Mazza Gallerie, DC | a boujee dead mall with four levels and one tenant | ExLog 87

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Mazza Gallerie could've been a spectacular place if it were just more honest with itself. While the direct area surrounding the mall has the yearly income to justify such a boujee elitist shopping experience, the entire building was just not equipped for the world to change. Only time will tell where Mazza Gallerie will land. Can it survive? We'll see...
#exlog #salguido #dmodfam

[@sal]

If anyone wants to book the "Quite Studios Fashion Show Runway Exhibit" please just let me know. I can get the Mall PA Lady to DJ the event...she's pretty cheap and runs everything from a Zune, a bullhorn and some camping lights for ambiance. Sorry to any California viewers...I totally pronounced "Rodeo" wrong. Oops. Just put me on blast down in the comments, or let me know if I have to come offer a sacrifice at the Dolby Theatre or something. I'm down. Thanks for watching, everyone!

[@sal]

You must be new around here. Of course I explained what I was doing, but they politely asked me not to film, and requested that I leave. So, I complied. There was nothing else to see up there, and I don’t think the video would’ve played very well if there was a random 20 minute long segment of a pristine movie theatre, you know?

[@jsperess]

Sal that voice over during the fashion show montage had me in stitches. Brilliant. "Beautiful bastard." Who is voicing that!? I. Must. Hire. Her.

[@zendogmultimedia]

I'd like to book a show for 3 weeks from last Thurmontuesday.

[@poltergiestrowe461]

Its me warlock I am back

[@chiensyang]

Hello Sal, The final buyer of this mall, Tishman Speyer, shut the mall and TJ Maxx down on December 24, 2022.

[@DarthEd77]

I live in the DC metro area, and I’ve been to this mall exactly once in the past two decades. That was to go to the AMC in order to see Spirited Away on opening night during its original US release. For some inexplicable reason, it was the only cinema in the DC area to show it, so I’ll tip my hat to the AMC Mazza Gallerie for that at least.

[@tolfan4438]

It took me a couple seconds to remember Spirited Away but yeah that was a really limited-release you lucky to have in your area at all

[@PGHammer21A]

@@tolfan4438 DC gets limited releases that cities in its population class normally wouldn't - and not just "Spirited Away"; "Dona Flor and her Two Husbands" had a limited release run in DC in 1978 (I saw it myself at the Circle West End - a short walk from the George Washington University campus).

[@TheNewgreatlife]

@@tolfan4438 Yeah I didn't even know it got a theatrical release. I thought it went straight to Cartoon Network.

[@endruv_2287]

Wait wait wait lemme get this straight: So the super expensive stores couldn't take Covid, thus damaging high end malls, but more standard stores could? There's something ironic about this super elite mall crashing and burning while my local somewhat lower class suburban mall is doing better than ever.

[@RayQ101]

It’s the opposite for the most part. Luxury brands posting highest profits during Covid. Top grossing malls in USA are luxury malls.

[@wendypierce5621]

Covid forced the luxury brands to finally get on board with the whole online shopping thing. Net A Porter and Farfetch were already chipping away at the boutiques that would mark up already expensive brands by an extra 200%.

[@kennethbower6040]

They say the rents are HUGEEEEEEEEE in these malls ...

[@jenniferburchill3658]

Probably because people had less money to spend, so they went to the place with lower prices.

[@aeriheirsling2735]

Walmart JC Penny Sears and othercsmakler stores are still around.

[@danieldorsey6768]

Update: the TJ Maxx closed in December 2022 and the Mazza Gallerie is currently being gutted.

[@dannymartin1114]

Wow, there is something deeply unsettling about a place that's so fancy being so dead. The luxury mall at the end of the world. Great video, really enjoyed this one.

[@sal]

The final boss of luxury malls. You can’t kill this place for good, it’s immortal.

[@allysonalt5291]

This is my local mall, and it's creepy as hell, haha.

[@soflodoug]

So quickly too. All of these malls were in the end loser in estments it appears. Now we see the dissolvement.

