Exploring a Dying Mall Near Miami! | The Shops at Sunset Place 

I was there when it opened … you use to have to push through crowds and run down the escalator to get movie tickets before they sold out! Every store on their website was there and thriving! I use to take the Metro Rail from work in downtown Miami and get off there to have a night out. Those were the days!

ouchhhhhh.... that mall was busy like Dolphin Mall, parking was a mission . how sad your video shocked me

I'm a miami local and it's so sad to see how this mall looks now. I remember the energy of it especially on Friday nights looking for clubbing outfits and seeing young kids with their families. Teens going on dates and adults getting ready for a sexy dinner. Music was heard in the distance and there was always something to do and see. Thank you for doing the trip there I have been curious to see how it is now

That mall use to be bakery center and then it was renovated to sunset place. It had a bar/club, other bars, music, restaurants, stores like virgin records, Nike, Armani, etc. very good stores. It was a great place for everyone. It’s sad to see what has happened to it. After the adults left the kids would hang out there and that’s when it started going downhill. They placed a curfew on the kids that would go and after that it just died. It’s very hot during the day but at night it was a nice spot. Go to the movies, eat at many of its restaurants, and maybe grab a drink. It was so full at one point that you couldn’t even park.

I remember when this opened. 1999 was an amazing year. The Virgin Megastore, Niketown, GameWorks, and the movies. I was a teenager back then and due to Amazon, there’s unfortunately no reason for it anymore.

The first store front you saw used to be a Banana Republic. Then next to it was Victoria Secret and then adjacent to the broken escalators was Nike Town!

This is so sad 😢 I have wonderful memories in that mall during my high school years.

You were right, that was a Johnny Rockets!

Sunset Place was at its prime around 2003-2008. Some notable favorites I liked were Niketown which was at that store near the back where you didn't feel safe walking under. Basically a 2 floor nike store with some cool Jordan worn sneakers on display. Also before gametime was Gameworks. An amazing arcade where I would spend hours there as a kid.

This is insane- it’s like a post apocalyptic scene now. I remember going to the movies here all the time, not to mention Marino’s and the bars that were popping back then. It’s crazy. Hopefully they do something to bring the people back.

This is actually really crazy to watch, during my high school years 2006-10 this place was packed. The upstairs bowling alley which was a splits Ville, the movie theatre.. and a huge candy store. you were spot on about the johnny rockets and right past that used to be a video game-rental place where you could pay hourly to game with your friends on pc or consoles and a hot topic, Downstairs on the immediate entrance to the right was a Dan Marino's restaurant. Those spiral stairs were the stairs to the parking garage levels if the elevator was packed, which it usually was. Where you see that median road downstairs there use to be food vendors, I remember a crepe one specifically we use to stop at almost every time. Barnes and noble was also super packed at the time, a mix of book readers and also Starbucks being inside. While the mall was thriving... it was a great experience for sure.

I’ve been going to this AMC since forever. It’s been so sad to see the decline of Sunset Place

I used to work at the Delia’s store right next to the water fall in my high school days and it was so busy! The mall was quite beautiful in that time and I loved that it was open air.

Sunset Place was our hang out spot in high school like 10 years ago because it was so close to a metro station and all my friends took the metro to school. I still go sometimes for Colorful Cute because my gf collects sonny angels, seeing the mall slowly get abandoned is crazy.

Grew up going to that mall pretty much every weekend! From Forever 21 to Bath & Body works, to the Disney Store, the place was always full. The theater line used to be packed!!! You could smell the Hollister Store a mile away. THERE USED TO BE A VIRGIN MUSIC STORE at the 4:02 mark which was 2 floors and it was amazing! A Nike outlet at the 2:57 mark. Hot Topic and Johnny Rockets were always full! The mall was such a great 3rd place. We would go there after school, which was a train ride away, I had my first date with my husband at Game Time. The city really failed this mall. It was always the place to be and the surrounding area was also full of restaurants, bars and clubs so there is still traffic but the mall has gone to waste. I can only hope they bring it back some day. Also, Colorful Cute is an awesome shop! Support them on Social Media. One year they did a small convention at the mall called Cutie Con that I was a part of and it really brought the community together!!!

I had so many memories there. Playing basketball at LA fitness and then grabbing food with friends at Buffalo Wild Wings and going to the AMC movies.

