Vaush reacts to DEAD MALLS

[@TAP7a]

Dead malls are like walking around an empty map in a Source engine game

[@PetAllDogs]

Malls feel like a uniquely 80s and 90s thing. They were a great place to meet up with friends, go shopping for almost anything, probably see a movie or go to an arcade, but then the world moved on. Shopping is now mostly done online and the shopping that isn't, is better suited to a fully stand alone store. Arcades are basically dead and restaurants and movie theaters are better outside of malls.

[@Thelango99]

In Norway malls are still expanding as ordering online is slow (no same week delivery and most packets have to be picked up at the post office anyway).

[@Thelango99]

It comes with the territory of bad narrow roads and people living in smaller communities far from each other.

[@MasterAdam100]

Malls have been around since the 50's but yeah, they peaked in the 80's and 90's.

[@JoshSweetvale]

Laughs in Europe.

[@amaurylannes]

Dead malls can be best explained through Mark Fisher's concept of hauntology. Why do we find dead malls disturbing? Because the past haunts us through them. When urban explorers enter completely dead malls, they're not exploring the space in present; they're exploring the past through space. And so we "see" the past physically deteriorate and decline in real time. Our past is dying right in front of our eyes. What compounds this eeriness is that malls were non-places which were completely devoid of any cultural significance or reality. Malls were consumerist prisons. Every mall was a simulacrum, a copy-and-paste of each other with no original, and none had any distinguishing or meaningful attributes. The biggest reason why malls died is that they were too modernist in a quickly postmodernizing society. They were too disciplinary in a control society. In the past, work/school, home, leisure, and the marketplace had clear boundaries. When you were at work, you where only at work; when you were at home, you were only at home. When you were shopping at the mall, you were only shopping at the mall, you weren't at home or work. But now, the boundaries have shifted to the point where specific life activities are no longer temporo-spatially segmented, which rendered malls impractical. I can work, study, shop, and play all on the same exact device I am using right now. As Vaush pointed out, remaining successful malls shifted their function from a simulacrum marketplace to a sign-value marketplace, in which the mall distinguishes itself as being experientially prestigious and not just a cut-and-copy single-function location.

[@brianchappell4054]

I'm older and remember when malls like this had full food courts and it was difficult to find a place to sit. In terms of malls not 'being around for a long time,' that pretty much lines up with our culture doesn't it? I mean how long things - architecture, specific arts, car styles, etcetc - I don't understand how these places are even continuing to stay open and can only imagine what a drag it is to work in one of these places.

[@lordbison1771]

Where I live it is literally just because it’s the only place to get nice clothes. That’s literally it, the mall is sustained by the food court and Dillard’s.

[@captain_context9991]

Amazon..... One word... Amazon came and killed retail stores all around the country. Then Covid put the final nail in the coffin. Nobody remembers any good reason to go to a mall anymore.

[@HiCZoK]

Come to Poland. Malls are just like that. You can't even sit at the food court, there are so many people. And 5 leveled parking might not even have free spots on a busy day. It's crazy in a good mall

[@sacredhealstv901]

Our main malls court is packed during the day but it's not huge and also one of the primary shopping areas in general.

[@captain_context9991]

@@HiCZoK Americans dont park in levels. They park in giant parking lots. If you look at american cities from the air, a 5th of it is parking. Because everything is about cars, and nothing new has happened since 1970

[@JackgarPrime]

I think the homogenization of store variety in malls over the years didn't help. It used to be that there were stors of every type you can think of in any decently sized mall, now its like 95% clothing, jewelry, and cosmetic stores. I miss mall arcades.

[@Necroskull388]

Tbh after watching this segment I was wondering if I could get a good deal on arcade cabinets from mall owners. Maybe there's a Third Strike cabinet in some abandoned mall somewhere I can get a bargain for. IIRC this segment was done on stream before the Arcade1UP announcement of newly produced MVC2 cabinets and I immediately wondered if I could get my own MVC2 cabinet from a dead mall.

[@JackgarPrime]

@@Necroskull388 Maaaaan, that MvC2 1Up machine is veeeeeery tempting. I almost gave in and bought the XMvSF one when that was announced.

[@TheKnizzine]

@@Necroskull388 you can try they generally want more than the original price of the thing and they are usually half broke. Better off just getting the case super cheap somewhere and having someone set up a Retropi. If you do manage to buy one though Randy Fromm has a pretty good book on repairs and a book of schematics, dude is retired now so might be hard to get your hands on and they dont really include anything past 2005ish though.

