Woburn Mall, MA | an extinct dead mall (demolished) | ExLog 109
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- Опубликовано: 26 сен 2024
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We FINALLY kick off the 2019 New England dead mall tour with the tiny but extinct Woburn Mall. Unfortunately I got kicked out of this place before I could dig in with my camera. But, it wasn't a huge mall, and we got to see every part that was accessible. Stay tuned for more!
#exlog #dmodfam #salguido
Phase VI goes deep...welcome to the 2019 New England dead mall tour. 6 ExLogs deep in MA and NH, so subscribe or I'll send that nasty security lady after you. Cheers everyone.
There might be no one better at doing an elegy to a bygone mall.
Are you going to Connecticut, too? There are many dying malls there.
Yep.
It’s such a bummer that the best dead malls I knew of in the Chicago-ish area are all gone now. It would have been cool if this was a thing back when Dixie Square was empty (before it was gutted). Or to see you go to the Brick Yard mall. I’m not sure of any current malls in the Midwest anymore unless Regency is still standing. That one was really neat. Do you have plans of heading to the Midwest? Is there anything to see?
so no ct only ma and nh
Man, some of these old malls and office buildings would be great as self-contained neighborhoods. With mixed-use zoning, little apartments upstairs with a daycare, grocery, coffee shop, laundromat, etc. downstairs and a community garden on the roof! I'm so glad that part of what replaced this was apartments, and that some of the original stores returned.
Most malls just don't seem to be built to last. Maintenance just goes up and up, there's a point of diminishing returns. Without ongoing profit to cover it they fall apart, I don't think I have seen an old mall without rather severe water leaks. The land alone is usually worth more the mall at that point, if there's enough demand for a mall either it is renovated, another built or the land is sold.
The rates would have to be excessive to keep it maintained, just keeping the temperature a constant is costly and old buildings are far less efficient. If they were built to last it might be an option, Arcade Providence in Rhode Island is a good example of what could be done with quality buildings. It has been converted into 48 micro apartments.
No money in helping the homeless
@@OffendingTheOffendable Who said it had to be for the homeless?
Would you want to live in a run down mall? No windows, leaks, mold, critters, long walk to get out side, a space built for showcasing shirts and shoes, doesn't lend itself well to being a comfortable home. How much would you pay? Certainly not enough to rework acres and acres of leaky antiquated roofing.
The new parking lot configuration is awful! Lol
I was born (1955) and grew up in Woburn, so I knew this mall really well. My Mom and I used to go there to shop and have lunch in the 70's into the eighties. I had no idea it was gone and an apt building there now, I live in Belmont and don't get out that way much anymore. Thanks for this video, even though it's pretty sad for me now.
I spent so much time at the Woburn Mall as a little kid in the eighties. My dad had a part-time job at Tobacco Shed. My Mom worked at Cookies Cookin and then later at a candy store kiosk. When they both had to work my brother and I would roam the mall. I spent so much time in Lechmere playing the NES demo unit. I have many fond memories of that mall. I get sad every time I go over that way now.
Dennis son?
@@johncasey6024 Yes! It was so cool to see you in that old commercial. You and your store were a staple of the Woburn Mall. Hope you're doing well.
@@skree_fpv436 Thanks, and it looks like you are now grown up and not the little kids I remember! Stop by the new place when your around to say hi and give your parents my love! I went to Atlantic city with them and Billy back in the day, great time!
The Tobacco shed was a cool store, I remember it fondly as a young kid. Magazines, sundries, etc. and smelled like fine tobacco.
Love the purple text with the shimmer. Helped get my attention. Enjoyed the cut to the sounds of birds and entrance into the mall in the newer filming
Love waking up to a new exlog. Good stuff Sal!!!!!
