Hey guys! Have a peek at my epilogue to Schuylkill where I take you on a video tour of the abandoned ruins as this mall was being demolished: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-iw2jBLvvJuA.html Thanks for everything!
This makes me very, very sad. I live in Lebanon, PA and used to enjoy driving up to this Mall in the autumn with my father on our yearly coloured leaf trip along Rt 81 in October. We would stop at the Schuylkill mall for a slice of pizza at that very same restaurant you mentioned. After he died I would still drive up there and just walk around the Bon Ton and the Black Diamond antique store. It was quite obvious that this was going to go the way of the Dodo Bird and become extinct. Let me tell you, aging is a real pain in the ass. So many places you used to go and things you once did just fade away. Old houses (and malls) are like old families. They wither and die.
Very true, and funny, I live Harrisburg. Back when that mall was still getting business, I lived in Williamstown. It was back when the first movie in the Twilight saga was released. And even a little before then. Seeing that mall gone, it's much like whatever you said, like losing an old friend or family member in a way.
Professionally done it's sad to see malls disappear usually with this type of structure the roof is always the first to go.after that there's no turning back they are definitely doomed.
Not at all. If I could take the Burlington Center Mall and revision it into a museum or something for the history of Burlington, then I would jump on that opportunity! The mall could be divided into sections regarding different subjects of history and art, and we could even bring Petal back to the Waterhole and make her the centerpiece of the museum. It would be a second life for the mall and a second life for Petal!
I grew up in the area and worked at this mall for many years. I'm sorry to see it's failure and demolition. Thank you for documenting it for posterity. Walmart and internet sales have killed countless malls in this country. Crown America was ruthless with its leases and drove out many of the stores throughout the 1990s.
Thank you so much for that sentiment, Camo78! I have a huge amount of content coming up, with some amazing places. I’m out on expedition right now down south filming, but I plan to hop back in the editions chair in a few days to finish the next ExLog. Thanks for watching!!!
Awesome video! I was there today, Jun 10, 2018 and about half of the mall has been demolished. I walked through it but, it's a deathtrap of dangling A/C roof units and shredded steel. The dialysis clinic, BOVA property maintenance, and a MSHA office are all that remain. I actually managed to find a red sweatshirt in perfect condition in the employee locker room with SCHUYLKILL MALL embroidered on the chest.....ONE! I also found a monogrammed ball-point pen from the mall. Thanks for sharing!
So....still shopping at the Mall, eh? Only this time it was mopping, not shopping. Wish I had been that lucky! Hey found treasure is for anyone who picks it up. Hope you washed the sweatshirt before wearing!! LOL
Fun fact: All of their old Christmas decorations have been moved to the South Mall in Allentown, PA just up the highway. It's crazy to see them up in that mall. My wife is from Minersville and I'm from Allentown so both of us recognized them when they went up. Since they are old, they are very distinct and recognizable. :-)
This video is just heartbreaking. This mall was somebody's project once, their dream, and there must have been so many families and friends and couples who made happy memories in there, shopping and eating and having fun. It's tragic to think that a piece of history would be left to rot. There's so much that could be done with the space if it were converted and saved. It's depressing to see this empty mall standing there and then see homeless people every morning on the way to work, both because malls like these could have employed many and because there's so many people who have nowhere to live and could use a warm building like this mall to get back on their feet. I think the idea of converting anchor stores to homeless shelters is a great idea.
I stumbled upon your channel and have been binging on you for two days. I love your voice and educated, informed commentaries. I, too, love exploring old places, abandoned places. My first job right out of high school (1989) was at our local mall for 2 1/2yrs at Fashion Bug and this brings back the memories. Thank you
I couldn't watch more than 5 minutes of this, knowing it's been torn down. WTF. This place looked pristine. A shiny clean time capsule back to the 1980's. I can not understand how places like this are worth more as a parking lot. Idiots in charge, running amok.
Very awesome! So incredibly sad the history of the area. I lived in the rust belt outside of Akron Ohio it got hit hard in the late 90s up there too. This mall reminded me of the now demolished rolling acres mall I spent so much time at! Keep up the good work!
What a nastalgic mall. It's so sad to see so many malls like this closing. You did an awesome job filming this mall.. Liked, subscribed and turn notifications on.
12:14 vigo the carpathian just hanging out on the wall of a mall vinyl siding shop with no mention of Ghostbusters. Weird 90s meta nostalgia moment. Also a Hess’s AND a Bon Ton... foreshadowing. This mall had it all.
Thank you! That thought crosses my mind in every mall and place I visit. There's such an amazing array of people that come through, each with a different story. Every one of these places deserves to be immortalized.
