Dead Mall: Washington Square Mall - Indianapolis, IN | Vintage DeBartolo Delight

[@denizen7even]

I live like 10 minutes away from the mall, and i have a hypothesis that the only way that mall stays in operation is because the owners are washing money through it. There's no other way. There's no way the tenants are making enough profit to maintain it

[@ChemicalLuxury]

Dog have you seen that bougie ass art gallery? I think you’re right bro

[@dsfrobots]

That would definitely explain why they have signs saying no videotaping😂

[@turbopokey]

They could probably pickup decent money if they’d turn those somewhat separate outer little lots into private truck parking. Also money laundering sounds probable.

[@AUDITtheAUTIST]

Bro how u gonna blow up my spot like that??? Alright, 7% cut; just delete your comment. Just think of the tax write offs!

[@WesSmith-v1n]

Every business is a money laundering operation. Even the multibillion dollar ones like Walmart, Amazon and Google

[@Coalbucketlist]

This was a great mall at one time and a desirable area to live in. As you walk through there, I can smell the old candy place with all the different types of nuts. The old cigar shop with the native American statue! Deeper into the mall I can smell the store that sold leather jackets when they were popular. Hung out there a lot with friends hoping to meet nice looking girls. It was bittersweet because it killed me at the time, when I didn't have the money to shop anywhere in that mall. Years later I have the money and hate shopping malls. I have no desire for any of those things I used to want. A few great memories though.

[@mallaholicretailadventures]

Congratulations on getting through this mall without getting busted. I've seen past videos of this mall and there used to be no security but I guess they have security now. Good video

[@ericgriffin247]

I went there as a kid. My childhood friend and I were photographed at the playground during the grand opening with the picture going on the front page of the Indianapolis Star. So many memories of that place. In college I worked at JC Penney and then later at Montgomery Wards. I knew that place inside and out. So sad. Thank you for posting the video. It's tough seeing part of my childhood die.

[@GreenBean-fp4kz]

This was the closest mall to where we lived, and this was the main mall we went to in the 1980s. As I watched this video, I remember so many of the places that used to be there. Blocks (and later Montgomery Ward) where Target now is. A Hooks drug store and a movie theater in the Block/Ward's concourse. A full-service Hickory Farms store (as opposed to a kiosk) near Lazarus. The fountain with colored lights near the center of the mall. The Richman Brothers men's store and the McDonald's in the Sears concourse. The MCL Cafeteria by LS Ayers. I appreciate you making this video, but it made me very sad to see what that once vibrant mall has become.

[@turnne]

I moved to Indianapolis in 2012. I think I went to this Sears one time. It seems that malls in middle class and working class areas have not done well. However high end seems to live on.

[@1914sweet]

What killed the east side was the closure of several factories. So many jobs lost.

[@r.j.sullivan2104]

I worked in the mall’s McDonald’s in the late 80s. A very cool and unique design with a dessert/drinks booth up front and three seating section as you walked back to the main counter. The front was bright yellow marked 2000, the next 1900, dimmer lights and old movie posters on the walk. Then the 1800s, then the front counter where customers could order food. The mall was THE hangout spot for my friends and I through the 70s and 80s, with thriving arcades, bookstores, toy stores, a movie theater, record stores, and food. Why go anywhere else?

[@OrbitalLizardStudios]

With malls dying, it's definitely harder for youth to find good hangout spots these days

[@NeilWatkinsfromaccounting]

@@OrbitalLizardStudiosa lot of the time it’s youth that make some malls a bad hangout space. Not all malls. It depends on the kids that hang out there.

[@jameswilson9348]

Once upon a time it was an excellent mall. I went to it quite a bit growing up.

[@vincentbitner2935]

Keep up the good work. I like the video.

[@mimi2ariejax560]

I was just in this mall the other day. I spent a huge part of my teenage years here. Sad how it looks now. Although, I have to say, when I was walking it the other day, I wouldn't go as far as saying I "didn't feel safe".. There were actually very few people around (other than employees working in the few stores that are actually there). Maybe I just got lucky. I don't know! Also.. Just to clarify. The video kind of makes it look like the Target had closed too. (Jeremy didn't say that. I'm just judging by the way the entrance in the mall looked.) Target IS still open there. You just can't get in it from inside the mall any more.

