A "DEAD" EVENING AT THE BEAVER VALLEY MALL 😱🤐😟

A very SAD tour of the once glorious Beaver Valley Mall. For you folks who reside far away, my condolences; it has been this way for a LONG time. Once again, by popular demand, PLEASE SHARE YOUR FAVORITE MEMORIES OF THE MALL, ANYTHING! Thanxs for watching! 👍👍👍
PLEASE DONATE: paypal.me/Mark...
HERE ARE MORE OF MY PERSONAL PHOTOS OF THE MALL: photos.google....

[@slackingpacking]

Dang that place is hurting definitely would need to visit sometime.

[@josephwilson8428]

I'm from Midland and moved away in 1985... I'm shocked that the Mall is still open. Good video

[@NorthCdogg22]

This is a pretty eerie but fascinating mall! Nice video, and I enjoyed your commentary bits!

[@MarkGrago]

Thank you for watching. 👍

[@course5377]

I graduated high school when the mall opened. Big event. I am glad to see that King's is still there. I think my husband and I bought our wedding bands there 52 years ago.

[@joealberti8553]

I remember hanging out there. Main stores were Sears, Kaufmans and Gimbles. Saw Jaws and Star Wars at the Cinema. Radio Shack was a must hit, as well as National Rocord Mart and Musicland. IThen there was WoolWorths and it's Harvest House restaurant. Pre food court, there was a Chi Chi's that was famous for food poisoning. Not a reason BVM wanted to be famous for. Don't know if you remember that, and there was Humphrey's Italian too. I used to love to spend the day there.

[@MarkGrago]

I miss Pedro's Pub. Good Mexican place! 🌮

[@joealberti8553]

I remember Pedro's Pub. That was the bar inside Chi Chi's wasn't it?@@MarkGrago

[@MarkGrago]

@@joealberti8553 No, it was a separate place.

[@1bozina]

I grew up across the street from the BVM on Stone Quarry Road and as a kid I rode my bike through the footers they dug for some of the stores at the mall. Some of the memories I have were of going for a burger, fries and chocolate malted shake at Sweet Williams, getting a live goldfish at Woolworth's, trying on shoes at Stride-Rite, looking at Farah Fawcett posters at Spencer's, shopping at Sears (I have an old fridge that is still running and from that store). Going to National Record Mart. Getting a drink at Orange Julius and a pretzel from "Hot Sams". The mall was hopping on Friday and Saturday evenings... I remember going to the grocery store next to the mall on Sundays (I think it was an A&P). They added a free standing Circuit City next to Busy Beaver and I don't know what they were thinking when Best Buy built a store in the front. Did that store even last 5 years?! It's crazy how that whole mall has changed over my lifetime... Lot's of good memories there.

[@MarkGrago]

Those were the days, were they not? I saw my FIRST movie at the mall: STAR WARS! 📽🎬

[@MariaMcdonald-tv9zg]

In the early 2000's this mall would be packed full of people and finding a good parking spot was tough. Now it's a ghost town.😢

[@erikdolnack846]

What's odd, is that in just 2015, the Beaver Valley Mall was still alive. I wouldn't say that mall was thriving in 2015 (there were some empty storefronts), but it went downhill extremely fast in 2017 or so. I'm not sure why? I grew up in that mall. It breaks my heart to see it this way today.

[@MarkGrago]

It's been on a SLOW decline for almost a decade now! Hardly any stores, as you can see, inside.

[@erikdolnack846]

@@MarkGrago And yet, Robinson Mall and Ross Park mall are doing just fine - which disproves the talking-point that malls and brick & mortar stores are dying to Amazon. I actually don't buy the argument that malls are all dying because people are shopping online. That's a ruse, spouted by the corporate mainstream media. The reality is that the working-class keeps getting poorer and poorer in America and working American families have less money to spend. They aren't shopping at Beaver Valley Mall OR Amazon; they simply aren't shopping. And if they are buying some things on Amazon it's because those items are cheaper online, those customers don't have a choice. Take away the jobs at a livable wage and you'll see the retail that depends on those workers' incomes disappear with it. The Beaver Valley Mall's days were numbered the day Bill Clinton signed NAFTA into law in 1994.

[@erikdolnack846]

On any given Friday or Saturday evening in 1979 or so, the Beaver Valley Mall would have been PACKED! It was hard to find an empty parking-spot. My parents used to always park behind Sears, in the rear of the mall, because it was one of the few places you could guarantee a parking-space. That's how crowded the mall would get on typical weekends. Unless you went there early in the morning, that mall was never dead.

[@rootdoc1997]

Wow that was the place to be in the 80s. This has happened to most malls nowadays

[@MarkGrago]

You know, I tell the younger folks there was a time when this mall would have a cop directing traffic, especially during the holidays and back-to-school!

[@rootdoc1997]

@@MarkGrago yes. It would get packed

[@williamhorn6184]

Great to View coverage! A Majority of Malls have been closed ! Due to the Economy and availability to order everything online!

[@williamjamescampbell4683]

Clarion Mall is also something u should check out

[@MarkGrago]

Wow, that mall is still open? Gosh!

[@williamjamescampbell4683]

@@MarkGrago indeed ha the AMC theater and a DMV is about it... Love your videos man! Keep em coming! Originally a Beaver County boi here. Are u on Facebook?

[@MarkGrago]

@@williamjamescampbell4683 All my link are in my profile.

[@robinbeige5903]

Sadly Beaver Valley Mall is my hometown mall and Clarion Mall I frequented a lot in college. Both are so sad now but full of memories

[@erikdolnack846]

Structurally, the Beaver Valley Mall is actually in good shape, considering its age. By contrast, the Century III Mall (which is nine years younger than Beaver Valley Mall) looks decrepit and falling apart and is structurally unsafe. If the business was there, Beaver Valley Mall could be thriving. The problem is, the customer-base is either too poor today to support a mall of this size, or many/most have moved away for jobs. This is called "Capital Flight".

[@MarkGrago]

More or less, yes.

[@angelasears6572]

Last year I had a brief conversation with the old lady who works in the mall office reception area in the food court. She has been working at the mall since 1973. I wasn't even alive back then. Imagine having a career that lasts 50+ years. That is unheard of today.

[@hudsonbrimner4464]

Have you heard there was a water main break up by the Beaver Valley Mall

[@Y3nk0]

Was this a weekday evening? That is the same type of foot traffic I see at the malls in the PNW during the week. We visited the BVM on a weekend in Oct '23 and it was busy, especially Boscov's.

[@MarkGrago]

Yes, it was. Thanxs for watching.

[@humanshrek1836]

Namdar Reality strikes again Literally every mall they own looks like this. My childhood mall is now struggling because of them. 😒

[@erikdolnack846]

Namdar and Mason primarily purchase malls for low prices, with various problems, but do not invest in improving them. Namdar's primary source of investment capital comes from bonds on the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange. As Israel keeps getting more and more money from the US to send bombs for a Genocide in Gaza. Instead of investing in our mall, our tax money kills 13,000 innocent children in Gaza. Way to go, Namdar!