Grew up in Stamford (born in the mid-70s). I moved away in the late 90s and I haven’t really been back at all in over 10 years. This is absolutely surreal to see. I can remember how absolutely alive it used to be in my youth. They even filmed some scenes from a lesser-known Woody Allen movie there in its heyday, right around 1990. Thanks for the video.
The 9 floors is a little bit of a stretch. I think they just wanted to brag. It's really 9 parking levels, and 4 of the 9 floors were entirely consumed by being nothing but parking access, 3 of the floors were really just 2 1.5x high floors, the main ones, then there was a floor for dining mostly, but it had some shops, and finally the last floor was just the base of the event area, and a couple shops behind the elevators.
I love this mall so much. It’s almost 10 floors of elegant and modern Taubman design. Truly a wonder to behold. I’ve been waiting for this one. Thank you so much, Doomie!
I have seen the demise of a downtown mall. It was once a beehive of activity with endless places to explore and reasonably good parking, assuming you don't mind parking garages. All is gone now, nothing but dust. The great dept stores with their different levels of dining, bakery, shoe repair, eye glass, everything you see in the 1950's movies. I can imagine lady shoppers wearing hats, and sipping tea in the tea lounge....all gone. I hope the Stamford mall survives, as I hate to see another downtown mall go away. Thanks again Doomie for a great video.
Man I would _love_ to see that mall for myself one day. Definitely one of Taubman's best developments ever, actually one of the best malls ever in general. If it really can't be sustained as a shopping mall, I could see it repurposed as America's nicest office complex. I have actually seen office buildings with grand atria such as the one this mall has.
Welcome to CT! This mall back in the day was always busy. I have not been there since the 80's and wow it is empty now. Always high priced.high end goods. I never liked the outside. Blah. Or the really long escalators. I always thought TOO MUCH to walk 7-8-9 floord. Too much to see and no cozy places like coffee shops. You are right other malls killed it because shoppers went to Danbury and Trumbull. Same anchors. Macy. JCP.. Saks. Vs. Lord and Taylor in Trumbull. I was going to go back to see Stamford one last time but your video killed that idea. Lol. Thanks!
its a beautiful mall certain aspects of it make it feel more like a 4 star hotel with the red carpet stairs to the glass elevators with the fountains at the bottom. it would be nice to save it & hopefully they do.
It's not as much of a labyrinth as you may think. It has 3 wings on the main 2 floors, and the rest is all just built around the large vertical atrium.
i've always wanted to go to this mall. it's just an amtrak away for me ;) Thanks for telling the right reason of why Taubman sold it. It's STILL a Taubman masterpiece. Only Beverly Center has a similar design.
I have seen many malls come and go over the last 40 years LONG before Amazon was created. I remember one that closed in the late 70s. You mention Northlake Mall in Charlotte. Last time I was there it was struggling. Make sure you follow all those stupid arrows on the floor Doomie.
Absolutely beautiful. I truly fell in love with Taubman, after visiting the Woodfield Mall as a child. While each one is unique, they do share a common (and recognizable) aesthetic.
You want to see the ULTIMATE example of 1980s mall architecture (as well as classic Taubman architecture); Stamford Town Center is the place to be! Only thing missing is the neon; but that didn't really show-up in malls until at least the mid to late '80s.
this mall is a far cry from what it use to me. i remember when it had an A&W In the food court. the White plains Galleria is another one thats meeting the same fate. Malls here do fine but its the stronger ones that have lasted. SoNo did take alot of business form this mall. im sure it will be torn down and redeveloped into something
I’m from stamford, and it’s a shame watching the demise of the mall over the years. Problem with this mall is they kept it the same, it is dated in comparison with surrounding malls. It took them like almost 25-30 years to address the food court (it used to be nonexistent)...design was flawed from the beginning, inside and out. But never changing or changing too late did them in. I like the restaurant plaza. I wish that the whole plot of land be repurposed into something walkable and nice looking. With some shops, music, restaurants etc. that part of downtown needs the pedestrian traffic and needs something nice looking. Hopefully they will repurpose it Perhaps
I agree I would honestly love to see this because this small is basically the face of downtown Stamford and if you were to remove it, what image would it have?
