I grew up up the street from this mall. Moved 13 years ago out if state. But this makes me sad. This mall used to be the place to go from the mid 70s to early 80s. There was a Foodtown, a movie theater at the far end, a Bradley’s back in the day, there was a pharmacy next to Foodtown. Alwilck Records was at the beginning of the middle entrance to the mall with Breyers Ice Cream store across from that. They ruined this mall. It was so much better when it was a completely open floor plan. I’m sad to see it be abandoned. The McDonald's, Franks Pizza have been there since the original malls opening.
@@RayOutThere It was! It was the place to be seen as a teen if you can imagine. Once Livingston Mall was built, a lot of kids started going there as a hangout as well as Williwbrook :)
I used to go to this mall all the time growing up. You're right, the first store was a Super Food Town. To the left of the Super Food Town was a drug store, I can't remember if it was Rite Aid or something else. The large empty store that you looked at after McDonalds was originally a Bradless for many years and after that it was a Walmart for many years. There used to be a very cool arcade in that mall about 30 years ago. I also bought my first music tape there as well at an Alwick Music that used to be in the mall. If I'm not mistaken there was also a murder at this mall many years ago, it was a shooting I believe. The mall was originally named "The Morris County Mall". It also had a Ground Round Restaurant that many people in the area still remember.
Bradlee's! That's a blast from the past. I bet that arcade was amazing back in the day. Thank you for sharing your memories and giving us the history of this place.
Circa 1982 a teenage girl who attended Parsippany Hills High School was found killed behind the mall. Turns out she had worked at one of the stores, and was abducted from the mall. Curtis Sliwa and his Guardian Angels came to the mall, escorted customers and employees to their car, and taught them how to park in relation to the street lights and other cars. The story was later the subject of a New Detectives program.
@@spectrum48 wow! I just looked this up and that’s a crazy story. I thought I remembered hearing that someone was shot once at the Morris County Mall. I never heard about the murders. Also, Curtis Silas coming to the mall, I didn’t know about that either!
yea i go to that mcdonald’s they used to have a arcade type room with retro style games and i remember this kids area they had with jellybean wrapped stools. this was probably like 7 years ago
I lived in Cedar Knolls from 1980-83 before moving to Randolph. I saw Empire Strikes Back at the movie theater there when I was only 5 years old. When I was 16, me and some friends got caught for shoplifting blank tapes at Bradley's in 1993 or 1994. They also had a great pizza place in that mall. I also remember a Randolph high school girl that was kidnapped and killed from this mall. The Guardian Angles where there at this time. Seems like yesterday!
There was a Bradlees where Walmart is. I worked there for 3 years in the 1980s. I spent a lot of time there. Inside was a "T" shaped inside with an arcade, McDonalds, pizza and Chinese restaurant. Also clothes stores, a comic book and record store. Where the bank is used to be a Ground Round restaurant and next to it a bar named Durkin's. All in the late 79's early 80's. The doors where TJMaxx used to be were the front doors to the mall. There was a theatre where the Sears was. I saw Star Wars and Porky's there. Great video and a little depressing. There were about 30 small shops and stores in the mall. Who remembers The Village.
I just stumbled across this video. I remember vividly as a kid when my mother took me to the Foodtown. The lighting in the store was so dim and I always got the creeps whenever I walked in there. The other stores/restaurants I remember were SEARS, KFC, Homegoods, Rite Aid, RadioShack, and obviously the McDonalds. And at one point it had N64’s with Mario 64 in the center of the restaurant, and my god were the controllers filled with grease.
I grew up in the next town. Before this became a strip mall it had an indoor portion that died in the 90s when I was a kid. I remember it was half dark from stores being out of business and there was a creepy costume shop open year round. Also had a RadioShack and a great pizza place. The McDonald’s had N64s bolted in for years.
As a kid growing up in nearbyMorristown the 70's and 80's used to go here all the time. The first building was a Foodtown Supermarket(before that Stop & Shop). Walmart used to be Bradlees, and the old abandoned Sears was a 2 screen movie theater. The inside part of the mall had Leisure Land (arcade), McDonald's, Thom McAn Shoes, The Station (a bar, later called Durkin's) Radio Shack, Bart's Pizza, Oriental YumYum (Chinese Restaurant), Breyer's Ice Cream, Alwik Records, Salon Di Pucchiere, Thrift Drugs, The Happy Booker, Fashion Bug (clothing store), and a few others that escape my memory. Used to love the place.