[@TASconfidential]

It was a very small mall. And it’s major attraction was the Neiman Marcus. And to be honest, that Neiman’s grew stale, and as other competing department stores beefed up their designer merchandising (Bloomingdale’s & Nordstrom), they lost a lot of customers. Bloomingdale’s nailed their coffin when they moved across the street. Within the last 10 years, that Neiman’s customers were just the old loyal ones who remembered Neiman’s from their DC heydays.

[@elizam2119]

I worked in Mazza in the mid-80s at B Dalton Bookstore. My two favorite memories were the day I sold books to the good Doctor (who you may ask? Yes, Who?) and the KGB guy who came to buy weekly magazines. He seemed to be fascinated by Penthouse Magazine... This is all terribly depressing...

[@sal]

I wish to film it again in a couple years, and to see it thriving again.

[@cokesquirrel]

dr. hunter s thompson?

[@Portugal2025]

I used to go to B Dalton’s every weekend. Pretty sure you served me

[@satura5848]

Interesting. Was it Mr. Troughton, perhaps? Or Pertwee. I know the two of them often did conventions in the US in the 80s.

[@lemapp]

My mother was with Joint-Chiefs-of-Staff, Pentagon. We lived comfortably in SE Virginia. About 6 to 12 times a year, Mom came into Dc for meetings, I frequently tagged along. I remember the small boutique cafe on the roof, "Pleasant Pheasant". Decent, very priced food. Not my favorite. Though I hated the McDonalds in the basement. My brother brought a girlfriend here and she freaked out over the dress prices. She ended up not being a good fit for the family. I couldn't afford everything in the mall, but I knew enough to find what I could. It helped having a N&M credit card. The Krön Chocolate was famous for its adult chocolates. That is, private parts rendered in chocolate. I never really made it to the basement, so today I was surprised to see the shop. I was raised on the grand department store experience of Richmond, VA. In the 19th Century, it was the largest city in the South. Atlanta started really overtaking Richmond after WWII. My family enjoyed the personal services they offered like haberdashers, sommeliers, book merchants and more.

[@allysonalt5291]

The Pleasant Peasant! That place was great. It wasn't on the roof, it was a double level restaurant on the DC-side of the building, at street level. The PR @ Partners hair salon takes up what was once the restaurant space now (and yes, the salon is still open.)

[@hattree]

Do you mean Thalhimers and Miller & Rhoades?

[@amp2tx584]

I was a poor college and grad student in DC between 1997 and 2004. I remember the *looks* I got walking through Neiman Marcus. I still have a coat I bought from Filene's Basement; I knew where I belonged. I remember the stores being built across the street; wasn't there some other shopping center on that side? It had a Starbucks and an Ann Taylor Loft.

[@AG-ni8jm]

Fun fact though. You're still here, while NM isn't lol

[@KatIoannou]

Hey you had just as much right to be there as anyone else did hun.

[@Sor3e]

There was something called Chevy chase pavilion which had that and Wisconsin shops

[@porcelainthunder2213]

Exxon left the DC area years ago, and a lot of the big money left the inner suburbs like Chevy Chase and Friendship Heights for the vast McMansion developments of Northern Virginia. The Tysons Galleria seems to be doing just fine. Why suffer in a tiny old house in the inner burbs when the surrounding neighborhoods were going to crap when you can get a huge fancy custom house and a chunk of land in NoVa.

[@funghazi]

It always struck me as odd that there was a Metro station in Mazza Gallerie when the kind of people who'd shop there wouldn't deign to step foot on the Metro.

[@allysonalt5291]

You'd be surprised.

[@jerseykevin27]

Washington merto was nice once

[@TASconfidential]

The metro station had four exists inside. Mazda Gallerie wasn’t the only exit. And in Metro’s prime, it wasn’t a regularly used system. It was mainly for people from the burbs to use for commuting to work, and it was very clean and safe.

[@charlesphilhower1452]

That should not be. The USA is far behind other countries when it comes to transportation because of the total reliance on automobiles to the exclusion of other transportation options. Many countries have far superior transportation than expensive transportation in the USA.

[@Dedette1966]

@@jerseykevin27 Republicans (both federal and state level lawmakers) opposed all Democrats’ efforts to maintain and invest in the Washington DC area metro system, public transportation and USA infrastructure in general.