Dam memories of the days gone. That was the hangout back in the day 😢😢

I remember going there when it was full as a kid in the 90’s. We all remember how absolutely beautiful it was when it just opened. People were in awe

what’s really interesting is that right by the mall is a nice strip that has really great boutiques and restaurants. i don’t get why the area around is bustling but not the mall itself

When i came from Cuba that was a very nice mall to go. I used to watch imax movies there. So much fun. It was very colorful mall, modern for the 1990s. But there was no Brickell back then.

I remember I went to the official opening day of the mall where the Major did the ribbon cutting , and everyone was invited to the big party . The architectural design was very unique and modern, but not how it looks now . The highlights were the Virgin Store , the Nike and Z Gallery , the movie theatre and Game works , which I think was the first one in South Florida. This mall was far better than Dadeland that looked a little bit outdated by the time this mall opened. Once the big stores closed , they took cutting edge architecture with them . I loved the cylindrical structure with the hanging planters in front of the parking elevators . I used to park right at the top floor so I could go around the stairs ending the journey at the water feature which surprisingly is still working . The other water feature with the lions next to the escalators is no longer working . The mall had many nice details that are no longer there that's why it probably looks outdated . Let's hope they make the right decision. But we all know... malls are not meant to last forever.

Yeah it’s really sad. Sunset used to be my parents go to mall for the movies and Halloween decoration and I always loved the way sunset looks. It has a very beautiful vibe. It’s just sad to see it die.

there was a few different bowling alleys to the left of the AMC ticket booths, I believe the last company to be there was Splitsville

The top places in Sunset Places was Virgin Megastore, Niketown, at least for me. Sadly Sunset Place isn’t the only mall that’s looking like this, it’s everywhere in the nation. Malls need to stay relavent, people rather stay inside order their stuff than going in person to buy their stuff.

They had an Urban Outfitters way back in the mid to late 2000s. Used to visit Sunset Place a lot back in the day when GameTime was called Gameworks and remember how packed it would be on the weekends. So sad it's a ghost town nowadays.

OMG! This is depressing! I remember the mall being so packed! They had Bath and Body! KB toy store a candle making place . I mean it was busy busy!! I'm surprised AMC and Game Time is still there!

On line shopping is the thing that killed the malls

The entrance on 72nd street used to have a giant tree that resembled the one at animal kingdom. It was huge. Right behind it was a Rainforest Cafe where Z gallery is today. To get inside, you would walk over a fake bridge over a shallow pond that had fake alligators, fish and other fake plants. The AMC theater was the first one in Miami with stadium seating. It was always packed. Good times. I hope they do something nice with the space similar to what they did with coco walk.

I grew up going to this mall. I don’t go to malls any more but it genuinely mkaes me sad to see Sunset Place like this. It was a great place to go shop or to just walk around and go to the movies but life went on. Fun fact, before this mall there was another nice mall here that also went dead and was demolished in order for this one to be built from scratch. That mall was called Bakery Centre. Let’s go help out the Japanese cute store to stay in business.

i love the kind of content you create man you gotta post more often and flood the youtube algorithm i dont really see ppl doing the type of content you doing in miami

What?!? This can’t be real. I used to go there as a teen with my friends all of the time. Like this WAS the place to be. We’d shop around then to the movies afterwards. I moved up to central Florida 10 years ago and haven’t been back to this specific mall since. I’m so heartbroken, I had so many memories there.

and yes you were correct, that used to be a johnny rockets. also even 10 years ago the back part of the mall by the LA fitness would be pretty dead and had very little foot traffic. I only ever went to that side for the Zumiez and Buffalo Wild Wings

I miss the old FAO Schwartz that was there

Wow. I forgot about this place. Used to go there a lot when it first opened. Was always busy. Lots of nice shops and great restaurants. Thanks for the tour.

I was a regular at that mall on weekends in 2003-2005 and it was a normal great busy mall full of kids and great restaurants. Was a nice place to take a date and chill. Other outdoor malls have opened before and after this mall and are still thriving so I don’t get it. The two things I think killed this mall was surrounding traffic issues and the parking was a pain in the ass. I’d often rather find street parking in the nearby streets and walk a block or two than pay to park in that garage and be looking for a space for 30 minutes. And yes that was a former Johnny Rockets when they used to be everywhere in every mall in the late 90s/2000s haha.

