The Failing Valley View Mall in Dallas

Watch as the Safe Squad check out one of Dallas' failing malls. This mall is holding on by just a thread and awaiting the furthering of its' demolition.
Filmed By; Darren and Matt Sonswa (Channel Link: / @mattsonswa )
Music by Darren and purpleplanet.com

[@AggressivelyMediocre]

Oh wow. It's interesting seeing the influence this had on The Rolling Giant.

[@alphawolf9219]

Yeah, its crazy

[@ianholmes4723]

It’s one of my childhood malls. I occasionally visit the remaining AMC. But I wish it would have succeeded.

[@TheSafeSquad]

Sorry for the late reply! It is unfortunate that this mall failed. So many are struggling and it's ridiculous how fast mall culture is dying. But you know what they say, all good things must pass. thanks for watching!

[@yellowRose806]

When I first went here as a child at around the turn of the century, I knew this mall wasn't going to last. I didn't visit here often. It was doing okay in the early-mid 2000s, however it quickly became deserted. I remember images from a busy mall into a ghost mall within a decade.

[@johnerwin9024]

Sure, mall business good til turn of century anyway -

[@Rythen2]

This is fascinating, and pretty depressing. I've been to this mall maybe a hundred times, since it's so close to where I grew up, and my parents and I went a lot when I was younger. It's actually kind of amazing how slowly the mall's decline was. Easily one of my biggest regrets is just not having as many pictures of this place while it was alive, especially of the Pokemon TCG event that happened here (that I have a few very vivid memories of), but it started declining before smartphones were commonplace, and it's not like I carried a camera with me all the time.

[@TheSafeSquad]

Do you still have any of those pictures? I’d love to see them! That sort of documentation is extremely important after demolition

[@mistacole1335]

For anyone looking to explore this place, go now! The entire area except the hallway leading to the AMC has been walled off, but there are many entrances you can get in from on the outside since they demolished part of it, I went today with a few friends, all of the areas he showed are now completely abandoned, it's pretty dark but it's a really cool experience.

[@matsal3211]

What side do I go to enter the restricted area

[@mistacole1335]

@@matsal3211 It's the side opposite from the torn down parking garage, where the floor is much lower in elevation than on the garage side and the wall of the building is white, there is an opening that you can walk through, no need to hop any fences or anything, you can just walk straight in.

[@vladirusterling2145]

Be wary, anyone else, they've got alarms set up around the building (exterior at least), my friends & I tripped them twice when we tried to get in (didn't go to the Hallway though, just wanted to check out the exposed bits), we got out just in time to be casually walking away from a small hole in the fence (it was a flap that wasn't bolted down to a pole, so from a decent distance it looked normal) to be greeted by a security guard in a car driving down the road, stopped us & asked a few questions, and decided that we didn't go in & continued on his way

[@AimanZQ]

Beware of the rolling giant

[@nayeliwhite242]

Oh my god. Thank you. I grew up in this mall from about 2003-2007 before it's decline. I lived right on the street where it was, and I played on that play area many days. THANK YOU for documenting my childhood before it got demolished.

[@MrFlamPlum]

The giants were restless ngl

[@TheCubeTube]

1:22 Waiting for the Rolling Giant jumpscare 😂

[@Howard75081]

Great video. A testimonial to the positive impact of Section 8 housing in the area.

[@TheSafeSquad]

Thanks for watching! hopefully something good will be put in its' place.

[@alansilos3686]

I use to go to that indoor soccer place very often with friends that Im still in touch with today .. so much memories

[@AJsketchy]

Beware of what lurks in the shadows..

[@kinda24]

I used to work security there, now i'm amazed how so many stores and people i know are Gone.

[@TheSafeSquad]

Everything must come to an end at some point. Got any exciting stories to tell? Im sure youve got a few after working in security.

