NEARLY ABANDONED: Forest Fair Village aka Cincinnati Mall

NEARLY ABANDONED: Forest Fair Village aka Cincinnati Mall. Enjoy this raw format style video throughout this huge mall in southwestern Ohio which has easily become known as the deadest mall in America. Nearly everything inside is closed and there is no reason the mall should be open besides the 2 tenants which could relocate to a better mall if they chose.
Why this mall is open is a mystery but it is the wishes of the owner to keep it open for people to visit. It just doesn't make sense since nearly nothing is open.
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#ForestFairVillage #CincinnatiMall #CincinnatiMills

[@NindieNation]

Cincinnati native/resident here: Arcade Legacy is an absolute treasure. One of the best collections of 80s, 90s, and 00s video games there is - Arcades, consoles, games, everything. Love Arcade Legacy!

[@BlueAmpharos]

I like Arcade Legacy too but the state of the restrooms combined with how far away it was made it undoable, was over an hour from where I lived.

[@retaildetail8685]

That is so a shame it is abandoned that looks like such a bad ass building style I love it

[@NathanDavisVideos]

Yeah it's kinda got that 1980s/'90s Nickelodeon game show set feel to it. Sort of like what you would have seen in game shows like _Figure It Out_ or _Double Dare_ if you wanna go WAY BACK.

[@spengeyroblox7127]

he was so good in world tour. too bad he didnt sing that much

[@unknown_guy5366]

St Louis mills be like:

[@cynthiarose1957]

This video was awesome. I love the decor and food court of the mall. I would have loved to see it when it was busy. It is sad but still beautiful. Thank you Wallie

[@airaero5473]

Steve and Barry's signage?! That company went out of business in 2009; 12 years ago!

[@basedmoonman9341]

They were awesome too. Cheap, cool t-shirts.

[@unknownuser..._...]

It’s finally here! Wallie going inside an abandoned mall! This is going to be a good video!

[@callmemarc]

I live in Cincinnati and was 10 when this place opened. It was amazing! I clearly remember the Bigg's department/grocery store (similar to Meijer), Babages, all of the cool games and rides, the movie theater and they had this neat obstacle course type thing that billiards balls would roll through there where the food court was.

[@sethmishne]

I remember the Biggs here and I'm pretty sure there used to be a indoor amusement park here. arcade legacy is basically the only thing left here.

[@Optopolis]

It would be so cool if someone could do something cool with this place but still keep the aesthetics. It really is a beautiful mall!

[@DalmationProductions]

Thanks for another Mall video WallieB26 I do appreciate it

[@rcrobbins1423]

This place is home to one of my favorite arcades EVER! I hope it never goes away.

[@StantonsJourneys]

This is just amazing how this mall remains open to this day, kind of reminds me when I filmed Richmond Town Square and how quiet and dead it was. Awesome job on this one and thanks for documenting for us to see.

[@SheilaPairADice]

When we first moved to the Cincinnati area in 1996 this mall was semi-thriving. Although I never got to see it in it's original glory (I heard there was a huge carousel in the middle), there was a Bigg's store (combo grocery & department store) as an anchor and many other retail stores and food court restaurants. but there was always vacant stores dotted around the mall. I remember my husband and I going there on Tuesday nights which was " wing night" at Buffalo Wild Wings on the lower food court level and the line would be OUT THE DOOR with people waiting to get in to be seated or pick up to-go orders. I was born and raised about 30 minutes north of here but during the time this mall was built and opened I wasn't living in Ohio because my husband was in the military. I remember family and friends telling me about the huge Forest Fair Mall (named for the 2 surrounding cities Forest Park & Fairfield) being built that was going to have many high-end retail stores we didn't have in the Cincinnati area - many of these stores are now gone into bankruptcy - Lord & Taylor, Bonwit Teller, Nordstrom and other high-end stores were to come to the mall. From what I understand the mall never lived up to the hype and it never took completely off they way it was anticipated. One of the reasons is this mall that was supposed to bring high end shopping to Cincinnati was built in a majority blue collar area! Even though it's right off the highway, the demographic in the area couldn't and wouldn't shop and those types of stores and the wealthy neighborhoods were too far of a drive for them to come all the way out to this northern suburb. There is a very popular mall - Kenwood Mall - that caters to the wealthier southern and western suburbs. The last time I remember this mall having any type of popularity was in the late 1990's / early 2000's when there was a huge nightclub called Metropolis that had 4 different levels and types of music in each area (Techno, R&B, Country, dance music). I went there with a group of co-workers around 2001 or 2002 and it was always a popular place. If I remember correctly around 2004 or 2005 they turned the mall into an outlet mall with the usual outlet retail stores and I went a few times to the Bath & Body Works outlet but it was always like a ghost town inside the mall and finally around 2008/2009 there was hardly any open stores left. Last I heard Amazon (of course!) was going to use part of it for a distribution center. Thanks WallieB26 for giving me a peek inside this mall that I haven't been in since around 2008 or 2009!

