We are witnessing more enclosed shopping malls disappear across America. One day, there won’t be anything for the younger generations to see of them. Which is why I created this channel. To explore and document these retail institutions before they’re gone forever as well as give a history of the location.
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I use to go here all the time as a kid. Its really sad to see it pretty much abandoned and not taken care of. Malls are my favorite place and i will definitely miss it. My favorite memory is sitting in the food court eating chic fil a after buying a build a bear toy ❤
Glad the mall is still there, for the community and such. But so sad to see its once lovely tree-filled interior gutted for a soulless washed out corporate look. I spent many hours here in the 80’s and 90’s as a kid.
the mall needs to come back stronger. that Mall was like another home for peple who didnt wanna go home yet or kids who hungout at the mall to see their friends after school( the after school hangout). that mall was the spot to go now....its dying and it like people just wanna pull the plug on all the good memories it gave to people. mcdonalds used to be there gap sbarros pizza before they closed regis's hair salon the disney store a long long time ago. and so much more. there has to be something that can bring the life back to the mall. back in the day, kids used to go there for trick or treating, going from one store to the next and each store would hand out candy. i pray people dont forget about the good memories there and i pray they would like to make more when its alive again.
@@candacemartin9093 the current generation is so glued to smart phones and social media for connection I really don’t know if they would take to the concept. I think the concept of malls using big box retailers to draw in customers for the remainder of the mall traffic no longer works. The model needs to be reworked for today’s shopping environment.
As someone who lived in the closest possible proximity to this mall (besides the surrounding apartments) in a house on the other side of the giant wooden wall I have much insight into the builders that were contracted as well as the mall. On the builders - they regularly left empty cans in my back yard, causing us to have to build a fence circa 2002, as well as many many tools tape measures, wrenches, etc that can still be found in the woods in between where I lived and the mall to this day (found some last year on a hunt down memory lane; we used to find them while squeezing in between the wall and the parking lot to avoid traffic getting here) also the mall has actually added some tenants as of last time I was there in 2022. At one point when sur la tabe and Panera/ Starbucks left way way more of the mall was empty but I think after covid some new stores were able to be opened in the vacant spots. Also I could be wrong but I’m like 99% sure I bought some baseball cleats from the dicks here well after you stated they closed. There was also a dog treat shop next to the dicks, brio next to the P.F. Chang’s as well as a bunch of fountains for kiddos and every Christmas they’d launch fake snow off the buildings and it was packed. Side note too - in 92’ when my dad built our former house he was told he could do “anything he wanted within 500 feet of x property line so we had a tree house in the middle grounds between the mall and our house… reason being - there’s a creek in between the mall and where I used to live so they couldn’t really expand any further. Also larus park is nearby which also further limits the development of this area due to the conditions on which the city took ownership of it a long time ago. If I think of any other cool things about the mall I’ll edit this comment
@@kieranmorley2833 I will double check but the information I had online was giving me the closing date of Dick’s. It seems that the major thing hurting the mall is how out of the way it is. It does take a little trek to get to compared to Short Pump for instance. I hope the mall bounces back. It is a unique property.
Wow !!! I’m shocked, I used to live in Charlottesville in the early 90’s and that mall was always packed , always lit! I literally can’t believe what I’m seeing right now! What happened??????????
Insane to see people in the comments talking about their own experiences and just thinking how many of us where there at the same time but didnt know it
The old McDonalds had the self playing piano. We used to trick or treat going store to store. The arcade back in the 80s. The fountains throughout the mall. Kay-bee toy store. Sam Goody. These are parts of my childhood. It's all rubble now for the most part.
Was born and raised in the county and am roughly 20 minute from the place. Absolutely loved going there with my family when I was little, but it’s bittersweet looking at the building now that most of the stores have left. It’s almost, if not already completely empty based on the last time I was there, and they’ve even started demolishing part of it outright. Sad to see it go.
Thanks for documenting this mall. I remember getting dinner there almost weekly with my friends after we got done with karate classes across the street.
C-ville is run by liberals. And we can see how they turn everything into 💩. Detroit, Chicago, DC, etc. Just look at crime statistics. Where the highest crime levels are you'll find liberals running them v
last time I was in there, I was at the macy's during the vaccination clinic. I'm surprised how bad the damage is. It didn't look bad at all in March 2021. I went to the Cinemark there to watch Spiderman No way home in 2019. Now I just pass by the shell on my way to costco. It won't be demolished for some time because of the Ross store. Apparently they have some agreement to keep the mall up. I used to go there all the time with my grandparents and my mother. Good times too.
