Dead Mall: The Final Days of the Lakeforest Mall | Gaithersburg, MD

[@5.56Media]

As a (now retired) Montgomery County police officer, I remember the drastic rise in crime in and around Lakeforest Mall. It all began as Montgomery Village expanded over time. Other than online shopping, I know for a fact that crime negatively affected the mall. Sad.

[@IanMartinExploration]

Oh wow, so you definitely know first hand the downfall of the area. Such a nice area too. Or at least should be nice. Thanks as always for watching!

[@superRoot]

I was going to say, I had heard for a long time that Lakeforest Mall was dangerous and would see in the news stories about people getting assaulted/stabbed at Lakeforest. Wasn't worth the risk to visit the mall. Should be a lesson to other retailers/shopping malls to take crime very seriously.

[@NoctemOUT]

This was probably the mall that I've gone to the most over time- I've lived in various places but lived in Montgomery Co from 1992-2006. I used to go to Lakeforest almost every weekend with my parents when it was still thriving. I got my Playstation 2, Pokemon games, pretty much every CD and book I owned in the 90's, all from stores here.

[@paboy2727]

Just hard to believe that mall use to be so crowded all the time it’s a shame

[@IanMartinExploration]

Agreed! It was so busy when I lived around there.

[@castlearghhh6023]

This is another mall that reminds me of the Fair Oaks Mall in Fairfax VA. Very similar interior design. The Sears is gone but the space houses a Dick's Sporting Goods and other retailers and food options. My nieces go there instead of Tyson's Corner and tell me it's pretty busy. Keep up the good work.

[@shillionaire]

Christmas time was awesome here in the 80s!

[@halojill4937]

This was my childhood mall! So many memories!!! The middle when I was a kid was an epic tiered fountain with tiered seating around it and then they leveled it and installed a child's play area in that space. Great video! So glad to see this place preserved, at least in video.

[@IanMartinExploration]

Thanks for watching! Sorry this happened to your childhood mail.

[@3dyfication]

I grew up in moco, and that mall was a nearly weekly visit with my mom. it, honestly hurts to see it go. I was there about 6 months ago and even that pulled on my heartstrings seeing how...empty... it is now. I recall the play area where my younger brothers would play, the small news stand in the food court where I would sneak away to buy yugioh cards and so many more memories. TBH the main thing that probably kept it alive so long was the food court and the bus transit station right outside. Ill miss you Lakeforest RIP

[@curiousgeorge4608]

I remember when this opened and visited through the early 90s and it was a very nice mall. So very 80s teen movie.

[@RenatoFeliciano-te5zv]

I arrived in Gaithersburg MD in 1987. Coming from the Philippines, I was not familiar with Malls, as I came from the province and we did not have Malls at that time, so you can imagine the excitement walking around diffrent stores.

[@7heRedBaron]

My first job was at Lakeforest Mall, right next to the ice skating rink.

[@kbnoise9625]

It's crazy sad how my childhood can't be revisited by going to stores or malls. In my city where i grew up all those places have been closed but also demolished.😢 things are changing too much and it makes me sad not knowing where any of this is going.

[@veronicastewart1112]

It's going online. One reason why Sears went under is, that they failed to see the trend in time.

[@RetroPC]

It just amazes me how there's ALWAYS a Bath & Body Works running businesses usual, in complete denial of what's going on in the hallway just outside their doors.

[@IanMartinExploration]

It never ceases to amaze me either.

[@rachelg3247]

I visited on the last day of operation. Only a handful of stores and one or two restaurants remained. It was neat to see the few other people who came to take one last look and snag some photos.

[@wisegalny7604]

Hopefully God will inspire & guide the developers to complete a project that will be a comfort to this generation and a blessing for generations to come. Amen. 💛

[@candiceyates253]

Wow I didn’t know they were sister Malls (Marley Station)

[@bhumbertson]

Grew up hanging out at Lakeforest. Going to the movies, shakes at Spinnaker's and Chi-Chi's. Great memories as a teen just hanging out with friends.

[@TheOldMansPicks]

Have you ever thought about doing Harford Mall in Bel Air? Inside is depressing, though outside lots of new stores. Interesting juxtoposition. They tore down the Sears end anchor for redevelopment and Macy's anchors the other end.

[@castlearghhh6023]

They did a similar thing at the Spotsylvania County Mall in VA. Tore down the Sears and are now building apartments. COSTCO anchors the other end. Somehow there is a Belk, a Macy's and a JC Penny scattered throughout the space.

[@valeriebeard2950]

😪😪😪 that is so sad ... I used to hang out at Lakeforest Mall every weekend when I was a teenager. As a matter of fact it was the very first mall that I ever went to. 😪💔

[@CireVFX]

I still am a child but I had so many good memories here 😢

[@beedoubleu547]

Uses to go here often when I lived in gaithersburg. It was one of the first places I found when I moved there. It was just a few miles from my apartment. Sad to see it's gone.

[@ERA_Productions]

Great video Ian! Sad to see another mall go this year.

[@IanMartinExploration]

Thanks! Seems to be happening faster and faster with more going under each year. What a shame.

[@killshot2534]

I remember working at the sbarro in that mall around 09-10. I use to trade pizza for Texas bbq once in a while. The boss was cool about it he would do the same trades with honey bun pollo campero and footlocker especially them I sue to get discount from them.

