He would bring gown 2 balloons, he was a steelworker and didn't say much, but when he got us those balloons I knew he loved us. My mom passed away andmy dad has. Alzheimer's anddoesnt remember those times so all I have left are my memories.
I wish I could go back to that time even if for one moment
Thank you so much for posting this, it made me cry
As a kid we spent so many weekend here, I can still remember my mom waiting for popcorn from the popcorn cart, or my dad getting ice cream at baskin Robbins. I fell in that orange fountain as a kid. We ate at York all the time andriding the elevator felt like I was something special.my dad would buy us one balloon and find some that were way up top in the high ceiling, he would send one balloon up there and wrap the string around the lostBalloon
Teenagers and their antics can be blamed for a lot of things but not a mall going out of business. Like most people who were teens in the 80s it's hard to see malls falter, however times have changed. People don't have all that disposable cash they once had to spend frivolously at the malls and it's that nonexistent cash that has closed (and will close) malls across the US. Malls are the new "ghost towns".
The spending power of the middle class declining was bad enough. It was the gangs of kids. I still do not go to malls because of the kids that run the show. They dont care about anyone but their selfish needs. In South bend IN we lost Scottsdale Mall. The gangsta punks ran everyone out. If they got arrested that yelled it was because they were black. No, its that your a criminal.
@bigdanbear Are you saying this mall was closed because of some damn teenagers? Usually when places become abandoned it is eaither money problems or the place blew up or something or weather problems. Im glad Im not a teen anymore. Kids these days think they are grown and they are not
@HaloProductionz1 Maybe but the reason I stopped going to certain malls is because of the violence and rude behavior of certain groups of people and everyone I know stopped for the same reason. It was not inadequate maintenance It was inadequate security.
Same thing in toledo. gangs of thugs fighting and making the experience of shopping at the mall very unpleasant, Now only one mall and one movie theater let in the city and it is having big problems with violence.
Thankfully summit mall has rules in place to stop that place from being too dangerous to shop there. Teenagers are not allowed in unless accompanied by parents
Some guy just got killed from trying to steal copper wire off the roof, the place will probably just sit and rot away like everything else on Romig Rd
i love exploring abandoned places, makes me wonder and sad too bad i live in new york, no abandoned places over here :( can you tell me why it was abandoned and how long because i saw some lighting in some of your images
great ads & promotional material. The malls of today don't seem to have the same soul as they did back in the '70s & '80s. They almost seem sterile & lack the life that the old ones did.
26000 people see this... is it that they all relate or just curious? when i mention old malls to people , everyone gets really upset. i am not dumb but i can see it's one of those ,"you had to be there" things for all malls... my malls changed too but i was younger when they did. i love the stories about people talking about their malls. it seems stupid to some but to me its not. its like losing a friend i think....
Whats crazy is they still kept the mall open with no stores open in it, lol didnt make sense but we walked around for shits and giggles. Lots of memories
*Sigh.* Watching this video brought back a LOT of memories of my childhood! I spent a lot of time with my parents and grandparents at Rolling Acres, and even went there a few times on my own as a teen, so excited to be able to drive there myself and shop like an adult! I remember thinking the huge fountain was just mesmerizing, and that the elevator near the food court always reminded me of a giant lipstick... which as a kid, I thought was pretty neat. Don't want to say goodbye! So sad.
Thank you for this video. We were just at Sears today...it will be closing at the end of the month. Penney's is soon going to follow suit from what I understand. There are windows in Penney's you can look through and see into the once wonderful mall. Very sad.....beautiful video!
@JAWS8000= Me too. We here consider ourselves lucky, that we still have our local mall, which is almost 40 years old now. It's in no danger of closing, cause there's almost nothing to do, and nowhere else to go in this city. Still, we had one, which didn't even last a year. I blame it's size. It would be lost inside this mall.
@JAWS8000 I hate seeing malls close too.I saw an article 30 years ago ( from the NYTimes) and they were saying malls are dying.I didn't believe it,then.I've seen 3 malls die in my area but all are box-store centers now.One became a nice outdoor center.
RAM...good vid, I think it sure is sad that we all see this crap happening to our country and for the most part sit and watch it happen. It's all slash and burn economics. We used to have decent living wages, but that was too much, send our jobs overseas and this is what's left. Give us good jobs, and we'll fill these malls again. Sorry for the political angle, but I see I am not alone.
@trotp3 Are you reffering to outsourcing? I think I get what you mean. I can't stand calling "customer service" and getting someone from New Delhi who tells me her name is "Sally", yet can hardly speak English.
@trotp3 Yeah, "global flattening". Good for Pakistan, India, China, etc, not to mention the bigwigs in suits at the top of our industries. They don't give a darn about the "Working Joes and Janes" here who worry about bills and food.
@scorpietta I hope things turn around. If it keeps going like this, we'll become another third world country and be content with a job where we call ourselves "Sally."
@trotp3 So do I. My mom suggested that I buy a certain item "on-line" and I cut her off immediately. It's available at local stores like Kohl's and Kmart. I would rather hit those places even if I have to pay more.
Great video. Really drives home the sad feeling of what this mall has become. Sorry to see that, like other malls with fountains, an ugly fence/barrier had to be put up to keep kids from getting hurt because many parents today don't teach them to respect property. More likely they would be the first in line to sue the mall.
Ncely done. I loved Montgomery Wards, and the mall near where I lived. It was THE place for the kids to hang out on the weekends. Its sooo sad to see these places die. The buildings may stand empty, but the memories, we all have of the good times and shopping in them will never go away.
Oh, how a video like this teaches us to take nothing for granted. My beloved mall, the one that was new when I was a kid in 1981... is dying now as well. I really never, ever saw such an event coming. Call me a sissy, but your video teared me up. Like the death of a friend, it is hard to see this happen.
America in transition. Many reasons for this: immigration unchecked of lower class peoples, the transfer of the country's manufacturing base to Asia, the destruction of the American neighborhoods, adolation of inferior cultures, over half of this nation on welfare of some sort, and so on.
I remember alot from there, i was at the theater all the time--- even seen new jack city there--- I live a few blocks from the mall and even to this day I pass by it on my way to work. Sears is still open same as JC Penny, but thats it and mer shadows of their former days. There was a time when you couldnt find a parking spot and the shittiest place to be stuck parking at was out where the metro bus station is now. Even now most of the spots are still takin- by overgrown shrubs and weeds.
I remember alot from there, i was at the theater all the time--- even seen new jack city there--- I live a few blocks from the mall and even to this day I pass by it on my way to work. Sears is still open same as JC Penny, but thats it and mer shadows of their former days. There was a time when you couldnt find a parking spot and the shittiest place to be stuck parking at was out where the metro bus station is now. Even now most of the spots are still takin- by overgrown shrubs and weeds.
To add to 'affair4u2' This is the wonderful world of online shopping, lifeless, friendless, and without social gathering. in the end, it equals a dead mall.