[@srenheidegger4417]

Ugh, just let it burn, forever. If malls burn, america will burn as it is nothing but a big shopping mall, and I love that idea.

[@angelikaskoroszyn8495]

It definitely ruins malls. In my city there're big 3 malls. All exist within the city because Europe tend to have better designed cities. Two of them are pretty popular but one is dying. Why? Because it can't compete against the other two. They have exactly the same products. What's more there's a more traditional market in close distance with fresh produce and interesting clothes. It's cheaper to have own booth there so it's not plagued with chain shops

[@shecklesmack9563]

I was kinda sad about this for a while, but I realized malls have been mostly bad and pointless for many years. Even like 15 years ago it seems like I would go into a mall and stop at a couple places and never buy anything, plus the food is usually bad.

[@Dovoline3]

It really depends on the layout and location. Traditional mall complexes in Suburban areas are on the outs, to be sure, as well as those in poor Rural areas, but the ones in wealthier rural locales and Semi-Urban areas are still doing fine, at least in my state. And outdoor and open-air malls seem to still be doing well regardless, probably due to the fact that they can more or less double as parks if laid out right.

[@junfaa]

I think the food at my mall is good. I find it sad because malls have always been kind of cool. The environment, the echoes and the smells have always been kind of calming. They're also fun to hangout at even when I don't plan on buying anything.

[@Dovoline3]

@@junfaa honestly if you want to save a mall probably the best thing you can do is put a good restaurant in it, something nice and mid-end that's got sit-down seating. I can think of several malls where nobody ever says "let's go shopping at ", they say "let's go grab dinner at , and we'll do our shopping there since we'll already be in the area"

[@jonnaking3054]

To some of us gen xers that's the fun, just looking around from shop to shop, just GETTING OUT. Also when I buy something in an actual shop I don't have to pay 20$ in shipping for a 3$ product. I think many from my generation dont think everything has to "have a point" some things are just good for the experience, like going to a movie theater, that will never be matched with streaming

[@jonnaking3054]

I gotta admit I would be sad if all malls, movie theaters, restaurants, banks, etc shut down and we never leave the house because we do everything online, damn, I just like to GET OUT IF THE HOUSE sometimes

[@Sqwivig]

I love Dan Bell's channel. Dead malls are so fascinating to me. Some of these buildings are ugly as sin, and others are actually quite beautiful. It's sad to see them go but I would rather they be turned into affordable housing

[@AlasKenn1]

Honestly, an apartment complex set up like a mall would be kind of cool. Not necessarily all windows and such, but just having a shared indoor atrium and overlooking a nice promenade, maybe a fountain or jungle gym for the kids. If I was rich, that would be a co thing to do with an old building like that.

[@bobbirdsong6825]

@@AlasKenn1 honestly, this is just a well designed walk able community using a mall's corpse as a roof

[@AlasKenn1]

@@bobbirdsong6825 Especially considering how many of these buildings are worthless otherwise. So much space and effort gone, entire parking garages left standing all for the bank to come in and pay 100 bucks just to keep it in their name. Why not put them to better use when we have a cheap housing crisis, right?

[@ExternalDialogue]

Malls are still going strong here in norway, probably due to the fact that ordering things online is not viable here unless its a speciality item of some sort. But they are set up as nice community centres.

[@gabbo7101]

out of curiosity, why is ordering stuff online not viable in norway?

[@fishcereal9940]

@@gabbo7101 Those fjords and mountains make it pretty hard to make good road infrastructure.

[@MrDaAsif]

There's a theory that malls seem to do best in places with extreme weather, Mall of America is somewhere that gets extremely cold, Singapore is famosu for their love of malls, a city-state with hot, humid weather... Which makes sense because in Western Washington state, a lot of them are struggling, an area known for *mild* climate

[@Zyniqean]

@@gabbo7101 import taxes mostly

[@Bobbo110]

Malls are going pretty strong in Sweden as well. Despite online shopping being very popular.

[@simpleminds7184]

In my city (San Antonio) one of the bigger malls has transitioned into a small business center. It’s similar to an indoor flea market with actual big box stores alongside the small vendors in the main hall selling stuff. They also have a couple of stages that you can always find some local artists and dancers and non obnoxious speech givers. Its like a community gathering spot and it’s pretty interesting.

[@LucasDimoveo]

That is a great idea. Now we just need better public transportation between such spaces

[@utubepunk]

Shout out to Crossroads mall! I used to shop at the Montgomery Wards there. Crossroads had two arcades, a Tilt in the food court & an arcade by the mall entrance of Wards.

