Last month I was poking around the empty wing near Sears at Cumberland Mall in Atlanta and this old security guard named Dave walked up. Instead of telling me to leave, he showed me the old Aladdin's Castle arcade that's been locked up since about 2012 still with some games inside. He told me they left the Street Fighter II machine running for 3 days after the power got cut before it finally died. Has anyone else run into a cool employee like that who shared some history?
I went back to the old Riverview Mall last weekend for the first time since high school. The food court used to have this bright orange and yellow carpet that looked like a 90s birthday party. Now it's just this sad flat gray color from years of people walking through with greasy food. I swear you can still see the outline of where the Orange Julius kiosk used to sit near the east wall. The weirdest part is they didn't even replace the carpet they just let it get so dirty that the pattern disappeared. Time and a million dropped fries really did a number on that floor. Has anyone else noticed how fast those old mall carpets go from funky to just totally gross?
A guy on Flickr told me my shots of the abandoned food court in the Westgate Mall looked like crime scene photos, so now I just bump up the ISO and lean on the natural light from those skylights, and the difference is night and day - anyone else get harsh critique that actually improved their dead mall photography?
He was talking about the old Sears wing at Century Mall in Omaha, and it got me thinking about how we all associate certain dead malls with specific smells. Has anyone else noticed a particular scent that takes you right back to a specific location?
I stopped at the Rolling Acres Mall in Akron last Tuesday and found this tiny arcade tucked near a boarded up food court. The owner said he's been there since day one and just never left, even when the big chains pulled out. He still runs the original Galaga machine with the same coin slot that takes old 25 cent pieces. Has anyone else found a spot like this where one stubborn business just refuses to die?
Went to the Crystal Mall in Waterford last weekend and had to pick between a Sbarro that looked like the cheese melted in 2005 or a Chinese spot with one light working. Chose the Chinese place and got a combo that tasted like they forgot to wash the rice cooker. Anybody else face impossible food choices in these ghost malls?
Got there around noon last Saturday excited to grab lunch and walk around. The whole upper level was blocked off with those plastic barriers. The pretzel guy told me the Sbarro's been running off a generator for 3 months because the landlord won't fix the electric. Has anyone else had a dead mall trip where even the basic stuff like a bathroom or a working escalator was just gone?
It's in the Spartanburg mall that's been dying for 10 years, but the tile floor and old signage are still there. Anyone else got a specific anchor store they miss seeing around?
Went to the Westgate Mall in Visalia last weekend and there were still 12 stores open and people eating at the food court. That's not a dead mall. A dead mall is like the old Northridge Mall in Salinas where the floors are literally peeling up and you can hear your own footsteps echo. Why does everyone have to exaggerate just for a photo? Have you actually been to a mall that's truly gone under or are you just posting for likes?
Everybody posts pics of dead mall arcades but nobody gets the carpet right. The key detail is the speckle pattern - it was always gray with tiny red and blue flecks, not the plain dark color people show. I worked at an Aladdin's Castle in 1998 and I still remember that floor better than my own kitchen tile. Has anyone else noticed this or am I just weirdly obsessed?
I was checking out an old Macy's that's been empty for years at the Franklin Mills Mall in Philly. There was this older guy sitting on a bench near the food court telling his grandson about working at the mall back in its prime. He said his family ran the Toys R Us when it opened in 1995 and they had lines out the door for Tickle Me Elmo. I never thought about how those stores were someone's whole life before they got abandoned. Made me wonder how many broken hearts are tied up in these empty hallways. Has anyone else ever talked to an old employee at a dead mall? What stories did they share?
I was poking around the old food court at the Mid-Ohio Mall last Saturday when I found a Ms. Pac-Man cabinet still humming in the dark, and watching the attract mode loop for 15 minutes made me realize I've been overcomplicating my repair work back home by trying to match factory specs instead of just listening to what the machine is telling me does anyone else find that vintage stuff runs better when you stop overthinking it?
