Dead Mall: Lakeforest Mall - Gaithersburg, MD *Closing March 31, 2023*

Dead Mall: Lakeforest Mall - Gaithersburg, MD *Closing March 31, 2023*. In this video, I take a stroll through this old Taubman beast. Sadly after 44 years of business and several owners, the mall closes its doors for good on March 31, 2023 with plans to demolish it in 2024. However those plans are not concrete just yet. Anyway, back in October, I got to visit this mall for my first and only time and I was blown away by the roof of the place. I hope you enjoy the walk around the place.
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#lakeforest #deadmall #wallieb26

[@anniemae3858]

They need to change them into play grounds and biking areas for the kids, especially in the colder states. Let these kids play

[@Christopher0817]

What a beautiful mall this is. Those skylights are just awsome. Just a shame to see the way it is and sad to hear it is closing soon.

[@chopcornpopstick]

had no idea it was closing down, dang. spent so much time here as a kid. sad the fountain and conversation area weren't there for you, and us, to see. appreciate the walk-through, thanks for the upload.

[@gaylenewood7707]

I enjoy listening to you talk about these places it's your passion and that what counts and its sad that mall is gonna be replaced with an ugly building😭😭.

[@JR_SupportOurHeroes]

Thanks for the video. Lived near Lakeforest Mall for over 28 years.

[@maccustoms2295]

It's sad I remember going to the mall alot when I was a kid and now it seems more and more malls are closing. This mall looks like it would have been awesome to see in person Thanks Wallie for sharing this awesome video have a great weekend

[@oscarlemus8153]

Only a few more days

[@Charlie1821]

Thanks for capturing its final days. I lived nearby in the mid 2000s and saw it start to go downhill. Also KMFDM?! awesome.

[@MichaelSelby-mq8cl]

Really sad beautiful place. Another great video wallieb26

[@RoundenBrown]

I remember eating at the Long John Silver's. Good times.

[@Mr.TylerSC]

When I visit Gaithersburg I always visit the nice Roy Rogers in the strip center near the mall, and then would also venture into the mall and shop at Macy's. I remember back when that Macy's used to be Hecht's.

[@robertmailhos8159]

Dead mall are becoming more and more common😮

[@nickpatrick1636]

Yep

[@skyesyd221]

Hm

[@jjgaming2.]

True. I have Charlottesville Fashion Square near me.

[@edwardsr70]

And Amazon is turning them into warehouses

[@robertmailhos8159]

@@edwardsr70 that is the truth about that matter strange thing is that I know of the Amazon fulfillment center in Bibb county Georgia Macon Georgia

[@resentertainment1990]

I used to go here all of the time in the mid to late 2000’s when I was a teenager. Sad to see it go.

[@jet34thehawk]

Wow awesome mall video

[@Joelsef]

Thank you for covering this mall. This was my mall growing up. I never knew how good we had it. This is one of the nicer designed malls I've seen around the US. If you want a similar one, Taubman also built Fair Oaks Mall in Fairfax, VA. It looks eerily similar.

[@Mr.TylerSC]

Yes Fair Oaks Mall in neighboring suburban Fairfax, Virginia has a similar Taubman design and remains open with Macy's as anchor in the old Hecht's spot and the original Macy's is now their furniture store.

[@diamonddave45]

You were in my neck of the woods yet again. If you ever make it to Fredericksburg, VA that would be awesome.

[@fangirl1963]

I'm going to miss this mall so much I remember going to this mall when I was like 3 years old it was one of my favorite places!😩💕

[@jaimienichols5649]

Awesome Wallie

[@robertsmith9773]

Sad! Great video

[@electro_sykes]

they should turn it into a community space

[@DanT271]

That's a cool old mall I really dig the structural design love the history dialogue another great video thanks Wallie!

[@madamhummingbird]

Great send off for a beautiful mall, Wallie. Music so good. What is the name of the song? Thx for sharing. RIP Lakefront Mall.

[@yolandairene]

Great video and music.

[@VintageVinny]

I grew up in Montgomery County and we used to go to this mall all of the time. It really is sad that it is just a memory now, but I do hope that with the redevelopment of the land that it makes that area a whole lot more safe than it has been.

[@samrose6106]

I like the video keep it up Wallib26

[@JasonPlays22]

Great video! The mall videos might be my favorite type of videos on your channel. They are all great though ha ha

[@catspjs6229]

Man this just looks like a vintage 80s mall. This place was probably poppin!

