Christmas at a Live Mall: Danbury Fair Mall, Danbury, Connecticut. December 2022.
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- Опубликовано: 20 дек 2022
- Join me as I take a look at the Danbury Fair Mall in Danbury, Connecticut.
This is Connecticut's second largest mall and one of its busiest. While it's not doing as well as it did in it's prime, it's definitely not a dead mall. What do you think?
This video was filmed in December 2022 on a Thursday around 3:00pm.
If you liked this video, please give me a thumbs up, leave a comment and subscribe to my channel! Thanks!
Source of information:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Danbury...)
Photo Credits:
www.fluidr.com/photos/thecald...
#mall #connecticut #danbury #shoppingmall #shoppingmalls #retail #christmasshopping
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Danbury does still have a fountain, it is just much smaller and is currently covered up for the Santa display.
Oh shoot! So I missed the fountain? I'll have to go back some day then to see it!
Danbury Fair Mall in the 90s was a serious crowd crush situation. You often had to wait for people to leave a store before you could get in to look around.
this mall just wont die. its unstoppable!
They are closing it down to house immigrants
I heard they might be taking it down 😢
Nope i come here all the time and its amazing
The mall has never been dead. It's always done pretty well, though there have been times it dipped. In the early 2000s, there was a time when a few retail chains went out of business, and rather than scoop up new tenants for each, they knocked down walls and expanded neighboring stores. When Old Navy came in, for example, they had done exactly that. The carousel was the one piece of the original Fair that the original builders and owners got. Most of the rest of the stuff was auctioned off. There's actually a group in Danbury devoted to the history of the Danbury Fair, and have been at odds with the mall ever since the fair went defunct.
Still, it's one of the only malls in Connecticut that weathered the storm during the retail apocalypse. Though again that isn't to say it had zero effect on it. But it never took the same toll malls as Enfield or Watertown did. Being so close to the New York border has always helped it too as many from cities like Brewster, Carmel, and Mahopac come over in addition to capturing the Danbury area of Brookfield, Bethel, Newtown, New Fairfield, and Ridgefield.
This was definitely one of the busiest malls I've been to so far. Other than the closed Lord and Taylor, it seemed to be doing great. Thanks for watching!
@@fleabittenadventuresTarget is moving in there now, as well as a massive arcade
New York state has sales tax on clothing, and not in Connecticut?
It was just announced that Target will take over the rest of the Sears space. The vacant space below Dick’s Sporting Goods will be a Japanese arcade called Round 1. Barnes & Noble is also planning to move into the mall soon.
Cool. At least something is moving in and the space won't be vacant.
@@fleabittenadventuresup in Holyoke Massachusetts at the Holyoke Mall at Ingleside we also have a Round 1!😊
But then you did cover that in your Holyoke Mall video, which I think was a great video.
I think that both Barnes & Noble and Kohl's should move into malls (or back into malls). Maybe Hobby Lobby as well. No reason for any of those places to have separate parking lots.
I lived in the Danbury area for over 25 years. There is still a lot of OLD MONEY here. It will soldier on after many have fallen.
I'm sure it helps when the customers can afford to buy rather than just window shop. Thanks for watching!
Danbury afaik also has never really suffered an implosion like many other CT cities, its the retail hub for basically everybody from Ridgefield all the way up to almost Waterbury and over into areas around Brewster, NY. And when hats stopped being a thing the city leadership back in that day wisely lured in corporate HQs and higher tech light industry.
This mall looks amazing! I may have to make a road trip there this Fall!
Was here as a kid in the early 00s. Not much has changed besides the stores, and even then much of them is the same. Wild.
Mall was built at the site of the old Danbury Fair and that is the carousel from that fair.
And some of the danbury airport
That carousel is actually from the old Danbury Fair? That's awesome!
Interesting!
It is not from the fair
I was their twice apx 1989 or 1990 , during the summer . It was very nice . The thing I remember most was the merry go round . I believe all the proceeds went to charity, a children's hospital maybe . And their was definitely more people shopping or eating . I haven't been to any mall in years .
The merry go round was a highlight for me!
