Browsing for Christmas gifts 1994 at Macy's in a mall

Video of The Pentagon City mall also known as Fashion Centre at Pentagon City located in Arlington Virigina.
Footage from Friday, November 25, 1994 (Black Friday) with people walking about and shopping gearing up for the upcoming Holiday season.
This video last around 18 minutes.
#macys
#blackfriday

[@gregdsmusiccaptures1578]

2:11 “am I going to be on TV tonight?” No, you’re going to be on TV in 2023.

[@liamwatson5125]

That’s the most funniest thing I’ve ever heard a department store clerk say. 😆😆😆😆😆😆🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣 We didn’t mean to invade your privacy.

[@laurenchristianna2092]

Was thinking the same thing. Replaced tv with "internet". 😂

[@Butterflyprincess71]

Hopefully that guy finds himself in youtube 😊

[@liamwatson5125]

@@Butterflyprincess71KZbin didn’t even exist in 1994.

[@MikeRotch-ur7sx]

​@@liamwatson5125Think she's referring to the present, however she doesn't seem smart enough to realize this guy looks 60 here and most likely not around anymore.

[@4givenbyf8th]

When you could find a sales associate without going thru three different departments to find help 😂

[@radar_the_fox]

back when companies wouldn’t purposely understaff their stores to save money

[@Zwei4815]

@@radar_the_fox Back when customers weren't assholes to retail employees.

[@leannebrady6312]

I can really appreciate the customers folding the clothes and not just tossing them after looking at them. Shows respect to the store and merchandise. Different times, for sure. Love these nostalgic videos.

[@thenightporter]

Guess who doesn't fold merch after looking at it, or just pulls stuff off of shelves and throws it on the ground just to be disrespectful? The same people that are the reason why Target is locking up toothpaste and deodorant.

[@meintingles4396]

Are you referring to a demographic in specific? @@thenightporter

[@chellastation]

Tell me about it ✨

[@Pittfilmfreak]

Customers weren’t the spoiled douchebags they are today

[@walruswilson]

I'll always put the clothes back on the hanger and where they belong on the rack or fold them up and put them back on the shelf after looking at them or trying them on. employees have to waste their time these days cleaning up after other inconsiderate people. I can go into a change room and there will be clothes all over the floor and hanging up on the hooks in the change room. I can see clothes littered all over the ground and placed in wrong sections... it's gross.

[@stever7157]

It’s hard to believe this was almost 30 years ago. I was 21 and had my whole life ahead of me.

[@laurenchristianna2092]

It is INDEED interesting to realize '94 was over a quarter of a century ago. 😬

[@thenightporter]

Same.

[@SacredSongbird]

You still do

[@evernight.]

I'm 21 now... can you imagine

[@bluesky5384]

You are 50. You're still young enough to enjoy life and you're close to retirement!

[@thedailyhummm]

Malls were bustling in the 90s, I had fun there back then. They had Christmas music playing, it really felt like people were in Christmas mood back then…

[@leftylisa6257]

I always say that!!! But people tell me it was more magical because I was a 90s child... but I think people in general were more in the Christmas spirit!!

[@dougfisher1813]

I used to be the mall janitor back in 93-94. Worked alone at night when the mall was closed, sweeping the floor with one of those long dry push mops, walking a couple miles a night. Christmas was fun, with Santa Land and the little train in the center court and the mall decorated for Christmas, with the music left playing all night, and the lighting was at 50%, it was my own private winter wonderland every night.

[@thenightporter]

@@leftylisa6257 I was a 70s and 80s child. People were merrier then.

[@leftylisa6257]

@thenightporter I'm a 90s child! People were more in the Christmas spirit then, too!! How life has changed! I remember the malls being crowded and people wishing merry Christmas to each other... what a time to be alive!

[@rovhalt6650]

They where in the Christmas mood more back then. Mostly because there were more white people in the west in general. These days multiculturalism has put christmas and the christmas spirit in severe decline.

[@kokonana4086]

It's when sale associates had time to talk and accommodate their customers. Useful advice and one on one service. Such a peaceful time.

[@liamwatson5125]

I try very hard to find a good and reliable contact.