Found an old gumball machine in a dead mall near Toledo and dropped $12 thinking the vintage gumballs were still edible. Turns out they were just hard candy shells from 1998, totally stale. Has anyone else fallen for old vending machine traps in these places?
I first visited Valley View Mall in 2022 and counted 22 working stores. Walked through it again last weekend and only 7 are left. That food court with the fake palm trees is completely dark now.
Was driving through suburban Ohio last month and decided to check out the old Westbrook Mall. Walking in felt like stepping into 1987. Counted 47 original neon signs still buzzing above empty storefronts. Most dead malls I've hit have maybe a dozen working signs max. This place had the whole food court signage lit up like it was noon on a Saturday. Anyone else found a mall with that many original fixtures still running?
I dug up a folder of pictures from the Westgate Mall in San Jose last week, shots of the arcade and the food court where I worked for $6.75 an hour, and now that place is just a empty shell with a single nail salon hanging on. Anybody else ever stumble across old photos of a mall you used to love and just feel this weird hollow pit in your stomach?
I compared eating at the old Sbarro vs the random hot dog cart that's still running near the escalator. The Sbarro pizza was basically a display prop at this point, but that hot dog cart guy had a full setup with grilled onions and everything. Has anyone else found one random vendor in a dead mall that's still trying way harder than everyone else?
I always take tons of photos at dead malls, but at Granite Run in Pennsylvania I saw a old lady crying in the food court by the dried up fountain. She told me she met her husband there in 1987 before it went under. So I just sat with her for 20 minutes instead of snapping pics. Has anyone else had a moment at a mall that made you forget about the photos?
I was counting up my photos from 2024 and realized I've been to 50 different dead malls since January. Most are in Ohio and Pennsylvania where I do my cleaning jobs on weekdays. The weirdest one was a mall in Youngstown where every store was still open but there were zero customers. Has anyone else accidentally hit a big number like that without trying?
I used to shoot dead malls with the available light and thought it looked moody. The guy at the local shop in Akron said my shots were muddy and I needed a flash. I picked up a used speedlight for 40 bucks and started bouncing it off the ceiling. Now the photos pop way more and show the actual colors of the old tile floors. Anyone else get harsh feedback that actually improved their pictures?
I stopped by the Fox Run Mall in Newington last Tuesday around 8 PM to grab some photos of the empty food court, and the place had no working lights in the back hallway near the old movie theater. I heard footsteps behind me for about 5 minutes but never saw a single person, just weird echoes and a flickering exit sign. Has anyone else gotten a creepy feeling walking through the dark parts of a dead mall after hours?
I spent three visits over a month trying to figure out why the fountain near the old Orange Julius smells weird. Turns out the filter hasn't been changed since 2019, and there's a dead fish stuck in the pump. Anyone else ever find something gross lurking in a mall fountain?
Was wandering around the Lincoln Mall in Rhode Island last Saturday taking pics of the empty storefronts. Sat down to rest on a bench near the old food court and this older dude just sits next to me. He asks if I'm a photographer or just sad lol. Turns out he worked at the arcade there back in the early 90s. He pointed at a spot where the carpet was a different color and said the fountain used to be right there. Kids would throw pennies in and he'd fish them out after hours. He had this look like he was still seeing the place how it used to be. Made me feel weird taking photos of a dying mall when someone actually lived parts of it. Has anyone else had a random conversation like that totally change how you see a dead mall?
I was going through my photos last night and realized I've visited 50 different dead or dying malls over the past 3 years. That number surprised me because I never set out to hit a specific count, it just kind of happened from road trips and weekend detours. Has anyone else tracked how many they've been to and been caught off guard by the total?
I found him leaning on the counter of a long-dead Orange Julius in the Cortana Mall food court, and he just said 'they never told me not to come back' before taking a sip from an empty cup, has anyone else run into a former employee who never clocked out?