.
The beginning of the end of this mall was building this behemoth within five years or so of the closing of Sparrow's Point. Everyone was trying to convince themselves that Baltimore was going to continue being wealthy and vibrant when the source of its wealth was gone. They built a mall for a population that no longer existed.
👍
+userunavailable3095 -- thats really sad that they took over property that could have stayed.
userunavailable3095 it is interesting to me that you mentioned this because that is exactly what I was wondering as I watched another video showing its demolition and division into huge broken and crumpled up piles of recyclables and disposables.
Sad how it all turned out. I hate it when these corporate fucks destroy tradition and history for money, wherever in the world it happens.
They didn't need to predict the internet or cell phones. All they needed to do was look at the economy instead of the hype. Bethlehem Steel was already shut down. Sparrow's Point was abandoned. Anyone with a lick of sense could have seen that with the major driver of the Maryland economy gone, that wasn't a good time to build a multi million dollar mall. Yeah, Don Shaeffer was great at conjuring up unicorns and lollipops, but the truth of the matter was, Baltimore was without jobs. People without jobs don't spend money. Anyone with a lick of sense could also have predicted the 30,000 abandoned properties in Baltimore as well.
I think it is still hitting people with slow motion shock that the 20th century is really over. If you personally remember and experienced the excitement of the 80s when high end malls opened, it is so hard to connect that to what now exists, post recession, post urban change, post internet shopping. In the 80s, this looked like the start of a big new world of wealth for everyone. In fact, it was the last gasp of 20th century general prosperity.
You got it!
Absolutely! Very much agreed!
Spot on! I live in Illinois, Chicagoland Area, malls that flourished when I was young, are dying. So sad man. I'm NEVER political, but we are in big trouble with the disappearing of the Middle Class.
+Spacebaby
Where I live, the mall is still going strong here. Really strong actually. Which is surprising. The Mall at Rockingham Park in Salem NH came into being and wiped out a mall in the next town over in Methuen Mass and one up in Manchester NH. The funny thing is, the original owners/developers of the mall from all appearances wanted the mall to fail when come to find out later they actually didn't expect or believe people would be willing to travel the extra distance, even if only a couple miles, especially just to avoid a %5 sales tax if from Mass. They were very wrong though, and it screwed them.
The Mall at Rockingham Park was built on what was pretty much the only land in this region of New England that was zoned for gambling at the time and had seen attempts to build a casino there, which the residents of the town wanted and still want there but will probably never happen as of last month. The original owners of the mall were hoping to cash in on this.
They actually built the mall just that bit more opulent than a lot of malls at the time architecturally. They also designed it so that there were absolutely no load bearing walls that would interfere with an open floor plan. Which there was no reason to do this in the design as a mall. Now as a casino, there is definitely a reason for it. Not only that, the mall was literally built right off of the highway at the first exit coming into NH on Route 93
I worked at Gloria Jean's Coffee during the holiday season one year and was able to see the areas of the mall the general public don't. After walking through the corridors knowing what I do about the property and the town wanting a casino, it all just clicked on figuring out the original owners' plans.
When it was clear that the mall was going to survive, which it putting the Methuen Mall under and turning the Manchester Mall into a dead one, even with it's anchors, was a clear sign of, they sold to Simons.
Now it could see itself dealing with tough times. The man who owns the Tuscan Kitchen here in Salem just bought Rockingham Park Race Track in two parcels and is looking to develop the area into a well to do living and shopping complex, for lack of a better term. With what he plans on bringing in for businesses, it could definitely hurt the mall now.
I guess things really can go round and round.
+Frontenac
Can't forget Caldor, Ames, Zayers, which Ames bought, Woolworth's, Montgomery Ward, or many others that have faded away either. I grew up with all of them in my life at some point.
I know it ended up being demolished but I think that would be a beautiful building to repurpose into something else. I think if people were creative, one could easily convert this into offices, housing, a small university, a shelter, an indoor rec center, or a community center, even a new city hall.
where i used to live in Maine the repurposed the old textile mills into luxury loft condos.
I lived in a development in the UK built on the grounds of a former whiskey distillery. The houses and apartments were fairly well built and it was a quiet area. Unfortunately about a year later, the village police station was closed due to post-2008 cuts. Petty crimes & break ins increased. I myself confronted 2 thugs who were breaking into cars on the estate one night. The police had to come from another town 10 miles away so they were gone by the time the cops arrived. But the experience shook me up. Then there was an armed robbery literally next door about a month later and I thought fuck I've got to get out of here. Luckily my lease was up a couple months later and I left. I wonder how the place is doing now.
