Don't know why I'm attached to this mall and I'm not even from the US. I've watched so many abandoned places but I'm mostly saddened by this mall . Has anyone found footage of the fountain working? Thanks for sharing xo
@Jason Sommers Dixie square mall was relatively popular before rolling acres was discovered and had been abandoned for nearly three times it's time in operation. Too bad that mall was damaged beyond recognition by the late 90s lol.
Spent so much time here when I was in high school, would get most of my clothes there. Then when my kids were born when there 2 times a month to Shop and sometimes just to "get out " it was sad to see it head down you could see it coming over time. All but a memory now.
Can someone tell me why I keep coming back to THIS mall and its various videos, when there are plenty of other dead mall videos of other dead malls out there???!! Rolling Acres in its day (and I've never been there, and obviously, I can't go there now), as shown in the 2003 footage, was, even though the decline had already started, a lively place where people would go, sometimes just to hang out. That's true of every other mall, but there was just something about RA that drew you, and keeps drawing you to the videos of it--even the dead ones. Everyone blames the internet for its demise, but I don't think the answer's that simple. I believe it was the relatively poor economy around Akron and the rest of Ohio that really killed RA off. The proof of this is the fact that RA closed permanently on Oct. 31 (Halloween, no less), 2008--right at the crux of the 2008 recession--a recession that we still are feeling effects from even today. The internet just added another nail in the coffin. Long live Rolling Acres.....
i grew up here and my mom worked at the mall my whole childhood. it went out of business partially becuase of interent shopping but also because it became a big ghetto and got robbed blind every day and the area was so bad stores couldnt afford to stay there anymore. akron is still a ghetto and awful place to live.
Akron is in the rust belt and has the same erie feeling as the rest, for example Pennsylvania and Michigan. Since the great depression our government has propped up the economy through artificial ways however it only lasts 30=45 years. 2008 was an end as was 2020. The effects are seen physically through places like this.
Rampant crime killed Rolling Acres. The city of Akron even sent out letters to their employees saying they should not go to Rolling Acres because it wasn't safe. At that time, years and years ago, when I was in college, I worked at a Subway and the owner had a location across the street from Rolling Acres. I filled in there for a week when the manager was out and was told to call the police after I closed and was about to leave so they could send a car to make sure I don't get mugged in the parking lot...
I feel like the dead malls explorers never focused on crime and the hoodlums that walked the malls as being a reason many of these malls met their demise years before they would have otherwise.
I personally don't live in the States here. It's shame how some companies that own these malls let them run down to a state like this where it looks like it is no longer feasible to keep them running. And had missed the boat in rejuvenate them back to what they were once were. But yes it's good to have some kind memories of these place what they were be and what they look like now.
Everytime I see a Rolling Acres video I just think it’s very sad how it ended in such a dreadful way...torn apart, destroyed and then pulled down...videos like these are living memories of a time gone by
Blame that on the United States and how middle class are too scared to leave their house to shop due to gangs with guns who purchased them from Walmart. Blame it on how the United States allowed Walmart (a store that sells everything) and amazon for helping contribute to the malls decline. America was murdered by those in power who didn’t actually care. Like who thinks “oh yes a store that sells everything!” Was a great idea? It choked out any smaller businesses and even chained retailers are suffering.
@@Isa-cr7fd Background cheeks have mostly eliminated the ability of felons to buy firearms. Now it's just felons who steal such weapons, sometimes on foot or house break in's that is the issue.
@@Isa-cr7fd I'd rather buy things from Walmart where they're much cheaper and Walmart will always be around for those of us living in rural areas to shop at.
Anthony, I was never at the Rolling Acres Mall. After watching your video, I feel as if I was. I am saddened by the closing of my childhood malls. Excellent blend of the living with the dead. Love your music selection. Thank you.
@@AcesAdventures1 What are the names and artists of the two songs? I realise you had to distort them so you didn't get pulled up for copyright. They sound so familiar and it's driving me nuts. Thanks heaps!
Love, love, love this! I really liked the comparison editing between the then and now, makes it more real, especially with the vaporwave music added in. Just awesome. Thanks for doing this! :)
I used to think danbell had it all, but know I realize that he focuses less on malls and more on dirty motel rooms, I have been watching ace for almost a year now and he has never failed to disappoint me or any of my friends. Great video!
PS--I also think that they should make a little park by the Amazon plant and call it "Rolling Acres park"--which I think would be a PERFECT tribute to the place.
This was amazing. I am a die hard Rolling Acres fan, almost cried when it got demolished. Seeing old footage compared to just before it was demolished was so satisfying! Thanks again, Ace! You and Dan Bell are the best.
I grew up in Akron and it’s crazy thinking of how we used to walk up here pretty much weekly and we used to go to the arcade, food court, didn’t really have money to shop at that time lol. All good things must come to an end I guess. It’s sad!
I remember when the land was cleared, and watching with anticipation as Rolling Acres was built. I saw a lot of movies there while my mom and friends shopped on Saturdays, lunch in the food court. Always had to visit KayBee store. Chapel Hill mall was the place before that. Anyone remember pictures with Santa there in 70's ? Im not in Ohio these days, but i think Chapel Hill is still open - go figure.
Chapel Hill is vacant and abandoned now! Was dying back in 2013 even. I remember going there back in the early 90s as a little kid with my parents and brother and sister to see Santa around the holidays. Miss the 90s and being a carefree kid with nothing but school to worry about! Now I have to worry about surviving in this awful economy now and having enough to make ends meet on my own
Rotting Anus Mould. I took some photos and videos of a mall that was closing and being demolished but they just put more mall where there was less mall. After 2 years there are still big gaps where no shops have taken up shop inside.
