ROLLING ACRES MALL: BEFORE & AFTER

Incredible never before seen footage of Rolling Acres Mall in 2003, Thanks to Jeffery Yuhasz and cjYinc Productions
www.patreon.com/acesadventures

[@stevemcgowen]

Rampant crime killed Rolling Acres. The city of Akron even sent out letters to their employees saying they should not go to Rolling Acres because it wasn't safe. At that time, years and years ago, when I was in college, I worked at a Subway and the owner had a location across the street from Rolling Acres. I filled in there for a week when the manager was out and was told to call the police after I closed and was about to leave so they could send a car to make sure I don't get mugged in the parking lot...

[@mas5867]

I feel like the dead malls explorers never focused on crime and the hoodlums that walked the malls as being a reason many of these malls met their demise years before they would have otherwise.

[@wbed11]

The 'Waterfront Dining' tunes transitioning from full-on to faded-out, to match the visuals. Very cool.

[@joanesdale5362]

Everytime I see a Rolling Acres video I just think it’s very sad how it ended in such a dreadful way...torn apart, destroyed and then pulled down...videos like these are living memories of a time gone by

[@Isa-cr7fd]

Blame that on the United States and how middle class are too scared to leave their house to shop due to gangs with guns who purchased them from Walmart. Blame it on how the United States allowed Walmart (a store that sells everything) and amazon for helping contribute to the malls decline. America was murdered by those in power who didn’t actually care. Like who thinks “oh yes a store that sells everything!” Was a great idea? It choked out any smaller businesses and even chained retailers are suffering.

[@jdmitchell2]

Sad when you think of all the good times that are gone & lost forever. It's that way with any dead mall

[@MarcABrown-tt1fp]

@@Isa-cr7fd Background cheeks have mostly eliminated the ability of felons to buy firearms. Now it's just felons who steal such weapons, sometimes on foot or house break in's that is the issue.

[@Wald4267]

Joan Esdale why didn’t they keep it what happened

[@DavidSmith-oh3re]

@@Isa-cr7fd I'd rather buy things from Walmart where they're much cheaper and Walmart will always be around for those of us living in rural areas to shop at.

[@itrack4u]

Anthony, I was never at the Rolling Acres Mall. After watching your video, I feel as if I was. I am saddened by the closing of my childhood malls. Excellent blend of the living with the dead. Love your music selection. Thank you.

[@AcesAdventures1]

Suze Glesky thanks so much!!!

[@jamesbennettackland]

@@AcesAdventures1 What are the names and artists of the two songs? I realise you had to distort them so you didn't get pulled up for copyright. They sound so familiar and it's driving me nuts. Thanks heaps!

[@applepro1089]

Me too

[@jdmitchell2]

Sad when you think of all the good times that are gone & lost forever. It's that way with any dead mall

[@jdmitchell2]

@@jamesbennettackland Waterfront Dining (As enn at 3:02)

[@Karmy.]

It's insane seeing footage of this mall when it was still open and wasn't destroyed by vandals

[@Compucore]

I personally don't live in the States here. It's shame how some companies that own these malls let them run down to a state like this where it looks like it is no longer feasible to keep them running. And had missed the boat in rejuvenate them back to what they were once were. But yes it's good to have some kind memories of these place what they were be and what they look like now.

[@boylesterminalshops6841]

I saw Rolling Acres and immediately clicked

[@averywilt2348]

John Alexander same😂

[@Carmenn123]

Don't know why I'm attached to this mall and I'm not even from the US. I've watched so many abandoned places but I'm mostly saddened by this mall . Has anyone found footage of the fountain working? Thanks for sharing xo

[@bobbymiller5297]

when I was kid everyone would throw coins in the fountain and it was always full of coins. Alot of childhood memories here

[@MarcABrown-tt1fp]

@Jason Sommers Dixie square mall was relatively popular before rolling acres was discovered and had been abandoned for nearly three times it's time in operation. Too bad that mall was damaged beyond recognition by the late 90s lol.

