DEAD MALL - Fort Steuben Mall in Steubenville, OH 

I live in Steubenville and this is so sad! This Mall used to be awesome when I worked there at a few salons over the years.For about 20 yrs, it was the place to go. If you do some research you could see what it used to look like. Beautiful water fountains in the main court, the floors were all tiled and great color schemes. Some of the empty places you looked at were a Walden's bookstore, Auntie Ann's , Spencer's, Macy's, and a few others I can't remember. They are talking of renovating since the bank took over and there's a new manager. We have hopes , but I seriously doubt it.

Ft. Steuben only has a total of about 34 active stores, restaurants, & businesses, including an Army recruiting storefront. Sears closed in 2016, followed by Macy's in 2017. The mall has been up for foreclosure since then, but JCPenney & Walmart remain as the anchors. During it's '80s peak, it had a Circus World (later became Kay Bee Toys), Playland, Aladdin’s Castle video arcade (later became Tilt which was also at SHV), Baskin Robbin’s Ice Cream, York Steak House, Der Dog Haus, Scotto’s Pizza, High Hat Café (now known as The Ville), and an Elby’s (Big Boy).

The store near Verizon was a Walden's. The center of the mall and in front of Penny's used to be occupied by fountains. Toys r Us used to occupy that space with that little Merry go round. The store access from the Hope Church was a Spencer's. Radio shack was beside Verizon and Long John's/ A&W was the first store on your right when you walked through the doors.

Fort Steuben Mall was the greatest achievement of Steubenville Ohio! The late 70's into the 80's is was paradise! I spent most of my childhood and teen years in the Mall. We would get dropped off when the stores opened and stayed till they all closed. We went to movies, got free samples from places like Hickory Farms. Ate great food. Had my first taco at the mall. Sat around the fountains and peopled watched. The entire community use to show up. It was the town center! I made a video talking about it. Also it was a great place to take a date! I would love to go back and spend one more weekend in my Fort Steuben Mall!

Interesting fact on the shifter floor : The mall was built on top of an old strip mine this resulted in the ground moving a little

This use to be such a great mall. Sadly most things in my town has died or been killed. I would give anything to go back to the early 1980's with $20 in my pocket and the day to roam around in my Fort Steuben Mall. We would spend all day Saturday there from opening to closing. Playing in the arcade, going to movies, getting free samples at Hickory Farms. Fishing! They even would fill above ground swimming pools in the mall and stock it with fish and give you a poll. Staying all night while the local tv station broadcast Jerry Lewis telethon. I ate my first taco here. Rode my first escalator. The whole town gathered here each weekend like it was the town square. Those wonderful fountains in the middle of the mall. I post a few vids on my channel where I just ramble about the old days in the mall and try to back up my claim that the greatest achievement of Steubenville Ohio ever was the Fort Steubenville Mall! I would give anything for just one more weekend in the mall in the late 70's or early 80's!

I have to agree Wallie Walmart puts all the little stores out of business for no reason 😡😡😡

You know a mall is struggling when even the kiosks are closed!

That broke down dump Macys ruined hundreds of malls by buying out the competition and bringing in their overpriced junk store. Kaufmanns was a popular Pittsburgh area store, replaced by that junky Macys that everyone DESPISES. They don't get it. Everyone misses Kaufmanns.

I grew up in the area, sad to see this cause I remember what it used to be like in the 1990's. There used to be a huge water fountain in the main center area (think it was one big one and 2 smaller ones on the side) but it was packed, going there as a teenager and 20's to Walden books getting all my Magic the Gathering cards and D&D books, spending hours with my friends in Aladdin's Castle arcade. Spend many Fri/ Sat. nights at the Ville too I remember the chicken salads, it was massive and buried with french fries, lol. Yes you are correct the empty building outside of the were Sears was, was a Sears auto center. i worked there in the (somewhere around 1998-1999ish O.o) on the construction of it.

