Happy Independence Day, yanks. Everyone else, happy Monday. Thanks so much for 5 years, I love you all. Subscribe or I'll cry. Wear headphones on this one, you need to. Also, follow Caspro and Vivian. They made this episode what it is. Here: Caspro - smarturl.it/CasproMusic Vivian - kzread.info Finally, send vibes out there for Ray. Not sure where he's at or if he's okay, but he's legendary. He embodies Crown American. Ray, if you see this, please let us know that you're alright! Peace, Sal

@vivavasuviuspodcast

2 жыл бұрын

So cool he talked with you!

@patriciatennery3021

2 жыл бұрын

Have a great day of freedom, Sal. Love to you and family.

@ItsaRomethingeveryday

2 жыл бұрын

we've been watching alot of videos from Northcdogg22, he does alot of Midwest mall vids, as yours are more eastern from here, I really like both of y'all's channels

@charlestonpinballarcade

2 жыл бұрын

shiitake mushrooms!

@LouieArmstrong1244

2 жыл бұрын

Sal can you come on and do a Violin Solo for us? Maybe a few minutes when you do. Thank You

I like when you call out these greedy dirty business men “scumbags.”

To me what makes your videos great was not only your camera work but your indepth research on the history of the Malls and owners.

@sal

2 жыл бұрын

Hey thanks!! I appreciate that :)

@patriciatennery3021

2 жыл бұрын

Absolutely!!!

I'm of the generation of large "downtown" department stores, going all the way back to Schuter's, The Boston Store and Gimbels' in Milwaukee, WI. When I moved to California in 1964, department stores were still going strong, and I still and will always miss "The Emporium". I never lived in the suburbs of any city but experienced several open air malls in my younger years. I do, however, enjoy immensely your coverage of dead or dying malls. Your production values are topnotch, and I appreciate your creative eye and the amount of hours you put in to bring us the stories of these malls and their histories.

Incredible that the brother worked there for 32 years. Hardly anyone works for a single employer for that many years. KB Toys and Benetton. Two names I haven’t thought of in ages. Dude you are so right about the 90s. A much simpler and better time. Grunge and flannel shirts. No smart phones and just hanging out at the mall.

@martingarcia4373

Жыл бұрын

I couldn't have said it better. Life was better back then! Hanging out there in my teens, I'm 57 now, in the mid 80's . Window shopping, girl watching, skipping school and going to a multiplex movie theater. God I miss those days! Today's teens don't know what their missing!

@JJMHigner

Жыл бұрын

I'm glad I knew a lot of those years like that

@JJMHigner

Жыл бұрын

​@@martingarcia4373 absolutely! Except, in my case, I was looking out for the guys LOL

That mall isn't abandoned, Sal. It's just New Jersey is all.

@sal

2 жыл бұрын

Hahaha

@Nikkisweeets

Жыл бұрын

NJ is abandoned

It's so great that you got to meet with Ray. His stories are priceless and a wonderful addition to this Exlog. Hope he is doing well

Behind that door lies another explorer. He ignored the sign, went in, and the door shut behind him. Time to do a head count on DMOD.

@RavenFilms

2 жыл бұрын

Perhaps it’s the entry way to the Backrooms.

@NathanDavisVideos

2 жыл бұрын

@@RavenFilms I WAS THINKING THE SAME THING TOO!!! (At least one of the entries to the Backrooms, that and also no-clipping outta reality being the more main/common way...)

@leesanders6914

Жыл бұрын

Is it still there? The mall, I mean...

The “time machine” box was a timer for the backlit signs on the storefronts. Individual stores would set when the signs would light up and go dark for the evening once the mall closed for the day.

JIMMY HOFFA is behind that door LOL.

THIS EPISODE has to be one of my favorites.....

@sal

Жыл бұрын

I’m so happy to hear that lol…was worried it wouldn’t be received well

Greetings from the UK. This is a brilliantly produced and presented video and full of atmosphere. Thanks for sharing your work 👍.