Thanks so much Sal for your effort in covering what only can be the passing of an era in shopping malls. Not sure I totally understand what is happening being a 80's and 90's mall person. In my area in upstate NY, Amazon has just about finished building another warehouse/distribution center that covers about 3.5 million sq ft of space. The building is literally withing a few miles of the mall I spent years shopping at. Big white box type of building probably full of high tech sorting and packing machines. Opens after the new year they say.
Love your editing and some of the old commercials you put in the video which high lights a by gone era in many areas. We had to many malls back they. Now the local mall has removed the carousel and the food court is half full. (where do used merry go rounds go?) Macy's and JC Penny are open, but for how long, time will tell. Best of luck Sal on your adventures.
What part of up state NY? I'm in Rochester.
This was incredibly fascinating. I used to go to this mall all the time with my mom before they closed it down.
Thanks so much for watching! Make sure to sub for future episodes!
Mr. Berger’s ‘turkey talk’ on inflation couldn’t have been more pertinent than decades later in 2022, when its raised its ugly head again. Great find Sal, and expertly weaved with your Woburn tale.
Thought it was appropriate…everything is just too damn expensive now.
Yes, RIP Tony Pepper
I used to work at that mall in the mid 90s at GNC. Was crazy busy on weekends.
We have been to this Mall so many times. Thank you for doing this.
Thanks, Luanne!!
Used to shop there, from to time.
A cozy Mall, an excellent place to spend a couple of hours, pursuing some Academic Work, buying groceries, having a Sea Food Pocket at P. Gino's.
About 15 Minutes from Boston, it was a comfy place to go.
I grew up in Woburn and worked in that mall, it always sucked but it was ours
Damn straight I dunno where all these people talking about what a delight it was are from but it's not our town. Place was always a shithole but it was our shithole.
6:10 I used to work at this Papa Gino's back in high school- It was actually my first job! Lots of memories. That was back in like 2013.
Thank you so much for making this video. I've subscribed and will be binging this entire series :D
This was my hang out growing up!!!! This was cool to see!!!!
Took a third shift job over a year ago, which means on Sunday Nights (my Monday) I'm usually in bed. I really miss watching these premiers, and since tomorrow is a holiday, I can actually watch this one! Looking forward to this! :)
Thanks so much for your support, Kae!!
Thanks for a weekend treat Sal. Every one of these places is a treasure forever preserved through your work.
Hey Decade! Thanks so much for the kind words...you've been with my channel for a long time now, and I really appreciate it!
Lived over the town line in Stoneham. Used to go there often. Had a cool GNC there and magazine/cigar store. Good memories of a better time. PS: That Papa Ginos was good pizza.
Its crazy to see this i used to go there all the time
Such a great way to pass the time on graveyard shift. Love your content and how in depth you get into the history of these places.
Thanks so much for watching!!! Much more coming….
If you didn't know that you were in New England, that security guards accent was a dead give away. Wicked good.
Pan of rotting ceiling, long abandoned Radio Shack, pools of water on the floor...
"Um, excuse me sir, you can't be in here"
*We're looking to lease*
Shot tea EVERYWHERE.
Seems that "looking to lease" didn't impress security. She should have let you carry on filming is it seems that the place needed a few more tenants.
It's the security's job to keep people out who shouldn't be there. Their job is to protect property and sometimes people. You could be arrested for trespassing by the real police.
Lololol
@@robkrasinski6217 missing the fact that the mall was open and functioning.
@@sal why didn't they do anything when you went into the mall but then said something at the end?
Sal!!! Super hyped to see you making content in New England! Keep it coming, New York and New England content is super interesting to me, they have a lot of abandoned places in general compared to the rest of the country
Check out the Hudson Valley Mall in Kingston, NY. It lost most of its anchors and is in major decline.
Hey thanks for watching!
I wonder how the Albany, New York mall is doing?
@@susanbrogan2517 crossgates? I’m sure it’s doing fine though I haven’t been for a few years. That’s always been a huge mall I think it’ll be a while before there’s a notable decline, with the Apple Store there and other big stores there, I’m sure it’s fine.