[@hospitalfood6621]

It’s true. Sales associates then, no matter if you were buying …..shoes , a shirt or luggage, always answered questions, gave tips on using the item, and if they didn’t have what you wanted, would try to find an alternative. Even lower end stores were helpful. Walmart in the 90’s had lots of associates and you always had friendly help. Shopping today is a lot different.

[@radar_the_fox]

@@hospitalfood6621bc companies dont train and purposefully understaff their employees now

[@mustachesally4134]

90s malls were one of the best!

[@hectorlopez1069]

I miss the shopping and arcades too.

[@cheerstochow8755]

OK guys… Bear with me… I could break down in tears because in 1994 my grandmother and my father were still here and Christmases were so happy and now Christmas sucks

[@magicallyme96]

I feel you completely, my deepest condolences 💐

[@ville666sora]

Yeah. Christmas kind of just becomes sad and depressing once family members start passing away. I still celebrate but it's just not the same.

[@map3384]

I can surely relate. In 94 I was in my 20s and my parents were alive, my wife’s parents were alive, aunts and uncles both sides were with us. One by one we began losing loved ones.

[@nikkic4661]

Same but the year after my grandfather passed 🙁

[@Kyle-ur4mr]

@JustForFun-bh7lnthis is right. Time to take that feeling recreate it for your siblings, kids, nieces and nephews, etc

[@keith.s7139]

I can’t speak of times before I was born, but this looks like an amazing time to be alive. People seemed to dress nicer to.

[@christinarichie6171]

People had far more choice and the clothes were superior in every way.. We are being led into a dystopian hell hole now..

[@thenightporter]

​​@@christinarichie6171 even at Target you could get some nice quality clothes back then. Now it is all this cheap crap from China that looks like Walmart crap, "fast fashion," and it is contributing to climate change.

[@kwm123123]

Life before Amazon, Walmart and the whole internet thing. I sure wish we could go back to those times

[@christinekallmbah4685]

Me too!

[@justinjuerakhan7934]

I’m Gen Z and I usually prefer in store shopping most of the time!!!!

[@digitalthought]

Walmart was there long before Amazon and “the whole internet thing”. Walmart was very much a part of “those times” that you speak of.

[@justinjuerakhan7934]

@@digitalthought exactly I even seen old 90s walmart commercials!

[@thebestchannel5456]

​@@justinjuerakhan7934Yeah, but you had more choices back then, it seems

[@LL-bl8hd]

Back when malls were great! You felt like you were walking into a dream!

[@DuncanL7979]

Walking into a grand temple of consumerism

[@accordionSWE]

The goods for sale looks to be of high quality.

[@mountainpeakcloud8442]

@@DuncanL7979 Yes, and it was glorious!

[@11dsw]

Online is so much better… no traffic, parking, dragging stuff around. I like the 9os, but not this.

[@ronhoover5516]

@@DuncanL7979 Yeah, it sure was fun wasn't it?

[@gregorycomunale1550]

Oh wow actual civility, now it's oh the humanity. 😱

[@amandalogan8847]

I currently work 10 min from this exact mall. Crying tears of nostalgia right now.

[@quickpstuts412]

I bet it's changed a lot since then!

[@truthbetold6011]

I miss the 1990s 😫

[@brandylou86]

Me too!😢

[@chellastation]

Oh my goodness. Why can't we get shopping experiences like this again?! Everyone is so respectful, everyone just wants to get their shopping done and move forward with their lives. Back than when Macy's was paying employees double for working on the weekends too! 🛍

[@hillbillyHippie]

I love these videos. In 1994 I was 11 years old. So sad, how things used to be, and just how great they were compared to today. And thinking about alot of the older folks shopping Christmas for their families in these videos, are most likely past away now. 😢

[@tressydoll68]

2:14: “So I’m not gonna be on TV tonight?” No sir, not tonight but in 30 years from now. 😊

[@bargeld09]

Sorry, Sir no It won't be on TV tonight. it will be on KZbin many years from now. 😁

[@Laura-ch7fl]

I just had a flashback. At the beginning of this video, there is a woman that looks like she is trying to find someone. I remember that feeling! We had no cellphones and so we would set out watches and agree to meet at a certain spot at a certain time. But boy! If you forgot to do that, or someone didn’t follow the instructions or forgot their watch, it was AWFUL! It was so hard to try and find that person and sometimes I would walk back and forth up and down the mall trying to find the missing person. That person was usually my mother. Lol.