[@plymouthcolt]

I remember when I was a kid I was there with my brother and we watched the Village hold a concert there.

[@trainlover567]

i remember going to that mall a lot and getting my hair cut as a kid there at cartoon cuts still live in moco

[@bradam2001]

I moved here a year before it oppened, I was in 5 grade. Used to be a great place to hang out back in the days. I still live here today but over near the Kentlads. Would never live over that way

[@veronicastewart1112]

Marley Station Mall in Glen Burnie MD looks a lot like this as well. When it first opened, you couldn't even get a parking space because it was always full.

[@eugeneketaminekrebs3403]

I thought that going there a few years back. They were built by the same developer

[@oscarlemus8153]

6:19 That was a arcade weird one through

[@shahulhusman]

Grew up there in the 90s with champions arcade, cinnibon, hibachi spot (still there it seems) the movie theater.. Champs sports still there..

[@thomasm.7058]

Interesting, I remember in the 80's and 90's when we successfully waged a war against the building of shopping centers or shopping malls...

[@DS-pe1wv]

Fond memories at this mall when it was in its prime.

[@dchowning7346]

You mention that this is going to be replaced with mixed use development, so shops and residential etc. Malls seem super impractical to me, and I don't know that I'd consider them particularly good development prior to the internet. Do you think the new development is an improvement to MoCo?

[@dchowning7346]

Also, I like the hexagon skylights.

[@5.56Media]

MoCo is a cesspool of drowning local politics and ideology. It will not last forever.

[@IanMartinExploration]

Me too!

[@IanMartinExploration]

I haven’t spent any real time in MoCo in years, so I don’t know what it’s like today besides continuing to expand in all directions. The trend these days seem to be those apartment complexes with shops on the bottom, so I bet it’ll be something like that regardless of whether the county needs more of it or not.

[@michaelcooper743]

So sad, I grew up going to that mall

[@obedirect5491]

No idea mall closed. I parked worked nearby, Shady Grove Rd & Rockville Pike. I don't like shopping o/side in winter or summer.

[@gianpolignano2632]

Is there anything done to bring back Lakeforest to its former glory?

[@phanindra2008]

Just open it and put more security/actual police/not rent-a-cops!!

[@mlbrooks4066]

Malls in general are dying or dead. Not just because security is a problem. Heating and air-conditioning all that space that they can't charge rent for costs $$$$.

[@MrPoke]

Song name at 7:00 ?

[@IanMartinExploration]

Nylonia - Digital Dreams

[@TraitofSiNN727]

thank heavens its not one of those Backrooms videos that I keep seeing being posted here and there.

[@10baileyb]

Does anyone know if the door are still unlocked here and if you can still walk around?

[@phanindra2008]

It's all boarded up and fenced...K9 patrols it

[@theoreticalphysics3644]

Man and then also in Maryland you've got malls like Columbia and Arundel Mills just like 30 minutes to an hour away making an absolute killing. Arundel Mills is honestly _too_ packed at pretty much all times.

[@mlbrooks4066]

The casino at Arundel Mills helps things there.

[@ran61]

Lake Forest, Fair Oaks and Marley Station were all built by the Taubman Co. Lake Forest was 1st, Fair Oaks 2nd, and Marley 3rd. I did work at all three malls. It is a shame Lake Forest dies. Gaithersburg is not the suburb it was in the 70- through 90's.

[@geraldboesen5037]

Montgomery County has become so business unfriendly; naturally, this is one result.

[@elpinchemarax3871]

So did the building get demolished by now ? Or is if just abandoned at the moment ?

[@IanMartinExploration]

Scheduled to be demolished in 2024. I’m not sure if it’s sitting abandoned now or if there’s something temporarily taking the place of the mall. Good question.

[@plymouthcolt]

They put a fence around the whole mall parking lot, but you can still drive around the perimeter of the mall.

[@phanindra2008]

@@IanMartinExploration It's boarded and fenced right now

[@juliehoot3916]

Sad. 😣

[@zram4x4]

Change the name of the mall to Amazon and it may thrive. 😂

[@daewooparts]

That mall been deballed

[@luckylindy1776]

this mall and then....MONTGOMERY Mall and LANDMARK Mall.....all went DEAD......lol (now a lot of CRIME at TYSONS CORNER MALL....Hmmm)

[@mlbrooks4066]

Heating and air conditioning the mall space cost $$$. They tore down the mall near me and rebuilt it as open air "town center" type mall. It's doing very well after the mall failed, and no heating and air conditioning non-store space.

[@dr.debbiewilliams]

Apartments

[@RoundenBrown]

This place was bumping back in 2002, sad to see.

[@IchiTheKiryu]

good bye my mall it was good

[@singalongwrudy8690]

Capitalism is a broken promise.

[@geraldboesen5037]

Puh-leeze!

[@obedirect5491]

Amen..capitalism ALWAYS disappoints the working class.😂

[@agentjoe1890]

Ian always anxiously wait for your productions this one was obviously very close to you personally great job as always! Hunt Valley Mall and its slow demise had same impact on me love your work

[@IanMartinExploration]

Thanks for the continued support! Always love hearing your thoughts. I didn’t start getting to the Hunt Valley mail area until after it was in its current state. It seemed like it was doing pretty ok for what it is the last time I was there. I’m guessing that’s not the case these days?