The Final Moments of Lakeforest Mall

One final walkthrough of Lakeforest Mall in Gaithersburg, MD as it closed for the final time, March 31, 2023 at 7:00pm.
The final announcement that the mall has closed can be heard at 21:18.

[@lauraaustin9254]

It's like saying goodbye to an old house. It held us safely inside for so long and will remain in our memories for the rest of our lives 💖 Farewell old refuge! Thanks for sharing.

[@randycaranza1014]

Thank you for doing this. I’m glad that this mall’s final moments were so well documented. I visited a few weeks ago, and then, as in your video, there were quite a few people looking to capture and experience it for one last time. This mall played a significant role in my life. I’ll definitely miss it.

[@John-mv6gs]

13:40 "They're shutting the mall down in 3 minutes". That's my dad talking with me walking next to him. A couple had asked us if there were stores open in the mall, not knowing it was its last day open haha. Very cool to find and see this. This mall was a huge part of my life / childhood. Thank you for the upload!

[@fullmetal1119]

I'm not gonna lie, this video brought some tears to my eyes. Aside from Wheaton Plaza, this was my favorite mall. So many memories. Opening a Shining Celebi, buying a Digimon VHS tape at Record Town, Cardcaptors CD at FYE, Discovering Loreena Mckennit on cassette at the Discovery Store, doing Pokemon tournaments at Wizards of the Coast, Listening to It's my Life on repeat by No Doubt in the food court, Getting the 6th Harry Potter book, buying .Hack//sign CD at Suncoast, the list goes on. These are incredibly personal memories and mean nothing to anyone else. But we all have those kinds of memories. Always gonna have them. Thanks for the video dude.

[@andrewty37]

Good bye! I was 90's kid from the area! Good times! Now there is left Westfield Montgomery, Montgomery Mall. And for LakeForest mall I always remember seeing Santa at Christmas time in the 90's. Favorite thing was smelling the pretzel and cookies. And eating at the Food Cort, and going to GameStop. I can list allot here to many favorites about lake forest growing up!

[@RoundenBrown]

rest in power king 😭

[@cherryboi7734]

Great job on capturing the last moments of LF Mall. You and other alike have been able to document that at one time there once stood a mall. I have also gathered a ton of photos over the last 3 years when some stores were still in operation. Once the demolition has commenced I hope to get some photos of that and than put together one last showing of LF Mall. Again great job.

[@brachphotos]

HA! You got me sitting at the former Starbucks kiosk in the center!

[@JR_SupportOurHeroes]

Amazing how fast time flies, I remember Lakeforest back in 1989 when I bought my first home off Watkins Mill Road. Went there in February 2023 because Sunglass Hut was inside Macy's and everything was on sale and just had cataract surgeries and vision correction surgeries. Now have 20/20 vision and got Oakley sunglasses 2 pairs for price of 1 pair

[@northernskies86]

I visited there a few weeks ago when I was in my hometown over spring break. I wasn’t there to see the final moments sadly. R.I.P. Lakeforest (1978-2023).

[@waltergabriel3694]

Everyone else is filming its demise. I'm sure that place will definitely be trashed and stripped in no time. A similar scene played out in Columbus Ohio at Eastland Mall. Cool that you got it's last minutes of life. Kind of sad. Thanks for posting

[@jayo1212]

Man, the 21st century has not been kind to 70's shopping malls!

[@EC4U2C_Studioz]

A memorable mall for those who have shopped there while it opens.

[@raywills4709]

Chi Chi's was the best!

[@gianpolignano2632]

Is there a push to reopen?

[@JeffMelia]

No. They are going to tear them all down and turn it into more of a town center style, retail and residential area.

[@SpeedGangFan616]

Is the mall getting destroyed or something I’m confused

[@techdude7289]

It’s getting demolished next year. Yesterday was its final day of operation.

[@Steve.Cutler]

These videos with no narration are just boring. You might get more views if you do some homework and give information. It's like we're just walking through a random mall.

[@JeffMelia]

I'm not concerned with getting more views. There are plenty of videos of people walking through and rambling off their memories of this or that. It was meant to be a simple walkthrough and nothing more. I only made one comment which was to note what a restaurant was that had closed many, many years before the mall did and still looked the same. The best part about "boring" videos is that you can skip them.