[@fangsabre]

Turning malls into like a sort of night mall/special interest clubs for adults could be super cool. Have like one of the old Sears stores with multiple levels be turned into like one of those movie theater stacked on an arcade above a bowling alley, some stores and then a nightclub made out of the old JC Penney Side note: had a friend go through the Omega Mart while on acid, she had a good time lol

[@dannyeckerd9324]

😳😳😳😳 the thought of going there sober makes my skin crawl

[@TheKnizzine]

They are converting the one in my town to apartments, the other mall that died 15 years before it was converted into a medical center....i miss having an arcade so much

[@Revan058]

@@TheKnizzine God, even most existing malls don't really have an arcade anymore.

[@chromo48]

They've done just that with the mall in my area, more or less. The former Sears anchor is now a Round 1 Entertainment -- huge arcade, bowling, batting cages, karaoke, food, full bar, etc. Definitely drawing more of a crowd than Sears did in its final years.

[@sarinabina5487]

YESYESYES

[@avalurel4176]

It's so weird to hear Americans talk about how dead malls are over there while in Czech republic they're alive and well. I grew up on malls as a 17yo and I still go there once or twice a week to shop and hang out with friends.

[@phaerlax]

Malls and mall culture are huge in Brazil as well

[@TheKnizzine]

Amazon and Japan in the 80s style land barrons ontop of an economic colapse in the early 2000s and the insane paranoia of post 9/11 americans more or less killed them.

[@17thshard62]

Part of the issue is that a lot of them were built off of low property taxes and exemptions that have expired, so in order for these dying malls to justify themselves they have to bring in more rent which simply doesn't work when most of the stores you'd find at American malls would be better served via E-Commerce. The only reason I'd even go to something in meatspace is for clothes and boutique shops, and strip malls work fine in that regard.

[@aaronwalker2588]

The problem with american malls is tbat you have to drive 20+ minutes to get to them.

[@avalurel4176]

@@aaronwalker2588 Makes sense. It only takes me about 20 minutes to walk to one or take a trolleybus and be there in 5 for 15 czech crown, which is like 70cents. I often complain about Czechia but honestly from what I know about the US, it's like a utopia over here in comparison. I can't imagine living in a place where I can't just take a short walk whenever I need something.

[@ramblinevilmushroom]

it was bought for 100 bucks... if someone had put in 200, could they have bought it? Imagine owning a whole dead mall. turn each store into a room. you could turn it into a village in one building...

[@TheBigEvil]

They bought the rights to the debt. Taking over the responsibility for the property and the loan taken out on it.

[@tech-preistryzan9988]

old malls are some of the most oppresive and deprissive things i have ever seen

[@bobpope3656]

How does a mall oppress you?

[@boat1280]

@@bobpope3656 clearly you have never been under the yoke of an oppressive mall

[@TAP7a]

@@bobpope3656 oppressive here refers to a kind of atmosphere in which one feels watched, policed, contained, restricted, and similar. The commenter isn’t suggesting the mall is literally oppressing them

[@bobpope3656]

@@TAP7a I don’t know a mall does any of that. 🤷‍♂️

[@robbiekop7]

There is CCTV in malls but only because of professional shop lifters and anti social behaviour

[@andrewwhite8638]

I want to build public housing into these dead malls

[@TheNukeMuffin]

Based structure recycling

[@procrastinator99]

Agreed.

[@frankbarrie6785]

That'd be coo

[@samuelbekele3601]

*Land lords and captial owners didn't like that statement*

[@jonnaking3054]

Nah, I wanna bring malls back. Just give homeless ppl actual houses

[@arly803]

I think malls could see a resurgence if they were to incorporate housing into the mix. Having an apartment tower practically attached to a place you can do shopping, fast food, groceries etc. could do well i think. they wouldnt even need to completely rebuild existing malls for this, just eat part of the massive parking lot to plunk in an apartment building

[@curvingfyre6810]

That could either be awesome... Or truly dystopian and hellish lol. Lets hope its done right.

[@yoyoyobottleoyos]

Look into Retrofitting Suburbia by Ellen Dunham-Jones. You have the right idea

[@danfulk2661]

They're doing this at malls in the Seattle-area (Alderwood Mall, Northgate Mall)

[@princessjello]

Or a transportation hub

[@cullenasaro2229]

Wait, just before I moved I accidentally went to the Pittsburgh mills. I had no idea it was dead, and I've never been in there before. It was so off-putting. Never seen something like that. I went in 2022, and one of the only stores open there now is a Dicks, and a collectible cards store. I asked one of the workers what goes on there and theres actually people that use the mall as a walking track for exercise. It was so weird walking through it, being slightly dim, random people just speed walking, with the echo of shitty mall music.

