Foothills Mall: The Mall That Died Twice | Dead Mall Documentary | Retail Archaeology

The Foothills Mall is located in Tucson, AZ. It is suffering its second death.
Barnes & Noble footage provided by Skyvator. Here's a link to their channel:
/ @skyvatorproductions
For information on Jason Heine's music visit:
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For information on Retail Archaeology's music visit:
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[@wolf397]

It seems that I've fallen into the "shopping malls with very 80s aesthetic" part of KZbin once again Please dont rescue me, i quite like it here

[@lynall-zi9yj]

They need to film an early 90's movie here. It's beautiful and has so much 90's character.

[@benskrill2813]

I go to Foothills for the movie theatre semi-regularly, it is really not that cool, just very orange.

[@Tape_Time]

Saved by the bell: summer days (is what that movie could be)

[@mikemccuin2384]

They Filmed shots at the Tucson Mall in 1987/88 for a movie called. " Can't buy me Love" with Patrick Dempsey and Seth Green even Two Homies from "Colors". Were in This 80s Classic Check it out

[@Gransonec]

Ferris Bueller 2: The Reckoning

[@cordeliachase601]

Not really. Looks very Spanish, and kind of ghetto. Doesn’t look all that 90’s to me at all. I feel if you want to see a 90’s looking mall, you should go to the east coast.

[@4knewmusic554]

People can say it's ugly but I think it's a unique mall look, especially suitable for AZ imo.

[@telepheedian]

Gives me a really friendly late-90s, upscale feel. The fact that it's clean and that the signage is maintained and everything generally looks thought out helps a lot.

[@em4957]

It looks similar to a lot of late 90's architecture in Texas as well. My old high school (in Texas) was built in '97 and its color scheme was basically the same as this mall.

[@angryidahobusdriver]

Brandon York true.

[@MultiCreditKIng]

It's one of the very few malls that you can enjoy when it's 100 or more degrees in Arizona.

[@Larry]

The late 80s loved their roman columns in malls, my local one went one further and stuck fake ivy all over them too.

[@MrSaltthegrave]

Larry Bundy Jr I love your videos

[@RetailArchaeology]

Larry Bundy Jr I was actually surprised there wasn't fake Ivy all over the place while I was walking around.

[@Aquaticdragon]

Oh wow, one of my favorite youtubers just appeared in the comments.

[@chrizecat]

look at this heccin nerrrrd *hecc u nerd* **its a joke**

[@nyuuchan3563]

I'm probably just as surprised as everyone else is to see you commenting on a video.

[@austingreen5606]

Great work man. Don't let the assholes get to you. Everyone acts like Dan Bell is the only one allowed to make these type of videos and that's not fair to other people like yourself who do a damn good job.

[@RetailArchaeology]

+Austin Green they don't bother me because they're flat-out misinformed. The funny part is Dan and I are friendly. We both watch and enjoy each other's stuff. People who follow us both on Twitter know that ☺

[@keepmymindpreoccupied2892]

Who tf is dan bell???

[@burnthamm]

@@keepmymindpreoccupied2892 another big name in dead mall exploration videos

[@marlenamouse5695]

When the mall was dead the first time... there was a toy train store! You could push a button and the trains would go around. I used to work at that mall in its second wind. There was a CD City and a Sam Gooding. They used to have a Dillards. That empty restaurant was the "Old Pueblo Grill" it was ran by the McMahan restaurants.

[@robertknight4672]

Marlena Mouse the Natick Mall in Massachusetts had a train store like that a long time ago.

[@dragon-sb6hc]

I remember the train display that was always a must stop when i went there

[@tbb033]

The fountain in the abandoned restaurant reminds me of Abuelos (mexican) but I have no reason to doubt it was some other mexican place.

[@xboys_archive]

Marlena Mouse What a flash back thanks for the nostalgia

[@Vampirebear13]

I was going to compliment you on your beauty when I realized it's a pic of Helena Bonham Carter. But still, great choice. :-)

[@ellie1595]

This mall had gone under once before and was bought by Ross Perot's son. He completely remodeled it and made it amazing and the best mall in Tucson. I loved this mall and it breaks my heart to see it completely vacant in 2022, except for the theater and the Barnes and Noble. The closed restaurant you are referring to, with the fountain, was Carlotta's Mexican Restaurant, and it was extremely popular. My family and I spent a lot of money and so much time at The Foothills Mall. I miss it and have very fond memories of this unique and beautiful mall.

[@Tubes78]

A mall so nice, it had to die twice

[@MultiCreditKIng]

AMC is the only reason that it's still alive.

[@nancydarling4918]

Nice floors. I like the floors.

