Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, and a prosperous New Year to you all! Thanks for watching! Subscribe or I’ll tell Marna to haunt your house with Mall PA Announcements.

@sal

2 жыл бұрын

It was a Cinemark. Stop by the Discord and I’ll show you the newspaper articles. Thanks for watching!

@charlestonpinballarcade

2 жыл бұрын

Thanks for the vid Sal! I lived in Pittsburgh for a decade and a few years of that in Fox Chapel, just down Route 28 from the mall. I would go to the mall to walk around and see what was dying off. The closing stores and transformation to random mom and pops was fast… now it’s beyond the point of return. Merry Christmas!

@sal

2 жыл бұрын

Merry Christmas!!

@JJ-wk5wy

2 жыл бұрын

Merry Christmas, Sal! I hope you have a very happy and healthy new years! Thanks again for another great video.

@Matlawk

2 жыл бұрын

You rule Sal, merry Christmas!

I live in the region and am a real estate appraiser. This was built as a dead mall. It was way too large, not really needed, and never had good occupancy, and the population near it could not support it. The free standing stores do OK though. The movie theater closed, but has reopened which is cool as it does have an IMax. There once was s Johnny Rockets in the food court though. The water was probably still on and the space heaters were to prevent freezing Ala C-III. The JCP call center was near my house in a modern building. It is now a church. The climbing and zip line place was as fun as you'd think it was.

@gildersleevefan67

2 жыл бұрын

When it first opened, I don't think there were that many vacancies, if any. But you are right about it being too large. Even when stores like Borders, Linens N Things, and so on were there, the layout was so large, that it never looked busy. I was just there a few weeks ago on a Sunday when the Steelers weren't playing and it was cleraly on its last legs. Sad because this was the most convenient mall for me to go to and I really wanted it to succeed.

@Adizzle412

Жыл бұрын

@@gildersleevefan67 they could fix it up especially now with new ken taretum and nattona got mote populated. What they need is to add the bus to get up there , add trendin shoe stores (the foot locker that was here was just always outta stock and was literally the lAst shoe store it had to shut down . So add champs foot locker maybe a converse. Get the movie theater arcade bigger. Add more hoodie stores and independent businesses in the middle , they lacked that before .

@Adizzle412

Жыл бұрын

@Lil B Fitness, Food, & Fun Defly cus if it’s not transporting the main city that’s it’s right by n named after (Pittsburgh) who is the mall benifiting? Deer lakes ? Dem rich kids prob want a mall too tbh

The fact that some of these storefronts never had a single occupant is just wild to me. Great video as always and Merry Christmas

@animeshock2006

2 жыл бұрын

Same with the mall that inspired this one Arundel mills

@nicholasshade

2 жыл бұрын

Yeah, it's wild like a tiger.🍭❤

@Steve.Cutler

2 жыл бұрын

Yes that is wild, specially if the mall opened back in the 70's...must be torture to work in these dead or dying malls these days. Having 1 or 2 customers all day would make the days drag by.

My ex and I would go to the mills every Sunday because it was a nice place to walk around while not really ever being busy. It definitely had some unique stores and if nothing else is a memory I'll cherish forever.

Opening a mall in 2005 is like doing a disco musical in 1980.

1994 Christmas 🎄 show is really gonna win the Grammy for best song of the year. Hahaha!!!

Thank you for not flinging the camera around like some other urban explorers do. I am very sensitive to motion sickness and the shaky cam "style" makes it nearly impossible for me to enjoy these sorts of videos without developing a migraine. Your filming style is more stable and lets me actually enjoy the content lol.

OK, that 1994 segment was torture!

Hahahaha the 1994 Xmas show was painful. That guy sang like he'd been dead inside for years :D Awesome video as always Sal. Late Merry Xmas and Happy New Year

@NathanDavisVideos

2 жыл бұрын

Thank GOD Max Headroom came in to make things more "interesting!"

The space heaters were likely to help keep it dried out and control the mold

I was a store manager at another Pittsburgh mall when this opened. Our company was an original tenant in the mall. We were told by our DM that the Mills store would "be the highest volume store in the (Pittsburgh) district. Yeah, that turned out well. Ultimately, the store I ran is one that's still in a living mall and probably has the highest volume (since Century III has closed as well).

