When I was younger, this place was so packed, all the time !! You could hardly even walk through it !!! One side was for walking up to one and the other was for walking down
It’s interesting that you noticed the architecture, the mall’s ceiling used to be dark wood in the early years even the trusses were stained wood. Over the years they were painted white. At either end, in front of Sears and in front of the Denholms were fountains with seating, and live plantings. Macy’s portion of the mall was an addition. Malls are no longer a viable shopping experience because we have stores like Walmart and Target where you can buy everything in one place reasonably.
Man, Downtown mall was awesome back in the day. But, even back in the 90's, you could tell it was dying. There were whole sections that were empty and dark. Too bad it's gone. The Balloon decorations were amazing.
@catholicfaithofmine2664 I was at Worcester Galleria on the opening day. We waited so long for it to open. That was my go to mall for shopping when I lived many years in Worcester.
I grew up in Auburn and remember when the site of the mall was a pond. I was a complete mall rat in the early and mid 1980's. I have not been back to the mall since relocating to the Houston area in 2017, but I have a lot of fond memories of the Auburn Mall.
My second job ever was here, I worked at Sears in 2006. Crazy to think it was in its 35th year, and Filenes had just been replaced by Macys, and I was just enjoying my time here browsing Spencers, Hot Topic, Strawberries (later FYE), Sears, Macys, and whatever else. The food court used to have Burger King, S'barro, Auntie Annies, Jamba Juice, Subway, and a Chinese food place I can't remember the name of, but it was all pretty nice. Of course there was a dippin dots and a photobooth kiosk. Weird to think I was enjoying the last gasps of the mall era that had boomed from the 70s to 90s and begun to diminish in the 00's
I've always liked this mall, especially when it had the Filene's/ Macy's home stores. I'm afraid, though, that if Macy's closes, the mall might not survive. It's pretty quiet these days.
Ha ha. I would love to know how old that candy actually was. Unless they just replace it every once in a while, I would guess that it would take well over a year to empty one of these candy machines. Thanks for watching!
@@fleabittenadventuresI grew up in Auburn and remember when this Mall was built. Im on the West Coast now and some of the Malls here have closed and they are building huge apartment complexes in their place.
i work in very much active, busy businesses and the stuff in the vending machines are very often out of date, like by several months some how, i bought a packet of claritin (allergy medicine) out of one, it was a year past it's date, still took it, and it barely worked, not sure if that's because it was expired tho, not sure i ever tried claritin before.... can't imagine how long it could be in one of those little candy machines... luckily spree are like 90% sugar, so probably doesn't get to bad.
I'm glad you liked it and thanks for subscribing! I'm trying to upload new mall videos every Wednesday, at least until I run out of malls in driving distance from my house... Thanks for watching!
Note the curved ceilings. Stained one time. This is also what the Burlington Mall looked like before it got the 2nd floor added to it. This is literally the same building, just smaller. Since I've come through here at peak hours, this mall is doing OK. It's taken hits, but with just one anchor, it's doing surprisingly well. I'm surprised Solomon Pond didn't kill it, and it's hurting, in spite of it having decent crowds. Since I was last here (long before you), it's gained stores. There were maybe 6 dead stores, including the big one near the food court. It rebounded a bit.
Something I've noticed as well, pre-Covid management at most malls was fairly strict about regulating store hours, not so much today. Stores often seem to open at more random times.
This was the first mall I have been to where most of the stores had not opened yet. I figured that when the mall opened, the stores opened too. If I ever come back to this mall, I will have to come later in the day.
Auburn Mall is a sea change from what I recall it being in the late '80s - mid-'90s. There was no food court but restaurants & snack shops scattered throughout (York Steak House, Orange Julius, a pretzel stand probably near the center, Papa Gino's, Friendly's). But what's cool is I think the neon sign on its roof facing I-90E remains the same from decades prior. It had Record Town, Waldenbooks, Caldor, Chess King. And yes the ceilings were stained. Kim and I love your stuff so keep it up, buddy!
Hi there, my name is Mike, I reside in Westborough MA, a couple of towns away from the Auburn Mall. I totally believe this is a dying mall. They already closed the Greendale Mall in Worcester MA, plus it was torn down, and an Amazon warehouse is now in its place. I haven't been to the Auburn Mall in years. Did they remove the Dunkin Donuts in the food court? Also, back when I was a kid, my family always went to the Auburn Mall every Saturday. Sometimes we'd have dinner there. I believe there was a restaurant called York Steakhouse. I could be wrong about the name, but I'd say that was back in the 80's. I'm now 53 years old. Great video, loved how you went through the names of the stores of the past there. I definitely remember Caldor.
@@fleabittenadventures Love the videos but I usually come away depressed. After spending so many years in malls when they were thriving and living. Now to watch them die, reminds of the passing of dinosaurs. Can you do some of malls that have survived and grew stronger.
