Power Square Mall: An Antique Dead Mall | Retail Archaeology

[@andysorensen1737]

I’ve always been pretty impressed with how well kept this mall has been despite the deadness.

[@Soniti1324]

Thanks so much for checking in on this old mall again. I used to be a taekwondo instructor at this mall back in the late 90's / early 2000's. The old studio was in the first antique store you went in to. It's so surreal to see this location again and realize that I've been in that exact spot. Time. What a trip.

[@brucek5309]

Oh my mom used to take my sister and I here so often! That was maybe 10/15 years ago ... thank you for showing this and bringing back those memories

[@AmbientWalking]

What a lovely way of seeing the world. I am always very happy after visiting your channel. Thanks so much!

[@glutenfreemayo]

Wow, this is insane. My mom had her store here and I used to mess around on one of the ridable elephants. The thing I remember most about this place is the May's Gourmet Kettle Corn booth because there used to be a guy with a curly mustache who sold grill cheese' and they were actually not half bad. It is kind of sad to see places like this become gradually forgotten overtime, but it is what is.

[@Tylky]

Ah, nothing like going to the mall. Good to see Power Square Mall on the up.

[@briangoldsmith8709]

It’s really interesting to see two antique shops right next to each other & they’re both still in business.

[@MrDan708]

As a teen, I got one of those Radio Shack Repeat - Simon knock-offs. I didn't play it for long because I mastered it too quickly. As for Vanity Fare, they must be struggling; their original location in West Reading, PA just closed for good on Christmas Eve night. The Passing of an Age...this area was once the Outlet Capital of the World (tm)!

[@donutman.24]

Despite being dead, this mall is pretty cool. Nice features and the stores here are quite cute and interesting.

[@DarkMachineNation]

I love that you're a collector. I like older toys (mostly from the 90s) and antique stores as well. Thinking about getting out today, in fact. 🤔

[@tocotronicon]

Petrie!!!!❤️ I love these antique store visits. I had a similar two colour lava lamp back in the late 90s. Jesus, to think that these are now popping up in antique stores....😭😭🧓🧓🧓

[@jimmysgarage9068]

Hey man, I stumbled across your channel a few days ago and have watched a handful of your videos. Just wanted to say that you do a GREAT job and provide a great deal of nostalgia for guys in our age group. I also like that you use your daughter as a decoy! Keep up the great work man. I'm glad you're having KZbin success - you deserve it.

[@victoriansword]

Celestial refers to the sky. I had that Voltron as a kid! I remember my mom got it for me at Toys R Us and it kept me entertained while we went grocery shopping. It’s a pet peeve of mine when businesses call themselves antique shops when they don’t actually sell antiques (usually things over 100 years old), but vintage items from the 1950s to 1990s.

[@henryca03]

It's to appease snobs who believe thrift store equals cheap.

[@bttfdmc1984]

Wow haven’t been to that mall in like over 10 years when I lived in that area. Nice to see it’s still up and running. My go to place was the toy store that was in it for all the old discounted Kay bee toys.

[@slarson8044]

What an interesting video. I really enjoyed your tour of the antique shop, especially the Disney collection. Thank you for sharing.

[@DanaBlack]

I live 7 miles straight up the road from this mall and didn't even know it existed. It's weird it is right by Superstition Springs.

[@jettozahoku]

Seeing the Petrie puppet brought back memories. My grandparents had bought the Ducky one and used it as a dog toy for their little dog. When we visited them one day, I fell in love with the puppet and 'rescued' it. I threw it over the fence before we left their place, made sure to pick it up and stuffed it in the car real fast. Very cool antique stuff. I should go visit some here in Tucson.

[@Mandalor_the_Strange]

Sad to see malls fading away...I miss malls, thankfully here we still have 3 malls that are always busy still, only two actually dying due to the areas they were in...one in my city and one in the next city over. But we are a HUGE navy/military area

[@AriKona]

If you in an "antique" (often defined as something more than 100 years old) store and remember when an item came out, you are old (or dead). However, if you are in a so-called "vintage" store where the items can be from a variety of eras, you might not be that old, likely just pre-millennial. Considering I was living here before the mall itself was even built in the first place, I am old...er. Thanks for another walk down memory lane. These are great videos.

[@30roundz]

I was just thinking about Power Square mall! I was hoping for an update.

[@AssassinofHighgarden]

Aw, nice, good to see Power Square still going! Though a butcher shop is an interesting choice. Also, picking through antique stores is fun and strangely relaxing. There's an antique mall in the Denver area that I've only been to once but it's a good time.

[@YanickFM]

I like this, it's like going shopping without actually going anywhere. I miss browsing antique shops.

