Franklin Mills Mall CLOSING - Philadelphia  

Take a look at this article: l.smartnews.com/p-ZGo9q/GGeFGk

Breaks my heart. I marched in my high school band through that mall for the grand opening. ( Archbishop Ryan) 😊

This gentleman is dropping straight facts about the past of this mall throughout the video. As someone who has shopped here most my life, as well as worked here, I greatly appreciate the information and walkthrough for us as a society to remember the rise and fall of such an establishment. Curious for the future of this site

This guy's spot on.. was there for the post office and decided to walk through....nothing there, most stores are gone. Openenly smoking weed and blasting wireless speakers while walking through.... Like most things.. they turned it into shit...

I miss K•B Toy Works, Toy's "R" Us, Everything's A Dollar, Arthur Treachers, Roy Rogers, Hooters, Lovable Pets and Phar-Mor the most. Share in the comments what you miss about these massive shopping grounds.

I worked at Athletes Foot around ‘96 , it’s amazing to see the downfall of all malls basically, the galleria was so fun when it first opened we’d hang there around age 12 I guess. Makes me feel even older than I am to see all this, thanks for the tour and memories

People are criticizing your rather frank observations, but you have the right to speak your mind. This is one of the most passionate videos I've seen you make. You're watching your whole way of life disappear and you don't like it and you're speaking out about it

I didn’t know this mall was supposed to close I went there a long time ago with my children. It was really great. There’s so many great stores. It’s a shame I think all the great malls even like Oxford Valley Mall. probably will eventually close down. It’s so quiet over there too. It seems like everybody’s ordering from Amazon which has everything I feel like one day that. we will probably just have stores like Walmart and Target and just ordering online who knows what will happen in the future All I can say is thanks, Franklin Mills for all the memories that you brought to all of us 😊❤

Great footage. Thank you. So sad to see. I remember when the mall was mobbed and Carrefour was up front.

From 1996-2004 it was a great family atmosphere. Such a shame they connected the Walmart and let groups of thugs in. A child's life was taken away in this mall. It's sad. If this was property of Bucks County not Philadelphia it would still be a half decent place.

Back when I was in high school in the early to mid 2000s, we always stayed away from Franklin Mills on Tuesdays because they had $5 movies, a ticket and small popcorn for $5. That always brought out the best of society 😂😂

Omg I LOVED Franklin Mills. We use to go to the glamour shots in there. It’s sad to see it so empty. This is what happens when you have online shopping. Not too much longer you won’t have many shopping stores at all. Nobody will have to leave the house. Everyone will be hermits

" This mall stinks of skunk weed " fabulous introduction Chaz I love it !

Can someone confirm where toy works was? Also I remember buying a PC game from a computer store can't remember where it was

I miss the fudge place where they would randomly sing songs and replace words with fudge while giving out free samples.

Wow that just blew me away…our family’s house was a block away…we lived on Whiting Road. I remember when it was Liberty Bell Race Track when I was little and I remember when the mall opened. I live in Jersey now and haven’t been back there in many years. Can’t believe how much it’s changed.

I was in my mall shopping last August, a guy begged me for money and when I ignored him, he started verbally assaulting and threatening me. So I tried to report it to security - most of the stores I stopped into didn't have a store phone anymore, and had no idea how to get ahold of Mall security. 30 minutes after I started looking for him I finally saw him. He came riding up on a Segway, with no weapon at all, and said he would have to call the city police.

One of my first jobs was at Reading China and Glass which was one of the original stores when the mall first opened. Sad to see its current state.

Great memories at this place w my mom and lil brother she used to let us ball out everytime she took us here which was a lot lol also used to chill here a lot in my teenage yrs loved this place honestly

The mall was always ghetto. Since it was built.

I would go into that mall on occasion during 2005-2007 because my girlfriend lived near there. I wasn’t from the area so it was new to me. We would go in and the Element was on full display. After a few visits I told her we aren’t coming back here again. I used to call it the Foreign Mills Mall. What a dump.

What is shame maybe about 10 15 years ago that mall was really really nice

Great video i agree with you this mall was so much better back and the day Especially and the 90s as a kid my mom took me and my sister to franklin mills mall it had so much stores it's sad too see it now it's a shadow of it's former self so many malls are closing down i also loved going to shelton ham mall but that now is gone it's a Plaza now

Does anyone have any theories on why this mall in particular became a minority magnet considering when it opened it was in a neighborhood 100% white?

Wait when are they closing??

I had a lot of good times at that mall. I worked at the Wal-Mart when it was across the street from the mall, they gave us hour lunch breaks and we could go over and shop or eat. I went to a lot of movies at that mall. Took my kids there to run around and play on the little quarter rides at the mall. The mall and the surrounding grounds are so big and it had almost every kind of business on it. They had everything from what the host mentioned to dentist office, to beauty schools, I think they had a C H I institute. So you could go there and if you worked there or if you lived in that neighborhood you could do everything you had to do at the mall or on the mall grounds.

