A Visit to River Valley Mall

[@nicfronczek7386]

Excellent video as always Doomie

[@dalguy8336]

I love your content, don’t change a thing.

[@charlestonpinballarcade]

Another good vid! Sorry to hear some of the dead mall crew are trying to influence what you like to produce. I like that your videos are clean walk-thrus, good music and some relaxed commentary/opinion. Come on people, this is not life changing stuff here... I like some other dead mall creators, but feel a few of them waaaay over produce vids when it is not necessary to go that far. Different tastes for everyone! Enjoy!

[@deviant4life25]

This entire video I was like: The Doomie MUST BE STOPPED then I got to 10:44 and relaxed... great work as always homie

[@altoidsours]

This is the mall I always go to! I remember it in its heyday. I don't think the mall looks drab. Maybe now that it's dim it does, but on a sunlit day I think the mall looks beautiful. The skylight brings in a lot of light and the white tiles look nice and bright. The chairs in the food court art uncomfortable as hell. I don't know why they changed to those awful wire seats. Those big black squares you see on the floor in some places, like at 3:11, used to be places with fountains. They were so pretty and I miss them.

[@craigoutdoors30]

I think the fountains got old and needed maintenance too often. I miss them as well. I thought maybe when they took them out that it was due to high volumes of traffic. Because there was always a lot of people there when I went between my college terms. Steve & Barry's was such a great store for what it was. I grew up getting most all my clothing from eElder-Beerman's, JC Penney's, Lazarus/Hills, and as a teen, aeropostale, and The buckle. Everyone blames amazon. But for River valley, I believe it was Easton Town Center and even Kohl's that did more damage early on.

[@urbanlegendsandtrivia2023]

Thank you for another enjoyable Friday afternoon video.

[@hairyasstruman2257]

Did you happen to check out the enormous fairgrounds there in Lancaster? Man, this mall really is dead as shit! Sad for Lancaster. Always loved those light fixtures

[@TheRedDevil_NC]

Really enjoy your videos. thanks

[@RammerSTi]

Ah, yes, my childhood mall. Used to come here all the time. I'd always ride the little rides they had in the mall, put coins in the fountains, went into Sears to get photos done, watched movies in Regal and later Cinemark. I haven't been to the place since 2017, but I do want to return to the place eventually to see what is still left.

[@WinstonMercer]

Those sometimes illuminated cubes from the skylights are awesome, adds depth. Thank you, your videos are like a grilled cheese sandwich, comfort food.

[@craigoutdoors30]

Miss the fountains in the mall.

[@MrSgm111]

I’ll add my thoughts... I much prefer your content and commentary style... you show us the mall, you talk about it’s history and future issues which to me is what you want to see and hear., so please don’t change ! ... and a huge thumbs up from the U.K. ! On this mall, yep, bland and emptying out .. the empty anchors are a huge issue as eventually the inline tenants will continue to depart when their leases are up... I can’t imagine spending much time in that mall and as you say, the food court is embarrassing... I take it that there are no restaurants as inline tenants? Is there much surrounding the mall I.e fast food ?

[@DoomieGruntVentures]

There are a decent number of shopping centers around the mall, as the mall did establish a retail corridor at the time. I imagine those may've siphoned customers away in addition to the bypass.

[@PatrickMcCardell]

The food court is very embarrassing are we sure the places are not closed just because of the sleet because the signs were still up I know are used to work in the mall and stores used to roll out win the weather was bad.

[@StephSlays92]

Hi! I’m from this area and that was such a go to place for us as kids. It’s such a shame what it’s turned into. The mall is still kicking and even more stores have closed since you did this video. Like someone else said they don’t care about fixing it up which is a shame. The potholes are ridiculous. I got a flat tire when I worked there from them.

[@jeee1074]

The first half of the mall did look promising and then a sea of emptiness. I do like the multiple paths you can take in certain parts of the mall. It breaks up the monotony that many malls have.

[@PaleOpal21]

My local mall went through an 80 million remodel and they eliminated the food court. According to mall experts, food courts are passe and tacky. They installed a Revolution Hall which flopped after seven months and then replaced with pop up food stalls that no one can afford.