[@lauriesmith5008]

It’s sad that this mall died. Here in Texas we call it needless markup.

[@sal]

Sure is

[@sbclaridge]

I'm in the DFW area and I'm definitely aware of the "needless markup" moniker. On the other hand, Neiman Marcus is part of the reason (if not the reason) why Dallas is at least on the fashion world's map. Given the association of the Neiman Marcus name with luxury and wealth, there's an irony in the fact that Neiman Marcus co-founder Abraham Lincoln "Al" Neiman died penniless (this was likely a consequence of his extravagant spending habits, though), with only a cuff link in a cigar box to his name. Neiman Marcus essentially developed under the Marcus family, since Al Neiman had a falling-out with the Marcus family in the 1920s.

[@lauriesmith5008]

@@sbclaridge interesting

[@adamjones6371]

Yo Sal...I could barely get through the opening without crying from laughter. Another great one!

[@sal]

Lolol thanks so much for watching, friend :)

[@rwdplz1]

My ankles still hurt from watching

[@SacredFire777]

😂🤣😭

[@barrag3463]

as someone who has had my ankle broken to the point of my foot being 90 degrees to my leg, that fashion show segment was very painful to watch

[@benwolford8793]

I shopped at this mall when I lived in the district in the late 80s...Lord &Taylor and Neiman’s were my favorites...

[@jenniferburchill3658]

So luxurious, and yet so lifeless... This place should be turned into a college campus or an office building.

[@georgeworley6927]

My name for Neiman Marcus is Needless Markup. I saw a Polo shirt in Neiman Marcus in Houston that was $350. I saw the same shirt in Foley's for $25.

[@nairbvel]

Mazza Gallerie finally slipped into extinction just before Christmas in 2022. It is supposed to be "redeveloped" into high-end apartments with (maybe) some businesses, but I haven't had time to find details of the plans. I remember "way back when" during some out-of-area friends visited we were thinking of seeing a movie in Mazza Gallerie's theaters but tickets there were something like $3.50 more than the exact same film elsewhere so I never saw the interior of the theater, plus we were far too low on the food chain to even bother window shopping. (If I remember correctly, we ended up seeing a movie at White Flint Mall... another mall that would've been perfect for this channel if it hadn't been razed in 2015-2016 -- still an interesting story.)

[@nordicdraw]

OMG why is there something so soothing about the sounds of the Mall PA Lady. There should be an album of her singing the classics. LOL the fashion show was epic. Bravado often times cannot keep pace with relevancy. Such a gorgeous space. I loved the video there was a lot to digest with this Son. You did a great job Sweetheart. You always make me laugh.🥰🥰

[@sal]

MARNA

[@andysorensen1737]

I just got done reading a book on Texas millionaires that touched on Nieman Marcus. Some of the stuff they sell/sold is just insane and you wonder how some of that would be allowed today.

[@boomhaueroo8703]

I grew up in Dallas and back in the day my grandmother would take us to Neimans every Xmas to see all the absolutely bonkers stuff they sold. You ain't wrong... it was just plain nuts.

[@trisgilmour]

The shopping there was dying even before Covid but it put the final nail in the coffin ⚰️

[@davis6123]

There’s so much retail space in Friendship Heights, and the majority of it is simply more desirable than the space in this mall. Across the street from this place is an ultra successful Bloomingdale’s, with additional shops next to it. A store would want to open there, not in this dinosaur of a mall.

[@sal]

Precisely.

[@allysonalt5291]

I don't think even that is desirable right now. So many shuttered/boarded up storefronts here right now. It's insane.

[@ViaHim]

I bought my prom dress from the Neiman Marcus in this mall in 2004 😊.

[@markpekrul4393]

I used to live in and near Chevy Chase, during and after attending American University, circa 1986-1994. Spent a lot of time and money in the Disc Shop, the cinema and other places. It always had a certain high brow snobbiness, but it was "our" mall. Good memories.

[@halhenryg]

You have a great voice command. Always enjoy your narrative, you make your vidio content interesting! Thanks..

[@Kylebriankelly]

“...an unwavering display of bravado.” Nicely put.