I’ve just visited the mall for the first time last Thursday afternoon to see a movie at the cinema and noticed the same as you, it’s really beautiful but too empty, I really liked the fountain in the stairs and the material that are made for, looked like forgotten in the past

This area in the early 2000 felt special it's sad to see it like this hopefully the city does something with it. I feel the area is wealthy and a revamp would bring lots of business to the area.

I remember my parents driving by there in the early 80s. It was a holsum bread factory. You could smell the bread a mile away. Years later I went there to see movies. There was talk of converting it into apartments which is the norm now. I could only imagine the cost of living there.

I remember going there as a teen. So sad to see this. Place was packed full time. Hard to find parking, the movie theater was packed. I think it used to be called “The Bakery Center” before, and if it’s the same place it’s been a Miami landmark since like, the 30’s or something.

power 96 used to always hold events there!

I grew up in South Miami, I was there when the mall opened in 1995. It has been declining ever since the owners of the mall decided to make high rise apartments on their property. The last time I visited the mall was in 2022, there were only 10 stores opened. That restaurant that you showed was Johnny Rockets!

I briefly worked in that beautiful mall in 2001. The place used to be really packed and it took a while to park and exit the parking garage 😅! That mall has been dead for many years and it's sad.

At the 3 minute mark you walked to the Virgin music store. It was massive and they didn’t anticipate the overnight explosion of the iPod and digital audio. Since it closed no company has taken that space, it’s enormous and the mall overall is not a lucrative space. The next space was Urban Outfitters and was there for a long time. That Body Spa and space next door was at one point a huge candy shop and a retro game store. I walked there recently with my family and my dog and my dog had the whole mall to himself.

It was huge in the y2k era. It was the spot for um students and hs kids all around. The last time it was at capacity was probably 2008. After the recession, it started dying. The glass tower by the la fitness was a nike town and i think a virgin records store next door. I went to the opening of the LA fitness probably in 04' as a kid with an older cousin. Dan Marino owned a big restaurant next to the Barnes and Nobles. There was a giant fake banyan tree next to it with lights playing jungle sounds. All the kids on fridays met up at the Johnny Rockets. It was always busy on the weekends. Not to mention the vans store that had a half pipe!🔥.. if u grew up in sw dade that was the chill plan.

Used to go to the amc there. I remember the urban outfitters was there too. Crazy what’s happening there

Use to be the bakery Center? 80's Then sunset place 2000s? Jeez so sad we dont have malls anymore😢😢😢😢

I was not around when it use to be a busy place back then, only time I go there is sometimes for movies... but I can honestly say, by the amount of space and store fronts. this place can be Huge again

I went there as a teenager caught a couple of movies, used to go to Game Works before it was Game Time and used to have a bunch of kids raid the Metrorail on Saturdays and Sundays, it used to be the IT mall back in the day

Man when that mall opened, I remember the rainforest theme they had at the main entrance. They had Virgin Megastore, where I bought The Chronic 2001, Gameworks, Martini Bar, Strikes and Rainforest Cafe.

I used to work here for a few years at itsugar and it’s sad to see it like this seeing all the empty stores and knowing what they used to be.

We use to shop there all the time when it first opened and for several years. In fact we use to shop in the mall that was there before - The Bakery Center. This was a beautiful pedestrian mall filled with shoppers for years. We loved the IMAX Experience theater that was located where Planet Fitness is. It was an independent theater and spectacular. They mall even had a 2 story Virgin Megastore, at the time the largest one in the US. Unfortunately, an unscrupulous and unruly crowd that lived near by on the North side of US 1 started to spoil the shopping experience. There were several nasty incidents including a stabbing many years ago and also a burglary in the Majors jewelry store. Shame, shame, shame...

Legend is that land is an Indian Burial ground, no mall has ever done well there. There used to be bakery center before that snd it had the same demise.

… and they charge to park there 😂 haha at least they did when I lived in Miami for 5 years. Movie theater is good and so is the kids fun place, lots of slides and play area. Good video ✅👏🏼

It's like radiator springs from csrs now. I went back in 2016 and they had a decent selection of stores, like maybe half of what they have on their outdated website and they still had actual directories. The closed escalator was still working along with the water feature next to it. What you thought was Johnny Rockets actually was one and I ate there in December 2018, which I think still had a decent number of stores from my 2016 visit. But once the pandemic hit, the mall's deterioration escalated tenfold

It’s sad how this places turned out. I remember going there when they use to have gameworks and imax back in the early 2000’s it was a great place.

