I grew up in this mall from ‘84-98. I had friends that worked at the KB toy store, Chess King, GAP, Sears, FinishLine, ConeyDog, the old Tinderbox (tobacco shop)… every Sunday after church we used to eat at the old MCL. Then roam around for hours. The old General Cinema had two theaters. The best part is the mall always smelled of fresh Caramel Popcorn from the popcorn shop the original owner sold it years ago when she retired. We even got our first dog at the pet shop there. So many memories. Thanks for the video.
70s-80s architecture and design will always be my favorite. They were always so bold with buildings and homes. Like when people would put those pits in the floor of their living rooms for socializing. It’s just so interesting and colorful. I’m so sick and tired of basic things. It’s like “the giver” except we are moving backwards and stripping the color from our lives. Another amazing video!!
This is the mall of my youth. As the economics of the mid and far east sides of Indy changed, so did the mall. Lots of people who had means and lived east or in the eastern suburbs had no problem using more gas to go to Castleton or Greenwood Park malls. Similar story for the west side and how that affected Lafayette Square Mall. Some of the things I remember about Washington Square: There was a cookie store where you could watch the employees make the cookies. There was a two screen movie theater, I believe General Cinemas. There was a Farrell's Ice Cream parlor though I was too young to remember that. I do remember the Ponderosa buffet restaurant and Baskin Robbins. Up until the late 90s, there was a Ruby Tuesday inside the mall. From what I recall, it was the only Ruby Tuesday in the Indy area. However, driving up north in the late 90s, I was shocked to see a stand alone Ruby Tuesday along US 31 in Kokomo. I thought that was a different concept and this was right around the time the mall Ruby Tuesday had closed or later closed. MCL cafeteria lasted for many years. Over the years there were two different McDonalds in the mall. The first one was a very large store. It was always more dimly lit, with three different zones or sections of one bold color (like Yellow, Purple, etc.). That one eventually closed and a much smaller, walk-up only McDonalds opened up as a replacement. They had two nice bookstores, both national brands but I can't recall which two. The city used tax incentives to lure various retailers to come to the area and I wondered if they would stay once the incentives ended. In recent years, there were two retail actions that for me put the mall on its death bed. First, the Victoria's Secret closed and yet it was always one of the busier shops whenever I'd stop by to walk thru the mall. It was part of the larger national move they made to close down under-performing stores. Then both Target and Dick's closed their mall entry/exit points. I knew then that something was up. Not that long ago there was a social media post suggesting a remodel would actually include taking the roof off, demolishing some of the mall, and have a mixed use development on the site with retail, housing, etc..
to be COMPLETELY honest i still EQUALLY really really LOVE lafayette square mall keystone at the crossing and you tube ALMOST as much as washington square mall castleton square mall mcdonald's greenwood park mall and circle centre mall
@@JohnnyRapture. Yes. The front section was yellow, and it had a futuristic 2000s theme. There was a counter at the front that served desserts and drinks, but not hot food. Behind that was a 1900s section with a cinema theme (lots of movie posters). Further back were themes from earlier eras, but I don’t remember much about how those were decorated. At the very back was the counter that had the full menu available.
I grew up in this mall! OMG the Sammy Terry Dungeon. Sammy Terry was big in the area. He was a horror movie public television host like Elvira. I actually have documentation on all the stores from opening until now and I'll share it in discord.
Lazarus was an anchor as long as I can remember. I do know JCP, Sears, and many smaller stores also moved down to Washington Square from Eastgate Consumer Mall as well as Burlington many years later. This mass exodus caused real harm to Eastgate and was the beginning of the end for it. Eastgate was very small compared to all the others in the city...Just one long hallway.
Lazarus was there for many years. Used to also have LS Ayers, Blocks which later was changed to Montgomery Ward. The Wards was torn down and now the Target is in its place.
Kristen, your dry wit, makes you one in a million, & a keeper "for sure" (maybe not in this segment, but, since I've seen all your productions, it's there, and much appreciated)
What a great example of vintage esthetic 70s mall ( the malls of my youth ) Love the cubist sculptural ceiling. Seem to remember that was a thing then. Equally great opening graphics !
Is the Sammy Terry store still there? Having grown up in Indy, usually going to either Lafayette Sq. or Glendale, I really miss these places when I come home for the holidays.
Malls are a small sample of what's basically happing to retail locations. Its sad I used to enjoy shopping around other humans before the internet and amazon.
The mall of my youth. The east side was always humbler than the north and south, but Washington Square was where we shopped when Target (which was its own separate store in those days near the ShowBiz pizza) wouldn't do. Mother loved Lerner's of New York for work clothes. I loved the little arcade. There were book stores, toy stores, Spencer's gifts, Wicks 'N Sticks. I remember visits to Santa as a child, picking up my one and only Beanie Baby here (a pig) as a young teenager. I worked at the mall at the Sears at the jewelry counter after high school in the late '90s. I loved having the money to go to Luca Pizza and buy my own lunch and then cruising Funcoland. Outside were stores like Waccamaw (or as dad called it, Walkthemall) and Payless Shoes. Mom and I would go to the Denny's and thought Pier 1 was the coolest new store in town. It was a huge event when the Walmart opened down the street. My aunt would go there just about every other day. So much of it has changed with its lesser Eastgate mall having totally dried up forever ago. There's a dead mall that doesn't get a lot of attention! It was small and focused on specialized stores, but it had a damn good arcade back in the day.
