I know dead malls are all over the US. Ours is still going strong! I went Christmas shopping there today and is was absolutely packed! Hard to find a parking spot

Private equity is completely useless and should be hard outlawed. The Government should remove all protections private equity enjoys that shields them from any liability.

I visited schlitterbahn in late summer 2009. It wasn’t all that barren around the park, not to the point where it was a deterrent. It’s honestly pretty typical for construction projects around kc

The fact that these companies are even allowed to claim bankruptcy is absurd. Just more proof that the laws are skewed towards the rich. To top it off, all my idiot neighbors just elected a wealthy, sexist, narcissist wannabe king as our President. FML.

We had a Payless when I was a kid. They sold absolutely horrible shoes. My dad used to say throw the shoes away and wear the box on your feet!

It was in KCK, not outside of it

I was not expecting this to tie into the other guy that got offed in prison with Jeffery Dahmer.

Did you know that mall is now being demolished?

learning here that the US also had payless is nice, definitely a key part of growing up poor in canada alongside value village. one of the only stores that had shoes in my allegedly enormous shoe size too regardless.

Private Equity Firms are a CANCER on the Economy and workers. They really need to be regulated by the SEC. They actively destroy jobs. The idea that you can buy a company and shift all your debts onto their books so you can file bankruptcy is just obscene on it's surface. If private citizens can't do it, businesses shouldn't be allowed to do it either.

Oh, Payless... Payless is sweet, nostalgic, early '90s bliss for me. The lil' light-up shoes were my favorites. "Hey, granny & papa! Look at my shoes. They light when I walk!" Oooh, and the lil' velcro-strapped shoes. Such a sweet time in my life. Back when we weren't slaves to fashion. It all kinda changed once I got into middle school. I was no longer the cute lil' girl in her light-up shoes. I was kinda maturing. Nah my big cousins are in my ear like "You _cain't_ be wearin' that to school. Ask yo' daddy to take you to Macy's." Nah I'm in Macy's and I find my signature - the Steve Madden clog. I'm shopping at Bebe, Charlotte Russe, etcetera. We all remember that 5th grade to 6th grade awkward period. Anyhow, circling back around to Payless. Man, I miss that store. I miss the simplicity of it all.

I knew I woke up feeling nostalgic this morning! Thanks for another great throwback video. ❤ Always a pleasure Jake. 👏🏼👏🏼

Private equity firms do not usually buy, thriving, vibrant companies.

I think there's still some francise Paylesses in Australia.

I remember going there as a kid and it ended up being more expensive than Winners and basically everywhere else and we called it "Paymore" not very creative but it got the point across.

Payless lmfao I’d say for those nasty ass cheap shoes…

All my shoes came from Payless until they shut down.

Were any of the shots from the eastern hills mall JCPenney? Looks super familiar.

Do a bankrupt episode on Spirit airlines!!!

It’s insane how this type of business practices of private equity companies coming in to buy businesses, giving themselves millions in bonuses while the business is failing, and then declaring bankruptcy so the taxpayer foot the bill. Seen this countless times, and yet these rich greedy people continue doing this type of business practices without any repercussions.

We need Christmas tree shop too

Luigi save us

Wow I remember my mom used to get the same pair of air walks for me every year from this store damn, lol

I miss Payless. Shoes today suck and dont fit well at all, cost you about 100 bucks. Then you dont want to wear or get them dirty bc theyre expensive. There were different styles. Now it's just a sea of whatever they say is in style. They all look horrible, marshmallow bottoms or no sole at all, no support, made of foam.

@BrightSunFIlms Please please please do a video on the “Rainbow Dunes Plaza Centre” shopping center. You clipped it at 17:53. The plaza has been shuttered for DECADES and has sat as a shell of its former self. Many Vegas locals would love to know more about this place.

Wend over has a great video on private equity firms. They are the worst.

I feel like everyone abandoned a lot of physical shops for the so called convenience of online shopping but i have dispised online shopping for xmas presents having to stay in from like 8 am- 8pm waiting for a delivery is the opposite of convenience

i worked for payless in the early 2000s for about a month. it was fucking awful

They should have made people…. PAY MORE!!!

Payless brings me back to my childhood. I miss them 😢.

Back when I was a teenager, we had neighbors on low income housing. They had a son who said little but one thing he repeated constantly was the phrase "I don't want no Paylesses shoes! I don't want no Paylesses shoes!" and he meant it. Kids would get mocked and beat up if they came to school wearing Paylesses shoes. "Paylessess shoes" became a tagline in my family for anything cheap that also looked obviously cheap. For those who never shopped there, just visit your local Walmart shoe aisle. Same quality for lower prices and same cheap plastics and materials that don't last.

I miss Payless. I wear a women's Size 11-12 depending on the shoe, and they had a great selection of shoes in my size at affordable prices. RIP.

I think I have one still open in my area

Yeah you’re right. It pisses me off

All of these mba execs and investment firms have no clue how to run a business.

For the longest time, I thought the name was "Payless ShoeStore".

DSW and Marshalls played a significant role competing with them besides offering designer shoes for good prices they had other products at store as well compared to payless

Should’ve kept Palessi

Thanks Jake!

Summary: Private equity sucks

Walmart shoe quality has always been poor, being worse now than ever since they have so little competition. And Target has shrunk their shoes dept for men, almost nothing to choose. The loss of Payless was a big hit for the consumer.

Id be interested in a Factory Direct in Ontario video, they were around for as long as I remember and closed down fairly recently

Good deal for shoes … or a decades long sales funnel for podiatrists and orthopedic surgeons?

I am German, I never so much as visited the US, so why am I so invested in the bankruptcies of american companies and the abandonment of american amusement parks, malls, etc.?

13:51-13:58 that’s my childhood mall!!

Could you do a video on the defunct southern grocery store chain Delchamps? I remember them from when I was a kid. They went out of business around 2000.

0:59 online shopping

And there is another example of corporate greed

I can imagine how many kids were sexually abused here???

I hate private equity firms. Great videos as always!