I still visit this strip mall on occasion (there is an active Wal Mart), that clothing store was originally a TJ Maxx and that Sears was a specific hardware and supply store Sears branch.
I remember a lot of this mall, used to go there in the 80s and maybe into the 90s. It had a Bradlees at one end, and a Thirft Drug at the other. Thrift Drug had a JC Penney return area only, not a JC Penney where you could buy stuff. Some stores in the mall I remember were Time Out (Arcade), Village Computer, paint store, an area with lots of sewing supplies, a book store that took up three units, a record store which I believe was The Wall, a sporting goods store which sold the old lucky strip trucker style hat and satin starter jackets. There was a McDonalds as shown here, a Blimpie. There was a Ground Round which had an outside entrance and I think a pub. Vaguely remember a Cracker Barrel store and a pop up vendor who sold sports jerseys in the middle of the mall. The supermarket was a Super Foodtown but it wasn't there when I originally remember in the mid 80's, that came later.
I lived just down the street from this plaza on Ridgedale Ave. for a number of years. I remember when Bradlees closed up shop and Walmart was brand-spanking new, some time in the early '00s. I even remember the last time I went to that Sears - was to pick up some replacement wire for my weedwhacker.
you should definitely look at Freehold Mall (not FRM, but a strip mall called Freehold Mall) in Freehold. it's old, decrepit, and I think vitamin shoppe and the farmer's market are the only places still in business there. last I heard they were turning it into low income housing, but nothing's happened on that front yet...
@@RayOutThere The Freehold Mall is now being renovated. They old green roof canopy has been torn down in certain parts and they have just created an Aldi store out of one of the empty ones. Also Auto Zone has moved in. The talk of making it low income housing never materialized.
@Aakash Bhargava I think RUclips flagged your comment as spam, so I hope you see this. Thank you so much for your support and sticking with me from the beginning! It really means a lot!
I filmed this plaza in January 2021. I ran into someone that wouldn't mind his own business. He was following me to the back of the abandoned Foodtown, asking me questions why I'm filming and told me to delete my video. He was suspicious, cause I later found out that my best friend knows about the place and what's going on over there. There's graffiti there and my best friend told me that they deal drugs I guess at the back of the building. At least I got most of the footage out of this place lol. Sad that this place is falling apart and the only store that's doing well is Walmart, they can go suck it. It used to be a Bradlees a long time ago, Bradlees was one of my childhood stores. Me, my brothers and my mom would always go to Bradlees, I wish Bradlees & Caldor were still around. Those stores had way more character than Walmart!
I saw your video! That was so crazy. This place is so shady and I had bad vibes when I went here. This place looks like it used to be nice, not so much now. Stay safe out there my friend.
Awesome explore, I wonder if the empty big anchor was a TJ Maxx since there was a TJ Maxx shoping cart inside of Sears. The McDonald's was a trip back in time, there are very few neon McDonald's these days.
The strip mall is dead. Inside was RadioShack, Frank Pizza (still in Roxbury), subway, a Korean/Chinese place and yes a salon. Lived in Morristown for 15 years now and that’s what I remember. The Grocery store was C Town Town and the retail store next to McDs was Home Good/TJ Maxx. It moved up the street in another strip mall location. That mall used to have movie theaters back in the day. Plus people were abducted from that strip mall in the 80s FYI.
Big store was a Bradlee's. I used to hide in the clothes racks. There was also a Ground Round right past the Foodtown towards the mall, and a bunch of random stuff in the mall - I think there was even a small theeater at one point. The mall looks different, but the McDonalds is somehow untouched. You filmed the exact booth i distinctly remember having my first ever Mcdonalds chicken nugget in, and I don't think it is any different than it was somewhere around 1989/1990. Thanks for finding this, I thought they gutted the place completely.
Great video! As of April 2023 the Foodtown has been completely gutted. The TJ Maxx, the SEARS and all the shops near the weird McDonald's (Subway, Radio Shack, etc.) all look about the same. According to the real estate listing on the Ripco site, they have leased space in the center to a grocery store, Planet Fitness and Michael's. Apparently, the renovation of the center include a new facade, signage and landscaping. There was some construction equipment around the center, so it looks like it will get revitalized. Maybe worth a revisit when all the renovations are complete.
