In this episode of Retail Archaeology I document an experiment to see how long $20 will last at the mall. =Social Media= Twitter: @Ret_Archaeology Instagram: @Retailarchaeology Facebook: @RetailArchaeology Patreon: / retailarchaeology
Malls are getting super unfriendly to go into. I miss the days I could wander in a small bookstore inside the mall and then look at random import Japanese items across the food court.
Agreed, and in my mall you better not be carrying your wallet in your back pocket, same for your phone. The rare times I go for Lenscrafters, or Shoe Show Encore I put my stuff in a locked sling bag across my back, or chest, and we(usually me, and my girlfriend)walk fast to where we need to be, and I keep my pepper spray hung on my bag at the ready.
@@MaddSweetGT500 My mall's arcade when I was a teen was slightly bigger than the mall's Bed, Bath & Beyond. Took a good half- hour just to make a circuit through.
@@HARRYAZZHOLE the counterfeit money, that's good enough to fool a bill reader, will cost you more money than the toy you get, even if you get the toy on the first try.
They have a FYE at Concord mall. I wanted to renew my membership but apparently you have to do it online. I'd rather do it in person with cash. Needless to say I didnt. If I need to go online I'll just go to Amazon or eBay.
@@jimfaust6342 I'm surprised you still have an FYE! Ours closed years ago. The last time I was at our mall was about 6 months ago, and the only shop I would've had any interest in going into was Spencer Gifts....BUT...it's now literally the size of what amounts to a hallway - 2 aisles jammed with products that often stuck out into the already limited walking space, almost guaranteeing you'd knock items down while crab walking through. No thanks, I'll pass. Arcade: long gone. Food court: I think the McDonald's was still open, but I don't need to go to the mall to get that. One of the empty stores was being used as an Alfa Romeo showcase...again, I'll pass. Yeah, there were several (maybe 20 or so) clothing stores open, but 2 of them were kid's clothes & I'm bored to tears looking at clothing anyway. RIP WVM: 1973-2021.
Same unless I'm going every few years to Lenscrafters for new glasses, or the rare times I can't find my shoes some place else, or online, and end up in the Shoe Show Encore. Also with rising gas prices, I'd spend a fair chunk of that $20 in gas just to get to the my local mall as it's a 30 - 40 minute drive depending on traffic. Not worth it for me
To explain why arcades use quarters instead of tokens, it costs money to create tokens. It used to be, back in the day, tokens were preferable because it would guarantee return business if arcade patrons had leftovers. However, the amount of foot traffic into arcades is so low, the odds of return business so diminished, and the cost of producing unique tokens skyrocketed as suppliers faded with less arcades, the cost benefit flipped. It was no longer worth the extra cost to guarantee return business. They also know that with the prevalence of plastic and smartphone payment options, people were just sitting on spare change with no logistical means of spending it, so arcades could benefit as being a last-ditch repository for those decade-lost coins waiting under your car seats.
@@Muertenoir Same, I have a decent coin collection I've gathered myself since childhood, and then inherited a lot when my grandmother died in the late 00's(her's and my grandfather's), and then when my step father died a few years later, and part of that collection is unique tokens from arcades we as a family had been too over the years, mainly back in the 80's, and 90's that they had saved for me. I've always love the one from my long since closed local mall arcade that had Namco on one side with Pacman on the other of which I keep sealed in plastic on display with my small collection of other Pacman items.
@@tbohlsenNSWSSMRC Corporate arcades like Dave and Buster's use swipe cards now, and have auto-dispensers built into games that need tokens to do any interaction with them, basically like an auto-loader of tokens instead of using physical insertion.
Most malls lack entertainment of any kind. When I looked forward to heading to the mall there was often live music, maybe just a piano player. Demonstrations like toy helicopters, places demonstrating cosmetics, nail products and even places where you could try on a wig! There were kitchen appliance centers giving cooking demonstrations. Now? Nothing.
@spirals 73 My metro area will always get a large number of foreigners, tourists, travel professionals. It has many theme parks, attractions-resorts. Also many overseas buyers go to retail mall places 🛒, buy large orders to re-sell overseas. The $$$ is big for clothing, 👜👛🛍🧳, ⌚, perfumes. Factory outlets & strip malls are big.