[@dantheelevatorman1]

I grew up five minutes from this mall. Last time I checked, the target is still there today, but they build a wall up where their gate used to be. If you go inside that target, there’s more things to shop for on that side of the wall and there’s shelves on that side of that wall now.

[@persia007]

Walked in that mall many times. Will be missed when closing for good.

[@evansusmc]

Grew up in Greenfield. This was our closest mall. Been there countless times. It definitely had its hey day.

[@mfrank3518]

Anyone that grew up visiting that side of town and the mall knows exactly what happened.

[@shauntubeandtwinkie9728]

I grew up there but idk waht happened?

[@logginginvids]

@@shauntubeandtwinkie9728long and short, crime. Shootings, thefts, etc.

[@Skateandcreate9]

@@shauntubeandtwinkie9728area became ghetto

[@Skateandcreate9]

@@shauntubeandtwinkie9728Ghetto

[@kevc3148]

Someone, maybe the govt maybe NGOs or both, manipulated the housing market to move the "poor people" (blacks, mostly) out of downtown. Mostly east. Back in the 70s, downtown was like the east side is today.

[@donfisherjr.2404]

So sad. I remember when this mall was one of the busiest and most active in Indy, especially during the Christmas shopping season. The McDonald's restaurant was very cool with their stages in cinema dining room decor. Good memories are all that remain.

[@JPdraws_]

I actually live like 5 minutes from this mall, me and a friend went to chill and draw in there once and the security guard came up to us and said “if you aren’t going to buy anything, leave” So we did just that

[@1914sweet]

Mom drove by a huge familiar field one day and said, "They're going to build a mall there." It seemed to be way out of town. They named it Washington Square. An old farmer, I think, Bought up most of the fields in Castleton when they were dirt cheap. He used to drive around in a Cadillac with a wheelbarrow and shovels sticking out of the trunk. He'd come visit where I worked.

[@jonsprong1842]

Being a very old school wrestling fan I remember buying a Jake the Snake Roberts t shirt at the Steve & Barry’s there with my best friends. Damn those were good times.

[@Amidala_Skywalker]

I remember this mall when I was very small in the early 80s. It was so beautiful and now there is no way I’d step foot in it. I remember the water fall it had and pond but only just barely. That area used to be so nice and now it’s 100% ghetto trash. What a shame.

[@wmw3629]

You’re so right!

[@TheCrackFox]

My dad and I used to go there to do doughnuts in the parking lot during the winter. Lol

[@wesleydraves1281]

No wonder is see tire marking all over the parking lot when I go to the target

[@thegreeniporcini7263]

I live pretty nearby this mall about a few streets away, although i dont have much history having moved to Indiana a few years ago, I do remember being there for what felt like the beginning of the end before covid hit; target was accessible by the mall before they closed access, along with of course Burlington still hanging by a thread. The discomfort of revisiting the mall can't be understated either, the general surrounding neighborhood is dangerous indeed, along with the desolation of the place itself, it's a miracle people still work there

[@PepeTVision]

Remember when that place use to b packed

[@kenm.7651]

I live 10 minutes from this mall. It was a fun place to go and hang out for an afternoon and wander all the stores. Now it’s nicknamed ghettosquare…. and that really is sad.

[@ted.angell7609]

Just today I was inside the Circle Square Mall in downtown Indianapolis and was astounded at how nearly abandoned it is. Maybe 1/3 occupancy and they don’t even bother turning most of the escalators on. In Latin America malls are still a huge business, but here in the States they’re nothing like they used to be.

[@JeremysRetailExploration]

@ted.angell7609 I'm planning on going to Circle Centre Mall next year.

[@ted.angell7609]

@@JeremysRetailExploration hope it’s still there then 🤞

[@annaschott6051]

It is crazy and sad that a mall that cost $1billion to build is offices now. I know crime was getting bad and other factors, but I really think the Colts moving to Lucas Oil Stadium put the final nail in the coffin for Circle Center. We would go eat in the food court before a game since you could get from there to the Hoosier Dome indoors. Then get a Cinnabon on the way out after. Good times.

[@ted.angell7609]

I went back yesterday because my haircut wasn’t right, and saying 30% occupancy was too generous. Probably not even 20%.

[@NeilWatkinsfromaccounting]

@@JeremysRetailExplorationplease go during the day and not on the weekend.