@@theforcelockgamer2972if yhe mall is the facr of Stamford, then the question is: What is Stamford? Is it the "town center" or is it a city? Stamford mall is built for a smaller town population....the growth has outpaced it
Ahh!!!, another mall has bit the dust. I remember the year 1987, I had a job that gave 3 weeks vacation. I decided to pack it all in December so I can go shopping for Chistmas shopping. Visitting Beltway mall, Laurel mall, New Carolting mall, Prince Gorge's mall in Maryland. They were pretty crowded. Now all except P G is about to torn down.
Ah I miss this style with the sitting sunken areas…prob bc I grew up as a small kid on Lakeforest another Taubman classic before they ripped it apart with updates
So this was done in by a new mall opening? In 2019? Wow, you never hear that anymore. It held on for a pretty long time given that it was an urban mall and those rarely do well.
I grew up with this mall from the time it opened until I left for college in '95, and I remember its heyday vividly. Banana Republic when it was more of a novelty tropical retailer, Sharper Image, FAO Schwartz, A&W burgers... and that wonderful fountain by the elevators, which was timed to shoot an incredible jet up to about the 5th floor every few minutes. It was always PACKED. Sad to see it so empty, but I'm suprised to see how well the decor and facilities have held up. If you find the Woody Allen/Bette Midler movie Scenes From A Mall, it was filmed there (terrible movie, but neat to see STC in its prime).
I was a Woody Allen fan but I’ve never been able to sit through that movie no matter how hard I tried. It was filmed in the summer but set around Christmas time; after filming wrapped the studio left all the decoration which the mall used for years afterwards; my wife had a running joke whenever we went Christmas shopping how It looked it as been decorated by professionals… I don’t remember A&W but Chi-Chi’s was a favorite in the day, if I remember correctly it was a floor down from the food court (not enough space?). I think there was also a Brookstone at the same time; one of them lasted until relatively recently. I had a sister that was a “tour guide” at Banana Republic.
@@Pupda Chi Chi's! I remember going there. Probably the only "Mexican" food in Fairfield County for years. What else... they had a Bang and Olufson, that gourmet butcher shop by the base of the fountain Brae Beef, that French pastry place Au Bon Pain (really good chocolate croissants!) Sam Goody, Benneton, Waldenbooks, and probably a dozen other retailers that don't exist anymore. Nostalgia hitting hard.
THANK YOU! I knew I wasn't crazy I remember the fountain shooting up higher.. It hasn't shot up in years.. I'm talking like 5-10 years. The very top floors are pretty much empty (parking) I'm not sure if they opened it up again but I've never seen any traffic up that way.
Every city's downtown is no longer a place to be. Urban renewal was an attempt to save downtown, but shoppers started feeling unsafe and that can kill anything. A mall that has car jacking's and late night robbery's usually helps ruin a mall no matter where it is.
That fountain had a geyser when it opened, that would shoot bursts of water up near the seventh "Skylobby" level, which was populated with sit-down restaurants. They tried very hard to not let it be a family mall, with almost no attractions for kids. No fast food, no arcade, no Spencers, nothing.
You should come film some malls in the Dallas-Fort Worth area. We have an abundance of indoor malls, with 3 struggling to stay afloat. The Shops at Willow Bend is a Taubman mall that opened in 2001. Sadly, it was sold 7 years ago and renovated about 3 years ago and it’s beautiful Taubman was replaced with a neutral color scheme and ugly light fixtures. The mall has never done amazing, and hasn’t been above 85% occupancy in its lifetime. However, it’s decline recently accelerated thanks to the pandemic and it lost most of its remaining upscale stores like Ann Taylor, Origins, Aveda, Talbots, and it’s now losing Anthropologie to the thriving Stonebriar Centre up the road. Anyways, if you can, you should definitely film some malls in North Texas.