It's better to demolish it and redevelop the land into mixed housing & commercial lots. There's a lot of empty unusable space inside (atriums, plazas, corridors, etc.), the glass roof will soon become expensive to maintain, the components from the 80s & 90s will need expensive upkeep or replacing, and the large indoor space will cost a lot to heat, cool, ventilate, and light.
Yes! Supposedly, there have been a few malls that have been converted into multi-purpose spaces. But out of the episodes of this series I think this one looks the best. It doesn't seem that outdated to me unless at night makes it more appealing to me. If it were somehow converted to be more outdoor, with even more plants, keeping the fountains, better restaurants, and bars it would seem like somewhere I could walk around.
Or like a water park lol
I hate seeing buildings with such a high potential fall to the ground like this one. It makes me wonder why things went wrong. It's crazy.
+SneakerHeadInTheBay I know exactly how you feel. In my childhood, malls were the place to go on the weekend to shop and explore. Stores were bustling and hustling with busy shoppers, music was loud, commotion was everywhere, room was tight. Now across all america and all over the world, malls are shutting down to rot and decay due to online shopping and world recession. It brings a tear to my eye something once so majestic now is a massive pitfall, an eye sore, and a torn piece of my past. I hate it every time a mall shuts down.
+Crossingman18 couldnt agree more.
You can "blame" online shopping for that. And also the rise of smaller streetfront shops in some areas. Why drive 15-30 minutes & get stuck in traffic, to buy something at full price when you can get the same thing for slightly less online & delivered to your home?
Then, they also opened more malls of various sizes, which added to the competition.
People like me who grew up in the 80s-90s also got sick of malls. Yea, they were the place to go when we were in our teens, but you grow up & tastes change. Young people in their 20s & 30s prefer to live in the gentrifying inner suburbs, where shopping centres there are smaller.
It's also true that shopping centres are destroying local businesses that rely on loyal customers - especially in the case of food establishments. I know this is an issue in Scotland where I currently live. Sad all around.
Yes, OC is jam packed. Tons of Asians at the malls xP I hate going anywhere on the weekends.
Incredible how clean this one still is, and the plants are all still cared for. Dedicated staff.
This mall shut down a few years ago, so at the time he did this, it hadn't been too long since closing.
Brad Bailey I know I'm late, but this video was filmed less than one week before they actually shut their doors.
It's been demolished
The Dark Portal what a waste of imported French Polished Marble
I never would have gotten on that elevator at the end. I would have been too paranoid of it getting stuck and there being no one around to help, lol.
Right? All those staircases.
Sounds like a good horror movie.
Same..
The Athletes Foot is seriously a terrible name... like what the hell. Who thought that was a good idea??
Matthew Hurley lol right.
That's like a lingerie shop being called The Yeast Infection
Idk but there was one in Rotting Acres Mall at one point
It's noticeable name I guess. There are a few outlets here in Australia.
Lmfaooo
Kinda sad seeing the 1986 opening of the mall footage and how it's changed so much now
Malls were so new bright & shiny in the '80s - a sign of our economic boom and forward thinking...it's quite sad to see
so many closing; even sadder to see the amount of closed small stores on our main streets, that gloomily stare out at us with shuttered eyes.
Holy shit, that was beautiful.
+ObsoleteOddity Godamn we got the next Shakespeare right here
Fabulous Muffin
lol ! :)
THEPOWER99FM
You're right there - I realise it's easier (mostly) & cheaper (mostly) to shop online, but it means the slow death of the heart of our communities.
ObsoleteOddity I'm in Fort Smith AR and the first mall we had here is repurposed to two different call centers, a pain treatment center and another doctors office. they still have room and but it's not nearly as sad as it was for a while.
is it odd that I'm actually really fascinated with dead malls? I don't know yeah it's creepy but like the rolling hills mall, it looked really cool during a blizzard
+fueledby_fandoms , there's nothing odd about being fascinated with dead malls...don't worry, your normal and not alone..lol. We're all here with you and your in great company with all these fine and really nice commenters (: After all, we're a special breed...us UrbanEx fans and we gotta stick together.. it's the rest of the world at large that I worry about...lol
+fueledby_fandoms
The mall in my town is dead as hell.
It's always so sad whenever I go in.
It's just phone case stores, a jewellery store, used books, like three convenience marts, and a Staples. The rest are just empty shops. But there's, like, three floors of office space above the mall. It's weird.
salutations fren |-/?
If you liked this mall and were amazed with the Rolling Acres Mall, you should check out the circa 2010 videos of the Dixie Square Mall (this was the Chicagoland mall that the Blues Brothers and Illinois State Police tore up in the Blues Brothers movie. Then play Portal 2...
they are cool be careful in them, homeless live in there and could jump you like they did my buddy who tried to skate one.
