CHARLESTON TOWN CENTER: Oasis in the Hills 

This is actually a great Channel. I've been binge-watching your videos all night. You do a great job with all the research you do & put together great videos. Sal recommended your channel to me. So glad he did. I am currently doing laundry and I'm about to have another video of yours on playing in the background as I do it. Thanks for keeping me company tonight as I do my Sunday chores before the new work week. Take care and I look forward to your next video!

First of all, another great journey cruise director. This is a mall I’m very familiar with as it was the go to destination. We have a mall in my hometown of Parkersburg, but this was the ultimate in shopping mall destinations in the ‘80s and ‘90s. I was last there Christmas shopping with my Daughter in 2018, and it looked like one that could be on the bubble for troublesome times. COVID 19 likely doesn’t help. I had no idea the Macy’s was gone. That leaves JCP as the last anchor. I don’t remember Eldet-Beerman ever being in here. However, when it first opened, Best was open where Rack Room Shoes is now. E-B was in former Kanawha Mall south of here. My memories of driving down there from Parkersburg included going to Camelot for hard to find music, the arcade in Picnic Palace, and eating pizza at Grazziano’s. All three are unfortunately gone as is Bennigan’s which was where Panera is now. Great work on this journey as always

I like the graphic at the opening of the video that shows the data about the mall (e.g. current occupancy rate).

I remember spending many days at a packed Charleston Town Center as a teenager in the early and mid 90s

Love the masked unicorn at the end. Cute but important touch.

This was a very sad video for me to watch. I worked for the partner developer (Forest City Enterprises) for over 30 years and this was always my favorite mall in our portfolio. I went there in 2012 to photograph the new renovations for our photo files of our retail properties. I was there during a weekday and the mall was absolutely packed! It was great to see that. At that time the mall was somewhere around 95% occupied. I was sad to learn we were not keeping the 3-story fountain with the renovation. It was spectacular. You can find images of it when you Google the mall. I was told it simply was not cost effective to keep it and it was very loud. Quite frankly I would rather hear the sound of a waterfall than the generic mall music. It's sad to see so many malls dying today, but with the super convenience of online shopping it's easy to see why. However, I also feel (along with the International Council of Shopping Centers) the U.S. is ridiculously greedy and has way overbuilt shopping centers. In 2018 the U.S. had 23.5 square feet per person in retail space, compared to places like Canada with 16.8 square feet and Australia with 11.2 square feet. And, why do mall developers act like a heard of sheep and always "follow" the other guy? You hit the nail on the head with the "usual" bunch of retailers in the mall. I believe malls (or any retail compilation) should reflect the area, with nationals carefully sprinkled in. Malls make that almost impossible because of their ridiculously high rents. Locals simply cannot afford them. So, instead of creating something unique that will attract and keep people coming, you get the same old retailers everybody and their brother have. Nothing to distinguish you from the guy across town. No vision. Now, all of a sudden, mall owners are scrambling to come up with ways to be unique. Go figure. Too little, too late--corporate America is just plain stupid at times. I think because of Charleston Town Center’s competition being so far away and its location being in the state’s capital, with some creative thinking and research it has the potential to be an awesome case study of a mall’s, and city’s successful urban redevelopment. I think they should contact the ULI (Urban Land Institute) to get the ball rolling. (Sorry for the lengthy response.)

I like nice-looking, and it seemingly blends classic aesthetics with a touch of modern design. I also think the "Simonizing" of mall design and aesthetics would make for a good discussion topic video.

That is a nice mall, I really like the way the mall feels very spacious. Hopefully they can get the anchor spaces up and running again.

Grew up here, went here a ton as a kid, even worked there for a bit in college. There was a sweet video arcade where that DMV was in the food court. The main thing the fountain was, was loud!

Stone & Thomas/Elder Beerman was in the Kanawha Mall. Kanawha Mall was at the eastern end of Charleston untill it shut down several years ago and became a shopping center with all exterior facing stores.

Love the gold trim on the Sears entrance.

