A whole $200 to help arrest and convict anyone damaging the property? I'm in! And that "Pudding's Lair" got a chuckle out of me given I thought it was vandals having oddly spray painted the Pudding's word above for a laugh.
I grew up in Eden and this is so sad to me. I haven’t been in this mall in a very long time. Eden was a mill town and Miller Brewing was there until 2015. It boomed until all the larger mills closed. I remember, when I was a kid, Eden Mall was full and thriving. I have so many memories in this mall. The store with the doors anchored open was Peebles. I agree it’s bizarre to have it open like that.
@@cfuller43 The potential seems to be coming back, now that Purina has taken over the old Miller Brewery and is investing heavily in the property. Housing values (and property taxes) have skyrocketed after being stagnant for the past 15 years or so. This looks impressive until you start adjusting for inflation. I have lived here for 45 years now and this town went from boom to bust, and now seems to be inching back to life again.
There is a mall in Houston that’s been abandoned since the 80s but parts of it have been used for retail so there is a entrance door you can see inside it looks very 80s there is even a store that says waterbed mart
Yep I live very close to that mall. I have some photos of it on my blog. I think only one corridor is still left untouched. The back of that mall was still untouched until a few years ago and still had a Designer Depot sign from the 80's.
Wish I had known you were in the area I would have been happy to give you a tour. Some things in case you're still interested: - The anchor store with the wide open doors in the old JC Penny. I'm not sure why those doors are open and if the locals knew the place would probably had been gutted long ago. Security does patrol the property at night so perhaps they are closed at night or security watches them closely enough to keep people away. - The three anchor stores were: Belk, K-Mart, and JC Penny. K-Mart left a few years after Wal-Mart build a store in town sometime in the late 90s, JC Penny left sometime in the early 2000s, and Belk only closed down a few years ago. - The gokart track was added after the mall died. I think it operated from around 2008 to 2012 or so. - I could probably give you an idea of what the stores are if you're interested. About mid-way between the old K-Mart anchor and the middle of the mall is the location of the old arcade. Walden's books was next to that and the record store and Radio Shack were directly across from it. - The Japanese restaurant is the only thing still there doing decent business. The signage is from a pior restaurant called "Best Burgers" that closed sometime in the mid-2000s. The store directly across from it was the photo shop. - The stores in the center of the mall were two jewelry shops and a pretzel/snack shop. - The sign near the bathrooms offering $200 for reports of vandalism has been there since at least the early 90s. Those bathrooms were the main ones for the public when the mall was thriving. - This mall used to be the location of the Apple festival and would draw so many locals it was impossible to park at the mall itself. That's why they're an Apple logo on the entrance you used to enter. It also drew large crowds most holidays. Especially on Halloween. - The mall was dying by the early 2000s due to Wal-Mart moving to town. It held on pretty well up until 2002-2004. Students from the local high school would often skip classes or go there directly after school because this mall is within walking distance. By the time my younger brother went through school a few years after me the kids had stopped going because most everything that drew them in left town for good. - Most of the small business owners that operated out of this mall moved back to the old main street on the other side of town. So the mall dying didn't totally kill local business although Wal-Mart did a pretty good job of killing a lot of local business between the 90s and early 2010s. - There was a big issue with the stray cat population at the mall for many years because locals were feeding them. Eventually, they were all caught and removed. This may be why the doors are opened back there. The old JC Penny had become a bit of a makeshift shelter for stray animals until the problem was taken care of. - There are also rumors of the local homeless population living in the mall so they might be using those doors for an entrance at night.
Noname That open anchor store was never a JC Penney. When the mall opened, it was Globman’s, which was based in Martinsville, Va. After Globman’s went out of business, closing stores in 3 cities, including their flagship store, Peeble’s occupied the space. Peeble’s later moved to a small portion of the former Rose’s location in Kingsway Shopping Center and still operates there.
@@PurpleBlessingsRMine I don't have a clear memory of the Eden Globmans, for some reason I had remembered it being a Hills before Pebbles, but I can vouch for the original Globmans in Martinsville as a beautiful store. I used to love riding the escalator to the top floor that was almost entirely toys save for a little place where they'd wrap gifts for you, and there was a cafeteria in the basement level. It's weird I can remember the K Mart and nearly everything else but not the Globmans in Eden but nope, no JC Penny. We had one in our liberty fair Mall, though.