Ray says skylights and Sal cuts him off and runs towards the food court. 🤣🤣🤣 Very cool to get the chance to talk to someone who worked at the mall for so long. I can only imagine what other stories Ray could tell.

It would have been cool to see what was through that locked door with the sign on it

@tomrogers9467

Жыл бұрын

Jimmy Hoffa.

@leesanders6914

Жыл бұрын

Yeah, now I wanna know ! Is this Mall still standing??

Senior year of high school I worked at Bath & Body Works at Town Square Mall (now Macroplaza Mall). It’s not technically a dead mall yet, but it’s truly on its last legs according to people in the area. Just as Ray said, if I knew the fate of the mall and if I had a cell phone I would have snapped so many photos. But at the time I took it for granted. If I wanted to go to a “good” mall I’d go to Baybrook Mall less than half an hour away. I wish I had that time back. So much time was spent there because I lived so close, but I never took advantage. Hopefully someone had the mind to capture history, especially of the Macy’s, which had been a staple since my childhood. Thank you Sal for all you do, documenting the history of these once bustling malls. It’s both a love story and a eulogy.

@King5150Ed

Жыл бұрын

It absolutely is dead.....the only store is kohl's

I’m like 50 minutes in and this might be your best work ever Sal. Also, Ray, if you’re out there, you added SO much awesome insight and history to this place. Hope you’re doing okay.

This is one of KZread's best channels. History, economics, sociology, architecture, and more, all wrapped in the best artistic way. This isn't just average urbex, this is work on the level somebody like Jack Delano did for the Farm Security Administration in the mid 20th century. This whole series belongs in the LOC as a matter of historical record and education. :)

@sal

2 жыл бұрын

Thank you so much! I put an immense amount of effort into each piece, and I hope to keep these places in public memory. Thanks again!

@TownieGirl1974

2 жыл бұрын

I've always that Dan Bell created this genre on KZread, but Sal perfected it.

Thanks for explaining the real reason for why many malls failed.

Hey! all comments appreciated! Its Ray, former Property Manager. Great memories to live forever. Great job Sal! was finally let go June 1st 2022

@sal

Жыл бұрын

Ray! Hey man! Can we get in touch? Shoot me an email: quitestudios@gmail.com

Omg when I saw that coffee maker I got flashbacks of my childhood in the 80s my parents had the exact one. I also think there's a dead body behind that door. Hopefully it's not a missing person or anything. Maybe contact the authorities just to check it out. Im 38 so it's like a walk down memory lane when I watch these videos.

Omg I used to go to that mall with my grandmother when I was little. We'd always stop at a toy stand--one of the kiosks that just sold beanie babies. The mall was kind of... didn't have a lot in it, but I love that memory

OMG this is my favorite one so far. The locked room and black mold and mushrooms growing in the carpet and all the smells. I'm fascinated by these buildings, especially empty ones but before they have been vandalized. I wouldn't last 2 minutes before the mold in these places would level me, so it's cool to get to watch them from the comfort of my home.

They say the woman they caught in the shoplifting foto is trapped behind that door.

11:44 - A mall with a flea-market in an anchor-space is a dead-mall.

Either something died behind that door, or it's the sewage they never took care of.

@sal

2 жыл бұрын

Whatever it is, it smelled like rotting flesh.

@sal

2 жыл бұрын

Go open it, take pictures and share on my discord server

@sal

2 жыл бұрын

Did you work there?

@Karmy.

2 жыл бұрын

It's the body of the person in the cctv screenshot

@aidand1428

2 жыл бұрын

@@ItsSoDane but the food court closed probably around 20 years ago. It can’t be 20 year old trash.

Loved the Action Park commercial, I worked there summers of 88, 89 and 90. It saddens me that malls are becoming extinct as they are icons of my 80's youth. TY for showing us what's still out there and their histories!