Thank you for filming and keeping this happy place of mine alive. I spent so much time there as a teen. I moved out of the area shortly before it was leveled and I wish I could have taken a piece of it to remember or better yet one if the plants growing in the mall. At one time I hot angry watching childhood things go away but its just time passing. Pomeroys moved out of center st pottsville and moved into the mall. My aunts and uncles never had a mall, they had storefronts and seeing them close because of the mall made them sad. I'm glad I lived in the heyday of the schuylkill mall. 🤘😎
Anolther superb video, Sal. I really liked the pace of your narrative as you were telling the history; you used pauses that allowed us to take in the info and process it before the next portion was shared. The end result was a nice flow that allowed us to really look at the video and take it all in. I really enjoyed this technique. A question: I believe I saw the young lady in the blue dress in another of your vids; a friend of yours? I like that she's there, seeing in person what we see in video. (OBTW: the language of Brazil is Portuguese.) Please keep 'em coming!
Have to agree. He does net spew a continuos stream of info at us, he makes pauses. I could not tell why I like his way of telling things so much. Now that you have mentioned it... Yep, it´s the pauses.
I’ve watched this video 3 or 4 times never commented but this is honestly one of my favorite videos of yours. It’s so so sad what happened to this mall. It was a beautiful piece of history I always loved the wood accents, the fountains and the coal miner. My husband and I absolutely love old and vintage everything.
this mall was outdated in 1993..I was there, but since there is absolutely nothing to do in that area, at least it was a place to go to get out of the house
+Sal I have wondered about making "dead mall" T shirts, and what kind of licensing you'd need to do that. I'd so wear a "Schulykil Mall" shirt with that logo. Once again, great job with the video: I love the attention to detail and research work you do to get the old clips spliced in with the current (if sad) footage. Shout out to +Philip Wright to remind me to not just subscribe but turn notifications on too. :)
Love this video, like all of your Expedition journals, there is such interesting research. The statue is exquisite, I want it in my yard. Can’t wait for the next adventure.
Hi! If this is the first video of mine that you’ve seen, I ask that you keep going! My latest videos are way better quality, and I get even more adventurous with the commercials!
This honestly makes me cry watching this. I have so many memories of my grandma and I going up to this mall just to auntie anne pretzels and to walk around. At that time there weren't a lot of stores and it makes me sad. Places like Pottsville never really get a lot of stuff and to really even have a fun day out you have to drive 1 to 2 hours to actually get that enjoyment. All we really have left is the fair lane village mall and the only things keeping that running are kohls, Michaels, and boscovs. So yeah, county doesn't have a lot
So far, the Montgomery Mall in North Wales, PA has managed to stay open. I rarely go into the mall anymore but since Wegman's opened where Boscov's used to be it's a regular place to shop. I think Wegman's may have saved the mall from closing.
I live in the area and worked at the mall for about 14 years. The rumor was always that it was going to become a women's prison. There was a male prison less than one mile away.
Thanks Jerry! I’m not sure how many you’ve seen, but there’s a lot more to get through with some really amazing closed wing footage! If I can access it, you’ll be sure to see it :)
@@sal Thanks Sal! I'm going to have to keep track! Check out Chesterfield Mall- I grew up in the area. Dying , only theater and Cheesecake factory doing well. Chesterfield created problem with new development TIF, etc.
So glad you did this video Sal.I was the store manager of the Rex Tv and Appliance located to the left of Sears.The mall was doing ok while I was there.I had transferred back to Erie in 2000 my wife was homesick.A few years later Rex closed all there stores.Good to see the name scars were still visible!
Just found your channel! Something about abandoned structures speaks to me. I have watched other channels that cover malls, amusement parks, and railroads. This particular video appeals to me. I remember being there as a young teen just after it opened, and I would stop there from time to time on my travels up and down I-81 as an adult. I stopped there in 2003, and it still seemed to be doing ok, as far as malls went. The last time I was there (July 2017) turned out to be merely months before it closed and demo started. Dunham's Sporting Goods, along with possibly Claire's (or some such business) and cell phone kiosks, were the only places operating (maybe the theater was still going - can't really remember). I didn't know when I stopped that the mall was on its deathbed; I walked all over the entire complex and found it to be much like in your video. I wasn't surprised to find out it closed a few months later, but was surprised to learn that it had been demolished and replaced by a warehouse operation not long after that. Hey, at least the land was repurposed, and we don't just have the abandoned structure left to decay and be an eyesore.
That music at the beginning was super great. Haunting video. I like the pillars with the weird giant blue lampshade thingies on them, and the walkways to nowhere around that little space. This little sucker made it 38 years. Really not a bad run.