The mall was a waste from day one. Ross Park has all the money stores. No one wants to head up Route 28. Once you get past Fox Chapel, everything is unfortunately long dead/dying factory/mill towns that once made everything that was used to build this country.

@TERMINXX101

2 жыл бұрын

Agreed. Vandergrift resident. Shit is DEAD

This was like the best Christmas present I could have asked for. Ross Park Mall is my mall (which is extremely active and doing well for a mall), but the next closest one to me is Pittsburgh Mills. Last time I was there, the iPhone 5 had just come out lol. Even as a teenager, I was mesmerized by malls, and this one seemed ENDLESS. They had a really cool glow-in the dark mini golf too. Anyway, one of the most famous dead mall videos (for a while) on the internet was the Dan Bell one covering Pittsburgh Mills, but you ONE-UPPED that video. You truly are the edgier Dan Bell. This is the epitome of exploration and adventure. Having an ENTIRE mall to myself is something I’ve always dreamed about, and you got just that, what an Xmas gift. Seeing the movie theater again in this video was surreal, empty and abandoned. Such a comprehensive history too, and wonderful effects. Nice cinematic touch adding the recurring Max Headroom. Really amped up the creepiness. I mean, this video was TRULY haunting. I would’ve been too unnerved to carry on in some cases. But seeing the empty storefronts and off-limits offices was a new high for me. It’s one thing seeing off bounds areas once the mall is dilapidated and actually abandoned - but seeing them in a still occupied mall is liminal space gold. If you like liminal spaces, this experience is an actual dream come true. Can’t believe the final video of 2021, on the Eve of Christmas, is Pittsburgh Mills. For me that’s just such a pleasant coincidence. You’re doing God’s work haha. Keep at it Sal. Hope you’re making a sustainable living doing this, because you’re doing the things for us that not many others are willing to.

@radar_the_fox

2 жыл бұрын

century III mall was closest to me, had 3 floors, (more then king of prussia mall) but its dead now so my new favorite is westmoreland mall

@alexanderhdmi7704

2 жыл бұрын

@@radar_the_fox I went to college in Greensburg for one year. Pitt-Greensburg is like 5 minutes away from Westmoreland Mall. It's got a nice aesthetic, especially the foodcourt, which reminds me of the 90s. I visited a dozen times, and once went there just to take pictures and film videos (much like Sal does). By the time the new casino was added, I had moved away. I never got to visit Century III in my lifetime. If only I could turn back time. But one day I'd like to see the beast that is King of Prussia!

24:50 I'm absolutely shocked that the rats and roaches didn't come to play!

You two crack me up. Merry Christmas.

Best Christmas gift of 2021

I can't believe they just left all the nasty grease in the fryers at Johnny rockets. That's horrifying

Awesome footage! Looks even more creepy than at Dan Bells visit 5 years ago. Happy Holidays from Germany, where the dying of malls just begins....

@sal

2 жыл бұрын

Hey thanks!!!

@alaniwun9825

2 жыл бұрын

Love Dan Bells videos of Dead Mall since the comedy is dry ha ha

@sal

2 жыл бұрын

Sorry to disappoint, Alani??

@brianmatthews4149

2 жыл бұрын

Wheres dan bell been

My family was there back in the summer of 2019 & the movie theater was still open, showing ”Dumbo”. We where the only people watching the movie which was odd yet kinda fun. The ladder playground. The food court looked like fun but wasn’t toddler friendly. The comic book store was the mall favorite place to go. Sad, Pittsburg Mills, a soft spot of memories but it’s a time capsule for sure.

It's been years since I've been to the Mills. Thanks for the trip back.

made my new years eve. thanks guys

That place reminds me of the layout of the Grapevine Mills Mall in Texas

I used to come here a lot when I was younger with my grandparents even with it’s decline the food court was thriving and I always wanted to go on the ropes course but never did I went there again a few months ago and got some really good liminal space photos I do miss the mall it used to have some really cool stores

The glow golf was really nice back in the day… ⛳️

I’m just having a hard time understanding how friggen huge that mall is! Awesome video Sal. Happy New Year, keep the great work up!

