KNOXVILLE CENTER/EAST TOWN MALL - GAME OVER

[@kevinjohnson2123]

Excellent video, I dated my now wife of over 30 years there, began my young adult life being employed by that Sears for more than 16 years, would have been longer, but I could see the writing on the wall. Thanks again, really takes me back!

[@jeee1074]

This mall has so many elements from the late 90's/early 2000's. I wonder how mall developers went from colorful designs to the blandness of the past 15 years.

[@UniCommProductions]

I like this mall's decor a lot. It's very homey. It's inviting. I don't know why malls choose big bland boxes over something like this so often.

[@johnbussell8279]

Yeah I live in Knoxville and the west location recently did a remodel ripping out all the fountains and painting everything white.

[@CaptWirg]

As she put it, Simon Bleaching 😆

[@RangerRickTV]

Cinematics on point :}

[@jasonb8569]

Kristen you hit it out of the park on this video. Great work

[@UniCommProductions]

Thank you so much that means a lot

[@MrButch-ls8vl]

I agree. This was one of the greatest "dead mall" mini-documentaries I ever watched. The photography, the commentary, the music, everything about the production is first rate. I can now say that Unicomm is my favorite KZbin channel of this genre.

[@IrishLincoln]

Really well done. I worked at this mall from 2004 to 2006. Lots of great memories. My parents took me to East Towne (AKA Knoxville Center) on opening day. It was crammed full of shoppers. I still remember it. Now it's gone, leveled to become an Amazon distribution center. Thanks for the great documentation. A lasting tribute.

[@UniCommProductions]

This was a bittersweet one to produce as I just had the worst feeling the building was not going to remain intact-and it really wasn’t in bad shape nor was it very old in comparison with a lot of other malls I cover. I remember following the demolition on Knoxville’s news sites and I just felt like it was such a waste. I’m glad I was able to preserve it for people like you who have fond memories of it.

[@jbinkly]

Excellent production. About the best quality I've seen of this type. The video, the narration. Congratulations.

[@deadchannel7616]

nice video kristin and ron, love the cinematic touch! 👍

[@UniCommProductions]

Always pushing to do better! I'm glad it resonated with everyone and thank you for watching!

[@kaityk4788]

Your voice is soothing and tours are fantastic! This made me happily and sadly miss my local mall, Fiesta Mall, and hopefully not soon, Superstition Mall. There is just something so tragically beautiful about these structures that sit waiting, not knowing their fate or perhaps they are just tired.

[@UniCommProductions]

Thank you Kaity! You said it--it's that feeling that a lot of fun happened in a place and it's just quiet now--very similar to the way I imagine an abandoned amusement park would feel. We have some people on the Discord in Arizona and they all are very sad about Fiesta Mall, It sounded like a great place in its prime.

[@kaityk4788]

UniComm Productions It really was, so vibrant with parties and shopping. Truly something missed.

[@kellylewisfischer181]

So many memories from the mid to late 90s here! So many movies with my best friend.

[@UniCommProductions]

I would have loved to have seen the inside of the movie theater--it looked really nice!

[@yellaboi5707]

Thank you for this video... I have very fond memories of this place! I used to go to the arcade there (Aladdin's Castle). I had friends whose first jobs were there. I worked at JC Penney in 2003. Fun fact, famous WWF/ WWE manager Mr. Fuji worked at the movie theater until his health worsened. This allowed me to think back on all the great memories I had there, so for that thank you!

[@UniCommProductions]

I think that’s the saddest part of a place like that closing-it’s the end of a place you can go to reminisce about a first job or a first date at the theater, and we all have a desire to do that from time to time.

[@yellaboi5707]

I grew up with that mall. I was born in '81. I lived in East Knoxville and it was just a 10 minute drive to the mall. I remember the field trips to eat at the food court, hanging out in front of Foot Locker on Saturday's, my first gf worked at Body Shop (it was located where they placed that divider on the 2nd floor). I haven't lived in Knoxville for 10 years but I recently went to the mall in December while visiting family and made my final purchase there... Some earrings from Prince's Jewelry. 😢😢😢😢

[@yellaboi5707]

Again... Thank you Kristin for putting in the effort and love to do this...