This Mall was Sold at Auction for 10 million last year, US bank was the only bidder.

CONGRATS..MAN!!!!!!OVER 1100..SUBSCRIBERS. ...LIKE UR BLOOPERS! !!!! KEEP IT UP! !!! THIS BUD'S 4 U ....U ROCK!!!!!!

Great video of a very depressing mall. I visited this mall various times in the 1980s and 1990s on day trips. It was such a nice place.

LIke Aces Adventures great video and great commentary. This mall is on life support and kept alive with JC Penney who if they have a bad holiday season will shut down more stores, maybe here. That creepy messy storefront you went in could have been an optometrist/eyeglass store (Pearle, Sterling optical, doubt Lenscrafters) based on the many file shelves. Best line was when you said Wal Mart is not an anchor. In the caption, and correct me if I misquote, Wal Mart is not an anchor it's a disease. HA!

Cool video man. Keep up the great video work.

Whenever i go there to visit my grandmother in a nursing home. I go to the mall, most dead place ever. Forever ago, this place used to be always full. My grandpa, grandma, my mom, my aunts. When they went there it was full, but stubenville is just dead. Nothing to do there. Most people moved out 5-10 years ago.

Man I've been wanting to get out of this mall for a while now. I can't wait to watch the rest of this video! I'm only three minutes in but I can't keep my eyes open LOL I'll have to watch it in the morning

I went to Bethany college around 06 and I'm shocked at what happened to this mall. It's shocking that over ten years ago the center area of that mall was filled with independent kiosks (typically selling sports memorabilia) now it's empty...I don't live in that area but I have very fond memories visiting this mall

Thanks bro for sharing I grew up in 70 s at this mall...hey day

I live in this city and I remember all the big nights on Halloween where the whole mall was filled with people to get candy. Also that site with the kids signs was a golf and arcade store. I had a birthday there. Sad to see it gone.

I am probably in a gamestop while you were making this video

Some great memories at that mall. So sad to see how it is today.

I am from Steubenville....this mall use to be upscale...there use to be a York Steakhouse in this mall believe it or not.

I grew up here and let me tell you this mall was the place to be on the weekend. Crowded and wall to wall people. Lot's of eateries, shops, things to do. I miss the beautiful water fountains that used to be in the center of the mall. Sad.

I grew up in the area. That was where we went shopping, and it wasn't doing great 25 years ago! There was once a fountain in the center court. That was taken out in the 90s. My mom said back when it opened it was so packed that you couldn't walk down the halls. So sad to see just how dead it is. I live about an hr away now and haven't been to that mall in a couple years. It's went downhill fast!

Thanks for sharing!

The store at the end that you went into was a vision center.

I’ve been waiting for someone to do a video of the Fort Steuben mall! I grew up in that area and I’m pretty sure the store that you went into was a Pearl Vision. That would explain the exam rooms.

You know a mall is going down when the food court fails, if you cannot sell people food, then what can you sell them?

This place is still busier than Fiesta Mall here in Mesa, AZ. Went there right before Labor Day as the mall has less than 10 stores if you count the large Sears and the Dillards Clearance occupying the first floor of its anchor. Torrid, Bath and Body Works, and Hot Topic are among the handful of stores left as a few recent departures include Just Sports, Zales, and a quimcenera dress shop. They just removed the play area, AC in AZ summer is blowing, but probably at 80° or higher. Escalators are also shut off now. This mall was the place to be in the 80s and 90s and now it's living out its last months as new ownerz plan to pump up to $30 million into its conversion to a tech/for profit education with mixed use site. Mall will remain with its roof. The owners were in talks with the man who bought the Macys and Dicks/Best Buy stacked anchor as they both have compatible visions for the mall. The mall will close in 2018.

I will finish watching this video later, for sure! I just feel exhausted, after binging through various RU-vid vids. 2:10 is an old Waldenbooks, btw.

