Liberty Tree Mall: Is It a Dead Mall? It's Close... Danvers, Mass.
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- Опубликовано: 8 авг 2023
- Join me as I take a look at Liberty Tree Mall in Danvers, Massachusetts. Is it a dead mall? Hard to say, but it's definitely seen better days. Let me know what you think in the comments!
This video was filmed in July 2023 on a Thursday around 2:30pm.
If you liked this video, please give me a thumbs up, leave a comment and subscribe to my channel! Thanks!
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#deadmall #deadmalls #mall #massachusetts #shoppingmall #shoppingmalls #retail
Who else remembers Bonkers in Peabody and when the Salem Willows arcade had more buildings open and the casino building had its own individual prize counter.
i remember bonkers! that place was awesome
@@Toadstool4 i remember a girl getting scalped at a bonkers in Weymouth a decade or so ago
The bonkers sign seen from I-95 was iconic.
Those were the days man.
So many birthdays at bonkers when I was a kid
It was so busy back when it opened - Ann & Hope was huge, had everything. Lechmere was the best place at the time for electronics, luggage, sports equipment, appliances. There was all kinds of 80s stores that were hopping, Tellos, Chess King, Empire - Filene's Basement had a store there too.
This mall brings back memories to me of growing up in Danvers. We were 10 min. away from this mall. Many of the stores you mentioned I remember. Memories.
I miss the arcade and the attached FYE. The mall hated the arcade because it brought in a bunch of kids who sometimes caused problems. I really do miss that arcade though. they had a Virtual-On machine and a Wangan Midnight Maximum Tune machine.
The only thing keeping the place alive is AMC and 5 Below. As i was there just the other day to watch barbie and ninja turtles.
The anchors of Marshalls, Target, Kohls, Total Wine, Nordstroms, and Best Buy are huge for Liberty Tree as well. It's just the anchors keeping this place alive.
Amc renovated that location and gutted the lowes signage
@@SomethingSimplerexactly. Its the big box stores keeping it on life support. No more inspedendent interior shops there.
We saw Adam Sandler outside the food court when he was in town filming Grown Ups 2 so around 2013.
I ran into chris rock there as well so surreal
10-15 years ago, when my children were small, this mall was full of life, the shops were 100% open! Thousands of people families, everybody! There was a train for the kids, a lot of other fun (I forgot what you call the thing on the floor when the kids jump on those moving rails?) Everything you wanted to buy was in that shopping center, including Kohl's on the side, Best By, Target, Marshall! Of course the cinema! The food court had a fantastic selection of everything! Now this Mall looks sad 😔
all those stores you named are still there and busy, the main part of the mall is pretty dead though. the food court only has 3 places now lol. to be fair, they're pretty good. a solid pizza place, and a gem of a spot to get chicken kabob
I grew up going that amc theater
Back in the 80s this was the big mall in the area North Shore mall was the dumpy mall and was still mostly outside.
Northshore was good for having Toys R Us and the Christmas displays. Once they rebuilt the mall it took a lot of foot traffic from Liberty Tree
The tables have turned
I was a security guard there for two years back in the 80's. I also was a guard for the North Shore mall for 3 years. I'll try to leave comments on it for you.
The tree was in the centre of the mall where the "cheap green" seating is. It was a tree made of aluminium tubes welded together. I remember when people would come and gawk at the tree for the longest time and take pictures of like it was something discovered in Tut's tomb. Filene's basement was in one of the corners near the tree. I responded to many a shoplifting calls there. We knew this mall had problems with tenants then. It was dying then. Now this mall is like buying a hospice patient a new car and 20 years mortgage on a home. Please show us this dump in 5 years when it is a homeless encampment! Nice video. Thanks for the memories.
Lived in Peabody majority of my life and grew up going to this mall. Back when Orange Julius was there lol. Lot of great memories here. Times change but not always in the best direction imo
The last time I was in that mall was 1980/81, and it was a hopping place. The liberty tree had "glass" panels hanging from it with writing on them that represented significant documents and proclamations from the past.
I see the floor hasn't changed. It still has the lines of colors on it that scream 1970s.
The floor in the game room is still pretty worn out. The stores have all changed and it looks as if a lot of those have closed up. What a sad metaphor for America.
The floors were actually redone in the early 90s when I worked there, they just picked equally awful colors LOL!