Fantastic video, Ray's stories were a delight. I remember going to this mall as a child and I have some vague memories of when it had a food court and a fountain. Then around 2010 I had a job in Phillipsburg and I would visit the mall after work. It was my first time experiencing a dead mall and I became fascinated by the place. The place just had a spooky vibe and I loved getting lost in Black Rose antiques. Then 2020 hit, the mall closed and the whole world changed. Now I see urbex videos of the place popping up on my KZread homepage every week. So strange. Thank you Sal for this video, it was great to hear the history of this place and see those skylights and old tile again!

@sal

2 жыл бұрын

Thanks for watching, Ray!

Worked in the Greengate Mall in Greensburg, Pennsylvania. Worked at Sweet Williams and met my future husband of 41 years there. Sadly the mall is no longer. I still think it was the best mall and Mr. Overly and staff really made it special for the holidays. People would come from all over just to see the decorations.

I love watching videos like yours and imagining the potential for spaces like these to be redone as residential. It's not an original idea, of course, but one I wish would've caught on stronger.

They’ve finally just started demolishing this mall in February of this year. Mainly began down by where the Sears was (a decent sized chunk of down there is gone now), and the front wall between that and the former Bon-Ton building lot is completely torn down.

Great video sal. I was security at the beloved KB Toys in the Phillipsburg Mall. I also did sports cards shows at that mall on my days off.

@RB01.10

Жыл бұрын

I was quite young when that KB closed. If I recall the one in Phillipsburg closed in 2004 when they had their first bankruptcy?

That Actionpark commercial: "You and the ride become one" as in you have your skin flailed of on the alpine slide.

I used to go to both these places, Action Park in the 1980’s, the mall in the 1990’s. I still have a friction burn/gouge scar on my leg from the alpine slide.

Your videos are always terrific, but you outdid your normal terrific. This was sensational. Definitely worth the wait. Thank you so much Sal!

You need to find a ladder and go back to that door. The ceiling looked like a regular drop ceiling so you might be able to move a tile, look up above and grab a tile that is above the locked room and look inside.

@tomrogers9467

Жыл бұрын

Don’t bother. It’s only Jimmie Hoffa.

This is a good one Sal, really enjoyed it. My fav part is the hidden skylights to the old food court and of course the neon.

You said it well my friend about malls in the 90s at 22min mark. I do feel bad for kids growing up today. Everyone is afraid of being on camera, but they intentionally do dumb shit on Tiktok. The mall was a place to get someone's number and just walk around.

Totally agree with you that the 90s was a simpler time.

I actually really do prefer these longer episodes bro. Keep it up! I prefer watching these over watching actual television!

i lived in the lehigh valley for several years. the phillipsburg mall was the farthest away from me, but i went there often. this was actually a nice mall once. it was never anything special, but it nice. this was always the least busy of the malls in the area. the palmer park mall in easton was just slightly more busy. so sad seeing what happened.

@cyrasarah

2 жыл бұрын

I used to go to all of these malls. Palmer Park, Lehigh Valley, and Phillipsburg. There was also a very dated 1960s mall in Bethlehem (i think) that had a store called amateur athlete. It was one of the few places where you could buy airwalk shoes and vans in the early 90s so we went there quite a bit for skate gear. This video is taking me back about 30 years.

@BrentLm

2 жыл бұрын

westgate mall. first it was a strip mall (like the whitehall mall), then an enclosed mall (like whitehall), & then i heard they did a major renovation. last i knew it was still there.

@cyrasarah

2 жыл бұрын

@@BrentLm thank you! I ended up googling it and it’s still there along with amateur athlete. I haven’t been in that area since 97 so i’m surprised and happy to see it’s still in existence

@BrentLm

2 жыл бұрын

you're welcome. all things considered, last i heard, westgate was doing surprisingly well. from the mid 90's to about the mid 2000's it became a ghost town. the few stores there were busy, but there weren't many left. i know there were issues with anchors. weis wasn't happy with how small their location was. but someone put a lot of money into it, & things supposably picked up. the design & layout was never good. there was no flow & everything felt like an afterthought. it's actually a good location, & convenient for the neighborhood. there is nothing big or major right there. but i do wonder how much the build up of 22 & airport road has affected them.

