Every few years I come back to check this video. My dad was a maintenance worker at Crestwood from 1992 to 2003. My sister and I would hang out with him while he was at work and his friend owned the Auntie Anne's that was located near the Dillards end. My dad passed away in 2011 and this video takes me back to a time when I was a Mall Rat and get to spend some time with my dad.

@DieselDucy

3 жыл бұрын

I love getting comments like this. Places like this hold a special place in our heart.

Awesome mall! So bright and clean. And i just LOVE those 60's tiny OTIS escalators, and the 80's elevator with accoustic bell is really nice also. The Skylights are very cool. I hope the elevating equipment will stay original and that this mall will be in business again soon

@volgrenfanbus1294

3 жыл бұрын

As you can see there is about 3 Otis Escalator that the mall had the 80's where the food court ,the 70's where the cinema is and in the middle of sears is the 60's

@DieselDucy

2 жыл бұрын

Sadly torn down

I have so many childhood memories of this mall. We would go Christmas shopping there every year. It's where I got my ears pierced and saw The Lion King. RIP Crestwood Plaza.

@jayd9203

3 жыл бұрын

I got my ear (only one) pierced here too, in the late 80’s. I think it was at a place directly across from that second entrance to Sears.

I worked here in 1993/94 at a huge arcade in the lower food court that had previously been a movie theater... it was called Exhilirama. Really an amazing arcade operated by Edison Brothers. It was a huge space with laser tag arena, bumper cars, virtual reality machines, pins games etc. I also worked up on the main level at Gloria Jeans Coffee, nice place to get real coffee before star bucks was every were. Shout out to Angie (RIP), Liz and the rest of the girls... good times!

@DieselDucy

4 жыл бұрын

I probably came in there when u were working. Last time I was in the arcade was 1993

@2.7petabytes

4 жыл бұрын

I was the lead floor manager at Exhilarama in the early 1990’s! Met my wife there! We’re still married! As a matter of fact, I was even there upstairs in the VR/laser tag arena that was in operation before Exhilarama opened up downstairs! I used to hang out with Tom M, Andreas, Kevin O’Connor, Eric Eberhart, etc. What good times!

@lincoln3x7

4 жыл бұрын

@@2.7petabytes We would have been there at the same time, I ran the laser tag arena most of the time and was on the early crew that got trained by qsar out of Dublin before we opened. Who are you 700 meg? I knew Kevin and the whole crew... remember the drama when he was let go... that was Kevin right as the GM?

@2.7petabytes

4 жыл бұрын

Lincoln Whisler and I remember the Qzar training! We went out to a few bars with that blond woman from Ireland!

@2.7petabytes

4 жыл бұрын

Lincoln Whisler my wife was one of the front desk cashiers! Upper management found out about our relationship and she had to quit. We were just dating at the time. But we’re still together all these years later!

Dillard's closed in 2007, Macy's closed in 2009, Sears closed in 2012.

The arcade was F'N' epic. High-end mall for sure. #Icon#R I.P.

I saw JFK when he was campaign for president at Crestwood Plaza on Oct. 22,1960. The first job I had was at Vandevorts in the mall.

The storefront to the left at 7:24 with all the white windows was once a Forever 21, I believe! (I never visited this mall sadly, but most forever 21s look like that!) Great video!

Same here! This was the best mall in the area in terms of the "scene" in the late 80's, early 90s when I was a teen. Had a kickass arcade which was Exhilarama at the time, a great food court, and a ton of pretty young girls both hanging out and working in the mall. It's really sad to see this place go. I walked in there yesterday to avoid the ridiculous heat outside and there is literally nothing left but the Lens Crafters, post office, and tiny kids area near the old Dillard's. Very sad!

@2.7petabytes

3 жыл бұрын

FFKDTP1 many good memories there!! I was a floor manager at Exhilarama. Got to use the VR units sometimes all through the night after we were closed! Met my wife there!!

Breaks my heart to see what has happened to many of Americas malls. There are still active malls here in the San Francisco bay area. They are not what they used to be. I was born in the late '60s and have many happy memories at malls in the '70s,'80s and '90s. So sad to see the fate of this one. Oh well. Things change. Take care.