I remember the premiere for "A Perfect Storm" took place at this mall's AMC theater in 2000. George Clooney, Mark Wahlberg, and others in the movie were in attendance. Probably the most exciting thing that's happpened there lol
I'm pretty sure Tiffany played here in the '80s.
I actually worked at the theatre during the priemere lol. I was a concessionist for it .
Hah! Im old enough to remember when NS Mall was a pig farm and there were onion fields where Liberty Tree mall is. This whole area, out Rt 114 to Middleton, was farms.
Liberty Tree Mall has been on life support for about 20 years. NS Mall had Jordan Marsh and Filenes when it opened. Liberty Tree never bounced back after Ann & Hope closed. Liberty Tree had a Brigham's and a Friendly's. There was also a Kaybee Toy Store. Its heyday was the 1970s. So was mine!
I grew up in the 2000s, and used to beg my parents to take me to EB games, the trading card store, and the fye arcade at the liberty tree. in recent years the north shore mall has pretty much soaked up most of the traffic
This mall was the place to be if you were a teenager from the North Shore in the 80s. The tile floor looks the same but the interior in general was more vibrant though dimmer. I remember too that there was a chunk of the Skylab that fell to Earth on display. Thanks for the video!
They used to have a much bigger arcade that was attached to FYE in the early oughts. Used to play a lot of DDR there back in college.
The NorthShore Mall used to be an outside mall before they enclosed it. Liberty Mall used to have a huge video arcade room back in the 80’s down by where Kohls is now. The old photo with the place filled with stores brings back memories. Also the old silver liberty tree, I remember that under the center atrium.
Alladin's
This mall was awesome in the 90s , a middle schooler had a ball there hanging out
The doors leading outside next to Kohl's used to be a long hallway where an "Aladdin's Castle" arcade once was at the end of it.
I came here to say this.
Hell ya! Spent a good chunk of my childhood here. Mortal Kombat 2, Killer Instinct, Darkstalkers? What a time to be alive. That and Mad Maggies up the road - you could play pool as well. Used to love coming here on a Friday night. Used to be a waiting line to play MK II.
there was a fairly big arcade on the AMC side that closed around the late 2000s that I have no idea the name of, so that's probably 3 entirely separate arcades that have been here at least...
The tiny unmanned arcade in the video taking over the gamestop is just really sad to me. They have a really small one in the north shore food court but the liberty tree one was always better I think.
@@gamerguy425 The big arcade was the Aladdin's Castle, at least when I used to be dragged here on family "Fun" trips.
Dear country..
Miss us yet?
--- Boomers
Simon only manages the interior of the mall, and the outparcel where Michael's is - Target owns its own property (with Dollar Tree and Staples) and New England Management owns everything to the left of Kohl's. It's a very unique property with three different owners.
When this mall opened in 1972, it was crowded with people especially on Friday and Saturday nights. Two anchor stores on each end, Ann & Hope and Lechmere and smaller stores in between. Loved going here as a kid.
This was our mall. When my friends and I were in high school. We were here every weekend! Lechmere, Record Town, OMG such good memories.
So the Mall is technically from the movie theater down to Old Navy and out the door. All other stores are accessed from their own entrances as there is no need to go trough the Mall. I remember when this was bustling in the 80's/90's. How packed this place was during Christmas season. While they keep it clean and in good condition, it is failing hard. What to do, what to do
North Shore Shopping Center, as the Northshore Mall is known now, had lagged behind Liberty Tree until a ton of investment and expansion in the '90s.
