Hey everyone, I need to make this comment because I’ve been receiving loads of hate.. I am not the great value version or knock off of Dan Bell. First of all my editing style is unique to me, so that really hurts. Dan Bell doesn’t own the name dead mall, it’s a term and many other content creators Have there own iterations of a series. This is mine. So before you comment something ridiculous just know I created this video so people could enjoy and reminisce about this mall. I don’t do it for money or anything, just for the enjoyment of others. This is not a Dan Bell knock off, good day.
Kudos for sticking to your guns and defending your vision. It sucks when people misinterpret what you're trying to do. Keep it up, man, we love your mall tours!
Keep doing what you enjoy, we are glad you take us with you to check out these places. Every retail enthusiast has their own way of documenting these places, that is what makes watching NorthCdogg and other creators awesome. Dan Bell is awesome, but so is this channel and so many others. Dude puts his best foot forward on these videos, the trolls need to respect that.
These dead malls truly make my blood run cold..like something else is dead from my childhood like my family. You can't go back to then and nothing compares to it nowadays..you just can't go back I guess..makes me sad
I still can’t believe it. I went to this mall when i was 17 in 2005 when it was still very new and it was very very busy and bustling. I still have a shirt that I bought from there. It’s not even old and it’s already fully dead, it’s just crazy to me. Such a monumental waste. Great videos and channel btw. Keep it up
I graduated in the mall parking lot in 2021. We were assigned to different storefronts based on our last names to get ready before we went outside to the stage. Definitely a weird way to graduate high school.
A couple of years ago, I won a tablet from a key machine. It doesn't even feel like that long ago, but it was so empty then. It felt like one of the most liminal experiences I've ever had, and my older sister and a few friends were with me at the time. We were sad, like, no more train for kids, or bungee jumpy thing...
This makes me feel so nostalgic. I really grew up during the years I worked there. My at the time boyfriend (now husband) would come up and eat in the food court with me while I was on lunch. We saw movies there all the time.
This was so crowded back in the day. We could barely get a parking spot and those interior colors really messed with my eyes. I eventually only went there to eat at the Chevy's Tex Mex restaurant (the mystery restaurant) and go to Marshall's. This is indicative of many local malls here including Jamestown, Chesterfield and soon to be Mid Rivers Mall. I'm forwarding this to friends and family, they don't know videos like this exist. Thank goodness for videos like this to reminisce and love the narration!!!
@@Truman5555 You know I've been feeling like I'm too optimistic, recently I found out Tilt and a few food places were leaving/on the way out. I think they might need a shot in the arm.
The food court tvs didn't play ads. They used to have stuff on the tables that would tell you how to request music videos that the tvs would play. Many fond memories of eating Popeye's and watching nu metal videos next to the old carousel that was under the summer pavilion
Dude, yes. Chop Suey, sober by tool. All of em. They had a Disney store downstairs which served as a buffer between the Sears upstairs, food court and the exit. God, I miss this mall.
22:23 can confirm that was a gamestop. I used to visit this mall often with my parents and little sister during its peak years. I remember when me and my sis played on the playground they would have a tv playing PBS cartoons like cyberchase or whatever it was called. I remember the food court being vibrant. the whole mall being vibrant. Even one of my friends had their birthday party at the speedway. Seeing all the respect and love the urbex community has shown the Mills since it's death brings warmth to my heart as this mall was truly one of it's kind. I loved going to the Mills everytime. I used to meet up with my godfather here once a month and we'd go to a comic book shop in the city and buy comics and go back to the food court to read them while I would wait for my mom to get me. I have so many memories of this place and when it died I was saddened. Last time I was ever here I was ditching school in 2014 and went here to buy new shoes from the shoe store. I remember this mall so fondly and I can tell you being here in it's peak years was like being in a dream. It felt like a whole different world. now these days I sometimes drive by the mall to just see the outside and reminisce but last time I drove by I witnessed what may of been a gang meetup and had to book it out of there. If I had to call this mall anything I wouldn't call it abandoned but a graveyard of a dream.