I remember there being some big rocks on there (my memory remembers them being lava rocks). My cousin split his head open on one. Some fountains for making a wish with your change...and you could smoke 😂
During its prime, Washington square was definitely a draw and certainly worth the trip if you didn't live nearby.When I was younger I was always amazed by its layout of my dumdthe mall as it wasn't your typical dumbbell layout but one with sharp angular curves that seemed to go on forever. It's also interesting how so many storefronts from stores that close decades ago still are intact just painted over or having small detail changes from the current occupants.
You say it's understandable that the dungeon wasn't open, but I visit this mall semi regularly at different hours of the day and I've quite literally never seen them open.
This was the best mall back in the day in my opinion. Every single business was thriving and this mall stayed packed. Alot of memories there. Now i feel like they should knock it down and make it a nice outside outlet and fix the parking lot. Just make it look nice until more businesses come around.
I worked at the JC Penny auto joint from before it opened till I went in the USN Sept 75. Knew tons of classmates at MCL and McD's and others. Saw Car Wash at the inside theater. Went to the Lazarus and Sears going out of business sales, sad. Never as bad as Lafayette sq but the neighborhood is a bit sketchy today.
Nice, I actually have some footage of this one myself! Haven't gotten around to doing anything with it yet.... I found filming tricky since 1. My experience at Lafayette and 2. The leering security guard near the not open Target entrance, which I didn't see in this film either lol. ;) Cheers
I remember this mall, living on the west side (closer to Lafayette Square) in the 1990s. Even back then I remember the style felt like a cool throwback vibe with the brick and carpet in the center space. I agree it's not "dead," and is a good example of why the term really often isn't appropriate. Someone really needs to come up with a better set of terms for malls that, for example, do seem mostly abandoned by national chains but still have decent occupancy and traffic.
I remember coming here with my brother one time because he wanted to get a tattoo done, if I remember correctly it’s like to the right of Dick’s it was kinda boring sitting there so I just took a walk around and it felt kinda strange walking around in a somewhat empty mall, I remember walking by gamers loot and seeing a dnd game going on but anywho, my walk around the mall was pleasant along with the echoing calming music
That it was very cool mall, excellent video guys! Also, I know it’s not officially dead, but Circle Center Mall in Indianapolis would make for a cool video!😸
@@UniCommProductions yay! I visited it when I went to Indy in 2018 because I was staying at the Hampton across the street, it’s a cool place, weird, but cool!
The floor tile and ceiling tiles are original to the mall, 1974. When Simon properties got their hands on it they repainted and redid what is the target wing.
Lazarus was built on the mall by late 1977 or in 1978. I remember seeing the sign during the grand opening time period. Architecturally this mall is still top notch. I hope they figure out how to keep it going and repurpose it in areas. Lafayette square is getting a massive $350 million makeover International Marketplace.
First time to see the mall for me: Summer of 1975, June or July. The big "Blockbuster movie of that summer was..."Jaws"... and literally every movie house in Indianapolis sold out their seats. A few other times I shopped there - J.C.P. and Block's as well as L.S. Ayers. It was grand in the 70's! The last 30 years...the city's east side went to literally hell. The news shows that every day. What a shame...and I spent many years living in Indy to know what life was like way back in the 50's to most of the 1980's.
Christen. How old are you? The intro music was more late 1970s than 80s. And the flooring in the mall looks more circa early 1970s which makes sense since the mall first opened in 1974.
I’m 41. The mall was built in the 70s that is correct but a lot of the ceilings etc are very ahead of their time and resemble a lot of malls built in the 80s more closely, as do many of the storefronts.
I think I was at this mall but I know I was at one mall in Indianapolis can't remember it was back in 96. I remember back in 96 when I was 9 years old there was a virtual reality thing and now we have virtual reality that's pretty neat. The arcade was really futuristic had a lot of games and there was virtual reality where you put over your face and get to see the game play the game
@@UniCommProductions I live in Canton Ohio you ever been there look it up 5 hours from Indianapolis it's an hour from Cleveland North to South it's 2 hours from Columbus and the East it's about 2 hours from Pittsburgh just giving you an idea where Canton Ohio is Canton Ohio is home to the pro football Hall of Fame
If you really want to see a Vintage shopping mall stuck in the 80s, you should go down to El Paso, TX and visit Sunland Park Mall. It's a dying mall too.
I would LOVE to make it down to Texas whenever rental car prices get down to normal again--that's the biggest thing keeping me from going further right now.
It's definitely deceptively large, and for being mostly unaltered since the 70s/80s it's still in pretty good shape, considering I've been to malls at this occupancy level (that were NEWER) that had graffiti in some of the emptier hallways and were not being taken care of at all.
I'm sorry I'm not overly familiar with Indy , but it is the mall that is visible from I65 when entering the city from the north? I drove through Indy from Chicago numerous times and I always noticed a large mall on the north outskirts
A few days ago I visited a mall in southern New Jersey - the Moorestown Mall. Similar to Washington Square but even slower - my guess occupancy at 40-50%. It also had an "Escape Room." What we need is an official nomenclature for the status - particularly those somewhere in between "dead" and "thriving." How about "dying" ... "almost dead" ... struggling" ... "surviving" ... "flourishing but not thriving"??? What do you think?
Unfortunately the inside of our mall has been closed for over a year and there's no stores left. Except a movie theater dollar tree and Dunhams the mall is called westridge mall and is about 230 thousand square feet original anchors were herbergers,woolworths,Montgomery wards and jc penny. The stores that exist yet only have outside access I forgot to add.
Buenas Tardes, Kristin! See you did an earlier time upload (not enough for a night debut, as you'd say). Even this Pepsi machine (6:02) is from the early '90s and the mall have been able to keep the design and not been replaced by a more modern one. Even though this mall seems to be well kept, as far as for the % of tenants go they have some areas are just TOO DARK (10:17). The newer mall's owner (Kohan wouldn't have the "cajones" to even invest in anything close to that) should've put more lights to make it "less creepy" (appearance does count). I didn't knew that "Dead Mall Country" went as far west as Indy (thought it fell short of there), but now I know OVERMALLING (as you so precisely call it) goes here as well in many ways.
