A Visit to Merritt Square Mall

Florida Men & Women, look lively! We begin our adventures in Florida at the Merritt Square Mall, a classic shopping mall situated on Merritt Island.
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[@DoomieGruntVentures]

UPDATE: The balance of full anchor occupancy has been lost; Sears is now departing the mall

[@n30n_futur37]

Can confirm, they had their final closing sale (fixtures and such. No merchandise from what I saw.) Yesterday.

[@NightSprinter]

A friend of mine was curious as to what the state of the place was (as he is a native born/raised Merritt island resident). Thanks for this.

[@jeee1074]

The Dillard's and Macy's courts are definitely an old school mall look. This is a very nice mall for being 50 years old.

[@catlady7773]

The food court in the early 1980s used to be a full dining restaurant and there was an arcade where the Cold Stone creamery used to be.

[@jillian5582]

Yup. Tilt was the name of the arcade. So many memories of this mall as a kid. I still live in the area and the mall is so sad and empty these days

[@dr.g6105]

This is the mall of my youth. I worked at the Florsheim shoe store, The orange Julius, and Ives All in the 1980s. It was hopping and the place to be

[@blandmalls]

Well this is a nice mall for certain. I love the flooring, it's so shiny. Many obvious 90s design touches. Good video.

[@baileyboodle1485]

I grew up going to this mall I was born at a hospital very close to it and grew up with it and it used to be so lively and now it’s so dead 🥲 I miss being little 🥲🥲🥲🥲🥲

[@orewachinchindaisukinandayo]

This place is very very seasonal. During the summer its sometimes hard to find a parking space. I'm not sure how the Pandemic is going to affect this place. Gamestop was very popular and its unfortunate that it closed. Something about black mold I think. Overall I love this place.

[@kc4cvh]

3:44 I saw Jaws (1975, Universal) in the "old cinema". BTW the Brevard Mall was originally a strip mall, with J.C. Penney at the north, Montgomery Ward at the south and Mack's Zoo Room lounge in the middle. (Sears had a stand-alone store a quarter-mile to the north.)

[@mysticmek93]

Lived nearby for most of my childhood and left at 20. Weird seeing the replaced stores you just KNOW wouldn't last long, let alone all the ones up and GONE. This mall was so nice for the small size throught most of my memories of it, I know the state of it's been getting sadder. The dinosaur store ran a extra mini store in there for a bit. This whole mall still bein here shocks me every time I check in.

[@thomas-marx]

Thanks !! I was feeling homesick!

[@charlieerardi4221]

I absolutely love the aesthetic of this mall. Lots of natural light and cheerful without being overboard

[@misterhot9163]

I’m shocked Books a Million is still in business, wow!!!

[@catherinestinson4080]

Most of my back to school clothes were purchased by my grandparents in the 70’s and 80’s at this mall and some at Ron Jon’s and small stores near their house. They lived in Cocoa Beach and I spent summers there.

[@ThresholdDreamer111]

I really enjoyed looking at this mall through your lens. Great history & personal reflections. This place looks pretty awesome, IMHO, and you know what my preferences in malls tend to be like. Nice work!

[@daniellehunter5057]

Love the music at the beginning of the video. So sad to see all the empty storefronts, but I love the postcards!

[@athenachristinemusic]

Nostalgia

[@Fahrenheit38]

Man, covering every buyer at that T Shirt stand @4:10.

[@southfla2003]

Great to see you're in Florida ❤️ greetings from Hollywood too bad you can't do a walkthrough of Hollywood fashion center which was demolished as well as fashion Mall in Plantation all are gone😿. btw you did a great video on the Charleston Town center mall in Charleston West Virginia my old hometown!

[@MJA5]

I went to the Hollywood Fashion Center when I was a kid with my family. That was in the early 1970s...I remember there was a McDonald's nearby. Wasn't that on 441? We moved away in the 70s.

[@stuckinchaselandia6427]

Sadly, a once vibrant mall when I moved here in 1999, the mall is now on its last leg. Half the mall is closed, much like others around the country. Sears is gone.

[@markstrouse3101]

Great as always Doomie Grunt

[@lordsteppergod7269]

They recently opened a new video game store next to the shoe store,and chick fil a inside moved out in January 2023

[@MrSgm111]

Hello there ! Another great video.. looks successful with its 4 anchor stores and cinema but it seems to have very few in line tenants, a lot of space with nothing in it ....very few national chains ...

[@wowhaha4871]

This mall was really colorful on the exterior but somewhat bland (except for the ceiling) on the interior. I’m confused.