Sal was here too, and he said the mall suffered from sinkholes. That’s probably why that wall was bucking. The store on the outside you couldn’t pronounce was K-ato. The vowels are long. Lol I have that chain near me.

Great video. Thanks.

lol! friggin GNC still kickin :) they're always the last to go! Wow man, even Quizno's couldn't make it. It really is sad to watch these places fall apart, and especially to kn ow that one day malls will more than likely, completely be a thing of the past. All we'll have are these videos we make., to look back on.

From where let supplies plus Catos and Aaron's used to be an 11,000 sq. Ft. Family Toy Warehouse. I worked there for 5years. The mall was amazing then.

That parking lot looked like it was full of pot holes, especially by JCP.

I grew up going there, it’s sad seeing it like that

Yesterday just watched a video of the same mall back in 1974 when it was alive and thriving. Most malls I grew up with were demolished many years ago.

We know we are a dead mall😭 our town is slowly dying and it's the truth, we don't have any power of stopping this. The town population is dying and a lot of stores don't have the money to stay open, so that's why they are shutting down

This was the first mall i went too. The restaurant was LJS and my grand son ate there all the time. Its been going down hill for years before you got there. Yes, very sad thanks to Walmart.

love this video

I talked to my Uncle this morning & I happened to mention the mall to him...He said it is depressing & hardly anybody in it. When I lived there & they talked about building the mall( on strip field land which is why the floors sink) I said that they should not build the mall because downtown Steubenville would die,plus I always enjoyed going to the Beaver Valley Mall(especially Ciro's Top of the Mall restaurant!) I was right-Downtown Steubenville died & the mall did as well!

Nice video wallie

JC Penny used to be on the other end of the building; they moved and took over the old Sear's building. I grew up going to this mall; it used to be a super nice place. The inside floor was tiled nice, the "main square" under the skylight used to have a nice fountain/water feature. There used to be two(!)arcades. One where the recruiting center is, the other next to the old long john silvers. The closed restaurant next to "home made buffet" was a Chi-Chis; "The Ville" was a Big Boy once upon a time. Not sure if they'll do it this year, but for quite a few years on Halloween week they had trick-or-treat at the mall. All the business gave out candy. On that day, there was almost a steady line of people winding from one side to the other. It's sad to see these places go like they do, especially for those of us who remember the way things were. PS: The Dicks building used to be a Hills department store; but Dicks only used 70% of the space. Spirit Halloween used to the other bit, but the inside décor was still Hills.

Great video Walle.....your right to hell with Wal Mart...if wal mart is not a Monopoly than I dont know what is!!!!???

3:12 AHHHH CLAIRES MY FAVORITE STORE TO BUY PUSHEEN MERCH! My friend: we are focusing on a dead mall not Claire’s 😂😂

I grew up in this city. Spent much of my childhood/teen years at this mall and at Beaver Valley. Most people just shop at Robinson Mall (Pittsburgh) now. The store that you went into used to be the old Lens Crafters/Pearle Vision. I used to get my classes there. Haven't been in this mall in about 10 years. I knew it was getting bad, but I didn't realize that it was this bad.

The former Woodville Mall in Northwood, OH (suburban Toledo) was so bad it had floor tiles missing (surrounded by caution tape) and buckets to catch water from the leaky roof. The heat was also shut off due to the mall not paying the bill. Not fun to walk around there in January. It is demolished now. The Tiffin Mall in Tiffin, OH is bad too ( I did a brief video of it). Michigan and Ohio are havens for dead malls.

Well the reason the mall stores are going cause the rent is too dang high and plus you got ppl shoplifting in them stores and also no one cant stay away from drugs long enuff to pass a drug test and also know math and read..

I'm here now since this video was they have covered over all of the empty entrances & the pizza shop is gone. I spent lots of time here as a kid it's kinda depressing to stand and look over at Walmart still active as if nothing happened & this place is just a shell.