This needs to be an indie Japanese horror game. You spend an evening at the mall and things get progressively odd then disturbing. Thanks for the videos!!! 💸💸💸
I've been to this mall and it has the elevator from every horror movie outside and people regularly get trapped in it. I didn't have enough room to film me (in a wheelchair last time I visited) going on it. Lights flicker inside. The outside isnt lit. It looks more abandoned and foreboding each time I see it. Oh and the other elevator electrocuted me. Perfect game material. Retail Archaeology, I'd be happy to arrange to meet you there and film the Hell elevator. It'll fun. I'll even get the fire department if you get trapped.
"Even though I wanted to spend $20 at the mall, I really couldn't." This has been my problem with malls too. I grew up in the 90's when they all had Radio Shack, Sears was still good, and when all else failed there was the bookstore. Much of the retail apocalypse is self-inflicted.
You, and everyone else but the really rich. I'll be 40 in July, and I'm thankful my house, car, and truck have long since been paid for, and I'll use my car/truck till the wheels fall off, and can't be fixed.
@@vagamer522 I legitimately can't tell if you're joking but wages, minimum most importantly hasn't been kept up with the rate of inflation Your wish for this to be fixed is what people advocating for a living wage are talking about partially.
@@LunaTulpa "living wage" means even higher costs of operation i.e. even higher prices. Inflation is due to the massive printing of money devaluing the dollar.
My mom owned a pizza restaurant at the mall and I use to work there on the weekends. I remember a large slice of pizza, 2 bread sticks, and a medium drink with a side of marinara sauce was just under 5.00. This was maybe 2004?
The good ol' times. I mean the only other place that comes close is Mcd but their food is meh. Though I have learned via my mall's food court sometimes it's cheaper to not order the meals but ask for sides. I do sarku's white rice and panda's chicken teriyaki as a side, then mcd for soda. All cost me like $6/7
I remember my high school allowed us to leave campus for lunch,we would go to two pizza places that had two slices and a drink for like $5,this was in the 90s,I don't think high schoolers are even allowed to go out anymore for lunch.
No toy stores, books sellers, or even a variety of game stores. I remember back in mid-90s to early 2000s there were Babbages, Software Etc., and Electronic Boutique with same mall I visited....also miss Saturday Matinee....malls are now relegated to a secure safe place for seniors to walk around and get exercise....
The mall i go to locally is starting to hit that. The place still holds a decent crowd, but some of the major stores went out. Places like Nordstrom, Sears, Disney and Microsoft. The stores I really liked going to are still there, but it just doesn't captivate me like it used to.
there needs to be more variety tbh, like, why not add a retro game store to buy 2nd hand game cartridges or consoles (or even reproductions but i assume there would be legal problems with that), and where's the stores to purchase stuff like board games and such, how about thrift stores
Sad to see the mall in this shape on a saturday night. I can remember when Saturday nights were golden for malls. Well, last year at JCPenney, everything was on clearance because they were trying to get rid of their summer stuff. I got 4 shirts and 3 pair of shorts for 14 dollars. I was amazed. Unless i go to.a thrift store, that will never happen again.
Since our Penneys closed in the now-closed mall in my area, I've found cheap clothes mecca at Old Navy. Brand new tops for $3.18? Count me in. Coupons is what it is all about!
@@carbonado2432 Dang right because even at Little Caesars you can get an entire lunch combo of a personal size pepperoni pizza, and bottled soda for $5 plus tax.
It's sad that malls are dying. They seem like they would be good mild exercise and entertainment, but I guess the business model just isn't feasible anymore.
i still think its kinda feasible, its just the lack of variety thats probably killing them off, malls to me today just seem like 75% clothing and shoe stores
if malls had more variety that catered to more niches then i could see them breathing more life, like add a dave and busters or small arcade, maybe have some stores that sell electronics that best buy doesnt carry, have a few small candy shops, introduce some toy stores, maybe add a photography equipment store, maybe have a craft store and a variety of stores that cater to hobbies (like miniature scale models, resin molding, etc.) because honestly sometimes i want to obtain things on the same day rather than pay a few bucks extra on shipping and waiting a few days to several weeks.