[@birdofillomen7826]

This was my favorite mall as a child. By the time I was in high school (2009) it was on the decline. My grandma refused to go after the shooting. It got a bad rep for violence after that. I went in 2019 and it was surreal. There were only like three stores open and it was dark and silent.

[@UniCommProductions]

The worst part is that the shooting was the sort of thing that could have happened anywhere--it was a dispute between two people. It was incredibly quiet the day I went. You could hear everyone's shoes.

[@birdofillomen7826]

UniComm Productions it was like that for years. On the other side of town west town is crowded all the time. It’s such a waste. The building that east town was in was so charming

[@silverfuture999]

There were multiple shootings. A drive by shooting outside Regal Cinema entrance, a murder in a clothing store, and a shooting in the men's locker room of Rush Fitness.

[@andrewstanley4831]

My first job was at the Hallmark Store in 2010 til it closed in 2014. 2 days before we closed, Sbarro employees came in and found out they were closing that day without warning.

[@u53r-n4m33]

This is super upsetting, I live about 10 minutes away & this was my family's favorite place to go shopping when I was young. We haven't stepped foot in there in, as a family, in years.

[@UniCommProductions]

I can relate to that feeling-my childhood mall in Cincinnati has become one of the most infamous dead malls in the country. It probably has fueled my desire to document other malls before they fully collapse or get remodeled into something unrecognizable, because we don’t have a lot of photos/videos from when ours was intact.

[@VenomFrogPwned]

That’s why it’s closed.

[@dongaradixie]

Brilliant bittersweet walk through, thank you, very interesting! 💮🌼👍

[@TrainmasterCurt]

The intro music sounds like the High-Score music for Out-Run!

[@UniCommProductions]

Great ear! That's exactly what it is!

[@TrainmasterCurt]

UniComm Productions kzbin.info/www/bejne/pZ7SmqieiJufmbc

[@JohnCassity]

This was amazing! Sorry I missed the premiere! So well produced. One of the most underrated channels. I love the cinematography.

[@UniCommProductions]

Thank you, John! (by the way, everyone, this guy is an up-and-comer, subscribe to him now!)

[@lyndelparrish9784]

Also I love that line from Elizabethtown in there.

[@UniCommProductions]

That is one of my favorite movies of all time.

[@lyndelparrish9784]

It’s such an underrated movie

[@SeanStrife]

I kinda miss my moody mall goth days back in the early 2000s where I'd go up there and hang out with my fellow mall goths at the arcade (and this was before it had a Hot Topic) and we'd just get into various hijinx (and at one point, former pro wrestler and wrestling personality Mr. Fuji worked at the movie theater there years before his death). I went there when the JCPenney's was having its closeout sale, and you could just tell the mall was on its last legs, and I was only able to go a few more times back in 2018. I wish I could've gone one last time before it closed down, but this will have to suffice, and at least this is forever. Thank you for that.

[@mdmenzel]

The television in that last shot is absolutely gorgeous.

[@UniCommProductions]

I was so excited when I figured out I could do that!

[@KentuckyKid84]

That Payless store hung on to the bitter end…of all the stores… It and the LensCrafters next to it (where I got my first ever pair of glasses) were the two constants. 5:44- To the right was originally a KayBee Toys. 7:34- That was the same time the map of the UT campus was painted on the floor. 22:45- The space available on the right was originally a Morrison’s Cafeteria. The left was a Ruby Tuesday’s.

[@lyndelparrish9784]

Love love love it didn’t get the notification but saw it on the discord and came to watch... there was something so soothing about this whole video and yet so sad such a beautiful structure going to waste.

[@UniCommProductions]

That's EXACTLY the vibe I was going for--it was very quiet and serene in there the day I went. Everyone was just walking around saying goodbye (nothing was open).