I think it is doing ok.. being there a number of times and was happy to see it had stores that had left the Solomon Pond Mall but I could find them here
Former Sturbridge resident, this mall is a shadow of its former self. It used to have some cool and interesting stores. But, much like every mall, has reverted to clothing shops and crappy filler restaurants. It was the closest thing to central mass besides Worcester, but much easier to get to. I had family that used to work at the Sears and that place was always packed. I'm surprised the Sears lasted until 2020, given the company going bankrupt years before. The Sears took a huge hit when a child died by falling off the escalator in 2011, and the mall was never the same since. However, the state of the mall kind of describes the state of Auburn as a whole: a town that felt much better off before and now lies in a kind of limbo state.
I've moved from central mass but i used to come here to supercharge alot. I'm in seoul now, which is nothing but malls, but i'm so homesick and this takes me back. I remember coming here as a kid after the galleria closed. We'd goto caldor's, service merchandise, and sears.
Had to watch this when I saw it on my home page. I grew up in auburn and still live here, I rode all those rides as a kid, hung out here all the time with my friends in middle school (around 2010), and still return occasionally for Xmas shopping and the like. I got a really strange melancholy feeling watching this video. I’ll say from experience it’s definitely on the decline, 2010 is far from the heyday of malls but I remember it being MUCH more lively back then. Great video I’m glad I came across this.
Been going here since I was a kid, glad you made this video so I can be nostalgic when it goes. There is still some life here, however, last time I went was right before Christmas and it was a little busy at best.
I remember when the Auburn Mall was first built. It was so exciting to have this close by. It was very busy back then. Sad to see how malls everywhere are slowly dying.
There used to be a York Steakhouse there in the 1970’s and into the 1980’s. As food crazes and cancellations cyclically go, York decided to remove “Steakhouse” from its name during the period in the 80’s when red meat was poison. The sign on the exterior of the mall then read “YORK,” but you could still see the grimy, rusty stain of “STEAKHOUSE” on the white stucco. A few years later, steakhouses sprung up again everywhere.
I myself used to go to this mall all the time back in 2021, and i’d say if you went later in the day such as 1-4 it definitely has more life to it. There are token stores that i saw get a lot of time to them due to the lacking of the same stores anywhere else in the area. However i can definitely see that this mall is unfortunately most likely on its way to dying.
I grew up in auburn and have alot of fond memories. The 80s and 90’s this Place was awesome . Although it never had an arcade it had kaybee toys radio shack strawberrys records the swiss pretzel shop and orange julius and so many other great stores
Ha ha!! The swiss pretzel shop, almost forgot about that one. It was in the middle entrance to the mall before Macy's was added if memory serves me right!
Wow. I loved this mall! Is it really dead? I remember getting my ears pierced there at a kiosk. There also was a nice restaurant. I cannot remember the name, but I can see it! I miss the Auburn Mall!
Something similar is happening at my local mall, also a Simon property, a vacant anchor (Sears) is becoming medical offices. It's far better than vacant space, it will generate income to the mall, the downside is that it will do very little in terms of driving traffic to the other tenants.
Thanks for watching! Yes, I have noticed this becoming a trend with non-store businesses moving into malls. It's good that businesses are moving in, but they don't really fit with my idea of what a mall is.
I used to work at Sears in this mall. I was in electronics selling TV's when LCD's were first coming out on the market. It was such a long time ago. It used to be hopping, Blackstone Valley Shopping Center started up less than 2 miles away and started sucking up all of the mall traffic, from then on it was dead.
The mall went from three anchors/department stores, now there's 1. The 7 options in the food court became three random places. A bunch of big brands like Abercrombie and Hollister left so now there's weird and frankly shitty stores that no one's ever heard of like track 23 or wormtown trading. This mall is slowly dying and will be unrecognizable in 5 years.
Yes there was a multi tower geometric shapes fountain in front of Sears. I left MA. In 86 so I'm not sure when they got rid of it. I'd guess in the remodel.
There you go lol but you should visit brass mill in Waterbury ct again that’s my local and it’s gotten better in the last year for sure with a new furniture store and movie theater I hope they bring it back alive cause I remember years ago it used to be amazing
This mall is very interesting as the celling is reminiscent of the once famed "Methuen Mall" in Methuen Mass, which was also a steel truss structure. before the renovations of that mall in the late 80's it was white exposed steel beams in the similar shape it was also part of the original logo of that Mall. Between the beams the celling was wood panel. the best part was the central huge waterfall it had. I would say the beams where more like an M without the middle dip in it. old walk throughs may be somewhere I seen one with the renovated version but not the original.