[@davinp]

25 years ago was the Blizzard of 1996 on the east coast. The weight of the heavy snow caused a section of the roof of Potomac Mills Mall to collapse. This mills mall was only 10 years old at the time and was the biggest mall in northern Virginia. It may have had 150,000 shoppers. The Mills Mall is like Arizona Mills Mall and currently owned by the Simon Group. The mall is still doing well

[@alexander2685]

To think more malls are closing 1in4 by 2025 this channel is like a looking at the past the good times in my youth i love this channel.

[@cjpwolf2436]

I love the coin operated horse ride.

[@emilys1806]

I had that electronic repeat game as a kid and used to play it all the time on road trips. Such a classic.

[@jtlovescodelyoko]

Yes The First Retail Archaeology Video Of 2021 I needed this particular after the embarrassment that happened on Capitol Hill on Wednesday. Thank You Erik for this, I am excited and looking forward to new material in 2021.

[@johnmurphy9127]

I only recently discovered your channel and I'm already a total fan and addicted! Lol. I'm fascinated by your "thrifting" vids".

[@RetailArchaeology]

Thanks 😁

[@dw309]

I grew up in Mesa my whole life, had no idea it existed, and randomly found an antique I wanted to buy on offer up and it was in this god awful place! I went in and I thought I was in some weird ass time warp, cracked me up you filmed this just a month later and here I am watching this video!

[@SueBobChicVid]

Oh, man! At 9:30 you pan past the Fisher-Price teaching clock. I hadn't seen that since my childhood - in the 60's. I had to look it up and I see it's been re-released a few times (and used to good effect in some video game). I was surprised to see how many people have fond memories of the melody it plays. It, however, brings me to tears. It had to be the saddest song ever used in a children's toy. The clock plays the refrain: Ninety years without slumbering (tick, tock, tick, tock), His life seconds numbering, (tick, tock, tick, tock), It stopp'd short never to go again when the old man died. It's especially sad as the mechanism winds down to a stop. Link to Wiki with full lyrics. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/My_Grandfather%27s_Clock Brings me to tears every time. I think this is what introduced the concept of death to me at a young age. One of my strongest memories. I had to leave the room to let it wind down.

[@juanitau2012]

Oh wow thats like a plot of the twilight zone episode where the mans life is connected to the grandfather clock. When it winds down, he gets ill, when it stopped he like collapsed ,he was really worried because if it stopped for good, he died.

[@SueBobChicVid]

@@juanitau2012 I understand that episode was based on the song.

[@juanitau2012]

@@SueBobChicVid Really, I didn't know that. It makes sense though, cause they are both so closely related.

[@saturnotaku]

Seeing the two antique stores next to each other reminds me of the pawn shops in Shenmue 2.

[@parkscustomwoodcraft878]

Omg I had one of those repeat games. I loved it as a kid and had forgotten all about it until just now.

[@WalkingRoscoe]

One of my favorite channels. Great work R.A.!

[@molaisonmaker6896]

Great find on the Petri Land Before Time

[@Moonbeam143]

That is a nice, little mall. Seeing the Christmas stuff makes me wish Christmas was a year round thing. And seeing the antique stores were nice, too. And seeing stuff from the 90's in there made me feel old, too.

[@MrOrchardArt]

Best dead mall channel on the interweb by far!

[@Zizumia]

Funny enough, I went to this mall just after Christmas too and I thought "it would be pretty rad if the Retail Archeology guy was filming this location again." I must have JUST missed you!

[@rhiana7166]

that mall was sad but i looooved the antique stores. im a thrifter and ebay seller so i do love old stuff! and finding treasures

[@twin_rabbit]

Definitely did not expect to hear ToeJam & Earl as the background music for the product demos. Nice little flash-back.

[@williamharris8367]

9:30 -- the Fischer Price clock! (At the back of the shelf) I had that as a young child in the early-1970s, but I don't think that it was new even then. I have not seen one of those in decades.

[@gmcnewlook]

Antique stores are always neat to look around...

[@R32R38]

I also have never seen a butcher shop in a dead mall. Or a live one, come to think of it :)

[@christopherborum6551]

Imagine going to the mall to buy a quarter cow for $675

[@JPFalcononor]

On the east coast, you can find Amish Butchers in Mall type settings....

[@JPFalcononor]

@@christopherborum6551 Imagine telling your better half: “Honey, I’m heading to the mall to buy some vitamins and a gutted cow.”

[@christopherborum6551]

@@JPFalcononor OK. Pick me up something from the Woman store.

[@peternincompoop9553]

Imagine the smell.