1 slice of pizza is almost $5? F' that! Also, that claw game is obviously rigged as 2 out of 3 times you had the toy and the claw was probably programmed to drop it.
Is this news to you? LOL. They all are rigged. Every single one of them either speeds to the top and abruptly stops, has spring loaded claws that can't stay closed, or open up/don't close towards the top. Or the good ones, like the one in the video, are a combo of all three.
Erik, I think you hit on at least part of the problem concerning malls losing their 'draw', for the mall kid generation. Lack of toy stores, music & video trends towards streaming content, loss of book stores, no electronic stores like Radio Shack or Fry's, etc... There's getting to be fewer places, where we would like to shop, at the traditional malls. In addition, and this is a sad one for many of us... people don't have the social interactions, that they had in years past. So much has transitioned over to social platforms, that in-person communications has dropped drastically. The malls of our youth were a social gathering place or center for the community. We'd go there to meet with family, friends, or simply to 'people-watch' (as my wife calls it). The younger generations seem to have lost interest in this sort of thing. There are other factors as well, such as shopping trends towards online, over brick-n-mortar. In a nutshell, the world of today, sadly, is not the world of our youth. There are still a great-many things to enjoy, with friends & family. As they say, some things have a way of coming around. Perhaps the mall scene will see a resurgence in the future.
I’m in my early 30s so I feel like I had missed the tail end of that sort of socializing at the mall experience I had seen on TV growing up. Then again, the closest mall to me growing up was on the other side of town with no means of getting there without driving. As a kid, meeting at a park in my neighborhood was more economical and by the time I was old enough to drive we’d just hang out at a friend’s place after school. Closest we did have to that experience was a short-lived comic store in a strip mall full of local shops and a laundromat near the high school. I can’t speak on how kids hang out nowadays since MySpace of all things was just beginning to fall out of style by the time I was 15, but I feel like spending time and money at a mall as a leisurely activity is certainly a bygone thing now. That same mall i mentioned isn’t doing bad per se but it’s glory days are behind unless it can revitalize itself to be a place to go to again
@@tonithomas6143 That does play a factor, but it varies from area to area. Lack of free money is another. Realistically speaking, most young families don't have the extra funds, to freely spend cash at the mall.
@@arbutuswatcher It's not just the young, I'll be 40 in July, and with the way inflation, and rising gas prices are going(we live in a simi-rural small town so we have to drive 20 mins to the closest full grocery store and almost an hour one way for some major stores) I have to watch every $1 me, and my family spend these days, and make it go as far as we can.
@@kingatticus5371 it's funny you mention the mall being too far away as a kid as a hangout. The four main malls worth mentioning in my area in Australia all have dozens of bus routes going to them. One of them even has more or less direct rail access (about a 10 minute walk). All of them are absolutely bustling with activity. Two were even considering renovations pre rona (no clue where those plans are at now) Coincidentally, the two that I can solidly say are failing have no public transit access to speak of and it definitely hurt their bottom line. Teens might not have much money, but I know damn well when I was a teen all the money I did have would go to things I wanted and not to lame adult stuff like rent.
It’s a surreal experience walking through my dead mall and remembering all of the stores I used to go to. It’s pretty much like walking through a graveyard of storefronts
I think most stores now are more literal "niche interest" places and you really don't find a truly frivolous store anymore with just literally useless crap.
@@vagamer522 The kind of "want" items a young person bought at a mall 15-25 years ago are actually cheaper they just are not for sale at the mall. For example for the price of that $15 cd at the mall you can get 2 months of a streaming music that has hundreds of thousand of albums you can stream and listen to anywhere. Clothing is literally the same price or cheaper for comparable fashion at your Ross,Marshalls,Burlington type stores. Online has also made video game purchases unncessasary at the mall as well. In general the only place that makes sense to pay a high storefront fee are niche or local items that are expensive and you can make money even with a small amount of costumers.
Reminds me of the days when those 3.75 inch Star Wars action figures used to cost like $8 a piece (this was also back when they had a lot of extra stuff included). Now, the stuff from the Vintage Collection is like $16 a piece
Was that before or after you got rescued from the Titanic? On a serious note, cheapest I can remember moves ever being was like 8.75 to 9 bucks, and that was like 20 years ago. What is it now, 12 or 13? 14 to 16 for IMAX?