[@amazingjana]

Me too! I live in the US, and I would’ve love to visit the mall if I wasn’t born in the 2000s. It disappoints me on how it closed down! 😣

[@davidchereneimmel8820]

Spent so much time here when I was in high school, would get most of my clothes there. Then when my kids were born when there 2 times a month to Shop and sometimes just to "get out " it was sad to see it head down you could see it coming over time. All but a memory now.

[@jerrysanders9101]

@@davidchereneimmel8820 sad. What was the main reason for the decline if you don’t mind?

[@TheNiiickster]

This was amazing. I am a die hard Rolling Acres fan, almost cried when it got demolished. Seeing old footage compared to just before it was demolished was so satisfying! Thanks again, Ace! You and Dan Bell are the best.

[@calebginsberg5224]

I used to think danbell had it all, but know I realize that he focuses less on malls and more on dirty motel rooms, I have been watching ace for almost a year now and he has never failed to disappoint me or any of my friends. Great video!

[@1rockcrawford]

Yeah, Dan Bell's content, outside of Hotel Rooms, has gotten pretty sloppy over time. Also his friends are kind of....weird.

[@cmlsx1016]

QR One but that what makes it funny

[@cmlsx1016]

QR One not everyone has to be like you

[@EarlFaulk]

3:26 Some say that man's ghost still sweeps the area where the fountain was located......

[@JenniferJones-qn6lg]

Love, love, love this! I really liked the comparison editing between the then and now, makes it more real, especially with the vaporwave music added in. Just awesome. Thanks for doing this! :)

[@djrun4kover]

Love the music ace!

[@7JANEWAY]

Can someone tell me why I keep coming back to THIS mall and its various videos, when there are plenty of other dead mall videos of other dead malls out there???!! Rolling Acres in its day (and I've never been there, and obviously, I can't go there now), as shown in the 2003 footage, was, even though the decline had already started, a lively place where people would go, sometimes just to hang out. That's true of every other mall, but there was just something about RA that drew you, and keeps drawing you to the videos of it--even the dead ones. Everyone blames the internet for its demise, but I don't think the answer's that simple. I believe it was the relatively poor economy around Akron and the rest of Ohio that really killed RA off. The proof of this is the fact that RA closed permanently on Oct. 31 (Halloween, no less), 2008--right at the crux of the 2008 recession--a recession that we still are feeling effects from even today. The internet just added another nail in the coffin. Long live Rolling Acres.....

[@bloocifer]

i grew up here and my mom worked at the mall my whole childhood. it went out of business partially becuase of interent shopping but also because it became a big ghetto and got robbed blind every day and the area was so bad stores couldnt afford to stay there anymore. akron is still a ghetto and awful place to live.

[@stevenfetzer4911]

Akron is in the rust belt and has the same erie feeling as the rest, for example Pennsylvania and Michigan. Since the great depression our government has propped up the economy through artificial ways however it only lasts 30=45 years. 2008 was an end as was 2020. The effects are seen physically through places like this.

[@monicarenee7949]

I grew up in Akron and it’s crazy thinking of how we used to walk up here pretty much weekly and we used to go to the arcade, food court, didn’t really have money to shop at that time lol. All good things must come to an end I guess. It’s sad!

[@as6110]

Video of my favorite abandoned mall on my birthday? Yes please!

[@aarbamlel]

Congrats!! for you!!

[@WallieB26]

Great video as always, man! This makes miss not going to the mall before the demo even more.

[@nancydarling4918]

Great video, Ace, on my favorite abandoned mall! Thank you for your efforts in constructing all these mall videos.

[@jimharley4112]

Back in the 80’s this was ‘the’ place to hangout. Seems shopping malls ran their short course in our history.