[@logarhythmic6859]

Yeah, a mall near where I grew up is now almost entirely vacant except for the anchor department store and one other shoe store on the opposite side. The dim lights, the drained fountains...it feels like you broke in after hours.

[@datmilkyman424]

I use to go to the Pittsburgh Mills when it first opened. I remember when it did. I still live less than 10 minutes away. I’m very sorry that was your first experience at that mall. Believe me when I say it use to be a place people wanted to go to. Just a former shell of itself now. I’m just impressed it somehow gets worse every year and has been that way since the mid 2010s tbh.

[@jacobford3452]

I could easily see this being turned into office space. The stores could definately be turned into a cluster of offices. You could run some of the food stalls for the workers. The big open areas turned into conference/storage. That seems like the easiest way to convert it, I cant imagine needing to move a lot of walls. And of course if you would like to turn it into a productive work center and less service, the giant walkways would be perfect for transporting material and you could just remove most of the walls and leave the load bearing pillars to fit machines. Affordable apartments and living areas would be best, but I imagine that would require some hella intense renovations for sound proofing and temperture regulation, especially if ceilings are removed for natural sunlight and air.

[@gwanael34]

Or maybe us et to fix the housing shortage and house the homeless or something. They are empty anyway

[@gdadder]

@@gwanael34 way to miss the entire point of the comment dude lol

[@travisclark7194]

i was sitting with my Millitary training going "40 yards aint that good" then he said pistol

[@applejhon8308]

The thing about trying to "recycle" malls into some kind of living space or idyllic town center is that a lot of the time they are in locations that just dont allow for it. Especially once you leave the downtown areas and start going further out. Theyre often located in the middle of nowhere or on the fringes of busy roads just slightly too far away from everything else. And that's not even taking into consideration the amount of upkeep the facilities and even the surrounding areas might require.

[@craighofmann638]

In Ohio, in December, malls were such a special place to go, not only for the Xmas vibe, but because it was a nice way to spend a Saturday afternoon, with food courts, arcades, movie theaters, and the shopping, without having to deal with the alternative of weather and traffic that comes with driving store to store...

[@CentralPALocos]

I’ve been a fan of Dan for nearly 8 years so this is cool seeing a crossover of 2 great creators

[@alexisvulfiaawenfern8112]

Imagine a town centre that is a "Gallery of the Nameless Artist" where all kinds of people can submit sculptures and such, with the only requirement being that they can't claim their creations as theirs. This is definietly not a plan for a scam I thought out years ago....

[@CureSapphire]

The mall where I live is actually bumping, was in there yesterday and there were so many people. We recently even got a big arcade with like beat sabre and shit, it's kinda wild when I compare it with how malls are in most of the country.

[@goodluckgorsky3413]

It’s depressing because when you see an empty mall nowadays there’s no assumption that it will ever fill up again. When you stay late at school you know the hallways are gonna be just like they were tomorrow morning, but malls are just perpetually abandoned nowadays

[@Facebooker413]

One of the malls that got closed in my town is now owned by a company who has left it untouched on purpose so that it drives down nearby property values so they can buy up the land. Kinda fucked up. Also I accidentally entered a closed mall (as in closing hours, not defunct) and that shit was terrifying

[@darnfrick3354]

I find it more depressing when the mall is full of consumers

[@William-Morey-Baker]

same...

[@anthonyrowland9072]

MAAAAAAN!

[@darnfrick3354]

@@anthonyrowland9072 lol I'll take that stereotype

[@jonnaking3054]

Why?

[@darnfrick3354]

@@jonnaking3054 Mainly being edgy but it does kind of depress me on many levels 1. The sheer ugly greed of the sight of that many people just buying things and each one of them eating enough food to feed a third world child for a week 2. I'm watching people whose lives are fulfilled by possessions. It's worrying and disheartening how much of people's self worth is in how much they own and fast entertainment 3. All of the teenagers whose spirits are destined to be broken or already have been broken by their parents and consumer culture. They just meander and look at their phones with resting pouty face and I don't exactly blame them

[@jubjub444]

Even Department stores are starting to fail- Everytime I got to a department store to buy a specific thing- they almost never have it. Online however- they always have it because its online. It honestly makes me sad, because I do like to go out and go to the store sometimes and get fresh air, but more and more society wants us to be inside all the time.

