DEAD MALL SERIES : • Dead Mall Series MUSIC : catsystemcorp.bandcamp.com SHOP : www.ShopDanBell.com SUPPORT : / thisisdanbell FB : / thisisdanbell TWIT : / thisisdanbell IG : / thisisdanbell Photographed and Edited by Dan Bell
Attention! Completely remastered episodes of the Dead Mall Series are now being archived in 4K at ru-vid.com/show-UCfCM_TfrSDMkkMpKuLNWuXA. The remasters have gone through an extensive AI Enhancement process as well as proper sound mixing and colorization. This Dead Mall Series Remastered project has been made possible through viewer support on Patreon. Go over now and watch in glorious 4K. ENJOY!
Just realized some of the opening was from Franklin Mills commercials!!! I spotted the Ben Franklin kite on the shopping bags! We used to go there when I was a kid to buy all the best husky dork back to school clothing at the JCP outlet! 😂🎉🎉🎉
funny to see you comment here, lgr. the video you did of walking through a dead mall (i forgot the name of the mall) got me googling dead mall videos and this is where i end up.
The segments of 90's nostalgia in the beginning followed by immediate cuts to old, dusty, run-down and customer-less malls just knocks me on my ass every time. I think it's a reminder that the "good days" (whatever they might be) are over. Time isn't prejudiced, nor is it biased of who gets to inherit the earth - it simply doesn't care. Times change, people move on. If we've learned anything from our biology, it's that evolution will conquer us and the young will eat the old.
@@lubabe6642 I think it was a joke, bud. Bath and body works is famous for being one of the last remaining stores in every single dead mall. It's one of the cheapest to operate business models since they only ever need 1 employee there at any given time.
I've lived in Owings Mills my whole life, and hearing that the mall was getting shut down was very depressing for me and my friends. When my friend showed me this channel, I immediately searched for this video to see if you had been to the Owings Mills mall before it closed. Seeing the empty and broken mall made me extremely nostalgic and upset. I used to hang out at the food court with my friends all the time, so seeing that part of the video made me tear up a little. I just wanted to say thank you for making this video, and doing my hometown mall justice with this outstanding look at what is used to be before it became a pile of dirt
There's something post-apocalyptic about these videos. You come away feeling like the 80s and 90s were this time when things were basically OK and people only had to worry about trivial shit. Whereas now we live in an era when things are abandoned and in ruin and the concerns of that era feel quaint. And isn't that, well, kinda how so many of us feel? I think that's a big part of why so many people are drawn to this type of content. It's the ruins from our memories. From when the world felt better.
Heck, I wasn't even alive in the 80s and 90s (well, the tail end of the 90s I was alive) and I kinda wish I could go back in time and see these places in their glory years. Or what the world in general was like. There needs to be a word for "nostalgic about a time you never lived in"...
The 80s and 90s had a real sense of optimism. It was the beginning of “the future” - things were new and exciting. Music was innovative, movies were original and fashion was daring. People embraced the birth of the home computer and the arrival of the internet. Little did we know it would be the internet that would account for the closure of these stores. Let’s hope our social interactions are not a relic of the past too. Get off Facebook and actually go out and meet people again in person!
Yes, and back then, you didn't have to really worry about getting shot or mugged in the parking lot. "Lockdown" wasn't heard at schools. Fear has been driven into people from politicians so everyone has suspicions about everyone else.
This is like a dismantling of me. I made my mall pilgrimage as a kid; Typical Saturday I saw a bargain matinee, got my chocolate chip cookies, went to the toy store and drooled over the Tamaiya model tanks I couldn't afford!
Something about this is just..I've been watching your dead mall videos for about a year Dan and..I'm totally blown away each and every time. I mean, it's like your videos hold some magical quality between your alluring voice and the haunting atmospheres and it comes together to make this powerful thing that instantly calms and inspires. Keep doing what you do, Dan, I love your videos!!!
Also I had a serious wtf moment at 8:33 when the power was suddenly on and people were walking around, then I remembered that you had previously filmed this mall before it shut down!
That's how it starts, unfortunately. I live in Baltimore, Maryland and about half of the malls of the 90s are gone. Some on their way still. In all honesty we should be supporting local shops and businesses. Sure malls were cool and it is an almost undefined time period, with wacky colors, store jingles, and more options than could ever catch on. It's not worth the energy, materials, power, etc. put into it. A few places like the U.S., U.K., and Ozzyland could only reach that feeling by squeezing it out of others misery. There are better ways. It's sad, but it will get worse before it gets better.
Lmao bath&body works only close when the mall says this is not a mall anymore and you are not allowed to run a shop here. Otherwise they would still be running.