I remember the long gone movie theater of the "Morris County Mall" (I think it was a multiplex). I remember seeing "Return of The Jedi" for the first time there and I'm pretty sure I also saw the 1978 "Superman" the first time there as well.
Super foodtown tj maxx sears bradlees n dollar zone i was there april 2023 for tht first time in like 10 years, and boy has it changed. I still remember when they renovated it to look like that
Growing up in the 1970s I remember amongst the original stores the McDonalds, a Baskin Robbins (or Breyers?), a movie theater, the radio shack, a bank, a dollhouse store, Bart's pizza, a stationary/gift shop and a Caldor or Bradlees (there were other stores I dont remember)
I think the reason this mall has become rundown is what has been a long running decline of malls ...especially smaller ones, I can remember this mall and the Wayne Hills Mall being busy back in the glory days of the 80s and early 90s they both weren't big malls and I think Cedar Knolls will end up like Wayne Hills ...torn down. I personally think the only malls left standing will be the mega malls like the Garden State Plaza, Lehigh Valley and King of Prussia. It's similar to the Phillipsburg Mall, I was there when it opened and it was busy as hell, but over the years anchors closed beginning with JC Penney, then Bon Ton then Sears, while this was happening online buying started to rear It's ugly head spearheaded by Amazon, that greatly speeded up the demise of smaller marginal malls. Hey the Whitehall and Bergen Mall used to be bustling also!
Retail is in decline all around. I think many of the smaller enclosed malls are going to be gone. Whoever owns this particular plaza must've just given up on the place.
Stores: Walmart Stores (former): TJ Maxx, HomeGoods, Sears, Foodtown, The Max, RadioShack, a salon and a dollar store. Restaurants: McDonald’s Restaurants (former): Subway, Frank’s Pizza, Phoenix Asian Cuisine and Panda Restaurant (whatever the name was).
I worked in several places in that mall in my teenage years, as did most kids from WPHS. I remember the club called Dizzy Duncans in the 70s. That place had a lot of safety issues and the Morris County Mall was notorious for a handful of kidnappings of young women (and one murder) in the parking lot, so Dizzy Duncans became a Ground Round (complete with Bingo the Clown) and the Guardian Angels from NYC (Curtis Sliwa and associates) came there to offer assistance to help locals feel safe again. Okay, that is an oversimplification of two decades but yeah, basically. The Ground Round ultimately became a credit union which is there now, still open. The mall was also known for FAT MOOSE COMICS (shoutout to them cuz they gave me a scholarship for my writing and I am now an author), Alwilk Records, Radio Shack, the arcade, The Happy Booker (which had three businesses in the mall), Thrift Drug, and the cinema where I remember standing in line in '77 to see Star Wars. The Foodtown is currently being demolished and recently I had hear rumor of a tent city back there prior to the demolition. The mall used to have a nice inside corridor where you could bump into folks back in the day. Once it became Cedar Knolls Plaza (strip mall with a mini inner corridor for food) the old vibe was gone.
If you're still doing Mall videos you should do one on the mall in Vineland New Jersey off of Landis Avenue near Delsea Drive is it two for one as there's also an old abandoned Sears there
Good video documenting this while it was still open. I went to explore it yesterday, but the main entrances are locked up tight. There was another painfully obvious way in (yes open to the public), but it wasn't the day to push my luck with a normie seeing it. People somewhere are still getting inside the plaza though. Also, the game table from McDonalds is now gone.
I grew up in the area. I remember Ground Round, Bradley's, Frank's Pizza the Chinese restaurant etc. etc. when it became known as the murder Mall went downhill after that lol (Btw I've never heard it called the Cedar knolls Mall it's the Morris County Mall).
At one time there was a Sears there which you found out, I seem to remember a theater along with a Bradlees there or maybe a K Mart along with the usual mall stores like Things Remembered and Claires.
That McDonald's was pretty cool and why do people have to break stuff and vandalize, never understood the need to do that. That cart seen better days. Thanks for taking us around
Yo buddy, my grandparents lived up the street. There was also a bar/restaurant its was a bunch of things. My childhood memories were in the McDonald's and food town there
@@RayOutThere Probably so. the mall experienced a few shootings once. I probably don’t wanna go back to that mall anyway but I can’t be stopped. And also because of Covid probably.