[@sandys2672]

Yes! And people were being paged on the loud speaker, “meet your party at the shoe dept” or wherever.

[@thenightporter]

​@@sandys2672I remember when I was in high school and my mom paged me at ar Target, using my first and last name. I was so embarrassed and prayed none of my classmates heard.

[@quickpstuts412]

OMG! Yes. Even though I was a teen back then I still look back on those days and sometimes forget that we didn't have cell phones and making sure you meet up and don't get lost. LOL

[@jonnyfendi2003]

no still do that to this day with my mother!!!!!

[@Cheekingmymeds]

I hate going to the mall now but I used to love going to the mall --- Now I see why; back then it was such a peaceful, wholesome experience - now it's mad chaos and the stores are not the same. As a young girl with no money, I was content to just go to the mall and get a coffee and walk around, it was a nice feeling -- now I only go if I'm out of White Barn Candles -- and I get in and get out quick.

[@meintingles4396]

Wow. Everyone was so thin. No one's gut was knocking merchandise off the shelves, breaking tiles on the floor beneath their mammoth girth. Amazing.

[@LifeOfMasson]

This is so wholesome, what has happened to us ):

[@bargeld09]

No respect. 😞Company's always looking to make a large profit without providing good service or quality merchandise. Soon we will not have any brick-and-mortar stores everything will be purchased online.

[@naomivought9317]

Phones, mass production, greedy corporations, corruption, war etc. ya know.

[@nerdbamarich2063]

Take me back 🥺

[@vampirerobot]

I wish I could

[@christinarichie6171]

I want to go back as an adult..

[@KL-tz3cm]

@@vampirerobotI think you are in this way…thank you for that

[@magicallyme96]

I don’t know how I jumped down this rabbit hole but I am not upset about it not one bit. Love your channel fellow time traveler lol 😊❤

[@jaquen1977]

And back in 1994 people were complaining that Christmas was too commercial and the “good old days” had come and gone. It’s nice to look back, but nostalgia distorts the truth of how things really were, and are today.

[@shahidmufti795]

great point!

[@alanreynolds4262]

You have a good point. 30 years from now could be very different. The way things are going, it's hard to imagine society improving aside from technology.

[@jerrysanders9101]

1:50 woman explains to customer about espresso machine- 3 things you’ll never see now, someone who knows about the items sold, someone who even cares, someone who values their job and does their best at it. A total thing of the past.

[@Bigreid92]

Spot on comment. I noticed that as well

[@jerrysanders9101]

@@Bigreid92 sad Reid.

[@melissahelen88]

There are still passionate clerks out there today, just fewer and farther between.. It is surprising now when you do interact with one, because it's not common as it once was.

[@jaquen1977]

This is a total lie that nobody cares for their jobs anymore.

[@RADIUMGLASS]

The last time I was in Macy's was 2017 and the men's department was dead. Shoes were scattered all over the floor and they had one guy working the shoes and the clothing area. Nobody bothers to put things back anymore. So sad.

[@thenightporter]

I interviewed at Macy's about 8 years ago for a Christmas part-time position. The HR offices were a dump. Cracked amd broken office cabinets , old carpet, etc. I turned them down.

[@rebeccaa2433]

I did visual merchandising for Macy's in 1994, so this was really cool to see! It was an interesting and fun job and it paid well too.

[@Yogagirl9935]

I loved going to the mall during the holiday season to see how they were decorated and the music, really put you in the Christmas spirit!

[@ville666sora]

Same. My local mall had a Christmas train for the kids to ride, and of course you could sit on Santa's lap lol.

[@cernogovno4064]

This is the real back to the future/past thank you so much I love your videos. ❤🧡💙

[@vampirerobot]

Thanks. That makes me happy 😄

[@psfanboy79]

I miss that 90s mall experience, sure the malls I went to are still open, but they are a far cry from their former glory

[@leftylisa6257]

Anyone watching this in 2023 wishing you were there?!?

[@ronhoover5516]

From the sound of it. literally everyone.

[@Stargazer771]

That lady customer at 14:46 was so glamorous!

[@kel7588]

Yep.....grace, style and classic beauty.