This was my childhood mall and I worked at the Old Navy and Sears many years ago. It's true, sometimes you don't miss something till it's gone. Heavy nostalgia feels.

I remember working at Ann &Hope at Arsenal Mall in Watertown Massachusetts. They tore the whole mall down and built apartments, restaurants and some stores . I don’t even recognize the area anymore.

I went there in September 2019, right before it closed. Over by the Kohl's, they tried hosting a roller derby rink and team as a tenant.

Ray did an awesome job breathing a little life back into the place with his vast knowledge and memories. Love the food court skylight story!

My guess is that there is a seriously bad roof leak in the locked room and the mold and fungus took it over.

4:55 Just like Action Park to show how dangerous it is IN THE COMMERCIAL!!! I love it! “Nothing in the world like Action Park” they sure got that right. I like how they add “where you’re the center of the action”, do they mean while you are injured and the center of attention or just the center of the class ACTION lawsuit? 😂

@godofzombi

2 жыл бұрын

The stories I've heard about that place...

@pedojoesanalorifice3541

2 жыл бұрын

Back before the world turned into one big pussy.

Thank you so much for such a well researched and documented tribute to this mall. This is where my husband and I met when I worked at Bath & Body Works from 2011-2013 and he worked at the Gold Buyers kiosk the same timeframe. It will forever hold a special place in my heart. Also, at 44 minutes in where you asked what that chicken wire looking room was, that was the offsite storage location that we utilized. I’m not sure if you saw the back room storage/employee lounge of the Bath & Body Works which would have been to the right of the bathroom but it was the size of a walk-in closet. We would have to trolley our excess product (we would be given the surplus of what was left from the larger and more profitable surrounding malls) to that space.

I used to buy all my video games at this mall for 2 decades so crazy. Such a great documentary. That fungus door though. There was an arcade there twice

Sal I watched this whole video and my god it was amazing seeing all the back rooms, empty and hidden dirt pads, old signage and left behind memories. It was also great to hear ray and his memories hope he is doing ok.

@sal

2 жыл бұрын

Hey sunset thanks so much! Long time no talk!

@sunsetrecords2548

2 жыл бұрын

@@sal hey Sal hope all is going well with you. I have just been busy with work and trying to explore some Canadian malls in my area. Have you got in touch with ray?

@sal

2 жыл бұрын

Unfortunately not…really hoping he’s okay.

@sunsetrecords2548

2 жыл бұрын

@@sal really hope so to

This was shot so vibrantly with great quality. Thanks for another exlog Sal!!

A once in a lifetime experience to see that place and get a personal tour. Pretty awesome video!!

I grew up working at Dinos from 91' to 00'... I still miss working there to this day.

You had a great indepence day Sal, thanks for this great episode! Nice to have Ray's stories there. Greeting from Holland all!

Man, this was amazing! Just finished watching. Ray was such a great resource. The hidden food court was insane!!! Thank you for putting so much time into this!!!

Great video. You showed some very interesting facts about this mall I did not know previously. Thanks for filming.

I absolutely love your work Sal ! No one makes these urban exploration videos/documentaries like you. I appreciate all of Ray's insight and history. I hope you're doing well as well..and thank you so much for showing me places I never knew existed and places I would have never seen 🤙

@sal

2 жыл бұрын

Thanks so much for the kind words, Jess! Much more on the way :)

@QueenJane-ws6lk

2 жыл бұрын

Can't wait !! 😁

Behind Door #1 is most likely horrible mold, and fungus. From my personal experience in demo projects of derelict buildings, those shrooms and mold say horrid water damage.

If you’ve never seen Class Action Park on HBO Max, it literally is an hour & a half of “How the hell did this happen?”

@RavenFilms

2 жыл бұрын

I thought that comes out in August. It’s out now?

Thanks for a much needed dose of Quite Studio produced content!! 👏

"No illegal special services" Unless you tip the girl enough.