[@tommydekker1841]

I live in Montgomery County and it is said to see this mall go. Montgomery Mall and Tysons have really taken over as the go to places to shop, so this mall really did not stand a chance.

[@jjgaming2.]

I have been waiting for another mall video after I watched Charlottesville Fashion Square. 🙂

[@cheaplaughkennedy2318]

You weren’t far from me. I’ve never been to that mall though. Enjoyed watching, thanks Wallie👍

[@MitchellPartycenter2001]

1st White Flint Mall Closes And Now This Mall

[@daniellewoolley8607]

Here in Virginia Beach Virginia and Norfolk there are only two malls left Lynnhaven Mall and the Norfolk outlet mall. Just last year one mall closed and Military Circle Mall closed just this year. Military Circle mall was a very dangerous place few people were killed and a former coworker of mine was robbed and beaten

[@shainahullihen1159]

@daniellewoolley8607, I've been to Virginia ( Suffolk and Norfolk) pretty cool places. My brother was stationed and lived there. He was in the Navy and the ship he was on retired in 2012. I went to a mall in Suffolk but only to Macy's. Is Military Circle a big mall or just one store? My brother took my parents and I to a Military store in Norfolk but I don't know the name. It has a food court, toys, furniture, clothes, music entertainments and jewelry. It's almost like a Walmart or Target. I also loved Virginia Beach.

[@daniellewoolley8607]

Shaina Hullihen it's called Military Circle Mall and usually malls are big. At the Naval Station base it's called the Naval Exchange

[@formerx]

Been there a few times. I recall the fountains as well. Nice video bro

[@cyarrick]

Last time there was 2017 went to silver diner and had lunch with friends. I used to go all the time for the Texas BBQ but sad to see it close last time I went by was when sears closed haven't driven by it since.

[@SirCashopin]

Happy birthday, Wallie

[@gmb4648]

I went on the weekend during rain. The smell emanating from some of the shops that were shuttered was HORRIBLE. There was also a point in one of the ceilings where you could literally see a small hole with light coming from it. One of the shops also had water dripping on the floor with a massive puddle. What was really concerning was that the lower level stores smelt as bad as the top. The water had to have been seeping into the lower levels. The elevator also smelt like sweat and garlic.

[@whitneyfan9019]

I haven’t been here since 2009 but I remember it being extremely crowded back in the day. Sad to see it now.

[@datmama1349]

Today is the day the final day of 44 years of lake forest mall

[@michaelcoffey7362]

WOW 🥰

[@davidbreckell7521]

Another amazing video, it was your dead malls videos that switched me on to your channel a couple of years ago. Good to see your still doing them. It's always interesting (and sad) watching the slow death of retail and I guess the increasing irrelevance of the 80's/90's culture and way of life I grew up in. Love the music (Waterfromnt Dining are always on point for these types of video.)

[@jjgaming2.]

Happy birthday wallie 🙂

[@jjgaming2.]

Happy birthday wallie 🙂

[@willbygosh4887]

Just too many malls,it's hey day was in the 80's and 90's.

[@GlobalMapperGuy]

R.I.P Lakeforest Mall

[@sonhuynh8222]

Scenes like this are SO sad to see ….. god damn internet and online shopping has made people lazy to come out and anti social to just stay inside like a hermit

[@90scarguy]

I miss going to the mall to get laid and hang out with friends. Those were fun days back in the 90s

[@lindamikel7913]

Happy Friday Wallie and What You Gonna be Doing Tomorrow so Be Closing Next Friday Dead Mail You Won't See this Anymore After March.

[@carolinacrosswordsscratche8892]

As a teenager I saw Chuck Norris in person at Military Circle Mall! My sister loved Piccadilly Cafeteria!

[@asamojomaster]

I stayed at the Holiday Inn just across the street back in 2011. I was visiting Washington DC and New York via Worldstrides. I didn't know that there was a mall because 1. I was new to the area, 2. It was often dark when we pulled into the hotel's parking lot, 3. All those trees obscuring the mall. and 4. No one (those who were part of the trip including me) was allowed to leave the hotel for security reasons.

[@skyebird3933]

Thanks for covering the mall closing. I don't understand why they closed a place that already had skating, movie theater, stores, things to do only to tear it down and put other things for families to do???

[@phanindra2008]

Ask the mayor of G'burg...it's money!!!