[@CONRAIL1991]

A shame this place is gone. I live a few counties away from this place. Never went to it and never got to experience it. Except watching video's and documentaries about it. Only way to truly experience it is make a VR game of it or a world of it in Minecraft like some people have done. Its sad it died hard. Rest In Peace Rolling Acres 1975-2008 We will never forget you.

[@Official_ry_Nirvana]

Ace I gotta tell you bro. This video out beats everyone else's video on this mall. Hands down I am so proud of you for how far you have came along here on youtube.

[@7JANEWAY]

PS--I also think that they should make a little park by the Amazon plant and call it "Rolling Acres park"--which I think would be a PERFECT tribute to the place.

[@marshto1]

7JANEWAY good idea for a Rolling Acres park by the Amazon Fulfillment Center.

[@elijahtorres2688]

It’s not a bad idea, but I guess because of the crime that occurred in this area, it didn’t happen.

[@vanessavercoe8331]

My grandmother would take me here every weekend as a small child in the mid-80s. We would get ice cream, ride the elevator. She'd give me a penny to make a wish in the red fountain 😢

[@thomashouse6090]

I went there all the time when I was in high school in the 80s so sad

[@Lurker1979]

Still like that red water fountain.

[@aaronasmr8833]

Crazy that 2003 was almost 15 years ago

[@jacquimayton2466]

Aaronasmr 883 What gets me is back in the early '00s it seemed much more modern than it looks now, lol. It was all still close to the 90s I guess 🤷

[@fabez83]

Aaronasmr 883 it's crazy that ur comment was 16 hrs ago lol

[@GETINLOSER]

What's really crazy is we're closer to 2030 than we are to 2003.

[@jacquimayton2466]

SGDevotee Good God. That's the year my 5 year old will graduate from high school 🤦

[@user-vi4xy1jw7e]

Jacqui Mayton I think the fact that it was filmed on tape makes it look older than it really is.

[@Dreams-uu5uj]

Wow looking back in 2003 and now it makes a big difference

[@Catmannj1]

Your best yet. Can't believe how malls can die so fast like this one.

[@morriganwitch]

The snow on the escalators burnt in my mind and I live in the U.K. xxx

[@averywilt2348]

I miss this mall even tho i have never been in it, my dad and grandparents had atleast one job here, mostly sears.

[@jayuhaszhdvproductions8677]

I shot the original footage (CJYinc Productions) back in 2002-2003, as of July 2018 reports are that Amazon is building a 700000 sq ft facility on the site.

[@eugenius3302]

It must have been a sight to see it open but slowly dying.

[@leeanndowns7239]

Amazing footage, great tribute to a beautiful place, thank you! Never been there but makes me wish I had :( Most beautiful mall I've ever seen though for sure

[@leannbrooks218]

Great before and after coverage! Loved this

[@andrewd511]

I live in the UK but have seen so many video's i feel like i knew and miss this mall. This one and fiesta mall.

[@jasonpearce6968]

the second I saw rolling acres mall I clicked on it . . good work man :-)

[@erikpotts1453]

This is possibly the best video on KZbin. Thank you so much for sharing!

[@nancydarling4918]

I can't believe that they have now demolished the Penny's. Wonder when they will demolish the infamous Rolling Acres entrance portico?

[@phil34nc]

Great tribute video!! RIP Rolling Acres Mall!!

[@EnhansBlogspotRB]

I worked at this mall my last two years of high school 😢 always hoped it would revive

[@what-t2c]

Never happened, never will

[@deez5595]

I’m kinda sad that I never got to experience going to this mall when it was open. I didn’t even know it existed when it was open.

[@amazingjana]

Me too! I would’ve loved it in the 90s! Especially the arcade!

[@user-py6td6kg5w]

Nice, before and after shots are my favorite.

[@corz299]

I miss the 90s and before even though I was born in 2006...

[@amazingjana]

Same! I was born in 2001.