Thanks for speaking up regarding Amazon. I don't do business with them, but as someone with a bachelors in Retail/ Business, do your homework. Online accounts for only 15 percent of retail and Amazon is 0.5 percent of that.
If I were a billionaire, I'd buy one of these malls and convert it to look like a futuristic space station (think Star Trek DS 9). If people wanted to come, they're welcome, but it would really just be for me lol. If only...
Um, nope. The Sono over in Norwalk didn’t kill Stamford Town Center, though it is definitely helping finish it off now; STC is a victim of the same forces that have been killing malls for decades. .As others have mentioned STC has been in decline since the 90s, particularly with the opening of another mall, not the Sono but “The Westchester” over in nearby White Plains. Stamford Town Center was aimed at high-end shoppers; while Stamford had been more of a working class city surrounded by some of the wealthiest bedroom communities in the country - think Greenwich, Darien, New Canaan, etc. - the infamous “Gold Coast”. Once The Westchester opened that traffic evaporated almost entirely. The upscale anchor, Saks Fifth Avenue, bailed first though eventually it’s off-price subsidiary, Saks Off 5th, would reopen in the same space for several years before closing within the last year or so. The low-end anchor JCPenney went next, to be replaced by Filene’s which would consolidate into the mid-level anchor Macy’s, now the only remaining anchor. Meanwhile the internet also had an effect, even without Amazon, though make no mistake, Amazon had a larger part in killing STC than The Sono did. With the rise of the internet, even before online shopping, the 80s mall-rat culture found other and better things to do than to hang out at the mall all day. In the last ten years the rise of online shopping killed off most of the traditional retailers at STC in favor of nail shops, cell phone covers, sunglasses and watch batteries, etc.; there was a significant switch from retail to services and convenience store items, and that transition was in full swing well before The Sono (theater) was demolished to make way for The Sono (mall).
The interior looks so outdated. It generally lacks the "family vibe" atmosphere. Very few tenants and it made to look like "empty". You should see the Malls in The Philippines, it is way better, hands down.
Well,in this case,it's a matter of "location,location,location". This mall's nice and all that,but it's inaccessibility is it's biggest draw back. Downtown area malls have the draw back of being downtown. Which means crowded in,not much room to expand,and difficult to get to. Not a great starting point. However,I think a lot of malls are dying cause the owners just don't care if the mall dies. It seems backwards to think someone could just not care a multimillion dollar investment isn't worth caring about,but there really is only so much time and effort you can put into a doomed project. And all projects are doomed eventually. But with retail being phased out by the "powers that be",it's probably not going to happen. Especially for this mall. I just don't see a turn around here.
Grew up in Stamford (born in the mid-70s). I moved away in the late 90s and I haven’t really been back at all in over 10 years. This is absolutely surreal to see. I can remember how absolutely alive it used to be in my youth. They even filmed some scenes from a lesser-known Woody Allen movie there in its heyday, right around 1990. Thanks for the video.
my god, 9 floors. absolutely incredible. and I love that it's got a running fountain. A rare thing these days.
The 9 floors is a little bit of a stretch. I think they just wanted to brag. It's really 9 parking levels, and 4 of the 9 floors were entirely consumed by being nothing but parking access, 3 of the floors were really just 2 1.5x high floors, the main ones, then there was a floor for dining mostly, but it had some shops, and finally the last floor was just the base of the event area, and a couple shops behind the elevators.
I love this mall so much. It’s almost 10 floors of elegant and modern Taubman design. Truly a wonder to behold. I’ve been waiting for this one. Thank you so much, Doomie!