Nice content as always, Sal! i was quite surprised to hear a portuguese word in your video (Saudade). I'm brazilian (sorry if for the broken english btw xd) and i can say that, this is the perfect word to explain nostalgia. In my city i really don't have that feeling going to the malls here, we have like 6 active malls, all of them, before covid, was really active, full of people, but after watching those videos, i can easily see all those 6 malls being empty, that's really scary, all those malls has a beatiful architecture and would be really sad to see them basically die. It's interesting to see this type of content, i never knew in US, malls is something from the past and was that dead.
Hello, Sal, we are working our way through all of your wonderful videos, and this one is so sad. My children were babies in the mid 80s and 90s, and we lived in a fairly small town with only 1 Mall owned by Eddie Bartolo. The Wal Mart, K-Mart, and Sears were not in the Mall - they were independent stores on their own properties. The Mall anchors were Burdines, JC Penney and Ivey's, and there were other stores like Electronics Boutique, lotsa shoe stores like Thom McCann, Kinney's Shoes, Florsheim Shoes, there was a Friendly's Restaurant, Barney's Coffee, Cookie Factory, Kaybee Toys, a wonderful food court, a game arcade with pinball machines, video games, a very popular play area for children complete with 25 cent electronic pony and small carousel rides, it WAS the place to be :) We didn't have much money - I had quit my job to raise my little children and we would save pennies, change, chore money, I babysat, and 2 times a month we'd go to Mall with a twin stroller with the baby in one seat and the toddler walking through the mall and resting in the stroller as needed, and we had so much fun. Among the Mom's in our social circle lol, it was a status symbol to buy expensive clothing and shoes for one's children at the Mall. We'd make plans and meet other Mom's with their little ones and spend the day at the Mall. Well, we bought our Mall clothes at yard sales lol, and we'd take our few bucks to the Mall with our stroller and the kids and we'd spend what we could and had so much fun. We lived in Florida, and our Mall looked so much like this Mall. Thank you very much for this video - it brought back many nice memories for our family.
I recall visiting the Schuylkill Mall many times over a few decades and was always impressed with the warmth of the people and the activity of the Mall itself. I recall a Chik-Fil-.A and aPharmore Drug store and a Walden bookstore and an Arby's and a Holiday Hair business. The place was always hopping and filled with mall walkers and older folks hanging out. I recall the movie theater too. It was all in the 90's and early part of the 2000's so it was not all that long ago. I recall a McDonald's right near the mall. The road to the Schuylkill Mall was up this long winding road which was unique. I never saw that in a mall. But I always enjoyed stopping by and found the mall and the people who worked there really great. I was from out of the Schuylkill County area and was often in this area for work reasons. I grabbed at bite at the Schuylkill Mall many times.
I have to tell you, your video was the best wrap-up of the mall. I am moved and emotional after watching, as having lived 37 years shopping there. Thank you. -Bryan www.coalspeaker.com :)
Bryan Smolock your words mean so much to me. I’m passionate about showing the world what we’re missing out on by closing these beautiful structures. Thank you so much.
I used to visit here as a kid when my parents and I used to go to Cooperstown for the baseball hall of fame induction ceremony every summer. Passed it on the way there this year after quite a few years. Very sad and surreal. You and Dan bell and aces adventures may have inspired me to do these videos.
Worked here from 1980-1983 in Waldenbooks. About 20 of us started the week before the mall opened to set up the shelves and fill them with books. Kept about 6-8 of us as employees and I started part time. Eventually went to full time then assistant manager and acting manager when the manager went on maternity leave. Hickory Farms was right next store, I can still remember the aroma.
Sal, can you visit the mall in Monroeville PA? It's claim in history is the filming location for the all time classic "Day of the dead" I'm curious to know if it is on life support and what it's current status is
I grew up with this mall. I left the area in 1993 after high school. This mall resembled what you saw in 80s movies mall scenes and for the run down area, it was quite a place.
The design of the planters remind me of the ones in Northland Mall, now defunct, in Columbus, Ohio--a mall that was the place to go during my childhood in the 70s and 80s.
Thank you for mentioning the word "saudade". It's an equivalent word for "missing". When you miss someone, you feel "saudade" about someone. Again, congratulations for your amazing documentaries.
This was a hard one to watch, Sol. You cold see its final moments as it heartbeat slow, become shallow... when you leave, you can feel its final moments.... it's death was fated (I could hear Danse macabre in my head). Probably was beautiful and vibrant in its day.
