Main Place Mall - Buffalo, NY | a Dead Mall Indentured by its Dark Tower | ExLog 97 

Subscribe or I'll head to the Catacombs and unchain Marna the Mall PA Lady, and send her to your house.

Sal, you totally win the longest sustained stalling tactic award. You're a pro! :D

To be fair, Gino & Joe's is pretty legit if you're craving NYC style pizza in Buffalo. This mall was one of my first experiences in the city when I first checked it out in 2008 when trying to decide if I wanted to move up here for grad school. Between the eerieness of downtown (they used to play crackling old 40's standards - and even older christmas music during the holidays) over the speakers at the Metro stations, empty shops lined with the old christmas decorations from AM&As and other department stores, and other abandoned buildings that have since been demolished near the harbor. There was something so amazing and haunted about it all that I knew at once that this was where I wanted to stay. To say nothing of the beautiful old homes, the history, and the overall vibe of the place. Fast forward to 2021, and I'm nearly 6 years into owning my own home downtown. The city has a lot of problems, but one thing folks in this city are, is resilient! It's come a long way from where it was even a decade ago. And thankfully, unlike the gorgeous old bank that was knocked down to build main place - folks do seem to realize the old architecture here IS one of the city's biggest assets.

The mall currently pulls in more rent from data center and telecommunication clients than it ever would from mall retail tenants. To say the mall is abandoned is a huge understatement.

That food court is dope. I love the brass handrails and brass hanging planters.

I grew up in that mall. Memories of Christmas decorations, trains, stores Santa's. It chips away to see it like this. Woolworths gone, brand names, video factory, KB Toys, EB Electronics all gone

Thanks for video, Sal. As a lifelong downtown Buffalo worker, it brought tears to my eyes. Such memories..

Your persistence in capturing your subject matter is admirable. Well done, Sir! Greatly appreciated your opening mention of Erie Savings Bank, which was sacrificed in the urban renewal frenzy of the period and malignantly replaced with the MPM, an pallid attempt to compete with the suburban complexes. The seeds of its demise were planted at its inception, as the exodus from downtown Buffalo was already well underway.

By the way, directly under the tower was the bank branch. My mother worked for the bank and had Christmas parties there. Later, that space was a restaurant and night club owned by Bills legend Jim Kelly.

Wow, I grew up in Toronto in the 80's and buffalo 29 was supreme all weekend long, they used to run old godzilla and bruce lee movies on Sunday afternoons! Thanks for another great story, Sal!

oh my!♌🐆🐆thanks for showing a candid view of Buffalo, NY my hometown.'s Main Place Mall.....peace☮🕊

I remember coming to the Main Place Mall in the late 80s and early 90s several times when my family would do our cross-border shopping trips to Buffalo. Even back then the mall had a very aged vibe, and even though there was a decent amount of traffic at the mall, it was very clear to me that it was dying. The last time I was there, most of the upper level had been completely vacant; I'm honestly surprised that it lasted as long as it did. In fact, the whole area around Main Place Mall just felt like it was dying. The AM&As looked like it belonged to some distant golden age, now long past. The whole design and decayed feel of the downtown core, especially the LRT cutting right through it, all made me think of how someone had tried to bring life back to this area -- and how that plan had failed. While it's a real trip to see a place to which I have a personal connection featured on an ExLog, it's also really sad to see it in the state it is now. It makes me wonder what could have been done to save this place.

I wonder how the guard would react when he sees this 😂

Yell at you!? I think you should team up with those guys over at The Proper People. You guys all do an amazing job chronicling places that are fading away.

The Buffalo malls used to be busy and profitable with Canadians cross border shopping. After 911 the US required passports to enter, (along with an interrogation, no charge.) A lot of shoppers didn’t have passports and weren’t going to bother just to get cheap clothes and toasters. And with a two year border closure from covid, I’d be surprised if there are any surviving mall there.

What also killed that mall is when they closed off Main St. to vehicle traffic which was recently restored.

Wow..No sagging pants sign that is very'90s..some things stand up even now. Enjoyed

Ah, this took me back to the late 80s/early 90s. Back then, shopping in the States was easy, and not so different price-wise, as it was only about ten cents on the dollar to shop in NY, plus it had TONS of stuff we just never got in Canada. Most importantly, it had Payless- in fact, I had my prom shoes dyed to match my dress in the Main Place Mall Payless. Thanks for the walk down memory lane!

That was a great find on the older mall signage covered up by the "newer" sign on the street. I try to look for such things whether in malls or other buildings.

Hey Sal, I’m from upstate NY originallyand remember visiting this mall in late 1990s- early 2000’s. At that point I remember it having very few stores and a lot of services like the eyeglass store. I also remember a discount clothing store as well as a dollar store. The food court even back then was the main attraction for that space. I even remember the sign that you filmed under the current sign outside. I understand why it is the way it is but downtown Buffalo is really on an upswing. Too bad that space couldn’t have turned into something useful. Enjoyed the video, keep up the great work!