Wow, just wow! I would have loved to have been a mall walker here! 😍
I have seen the demise of a downtown mall. It was once a beehive of activity with endless places to explore and reasonably good parking, assuming you don't mind parking garages. All is gone now, nothing but dust. The great dept stores with their different levels of dining, bakery, shoe repair, eye glass, everything you see in the 1950's movies. I can imagine lady shoppers wearing hats, and sipping tea in the tea lounge....all gone. I hope the Stamford mall survives, as I hate to see another downtown mall go away. Thanks again Doomie for a great video.
Man I would _love_ to see that mall for myself one day. Definitely one of Taubman's best developments ever, actually one of the best malls ever in general. If it really can't be sustained as a shopping mall, I could see it repurposed as America's nicest office complex. I have actually seen office buildings with grand atria such as the one this mall has.
I live in Stamford and actually used to work in this mall. It's not as good as you think.
I know I’m probably late to responding to you but I went yesterday to return something and there is only about 12 stores open and they are useless
Welcome to CT! This mall back in the day was always busy. I have not been there since the 80's and wow it is empty now. Always high priced.high end goods. I never liked the outside. Blah. Or the really long escalators. I always thought TOO MUCH to walk 7-8-9 floord. Too much to see and no cozy places like coffee shops. You are right other malls killed it because shoppers went to Danbury and Trumbull. Same anchors. Macy. JCP.. Saks. Vs. Lord and Taylor in Trumbull.
I was going to go back to see Stamford one last time but your video killed that idea. Lol. Thanks!
Those skylights and ceilings....magnificent.
This is my favourite mall now. The funky angles, skylights and glowing fountain look so futuristic.
I used to go as a kid, and beg to go there, but returning there saddens me.
One of my all time favorite Taubman malls!
its a beautiful mall certain aspects of it make it feel more like a 4 star hotel with the red carpet stairs to the glass elevators with the fountains at the bottom. it would be nice to save it & hopefully they do.
This video is an instant classic. This labyrinth of a mall would be so great to see in person.
It's not as much of a labyrinth as you may think. It has 3 wings on the main 2 floors, and the rest is all just built around the large vertical atrium.
Amazing video man! Always love seeing these Tubman malls!
Love malls! They all have their own style. Thank you for sharing them with us. We would never see these malls if it weren't for mall utubers. 👀🎥.
i've always wanted to go to this mall. it's just an amtrak away for me ;)
Thanks for telling the right reason of why Taubman sold it. It's STILL a Taubman masterpiece. Only Beverly Center has a similar design.
I have seen many malls come and go over the last 40 years LONG before Amazon was created. I remember one that closed in the late 70s. You mention Northlake Mall in Charlotte. Last time I was there it was struggling. Make sure you follow all those stupid arrows on the floor Doomie.
Arrows?
Where?
@@DoomieGruntVentures Watch 6:18 of the video.
I remember this mall in the 90's as a kid. Good memories!
Absolutely beautiful. I truly fell in love with Taubman, after visiting the Woodfield Mall as a child. While each one is unique, they do share a common (and recognizable) aesthetic.
I knew the moment I saw those elevators that this is a Taubman mall! Much like my childhood mall, Fair Oaks, in northern Virginia.
This looks like right out of an action movie.
Is there anything NY Times won't complain about?
I'm from Stamford, I've been there many times. I haven't been there in a couple years, I do plan on going back at some point, hopefully soon.
You want to see the ULTIMATE example of 1980s mall architecture (as well as classic Taubman architecture); Stamford Town Center is the place to be! Only thing missing is the neon; but that didn't really show-up in malls until at least the mid to late '80s.
this mall is a far cry from what it use to me. i remember when it had an A&W In the food court. the White plains Galleria is another one thats meeting the same fate. Malls here do fine but its the stronger ones that have lasted. SoNo did take alot of business form this mall. im sure it will be torn down and redeveloped into something
Stamford Town Center would be the perfect location for a futuristic movie its so space age high-tech looking, remake of Logan’s Run perhaps 🤔
That was a pretty sweet elevator ride :)
This mall receives a 4.2 score on Google reviews. I get nervous from those dizzying heights and low railings just watching your RUclips video.