This video makes me so nostalgic. So many crazy good memories of this place! I remember going to the glow in the dark mini golf place with my cousins and making a stuffed elephant at a Build-a-Bear-esque store that was only open for about a year. I once got my foot stuck in the spiral climbing thing at the main playground- twisted my ankle😂 The Cabela’s was like going to an aquarium or zoo- there was a 30ish foot tall replica of a cliff inside, complete with taxidermic goats and rodents. You could see huge catfish in fish tanks built into the walls. It was an EXPERIENCE. My college roommate and I tried to go there in 2017, thinking the Panda Express was still open, but all we found was the abandoned structure of the mall… it was so disappointing.
In the early 2000s the St. Louis Mills was a busy, busy place! You couldn't find a place to sit in the food court. My hometown mall, Alton Square was dying by the time this mall was built and they had a store that just sold Hello Kitty -- it was a fun place to spend a Saturday afternoon.
This place looks like falling into a childhood dream. We are so used to beige and grey malls that this place is just so whimsical and playful. I can't take my eyes off of it lol
Omg I literally come across from this video so many times and when it keeps popping up I take a good minute to look at the thumbnail u really can’t take your eyes off of a mills mall, I wish the company still exist
Yeah these were very unique malls from the late 90s and early 2000s only 17 of these colorful malls were built 18 if you count American Dream/Meadowlands Xanadu since it was started by Mills and technically opened in 2019. One cool thing was each in the 18 mills malls is that each one was different with its own set of colors and themes based off each city where it was in. Potomac Mills: Virginia 1985 Franklin Mills: Pensilvania 1989 Sawgrass Mills: Florida 1990 Gurnee Mills: Chicago 1991 Ontario Mills: California 1996 Grapevine Mills: Texas 1997 Arizona Mills: Arizona 1997 The Block At Orange: California 1998 Concord Mills: North Catalina 1999 Katy Mills: Texas 1999 Opry Mills: Tennessee 2000 Arundel Mills: Maryland 2000 Sugerloaf Mills: Georgia 2001 Colorado Mills: Colorado 2002 St Louis Mills: Missouri 2003 Cincinnati Mills: Ohio 2004 Pittsburgh Mills: Pensilvania 2005 American Dream/Meadowlands Xanadu: New Jersey original 2006 opened 2019.
Our kids are teenagers now, but when they were little this was a frequent destination for kid clothes shopping. We always parked outside the entrance where the playground was. I spent most of the time there with the kids while my wife shopped. She would sometimes swap out the kids to take them to try on clothes separately while the other kids played. It was always packed back then. Crazy how fast these places can go downhill.
Fun fact, part of the decline of this mall is credited towards the poor layout of the figure eight loop shape of the store layouts, developers say never design your malls to be giant loops due to fact it takes forever to walk from one end to the other, the STL Mills mall is pretty much the perfect example of what not to do, it goes on forever just to get around prior to them closing it off forever.
Well my guy I used to work there and at the time they were closing the Rumer was that the owner of said store was going through a divorce and to prevent his why from getting any money from it he sold and spent it
My family used to take me to this mall as a kid, i always looked forward to it. Watching this video is bringing back so many memories. Thank you for helping me rediscover this part of my childhood.
A bad area can really put a death nail in a struggling malls coffin. People won't go where they don't feel safe walking to and from their cars. This mall was a monumental failure to not even last 20 years and cost so much. It's sad that in a place that cost so much to build and promote, and some days they had to worry about too many people where inside at any one time, now doesn't even have 1 customer...
I worked at the Cabelas there for years! I stopped working 8 years ago and the mall was still doing okay. I used to go to Subway all the time for lunch.
something about the fact that all those cute colors are just left there to rot makes me so sad. it doesn't just look tacky to me, it looks like a city built by children. i've been watching videos on here and out of the dead malls i never got to see in their heyday, i'm particularly miffed about this one. there's so much cute stuff in there! and it's all just rotting. disgraceful
I was just a little kid but my parents took me here all the time. Seeing it now is so weird to me. I remember a lot of the places even when I was young. It’s one of the 3 malls that have closed in the St. Louis county area but was one of the best. Sad I can’t visit anymore.