@@CharlesBrusch in the mid to late 90's, my local theater was $3.75 during the day for tickets and $5.75 for shows at night. I collected my ticket stubs back then so I'm positive on the price. So $20 could and did go a long way back then. I used to get dropped off in the morning during the summer, see 3 movies and eat lunch and that was a little over $20 total.
the guy that ran OCB was a Jackass and Crook, esp how he treated his employees(coming into work and the place is locked up and closed down). we even had like $100 of giftcards we sent in asking for a refund..you guessed it we never saw a damn thing. No wonder why he went under
Malls dont have much retail variety anymore. Back in the early 2000s when I was a teen I used to haunt FYE for some bargain cds, head to Borders for some books, run into Babbages for some PS2 games and then buy some nice cheap sportswear at Steve and Barrys 😅 Too many chains I enjoyed or could afford as a teen are no longer around :/ I can only imagine how it worse it feels for those who grew up in the 80s or 90s.
^THIS^ Even the small local mall that I went to in the 80s/90s had a B. Dalton, Walden Books, KB Toys, various music stores, Radio Shack, Service Merchandise, and so many more. You could spend hours just looking at things. Those don't even exist any more. Malls today seem like they only have have overpriced/tacky clothing, shoes, jewelry, and salons. Nothing really fun or entertaining anymore.
@@CommodoreFan64 going to the mall in those years was an all-day experience. I was a teenage mallrat in the 90s, and I could spend an entire Saturday at the mall and not get bored.
@@FunSizeSpamberguesa In the 80's we started out with 2 malls in my area the Now long since closed Regency Mall(there are a few good videos on it, and kind of a tragic story of it's history), and the Augusta Mall that opened one week later(still kicking, but don't let looks fool you. The rare times we go these days I carry a locked sling bag with my stuff across my back/chest, and we get to where we need to be, and leave ASAP due to crime rate), and they where at least a good solid afternoon, and longer if we were also going to see a movie, or go to the arcade right behind the old regency mall. In 89 we got a single story mini mall the Aiken Mall in Aiken SC(about to mostly be torn down for "market rate" apartments with only Books a Million, and Belk's left accessible from the outside doors) and it was a solid Sunday afternoon with a movie behind the mall, or going to the small arcade. It's really sad that 2 out of 3 malls in my area are gone, and no one knows how long the Augusta Mall is going to last even with outparcel expansion a few years back after SEARS shutdown in 2019, and now Macy's, and J.C. Penny's about to have the same fate if they can't turn things around, along with petty ghetto crime.
Outdoor malls are still going strong. However, there is a dead mall down the street. It seems like these big building malls are in decline, yet the outdoor ones seem to be doing well.
An old indoor mall near me was turned into an outdoor mall a few years back... they basically tore down the main mall and kept the anchor stores and restaurants as separate structures. Suddenly, all these high-end brands like Apple started moving in and now the place is always packed. I don't get it... seems like people prefer walking across streets to go between stores in the cold and rain rather than parking once and being comfortable for the duration of the visit.
Most of my Friday nights as a teen was speng at my local mall walking around with friends where we met new people who didnt go to our school. Could get a pizza from Sabarro and a Clearly Canadian (always peach for me) for just $4.50 and then we would catch a movie for $3.00. The 80s and early 90s were a blast at the mall. I wish this generation could have same experience.
As a 24 year old I'm in that weird period of time where I remember going to the mall but it was never to hang out because crime and for me the mall was to get one thing and leave never to linger but that may be just me
@@duncanblue124 But where do people your age go to socialize, or WHERE did you go, as teens to hang out with friends and meet new people without parents always around? For many of us in the late 80s-early 90s, it was the mall, roller skating rinks, and local basketball courts. I think with explosion of social media, youth became much more ANTI-social. I am so blessed to have grown up when I did.
All the stores we went to as younger people (we are in our 60's now) are either gone, changed or become as scares as hen's teeth. Just shoes, younger lady clothes and a Hallmark or 2, which is Ok sometimes but is carbon copy store. We miss the small owner operators of Candy, Electronics and other niche stores and the rip stores Radio Shack, Disney and such ( We Spent and average of $100 each visit to a Disney Store). There is Zero Variety in the stores left, What's left looks and feels like leftovers, can almost see the dustbunnys rolling like tumbleweeds. We miss them so much.
