A Visit to Willow Grove Park Mall

Willow Grove Park Mall. One of the premier shopping destinations in the Philadelphia Metropolitan Area. And it looks fantastic as well. So of course we should get a look at this place.
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[@DoomieGruntVentures]

UPDATE: Fountain has been removed in favor of a Dunkin' Donuts. Whoever was responsible for this decision should be fired.

[@aquinuofficial]

Why the hell.

[@jonathanrinda7171]

I agree. I liked the fountain for decoration.

[@rickkarrer8370]

I'm all for coffee, but I'm sure there's plenty more places in the mall to put a Dunkin.

[@emilyjanneysi]

@@rickkarrer8370 i work at the hollister across from the new dunkin and i can confirm that the fountain was better

[@peach_tea_mystic]

agreed.

[@ActionRetro]

I grew up in Willow Grove and spent pretty much every day after school in the late 90's and early 2000's as a mallrat here! Those things above the fountain are from the original carousel from when it was the amusement park.

[@jessleia9092]

omg this mall is gorgeous! I am going to put this place on my bucket list of the top malls I want to visit! ♥

[@1xniee]

I live close to willow grove and trust me I’ve been there MANY of times it’s great !

[@TrainmasterCurt]

Love the fountain ⛲️!! Why don’t more mall put in fountains and spruce up the aesthetics like this place! The worst redesigner is Simon, they are the puritans of mall companies.

[@BoratWanksta]

You're sadly right that Simon too often, has blandized their malls. :( A few years ago they blandized Woodfield Mall in Schaumburg, IL, when it was renovated in the mid-2010s. I know at that time they added a food court which actually doesn't look bad, but I still hate that at the same time they got rid of the nice sculpture that used to stand outside of Sears at this mall.

[@owen7180]

It’s gone now

[@joselynnpross1324]

I bought my one and only Dog at WGM in 1981, when it first opened! When I moved closer to the Mall (6 miles) this became the only Mall I shopped at. It was an Upscale Mall, with Bloomies, and Strawbridges. And when Strawbridges left and Macy’s came, they were very similar. I was last there in early 2019 and it is still a partially upscale store. My favorite store was an Australian clothing store, they also had very cool leather goods. When I lived closer to KOP Mall it was only two building and expanding. Now it’s too huge for me. It does have a Lego store, but the Cherry Hill Mall is closer to me, just across the river for me (8 miles) and it has a Lego store. I’m really into Lego. So when I want more expensive designer clothing I go to Macy’s or Bloomindales. When I want “knock around” clothes, I go to Target. I LOVE WGM, thanks for your video.

[@blandmalls]

Nice video. I especially like that fountain.

[@mstiefan6996]

This mall looks really cool. Of course, I think any mall that has more than one floor looks cool given the malls I went to as a kid were only one floor. It has a real upscale vibe to it. And that food court...man, I would like to go to a food court again here sooner rather than later with 'current events' going as they are.

[@MrButch-ls8vl]

I'm from Philly and would you believe I've been to this mall maybe twice in my life! It seems King Of Prussia overshadows all the others ... but Cherry Hill across the river in New Jersey is also doing well. I like fountain - too many malls shut off or get rid of their water features. The floors are nice with the inlaid marble "diamonds."

[@TheKrewson28]

i see they decided to build a new elavator at the yardhouse /cheesecake former stawbridges side of the mall but who was the person that decided to have no windows in it its sooo ugly i grew up going to the willow grove mall from the 80s till the 2000s and even funnier is the orgonal elavator where macys is now i think its still the same ooolld slow one from when the mall opend in i think it was 1983?

[@Number1DriversSeat]

I haven’t been to this mall in years. Nice video.

[@markstrouse3101]

Great great great video doomie grunt

[@Fahrenheit38]

Man, you get around for sure! From NC to Philly. Gotta say though, locals don't think of this mall as a Philadelphia mall. If your ever back in the area check out the Neshaminy Mall, it's getting onto it's last legs but has some cool 80s/90s mall stuff in it.

[@DoomieGruntVentures]

Neshaminy is covered. Expect it soon.

[@Fahrenheit38]

@@DoomieGruntVentures really? Supposedly they got a round one coming to it.

[@deadchannel7616]

been here myself, very nice mall!!

[@runayomozuki9885]

I'm from Pennsylvania this is our favorite mall

[@sohansheth336]

It’s sad that even malls that are doing “okay” are still so empty compared to 15+ years ago.

[@aquinuofficial]

It's a ten minute drive from the house to the mall, and I love going there. Even though I don't do it often due to my parents, every time, I love exploring the place

[@klaramedvedeva95]

I live about 5 minutes from this mall. I didn’t know this about it

[@bethpeters3477]

Beautiful mall it reminds me of South Coast Plaza mall in Costa Mesa California there are actually two separate malls in South Coast Plaza that are connected by a walking bridge. It used to be called Crystal Court. It’s very nice high and malls.

[@robloxcolorcubesfan9217]

I actually miss the cheltenham mall but it got renivated into a plaza in january 2017

[@CousinLarrySitsThere]

I miss the carpet

[@SouthernBelleReviews]

Wow that fountain is glorious. I want that in my yard.

[@HollandsLegendNotFound]

Very late I miss the fountain 😭

[@mykline1]

I was raised in the area of this mall back before there was a mall here. As a kid I use to go to the Willow Grove Park all the time. I do like this mall a lot so when I am in the area I like going to this mall. It's nice to see that the mall is still doing good unlike other malls I have seen go down hill.

[@kate215]

Like Oxford valley

[@travisgoodman2132]

They should add the Barnes and Noble bookstore to Willow Grove Park Mall.