[@justinthomaskraus]

I agree Nancy the floors are absolutely fantastic!

[@brianpayne2478]

Nancy Darling relatively new lol

[@fujitsubo3323]

lol they confuse me so much, they look like they are always wet.

[@SHADOSTRYKR]

very shiny and clean

[@angryidahobusdriver]

Nancy Darling same.

[@adhd_antoniostudios]

I use to live near this mall back when I was in Arizona. And damn this was the place to be in middle school. Every Friday a bunch of people from different middle schools would just go to this mall to chill. It was a nightmare for mall cops. When I would scroll through MySpace Friday nights everyone had uploaded pictures from being at the foothills mall. And then people grew up and it went to shit.

[@burnlogic8407]

I go to that AMC fairly regularly. It was a surreal experience to watch so many stores close there doors. The closed store you walked past that had the Volkswagen Claw game was an Old Navy. That kiosk with the tarp over it in the food court was a Wetzels pretzels and then a Jamba Juice. The Screen Covering one of the restaurants in the food court used to be a Taco bell. There used to be a Nike Store that brought in a lot of people, but its gone to. The closed restaurant with the fountain had always been closed for as long as I can remember. There also used to be a brewery, at 16:00 you can see the old brewing tank that the restaurant used to advertise their own beer.

[@marionmitchell261]

The structure Barnes and Noble shares space with was originally a Goldwaters department store. The opposite end was a Levys. I spent many an hour there during Junior high and high school. There was a mexican restaruant Casa Molinas, and the food was outstanding. The atmosphere was very nice too, now it has a generic feel to it. Long no reason to make a trio to this or even the Tucson Mall. Keep up the great work.

[@TomFerguson]

The restaurant was originally called Keaton's. Then it became Old Pueblo Grill. Both were great places. It had a fantastic bar area. It became a Mexican restaurant, I think called Carlotta's before shuttering. The original movie theater entrance was near the current food court. I remember seeing Return of Jedi there on opening night (12:01am) in 1983. The lines wrapped all around the inside of the mall. Thanks for posting this video, brought back some great memories.

[@Jwdude123]

When the church goes into a mall, that is the death blow!

[@ambivalent_hoax]

Amazon will be coming to Australia by the end of the year - until now we never felt a tangible online threat to mall retail. I wonder if the dead mall trend of America will hit our local plazas.

[@raftash5279]

Ian Anthony nothing's gonna happen. Plenty of us will still shop retail.

[@GreenAppelPie]

Ian Anthony I believe it will except for clothing, jewelry and major appliances. It's a weekly 15 minute task to breakdown all the Amazon boxes for recycling.

[@Squeetube]

Shopping Centres in Australia are going to be much more resistant as all of them contain Supermarkets and related fresh food retailers. also, Australia isn't as massively overbuilt with bricks and mortar retail as the US is. That isn't to say that we don't currently have a number of struggling retailers that will likely downsize or fold in the face of a local Amazon presence.

[@colewhiteley9951]

Also, Austrailians aren't as spread out as people in the U.S. are - a lot of malls in the U.S. are dying b/c they're built in rural areas that could sustain them when people had more spending money but can't anymore b/c people don't have the money to spend at a mall for essentials that they could just get from Amazon, Wal-Mart or the local thrift shop.

[@phyngineer]

What? No Amazon in Australia in 2017??

[@shoegazerproductions7706]

As a Tucsonan, it breaks my heart to see this thing so dead. It's my favorite mall in town. Sucks that they've already junked the indoor section of the El Conn Mall, that thing was an architectural masterpiece. Shame it died so soon, would have loved to see you do a video on that. You should hit up Park Place on a super slow day. It's got plenty of stores, but it's an interesting mall, too. Though Tucson mall is boring.

[@jesusparedes8360]

Shoegazer Productions Tucson mall just has lots of useless stores

[@uguubella]

YES PARK PLACE NEXT PLEASE!! ! !

[@macdre6392]

Never knew el conn was indoor. When did they rid that section? Lived In Tucson for 5 months and regret not going to foothills. Park place definitely seemed dead to me on a weekday. Found it funny they had a piano/Organ store full of churchy old folks.

[@shaynewhite4545]

what is up with that porno music

[@quietus5138]

I moved away from Tucson from 2011-2017. Moved back and just went to El Con yesterday and I thought I was crazy trying to find the indoor section! Didn't know they gutted the place.

[@holbol9468]

Perfect channel to get my 80s Arizona nostalgia! I have lived in the East Valley since 1984 and your channel is perfect to bring back those memories! Your fiesta mall videos made me so sad though. Really going to miss that place. Great job on these videos and have you ever done voiceover work? Greatest soothing voice you have!