Dan is it possible for you to interview some of the employees? I would love to know what they think and feel about the mall's decline. LOVE this dead malls series btw. Wish the episodes were longer, can't get enough.
emonchan oh thats a neat idea
Any somewhat major chain will likely have a media clause saying no one is authorized to speak to media except for some PR person in the corporate office. Doesn't mean employees won't do it, but they may unknowingly jeopardize their job if they do.
Indy Cyclist don’t think they’re worried about losing jobs at places thatre shutting down anyway.
dead malls: .......
literally no one: ......
bath and body works: we still open
@Kilo Byte lol
and gnc too lol
Literally every dead mall I've been to, one of the last, if not the last open store is always Bath and Body Works.
Very true! We got the Frisco Station Mall here in Rogers Arkansas and we got a few stores left in there, even the Bath and Body Works!
Great way to waste all the marble floors imported from *france*
Good marble comes from Italy. It comes with Italians to install it too. For real they ship out with the rock. They don't let anyone a touch it either. The union is cool with it because mafia.
Marble floors imported from france
> marble floors
> imported
> from France
Wow.
M A R B L E
F
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I M P O R T E D
F
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F R A N C E
Eve Smith mr. burns grich greedy nasty rat went balls out on this one
FAINTSY!!!!
Rich pompous idiots love to waste other people's money on fancy impractical crap just to show off to other rich idiots how fancy they think they are.
Maybe it's my age (I'm 31) but seeing abandoned malls makes me sad. Such a beautiful building this mall was so depressing to see it get shut down.
+alison davis I'm 22, I find this sad as well, this was my childhood on the weekends with my grandparents when I got into my teens. I mean our mall was small and still is in that area and is still relitively thriving but last time I went there were more stores closed and I wondered. Is it happening here to? It's sad, people have good memories.
I seen a video of a mall that was on the brink of closing do something very cool. They transformed the upper levels into condos and the lower level had some office space, small shops, food and a small grocery store. It really worked out because people that lived in the condos helped support the shops. Plus anyone else could shop there as well.
seen = saw
Ken Williamson what a good idea maybe some of the other malls in trouble could do something like that
Living. At a mall.
What a concept.
So my 90s dream's of living in a mall can come true!
Where was this?
They say that after the heat death of the universe, only JcPenny, Victoria’s Secret, Bath and Bodyworks, and Downtown Footlocker will remain.
Also GNC. And giant gumball machines.
they should convert the stores into apartments! that would be cool!
jasper the dog the community doesnt want the extra traffic. already tons of apt by there
jasper the dog or make this place into a bazaar/ weekend yard sale
jasper the dog There's actually some malls that are starting to do that.
Agreed. Large areas for communities of the apartments. So many sleeping on the street.
not a dog man, not a dog
dude this would be so sick to skateboard around in
+ModernDinosaur i used to live right down the street from this mall in high school and used to dream of skating inside of it
Quasar i was literally thinking the same thing
imagine how bored the security is, they would be on ur ass in a second
Especially with hard ass wheels.
KraKraIsCra me too
Being a native Baltimorean, I have a lengthy history with this Owings Mills Mall. I used to shop there a lot as a teen in the 80s, worked as a busboy at Ruby Tuesday's in the food court, and had a few temp assignments there through Kelley Services. They had some great stores there and their food court was badass. They started to go downhill in the late 90s, although the addition of the AMC Theatre out behind the mall helped. I'm sorry to see it go
For those of you who don't live in the area, Owings Mills Mall got a bad rep starting in 1992 just as Dan mentioned. However, the violence didn't really stop with the incident in 1992.
Although there were never any severe cases like the incident in 1992, assaults and muggings were fairly common. I never went to that mall just because of the countless stories I heard from people. I've met several people who were assaulted at the mall or in the parking lot. I've met many more who knew someone who was also mugged or assaulted.
The malls in Central Maryland are um... unique. In the area we have Arundel Mills Mall, Towson Mall, Baltimore Galleria, and Mall of Columbia. All of these malls are beautiful and very, very busy. It's very difficult to find a parking space on the weekend. Arundel Mills Mall even has multimillion dollar Casino which is one of the biggest in the state. All of these malls are in high income areas.
Yet, muggings and assaults are so common. On top of that, there are car theft and vandalism. Someone was even murdered at Columbia Mall which is located in Howard County. If you look up Howard, you'll see that's it's named one of the best places to live in and one of the richest places. Yet, it's pretty ghetto.
The Baltimore Galleria also has a unique problem. You'll usually find homeless men in the bathroom bathing themselves by using the sink and paper towels. They'll also ask for money inside the actual mall.