I used to work at the Great Danbury State Fair. I was on the lawn maintenance team and worked mainly in the Dutch Village and did various other small jobs around the fair. Before that when I was a kid, the owner of the Fair, gave every kid in Danbury a free fair pass every September. The teachers gave the passes to their students and we could not wait to get to the Fair on Fair Friday!! I knew John Lehey in person. The free samples in the Big Top were always a hit. I was sorry to see the Fair go.
It was before my time, wish I had been able to see it in person. I still can´t fathom why they´d shut down the Danbury fair.
I loved that fair!
She’s looking good! At least by today’s standards. I grew up 10 minutes from there. When I was a kid in the 80’s and 90’s that place was SUPER crowded during the holidays. Like shoulder to shoulder in some places. Always used to hit up McDonald’s in the food court and ride the carousel. Those were the days. Thanks for checking it out man!
I worked as an Security Supervisor for 11 years here , 1994 to 2005
Tame compared to the 80s & 90s xmas season. Back then it was conjested elbow to elbow walking to the various stores. BUT, ITS NOT DEAD, it's thriving. Target and multi level arcade are going in. 😊
Beautiful mall. Love how bright it is.
What they took to build this Mall, was a crime.
Thank you Mr. Leahy for great memories.
You mean the old fairgrounds?
Leahy as in the propane guy?. when I lived there up through 2007 there was a Leahy's gas.
@@fleabittenadventures yeah. It was AMAZING!
My dad use to take to the fair years ago. Use to go there a lot. Beautiful mall and a excellent food court, Have not been there though in 20+ years. Enjoyed the video.
i grew up going to this mall trust me its a really active even today, Macys was always in that spot JC Penny was added in 1988 and Lord and Taylor in 1991. Freehold mall in NJ has the same design and layout as this one the old sears is becoming a Target. The education works store was once a Time out arcade back in the 1990's the opposite side once had a Mcdonalds
I missed how it was it’s interior.
@@brandontylerproductions2202 tan and brown tiles with green and white trimming on the roof. and the large fountain in the center i wish they didn't remove it when they redid the mall.
Thanks for the info!
Has it changed a lot? I honestly don't know.
The fountains are the best party of any mall. Why did they remove most of them over the last couple of decades?
DFM is honestly one of the best malls period, I have been to a few and. Even when it was wearing its green paint it was a bright and open feeling mall. Others I have been to in the US feel so enclosing. I think they scrapped the fountain when making the mall more upscale because it was seen as kind of loud.
When it opened the parking structure was not there and you could see the ride from the freeway.
I will say unless they updated the glass, it does get slightly toasty in summer even if the AC is cranking.
11:35 on the right where it looks like there is some kind of foot store by the Primark that used to be a Radio Shack.
You should visit the Tanger Outlets Mall in Foxwoods next! It's pretty huge, and fairly new, I think opening in around 2015-2016, so one of the newest malls in the state! Good vid as always!
Yup. I did eventually check it out!
Haven't been to this mall in over 20 years. At least it's still doing well.
Yeah, I thought is looked fairly healthy. Thanks for watching!
In the 1970s I used to go there for the Danbury Fair. The Fair closed and they built the mall on the property in the early 80s
Nice to see a live one. The santa display was pretty good. Some malls just have a sad chair.
I was there on Saturday, 2 days after you filmed this video and the place was really busy. I'm sure it was because it was the weekend and the week before Christmas. Nice to see lots of people out at the mall Though, especially since most malls are dead these days, I would hate to see the Danbury Mall fade away and end up abandoned.
Yeah, I think most malls are going to be busier on the weekends, especially just before Christmas. Compared to most of the other malls I have seen recently, this mall seems to be doing fairly well. Thanks for watching!
I remember on Christmas that people would trip over each other in that mall. Now on the Holidays it only gets to about 60%-70% capacity.
Love this mall. Love the carousel. There's a carousel in Hammonasett that uses the money they collect for a different charity every month. We didn't have any children but we used to buy tickets and give them to weary looking parents!