[@d-rg.karamitev9796]

Wow, this phrase has stuck in my mind now👍 I can't wait to use it myself🔠

[@eve_bee]

I don't think I have ever seen a metro station that empty.

[@sal]

Crazy, right?

[@bart8812]

Very interesting video. I have never heard of this mall before. It seems crazy that something with such rich clientele would die, but the management seems inadequate. Seems ironic that such a ritzy mall would die with a TJ Maxx as it's lone tenant lol

[@TheNewgreatlife]

Same. It's a very odd situation, however, in large metros like this, it's more common to have even high-end malls die. In these cases, there's another high-end mall in the same market area that was better positioned for the market. I know the Tyson malls are near DC but I have no idea how close they are to this mall. Also, DC's CityCentre has many upscale boutiques and is thriving.

[@stoneji]

Mazza, along with the rest of Friendship Heights, was already hemorrhaging retail tenants well before Covid. Some decamped to a trendier development downtown, and others were victims of the ongoing retail apocalypse. COVID just gave the remaining stores a good excuse to give up on a dying retail scene.

[@1happboy]

I moved up to DC around ‘06, and I always kinda remember it being a little run down. The basement floor with the McDonald’s either has there units closed, or occupied by no names like FYE or cheap luggage stores. It seemed like an odd juxtaposition compared to the high fashion stores above.

[@Atl404sFinest]

Yeah, Mazza has been a little aged and run down since 2008. The mall has not been updated and has really showed its age for a very long time.

[@vegetarianbacon718]

I was here a day or two after Thanksgiving in 2019 to see a movie at the AMC. The mall didn't really seem dead at the time because there were a lot of people there going up the escalators to the theater, but now that I think of it, there were a lot of empty stores, and I think the AMC was bringing in influxes of people to see the next movie. The layout was also kind of weird, having to traverse several flights of escalators to finally get to the AMC at the top. Anyway, great video.

[@sal]

I never would’ve imagined that this place could die…but here we are.

[@andrewdavis8709]

Yep. That was my impression when a couple friends and I went to the movies there.

[@jenniferloving9054]

I could see my great aunt shopping here. She was rich enough for high society and lived in the Highland Park Village neighborhood of Dallas.(My cousin went to Hockaday, a nice private school.)

[@funghazi]

That fashion show brings to mind Jim Vance and George Michael losing it watching a model fall down.

[@allysonalt5291]

One of my favorite clips ever. Vance absolutely could not get it together, it's impossible not to laugh along with him. :)

[@missmelissa_xxx2641]

I remember that clip! He lost it!

[@andrewdavis8709]

I often went walking through the neighborhood when I was a student at Wesley Theological Seminary from 2012-2016. While I did catch a couple movies at the AMC Theater, I never really explored the mall, though. Sad to see this so dead.

[@RelicsofRetail]

This felt like a bizarre and eerie place to explore. Your "sponsor" segment was crazy, hilarious and sometimes painful to watch. Great video, Sal!

[@sal]

You’ve described my series just as I would. Thanks for watching :)

[@alimaleki217]

Sal, this blew me away! I had seen the state of Chevy Chase Pavillon a couple of years ago but had no idea that Mazza Gallerie was going to end up like this!

[@PigIA]

I grew up in Chevy Chase, DC (just as affluent as Chevy Chase, MD) and I had no idea about this story. I have so many memories from Mazza Gallerie. I go to the movies there. I even got accepted into my school from there.

[@bigcrowfly]

KZbin won't let me post link: Wash Post story from 12-28-93 where Princess Diana visited this mall. Title DIANA, PRINCESS OF SALES

[@edwardschwenk3100]

I found it. It said that Diana went shopping at Banana Republic in Chevy Chase, and an 18 year old sales girl was thrilled when she got to find Diana some size 6 blue jeans. I think Princess of Sales is a bit more flattering than Duchess of Pork that some tabloid wrote about Fergie.

[@greatvalue2448]

I’d rather be Princess of Sales than Duchess of Pork but they’re both nauseatingly sexist.