This mall is bizarre. They’ve had 5 different mall managers in 3 years lol. A lot of shady stores that sell fake stuff have been eliminated from the mall recently so that’s good lol. The new 5 below seems to have helped with foot traffic.
The food court is from the remodel. There used to be an Auntie Anne's on that first corner you walked by then there was a Burger King and a Regina Pizzeria in that portion you made mention. Compared to what it used to be in the 90's, this is a dying mall.
I used to go to this mall all the time like 10-15 years ago or so, its pretty sad to see it in this state, you know its bad when the Auntie Annes gets changed to a random tex mex place, i also remember there being a place that sold pretty good smoothies somewhere around there too, and a gelato place by where the capt loui is, and i feel like there was always a new chinese place every time i went always giving out free samples.
I wouldn't call it dead but instead living dead, this place refuses to die. I went to this mall in the late 80s early 90s and it was always packed back then.
That food court used to have a lot in it even a few years ago. Sad that Dunkin could not survive there! Also that anime store was an abercrombie store I believe! I also didn't see best buy mobile unless I missed it.
I lived in Auburn for over 20 years before I moved when I first moved to Auburn it was the center of the town I'm saddened to see what it's become it's a great mall it should be Revitalize and use as a mall I know people that was living in Auburn before the mall was built it's really sad to see the state the mall is in now
if the area didn't build multiple malls , maybe this one would have survived better! The ones in worcester are all dying or dead being replaced. The shopps at blackthorn? is all that's left unless you like traveling
A couple of things might help this mall. Bring on a JC Penney in the old Sears location. That may seem counterintuitive based on the fact that so many are closing, but the mall and JC Penney could both benefit from it. The nearby JC Penney in Sturbridge closed a couple of years ago; however, it was very small and limited, and slightly off the beaten path. The closest ones now are at Solomon Pond Mall, about 20 minutes away, or in Manchester, CT, about 40 minutes away. This mall is easily accessible to major routes 290/395, 20, and the Masspike, yet they are squandering that advantage. I also noticed in another mall video there was an in-mall Planet Fitness. Auburn does not have one and it could very well work in that old Sears location. The food court used to have a Pizzaria Regina and a Subway, and even those are gone. Bring in an actual restaurant. I was in that mall once and someone asked me if there was a restaurant where they could sit down and order. I mentioned the nearby Applebee's, Friendlys, and Chilis, but they didn't want to leave the premises. Of course, management could just keep doing nothing to attract desirable businesses and watch the whole mall just wither away.
I live about 7 minutes from this mall and have been there maybe twice. It's definitely on death's door! Same as the majority of malls, I'd guess in our online/same-day-delivery post "Covid" world.
This was my hometown mall growing up and it’s looking pretty good, all things considered. Even in the 2000s, it wasn’t the cool mall anymore (Solomon Pond Mall had better stores, the Blackstone Shoppes had a Barnes and Noble and both of those malls had movie theaters so Auburn couldn’t hold a candle) but it really hasn’t changed too much since I moved away over a decade ago. My weeby middle school self would have lost her mind that the Hollister is now an Anime Cafe…
There used to be more ambiance to the mall with the fountain in front of Sears, seating, and plants. It was a more refreshing place to take the kids to. The toy store is gone which was a huge draw .
I was a "mall rat" at this mall, having lived and still living one town over in Oxford. This is where we would get hi*h and spend a lot of time people watching. This mall has just about had it. Back in the day it used to hop, quite a bit on Friday and Saturday nights, and even more-so during the holidays. Now when i go there i swear i can hear crickets chirping its so dead. The food court actually used to be a restaurant called York Steak House, it was so good, I really miss it. This food court is pathetic. I actually liked the mall better before the renovation, it was darker, and more intimate, to us stoners that was a good thing. There used to be a Friendly's and a Papa Ginos, and a fountain in the middle. This was before they added the Macy's and made the place all bright and happy as Simon seems to do,,,very generic. Keep making mall vids, and I'll keep watching!!!
So that mall is usually busier during the other days of the week. You went on Sunday (the day when two of the three busses that serve it don't run) and you went before most of the stores open. That being said - it's nowhere near as busy as it was when I was a kid back in the 80s. Since you were there the spot with the sports memorabilia store and the anime cafe is now a Five Below, with those two stores moving further down. That empty spot mentioned in the food court used to be a Burger King. Which made no sense because, at the time, there was also a Burger King across the street from the mall where Dunkin Donuts is now. So they eventually closed the BK across the street, THEN the one in the mall closed down.
Auburn Mall isn’t dead. There are still some busy stores in there. Granted Sears is no longer there but it is still a mall that gets business. I occasionally go there when I have the time.
So sad how many of our malls are dying. I’m very close to the Auburn mall and I don’t go often. I’d much rather go to the Providence mall or Natick mall. Even the Solomon pond mall is better.