Grew up going to this mall every so often, especially the former Sears Grand store. Great video of the place, always was crazy seeing such a massive modern place so empty before "dead malls" became the norm.

Sal! Much love and happiness to you and yours. Keep, on rockin

@sal

2 жыл бұрын

Hey man thanks for watching!!! Send my best to you and your family.

Beautiful video,thanks for your effort and great work

Great video, and Merry Christmas! The story time PA announcement had me laughing so hard…lol 😂🤣😂👍

Nice work 👍 ...and the mask popping up throughout cracked me up!

Merry Christmas Sal ... intro is always good. You always have some interesting things on these dead malls. The history. Good stuff..

@sal

2 жыл бұрын

Hey thanks so much for watching!!

I think I'm obsessed with your content now. Thank you for all these videos! I'm learning so much I never knew about malls and why my favorite stores went away in the last ten years. I have a Mills mall by me, Sugarloaf Mills, that used to be called Discover Mills when I was younger. It's crazy to walk around and see what all has changed since it opened. It's not completely a dead mall but it's on its way, I think, unfortunately. Dead malls near me are Gwinnett Place, which is closed to the public now, and Georgia Square in Athens. Anyway, I'll keep watching! You're awesome! 😊

Merry Christmas Sal to you and yours!

Is that Max Headroom?..😂, good video, it's sad to see malls going down like this..

@sal

2 жыл бұрын

It’s definitely Max Headroom :)

Hi Sal Happy New Year to you and your family. I live in Pittsburgh in the Etna/Shaler area and the Pittsburgh Mills is about 20 minutes away from where I live. I used to take my newborn son's there for clothes. So sad to see it dead abd almost gone. My 2 boys are almost 15 and 13. Thanks for uploading this and giving us Pittsburgers some information. I miss this mall so much. Brings back good and bad memories. Take care and God bless you❤️🥰

I love the falling snow. It's snowing here. I'm at my dad's on Moonshine Rd. Gore, Oklahoma. Jan. 2 Sun.🍭❤ Actually 34 or 35 minutes ago. ⏰

That was a great explore!

Merry Christmas, Sal. This Christmas Eve content was a pleasant surprise, and well enjoyed along with a glass of Eldorado 15 yr old rum after a hectic evening.

@sal

2 жыл бұрын

Merry Christmas!!! Cheers…I’m wrapping presents and enjoying a nice festive beverage myself :)

Got to love those mall walkers

Hope you have Merry Christmas and New Years Sal!

Update: Started binge watching your videos and this video appeared. Even though I commented before, I wanted to give you an update and let you know that the Pittsburgh Mills Mall is still open! There has been a few stores opening up, such as Lazer Tag, an Arcade, a Scarehouse, an online bid warehouse and a few other things. I'm still hoping that more business will start to return! Edit: The theater reopened as well, but no longer an AMC. A company called GQT took over.

Hey! I actually like, live 10 minutes away from the mall. I come here every so often. I'm not a Pittsburgh native but I did move here in 2017. And lemme tell you, the mall was much different then. It was slowly starting to come back to life, more shops started to open. Jc pennys was still operating, the movie theater was still open and the food court was half operational with a playground feature above it. There was a lot more there, but it all went away due to COVID, the pandemic destroyed all that progress.

@sal

2 жыл бұрын

Agreed 100%…that’s sort of why I slept on visiting, because it was on an upswing. But…here we are.

@nicholasshade

2 жыл бұрын

I wish Covid wouldn't have happened. So it would stay open.🍭❤

Really enjoyed this episode 😀👍. Have a Merry Christmas 🎄 and a Happy New Year 🎉. Stay safe and God bless 🙏

@sal

2 жыл бұрын

Hey thanks Steven!!

Happy New Year 🎊 Thank you for your vlogs

@sal

2 жыл бұрын

Happy New Year!!!

My wife's aunt... who lives in Pittsburgh, is in town for the holidays. I can't wait to make her watch this exlog and get her opinions.

Am I the only one that watches dead mall videos and tries to guess what store use to be there by the store fronts? I know a lot of the National franchise store fronts. I worked retail in a mall for 20 years lol.