It used to be far more decorated during the Christmas season and looks like they're scaling back now. Danbury Fair Mall is one of my favorites and I have been there countless times since it opened. What's interesting is that the Freehold Raceway Mall, Freehold, New Jersey is its sister mall and has the exact same floor plan and looks so much alike to it, along with the carousel in the food court! The mall did go through some rough times when riff-raff started loitering around the food court area and that causes people to avoid malls as there have been shootings in other malls due to these types.
My family used to go to the Danbury Fair back in the 70's.
I didn't go here often when i lived in the area back in the day, but there were a few establishments I'd frequent. Back in the day, Sbarro's was actually good, and just about the only place in the food court I would eat at, there.
It was named the Danbury Fair Mall, because it was built upon the old site of the Danbury Fair, a previously yearly event. The carousel was a legacy from those days. I would not be surprised if most of that has been changed out over the decades.
There were plans to convert most of the old Lord & Taylor locations to WeWork-style coworking spaces, but those plans seem to have faded away.
I hear that a lot. They are either talking about turning a mall into an office building or apartments/condos. I haven't seen too many actually do it though. Thanks for watching!
("she's on the other side of the mall..." 3:57 , 16:06 and 24:54 😆 Lol, that accent!) Enjoyed walking through with you. I miss nice malls like this, don't have them quite like this in Europe where I live now. It's also fun to see what ppl are wearing while running shopping errands - and don't know they're being filmed. When I was a kid in Alabama and Georgia in the '80s and '90s, all of the malls were pack shoulder to shoulder during the holidays on the weekends with long lines to ride the carousel and sit with Santa.
Yeah, that's what happens when you have to replace the audio to avoid being demonetized by RUclips for playing copyrighted music. I'll try to edit out the part of the background audio for the future. Thanks for watching so closely!
Pet shop by Sears was a big attraction. % Below used to be a drug store. Dick's is in fact half the old Filene's/G. Fox. As others noted, in it's day, you couldn't park or go anywhere without a line a week before Christmas. Wife was a manager at Macy's when we met; many happy memories there.
I used to work at the DFM back in the late 80's and Macy's back in the Mid-90's. The crowd compared now to back then has dwindled
Yeah, malls were all much busier back in the 90's. This one is doing better than most though. Thanks for watching!
Ct. post mall happens to be absolutely low end. Looks on the dead side to be frank. Back in the late 90’s Danbury Mall was jamming, especially weekends.👍
Maybe I'm just used to see malls that are doing even worse than this mall because it looked pretty busy in comparison. Thanks for watching!
A top 3 mall in CT, my opinion.
I frequent this mall. There’s a picture of my other siblings and cousin at the food court back in the day.
Dicks took over the Forever 21 space which prior was the old Filene's space. You are correct about the Lord & Taylor. With the pending JCPenny's closing on the horizon it will be interesting to see what they do with that space as its and 90 degree elbow footprint: it connects in the food court up top and then connects to the main mall after taking a sharp left to another wing. That mall is always busy but like every retail establishment it ebbs and flows. Time of day and what day dictates how big the crowd flow is. Near the holidays, it becomes swamped after 5 and Friday-Sunday have a pretty consistent crowd flow.
Two interesting facts about this mall- Westfield has been trying to purchase this mall for the better part of two decades. It's got the perfect location as it's ten minutes from the NY border and Candlewood Lake always draws a huge crowd during the spring to fall. Many New Yorkers have summer homes or boats on that lake.
The second thing is that mall is sinking. It's built on old swamp land and has been sinking since it was built. If you go into the service tunnels or look at the parking garage there's cracks everywhere on the walls but last I knew they were plastering/cementing over the ones in the parking garage. Also in response to escalators being shut down: companies can't get parts to service them. There's a huge shortage when it comes to parts and the labor rate to take the escalators apart is very expensive. They also need to clean them as if they go to long inbetween services it becomes a firehazard. There's dust, lint, oil/grease, animal/human hair and god knows what else under those tracks which like grain elevators is enough of a tinder to cause problems and the sparking can happen very fast.
I was there on Black Friday, Thanksgiving 2022!