I’m from stamford, and it’s a shame watching the demise of the mall over the years. Problem with this mall is they kept it the same, it is dated in comparison with surrounding malls. It took them like almost 25-30 years to address the food court (it used to be nonexistent)...design was flawed from the beginning, inside and out. But never changing or changing too late did them in. I like the restaurant plaza. I wish that the whole plot of land be repurposed into something walkable and nice looking. With some shops, music, restaurants etc. that part of downtown needs the pedestrian traffic and needs something nice looking. Hopefully they will repurpose it
Perhaps
I agree I would honestly love to see this because this small is basically the face of downtown Stamford and if you were to remove it, what image would it have?
@@theforcelockgamer2972if yhe mall is the facr of Stamford, then the question is: What is Stamford? Is it the "town center" or is it a city? Stamford mall is built for a smaller town population....the growth has outpaced it
Ahh!!!, another mall has bit the dust.
I remember the year 1987, I had a job that gave 3 weeks vacation. I decided to pack it all in December so I can go shopping for Chistmas shopping. Visitting Beltway mall, Laurel mall, New Carolting mall, Prince Gorge's mall in Maryland. They were pretty crowded. Now all except P G is about to torn down.
Ah I miss this style with the sitting sunken areas…prob bc I grew up as a small kid on Lakeforest another Taubman classic before they ripped it apart with updates
So this was done in by a new mall opening? In 2019? Wow, you never hear that anymore. It held on for a pretty long time given that it was an urban mall and those rarely do well.
Other than that monstrosity in New Jersey I believe Sono was the last fulll scale mall to open in the US.
I grew up with this mall from the time it opened until I left for college in '95, and I remember its heyday vividly. Banana Republic when it was more of a novelty tropical retailer, Sharper Image, FAO Schwartz, A&W burgers... and that wonderful fountain by the elevators, which was timed to shoot an incredible jet up to about the 5th floor every few minutes. It was always PACKED. Sad to see it so empty, but I'm suprised to see how well the decor and facilities have held up. If you find the Woody Allen/Bette Midler movie Scenes From A Mall, it was filmed there (terrible movie, but neat to see STC in its prime).
I was a Woody Allen fan but I’ve never been able to sit through that movie no matter how hard I tried. It was filmed in the summer but set around Christmas time; after filming wrapped the studio left all the decoration which the mall used for years afterwards; my wife had a running joke whenever we went Christmas shopping how It looked it as been decorated by professionals…
I don’t remember A&W but Chi-Chi’s was a favorite in the day, if I remember correctly it was a floor down from the food court (not enough space?). I think there was also a Brookstone at the same time; one of them lasted until relatively recently. I had a sister that was a “tour guide” at Banana Republic.
@@Pupda Chi Chi's! I remember going there. Probably the only "Mexican" food in Fairfield County for years. What else... they had a Bang and Olufson, that gourmet butcher shop by the base of the fountain Brae Beef, that French pastry place Au Bon Pain (really good chocolate croissants!) Sam Goody, Benneton, Waldenbooks, and probably a dozen other retailers that don't exist anymore. Nostalgia hitting hard.
THANK YOU! I knew I wasn't crazy I remember the fountain shooting up higher.. It hasn't shot up in years.. I'm talking like 5-10 years.
The very top floors are pretty much empty (parking) I'm not sure if they opened it up again but I've never seen any traffic up that way.
Every city's downtown is no longer a place to be. Urban renewal was an attempt to save downtown, but shoppers started feeling unsafe and that can kill anything. A mall that has car jacking's and late night robbery's usually helps ruin a mall no matter where it is.
More stores than we have in ours.
Wish the fountain went nine stories high. That would be pretty sweet!