[@RacerC45]

I've actually have memories of the place. KB Toys, Gamestop, a karate studio I used to go to, the arcade Boss Battle Games, the comic store Prideland Comics. Plus some relatives of mine actually owned some local businesses there. Unfortunately all of those are no longer there. I mainly go there just to order food from the Chinese food stall in the mall.

[@outshiner665]

I can smell Hickory Farms in this video.

[@robbiehudson9347]

So sad! That place was absolutely awesome back in it's day. I worked at the Pet House pet store right outside Blocks.

[@onryu]

yep, I live near this mall, used to be a cool spot to chill some years ago

[@SuperBuickregal]

Unfortunately crime does have a negative impact on Malls and the neighborhoods around them reflect this, I personally will not go back to Beachwood Place due to the Police presence along with Nitrate sniffing K9s. It’s a matter of time before someone/something happens that makes people feel very uncomfortable. Good video and keep a swivel head on your travels.

[@112horseygirl]

My grandma used to live locally to this mall. I recall going to MCL with her often when I would visit...I believe the restaurant occupied the yellow area in the video around 10 minutes in. She had recently relocated closer, but I still have fond memories here. My siblings and I used to refer to it as "The brown place," because of the color of the entrance

[@grimey5.565]

Went there as a kid in the 90s all the time. It was already in decline. It's been a ghetto Mall since I was a child. High crime and theft.

[@WorldofWhasian]

Ahhh yes the Washington Scare mall as we called it when we were kids lol

[@foreverlostinasea69]

I was a security guard there 2014-16. And it was in the last of its decline as I started. Its where I met my wife.

[@thepickles8833]

I have many many memories of this mall. I have very vivid memories about the layout and stores that used to be in Washington Square. I'll save some readers some time and just make a short list of the things I remember below. - Over near the SEARS corner of the mall, there were two fast food places facing one another. McDonald's and Luca Pizza. They were separated by a wall of arcade cabinet lined up in the middle of the aisle way. On the Luca Pizza side, I remember Street Fighter 2 faced the pizza joint, but one the McDonald's side, facing opposite of the SF2 cabinet no less, was Mortal Kombat facing the McDonald's. Many kids crowded around the MK machine which was brand new at the time. There was also an Oriental Trading store just a few doors down from Luca Pizza full of swords, martial arts stuff, and other Asian style merch. I was very enthusiastic about it all watching the older kids play MK. The McDonald's would later move to another part of the mall, but I remember the space they had across from Luca Pizza was VERY unique, divided the sitting spaces into three rooms. One have plants, one had there morals or cut-outs of people with very 70s/80s haircuts on lime green walls, and the deepest room where you ordered your food was dark and ambient. - I recall the mall having a particular set of smells in certain corner parts of the mall. One shop was a caramel popcorn shop and another place that sold cigars. Both stores created an interest mix of aromas whenever you walked by them. - Christmas time was a big deal for the mall's center conversation pit. Santa sat with an gigantic automated steam locomotive behind him. It was an incredible display and really made the holiday season seem all the more special and spectacular. - Other stores I remember being there: B Dalton Books Walden Books LIDS GNC Vitamins Spencer's Gifts A music store nearby the Spencer's Gifts (FYE, Sam Goody, can't remember) MCL Cafeteria Babbage's a Coffee Shop that had this whole sharp corner store Chic-fil-a (before their big comeback, closed around the mid-90s) General Cinema (very narrow and strange doorway. Didn't look like a cinema at all. Didn't stay long) Montgomery Ward - became Target Lazarus - I think that was remodeled into Dick's Sporting Goods JC Penny - later became Burlington Coat Factory LS Aryes - later became a furniture store

[@Broseph_Reacts]

Luca Pizza was soo good! Miss it around here.

[@tailsfan10]

This place was bombing before Sears closed. I went here all the time, especially to get shoes from Foot Locker and Footaction. Being so close to it, I still come here every so often

[@logginginvids]

Worked at the sears around a decade ago before it closed, and no joke a busy day was seeing 3 people come in. The mall was dying well before Sears left. It’s a shame.

[@markstrouse3101]

Awesome Jeremy

[@passo]

People ask me why I'm leaving this state the first chance I get. This mall is how most of the state feels and looks now. Will never look back when I go.