Even the Disney stores that are still around aren't great. Went to one recently and there was nothing that caught my eye except some dolls and plushies. When I was a kid there was sooo much I wanted to get. Also I miss Warner bros stores a lot
You hit the nail on the head: there's nothing in the mall I want. There are no bookstores, no record stores, not even any kitchenware/cooking stores, no QUALITY import stores, no David's Briar Shop, no unique gift stores, nothing except cheap but overpriced corporate junk from companies that are DESPERATE and have been hollowed out by hedge fund managers and leveraged buyouts.
Two things: A.) it’s amazing that your mall still has a functioning movie theater showing recent releases at that, and B.) On a Saturday night at that mall, you can still catch a new film with ten bucks or less. It’s sad what has become of malls across this country. Yes, as a teen in the 80’s, $20 got me through an entire weekend and left me without wanting a thing.
Man, I never went to the mall for one thing because there was always something else you wanted to look at, or decided to do. I actually miss going to places like this and shopping this way.
Out here in SoCal, the stores are still closing early, even with people inside. They just won't allow any more customers to enter.... Yea... $20 went a looooong way when I was kid. I spent the vast majority of my time and money at the arcade. Games of choice were Tron, Tempest, Joust (any one else remember that game?) Space Invaders etc. I liked the old school games the best.
I'm in western S. Carolina, and many places are still closing early here as well even though the mask mandates have been lifted(a few stores still have policies to have one when you enter, but not many, and a lot of people are not following it if they do). We have to go over the state line to Augusta, GA(Home of the Masters) to goto a mall as our old one(Aiken Mall, Aiken SC) is about to be torn down for "market rate" apartments.
I’m really enjoying these new style of videos that don’t focus on a mall specifically but themes going on in current retail such as your “not all malls are dying ”. Good stuff, keep it up!
If I replicated this experiment with my childhood malls, I'd still have the $20. One of them was demolished and the other is hanging on by a thread. The few stores left have either nothing of interest to me or have items way above the $20 budget.
This is a very interesting experiment! When I go to the malls around Atlanta I usually take about $60-$80 with me but more often than not, I end up coming back home with the same amount of cash I left with. If the mall has a FYE or Books-a-Million or Spencer's, I may buy a book, a DVD/Blu-ray or a t-shirt that I could buy for less on Amazon or eBay just to walk out with something. And if it's lunch or dinner time I'll get a meal at Panda Express. My father used to say the mall stores sold overpriced goods and he was right but that was just part of the mall experience of spending the afternoon or evening with your family and friends. Very cool video. :)
You made a valiant effort to spend that $20. I know for sure that I would’ve headed into See’s Candies for a little something sweet, but it appears that they closed early as well. What a bummer.
Thanks for the video. It really reminds me with the time when I was still studying abroad in North America back in 2006-2008. There's a certain charm about the North American malls atmosphere that brings back some nice memories. :) Just wanted to say Hi from Indonesia and hope everyone is safe.
that was interesting...you know since Covid I've had zero desire to shop and I've even found that apart from food, there is very little I actually need....maybe others have come to this realization too....hence another reason malls are dying...
Yep. Other than some Christmas gifts for my Mother, I have only purchased food for about 18 months. I am saving like 40% of my income, and I will soon have a down payment for a condo!
Some stores that were in the mall in the '90s that are no longer in the mall today are computer and electronic stores. The smartphone has eliminated those stores. As a result, tech geeks aren't interested in going to mall if it has are clothing and shoe stores.
This is so bizarre for me to see. I live just inside the border or Chicago, and there's two malls I go to in the suburbs. Even when I go there and deem the mall "dead" for that day/night, there's still hundreds of people walking about. I've NEVER seen any mall so empty in person.
Oh dead malls definitely exist. And they're actually quite creepy. Like, if you've ever been to your high school at night, that's how dead malls feel. They feel like they SHOULD be crowded, but they're totally empty. Pretty spooky.