Sadly, this is what happens when gangs of teenagers are allowed to roam the malls. This used to be such a nice place to shop, but because of the gangs, it became to dangerous. So sad.....
@affair4u2 I've got to disagree. Gangs of teenagers have always been a part of what the mall experience is no matter where you live. They are just more noticable if they're the only ones in the mall. Many corporations that own mall stores are going out of business which is leaving a country full of buildings with stores and no one occupying them. It just comes down to location. More and more people are leaving the suburbs for the city and guess where these places are located?
@mrjfrostbite I agree with you. I grew up at Rolling Acres and even had my first job there. Back in the day kids weren't so much of a problem. The downfall of RAM is same reason that Akron is not such a safe place to live anymore. Crime, drugs, ect. The same sorts of things that have led to Kenmore's horrible reputation. (Where I grew up) It was a wonderful place to grow up. Not anymore.
In Columbia, MO. where I used to live they had to implement a policy where anyone under 17 had to be accompanied by an adult to be in the mall after 6pm everyday.
We have that at one nice swanky mall where I live.The mall is very popular but some teens got into a fight last year so they're really patrolling it more now too.
@robertmark34 Westminster Mall looked ok the last time I drove by it on vacation,last yr..I left Fountain Valley in 1994.I never saw Brea or La Mirada Mall.I remember Cerritos Mall as passed it too on the 605 freeway.The last mall I did go to was Lakewood Mall and it seemed fine ( last year ).Hunt Beach mall died and became Bella Terra center.
As an airbrush artist I have worked in several semi abandonded malls in New Orleans and Baton Rouge. It never ceased to creep me out working in a mall with most of it's stores shut down. It's a lot of really large quiet spaces that would normally be filled with people. Weird.
This is very sad.I remember going to Rolling Acres many times and it was a very nice mall.Its impossible Im sure but its too bad this cant be brought back. I think it was one of the nicest malls here in NE Ohio.
I agree.Ive seen some malls convert to more strip plazas like Canton Centre Mall in Canton,Ohio. If people are shopping at the same spot in a strip plaza why not keep the mall?
Mega Malls have caused the demise of small town ambience. Malls have killed downtown Main Streets across America, sucking the dollars out of local businesses. Look at the result - a gaping empty shell that no one can clean up. Encourage people to support their local shops, because these are your neighbors, friends and family who care about your community. Stop giving your money to big box stores and fast food franchises that don't give a darn about you.
The blame goes on Wal-Marts,not enuff downtown parking and the Internet.Folks rather order online than shop at the mall.Once Woolsworths closed and Monty Wards closed,they affected downtown and the local malls.
I installed the point-of-sales cash register at the Naturalyzer shoe store in this mall back in 1983. All the malls all over the country were young and alive and fun back in those days. The concept of a "dead mall" was almost unthinkable. Now we're all old and tired and ready to die, just like these malls.
what a damn shame it is watching this mall and the whole area crumble! I would think that the vacant stores would want their name taken off the outside of the building as not to be associated with the dismal failure this place now represents
I never even visited this mall and this video made me a bit blue. As a child of the 70's there are few sights sadder than watching a mall - symbol of life, fun, and activity - die a horrible death like this. Just awful.
Sad as it is, this video captures this all-too-common sight across the country since the early part of this decade. Well captured.
@LovinLife7777 I grew up in this mall. It's very sad. I had my first job there. I practically lived at this mall. The truth is it's just another symptom of Akron's going downhill. I just moved from there, my hometown, to a small quiet safe town on the East of Cleveland. Akron has truly become a scary place to live.
@LovinLife7777 i was thinking the same thing, what did happen to society? maybe internet, computers, playstaions/xbox, decline in funding for activities for kids, either way things have seriously changed from 25 years ago :( hardly no one smiles at each other anymore, no one holds the door open anymore atleast if you do hold the door open they look at you funny
@LovinLife7777 I just made a comment like that on another video. I feel your pain. I was born in 1980 and I remember my elementry school dying when I was in high school, I visited it and the memories i had with my friends there were haunting.
I cant imagine the Water Tower Place, now my local mall, dying like this. It's just so sad and disturbing.
Was this mall torn down or still open? This reminds me of what happened to the Echelon Mall (South NJ) starting in 2001--two anchor stores left (JC Penney, Sears) and "mall death" slowly consumed half the mall. In 2007, the "dead" portion of the mall was torn down and the whole site is being turned into a promenade. It seems shopping malls started to decline as soon as the internet really took off (circa 2000-01) and now they are really getting obilterated due to a bad economy.
I think Sherman Dreiseszun might have owned this mall as well. He was the owner of Metcalf South also. His management company owns malls all over the midwest, most of them have appeared to be "dead" malls too from the research i have done.
No, RAM was originally owned as a joint venture between Forest City and Richard Buchholzer. This lasted until around 2000. Then went to Bankers Trust, then Whichard, then Invest Commercial.
That second song sounds like something Kanye West would put on his next record, lol. What a shame really, I remember watching Superman at the movie theater there.
In 1954, Congress changed IRS rules to effectively make shopping malls the mother of all tax shelters. The change allowed developers to depreciate, or write down, the value of new buildings in seven years instead of 40. The rule made it easy for developers to show losses instead of profits and encouraged the frequent trading of property, which led to the shoddy construction and inadequate maintenance that have contributed to today's dead-mall phenomenon."
I remember when I was little in the 80's I loved to go to Rolling Acres mall. We lived by Chapel Hill before it had all the renovations(so I've heard I no longer live in OH). This mall reminds me of my mother who is buried in the cemetary next door. This just makes me sad.
There have been so many. The old Anaheim Plaza off Euclid was deserted for many years before it was torn down about 10 years ago.
There was the old Whitwood Mall in Whittier that was left to die before being torn down about 6 years ago.
There is also the deserted Barstow Mall which is pretty scary looking nowadays.
In Sacramento there is Downtown Plaza that is owned by mall assimilator, Westfield Corp. About half the stores are closed and is overrun by thugs and homeless people.
I probably passed old Anaheim Plaza but its been over 20 years.The only small mall I can remember is the one in Buena Park near Knotts Berry Farm.That mall still open?I know they had some gang problems.
Buena Park Mall is still there for better or worse. In the mid 90s it was hanging on by a thread but the city has revitalized it somewhat into "Buena Park Downtown" to capitalize on the Knott's Berry Farm crossover traffic. Still, this white elephant only brings in about half the revenue of malls similar in size.
I have been to the BP Mall but don't really remember it.I always went to Westminster Mall as I lived in H.B.and Fountain Valley before moving east 15 years ago.See's Candy store still at BP mall?I heard they had gang problems there.How many stores does BP mall have?
@goldendragon35 The mall was permenantly closed about a year ago. They couldn't make enough revenue to pay the bills and the electric was shut off. At that point there were only 10 or 12 tenants anyway. I know at least one tenant has moved and looks to be doing well outside of a mall setting. Last I saw Sears and JC Penney's were still open. They own their space. Don't know how long that will last. It's a scary area to go into.
