Dead Mall: Eastland Mall - Columbus, OH *CLOSED*
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- Опубликовано: 7 фев 2025
- Dead Mall: Eastland Mall - Columbus, OH. Enjoy a look around this old mall on the eastern side of the city. By old, I mean the oldest operating mall in central Ohio. The place is past its prime and in major need of help to turn it around but the people of this mall do the best they can to keep this place alive and were even doing construction in one of the tenants... Possibly for a new tenant? I would like go hope so!
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We used to shop at Eastland in the early to mid 1990s. My wife worked at Sears. I remember that there was usually no place to sit at the food court. Mall was always busy.
Thank you again for another Columbus video. That neighborhood where Eastland is at is truly ghetto, it’s gotten worse since my husband left. I’ll have to show him this tomorrow, he grew up going to Eastland mall with his mom.
Louisville and Indianapolis worse areas
Used to be so amazing in there , was even a classic movie theater across the street. The 90’s was beautiful for me and the family
I grew up going to this mall. Spent tons of time in the old arcade they had, eb games, kaybee toys, tool shopping at sears. Hell I even think we bought a water heater here in 1995. Crazy to see it now.
Same here my cousin Tim and I did all our shopping at this mall, Lids, Lazarus was my spot of Tommy Hilfiger and polo. Jarmans my whole child hood- sad to see it in such a state. Used to catch that Cota from independence high school to here
The arcade was Aladdin's Castle it closed in early 1998. Loved that arcade it became a jewelry store then hair salon they are now both long gone.
@@EddieC2000 aladdin’s castle was my favorite spot in this mall.
Kb toys bruh
Growing up in the 80s an 90s Eastland was the place to be. Alladins castle was a regular spot. Lazarus, Woolworth, etc. It's a shame how this mall declined.
Did you know that Eastland used to have a movie theater in there? I first remember going to Eastland when I was 10 years old, in 1972. My eldest brother had just came back from Vietnam (after his second TOD) and he took me to Sears and bought me a nice telescope with a book on astronomy. Our family continued to go to that mall from nearby Groveport throughout the 70s, usually going to the anchors as well as Woolworths and some of the smaller stores (like Spencer's Gifts and B. Dalton Booksellers and my mom's favorite, Lane Bryant :)).
As for that movie theater, when I was in 12th Grade (late 1979), our class went to a special outing at that theater, which took place after the mall officially closed at 9PM. 3 B-movie horror features, and hilariously most of the kids (instead of watching the grindhouse crap) showed up drunk or high, were horsing around by lighting M80s under the seats or making out with their girlfriends in the darkness of the theater. By 3AM the movies are over and we all left for home :)
Also during the 70s, "bear wrestling" was popular at the malls, and Eastland was no different. One of my idiot brothers-in-law went to wrestle "Rodney" the Bear, trying to look like some massive mountain man with a hairy vest and all; the bear knocked him down and acted like he wanted to MATE with him by climbing on top of him. Oh, how I wish we had camera phones back then :)
When the 80s happened, of course they would have an arcade with the then-latest and greatest games, right by the food court. Stores like Foot Locker started moving in, and since "mall culture" was in full force then, the mall certainly had it's fair share of mallrats.
But by the 90s, the mall was showing it's age; the area was getting run down, the City Center Mall in downtown Columbus was in full swing (that one got torn down in 2009), and neighborhood malls were being passed over for new ones being built like Tuttle, Polaris and Easton. I believe the movie theater was closed by then, but I am not sure. One had been built across the street in the 80s, but I believe that one was closed by the 90s as well. A smaller arcade was opened beside the food court (those two doors beside the food court in your video was the entrance).
By the 2000s and 2010s it was obvious the writing was on the wall for Eastland, and now it's pretty much just a matter of time before it closes; as I am sure you saw, most of the stores left are clothing and bling stores, and a few kiosks. Up to I think May of 2019 there was a place called Akiba Arcade that had some older arcade machines, but specialized in newer Japanese arcade games, and even had a small anime-focused store at the entrance, with posters, figma and TV shirts. And you could play as many machines as you wanted for $5 (later $6) an hour, or $10 all day. Sadly, they moved out, hoping to open up in Hilliard, but I don't think that ever happened.