@DieselDucy

2 жыл бұрын

Yeah. So many malls in St. Louis are gone now

Man, this hurts my soul. When I was a child, I wanted to go to this mall every year for my birthday. I remember back then the place was always busy. They had two toy stores, a pet shop, two electronics stores, an a massive arcade in the basement level with the food court.

@DieselDucy

Ай бұрын

I loved this mall. So many memories.

A downstairs secluded foodcourt. Very nice an elevator serviced this area.The 1984 addition we see upon entering mall reminds me of decor of sets in 1980's Nickelodeon tv seried titled You Cant Do That on Television.

@DieselDucy

7 жыл бұрын

+Corrina And Leny Corrina And Leny I can remember coming here when it first opened. Sad it is leveled :(

I know its been years, but I want to thank you so much for making this video. It means a lot to me to able to see the places I used to go to all the time with my grandparents (who are now no longer with me). I used to go to the Garden Room restaurant in the Dillards, sneak pretzels in my gmas purse into the movies.. I remember the Disney store that used to be there, and the Bread Co by the Sears.. Crestwood will always have a very special place in my heart.

I'm really glad you made this video while Crestwood was still open. I've seen several videos, but this is by far the best account of it. I'm almost 22 now, but I can still remember my mom taking me on the bus to Crestwood Plaza when I was about three years old; it was like a wonderland to me in those days. I have so many memories there. Every once in a while, I come back to this video and rewatch it for nostalgia. Thanks for making it!

@DieselDucy

7 жыл бұрын

+Lori Dresner thanks for sharing the memory. This place was amazing back in the 80s. I grew up here :)

This is actually a nice mall, it's strange that its closing.

I went to this mall when I was really young in the 70’s, when it was a strip-mall. I worked at Sears in the late 80’s early 90’s and the part that you said was definitely built in the 60’s was actually the bridge that connected the two parts of the mall. It was literally just be a bridge with no storefronts until they expanded the mall again by bumping out both sides of the the bridge, adding all those shops from the Sears entry to the management office you mentioned. The bridge was already there but that part was expanded in the 90’s. It was in fact 1990 or 1991. The food court was expanded/renovated at this same time. You could always tell where the old strip mall was by looking at the threshold as you entered the stores because there was a slight ramp up where they had to warp the floor to marry the old and new. I spent a lot of my life in that mall and it’s a shame what happened to it. It out performed every mall in the area until the owner of Westfield properties bought it and intentionally crushed it in order to kill a lawsuit that the mall owners had against his company. He purchased the mall out of spite and ran it into the ground on purpose.

THIS is how I found your channel!

@DieselDucy

4 жыл бұрын

TheComputerGeek010101001 awesome thanks

This makes me feel so sad, I remember being taken there as a little girl around Christmas time.

Malls have always held a special place in my heart. It's so sad to see this mall closed and demolished. This was one great walking tour you did of the mall.

@DieselDucy

4 ай бұрын

Thanks so much.

I remember wen I was little this used to be the most popular mall in the area. Sad to see it like this. I know it's even worse now.

@exoticcar5482

8 жыл бұрын

It's actually abandoned now

@hi-ks6sh

3 жыл бұрын

@@exoticcar5482 on top of that it was demolished a few years ago

I have so many good memories here. I am really sad to see it go. AI spent a good part of my youth here. Thank you for making this. Right after this I feel listening to "This used to be my playground"

Parts of it were open air all the way up to the early 80’s! I was a manager at Exhilarama in the early 90’s. Spent many a night playing VR after hours.

@tatumaxton3478

3 жыл бұрын

i know it's kinda off topic but do anyone know of a good website to stream newly released series online ?

@gunnerkayden9469

3 жыл бұрын

@Tatum Axton Flixportal xD

@tatumaxton3478

3 жыл бұрын

@Gunner Kayden thanks, signed up and it seems to work :D I appreciate it!!

@gunnerkayden9469

3 жыл бұрын

@Tatum Axton you are welcome :)

It is so depressing for me to watch these videos because you can tell how many people have lifetime memories of this place and now they are just going down the toilet. All of the one of a kind or non replaceable items that were left in this mall are now no more. I heard the stories of the arcade you told me. I felt quite sad hearing about it. And I also saw all of the places that people just want to see once more just to bring back their memories. :(

Thank you for making this video! The last time I was at crestwood mall was when I was 5-6 so I remember it very vaguely but this helped jog my memory a bit.