Oh no... Eden mall what happened? I haven't been since maybe the early-mid 2000s and though it was pretty barren then, it didn't seem THIS bad. This mall was beautiful and alive in the 80s, especially at Christmas time when the fountains were decorated and there were big animatronic elves etc and a large Santa's Village. It was a special occasion as a kid to go to Eden Mall as it was a little bit of a drive (we lived in Martinsville, VA and didn't have a mall til the late 80s) and there was a large indoor flea market near the mall that we'd hit if we went early on a weekend, too and they had a hot dog and ice cream stand, plus a great restaurant, Chaney's that served breakfast. The actual mall was off the main road, unlike the flea market, though, but you couldn't miss it then like you could now. From memory, there was a Take Ten arcade, or Tilt, one of each in Eden mall and our later local one), for a short time there was a novelty/magic shop (I'm drawing a blank on the name, it had a clock as the sign/logo and "time" in the name I think, along with a pinkish motif, and I think there was a Spencer's later in it's place, but nothing like the ones they have today. The K-Mart was huge and had a cafeteria built into it, there was a pretzel and candy shop with a 50s theme, murals of James Dean, Marilyn Monroe etc and a Great Cookie Shop (though I may be thinking of early Liberty Fair Mall on the cookie store), a little storefront called the Peanut Shack (that may be where I got cookies and candy too come to think of it) that always smelled amazing, a Morrison's cafeteria, the record store Soundshop that I remember getting some good deals on albums at when they phased out vinyl, a pretty big pet store (Pet-Go-Round?) that had a cool dark/blacklight room for the fish that I loved spending time in, a small toy store (I want to say Kay Bees, but again I may be mixing up our later, closer mall's names as I was pretty young when we frequented Eden Mall, our town got it's own mall in '88 but Eden's toy store was still bigger than our mall's) and a Walden bookstore, which our mall didn't get til the late 90s) and some other stores but I have vivid memories of it being alive, exciting, and during holidays, beautiful. I had to go in there ages ago for something DMV related and it was depressing, but it wasn't THIS bad. There were still stores and a couple thriving restaurants in it. I wish there were pics of it in its heyday.
Oh and for people cracking on the Japanese Grill, I can't vouch for it now, but that place was good and one of the only things bringing people to this mall for years.
These vids are so important because they bring out the truth. Our country is undergoing many changes. I would love to see them come back and thrive once again ! Thank you !
This is so exciting and sad to watch. I grew up in this mall. The store @4:00 that you explored was my family’s store. I learned how to ride a bike in this mall and spent every Tuesday wanting to bang my head because it was bluegrass night. I’m not that much older, so it’s sad that it has gone down in the dumps like this so quick. I would love to go back and visit though. Thanks for bringing back the memories.
The Eden Mall is an odd retro gem indeed. What is left of the mall is some fascinating stuff. Anthony, totally on point about the outdoor area of the mall. It's like a creepy location set straight out of the series; "The Walking Dead." AMC should most def look this place up as a future film location for one of AMC's shows. I'm sure the management would give them a great price is right lol.
Eden is a slum town now and the mall use to be filled with businesses and was a really nice place. I grew up here but its a shell of what it used to be.
It seems they just quit caring about everything except for the entrance and interior but even those arnt in good shape. This mall has not even renovated once which is common thing with these smaller community malls. The kmart has likely been closed from the 1990s
@@AcesAdventures1 I watch these types of videos because I find them interesting, including many of yours, some of which I have liked. I wrote what I wrote because I thought it was funny that you said you were going to "stop babbling" and then kept talking for nearly another minute. However, if you would prefer that I didn't watch your videos, that's fine. There are plenty of other channels doing dead mall videos.
population is 15,880. and the name Eden came from William Byrd when he surveyed the area, he looked at the land from above and he says it looks like the wonderful land of Eden...By the mid-eighteenth century, the territory of present-day Eden was within a 70,000-acre (280 km2) estate owned by William Byrd II, a planter of Virginia and North Carolina. He originally called his estate "The Land of Eden"What killed the Eden mall was Walmart. In the 70s and the 80s this particular Mall was booming. It was extremely busy all the time. Walmart killed this small and all the other small mom-and-pop stores like Jones Hardware or leaksville Hardware..
I remember when this mall was thriving with businesses. It was well kept and the center of shopping for people in our county, Pittsylvania county, VA, Henry county, Va. Now it is an eyesore and shame of Eden.
Small town malls never get an update like the big city malls. One theory on why doors to a former anchor is open because movers or contractors are scheduled on site but they gave a large window on when they could be there.