Used to love going here during the good days of the early 90s as a kid driving from central NJ. Modells, JCP Outlet, so many great stores for a “husky” child to find all the great clothes to go back to school and continue being a dork. 😂😂😂 The TVs playing “mills TV” in all the towers and the audio overhead for the local radio station.

Very sad. When I was a kid we used to go to Indian Springs Mall in Kansas City, Kansas. It had a children’s maze in front of the toy store where I got all my Corgi die cast cars from. It was a very elegant place especially around Christmas time. This was the early ‘70’s. I went back around 2000 to see what it looked like. Obvious it was dying a slow, painful death. Old malls dying seems like such a waste.

I used to be the store Manager for PUMA when it was over by Burlington. I have a soft spot for this mall. I last visited in May of 2023, I don't recall it being so empty then. Makes me sad. 😢

*10:30** What Massage Parlor Do You Recommend...?*

Had my first date with my now husband there. So many memories there, but I'm not hearing that it's officially closing although it's heading there.

The rock was at Franklin mills back in the late 90’s

Mall was really nice but yes, also really ghetto. Spent a lot of time there from 90-95. Car stereos getting snatched, stealing whole cars, retail theft, fist fights and lots of riff-raff behavior.. Don't need to see news or crime stats, i saw all this myself. My buddy worked at the record store (sam goody i think), he tells me all the retail theft stories like everyday. And like someone else pointed out in these comments, you can tell most of the crowd that came here was let's say...."not from the area"..

Franklin Mills has been getting bad for the last 15 to 20 years. When they moved the Wal-Mart in that was the beginning of the end …

That's crazy.I never heard of anything like that go I know I used to go there years a problem.I just thought everything was way overpriced

I've never visited this mall but enjoyed the video and hearing about the history

The counter part in South Florida Sawgrass mills mall is a tourist attraction. I believe it was sold to Simon. I know they had a Price outlet store there in Franklin Mills as well as the one in Sawgrass mills. And Pharmor was also in Sawgrass mills mall

As I recall the Liberty Bell race track was located there. The one in Bensalem was called Keystone race track. I think the Liberty Bell track was for harness racing.

So sad i remember they had a ride where the screen was showing train tracks made it seem like you were on a train so many other memories 🥺

Same as the mall in my town, same all over America at the ones that are still open - many have shuttered for good. My first impression when I went back after many years of not being in there (and that's the problem - EVERYBODY IN TOWN has spent many years not being in there) my first impression was the easiest way to turn it into a profitable space would be to turn it into a bowling alley. Most of the areas don't have anyone walking in them. I was there a couple days ago - there were some women trying to find clothes, and they had some shopping bags so they must have succeeded. The rest of the people were senior citizens using it to get some walking exercise. It's simple - the more people shop online, the more brick-and-mortar stores will vanish

Absolutely loved this mall when it opened in 89....into the mid late 90s. This has become a slow death in the past 10+ years. Stopped in here 3 weeks ago, I swear...I felt like the only person here. Stopped in Pro Image sports..which I was shocked was still open. Still....so many closed, vacant spots. Was only here for 10 minutes and just ended up walking out. I noticed the "Simon Mall" has been blacked out on the 'Phila. Mills" signs....another massive fail by that property company, but again, online sales AND growing crime in this area killed this place. Most like be turned into massive apartments by 2028. Even across the parking lot where a Dicks Sporting Goods Outlet is...other now trashy stores. (On Sunday's the dead parking lot is a flea market now) Also...way back in the 90s - 00s, a smaller shopping ctr. had an awesome Comp USA at the entrance on Knights Road...these shopping ctrs outside the main Franklin Mills mall is also pathetic. This whole entire complex is just on life support.

Don't need to close I use go their lots of times need to put new live in that place it's put together better than any place you shop in Philly. Bring some stars In their. Out let store I use to have lots of fun 😂 their that mall can be save.😢😢

Holy crap... how do you remember all these things?

Never forget palace electronics!

Cool documentary. I remember being excited to come here when it opened in 1989. Remember the bowling alley and arcade? It was called the 49th Street Galleria. They even had laser tag! That was very new and a very cool thing to do. This was in the mall and I believe was the very spot that became Burlington Coat Factory. Sad to see this as well as other malls dying. I would like to see a video like this on Oxford Valley Mall. Tha 4:54 t was my mall until old enough to drive. I was 19 when Franklin Mills opened in 1989 😊

And oh by the way, pretty much our whole town smells like skunk weed now. The businessmen that used to open restaurants in our town have all stopped. They've stated publicly that they can't get anyone to apply or come in to work. But of course there was not ever going to be anything wrong with legalizing marijuana. You asked what I missed the most, that's what I miss, when the whole town didn't smell like skunk weed

How about this - at the mall in my town, there have been several stores added in the last decade - but most of them are only attached to the exterior of the mall, but don't offer any entrances to get into or out of the mall. That was disturbing to me - it's like they know the mall is going to be shut some day, so they don't want to be connected to the it, just abutting it

Wasn't there a "Syms" there at one time.