[@KawaiiEvoMii]

This whole video can be summed up by a quote from the end. "You wanna buy some high end bullshit? Whelp, not no more!" Fantastic keep it up :D

[@sal]

Mall PA Lady tells it like it is!

[@dcspotter]

I loved the McDonalds here. Was such a great place for commuters to grab a cup of coffee.

[@belyndae2973]

The renovations are beautiful . The hardwood floors are fantastic. But I really like the view from the windows

[@Idelia412]

Very good history of the mall....Thanks for sharing!

[@johnscanlan9335]

I had a friend who worked at this branch of Nieman Marcus when the Mazza Gallerie first opened. She jokingly called it Name-brand Mark-ups!

[@joetruman3854]

Interesting insight into the design language the major developers used in their projects. Taubman had an interesting approach -- saying the expensive materials should be utilized on the 'touch surfaces' -- namely flooring, handrails, etc...and that lower priced materials be used elsewhere.

[@gobbletegook]

The metro stop must have been beautiful when it first opened here. It still looks good, but boy does it need some cleaning...paint...and better lighting! And as for the mall, I never was a fan of walking down hallways to go shopping...almost as though you are in some ones basement wreck room without the windows. You have to wonder what they could do to get stores back in this day and age. Half price rents? But without high end anchors...what would be the draw or reason,...besides a subway stop? And while that might get people to the location, what will make them open those wallets?

[@DamonBlack_Media]

1:52 This looks like we're walking through the corridors of the Nostromo from Alien.

[@alanrothschild9006]

Loved this video, thanks! I worked for several years at Arnold's Disc Shop on the bottom level, two doors down from Gloria Jean's Coffee Bean and a few stores away from the only place that managed to both be an FAO Schwartz and feel ghetto! The open atrium went all the way to the bottom floor then, and the floors were white tile as I recall so it felt even more antiseptic than it did after the renovations.

[@jenniferrinaldi8808]

Comedian Mark Curry made a joke about models on the catwalk years ago. I wish I could find a KZbin video link on it but I saw him do it at a comedy club. He said essentially models look unhappy on the catwalk because they are hungry and are likely hoping that someone will throw them a cookie or a chip. And then he acts like he is walking down a runway and "fashionably" stooping to pick up a piece of food. My mom did modeling in her teens (in the 70s) and said the stuff now is sometimes really weird what they put out, especially the heels/shoes the models can't walk in. She also said its not glamorous and there are some creepy people behind the scenes.

[@skyninja301]

Thanks for walking me through the MG; I haven't been there in ages. Great work as always!

[@soflodoug]

The history and research combined with videos are so interesting. The thought of the hindsight for these investors after seeing what has become is crippling. Interesting mix.

[@kevinquist]

LOVE your story telling bits. like at 28:30. You do such an excellent job painting a word picture.

[@mcitaly07]

Another masterpiece. Very well done. Looks like Mall Lady found her new calling.

[@sal]

She’s descending into the depths of insanity.

[@mcitaly07]

@@sal Hopefully she doesn't start sporting a beard. Lol.

[@sal]

We have some local reports coming in claiming her face is looking hairier by the day…

[@georgef551]

I'm not sure it was this place, as it was redone, but when I was 13, we visited a hoity-toity shopping mall in DC, with huge, gaudy chandeliers in the main concourse. Could've been this. I don't remember seeing much of it, so it might be. I just remember the handrails on the escalators were loose on all of them (maybe that's why they were "Reconfigured" later on). My Father, and I would wait until there's a lot of people on them, and pull the handrail up, or down, to watch people lose their balance just enough to be funny (not trying to cause falls).

[@allysonalt5291]

You likely visited the Georgetown Park shopping mall, which was sort of...Victorian revival? in style.

[@sal]

Yep

[@georgef551]

@@allysonalt5291 It's been soooooo long. Yeah, it was fun to make people "Dance" on the escalators by pulling the handrails. This was the only place I've ever been where all of them were loose enough to do that.

[@iworkout6912]

Within the DC area is the only place I have seen a Subway all enclosed in lexan with a turntable to get your sub. And a slit in the plastic to slide you money through. It was in a very expensive part of DC, where there was once lots of retail. I haven't seen that anywhere else ( probably other places has it) and I have traveled a lot in the last 5 years, but not since Covid. With what seems like every other person is in security of some sort, I find that really weird.

