Exploring the Abandoned Pines Mall! Pine Bluff, Arkansas

[@sallypea3202]

I remembered when this mall opened in the late 80s! It was so nice back then 😭😭

[@andrewdavis1572]

Ugh, it hurts to see a place that I used to beg to go to in the late 90s and early 2000s look like this. That big ole fish has a lot of memories.

[@shojo29]

My kids climbed on it so many times!

[@DannyDavis-r5c]

Man that's so hard to think about I had so much fun there

[@_autumnmaple_968]

Haha i remember playing Lazer Tag there right before it shut down. The owners were super nice and awesome. The mall was already nearly completely abandoned by then.

[@tonyshanks1983]

My mom and lived in Pine Bluff from about 1987-1990. Always remember going to Pines Mall and getting a Real Ghostbusters action figure from KB Toys. Good Times!!!

[@culade]

I used to visit this mall occasionally. About the only thing it had going for it was the movie theater. Everything else was already dead before Covid hit so I'm not surprised that it shut down during the pandemic.

[@angiewilliams6281]

When I was a teenager this place was packed and shoulder to shoulder. I hate seeing this 😢

[@zafarshaik3101]

Free4all... as per the previous comment, good to have you guys back. Shout out all the way from Durban, south africa... with a fascination to the dead and abandoned mall culture happening throughout America's iconic malls. When It comes to pines mall, pine bluff, Arkansas, this is definitely one of those malls where literally everything is left behind. I can only imagine that this is one abandoned mall that nobody dares explore in the night, interestingly the only light in that mall would be from that Dillard's sign. Anyways been binging on some of your videos, the first mall video I've ever watched abandoned was century 3 mall and upon searching, I came across you guys channel but I thought maybe you guys stopped exploring because I saw no uploads for about 10 months 😢..

[@Free4All]

Thanks so much! We're back and have a lot of new videos coming soon!

[@jdh1969]

I still remember the grand opening of The Pines Mall in the summer of 1986.

[@bradleypollack5658]

I went there in 1988 when I was a little kid. My Aunt Connie took me there.

[@grapeseed427]

16:50 Didn't know PB had the fastest fastest shrinking rate in America but it doesn't surprise me because the murder rate is astronomical and the population is so small. Just a bunch of people who basically know each other's entire family taking each other out 😢

[@nicholasjohnson8617]

Great video. I used to work in the big space across from California nails. This was so nostalgic and heartbreaking to watch. Management really destroyed that mall.

[@tshinotu145]

This was seriously an amazingly well put together video! You have amazing editing skills. Loved all the shots you got, and can't believe how much water is leaking from that main! Great video guys, can't wait to see more!

[@Free4All]

Appreciate the kind words. More videos coming soon 👍

[@tshinotu145]

@@Free4All Awesome you boys better be zynned up too!

[@JacobyMccrayTM]

Yup

[@DillionSteinman]

I remember going there as a kid. Sucks seeing the place like it is now.

[@Maxdekriek]

nice to see you guy's back... greetsz from holland..max...😉😁

[@heathking9558]

used to go in the 90s and 00s as a teenager with my parents... sad.. Good memories.. 😞

[@sydneyalisonbaker]

I’m from a town about an hour and a half away from PB. I’ve been to that mall a few times. Sad to see it like that!

[@PaulJackson-t4h]

Im from little rock but I remember going there having the best time of my life when I went out to eat with 17 beautiful young ladies at the restaurant they had down stairs 😊 also i remembered how surprised i was to see Walmart in the mall 🤧💯 good times!!

[@grapeseed427]

Don't remember a downstairs in the Pines or a Walmart. Must have been a super long time ago

[@PaulJackson-t4h]

Yeah they had Walmart in there maybe 2005

[@grapeseed427]

@@PaulJackson-t4h ok, I was gone out of state by then

[@little.murningstar]

I was there alot when I was a kid, That fish slide was so comforting. I loved hiding in it's head as my mom was in the bath and body shop close by So many memories of going to the movies and birthday partys The place was slowly getting more and more dead as shops closed down, even back when I was there. I hope it reopens again to it's former glory, It may not be the same. But it's better then nothing

[@GEFMFost]

This is fantastic buddy.