The mall died because they took the Ben Franklin head out and stopped playing the Electric Slide on all the speakers every 30 seconds. ⚡️⚡️⚡️ How could anything be bad when the Electric Slide is playing? 😂

Its about time to much crime!

For years now I've live 7 blocks away from this mall and I can tell you this is the worst mall probably in the world. The crime rate there is so high. I won't even go near this mall. I don't even go to the Walmart there.

Liberty bell race track did not move up the street to the now parx location. The old Philadelphia race track opened in 1974, way before Liberty Belle closed

I worked at Bugle Boys Jeans 7:25 (what now is The children's store) from 95 to 97. We had so many shoplifters that it got to the point I was like this isn't worth the 6.25 an Hr. And having a pew pew shown to you. Take whatever you want ! 😂 Got a job at Weber Display and packaging making way more money didn't even quit just never showed up at that mall ever again !🤣🤣🤣

The Chinese restaurant was called "China Buddha". I remember that because it was my first date with a very beautiful girl I was madly in love with.

It's much the same in my town, although we are a smaller city, but the mall used to be a hub of many stores, restaurants, I got my first job there at a restaurant as a busboy and dishwasher, and my third job was selling toys in a toy story. All left the mall long ago. At least you still have a couple of pretty girls walking in your mall. They are definitely an endangered species in our mall

Puma outlet is still there it just moved to a bigger and nicer location in the mall.

I wish this was true. I’ve been to the mall yesterday and they’re still opening new stores/tenants. I highly doubt the mall has sold or is closing anytime soon as much as I hoped it would. Wishful thinking tho

I remember when it was liberty Bell that Mall is a good place to get victimized,I have bought plenty of stuff from the mall though.gillians was a good place to eat and play games.i a M surprised it's closing, they're all closing but I thought Franklin Mills would survive.

You forgot the dollar store and how there was a killing there in the late 90s the workers went to open the store early in the morning and the kid that used to work there rob the place and killed the man point-blank on his knees the woman survived. I’m not sure I’m gonna go look that up now. I was hoping you were gonna have this on this. That was really big incident.

This has been my area mall for decades.. its a sad state.

Used to work there in the early 90s. I. Goldberg and Nordstrom. Used to get crazy packed. You could barely walk around the holidays.

I found your video to be both informative and negative. Franklin Mills was a popular destination for shopping, dining, and entertainment for many people for many years. It has seen its fair share of crime issues including a Philadelphia Police Officer being shot in the line of duty as he tried to stop robbery suspects. The mall has been deteriorating for years, as most malls have been. I went to the mall many times to shop, people watch, etc. many times. I would like to remember those good times at the mall. Unfortunately, homelessness has become a major problem there the past few years. I wish you would have spent more time on the positives of the mall instead of mostly all the negatives. I'm surprised you never mentioned good ole Comp USA as that was a very popular store back in its day. Nice video. Thanks for producing and sharing it with us. I just wish it wasn't so negative is all.

There was a shooting outside our Mall in recent years, like yours I never even hear anyone in our city talk about it - they stay home and watch 100 Cable channels. Our mall is mostly nothing left but some clothing stores. They try to make Christmas season put them in the black for the entire year. You go in there Nov , Dec all of a sudden there's city police to protect shoppers

Someone took a steaming dump in the outside playground at the McDonalds outside the mall.

The mall was poppin in the 90s & 00s

I worked at the Ruby Tuesdays for years. The job sucked but I worked with so many great people. Sad to see

I remember meeting the rock there way back

Yeah l heard it's closing pretty soon.

It was part phila and bucks county

It's not closing dude !!!¡

I worked there Day One (Sears Outlet) and you over-emphasis on the crime & other negatives is BLOWN WAY OUT OF PROPORTION! I spent countless hours there up over the years, the crime-ridden hellscape is you describe is not even close to the actual experience. I appreciate people that focus on local history, but there is no need to embellish and sensationalize things.

Why do they have to be Hispanics? 🧐

You’re very dramatic. Things happen everywhere. States are making weed legal in certain states so of course we’re gonna start smelling it everywhere. I can’t stand the smell. You know definitely that it’s closing?

The best mall in Philly, still. You say a lot of bullshit that isn't true. Thumbs down for fake advertising and false bullshit about Hispanics slicing ankles and stealing cars

Wow, racist much?

Do you know when theyre set to close

That mall was always a ghetto mall. I never liked that mall. I went like 5 times, and every time I went, it sucked. The people are rude and trashy as hell.

Two things destroyed this mall. A horrendously long cattle chute design with no way to quickly get in and out if you knew what you wanted. And a straight-line connection down I-95 to low class and poor people. It was a playground for kids and poor people who did nothing but clog the place on weekends and did very little purchasing. The people closest to the mall did very little shopping there. The clientele was not their type.