This mall is very reminiscent to my local mall Meadowood Mall before it's 2013 renovation, it is quite neutral now..rather boring, I wish it still looked like this mall. Meadowood was built by the Taubman Co and acquired by Simon. I love this, brings back memories of my old mall, they should have never changed it! meh...
I was born in the late 2000s, which means I never got to truly experience malls in their prime. My parents always tell me I have an 'old soul' or that I 'was born in the wrong generation'...I am currently in an 80's phase where I wonder what my life could have been like if I were living my teenage years in the 80s - 90s I envy all people who were able to live during the 1980s to 1990s
Wow, that original neon looks really good, it’s such a novelty these days, not as garish as I remember it. It does remind me of a beachside mall near where I grew up in New Zealand, it was called the galleria….. looking at these old style malls, I believe the reason they failed is that there’s nothing else to do other than shop, they feel disconnected to the outside world.
It’s Lima Ohio and it was doing really well until a virus that u may have not heard of suddenly made it downfall. Keep doing what u do though with the high quality production it’s always interesting to learn a malls history!
I never knew there was a Washington Square Mall in Indianapolis. I knew about the one in Evansville, Indiana. Makes me wonder if they’re related somehow. I will say that the Evansville location is dead too.
I’ve done a video on that one too-it has a beautiful food court! The one in Evansville predates this one by a few years and was built by completely different developers
This used to be great. The Walden oaks with the wood plan floors. The roaring real waterfall's in the center of mall, , the corn dog on a stick that was like heaven, the awesome dark brick old School McDonald's, awesome mcl cafeteria at end of mall, the awesome toy store, kb, fye , Spencer's, the awesome dark theater still attached to mall and beside it a glorious dark sectioned off arcade with tons of pinball mach, vintage super Mario machine, punch out out, paperboy, just it was totally 80s heaven. Glad she still stands and she needs some love. Some better shops to lease there the roof needs work the parking lot will eat your tires half the time the city ignores their dumpsters
Blocks was at the south end of the mall, and Lazarus was on the southeast end. Lazarus' parent company (Federated) bought Blocks in the mid-1980s. All of the Blocks stores closed down. All of the old suburban Blocks locations in Indianapolis became Montgomery Wards, while the old Blocks in Downtown Indy became a Lazarus. In the mid-2000s, May Company (parent company of LS Ayers) and Federated merged. All of their stores became Macy's.
I kind of get the pants stores 🤣 . Growing up in the 80’s-90’s all the pants at the mall were way to short (except Express/Limited). So I desperately needed more pants options... alas no pants store 🤣🤣 But if they didn’t have short/ tall/ or fuller figure options ...I’m thinking this is a weird store concept. Thanks for the video, mall looked clean! Our retro mall is really in poor shape.
This used to be a great mall . It became a hangout for the teens etc. People got nervous about the teens. First time I was there was October 18th or 19th. So sad to see how it is. The old Eastgate houses police departments for IMPD. I am very angry with Simon they didn't care about us and didn't try to keep it up
@@UniCommProductions I was going to comment the same thing but without the "lmao". I just wanted to see if you could do an updated non-biased review on their current status. They have lost all big chain stores this year. Finish line, Kids Foot locker, Bath and Body works have all left. Some mom & pop stores have also left recently. I am not sure what the future holds for this mall.
@@collbd01 I would like to go back; I don't find myself in Indiana very often these days but I would absolutely go back and see what it's like now. When I was there to film this first video, there were very limited national chains in the mall already; it was almost entirely independently owned businesses.
You started seeing it in the late 90s, when people started having a huge fear of an “overly litigious society” and they were worried kids like us that tried to swim in them had parents that would sue if we got hurt.
I felt completely safe in here--the mall has two (pretty beefy) guards who are very visible and take turns doing laps of the mall. They were constantly on the move and looking out the whole time I was there. I've been to a few malls out in the country that I was literally the only one inside and they gave me the creeps. I do think its life as an A-tier mall are over but I'm glad it's still open, and that locals are using it as a springboard for starting their own businesses.
I frequented this mall from 1976 until the 2010s.... but started going to Castleton Square and Greenwood Park Mall more in the 2000's... now I will only go to Greenwood Park Mall... the youth are disrespectful to other shoppers. Too much crime.
I would love to be able to hold it up on a stand or something but in places like this where I’m trying to avoid being kicked out by a guard I have to hold it in front of me and I’m not a very tall person.
I've lived in Indianapolis my entire life (59 years) and can remember when every mall except Glendale opened. Lafayette Square was then first enclosed Indianapolis mall, opening in 1968 with tremendous acceptance. At the time, it was the largest in the state and the decor with it's fountains and bridge was jaw dropping. Four years later, Castleton Square opened it's doors and succeeded Lafayette to become the largest mall in the state. Unfortunately, what it gained in size it lost in beauty and uniqueness. It was and has always been a terribly boring mall, made worse by even more bland and hideous renovations over the years. Washington Square opened in 1974. It wasn't as large as the other two, but it definitely had more eye appeal than Castleton. The eastside of Indianapolis used to be a lovely, extremely well kept area of the city. The residents were very respectable, solidly middle-class, and had some money. The Shadeland Avenue corridor was home to Western Electric, Chrysler, Ford, and the Jenn-Air Corporation. Those companies employed thousands of people with excellent pay and generous benefits... until the 1980's. The recession and high interest rates of that time had a very negative effect on the automakers and business in general and this affected the local plants tremendously. Western Electric made the nation's telephones until our Government decided Ma Bell was a monopoly and broker her up. By 1985, Western Electric was gone, leaving behind an ENORMOUS white elephant of a building that took years to repurpose. Nowadays, the eastside is but a shell of it's former self. It's much poorer and more violent. Most of the crime in Indianapolis comes from this area. Today, a "good paying" eastside job is Walmart or other such service work. Of course, if you desire a higher pay, one can always become a "pharmaceutical sales representative", aka drug dealer. There's a hot market for that job. Of course, there are no benefits per se and the working conditions suck, but hey... what more can you ask for? The glory years for Washington Square and the eastside of Indy are in the rearview mirror and are fading fast.