Speaking of Foot Locker, the last time I went in there (which was about a month ago), both that and the Kid Foot Locker had closed up and left. Also, did you know that, and I'm pretty sure they were there around the end of March, if you went to the truck entrance nearest to the Food Court outside entrance, there were three old arcade cabs just sitting out there? One of them is an old Sega House of the Dead unit. I looked at them and while they had been stripped of their original guns and stuff, the cabs themselves and screens were still there. When I did a video of the mall (still unproduced) in early April, the machines were there and I did put up a RUclips video of them.
No way you typed all this shit out
@@corneliusfuuba6443 You got me. I actually projected it all onto the screen with my mind powers. Saves time and energy 😵💫
ugh i find it so sad that it's going out of business i loved going there as a kid
There were 3 movie theatres at one point. Eastland 2 in the mall. Eastland 6 is now a Dollar General and Post Office. Eastland 8 was on the other side of Hamilton Road in the leveled parcel next to the international market.
Great info! Bear wrestling, that’s crazy. I didn’t know that was a thing.
You probably heard by now , but just today I read this mall is closing this week. I went searching for videos of the interior and ended up here.
my mom worked here at Things Remembered for years, so I kind of grew up in this mall. always sad to see a part of my childhood go like this, but it's wild that it's still going
It’s sad seeing malls going under. I grew up in malls with my friends
I remember shopping in this mall when I was a kid, was pretty nice back in the day. The Lazurus there had a restaurant in it that over looked the mall as well.
I lived in Columbus from 87-92. I flew into there back in March, went to the White Castle on 161 by the 71 on my way out. My how things have changed.
Things are worse in Indianapolis and Louisville
Another excellent video. I've lived within ~5 minutes of Eastland for probably about half of the last 30 years of my life. Even though this was your first time in this mall, your account of this mall is spot on. It's sad. It's run down. It's seen much better days in its 53 year history. In the early 90s on weekends leading up to Christmas the traffic on I-70 to get onto Hamilton toward the mall was sometimes backed up to the previous interchange, over a mile away! A few mom and pop shops have tried to make a go here but have not been successful, while a few longer running shops have. In 2017 or 18 a very popular Japanese arcade opened in the former Victoria's Secret that breathed much needed life and foot traffic to the mall, but sadly it only lasted about a year. The neighborhood used to be quite suburban even well into the 1990s, but that changed starting around the turn of the century and is now urban and rougher around the edges. Nothing wrong with that, but that's just how it is. Sadly, there are several other abandoned buildings and shopping strips in the area that have sat abandoned for various amounts of time. Near the Lazarus furniture place you mentioned there is a former Hechingers store that has sat abandoned since 1995! I explored a little of it about 5 years ago but there was too much of a police presence.
The south side of Columbus is so starved for malls that I'm not sure this one is going to die anytime soon. The development on the North side of the city has been so extreme in the last 20+ years that the city planners seem to forget that a ton of people don't live within reasonable transit routes to those major malls. Regardless, I have 30+ years of memories of this particular mall, so thanks for documenting!
The south end itself is growing very slowly and always has, but Grove City is busing out, as are Canal Winchester and Pickerington. The south side has always been more raw and industrial than the rest of Columbus. The south side is really the only area of Columbus that is more reminiscent of nearby rustbelt cities like Cleveland, Pittsburgh, etc. It's also where Columbus disposes of its wastes and byproducts so it's not an easy sell to build up the area. I have lived in German Village near Merion Village as well as the Rickenbacker area and I actually like the south end, but will always be sorta more "rough".
I don't know if what I'm saying is right man but I think they're building most commercial centers farther away from their entertainment challenged homes to incentivize you to drive and spend more money on gas
In a reflection of how the northern part of Columbus has grown, all the suburban school districts between Hilliard and Westerville each have at least one new high school open within the last 25 years. The closest high school to Northland Mall, Brookhaven, a part of the urban Columbus City School district, they closed in 2014.