[@johnsos9]

This used to be the place to go to on weekends in the early/mid 90’s if you lived in the area. Time Out and The Super Saver Cinemas 8 were something else. Then you had Bourbon Street and Metropolis etc. I had a lot of good times there. They should have just made this place a huge entertainment complex and it may have had a better chance of surviving.

[@eh4236]

At the 12:46 mark, to the right looks like that is where Biggs used to be! I was there...I walked those floors when I lived in Cincinnati from 1986 to 1995....I loved that mall...even back then, just walking around wore me out and I was only in my early 20s.....

[@holliepajak3772]

Thank you for filming, I never went to this mall and I’m happy to see it through your video. It is beautiful

[@alanlough638]

A cool video, Wallie! When I watched this video, I recall seeing a previous video of this mall. Have a KMartlicious Day! Stay awesome!

[@karissaexplainsitallxo]

great video 👍 so sad to see how empty it is but it’s awesome to see the aesthetics and architecture

[@DalmationProductions]

I literally forgot that this mall was still around despite being dead

[@rem145]

The higher end stores are in places like Kenwood which is doing well even with this Covid stuff. It seemed like this mall was located in the wrong place

[@ErikVince]

I don't get why they don't want you filming and putting videos together in there to me that would just attract business for them all

[@everyhandletaken]

Exactly, it’s not like there is anything to hide..

[@mmichal]

I know a lot of the older folks are fond of the 1970s/80s mall decor, but as a Millennial there's something about the over-the-top 2000s mall aesthetics that just brings me fond memories as a teenager. Forest Fair Village is the perfect 2000s looking mall only Pittsburgh Mills comes close to it!

[@stewartmatthews1551]

When I was in Indiana fort wayne and I remember buying clothes from Steven barry's before

[@skyebird3933]

Good job on the video. I liked the overlay of info when driving around it.

[@tomboard1]

I worked at Burbanks Real Bar B Q back in the day. That whole entertainment section of the mall was rocking on the weekends.

[@NathanDavisVideos]

Hold on, there were two cinemas in this mall?! I didn't know that!

[@ActingIda22]

Yess my parents would only take us to the theaters downstairs because it was cheaper lol

[@kevinkevin6806]

WoW, just wow! I see the Mills style all over that place. Once worked at AZ Mills. (Security director) That is some amazing footage

[@jeremymason4205]

To me the intro was simply amazing. Like the beginning of a movie.

[@zoefaith120]

Wow. It's hard d to believe last year went so fast and it sucked at the same time. But only if we can go back to normal. What becomes normal again..

[@kevinkevin6806]

My God, I’ve watched this twice!

[@WallieB26]

Thank you! I hope you enjoyed!

[@PDC1987]

Meanwhile Kenwood Town Center in another part of Cincinnati has everything from basic mall stores all the way up to Louis Vuitton and Tiffany and Co. It almost instantly became feast or famine for indoor malls over the last 10 years or so.

[@melodybeitzel5378]

Awesome video sad to see the mall is this way . It’s definitely different seeing hardly anyone in there

[@carlavision6143]

WallieB26, really enjoyed your video! So sad the malls are dying. Loved going to malls back in the good old days!

[@STSRTF]

The mall closest to where I live is doing good.

[@SLone3251]

Love seeing videos on this mall, despite there being so many of them by mall creators. It never gets old. I hope I can see this place in the flesh one day.

[@patriciamorrow6848]

wallieB awesome new beginning, great vlog, you get better & better thank you.

[@ItsaRomethingeveryday]

It's been awhile since I've seen this place, I still remember the vid ya did with Anthony, Liked vid, it's a real shame the way the malls continue to die

[@MuneageDaydream]

Yeah, this mall's been videoed to death, so much so that I feel like I know every corner of it! (Including the never ending fire alarm in the theater.) That said, your simple drive around truly gave a feel for just how massive it is. I don't think there's another video like it. I just will never understand how they're keeping the lights on and keeping the building clean. Rent from the arcade? Get outta here. It's like the place is holding it's breath, waiting for a crowd of shoppers that will never return.

[@SlapthePissouttayew]

Good advice on the bathrooms here! The one I used on my visit a couple years back didn't have any lights in it!

[@retaildetail8685]

Awesome video due 👍👍👍👍

[@turtleislandlac1490]

Gurnee Mills north of Chicago and Arundel Mills Mall south of Baltimore are two thriving Mills malls.

