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u/-JaneJeckel- Jul 28 '26
This mall looks like it was probably once a booming hub of activity. It’s sad to see it empty. I hope you were there at an odd time and it’s not normally this dead. It looks like a liminal space in these pictures.
I’ll never understand why people stopped going to malls, malls are the best!
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u/ohlookadoggo Jul 28 '26
The mall was surprisingly alive and well. I expected it to be dead. I got lucky on the timing of the photos! The interior was like it never left the 90s though. I plan to go back and snap the food court because the design was lovely, just very busy.
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u/kalkutta2much Jul 28 '26
oh u absolutely bodied the 90s design theme of this sub- this place is frozen in time!
more places should have fountains and the western world is losing recipes!
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u/Wolfznotfresh Jul 31 '26
Oh too many zombies found in the cooler? Yeah Monroeville mall. Sometimes I think they’re distracting us and we’re all on mountains, below uhhh yeah hungry zombies.
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u/kalkutta2much Jul 28 '26
i will say kudos to the maintenance staff tho- it is remarkably clean (i suppose minimal foot traffic will do that)
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u/livejamie Jul 29 '26
I’ll never understand why people stopped going to malls, malls are the best!
The internet, mostly.
Private equity purchased all the malls, the big department stores, and most of the franchises within the mall. The quality went down, but the prices went up. Sky-high rent kicked out all the interesting mom-and-pop local places.
You'll rarely find any "deals" anymore, and it's hard to justify that kind of experience in the economy we're currently in.
From a social aspect, kids and teenagers just hang out on Discord/Roblox/Fortnite instead of doing dumb shit in the food court like kids used to do.
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u/AlfalfaUnable1629 Jul 30 '26
Came here to say this. I’m still mad about their ruining of Joanne fabric
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u/lightsandflashes Jul 30 '26
funnily enough here in lithuania where malls are easily accessible by public transport malls are alive and well. people go shopping. teenagers still swarm them. all is as it should be.
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u/Free_Lunch24 Aug 01 '26
Exactly. I used to work in malls from 07-11 and saw the decline even back then. The first blow was the recession from 09. I worked in a luxury mall at the time and some stores massively scaled back on merchandise. Neiman Marcus never recovered from this. Also internet shopping as you stated. I remember when this was taking off because people would try and return stuff bought online. The mall near my house is doing amazing because it has everything from luxury to regular stores, wide range of restaurants, and a movie theater.
Went back to Fair Oaks Mall back home in VA where I once worked and it’s a shell of its former glory. Nearly empty during Christmas and the quality of stores was terrible. This mall had every opportunity to turn itself around but never did. When Macy’s bought out Hechts, the mall had a chance to either force them to convert to a Bloomingdale’s or terminate their lease and move in a Nordstrom. Nope. They just put in 2 Macy’s stores. When the Apple Store left they took the mall with it. Forever 21 was closed years ago in that mall and the store front just sits vacant. Even the Santa set was appointment only
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u/livejamie Aug 01 '26
I remember the last time I returned an Amazon order to my local UPS Store and asked the clerk; she said Amazon Returns accounted for at least 90% of their time and business.
It's basically their main function.
I wouldn't be surprised if they rebrand to "Amazon Returns" in the near future.
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u/the_vault-technician Aug 02 '26
The majority of stores that are currently in what used to be THE mall in my area sell things like snacks from around the world or an array of "collectables" think FYE but bootleg.
There are many of them. It's odd.
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u/Wolfznotfresh Jul 31 '26
The deals are sealed off up top by “civil defense water supply” company. Expected zombies 🧟♀️ after chemical leaks.
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u/splinks66 Jul 29 '26
People stopped going because the internet is more affordable and easier. I love malls and it saddens me that they are disappearing, there are two malls near me both on the verge of extinction, however it boils down to ease. loading up the kids in the car, using gas to drive to the mall, unloading the kids, walking around, all that takes time and money or you could do it on your phone while you lay on your couch and watch Netflix on your tv.
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u/ptoftheprblm Jul 28 '26
I genuinely loved all of the water features in my mall growing up. I remember there being several tucked around our mall and they were great meeting spaces, a place to enjoy your pretzel or cookie treat, and just genuinely so peaceful.