[@Honeybarbecuepumpum]

Rest in peace to all those poor ankles in the intro

[@feltongailey8987]

Such a austere looking mall. Some go for that, but it looks expensive, so scares a lot of folks before they even go in.

[@pdorn1]

Not gonna lie, seeing those models' ankles roll near the beginning makes me wince.

[@bigcrowfly]

One factual correction at 26:15 the GEICO headquarters across the street was not built in the 2010s, it was built in the late 1950s and is still there.

[@sal]

Thank you for the correction! Noted :)

[@allysonalt5291]

Indeed, I live in the neighborhood and can confirm it is still here.

[@ksaspectre]

I really appreciate you speaking out and saying that violence is never okay. I wish more people were like you.

[@JCNDCIII]

The main problem is more people shopping online. The Ralph Lauren "mansion" shop across the street was one of the most profitable stores in their portfolio. But corporate wanted to reduce their footprint. Neiman's was really small. The Saks mens store was small too but they moved it to their stand alone store across the street. Which they should have done to begin with. What really hurt this area is the City Center development. It has all of the high end stores that draw people downtown.

[@ForestTekkenVideos]

Even the uppity malls are going kaput. Your videos are always so fun and detailed! 👍

[@sal]

Glad you enjoyed it :)

[@ForestTekkenVideos]

@@sal I forget if it was retail archeology that made the video response to people asking exactly why malls are going out of business. Did you watch that? He said amazon counts for only 17% of retail now, I think it was, so amazon isn't the reason? I thought that was an interesting video.

[@sal]

I’ve been making that argument for at least two years now.

[@ForestTekkenVideos]

@@sal that amazon isn't to blame?

[@sal]

Yes. Since like…ExLog 40. Maybe earlier.

[@ItsaRomethingeveryday]

Love the flow of this vid, Perfect

[@aaround]

Sal, you are amazing describing all the events. Thank you ❤️👍

[@KellyAnn2390]

I love all that footage of the metro with no people. This is a gorgeous video!

[@sal]

Hey, thanks! Lots more on the way :)

[@mjohnston1986]

Another brilliant video Sal, keep up the good work buddy, you're smashing it!

[@Rob_Mike_Litterst]

The opening sentence is mesmerizing, puts words into the feeling of liminality and short-lived infatuation about what lives and dies so fast should it be about brands or places or anything else. Knowing the price of everything but the value of nothing 🙏

[@mindinversions4487]

Another beautifully shot vid Sal! Always a treat to see you pop up in my notifications : )

[@sal]

Thanks so much for sticking with me!

[@sports1st]

Sal, another great piece. Memories. Thanks again.

[@scottburbridge3170]

i worked briefly at World Market, there, in 2012

[@Kevin19700]

Excellent and informative video ! Thanks for sharing.

[@ordinarycrab_2257]

When I was little me and my mom used to stop at Mazza Gallerie all the time to go to the AMC. Sad to see it go down like this.

[@jeffwalsh6015]

I remember going there a few times when I went to college in DC in the '90s. It was nothing compared to the ritzy Georgetown Park Mall though (another demolished mall).

[@calendarpage]

My goodness. This came up in my recommendations; I wouldn't have believed it if I hadn't seen it. I went to prep school in the Friendship Heights area. When I moved back to the area as an adult, Mazza Gallerie was a big deal, though not the place where I normally shopped (hello, Wheaton Plaza). I can't believe it's virtually empty, especially because DC usually does well no matter what the national economic situation because of the government payroll.

[@Frankfurtdabezzzt]

I find malls without natural light really unpleasant. They actually built a brand new one close by a couple of years ago, and it's always so gloomy in there.

[@badmulto]

"Mazza Gallerie, the largely empty shopping center along Wisconsin Avenue at the D.C.-Maryland border, used to be thought of as a local Rodeo Drive. But its stores have been closing over the last few years and now the very last retail business in the mall has closed." "Developer Tishman Speyer acquired the Friendship Heights building in May 2021 and announced it will redevelop it as apartments, but retaining a large portion for retail, as well as parking."

