DEAD MALL: Signal Hill Mall - Statesville, North Carolina 

This is sad, my brother and i used to come from Hickory to this mall just to play the arcade. This was back before the internet.

I live 15 miles from this mall and didn't know you could still walk inside of it. That record store had a different name in the 90's that you didn't mention. As soon as I think of it I will post it.

I have some great memories of walking around in that mall. The Chic-fil-a and the Arcade were amazing! The pet store and the toy store will forever be etched in my mental archives. Such great memories! Thank you for this video.👍💯

Many good times at the mall.. I lived in the ville for most of the childhood and much of my teen years.. days of old, long gone Cheers

I'm from Statesville and I am happy to say i remember this mall. It was so alive and fun. It used to have an after-school program called Eshake and I am happy to say that I went there too. I mean couldn't go many places but it was cool to see people walking around every day and soon being able to get old enough to go across the mall to the other part of Eshake. They had an ice cream place that I would go to often after my mom or dad picked me up from there. There are just so many memories of that mall that this comment would be too long lol. But it's crazy to see it again in this video because they closed the part that you walked through and you can only go into Belk.

My family owned the pet store (Pet Pros) in this mall for 18 years! This mall was a hopping place at one time. I still stop in occasionally to see the place. So sad what it has become. I grew up in this mall ❤

That ceiling is absolutely horrifying, but the fountain still works! The foliage is out of control, in a good way, but it's getting rough around the edges too. I dig those square recessed lights, actually quite contemporary even today.

Grew up going to this mall on a weekly basis when I was a kid...so many great memories..still living here is Statesville and sad to see this.

Nicely presented Kristin, Thanks for going the mileage to capture this mall. Cheers!

I used to come here as a kid and teenager. Loved it. Bought my first suit at Belks there, and first computer at Radio Shack. A Tandy 1000 ex.

So many memories from there.😢

I've lived in Statesville for 30 years. What's sad is that our moniker is the "city of progress" People used to come from Hickory (30 miles away) and Mooresville(30 miles away) to visit this mall. I've witnessed both cities grow and expand while Statesville progress has halted. Their idea of infrastructure is beautifying downtown OLD buildings and businesses and putting a new face on them. All they did was make it harder to park. 😮‍💨

love this place - its actually quite bright and cheery in some spots and that fountain is TDF!! thanx for the tour

Good times and memories from the 80's, 90's. Shame we let online shopping take these experiences away.

Seeing this one going downhill hurts. It has so much character and loved seeing the fountain once again. Thank you for your great coverage.

i live in statesville, and when i was little we would always go to the mall. it’s so sad to see it like this.

Best dead malls channel.

I grew up in that area, basically halfway between Statesville and Charlotte, so I remember what Signal Hill Mall was like in its heyday in the 1980s and 90s. I probably ate my first Chick-fil-a there, back when Chick-fil-a was still just a small regional chain (The place with the red and white tile next to the cell phone store). And that boarded up space with a couple of steps leading up to it used to be a little candy store, selling stuff fudge and peanut brittle and these weird candied orange slices. And I'm pretty sure the space next to the pet store used to be a Toys R Us, or maybe a KB Toys. There was a toy store there anyway. The last time I was in there was maybe in 2008 or so, and it looked like it was declining even back then. The three big anchors were still there at the time, but the smaller spaces were only maybe 50% occupied, and both the Chick-fil-a and the candy store were already closed and boarded up. And if I remember correctly it seemed like some of the spaces were occupied by local government offices rather than actual retail stores. Sorry, that was a really long comment, but I have too many memories of that mall. But lastly I want to say I appreciate how much research you did on the mall's history. I actually learned some things from this video.

Your videos always have such a cool vibe- from the soundtrack to the visuals. Another fantastic mall exploration!

Loved it growing up. Can't tell you how much July 4th fireworks I watched there.

This video was so surreal considering I’ve been in that mall hundreds of times, and seeing familiar areas where I’ve been was like a fever dream. Btw that American flag and green stage has been up for at least 5 years.

The carpet on those ramps used to be this really 70's orange. I've recently been told this mall has been sold and is being torn down soon.

I used to go to this mall as a kid. Crazy seeing it now.

I live between Hickory and Statesville. I remember going to this mall back in the 70s and 80s with my family. It was a happening place back in the day. I knew it had went downhill after some of the big stores left. I don’t go to Statesville much so, I haven’t been there in years. If I remember correctly Spainhours was mostly clothing. Thanks for the post.