[@cdcVintage]

Me too. I have never seen an Arbys inside a mall. I mostly see subway.

[@markray5113]

They seemed to be common in malls in the Chicago area through the 90s.

[@MultiCreditKIng]

I never seen a Subway in a mall in Tucson lately.

[@Mewtwo_150]

There was an Arby's by the Tucson Mall, but it closed like 10-12 years ago. However, there is a brand new Arby's that opened up a few days ago near the Walmart by the Tucson Mall

[@DanielTrue16]

I loved this mall. I lived in Tucson from 2003-2015 and I noticed towards the tail end of being in Tucson, the mall really started to deteriorate. A lot of stores were closing up, as is the case at many malls around the country. I had even noticed that at the Tucson Mall.

[@aeiouna]

Tucson Mall is picking back up, they've opened up a lot of new stores (a Dick's Sporting Goods is opening up as a new anchor next month!) But Foothills is on life support. That Marana mall he mentions (Tucson Premium Outlets) took A LOT of the stores from Foothills when it opened.

[@StevenEveral]

This mall is so 1993. It's like a time warp.

[@thedarkestzenitheon3340]

Steven Manning LETS DO THE TIME WARP AGAIN

[@tbb033]

You better promise me I'll be BACK IN TIME

[@SyndicShadow]

What do you think makes it that way? People say stuff like that a lot in these videos and sometimes I see it and sometimes I don't, so I wondered why you thought so

[@henryeugenedoublehockeysti1894]

I live about 20 minutes from this mall and visit the Barnes and Noble semiregularly. What's interesting about it now is that it seems like some of the empty storefronts are being converted to workspaces for call centers, small offices, stuff like that. If you went back now you'd find a few of the glass display fronts towards the B&N side of the mall covered with paper, and if you look underneath it you can see people working in cubicles.

[@owenrichards1418]

That mall is at least taken care of and looked after. Someone still cares about it. Crouch-jumping is a noble skill in Half Life ;-D

[@tileslasher]

these videos just flat out break my heart, I'm also a tile contractor, that is some really awesome awesome work. Such a beautiful job, it's a complete waste I hate seeing this happening to the malls.

[@JTHMsonicfan]

I work just down the street from this mall. The only thing that gets any business is the Barnes and Noble. Despite how rude the staff there are.

[@jordanrhind4897]

Your videos are addictive and I could listen to you talk all day 😍

[@BearDownDOOP]

The empty store next to the movie theater used to be a Gameworks. It closed down when they opened up the Sega World Sports Grill at the mall (which is now closed).

[@poptart098]

Keaton Köch When Sega Sports Grill closed, they actually moved to that store front near the shut down restaurant. Then a few years ago, GameWorks actually took over that new Sega Sports Grill location so GameWorks was back for a bit. But once again they've closed down and nothing has moved in since.

[@jaredfogle6612]

Keaton Köch I take it gameworks is a video game store

[@LunaTulpa]

@@jaredfogle6612 no, game works was an arcade

[@jaredfogle6612]

@@LunaTulpa oh I thought it was a knockoff gamestop

[@pablodelgado7919]

This mall have a 90's vibe. I remember fondly growing up in P.R that mostly almost every mall had that aesthetic feel to it and seeing this brings me to that time which is beautiful.

[@Syraa025]

This mall is so dead I went there a while ago I was surprised it was still hanging on.

[@thenextstepp]

It's amazing how things have changed. When I was a kid everything was about the mall and now they are failing all over the country. What I find hilarious are the developers who are building new malls and think their malls won't end in the same fate. Things have changed, malls could still work but they need to seriously rethink their place.

[@tremisanthrope]

The Storage area used to be a SEGA owned bar and grill. That was awesome.

[@tremisanthrope]

Also, I used to work in the mall at a Toys R Us Express right next to the AMC theaters. Despite almost never getting business, we managed to stay open for well over a year, and it was amazing.

[@timeispassing]

Yep I remember someone got stabbed at the SEGA Sports Grill and they couldn't recover their reputation.

[@eminemisthegoat2466]

WTF that’s so cool!

[@giovanniaguirre1678]

worlds sports grill

[@Mewtwo_150]

It was called Gameworks I believe

[@TheBearMoose]

Loving this mall. The look is so iconic for the area. So much nostalgia. Don't think I've seen anything quite like this one.

[@watchgoose]

All the empty malls and hospitals in the US could be modified fairly easily for housing for Veterans and homeless.

[@LeahLaushway]

watchgoose Not going to happen 'cause there's no money to be made in it. Who cares about housing people in need, after all?