This mall had at least one incident where a girl was taken from from the mall and murdered. The murderer was put on death row. There may have been a second abduction later.
I worked the Thrift Drug in the early 90s there and in the stock room that would of been next to the Chinese place there were mad roaches lol. The Chinese place had Roaches up the ass in that place. I miss the Arcade they had though and the Mcdonalds was so much bigger.
Hi, first time visiting your channel, Liked, I see your channel is a newer one, hope to see more, I have done a few vids like this check em out if ya like, Have a Great Sunday, will watch some more and subscribe
The architecture of the eighties and nineties was depressing to me. The eighties with the mauve, black, blue, grey, purple, and teal colour scheme as well as the nineties with tan, brick red, sand brown, yellow and light brown. These places were cheaply built with a life span of perhaps twenty years, after which they started falling apart with leaky pipes, leaky roofs, failing air conditioning, and grimy buckling walls. I never liked malls. There was really nothing to do but spend money or walk around looking at store after store that all looked the same. They also tended to be higher priced than stand alone stores. What was so weird about the McDonalds? It was shabby and outdated; I wouldn't want to eat anything from there but it wasn't weird, just kind of depressing. Don't get me wrong. I gave a "thumbs up" and subscribed because I enjoyed the video. I look forward to your new videos. I just think malls stink.
Hey those are all valid opinions! I happen to be an enthusiast for malls and retro architecture, and I know many others also are. I think the appeal lies in nostalgia, and looking back to a bygone time. Its the same reason I enjoy abandoned places. This particular place was in very rough shape. I know the McDonald's wasn't too weird, but I have to be a little clickbaity in the title. But I really appreciate you giving it a watch, and I hope you'll enjoy my other content. I'm vlogging any point of interest in my area, and hopefully events as more start to happen.
@@mascara1777 The big mall that was popular when I was 19 was Lake Forest Mall built in 1978 in New Orleans. It had an ice skating rink which was a super attraction and I'd go to look at the skaters but it was turned into a tired ass food court and every thing closed. I think it ended up that way because it got boring. The food court was the usual mix of fast food and snack stuff. Always the same all the time, no real changes except stores opening then closing. When you go downtown every building is built at a different time and many of the businesses are still individual and there are cool places where you can party and usually something special going like a festival or a concert or a parade, just more of life.
I grew up up the street from this mall. Moved 13 years ago out if state. But this makes me sad. This mall used to be the place to go from the mid 70s to early 80s. There was a Foodtown, a movie theater at the far end, a Bradley’s back in the day, there was a pharmacy next to Foodtown. Alwilck Records was at the beginning of the middle entrance to the mall with Breyers Ice Cream store across from that. They ruined this mall. It was so much better when it was a completely open floor plan. I’m sad to see it be abandoned. The McDonald's, Franks Pizza have been there since the original malls opening.
Thank you for sharing your memories of this place. I sounds like it must've been great back in the day.
@@RayOutThere It was! It was the place to be seen as a teen if you can imagine. Once Livingston Mall was built, a lot of kids started going there as a hangout as well as Williwbrook :)
I used to go to this mall all the time growing up. You're right, the first store was a Super Food Town. To the left of the Super Food Town was a drug store, I can't remember if it was Rite Aid or something else. The large empty store that you looked at after McDonalds was originally a Bradless for many years and after that it was a Walmart for many years. There used to be a very cool arcade in that mall about 30 years ago. I also bought my first music tape there as well at an Alwick Music that used to be in the mall. If I'm not mistaken there was also a murder at this mall many years ago, it was a shooting I believe. The mall was originally named "The Morris County Mall". It also had a Ground Round Restaurant that many people in the area still remember.
Bradlee's! That's a blast from the past. I bet that arcade was amazing back in the day. Thank you for sharing your memories and giving us the history of this place.
Circa 1982 a teenage girl who attended Parsippany Hills High School was found killed behind the mall. Turns out she had worked at one of the stores, and was abducted from the mall. Curtis Sliwa and his Guardian Angels came to the mall, escorted customers and employees to their car, and taught them how to park in relation to the street lights and other cars. The story was later the subject of a New Detectives program.
@@spectrum48 wow! I just looked this up and that’s a crazy story. I thought I remembered hearing that someone was shot once at the Morris County Mall. I never heard about the murders. Also, Curtis Silas coming to the mall, I didn’t know about that either!