[@kinda24]

@@TheSafeSquad Behind the Bazaar is an open area where people do Zumba classes and every Weekend there's always a party, which includes drunk people. Angry J.C. Penny Loss Prevention staff chasing thieves, Homeless people trying to find places the sleep inside the Mall. Angry couples fighting outside the parking lots. Burglary in the Finish Line store. And Finding Drugs on Property. Oh and Troy Aikman's wife's car got broken in at the Sportsplex next to the Mall.

[@Games-df5uh]

Do you know a security guard who was bald and had glasses?

[@kinda24]

@@Games-df5uh Yeah, he was head of security at the time I worked there. Haven't talked or seen him since.

[@mtmjedi3046]

I remember going there all the time as a kid. Dang, this makes me feel old.

[@OPG2711]

*EPIC* video! I see you went and explored the 1982-1983 Bloomingdales store which was a JCPenney from 1996 to 2013; that’s awesome.

[@OPG2711]

** CORRECTION: The third anchor, Dillard's, did not open as Joske's in 1979. It was always a Dillard's.

[@TheSafeSquad]

Glad you enjoyed it!! We definitely enjoyed seeing this location for sure. It was definitely an upside after finding out that the Hadron Collider in Waxahatchie is occupied.

[@OPG2711]

@@TheSafeSquad However, as of this past Monday, the JCPenney store at this mall you went inside is now being demolished.

[@OPG2711]

Oh and the JCPenney space, that had an interesting story in its final years. In February of 2012 JCPenney launched a project to create a "prototype" store at the Valley View location as part of Beck Ventures' Dallas Midtown project. The third floor was closed in March and the interior furnishings were removed for renovation. The second floor closed in December 2012-January 2013, and the decor was removed from that floor as well. On February 1, 2013, JCPenney decided to close the store in April, and the renovation was scheduled to finish in 2014; it was canceled, which explains why a lot of the original decor on the first floor remained.

[@TheSafeSquad]

OPM1961 wow, I guess the AMC will be all that’s left. I didn’t know those floors had been abandoned for that long, it all still seemed in pretty good condition. A developer could’ve used the building but I’m sure there’s a plan for the property if they’re kicking tenants out and demolition Thanks for this bit of history friend :)

[@DaydaliYT]

Kane pixels 🗿

[@robertmay3015]

I used to be the asst. mgr for Copelands Shoes upstairs near Sanger Harris.

[@TheSafeSquad]

Got any exciting stories to tell? I'd love to hear them! Thanks for watching :)

[@johnnyarcade5546]

I loved this mall. And I hated the Galleria. I don't see what people saw in the Galleria to kill this mall.

[@TheSafeSquad]

Johnny Arcade it’s quite unfortunate I’d say. All the info on the web claims the “demographics of the area” made shoppers want to shop elsewhere, like at the Galleria, though the area didn’t seem to bad while we were there.

[@johnnyarcade5546]

@@TheSafeSquad The area isn't bad, I mean the only bad thing I can think of is when Entertainmart opened it, brought "seedy" people to the area. I do know that when Prestonwood was open that area was bad, we're talking murder bad but that about 2 or 3 miles north of Valley View.

[@TheSafeSquad]

Johnny Arcade It really didn’t feel dangerous at all. American mall just don’t do as good as they use to and it doesn’t take much to do then in nowadays. Online competition just destroys them.

[@johnnyarcade5546]

@@TheSafeSquad I agree to an extent. Because Town East, Firewheel, Galleria, Willowbend, and Stonebriar all do well. There's just something about being somewhere and the satisfaction of getting a product right then. Online can't do that. My kids LOVE GOING to the mall as do many younger people.