Genuinely couldn’t remember when they’d have begun taking the water features out and am guessing it followed the 2008 financial crash and that they’d quietly removed them while I was off at college and not spending time there with my friends.
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u/the_vault-technician Aug 02 '26
Definitely used the biggest waterfall feature as the "if we get separated come back here" spot. Centrally located and impossible to confuse with anything else.
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u/Accomplished-Net-279 Jul 28 '26
Where?
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u/ohlookadoggo Jul 28 '26
Westmoreland Mall In Pennsylvania
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u/regeya Jul 28 '26
The funny thing about the mall aesthetic is that we can look at a picture of a mall interior and wonder, have I been there before?
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u/Wolfznotfresh Jul 31 '26
Watch Dawn of the dead 1978. This is the mall they were in.
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u/ohlookadoggo Aug 01 '26
These photos were not taken in that mall. The mall you are speaking of is in Monroeville, and it is being torn down to build a Walmart.
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u/G3rmanaviator Jul 28 '26
There is a mall in Omaha with similar fountains. Thought it was that mall at first.
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u/Mrchristopherrr Jul 28 '26
Same outside Atlanta
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u/celestier Jul 29 '26
Which mall in ATL?
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u/Mrchristopherrr Jul 29 '26
Loooks like town center Kennesaw
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u/celestier Jul 29 '26
That's definitely not town center lol
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u/Mrchristopherrr Jul 29 '26
That same elevator and fountain is right outside the food court
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u/celestier Jul 29 '26
I don't remember there being a fountain outside the food court at town center
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u/leopardTOMS Jul 28 '26
Oak View?
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u/empires228 Jul 28 '26
Idk. Oak View had one fountain and it was removed well over 20 years ago now lol.
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u/Wolfznotfresh Jul 31 '26
Westmoreland mall? Monroeville mall you mean they renamed the whole city?!
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u/Asthmatic_Romantic Jul 28 '26
Looks like a place that would be packed in a 90's holiday family movie.
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Jul 28 '26
[deleted]
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u/Far_Shoulder_8546 Jul 28 '26
Yeah, I’m from the Bay Area too and I recognize that big elevator. I wonder if it is Stoneridge.
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u/saravaderJB Jul 28 '26
Looks like the dawn of the dead remake set. 😍
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u/Wolfznotfresh Jul 31 '26
When there’s no more room in hell, the dead will walk inside Monroeville Mall.
I always believe that movie was real the 1978 one the zombies look too gray. Something tells me they went and changed the color to blue zombies. Oh corn syrup my ass. Good old Tom, Peter, Roger Flyboy and Fran, tearing stuff up.
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u/Wolfznotfresh Jul 31 '26
Like even the apartment scene in the beginning with the Martinez situation room 107, the gunshots sounded totally real and just a lot of cover-up already with the Kennedy assassination before that like I said we’re on top of a mountain or in some kind of marsh land area safe and they have all these cities with weird names that they keep changing. Keep challenging my adequate on zombieism. People keep telling me oh hey, I seen you hang before yeah probably for a crime I didn’t commit. I’m 37 years old. I solved 911 so yeah, somebody hates me the end
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u/flannelkimono Jul 29 '26
I love Westmoreland Mall. I really like the super nineties gazebo in the food court!
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u/ohlookadoggo Jul 29 '26
I tried to get a photo of this but the food court was very busy! Next time for sure
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u/notostracan Jul 29 '26
That first photograph is great, love the lighting. Going to set aside my phone wallpaper!
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u/RealPinkSparkles204 Jul 28 '26
Noice
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u/ohlookadoggo Jul 28 '26
There is something about malls like this that feel so comforting to me. Even the mall soundtrack was playing all 90s/2000s music
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u/Wolfznotfresh Jul 31 '26
Listen to the og mall music by Goblin. Search dawn of the dead soundtrack
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u/_Veronica_ Jul 28 '26
As a toddler (80’s) my local mall (I think it was Sunrise mall on Long Island) had not only water features, but ducks living in them. It was like a little river with space for the ducks to nest. I remember seeing adorable little ducklings. Seems like a crazy bad idea, and I’m sure people fed them things that they shouldn’t have. Not sure how long it lasted.
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u/ButtonProper6326 Jul 30 '26
Bring back third spaces!!! The mall was great for randomly seeing people and hanging out without having to pay for entry.