Funny I've heard Chicago malls are still busy but there also the reason why a lot of malls are failing due to the malls trying and failing to copy them
My ex in the early 00's worked for Walmart, and she was friends with the lady who stocked the Sugar loaf crane games in the lobby of her store, and she told her unless the crane game prizes have loop tags on them, or they are kids candy ones that say play till you win, don't bother as 98% of the time you won't win. She even admitted that some companies even if it's against many state's laws that they put clear grease on the craine arms, and program them to open up early before hitting the prize shoots. I have won a fair amount of things from the sugar loaf games with the price loops after learning the trick from her, you have to time it just right, and go for ones close to the prize shoot, which usually means lower value items.
My teenage mall is in a lot worse shape. They even closed off a third of the mall because literally all of the stores are vacant. But I still get nostalgic walking by the old Electronics Boutique and Babbage's locations. The arcade had a sad slow death. They moved it to a smaller location at a quiet part of the mall and then it eventually closed.
I lose that 20 bucks almost instantly after I walk in because the Lush store is right next to the mall entrance and that store gets me every fucking time. If that one doesn't the American Eagle right next to it does
@@qr5393 American Eagle and it's sister store Aerie are amazing for basics for work. They always have their jeans on sale and the other store almost always has their tees on sale too. Plus their stuff is good quality and they do have plus sizes now which is always nice.
For mall hours right now covid hours are still in effect. (I work at a mall) Plus it's off season right now. Hours only extend to 9/10pm during winter time aka Christmas hours. M-F most places close at 7pm. Saturday you may see 8/9 pm closures.
Me and my friends use to drive 70 miles just to hang at the mall. We lived in BFE and it was either shooting guns in the woods or go to nearest large college town and have fun or catch a movie, wich was a distance away. It was long time ago, and good memories. I went back to same mall a few years before I moved away and it's not the same. Maybe it's me getting older now in age, but the social experience is gone now. For us it began as freedom of having our own cars as kids to drive around, then when it would be a place to hang out with friends who attended college in that town. Our kids will not get the experience we had sadly, it's all facebook and social media now.
There's a mall here in Peoria, IL that's kinda like this. There's an arcade that opened up by the name of "Round 1" and all the locals are jokingly calling it "Round 2" because of all the fights that break out there. I never go there anymore, far too rowdy. Personally I feel malls will make a comeback in a way, but as electric car/truck charging hubs. . . . However that's at least another 10 years away. People will go there to charge their cars/semi trucks but as their waiting they can shop, eat or just walk for exercise. Anyone getting into owning a franchise should stay away from (or immediately sell out NOW) any gas stations. Think about it, let's say you switch out your 12 gas pumps for 12 "quick" charging stations. . . . It's still going to take 30-45min for each "fill up" and that's assuming people don't want a full charge. How much money do you honestly think you can get from your customers in your tiny little store during that length of time. We all know you folks don't even break even with just gas sales alone and now your going from 100 customers an hour to just 12? These large malls are going to be much more efficient at generating a variety of sources of revenue not to mention their capability to handle much more customers at a single time.
Bingo, you got it. Malls used to have at least two toy & hobby stores, two bookstores, a movie theater and a video arcade (a real arcade, not like what you ran into at that mall). Not to mention a Radio Shack. Those are all long gone now. I haven't been to a shopping mall in maybe 15 years now.
This is exactly like my recent trips to thee malls in my area. Buy lunch and then what? Walk around like a zombie. Nothing is the same. And Sbarro pizza is good! 🍕
Yeah it's good, but not worth the gas cost, and time just to do nothing else at the mall, when I could get real shopping done at Walmart, Target, Krogers, etc..., and then be home.
The mall that I still go too is still great. It's has a bunch of stores and food courts for different type of people. I'm just happy that it's still nice to go to today, it's sad to see malls like this nowb
A lot of malls today remind me of dead store websites that are still up even though all the physical locations are closed like Radio Shack for example. All they sell today is no-name brand junk that is outrageously expensive and leaving the few people that visit wondering "who would ever buy this?". I had only one mall in my area and I would often visit just to buy small things here and there but every time I went another store would be closed. It got to the point where there was no reason to go anymore because there was literally nothing to buy. As of last month, the mall was fully closed and is currently being demolished to make way for an Amazon center.