[@briansanchez9859]

This mall was so weird. It’s technically in DC but it’s not too far from Bethesda, which has several contemporary “name brand” stores and Montgomery Mall. As a DC native, I would come across this mall every now and then but it never seemed to have many customers except for the AMC theater. Outside the mall, there were more affordable stores like Old Navy or Gap.

[@isthatatesla]

Enjoyed the shot of you walking up to the glass, Sal.

[@nole8923]

A good portion of the DC area is a chithole. I worked for 18 months on a contract job about 5 years ago in DC. You couldn’t pay me enough to live there. The slums in and around DC are as bad as anywhere in the United States. And if the wind is blowing the wrong way that sewage plant on the Potomac river makes the whole city stink.

[@ephapax1]

Another masterpiece, Sal. Thank you!

[@sal]

Thanks so much for watching! We go across the street to Chevy Chase Pavilion this weekend!

[@StevePetrica]

I was looking forward to this video, since in the early 2000s I used to work just up Wisconsin Avenue from Mazza Gallerie, and would go by there frequently. Even back then, the place had a weird -- not really very pleasant -- atmosphere, and I wondered even then how they stayed in business. Interesting to hear the history of the place before I arrived in 2001 and since I moved away in 2009.

[@sal]

So glad I could bring this video to you!

[@jacka.6866]

I'm definitely going to hell for how much I laughed at the intro

[@sal]

I consider it one of my finest edits. I’ll see you there!

[@FireFox173]

When you looked down those escalators, I felt I had to hold on to something.

[@ChristheShrinerdawg]

Wow! It’s pretty eerie how EMPTY that place is! Unreal!

[@brittanywhyte7246]

I used to live in Northwest DC, about a mile from the Friendship Heights Metro Station, and I have pretty much no memory of this mall. I was a student at the time (2012-2014) and I shopped at the more approachable Chevy Chase Pavilion. I loved that World Market!

[@misterhat5823]

Even without the water damage, the entrances look like a cold war relic in an eastern bloc country.

[@Rocketmanrun]

I used to live right down the street from this mall!

[@jimp.989]

For goodness sakes you've eclipsed them all! Your video is so informative and interesting that we can't step away! You're the best young man, no matter where you are, keep filming. Your research FAR and away goes beyond Dan Bells pathetic attempts. And there's so many other objects! Loved your video, and I'm subscribed

[@JenDraper]

Really enjoyed this video! Great job!

[@glutenfreejoe6099]

Thanks for the video, growing up in Montgomery County in the 60s through 80s I had never been inside this Mall - have been to Montgomery Mall & Lakefofest Mall & other Malls outside Washington DC in Maryland & Virginia - I remember in the 1990s you could still smoke inside Virginia Malls & not in Maryland Malls since they have the Tabbaco Companies in Virginia

[@lagatitabruja]

You and Dan are my favorites. Been subscribed for a long time 😊

[@sal]

Dan rocks. I should give him a call..

[@funghazi]

I used to go to the theater there a bunch, my friends insisted on going to that theater for some reason. I remember walking around the stores to kill time and getting angry at the absurd prices. Hopefully, something more reasonable can be made of those spaces, but considering the neighborhood, it'll probably end up full of bespoke bicycle shops and artisanal vagina egg-eries.

[@boomhaueroo8703]

Good lord, that... rotunda? at 30:00 is like something fron Dr. Strangelove or Star Wars. Another great vlog Sal. 👏👏👏

[@jetfan925]

Hey Sal, I think this dead mall could be replaced by apartments and outdoor shops. Or, it could end up as a wilderness preserve.

[@patriciamogannam3616]

Worked at TV station down the street for 15 yrs. This was a beautiful mall. Sad to see it go.