Are you the same person that made a mall video while "Heaven is a place on Earth" plays in the background through the mall's overhead speakers? If so, please shoot me a link so I can show my wife. Thanks
I'll settle this for you. This mall is dead. The traffic is sad. These malls are all stuck in the seventies. They should play disco music and roll w it.
Ironic you say that. A lot of what was actually playing in the mall that day was a lot of James Brown and old school R&B so maybe they already are. I personally use dead to describe a mall in danger of closing…and while I agree it’s not a conventional mall it could very well continue as it is for years because the owner has very little invested in it and seems to at least be maintaining things.
![NLE Choppa - Or What ft. 41 (Orchestra Mix) [Official Music Video]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/biOFASEgSOM/mqdefault.jpg)
I grew up in this mall from ‘84-98. I had friends that worked at the KB toy store, Chess King, GAP, Sears, FinishLine, ConeyDog, the old Tinderbox (tobacco shop)… every Sunday after church we used to eat at the old MCL. Then roam around for hours. The old General Cinema had two theaters. The best part is the mall always smelled of fresh Caramel Popcorn from the popcorn shop the original owner sold it years ago when she retired. We even got our first dog at the pet shop there. So many memories. Thanks for the video.
You forgot getting food samples at Hickory Farms and Ice cream at Baskin Robbins!
Was the Carmel corn store called KarmelKorn?
@gingerjones5931 YES
70s-80s architecture and design will always be my favorite. They were always so bold with buildings and homes. Like when people would put those pits in the floor of their living rooms for socializing. It’s just so interesting and colorful. I’m so sick and tired of basic things. It’s like “the giver” except we are moving backwards and stripping the color from our lives.
Another amazing video!!
I completely agree! Every time I go shopping I am disappointed by the lack of color the last few years.
This is the mall of my youth. As the economics of the mid and far east sides of Indy changed, so did the mall. Lots of people who had means and lived east or in the eastern suburbs had no problem using more gas to go to Castleton or Greenwood Park malls. Similar story for the west side and how that affected Lafayette Square Mall. Some of the things I remember about Washington Square: There was a cookie store where you could watch the employees make the cookies. There was a two screen movie theater, I believe General Cinemas. There was a Farrell's Ice Cream parlor though I was too young to remember that. I do remember the Ponderosa buffet restaurant and Baskin Robbins. Up until the late 90s, there was a Ruby Tuesday inside the mall. From what I recall, it was the only Ruby Tuesday in the Indy area. However, driving up north in the late 90s, I was shocked to see a stand alone Ruby Tuesday along US 31 in Kokomo. I thought that was a different concept and this was right around the time the mall Ruby Tuesday had closed or later closed. MCL cafeteria lasted for many years. Over the years there were two different McDonalds in the mall. The first one was a very large store. It was always more dimly lit, with three different zones or sections of one bold color (like Yellow, Purple, etc.). That one eventually closed and a much smaller, walk-up only McDonalds opened up as a replacement. They had two nice bookstores, both national brands but I can't recall which two. The city used tax incentives to lure various retailers to come to the area and I wondered if they would stay once the incentives ended. In recent years, there were two retail actions that for me put the mall on its death bed. First, the Victoria's Secret closed and yet it was always one of the busier shops whenever I'd stop by to walk thru the mall. It was part of the larger national move they made to close down under-performing stores. Then both Target and Dick's closed their mall entry/exit points. I knew then that something was up. Not that long ago there was a social media post suggesting a remodel would actually include taking the roof off, demolishing some of the mall, and have a mixed use development on the site with retail, housing, etc..
Yep I grew up going there and Eastgate. Good times that'll unfortunately never come again. I used to go to the eb games in there alot.
yes i live on the west side of indy and would always go to Lafayette Square mall, but would also travel to all the other malls as well
Walden books was the one on the Lazarus end. I can’t recall the other one it was on the Sears end near McDonalds.
to be COMPLETELY honest i still EQUALLY really really LOVE lafayette square mall keystone at the crossing and you tube ALMOST as much as washington square mall castleton square mall mcdonald's greenwood park mall and circle centre mall
@@colleenvandergriff8554- B. Dalton Booksellers, maybe?
Legit grew up at this mall. I lived about 5 minutes away as a kid. This place used to really be very nice. Had all the biggest stores back in the day.
The McDonalds of the 80s of Washington Square…does anyone else remember it the way I do??
They had a green purple and yellow tile sections? I can't find any pictures of it.
@@JohnnyRapture. Yes. The front section was yellow, and it had a futuristic 2000s theme. There was a counter at the front that served desserts and drinks, but not hot food. Behind that was a 1900s section with a cinema theme (lots of movie posters). Further back were themes from earlier eras, but I don’t remember much about how those were decorated. At the very back was the counter that had the full menu available.
I worked there, frequently the front “dessert island” yellow area.
