DEAD MALL - CARY TOWNE CENTER: An Epic Future

[@marykimbro70]

This mall has since been torn down. I got my prom dresses there, at DEB and from the Cinderella project.

[@MercurySable-jb3by]

I went to Cary Towne center as a kid, I remember riding on a carousel in the center of a Sky dome inside, and now it's all gone.. now being converted into an Epic Games building. I hope Triangle Town and Crabtree don't die too.

[@yumerepaint8287]

SAME The carousel was one of the best parts Also the soft pretzels and bee play area 😅

[@jasburger]

Your channel probably the most underrated one I've seen yet

[@UniCommProductions]

Hopefully this will be my year! Thank you!

[@jasburger]

@@UniCommProductions you're welcome

[@yumerepaint8287]

Does anyone remember the carousel, bee play area, and the projector games? Hey yo, also who else used to go trick or treating here as a kid?

[@warrenlemay8134]

I ate here once when I was doing my University of Cincinnati Co-Op in Raleigh during the summer of 2017. It looked sad then. Crabtree Valley Mall and Southpoint Mall definitely had more going on. Belk also always seems to be the last department store out in the dying malls in North Carolina, like Biltmore Square Mall. Of course, that Belk, by the time it closed, was not utilizing much of the interior space for anything, and I remember being inside and seeing that, it was so bizarre and jarring.

[@athorpe630]

I worked there right out of high school almost 2 years. But eventually it was torn down I guess wasn't taking in enough. Now something else is in its place. Kind of sad because it was a really night mall.

[@brentcampbell9931]

Great review of this mall. Thank you for posting and reviewing this one. I used to go here as a teenager in the nineties. I remember it when it was a booming mall with 100% capacity as far as the stores go. It still looks nice. I am surprised they will demolish it. Very sad it could not be saved. I definitely have memories there. That’s the future of online shopping.

[@alyssabelle817]

Thank you for posting this one. Unfortunately, where you said it was the closed off JC Penney’s entrance, there was a whole two wings of the mall plus a food court. That area lead to a corridor with many shop, that then led to the center court and the old JCP and Macy’s entrance, which led to two offshoots- a corridor to Sears and to the food court. There was so much to this mall back in the day and I have so many memories with it. It was sad to see it go.

[@teresahardy9962]

So sad. All the favorite malls I went to are gone. Its sad to see.

[@UniCommProductions]

It is, and the best thing we can do is document them while we still can

[@fisitron7256]

You can still feel the Jacobs in this one. One thing I will note: Richland never went by Richland Fashion Square during its lifetime as far as I know. It went from Richland Mall to Richland Fashion Mall to Midtown at Forest Acres and then back to Richland Mall.

[@UniCommProductions]

For some reason, Richland Fashion Mall turned into Richland Fashion Square between my spreadsheet and my script.

[@fisitron7256]

@@UniCommProductions Don’t worry, it has happened to me before too. I’ve had to catch myself before I accidentally label it as “Richland Fashion Square” multiple times. (Jacobs did develop a Fashion Square though, in Saginaw) Great video though!

[@bridgetgidget72]

Neat video! I moved away from Cary a little over a year ago. It’s nice (but eerie) to see your documentaries

[@UniCommProductions]

Cary seems like a really nice area-so nice in fact that real estate is in high demand which is why this mall didn’t completely empty out before they closed it. Thank you for watching!

[@frankhinshaw7109]

My now-wife and I spent a fair amount of time in this mall circa 1997 to 2004. Was still quite nice then. Thanks for the video.

[@ChiaraWii]

Thank you for this. I did not get the chance to remanence on this mall. Cary Towne was an amazing mall in its prime.

[@noahr4951]

Heck yeah, new Unicomm vid. This mall looks in really good shape and still has a little life left in it. Sleep well gentle giant.