I grew up in Eden, and was a senior in high school when it opened to much fanfare! It was a lovely mall until, of course, all malls started going by the wayside. I left Eden for college and didn’t return except for holidays. And you would head to the mall if you’d forgotten something. And, yes, it’s pronounced Globe-man’s. But even when the mall was active, most people went to Greensboro to shop. And I would imagine many do so now.
I grew up near eden. I remember going to the mall in the late 80's, early 90's, and it was a big deal for us then. It seems like almost every store was occupied at that time.
My thougts are, not so much just the mall, but its like an entire ghost town, like an entire population just up and left, leaving more mystery behind. At least thats the feel I got. Pretty cool original stuff untouched. Love it. 💜💜💜
Lol nah the town is alive barely I live here. Got plenty of food lions, convenience stores, restaurants, and of course Walmart. This is the dead side of town pretty much.
I grew up in Eden NC, in the 80’s that mall was busy, it had all the major typical stores... Belk, KB toys, Arcade, hallmark and many others. Unfortunately the economy relied mostly on Spray Cotton Mills, the headquarters of Karastan was also based in Eden, and a large Miller Brewing plant. All of those businesses are gone now, and with them the money, and many families. It’s sad, but not uncommon in the south when the textiles went overseas.
Glad you could do the tour of the dead malls of the south. Maybe there are other gems out there. This mall looks like it's frozen in 1988. A chandaliar in a department store (doubt it's Blek I mean Belk.) It's like the managers of some of these little malls just give up. Think what saves this mall is the local retailers coming in and, at some places, these little pop up churches.) If someone asks what is a dead mall: show them pics and video from this mall and the last one you filmed. You just get better and good call on passing on the music. Eden is sad and depressing enough. No Garden among malls with this one. Keep that content coming bud
Catman Mark Blanchard my small town has a dead outlet mall, a live outlet mall, a dead indoor mall, and a live outside mall. An hour south of Eden. It’s really strange.
Spent my youth in that mall... There was a 'Game Room' (big video games) where you got 5 quarters for a $1.00 & it was next door to the 'Sound Shop', records & cassettes (I bought Mötley Crüe's, 'Theatre of Pain' cassette there on 1st day of it's release. 1986?) AND USE TO CRUISE AROUND THAT MALL!!! Would be tons of us kids, just driving circles around it, meeting people, blasting our music... Ahhh, the memories... I could keep going... Yes? Ok, I lip-synced to a heavy metal song during a talent show there (where the piano sits in your vid) when I was 14... It was the band, 'Metal Church' and the song was, 'We Watch the Children Pray'. The looks people gave me, priceless. Thanx for your adventure through our broken down memories!
I am wondering if the anchor with the red banner at time 9:26 could possibly have been Circuit City or Staples perhaps. It seems like both of them use red fronts.
I actually live in Eden. The mall is still open with only like 2 or 3 stores running. People use it now to use like a walking trail. When belks closed 2/3 years ago, that waa really the end of it.
Nothing is going to help Eden until the businesses here start acting like customers are valued. Worst customer service anywhere, yes even the antique store.
Great video! Have you ever filmed the CarrMill Mall in Carrboro, NC? Now that is one small mall. It was once the Alberta Cotton Mill in the late 1800's but has been this tiny mall since the 1970's at least.
Dude I’ve been in that mall 100000 times it’s not creepy it’s just old. The mall shut down due to low income. I’ve lived there all my life 0-0 and I’d think I’d know if it’s haunted
I grew up in Eden in the 80s during the mall’s heyday. Walden Books, Hallmark, Belk, Kmart, Orange Julius, a toy store, a music store, many restaurants through the years. The popular hangout for teens was Take Ten, an arcade (back when they were all the rage).
I am a long time resident of Eden. Remember when the mall opened. It was a bustling place. Your could hardly walk thru the place during business hours. the the Christmas holidays were impossible. combination of the loss of textiles to china, and of course on line purchasing did it in. Unfortunately malls across the country are barely hanging on.
While you were there you should have driven to High Point, NC and toured Oak Hollow Mall. Now owned by High Point University, OHM has a very brief, but interesting history.
Ace's Adventures, bummer. I wasn't sure what changes, if any, took place since the HPU purchase. This would have been a good one because even though the mall died it was never abandoned and managed to stay on life support until the sale. Most of the spaces were exactly as they were the day it opened.