[@aruglaempire2518]

The good ole days!

[@jannydots3870]

When Christmas shopping was fun and full of the spirit. I had that Krups Espresso Maker shown in the beginning of the video.

[@nikkole9951]

I was 8 years old in 94. This reminds me of going to the mall with my mom. Oh the memories! She’d always buy me a cookie to keep me happy while she shopped and that’s what I remember most. 😢

[@evernight.]

I was -8 years old in 94

[@sheilaatif6906]

​@@evernight.That makes 3 of us... 1986 baby's all 3 of in this comment section was born almost 40 years ago lol. We're getting old lol. 38 in March lol.... The 90s was the best time ever. It takes me back to my power ranger day's back in 93 and 94. The good old days 😊😊😊😊😊

[@evernight.]

@@sheilaatif6906 No, you misread it 😂. I was minus 8 in 94'. I am 21 😂

[@LadyK007]

Same!!!!

[@liamwatson5125]

@@evernight.I was 4 years old in 94

[@andreww1212]

This is a trip, man. I remember going xmas shopping with my mom in Fortunoff back in 1996. Place was jammed and the displays were so elaborate. Even as a kid it was exhausting. Now all of that doesn't even exist anymore. The stores look thinner and thinner around the holidays.

[@atsu6165]

Seeing the Bill Cosby sweaters in the glass cases was awesome!

[@bottledcow8450]

Weird to see a Macy's so full of people. I went to my local Macy's yesterday and it was almost dead.

[@Bigreid92]

Shopping at Macys, a regional Department Store, even Sears or JC Penney was an excellent experience. It was a way of life back in 80’s and 90’s

[@bottledcow8450]

@@Bigreid92 I always went with my family to the Macy's in downtown Seattle into the 2010s around Christmas time and it was still full of life. I was definitely sad to see it go a few years ago but I guess the rest of the year probably wasn't so good for them and even Christmas time by that point had become less populated.

[@quickpstuts412]

At least you still have one! I have to drive across the city now.

[@DamianWard96]

More macys please! ❤

[@liamwatson5125]

Maybe ones with the IBM 4610 thermal printers. Macy’s replaced all their existing Model 3 printers with the homophonic Model 4 printers. And then they were replaced with the 4610 Suremarks.

[@dougmorris9317]

The Monday after Thanksgiving 1994 I was 33 and in the appliances dept at Macy's buying a Mr. Coffee for my grandmother for Christmas. A different Macy's but my gosh did this take me back! 😮 Now I'm 62, our Macy's is gone, so are my parents and grandparents. 😢

[@zeeke05]

Times long of great hospitality and customer service.

[@pslay9324]

You really have excellent footage of how wonderful humans acted towards others. I 100% love your channel. I just got back from Target with my 20 year old daughter, things are so different now. You could almost feel the safe environment back then and tonight I was looking over my shoulders.

[@vampirerobot]

Glad you made it back Okay..in all seriousness your absolutely correct... it's not the same. People will say otherwise. But we all know it isn't. Thanks for the nice comment ☺️

[@jaquen1977]

Crime was higher overall in the mid 90s in the US vs today.

[@thenightporter]

@@jaquen1977 I think there was higher crime in certain parts of the country, like larger cities. Nowadays it is everywhere.

[@ATLKing404]

there were a shit ton of muggings that happened that year. the crime rate was actually higher back then

[@JTSuter]

Damn, this is right down the street from me. I didn't even notice until I saw the food court/escalators in the end.

[@jaydenp4975]

Another reason why I love KZbin. Where do you guys find all these amazing videos? Thank you for sharing them woth the world!

[@aaronmaynard8890]

You don't see stores full of merchandise like that anymore.

[@richardboyer2774]

Wow! You have a new subscriber! I love these old videos. Feeling so nostalgic. I miss these times. Thank you for posting.

[@nickro7722]

The Macy's bags haven't changed in 29 years.

[@14Titus]

This is when the Malls had it all

[@maryw3643]

Those Tommy Hilfiger jackets bring back so many memories.

[@metalgrinch]

I remember going to these stores with my mom back then, and though I appreciate this now, Macy's was SUCH an ordeal back then. Just paying for clothing took FOREVER! The phone calls, the coat rack removal, the security tag removal, the typing blah blah in the computer, running the credit card, yadda yadda! Omg and that printing noise! Lol!!