[@riveneva1519]

My family lived in pine bluff in the 70’s, and I was a teenager. The area where the pines mall is now had absolutely nothing out there back then except fields and the old KOTN AM radio station off of commerce road (if I recall correctly). We used to ride around in the mud in our 4 wheel drive trucks in the field where the casino is until the owner of the land came out one night and started shooting at us 😂 I had heard that the mall and casino were going to be built along with the regional park (another area where we 4 wheeled in the mud). Malls have been dying nationwide and this one simply followed in the same footsteps. Jefferson square mall used to be nice, but when I was there a few years ago that had changed. All of the anchor stores were gone - Otasco, Eckerds, Blass/Dillards, and TG&Y. It was run down. It is a shame that pine bluff can’t/wont change their direction. When I lived there they had cops on Cherry street harassing the kids that were simply cruising up and down the street instead of having them out deterring crime. Kids had nothing better to do since everything closed at night. Misplaced priorities - at least when the kids were cruising Cherry street you knew where they were and that they weren’t getting into too much trouble. I put the blame squarely on years of incompetent city leadership and corruption. I wish the people that are trying to improve the city well, but they’ve got a huge uphill battle ahead of them.

[@cbarnes9808]

I grew up there in 90s. In the food court behind that orange wall was the original theater. I remember seeing Men in Black (the 1st one) in that theater. It stayed open for a couple years after the 2nd one (the one yall walled thru) opened. It was cool in the 1st one. Across from Roger's Jewelers, I believe it said it was a beauty school. Well in the 90s it was Aladdin's Castle. It had all the games you could play for tickets to get different toys with. Me and my sister and 2 friends modeled for Limited2 in that mall. I still have a Polaroid pic of us in the store. I'll try and change my profile pic to it if u wanted to see. Most of the stores that yall went in wasn't there in the 90s. The people who owned it back then was this really tall skinny old man who wore clothes like a cowboy and his little old short wife who looked like a native American. They didn't look like they owned a mall but they did and they was up there every day hanging out in the food court or walking around. Very nice people. My dad use to repair jewelry for Roger's & JCP. My moma did hair at a place by Dillard's. You could go trick or treating at the stores during Halloween. Beside the 1st theater/orange wall in food court that was a restaurant called Garfields. It was the 1st place I ever ate that u could color on the brown paper they would cover ur table with. The Chinese food place was good to eat back then and a place called Corn Dog 7 had the best Lemonade they would freshly squeeze, adding cherry was a must. Me and my best friend became friends walking in that mall when we was in 7th grade. I have alot of memories there. Oh and I worked for Sears for like 3 weeks there before they fired me. 😂 As a teen yes I slid thru that fishes mouth. If I could take anything from that place it would be the fish and lilly pads. I believe there was a turtle in there too. Memories. Sucks to see it that way.

[@dfuller81]

I remember the Chinese place being really good. That’s where I’d always eat if we didn’t go to Garfields, which I thought was real fancy back then.

[@Jerrydbahreini]

Broooo I used to go there to watch movies and look at that fish. It's trippy looking at it now in a video

[@SteveReaves]

The mall died out in the mid 2000s, and came back for a while. I was surprised to see they brought Garfield's back when everything reopened. There was an old WalMart Supercenter Anchor toward the far south. After it closed down and relocated to the interstate is when everything started to leave in the 2000s the first time. If they ever reopen, they will need to do something different with that old WalMart Anchor. It has been closed for a good 20 years or more. That food court was awesome back in the day. I saw a lot of iconic movies in that theatre including Wayne's World, Forrest Gump, and the Titanic. There used to be an awesome Arcase around the corner from the food court, thus why you found that old Terminator machine.

[@spur1955]

Grew up about 25 miles down the road from pine bluff. Been there many times. Too bad the city has imploded. Too much crime now a dangerous place.