Haven’t been in inside HVM in a while either but target is the only anchor left, there were at least 4 before things went downhill. There’s a GameStop and an H&M, that’s really it, it’s dead. They covered up all the old storefronts with a wall so it’s just a lot of eerie hallways.
@@sal The pleasure is all mine! Thank you for producing amazing content, been watching for probably ~4 years now!
I’d be happy to check on the Hudson Valley Mall to see if it’s still majorly declining from when I last was, (last I was there was during the worst of the pandemic, they used the abandoned Best Buy as a public vaccination center). There were at least 4 anchors before things went downhill. There’s a GameStop and an H&M, that’s really it, it’s pretty dead. They covered up all the old storefronts with a wall so it’s just a lot of eerie hallways.
Wow 4 years already??? Time flies man…
YESSSSS....It's the video I've long wanted to see! I only went to the Woburn Mall a few times, all coming a few years the 2003 renovations were done, and mainly to eat at the Papa Gino's while on school trips and travel to basketball games. My thoughts were even back then their best days were long behind, yet not all that much in danger of being dead. But I credit the designers of the mall for trying to stand out from the other malls in the state, from a standpoint of aesthetics at least. Malls these days only can go as strong as the owners are willing to commit their time and especially money from a matter of upkeep and keeping your tenants, patrons, and heaven forbid creditors happy, at least from what your description of the events would summarize. Still loving your series, big time, just glad to see your experiences in my home region finally on this site for all the world to see! 😎
Fantastic video once again of capturing a dead mall just before she was gone for good. You always do fantastic work Sal keep it up.
Thanks Sunset!!
@@sal your welcome
I loved this mall. Go to CVS, eat at Papa Ginos or Panera, then browse at TG Maxx. It just felt familiar. Now they made it into a strip mall, with a bunch of trendy restaurants. Cava, is definitely a favorite.
I haven't been there in four years. They totally changed it for worse. Very confusing to navigate unlike the Shoppers World or Wayside Commons.
It's the new stuff that sells I been up that way I like the restaurants like CAVA and grain makers. I avoid Panera because all the baked goods were highly processed with the usual artificial ingredients and salad dressings were processed as well Etc. TATTE bakery is a much better idea as well as sweet green.
@@scottbrenham1341 I heard many of these new stores have no roofs on them because they ALL want to be outside these days, especially when it starts raining and storming because they claim that "IT'S GOOD FOR YOU!!!"
Born and raised nextdoor in Stoneham, me and the buddy's use to skip school over there 😂
Sal….another AWESOME expedition! So cool to see you making videos again! Thank you! 🙏🏻😜
Hey Mishka, thanks for watching! I haven't gone anywhere...just a few weeks between episodes since I've been so busy. I hope you're all caught up on the other 108 episodes! Cheers :)
@@sal I see that! For some reason, you just kinda went off my youtube radar for the past 6 months or so. Glad to get back to some of the best self-reporting videos around!
It’s amazing going into a mall and not finding anywhere to sit. That really cuts down shopping traffic for seniors and those that need rest breaks.
I’ve lived in Woburn near this mall for six years and I remember driving by one day to see a bunch of it torn down and was shocked! I knew it was certainly a dead mall but it’s too bad they couldn’t just revamp it and put new stores and the restaurants that are there now back in - it’s nice to have them in one place since, as someone else mentioned, the parking lot is now ABYSMAL hahaha. Miss that uno’s, can’t find them anywhere now!
Short but sweet. Your work has become my comfort food...making fresh coffee here in London as the sun comes up and getting actually excited to see what the latest ExLog brings :) thanks Sal
Just waking up here in Baltimore brewing a nice black tea. Thanks for watching and cheers!
In North Reading while I watch this, I've worked at the Panera that was once in the mall. Great video!
It’s a good day when we get a new Sal video. Live the content man - thanks so much!