Spent every weekend there from 85 to 94 and hated when they moved McDonald's. The dark cave of the 80s was a nice break
I used to frequent this mall when I lived in Indy. That was 25 years ago. During the holidays you could hardly find a parking space
They used to show routes on the news station on how to there and where overflow parking was at Christmas.
It reminds me of the 80s mall they recreated for Stranger Things; except this one is authentic 80s!
It's even in the right state, and that area definitely has it's share of high strangeness.
I frequented Boss Battle Games there until it relocated. Loved that spot.
This is Indianapolis’ “hood” mall along with Lafayette Sq Mall on the west side.
I remember going to this malls grand opening. It was a huge deal and so crowded you could hardly move.
I grew up in this mall! OMG the Sammy Terry Dungeon. Sammy Terry was big in the area. He was a horror movie public television host like Elvira. I actually have documentation on all the stores from opening until now and I'll share it in discord.
Oh, ok! We had The Cool Ghoul!
He also owned a music shop. I met him once out of character when mom was picking up my band flute.
I use to work as a porter at Stuarts in the Fall of '85.
STUARTS! That's a store name I haven't heard in many years! I remember my mom and grandma buying clothes there in the 80s.
I remember the Cherry tree movie theater that was near there. Seen Star trek 6 when it came out there.
Lazarus was an anchor as long as I can remember. I do know JCP, Sears, and many smaller stores also moved down to Washington Square from Eastgate Consumer Mall as well as Burlington many years later. This mass exodus caused real harm to Eastgate and was the beginning of the end for it. Eastgate was very small compared to all the others in the city...Just one long hallway.
Lazarus was there for many years. Used to also have LS Ayers, Blocks which later was changed to Montgomery Ward. The Wards was torn down and now the Target is in its place.
yes, i remember the store Lazarus being here also. great memories
Blocks
What I wouldn't give to be able to freely roller skate around this mall in particular. Great video!
Me too! Thank you for watching!
The music was just right for that little stroll! 😁👍
I wanted it to sound like 80s R&B radio
This is good "dead mall" channel. I may be biased since she hangs out in my part of the country but the research is legit.
Kristen, your dry wit, makes you one in a million, & a keeper "for sure" (maybe not in this segment, but, since I've seen all your productions, it's there, and much appreciated)
Awww thanks!
Takes me back to the good old days. Thank you for the video.
I actually work at this mall at the Bath & Body Works!
What a great example of vintage esthetic 70s mall ( the malls of my youth ) Love the cubist sculptural ceiling. Seem to remember that was a thing then. Equally great opening graphics !
Is the Sammy Terry store still there?
Having grown up in Indy, usually going to either Lafayette Sq. or Glendale, I really miss these places when I come home for the holidays.
Yes! You can see it toward the end of the video it’s in the old Sears wing
Malls are a small sample of what's basically happing to retail locations. Its sad I used to enjoy shopping around other humans before the internet and amazon.
"Shoutout to Gamer's Loot"...as they left and are now at Castleton Square Mall...
The mall of my youth. The east side was always humbler than the north and south, but Washington Square was where we shopped when Target (which was its own separate store in those days near the ShowBiz pizza) wouldn't do. Mother loved Lerner's of New York for work clothes. I loved the little arcade. There were book stores, toy stores, Spencer's gifts, Wicks 'N Sticks.
I remember visits to Santa as a child, picking up my one and only Beanie Baby here (a pig) as a young teenager. I worked at the mall at the Sears at the jewelry counter after high school in the late '90s. I loved having the money to go to Luca Pizza and buy my own lunch and then cruising Funcoland. Outside were stores like Waccamaw (or as dad called it, Walkthemall) and Payless Shoes. Mom and I would go to the Denny's and thought Pier 1 was the coolest new store in town.
It was a huge event when the Walmart opened down the street. My aunt would go there just about every other day.
So much of it has changed with its lesser Eastgate mall having totally dried up forever ago. There's a dead mall that doesn't get a lot of attention! It was small and focused on specialized stores, but it had a damn good arcade back in the day.
Even though it's a "Dead Malls" channel, i like how you root for the success of malls in a general sense.
I absolutely don’t want to see these places fail. There’s always someone there who is doing their best with what they’ve got.
I remember there being some big rocks on there (my memory remembers them being lava rocks). My cousin split his head open on one. Some fountains for making a wish with your change...and you could smoke 😂
Wow, it LIVES
My home town had three major malls and a nearby one, and only one survived
Great video
During its prime, Washington square was definitely a draw and certainly worth the trip if you didn't live nearby.When I was younger I was always amazed by its layout of my dumdthe mall as it wasn't your typical dumbbell layout but one with sharp angular curves that seemed to go on forever. It's also interesting how so many storefronts from stores that close decades ago still are intact just painted over or having small detail changes from the current occupants.
Your Unicorn logo is adorable, you must have had an artist create it!
I did! His name is Oscar and I found him on Fiverr
It seems Lazarus was interviewing people to fill positions for their grand opening as posted in the Indianapolis Star. Date was July 13, 1978.
THANK YOU! So I suppose it probably opened shortly after that, probably for the holiday season.
I'm pretty sure it opened in 1978.
I’m surprised the target in the same building is still open
It’s not only open, it was super busy! This was early in the day on a Thursday. I was surprised!
You say it's understandable that the dungeon wasn't open, but I visit this mall semi regularly at different hours of the day and I've quite literally never seen them open.
I can only speak for the time I was there.
I worked there from 1997-2007 at the CarmelCorn shop
If you were working at Karmelkorn back in the day, hats off and sorely missed! I think the last one I know of is in Gatlinburg
When you see a church pop up in a mall, it's a death sentence 🤣🤣🤣
Truth. They usually can’t pay the rent in a thriving one. They’re usually there because it’s cheap.