+lazyla27 That's so true. Our justice system is messed up here in Baltimore which is one reason why the city isn't making progress on the Freddie Gray trial.
The Inner Harbor of Baltimore - with its facelift and increased high police presence was like spraying perfume on a rotting corpse... For the sake of safety, the ghetto element required that you maintain prudent situational awareness and beggars (pseudo and otherwise) would approach every few minutes. With these elements, why even bother to go- for any reason? There was a Brooks Brothers over there and ultimately I just couldn't bare going even only for that purpose.
These videos always make me kind of sad. These place contain a load of memories, and to see it empty and abandoned like this makes me feel 'mweh'.
I don't believe online ordering is the death of these malls. Some ppl still like to try things on and buy them and take them home without waiting for things to be shipped and delivered.. I'm not sure of the exact reasons malls go dead, but online shopping can't be the main purpose.
And it's a social event as well. People go to the mall just to see and be seen; just to get out of the house and have somewhere waste a few hours.
You're right. Malls started dying way before online shopping became huge. People forget that these big malls were expensive to operate and charged all their tenants a lot of money to operate in them. This, in turn, made shopping at a mall expensive vs. stand-alone stores. People eventually chose with their wallets. Why drive to the mall, deal with crowds and pay higher prices when WalMart or other stand-alone store has the same thing for a lot less money? I loved shopping in the mall in the dead of winter with a few feet of snow on the ground, walking around with a short sleeve shirt on. But those days are over, sadly.
I agree, I think a lot of times they go dead because of the area. There's either an increase of violence and incidents or the area gets bad and more poor. The only mall in my general county that closed years ago was due to that sort of thing, and plus it was far away for the road and hidden. Other malls are still doing really good and got bigger. I think malls that are in rural areas and poor areas are certainly dying.
Elle Taylor Death of the middle class.
Bryce Terry agreed
I always wondered how these dead malls can afford keeping the power on. All the utility bills.... the HVAC... for a place this size, even at reduced rates, they're still looking at tens of thousands of dollars a month... where does this money come in?
Woodville Mall in suburban Toledo actually had the heat shut off due to non payment. Winters in NW Ohio can be brutal, the mall was around 37 degrees inside!
They leave the power on to prevent people from stealing copper wires.
money laundering. The actual owner must be having some illegal business and they use these dead shops as a front to show their wealth is legitimate. Also if you check their cash/accounts book, you will also notice that most (99.9%) of their sales are cash sales and not through debit/credit cards. Most money laundering fronts are cash intensive businesses. So if you see a dead shop that survives more than a year of paying rent, staff salaries and bills, its probably a money laundering front. This is important to take note especially in the era of online shopping
Gia Marie who’s cooper?
I'm surprised that all those signs were still turned on inside the mall.
So depressing =(
+Grizzly Bear Seriously!
+This is Dan Bell. No I mean like, how everything was lively and now it is very quiet and subtle, I don't mean it is litterly depressing, it is just sad. Plz don't hate me =)
You misunderstood. I mean, seriously...it’s depressing. Not...seriously? Haha.
Oooh! Thank god, I thought you hated me, anyways, another amazing video! Well done!
+Joeseph lmao!
heads up: all of the interior stores have now officially closed. the gymboree closed on the 20th, victoria's secret closed the following day, and bath and body works closed today (the 23rd). macy's official date of closing is 11/13, according to a cashier.
almost all of the lights inside were off tonight, versus when you were here the other night.
+ForceEight WHAT?!!
+This is Dan Bell. right?! i'm assuming that the macy's announcement really pushed everyone who had stayed over the edge. it took so many years to finally start to slow down (I used to run the caribou coffee down the street), but things really happened quickly these past few months...
i know this is late but when all the lights were off was it still accessible?
It's crazy to think that I used to go here every weekend with my family. So many memories there. I'm happy you got this footage before the demolition. It kinda gave me closure, I guess. Thank you.
You have just entered the twilight zone.
That's so sad. I always feel like it's such a huge waste to let those huge buildings go empty. The city should step in and do something with it.
+Howard Mayo Let me guess. You're young or a lefty? If the city bureau weenies had any business savvy they would be out making large chunks of change, not pushing paper, or doofy ideas.
+abby stylinson okay your name and profile pic 😍
hooter tooter
I'm neither since you asked so politely. I just feel it's a waste for property like that to sit and rot.
+hooter tooter turn it into apartments could make a good penny on it...some of our malls have schools now
+Howard Mayo I started watching videos like this within the last day or so & was thinking things like this - either schools or shelters for homeless people, etc.
Your reflection at 7.48 reminded me of the movie 1408 with John Cusack where he's trying to get the attention of someone in the window on the other side of the street in another building when he realizes he's trapped in the room and it's just his creepy reflection in the window.