[@thedailyhummm]

Yeah but still is better than nowadays, with all that’s going on, the future seems uncertain

[@laurenchristianna2092]

Yessir. Do you happen to be old enough to remember that ancient ass credit card copier? I thought that was so cool. As a young kid I kinda wanted to work at a clothing store just to handle the copier. 🤦🏾‍♀️😂

[@katem6861]

It was ok because we weren’t so busy anyway 😂 not like today when we do everything online ourselves that used to be someone else’s job

[@daisydukes8252]

I loved that noise the machine used to make.

[@syminite1]

Dang!! 94 Married with Children was still on tv!! 😃

[@heathermanning5368]

Love these videos!!! 💚❤️🎄🥰Better times indeed!

[@Hugginsince79]

I need the set lady at 3:45 was looking at. Thats my vibe lol.

[@aimeemoore1094]

Love old videos thank you it's relaxing

[@deasvail99]

Roommate: "What are you so interested in?" Me: "Watching a video of people shopping at Macy's 30 years ago." Roommate:...

[@zigforjustice]

9:58 -- strange nostalgia hearing that receipt printer

[@rknine7998]

I had a very nice and cozy childhood during the 1990s! I remember at 14:15 the noise made when the receipt printed!

[@dakotavizuet5371]

It sad when mall are closing down I am born 1994 I still a little kid I love mall I used to go there hang out with some friends

[@apl175]

So much nostalgia seeing IBM SurePOS software and equipment from the mid90s on those little color VGA monitors.

[@liamwatson5125]

Little? They’re huge.

[@SteveV74]

Wow, just wow

[@ronhoover5516]

No Macy's I've been to in the last 15 years was ever so busy.

[@ThenativeIraqi]

oh My God I was there today ! didn't realize it was that old !! I was 8 years old in the video in my country Iraq that time !

[@reneenylen6412]

Ah, the sweet sound of dot matrix printers! I was 14 in ‘96, worked at Gottschalk’s (RIP) when I was 16. The malls were the place to be!

[@AurumUsagi]

First time I've seen those IBM 4683s with Aptiva-style CRTs. Though I have seen plenty with the newer Model 3/3F printer, and rarely the Model 4 taken from the 4694. Disney used them in their theme parks before they switched to NCRs.

[@thatjpwing]

I was always curious as to what software they were running on these IBM machines, because it wasn’t General Sales Application

[@AurumUsagi]

@@thatjpwing Got to be something custom or cross-platform. The non-standard Aptiva-style monitors are very unusal for a typical 4683/94 setup, so that also explains why it's not using the usual IBM software.

[@liamwatson5125]

Both the Model 3 and 4 printers made the same noise. Not many printers are homophones, where they make the same noise but look different.

[@AurumUsagi]

@@liamwatson5125 It's because they have the same print engine. In fact, when the 4694 was introduced, the Model 4 was designed specifically to match the aesthetics of the 4694 (and also be compatible with it), which included having an angled base that can clip onto the chassis of the 4694. Both were still in production until 2005, though the Model 3 continued production as the Model 3F after it was superceded by the Model 4, due to the Model 4 lacking fiscal logic for countries where local laws require EPOS printers to have the capability of recording transactions for the purpose of taxation enforcement. The Model 3F has the same case as the original Model 3, but has the upgraded specifications of the Model 4, and of course, the fiscal logic required in some countries.

[@liamwatson5125]

@@AurumUsagi Then after that, we had the IBM 4610 thermal printer which was a quiet replacement to those noisy boxes. It had an angled base too to clip onto the chassis of the 4694. Toward the 21st century, people wanted major retailers not to be too noisy as a result of impact printers. I loved that thermal multifunction printer.

[@insomniex]

*On that day, I was 8 months and 17 days old.*

[@ash34005]

I can’t believe more people didn’t ask why you were walking around the mall with a video camera and recording them, but I’m glad you did. I was 13 in 1994 and the mall was the place to be.

[@mrsandmom5947]

30 yrs ago… how can that be!? I miss the sound of heels on the store floor. Weird it came back to me watching this.