[@f.michaelbremer-cruz2708]

I live just a few miles from Lakeforest Mall and appreciate you having captured a walking tour of it just before it closed. When I moved to Gaithersburg more than 20 years ago, it was such a nice place with lots of great stores. The fountains in center court were pretty, however they had a lot of calcium build up from our rather hard water. By the time they were removed, the calcium looked like thick frozen snow. Either way, they would have had to go. It is sad to see such a beautifully designed structure reach a point of no longer being useful. It's a great example of late 20th Century mall architecture. But hopefully it is replaced by something that brings new life to that part of town. There's a brand new 700,000 square foot Biosciences lab being built a few blocks from this site. Hopefully that will help spur redevelopment plans at this site that are beneficial to our community. Thanks for sharing this.

[@williamlindner3984]

Hey Wallie ... The last day for Fuddruckers in York Pa is this Sunday. Might make a good video...

[@Dulcimertunes]

I miss ‘malling’

[@Orefamilylawncare]

I remember visiting this mall when I came up for schooling. I've been saying for YEARS that "online shopping" would be the death of malls. People are just too lazy to go out to shop and interact with each other.

[@Dulcimertunes]

Covid didn’t help

[@therealpinoyhapa]

Well this is a national trend. Major department stores that were anchors to malls have closed. I remember Lakeforest Mall as I used to live in Rockville and shopped there years ago. I wonder if Montgomery Mall will or has closed also. Thank you for sharing this.

[@dvferyance]

Montgomery Mall is still doing well. I doubt it's going anywhere anytime soon.

[@therealpinoyhapa]

@@dvferyance Thank you for letting me know. That is good news 😀

[@jennifergraham9679]

that lord and Taylors was the best one, sad to see it go.

[@gmpny3945]

It's sad to see so many mall closings all over the country. Some may blame the pandemic, while others say increased online shopping and the failure of the anchor stores are the cause. Whatever the reason is, the result isn't good. I will miss going to the malls on a rainy weekend and especially during the holidays. I never walked out empty handed.

[@gmb4648]

I don't think all malls are at risk of closing. I think there was just an over saturation of malls.

[@tambert3897]

Seeing these abandoned stores is like seeing a tombstone. Knowing that they once had life in those stores just like the person buried had life and now they sit dead.

[@musicalcomedyvault]

oh no :(

[@elizabethpeterson1644]

I remembered this one mall was busy in the late 90’s. I went to that mall in 2003. The entirely mall was so dead and only 2 store chains were there and food court was open. One store was JC Penny’s and the other one was Younker’s. Even this one mall that was a part of my childhood and even my teens was so dead during the 90’s as I remembered. That mall was closed in 2004 and even torn down by sections of the mall. Even some shops that were outside the mall had closed down. Even this one theater that was near the mall went out of business,too. I remembered how the theater was when I was in my early teens. Even it was opened during the remodeling job in 1986 when I saw Golden Child with my father. I had good memories of that mall.

[@turtleislandlac1490]

Whatever they're planning will never be as good as the mall in its heyday.

[@Funeeman]

As a British person i feel for your pain as so many of your malls close. In the UK it's a little different. Are equivalent is struggling "High Streets".

[@JJMCB26]

Oh, cool! Dan Bell did this mall in his last recent video too 🙂

[@kartrim39]

Sad. The first time I went to the US, I went to this mall.

[@nickvezzi7574]

That looks like a Denny’s classic diner or Red Robin next to the entrance

[@vamsm]

One thing I noticed when I went to this mall is that the four mall entrances (not counting the one going into department stores) had a different color sign. The beginning of this video features the yellow entrance. There were also red, green, and blue entrances too.

[@paboy2727]

Man when u lived there like almost 30 years ago that place was always busy said to see it so dead

[@robinryder3694]

Lycoming Mall in Pennsdale Pa also closed March 1st, Burlington, and BAM (books a million) remain open because they have a sep entrance

[@pablotherooster316]

And it closes the same day as Swansea mall closed way back in 2019

[@danielhedrick5886]

It's sad seeing malls close knowing that the history of people my age is in them😢

[@darrelc6746]

It's bad man our malls here are losing stores like crazy to amazon is part of it internet shopping.

[@jonathancreveling8699]

12:35 The rainbow store used to be American Eagle

[@crazycoollady]

I passed by my local mall, and it looked completely abandoned except for the 24-hour Fitness. I predict that it will eventually turn into housing one of these days.

[@alanlough638]

👍👍👍👍

[@schwinnkidd]

Great mall, sadly given the same generic “city neighborhood” within a distant suburb mixed use plan. They never come to fruition. Amazon fulfillment center comin in hot. Great video, subscribing, thanks!!