[@charlestonpinballarcade]

Was this one filmed before or after the recent possible buyer came forward? Seems like that deal is not happening at this time.

[@user-neo71665]

Bad management didn't help it but it was going down hill way before she took over. The crime rate is so high here because the city doesn't care. Stores were pulling out. Customers were skipping crime bluff and driving an hour to go to little rock. Instead of fixing the problems city leaders want to spend money to paint pretty pictures on the side of falling in buildings and a multimillion game of pick up sticks out of telephone poles. I remember when this mall opened and watched it go down. As an electrican I even done some work and my boss had to take them to court to get paid.

[@damwolf]

Don't forget the retarded bamboo art structure down town

[@corvixie]

Oh, my goodness! All of those children’s books! They’ve just been left behind. My mom is an elementary school teacher, and she’s always on the lookout for children’s books. She tries to be generous to her students because they aren’t very fortunate and they live in poor conditions. It’s sad that these hundreds of children’s books have simply been abandoned!

[@ZeCabreira]

Watching from the Philippines!

[@laurie5098]

I grew up 45 miles south of Pine Bluff. It was great to have a mall closer than Little Rock! I am surprised it lasted as long as it did being the city's environment. I bet after visiting there, you could probably figure out why it is the fastest shrinking city in America! There was a Dillards (formerly called Blass), TG&Y, Otasco and other stores in Jefferson Square on Olive St. Across from that shopping center was a Bonanza Restuarant.

[@carlavision6143]

Came across your video and subscribed to your channel. Really enjoyed your abandoned mall video. Love abandoned places!

[@Free4All]

@@carlavision6143 awesome! Check out the rest of our channel. Lots of abandoned exploration videos on there

[@caylalamb8201]

Dillards is still open btw lol that’s why the electricity is on 😂

[@SwiftVTing]

I've been living in Korea for two years now, but it felt so surreal when KZbin recommended this to me, i had a ton of memories with that big fish in the center of the mall. Really sad to see how it's fallen.

[@arkansasrailproductions5507]

It’s really sickening to see the mall like this. Used to visit there almost every time I went to Pine Bluff. Lot of memories in that place.

[@honeyplug]

I can still see my kids playing on the big fish and turtle sculptures like it was yesterday. I hate to see them trapped inside this dead place. I lived there from 2006-2010. I HAD to leave... the home I bought for $125K devalued down to $45K in 4 years' time. (Big Recession in 2008) I had to return the home to the bank in lieu of foreclosure. Escaped with the clothes on my back. People were breaking in and stealing as I was moving things out. I wouldn't turn a sick DOG loose in PB

[@honeyplug]

14:15... we see why waterfalls in pb are ridiculously high. Imagine how long that water has been running. Clean fresh water. So wasteful

[@ronmad2425]

I used to drive from Camden to the Pines mall just to get Chinese food and walk around the mall all the time.

[@memeruss9896]

The mall closed in June of 2020, the cinema closed in 2021. Dillard's still has an open clearance store at the end of the mall. That store was closed off from the mall long before the mall closed and that property is owned by Dillard's not the mall, thus keeping it open. The fire was in 2022 and was started near the mall managers office, I never read if they found out how it started. I did read that it actually burned up through the roof rather than spreading in the interior of the mall. I think it was mostly just one store section. Great video, but just be respectful of any property you explore, even if it is in horrible shape like this.

[@IVAR_LIKES_MHA]

My dad lives in Arkansas and I remember going to this place to see a couple of movies and I was so mad when it closed

[@TeeKay_unknown]

13:59 I thinks that’s old navy

[@jhnorrell3280]

Grew up in that mall went every weekend in the 90s

[@growedupgooniesproductions923]

How did you get access to in it? I wanna check it out and ask lady if she needs any help with maintenance.

[@shojo29]

My now husband and I had our first date at the theater there in 2000.

[@dennissmallwood9082]

I saw Pretty Woman in the original theater on the south side of the food court. It is a shame what white flight and mismanagement have done to Pine Bluff and properties in the city. Many memories of going to Pine Bluff to visit family and to shop.