Incredible video. I didn't grow up near the mall, but I'd pass it on the way to relatives in central NJ when I was a kid. Started going here more frequently when I lived across the river in Easton around 2015. I actually used to frequent Black Rose at it's previous location at South Mall in Allentown, PA before they moved to Phillipsburg. Good memories of going to the Phillipsburg location and just getting lost in that maze of a store. Absolutely bizarre seeing this place completely shuttered. Again, great work and thank you.

Ray would have enjoyed a cup of coffee with him

Thank You Sal, and Thank You God for people like Ray and yourself who care about history. I love seeing old malls like these places, I’ll never get to visit them, but it is good enough to witness their history and setting through your videos, again Thank You Sal ❤

Those drone shots are legit. Seriously great camera work.

@sal

2 жыл бұрын

Thanks, man!

This video is absolutely amazing! Thanks!

Another banger Sal. Can't wait to see you finally do Michigan Malls aka Taubman Country. Always nice to see different types of malls out there.

Stoned santa! No wonder why people left him cookies! he had the munchies! lol

If the flea market were the only tenant, I would still consider it to be a dead mall.

Glad to see the inside of this place! I go to college a few miles away from here but it shut down just before I started college so I never saw it.

Great 4th of July surprise! So far awesome! Going to restart and enjoy the whole episode after fireworks 🎆 Thanks Sal!

I worked in that mall for the better part of two years in the early 2000s…this brings back memories for sure

I think this is one of the most interesting dead mall videos since Dan Bell's walk through Rolling Acres where he got kicked out by the police.

@sal

2 жыл бұрын

I really hope you give my other 106 episodes a shot!

@Dan-gy3cu

2 жыл бұрын

I get a lot of dead mall videos from different creators that come across KZread. I'm not subscribed to any. The ones that I might watch through are the ones where the history of the property is being given during a walk-though. The biggest difference here was being guided around by the long time employee who was able to physically point things out. He helped keep my interest strong.

42:00 listening to the radio shack commercial in the background reminded me of the single thing that makes me most nostalgic about growing up in the 80s.. christmas commercials for radio shack, department stores, and other mall stores. watching/listening to those old commercials is guaranteed to rip me back into my childhood.

10:40 Me: "Please go up the ladder. Please go up the ladder. Please go up the ladder." 10:47 Me: "YES!"

your videos are mad underrated! excellent video sir.

12:50 This was a very "Cowboy Bebop fridge" moment 🤢🤮😨

actually sad to see this one end. Well done!

This place was my Childhood. Worked here throughout my high school years. So many memories here man.

Love the use of the Maridia theme from Super Metroid

"Is it a time machine?!" :)

I watched The Action Park Documentary. Very sad all the people that died on the rides

@RavenFilms

2 жыл бұрын

I thought that comes out in August? Which did you see? I’d like to watch it.

Indeed. I have Caspro on my own playlist, he rocks. I knew I heard 'Dream Tower' on, I think, the last ExLog. Also, A friend of mine from North Bay Ontario was mentioning Action Park just a few weeks back! He has the "I survived Action Park" T shirt from back in the day.

@sal

2 жыл бұрын

Hell yes! So glad to see more folks supporting his music!

I know this vid's been up for a while but I lost it so hard at 27:15 xD Great stuff man!

44:44 Yo the Maridia Super Metroid music is fitting. One of your best videos. Ray seems like a solid good dude.

boy after watching this and especially goin back to two spots on here. first is 34:02 which was my old "office" i was a p-burg housekeeping employee from 2014-2019. how many times i was in there folding rags and filling up my mop bucket and other odd jobs. and shortly after i left the mall in 2019. i started having dreams of being back there again only to find that the housekeeping closet would be an absolute mess that i would have to clean up because my then co workers, mostly young dumb kids did not help keep things clean and organized. 34:02 helps confirm my dreams for real. and 57:54 is where we would keep extra supplies for the housekeeping dept. ray was a great manager and everyone i worked with there except for the kids in my dept that sucked were the best people to work with and for. i really do miss being there as it was a low key, low stress job. yea the pay was minimum, no benefits and all that jazz. but i didn't care about that. i just liked having the low stress. it was a good simple job. and they always told me day in and day out that i was the best they had.