[@jenzdziera]

Hi WallieB I have so much great feedback for this vid I may have to put my ‘novel’ on Facebook but this video was great. Always enjoy your music choices, really enjoyed the commentary and detail in the middle. You kept sending us to other YT channels for more details and that’s very admirable to support your fellow YT channels but wanted to tell you you’re ranked up there too. This was excellent. I’m going over to Patreon to support. I’m a fairly new subscriber here. Probably a year or so, but I’m sold. Your vids are getting better and better and I didn’t realize how much I missed your viewpoint of a dead mall. Again great vid!

[@ZeeMann_Retail]

Wow! Great perspective of this place!

[@throughthedesolate]

Thanks for the adventure Wallie!

[@nathanmiller6051]

Great video, very strange place indeed! Thanks

[@aprilleerose]

I grew up in Cincinnati but I live in Pittsburgh now and Pittsburgh Mills is still an ok mall but you can tell it’s struggling.

[@heatherm9878]

This is just so sad. Alot of malls just dying out. Myself guilty of doing mostly online shopping. I used to come from southeastern Indiana just to go to this mall. Going to all of the popular stores as a late teen. Abercrombie and Fitch, Debs, Bath and Body works. And then spending every single Friday and Saturday night at Borubon street, then turned Metropolis. 2000 to 2022. So much fun and so many memories. Hope someone can do something with this place and bring it back to life.

[@SMaster777]

Wow... one of these "Forest Fair Is A Dead Mall" videos, except it actually acknowledged Arcade Legacy. I'm impressed by that, because AL is legitimately a major attraction if you're a gamer.

[@WallieB26]

Yes they are. Great place and people too. I never understood why others never seem to acknowledge the place.

[@Bsjs7uu]

​@@WallieB26how did you get in?

[@jamesthefordman]

Awesome video wallie and Kayla thx again for the time you spend! That beeping has been going off since at least the proper people did there video you think they would silence it 😆

[@machellec6517]

You guys should come check out Emerald Square, Mall in North Attleboro, Massachusetts

[@jet34thehawk]

Awesome video guys

[@SlapthePissouttayew]

I worked maintenance and grounds here from '90 til '94 and it was losing stores from the day I started. It was originally Forrest Fair Mall. I still have one of my uniform shirts with the logo on it. Last time I went in there was a couple years ago. The silence and the shut off escalators were really weird. Building this place between two already established malls, Northgate and Tricounty, was a HUGE factor in it failing. It traded ownership a couple times while I was there.

[@allemander]

Empty malls are great places to ride bikes like BMX. I used to do that on summer break as a kid in the early morning hours of a mall that was not empty or abandoned, after the doors were unlocked for employees to enter but before stores were open or customers were allowed to enter.

[@dohspc]

Cincinnati Mills mall is one of the biggest Mills failures. Great video ranks up there with the best. We still got Grapevine Mills here in Dallas still making it!

[@Tails111Klonoa]

Love the opening song B)

[@peacemakerryan]

There’s a security guard that works here that killed 8 cats

[@GLeibniz1716]

Excellent, your the Cecil b. Demille of urban archeology; malls were such a large part of popular culture for half a century; now they are reduced to this. Sad.

[@frugalcomfort]

That is an attractive mall inside. I wonder if you have offered some well edited clips of this to the mall management as marketing material. It would help pay some of your cost to shoot it.

[@ElijahSinclair1220]

I'll never understand why security Freaks out over photographs. Taking photos doesn't break anything. It makes no sense. Especially in the context of the owner actively not wanting the place closed. What other purpose does it serve than to be a Photography and tourist hunting ground?

[@andypritchard9644]

Awesome! A video for my (somewhat) local dead mall

[@GMTX-kg8ep]

I’ve been there before inside the Bass Pro Shop! I saw that it was vacant on one end, but didn’t know it was this bad!

[@edwardwilson1914]

Fun fact... Opened in 1988 - also the last time Cincinnati had an NFL team, lol!

[@marvelkingdom1972]

Nice, but better w/out the music

[@CoasterQueen8799]

Yay, somewhere fairly local to me! (Daytonian here)

[@CoasterQueen8799]

@@bh2236 My local mall (Fairfield Commons) is still doing pretty well.

[@CoasterQueen8799]

@@bh2236 I know of a couple other malls in the Dayton area, including Dayton Mall near Centerville (which I haven’t been to but I think is doing fine) and Upper Valley Mall in Springfield which isn’t doing so hot. As for other Cincinnati-area malls, I have visited Liberty Center in Liberty Township and Kenwood Town Center in Kenwood, both of which are also doing well!