My mother (Ann), now deceased, was a big Ann & Hope fan from the day that they opened. They had sale flyers that came out twice a week, and she often shopped both of them. I worked at Lechmere part-time in the late 70's while I was in college. My department was the calculator counter. They were the equivalent to today's laptops, and we were always mobbed. Lechmere had its own undercover security team, and I saw many shoplifters wrestled to the ground as they were exiting the store into the mall. Can you imagine if you did that today?? The mall was bustling and very vibrant with all of the store fronts. The North Shore was an open-air mall at the time and under separate ownership. When Liberty Tree Mall opened, they nearly put the North Shore out of business. Eventually, the North Shore was enclosed, and they they siphoned some shoppers back. I remember the Liberty Tree. It was huge. I never knew the history of it. The only food available at the mall was at a small diner located in Ann & Hope, near their entrance to the mall. Smoking was allowed indoors then, and there were many benches with concrete ashtrays. When the Food Court and the cinema opened years later, they drew some customers, but business really started to decline in the 1990's. My daughter and her friends hung out there in the early 90's, when she was a young teen. It was a popular hang out spot then, but these kids didn't buy much. Once Ann & Hope and Lechmere closed, the shops eventually left. I think that Marshall's and the Sports Authority brought in some shoppers, but it wasn't enough. Best Buy, Target and a dollar store opened and other stores along the exterior. I think that Americans are too lazy or short on time for a mall to thrive. I am so sad to see what has become of the mall. BTW, I don't remember Filiene's Basement at the Libery Tree Mall, but there was once one on the lower level under the Food Court at the North Shore Mall. Thank you for the video and a walk down memory lane. 😊 27:05
The Basement was right next to where Lechmere was, sort of at an angle in the corner. It was there after Lechmere left I think
My friend and I used to go to the large video arcade there every Saturday morning. It is depressing to see it now. I feel like we lost something.
Aladin’s Castle?
I remember Ann & Hope. My mother would check her bags and they would give you a tag. When you walked out to the main mall they had a little lunch counter. Looking at Kohl's if you took a right there was a popular arcade of my childhood, Aladdin's Castle. Lechmere use you have some nice tile work of the Liberty Tree when you left Lechmere and entered the mall. I remember playing Odyssey, Atari 2600 and Colecovision at Lechmere. The mall was pretty hot in the 1980's. That is when they extended the down and created the food court.
I do not remember Filene's basement at the Liberty Tree Mall. The movie theater was actually two before they moved into the mall. The Dick's Sporting Goods, next door was the Sack 1 and 2. Across the highway, the abandoned Hollywood Hits, was the Sack 1 through 6.
It was the hot mall and the North Shore Mall was the one that was struggling, but not as bad as Liberty Tree today. The group that owned the Burlington Mall bought both. Today the North Shore Mall is the thriving him, Burlington Mall 2.0. Liberty Tree pretty much has been left to die on the vine.
They moved the tree a long time ago. I never knew that history blurb you presented. I wonder if it ended up somewhere considering it had some history behind it.
so surreal! I haven't been here since 2014 at the latest. Crazy how familiar it still looks.
When I was a little girl (in the mid-80's) this was my favorite mall to go to. The had an awesome toy store called Let's Pretend that had the best dolls and dollhouse stuff. Also loved their bookstore (Paperback Booksmith, I think), Record Town and the coolest store to get iron-on patches and tshirt decals but I cannot remember the name. My mother also loved Ann & Hope. I remember shopping for school dance and prom dresses there. God, I sound old.
I can't remember the name of that store either, but remember it was run by an older Asian gentleman. I spent many hours there getting patches for my jean jacket. :D
@@Evadization "Wild tops."...the asian man you mentioned lived in Wenham ,MA. It was a mom&pop store
I used to hang around here a lot back around 2002-2006, but I went there a decent amount during the 90s. There used to be a weird little hole-in-the-wall arcade down this narrow side hallway back in the 90s. This then progressed to occupying the place just to the left of the movie theater (when the movie theater was being built), which was then connected to an FYE music store.
There used to be a tree in the intersection of the two main halls, and three of the corners of that cross were jewelry stores. Claires has been there since the late 90s / early 2000s as far as I can remember, and the kids my age loved all the junky plastic jewelry they sold.
The Target used to have a Taco Bell in it, which was a standard choice for me and my friends just before going to the movies. Hit up Taco Bell for dinner, grab some movie snacks at Target, and you're all set.
The opening of the Panera (in maybe... 2005?) was fantastic, some of the first less-unhealthy food sold in Liberty Tree, and it was novel to us at the time.
"We Can Fix That" used to be an ice cream place, as you might be able to guess from the fixtures.
The current arcade I believe used to be a Gamestop, and before that, Electronics Boutique. The earlier arcade, connected to the FYE, was quite large and had an excellent selection of games. Virtual On, Raiden, DDR, all sorts of racing and fighting games, it ruled.
The space to the right of the Army Recruiting Center was a McDonalds for decades. Sea Lion Sushi was one of the last gasps of life in the food court - Staples there were Sbarros (where Liberty Pizza is), Sanku (a "Japanese" place that just served renamed mall Chinese food, where the falafel place is), and a Chinese place that might have been called Manchu Wok? I'm unsure. Later, there was a Subway to the left of Sanku.