Been waiting for this video !

I really appreciate your nuance at the end. It is true that several malls ended due to existing weakness because they could not compete the web but everything else you mentioned are big and in some cases bigger factors as well.

At 22:00-- you're absolutely right about the 1990s. That was my time as well and I couldn't have said it better. A different time a less complicated time. The world of Daria from MTV, and that's about as crazy and as interesting as it's got!

I remember when it was hopping. Had a full food court, before they replaced it with H&M. And the Babbages and Electronics Boutique, and the arcade too. Too many malls I grew up with are now gone, and that's damn sad. Thanks Sal for taking me back to a happy time.

@RB01.10

Жыл бұрын

I was quite young when the food court closed but I remember it mostly being abandoned by its end. Many blame the mall declining when they closed the food court but it seemed by the late 90’s it was already dying. Hence why H&M replaced it

I was always curious about that elusive Grove food court. Really neat that the old skylight is still there!

Sal I'm betting there was a dead body behind that door!

22:26 - Wow, a Super KMART was here .. with full line of groceries!? I didn't know New Jersey had any of those stores.

I used to print photographs from negative and could go to a movie and guess what kind of film it was filmed using… just by the colours and spectrum… these mall videos bring back so many memories of the different hues of colour that would come through the doors and skylights at different times of the day.

Refrained from writing it in past videos BUT the abandoned and decaying malls of “the Golden Era” are quite symbolic of the current state of America!! SADLY.

i worked at the food court when i was 14 at Dino's Pizza-Teria till the food court got shut down and that food court got busy specially around Christmas time its so sad to see the mall this way now i have so many memories there. Once that food court got closed i knew the mall was doomed from that point on was a really dumb idea to do that

Would love to see you do an Exlog series on the underground malls here in downtown Montreal. They are all connected to each other and you can walk hrough all of them without having to exit outdoors! Not sure how dead they are but still fascinating!

If "we" told you of "the moon", "we'd" have to... Those frogs are feasting on flies!

I was born in the late 70's, so in the late 80's an early 90's, I was a mallrat at this mall, Palmer Park Mall (Easton, PA), Lehigh Valley Mall (Whitehall, PA) and Whitehall Mall (Whitehall, PA, across Grape St. from the LV Mall)... and I also worked in Phillipsburg Mall at the Suncoast Motion Picture Company store (which was the black storefront next to the AT&T store and behind the one that looked like a barn at the Sears end of the mall, with that barn-looking store being a Gertrude Hawk) in 1995-1996... I remember the food court... I remember when the space that became Gold's Gym (or the space that became H&M, not 100% sure) was a CVS/pharmacy location, which was where I'd go to get a soda while on break at Suncoast... I remember walking down to the bank to get change when opening the store (the bank left a few years before the mall closed, so that's probably why you didn't see a vault, it likely had been removed already)... I even remember that myself or another employee would walk down to the KMart on Sundays and check to see if they had broken street date on any big movies that were coming out (which always came out on Tuesdays), especially a Disney release, because if they did and we turned them in they could get fined and get their shipments held back for breaking street date... The big space at the Kohls end with the waves painted on it's windows was, lastly, a roller derby arena. Before that it was an Old Navy and before THAT it was several storefronts with a nightclub/cafe (IIRC "Cafe Hollywood", a trademark-skirting Hollywood-themed restaurant by day & nightclub at night) at one end of that section... the big store at the Sears end with the various band decals on it's safe was an FYE, and the store next to it with the homemade "Jewelry" sign on the wall was indeed a dollar store from the time the mall opened... Man, I remember this mall so well & am sad to see it go to hell... Thanks @Sal for the tour of the mall... I had hoped to get there myself in early 2020, one last time before it closed, but unfortunately COVID scuttled that as they closed the mall due to the pandemic and it just never re-opened... so this is the next best thing for me

Great episode !

I remember buying a slice at that Cafe Europa as a kid sometime in the late 2000s or early 2010s