[@williamhaynes7089]

no one to clean up after them or pay the electric bill.. charity don't make money

[@alexandralamberton5615]

watchgoose you could do it with hospitals, but not malls. Malls have a lot of useless open space that costs a lot of money to heat. This makes simply converting the existing stores to living space cost preventative. Even if you were to convert the open areas in to rooms it would likely cost more than it would to knock the mall down and build low income housing in its place.

[@alexandralamberton5615]

In fact the cost of maintaining and heating all of that open space is sometimes what causes malls to fail financially. A dying mall in a town I used to live in managed to cheat death by removing the roof and becoming an open air strip mall type thing

[@BrandonSugiura]

I agree with Leah, it will make things worse. Dole Cannery Mall is a perfect example of one. Check that place out and you will see why

[@Christopher0817]

I have seen one of those vw bus claw machines at one of our local malls here it's a shame to see how mall that looks that nice be so dead on a Saturday afternoon as always another great video thanks for sharing

[@aa999xyz]

thank you for coming to my town, yes nice floor but when in a wheelchair is like a wave machine. The AMC theater is renovating to the larger size seats something like La-Z-Boy type. The mall has a new owner recently so hopefully he might be able to turn it around or something? You missed one of the good signs in front of Ross listing the different restaurants and some of them are no longer there. Thanks for making these videos and have a good one

[@SteveHolsten]

AMC is upgrading a lot of theaters to those big chairs.

[@mustangs-marketing]

And those big charts are amazing

[@cryptozoo22]

I think I shopped at the Foothills Mall a total of three times since it originally opened. Sorry to hear it's fallen on bad times again. The El Con Mall in Tucson was a sad sight in it's final years. Most of the stores had closed, they had stopped regular maintenence (the ceilings were spotted with stains from water damage and mold), and the place smelled of dust/must and mildew. You could actually hear your own footsteps echo in the mostly-abandoned interior. A far cry from it's glory days, when it was packed with happy shoppers. It was a big part of my teenage years, so I'm glad I got to visit it one last time before they tore it down. Thank you for this video.

[@RetailArchaeology]

+cryptozoo22 we were really sad when we realize we missed the El Con mall by a few years. If we had been able to film it while it was still there it would have been the oldest mall that Retail Archaeology had filmed. We did get some cool pictures of the sign though. Thanks for watching!

[@mustangs-marketing]

I was there in the mid 1990's during the rebirth that was mentioned din the video. This is too nostalgic. Around the the mid 90's, they did a lot of interior work to make way for the outlets, which explains the non-80's vibe. They also had a lot of community outreach, I think they were called 'Fiesta Nights' to drive in more people. God, before the revitalization is was super DEAD. Virtually no stores, and the movie theatre was half it's size. The mall was half it's size. The area with Ross in it was added later. When they expanded the theatre and Barnes & Noble came in, then it started to boom. There was a Sax 5 Avenue Outlet, Black and Decker, Big Dog (anyone remember them?)an Adidas store was in the food court area. At the indoor movie theatre entrance, on the right was a Sega Gamerworks arcade, on the left was a Ben N Jerry's ice cream. The Zumez was a quicksilver store. I believe the restaurant was an Italian restaurant. I remember eating there a long time ago, Tuscany something? And that Barnes n Noble. Back before smartphones, the audio center was THE place to listen to and find music. It was a safe mall too. My parents would let me run around in it by myself at only 8 years old. I would get ice cream, go to the movies (who is going to tell a little kid he can't bring in his ice cream) then go look at toys in Ross or books at the bookstore. It's sad seeing that mall die. again.

[@aeiouna]

I forgot about the Ben & Jerry's restaurant until you mentioned it!

[@PinkAgaricus]

I remember Big Dog being sold in JC Penney when they used to be here, Penney's closed up here and never came back. Was that a boy's clothing brand?

[@dinahclaire7631]

4:18 A Saturday afternoon at 1PM-ish? Whew, I WISH my mall looked like that on a Saturday afternoon. My local mall is practically a wild zoo every single day.

[@deendrew36]

Dinah Claire same

[@caitlinhasty9839]

Great video... been watching Dan Bell for a couple of years, and I'm pretty bummed he's not doing much with dead malls lately but now I've found this channel! Excellent stuff, I'm impressed and now subscribed with notifications!

[@Dovaz921]

Hey...you arent dan bell..

[@RetailArchaeology]

The Gamer Dragon Nope, his videos are a lot better than mine.

[@danacantu6714]

Retail Archaeology don't sell yourself short, love your videos!