For decades, that "Utopia" store was instead a family photo place, and I've got some terrible photos of myself as a child from there.
The Sports Authority parking area was always where us kids would get dropped off - it essentially served as the main entrance for most of us back then, and that only really changed with Panera and then later, Buffalo Wild Wings.
That weird cotton candy machine set back into the wall was the location of a newspaper shop that sold lots of cigarettes and candy, and while it was more expensive than getting snacks at Target, if you were running late to your movie, it was a lot faster.
The location right after it was a Hallmark. Many Beanie Babies and Christmas ornaments were bought there. (Might have been two doors down - that space might have been a hair salon, judging by the floor and my hazy memories)
Five Below was the location of a KB Toys for a while.
The Pet Express was pretty much always there - we always stopped by to look at the cute puppies.
The Netcast directly across from the movie theater was a Suncoast Video, where I got to learn that anime on VHS and later, DVD, was horribly expensive. There was a guy who worked there that my girlfriend at the time and I used to chat with about anime and video games whenever we'd drop in, and I seem to remember him having some pretty good recommendations.
Additionally, the mall was supplemented by that strip mall across the parking lot, which had a (beloved by me) CompUSA in it.
I worked in a few places in this mall over a period of 5 years. It was basically my second home for a good while. This mall will always be pretty special to me, and although it appears to be dying I believe it will stick around, it's not really dead just significantly different than it was before. Sometime around 2020 some sort of church moved in there and now there is some sort of swimming place for kids in the front not connected to the stores inside. I think it will stick around just because of the still popular anchors like Target, Best Buy and Marshals. I’ve been told the rent is very high, and a lot of stores leave due to that. Even the news stand convenience store left, and they had been there for so many years. I remember the big tree right as you walked in, and I have really great memories of going there as a kid growing up in the 90s. It was actually a cool place to be at that time and the food court was full of different options that were always great. Sadly, the food court is definitely dead now. I used to work in the cell phone repair store that was part of the food court and saw the restaurants slowly leave over just a year or two. Currently all that is left is what used to be a Regina Pizza, and a Sushi place. It’s not a good sign for a food court when even McDonalds leaves. The pizza place for some reason is now called Liberty Pizza, I'm not sure if they are still associated with Regina Pizza but it does look like they kept the same oven that Reginas used. The movie theatre I would say is the biggest draw to the mall as you mentioned. It’s a great theatre still. It’s funny to see that some stores have survived there for decades like Claire’s, Hallmark store, and the pet store. Right behind the Marshals rear parking lot there is a car show that still happens on certain days and has been going on since the the 90s I believe. This was really cool to see this video thanks!
Malls seem to do ok in Massachusetts and New Hampshire. There's the Burlington mall, pheasant lane, and Merrimack outlets all within 33 minutes of each other.
Been working at this mall since I was a teenager.
What happened to this mall was greed and neglect.
The mall has no food court. Guests can’t sit down and enjoy a meal it is quite literally one long hallway. Only businesses driving in money are cocos nail salon, amc, Marshalls old navy and sky zone. Rent for businesses is too high and advertisements for those new business in the mall is expensive. During covid the mall remained open even tho business were closed . Instead of pausing the rent for those months they kept charging stores , said stores then were too far in debt to reopen. (That’s what owners of businesses here have told me at least). The mall is indeed dying. This is the only mall where I’ve ever seen a McDonald’s & a Dunkin Donuts fail and a subway franchise declare bankruptcy. Unfortunately having a super mall less than 5 minutes away is killing this mall. It has gone on sale several times the last being a few months back for around 40mil not sure what happened to it.
I think mcdonalds went first
at least it doesn’t have a Guatemalan Church in it like square one in saugus 😂
@@Indacouch-li8jp it has a church in it too now
Yeah, they're pretty discreet, but the "Netcast" mentioned on some signs is actually a megachurch that now occupies a good chunk of the main building.
I live right near by, and have been going to both these malls since about 1995. The Liberty Tree Mall has been the lesser mall since that time, but has been pretty dead for the past 20 years or so. I can't believe it's still open but maybe the anchor stores and movie theatre keeps it open. Who knows.