[@joselynnpross1324]

It’s across the street from the mall.

[@MoMo21819]

There was a B. Dalton there for years but BN opened across the street and closed it down. They were the same company. Now the BN is closed. So, no bookstores.

[@CousinLarrySitsThere]

@@joselynnpross1324 Not anymore. Sad.

[@rickkarrer8370]

You should come to the Atlantic City area. We have the Hamilton Mall that's holding on by a stream, the "ruins" of the Shore Mall that was torn down about 10 years ago, and endless material in the city itself. You could easily get 2-3 videos out of this area, and even make a stop at our local theme park, StoryBook Land.

[@daniellehunter8408]

I think Ten Thousand Villages might have closed too, unless that's just in Canada. I love the chandelier hanging off the second floor, just such nice molding too.

[@CousinLarrySitsThere]

Good eye, I think you're referring to the old Merry-Go-Round horses, seahorses, etc from the original defunct amusement park they built this over. They used to have sideshow banners as well. Strongman, Bearded Lady, etc. They may have been removed?

[@CousinLarrySitsThere]

I'm sorry, you have a good eye. I've never noticed those chandeliers. Looks like we have to look at the hidden gems more. Thanks

[@rickkarrer8370]

Sadly, COVID killed Studio Movie Grill. Overall, the mall is doing ok (as far as malls go in general), but Amazon, Walmart, and Target (mostly Amazon) will continue to slowly kill malls for the foreseeable future. I laughed when you said something about looking back at COVID times and laugh, but more so because it's such a long and tedious recovery back to normalcy. Great video, thanks!

[@michaeldesilets7853]

I was born the year that mall opened!

[@melissal8445]

As a kid there was a department store that had 2 or 3 huge bear statues, standing upright, that if you stepped on mats in front of them, raised their hats and played music. I can’t name the store or recall if it was at Willow Grove or the late Richland Mall. Any idea?

[@MiaRTV]

In my “Breaking Plates: Letting Go Challenge” video I went to Willow Grove during Christmas and it was so pretty

[@nardo218]

2001 was when they did the "victorian" restyling that took down some of the willow grove amusement park animals and banners. that's also when they built the parking garage, which wasn't really necesary imo, but they wanted to accomodate out of state shoppers looking for a similar experience as king of prussia mall. king of prussia has more shops than mall of america, but less square footage. The main complain from locals in the past decade or so is that the mall has become too much of a luxury shopping place, not somewhere most people who live and work in the suburbs can afford to shop in. Willow Grove is not "metro," it's a suburb. Lots of people are NOT making big city tech salaries. They're teachers and blue collar workers. Maybe next time you should try interviewing the locals? The shop keepers? Business owners? Instead of just walking around by yourself and looking at stuff?

[@CousinLarrySitsThere]

Great update, I wonder if they want to build 55+ homes by the Bloomingdales parking lot still? The newest edition is a 2 level arcade. No more Starbucks too.

[@TrainmasterCurt]

So I guess Preit does a good job with malls?

[@pilotgrrl1]

Nice looking mall, but PREIT seems like another Moonbeam/Namdar/Kohan. Love the fountain!

[@BoratWanksta]

For whatever reason, I've never sensed PREIT to be as bad of a company, as Moonbeam, Namdar, or even Kohan for that manner. Unlike those 3 companies, I hadn't seen any evidence of PREIT swooping in on struggling malls to acquire them, then let a mall rot to the point it finally shutters. I.e. what sadly seems to be the declining case with both Northfield Square(Bradley, IL near Kankakee) and River Oaks(Calumet City, IL), after Simon sold off both of those malls to Namdar. After this summer IIRC the only anchor remaining at Northfield will be a Cinemark 10 screen movie theater once JCPenney leaves, and at River Oaks once JCPenney leaves the only anchor will be Macy's. I can't forget that Kohan let Lincoln Mall in Matteson, IL rot, till the point the inside of that mall finally shuttered. Along with not ponying up the money in the end to fix up code violations, the village of Matteson cited Kohan for letting the interior building condition of Lincoln Mall slide into. And I also get the sense during the time Kohan owned The Orchards Mall(Benton Harbor, MI) up till when he sold that mall, he also didn't do crap to help out that mall. It's a miracle Orchards is still open as a mall, since IIRC it has no anchor stores as of now. And since JCPenney left Orchards, a few years ago.

[@nomadcowatbk]

when was this recorded?

[@DoomieGruntVentures]

Mid-Late October 2019.

[@lovesmashbox]

is this mall opened now ? i was planning a trip from upstate new york to either king of prussia mall or this mall .

[@theonlydd4e577]

It's weird seeing people without masks on lol

[@lowkeybre7907]

No me litterally searching up the mall j go to 😅

[@ericeckman9470]

I was at that mall I think once in my life you need to do Plymouth meeting mall and exton and Coventry mall

[@DoomieGruntVentures]

Coventry has been covered & a video will be on the way soon within the next month or two. Exton & Pymouth Meeting will be considered for visits in the future.

[@androidphobe9351]

I live around the block from it

[@cheyo9471]

I’ve been here it’s kanda boring to me cause I go 2 times a week but y’all might want to go

[@Tariqslo]

Is the mall always this empty?

[@contentcreators1206]

No

[@davehibbs9111]

The mall will never open again.

[@jokelanddotcom]

Willow Grove Mall isn’t in Philadelphia

[@deadchannel7616]

jokelanddotcom its right outside phily

[@DoomieGruntVentures]

If you want to be that way, no, its not in Philadelphia. Greater metropolitan regions are a thing, you know.

[@CousinLarrySitsThere]

Doomie! How did you skip the carousel on the 3rd floor!!!