So many memories from this mall. Born in the 90/ in high school this was the place to go. 13:47 the food court was always busy. The all white restaurant was a burger joint that the waiters would wear skates and serve in them. Far right they would sell NY STYLE pizza. Then straight ahead was the theater. Saw so many movies in there. They used to have a merry go round and one time our history teacher took us to the mall because we had like 2 hours to kill before school was out. He bought our class a merry go round ride and we laughed and had such a great time. This mall was awesome and I miss it so much
My favorite memory at this mall is seeing the Dark Knight at the movie theater on opening night at 3:30am. When it let out, we were stuck in the traffic of everybody going to work that morning. Such a fun time.
I used to love this mall as a kid, it was really fun and colorful. my mom would take me here to shop at cabelas, bed bath and beyond, Ross, and children's place. she always let me play on the playground after. neighborhood 2 was my favorite
The mall is a retail apocalypse and since now Forest Fair village is closing for good, this leaves St. Louis mills now the only mills mall in a state of not dead but now alive either. Great video as always!
They haven’t been clear but it was said that the in-line tenants had 30-69 day termination leases and that was February 24 so the mall is probably not going to be open much longer.
I loved this mall! It was all the rage when I was in middle/high school. I have sooooo many memories here. They used to have a skate park called plan9 in the nascar speed park and THAT was the coolest place. Even after it started to decline, the skater kids were always here. I'm sure that didn't help the shoplifting. I stole my first thong from the charlotte russe by the food court and had my first make out in the glow in the dark mini golf place HA wow I loved the design and whimsicality of it all. I absolutely loved the charlie and chocolate factory music with it.. i teared up!!
We had so much fun here . Worked at gap there in 2011-2012 and my girlfriend at the time worked at Banana Republic next door …we used to walk around the mall, see movies , shop at other stores, especially cabelas all the time . Even high school weekends in 2009-10 up there were crazy
I used to live very close to this mall and me and my mom used to there for movies, shopping, and just a day out. I remember playing in the play area for hours and picking the perfect shirt at the childrens place. We went when it had just started to close down / lose popularity so it felt like a fever dream every time we were there. That mall felt strangely creepy and unsettling but also comforting. If you know what the backrooms are, it reminds me of those. I also remember seeing one of those fortune tellers in the hallway and to this day I’ve always been scared of them. The last time I was there was like 3-5 years ago I think, non the less it’s been a while and it’s so sad to to see a place I used to love and shop, a place that was my childhood, a place that I will never forget, abandoned.
this place was so much fun, it was amazing as a kid. everything seems so grand when you're little. if there's a mall they could bring back, I wish it would be this one :( it was so unique and full of life.
I just left this mall today... did some work there..... its one giant room now... everything in this video is gone its absolutely wild to see. I remember this place when I was young and to see it completely empty is nuts.
Yup Gamestop. And Circuit City didn't last long. It was essentially a Best Buy and in fact had relocated to this location from a location about a mile away that was right next to a Best Buy that had a higher traffic spot. Unfortunately, for Circuit City....a large big box electronics chain (IIRC American TV and Appliances) built a large showroom across 370 from the Mills putting the final nail in the coffin. American TV closed as well because as you noted....nothing really developed out in this area as was predicted. Unbelievable to see this video....shopped there often, many movies at the Cinema, many hours with my kid on that playground. Really sad.
9:23 I got a digital multimeter from this store for electrical work and it says circuit city on it, the device still works and i use it almost every day on the job.