[@rwdplz1]

I went to a similar high-end mall once just to see it. Almost no high-end products are worth buying over normal name brands. I WILL say, Porsche Design and Bugatti make very nice lighters at reasonable prices (compare with S.T. Dupont)

[@vernonsanders371]

2003 was working at a building up the street from mall it was really nice back then

[@StaPuft99]

Hi Sal! I found your channel back when covid started and just recently went back to ex log 1 and watched all the ones I missed. I watch them on the you tube app on my samsung tv, hence the lack of comments until now. Love your work and your passion for the details. So glad you are doing D.C. area stuff now. My old stomping grounds as a kid. I lived in suburban VA and would take a metrobus down to Rosslyn or Balston station and the metro into town. I remember Union Station and Mazza Gallerie when they were thriving. I'm hoping you'll cross the Potomac at some point and hit the Virginia malls, besides Landmark (rest in peace). Ever hear of Seven Corners in Falls Church? I swear there was an enclosed mall there back in the 70s, but it looks like a strip mall now according to google maps. Also would love your take on Tysons, Manassas and Fair Oaks when you get the time. Thanks for being a calming voice in the storm over the past year or so. :)

[@sal]

Oh man. Your mentioned VA malls are currently doing great! You will see Fair Oaks on my social media in the next week or so, as I was in the area. As for full episodes, not quite yet. I will cover them, but I need to prioritize the failing establishments first so I can get my footage before they close. I’m sure you understand! Anyway…thanks for watching, and especially sticking with me as a DC native!! Much more to come soon…

[@StaPuft99]

@@sal So glad to hear the VA malls are thriving. I was going to be in the area next month for my 40th HS reunion. (Yes, I'm old AF!) Unfortunately it has been postponed. Looking forward to any and all of your ex logs, be they in Virginia or elsewhere. Thanks again for all of your time and effort.

[@vaultboy1928]

Yet another pice of art absolutely love it 🤌🤙 and what’s also funny is the most recent Call Of Duty has a mall map that got added right after I had been saying “gosh it would be real fitting if they had that” al be it that was a while ago lol. Anyway keep up the fantastic work

[@godofzombi]

6.48: Memorial plaques to dead stores. This place really does look like a mausoleum.

[@jbirzer]

Just looked up the latest, and it looks like the mall officially closed on December, with TJ Maxx closing. Looks like it is going to be redeveloped as apartments/retail, so looks like the end of the line for this one. I really only went here to see movies with a friend of mine a few times. Didn't know much about it otherwise.

[@yoyobass100]

There was a mall in the same area as this, Montgomery County, called White Flint. It was the VERY first shopping mall I ever went in, but I was only a baby at the time. The mall also held very precious memories for me and my mother because my great aunt from her side used to work at the Bloomingdale's in the perfume department from 1977 (the year it opened) to around 2008. On some days she would invite my family for some pizza at a Jerry's after her shifts. In the 2010's the mall was declining to the point of closing in 2015 then being demolished a year later (a year before your channel founded) leaving a Lord & Taylor standing alone until 2020 (out of business since 2021). My great aunt passed away in 2018 due to CKD; she practically died with the mall itself.

[@yoyobass100]

Facts about this mall from wikipedia and past experiences: - It was home to the only luxury fashion retailer, I. Magnin, in the DC metro area from 1977 to 1992 which later became a Border's Books from 1993 to 2011. - The Jerry's Subs and Pizza I ate at was never renovated, it looked the same as I remembered when I was a kid only with more permanent stains, discoloration, and a bit of water damage. - There was a small store called GLOW, which was a toy and gift store for glow-in-the-dark stuff. - It was home to one of the last old school Dave & Buster's which was previously a sports bar, it was evicted in 2014 and relocated to Ellsworth Place in Silver Spring. - The mall was served by a Metro station of the same name for the red line and was within walking distance. - Across the Jerry's was a bright neon-lit Burger King which later became a Lens Crafters optometry; I used to think it was a mini-arcade or toy store as a child - One of the last remaining Loewe's Theatres sat here even after being acquired by AMC. - The Dave & Buster's had an "Action Theater"; I know extremely little about it, probably a motion theater that didn't do so well. - The Bloomingdale's where my great aunt worked at was closed and demolished before the whole mall did.

[@yoyobass100]

It's a shame you weren't able to make a vlog about it.

[@samanthasolomon8063]

Been here since you went to Kinston Vernon Park Mall. Love your videos man.