I remember the ground round and it was also dizzy dunkins
@@spectrum48 a West Orange High school classmate was abducted from this mall, weeks later her body was found, in a wooded area of Morris county.
That was a cool McDonald’s I love when places like that has character.
I love the style of old fast food places.
yea i go to that mcdonald’s they used to have a arcade type room with retro style games and i remember this kids area they had with jellybean wrapped stools. this was probably like 7 years ago
I lived in Cedar Knolls from 1980-83 before moving to Randolph. I saw Empire Strikes Back at the movie theater there when I was only 5 years old. When I was 16, me and some friends got caught for shoplifting blank tapes at Bradley's in 1993 or 1994. They also had a great pizza place in that mall. I also remember a Randolph high school girl that was kidnapped and killed from this mall. The Guardian Angles where there at this time. Seems like yesterday!
There was a Bradlees where Walmart is. I worked there for 3 years in the 1980s. I spent a lot of time there. Inside was a "T" shaped inside with an arcade, McDonalds, pizza and Chinese restaurant. Also clothes stores, a comic book and record store. Where the bank is used to be a Ground Round restaurant and next to it a bar named Durkin's. All in the late 79's early 80's. The doors where TJMaxx used to be were the front doors to the mall. There was a theatre where the Sears was. I saw Star Wars and Porky's there. Great video and a little depressing. There were about 30 small shops and stores in the mall. Who remembers The Village.
It seems like this place used to be great back in the day
awesome video! the mcdonald’s was soo cool. i love the look of the old mcdonald’s so much more to the boring look we have today
Thank you! I miss the feel of old school fast food. They tried to make the experience fun, now its just bland and boring.
I just stumbled across this video. I remember vividly as a kid when my mother took me to the Foodtown. The lighting in the store was so dim and I always got the creeps whenever I walked in there.
The other stores/restaurants I remember were SEARS, KFC, Homegoods, Rite Aid, RadioShack, and obviously the McDonalds.
And at one point it had N64’s with Mario 64 in the center of the restaurant, and my god were the controllers filled with grease.
I grew up in the next town. Before this became a strip mall it had an indoor portion that died in the 90s when I was a kid. I remember it was half dark from stores being out of business and there was a creepy costume shop open year round. Also had a RadioShack and a great pizza place. The McDonald’s had N64s bolted in for years.
I would have love to have seen the old N64s
As a kid growing up in nearbyMorristown the 70's and 80's used to go here all the time. The first building was a Foodtown Supermarket(before that Stop & Shop). Walmart used to be Bradlees, and the old abandoned Sears was a 2 screen movie theater. The inside part of the mall had Leisure Land (arcade), McDonald's, Thom McAn Shoes, The Station (a bar, later called Durkin's) Radio Shack, Bart's Pizza, Oriental YumYum (Chinese Restaurant), Breyer's Ice Cream, Alwik Records, Salon Di Pucchiere, Thrift Drugs, The Happy Booker, Fashion Bug (clothing store), and a few others that escape my memory. Used to love the place.
It sounds like it was a great place
The Happy Booker! You just unlocked a memory for me!!!
I still visit this strip mall on occasion (there is an active Wal Mart), that clothing store was originally a TJ Maxx and that Sears was a specific hardware and supply store Sears branch.
That's interesting, it didn't look like a full Sears store. Thanks for the info!
Love to see you have over 1000 subs. Keep up the great work!
Thanks for your support!
I remember a lot of this mall, used to go there in the 80s and maybe into the 90s. It had a Bradlees at one end, and a Thirft Drug at the other. Thrift Drug had a JC Penney return area only, not a JC Penney where you could buy stuff. Some stores in the mall I remember were Time Out (Arcade), Village Computer, paint store, an area with lots of sewing supplies, a book store that took up three units, a record store which I believe was The Wall, a sporting goods store which sold the old lucky strip trucker style hat and satin starter jackets. There was a McDonalds as shown here, a Blimpie. There was a Ground Round which had an outside entrance and I think a pub. Vaguely remember a Cracker Barrel store and a pop up vendor who sold sports jerseys in the middle of the mall. The supermarket was a Super Foodtown but it wasn't there when I originally remember in the mid 80's, that came later.