[@-NateTheGreat]

I worked at the mall Christmas of 94. I was 19, just started college. I worked at Radio Shack. I had to wear a shirt and tie and got paid $4.25 an hour plus commission. Coolest Job ever.

[@ronanon9253]

I think this was the first Macy’s in the DC area, before Federated bought Macy’s and eventually homogenized all the regional nameplates under their name. So 1994 was just about the last gasp of the original Macy’s chain. I lived not too far from Pentagon City when this was made. Hard to believe almost 30 years ago now.

[@geve8473]

Macys was the rich people store 😂 but then I caught on to the coupons and credit card

[@RADIUMGLASS]

Just imagine how much of all of that eventually ended up in thrift shops.

[@au_barb]

I see this sort of stuff in them all the time.

[@ronhoover5516]

I think the Macy's by me still has a lot of this on its shelves.

[@carolgimenez5169]

Love the register noise ❤

[@alexis_253]

I wonder what I was doing at 3 years old this exact time this was filmed. I love this “old” footage!

[@SzLaurie]

What a much better class of people we once were.

[@JimmyFoxhound]

The early 90s was peak mall awesomeness. I remember being in school at that time and hanging out at the mall and taking trips to the larger malls in the city. It was sooo much fun to hang out with friends at the arcade or the food court! Man do I miss it. The old mall is still here near me but it's half empty now and just feels depressing walking through it. It's wild how much the internet has changed things.

[@empressdiva50]

The good old days; when America felt and looked all around American!!!

[@jessicarettally6534]

Nutcracker playing on the background❤

[@akunamatatalopez3963]

Man early 2000s, 90s 80s etc were fun! What happened to our world?

[@toddswartz3510]

The consumer economy was so strong in the mid 90s!!! Good times.

[@Lizzyoldfashionedmemories]

Oh wow. The young man so nicely dressed and working so respectfully. ❤

[@MarkMeadows90]

Haha, they still sell those Tools of the Trade cookware sets. Cheaply made, but a good starter kit.

[@vampirerobot]

Interesting...must be a good return on their investment to keep distributing them after all this time.

[@dapper892]

Man. Woulda been 10 here. This one hits hard. Looks like my own mall.

[@lonelinessinmilan6486]

Tons of merchandise, and shoppers that are feeling it... that is prosperity. It's too bad that our parents walked opened eyed into a trap, a banker's trap.

[@claudiacorral4559]

Good times. Human interaction and not an app. I wish it could be like that again. We live in a chaotic sad lonely world.

[@davidkublin4446]

In 85 I worked at Lord and Taylor in the mens dept. Braintree Mass.

[@brandylou86]

I miss those days.

[@cmartinm98]

Wow. Macy’s wasn’t around where I grew up until 2003-2005. I remembered all of the Macy’s stores in my area were all Lazarus at the time until 2003 when it merged with Macy’s and then dropped the Lazarus nameplate in 2005.

[@mollies13]

I pretty sure all that pan kitchen gagdet are all in the landfield now

[@sidneywedge2477]

This was my sign to start filming people in kroger lol 30 years from now, I’ll do the same.

[@brandonlongwell8093]

Yes! Can you do please Shopping at Target in Christmas 2004.

[@LiLgPnoy15]

Malls were the spot back in the day. I kinda miss those days.

[@melaniexoxo]

I miss in store shopping. I love the convenience of online, but this was its own fun 😂❤

[@k.d.3213]

The nostalgia! I just can't believe how much time has passed. I am sincerely looking to purchase one the 1990s cash registers. If anyone can guide me on where to purchase would be great

[@user-pl6ou3ig8m]

Now I walk into macys and it’s always so empty with only one cashier!

[@motorheadbanger7720]

Oh God if I could go back in time

[@maryshellsmith6627]

If we only knew what was ahead, and how the world would be in 29 years- we would have been HORRIFIED! 😳Things beyond our wildest imagination! 😳 The world is an absolute HORRIBLE place today! Take me back to 1994, please!! 🫣

[@kingreich22]

Cosby sweaters galore!

[@LIFEWITHTHEJONESES1]

I remember going there and Tysons corner all the time when i was a kid visiting my family in D.C

[@stonersiren]

love how it's crowded, full of people, but no contempt towards the others just for existing in the same space. could never be the case in europe

[@showguyer]

Its like a step back in time at everyday life