[@ChevyCamaroIsBetter]

Your videos are on par with his IMO

[@crowmigration8245]

The Gamer Dragon ironically he just uploaded a video that wasn't a mall or dirty room

[@RetailArchaeology]

Crow Migration I've only had a chance to watch half of that video so far, but it's chilling. I can't wait to finish it.

[@blaahrfingaahrleesmith9460]

If I had known you were here in Tucson I would have bought you lunch from their food court! Love this mall, and your channel and if you're ever in the area again, please let me get you lunch or something.

[@MultiCreditKIng]

You can only buy food from the Panda Express now from the Food Court now.

[@bigspencah]

@@MultiCreditKIng Not even that! It's closed too.

[@ScottHough]

It's gone downhill since I was last there about 4 years ago. I've only been to that mall 10-15 times in my life as I live on the East side of town near Park Place mall, but I seem to remember the restaurant with the fountain being a Mexican restaurant of some sort. I'm surprised the Oriental Chi place has grown to a bigger size. Holy crap, the music when in the car game is from Daytona USA on Sega Saturn.... Was it the game audio or was it edited in? Last Edit: There is another Mrs Fields in the Tucson mall.

[@chasenaustin8297]

I used to live there in Tucson for 9 years. This mall was the one I used to go to all the time to hang out with friends. It's not looking good at all anymore😨

[@chasenaustin8297]

Also I remember back in 2011 I think when our governor at that time, Gabriella Gifford, was shot in the head in a assassination attempt and killed 6 others including a nine year old girl, Christina-Taylor Green. Jennette McCurdy, star of the show iCarly, came down for small concert in honor of Christina-Tayler Green in the foothills mall. I remember going there when I was around 10 and seeing Jeannette trying to make some joy out of the horror that happened a few months before. There are some videos of this meet and greet if you could call it that on KZbin within the foothills mall.

[@Zedek]

The mall really looks like it' been inspired the gaudy early-to-mid 90s Nickelodeon cartoons.

[@russg1801]

Outlet mall since the 90's? Yeah, that concept was gonna survive the Internet!

[@Franniiv3]

That's really awesome, so much character! Amazing looking mall, I love how it's kept it's 80's look! One day people are really going to miss real Malls and be so nostalgic if they were lucky enough to visit real places like this. The Mall in my town has been refurbed and it's like they've took all the original character out, and it looks bland as hell. They've changed the tiled floor to what looks like some kind of modern 'Linoleum' but somehow uglier! haha. The thing is it's still doing well, so why they've made it so dull to shop in I don't know.

[@mitchellblake1475]

Something about this mall gives me a very "Pier 1" kinda feeling. Probably all the arches and colors

[@kenna4281]

only walked into this mall once because grandma was visiting from cali, and thats only because she still shops at ross. i was amazed at how dead it was, being a patron of parkplace and the tucson mall. being in that ross made me beyond uncomfortable btw, its like the decrepit walls and shitty products were sucking my soul out. thanks for doing vids like this in tucson! big fan of dead mall stuff

[@jacobomg]

Just stumbled across this channel and now i'm hooked.

[@jimmyfaustjr7373]

beautiful mall. if i had the money id get it hopping again. ;)

[@DennisR99]

Congrats on pronouncing Sbarro correctly.

[@TheMotherofTacos]

Pizzarina would be so proud.

[@PokemonRox101]

Since this video was published, the food court has lost the Mrs. Fields, Arby's, All-American Burger, and S'barros. The ONLY thing left in the food court now are the Panda Express and the Chocolate Factory, the latter of which is also dying a slow death.

[@augustinesanchez3361]

Tile is from the 90s I remember when they remodeled it and replaced the floor in sections

[@joshua8414]

I go to this AMC often. Good video. Binge watching the series.

[@Austin.D]

This mall cheated death once but couldn't cheated twice

[@SteveHolsten]

It's not done yet.

[@MultiCreditKIng]

AMC is still keeping it going.

[@Rsixsix]

I just moved to Tucson a couple weeks ago and was trying to visit all the malls in the area. I showed up here and it seemed so familiar as soon as i looked at the Foothills Mall sign. Going inside I was so surprised how dead the place was and at the same time I thought it looked so familiar. I thought I had seen it on a dead mall video somewhere and Im so glad I was right.

[@Rsixsix]

It's gone further downhill since. The foot court only has the Panda Express now. The movie theater is still going. There is also a Ross still that I got some throw pillows from.

[@annastacat391]

You should revisit this if you get the chance. The Ross, Party city, most outlets, and food court has completely closed (chairs even removed). The only thing still available is the theater, bath and body, and very few small shops.

[@BigHappysPlace]

i have seen a lot of old malls converted in to living space. it would be intersting to see what happens to this.