[@Janella_Ice_Ice_Baby]

My dad bought me one of those old radio shack electronics kits when I was 6 or 7 (1991) It was a radio and once we built it, we would sit in the backyard and listen to approach control and the tower frequencies at Sky Harbor. We lived in West Mesa - Alma School and 8th Street (Rio Salado, now). Great memories!!

[@VidGirl88]

That game at the end reminds me of my Dad's old electronic football handheld from the late 80's.

[@schwinnguy]

Yay! A new RA for the new year. Thanks!

[@ChopperCity22]

Thank you for the update power square mall!! This is the year you will hit 100k!!!!

[@R32R38]

Northwest Connecticut has long had many antique shops, often selling high-end vintage stuff. Traditionally they did a large part of their business when affluent people came up from the city on weekends. They also traditionally had two sets of prices, weekday prices and weekend prices. Care to guess which were a lot higher?

[@sonicmoremusic1]

Thanks, another great one! I could spend all day in antique malls.

[@thebiglebootski357]

Yay, missed you, great to get a new video on a Friday! Happy New Year

[@ScottyPhoton]

Nice visual as usual! I remember those Land Before Time Pizza Hut puppets as well. :D

[@gzenno]

hey i had that repeat game when i was younger. nice find.

[@brunovpassos]

Hey,you should make a video showing all the stuff and antiques...you definitely have some interesting things from all this thrift stores. Btw love the channel and happy new year

[@brucesumter4327]

wow so cool i miss all my toys from the 60's ty for showing this video's :)

[@charlestonpinballarcade]

Right before Pittsburgh Mills really fell off the map, there was a meat shop. They sold various vacuum packed cheese filled meats and flavored sausages. I think it was nice to see a local business do their own spin on Omaha Steaks, but only so many folks will head to the mall for meat shopping.

[@andyt8193]

Fascinating channel and have been interested in malls since Dawn of the Dead !! We had one in Manchester uk called the arndale centre . Thanks

[@FireFox173]

I don’t know how I feel seeing a toy I had as a kid in that vintage display, since I was born in 1990. It was that dog with the wheels around the 9:28 mark. I remember it had a string you pulled and it making a sound that I guess was supposed to be barking. I’ve had actually forgotten about it till I saw it In your video.

[@johnnguyen6159]

Could you do the Cityscape Mall in Downtown Phoenix at sometime? Not sure if there is still construction going on there, but just curious to see how it compares to the Arizona Center Mall being a little bit more centrally located.

[@anonUK]

"Celestial" refers to sky or heaven. "Lunar" refers to the moon.

[@sacolbert]

We had a factory outlet center that looked almost exactly like this. Same little food type stalls. Even An Antique store in it. I took the kids in there ever so often as there was a Toy outlet there. Think of a flea market toy stall, but inside. Still fun though for when they were younger. This place also had a VF outlet as well. Complete with Racks in the "mall". The mall has been repurposed a few times. Now an all Star Bowling, Floor and Decor, and a few other things are on the outside. I'm not sure that you can even get into the mall itself. I'll try sometime.

[@CardShark_Chris]

I had that Voltron toy too. Great video. Thanks for the memories.

[@CBPM107]

The library there was cool. Sad to see it gone.

[@aidahoe2946]

I love the pocket repeat

[@cmazing5481]

Love the shopping part

[@Murasakiii]

Love this little mall

[@petenielsen6683]

VF has changed its name and business model a little as well. The name is something like the Wrangler Outlet now and they sell fewer super discounted items. I thought the one nearby was closing forever, but it turned out they closed both their main store and overflow (a few weeks before COVID) in order to redesign the inside. When I was there recently and asked how they were doing I was told they closed non-profitable stores but took advantage of state ordered closings to remodel.

[@valerieannrumpf4151]

That voltron toy looks so cool.😮

[@comancheviperrrr]

I like those old-school Pepsi signs. If I was there I would have probably pick those up.

[@Crackrzz]

OMG I had those Disney records when I was a kid! I think I gave them to a vinyl enthusiast friend. I may still have Vol III on cassette somewhere.

[@chrislongbeard]

Patiently waiting for Chip & Dale and Tale Spin to get on Disney+.

[@pghrpg4065]

I had Volume II of those Disney albums when I was a kid. My favorite song was about the old lady who swallowed a fly.

[@nooneatall1784]

"I don't know why she swallowed a fly/Perhaps she'll die"🤔

[@JPFalcononor]

20 Ribeye steaks for $29?......They are either Minute Steak thin at 2 ounces each, or their previous owner was a Squirrel.....

[@sarjim4381]

I'm pretty sure they aren't just small, they are low quality meat that has been soaked in meat tenderizer so you can at least sink a fork into it. I got suckered into buying one of these packs when I was young, first married, and we needed some cheap food. It was cheap, no doubt about that.