Cheers! Much more coming, make sure to sub!
Very cool! I lived in Woburn for a bit a never realized there was a mall there. I'm Looking forward to the rest of the northeast ex logs.
Thanks so much for watching!
Hahaha!! "We're looking to lease" That's a genius response! It seemed to work to me... XD
@1:44 That spot right there is at the north side of Lake Quannapowitt where Main St turns left/right onto Lowell St in Wakefield. I know that area well...my wife life right behind that Honey Dew donuts there in your shot
dude your videos are extremely underrated i’ve been watching your videos for awhile keep it up man.
Love your tours @Sal.
The aka for watching!!!
Its been torn down and rebuilt its now called woburn village mall . locks and keys is still there in a new outter building , Market basket is still there and a bunch of new buisnesses .
Cool !!Thanks Sal !!!
You got a picture of security Mike, circa early 90's! So cool to see. I worked at Radio Shack at the time. Wrestler Killer Kowalski used be a customer, would come in for his batteries.
Ohhhh you're in my home state !! Ahh so cool lol can't wait to what else from Massachusetts you got !!! So excited Sal !! Grateful for another incredible upload from you ..so of course I'm gonna stay tuned in !
#masshole
I'm from Woburn and used to go to this mall all the time, cool to see someone I'm subscribed to go to my hometown
Also, it's WOO-burn :)
It's Woobin. I'm also from there lol, nobody but people who live too damn close to Lexington or Winchester pronounced the burn as burn lol. Probably pronounce Horn Pond as "Horn" instead of "hawn" smh
That Locksmith place stayed there until the bitter end
He was there from the very beginning too!!
The mall is still there, new buildings called woburn village and locks and keys is still there .
Yep, covered that in my narrative.
hi James, we were the first to open, and last to leave! Now in the Woburn Village!
So wild to see a mall I’ve been to! Very cool.
Awesome 🎉
Hi sal😃. Absolutley love your movies and specially all the historical knowledge around the malls. Thats very important.😃. Your'e the best sal👍👍
Thanks for the kind words, Peter! Much more coming!
@@sal Nice 😃👍
One of the few reasons to explain the decline of the malls in America was too many malls. It is likely that a lot of the malls built during the period between 1960 and 1980 were design to last. Except for some critical maintenance, any mall can be well maintain. While the redesign of many malls help a lot of malls to survived, the redesign of some malls may have explain their decline and closing. Than came the Real estate speculators. Most speculators have brought malls not as a full investments. They cut maintenance in order to save money. Cutting Maintenance in some malls cause their decline and closings. Than these careless owners sell the malls as a modest gain or a loss.
Of course, there are going to be the survivors. The malls who have survived have one thing in common, Location, Location and Location. It helps to honor the mall owners who are willing to invest the money into their malls. Sal, you have done some videos on the successful malls who had somehow survived the decline. There is a strong myth that it seems that malls in America are going to close. While this myth is base on truth, it is a dangerous myth. Blaming Amazon as well as rest of the internet for the decline of the American malls is wrong.
In the Greater Cincinnati and Northern Ky. area, one mall know as the Forest Fair Mall has been finally closed. Plans for the former mall is torn it down and replace with a mix use plan. A mix use plan consists of shopping, office, and housing.
Yet again, Sal expedited the Expedition Log expediently and with great panache!
Olympia!
Idk why I LOVE this mall, especially at night. Wish I could have visited!
My mom and I used to go here every once and a while. There was a Harrison's here for a bit.
dang that's what happened to the Woburn mall I haven't been there in years and I still live in Boston
nothing man. I was born and raised in Woburn and it was always a shithole. It just shed it's camouflage and assumed it's natural form lol
I went to Unos the week before they shut down in 2018. I was also there a week before you in March 2019 and walked around the mall it was still accessible but had some closed entrances
I went to Woburn Village recently new stuff is still opening
They did have some outdoor movies this summer in recently added green space
In New England most of these small indoor malls were shutdown or converted to outdoor shopping centers by the early 2000s
This is one of the few malls you have covered that I have been to on a regular basis
5-10 minutes away there is Burlington mall still busy
I remember eating there. It was the worst food I've ever had.