[@ujmrider]

I remember when the land was cleared, and watching with anticipation as Rolling Acres was built. I saw a lot of movies there while my mom and friends shopped on Saturdays, lunch in the food court. Always had to visit KayBee store. Chapel Hill mall was the place before that. Anyone remember pictures with Santa there in 70's ? Im not in Ohio these days, but i think Chapel Hill is still open - go figure.

[@mattmaverick703]

Chapel Hill is vacant and abandoned now! Was dying back in 2013 even. I remember going there back in the early 90s as a little kid with my parents and brother and sister to see Santa around the holidays. Miss the 90s and being a carefree kid with nothing but school to worry about! Now I have to worry about surviving in this awful economy now and having enough to make ends meet on my own

[@lyndarussell3537]

I loved rolling acres, spent alot of time there !

[@davidpearson9345]

Brilliantly put together. Nice work

[@MeetLeAnne]

Why am I so sad, watching this? I feel so much despair.......

[@pamelaparrish6837]

Just added this to my Rolling Acres Mall list.... That place was creepy as all hell....

[@peytonbloom4123]

Well I didn't expect laughing and ugly crying to be on my list of things to do today... My mom and uncle grew up with this mall, and I have a lot of early childhood memories here with my precious grama and grampa. They've been gone for a number of years now, but this unearthed forgotten memories of being a very small child running around with my grampa, grama, and my mom. As I sit here even just trying to type this barely able to see through the tears thank you. From the bottom of my heart thank you. Because of you I got to feel an echo of being with them here one more time.

[@WhisperWebb]

Awesome video, thank you It was so cool to look back to when it was actually open

[@valjones8948]

I was only at Rolling Acres once and thought it was a gorgeous mall. I'm a Canton Gal so spent most of my mall rat days at either Mellett or Belden Village. But once I saw Rolling Acres, I thought it was even more beautiful than Belden Village. This video is so very sad to see Rolling Acres in such a ruin.

[@troyking6156]

Great video, especially with the cuts back and forth with the music.

[@Carmenn123]

Has anyone seen footage of the fountain while it was working?

[@MEXICANMOOSE1976]

Keep coming back to this video...Its more than a homage..its a "love letter" to the dead mall/abandoned genre!! Only you Anthony could have Aced it (Pun intended) !!! Forget all the other content creators..they are dust...just like Rolling Oaks Mall!!!

[@SusieSynth]

Love the music as always

[@Jim_Norcross]

Love your stuff, man...this was great.

[@bellamartino730]

After 9/11 it seemed most malls died. 2001-2003 ish you saw malls become a dying breed.

[@djtwirlz4000]

Today marks 9 years without Rolling Acres 😩

[@user-ho3dx3od9y]

Well done. Another sad end to what was once a thriving shopping experience. It’s unfortunate that shoppers did not support the place more. :(

[@shifty330]

When it became damgerous to go to the Mall, that's when people stopped going. It wasn't the shoppers who brought the Mall to it's knees. It was the degenerate part of the community that drove the stake. Gangs, thieves, hoodlums etc. Nobody wanted to deal with it anymore. Everyone started to go to Summit Mall which was not overrun by the degenerates.

[@BurtBowers]

Strange how many malls across America have folded when in California yet going very strong...

[@neoleomedia1676]

Burt Bowers, well we have malls. But they are not as busy and are slowly declining. For instance the mall near me has had the JCP close down and all in all foot traffic has reduced. Texas as far as I know is still very strong. But my state of California is not.

[@loagonn6205]

Here in South Florida, every mall I've been to has still been doing very well and they're usually packed with customers. (before the corona virus obviously) But that's most likely just because of the large population and high amount of travelers down here, much like California or Texas. So it sorta makes sense that California, Florida and Texas would still have malls that aren't dying.

[@1rockcrawford]

Yeah, if you notice, most of these dying/dilapidated malls, are in the US Mid Atlantic/Rust Belt (Pennsylvania, Ohio, Michigan, Any area in Virginia/Maryland that isn't near DC.) Man of these areas experienced heavy job loss during aging populations, Reaganomics destroying American jobs, Millenials moving out of the Northeast/Midwest, and moving West or South, and general lack of tourism of these areas.