[@dantheelevatorman1]

I can remember going to that mall as a kid and sitting on Santa‘s lap. So sad how this mall has become one of the most dead dilapidated malls in America.

[@CyberScrapKingOnIg]

My childhood before entering would be the bw3 on the left and mcl as well. Then by the target a dog place where u could go see the pets who were gonna be adopted. Then the bouncy house would I would bounce for hours and have fun. Then the karate place inside too use to get free lessons till they found out my mom wasn’t paying 😂😂. This was my childhood man ❤❤❤❤❤

[@CyberScrapKingOnIg]

My childhood 😢

[@Earth2Logan]

My mom was a hair stylist at the j.c. Penny’s in this mall in the late 90’s and early 2000’s.

[@troublenabubble2571]

The memories 😭 in the 90s before we all had cars me and my friends would hop on the bus and go from Eastgate to Washington Square to Castleton square to Lafayette square and end up at Circle Centre then end up walking around downtown. What were our parents thinking 😂😂😂 fun times

[@Soul.8877]

malls with amc are considered top tier malls

[@ej13012010]

I remember when I first moved to indy 10 years ago I always got my hair cut here and shoes

[@logginginvids]

Worked at the Sears about a decade ago, and it looked exactly like this even then. No one in the mall, low quality shops, 1-2 places in total to eat within the mall. Sears had an requirements for signing people up for reward cards and credit cards and we had so few people coming in that there was no way you could hit the daily required numbers. Which meant you had to come in on a weekend and learn from management on how to hit the required numbers. The Buffalo Wild Wings that opened fairly late into the malls lifecycle was actually fairly busy consistently, the problem was they had way to many dine & dashers and had to shut down. Unfortunate all around. The east side of Indy was a big part of my childhood, but time has not been kind to it.

[@KatIoannou]

We don’t mind a shorter video if it means your safety. Great video as always!

[@ryand.7650]

This was the mall I always went to growing up. It's sad to see what's happened to it, and just that whole part of Indy in general.

[@ChemicalLuxury]

Just went there the other day it definitely feels like a back rooms level very creepy but the Chinese food was lit definitely would recommend it

[@denizen7even]

@@ChemicalLuxury Damn, now I gotta go try the Chinese food

[@sp00g37]

Last time I was here was for Shipt, had to walk out of the mall to get into the target. whole place felt sketchy. Castleton is still going, but its been on the news a few times. a lot of the stores have a Nirvana for smoking needs.

[@Slenderquil]

I heard the name of this place on ads all the time as a kid. Wild that this is my first proper look at it

[@metapod]

I think I used to play DDR here sometimes XD

[@NotoriouslyNoah]

The vaporwave mall experience

[@BoratWanksta]

You didn't get caught by security for taking pics and video, at this mall? I'm pleasantly surprised, since I've heard of several others(including Slacking Packing and Mallaholic) getting kicked out when they tried to do video and/or take pictures inside Washington Square. Also, great video. I'm glad Simon didn't greatly bleach this mall when it got some renovations, like they did with other malls they owned in the 90s and 2000s. Sucks the fountains were removed, though.

[@brians2328]

I remember waiting outside those doors for JORDAN RELEASES, people looked like bowling balls when they opened!! 😂😂😂😂

[@BloodedtheBrave]

I shot a music video in here a few years back and security wasn't too pleased. Just me and 2 other friends. Song is called "Not Alone" for those interested on my page. This is a great video, thank you for your preservation work 🙏🫶

[@dustin6143]

I go here about 3-4 a year to the figure collections toy store.

[@DPMusicStudio]

Grew up coming to this mall. So many memories... my sister got her ears pierced here at Claire's. I bought "Sierra" games at Babbages (King's Quest!) When Tommy Hilfiger was all the rage with highschoolers in the 90's, you could buy those clothes at LS Ayres. It's just wild how times have changed. I'm an "elder Millenial."

[@walkingslowly2]

Loved babbages!!!

[@walkingslowly2]

I used to exchange games a lot there loved space quest kings quest. I remember the tvs out in front

[@DPMusicStudio]

@@walkingslowly2 It's funny... those games were priced at $40 in the early 90's. That's $90 in 2024 dollars. And people lost their minds when they priced the new Zelda game at $70 on launch day Wild and wacky stuff

[@ballen064]

Was there in it's heyday in the mid to late 70's. Extremely sad to see what this once vibrant, full of life shopping experience has become.