While it is sad to see these buildings in such a state but it always makes me sad to see once living plants dead or dying. I get it, lots of plants to have to move out and find places for but I'm sure they could at least try to give them away. They're living things and would still be alive if they just offered them up to anyone who wanted them. I'm a plant person so it has just been something that has bothered me 😕
Right? Like why didn’t they put them on craigslist free page and just tell people to come dig them up before the demo started? At least let people try to salvage them and get a freebie.
A lot of this video was kind of emotional to me, but I audibly gasped at the dead palm trees... They were so magnificent and full of life, and someone just left their dead, shriveled up forms to hang... I'm not a big plant person, but that seemed almost grotesque
What a sad ending to a grand structure . Why couldn't any developer find a repurposing of these properties is a big failure to our country . The environmental damage all of this construction debris will cause is going to be catastrophic . Many of those materials have almost infinite lifespans , and are not biodegradable . Thanks again for a very good and interesting video . A real time travel into the past .
Who thumbs down this stuff? I mean.. Who gets to a dead mall video, sees video of a dead mall, and gives it a thumbs down? Was it not as dead as you expected?
Shopping at The Limited for stirrup pants, buying the latest Duran Duran album and sipping on an Orange Julius while playing Ms. Pacman at the arcade. Now that was living people.
Shay Vaughan I miss the arcades! I used to hang out at Long John Silver’s at Kildonan Place Mall in Winnipeg, Manitoba. The Malls in Winnipeg are well trafficked and people here like to go out, instead of shopping online, I’m happy to live here
Shopping for Jincos at PAC Sun, buying the newest Deftones album and eating Dippin Dots while playing House of the Dead at the arcade. That was my living back then 😩 ugh old age I do not like you...
I love how you went from the high energy ad to the quiet, black and white image of the mall falling apart. It was a really shocking contrast and set the mood perfectly. Love it! This is all over the perfect dead mall video.
These videos are slowly convincing me that we're past our prime. We're like Rome in the 3rd century CE. Still keeping up appearances, but distinctly past our prime.
Love the transition shots. the jarring music cut-off is a fairly chilling effect. One thing about this series that really creeps me out is that the malls are indicative of something larger going on in the USA and the rest of the western world. The world I remember from the 80's and 90's has been steadily dying ever since. The middle classes shrink. What once were popular spots fade to obscurity. People grow less social due to social media. Everyday the ghost image of times past grows stronger. I feel like these malls are dying along with our sense of place and perhaps even our hopes for the future.
Octagon Seventynine Yes, I am a millennial. But I grew up with a Strip Mall. I watched it change from a great place to shop and eat to a place filled with clothing stores and Best buy mobiles. I l've seen Circuit Citys close and die before my eyes. I've seen parks close, buildings torn down, important places thrown into obscurity. If there's some thing for certain, if we all work together, we can hold onto what really made those times special.
The states of the economy Bush was a horrible time for the economy then the 2008 recession now the trade war plus online shopping all those factored in made the mall a hard thing to keep up in the modern day
I also grew up in the 80s and have watch our malls transition and fade away. We used to have the Brick Yard mall near us which was thriving in the 80s and into the 90s then slowly one by one the stores closed and the mall became unsafe. Once one of the anchors Montgomery Wards closed it severed off the link from the lower mezzanine level that had the Jewel-Osco (grocery store)& Kmart along with a bunch of the stores to the rest of the mall. It made it hard to visit the other stores on the upper levels if you were shopping at the Jewel level. In the 2000s, they decided to demolish the mall and make it an outdoor shopping area with stores outside in a strip type mall fashion that exists today. Lastly, I recently visited the Woodfield Mall out in Schaumburg about a 45 minute drive to see that they completely remodeled it after Simon took over the property to this white, stark and modern look from it's 70s charm. The part that upset me the most was that they took out the awesome fountain that was at the center court that had a really cool waterfall that you could walk under. Loved that when I was a kid. It was like the crown jewel of the mall was ripped out so that could put more little kiosks on the floor. I guess times change. Maybe I'm just getting old...
@Beth black why do ppl from socialist countries always want to bash Americans? What do you get out of it- rubbing it in our faces? Every country has it's good and it's bad. All governments are corrupt. Party politics that is popular now has accomplished nothing but divide people and turn them against each other ; race, Democrat vs Republican, nationalism....and slamming my country has become especially popular. Every nation has its problems and ugly side. Peace.
I was a child in the 80's and pre teen in the early 90's. I love this series! The mall was my hang out and it's too bad kids today won't experience that. Nothing was better than meeting your friends at the mall on Friday night. Especially if your crush was there so you could watch them play video games at the arcade!
lindsey1304 Maybe not in the USA but in some other places kids still do hang out at malls with their friends. My brother is one that does this A LOT. Almost every weekend he’s at our local mall hanging with his friends.