[@alexanderboulton2123]

Went to the HarMar a few weeks ago, and it's insane how empty it is if you go inside. Every store was closed from the inside bc theft is so bad. Everyone just drives there, and the Rosedale Mall is literally right next door. It's insane.

[@darnfrick3354]

That big splatter of a shake on the floor confirms that even ants don't wanna occupy this space

[@teetree6661]

A good one is Cincinnati Mills Mall. Literally falling apart to the point most the rooms are essentially condemned. Only remaining business there is a Kohl's. They still decorate for Christmas.

[@teetree6661]

@malcolm glazier Idk about a Santa but there IS a single security guard that just rolls around on a segway. I like to imagine he gets dressed up every holiday.

[@nicowashwre]

My experience with malls are so different! In my small-ish town in the middle of latin america, malls were always for rich people. It was (and still is) a place for away too expensive clothes brands and movie theaters I never actually bought anything in malls

[@jackiealexander92530]

Yo I’m so glad Vaush watches Dan Bell too! I love his work, because he visits such interesting places and is very respectful of leaving everything in tact. He should really look at Dan’s video on Picher Oklahoma, I would be fascinated to know Vaush’s take on abandoned cities!

[@iron-mage]

even the clip channels are digging into the archives because of the post surgery content drought Prayge, loved the thumbnail btw gave me a giggle

[@jamesramirez523]

Vaush is spot on with the direction malls are going in. I live in LA and the vast majority of malls out here are all high end. In fact I can’t think of a mall that caters to low to middle income in LA city anymore.

[@zotaninoron3548]

I wonder how well a mall would do if it was paired with like multiple apartment structures so that the mall primarily served the resident as a primary shopping destination as well as a communal area for the residents. As someone growing up in 80s and 90s it felt like Malls were like shopping centers for very low density suburban areas and their failure is in part a product of that lack of density.

[@christophergreen6595]

Yes... they seemed to epitomize 'sprawl'... all the worst aspects of the suburbs.

[@override367]

there are afew outdoor malls doing okay in various chicago suburbs, which is, a giant fucking parking space next to a walkable place with a bunch of businesses together you know instead of just giving us fucking walkable places to live with businesses nearby, we have to drive 20 minutes to get to a walkable place

[@galedribble9535]

One mall I used to go to that was outdoors was River Oaks…but they covered it in the 90s which was good for winter etc but I preferred when it was uncovered

[@theaureliasys6362]

As a german this looks so weird. Over here, in cities that don't enforce care culture, malls are filled.

[@bloodangelsheart]

In Australia there are still malls (shopping center). I think it because we don't have any of those "mega store" and we have few people for such a large space. It's good to have a single place to do shopping instead of spend all day driving.

[@jonnaking3054]

I was a kid in the 80s, and yes a Vaush fan too. You should see the commercials from the 80s lol everyone was SOOOO serious in them

[@vxicepickxv]

Most of the commercials for kids in the 80s were called cartoons.

[@jonnaking3054]

@@vxicepickxv huh? No I watched regular commercials. You can find compilations if 80s commercials on yt

[@MasterAdam100]

RIP Penny Arcade at Northshore Square Mall 1985-2019 Boomer mode: Many quarters were spent there. Modern gaming can't compete to hanging out with your friends smoking pot in the parking lot then going in, getting food court pizza, playing hours of arcade games and just browsing and people watching. We'd always runs into people we knew.

[@sariathebrave5259]

Imagine watching this video as one of the architects who built this lmao

[@dakinayantv3245]

Another problem with malls is that they closed the bookstores like Waldenbooks and P Dalton. I would spend Sunday afternoon at Waldenbooks.

[@darnfrick3354]

Did he say "beige wasteland"? This dude's hatred of malls is pretty based lol

[@TheBasedGreeg]

Idk about you guys, but I absolutely love the mall haha. The malls in my area are still pretty packed most days, especially on the weekend. The food court is often nearly full as well. They have a lot of great food and good stores, but maybe it’s just my area? I’m in the suburbs, so maybe it’s just because that was a central area for congregating? We even have a super pretty outdoor outlet mall that’s really nice and people love hanging out there. We have lots of community events every year there as well, so it’s kind of central to my area. I don’t know, I guess my mall experiences have always been so positive, but I absolutely love the mall 😅

[@kringly4196]

Same actually

[@operatorlink]

Malls in Asian are doing well, mostly due to huge amount of traffic from public transport. Some malls are connected to train lines and bus stations, while others have office towers and residential area build on top of them, those malls usually goes up to 5 floors and there are seperate elevators with security that grant access to upper levels for offices and houses.