[@ItsaRomethingeveryday]

What a huge contrast

[@fernandocastillo5839]

Never been there and felt nostalgic.

[@kimberlystatzer4767]

Getting like that in all towns around, so very sad.😓

[@meily2004]

Wow great video ace

[@KevinPlaysGuitar]

Great footage! I can't believe 9 year anniversary of this mall closure is coming up on Halloween day.

[@yoursisterfromanothermiste6696]

That fountain was so cool. Some other KZbinrs posted video of the demolition and seeing all the busted red tile is kind of sad.

[@altereggo8081]

Someone on Tik Tok got at Rolling Acres Mall's elevator and had to go thru 50 levels of just darkness and demons. Idk if he made it out I do know he got clawed in the knee

[@thernn14]

Great vid ace!

[@RealWhatamelon]

Australia is going strong, although if it closed on Halloween 2008 you could go there and use the space as a makeshift haunted house if you were allowed :) nice video as always ace

[@mikez1701e]

The transitions are really good and sad

[@mikeukb5]

The music featured in this video is from Waterfront Dining's Night Lights in Japan album.

[@JessieCarty]

That is actually noted on part of the older video but the use of the music as louder and softer depending on whether Anthony was using older or newer footage was very cool.

[@brownsfan6447]

Such a sad loss

[@Archmetal06]

Bannister Mall which once used to exist in South Kansas City was very similar to Rolling Acres. Was torn down back in 2009.

[@UMAMIMAMU]

Music sounds like it's from Tim and Eric Awesome Show (Great Job!)

[@Daniel28021991]

Awesome work!!!

[@hcalderonmeister3]

I'm not American nor live in the United States, but this extinct shopping mall is proof that the good times are slowly becoming a memory of the past. Even in my city, there's a surge in shopping malls, and some of then aren't fully busy.

[@Dan-gy3cu]

The mall is gone and grass is starting to grow again on that site. That's what I call progress.

[@gregkarris6869]

Great vid as always - when will you be in Chicago next?

[@RealKansasMan]

That was a beautiful mall for it's day. Even if it were to be opened today, it's still very nice looking. Such a shame seeing all the vandalism and ruins of it. That building could have easily been re-purposed instead of rotting like that.

[@Karmy.]

Yeah it looked really nice in the '03 footage, makes me wish I could've been there

[@taylorkane4906]

I wish there was older footage in here too. I went here a lot growing up. After the 90s it suuuuuper died and wasn't really what it was like originally.

[@marcfield1234]

Well as of right now an Amazon distribution center sits on the property. How Ironic. Replaced by the very thing that took it out.

[@GgrimrodD]

I like the way you compared the before and after shots

[@GreatGarloo]

What really surprises me is that hipsters haven't taken over malls but then again they don't buy anything. lol. It is sad that malls are disappearing. In my high school yearbook our then new mall was featured heavily. It's fountain, escalator and promenade all there. Now it's gone having been bulldozed under but there is a new shopping center there even though it recently lost it's key anchor store: Wal-mart.

[@edwardsr70]

Walmart anchored to a mall?!?

[@brigvadirgeneral]

Wow born in 2002 many malls are dissapearing people of the future aren't even gonna know what malls even were :,(

[@stevenboswell220]

Sad to think it’s so close to done. It would be the final nail in its coffin if demolition finished on 10/31/2017

[@brownsfan6447]

I haven’t driven by since before the demo. Must look so different. Hard to imagine.

[@sexyshit84]

Dude you use “Only One Night” by The Hurricanes in this. Friggin awesome

[@robertsisson1262]

Great video thank you so much

[@Wald4267]

It’s crazy how much it’s changed

[@jsm2165]

I love the music and the video, thanks!!