You have a good taste in music.
This was the best mall back in the day in my opinion. Every single business was thriving and this mall stayed packed. Alot of memories there. Now i feel like they should knock it down and make it a nice outside outlet and fix the parking lot. Just make it look nice until more businesses come around.
I worked at the JC Penny auto joint from before it opened till I went in the USN Sept 75. Knew tons of classmates at MCL and McD's and others. Saw Car Wash at the inside theater. Went to the Lazarus and Sears going out of business sales, sad. Never as bad as Lafayette sq but the neighborhood is a bit sketchy today.
This mall was so fire in the 90s
Nice, I actually have some footage of this one myself! Haven't gotten around to doing anything with it yet.... I found filming tricky since 1. My experience at Lafayette and 2. The leering security guard near the not open Target entrance, which I didn't see in this film either lol. ;) Cheers
I remember this mall, living on the west side (closer to Lafayette Square) in the 1990s. Even back then I remember the style felt like a cool throwback vibe with the brick and carpet in the center space. I agree it's not "dead," and is a good example of why the term really often isn't appropriate. Someone really needs to come up with a better set of terms for malls that, for example, do seem mostly abandoned by national chains but still have decent occupancy and traffic.
I love hearing a good pants store joke. 🤣🤣🤣
what is the name of the song playing at the beginning of this video?
I remember coming here with my brother one time because he wanted to get a tattoo done, if I remember correctly it’s like to the right of Dick’s it was kinda boring sitting there so I just took a walk around and it felt kinda strange walking around in a somewhat empty mall, I remember walking by gamers loot and seeing a dnd game going on but anywho, my walk around the mall was pleasant along with the echoing calming music
That it was very cool mall, excellent video guys! Also, I know it’s not officially dead, but Circle Center Mall in Indianapolis would make for a cool video!😸
Stand by...I have that one filmed already so it's coming!
@@UniCommProductions yay! I visited it when I went to Indy in 2018 because I was staying at the Hampton across the street, it’s a cool place, weird, but cool!
Oh I remember those floors
to be COMPLETELY honest i did do and will really really LOVE washington square mall
Honestly I do too, it’s a fun place and very different.
@@UniCommProductions it's nice to meet you and that makes sense
If you were there on a Friday, I may have even seen you if I was working!
Me and Bath and Body Works are like a moth to a flame. I can’t help myself. You probably did.
ty for showing this video
Lazurus was definitely open by the late 70's cause my parents bought me some clothes there
One more step toward solving the mystery!
Those floortiles and ceiling are from the 80's.
The floor tile and ceiling tiles are original to the mall, 1974. When Simon properties got their hands on it they repainted and redid what is the target wing.
Lazarus was built on the mall by late 1977 or in 1978. I remember seeing the sign during the grand opening time period. Architecturally this mall is still top notch. I hope they figure out how to keep it going and repurpose it in areas. Lafayette square is getting a massive $350 million makeover International Marketplace.
I LOVE CATAN.... that was a nice find. :)
It’s one of our favorite games!
First time to see the mall for me: Summer of 1975, June or July. The big "Blockbuster movie of that summer was..."Jaws"... and literally every movie house in Indianapolis sold out their seats. A few other times I shopped there - J.C.P. and Block's as well as L.S. Ayers. It was grand in the 70's! The last 30 years...the city's east side went to literally hell. The news shows that every day. What a shame...and I spent many years living in Indy to know what life was like way back in the 50's to most of the 1980's.
This is one of my favorite malls
Christen. How old are you? The intro music was more late 1970s than 80s. And the flooring in the mall looks more circa early 1970s which makes sense since the mall first opened in 1974.
I’m 41. The mall was built in the 70s that is correct but a lot of the ceilings etc are very ahead of their time and resemble a lot of malls built in the 80s more closely, as do many of the storefronts.
I think I was at this mall but I know I was at one mall in Indianapolis can't remember it was back in 96. I remember back in 96 when I was 9 years old there was a virtual reality thing and now we have virtual reality that's pretty neat. The arcade was really futuristic had a lot of games and there was virtual reality where you put over your face and get to see the game play the game
That sort of sounds like Circle Centre they had a GameWorks
@@UniCommProductions yes
@@eddievenuto1862 you’ll be pleased to hear that’s the location of my next video. It should be out this weekend :)
@@UniCommProductions I live in Canton Ohio you ever been there look it up 5 hours from Indianapolis it's an hour from Cleveland North to South it's 2 hours from Columbus and the East it's about 2 hours from Pittsburgh just giving you an idea where Canton Ohio is Canton Ohio is home to the pro football Hall of Fame
@@eddievenuto1862 I’ve driven through there a few times in the last year going here and there but haven’t had a chance to stop and see the town.
Love this music
If you really want to see a Vintage shopping mall stuck in the 80s, you should go down to El Paso, TX and visit Sunland Park Mall. It's a dying mall too.
I would LOVE to make it down to Texas whenever rental car prices get down to normal again--that's the biggest thing keeping me from going further right now.
D R E A M C O R E
That’s a huge big pretty mall
It's definitely deceptively large, and for being mostly unaltered since the 70s/80s it's still in pretty good shape, considering I've been to malls at this occupancy level (that were NEWER) that had graffiti in some of the emptier hallways and were not being taken care of at all.
I'm sorry I'm not overly familiar with Indy , but it is the mall that is visible from I65 when entering the city from the north? I drove through Indy from Chicago numerous times and I always noticed a large mall on the north outskirts
I think the mall you're seeing up that way is Fashion Mall at Keystone...which is FAR from dead, it's a very fancy mall!