Merry Christmas and happy new year :) greeting from London

It's just so new! Any ways vid was a good early Christmas pressie. Merry Christmas.

This Mall remains me of the one that close in Owings Mills, Md, and the Galleria , and The one in Baltimore Inn Harbor dead mall.

@animeshock2006

2 жыл бұрын

Owings mills mall is gone now they tore it down a few years back

Excellent video. Thanks.

@sal

2 жыл бұрын

Thanks for watching!!

You ought to see this place today. This video looks lively compared to today.

Thank You For Sharing This Beautiful Video Vlog

The way y'all just did all that without the guards bothering you is gold lol

Oof. This hit me right in my late 20s. When we first started heading out there, it was already half empty and we wept when Borders closed. We were at that theater all the time though.

Space heaters are probably there to keep the water pipes and sprinklers from freezing.

Merry Christmas Sal!

This mall opened in 2005? Wow, that's not really to long ago for it just to go downhill so fast....

Great video! As others have said, I can confirm that the movie theatre did re-open as a discount theatre in the post-COVID world. I had forgotten just how late this mall opened. I worked nearby at a job that I left in 2006 and we used to go up to the Mills all the time. Even after I left, we'd frequently go up there for the movie theatre or the food court. They *never* had a lot of the normal mall stores - even when they first opened, they had a lot of off-brand stores, but they somehow made it work. Getting ITT Tech was a great coup. You really did a great job of highlighting just how many cases of bad timing they had to deal with. They also had a Borders for a hot second before they went kaboom. I'm rooting for them to figure out a way to make it work. The church and the gym and the nerf shooting place and the nursing school - they are always just on the edge of figuring out some new approach to revive a dead mall, but they never quite make it. At one point they had a batting cage and baseball academy, and I think they had an MMA gym...

That Winter 2020 footage makes the place seem like a thriving commerce district compared to what it is now (early 2022). Pretty much all the retail stores are gone (even Spencers shut its doors, one of the last hold-outs), and the terrible book store there has been going out of business for six months. There's still phone stores, a church, and some physical activity areas (a karate (I think) dojo, cheerleading, nerf guns, haunted house, basketball hoops) and the comic store. It's really creepy to walk around in, even when there's full daylight. The movie theater has reopened under different management (a regional chain) with decent prices (saw Dune in October opening night for $7/adult) and the snackage was reasonably priced, and the staff actually looked happy, which is rare in that mall.

I remember so much of that mall. Those screens at the kid play area would play PBS characters talking. That toy store right by Macy’s, the DQ, a really cool toy car hobby spot where races happened, Petland, Payless, Starbucks right by the theater, a candy store VERY short lived for some reason, a Tacobell/KFC merger, the pizza place, etc. I was born in 02’ so I was essentially raised by this mall. My grandma also worked at the Macys for over 20 years (she was transferred from another). So we’d go meet with her and possibly go eat somewhere or look at the puppies before she had to go back

Shut the front door. This mall is in my backyard. I was just there for Santa.

I literally just looked up the max headroom hijack for the first time. Then I watch this. 🤯

Inside theme looks similar to Opry Mills Mall in Nashville, TN, which opened May 12, 2000.

The soundscape you put together for the mall guts reminds me of Condemned: Criminal Origins, where the Christmas music is inexplicably still playing on a dying sound system in an abandoned department store.

Oh dude. Lake Forest is so cleared out that bath & body works is OVERWHELMING half that mall 😂

I'm starting to get hood on these -- thank you for upgrading to either a gimbaled camera or using pre-processing before uploading. I get motion sick watching your older unstabilized content.

That Max Headroom head showing up everywhere is kind of creepy 😂

I was just wondering if this mall was still open lol

Liked alot, Happy Holidays

@sal

2 жыл бұрын

Happy Holidays!!!

I love how Hot Topic and Bath & Body Works are always the last hangers-on in literally every dead mall. When even they close (as with Century III), you know the mall is REALLY done for.

I liked the storefront covers with the interesting quotes.