@DieselDucy

Ай бұрын

This was my favorite place as a child.

LOL two people filming this mall's demise at the same time!

5:58 is when I finally recognized it. its been more than half my life since I was at the mall. But once I saw the Pasta House sign, memories came back. Thank you for this and Merry Christmas!

Been to this mall a lot growing up. Haven't been there since I was a teen, so that was about 15 or so years ago. Felt a bit sad when I heard it was closing. Went by there a couple months ago and you couldn't even get into the parking lot, had up these barriers (course you probably knew that). Watching this video brought back some memories. Makes me miss home.

I watched this video early 2013 or late 2012, had no clue you filmed it DieselDucy!! Subscribed to you late last year, your videos have turned me into a full blown elevator fan!!

i came here from the video made by the weirdo on the downward escalator xD

The nostalgia pangs are so vivid with this mall. I keep coming back to this video. Lotsa good memories were at that mall.. It kinda hurts at 11:02 to not see Radio Shack in the corner space. But even that's been gone even longer. Wow.. What I wouldn't give to be able to walk around that mall again in the 90s. Just a phenomenal hangout. Thanks for this walkthrough, friend.

according to dead malls .com here is the restaurants that was in the food court there is a McDonald's, Subway, Sbarro and an Athen's Cafe

@jayd9203

3 жыл бұрын

I remember Panda also.

Whats very sad is that this mall will always be in our minds..

Thanks for sharing. I met my husband at this mall. When I see the empy halls I think of old family members and friends,

@2.7petabytes

4 жыл бұрын

bmittenzwey same here! I met my wife there in 1993! I was a manager at Exhilarama!

Amazing that the Sears still had the old entrance logo!!

Dude… this was MY mall. It was more than that I knew this place inside and out. I still dream about it sometimes. They demolished it years ago :( thank you for this video

@DieselDucy

2 жыл бұрын

Same here. I had so many memories growing up here. It is sad. Both this and the drive in that was across the street.

Thanks for sharing. Too many good memories in this mall to pinpoint just one. It is synonymous with my development as a person, from shopping with my mother as a youngster to dates with my partner. Seeing it in such rugged shape and--eventually--nonexistent is about the most heartbreaking feeling you can have toward a big inanimate structure. Thanks to videos like this, we can remember it in its later stages of "life."

I spent much of my teenage weekend nights at this mall. Lots of great memories. I found this video after having driven by the former site. It's all open field now. 'Sniff'

@DieselDucy

2 жыл бұрын

Glad you enjoyed it. I miss this mall so bad :(

10:41 God I remember when I was a kid playing on that play area and going for a ride on the rocket shop on the left. This video made me feel so sad that it's all gone.

GOD BLESS YOU FOR DOCUMENTING THIS WONDERFUL PIECE OF HISTORY … ohhhh the nostalgia 😊

Great tour this mall is huge!

the guy you met on the escalator uploaded also on youtube ;) see movie called "Crestwood Court: Dead Mall in its final Days (A Walkthrough)" Time around 9:10

@itscarlosg233

8 жыл бұрын

They know each other

@EWPA14

7 жыл бұрын

Igor Hnízdo That other person is Jacob aka The Elevator Channel. They were having a meet up there.

Something about dead malls that fascinates me. I can't put my finger on it though.

@exoticcar5482

8 жыл бұрын

They all have an air of nostalgia to me

@MorticiaObscurum

8 жыл бұрын

I feel the same.

@brennansawyer391

7 жыл бұрын

Dani K yeah same for me, i live near a town with just over 5000 and it has two dead malls and its not like its near a big city because the nearest town that is bigger is 2 and a half hours away and it only has 40 000

@drewwalters7010

6 жыл бұрын

Dani K. Memories?

If anyone paused the video the read the "Code of Conduct" you are officially a dork.

@marjoriemorris5849

7 жыл бұрын

Guilty as charged

@marjoriemorris5849

7 жыл бұрын

Honestly I would like to have seen the map from the directory. I would have paused on that too!

wow its amazing....as empty as it seems inside....you can picture in your mind all the years of people walking and shopping inside these malls. It's sad but soon all malls will be abandoned and a thing of the past :( i wish it wasn't....thanks to online shopping.