@@UniCommProductions I stand corrected. Thank you
The mall along I-65 is Lafayette Square Mall.
How did you get footage here? Slacking Packing tried getting footage and got kicked out by security.
I blend in better than a lot of young guys do. I'm a woman in her 40's so I sort of "belong"...I look like a mall walker.
A few days ago I visited a mall in southern New Jersey - the Moorestown Mall. Similar to Washington Square but even slower - my guess occupancy at 40-50%. It also had an "Escape Room." What we need is an official nomenclature for the status - particularly those somewhere in between "dead" and "thriving." How about "dying" ... "almost dead" ... struggling" ... "surviving" ... "flourishing but not thriving"??? What do you think?
I usually use the term struggling
Unfortunately the inside of our mall has been closed for over a year and there's no stores left. Except a movie theater dollar tree and Dunhams the mall is called westridge mall and is about 230 thousand square feet original anchors were herbergers,woolworths,Montgomery wards and jc penny. The stores that exist yet only have outside access I forgot to add.
Where is it located? This sounds like an interesting place!
Not sure how you were able to get video because I went there two days ago to take pictures and was stopped and told to delete them lol
Sometimes it’s a luck of the draw. I’ve had the same thing happen to me at other malls.
Buenas Tardes, Kristin! See you did an earlier time upload (not enough for a night debut, as you'd say).
Even this Pepsi machine (6:02) is from the early '90s and the mall have been able to keep the design and not been replaced by a more modern one. Even though this mall seems to be well kept, as far as for the % of tenants go they have some areas are just TOO DARK (10:17). The newer mall's owner (Kohan wouldn't have the "cajones" to even invest in anything close to that) should've put more lights to make it "less creepy" (appearance does count).
I didn't knew that "Dead Mall Country" went as far west as Indy (thought it fell short of there), but now I know OVERMALLING (as you so precisely call it) goes here as well in many ways.
This mall is very reminiscent to my local mall Meadowood Mall before it's 2013 renovation, it is quite neutral now..rather boring, I wish it still looked like this mall. Meadowood was built by the Taubman Co and acquired by Simon. I love this, brings back memories of my old mall, they should have never changed it! meh...
The music is on a other level, excellent choice..
I really wanted it to have the feel of a late 80s R&B station, Anita Baker vibes.
@@UniCommProductions sounds good, I gave a sub to see new and past videos.. looking forward to more.. 🥰
@@WyattBSEarp1929 welcome aboard! I have a couple more in Indiana coming soon. I took a pretty long road trip out that way a month or so ago.
I was born in the late 2000s, which means I never got to truly experience malls in their prime. My parents always tell me I have an 'old soul' or that I 'was born in the wrong generation'...I am currently in an 80's phase where I wonder what my life could have been like if I were living my teenage years in the 80s - 90s
I envy all people who were able to live during the 1980s to 1990s
What was the name of the Asian gift shop that was there for several years?
I was racking my brain trying to remember that today.
That's tottaly an liminal space
Wow, that original neon looks really good, it’s such a novelty these days, not as garish as I remember it. It does remind me of a beachside mall near where I grew up in New Zealand, it was called the galleria….. looking at these old style malls, I believe the reason they failed is that there’s nothing else to do other than shop, they feel disconnected to the outside world.
They’re definitely not the social hubs they once were
U do so many malls maybe one day you’ll hit mine
Which one is that?
It’s Lima Ohio and it was doing really well until a virus that u may have not heard of suddenly made it downfall. Keep doing what u do though with the high quality production it’s always interesting to learn a malls history!
ty
Farrels ice cream!
I never knew there was a Washington Square Mall in Indianapolis. I knew about the one in Evansville, Indiana. Makes me wonder if they’re related somehow. I will say that the Evansville location is dead too.
I’ve done a video on that one too-it has a beautiful food court! The one in Evansville predates this one by a few years and was built by completely different developers
Dead remnants of a huge part of my childhood, Sad.
A local’s independently owned and operated concept interesting 🤔
This used to be great. The Walden oaks with the wood plan floors. The roaring real waterfall's in the center of mall, , the corn dog on a stick that was like heaven, the awesome dark brick old School McDonald's, awesome mcl cafeteria at end of mall, the awesome toy store, kb, fye , Spencer's, the awesome dark theater still attached to mall and beside it a glorious dark sectioned off arcade with tons of pinball mach, vintage super Mario machine, punch out out, paperboy, just it was totally 80s heaven. Glad she still stands and she needs some love. Some better shops to lease there the roof needs work the parking lot will eat your tires half the time the city ignores their dumpsters
❤️❤️❤️❤️
Target straight out of 1996 over here.
Lazarus took the place of either Blocks or LS Ayres
Blocks was at the south end of the mall, and Lazarus was on the southeast end. Lazarus' parent company (Federated) bought Blocks in the mid-1980s. All of the Blocks stores closed down. All of the old suburban Blocks locations in Indianapolis became Montgomery Wards, while the old Blocks in Downtown Indy became a Lazarus. In the mid-2000s, May Company (parent company of LS Ayers) and Federated merged. All of their stores became Macy's.
For sure Lazarus was there.
I kind of get the pants stores 🤣 . Growing up in the 80’s-90’s all the pants at the mall were way to short (except Express/Limited). So I desperately needed more pants options... alas no pants store 🤣🤣
But if they didn’t have short/ tall/ or fuller figure options ...I’m thinking this is a weird store concept.
Thanks for the video, mall looked clean! Our retro mall is really in poor shape.
I have the opposite problem-even the “short” lengths are too long!
