Our last Northern Virginia Mall, and its one that had been reported to be dying. Recently, its escaped death, and has managed to maintain its presence in Manassas. Let's step inside & get a look at a success story for once.
I grew up in Manassas and this was my childhood mall, I can confirm that this mall was in bad shape pretty much for the entire 2000s decade, from the closing of Montgomery Ward until the arrival of Walmart. The original Sears was where the Walmart is now, and once Sears moved to the Wards space, there was a hallway back there that was dead until it was all torn down to make way for Walmart. There was also a movie theater near the food court that remained vacant for years until H&M and a few other stores filled the space. Ironically, Walmart helped to save the mall, and even though they probably chased Target away, the entertainment center that replaced it has been successful. I agree with you, struggling malls around the country should look at Manassas Mall as a model to thrive once again. I also agree on the big space near At Home, that is where Santa used to be before Christmas, I hope they still do that. I left the Manassas area about a year and a half ago, nice to see it's still going strong. Thanks for sharing.
Was the Montgomery Ward space, the same one that later became a Walmart? I sure can't think of many malls that have a Walmart with a still in use interior entrance, other than here and also Hilltop Mall (IIRC the name of it) in Richmond, CA.
@@BoratWanksta The Montgomery Ward space is actually where Sears is now and Walmart was built over the original Sears space. Once Wards closed, Sears decided to relocate to the slightly larger store. The original Sears would remain vacant for close to a decade, many nearby tenants would follow, and finally Walmart came in, demolished the old Sears building and built its Supercenter in its place. To give an idea of how empty that part of the mall was, my dad felt comfortable letting me practice driving around the original Sears parking lot when I was learning to drive.
Great to see a mall turn it self around and even better to see people shopping there. It is nice to know some folks still like shopping the good ole fashined way getting out of the house and going somewhere
Yes, but even as early as 1982 when I started working at the Hecht's (then turned into Target) the letters never were completely in tact. Always missing something giving it the Low Rent look it has struggled to shake
Thanks for uploading and sharing this! Many warm and happy memories of being there with my mom as a kid, especially around Christmas. They used to have a Suncoast video store where I remember buying my first movie, The Muppet Movie”, on VHS! I also remember a bookstore, maybe Books-A-Million and a hobby shop, which was my favorite place to buy toy soldiers. I remember seeing a poster of Brittney Spears there and being embarrassed when my mom noticed me staring at it! Ha-ha! I can’t believe the water fountains are gone but glad to see Cinnabon is still there. The hope of getting a warm cinnamon bun always insured good behavior on my part 😊
It's funny to hear you talk about the blandness of the aesthetics, as I see an interior that's a major upgrade from what it looked like in the 80s and early 90s.
I lived in Manassas in the late 80s, my girlfriend at the time worked in this Mall. The only store that's still there is Victoria's Secret, and it was in a different location then. I helped a guy remodel one of the stores - it was called Family Bookstore. We worked nights because the power tools were too loud for normal business hours. A lot has changed since those days, obviously, I could only recognize some of the interior spaces. Thanks for making this vid.
I grew up in Manassas, so this was my childhood shopping mall in the 90s and early 2000s. I remember many of the fixtures and interiors were deteriorating and my family never had practical shopping experiences there, so we didn’t go to Manassas Mall very often. After seeing this video, I have a very different opinion now. Pyramid refurbished the interiors and storefront and attracted the right mixture of stores and recreational areas to sustain the mall for many years to come. Hats off to Pyramid for saving Manassas Mall.
That blank intersection of the two mall corridors could stand to use a doughnut-shaped fountain and planter area with a sunken seating area in the "doughnut hole".
In High School this was the place to go. I loved Anderson Little. We went to a Gym that had a pool there. They closed it filled in the pool and Ruby Tuesday appeared. Then one day they took all the benches out they did not want kids from the High School up the street hanging out. Wow, 45 years have passed. It’s crazy remembering all the fun I had at this Mall. If you look online to this day people are still trying to find the recipe for Orange Bowl Pizza. It was awesome. Aw, those were the days. 💕🐺
I've only seen one mall with a Walmart, though that one wasn't a Supercenter. It was a Kmart-sized one. Then Walmart built a Supercenter across the street and closed the mall one. BTW, Manassas was know for two things; the site of two Civil War battles... And the whole John Wayne Bobbit mess - 'nuff said.