Damn, I remember going there when I was younger. Now it's just gone.. Just like that! R.I.P

This is a great video. Thanks.

Ahh that mall gives me memories in the 80's man...just good memories in my childhood

This dead mall tour also makes me think of my last trip to the former Galleria Mall in White Plains, which closed in 2023.

@DieselDucy

4 ай бұрын

I remember that mall!

@BJMediaTransit8516

4 ай бұрын

@@DieselDucy Galleria at White Plains I’ve been to since 2019 but I kinda had feelings after a while that it wasn’t gonna be built to last too much longer, compared to other related malls I’ve been to that have been amazing.

thank you so much for this dieselducy... I used to live in St. Louis when I was a kid, and this was one of my favorite places in the world. Watching it die over the years, all the empty stores and vacant paths... Just incredibly sad. I have a pretty great consumer level camera and I wish I coulda been there to record the last days, but sadly I don't live in St. Louis anymore. However you've done it so I just can't thank you enough. Exhilarama, Pasta House & the rest.. RIP Crestwood Plaza. RIP.

@2.7petabytes

4 жыл бұрын

Grubbo I was a manager at Exhilarama back in the early 90’s at Crestwood!

I shopped here many times in the eighties and early nineties, it was a very fun place! RIP.

@DieselDucy

2 жыл бұрын

I so miss this mall. I had so many memories growing up there.

5:57 There used to be a giant transparent clock in front of the Pasta House in the 1990's

So many jobs lost.... Edit: Ok that's trippy! That movie theater you walked by, I could have sworn I saw it in a dream once. Maybe it's just my mind playing games with me. -shrug-

@maniakk3563

5 жыл бұрын

i used to go to that movie theater all the time when i was younger

@seanmiller8455

4 жыл бұрын

Talia al Ghul it's a dead mall

@xHadesStamps

3 жыл бұрын

I've had things like that happen before.

My dad used to take me and my brother here, I live close but for some reason after they nocked it down (atleast 5 years ago) they haven’t even started rebuilding anything :l

Great video, I have so many fond memories of this mall. It's a crying shame it closed. I do wish you would have taken some stills of the directory to get a view of the stores that used to be there.

This happened with Hunt Valley Mall in Maryland in the late 90s. Then the mall closed down and was redeveloped into an outdoor shopping mall. Almost like the Avenue at White Marsh. And right now Owings Mills mall is mostly vacant so who knows how long that mall has left in business.

Worked at sears it's last 5 years remember going to the food court when only subway was open and LOTS of seating

Me and my brother used to see ghosts in the movie theater

@hueymoss

4 жыл бұрын

At the dead Mall

the main entarance where the small steps is a memory for children as a kid when they were little

@DieselDucy

Ай бұрын

I miss it

Crestwood Plaza -- Where the big stores are...

I visited this mall a couple days ago and went down the escalator (past the 'no access' signs) to where the arcade and food court used to be. The food court is completely barricaded off but I hopped over a counter and got into the sealed off portion, very dark and desolate in there. Got a few good pics of the old Athens Cafe sign and menu. The arcade was gated off, but you could still see inside. Snapped a couple pics of the cool Busch Stadium mural on the wall. Sad to see this place go.

It sad to see such a beautiful mall go. Thats a pretty cool place with the escalators that link the parking garage below with the mall above.

I went there when I was a kid and the last time I went there one of my favorite stores we’re going out of business. It was the Hot Topic store and they were having deals galore there that day.

Leveled now. Once was a very popular mall.

0:27 - Even though I hate no photography policies, I really like the way they wrote out their policy. Any mall that really hates cameras should rewrite their policies to write it that way to appeal to noncommercial/casual filmers.