Great job!!
I'm surprised no else has commented on the way they say Woburn despite using that old commercial with the right pronunciation in it
i remember mcdonalds birthday parties i attended here back in the late 70s omg
Love the flash backs
Thanks for watching!
I miss the Unos Restaurant
Thanks!
As always, good stuff , Sal. Always love me some ExLog content!
I used to work at Woburn Foreign Motors right across the highway. I am not sure if it was still there when I left in 1997
Looking good video say, good to have you back, this mall is looked so good and it's sad isn't it?
Back in December 2017 and January 2018, I frequently visited this mall and most of what you talked about on this video is spot on. At the mall, when I was there with my ex, it did give me the "Dan Bell Dead Mall Series" vibe.
My ex loved buying lots of shoes who frequently visited DSW, and I bought a pair of New Balance sneahers there too.
Man, 2019 New England Tour, it's a Great thing you captured a video of this mall before it was demolished.
14:28 _ I like the Lechmere Audio Efect, it sounds like as if it was coming from that empty Marie's Sewing Center, store where you shot the video.
Can't wait to see the Log 110, Burkeshore Mall, Lyngsburo, MA.
We are looking to lease. Love it.
I suspect that Security guard was a drifter and homeless. You'd be surprised at who security compnies will hire, lol.
As a Mass resident I can’t get over how you’re pronouncing Woburn. We say “woo-burn” like they do in the mall commercial. No it doesn’t make sense but that’s the way it is 😊
I tried!
You're absolutely right I grew up in Woburn
That's funny I was thinking the same
We say Woobin, what the hell are you on about. Drive down bow st. a little bit past the White school and we can talk about it ya friggin tourist
Grew up right down the road in Wilmington. Loved this place as a kid we went there a bunch in there eighties and nineties. I remember Lechmere and Papa Gino's, and Pizzeria Uno later.
Bought most of my family Xmas presents there when I was little.
Great one Sal!!
My hometown. I spent plenty of time there. You did a great job with documentation and history.
Hey thanks!
Love your content man.
Thanks, Mattias!
Interesting video. Thanks!
Crazy how short of a time elapsed between a major renovation and complete demolition of the property. An utter waste.
I was born and raised in this neighborhood. I miss this mall so much. You butchered how to pronounce "Woburn" but it's okay we forgive you. Thanks for making this video ❤ the entire development is a shitshow now, with a horribly designed maze of a parking lot. Behind the restaurants, there are luxury apartments upwards of 3k/month. Us locals hate it. But seeing this video made my day!
If you've never lived around Woburn you'll call it "Whoah-burn" but us locals know it as "Woobin" 😁
@JockoV Exactly. The number of frigging tourists trying to correct this guy going "actually it's woo-burn" is out of control. It's Woobin. Mfers probably pronounce Horn Pond as "Horn" instead of "hawn."
You go to the shamrock? White school?
Aren't those "luxury apartments" cheaply built and are a plywood firetrap much like many other new apartment buildings are here in the states?
@@JockoV Wow, I grew up in RI and always knew it as Woe Burn. Huh, just learned something new! 😁
@@aleks1939 I'm glad I was able to enrich your life with some high brow culture 😜
So the lady sitting at the table next to the gate was actually security and not a homeless person?
Apparently
I was selling silver jewelry in that mall around 2000…
Great video. The area was redevelopment and it’s called the Woburn Village now. Mix of residential and retail space now
This mall is not just dead. This mall is rotting from the inside out!
It's also totally extinct now and a new shopping center is in its place :(
I remember going to this mall in the mid-2000s. It wasn't far from where I worked at the time, and it was already a dead mall back then. I can't remember why I had gone in there, maybe Radio Shack?