@@venator1994 No. The plan called for demolition of all except Ross and the old Penney’s. Their plan with Pharrell fell through. I think that’s why they aren’t spending the money yet. They want a commitment first.
@@DyingRetail Yes, and because Ross is a tenant of the EDA, they have an old agreement governing the mall's property. They are the only ones that have not signed off on the plan to see the mall leveled. It was in the news on Sept 5th, 2024. It is causing them to run $120k in the red each year.
@@venator1994 is that in the pilot rag? I will have to look. Sort of stupid. They can demall and keep the Ross building. My understanding was Ross was only going to be there a few years anyway. Thanks for the tip.
@@DyingRetail it irritates me because I was the kid selling the weed in the back hallways of that place and going to jail and now there's kids just pushing it out a storefront with no threats.
I was born in the 80's at the height of mall madness. I recently went to a local mall to repair some pipe in a hair salon and it was obvious that the mall was in decline. What were once wholesome jam packed centers of commerce and entertainment are now sad empty placed in various states of disrepair. I was genuinely a little depressed for the rest of that day. It was a hard remimder that you can.never go home. The world as it was then has died. What was one
Enjoyed this video. If you lean more into Chris Chan's involvement in the history of this mall, I guarantee you the views will pour in. Many people know he went to a mall to find his true love, but few know it was this one and have never seen footage of it. Since you referred to the "rabbit hole", I'm sure you know how rabid the Chris Chan community can be lol. Showing the exact spots where these insane events took place would fascinate many.
Have you ever considered making a top 10 list of weird ways cities or companies have tried to keep dying malls afloat, or the weirdest things malls have used vacant storefronts for?
The Sears there was the best, had a small arcade even. There were a lot of restaurants and the arcade was pretty big. I haven't been there in 25 years, no need to drive an hour with online shopping or options closer to home.
@@rachelrivera91 the only thing I can figure is they aren’t going to move further with demolition until they come up with something. Probably shift the cost of demolition over to them.
@@DyingRetail I don't wish for any demolition to any mall that is salvageable, because that building could've been repurposed for the community like a community center but the officials don't want to have to pay for it. It sucks about all these buildings that don't look like they're badly in shape get demolished for new developments that don't even come true. It's a shame if you ask me. Waste of good buildings. Guess they can make green space out of them after demolition.
@@rachelrivera91 the owners before Norfolk over really let the mall go. It would cost several million to replace the entire roof and about 7 million for all the HVAC replacements needed. So unfortunately, I don’t see the building being saved unless someone came in and could rehab the structure. The worst part is the courtyard area outside of the old Macy’s
Seeing the mall I have gone to many times die is kinda sad but it's crazy to see it on RU-vid and to also have it be denoted as the Chris Chan mall even knowing that the guy frequented it.
I remember going to Fashion square for the Arcade the most. In 1982/1983 my parents would leave me there and go shopping. $5.00 would go a long way for me. The arcade owner was really nice. I went so often he would let me in early and put some games i really liked on a few credits each. The kay-bee-toys, sam goodies, bookstore, radio shack Sears were my go to places. A lot of good memories there. I miss how it was then and through the 1990's. I cannot remember when the decline started there. I had started working and went with friends I know into the early 2000's. I know some years ago I heard news of fights and stuff happening. I went a few times about a year ago to the Bintatsics. That was cool and then people started to grab stuff from peoples hands and had all kinds of trouble. One lady even would hit people with her baby stroller i heard. The one thing that turned me off was that someone said a guy was at the door there before they had opened and went straight to the back of the store grabbed something and went to the cashier right away. It was a set of expensive headphones that i heard a friend of theirs wanted and was told where it was at. Pretty shady stuff there. Sorry for the rambling, man i typed a long time lol
@@Anthony-qt8wv No apologies needed. You have added to the history. I miss the old arcade days myself. Was a great escape from the parents and school LOL!
I worked at the Radio Shack in the mall back in the late 90’s early 00’s. It used to be EPIC in there, especially around the holidays. There would be thousands of people in that place at the holiday shopping seasons. Food Court had all the classics, Sbarro, Chik Fil A, and Blimpie. The needle containers don’t surprise me, Charlottesville is such a liberal dump now that I only go to Costco there once or twice a year.
Lived near the Charlottesville area my whole life, sad to see the mall so empty and dead, but still holds a special place. Had a friend working that gamestop that Chris pepper sprayed. Believe that was actually over Sonic Boom and the color of Sonic's arms being blue and not the pink fleshy color... what a nut
@@BillyLee-333 what’s crazy is this mall with good management could very well turn around. There’s not another mall around for miles. It blew me away that outdoor high end strip center not far away was completely different.