[@Shootingstarcomics]

This was a nice mall just a few short years ago. I hate they had that long corridor blocked off when you went, there was a short stairway you go up (maybe a dozen steps) and there was a ramp on each side. At the end of the long hall there was a small triangle of short corridors that made kind of a loop. I need to visit the three story Four Seasons Mall in Greensboro again soon. That was my childhood mall and it was getting a little iffy the last time I was there a few years ago.

[@UniCommProductions]

Four Seasons Mall from what I understand is still doing pretty well--I drove past it on my way to Cary and it was quite busy.

[@Shootingstarcomics]

@@UniCommProductions That’s good to hear. I will try to visit around Christmas, they should be at their best then. I know it will never be as great as it was but it’ll be nice to just walk around.

[@MarksKicksOnRoute66]

I may have missed the premier which I hate. However it's something nice to watch on a snowy Saturday morning with a cup of coffee. The "purple haze" intro was cool. Great job UP and Kristin and CO.

[@UniCommProductions]

KZbin decided to be inconsiderate last night-even a few of my fellow DMOD members didn’t get the ping! Thank you for watching, Mark!

[@pingudude2409]

4:26 Hey there's Jaden's catchphrase from Yu-Gi-Oh GX

[@real2806]

I use to work at Macy's in this mall and Mallwalked there many times. There was a Radio Shack that had great cellphone deals.

[@UniCommProductions]

I wish I’d gotten to see in its heyday. This is definitely among the fanciest/nicest dead malls I’ve ever covered.

[@deannadrake2040]

Lol, I used to work at a restaurant in CTC called Spinnakers back in the late 90's.

[@cooperjackson614]

I used to work at Cobbler's Express, in the early 90s, at the "uncool" Sears end of the mall. I was friends with most of the other employees of such stores as Glamor Shots, a tux rental shop, a beauty salon, and other low totem pole stores. We had some high times and formed a tight bond against the more popular store mall employees. Very sad to see this mall, like most others, going under. Damn you Jeff Bezos, but really it's our own fault. Convenience.

[@jeslowe72401]

Great work like always. I always love getting notifications of your new videos because I know it's worth the watch. Keep it up!

[@UniCommProductions]

Thank you Jessica!

[@JeffreyJakucyk]

I totally recognize the rest stop/welcome center at the NC/VA border on I-77. I may even have parked in that exact spot. I'm such a dork.

[@UniCommProductions]

No no I would do that too lol, especially if it’s a drive I make a lot. I tend to always stop at the same spots!

[@rosemarylopez5738]

Awesome mall video. You are doing a great job!

[@petercampbell4985]

Malls are dead lets be honest. I remember this place fondly tho. I went to Cary High class of 09, and going across the street to the food court for lunch was so easy. Its sad, cool, and interesting to watch this video. You can't stop change.

[@UniCommProductions]

No, the closing of a lot of malls is pretty inevitable. My aim in making these videos isn’t to save the malls it’s to document them before they’re gone for the people who went there.

[@petercampbell4985]

@@UniCommProductions Keep doing what you're doing. I appreciate it; it was nice to see one I can relate to.

[@jakobsaunders606]

The floor, ceiling, lights, everything really gives me library vibes.

[@yumerepaint8287]

okay but why was the cary public library the goat of all libraries Call it nostalgia, but it was small, cozy, not overwhelming, had everything you could ever want to read, book clubs, a big carpet room used for events and anyone who wanted to read there, and it was FREE

[@DanielGarcia1980]

Such a shame! :-( That was a real nice mall for as dead as it was. Great video Unicomm!!

[@retail.kid95]

Absolutely loved the video!! Glad that you mentioned the Oak Tree, it was an important staple to this mall. I know my February plans to visit CTC are in the gutter, but this video really helped to see what has become of the mall. See ya later Cary Village!

[@Steve.Cutler]

This was no cookie cutter mall design. A lot of thought went into the design. It's such a shame to lose it, but that's progress.

[@TheodoretheGameboy]

6:34 They put a White Wall at the mall

[@UniCommProductions]

An extremely disappointing white wall.