As a Charleston native, and someone who was born in 1983, I really enjoyed your video. I grew up in this mall. I remember my first grade class went there to sing Christmas carols. It used to be larger than life. I think the advent of online shopping was the mall’s kiss of death. There was a shooting there circa 1989-90 too, which was a black eye on the mall. They still pack the house on Black Friday, but it looks like your video 95% of the rest of the year. I’m wanting to say Stone & Thomas was indeed two floors. S&T had another store right across from the main post office (like a half mile away from the mall) that was HUGE. It had 4 or 5 floors. They used to have some killer deals there. Once a year, they’d have a 50% off PLUS another 50% some items. My Mom would do a whole year’s worth of shopping in one day lol.

Very pretty place. Modern and not bland. I hope it stays open. I love your commentary and filming. I haven't watched a dead mall video in awhile because they've slowed down due to no one's fault but covid. Thank you for taking the time to continue to bring us awesome videos. 👍

As a West Virginia expat who has been living in Philly since 2013, I commend you choosing the Charleston Town-Center as a general mall showcase. I always enjoyed this mall more than the Huntington (Barboursville) Mall, even though I was a Huntington resident for 21 years. I look forward to future updates. You just grabbed another subscriber. :)

Great to see you back great job! Been missing my cruises 🚢

I was amazed to see anyone in the mall and stores open. Malls in California closed when the Covid cases spiked after they reopened in late May or early June.

Late to this video, my grandparents lived in Huntington, I was at this mall and watched the premiere of Back to the Future that day.....the feels.

Great video as always, I know this year really sucks but your videos makes things much better!

Omgosh Kristin, I love this mall. It seemed so open and airy and convenient! So smart to have the Hallmark next door to the post office, a public library, it looks so open. Loved this as usual!

Man you have no idea how cool that glass elevator and waterfalls area was at Christmas time! Well for an 18-30 yr old in the 80-90's it was the only place where work was literally our social media,tinder,and afterwork bar hopping jumping off point. Yes the CTC green charge card. Worked there frome 85-98. "Stones " was briefly in the mall I believe where Montgomery Ward and Best Products were. Taking most of the second floor space each previously occupied. Might be mistaken though because of the short time they were open there. If you want to know a lot of the early cool 80's stores, I still have most memorized categorical by ex-girlfriends.😎

Great video as always!!! You're the best

Great looking mall, Oasis is well chosen. It looks so inviting, I could grab a book and hang out there to relax a bit.

I actually hate malls!!! But, this one is really beautiful!!! I was born and raised in South Williamson for 10 years, then 6 years in the Ransom/Blackberry area. (About 2 hours from Charleston-Well, 2 hours bc before the extra roads and interstates, it's probably only an hour now..lol). My brothers moved us to Ohio to find work safer than the mines in 86 and I haven't Been down south in 27 years, with no desire to return...Unless it's to visit my mom's grave or my ashes put in her grave.

I worked at Deb shop in the 90's. You should have seen it them. It was so really cared for. Hope you enjoy WV.

I like the idea of putting offices in malls. Like you said, it creates linch hour business.

Another video from one of our FAVORITE VIDEOGRAPHERS (I really mean it!)... Kristin, As I've stated in the chat A MALL DOESN'T NEED TO BE DEAD FOR YOU TO COVER IT . It just needs to be covered FOR POSTERITY before it changes. See that you moved to WV; interesting... "Simon-styled bleaching", it seems they do "bland" a lot of the malls they touch. Fortunately they seem to not touch much Plaza Carolina (the only "regular mall" they own over here)... Don't worry, Kristin! Bad service is bad service wherever, OK?

I forgot to mention the credit card you mentioned. It was the Charleston Town Center card. It was not accepted by the five department stores (if you count BEST Products which was located in the space that eventually became Stone and Thomas and then Elder - Beerman, followed by Steve and Barry's) but other stores in the mall would. All I remember was it had a 12% APR as other cards were moving to 18% or more. I think the card was administered by a small bank in Putnam County. I don't remember how long the card was around.