[@vjhicks8533]

Well the problem is the Galleria was basically RIGHT NEXT to Valley View. If it wasn't so close to it I think things may have played out very differently. But with the older mall just ONE MILE AWAY from the "fresh new fancy" mall with much more "buzz". With higher end stores and fancy restaurants built around it. Also . I think that created the demographic split. So the people with more money went to the Galleria, and those who wanted cheaper mid/lower end stores went to Valley View. So of course the Galleria became much more profitable. And some of those anchor stores seeing the Galleria suck up all the profits, left for... THE GALLERIA a mile away if they could. The people left at Valley view were more lower income and it became where teenagers would "hang out" without necessarily buying much. So where the Galleria was placed was pretty idiotic. There's nothing" hood" about Valley View's location. It's literally 1 mile away from the NICE Galleria! But an artificial demographic split was created. Build the Galleria even 5-6 miles away rather than one mile.... The Valley View mall continues to thrive much longer. More of the higher income folks who shopped there before the Galleria was built would still shop there. You would have seen much more of a demographic mix of rich/poor, young/old remaining.

[@zerooccupancyurbex391]

Sweeet video! This looks fun.

[@TheSafeSquad]

Zero Occupancy urbex it won’t be fun till you and Shelly pull up

[@Gregness745]

Kane you have some explaining to do 🪦

[@Jmster69]

He was recording the real deal

[@Jmster69]

This was in 2019 he went in yesterday

[@lenarrowseller2419]

Went there many times as a kid in the late 70s and early 80s

[@keranssdecontrol]

Was just there earlier, it’s so barren now and the AMC closed last month unfortunately

[@jflclc]

Spent lots of time and money at this mall ❤️

[@jehobden]

I haven't been to the Dallas Galleria lately. I'm glad it's still doing ok. The only successful mall north of Dallas now seems to be Stonebriar Mall in Frisco, though The Shops at Willow Bend in Plano has lately been revitalized somewhat. Collin Creek Mall in Plano has been dying for years now, it seems.

[@jehobden]

OK, I've just looked this up, and it seems as of last month (July 2019), Collin Creek Mall is officially dead, w/ only JC Penney still open.

[@TheSafeSquad]

Many malls across America are starting to fail if they havent died already. Online retail is just too powerful of a force against these malls.

[@nutandboltguy3720]

I can’t believe Town East Mall is still making it. That’s got to be the oldest.

[@jehobden]

@@nutandboltguy3720 I'm pretty sure it was opened in 1971, making it 50 years old this year.

[@nutandboltguy3720]

@@jehobden Wow! I had no idea it has been around that long. I went there before Covid and it seemed to be busy. Vista Ridge Mall aka Music City Mall in Lewisville didn’t seem to be doing as well before Covid. Not sure what it’s like now.

[@Games-df5uh]

Did you go inside El Mercado part?

[@TheSafeSquad]

I’m not entirely sure, a lot of the store signs had been removed but it’s very possible. Where in the mall was it? We went in just about every store.

[@gavrilisgaming2]

6:46 I could see were wyatt entered from

[@DC25_MALLETS]

This mall has been very interesting to me, i've never been to it, its just cool i guess

[@bert1374]

i got videos of the AMC at its prime

[@matsal3211]

Where in the store were u able to explore

[@TheSafeSquad]

Mateo Salcedo just about all of it, we have tons more footage but I don’t know if we’ll ever upload it.

[@matsal3211]

Yea but where did u go to enter the restricted area

[@TheSafeSquad]

Mateo Salcedo we just hopped AMC’s old wooden wall but they’ve blocked it off with concrete since then because they plan to demolish the rest but keep the AMC

[@lowbattery3465]

whats the name of the song?

[@TheSafeSquad]

What time stamp? I’ll have to research my music library to see

[@lowbattery3465]

@@TheSafeSquad the first one that plays

[@Hammster69official]

The AMC gave that mall at least a decade more than it had left in it on its own.

[@o-dreng8778]

Welp

[@MarkMclaughlin-qm8kq]

Bulldozer it died longtime ago good memories there i will always remember that mall rip they build park there or whatever that mall was history but in America we love to destroy history.

[@ItzBigCen]

It makes me sad, everything comes to an end.

[@rosemaryjarrell4874]

I guess they would tare it down the turning it into small apartments for the homeless and then complain about the homeless population