[@heliarc4338]

Man, I used to go to that mall all the time then I stop because the crime rate got to be so bad but the same thing starting to happen in Monroe Louisiana as well crime rate getting out of hand for it

[@guyfawkes6657]

this is my hometown i know everything about this mall.

[@TeeKay_unknown]

Can u making an posts how place look like once before cause I’m from pb and I want know how it look like

[@josephconnor9848]

Videos do not do any justice for that mall it’s sad it went to that state of decay I remember school shopping at the pines mall

[@jonflowers8823]

Been there, the mall was pretty much empty, the last time it had a good business was back in 2009 to 2010.

[@DrNooooooo]

I remember when that mall opened. I was 6 or 7. Remember loitering and being up to no good with friends as a teenager in the 90s. So many memories from there and now it's all just an abandoned pos like the rest of the town. Sad feels :(

[@WhitsWildWorld]

Hate to tell everyone buttttt I don’t think this mall is opening anytime soon

[@Steve.Cutler]

More like never again

[@VexdGamer]

Used to drive past that thing for years, shame it’s been reduced to this

[@johnnyruvs]

Yeah, about that "new owner"...

[@quinton3997]

I can't believe the city is letting the water run like that

[@calvinballew5411]

Bad management yes..but it's just going the same way the rest of Pine Bluff is going. To Hell

[@Necknation44]

Economy failed like so many of the farming areas. Whole town is about that bad

[@teeth_cryptid555]

My family used to take me here before school started to get clothes and would let me play at the little indoor play area with the whale. Sad to look at man. :(

[@charlestonpinballarcade]

anyone have an update on this place after someone was “supposedly” buying it? the guy was all over the web talking about buying it and all these ideas blah, blah, blah and it’s been radio silence for months…

[@harryplum1699]

I used to play in that fish when I was little. Looks like somone ripped some if it out. It's a shame it fell apart like it did

[@jime6688]

I don’t understand why the tenants would leave everything behind. Also, do you guys have permission to be in there or is just come in at your own risk?

[@quinton3997]

I bet the copper been stripped probably cost millions to remodel it

[@axisgarm]

I’m not Lisa, my name is julie, Lisa left you years ago

[@chrisparlette3097]

Man I would had take some arcade machine Pepsi fridge claw machine and some cool posters to start a man cave it's not like you are stealing because it's was banned and left behind. 😮 it's need a new home also y'all got it for free when think about it.

[@Kris-Dreemur-with-a-gun]

Why did i get recommended a video with where i live on my alt

[@matthewwagner47]

The local Malls were super corrupt. Most ran them like a prison

[@elund408]

downtown areas killed the sears catalog, malls killed the downtown area, internet killed the malls, . Mall owners like other people have to make money If all your rent coming in goes to sewer, water, electricity and taxes you can't keep a mall open. It's sad but happening all over the united states.

[@PreacherPaul71]

Bad management on the part of the shop owners inside the mall. Not hard to see why it closed. The mall is just like Pine Bluff, dead.

[@slownloud9743]

Yooo I’m an Arkansan wasssssappp feller

[@treydinatrent]

Just so you guys know, there was never a new owner. The guy that claimed to buy it was a fake

[@matthewwagner47]

Backrooms footage. The mall isn't that old. 100k childrens books.

[@TCAFLASH]

The Oldest View…

[@JamesBrown-ux9ds]

In the end the US way of life is at least honest - there is nothing behind it.

[@mollies13]

Sucks for life

[@jakel3424]

Democrat States

[@MENFUSSMIKE]

What a waste of time

[@damwolf]

Aladdin castle before partying out.

[@11b4life.]

Pine Bluff is a town waiting to die. Everyone there has someone else to blame for its downfall. Yeah the local government was a big part of the city's problems, its residents are just as much to blame as well. No one wants to come to a city with a crime and murder rate like pinebluff. The people won't admit the problems and take responsibility for them. You can't be a victim if you admit you are part of the problem. This video only scratches the surface of pine bluffs problems, and trying to milk the Indian casino tor evey dime they can won't fix it either.