Also, this mall is owned by Simon and is one of their most profitable malls. The reason why is that it’s the only mall in the area that has bus service from Worcester.
Wow, I've been going there, off and on, for almost 25 years and I never really noticed the ceiling. Its dying, but its been dying for over 10 years, so its pretty tough.
I believe that anime café may have been an old Hollister store. They all typically have that style in design from my experience. However I’m not from the area so I will defer to the locals to be sure.
On the right corner in the food court it used to be a “playground” tbh as a kid I loved it. I played in it and they had some machine that made snow fly around like a snow globe. It used to be cool. But yeah it’s dying now
And yeah we used to use the kitty rides as kids. And they used to have a train around Christmas to ride in. Auburn mall used to be fun as a kid who was born in the early 2000s. By 2013 it turned boring
I live in Auburn and I think it’s a dying mall. I usually only go to Macy’s, but the times I’ve gone into the mall, it’s not been very busy. Sad sign of the times.
Yeah, I got the feeling that it was going the way of the Enfield Square Mall in CT. My guess is that in 5-10 years this mall will be officially a dead mall. We'll see I guess.
Living right next to auburn I can kind of see it too…. Tbh a mall should revolve around its food court, and this food court is hanging on by a thread. I’ve been to this mall over 200 times in my life and back in the day when pizza Regina and hollister were in there it was great. Hell I even remember the kb toys
6:25 - my daughter goes on those whenever we go! I think it's like a $1 a ride or so which lasts all of 45 seconds. Such a ripoff, but makes her happy so I can't complain. The rest of the mall is just on borrowed time. We only go there in the winter if we have cabin fever and have absolutely nothing else to do and want to walk around somewhere local, or during Halloween when Spirit halloween moves in temporarily. It's littered with asian trinket stores that nobody's ever in. And that asian anime cafe thing that took over Hollister lolol. What a strange concept; the times I've gone there I've never seen one person in there so no clue how they're staying open. Also, I think I remember reading they were going to put a cinema where Filenes was but sounds like it's a good thing Reliant moved in instead; probably propping up the rest of the mall.
There’s still an fye in Meriden and Waterbury malls. I can’t see FYE lasting. They way over charge for movies. Their used movies are priced the same as brand new movies at Best Buy. Sometimes even more.
They seem to be competing with stores like Newbury Comics nowadays. They used to be mostly CD's and movies, but now they seem to be focusing on Funko Pops and stuff like that.
If they could price so pop ups or just some interesting shops could be there. Id love to have a place to shop,Also events music something to give it life. It’s just one boring place after another I moved near hear from the city of Boston and I just don’t even think about going there except for Macys . I used to go to Filenes but the suburban stores just sell the most boring stuff. on occasion It’s so mind numbing Lu suburban bore.
This is definitely a dying mall! I’ve only been a handful of times usually when I go to the shops at blackstone valley in Millbury MA, & I was kinda surprised that it was actually such a small mall being one level. I think even the old Lincoln mall in RI was longer. However 11 am anywhere on a Sunday is gonna be dead.
This mall is my local mall and it’s a shame to see it’s in a crap state. The food court had more stalls, and the food court ceiling was much lower originally, and was renovated in probably 2019 or so.
There was some music, but only at the entrances, which I had to cut out of the video. The rest of the mall was quiet like I showed in the video. The mall definitely feels worn out to me. Check out my video on the Eastfield Mall if you want see a very uninviting mall. Thanks for watching!
I was like 5 when this place was booming and music was playing theough out, usually shania twain's "man i feel like a woman".. i would then sit at the food court with my parents, there was a Friendly's, B.K, and still a Chinese joint along with Aunt Annies for pretzels,etc. Spencer's gifts was better back then i think personally..... I went today because Spirit halloween opened in the Sears spot for the season. Honestly the only thing temporarily cool at the mall besides wormtown trading. Other than that everything is a spas and jewelry stores and macys which is too packed with shit. Again i was 5 in the early 2000s and am now 28 in 2023. Born in 95.
This isn’t a dead mall. Sears is gone and the other anchor store is a Reliant Medical center. The middle stores are all full and the mall is crowded all the time.
Well it's dead now it's been the demolished used to go to go to that mall all the time as a kid I think that spot in the food court used to be a Chinese restaurant we would stop at every time seeing those floor tiles was really nostalgic that stripe along the side I don't know why i was so fascinated by it as a kid
Longsuffering death of the mall. It wasn't impressive 10 years ago, and it's a lot worse now. On the bright side though, when I was there over the summer they had a beautiful rock and mineral store. I can't tell you if it was there when you made this video
Thanks for watching! I didn't realize that there were two dead malls with the same name in New England until I filmed this video. Seems very odd to me.