New England Gardening Classic horror movie
I love that movie!
New England Gardening great movie!
What a shame. It really is a beautiful mall. So sad😞
5:07 Someone working at the mall didn't get the message. It's conservatory.
While I hate the fact that malls are closing, I do love that we get to see (if only for a brief moment in time) the creepy liminal spaces they become.
i love this series
+Andrew Dollen Thanks, Andrew!
Violence and high maintenance costs killed the malls, not internet shopping.
Tnb Spotter Also, there is SO much retail space now. So many strip malls nowadays, many near a big box store.
+Tnb Spotter That's true, because the problem with violence at malls occurred way before internet sites such as Amazon. Similar problems occurred at Irondequoit Mall in Rochester, NY and slowly but surely many vacancies occurred through the 1990's. Now it's a vacant eyesore. The problem is that certain malls that are accessible via public transportation bring in the bad element from the inner cities. People become afraid to go to these locations, word gets around and business is lost.
Not to mention, inept management and changing consumer preferences.
So black people basically
I've lived in in Texas, Florida, Alabama, both of the Carolinas, and in Maryland. It's been the same situation in each of those states. Colin Flaherty has a TH-cam channel, he can tell you all about it.
To us old ruins are castles, churches and grand homes. To our descendents their ruins will be our shopping strips, centres and malls
Sadly our ruins will not last as long, the oldest abandoned malls are already decaying as they are made of cheaper material not solid stone like old castles.
Plus the property value means that when a building of today becomes unsalvagable it generally gets demolished.
@@proxy4620 what precisely do you think malls are made out of? Because I've built malls and they're concrete and steel. Which are pretty solid materials. You look at the interior decorations and think they're the building. They're not. Malls are steel and concrete boxes. But you cannot see any of that because it all gets covered up. Along with building malls I've gutted them for remodeling too. Every store has a demarcation wall. It is its own separate box.
@@1pcfred I suppose you're right, maybe they will last that long. But so far the abandoned malls do appear to be crumbling quite a bit... But it could leave the bones of the structure behind like what happened with old castles
@@proxy4620 castles were built with longer occupancy expectations than commercial buildings today. Now we design for a 50 year life cycle. By then the world has changed so much things become obsolete. Malls themselves have certainly outlived their usefulness. Castles were built with rubble construction. So they're basically piles of crap. They build two walls then fill in between them with rubble. Piles of rubble undisturbed do have long shelf lives.
One word .... DEPRESSING! Such a lovely mall for so long, and now it's all gone!
Depressing???
Damn snowflakes Ill equipped for life
@@c0m4g1bb
Really?
Damn conservatives can't understand hyperbole!
I went here very close to when it shut down. Looked creepy in the day, terrifying at night.
It may be closing but WOW~
It is BEAUTIFUL!
this is so A E S T H E T I C it's not even funny
it is omggg
Why does it seem like all faling malls are stuck in a 1980's time warp? No updated architecture and 1980's elevator music (as opposed to current music). Perhaps that has something to do with failure?
The #1 demographic of mall shoppers are teen and 20-something girls... and girls that age don't want to shop where their moms shopped when they were teenagers.
Booker DeWitt That’s because Dan adds in the old music, you nitwit. That’s why it doesn’t change with every cut in the video.
@@headphonic8 LOL he thought the muzak was actually playing there. I wish malls would go back to that.
Ah, I'd just love to stroll around a mall like this at night. The neon glow and soft music. Nothing like this in the UK as far as I'm aware, the largest shopping complex to me is the Metrocentre, modelled on American style malls, and they ripped out all the 80s decor years ago. Now its all white and clinical and has no atmosphere anymore. There was a theme park inside called Metroland, which closed in 2008 I believe. There's only one part of the original design left, a small section called 'the village', themed like a small cobbled street. Sad.
In 2019 this had been demolished to the ground and now it is a wannabe upscale strip mall.
Between the Costco and Lowe’s it’s certainly much more active than the old mall. My father, who works in the nearby office buildings, said it’s a lot busier in the entire New Town area
customer: excuse me where can find the food court
customer service: im sorry find what?
customer: food court....?
customer service: we dont do food courts here...keep straight and you will find our *CONSERVATORY*
I was there on 9/14/15. The same 3 store were open. And yes there were buckets everywhere. I walked around the mall and talked to a security guard who told me only Macys and JC Penny would stay open till the end of this year. It felt weird walking around an empty mall, but I felt safe doing it. They still had the music playing. I think Lord and Taylor became Boscov's?? You are correct about the woman killed on the subway path. Very dark in Owings Mills. The county said that mall will be torn down and made into a town center like Hunt Valley. That was a few years ago. I find it funny that they are building a small town center right next door to the mall. The library and CCBC have a building there along with luxury apartments. Most of the stores there are unoccupied as well, and they are still building today. That town center is even closer to the subway. CRAZY, CRAZY!!