@goldendragon35 Unfortunately it really is that bad. I found this video through another video a kid took recently and the place is falling apart. :( The roof leaks and there's water damage and it's really just a disaster. I really think if someone DOES finally buy it it will be for the land. The building would cost more than it's worth to renovate.
I worked in O'Neil's in Rolling Acres in 1978. People from my hometown (Wadsworth) had mixed feelings about the mall. It contributed to harder times for downtown Wadsworth businesses. I had to drive 7 miles on icy roads, park in the back "employees" lot, walk quite a ways in sub zero temps in hose and high heels to get to work. For $2.13 an hour. IMO, malls suck the lifeblood out of small communities. I haven't been to Rolling Acres in 27 years but I will go there and dance on its grave.
For someone who was never a fan of malls, I sure do have a lot of memories of this place...I can remember when it opened and have so many memories from going there as a little kid with my parents, to having the freedom, pre drivers liscense days to rome free in the mall until it was time to go...to renting a tux for my Prom...My grandpa used to go there just to walk, get exercise after his bypass...its a part of life I guess...birth, vibrance, decay, death and then another door opens elsewhere
This place was also a BIG part of my life in my teenage years. But after the Malcolm X movie was played, all hell broke loose and there was rioting, ever since that day that mall was doooomed. Then there was a few people robbed and then the rumors started. People were scared and stopped going! Criminals started coming along with the serious crime, and well, that was that! Thanks Guys for putting another good thing out of business.
This is an EXCELLENT video. This was THE mall to go to back in the day. I was there in the late 80's when I was a young kid and then 20 yrs. later walked around the mall this past fall all dark with no one in sight and the only thing you hear is depressing 80's music calmly playing. Every once in a while, I would stare a certain area of the mall and then I would start seeing a crowd of people like my mind flashing back 20 years. Very weird feeling to say the least.
Rolling Acres Mall will be missed i went there in 2004 and loved the mall sad it closed and Rolling Acres Cinema was a great Cinema and why did Rolling Acres Mall Close Anyway Please answer my question, Yours Truly, Michael Salazar
This is a great video! It's a shame that the mall died because it looks like they put so much into it over the years, with all of the upgrades and advertising, etc. It's hard to believe how it declined into nothing. Sad.
Rolling Acres and Romig Road for that matter was killed by thugs. And we all know that. Sears and Pennys are still open. But I can't see them staying past this year. The area is dead.
This place was also a BIG part of my life in my teenage years. But after the Malcolm X movie was played, all hell broke loose and there was rioting, ever since that day that mall was doooomed. Then there was a few people robbed and then the rumors started. People were scared and stopped going! Criminals started coming along with the serious crime, and well, that was that! Thanks Guys for putting another good thing out of business.
my parents worked in Nails pizzaz right behind the elevator in 3:59. I used to go to the phone store next to there to talk to the workers, there was thsi really nice lady that worked in the score right on top of the escalator, she used to give me those stuffed animal toys for free. there used to be an ice cream store around the food court too. so many memories i cant even explain it all. i think out of all the ppl here id have to say i have the most childhood memories, i went there EVERYDAY. =(
my parents worked here when i was 9-12 years old, now im 15 but yea. brings back alot of memories, i used to go there everyday to work with my mom, i made alot of mall friends, as in workers in stores, and other kids that go there basically everyday with their parents too. i once got up the elevator and got stuck, i went to alladin's castle arcade everyday and made very good friends with a worker there that taught me karate moves and how to play this one game, his name was Lee.
its about time they are giving up on the mall. i grew up there and it was very depressing to watch it slowly decline over the years. once the movies left the mall in the early 90's it was all down hill from there. its sad because now there is nothing in west akron. you have to go to fairlawn to find a hardware store, marc's, toys r us, grocery store, target or walmart. all that used to be at rolling acres back in the day.
I just heard today in the news that the mall will be closing sometime between October 27 (This Monday) and October 31 (This Friday). The owner chose not to pay the electric bill so the moment the utility shuts off the mall's power, the mall will be closed. The 8 stores in the mall itself that are still open have been told about the power outage and closing and that they will have to either move or close. Sears and JCPenney Outlet will remain open.
I'm with gozips30,I am in Toledo and its the same story. Ohio is a dead end, Most of Michigan is no better. I too, am considering putting in a transfer at work to go to Madison Wisconsin. Ohio is about dead last in everything and the most taxed state in the midwest(with the exception of Minnesota). Last one to leave, turn off the lights.
I grew up going to that mall!, I remember it being constantly packed and kids throwing money into the fountain, and going to the "Alladin's Castle" arcade above the food court. That was the mid 80's to ealry 90's but it was a great place to go!, The last time I was there it looked like many of the pictures in the video.
I was listening to NPR earlier and learned that mall vacancy in the US is at a 13 year HIGH, and likely to get worse over the next couple years. I have been following dead and dying malls most of my life now (starting with long dead now reborn Harborlight in Massachusetts), and if we are now at a high, most malls in the US will be completely dead in another five years or so.
I have read it was called "Strolling Afro's" mall, cuz of the roving black gangs of kids that would harass shoppers. Is this true? Leave any "dont be racist" shit at the door...I want the truth !!! Racist or not !!!
it's so sad to see that happen. I thought that was going to happen to Bay Shore Mall on Long Island, NY. When i went there a month ago it was dead empty, but just this past saturday i saw that there was only one empty store and the mall was booming again.
I remember going to this mall when I was younger in the late '80s, and later on in the early 2000s, and can remeber seeing many open. I went there recently in late December 2007, and the place was dark and cold. Since it seems like they don't cool or heat the mall very much, JC Penney had built a wall from sheet-rock with a smaller door to maintain the environment. I'm hoping there will be better changes for this mall; I hate to see this one go.
Why is it that in Europe stores and shopping centers can be around for decades, but sadly here in the states, stores and malls only last 20 or so years? I think it's the laziness of people, americans are becoming WAY to reclusive, doing all they can to AVOID people and places, and that is SAD.
Has nothing to do with reclusiveness, people are as social as they always have been. It has more to do with the state of the economy, and big retailers. Also Rolling Acres itself has much to blame on high rent, and the location it was in. Theft was incredibly high and violent crime in that area is also scary.
This mall was great in its better days. It was a beuatiful place, much better than Chapel Hill. They tried to make Chapel Hill nicer but it never had the clean cut good looking style that the Rolling Achres did.
This mall was great in its better days. It was a beuatiful place, much better than Chapel Hill. They tried to make Chapel Hill nicer but it never had the clean cut good looking style that the Rolling Achres did.
I used to live in Appleton WI where the first enclosed mall in the us was built. They just tore it down. Nothing in this world stays the same... kinda makes ya nostalgic for stuff that used to be considered an eyesore.. funny isnt it?
This always used to be the place to be. I would usually be up there every weekend. After Target opened I worked there for like a year. I'd always go out and eat in the mall for lunch. It was always sad how much different it looked by that point. No one walking the halls. There were probably 5-6 stores open in the entire mall at that point.