Looks like they did am excellent job getting this property back from the brink. It is super bland, but I guess mall properties have to eventually be updated in order to stay relevant.
At one time the mall hosted a large number of fountains in those center areas. If you look at the floor tiles you can see the outlines of them. I think they paved over them in the 90s.
I want Aladdin's Castle back or some sort of arcade to make a comeback. The little statues in the food court are gone. Gamestop closed, Record and Rarities had a short life there. This mall still doesn't have a lot of stuff going for it for me personally. Uptown alley is alright when it comes to as an arcade but Dave and Busters is better.
I used to live in Manassas VA. And Woodbridge, VA. Now I live In Wilson NC that is where I'm originally from. Love it there. You should check out Potomac Mills Mall it's way bigger than Manassas mall.
I used to come here after school. There's highschool close to there and my buddy and I used to go the the arcade next to the food court called Aladdin's castle. We used to play games there and stuff back in the late 90's. Where that Hot Topic 5:53 used to be EB world. That's where I used to buy games and preorder stuff back in 1998. And at 6:09, that used to be a healthy juice joint where my girl friend used to work back in 2000.
I remember going to this mall all the time when I was a little kid lol. I also remember there was a little kiddie carousel there and I would always beg my mom to let me ride it. I think they took it down tho lol
The original anchor stores were WT Grant and Montgomery Ward, if I remember correctly. Most of the original stores I recall were Rite Aid, Harmony Hut, Morse, Foxmoor Casuals, Wagon Wheel restaurant, a hot dog stand called Hot Sam, a popcorn stand called Karamelkorn, and an Orange Bowl.
I went to NOVA community college from 1979 to 1982 and this was a regular stop for me. There was a steak restaurant in this mall I always ate at but can't remember the name. I found your video while looking at Manassas crime videos, place has really gone down hill.
My main question, was what did At Home used to be years ago here? Like you said it looks in pretty good shape, except for(where I also agree) the signs of blandification like the fountains and/or planters likely being removed in certain places(i.e. 8:31 ). And is Sears still hanging on here as of now, or was it just open when you visited in(I presume) late 2018?
Is the movie cinema still in the mall? I remember crossing the street from the townhouses across sudley rd to watch Point Break when it first came out in 1991.
It would be great to have more kids activities, the race track is an A+ but maybe more like a Takewondo or Karate school along with a video game hangout and chess or checkers store example/analogy so parents can pay to have dropped off after school. Think of all highschool, middle school kids activities and create a store along with a functional commuting system to commute kids via bus after or from school etc.... we are not a third world so i believe this is possible... with the resources we have in fact the entire "Mall" should be dedicated to kids activities speciliazing in you guys figure it out! Good luck and lastly my neice betta get into Harvards you dig!
This mall has that Durban and Johannesburg kind of vibe. Should stay busy but the demographics of the customer base will be homogenous pretty soon and the types of shops in it are indicative of that.
I went there to ihop and billy bee then when I go to Walmart it was at Manassas mall but I never went to the race because I’m nine years old this one I go 6:30
Foresight'..... I lived in Olde Town, Manassas. Great people and location, so what went wrong with the Mall and $udley Road? It never moved with the time, small town ideas are fine but not contained in Malls. It should have changed shape, become user friendly open air quadrants attached to entertainment and history. It's failed the young people of the town, when we could have provided a bright moving future. It's empty on too many levels, structure to goals to people..... It doesn't attract people from surrounding DC areas...... Obsolete...
good video doomie,,i use to live in this area for a very long time ,way back in the day ,, Manassas Mall use to be an air port..yes way back before it became a mall,,route 234 was a two lane highway through there..but that has been quite a long time ago..irongate was being built then too..great vid..
I was there the day the mall opened, this mall is no where near what it was in the 80s. Sears closed, yes there was a pool in that open spot !!!!!!! WAL-MART SUCKS............