That fountain had a geyser when it opened, that would shoot bursts of water up near the seventh "Skylobby" level, which was populated with sit-down restaurants. They tried very hard to not let it be a family mall, with almost no attractions for kids. No fast food, no arcade, no Spencers, nothing.
You should come film some malls in the Dallas-Fort Worth area. We have an abundance of indoor malls, with 3 struggling to stay afloat. The Shops at Willow Bend is a Taubman mall that opened in 2001. Sadly, it was sold 7 years ago and renovated about 3 years ago and it’s beautiful Taubman was replaced with a neutral color scheme and ugly light fixtures. The mall has never done amazing, and hasn’t been above 85% occupancy in its lifetime. However, it’s decline recently accelerated thanks to the pandemic and it lost most of its remaining upscale stores like Ann Taylor, Origins, Aveda, Talbots, and it’s now losing Anthropologie to the thriving Stonebriar Centre up the road. Anyways, if you can, you should definitely film some malls in North Texas.
Nice!!!!
Thanks for speaking up regarding Amazon. I don't do business with them, but as someone with a bachelors in Retail/ Business, do your homework. Online accounts for only 15 percent of retail and Amazon is 0.5 percent of that.
If I were a billionaire, I'd buy one of these malls and convert it to look like a futuristic space station (think Star Trek DS 9). If people wanted to come, they're welcome, but it would really just be for me lol. If only...
I know this is off topic but do you like the 80s a lot
Somewhat. Its mostly the architecture of the time, which our corporate overlords seem to be intent on erasing now a days
Will you do Holyoke mall next
The Galleria at white plains NY is built in the similar style to this one
Um, nope.
The Sono over in Norwalk didn’t kill Stamford Town Center, though it is definitely helping finish it off now; STC is a victim of the same forces that have been killing malls for decades. .As others have mentioned STC has been in decline since the 90s, particularly with the opening of another mall, not the Sono but “The Westchester” over in nearby White Plains.
Stamford Town Center was aimed at high-end shoppers; while Stamford had been more of a working class city surrounded by some of the wealthiest bedroom communities in the country - think Greenwich, Darien, New Canaan, etc. - the infamous “Gold Coast”. Once The Westchester opened that traffic evaporated almost entirely. The upscale anchor, Saks Fifth Avenue, bailed first though eventually it’s off-price subsidiary, Saks Off 5th, would reopen in the same space for several years before closing within the last year or so. The low-end anchor JCPenney went next, to be replaced by Filene’s which would consolidate into the mid-level anchor Macy’s, now the only remaining anchor.
Meanwhile the internet also had an effect, even without Amazon, though make no mistake, Amazon had a larger part in killing STC than The Sono did. With the rise of the internet, even before online shopping, the 80s mall-rat culture found other and better things to do than to hang out at the mall all day. In the last ten years the rise of online shopping killed off most of the traditional retailers at STC in favor of nail shops, cell phone covers, sunglasses and watch batteries, etc.; there was a significant switch from retail to services and convenience store items, and that transition was in full swing well before The Sono (theater) was demolished to make way for The Sono (mall).
The interior looks so outdated. It generally lacks the "family vibe" atmosphere. Very few tenants and it made to look like "empty".
You should see the Malls in The Philippines, it is way better, hands down.
These masks. Imagine still wearing them.
Cute
Well,in this case,it's a matter of "location,location,location". This mall's nice and all that,but it's inaccessibility is it's biggest draw back. Downtown area malls have the draw back of being downtown. Which means crowded in,not much room to expand,and difficult to get to. Not a great starting point.
However,I think a lot of malls are dying cause the owners just don't care if the mall dies. It seems backwards to think someone could just not care a multimillion dollar investment isn't worth caring about,but there really is only so much time and effort you can put into a doomed project. And all projects are doomed eventually. But with retail being phased out by the "powers that be",it's probably not going to happen. Especially for this mall.
I just don't see a turn around here.
Who ever gets the demolition contract is going to make a fortune. It was dated and needs to go. 9 floors was adding to it being obsolete.