I lived just down the street from this plaza on Ridgedale Ave. for a number of years. I remember when Bradlees closed up shop and Walmart was brand-spanking new, some time in the early '00s. I even remember the last time I went to that Sears - was to pick up some replacement wire for my weedwhacker.
you should definitely look at Freehold Mall (not FRM, but a strip mall called Freehold Mall) in Freehold. it's old, decrepit, and I think vitamin shoppe and the farmer's market are the only places still in business there. last I heard they were turning it into low income housing, but nothing's happened on that front yet...
Thanks for the tip! I just looked that up and it looks pretty run down. I'll have to check that out in the future.
@@RayOutThere The Freehold Mall is now being renovated. They old green roof canopy has been torn down in certain parts and they have just created an Aldi store out of one of the empty ones. Also Auto Zone has moved in. The talk of making it low income housing never materialized.
Omg I love strip malls. I'm not sure why, I guess I imagine people hanging out and what they did there and what different stores moved in and out.
Strip malls are fun, and there's plenty of them in NJ.
@Aakash Bhargava I think RUclips flagged your comment as spam, so I hope you see this. Thank you so much for your support and sticking with me from the beginning! It really means a lot!
I love the ceiling in that mall
I filmed this plaza in January 2021. I ran into someone that wouldn't mind his own business. He was following me to the back of the abandoned Foodtown, asking me questions why I'm filming and told me to delete my video. He was suspicious, cause I later found out that my best friend knows about the place and what's going on over there. There's graffiti there and my best friend told me that they deal drugs I guess at the back of the building. At least I got most of the footage out of this place lol. Sad that this place is falling apart and the only store that's doing well is Walmart, they can go suck it. It used to be a Bradlees a long time ago, Bradlees was one of my childhood stores. Me, my brothers and my mom would always go to Bradlees, I wish Bradlees & Caldor were still around. Those stores had way more character than Walmart!
I saw your video! That was so crazy. This place is so shady and I had bad vibes when I went here. This place looks like it used to be nice, not so much now. Stay safe out there my friend.
@@RayOutThere Yeah, it def had bad vibes and you as well buddy. I'm gonna be filming tomorrow morning in PA, should be a fun day!
@@TimurD1905 Looking forward to seeing what you find out there!
@@RayOutTherethis was aka morris country mall, a murder there in 82, became aka murder mall
Awesome explore, I wonder if the empty big anchor was a TJ Maxx since there was a TJ Maxx shoping cart inside of Sears. The McDonald's was a trip back in time, there are very few neon McDonald's these days.
I think it was a TJ Maxxx as others have said
The strip mall is dead. Inside was RadioShack, Frank Pizza (still in Roxbury), subway, a Korean/Chinese place and yes a salon. Lived in Morristown for 15 years now and that’s what I remember. The Grocery store was C Town Town and the retail store next to McDs was Home Good/TJ Maxx. It moved up the street in another strip mall location. That mall used to have movie theaters back in the day. Plus people were abducted from that strip mall in the 80s FYI.
Yeah. It was known as the murder Mall then & the Guardian Angels showed up.
Big store was a Bradlee's. I used to hide in the clothes racks. There was also a Ground Round right past the Foodtown towards the mall, and a bunch of random stuff in the mall - I think there was even a small theeater at one point. The mall looks different, but the McDonalds is somehow untouched. You filmed the exact booth i distinctly remember having my first ever Mcdonalds chicken nugget in, and I don't think it is any different than it was somewhere around 1989/1990. Thanks for finding this, I thought they gutted the place completely.
Wow, that is sad! But I loved the McDonald's fusball table and LEGO statue. Never seen anything like that before! 👏😂
It was something else for sure!
Great video! As of April 2023 the Foodtown has been completely gutted. The TJ Maxx, the SEARS and all the shops near the weird McDonald's (Subway, Radio Shack, etc.) all look about the same. According to the real estate listing on the Ripco site, they have leased space in the center to a grocery store, Planet Fitness and Michael's. Apparently, the renovation of the center include a new facade, signage and landscaping. There was some construction equipment around the center, so it looks like it will get revitalized. Maybe worth a revisit when all the renovations are complete.
Thank you! I could see this place thriving if it were updated. Its in a good area and has a wal mart attached to it
There was a bradless, store closed back in the late 90s and there was a sears hardware at the end.
This is beautiful!!!!
Thank you!