I was there for the first time in several months. Several stores have fallen, inclding AT&T and Claires. The VIlle is still open, but eating there is expensive.

There use to be a huge and majestic fountain there in the middle

Dude when you said this makes beaver valley look great you weren't kidding. I live probably 8 min. From the beaver valley mall, but I also live about 10 from Robinson. More often than not I'd drive the extra 2 min. To Robinson lol, it's not quite a dead mall yet, but it isn't as nice as a lot of malls. Steubenville though, yea it's been dead a long time

Spirit took over our dead Sears last year, too, but even they’ve abandoned it for another location. I’m sure the rent was absurd.

15:20 My mom and grandmother both worked at a Merle Norman on the 1990’s at Springfield Mall (now Springfield Town Center) in Springfield, Virginia.

The mall was built on an old strip mine. They did not allow enough time for the land to set, causing the floor to be uneven. Repairs have always been made since it was opened. All anchor business left within the last few years. The mall was just put up for auction recently only to be purchased by the lease holder. Trying to make as much money back as possible. Advancements of online shopping have crippled our area. The roof has always leaked, past owners have charged such high rent it's crashed the mall. It's cold and dead and sad just as the condition of steubenville.

I am sorry to see dead malls, but Walmart is not the entire cause. Failing malls are everywhere. 😔

If you think that is hurting, go to Midway Mall in Elyria Ohio.

I work in the salon inside jcpenney. The mall is so sad anymore . There's a rumor that they're going to abandon the mall in December. I guess we'll see.

See the rent stores have to pay is so high because the mall NEEDS money. It’s so high people can’t afford to pay it.

I came from texas, seen many lively malls. When i started living in steubenville like 2 years ago it had a little bit more but their gone now too. It literally is a dead mall. Gamestop and a few places are there but.. with Walmart beside that mall its pretty much kaput. I heard the owners were charging ridiculous prices to have even a kiosk in the mall too. Its pretty depressing. I thought id see another Parkdale Mall when i went there.. but no..its like everything else in steubenville, Old, decript, and aging aimlessly.

Wow Quiznos when’s the last time you saw that place. I don’t even know if there’s any more Quiznos anymore. I do remember going there with my dad not that location but the one here in Liverpool New York that went out of business and became Chuckleberry’s.

If you want an excellent abandoned mall, come to to Alexandria, Virginia. The old Landmark mall is closed. It was a multi-floored mall. The only store still open is Sears.

Wow, a lot of stores have moved out since the last time I was there.

WallieB26-somebody posted a Super-8/Synch sound of The Fort Steuben Mall in 1974 on RU-vid(I forget the channel) I am in the background of one of the shots!

Oh man my mal :( that restaurant was long john silvers 😰😰😰 I MISS IT SO MUCH

You are right about Wal-Mart is the problem with Fort Steuben Mall's decline!

I can see indoor shopping Malls gone in next 30 years. Most homes are two income families which means people dont have a ton of free time to go out and shop. Online shopping with same day delivery will take it's place.

They added a restaurant! It looks like (from the pics I saw) it's in the stand to the right of that center vacant anchor store.

The last store you went in looked like an optometry office

Westland mall in Columbus OH has been closed now for 8 to 10 years, you should check it out if in area..

10:46 Walmart... sorry to say this but... YOU JUST GOT ROASTED 😂😂😂

that's a shame because the only reason I use to go up there was FYE. One of the best around well was lol

This is a huge mall. Too bad it has gone down to the dumps. I'm surprised there was a Sam Goody. In the late 80's, the stores in our area went bankrupt. Then, Tower Records too.

There used to be Kaufman's there. Does Steubenville still have terrible pollution?

Since this video was released, the Verizon store is gone aswell as the hairdresser place Regis next to the verizon store, that phone case booth is gone... aswell as the Corrados pizza place

EVERYBODY, This is a couple/few years too late, but you should've seen this place in its heyday. From the 1980's to the mid 1990's. Stores galore and packed with people. From closing of the mills, in the mid 1990's, to online shopping/Walmart, it is still there, but nothing like it use to be. I MISS THOSE DAYS!