I really liked the sign toward the end of the video that said “epic fail” . I think that sums up this mall right here😁.
Of course I enjoy hearing you narrate the mall videos, Wallie! You're a very eloquent speaker with a lot of history to share!
3:18 I believe this was one of the entrances to Sears, I remember going there. The mall felt like it was dying even in the mid-late 2000s. The area wasn't much safer back then either. I'm surprised it's still hanging on. Thanks for putting this video together
Same thing happened to malls in Indianapolis.
I'm going to Rax's for the first time ever the week after next Wallie. Mostly because you have featured it on the channel and my planned road trip goes by one.
I live in Whitehall about 2 miles away from Eastland and it was an awesome hangout back in the 80s.. time has changed the mall and that entire area big time
If you enter the mall through the east entrance (kaufman side) on a sunny morning that wing used to look spectactular, nicely lit from the skylights.
I was here in late 1999 or early 2000 and I remember the Lazarus being really nice and the Penneys being huge. I was in college and needed a blouse for something. My dorm roomie and I drove over here and did a day trip to go shopping. I remember the cool 1960s vibe the mall still had, but wow… this is way difference than I remember it. So sad. Thank you for covering it and sharing.
The building with the blue exterior looks like an old Horn's department store. Similar to the one that was at Northway Mall before they moved to Ross Park in '86.
Just providing an update since I live in the area, Eastland Mall closed permanently a couple days after Christmas 2022. An auction is currently being held to sell off items and the mall is expected to be demolished later this spring or summer. Plans for the land include a park and possibly new retail/residential space. Which is kinda odd considering Westland, on the other side of the city, has been vacant for a decade and is just now getting around to being torn down.
A great video, Wallie and Kayla! I really the music from Water Front that you play in the videos. Have a KMartlicious Day! I hope that things continue to go well for you and Kayla!
I used to go to the Lazarus there when I as a kid , would go buy record albums in the basement level .
Good video WallieB26 😃
The last time I drove on Hamilton Road between I-70 and Winchester Pike, I noticed that all of the big box stores and restaurants have closed and left the area around Eastland Mall.
My guess is that if Eastland Mall is demolished, the land developers will probably build apartment complexes in that area.
0:06 ah yes my favorite mall, A A , and don't forget Eat land! 4:45, Also great video dude.
This was the mall of my childhood. Eastland was packed every weekend in the 80s. I'm surprised it's still open since Columbus malls moved to the suburbs with the sprawl.
The crazy thing about Columbus is that land annexed to the city since the 1950's/1960's are indistinguishable from the rest of the surrounding areas. Both Easton and especially Polaris are technically in Columbus.
Thanks, Wallie for the info on the Eastland Mall's beginning and subsequent history.
Sad story again.
This mall is officially closed now :( I grew up about an hour south of Eastland in a smaller town that didn't have a mall, so anytime my mom needed to go shopping we made a day of it and drove to Eastland. I have many fond memories of shopping for school clothes, prom dresses, etc. Last time I was there was at least 15 years ago and it had already started to decline.
LOL! The other Eastland Mall in Bloomington Illinois is also pretty dead with only 1 anchor left where there once was 5.
Surprised Columbus has a dead mall . Always heard nice things about Columbus. Thankfully my mall in Erie pa is still holding on .
I love Millcreek Mall!
Early 2000s I used to Love this Place as a Kid, going to Spencers Gift Shop then stopping by to get a Slice of Pizza from Sbarro. Just walking around it was a Nostalgic feeling every time. Best Columbus Mall in the 70s & 80s then Columbus City Center, Easton, Polaris, & Tuttle took over. Last Day is this Saturday might have to go one last time.
Love the opening drive around shot, and music!
The music had an 80's vibe.
Easton town center took this mall down. Sad to see it go. My ex used to go to this mall.
My visit to Easton town center, definitely proved how sad this mall is.
It's more upscaled with more high end expensive stores.
Thanks for sharing Eastland! Managed the Zales store in 2004~2006. Loved Columbus!