I like the idea of spending a certain amount of cash at the mall. There are a lot of interesting ways to go about it. If I were making something similar I'd probably try to take a themed approach. Like one type of person or another at a given age bracket. Wouldn't need to actually buy things, but looking at prices and tallying it up could be enough. I'll admit it would be awkward trying to do the theme as a young kid or woman, lol. "Can I get a meal, snack, and graphic t-shirt at XYZ mall for $30?", "Can I get a 3-course meal for $30 at XYZ mall?", or "Is a $50 super hero t-shirt haul possible at XYZ mall?" type of thing. Though filming in the store fronts is probably a big hassle. Malls should start making themselves a lot more open to social media and people filming inside.
A large part of the problem is the malls have transitioned to chain boutique stores, targeting a teenaged audience that the mall security doesn't want to let shop in peace. In spite of them not coming in as often, the markup on their products and the size of their portfolios allow them to enter into arrangements with the mall holding firms that enable them to outlast the smaller, more niche stores that would have benefitted from the foot traffic those teens would generate on random Wednesday afternoons.
lol I would've easily been able to spend $20. Some of the things my local malls still have are toy stores, bookstores, groceries, arcades (albeit Dave & Buster's), etc.
i work 2 jobs in my mall, back in the day this place was THE place to be on a weekend. we had it all. now spencers and books a million are the only stores still worth going into. it's a shell of its former self
The problem with malls is there is no longer any entertainment value to seeing all the stores anymore. I remember the days of "window shopping" when storefronts used their side displays to entice you into the store to buy something. They use to be cool, the employees use to have fun being creative while putting them together in ways that got shoppers into the store. I can remember the KB toys window displays, the Disney store window displays with their animatronic features. Now companies are too concerned with pinching every .000001 of a cent of labor out of their employees that window displays are a thing of the past. I LOVED going to my local mall during Christmas to see the department stores all decorated during Christmas, but now.......
I miss the days you could go see your friends. I was recently in pheonix and went to the premium outlet mall and it was really busy, I spent money there lol cool video though thank you
Some of the early closures are probably about saving on staffing costs. However chains that are not following mall hours exactly, is surprising. Considering it is a Saturday, and mall management offices are likely closed, curious to see if it would be the same during the weeknights.
OMG i used to go to this mall as well! i actually went with some friends here a few weeks ago and it was super boring... doesn’t have the same energy it used to. nevertheless it’s awesome to see we both live in AZ! great video.
I also used to go to the mall as a kid/teen and worry about not having enough money. I'd go to the arcade, see a movie, and look through stores and actually end up buying something. But now as an adult, the most I ever find myself doing at the mall is filming it and taking pictures of it. Even food courts, which usually got a few dollars out of me, haven't captured my attention the past few years. Part of it may be an adult instinct to only care about buying more important things, or maybe not keeping up with the trends in Spencer's. But there definitely is a problem with the mall itself too. It seems as variety has gone out the window. It's the same few shops left in malls, and none of them are really entertaining. Also, I got sad when you mentioned Old Country Buffet. I used to go there all the time :'(
This mall was my childhood. The game shops of toys that the old Toys R Us lacked (While it was still in business), the old vendors of random uselessness, The exclusivity of pretzels outside the main food court, The old Carousel, the $2 Movie theater . Seeing it like this, though I knew it was inevitable... It just has a special type of lamentation to it. I had no Idea you were a local archeologist! What a small world.
Yeah, I haven’t been to my mall in months, I might go 6 times in a year. Nothing there for me really anymore. All my impulse buying is done on Amazon - the new mall 😂
I used to love going to Oak Park Mall, or Metcalf South in Overland Park, Kansas in the 70's and 80's. I loved buying clothes, going to Claire's, Everything for 1.00, B. Dalton Booksellers or Walden Books, Woolworth's, and The Swiss Colony - there I would buy flavored teas, which I loved. I could be there for hours! LOL I would have a blast. Metcalf South is gone now, but I understand that Oak Park Mall is still there. I miss it.
I like the theory that a reason people aren't shopping at malls like they used to is that because they spent so much money on their phones they no longer have the extra income to justify perusing a mall.