I remember first visiting this mall when it was new in 2006. Remember being so disappointed and thinking it was ugly and unfinished. Not a surprise it died as quickly as it did.
this video is pretty creepy. You did a great job filming this mall thank you. It was like walking through the movie the shining or something. The mall was built in a bad area. It was always viewed by locals as sort of out-of-the-way except people in North County. Was it ever really fully occupied? I don't think it was, the ice hockey rank which the St. Louis Blues practice at until only a few years ago was a great addition as well as the NASCAR theme of course online shopping the local crime which is really bad now, downturn during 2008/9 and so many other factors doomed this mall it is shocking to see how quickly in abandoned malls like this one begin to leak once that happens every guess the property value goes down very quickly. I wish they would redevelop this or tear it down and build something there to take advantage of this location. Incidentally Chesterfield Mall will be torn down at the end of August next month and is being redeveloped as a mixed use property offices, some businesses and to my understanding, senior apartments or business center for the city of Chesterfield. Thanks for doing this video. Great work. 29:24
Spent many Saturday and Sunday afternoons at this mall with my family. My daughter who is 20 now, loved going to this mall when she was 5 to 7 years old. She loved the Hello Kitty store that was here. Me and my co-workers who worked 10 minutes from this mall would visit the food court to eat at the Japanese Hibachi grill restaurant that was in the court.
Fascinating yet so devastating, being born in 2000 this mall was cemented in my childhood and will remain as a pillar of core memories for me, while Covid probably delivered the final blow you can’t help but ask what happened, online shopping, poor location or lack of development and a rise of crime all contributed to this malls decline and that was before Covid, but even still you have to ask how could it have gone from this beautiful eccentric location that brought thousands together under one roof to what is now ground zero, the emptiness of this mall is like the emptiness I feel knowing that my childhood is a thing of the past, take me back to when my biggest worry was having to go back to school on Monday, take me back to that array of smells in the food court, the never ending sounds of joy and footsteps as people shopped for hours on end, one day just maybe it will all come back, take me back
back in 05-06, my parents bought me my Nintendo DS at the Circuit City at the STL Mills Mall. Its a fun memory since this location does not exist today.
I remember when this opened. We only went out there a few times, it being quite a hike from south city. It was always packed. I think we only have 2 malls remaining in the area that are still mostly full and functional, the Galleria and West County Mall. I don’t know how many hours I’ve spent in these malls over the years. Makes me sad.
It was a cool mall, we went there several times when visiting in St. Louis. I really liked it, it was open and airy and rarely felt crowded. There was also a good place for sushi in the food court.
Great videos I live in st.louis shame you weren't doing this around the time of Crestwood mall was sad to lose that one & im sure one day you'll have to do South County Westfield mall as well as im sure time won't be kind to it either i was also wondering whats the ambient song that starts at 3:39 in this one I've been searching if you have a link to it or who makes it and song name it would be much appreciated :) the music you choose fits your videos so well it really sucks you in and takes you on the journey with you thanks and keep it up
I wish I visited this colorful obnoxious mall when growing up to the teenager I am. My mills mall was Sugerloaf Mills in Atlanta Georgia and that mall was also had a bit of color in the early 2010s. This mall is super colorful the most colorfulest mills mall I’ve seen yet, and theming of the neiborhoods make it even more enjoyable. It had six neighborhoods which each had its own theme to it as well. They were N1 Hydrama Oasis, N2 Shakespeare in The Park, N3 Circus Of Fire, N4 Sports Street, N5 1904 worlds fair food court and PBS kids playground, and N6 The Chandler Court. Along with this came a huge playground not only was this a wacky playground it was a PBS kids themed, and it opened along with Mall in 2003 this is 1/3 pbs kids themed playgrounds that opened. The 2nd was in Forest Fair Village in 2004 and the last one was located at the Pittsburgh Mills in 2005. Sadly the naming rights with PBS Kids was short lived and expired in 2008. The entire mall closed in 2019 with all stores in the mall closed, but for some reason people still could get into this mall even after it closed because I guess the doors were still unlocked. There was a slight redevelopment with a new name PowerPlex Stl and I looked at the picture only one part on the parking lot is the POWERplex area the rest of the mall is still abandoned. I wish the best for this mall and I hope to see it revived again someday in the future, good luck Saint Louis Mills.