My first job was at the movies down stairs, i was 15, then i went next door to the Candy Store. When i was 17 i started working for DJ's upstairs, Ya know the store with the music blasting... i had some of the best times of my life working there.I worked there till i was 20, then tranfered with the company to Charlotte North Carolina. I worked For Merry-Go-Round, and became a store manager till that company went under in 94. Rolling Acres Mall had a big part in where i am today.
Nope, still open as of March, '08. Macy's just closed a few weeks ago, now only Sears, JCPenney outlet, and a few small stores left. Who knows what will happen to it.
In canada most of our dead malls are converted into strip malls and/or stand alone stores or sometimes subdivisions. In a way cool but then you start missing the mall...Can't believe how fast the mall scene is fading away (Wal mart is somewhat to blame for wanting "stand alone" stores)
He would bring gown 2 balloons, he was a steelworker and didn't say much, but when he got us those balloons I knew he loved us. My mom passed away andmy dad has. Alzheimer's anddoesnt remember those times so all I have left are my memories.
I wish I could go back to that time even if for one moment
goodstuff46 2 weeks ago
Thank you so much for posting this, it made me cry
As a kid we spent so many weekend here, I can still remember my mom waiting for popcorn from the popcorn cart, or my dad getting ice cream at baskin Robbins. I fell in that orange fountain as a kid. We ate at York all the time andriding the elevator felt like I was something special.my dad would buy us one balloon and find some that were way up top in the high ceiling, he would send one balloon up there and wrap the string around the lostBalloon
goodstuff46 2 weeks ago
Teenagers and their antics can be blamed for a lot of things but not a mall going out of business. Like most people who were teens in the 80s it's hard to see malls falter, however times have changed. People don't have all that disposable cash they once had to spend frivolously at the malls and it's that nonexistent cash that has closed (and will close) malls across the US. Malls are the new "ghost towns".
RE35R 3 weeks ago
This deadmall should be a DEVO museum!
KONEV532 3 weeks ago
akron residents are too trashy to keep a mall like this up and running, it dosnt matter what color they are
brystonfan 1 month ago
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KONEV532 3 weeks ago
This has been flagged as spam show
@brystonfan But DEVO are from Akron.
KONEV532 3 weeks ago
The spending power of the middle class declining was bad enough. It was the gangs of kids. I still do not go to malls because of the kids that run the show. They dont care about anyone but their selfish needs. In South bend IN we lost Scottsdale Mall. The gangsta punks ran everyone out. If they got arrested that yelled it was because they were black. No, its that your a criminal.
bigdanbear 1 month ago
@bigdanbear Are you saying this mall was closed because of some damn teenagers? Usually when places become abandoned it is eaither money problems or the place blew up or something or weather problems. Im glad Im not a teen anymore. Kids these days think they are grown and they are not
TheMusicchild89 3 weeks ago
For all the idiots too stupid to look up the lyrics, it's Moby "At Least We Tried" - youtube.com/watch?v=mF16vB3GfGM
lilliena 1 month ago
0:35
beautiful!
MissMaddy881 2 months ago
@HaloProductionz1 Maybe but the reason I stopped going to certain malls is because of the violence and rude behavior of certain groups of people and everyone I know stopped for the same reason. It was not inadequate maintenance It was inadequate security.
jacpo67 2 months ago
Same thing in toledo. gangs of thugs fighting and making the experience of shopping at the mall very unpleasant, Now only one mall and one movie theater let in the city and it is having big problems with violence.
jacpo67 2 months ago
Thankfully summit mall has rules in place to stop that place from being too dangerous to shop there. Teenagers are not allowed in unless accompanied by parents
EarlFaulk 2 months ago
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pete5668 3 months ago
What's the name of this music?
HarvestmanMan 3 months ago
Everybody is too fat and lazy and poor, to go to a mall, anymore.... LOL!
MonkeyPedoJackson 4 months ago
What song is this???
CubsFan2812 5 months ago
That brings back some good memories
Dozer7885 5 months ago
location location location.....the mall died right along with that whole area....
brownstown16 5 months ago
thanks for sharing..so many memories in kenmore..i loved this mall!
totteacher1646 5 months ago
I have 2 dead malls in my area.
mattador2792 7 months ago
this is one of the best "dead mall" videos ever.
Archmetal06 7 months ago 2
Some guy just got killed from trying to steal copper wire off the roof, the place will probably just sit and rot away like everything else on Romig Rd
Turtle3000GT 7 months ago
i love exploring abandoned places, makes me wonder and sad too bad i live in new york, no abandoned places over here :( can you tell me why it was abandoned and how long because i saw some lighting in some of your images
st3phenJC 8 months ago
great ads & promotional material. The malls of today don't seem to have the same soul as they did back in the '70s & '80s. They almost seem sterile & lack the life that the old ones did.
jdmitchell2 8 months ago
i hope that don't happen to eastland mall its the biggest and best mall in the city
Fuzzyfun12 8 months ago
26000 people see this... is it that they all relate or just curious? when i mention old malls to people , everyone gets really upset. i am not dumb but i can see it's one of those ,"you had to be there" things for all malls... my malls changed too but i was younger when they did. i love the stories about people talking about their malls. it seems stupid to some but to me its not. its like losing a friend i think....
VNVgirl 9 months ago
Whats crazy is they still kept the mall open with no stores open in it, lol didnt make sense but we walked around for shits and giggles. Lots of memories
Turtle3000GT 9 months ago
Did all my school shopping there every year but now Romig Road is dead as hell such a shame, gotta go to Fairlawn now to do anything
Turtle3000GT 9 months ago
*Sigh.* Watching this video brought back a LOT of memories of my childhood! I spent a lot of time with my parents and grandparents at Rolling Acres, and even went there a few times on my own as a teen, so excited to be able to drive there myself and shop like an adult! I remember thinking the huge fountain was just mesmerizing, and that the elevator near the food court always reminded me of a giant lipstick... which as a kid, I thought was pretty neat. Don't want to say goodbye! So sad.
jazzergrl 9 months ago
Thank you for this video. We were just at Sears today...it will be closing at the end of the month. Penney's is soon going to follow suit from what I understand. There are windows in Penney's you can look through and see into the once wonderful mall. Very sad.....beautiful video!
2knowtheway 10 months ago
Hope they reconsider of re-open it up...i hate seeing abandon malls...I hate it with a passion....
JAWS8000 1 year ago
@JAWS8000= Me too. We here consider ourselves lucky, that we still have our local mall, which is almost 40 years old now. It's in no danger of closing, cause there's almost nothing to do, and nowhere else to go in this city. Still, we had one, which didn't even last a year. I blame it's size. It would be lost inside this mall.
vigo894 10 months ago
@JAWS8000 I hate seeing malls close too.I saw an article 30 years ago ( from the NYTimes) and they were saying malls are dying.I didn't believe it,then.I've seen 3 malls die in my area but all are box-store centers now.One became a nice outdoor center.