The good old Ft Steuben Mall use to work in Steubenville area for 5 years. This mall has been dead for awhile.

That spot across GameStop is KB toys or ToysRUs idk but I went there before they closed that store but I don’t remember if it was ToysRUs or KB toys

Bath fitters is still there . You walked past it , it's a little kiosk by kays.

I found the Walmart comment funny, they took over the UK supermarket retailer ASDA in 1999. They hoped the takeover would allow them to compete with the market leader Tesco. Instead they have going through a bad time, having to cost cuts. So it look as if they have caught the disease. Along with Tesco, Sainsbury's and Morrisons they make up the UK big four, the other three have still seeing gains, despite the competition from the German discount supermarket Aldi and Lidl which are doing really well here.

I haven’t been there in a while... just now seeing what happened to my childhood lmao

They are trying to re-do the mall, but it was built weirdly so they have to fix like the format before getting stores I guess

The mall I go to still has a Sears and JCPenny. I hope they survive

Sadly, my favorite mall, Bristol Mall in Bristol, VA closed on Sept 1. It first opened in 1976.

You should go to Bellis fair mall in Washington state, the landlord keeps rising up the rent chasing the renters out and the mall is going down hill fast

There’s an abandoned Pizza Hut not far from that mall. That restaurant was a Long John Silvers and A&W.

Pepsi-Stop? They consider that bunch of soda machines as a retail space. That's desperate. JCPenny is closing a lot underperforming stores. I bet it closes when the lease runs out.

Omg I can't believe it looks like that. I grew up in Steubenville. I left in 2016.I can tell you every store. Is corrodos pizza still there?

3:50 was originally kauffman's and 4:30 was back in the 90s an auntie annes so you were kind of right about it

The buffet thing is specially sad since it got shut down for food violations (they got caught putting food back on the buffet when people left)

I live about an hour and a half from Steubenville, and a lot of malls in Ohio is dying. Ones in St. Clairsville is bad and Zanesville is slowly dying

I haven't been to the Fort Steuben Mall since 1990- I talked to the manager in January,2017 for 30 minutes about Old Steubenville & I requested a "Mall Map" She told me she'd send one out...after not receiving the map, I called back-when I said who I was to the secretary, she apparently told the manager & when the secretary returned,she put me through to her voice mail...It's now November the 14th,& I have not received anything!!!!! The mall should have never been built in the 70's-Beaver Valley Mall was good enough! All the Mall did was ruin downtown Steubenville!!!!!!

You should do Laurel Mall in Connellsville PA

Perhaps if they'd rent to folks who call them, they might have a better chance . . . I tried to rent a space for my organization a few years ago under the old management, but they wouldn't rent to us. Tried again under the new management . . . won't return my calls . . .

this mall is now gone? its been a year has anyone done anything? If you think this one is all shuttered you should visit Hibbing Irongate plaza mall, with a total of 2 open stores, and one eatery. so sad

It's like a ghost town!

I go to the gamestop at that mall all the time but yeah that is sad cause I live near this place and I have gone since I was I dont know how little

I would love to get an autographed photo from you. How could somebody get one?

Manufacturing and the chief industries of the Midwest such as steel and automotive production have virtually halted since 99% of our steel and perhaps 80% of our cars and trucks are made abroad in China or Mexico. Today, few people in the Ohio, Michigan or Indiana area have the money to purchase much in this or any other mall in the area, the stores go out of business. It's a terrible and very sad downward spiral. What's so troubling is that no politician seems to see a way to get us out of this plight. The steel plants are never going to return, neither is the heavy industry. It's gone for good; new companies use robotics if they employ at all so that 25 workers can now do the job of what formerly might have been 500 workers in a plant.