This mall used to be bussin bro. I went to the skatepark (plan n9ne) and they used to have a 1 week skate camp in the summer and that was probably the best week of my life. Sad to see this mall go down the road it did.
Great videos you are taking! The restaurant by the movie theater was called Tony Roma’s. Went there a couple times. They had very good food. I went to that theater quite a bit too. That place was hopping in the ‘90’s. My heart is with Jamestown Mall though. That’s the mall I grew up going to. I wish they would tear it down and redevelop. Thanks again!
The Regal at the Mills was my go-to place for the movies once upon a time. I remember seeing New Moon, Jurassic World, and Django Unchained in that place. I think the last movie I saw there was It Chapter 1 just before the theatre shut down. I saw It twice there in standard and in IMAX.
Amazing video man!!! Sad to Mills malls struggling like this, but it’s great to see this mall still in Great condition after being closed for a few years!
It's weird to watch this video because it's an exactly replica as Arundel Mills Mall in Maryland before it got a couple of upgrades! I didn't know there were a number of them. Love the video!
Colorado Mills used to look like this until a massive hailstorm basically destroyed it in 2016. It opened around the same time. It reopened in 2017, but with blank white walls and no personality. In 2021, I went there to get my second COVID shot, and it was roughly 40% vacant, though the outlot stores and restaurants were still doing well. Has a lot of the same issues as STL though...Denver boomed, but that part of town didn't grow as quickly. It's also on Colfax Avenue. A nicer part of far west Colfax, but still Colfax.
The Potomac Mills is actually located in Dale City Virginia, about 25 miles away from Washington DC...its still open, as for the mall in the Meadowlands in NJ ..was in it when it wasn't finished,it had a giant indoor ski slope inside& was built by Skanka construction at a high cost ...it also looked real ugly like a bunch of legos , it's now sold & different owners ,painted white & its thriving but a ripoff, they also put up a giant wheel
I actually have a funny story about this place: when we went here in 2019, we only went to the Children’s Place because my mom wanted to. I somehow convinced my family to wander the store and we wound up taking over an hour to find our way back. Everything was pretty much the same with a few places still open like a shoe store, ice rink, and I want to say Slacker’s (though they may have been at another mall and I’m remembering incorrectly), but I specifically remember a small vendor set up selling bootleg consoles like the “Vii”. Despite its lack of stores and its moldy aroma, it’s never left the back of my mind. I wish I could’ve seen this place in its prime.
Thanks for another great video. I was amazed at the detail that went into this mall's construction. Sadly, once the roof starts leaking things begin deteriorating quickly. I try to figure what happened to the American mall. It's many factors, but one is families don't seem to want to go to these places anymore, which is sad. Over twenty or so years ago when our local mall was thriving, our children were very young and we loved going there to eat, shop, or take in a movie. Those were good times. Our mall closed a few years ago but is being renovated into a hotel, casino and conference center bringing many jobs to the area which is good. One more thing; I love your background music. Reminiscent of The Shining staring Jack Nicholson.
So sad to see this mall like this, Went there when it first opened with my girlfriend(now wife) in 2003 when we were 18, Had my first legal drink there on my 21st in 2005 with my brother and girlfriend. Bought things for my first home there in 2008. Bought clothing and things for my children around the time they were closing. Lots of memories. Thanks for this video. Don't let anybody get you down and keep at it.
I went on it's grand opening not all store slots were filled and I don't recall them all ever being filled. It had a lot of very odd stores and was always kind of dead. Was a flop from day 1. Cabelas held it together.
My family took a vacation here the summer before my son started school (he's now in 9th grade) and it was starting to decline then. I'd guess that it was 50-60% occupied. We only went there for the nascar speed park. We ate at restaurant in the mall across from it, it was Mexican but I can't remember the name. Then we walked around and there was a fire museum kind of by the Cabelas. That's all I remember (I remember the ice skating rink). So sad to see it empty.