I do not go to the mall often, but there are those few occasions that when I go it brings back those memories of childhood and how exciting it was. I wish the malls could bring that excitement back, but we all know that the mall is a dying breed.
and by the 90's it was $4 - $5 at most on the high end. Thankfully Little Caesars still has the $5 lunch combo of a whole personal size pepperoni pizza, and soda for $5 plus tax. however if inflation keeps going up it's going to be the $10 lunch combo. 🤦♂️
I recently found your channel and it's been a delight to go through your videos. I've been interested in stuff like this for years, but have never been really sure how to classify my interest of dead malls, abandoned buildings and towns, etc. "Retail Archaeology" is a fitting name. Watching these brings back so many memories of wandering my local mall during high school, going to the old Aladdin's Castle arcade for Soul Calibur tournaments, checking out the second hand game shop, etc. It's akin to the nostalgia I get for going to Blockbuster stores back in the day and searching for games and movies. Bittersweet.
I used to work at the Sbarro at Superstition Springs. Sometimes I would walk the mall before my shift started. I'm surprised that sbarro is still open. Habanero is another good restaurant.
I have noticed in my area too that some mall businesses (and businesses in general) close earlier. Even not on COVID hours. It's as if they got used to low foot traffic from last year and decided it's not worth staying open for all 10 hours or whatever it is that they normally do business for. I also agree with another comment that as you get older (wiser), you tend to spend less impulsively. Also for me personally, malls all have the same stores now so there's nothing really unique. It's the big-box stores that will suck that $20 outta ya instantly.
man i miss malls thankfully here there are still a lot of open bakeries, trendy food kiosks, nice cafes, art supply stores, and book shops that draw people in, but covid times have really put a damper on mall culture here in my country (philippines) too......hopefully they all survive the next few years
The mall that I visited in childhood is reduced to a Bath & Body Works, a tiny Joann Fabrics, and a nail salon. Retail trends have changed so much: huge stores, one-stop shopping, and contactless/stay-in-your-car pickup. Also, people, at least in my hometown area as well as where I live now, are less and less inclined to stroll, peruse, window shop, or in general be physical about daily activities. Malls don't stand a chance unless they're huge with brand new, on-trend stores and technology. It's sad, but we who knew it remember the magic of the mall and can hold onto it. We can also look for stores, like local and smaller ones, that can mimic the same feels.
For me I think I just outgrew the mall stores I used it frequent with my friends as a teen. My goth phase is long over so I have no need to go to Hot Topic any more. I have no children so I haven’t become a mom shopper. Due to budget constraints and concern about the environment I try to avoid fast fashion as much as I can, opting to mostly buy from thrift stores or thred up. I might go to the mall twice a year these day usually to buy work shoes or to renew my license plate tags at the DMV kiosk.
Actually Superstition Springs mall itself is well maintained and kept up, it's very bright during the day, lots of natural ligting. It's a shame to watch it die along with the others but you can't stop whats coming.
Suburban malls were so different. When I was a kid in a small town, we had ShopKo, JCPenney, and Younker's as anchor stores. The only "expected" stores were Claire's, Hallmark, DEB, some ever-changing music store, a Shoe Carnival, and an early version of mall Sears that only sold home improvement and outdoor items. We had an arcade called Pocket Change, a popcorn shop called Karamelcorn, and a few boutiques full of polyester filled 60s fashions for "mature" women.
Dead malls and the decline of visitors is definitely an American thing. In South Korea, they have the most amazing malls that are always very busy. They feel nostalgic to me because it's exactly how malls were in the 80's/90's.
Back when I was younger in the mid to late 2000s, going to the mall with 20 dollars was the best way to spend a Saturday ever. My dad would take me and my brother to Lakeline Mall in Cedar Park, TX and I'd always go into gamestop to look at the PS2 games and then we'd look around at everything.
When i was kid, 10 bucks would do. $2.50 for a Lone Wolf book at Waldenbooks, $2.50 for a matinee movie ticket, 1.99 pizza slice and drink at Luca pizza, and the remaining change used for games at the arcade. Dont forget the free cookie sample at that one place! A saturday at East Town Mall in Knoxville was always an adventure. I miss those days...