Awesome video! Some of our family members used to live in WV and we love visiting that area every single once in a while to look at the old coal towns. Do not know if you will be in the upstate of SC anytime soon but you should visit Anderson Mall in Anderson, SC and Greenwood Mall in Greenwood, SC if you have the chance. Greenwood Mall opened as the 316,000 Cross Creek Mall in 1979 and was built by Jim Wilson and Associates. It started with 2 major anchors (Gallant Belk and JC Penney) and 2 ancillary anchors (Meyers-Arnold and Wilson's Showroom). This mall never had an expansion and was purchased by Hull Storey Gibson in the early 2000's. Hull Storey Gibson would then do the only ever renovations in 2002. This mall still has some of its original design features left, including their detailed gardens near the entrance of JC Penney and Belk. Wilson's became Service Merchandise in 1985 and Meyers-Arnold became Upton's a couple of years later. The whole Upton's chain closed in 1999 and Service Merchandise went bankrupt in 2002 so the locations at the mall closed, along with all the other store's of both of those chains. Later on in the 2000's, the Upton's space was redeveloped into TJ Maxx, Michael's, and Shoe Department Encore. However, the Service Merchandise space, due to being at the back of the mall, did not become retail. It ended up becoming a Sykes call center but that closed in 2018. However, in 2020, it was announced that Dynata as going to put a call center in that space. Chick-fil-a, who had a location in the mall for a long time, also ended up moving out of the mall and to an outparcel in front of the mall. The JC Penney closed in July of 2019 and has not had a new tenant in it since. The Michael's store closed in January of 2021 due to underperformance. The only anchors left are Belk and TJ Maxx. There is 12 tenants left inside the mall. This mall is a dead mall, however it is not as extreme as other cases I have seen on your channel (including Signal Hill) and I think the future of this mall would probably be Big Box Retail with no inside. Anderson Mall opened in 1972 with 3 anchors (JC Penney, Meyers Arnold, and G.C. Murphy). It started with around 200k/300k square feet but went through an expansion in 1984 (first announced in 1982) that added Gallant Belk, Sears, 2 additional wings with those stores, and a food court which brought the size or the mall up to its current size of 671,000 sqft. Meyer's Arnold became an Upton's after the Meyer's got purchased by them and then became a Belk's Men and Home Store. The GC Murphy brand got bought out by Ames in the 80s. Here, from the research I found, it becomes unclear if it became an Ames Store then became JC Penney or if JC Penney just ended up replacing them. The Belk Men's and Home Store (front left anchor) closed in 2007 to make way for a new Dillard's store. The succesful main Belk Store (rear left anchor) stayed and had the men's section consolidated into the main store and had a portion of their wing turned into the Home store. The Sears (rear right anchor) closed in July of 2018 and has not been filled since due to it being at the back of the mall. Rural King, a farm and home store out of Illinois, was looking at it but passed on it and is now looking at redoing another shopping center on the other side of town for their 1st SC location. Chick-fil-A closed their Anderson Mall location in early 2021, due to not seeing the demand of having 2 Chick-fil-A's on that one corridor. They are now looking to replace that Chick-fil-A with a new standalone location in another part of town. JC Penney (front right anchor), along with five other SC locations, was on the chopping block in May of 2020 but ended up being one of only 5 or so getting removed from an updated closure list. They are now on an extra 5 year lease plus another 3 years remaining with the option to renew. Meanwhile, Dillard's is currently in the process of extending their time with the mall for another 10 years but it is not a lease since they own their space. Belk is performing well. Books-A-Million is also performing well. So, at its current, the Anderson Mall has 3 out of 4 anchor spaces filled (Dillard's, JC Penney, Belk) with the Sears space still empty and 1 Junior Anchor (Books-A-Million). There is currently around 55 stores in the mall compared to it starting at 43 stores at its start and 75 stores at its peak (after the expansion). This mall has been, since its opening, a center point of the community located right off of the most major corridor in the Western Upstate. This mall is the only mall that has ever been within a 30 mile radius and this mall, along with Anderson in general, has always been the main shopping destination for Northeastern GA as well. It is located along a strong retail corridor wit hardly any vacancies. I would not 100% consider it a dead Mall since it is running at around 70/80% occupancy and the current stewards of the mall said that they are currently talking to some chain and non chain tenants to take over some of the empty spaces. However, I still think it would be worth for you to visit. It has been renovated multiple times but here is still parts of the old look intact throughout the mall. As a fun fact, the first McDonald's to open in the state of SC (opened in 1962) is located right across from the mall and has never moved. Also, the first Harley-Davidson dealer, Toyota dealer, and the first KFC in the state of South Carolina are also not far from this mall. I have multiple photos of the mall before the expansion, after the expansion, as construction for the expansion was going on, a construction rendering photo for the back then "new" Sears, photos of the McDonald's during construction and after opening, photos of the old theater that has not been there since the 90s, and more. One last thing about Anderson Mall. Simon Property group bought it in the early 2000s but the property was part of the spin off of 90 or so Simon Malls to the new Washington Prime Group brand in the 2010s. However, as of early 2021, Washington Prime Group is going through a bankruptcy of one of their LLCs that owns 10-20 malls in which will all be auctioned off in a month or two. This includes Anderson Mall who, just like all the other malls a part of this, is temporarily being managed by Woodmont Property Group out of Fort Worth, Texas until the auction occurs. It is expected Anderson Mall will find a buyer though, do to its occupancy rate.