[@shadrachsewanyana7097]

Target closed in 2006. Dillard's closed in 2006. Macy's closed in 2008. Sears closed in 2011. JCPenney closed in 2013.

[@AmatterofPat]

Can we have the name and artist of the first song?

[@mikelara4626]

"waterfront dining - dream", this is the song played in the video, the original version is "roberta grace - a dream"

[@creekandseminole]

Sounds like Vaporwave

[@WhittyPics]

Damn shame all the punks had to tear this place up. These videos aren't that many years apart

[@christophergrimes12]

Dennis W yeah why couldn't they just leave the mall in one piece and they could of fixed the mall up

[@bobbymiller5297]

Reason mall went under, it was built in bad area of Akron and criminals were raping women in hallways of mall and stabbing and robbing customers on daily basis. Then people stopped coming. Causing mall to go out of business. (reason also stopped going and taking my kids there)

[@WhittyPics]

@@christophergrimes12 Now I hear this place is am Amazon warehouse.

[@christophergrimes12]

@@WhittyPics I did see a video on that and I can't remember what was said and they where going around it at night and something scard them

[@elijahtorres2688]

@@bobbymiller5297 the mall stopped hiring off-duty police officers, and instead, hired cheaper in-experienced security guards, which resulted in numerous incidents. Not to mention, by the late 90s, Chapel Hill Mall and Summit Hall received renovations, while Rolling Acres received very little remodels. The only remodel that occurred was the addition of Target, which Forest City Enterprises has built in hopes of gaining more consumers after the infamous fight that occurred outside the movie theater. But when Target opened, a bunch of stores inside the mall began to close or become lesser quality/discounted, and JCPenney’s and Dillard’s were downgraded into discounted centers (JCPenney Outlet Store & Dillard’s Clearance Center). Many people ending up going to those malls instead of this one, which resulted in Forest City Enterprises selling the mall for $33.5 M to Bankers Trust around 2000. When Bankers Trust bought the mall, they changed the mall’s logo to the current and final sun logo, reopened the movie theater, redone the website, etc. Afterwards, the mall was continuously sold to numerous companies in lesser value, which resulted in numerous financial issues to the mall, along with gang activities.

[@josephreynolds5565]

That music is soo creepy when they show the abandon parts

[@toddcook7759]

I really hope this doesn’t happen to Twelve Oaks mall in Novi. It’s been a busy mall for now. Hope Covid 19 doesn’t hurt more malls.

[@abbyginge03]

My dad had to come here for work within its last year and hes told me it had like 2 or 3 stores left at the very most and was SUPER creepy and its sad to see that nearby Chapel Hill Mall is going the same direction as Rolling Acres

[@Lilburner666]

So sad watching place like this end up empty and broken down

[@valeriebell980]

It was already almost a dead mall in 2003, I bought a homecoming dress from there in 2004 to one of the only stores still in business. The 80s is when this mall was really booming.

[@HEHE-dx9og]

The 80`s were the best of times.

[@alexmcclanahan4073]

So sad to see, I worked at Glamour Shots when it first opened at the mall. Good memories.

[@forceofnature0012]

I'm watching Abandoned and the mall episode brought me here...

[@mayspondmogul]

Sad to see rad malls close! I live in Seattle and malls are still going strong I make my way to the mall once a week hit up the foodcourt. I order some stuff on Amazon like 80s movies and posters nostalgia stuff they dont have at the mall but I buy all my clothes at the mall. Keep up the sweet vids bro!

[@zone47]

Cool back and forth feature. I sort of wish I was more up on the end coming and visited the mall back in 08 before it was toast. That was a dangerous little episode if you think about it. Something about the adventure lures one in ... it's like an adrenaline rush or something.

[@glamourgirl2123]

Awesome! And if anybody has any other videos of the mall from its heyday when it was still open, PLEASE send me a link to it so I can view it and add it to my Rolling Acres tribute playlist!