I worked at Arby’s in this mall from 1985 to 1987. And my wage was less than $4/hr. It was a great place to shop and hang out. We almost always went to the McDonalds after home football games at North Schuylkill HS. I was back to visit in 2012 and it looked pretty sad. Mostly only memories by that time. You mention Centrailia and the town suffered a forced evacuation where the government paid the residents a small sum to move. It was tragic and resulted in at least one instance of deadly domestic violence.
Those water fountains are all original. I would visit this mall often when I would visit my grandparents. I remember in the early 80s the Newleywed Game with Bob Eubanks filmed a show there.
Very well researched. One point. We all look at these big $ property mgmt companies as being super savvy businessmen. For that one group to step up and pay $17M for a property that never lived up to its potential just shows these guys can be as boneheaded as us little guys.
BTW... If you are talking about the 1978 version -- that mall (Monroeville Mall) is doing pretty well lately. I was just there recently! I mean I know there are a couple of empty storefronts but pretty much most of the mall is still occupied.
Very professional video and respectful to the good people and traditions of the area. In the 90's and into the 2000's the Schuylkill Mall was doing fine but it seems things declined after 2006 or so. The people at this mall were super nice and I enjoyed my many visits to the area and the mall through my work. The Schuylkill Mall being sold and resold did not help in the big picture--stability seems important.
Really rate these Mall Obituaries you do...... great to have the history and the context..... why they emwere built, by who and how ownership and fortunes changed..... great research!!👍👍 If only others woukd watch your videos instead of producing repetitive, wobbly camera "hey.... dude..... waddya think this was..... sketchy......cool...." nonsense.... Best standard of "abandoned" type videos out there.....
Was up there in Frackville PA; September 2011 after tropical storm Lee. Used to go see drive inn movies once a week up at the mall on a blow up screen. We stayed at Granny's Motel down at the bottom of the mountain. I first saw Schuykill Mall on the way back from Boston in 1990. It was really something back then. I want to say the largest spare foot single story mall in America???? Great job on video bro!!!!
@@sal so welcome. Great job. Ya know there is a park in Pottsville PA. dedicated to Henry Clay. He was like a military hero. I see no videos about the place on you tube. We used to climb up there on Sunday evenings and dr8nk a couple beers and have a smoke. It would make a cool video haha.....
Jeez. I had just been shopping there not too long before it was closed up. Columbia County Mall is probably next. Also, kudos for saying Schuylkill correctly, hah.
Walking through this abandoned mall reminds me of a line from Charles Dickens "A Christmas Carol".....loosely quoted.... "These are but mere shadows of things that were".
I remember going to this mall every so often .when the black diamond store. They had great prices on a lot of collectors odds and ends .The Mall was nice around 2007 til 2015 .
Heres one for the ghost hunter guys, ‘Haunted Malls of America’. A major mall in Phoenix just closed last summer ‘Metro Center’, Bill and Teds excellent adventure was filmed in it. I knew a girl that worked at the Dillards there in the 90’s and she told me the mall has had paranormal issues.
This mall was huge! It was built on top of a mountain. The weather in the winter was just nuts. Ironically the new wearhouse built on the grave site has just gone out of business as well and will sit empty with no tenant.🤦🏻♂️
I'm really liking your videos, and especially the research, do keep them up. As for the “Brazilian language”, that doesn't exist (not by that name, at least); there's Brazilian Portuguese and… Portuguese Portuguese, I guess? For lack of a better term, let's call it European Portuguese (the [original] variant I speak, hence my comment). And the word “Saudade” (literally, “missing/longing for something/someone/some place”, but it can be a more general feeling and also apply to things you've never had or knew to begin with; your “has always been” really catches the drift of it) is, more than anything, a Portuguese invention, and still much more relevant in our country than elsewhere, as we, living in this tiny rectangle and outgrowing it more often than not, tend to migrate a lot even to this day. Nevermind the nitpicking, though, as it's more than apt. I get the exact same feeling when I go to the tiny, not-quite-moribund but stilly eery urban malls from the '70s here in Lisbon (for reference, I was born in 1985 and I only went to those when they were still somewhat thriving a dozen times or so, at most). Big malls only became a thing here after the late '90s and, boy, are they big… SONAE Sierra, the biggest retail developer around these parts, went straight for gold and built what was then the largest indoor mall in Europe, Centro Comercial Colombo (yeah, as in Christopher Columbus, even though the guy was working for the Spanish crown; C.C. Vasco da Gama - that would be the guy who reached India by sea for the first time ever, and that one was indeed Portuguese -, while much cooler, is a bit smaller). Sometimes I fantasize about the ways we could make use of them in a post-consumerist/post-apocalyptic society and how they would look like… Probably a bit like a grand bazaar-cum-forum, one would hope. We still have a lot of downtown storefronts, however (that's what you get in countries where public transportation wasn't utterly destroyed) and… who knows, seeing how we're always some 30 years behind the rest of the world in certain camps, maybe one day we'll get to do videos like these as well before such a momentous event even takes place.