If I lived in a town with a mall, I would go there all the time. ⏰ I would play their video games. 🎮 I'd eat their food.🌭🌮🍿🍦 I'd wear their clothes.👕👔🎽👖 I'd shop all their stores. Especially, if it was bookstore, Hallmark, or a music store. 📚 🎶 🎸
Hello Dan Bell, i just want to mention that Im probably around the age of your companion in this video, the 80's were a remarkable time, I was like a young 20 something at that time and I was one of those that did not dress in flashy neon colors but more of a heavy metal attire with spiked hair. I have visited some malls at that time but spent more time at other places like casino hopping and clubs in Vegas, cruising the strip, and spending time in the great outdoors when I got tired of the city. The image of the Dead Malls is like watching a sinking ship just slowly sinking to the depths of the abyss, its too bad, I guess Shopping Malls will be a thing of the past, an Era gone by.......Thank you for documenting a product of our not too distant history Dan.
As someone who was born in 2000, it's sad that I never got to experience the whole hype I guess you can say about the 80s and 90s especially with all the sick malls that once stood. I hope malls don't become a thing of the past to be honest.
being caught by the people my high school would hire to catch kids playin hooky at the arcade made for quite the adventure. plus avoiding them was just as fun. I truly miss those days.
The arcades in our local malls were called Spaceport and had an outer space theme. I dropped a lot of tokens in the game slots... Centipede, Dig Dug, Tempest, Galaga and Galaxin. No one could beat me on Tempest or Galaga. Good times!
When I first started watching the video I didn't fully read the title so when the original Owings Mills footage dropped I was like "Huh, didn't I see this before?" Cutting in the current day footage after that was a perfect feeling. Excellent job, Dan.
Wow Dan, I was just driving up there yesterday taking my kid to the Owings Mills movie theater and thinking...NAH there's no way Dan could get any closer to that building with all that hazardous construction and that huge fence bordered around the entire mall. And YET you post this video!!! Nothing can stop you man. Thanks for posting this video because I'm just as curious to see the demolished mall. I've lived in this area for 12 years and have so many memories.
Perimeter Mall in Atlanta. Ryan Seacrest is from this area and still talks about it. It still anchors the Dunwoody area and is surrounded by new office buildings and hotels. Silicon Valley of the south its known.
Four Seasons town center here in Greensboro NC One of the busiest mega malls in the south east, a 3 level upscale behemoth and it’s still packed like it was in the late 90s, everytime I go in and see all the people buzzing around...and that distinctive thriving mall sound of people and thousands of conversations and commotions, breaks my heart when I see videos like this.
That could have been divided into dozens of enormous Co-op apartments - each opening onto mallspace. I REALLY want something like that - twenty thousand or so square feet, part of an ultimate escapist's microcosm - air conditioned, shielded from pollution and sunlight and prying eyes - neighbors all like ourselves... sort of like Fiddler's Green, in Land of the Dead.
Jim, the last mall walker. By the way, he would make a great addition to the Another Dirty Room team. He could have a chat with the motel/hotel owner afterwards, if they don't run off to hide or piss their pants.
Thanks for sharing! I think that this is the saddest Dead Mall video of them all. I wish that it could have been saved! Owings Mills was an incredibly gorgeous mall! 😞
Hey Dan. I am from Reading, Pennsylvania. There's a mall I think you'd be interested in checking out for your dead mall series. It's The Fairgrounds Square Mall in Muhlenberg Township, PA. Same story as most others. New buildings opened up nearby and a ton of stores left. It's somewhat of a large mall but there's barely any stores left. There's about 3 or so Anchor stores out of the many ones that used to be there. The mall got its name from where it is located. It's built on what used to be the Reading Fairgrounds where they'd have stock car races, food, all sorts of stuff. I think it'd be a great mall for you to go through. There's also another one similar about 15 mins away called The VF Outlets (Vanity Fair). It's housed in former knitting factories and same thing happened. Used to be a booming building but businesses left in favor of nearby Berkshire Mall and other newer strip malls. I'd be glad to show you around them.
Dan, this is your best dead Mall series video to date. Was there once 30 years ago with the secretary in our department when I was stationed in the army at Fort Meade. It was such a beautiful mall.
How absolutely depressing. All I can think of are the people who used to work there and lost their jobs and the developers who got away with everything.
I'm convinced this is the best series on youtube. The editing far surpasses anything I've watched. I love every minute of it, especially the intros. Keep it up Dan!
Absolutely amazing!!! The only thing missing at the start, is Dionne and her proclamation "We're coming to you from the Mall!!!" For the Dead Mall Series it's like AC/DC shouting "for those about to rock". Keep the posts coming.