[@DooweeYesUTTPNoAUTTP]

Idea: Abandoned Family In Brentwood, NY

[@DooweeYesUTTPNoAUTTP]

*dollar*

[@imdointhis]

I worked demolition for a long time and it's no so much the long gone customers that's strange...it's thinking this is where someone spent their days working

[@michaelmcnutt7148]

You should come to my mall in my town we alone have 3 stores left

[@MrTjcoolkid]

This mall used to be a great place to go if you couldn’t make it all the way to Montgomery Mall (University Blvd). Locals have talked about this mall closing for years, so it’s interesting to actually see it happen.

[@antoniopadilla2489]

Why was it closed?

[@703am]

myself i would think it would be less expensive to remodel than tear down and start over but what do I know lol.

[@oscarlemus8153]

I live near here

[@MrTodh]

Hello Wallie and Kayla

[@MrTodh]

I had no idea !!!!! When ???

[@diamonddave45]

@@MrTodh Several months ago. He has a new girlfriend now. Hence why you're seeing more videos from South Carolina.

[@MrTodh]

I have new job don't get much resting time at my computer

[@user-ci9ri4fl5pBuckeyeChessie]

She was in the video sitting in a chair, I hate this happened. :(

[@JL-ph9ew]

Scrappers are going to be in this like hot sauce on tacos.

[@DyingRetail]

Do you know if the mall will be open on the 31st? Planning on coming to film but don’t want to drive only to find them locked up the morning of the 31st

[@MitchellPartycenter2001]

Maybe A Walmart Can Be This Area

[@danielnodd2320]

Reminds me of Westmoreland Mall in a way.

[@diamonddave45]

True.

[@slackingpacking]

Mall at Tuttle Crossing, Lakeside Mall and this mall has the same developer.

[@brandonsmith1198]

How shocking

[@cliffcorson4000]

A major issue with malls is so little differences in the businesses anymore. Look at an average mall and 1/2-2/3 of the shops are all clothing with very little differences from one store to another. An item I saw at one mall and it still has 30 years later was a public library in one end. Near it were several "light food" restaurants and it still is popular. What made many malls popular before was when shops were intermingled. There was no "food court" but food shops all along the mall. You might have 3-4 that'd share a set of tables but that was it. Malls today should look at how they can adapt better. For example large area? Why not have a consignment store or "flea market" type of store design? They could also take some spaces and turn them into item meeting spaces or even non-retail spots such as equipment repair places or local group (Lions club, veterans organizations, etc) or even look at places such as walk in medical clinics and yes even classroom training areas

[@RoyColeman-zu9pu]

Wait i thought the Sears Was outside

[@neptune7844]

4 more days and this mall will be abandoned forever

[@jjgaming2.]

I can see Sears at 16:47

[@NeoTemplar]

I thought the future was supposed to be awesome. Everything is going away.

[@thewhitebackground]

Is this still standing? If so, you should do a little urbex and go back now it’s no longer open.

[@canzukcitizen8005]

In other words 15 minute city within a city

[@dannyvanleer]

I grew up on this mall ask me questions if I you want

[@phanindra2008]

Wasn't it all arranged by the city council members to make some kickbacks? Crown, outlet malls and crown are nearby..why not keep this covered?

[@gregrorabaugh564]

Wow, are you taking lessons from Aces adventures, great video. It's really a shame that all these malls are getting demolished . I think they would make perfect housing for homeless people especially in these large urban areas. Think about it. You could house many people with many beds , they have all the restrooms , they have all the food capabilities and dining feeding areas. It wouldn't take much money to make them great homeless shelters for people that want to get back in society and for even people that don't want to get back in society. It certainly would be better than all these people on the streets with their tents makeshift living areas with fecal matter as well as shopping carts and plastic bags all over the streets, parks and parking lots.

[@classic4evr]

How do I get ahold of this channels owner?

[@WallieB26]

What can I help you with?

[@classic4evr]

Hello hope all is well. I've been working on a project for several years, I've never been able to capture the footage how I wanted as you did. Are you willing to share your raw footage?

[@KingFahtah]

developers developers developers developers

[@raymathews7035]

I think Malls are loosing there popularity. A lot of malls in the US are closing there doors, even out here on the west coast. 😐🙁

[@joeydersario2470]

Very sad death

[@kevindavis4709]

Walmart for their wish