[@harrygoldun5779]

Food courts are always in demand here in Australia. Some centres are opening up market halls with a supermarket, street food inspired restaurants / cafes. Centres have everything here, food and general retail. New suburbs have these centres popping up and they get expanded as the population grows. Shopping centre life is part of the culture here and it's as popular as ever.

[@nighthiker8872]

They spent 80 million on remodel, but never take the time to ask the customer what they need, first.

[@matthewschoerverth4566]

Question: Why is malls closing during the Pandemic series versus of what happen to shopping malls back in 2008 during the bank bankruptcy of ‘08?

[@mmichal]

That food court was pathetic, wow and this was pre-C19. I wonder why it was so empty to begin with.

[@danielwestfall9578]

This was one of my "Go to" malls throughout the '90s and '00s. Sad to see it in decline especially the food court. Great video. Thumbs up from me!

[@takedown1106]

don't listen to anyone do what you love to do and also do it the way you want to do it also thank you for making this video

[@markstrouse3101]

Great video Doomie Grunt

[@FilmAppreciationSociety]

This was my main mall. I even worked at that Ulta for a year when it opened in 2012. It pretty much looks the same as in this video today except I'm pretty sure they finally closed that Gamestop as they had a newer one in a strip mall near the Walmart. I can't believe the entire food court is gone there used to be Sbarro, Taco Bell, Charley's, Rax, Cold Stone Creamery, Subway and the two Asian places one was Japanese and the other Chinese but were run by the same owners. Many years ago when I was a kid there was a Wendy's and even an A&W Root Beer but that spot between the Asian places was never filled after A&W closed in the 90s.

[@AmpersandMan]

Great video! 60FPS is perfect for any walking videos too! Subscribed BECAUSE of your comment about the other person you mention :) Don’t change a thing! If you get near southeast Michigan do the “Mall of Monroe” in Monroe Michigan as its a newly remodeled empty dying mall I would love to see done in your style.

[@johnwatson6082]

Strangest feel to that mall, aspects of it like the lights hanging from the ceiling and the skylights look as if they were trying for something high end but then the bland color choice and other parts of it just felt like a copy and paste design from so many other malls...that food court was also one the saddest ones I've ever seen in a mall, so much space and it looked like it could have had good flow at one time but only one place open at the time for food which wasn't even in the center of the food court.

[@WhittyPics]

I wonder if all the COVID restriction did all the food places in?

[@DoomieGruntVentures]

This was footage from February 2020. A couple weeks before everything went down. Unless there's a full size restaurant I missed, the only thing to eat in there was Auntie Anne's even at the time. That said, though, the coof certainly did no favors whatsoever for this mall either.

[@nikkireeexplores407]

Nice job on this!

[@lydialoud]

This is the mall where I practically grew up at. Arguably the mall's interior was more colorful in the 1990s with red accents and the ceilings were decorated with solid red flags...there also used to be several fountains. I'm surprised the arcade is still there; they look exactly the same since the early 2000s...before then it was called Laser One. The food court used to have Sbarro, Taco Bell, Wendy's, and a few others I forget. Across from where Regal Cinemas was and where the arcade is was a steakhouse restaurant. GameStop used to be Electronics Boutique until the early 2000s, around the same time the Waldenbooks across from them went out of business.

[@Plinian]

Rax was one of my favorite fast food restaurants in the food court. The dine-in restaurant next to the Regal Cinema was called Damon’s Grill. Sad to see the mall now compared to how I remembered it as a child, especially during Christmas.

[@Hhhh-k9g]

The only time this place is actually busy is during the holidays

[@harrygoldun5779]

Can someone tell me why US malls don't include supermarkets, butchers, bakeries, green grocers, cafes, but only have retail?

[@nooneatall1784]

They often have bakeries and cafes, of a kind. We make a distinction between food shopping (which we call grocery shopping) and shopping for clothing, accessories and other goods of that nature. The mall is a fantasy construction to serve more of an impulse type buying rather than a covered marketplace intended for basic daily needs. If you read about Victor Gruen, (or read his many writings) the so-called "father" of the American mall, you can learn more.

[@harrygoldun5779]

@@nooneatall1784 But having everything under the one roof is what makes it special, a win win for everyone. That's how malls have evolved here, they continue to grow and on any given day, the centres are alive with foot traffic. Young and old flock to them. Even factory outlet stores, which are sort of a mall but only have retail in with a food court attached are booming. Could it be a different mindset, where going out is a big part of life, the experience, the vibrancy, seems all to be factors of shopping centre life here.