Yeah. Memories. I still have a little souvenir from Main Place Mall. A little silver spoon crowned with a buffalo and inlayed with the word Buffalo in the basin. Made in of all places UK.

Mall guard standing by 😜

Mom used to get my Easter dresses from that Rainbow Kids and I'd beg to stop and watch the penguins-going-around toy at KB toy store

Sal I could listen to you talk all day!! I'm so excited to see next week's video!! Glad you got to go see Ace. You are Legends 💚💚

Fantastic mall cop caper with my two favorite mall rats! That mall had such a vintage aesthetic!

Even though the mall was built in the late '60s; that food court SCREAMS of the '80s, for sure!

Outstanding as always

I spent a lot of time going here and Thruway mall growing up in Buffalo. Brings back some great memories! Thanks Sal!

Rochester NY had a similar type mall that I watched die over the years and downtown became a retail ghost town. All of it was torn down. It was one of the first downtown malls to try and keep the retail downtown, that was I guess in the 60's. As the dept stores closed which brought in the foot traffic, it slowly at first died. Then the two big dept stores moved to the safer suburbs. You mentioned Sibleys, which was a Rochester Dept Store, long gone now. Now the suburb malls are fading. Times are a changing, and where it all stops, who knows.

Back in the 90s / 2000s I used to come to this mall. They had some awesome urban clothing that was def what rappers were wearing back then. Loved this place! Sad to see it go.

Great Job, Salvatore

Awesome video. Makes me so nostalgic

Shame, such a pretty mall. One of my favorite videos so far and as always, loved the intro👍

Awesome Stall Tactics @Sal..... good job on that!! kudo's to you

Magnificent!

Excellent work my brother

I love your videos, and I'm so psyched you were in Buffalo!! My grandmother used to take me to that Arthur Treachers! Awesome memories 😂

I live like 20 miles away, I'm 34 and I pretty much always thought of it as dead or ready to just close. I love the place though, so visually pleasing.

Dam,your commercials in the beginning take me back!! Great vids

@Sal Okay, before I even start watching, I have to comment to say that "catafalque" is like at least the second or third new word I've learned just from watching your videos. Sal, along with everything else, you are a brilliant writer. I absolutely love your videos. For so many reasons. Please don't ever stop making them, lol!!

Great job SAL,

awesome job sal! this is one of my local malls

Excellent strategy! 😉

That food court design is great, totally old school and I love it

When my gf (now wife) was a student at UB . We used to visit this mall in late 1980 prior to taking my bus to syracuse.

That guard had no idea. Nice job Sal!

Loved the Main place mall when I was younger. Thank you for this, love your channel. Quick tip you should head to the Boulevard Mall next!!

I was security there from 2012-15...it wasn't as dead, however looking back it was painfully obvious that this was the direction that place was going even if covid never hit. Management wasn't concerned about the stores, and they damn sure didn't care too much for the people...I learned a valuable lesson about being in security from there: You don't secure the people, just the property. That was the directive of Management. Still I have soo many fond memories of the people and the stores they worked in. Key Bank was there, and so to was bank of America. Footlocker, Payless, GNC, to name a few, but never forgetting what was there before them. Smh. I don't if my fellow former coworkers watch these types of video docs, but if there's even just one who does, if I didn't get a chance to say it then, I'll say it now...what a time indeed, it was truly a gift and pleasure to work with you...all of you...(Except Kenny...it's still and always will be fxck Kenny)...lol Thanks for sharing this video.

The security dude seemed pretty decent despite your stalling. 🤣🤣🤣

I will not miss your Halloween presentation. Miss you and Fritz together. ❤️

Still loving these mall vids. Got hooked when you did one on greens point because I live in Houston

Dope editing

Other important information to note about this mall and its eventual decline includes the installation of the NFTA Metro Rail on Main St. in 1986. Also there was a huge public relations nightmare I think during the 90s where kids skipping school were descending en masse and shoplifting and loitering became a huge issue.

Beautiful mall.

Damn, all Sal wanted was something to eat. 😔😢

I work downtown and walk by there most days. I honestly forgot its there sometimes since nobody goes in. Interesting to see it from the inside.

I spent years working in the tower. At lunch time, we would all head to the food court and get something to eat. Every store was occupied and there were so many people, it was hard to walk through the mall. We stood outside on the "porch" under the tower and watched girls go by. Now the stores are dead and gone. So are most of my coworkers and friends. Those were the days.

Very nice video

The best thing about Buffalo is the Peace Bridge, the Queen E. and its easy access to Toronto.

Used to take the Bus from Walden in Cheektowaga to Main Place Mall with my Grandma.

I love your Halloween 3 trailer. One of my fave movies!

Nice footage

Interesting video

When the Main Place Mall first opened, Kobacker’s occupied the space that later became Sattler’s.