I don't know why I wanted to look up this mall from my early life, but I really enjoyed the video! Fun facts about this mall for me: 1. I never once in my years of going to that mall used the glass elevator. I don't know why. 2. I bought Halo 3 on release night for a friend there, and to pass the time, I walked across the hall to the bar and got drunk in public for my first time. 3. Right next to the Radio Shack that you kept mentioning was a card store called Cliques (Clique's?) that stole what was left of my wallet one day before every payday. 4. One time, in front of the Pasta House location, I saw a girl around my age being weird and staring at the ceiling while pointing at nothing, while onlookers would follow her gaze and realize that she was just, in fact, being a weird teenager. Later, I went with some friends and walked around the corner to where this happened and one of the girls with us told the group that she would sometimes stare and point at that exact location to get a reaction out of people. 5. About a month before you filmed this, I was in the mall and I went to a temporary store that was there to offload some stuff that was probably just a dude's collection and I bought the entire Star Trek original series on DVD. Each disc had between one and two episodes on it, so it was a big box, but I got it for like $15, so whatever. 6. I saw Alien vs. Predator in that theater and fell asleep because it was boring. 7. A buddy and I would walk around the outside of the building discussing philosophy such as whether the universe is more law or chaos and, if aliens exist, will we be the ones to freak out other planets because we beat them at the space race. 8. I once ran up that last down elevator just to see if I could, and a security guard told me to "Use those correctly." She then told me in so many words that if I did not go back down the one I just ran up and used the correct one to enter the building, she'd kick me out. 9. I peed my pants in the arcade because, even though the bathroom was just a 50-foot walk from where I was, Metal Slug was too fun to leave. I was very young.

@DieselDucy

6 ай бұрын

I love hearing memories like this. THANKS SO MUCH FOR SHARING!

@dieselducy Good video. I saw TheElevatorChannel's video after I saw this one. Both videos are good. That looks like a pretty big mall. Coddingtown Mall in Santa Rosa Cal. was originally an outdoor plaza but in the 80s was converted to a Mall with a roof. Thumbs up.

I'd like to see those pics too. I spent a lot of weekends in the 90's at Crestwood Mall. It's sad to see it empty.

Towson Town Centre in MD also has 3 parts. The 1973 portion which was only 2 stories. Then in the 80s the mall renovated and in 91 the 1973 portion renovated again while the 1991 portion was added. And in 2008 another section was added to the mall expanding out to Dulaney Valley Rd and hte 1973 portion was renovated.

The AMC Wing in the mall was blocked off in May 2012

If anyone wants an update. So this mall was obv killed and destroyed and I also just went passed the malls gravesite. I’ve been once when I was little but I never really remembered much abt it. Thanks for the tour btw.

Well gotta say you did an excellent job. You even got permission from security. Not everyone will do that. I wish I had done this when the Rhode Island Mall closed. Very sad when a mall closes. Anyway loved your video and God Bless.

For the first few months of 2012 i found out that many shops in most areas are being redeveloped!

It's honestly kind of sad when something like this happens because u have memories of it and it makes me sad a little but the only thing that makes me not sad is that it's being rebuilt

I remember going here in, I think, January 2009 to attend the huge casting call (4500) to be an extra in Up In the Air while the Macy's was closing down. I got a callback but didn't make it to filming though the big shots told me some fun stuff making it.

The first portion was built in 1957, second portion was opened in 1967, and the final was in 1983.

@DieselDucy

2 жыл бұрын

thanks so much for the info. I miss this mall.

this reminds me of a mall in upstate new york called latham circle and mixed with colonie center which is doing great and the circle has been seriously neglected and is getting demo'd in a month i think

You know,it was bad enough losing Northwest Plaza,but now,Crestwood,too? losing both feels like losing a couple of old friends,not to mention,my youth.I remember hanging out at both when I was younger (btw,that Claire's is the same one my GF and I went to and I got my ear pierced(she talked me into it..lol).good memories.

I worked at sears in 1996. This place was booming then.

@DieselDucy

2 жыл бұрын

I bought my TV there in 1987. Still have it. Still works! Miss sears so bad!

This is sad to see. My sister and I along with a couple of our best friends used to make the 100 mile drive to this mall several times a year back in the late '90's and early '00's. It was always packed and had some great stores. In the summer you couldn't get a spot in the parking garage because everyone wanted to get out of the sun. We had a lot of good times there... :'-(

The 1957 part contained Famous Barr and Sears, the 1967 part had Stiks Baer and Fuller.