Breaks my heart.....so many memories
This mall is definitely on its last leg. The area is really run down outside of the mall which is a shame because you can drive 10 minutes up the road and you get into Pickerington and Canal Winchester which are nice and for the most part, well kept areas. But Eastland has been known as the bad mall since 2005, 2006 because they, even then, seemed to have a limited selection and not so great clientele running around
I spent my childhood at this mall. My dad used to drop us off and we would hang out all day long. There was an arcade and we played video games and there was a Spencers. It was happy times. People watching used to be so fun here.
If your looking for Dead Mall episodes and get to Ohio again try the one in Findley Ohio and in Sandusky Ohio. The one in Sandusky is not too far away from a repurposed movie theater and a mile away from an abandoned movie theater
I shopped there in the 80' s with my mom. We'd drive from Southeast Ohio "(Athens) to shop there Wow. It does not look the same at all. Sad, very sad
One of my friends used to work at a clothing store at Eastland mall, few years back. He would tell me stories almost unbelievable about the mall. He said there were days, that they would’ve open because there were no items to sell, from the shoplifting. As sad as it is. My parents used to love this place, in the late 90’s and early 2000’s. Although I never been inside of that mall, but I always worked near it.
Sad. Worked there for several years. Lots of happy memories.
I went here with my family all the time as a kid. 😊
Excellent video.
I used to collect when I delivered for the Columbus Dispatch, and ride the COTA and drop countless quarters in the arcades at Aladdin’s Castle.
I love your videos I just started watching your videos this year
Also this was a great video like always wallie thanks for taking the time to make these great videos for us.
Did not realize the mall is now anchor-less.
Looks just like Eastland Mall in Detroit.
It's been dead for years. I'm surprised it's still open. It's the area too. When I was a kid that was one of the malls to go to. It's a shame.
This mall is beautifully aesthetic, but sadly it’s run down…
The owner didn't care about the mall declining and all care about is raising the lease of Greed! At lease Dublin OH, Delware OH, Easton NE of Columbus OH keeps is mall up to date!
Boy I used to love this mall
Federated (The company that owned Lazarus) bought Macys and rebranded to Macys. I’m pretty sure Kaufmanns came from May company later
I heard that there trying to get local buissness in to keep the mall alive and spread the word on small buissness to give them a shot in the world. My opinion, I think it's an amazing idea
about 50 years ago or more it used to be the place to live and shop at the time but over the years few places moved to newer malls or fold plus the Covid-19 didn't help much! Sear's fold as well others colsed shop! The area of The Eastland Mall was in a HIGH Crime place in Columbus OH in which no body in the right mind would go in a crappy area to shop not worth going to!
Awesome video man
Looks like a rather edgy shopping mall. The kind of place where you have to watch your step. And as you have said it's not the safest of neighborhoods, doesn't seem to be a great idea to be there too late in the day. Especially all those big empty parking lots.
Used to go to this mall a lot as a kid in the early/mid 1990s and would come here all the time around 2003 and 2004 when my older sister worked at the Macy's here. Used to buy a ton of used PC games from EB Games around the same time.
It's a hollow shell of what it once was.
They are closing down this Saturday and been closed ever since Monday because a water pipe busted
I used to be maintenance there in 17/18. Really sad to see this mall like this. I was there when sears left. The last anchor.
It's a shame to see how bad that section of South Hamilton rd. got. Growing up Eastland, service merchandise, Marshall's, AMC theaters were a big part of my early years.
I'm old enough to remember Eastland mall going through at least 3 makeovers. Yes at one point in time there was a theater there but that was not even its original design.