Thanks for covering my teenage mall. I worked at the Britches Great Outdoors in ‘’87-‘88. It was at the bottom of the grand staircase. There were actually four Britches stores (2 casual, 2 dressy, for both men and women).
I can still smell the Benetton cologne, which was one of my favorite stores to shop in.
I remember working Black Friday in ‘87 and the mall was packed. It took me 20 minutes to make my way through the Conservatory to get to work.
There was the occasional fashion show on the grand staircase, which of course was right outside my store. I remember hearing Roxette “The Look” and Sheena Easton “Strut” while women in overly-shoulder-padded suits and dresses walked the runway.
This is how I imagine the apocalypse would affect my local shopping mall....
I find these dead malls videos so calming. they always relax me after a long day :)
same
This was inevitable when the rich get richer and the poor get poorer and the middle class disappears.
7:02 Long empty hallway + forever, and ever, and ever.....
The Shining anyone? :D
hats off to you my friend for being able to film these. Dead malls make me feel like im in severe isolation and really depressed. Just watching this makes me feel like im the last person on earth
I can order twenty items on Amazon or eBay, yet I don’t have the same appreciation for those items as I have for one that I had to go out to the store or mall to purchase. There’s just something about venturing out, interacting with others, strolling through a mall, and picking out just that one thing you wanted. Shopping should be an experience. In a way, going out and foraging for your goods and needs. But e-commerce is like someone getting it for you. Just not the same. I do hope the mall experience comes back.
Great job on this. There a mall right by me that is about to go through this also. Only one mall in my area seems to have a good amount of people and that is King Of Prussia
Nobody can hear you scream or find your dead body at Owings Mills!
Good video, Dan. One addendum: At about the nine-minute mark you get into the history of the mall's downfall. Although you're correct that that specific crime was the beginning of the end, you make it seem like the mall's declining reputations was just that - a reputation. What you fail to take into account is that there were a myriad of other petty crimes going on and it's the cumulative effect of this that brought the mall down. For example, a friend of mine had his car stolen there. This real turning point was when they put in the light rail, which brought in a less desirable element from the city.
"This real turning point was when they put in the light rail, which brought in a less desirable element from the city."
Because when I think of committing a crime, I think I'm going to hike a mile then wait N minutes for a train rather than...I dunno...getting into a car...
@@BalooUriza people don't set out to do crime but when you're poor and dumb, you get into shit anyway and have no impulse control to say "maybe I should stop myself from doing this"
@@smalltiny Maybe set a maximum legal rent, and move a lot of funding from the police to welfare and education, and make both more accessible. Otherwise you're just criminalizing being poor and putting the means of upward mobility out of reach.
@@BalooUriza bro did they drop you on your head as a baby, what the fuck can a mall goer do when faced with a dumb fuck from the poor parts of town lol "oh no, there is no upwards mobility, please do harass my teen daughter and throw punches at me when I say something, you are so oppressed!"
@@smalltiny Fix the problem, not the symptom. Trying to fix and criminalize the symptoms is more expensive and prone to abuse, which is the situation that we have now. There's no incentive to do blue-collar crime when you're not living in poverty.
This youtube channel is a hidden gem. It's really soothing! Busy malls give me panic attacks, but empty ones are this weird mix of eerie and calm...
The story you told about the tragic event that caused the decline of this mall sounds very similar to the story of a mall in north Houston, Texas called Greenspoint Mall. The mall was later nicknamed “Gunspoint Mall” after a crime-related incident.
im laughing at that ATM machine. its just so crazy. the deader the mall the more grotesque it is. Beautiful grotesqueness. i just find it funny in a im going madddd kinda way
Why aren't there any horror movies about being stuck in a mall that's like this? And zombie movies don't count. It would be cool if it was a ghost movie, or something like that.
Hell, even a game could work, just take my misconception of what FNaF was, where you would have to watch the events going on in your security feed until eventually then stuff gets violent (I originally thought that FNaF was just going to be a game where you watch a security feed that slowly unravels a story while ghosts are mucking about, I didn't think that the robots would be enemies)
+Nuclearxpotato CHOPPING MALL. No zombies. Just security robots that kill people.
This is Dan Bell.
What ever happened to that movie? I've heard about it but I've never seen an official media release.
Nuclearxpotato 1986 I think it came out or 1987
Or have a serial killer following someone in a dead mall, and there are 150 empty stores for him to hide in...oooh! That gives me goosebumps just thinking about it!
hell yeah!