I live near a place that was once an outdoor mall..then slowly rebuilt into a huge indoor mall..then it died and the indoor walkways were torn down and it's anchor stores remained and they put doors on the backsides,leaving it as a outdoor mall. last month they torn down a huge anchor store that had been empty for years.

Correction: the part you stated as the 60s was much smaller and that bridge was expanded to the moment you recorded. Expansion took place in the 90s. To accommodate stores.

They are tearing down this place next Saturday :(

You should visit Livingston Mall. It's a dead mall worth visiting.

This mall was outside until sometime in the late 70's. At Xmas time Santa would come by helicopter. Before it was enclosed, there was a photo mat, and mailboxes with stamp machines on the main parking lot. Before Dillard's bought out Stixx,Beaur,and Fuller there was a outside sitting area with a fountain, below the store. This was a great mall in its day. I spent at least a couple days aweek there from the 70's to the 90's. Also worked at Sears and the food court as a Teen.

Shame the mall closed, that has to be the craziest layout I've seen!

I remember seeing Ella Enchanted at that AMC!

I would pay serious, hard cash for that blue neon Athens Cafe sign. That thing is embedded in the earliest memories of my childhood. If you've still got the pictures, you should make a still shot video.

The store at 3:03 was The Men's Wearhouse, which later become The Dance Co-op St. Louis. And the store across from the food court elevator was a Aeropostale.

@DieselDucy

7 жыл бұрын

+Rowan Cunningham I remember all those. Sad this mall is no more

@itscarlosg233

3 жыл бұрын

Don’t you mean at 4:18?

The West Edmonton Mall in Alberta Canada was the worlds largest mall from around 1960-2004. Now it's among the tenth largest at 493,000 m².Still I believe the largest in North America.

The song is called, ever changing mood by the style council.

Dillard's closed in 2007, Macy's closed in 2009, LensCrafters closed September 16, 2013, The mall closed July 11, 2013. Opened in March 21, 1957, Expanded in 1967, the rest was enclosed in 1984. The mall was also known as Westfield Crestwood.

@yahirpuga3513

7 жыл бұрын

And Later... The Crestwood Court Got Demolished In 2016.

At one time, Crestwood was the St. Louis mall that had the most stores. The local NBC affiliate held its local version of the Jerry Lewis national Labor Day Telethon here. In the late 1990s, there were renovations to add even more stores. As late as 2004, all three anchors were still open and almost all of the smaller spaces had tenants. Then the bottom fell out in a hurry. The two big things that worked against Crestwood were the general decline of big shopping malls nationwide (and the causes of that are multiple), and the fact that Crestwood was not directly along a freeway or very close to a freeway to freeway interchange.

@christophercoleman1895

9 жыл бұрын

well here in canada we used to have 3 malls the square eastcourt and brookdale mall but the eastcourt and square malls are they last surviving two left brookdale mall is gone it is a strip mall outddors witch sucks

@richarerichrichards9222

9 жыл бұрын

countenanceblog what is scary is that if you change some words around this what will be written about the USA as a superpower in the world. no babies, no mall. no consumption no currency. I see the USA like the malls, young people with a standard of living which includes not being burdened with kids, the new homosexual culture in the USA. Love freedom but maybe it wasn't the winner we thought it was, " then the bottom fell out in a hurry " very scary words. A baby boom in the 90's and this mall would be stronger than ever.

@christophercoleman1895

9 жыл бұрын

richarerich richards looks huge

hey andrew i love your videos and i live in canada in saskatchewan and the biggeest mall we have has only 2 bathrooms soom small compared to there

Sears in Alderwood mall in Lynnwood closed months ago.

Wonder how much Amazon has played in the demise of malls

@Andreas4696

7 жыл бұрын

Probably not too much. 10% thereabouts, still a large amount. But the crappy economy is the real reason.

back in 94-99 this pl;ace was the shit.

It would be interesting to watch this and the other guy's video at the same time and have them in sync at the right time side by side.

My Local Mall Is Called The Valley Mall, It Actually Gets Good Buisness And It Is PACKED During Holidays

I had my first ever date there when it was the mall. I use to love this place. I always get a little depressed when I see videos like this haha.

@DieselDucy

6 ай бұрын

I love hearing memories like this. THANKS SO MUCH FOR SHARING!