Belks is an above medium (like Sears or Pennys) mainly clothing store. Spainhours was also a clothing but above Belks in price. I remember when this mall opened. It was heavily trafficked back then.

Spainhours was actually an expensive department store, more like what Belk used to be.

I'm so glad I got to go here before it's inevitable closing. What an experience, no mall like Signal Hill Mold- I mean Mall.

Thanks for getting this vid out from your Savannah visit! I filmed here a few weeks before Christmas and I can’t believe this place is still open. It’s absolutely not suitable for people to be inside. I also don’t understand why they keep the fountain on and maintain the greenery. It’s literal insanity…. The maintenance guy must be like “wtf” with all the RU-vidrs visiting here, but he’s always just waved and said hello when we have visited here when in NC.

The workers will likely have many health issues as they have to face the black mold on a regular basis.

It's so sad how the mold has taken over that mall and the adjoining abandoned stores beside it. I wish I would have went into the mall back in 2019 when I was over that way. I'm from NC, and live about an hour away.

I live in statesville and I always wondered what happened to it. Now everyone hangs out at the market near Walmart and games stop

I like that it looks like a mall from the 80’s. Malls are now so boring. It looked so dark though like the lights were dim. I’m shocked that the mall is still open with all the mold everywhere.

I remember stopping at that IHOP while passing through traveling perhaps a decade ago. I only wandered into the mall proper because for some reason there were several classic Corvettes on display. The mall didn't seem that bad then (Oak Hollow Mall in High Point was my reference point for dead malls) but that was some time ago.

How is this place still open?! I genuinely thought it was abandoned before you showed the Jeweler's store. Ive seen abandoned malls in better condition.

I just got to statesville for the weekend and this shows up in my algorithm 🤣

Armada held on until sometime between 2012 and 2015 actually. It was closed by the time Dan Bell saw it, but there are pictures I saw taken in 2012 which showed the store still open.

I love how smooth your footage is, as usual. 🙂

Is that water damage on the ceiling? If so that has to be some of the worst I've ever seen, thanks for braving the mold to get this footage!

I noticed the RCR reference. I have long thought that your voiceover style reminds me of a cross between RCR and Daria Morgendorffer. I say that as a complement.

So, Statesville native here, spent many an hour at this mall as a kid/teen, even worked at a couple stores there. The storefront with the odd checker-patterned grill right before the steps leading down to JC Penney was, as long as I remember it, kind of a 'storage area' for various mall fixtures; the seasonal stuff, etc. The entry hallway between that and Penney's leads to the maintenence office (there's a door on the left about halfway down), then outside, to the main maintenence area. Spainhours did NOT close in the 1970s, but in the late 1980s. But you were correct that they almost exclusively carried clothing and very little else (accessories like belts, purses, jewelery). Fun fact: my grandmother had their first-ever credit card (issued from the downtown store), with the number 001, from the early 1950s. ^_^ The "LERNER" storefront was a furntiture store specializing in fairly high-end things. They closed in, IIRC, the 1990s. Armada/Blockbuster Music was, when I was kid (early 80s) called The Record Barn. At one point they moved down to a storefront between the fountain and Belk (I believe for a remodel) then back to this location. The Cricket store began life as a Claire's Boutique (remember them LOL), before that as I remember, it had been part of a larger area that got broken up in a remodel. Right next to it was Chick-Fil-A, up through about the early 200s, and boy was it a sad day for me when they moved across town and shuttered this location. Beside Chick-Fil-A was Merle Norman cosmetics, who have since moved downtown. Next on the right was a generic snack shop which sold candy and snacks either by weight or by price. Many's the time I remember only having fifty cents and getting fifty cents worth of malted milk balls or cashews. ^_^ Wooten Jewelers has been there as long as I can remember. In the 'Belk hallway', the storefront with the chrome-handled glass double doors was, for several years, the seasonal home of an independent shop called The Silver Mine, which sold handcrafted sterling silver jewelry. They were typically only in residence around the winter holidays. Next to that was a craft store that I no longer remember the name of. Next to THAT was the bookstore, which was a pretty good one. They were a subsidiary of Books-A-Million toward the end of their time, and had at one point been located in the 'Woolworth hallway'. The green storefront with red arches, I don't remember what it was. Damn, I didn't know they'd sealed Belk off LOL. The 'hut' storefront, I don't remember what it originally was, but when they did that redesign, it became a satellite of the Statesville Children's Museum. And the Radio Shack was, AFAIK, one of the last in a mall to be open, only closing sometime in the early 2010s. Last thing in the slot up from it was a Bath and Body Works, which I typically had to go to every year when Christmas shopping. The next shop down was usually some kind of sporting apparel store, various ones over the years. Saslow's was always a jewelery store the entire time I was a kid, though I believe it used to be called The Jewel Box before they sold the space. The empty storefront above Wooten is, I believe, connected to their store and they use it as storage space. The red storefront beside it was, when I was a kid, called K&K Toys. They were bought out by KayBee in the early 90s, and closed sometime in the late 90s. The 'Gallery' storefront was the original location of the bookstore before they moved to the 'Belk Hallway'. The blue-bannered storefront next to it was a shoe store, then a pet shop called Pet Pros. Woolworth had a 'diner' section that had awesome hot dogs and chocolate milkshakes. I worked for Hills doing store setup for six months before they opened and for six months after before I left. Coming back down that way, on the left...I honestly don't remember what it was when I was a kid, which means I probably didn't care about whatever they were selling. When Sears came in, they used it as a display area for riding lawn mowers and such, then after they closed it became a dollar store. It may have been a dollar store prior to that, come to think of it. The long wood-framed storefront was a Foot Locker. The alterations shop was originally down and to the left of that location; during the 80s and 90s that round-windowed location was Feimster's Arcade, I spent way too many hours and way too many quarters there. Also worked there for about a year, easiest money I ever made: $200 a week to basically sit on my ass. ^_^ On the right in the 'IHOP hallway', from the entrance, was a satellite of a local barbeque joint (Little Pigs Too; get it, 'too/two'), a shop don't remember, then the storefront with the grill was a hair salon.