This used to be a great mall . It became a hangout for the teens etc. People got nervous about the teens. First time I was there was October 18th or 19th. So sad to see how it is. The old Eastgate houses police departments for IMPD. I am very angry with Simon they didn't care about us and didn't try to keep it up
I see so many abandoned properties that still have electricity. But if you're a struggling family, no soup for you.
This is far from abandoned, it’s over half full of stores, but I agree struggling families shouldn’t have to worry about such things.
I’d love for you to go back now lmao
Why is that?
@@UniCommProductions I think you’d struggle to find the optimism this video had.
@@UniCommProductions I was going to comment the same thing but without the "lmao". I just wanted to see if you could do an updated non-biased review on their current status. They have lost all big chain stores this year. Finish line, Kids Foot locker, Bath and Body works have all left. Some mom & pop stores have also left recently. I am not sure what the future holds for this mall.
@@collbd01 I would like to go back; I don't find myself in Indiana very often these days but I would absolutely go back and see what it's like now. When I was there to film this first video, there were very limited national chains in the mall already; it was almost entirely independently owned businesses.
😎
When did they start removing fountains from malls? I used to love that shit so much as a kid - I remember "swimming" in one. Awkward.
You started seeing it in the late 90s, when people started having a huge fear of an “overly litigious society” and they were worried kids like us that tried to swim in them had parents that would sue if we got hurt.
Right!Fountains always seemed to compliment mall architecture.
I wish Simon would be in charge of that mall again for safety and more shops reasons
I felt completely safe in here--the mall has two (pretty beefy) guards who are very visible and take turns doing laps of the mall. They were constantly on the move and looking out the whole time I was there. I've been to a few malls out in the country that I was literally the only one inside and they gave me the creeps. I do think its life as an A-tier mall are over but I'm glad it's still open, and that locals are using it as a springboard for starting their own businesses.
@@UniCommProductions I grew up in Indiana and know most of the places. Especially the Warren township area, it’s a hood
@@katiegammon15 prosperity and pride in being able to call something your own does a lot to improve all kinds of neighborhoods.
I lived on the Eastside/Southeast most my life. It's definitely not what i would call the safest area. They're worse though for sure.
@@UniCommProductions I know what it’s like in south and east side of Indy because I grew up in Indianapolis
I frequented this mall from 1976 until the 2010s.... but started going to Castleton Square and Greenwood Park Mall more in the 2000's... now I will only go to Greenwood Park Mall... the youth are disrespectful to other shoppers. Too much crime.
It would be better if the camera is placed higher.
I would love to be able to hold it up on a stand or something but in places like this where I’m trying to avoid being kicked out by a guard I have to hold it in front of me and I’m not a very tall person.
Kohan? Booooo!!!!!
I've lived in Indianapolis my entire life (59 years) and can remember when every mall except Glendale opened. Lafayette Square was then first enclosed Indianapolis mall, opening in 1968 with tremendous acceptance. At the time, it was the largest in the state and the decor with it's fountains and bridge was jaw dropping. Four years later, Castleton Square opened it's doors and succeeded Lafayette to become the largest mall in the state. Unfortunately, what it gained in size it lost in beauty and uniqueness. It was and has always been a terribly boring mall, made worse by even more bland and hideous renovations over the years. Washington Square opened in 1974. It wasn't as large as the other two, but it definitely had more eye appeal than Castleton. The eastside of Indianapolis used to be a lovely, extremely well kept area of the city. The residents were very respectable, solidly middle-class, and had some money. The Shadeland Avenue corridor was home to Western Electric, Chrysler, Ford, and the Jenn-Air Corporation. Those companies employed thousands of people with excellent pay and generous benefits... until the 1980's. The recession and high interest rates of that time had a very negative effect on the automakers and business in general and this affected the local plants tremendously. Western Electric made the nation's telephones until our Government decided Ma Bell was a monopoly and broker her up. By 1985, Western Electric was gone, leaving behind an ENORMOUS white elephant of a building that took years to repurpose. Nowadays, the eastside is but a shell of it's former self. It's much poorer and more violent. Most of the crime in Indianapolis comes from this area. Today, a "good paying" eastside job is Walmart or other such service work. Of course, if you desire a higher pay, one can always become a "pharmaceutical sales representative", aka drug dealer. There's a hot market for that job. Of course, there are no benefits per se and the working conditions suck, but hey... what more can you ask for? The glory years for Washington Square and the eastside of Indy are in the rearview mirror and are fading fast.
Very sad and true, I only pray that the mall and businesses will get better. Only time will tell what will happen, I miss years ago.
FN1ST!!!
SNAAAAAAAAAAAKE!
@@UniCommProductions KKKKKRRRRIIIIIIISSSSTTIINNN!!!!!
Are you the same person that made a mall video while "Heaven is a place on Earth" plays in the background through the mall's overhead speakers? If so, please shoot me a link so I can show my wife. Thanks
I don’t think I’ve ever used that but that sounds like something Ace’s Adventures would have done. He uses copyrighted music quite a lot.
That’s not a dead mall……ok lol looks like a zombie land not even any walkers lol
I'll settle this for you. This mall is dead. The traffic is sad. These malls are all stuck in the seventies. They should play disco music and roll w it.
Ironic you say that. A lot of what was actually playing in the mall that day was a lot of James Brown and old school R&B so maybe they already are. I personally use dead to describe a mall in danger of closing…and while I agree it’s not a conventional mall it could very well continue as it is for years because the owner has very little invested in it and seems to at least be maintaining things.
This photo in this video is apparently from this mall. Can anyone confirm and if so do you know what happened to this area?
Did you watch the video? That gets explained and this photo is absolutely in this mall; I’m the one who took it