[@lyndelparrish9784]

UniComm Productions well you definitely succeeded 🙌🙌😊😊

[@JeffCatlett]

Kristen, you have the best female narrating voice on these deal mall channels. I would love to see Sal and you duel narrate, like two news anchors, a dead mall explore. That would be so cool.

[@UniCommProductions]

Thank you, Jeff! Sal is a good friend of ours and I’m sure we will collab on a video again at some point.

[@foxeni7174]

Fantastic production with so much background! Well done!

[@UniCommProductions]

Thank you for watching, Wendy!

[@shamusburns8174]

Great channel, love your video style. This one made me feel sad though…just feels tragic

[@radio1342]

Will always be East Towne Mall to me. Sad to hear that it closed, in high school (in the late 80's) it was always busy. 15:20 I think that was Sears. To the right the white columns with the windows was a pet store. It used to have puppies or kittens in the window.

[@UniCommProductions]

You would be correct; that was Sears. That makes sense about the white storefront--With the little display windows I couldn't quite figure out what would have been at home in there (it didn't seem ornate enough to be a jewelry store so I had guessed hair salon, but pet store makes perfect sense). Thank you very much for helping to solve the mystery!

[@kimh659]

It was so thorough, you captured every angle. Great job!

[@UniCommProductions]

Thank you, Kim! The security situation there was so relaxed that I got the luxury of taking my time for once. It was a joy to film this video!

[@ctrl677]

I remember going to this mall so many times when I was younger. It's been demolished now and they're going to build an Amazon distribution facility where it was. The one thing I won't miss is the traffic. The roads in that area were designed horribly, so hopefully they clean some of that up. An interesting note about that Regal location though, until sometime around 2017 or 2018 when Regal moved their headquarters downtown it was the closest Regal Cinema to the company's headquarters which at the time were in the Halls area.

[@UniCommProductions]

That’s so odd about their headquarters. I’ve been following the demolition and I just feel like it was such a waste to tear it down entirely and build something else when the original structure wasn’t in all that bad of condition.

[@ericcraiglow7701]

Excellent video! I was able to visit for the first and final time on New Year’s Eve. It’s definitely one of my favorite dead malls I’ve visited so far. Thanks for making a video on it!

[@DSWL_]

im an 80s kid and now im gonna be 40 new years eve. this is nostalgic and a lil bit sad because its my youth being stuttered and forgotten. oh well online is where its at i guess. thanks for your work ♥️💫

[@UniCommProductions]

This one really hit me in the feels because it's still so nice inside! Some of the malls I visit, I can look around at broken floors and dripping ceilings and say, yeah, this place is a loss but other than the JCP building smelling like it may have water damage inside, it's immaculate. Such a waste.

[@DSWL_]

@@UniCommProductions sad for real...

[@WhittyPics]

Sad. Looks like it is still in pretty good condition

[@Wideningworldcircles]

Such a good tribute to a beloved childhood place.

[@andrewstanley4831]

Love the video! Wonderful!

[@XxDjinn420xX]

I grew up going to this mall, worked there, made countless friends there...RIP East Town Mall. 🥺

[@MrButch-ls8vl]

"Over the top whimsy" ... I LOVE your commentary Kristen!

[@UniCommProductions]

See: St Louis Mills. :D the decor in this mall is also very man-centric--sports and fishing, which you don't see everywhere. They should have tried to court a Bass Pro to go in there.

[@dannyhassler9008]

They also attempted to revive at one time by adding a "gourmet" farmers market that failed due to the over inflated prices of non local products.

[@paigeallen6918]

I use to get my hair cut in a little shop beside JcPenny's when I was a little girl!! So I have some good memories of East Towne Mall!!😂

[@mccallosone4903]

East Town Mall was my favorite place as a kid. My mom would us off with 10 bucks and a time for pickup, and we would shop and socialize for hours. Ten bucks in 1986 would buy me a Lone Wolf adventure book from Waldenbooks, a movie at the the cinema, a slice of pizza and a coke from Luca Pizza, and leave some change for arcade games at Aladdins Castle. A free cookie from that one place would top off the trip. Good memories, its a shame to see it go...