I have come to love your channel. I’ve been following a lot of mall explorer youtubers and you’re definitely one of my favorite. I remember doing missionary work in Charleston WV and we spent some time at this mall after working all morning and afternoon. Was a bit more lively 10 years ago..

This breaks my heart, I grew up there in the 90’s and the waterfall that used to be there flowed from the top floor to the bottom. It is so deserted when it used to be constantly busy 😢

The garage is owned and operated by the urban development government group, not the mall. The cornerstone stores are also independently owned which complicates things further. The three of them have to invest and work together on things which never works.

These are one of those feel good malls you actually want to hang out at! Good juju here! Better then the boring white Simon malls that look like they have been decorated by a middle aged, bald man with a mid life crisis...

This was probably the closest mall to my hometown and I have great memories of going there during the weekend with my parents and brothers! We would usually stroll around the mall and shop and eat at Bennigan’s Irish pub style restaurant on the lower level. They had an ice cream shop close to the mall on an old brick lined street that had horse drawn carriage rides going up and down!

I’m 99% sure Stone & Thomas was two stories. But there was an actual S&T building like 8 blocks down the street that was massive. Like 3 stories.

As someone who works at this mall, all I have today is that it might look pretty, but it’s awful. In so many ways. Because of the management, the security, the drug addicts and theft. It’s insane.

The Charleston Town Center is a microcosm for the state of West Virginia as a whole. Used to be a booming state, now it has gone way downhill and many people and businesses have left the state. In some ways, it seems like there's no helping WV.

What a beautiful mall! Who SAYS a mall can't make it with no anchors, especially if the anchors are converted for "other use?" And, apropos of nothing, but still worth mentioning, "Picnic Place" was the name of the food court in the Rolling Acres Mall...ahem, yes. Another entertaining, well-made video!

4:06 I'm pretty sure that type of cluster growing palm is Rhapis Excelsior - or Lady Palm. A rather pricey slow growing potted indoor palm, and one that size would cost a fortune!

I’m digging your content!! I found you yesterday, just subscribed and I’m working my way through your videos, keep it up please!

Very nice if I ever get to go back home I will go there.

This mall really should try to attract Boscov's, into one of the vacant anchor spaces. It wouldn't be that far of a leap for them to add a store here, when they already have a presence in western Pennsylvania and eastern Ohio. Maybe for all I know, even try to attract Round One or Dave and Buster's to open here? As for downtown malls in Chicago, Water Tower Place and North Bridge are still doing well. Chicago Place is dead except for Saks, and Block 37 has struggled since it opened to be successful. And I get a weird sense Circle Centre in Indianapolis might be vulnerable to struggling further, but I hope that mall doesn't have that fate. Plus I totally agree it'd be better to have free parking, over a small $1.75 fee. I agree with you that Charleston Town Center is lucky it doesn't have a lot of shopping center and mall competition, nearby. Finally, was 3:24 an ex-Sears? If so, good to see it doesn't have the typical inside tile entrance look, too many of their stores have.

At least a handful of the remaining stores, there when this was filmed, are now closed. I used to work here x2 and now live in another state. Its so sad to see it decline as I've had many memories here. I grew up going here.