When it first opened in the 70's, it was a Stop and Shop, Thrift Drugs, Bradlees, and a General Cinema Twin theater.
That McDonald's use to have N64 game consoles in the corner. Would go and play that all the time as a kid around 2005
I wish they still did!
I remember the long gone movie theater of the "Morris County Mall" (I think it was a multiplex). I remember seeing "Return of The Jedi" for the first time there and I'm pretty sure I also saw the 1978 "Superman" the first time there as well.
Great video work
Thank you!
Super foodtown tj maxx sears bradlees n dollar zone i was there april 2023 for tht first time in like 10 years, and boy has it changed. I still remember when they renovated it to look like that
That McDonald's is cool. I really like the Lego and the foosball table
It was pretty cool. Thanks for watching!
Growing up in the 1970s I remember amongst the original stores the McDonalds, a Baskin Robbins (or Breyers?), a movie theater, the radio shack, a bank, a dollhouse store, Bart's pizza, a stationary/gift shop and a Caldor or Bradlees (there were other stores I dont remember)
I think the reason this mall has become rundown is what has been a long running decline of malls ...especially smaller ones, I can remember this mall and the Wayne Hills Mall being busy back in the glory days of the 80s and early 90s they both weren't big malls and I think Cedar Knolls will end up like Wayne Hills ...torn down. I personally think the only malls left standing will be the mega malls like the Garden State Plaza, Lehigh Valley and King of Prussia. It's similar to the Phillipsburg Mall, I was there when it opened and it was busy as hell, but over the years anchors closed beginning with JC Penney, then Bon Ton then Sears, while this was happening online buying started to rear It's ugly head spearheaded by Amazon, that greatly speeded up the demise of smaller marginal malls. Hey the Whitehall and Bergen Mall used to be bustling also!
Retail is in decline all around. I think many of the smaller enclosed malls are going to be gone. Whoever owns this particular plaza must've just given up on the place.
Stores: Walmart
Stores (former): TJ Maxx, HomeGoods, Sears, Foodtown, The Max, RadioShack, a salon and a dollar store.
Restaurants: McDonald’s
Restaurants (former): Subway, Frank’s Pizza, Phoenix Asian Cuisine and Panda Restaurant (whatever the name was).
I worked in several places in that mall in my teenage years, as did most kids from WPHS. I remember the club called Dizzy Duncans in the 70s. That place had a lot of safety issues and the Morris County Mall was notorious for a handful of kidnappings of young women (and one murder) in the parking lot, so Dizzy Duncans became a Ground Round (complete with Bingo the Clown) and the Guardian Angels from NYC (Curtis Sliwa and associates) came there to offer assistance to help locals feel safe again. Okay, that is an oversimplification of two decades but yeah, basically. The Ground Round ultimately became a credit union which is there now, still open. The mall was also known for FAT MOOSE COMICS (shoutout to them cuz they gave me a scholarship for my writing and I am now an author), Alwilk Records, Radio Shack, the arcade, The Happy Booker (which had three businesses in the mall), Thrift Drug, and the cinema where I remember standing in line in '77 to see Star Wars. The Foodtown is currently being demolished and recently I had hear rumor of a tent city back there prior to the demolition. The mall used to have a nice inside corridor where you could bump into folks back in the day. Once it became Cedar Knolls Plaza (strip mall with a mini inner corridor for food) the old vibe was gone.
If you're still doing Mall videos you should do one on the mall in Vineland New Jersey off of Landis Avenue near Delsea Drive is it two for one as there's also an old abandoned Sears there
I just looked that up and I really want to check out that old Sears. Thanks for the tip! I will try and make it down there sometime soon.
Good video documenting this while it was still open. I went to explore it yesterday, but the main entrances are locked up tight. There was another painfully obvious way in (yes open to the public), but it wasn't the day to push my luck with a normie seeing it. People somewhere are still getting inside the plaza though. Also, the game table from McDonalds is now gone.
It looks like they don't want people there. There's an overzealous security guard, I encountered him once and saw him in another video.
I’m the same as you I never seen a football table inside of a McDonald’s and that legos was cool looking
Yeah it was! Thanks for watching
I grew up in the area. I remember Ground Round, Bradley's, Frank's Pizza the Chinese restaurant etc. etc. when it became known as the murder Mall went downhill after that lol (Btw I've never heard it called the Cedar knolls Mall it's the Morris County Mall).