I was there in 1999 when it was opened, as it was so beautiful that it used to have shops like Virgin Megastore, Niketown, FAO Schwarz, Sweet Donna's Country Store Restaurant and Bakery, the Rainforest Cafe esque type, Z Gallerie, Splitsville, Old Navy, Disney Store and Johnny Rockets among others. Since 1999, it used to have Banyan trees and laser shows. I miss those Goodtimes and I have hopes that something new will take place while keeping AMC theaters, Gametime and Barnes and Noble.

I remember going there when Virgin Record store was next to it, and this mall had FAO Schwartz toy store. It was bustling but sad to see the current state of it.

This mall opened right when I was in middle school. They used to have a $5 movie special Monday-Thusday at the movie theatre between (4pm-7pm). In the late 90's when it opened, it was very popular with middle and high schoolers, since it is very close to the Metrorail. In its heyday, the vibe was very similar to what Dolphin Mall is today (just no outlet stores or food court). The original mall opened with the AMC movie theatre (still there), Barnes and Noble (still there), Virgin Megastore, and Bally Total Fitness (now LA Fitness) as its main anchors... Other stores such as Victoria Secret, Bath and Body Works, Gap, and The Disney Store, spent many years as tenants of the mall, until the mall started declining. What I have heard is that the reason for the malls sudden decline that began in the late 2010's was that Sunset Place never updated with the times. Sunset Place always catered to the middle and high school crowd but as that crowd grew older.... they preferred more modern and refined places such as Village at Merrick Park and Dadeland Mall for their shopping and dining needs. Another huge factor, in my opinion for its decline was that AMC Sunset Place never made a significant update to its movie theatre while competitors such as Merrick Park and even Dolphin Mall updated their movie theaters with luxury amenities such as reclining seats. I believe AMC has made some updates more recently (post 2020) but it's too little too late. I believe the plan, in the near future is to demolish Sunset Place and replace it with a new development with luxury apartments. But we shall see!

I remember when it used to have a Nike store and Dan Marino's bar and Grill

This is pretty unusual for FL. Open-air malls have replaced enclosed malls across the state. Visit an enclosed mall & you may see tumbleweeds rolling past the shuffling feet of the mall walkers.😂

I can’t believe gametime is still there!!! I went a couple years ago and I was so sad this mall was becoming a ghost town it used to be so vibrant

Sad to see, this place was so full of life before. I remember I went to watch a movie with my girlfriend 5 years ago and it was already a shadow of its former self but crazy to see what its like now.

I’m not surprised by this even before covid it was pretty empty and also it seems every time I went they always have problems with the escalator.

I saw Black Panther here in Feb. 2018. It was a busy place and the parking payment system was horrible. I hated parking there so I hated going there.

So sad . This is such a nice place. A landmark!

I remember there used to be a Nike Town, Urban Outfitters, Virgin Mega Store, Hollister, Abercrombie

It’s truly sad. Sunset was a staple in the early 2000’s. Lots of high end spots. The movie theater was the place to be. And the restaurants were fire.

Good old memories, I used to go there with friends back in high school 😢

Damm bro that was the spot when i was in middle school and highscool, everybody I know always went to dolphin mall to hang out durning The Weekend but me and friends went to sunset cause it was nice vibe and barley people we know goes there and had a lot of good stores, music, and food. Now I only go there just for a movie rarely and that’s it. It’s sad to see a mall like this that made memories when you were a kid and now It’s so quiet and barely anyone goes , and more and more known store we know leaving or been left.

There used to be so many people there back in the day! Ive been to the movies, the imax, the game place, lan party place... Man.... And the Johnny rockets!!!

the store you see immediately in front of you when you walk up the centerpiece stairs in the center of the mall used to be a candy store, I believe the candy store was the last business in that location

lmao i about died when that guy popped out from under the escalator

The empty store that had the "please use other door" sign used to be a local video game/trading card store. I don't even remember the name anymore but we went there a lot in high school my first two smash tournaments ever were there.

I used to go this mall all the time when I was in my early 20s. In the early 2000s it was one of the best places in miami. Movie theater was great. Bowling alley. Crepe maker was popular. La fitness. Live music. Always very very busy. Sad to see how quickly it has changed

that tall weird looking unsafe glass structure used to be one of the coolest nike stores in miami. 3 stories!! Sad to see this mall go downhill.

It’s still nice to walk around !