So 6 years into the malls life and that was the beginning of the end? Wow that mall is so young to fail.
I used to hang out at that mall and work there. It was beautiful back in the late 80's early 90's. The metro killed that mall just as the light rail killed Hunt Valley Mall not to far away. I used to go to Hunt Valley for lunch and always get a floor show of the cops arresting somebody. The last time for me is when guns were drawn. MTA - Moving Trash Around.
Finally someone in these comments says it. Owings Mills Mall wasn’t killed by online shopping or the economy. It was the decision to extend the Baltimore metro into Owings Mills. You can plot that malls decline on a timeline beginning at that moment.
Man, I lived in this area from 2000-2002 and this mall was still pretty active. Astonishing to see how it's changed.
4:06 I agree, it was refreshed in 1998 and still looks fairly modern to me. If back in 1998 it was worth being refreshed, what happened since to cause it's abandonment?
True!
+this is Dan Bell As creepy as it sounds , you are my bedtime story guy 😂 I've seen your videos enough to now put the headphones in and listen as I go to sleep without having to watch . And I'm not ashamed either . Proud to be a dead mall addict !
This was posted on my birthday and this mall is very close to my house. I used to go here all the time when I was little and I still go to the movie theater down the street. I watched it go down hill from the early 2000's. Watching this made me sad but also a little creeped out because I remember when all of these places were open and doing ok at least.
I went to this mall all the time when I was growing up. This would have been around the early to mid 90's to the mid 2000's. Very surreal to see this, its exactly as I remember it, only much less lively.
The electricy noise of the light at the atm at 9:24 is epic 🤣 lmao
Great video. I love the history of the decline of the mall. The night-time visit does up the creepiness. ::thumbs up::
So happy I found this series!!!
Im amazed at how pristine it looks for a dead mall.
Man I miss this mall so much. I used to work there at Hects and Ritz camera. A lot of my friends worked there and I used to hang out there as a kid.
Found you from your TED talk. I thoroughly enjoyed it. I was born in early 1974 so I truly grew up in the golden age of the American mall. When malls were a magical oasis of society. When a trip to the mall was a special day long activity complete w a haircut from Kaplans, Woolworths, lunch at Bambergers Carriage House restaurant, a run down the spiral ramp, sitting by bubbling fountains, smelling chlorine, the sound of water drippling, John Wanamakers with the giant eagle, and bringing home dinner from Mr. dunderdinks.
My mall, Oxford Valley, was the most gorgeous mall in the Philly burbs in 70s/80s when KOP was a dump. Now it's a sad, grey toned shell of its former self with creepy foreign kiosks and 3 dead anchors-Sears, Penneys, and a messy level C Macy's. One end store is filled w water and hasn't been filled since 06 when boscovs left.
I imagine that purgatory is exactly like this dark, empty, and playing some easy listening music
1. You deserve more subscribers
2. You should get a TV Show
I find your videos very interesting and love them keep going!!!!!!
That is such a gorgeous mall...I mean, I know that there might be zoning issues or something but I can imagine that mall being made into apartment dwellings with the common areas used for lounging areas/communal library/ect.
Exterior windows would have to be cut to allow natural light and a massive renovation would have to be done.
I wish that I were wealthy :/ this place should be preserved and utilized somehow :/
The thing that makes these dead mall videos so nostalgic and creepy is the consistent music echoing in the background. It's like it's still in it's prime and playing like it did 30 years ago and it doesn't know there's no one there to hear it anymore.
Thank you for this piece of history, Dan! Love all of your work!
Why am I obsessed with watching videos of dead malls lol
I lived there, and attending the grand opening. It was beautiful and vibrant.When interest rates were 12-1/2% and everyone had a job. Now it comes to this sad ending. I remember the murder, and the gang related violence at Tysons.
It was sad to watch this place implode. It seemed to be driven by the collapse of the Hecht Company and Lord and Taylor anchors. I was glad when they announced an open air model. I was hoping for an Avenue like the one in White Marsh or the overhauled Hunt Valley Center. I dont know what possessed the Owings Mills developers to choose a scattered handful of unattractive stores. Its like a badly executed Kohls/Petco centers.
I went there a couple times in 1987-1989 time frame. That place was absolutely stunning how beautiful it was, especially decorated for Xmas.
Better days...
Brings back memories. Love the echoing sound of the seeburg 1000 music in the mall setting, mall - concert hall. All the Best
i want to skate in there
+apizzaparty Right! I keep thinking that watching these videos. All that marble mmmm. lol
Yes! I'm going to attempt that.
Another Excellent Video!