HattieLovesCattie 10 months ago
RAM...good vid, I think it sure is sad that we all see this crap happening to our country and for the most part sit and watch it happen. It's all slash and burn economics. We used to have decent living wages, but that was too much, send our jobs overseas and this is what's left. Give us good jobs, and we'll fill these malls again. Sorry for the political angle, but I see I am not alone.
trotp3 1 year ago
@trotp3 Are you reffering to outsourcing? I think I get what you mean. I can't stand calling "customer service" and getting someone from New Delhi who tells me her name is "Sally", yet can hardly speak English.
scorpietta 1 year ago
@scorpietta Outsourcing, the hemorrhaging loss of good paying manufacturing jobs...yes.
And yes, the "Sally" thing...like the Discover card commercial..."Hello, my name Peggy..."
trotp3 1 year ago
@trotp3 Yeah, "global flattening". Good for Pakistan, India, China, etc, not to mention the bigwigs in suits at the top of our industries. They don't give a darn about the "Working Joes and Janes" here who worry about bills and food.
scorpietta 1 year ago
@scorpietta I hope things turn around. If it keeps going like this, we'll become another third world country and be content with a job where we call ourselves "Sally."
trotp3 1 year ago
@trotp3 So do I. My mom suggested that I buy a certain item "on-line" and I cut her off immediately. It's available at local stores like Kohl's and Kmart. I would rather hit those places even if I have to pay more.
scorpietta 1 year ago
Great video. Really drives home the sad feeling of what this mall has become. Sorry to see that, like other malls with fountains, an ugly fence/barrier had to be put up to keep kids from getting hurt because many parents today don't teach them to respect property. More likely they would be the first in line to sue the mall.
KLEBRUN 1 year ago
Ncely done. I loved Montgomery Wards, and the mall near where I lived. It was THE place for the kids to hang out on the weekends. Its sooo sad to see these places die. The buildings may stand empty, but the memories, we all have of the good times and shopping in them will never go away.
dixiewife47 1 year ago
Oh, how a video like this teaches us to take nothing for granted. My beloved mall, the one that was new when I was a kid in 1981... is dying now as well. I really never, ever saw such an event coming. Call me a sissy, but your video teared me up. Like the death of a friend, it is hard to see this happen.
Yesterdays92 1 year ago
America in transition. Many reasons for this: immigration unchecked of lower class peoples, the transfer of the country's manufacturing base to Asia, the destruction of the American neighborhoods, adolation of inferior cultures, over half of this nation on welfare of some sort, and so on.
joesphx19 1 year ago
whats the music up to 2:07?
cm1179 1 year ago
@cm1179
I think thesong for the whole video is "At least They tried" by Moby
jdmitchell2 1 year ago
This has been flagged as spam show
I remember alot from there, i was at the theater all the time--- even seen new jack city there--- I live a few blocks from the mall and even to this day I pass by it on my way to work. Sears is still open same as JC Penny, but thats it and mer shadows of their former days. There was a time when you couldnt find a parking spot and the shittiest place to be stuck parking at was out where the metro bus station is now. Even now most of the spots are still takin- by overgrown shrubs and weeds.
gptv10 1 year ago
I remember alot from there, i was at the theater all the time--- even seen new jack city there--- I live a few blocks from the mall and even to this day I pass by it on my way to work. Sears is still open same as JC Penny, but thats it and mer shadows of their former days. There was a time when you couldnt find a parking spot and the shittiest place to be stuck parking at was out where the metro bus station is now. Even now most of the spots are still takin- by overgrown shrubs and weeds.
gptv10 1 year ago
Are Macy's and Penneys still there?
staycejayne 1 year ago
this mall use to be the spot at one time
americasmostfamous 1 year ago
To add to 'affair4u2' This is the wonderful world of online shopping, lifeless, friendless, and without social gathering. in the end, it equals a dead mall.
JoeDibajio 1 year ago
Sadly, this is what happens when gangs of teenagers are allowed to roam the malls. This used to be such a nice place to shop, but because of the gangs, it became to dangerous. So sad.....
affair4u2 1 year ago 10
@affair4u2 I've got to disagree. Gangs of teenagers have always been a part of what the mall experience is no matter where you live. They are just more noticable if they're the only ones in the mall. Many corporations that own mall stores are going out of business which is leaving a country full of buildings with stores and no one occupying them. It just comes down to location. More and more people are leaving the suburbs for the city and guess where these places are located?
mrjfrostbite 1 year ago
@mrjfrostbite I agree with you. I grew up at Rolling Acres and even had my first job there. Back in the day kids weren't so much of a problem. The downfall of RAM is same reason that Akron is not such a safe place to live anymore. Crime, drugs, ect. The same sorts of things that have led to Kenmore's horrible reputation. (Where I grew up) It was a wonderful place to grow up. Not anymore.
heartstringsbylisa 1 year ago
In Columbia, MO. where I used to live they had to implement a policy where anyone under 17 had to be accompanied by an adult to be in the mall after 6pm everyday.
adams0960 1 year ago
We have that at one nice swanky mall where I live.The mall is very popular but some teens got into a fight last year so they're really patrolling it more now too.
HattieLovesCattie 1 year ago
@robertmark34 Westminster Mall looked ok the last time I drove by it on vacation,last yr..I left Fountain Valley in 1994.I never saw Brea or La Mirada Mall.I remember Cerritos Mall as passed it too on the 605 freeway.The last mall I did go to was Lakewood Mall and it seemed fine ( last year ).Hunt Beach mall died and became Bella Terra center.
HattieLovesCattie 2 years ago
Cool blast from the past.Have some great memories of going to Rolling Acres on the weekend during my teen years in the 70's.
gnolt 2 years ago
As an airbrush artist I have worked in several semi abandonded malls in New Orleans and Baton Rouge. It never ceased to creep me out working in a mall with most of it's stores shut down. It's a lot of really large quiet spaces that would normally be filled with people. Weird.
mwadevilg 2 years ago 2
Still my favorite youtube video to this day.
swso2000 2 years ago
it was a lot nicer in 2007 than now in '09! check out my footage of the mall
masbiturbo85 2 years ago
This is very sad.I remember going to Rolling Acres many times and it was a very nice mall.Its impossible Im sure but its too bad this cant be brought back. I think it was one of the nicest malls here in NE Ohio.
EnviroCellular 2 years ago
1st bgm The Crystal Method - London
ccrimsonfox 2 years ago
i think malls r going to be a thing of the past sadly ppl r to lazy to get off there asses and actualy go out to shop
ekim7971 2 years ago 4
I agree.Ive seen some malls convert to more strip plazas like Canton Centre Mall in Canton,Ohio. If people are shopping at the same spot in a strip plaza why not keep the mall?
EnviroCellular 2 years ago
@ekim7971 i think its also cuz of this shit economy
tarkan525201 1 year ago
Don't the cities collect big taxes from Wally-Mart??