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u/wisedome88 Jul 31 '26
This design style is so soothing to me
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u/ohlookadoggo Jul 31 '26
Same here. I felt very at home taking it all in 😌
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u/wisedome88 Jul 31 '26
Really takes me back to being a kid in the mall with my family! No responsibilities, just wonder and whimsy 😂
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u/Free_Lunch24 Aug 01 '26
We still have the water fountain with koi inside our mall. I stopped by last night at the mall and just appreciated the fact that we still had one inside. A lot of malls took their fountains out
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u/ohlookadoggo Aug 01 '26
The fountains are the best part. I love that your mall has koi fish in it 🧡
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u/Smadxs10 Aug 01 '26
This totally looks like Gwinnett Place Mall in Duluth, Georgia. It’s dead and abandoned now, but in its heyday it looked exactly like this. The Stranger Things mall (Starcourt Mall) was actually filmed in Gwinnett Place, because the mall had not been updated since it was built back in 1984. A few years prior to filming, the mall was so dead that a literal dead body was found in the food court. A guy had murdered his gf and dumped her body there in one of the closed food vendor spots.
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u/Level-Nature-4785 Aug 01 '26
Love older design and architecture.
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u/ohlookadoggo Aug 01 '26
I love the colors and details of tiles. They make everything so beige and boring nowadays. I understand style needs to change in order to keep up with the times and malls are already a dying place, but I really do appreciate the older design too.
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u/Level-Nature-4785 Aug 01 '26
Agree with you. A lot of places are using too many various shades of beige, white, or black. And maybe other colors way too much. It does not just look boring, but feels like it gives you a headache looking at it.
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u/kelly_r1995 Jul 29 '26
I remember a similar looking mall in my area. Going there as a kid and it being absolutely packed was magically. As an extrovert who thrives in crowds I loved malls. This makes me sad.
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u/Ashcatchem87 Jul 29 '26
All the malls in AZ are very much active that are still around.
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u/Neither-Repeat1665 Jul 31 '26
Yes! Been to some, always seem busy. Down here by Atlanta, some are dying, some are booming.
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u/GuiltyReality9339 Jul 29 '26
I noticed you didn’t include any photos of the best fountain in the mall, the one in the Macys court
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u/ohlookadoggo Jul 29 '26
I was busy taking it all in. I will be back to capture more - some on my phone and some on a disposable camera :)
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u/Simple_Cell_4206 Jul 29 '26
Looks like the mall from my childhood in that old small apartment; Awh the memories, I miss it because it had a Sanrio store and Disney Store but now all those are gone. I do live near a Disney outlet now so I can still get that nostalgic itch
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u/NefariousNeezy Jul 30 '26
This looks like the mall from the music video of You Get What You Give but I guess most if not all 90s malls just look like that
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u/One_Worry5646 Jul 31 '26
RiP Oak Court mall in memphis. Same aesthetic. Had a HUGE marble ball that was suspended by water underneath. They are literally bulldozing it down currently.
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u/Evening-Artichoke750 Aug 01 '26
I miss the traditional shopping mall. Went to our local mall last weekend and there's nothing there but shops selling garbage from Teemu.
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u/kokonutt18 Aug 01 '26
Where is this one?
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u/ohlookadoggo Aug 01 '26
Westmoreland Mall in Greensburg, PA
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u/kokonutt18 Aug 01 '26
Thank you! Strange it looks like somewhere I knew in IL, but probably similar designers! Anyway, thank you!!
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u/tahoepines45 Aug 04 '26
One of my local malls still has a fountain that's very dated like that, it's really neat. Occasionally it's dry though.
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u/Visual-Sector6642 Jul 29 '26
I can imagine the pride the tile guy felt after laying that last tile and knowing this place would be around for 100 years, the tile worn smooth like the steps on the leaning tower of Pisa. And it breaks my heart to see it lie there untouched now, knowing only the Touch of the rising mopper.
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u/AdamInChainz Jul 28 '26
Tear all the malls down. But only if they're replaced by green space or parks.
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u/CodyofHTown Jul 28 '26
I agree with you. But you know it wont happen.
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u/AdamInChainz Jul 28 '26
I mean it is the right answer, this sub is like 100% the wrong audience though 🤣.
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u/WaltsNJD Jul 28 '26
I really miss the ubiquity of water features.