[@gerbearjones6056]

I find it sad and interesting how all the retail chains kept expanding at a fever rate for 20 or 30 years. They built a lot of malls that did really well for years. But they kept building more and more and more malls and stores until none of them is doing well. Did we saturate the market to the point where everyone loses?

[@buckroger6456]

The answer is a big yes.

[@Gerkins1313]

When the mall first opened, the restaurant you were curious about was a very nice place called Keaton's. Great food, lousy mall management. Several stores were shut out when the old owners wouldn't renew their leases according to more than one store manager. The place was truly beautiful when it first opened. My favorite gesture were the large copper fountains that looked like plants. All gone now.

[@alexanderbanos8125]

9:10 The Barnes & Noble bookstore at The Foothills Mall was formerly Goldwater's. Looks similar to Paradise Valley Mall's location (now Macy's) due to the structure. In 1989, Goldwater's became Dillard's until it closed at the time the mall was dying in 1994.

[@rmat.847]

How funny, I live in Tucson and had no idea. With customers like me it's no wonder. The Wal-Mart behind the mall is doing fine.

[@GoGreen1977]

Funny. I haven't stepped foot in a Walmart in over 15 years. I wont give that company/family one more cent of my money and shopping in the stores always gave me the creeps.

[@themovietheatre]

15:49 that's Cineplex Odeon, Name came from the merger of Canadian Odeon theatres and CIneplex cinemas.

[@ikaikamaleko8370]

I remember going here a lot, we used to have drinks at Thunder Canyon after golfing.

[@sarahnicoleslife]

do a part two! So much has closed since this! 2020 really murdered it.

[@frankytravels]

Local Tucsonan here. The two restaurant were a Carlotta's Mexican cantina and the World sports grill. The one on the right with the windows and red sign was the Carlotta's. The one that looked like storage was the sports grill. They made that restaurant to try and fill the void Gameworks left when they left the mall. I loved going to Gameworks when I was a kid and was really sad when it went. World sports grill gave it a go but even with the arcade games it wasn't the same so people didn't buy into it much. The Gameworks used to be the store directly on the right of amc but that turned into an aeropostale which has also closed down.

[@kaycelindley-dyer8872]

Old Pueblo Grill was in there on the south side of the mall

[@laurenpennell5649]

I havent been to this mall in awhile now that yhere is a new outlet mall and wow, it looks so empty. I remember when it was so full!

[@racheljeehye]

I appreciate these videos so much. Growing up in Tucson, i was a total mall nerd. I would ride the Sun Tran an hour after school to hit up my faves. When i got my license i was able to finally hit up the Foothills mall, which always seemed bougie to me. I was obsessed with the Quilsilver outlet store. ahh memories.

[@steggc85]

the mall music was a great touch, i felt like i was on hold the whole time

[@IBSkinnyB]

The only food court option left is Panda Express. Chocolate Factory is still there as well. The only thing keeping people in this mall is AMC, Barnes and Noble and Party City. Most small stores you show are gone and the only one that gets busy is a Bath and Body Works. There are plans on revitalizing it....again. Oh! And that VW Skill Crane is still there too.

[@mmiiikkkkeeeee]

Other comments say they removed a lot of the indoor section? Is that true?

[@IBSkinnyB]

@@mmiiikkkkeeeee Not sure. I have not been there in awhile. I saw a comment about the El Conn mall being gutted. With the virus going around and all the malls in town being closed.....I wouldn't be surprised if Foothills never opened again.

[@crowmigration8245]

It's unique and interesting but there's no consistency. The 90s vomited onto the floor, the arches look Spanish, the light fixtures look medieval, the skylights look modern. Equal mixture of typical mall stores, outlet stores, and empty stores. Also I much prefer the presumably older logo on the directory.

[@sodachris3000]

Crow Migration - Tucson in a nutshell.

[@Battlemaul123]

I think this mall strived in the late 2000's when there was a puma store, an adidas store, and a nike store all competing in this mall. Then in 2010 the Tucson Premium Outlets began construction and were finished in 2015. All of those stores had their contracts with the mall expire, so they moved to the Tucson Premium Outlets, which was the nail in the coffin for the foothills mall.

[@jojoabc100]

The restaurant you were wondering about in the empty spot used to be a Keaton's and then become an On The Border I believe. Keaton's closed back in the late 90's or early 2000's

[@Aidan_Au]

I am also based in Phoenix Metro. I only went to Tucson once to get an expedited passport at the Western Passport Center. I like the columns in this mall too. What do you think of Park Place?