You were about an hour from me. I have heard that mall is mold invested. I don't understand why it isn't closed as a health hazard? Keep your eye on Northlake Mall in Charlotte. The Apple store closed there a little over a month ago because of all the gun violence in the mall and it is 30% vacant. I suspect it will sink fast without Apple. It is a fairly new mall. I think it opened in 2006

Awesome video! This mall reminds me of one of three enclosed malls we had in my hometown of Spartanburg, South Carolina. It was my favorite of the three... Hillcrest Mall. I even created a FB group well over a decade ago to pay tribute to Hillcrest. It's called Hillcrest Mall: Bringing Good Things Together. It opened in August 1982 and was closed in 1998, demolished the same year. I still miss it to this day. Small mall just like Signal Hill. I live almost two hours from Signal Hill. I'd love to drive up there, but I doubt my old truck would make the long trek. With the state of this mall... being that it opened August 1, 1973, I think it would be fitting for the owners to shut the doors at the end of day, August 1st of this year. 50 years. That's a heck of a run! Only decent way to close the mall in my view.

Main reason I think Belk is cut off is because I believe they technically own their section of the building. It's literally the only reason they'd still be open.

I really want to visit this place over the summer, assuming it lasts that long. It's beautifully vintage, and still has a functional fountain. The hard part will be convincing my friends to come along with me.

I used to come here all the time as a kid and it looked amazing back in 2004

Holy cow, I live within walking distance of here

hey so I’ve been in that mall a bunch when I was younger and such it always gave me an very idk eery vibe after everything shutdown even the music still plays which is adds to the eery vibe. it’s mind blowing to me that the “city” won’t rebuild a mall since there’s a bunch of housing projects in this town. though I can’t speak since I did grow up after the fact the mall was basically a shutdown 2000s ish early 2010s ppl still use go there. the last time I rmbr there was an ihop, a bath and body works, and a belk now it’s just belk. im wondering at this point when they’ll just tear down the whole building

Sidenote: Eshake was where the green and red walls are and the other part of it was 2 doors from RadioShack. As I was watching I did not expect to get emotional but I did lol. The mall just reminds me of the younger me and how stress-free and happy I was. I am 21 now for reference.

I remember seeing the original Cabbage Patch Dolls (the ones with cloth, painted faces) for sale at a mall when I was a small child. This was back around 1982, they were set up inside a glass case and were for sale for $800 each. The answer of course was NO, when I begged for the brown haired one lol

So sad what's happened to the mall. When i first moved here it was a happening place. You know when Chick-fil-A leaves its bad news......