Someone on Tik Tok got at Rolling Acres Mall's elevator and had to go thru 50 levels of just darkness and demons. Idk if he made it out I do know he got clawed in the knee
I shot the original footage (CJYinc Productions) back in 2002-2003, as of July 2018 reports are that Amazon is building a 700000 sq ft facility on the site.
Amazing footage, great tribute to a beautiful place, thank you! Never been there but makes me wish I had :( Most beautiful mall I've ever seen though for sure
My grandmother would take me here every weekend as a small child in the mid-80s. We would get ice cream, ride the elevator. She'd give me a penny to make a wish in the red fountain 😢
A shame this place is gone. I live a few counties away from this place. Never went to it and never got to experience it. Except watching video's and documentaries about it. Only way to truly experience it is make a VR game of it or a world of it in Minecraft like some people have done. Its sad it died hard. Rest In Peace Rolling Acres 1975-2008 We will never forget you.
Burt Bowers, well we have malls. But they are not as busy and are slowly declining. For instance the mall near me has had the JCP close down and all in all foot traffic has reduced. Texas as far as I know is still very strong. But my state of California is not.
Here in South Florida, every mall I've been to has still been doing very well and they're usually packed with customers. (before the corona virus obviously) But that's most likely just because of the large population and high amount of travelers down here, much like California or Texas. So it sorta makes sense that California, Florida and Texas would still have malls that aren't dying.
Yeah, if you notice, most of these dying/dilapidated malls, are in the US Mid Atlantic/Rust Belt (Pennsylvania, Ohio, Michigan, Any area in Virginia/Maryland that isn't near DC.) Man of these areas experienced heavy job loss during aging populations, Reaganomics destroying American jobs, Millenials moving out of the Northeast/Midwest, and moving West or South, and general lack of tourism of these areas.
Good video. It's completely depressing... not sure if that's the word or feeling. The contrast 2003 and 2017 videos are eerie. Yes, that's the feeling, "eerie!" It shows how fragile our existence really is. In high school History, when reading about the 'dark ages' happening after the golden age of Rome, I've always wondered what people, trying to scrounge a living in the shadows of the Roman Coliseum, were thinking. The average person has little control over the economy run by greedy elite and politicians. Akron, Flint, Detroit, Stranton, etc... are the result of NAFTA, and if so, then I'm glad Pres. Trump stopped Obama's and Clinton's TPP. I live in a very blue state, which means we're taking care of a lot of homeless people from other states, so I may have to leave my state when I retire. Many of my friends and retired coworkers have moved to Nevada and Arizona. Videos like this is proof that the future may not be happy.
When it became damgerous to go to the Mall, that's when people stopped going. It wasn't the shoppers who brought the Mall to it's knees. It was the degenerate part of the community that drove the stake. Gangs, thieves, hoodlums etc. Nobody wanted to deal with it anymore. Everyone started to go to Summit Mall which was not overrun by the degenerates.
Well done. If you were to slow your footage by no more than half, It would give a more dramatic look and smoother flow. You've come a long ways since that footage. Still looks good though.
Is the part at 6:10 really the same place as the one right before? The one before looks like a jewelry place while the one after looks like a customer service desk. Still a wonderful video nonetheless, keep up the great work ace!
What really surprises me is that hipsters haven't taken over malls but then again they don't buy anything. lol. It is sad that malls are disappearing. In my high school yearbook our then new mall was featured heavily. It's fountain, escalator and promenade all there. Now it's gone having been bulldozed under but there is a new shopping center there even though it recently lost it's key anchor store: Wal-mart.
That was a beautiful mall for it's day. Even if it were to be opened today, it's still very nice looking. Such a shame seeing all the vandalism and ruins of it. That building could have easily been re-purposed instead of rotting like that.
That is actually noted on part of the older video but the use of the music as louder and softer depending on whether Anthony was using older or newer footage was very cool.
Ace I gotta tell you bro. This video out beats everyone else's video on this mall. Hands down I am so proud of you for how far you have came along here on youtube.
I was only at Rolling Acres once and thought it was a gorgeous mall. I'm a Canton Gal so spent most of my mall rat days at either Mellett or Belden Village. But once I saw Rolling Acres, I thought it was even more beautiful than Belden Village. This video is so very sad to see Rolling Acres in such a ruin.
Australia is going strong, although if it closed on Halloween 2008 you could go there and use the space as a makeshift haunted house if you were allowed :) nice video as always ace
Reason mall went under, it was built in bad area of Akron and criminals were raping women in hallways of mall and stabbing and robbing customers on daily basis. Then people stopped coming. Causing mall to go out of business. (reason also stopped going and taking my kids there)
@@bobbymiller5297 the mall stopped hiring off-duty police officers, and instead, hired cheaper in-experienced security guards, which resulted in numerous incidents. Not to mention, by the late 90s, Chapel Hill Mall and Summit Hall received renovations, while Rolling Acres received very little remodels. The only remodel that occurred was the addition of Target, which Forest City Enterprises has built in hopes of gaining more consumers after the infamous fight that occurred outside the movie theater. But when Target opened, a bunch of stores inside the mall began to close or become lesser quality/discounted, and JCPenney’s and Dillard’s were downgraded into discounted centers (JCPenney Outlet Store & Dillard’s Clearance Center). Many people ending up going to those malls instead of this one, which resulted in Forest City Enterprises selling the mall for $33.5 M to Bankers Trust around 2000. When Bankers Trust bought the mall, they changed the mall’s logo to the current and final sun logo, reopened the movie theater, redone the website, etc. Afterwards, the mall was continuously sold to numerous companies in lesser value, which resulted in numerous financial issues to the mall, along with gang activities.