[@marydavis116]

Aidan Au c t crochet to get the best way for for me to

[@hannaharocha7811]

I like park place. surprisingly busy most of the time. But I think a lot more of the population lives in the area where it is located.

[@jham9266]

You used music for a game on a very dead game console. How appropriate.

[@willowravenwright5518]

I am a massive fan of Dan Bell, but I have to say I appreciate the fact that though you both film similar things at times, you elaborate on a few different things and touch in other things that he does not. So keep it up.

[@SandyDiVa]

That is one of the most unique and beautiful malls I've ever seen. The floors were so beautiful and I just loved the architecture overall. And that Barnes and noble? I've never seen one that big, never with a second floor. Ours were tiny in comparison but they were always huge stores (we only have 1 left about a half hour away that I know of and I'm in philly). Thanks for showing it :)

[@rkgaustin9043]

@4:30 All American Burger hasn't been the same since they fired Brad Hamilton for cussing out and threatening a customer back in '82.

[@jaredfogle6612]

all for a refund

[@dawnpatrol700]

He kicked 100% of his ass TOO

[@flash-bri267]

There's an Arby's at the mall in Annapolis, Md.

[@joannabecker1727]

White Marsh Mall in Baltimore MD used to have one but it’s been turned into a Red Robin now.

[@AuthorMorganaSinclayr]

Omg, Foothills used to be my mall when I lived in Tucson. Used to love the Lisa Frank store and Club Libby Lu that used to be there. Great memories! Sad to see it dead, was quite busy back in 05.

[@aeiouna]

Foothills had a Lisa Frank store too? I remember the one at Tucson Mall

[@AuthorMorganaSinclayr]

@@aeiouna You're right it was Tucson Mall, not foothills. 😅 My family and I to go to Foothills quite a bit when I used to live there back in 04'. I was a 2nd grader at the time. At one time there was a movie theater in one of the malls we would go to, but that might have been Tucson Mall too.

[@ericmoore571]

I love this mall! Those tile floors are cool

[@LethaWolfStudios]

Kind of reminds me of the former 6 Flags Mall which was in Arlington Texas

[@thatawesomegirl650]

H.H. foxaddict I live very close to six flags mall and I would go see movies there every week. I remember there was one pizza place near the theater that was open and the mall was gated off but I would slip through there and it would be the most depressing thing you could ever see.

[@thatawesomegirl650]

My mom would just tell me about how everyone went there in the 80s and that’s where all the teens would hang out. Now we have the parks for that. I wonder if the same thing will happen to the parks?

[@glasstechs]

Are you referring to Six Flags AstroWorld?

[@lumberc]

The Tucson outlets for sure killed this mall which is kinda sad because it was a great mall

[@gearsofwar3xXx]

Foothills Mall was dead before Premier Outlets was done.

[@zacharydemchyk7651]

BlackBear345 I

[@MultiCreditKIng]

The Puma store pulled out of this mall, and has yet to relocate in Tucson. Now if you want your Ferrari, Red Bull, or BMW clothing you have to go to Phoenix Mills.

[@nickymaz05]

Cool video. I used to live in Tucson (2009-2012) and my then girlfriend, now wife, and I would frequent this mall to eat at the Sushi Garden and we would walk around the mall after dinner. We did see a movie once at the theater and I remember the Barnes & Noble. The mall is certainly struggling and had a lot of vacancies even then.

[@ThomasSoles]

Sweet. I grew up next to this mall. Catalina Apartments. Right next door. It was called Coronado Apartments then. Prior to this mall's construction, this was desert that my friends and I rode bicycles in. Once the construction began, we rode our bikes through the skeleton of this mall as it was being built. I don't live in Tucson any more, so this was a nice little bit of nostalgia.

[@pkdiddy]

Nothing about the most important mall anchor......Thunder Canyon Brewery?

[@MultiCreditKIng]

That's gone now. Only AMC, Ross, Party City, and Barnes and Nobel are left.

[@ikaikamaleko8370]

Yep I hear ya.

[@canyon50]

MultiCreditKIng there is also a barber shop, a massage place and a uniform place by the barns and noble and I think the bath and body work was still open last time I was there four months ago.

[@gregtodakonzie6168]

where's the tumbleweeds blowing through?

[@mustangs-marketing]

This video inspired me to take a road trip to visit this mall. So many childhood memeories sucks seeing it so empty....again.

[@sdraper2011]

You have a nice narrator voice.

[@patsflysfan2]

Am I the only one who's thinking of the Charlotte Hornets when looking at that sign?

[@RetailArchaeology]

patsflysfan2 now that you said that, I can't help but think of the Charlotte Hornets, LOL

[@superray21]

Also, the old school Arizona Diamondbacks

[@OrangeJinty]

I lost it when the Daytona music started playing over the footage of Mark playing the kiddie car game. That was incredible.