[@aprilleerose]

I remember its very first name was Forest Fair Mall. It’s beyond heartbreaking to see it this way :( :(

[@charliejoson9145]

I've watched a similar video from The Propee People ....but I felt like their video was short 🙃 I miss watching dead malls In my country, there is a mall that's like this [huge with some stores that have entrances outside] and American backpackers had took videos of going to that mall.

[@nicfronczek7386]

Makes Pittsburgh Mills look busy

[@MrTopgun417]

There's a mall in Columbus Indiana that is almost empty as well in my opinion

[@hallemayes3784]

such a liminal space vibe.. creepy yet familiar

[@coreymitchell4498]

I explored this Mall I have great photoshots of this mall. From 2019. back in 2019 the security guards was not even there when I did it in the summertime of 2019. That I even went to the security guard hallway in the food court area.

[@ERA_Productions]

It's just one place in your life that you have to experience at least once

[@unknownuser..._...]

I’m going there this year

[@andypritchard9644]

Agreed. I'm thankful this place is just a half hour from my house.

[@payton2896]

I would love to see an abandoned walkthrough of Century III mall!

[@victoriamatlock5876]

There more they been gone for a bit and the last video 2 years ago I think

[@ericmarshall1944]

The real reason the mall failed so many time is the Taxes. forrest park's taxes on small businesses are so high its outragous. they even ran off the walmart across the highway.

[@1cy_H0t_Fr0g]

This reminds me of the pale city from Little nightmares II

[@angeloakes3192]

Kohls is still open as of this writing. I talked to the guard a while ago. He said they had 3 years left on their lease. So it doesn't look like they are leaving anytime soon. It would be stupid to pack up and leave after being there 27 years!!!

[@amandaclick3590]

Wow! This is an awesome video that I am watching right now! It's a nice mall, but very empty and abandoned! I am enjoying it! 👍😘❤😀

[@crystalscan2002]

that is sad, its nice mall

[@muiscnight]

I use to get annoyed with this mall it's so prevalent in the dead mall community, but I get it it's a very unique looking mall in decent condition

[@Hey_Trey29]

My wife and I visited this mall in October 2022 and kohl’s was still open

[@miss_lyss2166]

Went here in 2012 and looks exactly the same as it did back then pretty much. We went and saw a movie for $6. They said back then that the Bass Pro Shop was supposed to move but I can see by this video it is still there🤷🏼‍♀️ Only things open when I went here were Burlington, babies r us, Payless, Kohls, and Bass Pro Shop

[@shaunlee6511]

Hey Wallie I’ve been watching your videos for a while now and I love all of them. If you’re ever in western New York, I don’t know if it would be worth it but there is a building here in Lockport, NY that used to have a save a lot and a Salvation Army thrift store that closed but if you’re ever in the area maybe you could check it out

[@nicholasrunck8881]

I always go the Bass Pro shop out there and the mall is so dead. That is why there moving Bass Pro Shop to a new location.

[@AmongTheUnknown]

1,000 views within an hour!

[@sSoulsMind]

Theres sawgrass mills mall here in Florida too! It’s still open

[@rp1430]

What what part of Florida what town ?

[@ChopperDDocter]

I LOVE YOUR VIDEOS AND I SUBCRIBED TO YOU

[@bobbiejostowe6431]

I know a place you can visit pretty soon that will be abandoned that is a shopping plaza in Corry PA that will not have anything there anymore

[@ChuckEEntertainment]

I've seen at least two people now say Khols will relocate in early 2021 yet I can't seem to find any info on that. Does anyone have like an article or anything that proves it? Also if I can recall one of the main reasons this mall is still open is in the early 2000s somehow they did a thing to not have to pay property taxes for like 30 years.

[@jacobfrech288]

How on earth do the owners afford to keep this place open??

[@titanicjunior2141]

Omg ty Wally

[@turbofart101]

I will honeslty never understand why places aren't styled like this anymore

[@creeps4lulz]

Love the vids

[@jdmcmul0325]

So sad....

[@ccorri97]

St louis mills ended up closing all together now and being turned in to a sports complex

[@monkeydui7241]

Anybody know what they’re doing with the place?

[@journeywithjay]

Man I wanna go here sooo bad.

[@Wesley_C]

There's nearly there's a Retro Game Store is still here in this mall.

[@carlbingham931]

The Miami valley center mall in piqua Ohio is about to go under

[@mage189]

How is there still Media Play branding.... o.o

[@michaelcoffey7362]

Cool 😀

[@crystalscan2002]

my mall had wilsions leather a long time ago

[@kamikazilucas]

who waters the plants?

[@NMack-is3nb]

Set to close in August 2022.

[@NathanDavisVideos]

5:32 Yeah seriously... WTF; and how is this bathroom even open to the general public when you don't even have ANY DOORS on the stalls whenever you are trying to take a shit!

[@nickemp5744]

😂😂😂