HattieLovesCattie 2 years ago
It is all over the USA---mall death that is. I don't think malls will be extinct but there will be a lot less of them.
Melville10 2 years ago
I like the music for the first part, what is it? Sad to see so many of these malls from our childhood closing up...
jaimehatespapi 2 years ago
I'll take the plants!
michaelHda 2 years ago
Maybe if the small town stores would've opened a shop in a mall and competed, they might have lasted longer.
rickster348 2 years ago
Mega Malls have caused the demise of small town ambience. Malls have killed downtown Main Streets across America, sucking the dollars out of local businesses. Look at the result - a gaping empty shell that no one can clean up. Encourage people to support their local shops, because these are your neighbors, friends and family who care about your community. Stop giving your money to big box stores and fast food franchises that don't give a darn about you.
almiragulch1939 2 years ago
The blame goes on Wal-Marts,not enuff downtown parking and the Internet.Folks rather order online than shop at the mall.Once Woolsworths closed and Monty Wards closed,they affected downtown and the local malls.
HattieLovesCattie 2 years ago 2
I agree. I don't think those who still own mom and pop shops are sad to see malls go under.
Melville10 2 years ago
I installed the point-of-sales cash register at the Naturalyzer shoe store in this mall back in 1983. All the malls all over the country were young and alive and fun back in those days. The concept of a "dead mall" was almost unthinkable. Now we're all old and tired and ready to die, just like these malls.
spanishlake 2 years ago 4
You're ready to die??
Why?
- T3
ToonTownTerrorist 2 years ago
what a damn shame it is watching this mall and the whole area crumble! I would think that the vacant stores would want their name taken off the outside of the building as not to be associated with the dismal failure this place now represents
deme7063 2 years ago
I never even visited this mall and this video made me a bit blue. As a child of the 70's there are few sights sadder than watching a mall - symbol of life, fun, and activity - die a horrible death like this. Just awful.
Sad as it is, this video captures this all-too-common sight across the country since the early part of this decade. Well captured.
LovinLife7777 2 years ago 20
@LovinLife7777 I grew up in this mall. It's very sad. I had my first job there. I practically lived at this mall. The truth is it's just another symptom of Akron's going downhill. I just moved from there, my hometown, to a small quiet safe town on the East of Cleveland. Akron has truly become a scary place to live.
heartstringsbylisa 1 year ago
@LovinLife7777 i was thinking the same thing, what did happen to society? maybe internet, computers, playstaions/xbox, decline in funding for activities for kids, either way things have seriously changed from 25 years ago :( hardly no one smiles at each other anymore, no one holds the door open anymore atleast if you do hold the door open they look at you funny
it really is a sad world now :(
mejw1 1 year ago
@LovinLife7777
Agreed. The malls of today don't have the same soul as the ones from back then.
jdmitchell2 1 year ago
@LovinLife7777 I just made a comment like that on another video. I feel your pain. I was born in 1980 and I remember my elementry school dying when I was in high school, I visited it and the memories i had with my friends there were haunting.
I cant imagine the Water Tower Place, now my local mall, dying like this. It's just so sad and disturbing.
As for the maker of the video, Great job!
CubsFan2812 1 year ago
Was this mall torn down or still open? This reminds me of what happened to the Echelon Mall (South NJ) starting in 2001--two anchor stores left (JC Penney, Sears) and "mall death" slowly consumed half the mall. In 2007, the "dead" portion of the mall was torn down and the whole site is being turned into a promenade. It seems shopping malls started to decline as soon as the internet really took off (circa 2000-01) and now they are really getting obilterated due to a bad economy.
Melville10 2 years ago
When this video was made the mall was still open, but it closed on October 31 2008. The only stores that are left are sears and JC penny.
tbowman92 2 years ago
I think Sherman Dreiseszun might have owned this mall as well. He was the owner of Metcalf South also. His management company owns malls all over the midwest, most of them have appeared to be "dead" malls too from the research i have done.
Archmetal06 2 years ago 2
No, RAM was originally owned as a joint venture between Forest City and Richard Buchholzer. This lasted until around 2000. Then went to Bankers Trust, then Whichard, then Invest Commercial.
RAM861975 2 years ago
@RAM861975 Is she stil standing ?
THUNDERDOMEFXXRACER2 10 months ago
That opening sketch pix reminds me so much of the singer Bobby Sherman.His hair was just like that.Its so depressing to see the old malls abandoned.
HattieLovesCattie 2 years ago
love the look of the place in the 1970's. The music was verry apropriate. The center court looked great. Damn shame what happened to it.
qvkl 2 years ago
Never been to Ohio but I got interested in dead malls yesturday and been looking at vds. This has nice music. Whats the song called?
CowgirlXena 2 years ago
That second song sounds like something Kanye West would put on his next record, lol. What a shame really, I remember watching Superman at the movie theater there.
ukendcx2000 2 years ago
In 1954, Congress changed IRS rules to effectively make shopping malls the mother of all tax shelters. The change allowed developers to depreciate, or write down, the value of new buildings in seven years instead of 40. The rule made it easy for developers to show losses instead of profits and encouraged the frequent trading of property, which led to the shoddy construction and inadequate maintenance that have contributed to today's dead-mall phenomenon."
Archmetal06 2 years ago
I remember when I was little in the 80's I loved to go to Rolling Acres mall. We lived by Chapel Hill before it had all the renovations(so I've heard I no longer live in OH). This mall reminds me of my mother who is buried in the cemetary next door. This just makes me sad.
britanni530 2 years ago
this actually made me sad!
redkitty1 2 years ago
ha ha oh yeah! I feel so bad for her NOT!
tribegal2413 2 years ago
:-)
penske13 2 years ago
I really enjoyed this video and the music choice is excellent.
Although I don't live in Ohio, we have several malls here in California that have suffered the same fate. Very sad.
store275 2 years ago 4
I used to live in the Huntington Beach area.I do know the mall there closed and became something else.What other malls have closed in Calif.?
HattieLovesCattie 2 years ago
There have been so many. The old Anaheim Plaza off Euclid was deserted for many years before it was torn down about 10 years ago.
There was the old Whitwood Mall in Whittier that was left to die before being torn down about 6 years ago.
There is also the deserted Barstow Mall which is pretty scary looking nowadays.
In Sacramento there is Downtown Plaza that is owned by mall assimilator, Westfield Corp. About half the stores are closed and is overrun by thugs and homeless people.
store275 2 years ago 3
I probably passed old Anaheim Plaza but its been over 20 years.The only small mall I can remember is the one in Buena Park near Knotts Berry Farm.That mall still open?I know they had some gang problems.
HattieLovesCattie 2 years ago
Buena Park Mall is still there for better or worse. In the mid 90s it was hanging on by a thread but the city has revitalized it somewhat into "Buena Park Downtown" to capitalize on the Knott's Berry Farm crossover traffic. Still, this white elephant only brings in about half the revenue of malls similar in size.
rettrovision 2 years ago 2
I have been to the BP Mall but don't really remember it.I always went to Westminster Mall as I lived in H.B.and Fountain Valley before moving east 15 years ago.See's Candy store still at BP mall?I heard they had gang problems there.How many stores does BP mall have?