[@RetailArchaeology]

+Wyatt Williams Thank you! I'm glad you enjoyed it 😁

[@chrismyghostwriter]

I grew up down the street from this mall and even back in the day when there was many more stores and much more foot traffic, this mall always seemed like a dead mall to me. The Tucson Mall was always "the" mall there and that's where my friends and I would spend the majority of our time hanging out. I have a few memories of this mall like when my friends dared me to eat a bag of popcorn that was sitting on a bench outside the movie theater or visiting my buddy who used to work at the Just Sports that was there, but this mall just never was that big of a deal and honestly, I don't know how it's still open. It's always been a nice looking mall though and surprisingly still is.

[@mikeestrada8581]

Fun Fact : The music from the KC Cobra ride is stolen from SEGA's Daytona USA video game.

[@NikateeN]

Mike Estrada he actually dubbed it in.

[@evanpatterson8487]

You need to come to Norfolk VA. and do Military Circle Mall, be fore the start taking apart. and Virginia Beach Pembroke mall, most boring mall in America.

[@CarmenShields]

I'd second Military Circle (although I have yet to adventure there myself) and Pembroke isn't really dead, it's just a very odd mall with a strange selection of stores AND the only mall I know of that had a food court added on at one point (late 90s I believe) then taken out later when the mall was remodeled again. It's an okay mall, but some of the stores definitely show their age. Not dead, just not much compared to nearby shopping malls like Lynnhaven Mall & MacArthur.

[@its__Ev]

While you're over here hit cheasapeak square mall. Nothing to see there, just the way you like it.

[@tetsuoZshima]

As of a year or two ago this mall has been demolished; thank you for the preservation.

[@mecelaya]

You should go back for an update. This mall is barely hanging on, only 1 food court option, the Mrs Fields was recently abandoned without notice and most stores you see here are gone. It’s so sad, this was the mall I grew up going to. Going to the Nike Factory Outlet (I worked there too), getting hair cut next to the Levi’s outlet, there was a Gameworks, a Saks Off 5th next to Barnes & Noble, Thunder Canyon Brewery, and even a small dinosaur museum back in the mid-90’s that was opposite of Sbarro in the food court.

[@kellettd2]

I love your videos.

[@RetailArchaeology]

Dan Kellett Thank you! 😁

[@kevinpatrickmacnutt]

Park City Mall in Lancaster, PA had an Arby's back in the 70s and early 80s. Highly doubtful that is still there as that mall, still pretty successful, looks nothing like it used to. Very modern, which is amazing as that mall dates back to I believe, 1967. I think that one survived as they made the malls ultra wide for the era, but quite standard for today. I still miss the green-gold colored carpets and water fountain in what is now the food court, both of which were removed during a minor facelift in 1982.

[@chucksluver84]

Kevin MacNutt it is still there

[@kevinpatrickmacnutt]

Brent Sattazahn Last time I ate in Arby's in Park City, we had just finished shopping at Woolco.

[@kevinpatrickmacnutt]

DovahKiin420 A Woolco?!?

[@ShadowFudo]

Oh my gosh, I was at Park City today! It's BOOMING! The arby's is still there in one of the main arms, and it looks like the whole building is booming again! I only saw 11 empty store spaces, and several of them have "coming soon" stores like a Lolly and Pop, a MAC store, and a massive AT&T building that'll take up three spaces!! I think it's actually growing from a middle class mall to an upper class mall!

[@ShadowFudo]

I'm also a big nerd that's been inspired by these dead mall series videos and I'm slowly making my rounds around southern PA to see how many are still alive. It's amazing to see my childhood mall growing like it is! Oh, do you remember what the restaurant above the one anchor was? I think it was above the sears, but since Park City's facelift it's become a stairway to a solid wall...it's kind of a cool thing to look out for if anybody visits!

[@wolfsmith2865]

I live in Tucson and went to the Foothills Mall once in the 90s. Despite being clean and well kept, my buddy and I were followed by security every place we went. I resented that and never returned, save for the bookstore.

[@sarafaruolo2322]

This was my childhood mall, still go to the movies here and Ross on occasion. When I was in high school there was a GameWorks in that empty space to the right of the movie theatre and it was totally the cool place to be. There also used to be seating outside of Barnes and Noble's Starbucks and we would hang out there and smoke cigarettes all night and never buy anything. When they took away their outdoor seating it was like the end on an era for the high weirdos who had no where else to be other than out there. So many memories of my teenage years!

[@Titanic19127]

Beautiful mall