[@mccallosone4903]

*drop us off

[@UniCommProductions]

That brings back memories! I remember being able to make 10 bucks all day. Sometimes I'd even get myself a cassette single before the day was out if I played my cards right.

[@pete5668]

Intro music is from a video game called Out Run... a game I spent way too many quarters on in college.

[@UniCommProductions]

It’s actually the Game Over music from Outrun, in keeping with the theme of the video! Good ear!

[@thepunisher4697]

This is so sad 😭 I use to love coming here all the time with my family. It just makes me so mad that one ass hole had to ruin it for everyone!

[@DynV]

Thank you for the nice content. 🤗 From the information you gathered, how likely is it to reopen as a mall, even if just a portion of the complex? Was it a long drive to get there?

[@UniCommProductions]

I think the owners seem most interested in turning it into something non-retail like medical offices, but that could mean keeping the building mostly intact. It was about a 4h drive--I didnt spend the night, though. I literally left Cincinnati around 6 AM, filmed and photographed the mall for 2 hours, and was home by dinner. It was a long day!

[@MrButch-ls8vl]

@@UniCommProductions Wow. If you ever decide to come to the Philly area you (and Ron) have a place to stay.

[@UniCommProductions]

@@MrButch-ls8vl We're bound to make it up there some time!

[@thomaswachter7782]

Very good production values on this rather sad look back. The narration was very good. I think you got every nook and cranny in the whole building. Very tastefully done.

[@UniCommProductions]

Thank you! This was a really unusual situation where I didn’t have to worry about ducking security and really got to take my time and thoughtfully capture it the way it deserved.

[@ladylandr]

The Knoxville mall looks very similar to both Aventura Mall with a Sawgrass Mills Mall feel here in South Florida. The scene where the food court sails reminds me of Sawgrass Mills Mall. 🦄☺️

[@UniCommProductions]

I need to check out a few more of the Mills malls

[@ladylandr]

@@UniCommProductions Ok. 👍👍☺️

[@syxepop]

Cherries the Tiger - I've been inside both SoFL malls on vacation (> 2 weeks each time) in 3 separate years, and I can say it has the hall style of Aventura (mall 2.5x larger than this one) and the roof tent style is used on one of the 5 "neighborhoods" of Sawgrass Mills (ironically owned by Simon nowadays). About the food court In the rear, it is Sawgrass Mills least impressive area IMHO (love the frozen custard place about middle of the mall there).

[@ladylandr]

@@syxepop Correct. I think the tent style roof is located near the Rainforest Cafe that is right across from Books -A- Million. But the latest news is that Sawgrass is getting ready for renovations.

[@syxepop]

Cherries the Tiger - figure then BOTH stores still exist as I left them last time close to 10 years ago (both are on the entrance to said "neighborhood"). Hope Simon moves and /or enlarges the food court; "The Crocodile" deserves a better food court. It does take like 20 minutes nonstop to go from Marshall's in the south end to Super Target in the north end (even the large [2.25 Mln. Sq. ft.] Plaza Las Americas takes 15 minutes from Macy's to Sears).

[@swiftytane4421]

I worked in this Mall in the 80's

[@Launchpad05]

Hey, it's 'Out Run's soothing 'Game Over' music!

[@UniCommProductions]

Good ear! Not a lot of people have identified it.

[@ericdee1310]

There was talk about the local government taking over the mall & using it for their offices, but I’m not sure what’s become of this. Remarkable video! Narration & filming are really sharp! 🙂

[@UniCommProductions]

That’s been done a few other places with generally positive results-and saves the local government money by reusing an existing building. Thank you very much for watching!

[@ericdee1310]

I have an update on this mall for you: It was demolished over the summer to make way for an Amazon delivery facility, with an opening date in 2022.