[@mysticmek93]

The Movie theater section. AMC's exterior was....something.

[@baileyboodle1485]

I was born in the cape and grew up 15 min away from this mall I miss the old mall

[@RawRealRetail]

I like this mall a lot! Architecturally it reminds me of the Neshaminy Mall. Looks very comfy.

[@mattdeman5200]

Hope you made it down to Palm Beach! My stomping grounds.

[@robforsman2075]

Growing up next to this mall it is sad how many stores are gone. In the 80s it was the place to be on the weekend. It was much nicer when they had the fountains by the food courts.

[@erin7306]

This was a really interesting mall tour. I am in Sydney, Australia and our malls or as we call them "shopping centres" look kind of similar to this mall. I also didn't know Florida had a place called Melbourne. Australia has a Melbourne too but we pronounce it Melbin. Anyway, I enjoyed the tour. Very interesting and relaxing. Keep them coming!

[@pokemonprimed]

The Melbourne in Florida is pronounced "Melburn", as far as I know.

[@kc4cvh]

Melbourne, Fla. is one of the last vestiges of British East Florida.

[@AjaMonet-ym8fu]

Wow this is great me growing up in that area and going to that mall wow 🎉 it was born in 1970 and I was born in 1970 so I had fun there in the early 80s

[@drumjunk]

Sadly this mall is starting to fall apart, I went there a few days ago and there is a lot of water damage.

[@epy0n13]

My first job was at Champs Sports in that mall... back when it was down by Sears. Didn’t know that it moved until your video. Lots of memories from that mall, sad to see is fading away.

[@stopmotionking49]

I saw starwars there 1977 there in 1977

[@NCS926]

I actually live directly behind this mall. As of right now, I visited yesterday, on a Saturday night around 7:30. There was about less than 10 people there. It’s quite truly extremely depressing.

[@ChatGPT1111]

Has the Mall shut down in the 2 years since?

[@annharding1404]

​@@ChatGPT1111 no. It's still open

[@Dinker27]

Thank you for listing that lovely music. How did you get into learning facts about dead malls, if you don't mind my asking?

[@DoomieGruntVentures]

ultimately a morbid curiosity about what may have went on in a mall's life. More often than not, its basic stuff like ownership transferrence & anchor switchups, but on occasion, you'll find oddities in its life, like weird fraudulent crimes that occurred early on. Other times, you'll find a familiar developer that had a hand in an unexpected mall. Sometimes, you'll find all sorts of events that happened in a mall's life, strengthening its role as a community space. As for the how, I cross-check sources for where the information comes from to the best of my abilities. Sometimes I have to dig pretty deep & end up finding myself in newspaper archives.

[@afrikakorps8362]

I've been going since 1984 🙂🙂

[@charliestout2815]

The post cards on the wall. One says west chester Ohio where I live

[@jjisella]

This whole property needs to be redeveloped. It's already dead. Perfect central location and huge piece of land. It will make a very nice redevelopment. Hopefully sooner than later.

[@dr666demento]

Don't worry, before too long those "store closing" signs will show up soon at Sears. Why? Because it's Sears.

[@arosenweig]

If you would like to visit a nicer mall, go to Orlando for the Florida Mall or the Mall at Millenia.

[@abigailhubbard6345]

Everyone in the comments saying it’s aesthetic- buddy our mall is dying it’s so sad 😂😂

[@nategoalbevazin1387]

Great show!

[@ThresholdDreamer111]

And.... oh my! Those dark floors

[@WhittyPics]

More closed retail. Where in FL is this

[@DoomieGruntVentures]

Merritt Island

[@lambo485]

i like this mall...been a few times:)

[@danielfife348]

How is this mall in 2022? And what is it got to d w anything of Namdar having the mall?

[@anonanon5791]

Sadly, this mall will be leveled by 2030 if not much sooner. Also, perhaps you should consider putting your camera on a cart so it won't bounce with each step.

[@17z483]

Koki: Cocoa Beach, Florida 11/20/16

[@ronnymarcano1805]

This mall’s always dead lol

[@jillian5582]

It wasn’t always like that. Back in the 80’s and 90’s as a kid this was the spot to be at

[@elizabethwilliams8404]

❤❤❤🥰🥰🥰🥰

[@Rustyplatesoo7]

You walk fast

[@nonamegame9857]

Dude, I hope you don't take offense to this comment but number one you walk way too fast and secondly it seems to me that you obviously never saw a real Mall in operation in the 70s or 80s. I'm not blaming you for this because if you're young I do realize that was 40 to 50 years ago. But seriously slow your pace down.

[@jillian5582]

His pace was just fine