I think there should be a tv show dedicated to dead malls/shopping centers so america/the world can see how sad this is and maybe things will turn around
And this. We're grateful for this. Thanks, Dan. You work miracles.
Its so weird seeing malls when they first opened all colorful and full to then just becoming dark, lonely, and eerie
I think it would be amazing to hear you interview someone working at one of these last gasp stores. What must it be like to go to work and know you're trudging through a dead mall to get to work?
+William Cale Many years ago I worked at a dead mall at one of the few locations still open. It was us, Dollar Tree, Victoria's Secret, Rex's, and Bath and Body Works. VS and BBW will stay in dead malls until the very bitter end, I've found. JC Penney's and Sears were the remaining anchors (two others had closed and their spaces remained unoccupied by the time I started working there). All of the open non-anchors were in the same wing of the mall and there were probably a good 30-35 vacant storefronts. The movie theater had long since been closed. Everything in the food court had left and the only option if you were hungry was a place that sold pretzels and slushee-type drinks near the center of the mall.
As for what it was like, it was pretty depressing, especially since I could remember being a kid and how absolutely full and vibrant that place was. There were three malls in my town and this was the smallest, but it had some great stores. I fortunately didn't have to do a walk of shame down a completely empty wing to get to work, but it's not like our section was full. I would always feel a little bit of nostalgia because there used to be a mom and pop music store in there that sold a ton of stuff you couldn't really get anywhere else in town (imported metal stuff from Europe was what I went there for, but of course that was just a small selection of what they had) but that it had long since shuttered. The real decline started after a terrible storm did significant damage to the place and just absolutely wrecked some of the places inside. The mall's owners talked about all these great "renovations" and "additions" they were going to make, but like so many of these types of malls, they never happened, and people just stopped coming. Even after one of the other three malls in town closed down completely, that still didn't drive any additional traffic to this place.
I took the job there knowing that the store was closing once its lease was up (approximately 4 months later). I was up for a promotion and it was essentially a test to see if I could handle running a store. My store was of course never busy; you'd get maybe 20 transactions on a Saturday when other stores in the company that I worked for would have closer to 150. Weekdays were like 7 or 10 transactions. I'd have days where because of returns, I'd wind up not even being able to deposit money in the bank. Evidently it had been like that for close to two years by the time I got there. Eventually my company broke its lease and pulled the plug on the location after I'd been there about 6 weeks.
Closing the store was fun but a really frustrating experience. We didn't have a closing sale, so we basically had to package up all of the inventory (and it was a large amount) and ship it to other locations. It took forever. You would not believe the insane amount of paperwork that was just shoved everywhere that all had to be looked at and either sent off to corporate, sent to the new store I would be running, or shredded for security/privacy purposes. We wound up leaving a bunch of fixtures and other things in the location that it just made no sense to try to relocate.
i work at a salon in a dying mall right now. the holidays have brought more people in lately on the weekends, but on the weekdays it is truly dead. took a walk around once and encountered only one other person. i’m still getting paid though, so i’m kind of ambivalent. just enjoying everything.
i was at this mall in july with my aunt who lives in the area and man its a shame such a sad site to see.
It's a natural thing that old ways comes to an end. I love 80s and 90s mall, they are fun. Sad, Internet has an side effect too.
I like how, at the same time, you said "rained" and I began to hear sprinkles from the outside of my house.
I love the glitter, confetti, and pink feathers. 🪶
Did anyone else see the ATM?
yeah it was creepy.
It's still funny how it glitches
TheRobloxNoob 21 ikr
That's what happened to Evergreen Plaza here in Chicago.When stores like Montgomery Ward's,Marshall Field,Silo,Footlocker and many other stores plus the Evergreen Plaza movie theater closed the mall declined and it closed in 2011.They demolished it in 2013 it's suppose to return to its original plan when it opened in 1961.The only thing that's still open is Applebee's
I was a building engineer in the buildings connected to the mall. On weeks when I was on night shift and had to do my walk thrus, bro that was the creepiest shit. So glad I don't work there anymore.
Dan, are you familiar with mallsoft or vaporwave music? You should check em out as I feel that kind of music would definitely be a better fit for the background ambiance/music of your Dead Mall Series videos.
Which track specifically?
movom s Couldn't say, since im sure our tastes aren't exactly the same. Just search up those terms on youtube, soundcloud and bandcamp and explore!
+Chris V Which tastes? Mine?
+Chris V I am. Can’t use it in my videos. Copyright.
movom s Yes, yours and mine.
This series is awesome...I dig how you add old footage and such to add the atmosphere
My favorite video on this series. It is really unsettling even if I'm watching this in the daytime in the comfort of my home. Pretty awesome work here +This is Dan Bell.