[@TacTyger]

Not gonna lie. I cried watching this. They never did anything with it. It was demolished and all that is there is now is a eyesore amazon warehouse. It makes me truly sad to see my childhood demolished and the reason. The reason was greed. The real reason no stores could stay was because the rent was astronomically high and no business could make enough to stay open if all their profits go to rent. They never asked us what we wanted done with it. So that's it. Glad I was there on the last day. Even think I saw myself in the video. It's bitter sweet. Miss this mall so much.

[@QuietJ0Y]

Knoxville is an awesome place to explore! New subscriber.

[@UniCommProductions]

I’d really love to go back down there soon and see what else is around!

[@js0009]

I went by the old mall site Saturday thinking about all the times I had been to east towne mall now looking at the new Amazon building that was in the aprox location to the old Sears building I do miss the mall tho

[@UniCommProductions]

For better or worse they wasted no time demolishing it once the plans were made. As much as it felt like a waste to see the whole thing come down, it also is a relief to know it didn’t sit rotting away for a decade like a lot of others have over the years

[@js0009]

@@UniCommProductions yeah true I’d rather see the property be put to other uses other then a building just decaying,

[@curtg7396]

You do such a great job on your videos,nice !

[@UniCommProductions]

Thank you so much!

[@jamieblack2571]

Loving the Elizabethtown quote!

[@UniCommProductions]

It seemed INCREDIBLY fitting for the setting. Good ear! Not everyone caught that.

[@gracefulgaming6774]

does this mall have any connection with the company that own forest fair mall? the bright nickelodeon-esque colors reminds me of it a lot.

[@UniCommProductions]

No, not in any way that would have affected the design. The remodel at Knoxville Center was done by Simon Properties in 1997 and the Forest Fair Mall remodel was done in 2004 by the Mills Corporation. Ironically, Simon acquired Mills a few years after that but they wouldnt have been the same company at the time.

[@mikelindellspillow2609]

This place started to go down back in 2008. Dillard's pulling out, a shooting at the mall in 2008, sketchy looking people hanging around the entrance, did this place in. And the sad thing is, this mall has so much roaming place compared to West Town mall.

[@UniCommProductions]

Even if the shooting is something that could happen anywhere (or even, for that matter, was just a rumor), it tends to leave a bad feeling in the general populace

[@UrbexAPeakInside]

You're an up and comer. I started a few years ago but stopped for 2 years lol Continuing doing more. But I gotta ask you how do you keep such a steady hand.

[@UniCommProductions]

I use a combination of a few different cameras (not my phone) that have either mechanical stabilization or in-body stabilization with some post production additions. As I'm sure you've experienced too, this was a really unique opportunity to get to take my time and not have to worry about ducking guards or looking over my shoulder!

[@FWIENZY]

Nice video!! I also dig the music 😉

[@UniCommProductions]

Thanks! 😁

[@bertram_oredrock]

Kristin, this is a great video. The music set the mood perfectly. Was the mall as dark as it appears? A once thriving place for thousands of good people, met their friends to congregate and spend money. Maybe it can be re-purposed into apartments or a senior center. Thanks.

[@UniCommProductions]

It was every bit that dark-most of the lights were out

[@brentcampbell9931]

Excellent video. The last time I went in this mall was in late 2008. Actually one month after that shooting happened. I drove for JB Hunt and had a delivery at the Sam’s Club across the parking lot. When I went in the mall I did not know anything about the shooting. Did you do the video of the mall in February 2020? Or just upload the video then? I had no idea the mall was still functioning in 2020. I would love to walk around that mall again. It would bring back some memories.

[@UniCommProductions]

I filmed this video on January 31, 2020 on the last day it was open to the public...I came down with the flu the day after that so it took me a week or two to get the video released. This is one of the ones I really feel like was a frozen time capsule--I was so surprised by how good of condition it was in to be closing forever.

[@brentcampbell9931]

UniComm Productions So great you had the chance to explore the mall right before it closed for good. Very lucky move.

[@dannyhassler9008]

It is now an Amazon distribution site.