[@mattsidhu1931]

Thanks for making this video. I missed out going to this mall on it's closing day. At least I will always have this video as a reference for the mall that was part of my childhood.

[@UniCommProductions]

My only regret is that I was not able to provide a full walkthrough. thank you for watching!

[@yumerepaint8287]

SAME!

[@mattsidhu1931]

Wow this is kind of eerie I randomly thought about this video today and someone responded lol.

[@campagnollo]

The mall building is still standing as of this posting, but only because Dave and Buster’s are holding out; they’re awaiting their new building to be completed nearby.

[@UniCommProductions]

That makes sense. 2024 is kind of a long ways off. I’m not sure how much of the original structure Epic intends to keep.

[@curtg7396]

Always enjoy your videos,very well done.This place looks like it’s been taken care of and it’s sad to see it go. BTW,my two favorite names of mall stores/shops have got to be “Pants Explosion” and “Wig Island”!

[@UniCommProductions]

There are some weird ones out there for sure.

[@jeee1074]

Rackspace bought the former Windsor Park Mall in San Antonio Texas. Rackspace redeveloped the mall buildings and kept some mall elements in place. I wonder if the same will happen here.

[@UniCommProductions]

I’m very curious about how much, if any, of the mall will remain intact.

[@adamdavenport6421]

I still miss the spinnakers and the India garden Indian restaurant that was there back in the late nineties

[@mst3kanita]

I swear a heard a couple of bars of wilson philipp's "hold on". Belk stays though anything. We have a super sad one in Franklin, VA.

[@UniCommProductions]

...you may have. :D you may also have heard How Can I Fall by Breathe in there too haha. Belk seems remarkably resilient, they were the last anchor standing at Knoxville Center too

[@jholder1966]

Great vid as always Kristen ..thanks

[@JeffreyJakucyk]

Huh, I had no idea. My parents live about an hour to the southwest and this is still the closest enclosed mall that doesn't require circumnavigating Ft. Bragg, only to get to Cross Creek which is a rather dowdy if not sketchy mall. So we used to go up around Christmas and hit Crossroads and Cary Towne Center (also went to Southpoint once but that's another 20 minutes away minimum). Probably only did it a dozen times at most since 2000. A shame the food court was already blocked off, that's the one place I remember most with a big skylight over the central dining area and a direct entrance from the parking lot facing south, so it was always very light. Carey is so much "the place to be" it's like seeing Kenwood go the way of Eastgate or Tri-County.

[@UniCommProductions]

I feel like the mall was just on too valuable of a piece of land to sit with that many empty department stores. The area around it is still quite nice and thriving

[@mattsidhu1931]

@@UniCommProductions Cary as a whole is thriving. It's the safest city in America with a population of over 150K. The median income of families in Cary is 100K. I know I sound like some business guy trying to market Cary but it's depressing in the sense that this mall failed in a place that it shouldn't have struggled. If a mall can't succeed in a place like Cary it's a sign of how malls across the US are going to all eventually go out of business. Just sad and depressing sign of the times that malls will be a relic of the past much like drive in movie theaters.

[@UniCommProductions]

The immediate area has several more modern and more upscale shopping centers; having visited it feels entirely possible that the tenant mix at CTC wasn’t upscale enough for the upper-middle-class residents.

[@markstrouse3101]

Great video like always

[@syxepop]

HI, Kristin! Sorry that I couldn't comment on the live cast, but I was SHOPPING at my hometown's Burlington*, being a day I could properly shop without crowds (no Christmas season and the liberation on schedules done by the new Governor that was efective today, January 8th). Probably the most interesting thing about this particular mall was the mention that it was just announced that it would be bulldozed later in '21 to make way for Epic Games new HQ', moving from elsewhere in town. I've originally didn't get the mention that you hadn't been there in a FORTNIGHT, but after Googling about Epic Games I then realized what you've meant was FORTNITE, one of the most infamous "freemium" online games out there, that they co-develeped (great play on words, madam). I'm NOT a gamer, but I can recognize marketing trends when I see them... Now I feel that's a better use for a property than that of one that may or may not serve as a "mixed use center" (many times those are not successful). Hope Epic Games takes on your offer for a video tour of the completed facility. * it is on one of the Island malls Sam (Brick Immortar) already documented, Santa Rosa Mall

[@UniCommProductions]

What can I say the opportunity to make a terrible pun presented itself and I took it!