[@aguysomewhere8277]

@2:56 Older millennial here. That parody ad had me in stitches. Vaush isn't playing when he said the parody is only just a *little* more ridiculous than the real thing back in the late 80s to mid 90s.

[@MrDaAsif]

Nothing makes me feel old like hearing people think that's a parody

[@jonnaking3054]

@@MrDaAsif I'm an 80s kid and you should see commercials from then lol

[@jodylester9118]

One near me is actually being smart and turning it into a sort of mixed-use development.

[@mishapurser4439]

I can just imagine walking around one of these malls with music by The Midnight playing from some speakers and the music eerily echoing through the huge empty space.

[@b.p.emma.]

dead malls are quite scary. i played a game recently called murder house which had a prologue mission in an abandoned mall as a child. genuinely really frightening aesthetic

[@Sabagegah]

If they dynamite the ceiling they should also dig out the floor to allow for better drainage.

[@basedeltazero714]

Here in Tallahassee, we have one mall that has been hollowed out and is basically just a theater, a strip mall, and, inexplicably, a concert venue, and a second mall that is... fine, more or less. Though they did remove the cool fountain.

[@juancamacho2205]

As a Colombian, we still meet up at malls, to go eat or go to the movies, sometimes just to hang out and fuck around we'll walk around. Malls are semi alive still

[@daddykarlmarx6183]

I never went to the Pittsburgh mills mall but it's just under an hour away from where I live and grew up. We have a local mall that me and my grandma used to go to all the time, we would get books and games, they had fye, hot topic, some great food options, and more, now it's a hollow shell, almost every store left, if a spot was ever repopulated the store was worse, and over half the food court is gone. A store would go from frozen yogurt, to eyebrows, to abandoned, and every time I go something else leaves, some areas have been replaced with unmanned shops and slot machines in order to make a little extra money. All that's left that's really worth the visit is fye, Spencer's, and this Chinese place and fye, what's basically the main store at this point, might end up moving out of the mall or just leave entirely. I don't expect anyone to read this, or if they do I don't think they'd care, but it's just really sad seeing another piece of my childhood fade away

[@SeanLaMontagne]

convert malls into Mega hangout places and free local music venues. turn a quarter of the place into a giant arcade/bar, turn another quarter to place into a bowling alley or a paintball course or something recreational fun. have a theater that just plays old movies for free all day, and only makes you pay to watch a new movie at night. put some of those Japanese style tiny hotels in there as well, and make them really cheap, so if people are getting trashed at the bar and are having a good time and don't want to drive home, but you can just stay there. the biggest thing for me is the free live music venues. local musicians will turn any place like that into a large community full of people. you could have an art gallery section multiple small stages scattered throughout for open mic basically every night of the week. throw a farmer's market or two in there.

[@josiahferrell5022]

I definitely see that a loss of the aesthetic of shopping malls would be not great. I think there is something cool about the idea of having a place to walk around and see other people doing similar things while having a place to eat different kinds of food. Also, seems to be a great place for architects to stretch their indoor muscles a bit, often with nice results. Obviously, we have to somehow do it without the consumerist exploitation. Even that is a slightly cynical view of it...I'm sure plenty of people with stores in malls aren't trying to exploit people, but it is the cultural effect of the whole mechanism.

[@William-Morey-Baker]

you are beyond naive... not cynical...

[@josiahferrell5022]

@@William-Morey-Baker what the actual fuck

[@jonnaking3054]

I agree but the new generation don't see it. They are like "what's the point in leaving the house when you can do everything online"

[@tjentiji6022]

The Scottsdale Fashion Square is similar to the Century City Mall because the fashion square has designer clothing and luxury brands along with standard mall fare such as H&M and some other low cost stores. There are many non-clothing related stores as well and there's even a cool art gallery space inside. For a mall food court, the selection at the fashion square is also impressive. It's always busy when I've gone in. It still doesn't encapsulate the feeling of malls from the 90's.

[@milkmanx]

I feel like they should convert all these dead malls into art and food malls. There was a dead mall near me in Milwaukee, and they converted it into a Food mall and I gotta say it works. It's a foodies paradise, and it gives up and coming restaurants a chance to shine.

[@zotaninoron3548]

Kind of makes me want to go back to the Mall of my youth to see how its doing 20+ years later.