@sal

2 жыл бұрын

They were so random

Hey! I was someone who was on the "Sky Trail" aerial course mentioned around 37:41. Honestly, as a kid, it was pretty fun. I remember going on the course and zip-lines and whatnot. Prior to the placement of of the Sky Trail, there was a carousel and two harness trampolines. I even remember there was an arcade by the Dicks Sporting Goods at one point that nobody went into. Dan Bell's video on the Mills has it still there. But the Sky Trail was really fun. If not linear. Where most aerial courses allow for more leeway and blend the ziplines and whatever into the environment, the thing with the Sky Trail was that it was just blues and oranges and stuck out like a sore thumb. The Glow in the Dark Minigolf was trippy as heck even as a kid and I pity any person who went in there high in hindsight. I consider myself a bi/tri monthly visitor for the sake of preservation, and as of this comment and my last visit, they have removed the tape for the children's zone. We did lose the Hot topic and I think the movie theatre opened back up though not as an official IMAX theatre. More of a 3rd party one. Anyway. Great video!

i miss going to the mall's back in the 80' & 90's. during Christmas & seeing the mall's jammed packed with people. i when to the mall one year and gone to k.b toy store. the whole place looked like a tornado hit it. i asked the 2 women that worked there what happen. they told me that the parents left. there kids there so they can go shopping and the kids tore up the place. it was like wtf.

My first job as a teenager in 1996 was at a large movie theatre. I'm actually surprised that no one ever tried to hide overnight in one of the large stadium seating theatres, it would have been very easy to do!

Merry Christmas Sal!. :-)

@sal

2 жыл бұрын

Merry Christmas!!!

I just feel like skating inside a mall

good, places like these needs to be all over the nation

This mal will now be know as the abandoned/not so abandoned mall.

5 minutes in and I'm already getting moon man vibes.

Appreciate your content my friend 😉.. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year .. Till 22 👊 👍.. Regards, Old G 🎅

late merry chricstmas yall tell ace's he did very good ty for showing this video

I can tell you an easy way to tell if a mall has a chance of a turn around or if it is dead. Spencers. If it is closed, its because analysts have looked at the mall and realized that it simply is not going to make a comeback and close the location. They do everything they can to keep stores open in any location they are in including reducing store volume to accommodate the smaller foot traffic.

the time i was there was back in around may/june 2006. it was then a pretty happening mall. the mall was geared more toward kids and teens for the way it was designed. it also almost circular. also they had sectioned off the different stores based on who they were geared toward. at the time it was only a year old. it wasnt more then a few months later that the kaufman department store would be acquired by macy's. i got to see a kaufmans for the first and last time while i was there. it would be in august that year that all kaufman stores would be turned into macy's stores. my grandparents and uncle had lived in tarentum for a time and i went back to take care of things after my grandfather passed sadly. so i know bout this mall when it was still pretty new.

I used to work in the foodcourt tacobell there that mall had a few years in the early 2010s where it seemed like it wss turning around then just straight up became a ghost town i left around when they installed the giant trampoline bungee cord thing

Love the intro show: “Karaoke for the undead”! ⚰️⚰️⚰️⚰️. Happy and safe New Year’s everyone!

I live near here. I go to the freestanding stores all the time. The mall is the saddest place ever. Food court completely empty. The only store I go to is Bath and Body Works and Claire’s. And TJ’s buffet.

No cap this place was my childhood bro

Hey man, great video. I just wanted to say that as a young local to the area who lives in another dead driveby town about 20 minutes away, the history and context here is incredible. I've always been aware of the local status of The Mills being that of a meme at this point, but I wasn't aware of the "legendary" status it had online. To be honest, it's as funny as it is depressing, because as someone who's grown up with it, (I'm 22 now), I hate seeing it in this state because it had serious potential as a property. But if I'm honest, the failure of this mall is more than just mismanagement. It's a sign of the failure and death of the region as well. Unless you are DIRECTLY in Pittsburgh, which thankfully is an up and coming tech and medical hub, the regions surrounding it have absolutely no commerce. Even the other areas with malls like Monroeville amd Greensburg are still drive through towns where there's just shit to buy, and that's it. The towns are dead or dying with rising crime and drug rates. Admittedly, the nature and outdoorsy market of products do well around here because of Pennsylvania's natural beauty, but Unless you're into that type of stuff, (most western Pennsylvanians are), you're shit out of luck. Hell, there are even still some areas near where I live that don't get functioning internet services. Think of it like this: why would I leave my shitty, drive through, nothing-to-do town, to drive to ANOTHER shitty, drive through, nothing-to-do town that has an equally crappy mall. I might as well try to enjoy the little bits of pleasure that come with being lucky enough to have some farmland, unlike most other people. Imagine how bored THEY must be. That being said, if the mall was less ambitious it could have fixed it, but this is unlikely still. As it stands, nothing groundbreaking has come to the region and everything and everyone has stagnated into just working but having nothing to spend it on other than the essentials. All in all, this failure of a mall reflects the absolute stagnation of my home, and it's depressing to witness in real time. I hope this little piece of perspective helps paint a better picture of what's happened alongside all of the history and context you've provided. Thanks!