wikipedia may not have been updated fal;sely.. the mall did decent for awhile until from what i understand most of the security staff was cancelled.. and so the parking lot turned into a haven for street-racers, drug deals, and donut-spinners which scared most anyone away.. as well as multiple teen fights per week.. even shootings over footwaear releases where large crowds would form .. more than a few tenants called it quits after struggling before COVID and then just didnt return.. the mall is far more dead than it was in 2019. with all of the parking lot antics its near impossible to keep the grounds clean so they dont even try anymore.. those who never got to shop in Northland, eastland is a very similar interior and style to northland.. northland started out as an exterior style street-shopping similar to what you might see in a modern easton.. when the appetite for air-conditioned havens for people to hang out became heavy, northalnd was "malled-in" I remember as a kid going to northland which stayed open as it was malled-in.. seeing the roofs and interiors get built.. they made it look a lot like eastland.. those who never got to see City-center downtoen columbus can venture over to tuttle mall in dublin (im sure that will be the next dead mall).. as tuttle, built in like 94 was already outdated when it was built (completely mimicking the styles of the city center which opened in 1988).. tuttle has had no updates inside.. it is a mall stuck in time.. .. Easton continues to expand to the North of EastLand, wiothout a direct exit from I-270 to easily get to Eastland, even if it were fixed up it wouldnt not be someplace most would stop.. when easton is 15-20 minutes up the road and has easy off / on ramps.. shoopers in pickerington and reynoldsburg simply either visit the strip malls near home or take the extra freeway ride and go to easton.. for shoppers on the west side, easton is an easy ride across I-670.. when EastLand was built, the areas surrounding it were some very nice neighborhoods that gave the mall a big draw from the local residents
the malls where I live do have decent amount of stores open but most of them are boring and expensive stores.
So sad...Had a lot of good memories there and it was so close
I remember Eastland being close to having four anchor stores, with Kauffmans set to be the occupant. But Federated, owners of Macy's, bought Kauffmans parent company, and once completed, the new Macy's opened in the new location. The old store, which used to be Lazarus, it was closed and torn down. I would have thought Eastland was far enough away from Easton, Polaris, and Tuttle malls in the Columbus area to thrive. But JCPenney, Macy's, and Sears had other ideas.
I remember as a kid shopping here in the'70s and 80's. I loved eating at Lazarus and sitting by the glass railing to watch shoppers in the mall. It's very sad to see this mall and others like it turn into nothing but wasteland. The inside isn't bad in this one, surprisingly. It's not a safe part of the city, that's for sure. It's only a matter of time before this mall is razed.
Great video
ty for showing this video
I remember the two movie theaters right by the mall Eastland Centre 8 and another one right across the street now it's a post office. I remember seeing the little mermaid 1989 and Dick Tracy 1990 at these theaters and even back then I remember they were alot of shady characters standing by the entrances and blowing marijuanna smoke in people's faces as they walked in. It was a rough area in 1990!
It's very sad. I have shop at Eastland Mall a lot over the years in Columbus, Ohio.
My wife used to work at the Sears back in 1984-88, poor working conditions
I grew up here, I'm SHOCKED there's so many people there in your video. It's generally desolate. I went here all the time as a kid, especially at Christmas and have a ton of memories, my senior project was helping set up the new ( What is now closed off on the left of the food court when you walked in) Macy's when they tried to revitalize it in 2006, it was pretty nice and i continued going frequently until about 2009 when American eagle finally left. I still went there occasionally and up until the last time in maybe black Friday of 2019? I was shocked to see stores open at 5am there. There used to be a chic fila, and panda express, tons of suit and prom rental stores, jewelry, jc penny, Lazarus Aeropostale, american eagle, Spencer's, some music shops. It's sad. It was really a great mall but slowly the monkies that destroyed the surrounding area moved in and a few shootings and lost of foreigners came in and just trashed everything and didn't take care of keep up anything and business left. I honestly don't know how anyone can Afford to rent a spot or even keep the lights on anymore. There even used to be a movie theatre. I recall going to sears last in maybe 2009 as well.
One mall I didn’t see you do is the Clearview Mall in Butler, Pennsylvania. You should do that one it is really dead
Looks like back in the day, this mall was much more thriving. Too bad it's declined so much, and obviously a few stores still survive to this day.
On a side note, I think you'd find it interesting to film Lafayette Square in Indianapolis, IF you ever get over to there. As I remember, that mall opened THE same year as Eastland(Columbus, OH) did. As of right now, it only has one anchor left, Shoppers World. Burlington left a few years ago, for a new location outside of that mall. I believe Simon once owned that mall, and obviously didn't do much to help that mall once Circle Centre Mall opened. And by the 2000s, sold off Lafayette Square not surprisingly.