[@vxicepickxv]

Mine is basically a Dave & Busters

[@TheKnizzine]

Dont it will depress you

[@zotaninoron3548]

@@TheKnizzine They've got a website and they've got a pretty decent collection of stores still in it but its hours are hilarious. Closes at 7pm Mon-thru , 8pm fri-sat, and 6pm on sunday... Like is that for real?

[@austinhernandez2716]

Malls were a social experiment that failed. People used to be able to walk around the city, going to many local shops and restaurants, or simply walking around and socializing, or relaxing outside. For malls, it was similar, but inside, and it was privately owned, and you had to drive to get there and park in an enormous parking lot. What we had before the automobile was working just fine, but for some reason it got torn down and forgotten. People go across the world to experience it now, but go on an outrage if we try to do that here. PragerU made a video about it, complaining about cars being banned in a few blocks in a city.

[@CommanderHuggins]

Good lord, what kind of psychopath designs an arcade to look like an office space with bright buzzing fluorescent lights, beige featureless walls, and squishy grey carpet. I, an adult man feel like I’m being watched just looking at it. That space makes me so uncomfortable I don’t think I’d walk in by myself lol.

[@erikkennedy8725]

Would be nice if we could convert these to living spaces, but I think the logistics would be a nightmare. Plumbing, etc. Hmm, basically an archology.

[@vxicepickxv]

You would need to add more bathrooms and showers, but it's not impossible.

[@MusicMissionary]

Austin Community College turned one into a campus. That's not a bad use.

[@BloodyBulletShellz]

Las Vegas is just the mall concept that Vaush describes

[@absenteechild8542]

The worst part about malls dying is they came in and replaced the community centers, then died out without being replaced.

[@ThisGuyAd.]

The vaporwave in that environment is like insisting on playing PS1 games on a genuine CRT monitor.

[@trashrabbit69]

My favorite mall is still the one here in Milwaukee near Mayfair that's been abandoned and owned by a Chinese real estate corporation for over 15 years and they still haven't done a single fucking thing to it _to this day._ Wauwatosa has gotten so frustrated with their "investment" that they're considering taking over the lot by eminent domain and just tearing the bastard down. Took them long enough, I'd say... Edit: Right, they actually got the order to raze but Black Spruce has been obstructing them for the last 3 years KEKW

[@Scooter_Alice]

I think part of the reason malls have died so quickly is because of atomisation. People are so insular and lacking in social motivation that the function malls used to serve has become obsolete

[@cawatrooper4278]

I wonder what it is specifically about the "Mills" branded malls. There's one near me too, and it went totally under a few years ago. Back in its heyday, it was like the coolest place- lots of good stores, including a lot of really unique ones. Plus there was minigolf, go carts, a skatepark- it was so much cooler than a regular mall.

[@alanfarquharhill]

The boutique malls in Bangkok are even more depressing/hilarious, though the food courts in the cheaper malls almost make up for it. Here in Europe, malls are about to get strangled by utility bills I think.

[@trentonbuchert7342]

One of my favorite places in Madison, Wisconsin is State Street, which is an open-air mall stretching from Capital Square, where a farmer’s market is held every Saturday, to the university, where there’s the Memorial Union Terrace on the lakeside. It can be really nice to just take a walk down the street and back on sunny days, and it helps that traffic is restricted to mostly just city buses on the street itself.

[@SPARTANoh11]

Oh man landmark mall was fun to explore in its final days. I remember only a few stores were still open, like dollar stores and one fast food place. It was wild. Wonder Woman 84 filmed in that location, it was wild to see how alive it was in the movie. It’s been torn down to make high rises I think.

[@LouiseBelcher69]

This looks like an analog horror setting

[@rcroberts9725]

AHHHH I adore Dan Bell's work, I'm so glad this crossover happened.

[@junfaa]

I went to my local mall on a Tuesday recently and it was pretty packed.

[@erikbrock5444]

The weird thing about it in my town is that our mall has the only movie theater for like 20 miles attached to it. It would be really nice to have some decent shops around to kill time in if one got to the theater a bit early, and we have all the sorts of shops you'd expect to find in a mall, but they're spread out among half a dozen shopping centers/strip malls while the mall is all but dead. Entire wings of the place have been walled off so that from the inside you can't even tell they're there. It's completely illogical.