[@francesconicoletti2547]

If they made The Twilight Zone today, it should be set in a mall like this. I live in Australia & I’ve been down corridors indistinguishable from those of this mall here. Combine that with almost no outside access and the off key music playing, the place feels more like a maze in purgatory the something in our reality.

[@UniCommProductions]

Some of these places are so empty and so intact and clean that it can be really unsettling.

[@yumerepaint8287]

Every time I tried to go in in the last three years I only got halfway through the first hallway and then 🏃🏃🏃💨

[@mr.murfles3509]

I was wondering, has this mall been torn down already? Or is it abandoned?

[@UniCommProductions]

It has permanently closed but as of the last update I was given it was still standing and not much work had been done yet. I would presume that in the case of this mall they still have some pretty hardcore security keeping an eye on the place and it's in a pretty well traveled area.

[@ajvark]

"Dead Mall - Cary Town Center" from a distance looks like it says "Devil May Cry Town Center"

[@UniCommProductions]

Oddly appropriate considering it’s future as a studio that makes video games!

[@katz4911]

this is so sad bc i have so many memories here :(

[@timothywalker4563]

Here today gone tomorrow 😌

[@UniCommProductions]

In the case of this one, gone yesterday. It was demolished a couple months ago :)

[@StunninglySteph46]

Very sad how all disappearances

[@piedmontrf81]

I live here... epic games bought it. Good for them, bad for me. My favorite train store was there, and o can’t trust online nor the other train store in the area

[@UniCommProductions]

Oh no! As someone with a lot of niche hobbies who lives in a small city, I feel your pain--the closest decent camera store to me is almost 3 hours away. I hope your train shop can find a new place to reopen.

[@piedmontrf81]

@@UniCommProductions thank you! The owner is hoping to find space, but knowing Cary it’s pretty hard

[@darkangel2347]

They could sell Durrr burgers at this mall for a time.

[@hypermarketed]

2024 no Epic future in sight.

[@UniCommProductions]

Where are they at with it? I know the mall was at least partially torn down.

[@hypermarketed]

@@UniCommProductions I'll go take a look tomorrow but I think it's still just Dillards standing if I remember correctly. I'm sure Epic leaving us in limbo for this long is no good sign. They have had to cut alot of jobs. Who knows thr future for that once great mall. Cheers and thx for the video!

[@hypermarketed]

@@UniCommProductions Sorry totally forgot to get back to ya. I correct myself, it is Belk that is still standing. That's all that is left and now weeds coming up where Sears was! Going to stop by the next town council meeting to see if I can hear a whisper on zoning. Cheers.

[@tonysop6617]

I blame everyone who shops Amazon and related places

[@snakeboren4814]

FN'1ST!!!!

[@UniCommProductions]

SNAAAAAAAAKE

[@snakeboren4814]

@@UniCommProductions KKKKKKRRRRRIIIISSSSSTTTTTTTEEEEENNNNN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[@MrButch-ls8vl]

Honestly, Kristin, all I see is beige. Monochromatic floor tiles. More beige. Cheap generic lighting fixtures. Bland, bland bland. More beige. (Yawn)

[@UniCommProductions]

I’ll admit the aesthetics of this mall didn’t exactly send me-it was last remodeled in 2011 and it shows.

[@retail.kid95]

Cbl conducted this renovation, luckily it wasn't white washed, but I agree the aesthetics were stripped in 2011.