[@UniCommProductions]

I’ve been following the story on the news-You want to think it would have been better had it been a company that treats its workers more fairly but the location and setting is really ideal for some kind of warehouse. It’s close to the highway but sort of off by itself. I agree it wasn’t a great spot for a mall-I’ve gone to Gatlinburg at least once a year most of my life and had stopped on that exit many times to pick up something or another (it’s the nearest Target on the way) and had never actually driven past the mall.

[@mst3kanita]

damn you know its bad when Belk leaves. Also, sad that the medical offices didn't work out.

[@UniCommProductions]

Are they known as being really resilient? Being a Yankee I don't have much firsthand knowledge of them.

[@christinawhite8337]

UniComm Productions yes, definitely resilient. Check out Richland Mall in SC. The whole mall is falling apart and moldy and Belk is still holding on!

[@UniCommProductions]

That’s right! (That mall is on my bucket list so I really hope once this virus thing is over that it reopens)

[@craigwillowood5605]

Funniest comment I've read in a while.

[@davidewald7338]

looks like a good place hate to see this go. oh well I'm going out to Bass Pro at Forest Fair Cincinnati it will be more of the same.. heartbreaking sometimes

[@UniCommProductions]

The latest headline is that, unsurprisingly, Amazon will be tearing it down to build a distribution center which just *breaks my heart*.

[@FranticSloth420]

PLOT TWIST: Jeff Bezos owns the company that will eventually do the demolition lol

[@UniCommProductions]

When it’s happened to other malls, I don’t doubt it.

[@Nikkisweeets]

Plot Twist tha remix: Jeff Bezos is really the monopoly man in the flesh and actually owns EVERYTHING! 😳

[@SeanStrife]

I mean, he's gotta have SOME place to build yet another Amazon Enrichment Center.

[@mickangel3945]

Is there another mall with a circus tent roof? Incredible.

[@UniCommProductions]

Washington Swuare Mall in Evansville, IN, and Crossroads Mall in Omaha, NE also have them

[@mickangel3945]

@@UniCommProductions I think they look superb.

[@UniCommProductions]

@@mickangel3945 They're really striking visually; I like them a lot also. They sound really cool if it's raining, too! I imagine they make the space really hard to heat and cool though.

[@dannyhassler9008]

Some of the downfall was headache of getting in and out of the location coupled with some press coverage of crime around the mall.

[@buzzgohman2177]

The changes in ambiance from one area of the mall to another is fastinating.

[@pilotgrrl1]

The building looks nice (well, except for the carpet and the lack of the fountain). Sounds like location killed it, like so many others. Found out Namdar (ugh} owns Stratford Square in Bloomingdale IL, my former neighborhood mall. But I was lucky, there was always Fox Valley, Yorktown, Oak Brook Center and Woodfield to get my mall fix. Moved to Texas, and Collin Creek is no more. I remember when my sister first moved here and Collin Creek was new and shiny. There were other malls, like Prestonwood, which is long gone. Dallas proper is over malled, and Plano is plagued by failing strip malls, FWIW. About the only mall I know that's thriving is Stonebriar....

[@UniCommProductions]

Dallas is way overmalled; I remember when I went down there for work they have all these tunnels in downtown that are basically just a few restaurants and not much else. It's like a "secret" dead mall.

[@LostInSpice]

@@UniCommProductions Downtown Houston has underground tunnels too. www.downtownhouston.org/district/downtown-tunnels/

[@averyolson3745]

UniComm Productions i also feel like saint louis is a bit overmalled- you could practically do like an STL dead mall tour. there’s also an interesting story with the two chesterfield valley outlets- st louis premium and taubman prestige. st louis premium is doing okay, as okay as it gets if you’re an outlet mall in 2020, but taubman is good as gone. i’d love to see your spin on that narrative.

[@nosilverharbinger]

pilotgrrl1 The mall did have fountains in it before it was remodeled in the late 90’s. They were all on the lower floor.

[@electroshed]

What a great shame, you could take that mall and land it here in the UK, specifically the south west/Devon area and it would probably do well, we don't have enough malls here :(

[@UniCommProductions]

We need to work out some sort of exchange program where the States send their extra malls to countries that don't have many!