I don't know 🤷♀️ why keep looking back every time I do so I just feel sad 😭 and sorry that those days are now gone and all that's left are the memories
It's a lucky thing that most of the malls in my area (all of which are from the late 60's and early 70's) are still going strong. I guess the lifestyle of the 80's lives on in northern New Jersey. Either way, I get most of my stuff from those vintage malls. Everything from records to clothing. I could never THINK of getting all that shit at Walmart...
I feel the same, we have one mall near by that is still kicking. I go by once every few months for last min gifts. I hope it continues to keep kicking. I love the feel and look of these vintage malls. These malls have been part of my childhood as well.
These malls are already loaded before the season has even began and the traffic is starting to get intense unlike last year. It seems they have loaded up the stock early and everything is clean with decent sale prices. NJ we are overpopulated, but we get no sales tax on clothing which leads to a packed mall especially with NY being just across the way.
the shot of the skylight with the clouds passing over was really Erie and yet peaceful. sad to see what these giant malls end like. I've always lived in major cities where malls do fairly well, but definitely a dying means of shopping.
A perfect example of how malls have simply become obsolete in the modern era: people want discrete shops they can drive up to, rather than having to wander a massive facility that malls were. This mall was demolished, and instantly replaced with a more common strip-mall style design.
Our city's first mall opened around 1971/72, the second mall opened in 1982, but the Safeway I worked at, was opened in the mall in 1981. That mall is still hanging on, but the one of the 70's, while still open, has half a dozen stores open in it. I loved that mall as a child! It housed our Woolco, which was bought out by Walmart. They remained for a few years, then moved across the city to a free standing store. These videos, though the stores differ from smaller Canadian malls, still bring back so many memories. Thank You Dan!
It's funny, whenever the wife and I are out driving and we see an abandoned building, we say "Dan Bell!" out loud, like we're trying to summon him to check the place out. lol
It's sad to see sucha beautiful mall being demolished. I think owings mills mall was beautiful watching it in dans dead mall videos. I love malls with lots of windows and Palm trees using natural sunlight shining through and nice natural lighting at night like owings mills. The tile floors, glass work was really nice and with brass rails which probably was dated but the outdoor indoor feel of this mall was nice. Outdoor malls are really nice I'm a fan these.
Dan , you and your team have probably one of the most compelling and engaging channels ever.There is also a historical importance to everything you guys are cataloging and documenting. And even more importantly an almost forshadowing of what is to come. Your work and effort is amazing, and thank you for doing it!!!
Love, love, LOVE this video! First off, you have the coolest friends who join you on these adventures. But you also have the best outlooks on things. You don't (often) try to scare your audience (except that abandoned military base video, which I haven't fully forgiven you for yet); you present truth and beauty. Very captivating! Thanks, as always!
Thanks Dan. Nothing Like Hanging out with Friends and Spending All your Money on a Saturday at the 1970's and Early 1980's Mall Days.Wow.....Somethings do really Change.
If time travel becomes a thing within my lifetime, I will go back and visit each and every mall in this series during their heyday. Growing up in the late 90s and early 2000s meant I came in just as the malls started to die out, but they left a big imprint on me to this day. I hate shopping but I absolutely love malls. Thanks for the series.
I get a serious case of 'member berries with the dead mall series..... reminds me of being a kid in the 90's, and seeing the malls I used to frequent in various states of vacancy. It's kind of depressing, really. Something about those old ads and the music you add....
a fantastic tribute to the extravagant wastefulness of society in general and capitalism in particular, and presented in an artful manner. before & after footage in color and b&w, twisted metal mobile sculptures, etc. you are an artist and a visionary, dan bell
Gotta love the dicotomy of the intro. All that 80's optimism, the singing, dancing, and bright colours. Then like a train slamming into the side of a mountain, the illusion comes to an abrupt end. Followed by the bleak (but wiser) black and white reality of the present day taking it's place.
This is Dan Bell Hello Dan, I love your content, I honestly think that you should also look at malls that have turned themselves around or have remained thriving through all this time. Thank you, I'll take whatever reply you give Keep up the good work
It's so strange to see a lot of these malls pretty well out of business because despite the changes, the developments of other shopping malls, some of these old school ones that you show us could still be used. There's nothing really wrong with them...except for after their abandoned, if not abolished.
Dan, I just found your channel this week and I'm hooked. The detail and production you put into each one blows me away. Each one is a nostalgia trip back to my childhood. Great channel and great work!
Favourite series! This was such a sad episode. The coloured shots had an awesome, calm atmosphere to them and then the monochrome shots... cold reality. It was so strangely breathtaking to watch. Could I also ask which songs were used for the coloured shots? I always love your taste in music.