I've been by the mall up in Eden, the fact that there were malls in nearby Danville and Martinsville, VA, is what killed the traffic at the Eden Mall. Pebbles has recently moved up the road, and Belk has probably closed down recently, thanks to the renovated stores in Greensboro and Martinsville (and that location was in a mall that's now converted into a strip center). Kmart was part of the mall til the first closings in the mid-90's, if I remember right, and more recently, part of the mall was a multi-use auditorium/sports complex. I can't see the mall standing much longer, especially since the Eden economy hasn't been that good in years.
If someone would have told me 20 or even 10 years ago that Eden Mall would outlive Martinsville's Liberty Mall I'd have never believed it. It still seems wrong that it's just another boring strip mall. Haven't been to the Danville mall in years but it was never the same after they took the giant fountain out. I hope it's hanging in there, though. Funny part of the Eden one is now an auditorium as the Martinsville mall was an auditorium/event center before it was a mall (and a giant swimming pool before that but that was before my time) I remember seeing the Kazim Shriner Circus there about a year before they tore it down to build the Mville mall.
Lots o' buckets - 'nuff said, how do you arrest rain? Yeah, I've seen ''internet cafes'' with slot machines, they use the computers for gambling too. It's a time machine alright, that décor shouts early 70's.
The Eden Mall was built at the very tail end of the mall craze back in 1980. Back then, every city that wanted respect had to have a mall, so someone built one in Eden. It actually did pretty well for around ten years then went into a death spiral like most small town malls did. Today there are even fewer tenants than there were when this video was made, and the only reason the mall still exists is because it would be too expensive to demolish it, and the land it sits on isn't worth that much. The roof has needed repair for at least the last ten years (notice all those buckets on the floor for catching rain water), but even the cost of repair can't be justified by the tiny income it derives for the owner. In fact, odds are the landlord loses money every day this mall stays open, but would probably lose even more if they closed it since most of the costs would be the same if there were no tenants. The amazing thing is that it hasn't become the world's largest graffiti covered crack house by now. But I suppose that is due to the local people being generally civilized and law abiding. If it was located somewhere where land was scarce and worth a lot more, then someone would demolish it and put the land to some better use. But this is Eden, and not Charlotte.
It's not a deli. The sign is old from a previous tenant. It has had a few good restaurants there but can't get the traffic to support itself. It sits empty now.😑
Reminder that NC is a big state. In NC my whole life but had never heard of Eden. Funny you mentioned Wal-mart because these areas are probably too small even for that. Wal-mart coming to my small town on the coast back in the day pretty much killed the mall and lots of other businesses.
Did your family ever buy Fieldcrest sheets or washcloth or towels. You ever hear of karastan rugs. Huge in the textile industry. Even every Miller bottle made in the late 70s 80s and early 90s had the name Eden North Carolina on the bottle Miller came here and 77 or 78
You would think the owners of these dead malls would be trying to attract more aspiring restaurants, bars, movie theaters and music venues and basically attempting to turn their buildings into giant party centrals. It is obvious at this point that small retail stores comprising their business model is no longer sustainable, so you would think at least some of them would try for the experience market.
I Live there and it's amazing they haven't torn the place up! I remember the Apple festivals they had for many years. Also, you forgot to tell of the strip mall they built right next to it, or if you did I didn't hear it. Food Lion still there and the Morehead High School is what a 1/4 mile if not less. Belk stuck it out the longest they must have given them a great deal to do it.
That old anchor with the doors tied wide open looks like an old Service Merchandise store to me. You would walk into most stores in the jewelry section -- sporting goods and toys would be to the left. Electronics would be directly behind the jewelry section with the silent sam order terminals on the walls.
My sister died there, and I was born nearby. A few years ago me my brother and my mom went to visit her. I remember being excited to finally get to visit her. Once I got there though I was kinda bummed about the state of the town. The people there were very nice. The scenery is beautiful and I left hoping someone some day would invest and turn it into the town it could be. Sad to see there seems to be less there now than last time I saw it.
Growing up in West Virginia as a kid these types of "mini malls" everywhere . and yes I worked in one of those mini gambling places called mimi's in a crnap mini mall like this. Most started turning into strip malls now , inverting the original platform. There so many out there. i find it sad and i miss those places but their a hot mess
That entry way is no garden of eden. Adam & Steve even gave up on the place. Seriously though, the doors might be open if and when humidity outside is lower than that inside.
I live here, all I remember when the mall was still barely operating in the late 90s, when I was 4-5 years old, was a book store where my brother and I would get comics and then the brick center where old people would sit and do nothing. So, as far as I know, it was never a "happening" place lol