[@JPFalcononor]

@@sarjim4381 You are spot on with your assessment, and everyone has fallen into that trap at some point in their life...saying that however, this “bargain” price even defies normal water injected meat. If I lived in the area, my curiosity would get the better of me, and I would want to see what one would get for their $29...

[@elizabethsullivan1894]

Maybe that's 20oz ribeye? That seems too expensive though.

[@AurumUsagi]

That's a lot for steak! I've paid way lower prices in the States for streaks in restaurants

[@SearsCool]

I do want to go to an antique store, I believe in Plano there is a struggling antique mall and it was originally an outlet mall

[@ramblingsfromahousewife1588]

Yes! There was a Garden Ridge at the end. Also, a TJMaxx.... both closed now.

[@appalachianwoman561]

I remember those Land Before Time puppets from Pizza Hut, the only one I ever had was Little Foot as well. It's odd seeing stuff you grew up with now in Antique stores but I guess every generation has gone thru it. Would be interesting to see a chemistry set from around the 50s wnd 60s because they say those contain dangerous stuff but I bet most of it's gone off and lost it's strength by now. I'm shocked the Outlet store that sold Lee jeans was gone, because that place used to be known by the name of that Outlet and it was always packed in past videos when you went.

[@walmartsucks1995]

speaking of popcorn counters i would totally suggest trying Garrett's if you get to chicagoland

[@sherrybell3924]

Another great episode. Thanks!

[@spiffywonderboy]

I had one of those Voltron toys too. I'm not sure why though since I also had ones that actually transformed.

[@masaharumorimoto4761]

Peetree was my hommie too! I reckon we wore that VHS out eventually, I remember my dad being shocked we wore it out lol.

[@wolfgang1097]

My oh my. You must have liked it quite a bit. I myself was raised on VHS tapes and the early days of DVDs. As we get older, we realize that the really old tapes that still work should only be watched sparingly to make sure it lasts as long as possible. Speaking of the Land Before Time, I actually picked up the fifth movie (along with the Sandlot) at Salvation Army earlier today.

[@markstrouse3101]

Great great great video.

[@actipton80]

I remember those Land Before Time puppets. My brothers and I had Littlefoot, Spike, Ducky, and Cera. That was the original set. Petrie was part of the second set. I don't remember the others in the second set.

[@Joypyf]

I love antique malls!! 🤤

[@where7847]

happy new year!

[@martinbaxter2616]

Spencers lava lamp... I feel old. Join me. STAR TREK STUFF!!!! GO BACK!!!!

[@vengeance1701]

I had that Voltron, too!

[@JoeMotionVideos82]

Total bummer, I live this place! VF was the only one that had my correct jean size.

[@robertgeary7520]

That's a good looking mall

[@stu71disco]

A quarter cow $675 .....wow that would make the ultimate burger 😛 I wonder if the free chicken is still alive😄

[@crowmigration8245]

What a weird place. I love it

[@arbutuswatcher]

Every mall needs a good pretzel or bagel stand. Shout-out to Winston Bagels at SIU in Carbondale.

[@ohiobwb]

Happy new year

[@marcosdelafuente4847]

I like your work

[@nooneatall1784]

You've got to buy these things when you see them. I'm still smarting over the dolphin prints, haha.

[@CometComicsFlash]

Next time you see one of those fortune teller store you should pop in and ask if there'll be more of them coming :P

[@heathermorse2018]

I used to work at banister shoes and my brother used to work across from me at another shoe store called bass shoes

[@PrimeBeefer]

Wow this is so sad. As a kid we used to go in the toy store that was there and I also enjoyed the book store and the kitchen store that was there. I was depressed 5 years ago when my buddy and I went in and played chess at the mesa library branch but I swear it only seems to get sadder. Also can I just say that I think the food thing that's gonna be a butcher is an SCP cuz I swear I have never actually seen it open and serving food in the last 20 years.

[@Soniti1324]

SCP?

[@PrimeBeefer]

@@Soniti1324 it's a term from a fictional universe that basically means a supernatural phenomen.

[@1sinister80]

I also had the rubber voltron

[@Spintechfilms]

That is a very totalitarian designed mall

[@GaryGeat28]

I must've driven by this mall many times and didn't even know it.

[@btphill2]

Same!

[@marcosdelafuente4847]

Hello how are you? One question, do you know what happened to Carlos O briens? Mexican food at Northern and 7🤔

[@marcosdelafuente4847]

Me gusta tu trabajo

[@jenniferrinaldi8808]

My brother had that Voltron toy!