Normally Dead Mall videos make me sad. I was born in 83 and actually remember very distinctly Crestwood Mall/Crestwood Court. I had a tremendous amount of good memories from that place. The Mills by comparison was frankly the polar opposite. It Looked nice. but something was always off about that place. The layout was difficult to deal with as someone physically challenged(I have cerebral palsy, use a cane and my endurance used to be rather crap tbh) and the mall always seemed a bit hot, with wheelchairs being difficult to get to, and a very odd, distrusting staff, openly rude and acting like I would steal any chair I rented( I had to give up my driver's license to rent the chair. The store owners and their employees were beyond cool but the actual mall staff and the overall vibe just....made me never want to be there. I shed not a single tear when this place went away.
It’s was kinda in the middle of nowhere…the mall and a few restaurants and other retail store in the surrounding area but not much else …I was kinda doomed from the start sadly
I like place as it doesn't look like a boring medical or business office space as some malls did. I hate lain looking places I like the different colors it is so late 80's early 90's color scheme. It kind of reminds me of some of the Big Kmart stores that a refresh before their first bankruptcy in 2002
Another mall I used to frequent. Funny story, I got proposed to in the parking lot of the movie theater here, haha! That relationship is as dead as the mall is now too, but that's another story. 😛 Another fun fact, I used to be part of Hope church that now occupies part of the mall now, their original church was in North County, not crazy far from Jamestown Mall.
I have great memories of taking my young sons to the skate park on weekends and then grabbing food afterwards in the food court or restaurants (2008-2012). It's very sad to see it deteriorating like this, and never to return.
I went there a few times when I was younger. They used to have a giant room full of nascar simulation cars and you would race each other on Daytona. It was a blast.
The restaurant was "Tony Roma's" if that rings a bell at all. Great ribs and a great place, but the quality fell off quickly. Probably why it closed so early on.
The opening song sounds like it got its inspiration from the Beatles song Lady Madonna. Whenever I see leaky roofs I wonder to myself when are they going to find a way to make roofs that last for many decades. Nearly every dead mall has leaking roofs. My guess is one reason is because they make mall roofs flat which I’ve never understood why. Having standing water on a roof is never a good thing. Perhaps a slightly pitched roof made of ceramic might last for many decades. I’m the kind of person that thinks if you’re going to build something then build it to last 100 years at least. But the way malls have been designed and built I call malls Sand Castles. That’s my nickname for them. Building something that requires constant maintenance makes no sense to me. It’s like environmentalists created these malls to be biodegradable. I just can’t stand built in obsolescence. These billionaire developers don’t seem to care. Build it quick and cheap , make as much money as you can and then sell the mall off to some other company who wants to squeeze as much out of it as they can before selling it to another company. These companies never think about the communities or the employees. They’re just resources to be used like a paper cup and then discarded after their usefulness is over. Makes me almost wish malls would be created and built by community co-ops instead of these guys.
Man those photos of the last day really made me tear up. Growing up in malls as a teen was an experience that only exist in our memories now 😢. You would think that living in big city malls would thriving but unfortunately malls in California are also shutting down and it’s so heartbreaking.
Katy Mills had the same goofy cartoon colors. I never thought it was a particularly nice looking mall either. My first mall was Northridge in Milwaukee. That was my gold standard for much of my childhood.
My son played his hockey tournament here last year. Wetzels was pretty good. My husband and i "explored" the abandoned stuff and had ourselves some fun. 😂
i remember when my friend had his birthday party at the ice rink, his parents had it rented out just for the party and we all went skating around and played foot hockey (they had no sticks) and in the winters of 2018 and 2019 my baseball team would hit in the batting cages they had there, and yeah the only things that we saw that were open were the ice rink, the cages, and wetzels pretzels. Its truly sad how quickly it sank down