The area was never economically "bad", you just had that random little indoor mall that was trapped in the 70s which was easy to miss.
I revisited the plaza a few months ago and it's completely redeveloped. It's now a bustling outdoor shopping center.
This mall always had a desperate feel to it. Nothing they tried could save it. It was built on the site of an old tannery. During construction the smell traveled to the neighboring town of Reading where I went to high school. We couldn’t open the windows it was so bad.
I live in Lowell in the Massmills. so much bizarre stuff happens daily. u should swing by!
This mall is back up and better than ever.. Well, I don't like malls, but it's been revamped.. as of 2022(which you just covered😋)
. Hey why did it take till now for this video if you filmed in 2019?
I grew up just south of Boston. I remember when this mall opened. It was a fairly big event.
I grew up going to this mall and also worked there when I was in school
I went to the Woburn ITT Tech and spent a bunch of time here in the mid 2000s. I would alternate between the Papa Gino's and Pantera Bread before class. I can't believe that had TV ads for that place, it was so tiny compared to the other malls on 128.
It's crazy how these malls have a history and then just ends as a dead mall
Lots of memories there. Remember going to Fabric Place with my
Mom and meeting Ed McMann from Kiss 108 at Lechemere during a live broadcast when I was about ten. Btw, It’s pronounced “woo-burn” :).
It's pronounced Woobin you tourist
Bignostalgia, I remember being too scared to go into the spirit Halloween as a kid
Even when this was open it felt like it was in its way out. Very weird vibe.
:We're looking to lease" Nicely done, dude!!
Fabric Place was like a typical JoAnn Fabrics on steroids. I spent hours there entranced by the sheer amount of fabric selections there. Other memories: I'm pretty sure they had one of those vinyl iron-press places in one of the small storefronts (like where the key making place was.) Playing with the electronic keyboards on display in Lechmere, the smell of pizza from Papa Ginos. Meanwhile, I have zero recollection of fountains there. Where were they, exactly?
I went to a mall in Enfield, CT, which is more so in the middle of nowhere, and that was looking pretty rough, but not as bad as this. 2/3 of the stores were closed, hardly anyone was in it. The best thing it had going was a gaming tournament that I happened to go to. That, and they have a Target which did seem fairly popular, but that might as well not be part of the mall.
"My apologies, madam, we shall quit your empire of dirt forthwith"
I grew up a few miles from there. You actually pronounced it correctly. Most people butcher the name. Great video.
Hey thanks! I always try doing my homework as best I can to give respect to the locals. Cheers!
Haha...7:40 mark...I know that security officer; such a good guy! It's sad to see this mall destroyed unnecessarily.
So around the 1997-2000 time was the beginning of the downfall. Lechmere was replaced by AJ Wright. Then the McDonald’s abruptly closed. It never got HUGE numbers like the malls of Burlington but it was a cute regional mall for Woburn. I’ll miss it.
The McDonald's closed a lot later than 2000. It definitely started to go downhill, though. Remember the kids section where they had a mini carousel with the fry guys and hamburgers with eyes? lol I remember it closed maybe around 2010 or so then when the Payless Shoes closed I knew it was the beginning of the end.
This is so sad😢
Honestly, I'm surprised mall security across America isn't trained on the various urban explorer RUclips channels to better tell a streamer from a thief
Most of them are barely competent enough to use google, let alone have the foresight to actually learn relevant information for their job. It' sad.
Wow this is crazy just to think a year ago I used to walk around there
Check out the Hampshire mall in Hadley ma. There's only anchor stores and entertainment venues left. I can be your mall historian from what I remember during my childhood.
There were some very interesting things in this video, like the antique Singer sewing machine tossed on the floor, and the half-removed Radio Shack sign. For the latter, I wonder if someone was treasure hunting?
I grew up here!