Thanks for the correction! I’ve heard the word in multiple places, but when trying to find an etymology, my ignorance to the fine details of the culture and local languages make it hard to pinpoint the exact pedigree of its origin. I’d also love to see some of the malls you’re speaking of, that would be fascinating!
You're welcome, I'm happy to be of service! Back to the subject of malls, actually, Sal, seeing your videos, I almost feel like throwing together something along these lines. Not just “feel like” in the sense that it would be fun (and it would!), but in that I feel obliged to do so for documentation purposes. The only reason I may refrain from doing so personally is that I have quite a lot on my plate right now (it's my MA senior year and I have to turn in my dissertation by the end of October, I shouldn't even be watching or commenting on RU-vid videos at all, aha), but I do know quite a few people in the movie/documentary business here, maybe some of them are willing to do it instead. Yeah, if something like that pops up, I'll be sure to let you know! You see, some of these damned cockroaches of malls (heh, some of them are probably infested with them as well) I'm talking about seem to survive on just one or two anchors, sometimes even just a small coffee shop or a hairdresser, and seeing how Lisbon is now being swept by a wave of rampant gentrification (also for reference: because of the rise of tourism, AirBnb, hostels and speculative real estate deals in general rents here just shot a little over those in Berlin, and are just a bit shy of those in Paris, which is utterly crazy in a country where the minimum wage is currently $675 and, quite obviously, sparking protest), who's to say those malls aren't heading for doom sooner than it seemed? It would be sad, especially seeing how they still retain a bit of that '70s and '80s aesthetic you've been showing on some of these, except at a fraction of the scale.
I miss when malls had pleasingly-varied aesthetics, and warmer and more inviting colors. So many malls I go to that are thriving these days, everything looks bleached, cold, and sterile.
as a Canadian the only two anchors you speak of in any of the videos I have watched thus far that I have ever shopped at are K-Mart (Used to live in a town with Western Canada's Largest K-mart, that is the Largest Kmart wast of Ontario) and Sears.
I saw this mall at its end along with the one in Reading. Very sad to see but not surprised to see them go. 2016 and 2017 lived in Pottsville but moved to south Florida in 2018. Beautiful area just have to look past the drug attics, old buildings, and lack of money out there.
It is very interesting to See what happened to these malls. In Germany they still build new and most of them are doing fine. I am curious why it is that way.
Monroeville mall here in PA, where they shot the 1970's film Dawn of the Dead is still open, but they have strict rules now due to gangs of urban teens shooting each other inside.
hey Sal just stumbled on your channel saw the one one central 3 mall in Pittsburg then stumbled here..omg I'm from shamokin pa and I use to go to this mall as a kid schukyll mall frackville omg... this was devastating owh yea and the Pottsville mall..what happend .. man the state of pa is going down hill...only one left is the Susquehanna... Centralia is been on fire for 30 plus years...
Here's a little fun fact... Did you know that the town of Centralia was one of the main inspirations for the popular "Silent Hill" game franchise? It's true!
Davita Dialysis remained open in the mall until just a few days ago, despite the demolition. Now that they’re gone, I’m sure the demolition will be completed.
I watched a good many of your videos last night. Very well done I enjoyed them so much and subscribed for more. The information that you provide coupled with your video is captivating. Seeing these huge facilities and hearing the stories brings both positive and negative feelings in a mixed way that I can't stop watching. It's great. Something I wondered while watching many of these videos is where are the heating and cooling vents in the large common areas of the malls? I see them in the stores but not the mall areas. It would seem that these huge areas would need huge and/or numerous ventilation ducts to keep them temperate, but as you walk around I generally see none at all or only a few small ones placed very infrequently. Any thoughts or knowledge on this? Thanks
hi, love your vids, is century 3 the only 3 story mall in pennsylvania? back in 2010 me and my late partner visited his childhood home of beaver falls/monaca and we stopped by a mall it was 3 stories and almost empty i can't remember the name of it but the only stores left was K mart, bath and body works and im thinking a comic book store , i went exploring and just was overcome with sadness because back in the day im sure it was such a awesome place ,but watching your vids brought back that memory of it , i live in central IL so i have no clue if that place still exists or not
Unfortunately Mall culture is dying, malls were popular in the 90s/early 2000s but now most people just buy stuff online. I only really buy shoes from the mall because I need to try shoes on before I buy them but for clothes I usually just shop online and I’m into vintage so I go to thrift stores.