Another great video, absolutely amazing work. You guys are such clowns :) You would think now that Sears is mostly gone that JC Penny and Macys could pull off a comeback but I guess time will tell.

movie theater at the mills reopened in march 26, 2021 under GQT movies, who also owns the cinemas at waterworks. i own property near the mills so im up here frequently

Gotta love Max Headroom lol.

Moonglow and those vibes deserved better; it's an awesome WWII-era tune and the vibraphone was Lionel Hampton's jam. Max Headroom OTOH rocked. The place wasn't quite officially dead yet. Bath and Body Works is still open, and those kiddie candy dispensers still have candy in them. It's on a ventilator though.

@sal

2 жыл бұрын

I needed a campy Christmas public access program to hijack :)

@OriginalNethead

2 жыл бұрын

@@sal It was more of a horror, but close enough!

I think the space heaters were there to keep those areas dry from mildew and mold. Poor man’s solution. Not sure tho.

The malls over here in Los Angeles are still fairly packed so it’s so surreal seeing a dead mall.

@sal

2 жыл бұрын

Tons of them on the east coast…

@12012channel

2 жыл бұрын

@@sal Most of the malls that are busy seem to be because the mall itself is just a small part of a larger complex. Like you have to be more than a mall. It has to part of a larger hospitality orientated entertainment/dining destination. Almost like going to Vegas resort or something. It has to be an experience and not just a place to shop. For example. places like Century City Mall and the Grove.

@brianmatthews4149

2 жыл бұрын

Yes but you look at well to do places like palm desert lake forest and Northridge In San Fernando valley Costa Mesa. Who would have thought your store wouldn't thrive in one of these areas.

@sal

2 жыл бұрын

Working on it!!

@AUChamps

2 жыл бұрын

@@sal I thought Retail Archeology had the West Coast’s turf? RA is West Coast and Sal and Dan Bell get east of the Mississippi.

I'm kind of obsessed with the Max Headroom pirating incident, so I loved this one. And I have the series on DVD, so I also understand how appropriate Max is in this environment.

@BrownEyePinch

2 жыл бұрын

They ever solve it

@michaelaurban4120

2 жыл бұрын

@@BrownEyePinch nope

@karnagefails333

Жыл бұрын

Never heard about that. I'll have to look into it.

This mall is very young compared to most malls. The ones from our areas were all built in the 70's and 80's. Seeing a movie on an IMAX screen is really cool. It's as if you are there. We have an IMAX theatre in Ottawa, On, Canada at the Museum of Civilization. Saw a movie there about Antarctica and a few others back when I was in elementary school in the early 90' s.

@sal

2 жыл бұрын

Only 16 years old…Pittsburgh Mills is tragic.

@JJ-wk5wy

2 жыл бұрын

@@sal tragic indeed! It still looks brand new.

I love the 1994 Christmas Show. 🎄 Did you see the color after the Christmas Show? 🌈 I love the word, Galleria.🍭🐟😻❤ 🍀

38:42 The pink blocked off store on the right actually never had a store and has been that way since this mall opened.

I was just at the Mills yesterday. The theater is reopened but not as a Cinemark, it's now GQT (which I've never heard of). They took the IMAX sign down, so I'm guessing that's no longer there.

My dad and I used to go to the comic book store here with his friend and we went for years and I swear a lot of those store fronts never had any tenants