2 house movie theater the place i saw Star Wars for the first time. For some reason I remember the other house was showing “A Bridge To Far”
At one time there was a Sears there which you found out, I seem to remember a theater along with a Bradlees there or maybe a K Mart along with the usual mall stores like Things Remembered and Claires.
I think the clothing store may have been a Bradlee's. Do you know why this place has become so rundown?
That McDonald's was pretty cool and why do people have to break stuff and vandalize, never understood the need to do that. That cart seen better days. Thanks for taking us around
Probably just immature idiots doing that. Thanks for checking it out
Yo buddy, my grandparents lived up the street. There was also a bar/restaurant its was a bunch of things. My childhood memories were in the McDonald's and food town there
Great burger in Durkins
6:56 this used to be a TJmaxx store also welcome to my town
Thank you!
no problem
Wow abandoned malls are creepy!
I love the vibe you get from them!
The first off is abandoned foodtown
Nice video!
Thank you!
So the doors were just opened when you walked up?
Yes, at the time that I filmed this it was still open to the public, it is now closed
The McDonald’s at the mall near me closed down suddenly
Could be a health code violation.
@@RayOutThere Probably so. the mall experienced a few shootings once. I probably don’t wanna go back to that mall anyway but I can’t be stopped. And also because of Covid probably.
@@YvngSquidy Yikes I probably wouldn't go back there either. Which mall is this if you don't mind me asking?
think i just had a dream about this strip mall despite never seeing it before?
That's crazy
Not sure, but I believe that decades ago there was a Chinese Restaurant there named Oriental YUM YUM.
This mall had at least one incident where a girl was taken from from the mall and murdered. The murderer was put on death row. There may have been a second abduction later.
I worked the Thrift Drug in the early 90s there and in the stock room that would of been next to the Chinese place there were mad roaches lol. The Chinese place had Roaches up the ass in that place.
I miss the Arcade they had though and the Mcdonalds was so much bigger.
Nasty!
You missed the Walmart and dollar store bro. That's half the mall. It is a dump but not a complete ghost town.
It was called "Murder Mall" because of (duh) a murder there.
This mall attracts weirdos now
I feel attacked
2023 update : entire mall is carried by walmart, and dollar store
Hi, first time visiting your channel, Liked, I see your channel is a newer one, hope to see more, I have done a few vids like this check em out if ya like, Have a Great Sunday, will watch some more and subscribe
The architecture of the eighties and nineties was depressing to me. The eighties with the mauve, black, blue, grey, purple, and teal colour scheme as well as the nineties with tan, brick red, sand brown, yellow and light brown.
These places were cheaply built with a life span of perhaps twenty years, after which they started falling apart with leaky pipes, leaky roofs, failing air conditioning, and grimy buckling walls.
I never liked malls. There was really nothing to do but spend money or walk around looking at store after store that all looked the same.
They also tended to be higher priced than stand alone stores.
What was so weird about the McDonalds? It was shabby and outdated; I wouldn't want to eat anything from there but it wasn't weird, just kind of depressing.
Don't get me wrong. I gave a "thumbs up" and subscribed because I enjoyed the video. I look forward to your new videos. I just think malls stink.
Hey those are all valid opinions! I happen to be an enthusiast for malls and retro architecture, and I know many others also are. I think the appeal lies in nostalgia, and looking back to a bygone time. Its the same reason I enjoy abandoned places. This particular place was in very rough shape. I know the McDonald's wasn't too weird, but I have to be a little clickbaity in the title. But I really appreciate you giving it a watch, and I hope you'll enjoy my other content. I'm vlogging any point of interest in my area, and hopefully events as more start to happen.
Malls were fun if you went there as a teen during their heyday. You could run into a lot of your friends from school. It was a hangout.
@@mascara1777 The big mall that was popular when I was 19 was Lake Forest Mall built in 1978 in New Orleans. It had an ice skating rink which was a super attraction and I'd go to look at the skaters but it was turned into a tired ass food court and every thing closed.
I think it ended up that way because it got boring.
The food court was the usual mix of fast food and snack stuff.
Always the same all the time, no real changes except stores opening then closing.
When you go downtown every building is built at a different time and many of the businesses are still individual and there are cool places where you can party and usually something special going like a festival or a concert or a parade, just more of life.