[@syxepop]

Kristen (Hi from Puerto Rico!), after watching several videos of the death of this very mall (incl. Ace's) I fell yours have been the MOST ENTERTAINING and THOROUGH of them all (right pacing, right style, your soothing voice and more info than the others). Wonder if one of these days any of you RETAIL BLOGGERS would try any of "my neck of the woods" malls, particularly Plaza Las Americas, the US 15th (16th when the one in The Meadowlands, NJ opens fully) largest mall, which is LOCALLY OWNED or one of the other large malls (Simon has 2 malls locally). Closest mall to "DEAD STATUS" is my hometown's (Bayamon in Metro San Juan) Santa Rosa Mall with a 60-70% occupancy rate...

[@UniCommProductions]

Thank you @syxepop! What a nice thing to say!...I would love to check out malls in Puerto Rico and all over the country--I hope to make it there! I've heard that PR has some beautiful architecture of all kinds.

[@scooterdude1945]

I got to work at spirit Halloween there in 2018 it was weird having the mall closed.

[@UniCommProductions]

Every time I see Spirit Halloween pop up I think it would be neat to work in a closed department store for a few months to pick up some extra cash and wander around a little

[@scooterdude1945]

I did enjoy it, I hated bringing my lunch the last restaurant in the food court was subway and I wasn’t eating that everyday lol best October ever.

[@UniCommProductions]

That always sucks. I remember working in the mall at Christmas one year and the lines were always too long to be able to get food and eat in 30 minutes

[@mr.nibblenips4231]

I liked this mall. I miss this mall. Bye bye mall.

[@UniCommProductions]

It was a great place-I hope whatever they replace it with is at least something that will give lots of people jobs, but it’s sad to see the mall go.

[@aldudley2924]

I was working that day... at the thrift store across the street... I wanted to take a walk around it on my 30 but chickened out because I didn't want to be sad. I wish I had... they bulldozed it. And in its place is an Amazon distribution center.

[@1000toneloc]

Ironically it's now an Amazon distribution center. West Town Mall is doing well at this point.

[@Alex-pj8eu]

I grew up going to this mall, and still went to eat there pretty regularly up until a couple yrs ago.. I absolutely cannot believe this mall closed for good completely before i even hit my 30's.. I always thought something would be in there.. I get it that things change, but this just feels WRONG!!! The future looks bleak for children and families! Sad! And its all over the country! Is this the direction we want to go??? Not having malls is just un American.. Thanks Amazon!!! So so sad and not good in my opinion. This country has fallen so far from greatness..

[@UniCommProductions]

I'm going to shamelessly plug a series I just completed called Overmalled that takes a look at how we got here, you might find it really interesting. Knoxville Center shocked me because it's such a pretty place, and is in really nice shape. It seems like such a waste to not try harder to make it work.

[@jeffbarnes54]

Any idea on what they are going to do with it?

[@UniCommProductions]

It’s been demolished, and is in the process of becoming an Amazon distro center-which the location is great for, but I hate having seen that mall that was in pretty good shape being just leveled like that. What a waste

[@js0009]

West town mall wasn’t originally owned by Simon it was purchased in the 90’s by them and still going strong today, this mall saw a lot of success in its time

[@js0009]

West town mall wasn’t originally owned by Simon malls they merged with the original owners in 1996 and fully became a Simon mall and still to this day is doing well

[@nosilverharbinger]