The food court had an awesome arcade in the late 80s early 90s.

This mall use to have one of the coolest fountains and they gutted it. This has been a sad trend in malls where they take out the fountain and replace it with nothing or a Starbucks. Ironically it tends to hurt the mall more. The Berkshire Mall in PA is a prime example.

Seeing this a year later and most all these places are gone. No place to even buy that greeting card.

Great great video

Their parking system was a load of bs. They charged mall employees to park there. There were times the card reader wasnt working. I didnt have cash and the attendant wouldnt let me through even though I had to get in there and open my store. I would have to back up and pull into metered parking, run all the way up to my store and grab quarters, run back down to my vehicle, pull out of the garage and circle all the way around the mall and pull up to the attendant again. If you work about 5 days a week you would spend over $400 a year just to park. Some of the attendant are incredibly rude too.

This was such truly an amazing video Kristin!

it use to have a big 3 tiered fountain until the mid 2000's You could here the water almost all over the mall. I remembered it as a kid they said it was costing alot to maintain

This was sort of a "vacation" mall for me as a kid in the early to late 90s. My family didn't go to Charleston often (it's about a two hour drive) but we often stopped there on the way to or from Myrtle Beach during summer vacations, and occasionally there would be events at the nearby convention center we'd attend. I remember in 1989 going for a Disney On Ice production of Peter Pan, and a few years later, a show featuring really impressive animatronic dinosaurs. The food court area was always the most memorable part of the mall for me, with the glass elevators, fountain, and food selection beyond what I was used to at other malls. I recall in one corner there was a Great Steak and Fry Company, and another corner had a McDonald's, and just next to the stairs/escalators was a Greek place selling gyros. My last visits were in the early 2000s; I remember shopping at Babbage's and Sam Goody, one of the last few times I bought audio cassettes.

Stone and Thomas used to have a huge store downtown until the late 90’s, when they were bought by Elder Beerman (I think), They did move into Town Center for a short time, but it was such a downgrade from the nice downtown store that it didn’t last long. I don’t remember if they ever switched the Town Center location to an Elder-Beerman or simply shut it down. That area later became a Steve and Barry’s and looks like it’s now Rack Room. The waterfall was pretty awesome. That whole area near center court would smell like chlorine, though. It was cool nevertheless. They used to have a guy that played piano up at the food court during busy lunch hours. I can’t recall his name, but he passed away several years ago. That Hallmark has been there forever. There used to be a Petland beside it -- back in the olden days when you bought your puppies at the mall. I was also told that if you go out the food court exit to the Lee Street garage there’s a roof access point that has a nice view of downtown. Thanks for filmimg this - I moved away several years ago and was wondering how Town Center was faring.

I'm a bit disappointed it wasn't a dead mall, but having skylights, plants and a fountain made up for a good part of it. As always, I love that awful mall-sounding music.

As far as my hometown mall in the 80s, don't believe the Albany Mall ever had one. It was a smaller mall, given that town in GA didn't have ene 65k for its popularion in Albany proper.

Can go either way really, hoping for the positive direction of course Fantastic presentation as usual

I certainly would have expected this mall to have had a Stone and Thomas. Stone and Thomas was THE West Virginia department store. It was a sad day for the state when we lost them.

With national chains pulling out before bankruptcy there needs to be either local businesses or a “incubator program” for new businesses. That parking booth needs to be moved out forward before you get to the “automated ticket system” so the booth becomes a “help desk” of sorts. Just my 2 cents worth🤔

Good story of your parking experience. Sadly some employees will never succeed in life.

Never knew there was a Christopher Banks and a C.J. Banks.

It's kind of funny. Some things in West Virginia just freeze in time. I don't think anybody will take a chance on trying to build a new shopping center or mall in the Charleston area, so I won't be shocked if that keeps Charleston Town Center alive. And because it is so hilly around there, I don't think anyone would want to undertake that kind of construction project.

I’m shocked that the Town Center has empty store fronts, and a 55% occupancy rate. It is in a great location, and had plenty of stores when it opened.