So whats the plan now? are thes till going to redevelop it?

There used to be a card shop there that I would hang out in and play TCGs. Almost forgot about it until I saw this video, the store closed down years ago but its nice taking a step through memory lane.

I remember they had a retro gaming store by Barnes and Noble and Color Me Mine. Also remember the splitsville right next to the movie ticket area and then down the escalators was Forever21, Traffic shoe store, Hollister, and some other clothing called "Couture XO" or something like that.

Crazy. It was at its best in the early 2000s. We used to roam the Virgin Store, GameWorks, Barnes and Noble Hot topic for hours…. Not to mention saw lots of movies there. There was a club there too and a friend of mine planned my bday party there in 2008 😢😢😢

I remember when Shops at Sunset Place opened around 1999. It was one of the best malls down here in the county and is actually pathetic yet insulting that they have neglected this place from the website to most if not the whole entire mall. The future of Shops at Sunset Place is looking rather terrible knowing how bad it currently looks and as far as the Kawaii store I think it seems like it's hanging there not like a comic book store or a similar type of small business and I will go as far as to say that if they would sell gunpla which Barnes and Nobel to some extend sells it just like Legos they would actually have a lot of more customers because during the pandemic model kit building really took off and as far as local hobby stores are concerned there aren't that many that focus on model kit building in Miami Dade County and kind of sucks because you are obligated to make the drive to Broward to somewhere like Tate's Comics for scale model events and that all can be avoided if more people in Dade County involve themselves in diversifying and growing interest in a fun hobby such as gunpla and model kit building. Also, some would argue that this is a niche hobby and yes thats understandable to some extend but you build community and it can also be a good chance to have more folks involved at an artistic activity without making long drives to Broward County!!

I loved the Bookstore there as well as Z Gallerie, Pottery Barn, Virgin Megastore, etc....

My first kiss was near those escalators you didn’t feel safe walking on! Wow!

This was my hang out spot for chill Friday nights for a movie, dinner and drink. In its heyday it was upscale and very busy. Great restaurants, bars, retail shops and it was overall safe. Sad to see its decline.

North of Miami where was a mall called the Fashion mall that closed. It was next to another mall that had better parking and more shops.

Never been there. Been in miami 30 years lol. This looks like the mall I went to in LA though. nice to know we have(had) something similar here.

The business case for malls (including outlet malls) doesn’t work anymore thanks to inflation and cheaper options online or at discount retailers. Amazon, marshals, Nordstrom rack and direct to consumer brands are way better than malls.

I worked there in 1992 when it was the Bakery Centre built in 88 before that was torn down in 95 and Sunset Place was built.

that’s crazy the last time i went was about 2 years ago and it’s literally the same 😭 the movie theatre , game time, and the kawaii store were the only things open, it’s so sad to see but i was so happy to see that that store was open

Hey Joel, are you planning to try out the Trirail Express into MiamiCentral on July 1st?

Oh wow I used to work at the Barnes and noble there. I didn’t know it was like that now as I’m up an hour north

This place was alive and well 10 years ago. Around 2018/2019ish, i noticed it started to die. I have so many memories from there. I used to go to the Hollister there all the time. I remember when it first opened in 1999. We were taken to the imax theater there in 2000 on a field trip. We also used to hang out at this place after school in the 2000s. I think the rent is also super high there which caused a lot of stores to leave.

It will be replaced with mixed use residential retail high rises

I remember coming on vacation and spending hours there! 😢

Oh ! And a rainforest cafe !

That big open space in 3:00 - 3:59 was an exhibit studio before 2010. They had two exhibits that I remembered. One of them was The Bodies exhibit. And the part where you thought it was a Johnny Rockets was correct. That was the last place I went to eat in that mall back in 2018. The Last film I watched in that AMC was a foreign film in 2019

The "family party" store you passed by at the beginning has had at least 3-4 different businesses in that same location that I know of, all of them serving the same niche of "throw your kids bday party here"

I was here with my mom back in April 2019. There was shops that were closed but a good amount were still open and it had a fair amount of people. Crazy to see how it ended up yikes

Saying US1 as a talking point is no bueno. Miami in very Linear. Good video though subbed and looking forward to more of your vids. this one was recommended to me. You got potential to be huge!

Remembered when that mall opened, it's a shame how far it fell. Malls have to stay fresh and current in Miami to survive(Dadeland mall) or become the next southland mall, cocowalk etc)