[@jacklynbrown1768]

It's funny how vaush is saying this when literally in my town my mall literally gets full occupancy every day

[@jonnaking3054]

It may depend on the location, our mall does decent, despite it lost JCPenny, Kmart and Goodies, it's 3 biggest stores. Ours has a few smaller shops, a nail salon and a luncheonette which is always busy

[@coocoodog1232]

I just went to a mall today. it had the most people in it i think ive ever seen in my entire life. I was shocked tbh.

[@cb-ez7pz]

Outside shopping in cold weather states in the winter is vastly different from strolling outdoors in southern California.

[@ultratog1028]

@10:30 same thing happened to my local mall but on a smaller scale. It went from an everyman mall to a "if you make less then $100k there are no stores for you besides maybe Hot Topic"

[@samuelbarber5097]

36:09 In atlanta, we have ponce City Market, which is a reclaimed factory that's full of relatively unique vendors and life

[@AdrianaVRodriguez06]

Over here we have Moreno Valley Mall slowly dying . So bad they don’t even turn on the AC anymore.

[@domehammer]

Malls are a super specialized variant of a shopping center. Normal shopping centers still exist and are going strong.

[@mariabelensanchez4928]

this is definetly an american thing, I live in south America andmalls are still alive and thriving. Obviously there is less movement since covid but its still a pretty common place for teens to hang out and stuff. My favourite mall is one that has a small park next to it so a lot of teens go buy food at the foodcourt adn eat together outside. Its pretty wholesome :)

[@anthonycicalese1793]

Leakin Park in Baltimore is genuinely terrifying. It's basically a mass dumping ground of everything you can imagine. Trash, drugs, and bodies. Cops for decades have been trying to deter illegal dumping but it never sticks

[@syeblaize]

There is only one mall in colorado that i know of that is successful. Its a converted warehouse in denver completely owned and run by the shops inside it, filled with independent stores and restaurants that sell entirely unique stuff, or classes, decoration consultants, etc. They seem like they're still doing well. Make local connections, its how things survive the worst.

[@factsmachine9905]

I’ve been in dead mall before they are pretty depressing

[@TheKnizzine]

I have 4 dead ones within 20 miles of me. Went on vacation a month or so ago and the mall in this random Ohio town was so busy it was like I was in a mall around christmas in 95. Weirdly just kinda made me saf

[@stuartsmith4369]

Malls around here are all adding attached appartment buildings and focusing on restaurants, clothing, and niche lifestyle stuff.

[@michaeltravers9866]

My brain is riddled with all the phone numbers from 90's adds

[@BreadSlicer666]

Dan bell is the goat! Seeing vaush react to him is like 2 of my interests colliding

[@brianp3570]

90s advertising was a fever dream

[@Bleusilences]

I live in a place where interior mall makes sense, summer a hot and humid (we are talking about 40 degree Celsius or 120 Fahrenheit )and winter is cold (can go down to -40 in both). But strip mall is the bane of my existence, especially since they are purposely set as far as possible from the sidewalk.

[@snakey973]

Dan Bell has some really creepy ones of completely abandoned empty malls Also the Proper People

[@Mushibuh]

In Sweden there is a closed dinosaur park that has closed down. So now there is only a forest with dinosaur statues around. People go there to have paintball matches there now.

[@ComradeTomatoTurtle]

I feel like if a mall cost 200 million dollars to build, there is something wrong with this. Every mall is basically open space with high ceilings, its a big ass warehouse, how the fuck do they cost so much?

[@jonnaking3054]

What sucks about shopping online is you have to pay a 25$ shipping fee for a 5$ item

[@alexcampbell4297]

I saw a idea to turn dead malls into apartments and that idea sounds legit

[@deandredunbar9618]

I work in mall of america since 2021 we had two shootings and mall lock downs this year. And just a few days ago a guy walked in with an ar15 and robbed lids right across from my job woth a rifle. But from what I heard he was having a major mental health breakdown. Apparently no criminal record whatsoever and he legally owned the weapon. It's illegal to open carry rifles in the twin cities and illegal to bring a gun into the. Mall so it's crazy to see a guy walking around with one amongst hundreds of shoppers.

[@davoid1792]

Gods, I was born in 2002, and even I remember how packed malls were in the 10's nowadays its a ghost town, even outlet malls are fucking empty outside of christmas time

[@GOPerks-jo7mg]

Amazon should start turning empty malls into fulfillment centers. They would be pissing on the corpse they caused with the bonus win of the building already having that depressing energy you usually have to work years for.

[@JARV9701]

An advantage of our postal service being a gamble (50/50 chance to get your stuff) is that there isn't an incentive to order online, not even to work as a mail serivce person, so local markets and store are still strong or have been expanding.