I live in Putnam county right between Charleston & Huntington. I used to split time between both malls. Been a while since I've been to either, but last time I was out and about the Huntington mall seemed to be doing a bit better than Charleston. The thing I like the best about Charleston though is the proximity to the Civic Center (next door). Before & after a concert, basketball game, or whatever at the civic center, the mall is PACKED! Cheaper parking and wide selection of restaurants.

Allegheny Center mall was in the city and had pay parking but stores would validate and it was free. It was still a pain even though it wasn't about the money. Nice to see people wearing masks, I was in St Clairsville Ohio a couple of weeks ago and no one was wearing them.

Montgomery Ward was also planned to be Dillard’s but it didn’t due to rent debacles

Nailed another one Kristin! I’m so far behind in my watch list but I wanted to be sure and catch this one. Glad I did. It’s deceiving and it’s gotta be a challenge for you, the documentarian: How much of a mall’s current traffic flow is due to Covid and how much is due to “no one goes to malls anymore?”

You mentioned not being able to find much history of Charleston Town Center. Here is link to some stories from WCHS-TV aired at the time of the mall's opening: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-u2mT58ZaDKs.html. One of the stories includes some clips of the fountain and three-story water fall. I was a regular customer of the mall when I lived in Charleston and worked there for three years, first at Montgomery Ward and then BEST. I hate to see its current condition and hope it can be made a retail center it once was. A times I get the feeling that the "powers that be" would love to see the entire mall demolished and replaced with some sort of crummy open-air strip shopping center.

welcome to West Virginia !

I inadvertantly got a parking ticket there 10 or so years ago, while pulling out a wheelchair for my dad and going through all that rigermorol, I forgot to feed the meter...Oopps....$10.00 parking ticket.. Grrrr

We were just in Charleston not long ago!

Don’t see this too much anymore except for woodfield mall in my neck of the woods.70% it is a Simon Mall.stratford square in bloomingdale is at 30%.with about 5 restaurants in their food court out of 9.even their Red Robin is closed.not so sure its temporary even though it says so on the website.Spring Hill Mall just lost their Macy’s and Sears anchors just before the pandemic.their occupancy is about 30% as well. hawthorn mall is about 40% not counting their food court.and Northbrook court is being redeveloped and will be down to only one original anchor.Neiman Marcus.their Lord and Taylor anchor just announced they were closing this afternoon.

I've never heard of a Mall Credit Card. 🤔

JcPenneys is definitely on the decline, the one here in Reno, NV is looking like Sears before it closed, the racks are not full, the store is messy and there are ominous empty sections, not to mention the employees are obviously not doing much 'upkeep'.....trouble is brewing.

Looks like too nice a mall to be dying

Top quality kitty! Would pet! 13/10 0:18

Would now surprise me if a Simon & Brookfield type credit card is on its way back with their combined retail investment trust now owning several inline store brands.

Is this mall still open?

UUUUUNNNNIIIIICCCCOOOOOMMMM!!!!!

Charleston WV...what an awful place to live

Notification squad

Thanks I’m all caught up. Thank you for not being a selfie RU-vidr. For an example it would be funny watching you try and fit the mall in the frame with your head at the same time while you talk about what’s going on with the mall. If you’re looking for other content malls we have one One of your dead mole RU-vidrs got it about two years ago the Cranberry mall in Seneca PA. And there’s the Clarion mall in Clarion PA. You miss The Meadville mall in Meadville PA they tore that down and made it in a veterans hospital. In a way it’s sad it’s kind of depressing I can always remember on the weekends wanting to go to the mall that was the thing let’s go to the mall. Now if you want something pick up your phone find it order it pay come home after work a couple days later and there it is sitting on your front porch now.

I'm hearing the mall isn't doing very well. Charleston is going downhill.

They destroyed downtown Charleston for this hollow monstrosity. I loved downtown. Stone's and the Diamond up to Frankenberger's. There was everything you could want. I shopped in May Shoe Company. People don't know what it is to go into a shoe store an be helped like that anymore.

I haven't been to this mall since 2013. My parents and I made this mall a pilgrimage every summer we traveled to Charleston whether it was for minor league baseball, the nearby casino and race track or just to get out of Columbus for a while.