[@CommodoreFan64]

@@harrygoldun5779 That's just costco, and Walmart supercenter here, and both are boring AF!!!

[@nightsky4897]

This is my mall! Well, it was when I was a kid. I grew up going here all the time. Bought a game at gamestop, a slice of pizza at the sbarro (yeah there was a sbarro there at one point) and would watch a movie at the theatre. This was in 2002-2006. Wow the interior looks so different after nearly 20 years, I hardly recognize it. Edit: THE FOUNTAINS ARE GONE! I can't believe it. It was always so full of coins and the water looked so blue. I used to ask my mom if I could grab the coins. They had a bit more value than they do today haha. Wow childhood ruined. Food court is gone too. Sad to see this place dying. But malls are on a decline these days. Its so sad since Im a huge fan of them. The only stores I still recognize are the gamestop and auntie annes pretzels. Those have not moved in all this time.

[@nightsky4897]

I noticed near the end of the video you said the architecture was bland and drab, and only 3 toned white. Yeah it looks bad here. Everything was redone and looks boring. 20 years ago the floor had more vivid and colored tiling thats been replaced, with bright blue fountains that could be heard from anywhere in the mall. Sad to see this

[@oliviacraner8156]

Anyone have a list of all the songs in this video, particularly the 1st song thats also the last song?

[@trekkeriii]

The main issue with the Mall, is the owners don't care (which is the reason for the rapid decline after EB went out of business). If they did, they'd fix the roads, parking lots and even the broken Traffic Light. I know the apartment renters and landlords would like that. The Ety Rd. and River Valley Circle access road is horrible. Another fun recent fact, there was a great Italian place in the Food Court that opened for a short time called "That's Amore" in 2018 and 2019 (actually generating foot traffic in the dying food court because it was sooo good). Mall owners were horrible to the shop owners, they had to relocate their business to the Eagles lodge. I remember when the mall opened. Lazarus opened before the rest of the Mall and my folks were excited that we didn't have to always drive up to Eastland Mall as much.

[@nighthiker8872]

Any mall space can be turn around and made into marketable space, with a 50 year waiting list. A safe, secure, valuable place, just by making some simple common sense conversions. NOT JOKING.

[@genemoore4816]

Hey I want give you heads a mall in my area is going be closing in June 2021 it's called upper valley mall in Springfield Ohio.

[@DoomieGruntVentures]

Fortunately, I already have documentation on that mall. A shame to see it go nonetheless

[@heathblake1921]

So sad to see my hometown parish

[@oliviacraner8156]

So sad these malls are going down. Cripes I remember going to the mall when I was 6 yrs old, and would see in the Marion Ohio mall stores from KB Kids Toys, Sears, JCPenney, JCPenney would have a salon, a place to get your pictures taken REX electronics Hair salons, Pizza shop, Burger joint, ice cream shop, Bath and Body Works, Kay Jewelers, JBRobinson Jewelers, Nail Salons, several mom and pop shops, Elder Beerman, Arcade, FYE, Barnes and Noble Bookstore, Finish Line Shoe store it was booming. Then I went to visit the mall what seemed like many yrs was only about 4 or 5 yrs later and couldn't believe it was slowing starting to loose business. I thought oh boy this isn't good. Then I went back probably a tr or so later and the 1st thing I saw whe walking to the JCPenny store was signs all over saying THIS STORE IS CLOSING. I thought WHAT...I ran back to my mom and dad and said they were closing they said HUH? Your crazy we walked to the doors, the signs were hanging there and they couldn't believe it. I knew then things were starting to look bad. That was in early 2003. I went back to the mall in 2007 and couldn't believe how it seemed to have slowed down. Then about 5 yrs later I go in that mall and couldn't believe it how it was so dead. I knew Elder beerman was next. I was right... Then last week I found out a craft store is closing its doors probably after Christmas...

[@craigoutdoors30]

Columbus killed this mail. Easton was just too close.

[@17z483]

Koki: Columbus, Ohio 4/9/17

[@roselyncampisi822]

Sad