Yes, The Old Great Danbury Fair grounds
I was there at that mall a few years ago, when they still had the fountain, that went up high, close to the ceiling, but that fountain us a little smaller now. I've heard that they still have the carousel. I have to go back there someday soon.
Arhaus was replaced by Barnes & Noble.
As a boy working at WLAD I broadcasted “live” from the Great Danbury State Fair. And I worked Security there from 2014 to 2021.
worked weekends at primark from when it opened (in 2016 actually) until 2018. its first year primark had the entire upper floor section of what used to be sears but cut its floor space by about i think 30 or 40% to save on its rent. I don’t know if the target that moved into the anchor space below it is utilizing any of that space.
Baffling how our man always sweeps through on a weekday midday and is like “gee whiz not that crowded in here huh” idk if it’s a liability thing that you’d catch too many people on camera on a saturday afternoon or what
My parents had concessions stands at the Danbury fair until it’s final year..
I miss being there around 2006-2008
Targets open, a round one arcade is open, the bookstore is open, theres been a lot of change in the food court, at least one of the new places ought to be there, the fountain isnt nearly as grand as it was when its there, but it is still a nice fountain
1:23 - Primark took over the Sears space at King of Prussia, Pennsylvania.
I cone here all the time
Now they have a Barnes and Noble which is good to see. It is where the Banana Republic was.
I miss the fair.
I semi regularly go to this mall, and was there just a few days ago. The crowds have thinned out in general a little, but they've remained steady. New shops still open in the mall, and there is no sign it'll die anytime soon.
Glad it is not dying! I no longer live nearby the Danbury Fair Mall, so good to know.
Watching this video a year late, but yeah, Danbury Fair is still busy as hell a year later. The parking lot is never not packed, and not just at Xmas time, but all the time😂
Yes, that was Lord + Taylor.
Yes, old Lord & Taylor'
Good evening
Yes this is the original Macy's it's 3 floors
That whole area (33:15 - 35:00) was a massive drive through Covid vaccination center. Hundreds of cars at a time. Processed on the Sears Auto (defunct) side (34:15) then drove around the parking structure to get jabbed and monitored for 15 minutes.
I have seen this mall from I-84 many times.
Haha I actually prefer going during the weekday because it’s quieter. Friday and Saturdays especially Saturdays oh my god there’s so many people. It’s cool but also a little annoying LMAO
But this is the only mall really in my area so it wasn’t until a few years ago trying different malls in CT did I realize how malls were doing 💀
It would’ve been nice to see the different food options
I may start looking more at the individual stores and restaurants in the future. Thanks for the suggestion
I assume you have audio you dub over these videos?
Yes, but only if there is copyrighted music playing in the background.
Christmas time and the mall is that dead? DFM used to always be a busy mall. But that was a long time ago.
It can't survive like that.
80s, 90s was mall rat era at its prime. It was packed, you'd see half of school there.
There are two people who DON'T eat at mall food courts. You and your partner. 😁😁😁😁
Did you have to ask permission to film inside?
No, which is why I try to avoid security. :)
Long Island audit should open the store there to sell his merchandise
Sure. Why not. Thanks for watching!
It will truly be an end of an era if JC Penny vanishes.
iabosatly love thismall espeshyatchrismta stiem iloveit my faverte secondmalal onext owestfamr small in ct
Yeah, it's a nice one! If I lived closer, I would be there all the time!
Doesn’t look that overly busy.
I'm actually surprised. It looked busy to me, but I don't go to malls too often, except to film these videos.
It's Thursday afternoon most people are working and have a job think about that before you post a stupid video still love your videos but wait till about 6:00 any given night and especially on the weekends that mall is jamming I live in Connecticut
Sort of dead
A little, but compared to a lot of other malls in the area this one is doing fairly well. Thanks for watching!
trust me IT'S NOT, it's just dead in this video, go on the weekends and it's packed lol
looks pretty dead to me.....
only in this video though, on the weekends it's packed
Really? Compared to the other malls I've been to, this is one of the busier ones.
And this was a few weeks before Christmas. I would think this would be one of the busier times of the year.
All families no pretty girls
This mall is dying!
Come here snd prove it
The just open 2 floor target and round 1 amusement