HattieLovesCattie 2 years ago
have any pictures or videos of any of these malls?
goldendragon35 2 years ago
For some reason-- cant post the URL in text reply, but just type in the search bar:
A Mall Story / Sacramento's Dying K St Mall.
You'll see the before and after of Sacramento's ailing K St Mall / Downtown Plaza
rettrovision 2 years ago
thanks for text reply. great vid on what is happening. do you know what happened to the mall? looks like ghost town
goldendragon35 2 years ago
@goldendragon35 The mall was permenantly closed about a year ago. They couldn't make enough revenue to pay the bills and the electric was shut off. At that point there were only 10 or 12 tenants anyway. I know at least one tenant has moved and looks to be doing well outside of a mall setting. Last I saw Sears and JC Penney's were still open. They own their space. Don't know how long that will last. It's a scary area to go into.
heartstringsbylisa 1 year ago
@heartstringsbylisa is it really that bad? seems like such a waste of a mall
goldendragon35 1 year ago
@goldendragon35 Unfortunately it really is that bad. I found this video through another video a kid took recently and the place is falling apart. :( The roof leaks and there's water damage and it's really just a disaster. I really think if someone DOES finally buy it it will be for the land. The building would cost more than it's worth to renovate.
heartstringsbylisa 1 year ago
@heartstringsbylisa Why don't you take pics of what its like inside now.
HattieLovesCattie 1 year ago
I worked in O'Neil's in Rolling Acres in 1978. People from my hometown (Wadsworth) had mixed feelings about the mall. It contributed to harder times for downtown Wadsworth businesses. I had to drive 7 miles on icy roads, park in the back "employees" lot, walk quite a ways in sub zero temps in hose and high heels to get to work. For $2.13 an hour. IMO, malls suck the lifeblood out of small communities. I haven't been to Rolling Acres in 27 years but I will go there and dance on its grave.
almiragulch 2 years ago
For someone who was never a fan of malls, I sure do have a lot of memories of this place...I can remember when it opened and have so many memories from going there as a little kid with my parents, to having the freedom, pre drivers liscense days to rome free in the mall until it was time to go...to renting a tux for my Prom...My grandpa used to go there just to walk, get exercise after his bypass...its a part of life I guess...birth, vibrance, decay, death and then another door opens elsewhere
JeffG896 2 years ago 4
This song goes to The Closing Of the Circuit City Liquidation and all stores have to close by March 31st 2009
mickeysalazar 2 years ago
This place was also a BIG part of my life in my teenage years. But after the Malcolm X movie was played, all hell broke loose and there was rioting, ever since that day that mall was doooomed. Then there was a few people robbed and then the rumors started. People were scared and stopped going! Criminals started coming along with the serious crime, and well, that was that! Thanks Guys for putting another good thing out of business.
Yours truly,
Tony
broker3460 3 years ago 3
broker3460: Rioting? Odd, I haven't heard about this. Are you sure you're not getting that wrong?
HardWiredGaming 2 years ago
Yes, it was right after the Malcom X movie. I know this because I was there!
broker3460 2 years ago
This is an EXCELLENT video. This was THE mall to go to back in the day. I was there in the late 80's when I was a young kid and then 20 yrs. later walked around the mall this past fall all dark with no one in sight and the only thing you hear is depressing 80's music calmly playing. Every once in a while, I would stare a certain area of the mall and then I would start seeing a crowd of people like my mind flashing back 20 years. Very weird feeling to say the least.
ryanbrandy08 3 years ago 10
Rolling Acres Mall will be missed i went there in 2004 and loved the mall sad it closed and Rolling Acres Cinema was a great Cinema and why did Rolling Acres Mall Close Anyway Please answer my question, Yours Truly, Michael Salazar
mickeysalazar 3 years ago 3
couldn't afford electricity
Psuedo3D 3 years ago 2
This is a great video! It's a shame that the mall died because it looks like they put so much into it over the years, with all of the upgrades and advertising, etc. It's hard to believe how it declined into nothing. Sad.
jbondelli 3 years ago
That's how they all go down, like any decent neighborhood.
bozito00 3 years ago
Rolling Acres and Romig Road for that matter was killed by thugs. And we all know that. Sears and Pennys are still open. But I can't see them staying past this year. The area is dead.
erok713 3 years ago
who sings the song baby dont cry ?
Comptekhs 3 years ago
Moby
mickeysalazar 3 years ago
It's kinda fun to see the different styles of ads they used, only to have the mall die.
jdmitchell2 3 years ago
"Rolling Acres Mall:Where value never takes a vacation."
Oh, it's taken a vacation all right-a permanant vacation!
IAmNotAFunguy 3 years ago
This place was also a BIG part of my life in my teenage years. But after the Malcolm X movie was played, all hell broke loose and there was rioting, ever since that day that mall was doooomed. Then there was a few people robbed and then the rumors started. People were scared and stopped going! Criminals started coming along with the serious crime, and well, that was that! Thanks Guys for putting another good thing out of business.
Yours truly,
Tony
broker3460 3 years ago
Is it closed now?
annoyedwithsignup 3 years ago
this place was a big part of my, teenage life.
my mother had been takeing me there since birth....
my fauther was evan barried next to the mall.
cause my mom loved that place....so much!
i worked at church hill's news and tabbaco from
1994 to 1998 when store closed!
what a shame
billy
billerotic 3 years ago
The picture in 5:32 with the red fountain tile explains it all.
JBlair1982 3 years ago
my parents worked in Nails pizzaz right behind the elevator in 3:59. I used to go to the phone store next to there to talk to the workers, there was thsi really nice lady that worked in the score right on top of the escalator, she used to give me those stuffed animal toys for free. there used to be an ice cream store around the food court too. so many memories i cant even explain it all. i think out of all the ppl here id have to say i have the most childhood memories, i went there EVERYDAY. =(
evolutionx11 3 years ago
my parents worked here when i was 9-12 years old, now im 15 but yea. brings back alot of memories, i used to go there everyday to work with my mom, i made alot of mall friends, as in workers in stores, and other kids that go there basically everyday with their parents too. i once got up the elevator and got stuck, i went to alladin's castle arcade everyday and made very good friends with a worker there that taught me karate moves and how to play this one game, his name was Lee.
evolutionx11 3 years ago
Why did Dollar General close?
IAmNotAFunguy 3 years ago
Shoplifting...and the fact that the mall was dying...