Also, you'd REALLY love seeing the 1970s era Concord Mall, in Elkhart, IN. I do wonder if those 2 malls are on your to film list, down the road?
You should do River Valley Mall in Lancaster, OH it's a dead Mall
It's on my to-do list!
@@WallieB26 if you ever in Bristol TN let me know I have a lot good locations
Hello Wallie, I enjoy your videos. In the Spirit of dying malls, you should do the Piqua (PICK-wa, not PEEK-wa) mall.
I plan to do so in the near future. I have 5 mall videos I'm backlogged on that I need to edit and upload and then I'll do some new ones!
That mall looks abandoned from the outside?Also Wallie very good research luv all the background information.
You should go to Westland mall it looks worse, and it's completely abandoned. It's on the west side of 270 from where you are here.
Am I the only one who was focused on all the donut tracks through the whole parking lot :-D
I noticed that when i was there haha
Loved the greenish blue walls outside was that tile or painted? Another great vid filled with lots of info. I really appreciate your approach to the dead mall archives. ❤️
It was a glazing process that was essentially painted onto the bricks and was a hallmark of mid 20th century Lazarus stores, both mall and freestanding. An entire building with this motif was still standing in Upper Arlington, a Columbus suburb (former Lazarus>Macys) until the last month.
The four seasons town center in Greensboro North Carolina has had a few shootings there as well but is still open
1st lol never thought that I'd get that
Since Wallie "enjoys so much" doing ABANDONED EATERIES and "complaining he couldn't eat there", this dead mall sign at 4:45 had to read EATLAND... 🤣🤣🤣
....aaaaand he did recognized it at 16:33 (NOW, THAT'S MY KIND OF MALL!).
LOL! I had to say something! I just couldn't resist putting a teaser in there early in the video!
I was in the area a few days ago and the other sign reads "as land". I assume pronounced assland
I went there today and I haven’t been there for like 8-9 years and when I walked in it just stunk, and there was barely no one there, and I felt so uncomfortable in there it has changed so much
Idk if you guys have an At Home anywhere close, but I heard they are getting their Halloween stuff out! Can’t wait to watch y’all’s Halloween store tours :)
Chill on my side bro lmaooo
It's a very pretty mall on the inside
Until 4 years ago this was very much a thriving mall then in 2017 it lost all 3 of it's anchors and it was all down hill from there.
We have an Eastland Mall 30 minutes from me in Evansville IN. Definitely not a dead mall like this one. Eastland Mall here still has 3 anchor stores J C Penny, Dillards, and Macy’s
Before Covid the parking lot was reasonably packed on weekends
Eastland was "cooler" than Westland and Northland was cooler than Eastland. Kaufman's made a stupid decision to open here. They thought that since they did well with the Polaris location, they'd open a location at Eastland and thought it would be close enough to Easton. They were wrong. Eastland was already on the downturn when Kaufman's opened.
Mall is officially closing at the end of the year. 1968-2022
Not shocked. Was supposed to clean up the property months ago or it was going to be taken over by the county, shut down, demolished. Place was a disaster last time I was there.
@@WallieB26 yep.
Been by there once. It’s not in the best area.
What year did the mall start going down hill cause the old Chuck E. Cheese was near there .. I use to live in Canal Winchester till 99 and moved 45 minutes from there and was pretty young
I bought my wife's engagement ring there and then bought her 10yr anniversary ring there.
I spent my childhood and teen years at this mall 😢
It's very sad to see malls like these die and be abandoned
I enjoyed the video Wallie. How do these small businesses in malls stay open? I would imagine they can barley pay the rent let alone themselves, employees ect.
I really have a Green Thumb and I would love to take all those plants home with me and nurse them all back to health ...ugh...that kills me to see them like that...poor little buggers🪴🪴🪴🪴🪴🪴🪴🪴🪴🪴🪴🪴🪴🪴🪴🪴🪴🪴🪴🪴❤️
I think I counted 4 stores and 2 kiosks? Hard to tell since old signage isn't removed and stores were closing early
Seems like malls are slowly declining in the USA. So sad Eastland mall was a beautiful mall back in the 70s.