[@CousinMyrtle]

Myrtle loves me some dead malls baby... 😍😘

[@Maikeru-os4ti]

What’s crazy is that i’ve never been to this mall but it’s making me think of Lafayette Square mall before it got closed completely down by the time i moved out here after high school Lafayette Square Mall was already hanging by a thread i was under the impression that Washington Square Mall was fully operational unlike Lafayette Square Mall but i see now that i was wrong

[@lipshamorrissey4636]

Requiem. Sad and kinda creepy.

[@StephanieMT]

In southwest indiana there is a washington square mall that is no longer a mall. It has doctor offices a bar salvation army pizza restraunt storage for public library for when they do remodels and such and a free high school for adults to get a diploma

[@Themuffenthusiast]

I actually do some work in that target from time to time.

[@Pizzamanrule]

I’ve been to this mall once and it sad cause I can’t imagine how pack this mall must’ve been and all the stores that people shopped in

[@spidercrumple69420]

Bro. HOW did u get this footage. I was there a couple weeks ago, I whip my phone out to take a pic of the play area that I haven’t seen since I was too young to appreciate it… the second my phone was out, a guard came up behind us and said we “had to go, right now”??? I’m still so salty idgaf lol but HOW.

[@andres.rivera.1821]

I FaceTimed my girlfriend to my first time walking through to show her how creepy it felt in person. Hearing how picky the security is, I'm surprised our call lasted more than 5 minutes. I took her here yesterday since the AMC was showing Nightmare Before Christmas and she said it's as chilling as it seemed in the call. She and I both live off of I-69, but she lives in the south section in Greenwood and me in Fishers so neither of us have been here until this last week

[@dr.decker911]

S&L video is great. As for the area buck up

[@coopertrooper8256]

I grew up going to malls in Indy, I even remember Eastgate. I don't go into any of the remaining malls, even Greenwood, now. They are havens for bad apples and crime.

[@DblTap317]

Lafayette Square is somehow still open too somehow

[@2.6.8.]

Do Lafayette square mall in Indianapolis, next

[@JeremysRetailExploration]

@2.6.8. I can't I don't live here

[@Mcgturtle3]

I always wondered why they wouldn’t allow you to enter target from the mall whenever I went there

[@AaronSanchez-ig8ju]

Oh I've been there mall when I was 8 years old because it's abandoned in 2019 that one is old Mall 2015 Dash 2016 12:21 anchor in 2016

[@JeremysRetailExploration]

@AaronSanchez-ig8ju What are you talking about?

[@Hanja45]

I stopped coming here because there was a giant pot hole at the entrance I had to use at one point, and it wasn't fixed when I came later.

[@jennyames6532]

Why are malls closing? Our local mall is thriving.

[@andres.rivera.1821]

Simply due to the fact that online shopping slowly made its footing since the mid 90s and basically took over once COVID happened. I know that Keystone Fashion and Castleton are still bustling with people. Not sure about Greenwood since I'm not there as often. The times I've been, they've been pretty steady, especially considering the shooting there a couple years back.

[@timlohrmann8554]

@@andres.rivera.1821greenwood overall from what I’ve heard is doing ok. The main thing why this mall has suffered is because of all the crime in the area. My wife grew up here and it just makes her sad seeing all the decline. Just down the road from the mall there was a Sam’s club but with all the crime they shuttered it and now we have to drive 30+ minutes to go to either Greenwood or Castleton.

[@regularyoutubename]

This is what happens when you only buy on the internet.

[@mommalion7028]

So sad!!!! :( this mall used to be beautiful.

[@BallerKev]

Too much violence

[@wmw3629]

It doesn’t help that the mall is located in a high crime area!

[@RyanHerronIam]

You mean America?

[@kevc3148]

It didn't used to be, but as the govt bought houses around there for blacks to live in the "White flight" commenced. Blacks aren't America, they're like 12% of the population. You want to see actual America? Look up Carmel, Indiana. Or Fishers. Or zionsville. We that can afford to always move away from browntown, expending massive resources just to escape the hell of living among them.

[@timlohrmann8554]

@@RyanHerronIam East side of Indy is bad with crime. Like bad bad.

[@pamelaharrington3838]

Corporate greed at it's finest

[@NicholasVincent-ol1zk]

@sugarmaplesquare