Psuedo3D 3 years ago
Great video, well researched and planned.
salpublib 3 years ago
goldendragon35, well put. ditto!
penske13 3 years ago
great video. sad, but great
goldendragon35 3 years ago 4
Another biblical truth about the things of the world being dust in the wind.
gnolt 3 years ago 2
its about time they are giving up on the mall. i grew up there and it was very depressing to watch it slowly decline over the years. once the movies left the mall in the early 90's it was all down hill from there. its sad because now there is nothing in west akron. you have to go to fairlawn to find a hardware store, marc's, toys r us, grocery store, target or walmart. all that used to be at rolling acres back in the day.
johnsontl 3 years ago 3
I just heard today in the news that the mall will be closing sometime between October 27 (This Monday) and October 31 (This Friday). The owner chose not to pay the electric bill so the moment the utility shuts off the mall's power, the mall will be closed. The 8 stores in the mall itself that are still open have been told about the power outage and closing and that they will have to either move or close. Sears and JCPenney Outlet will remain open.
IAmNotAFunguy 3 years ago 2
omg! that's bad. I remember growing up, people used to refer to Rolling Acres as "Strolling Afros"
thomesocksup 3 years ago
thomesocksup, c'mon man!
penske13 3 years ago
thomesoxup, bro!
bozito00 3 years ago
wow i remember when i was little that was like the coolest place ever now that whole eriah is a ghost town.
goran166 3 years ago
Kinda sad how it went from (presumabally) vibrant & thriving retail area to a ghost town.
jdmitchell2 3 years ago 2
I'm with gozips30,I am in Toledo and its the same story. Ohio is a dead end, Most of Michigan is no better. I too, am considering putting in a transfer at work to go to Madison Wisconsin. Ohio is about dead last in everything and the most taxed state in the midwest(with the exception of Minnesota). Last one to leave, turn off the lights.
Sonoma962003 3 years ago 3
That's a very racist and stereotypical thing to say!
gozips30 3 years ago
I grew up going to that mall!, I remember it being constantly packed and kids throwing money into the fountain, and going to the "Alladin's Castle" arcade above the food court. That was the mid 80's to ealry 90's but it was a great place to go!, The last time I was there it looked like many of the pictures in the video.
Its so sad to see it go that way!!
Kin
kinuvian 3 years ago
How the heck do you get all this stuff?!
LaddyDongdegs 3 years ago
Walmart killed my friend, Rolling Acres Mall.
I miss you.
Bunglbeez 3 years ago 2
Bad walmart. Boycott walmart. they stink.
boxer301977 3 years ago
I was listening to NPR earlier and learned that mall vacancy in the US is at a 13 year HIGH, and likely to get worse over the next couple years. I have been following dead and dying malls most of my life now (starting with long dead now reborn Harborlight in Massachusetts), and if we are now at a high, most malls in the US will be completely dead in another five years or so.
Pdasilva0324 3 years ago
This comment has received too many negative votes show
Listen: If you're looking for an answer, don't even bother asking here because nobody cares about your idiot agenda.
VoltageControlled 3 years ago
brought a tear to my eye, reminds me of my own Dead Mall, the Mohawk Mall. it lived a very similar life as this mall. Thank you
gremmpaltakin 3 years ago
I have read it was called "Strolling Afro's" mall, cuz of the roving black gangs of kids that would harass shoppers. Is this true? Leave any "dont be racist" shit at the door...I want the truth !!! Racist or not !!!
getchasumm 3 years ago
thats wrong. its not true it was a mall like any other.
Angelmajora 3 years ago
*was a reply to getchasumm's stupid comment^
Angelmajora 3 years ago
That's pretty sad.
EOTW666 3 years ago
I wonder what killed the mall and when the mall started to die? Did it all happen in 2007?
likedcalico 3 years ago
it's so sad to see that happen. I thought that was going to happen to Bay Shore Mall on Long Island, NY. When i went there a month ago it was dead empty, but just this past saturday i saw that there was only one empty store and the mall was booming again.
-KEVIN-
kevinf26 3 years ago
I remember going to this mall when I was younger in the late '80s, and later on in the early 2000s, and can remeber seeing many open. I went there recently in late December 2007, and the place was dark and cold. Since it seems like they don't cool or heat the mall very much, JC Penney had built a wall from sheet-rock with a smaller door to maintain the environment. I'm hoping there will be better changes for this mall; I hate to see this one go.
JBlair1982 3 years ago
Why is it that in Europe stores and shopping centers can be around for decades, but sadly here in the states, stores and malls only last 20 or so years? I think it's the laziness of people, americans are becoming WAY to reclusive, doing all they can to AVOID people and places, and that is SAD.
deltaboy767 3 years ago
Has nothing to do with reclusiveness, people are as social as they always have been. It has more to do with the state of the economy, and big retailers. Also Rolling Acres itself has much to blame on high rent, and the location it was in. Theft was incredibly high and violent crime in that area is also scary.
Eratticus 3 years ago
This mall was great in its better days. It was a beuatiful place, much better than Chapel Hill. They tried to make Chapel Hill nicer but it never had the clean cut good looking style that the Rolling Achres did.
KJLmurcielago 3 years ago 3
This mall was great in its better days. It was a beuatiful place, much better than Chapel Hill. They tried to make Chapel Hill nicer but it never had the clean cut good looking style that the Rolling Achres did.
KJLmurcielago 3 years ago
sad to watch, scary sometimes how things change....
graemed1983 3 years ago
I used to live in Appleton WI where the first enclosed mall in the us was built. They just tore it down. Nothing in this world stays the same... kinda makes ya nostalgic for stuff that used to be considered an eyesore.. funny isnt it?
corgi4u 3 years ago 3
So sad.
This always used to be the place to be. I would usually be up there every weekend. After Target opened I worked there for like a year. I'd always go out and eat in the mall for lunch. It was always sad how much different it looked by that point. No one walking the halls. There were probably 5-6 stores open in the entire mall at that point.
Alladin's Castle was the name of the arcade
upstairs above the food court.
R.I.P.
ContainsIt 3 years ago
My first job was at the movies down stairs, i was 15, then i went next door to the Candy Store. When i was 17 i started working for DJ's upstairs, Ya know the store with the music blasting... i had some of the best times of my life working there.I worked there till i was 20, then tranfered with the company to Charlotte North Carolina. I worked For Merry-Go-Round, and became a store manager till that company went under in 94. Rolling Acres Mall had a big part in where i am today.
jennnagel 3 years ago
Did they totally close this mall? Are they demolishing it??
FanMNS 3 years ago
Nope, still open as of March, '08. Macy's just closed a few weeks ago, now only Sears, JCPenney outlet, and a few small stores left. Who knows what will happen to it.
RAM861975 3 years ago
They should make it into a casino or something I think. It would generate a lot of jobs and businesses in my opinion.
Arasfaery 3 years ago
In canada most of our dead malls are converted into strip malls and/or stand alone stores or sometimes subdivisions. In a way cool but then you start missing the mall...Can't believe how fast the mall scene is fading away (Wal mart is somewhat to blame for wanting "stand alone" stores)
ilabig64 3 years ago
There's a church in one the stores now
KJLmurcielago 3 years ago
Is it still open?
annoyedwithsignup 3 years ago