Former Buffalo resident, now in Baltimore. I miss Ziggy and Zon’s. It was a dive of a craft store but they had so much in there. First time I walked into Main Place Mall was 2004. I was sent to that dollar store to buy batteries for the office. They had the upper level completely closed off and only the first floor had some shops. I was told they shut it down because of kids and they didn’t want to maintain the walkways. I didn’t know that they eventually opened the second floor.

I was here a few months ago and it had just been shut down. What a surreal place.

I’m 74 and I remember the mall when I was a freshman in college in 1969. I remember a place called chess king where my girlfriend bought me a beautiful sweater back in 1970 I remember a place called Denton Kateri Daniels a lot of the hippies hung out here from Allentown

This place reminds me of the old gallery in Philly

I use to go to that sterling optical!

Epic!

You guys have guts. I would have just left out of the door I came in lol

Crazy thing that the security guard didn’t go down the stairs to lock the doors after you had left! 😂

All of the plants, brass and globe lamps give off a real Three’s Company vibe. I can hope the redevelopment, if it ever comes, preserves the food court’s aesthetic. Not likely I know.

I grew up in the suburbs of Buffalo only came is few times in my life as a kid

Awesome

Love your videos Sal. Thank you very much for sharing them with us. It's a shame Security isn't more lenient at the places you visit and let you record all you want to. All you're doing is recording for history purposes. A lot of these malls will be demolished and gone forever.

I always enjoy your dead mall videos. You are doing a great job! Looking forward to seeing your Halloween video. Was there music still playing inside that dead mall?

Another delicious and nutritious video. Thank you :3

Living in Toronto, going to Main Place Mall in Buffalo was the spot!

Ziggy and Zon's was awesome

My first job was in the food court. Buffalo Beef and Wing.... the commercials though 🤣🤛

I believe I visited the mall in November 2019. There were only a few shops open and a couple of places to eat but I didnt try the food. I was happy to be able to wait there for my bus to Toronto instead of waiting at the bus station. Even though there were only a handful of people in the mall, they seemed to have a crew of disabled people cleaning the food court near the end of the day. Wish the mall was still going since it is a great place to get out of the cold or the heat for a little break.

I love You, Sal ❤️ Excellent video ❤️

You made the mall guard get up out of his chair?? how dare you!

I live in the area. this died in the 90s when other malls in the area opened. it was full of stores that random 3rd party people would sell. I was approached multiple times as a youth by people with watches in the jacket who didn't believe we didn't have any money .

Buffalo has to be the most depressing cities I've ever been. It's definitely the city time forgot.

Ahh Halloween 3! I’ve met Tom Atkins from that film and let me say, he was one of the COOLEST PEOPLE IVE EVER MET! I love that film lol! Have never seen a vintage commercial like that!

I'd think rather sneakily, Sal, that if there where a 1970's Vibe to the Main Place Mall, I'd think of 1970's Buffalo Bills Hype, but, then again, even the good days seem to be eerier in Buffalo.

You smooth talker Sal!!! lol. I'm behind on your videos so I'm playing catchup. Most I've watched but a few I missed. Regarding this this mall is still a very nice looking place. I still feel like some malls closed despite amazon and online service due to too many malls in the same area. BUT some malls could survive if people would just get out again and not buy online so much. I have been trying to do that myself more. Being a stay at home mom I just need to get out more!!! Great video Sal!!!

To back up Dani below; Gino & Joe's is solid... I know the current owner (yes, it's one family), they are still working through redeveloping the plaza level of the building. The tower itself is well rented, and pretty nice office space. No need for that. Yes; it's mostly telecom. Most of that would be shifted to a single side, per the plans (away from Main St), and the second half redeveloped/opened significantly. Biggest revenue source for the complex is currently monthly parking for DT office workers. Sad, but true...

Sal great stuff my friend ... You should come to montana ! We have whole towns that are almost gone. Don't know how I missed this one for 4 days. But THANK you Frank from montana...

This is so sad. Main Place use to be the place to be after school.

Buffalo represent. Great mall or at least it used to be.

This is an exact microcosm and representation of the city itself. If you ever notice, most, if not all cities that prosper, have a booming downtown. Buffalo's is dead as a door nail and it's been thar way since the turn of the century. 25 years later and nothings changed.

Halloween III is the best Halloween.

I used to park at the Main Place garage and take the Metro to the arena for Sabres games

I'm a local and though I was only a young kid in the late nineties I remember my parents taking me to shop here sometimes. It definitely was much more empty even then compared to the McKinley Mall or Galleria also in the area. Though unfortunately the McKinley is also dying now, it was always my favorite mall to go to :(

18:01 -- Pearl Street door ... You should have lunch at Pearl Street Brewery!

From 1995'-1999, i worked as a messenger for a law firm in the nearby Guaranty Building. As a messenger, I'd sometimes walk through the mall in the winter or get lunch there (Gino and Joe's is good). Sad to see it like this. A story floated around back then that when Robert Plant played Shay's up Main street, he took the train down to shop at Waldenbooks there.

You should check out the Morgantown PA automall which wall a dead mall converted into a car Museum