Its so weird to see a video on your hometown in your recommended videos, lol. Very Cool!

Do you recall when bands would play at the mall? The mall I grew up going to would have country bands and sometimes metal bands playing on a stage set-up in the middle of the mall.

I can't wait for those you filmed on this trip! BUT< Don't forget there are a few in Florida too! 👍🏽

Hi Kristin!! Great video. I enjoy your video content very much, Your video regarding North Ridge mall in Milwaukee was excellent! Your background music and commentary were on point 100%! The current owners and city representatives return to court next week to discuss the properties future. The judge presiding over the case hasn’t lifted the raze order as of this writing.

Haha, Winga Dinga music 😂 This mall literally SCREAMS to be used as a set in some creepy movie

When I would visit my daughter in Statesville, we would drive past this mall when we would go out

Kristen, great great video as always

Amazing video as per usual Kristin!

I remember Dan Bell covering this mall, sad to see it get this bad. Thumbs up on the Regular Car Reviews call out. Winga Dinga indeed!

You could smoke in this mall up to the end. It was next door to a cigarette outlet. Its a very old mall. Owned by people in Saudi Arabia, they won't take care of it and all the businesses left

LOL Merle Norman is great makeup though! 😂 My niece runs a studio.

Many dead and dying malls have water damaged ceilings sadly

How in the world could that Wootens Jewelry Store continue to stay in business there? Does anyone in that town actually say I've got to run by Wootens today?

The brick and the hose in the fountain are still there…. Ha

Sweet video while I bake my sweet potatooo YEE HAH!

As a 90's kid, I can honestly say seeing these malls fall like this sucks- My favorite record store was Sam Goody.

Hey, they still have an operating fountain

This cookie cutter malls have closed all over the South,and what's sad is all the small town businesses they replaced,and now they're both gone,plus a huge abandoned piece of land that becomes an eyesore and a bad memory. (For some) But your coverage of what they were is excellent.

Lol I’m from here we famous 😭🤪🤪 there was a bath and body works I guess it isn’t there anymore 😢

Yeah, the ceiling IS pretty nasty.

I can tell you every store & restaurant that was in this mall!

This mall used to be great. We loved coming here. I hate that it's like this now. Such a waste ☹️

“Bro” where im from is a saying and slang it don’t mean he or she in some cases

Did Dan Bell do one of his Dead Mall Videos here?

I shopped here often back in the day. Hate to see what has happened to it.

Great Fountains!!!! F+L, Corey

Cruise director Kristen is the best.if only i could see her face.

that ceiling at 3:00 is atrocious, definitely not safe to walk let alone work in there for even a couple minutes

Don't know how the owners can justify having just 3 tennants, only one of them an anchor, and still keeping it open

whyyyy is this place still open? i'm trying to imagine going to pick up an expensive piece of jewelry and looking up to see that ceiling!

hills use to be there

I used to go hear years ago when the still had a life ish im 34 and have to say it is sad to see

Imagine fixing this place and allowing local businesses to use the spaces and only charging them affordable rent.

Damn this is crazy to see I’m from Iredell county and This mall was always small and had like 5 stores it kinda sucked anyways. Lol statesvile sucks in general. Somehow 80% of the gas station and things like that you pull out of has some damn bushes or something that block your view. It’s better then troutman I guess because troutman has nothing.

The problem with statesville is mayor Costi Kutteh and all the old money people running the city. There is two major interstates running threw the city it should be bigger and better than Mooresville and hickory but all we have is road construction that actually make it hard for traffic to get off the exits to stop at any stores and spend money you know the money that could keep business' afloat in a mall!!!!! all we have in statesville is drugs and bars and i almost garantee you if you looked at mayor Costi Kutteh and his cronies hard enough there is drug money in there pockets in some way shape or form and thats the only reason statesville is the way it is

This would make a great church for a start over project for the community.

UN SUBSCRIBING FROM ..U KRISTIN...LATER!!!

This mall has been dead for years. Finally gonna take it on down I hear.

Another SCP😿

Bro statesville is a falling economy 😂😂😂😂😂😂

Malls in general are dying

Statesville is a dead town period

I miss my place I own the M alteraItion in there

I thought spainhours was still open in the early 90's, judging by video someone took here in 92 - 93 (unless the video dates back further)

I kinda feel like you just filmed a class action lawsuit cause being committed.