Just to set the record straight on a few things and give a different perspective from your average dead mall commentary: Many people in town hated the remodeling of this mall in the late 90’s, and the (stupid) name change. I couldn’t tell you the number of times I heard people comment on how tacky it all looked afterwards, and many locals think that “volunteer orange” is just a garish, ugly color. Nonetheless people kept shopping there in decent numbers anyway, but less than before the changes, until online shopping slowly killed it. The buyout of the mall, and subsequent management change, finally accelerated the death of the place as they immediately raised the rent on existing tenants by 500%, and many of them had no choice but to abandon the already badly floundering ship. Some people like to seem like they really miss this mall, and I’ll never understand that (especially given that many of them obviously haven’t darkened the parking lot of it for years and years). I was in it many, many times mainly as a bizarre curiosity in the last 8 years or so, and to visit old high school friends who managed a shop there, or to see a movie (often totally alone in the theater). I was with that mall from the beginning to the end. It was really not that spectacular of a place architecturally speaking, especially after that really poor remodeling job, and now that it is gone I’m actually really happy. People can stop (largely pretending) that they care about it, the place can be demolished, and life can move on.

[@UniCommProductions]

Unfortunately after years of various unpopular decisions and sitting empty, some places are ready to be put out of their misery. There are a few malls nationwide that fall in this category and it sounds like (in your well-stated opinion) that this is one of them. I appreciate you sharing your thoughts and taking the time to watch this.

[@nosilverharbinger]

UniComm Productions You’re welcome, and thanks for paying it a visit. By going there you both did more than the overwhelming majority of people who lived only minutes away had done for an extremely long time.

[@cullenhumphrey5292]

The closing of this mall was all on the short sightedness of SIMON Property group. I spent 10 years as a Public Safety Officer, Supervisor, and eventually Assistant Director at West Town Mall. West Town was not owned by Simon, but East Town, or Knoxville Center was. I sat in a car with Tim Hill, The manager of both West Town and Knoxville center around 2006 and explained that the reputation of crime at Knoxville center along with it's small Public Safety Department would be it's downfall. Tim asked what was needed to turn it around. I told him you have to throw money at it and double the security department. Simon refused to do so, so the mall declined and died. In the late 90s and early 2000s Knoxville center had less than half of the Public Safety man hours that West Town did. East Knoxville was known for gang violence and drug activity. Mall Rats banned from West Town would often show up at Knoxville Center and create problems because there was no real sharing of information between the properties. In the 2000s, the in-house Public Safety was contracted out to IPC International. They were a company well known in the north for mall security. While that company invested a lot of money to improve West Town, Knoxville Center was not given a video system. In the end, Simon Property Group were their own worst enemy and instead of adapting to the needs of the mall, they let it go.

[@UniCommProductions]

Thank you for sharing your firsthand account; it was a fascinating read! (And yes I realized after the script was written and the video published I had made a mistake in stating West Towne had been owned by Simon-that’s what I get for using blogs as sources). Simon unfortunately does have a reputation for putting malls on an ice floe as soon as they’re not blockbuster successes.

[@07freeskate]

The Knoxville Center will be another Amazon fulfillment center as was the case with Rolling Acres and Randall Park malls in Ohio.

[@UniCommProductions]

I’ve been following the demolition on the news. I suppose it’s a good spot for something like that considering it is so close to the highway and is kind of tucked away by itself

[@craigwillowood5605]

You could cut the irony with a knife. A place that used to be an exciting way to acquire products becomes a soulless place to package products for shipping.

[@stowgood]

so weird to see space wasted like this

[@craigwillowood5605]

A poignant version of "I Still Believe" pipes through the speakers. It's as if the mall is crying.

[@haydenmcbreezy3158]

january 31st is my bday 🥺🥺🥺 thas sad it died on my bday

[@js0009]

West town mall wasn’t originally owned by Simon

[@UniCommProductions]

I stand corrected; it was later but they did not build it.

[@js0009]

@@UniCommProductions they was part of the expansion when west town was originally built I was a little over 500,000 square feet, just trying to help I wasn’t trying to sound mean

[@UniCommProductions]

@@js0009 oh I didn’t think you were! When I’m wrong I admit it.

[@HardDriveGuruOfficial]

This is more depressing to watch after seeing the Proper People's video on this place first...

[@UniCommProductions]

It was in good shape, very clean, when I was there. I found their video really depressing but terribly interesting. They always put out great videos.

[@jeffbarnes54]

Its just plain sad.