You and I are on the same page. I live nearby also. The food court is almost dead. It was a vibrant mall. All the anchors mentioned I remember very well.
@Mr.Freethinker2024 Surprisingly, FYE didn’t go out completely. The nearest ones to Library Tree is in the Burlington Mall in Mass and in the Rockingham Park mall in Salem, NH.
The tree you speak of was surrounded by a fountain in the early/mid-70s. They would have to drain it every night to sweep up hundreds of dollars in coins that had been tossed in. It was a very, very busy place; you had to watch your step so as not to collide with other shoppers.
I remember one time they had a chunk of the Skylab that fell back to Earth on display.
Yes, I remember the fountain around it... this is taking me way back...
The fountain was still there in the 80s when I was a kid. I used to chuck pennies into it.
Used to go there frequently while I was in college on the North Shore, 2002-2006. I definitely don't remember it being this empty, but here's what I do remember: there was a carousel under the skylight in the main atrium, and at some point, they installed a really cool interactive video game system just between the main entrance and atrium that was projected from the ceiling onto the floor. It would be a soccer match, and you could kick the virtual ball, or a beach and you could pick up shells. I used to get my hair cut at a salon that was also off of that main atrium. The movie theater was definitely the main draw for my friends and I, and it was a good quality cinema back then. Just beyond the theater was a pet store that actually sold dogs, all in little rows of cages.. It would be frowned upon these days, but we'd go there to pet whatever puppies they had out in their "touch pen." Just before the theater, in what I think is now the "Slime Zone," was a "Rain Forest Cafe." Only went once for someone's b-day, and the food was pretty boring. The food court had been slim pickings with only a few standard chain options for as long as I can remember, though it looks way worse these days. I believe the Panera at the front had recently opened in 2002, and it was usually PACKED. Looks like it's still there in the same spot, but I miss when you could get a pick two combo for under $7! As a poor college kid, I would frequent the Dollar Store that was attached to the mall and stock up on snacks for my dorm room.
Once thing of note is what looks like closed store fronts are not actually that. They're businesses like Aldi, Goldfish Swim School and Total Wine that only have access from outside. On the other side of a large wall in the Kohls wing is the AMC Theater, which has it's own entrance in the newer wing.
I grew up going to Liberty Tree and was a team member when Target opened in 1999. The place started going downhill in the mid 90s when the North Shore Mall had a big renovation. A lot stores moved there.
When Target opened it wasn’t connected to the mall. When the store first opened people would go the back corner of the store looking for the mall entrance. When Bed, Bath and Beyond moved to the mall (current Total Wine location) it didn’t have a mall entrance and it basically killed that entire wing.
Still as recently as 10 years ago there was still a McDonalds and two Asian restaurants at the food court. Going back for the first time in years to see Top Gun Maverick was kind of sad.
In the early to mid 70s we would drive up 114 from North Andover to shop. We gravitated to Liberty Tree Mall from North Shore "Shopping Center " (as i believe it was called as it was open air) because it was new and had different stores than Methuen Mall. I remember a triangular intersection with a ski shop located at the intersection (Buchika's maybe?) Good times!
When I was a lad in the 80's, I used to beg my mother to take me to Ann & Hope to see the pair of Emerson Heat Fans in the vestibule. One day, when I was around 7 or 8, they were uninstalled, and I cried the entire ride home. If anybody on here has a picture or video of the fans, I would love to see them! Yeah, this mall was a hopping place back in the day. I got my driver's license at the RMV here in 2000. By then, Lechmere was gone, Ann & Hope was hanging on by a thread, and Sports Authority was a recent phenomenon.
It was one of my fav mall's back in my childhood in the 80's, mainly for it's food court, lechmere's and a certain little toy store called "let's pretend". It used to be busy and bustling. But then also was Meadow Glenn in Medford and Assembly Square in Sommerville (now both converted to external box stores). We also enjoyed the watertown mall, North Shore (as you mentioned) and the Burlington mall. The 80's was the heyday for malls and Boston had no shortage. You might even include the Mystic Mall, but by the mid 80s that one was floundering.
As far as the liberty tree sculpture, it was around until at least '89 when we left Boston, I'd be curious to know what happened to it
Small world, I used to work at Let's Pretend in the late 90's building dollhouses, it was one of my favorite retail jobs. Obviously it was after your childhood, but the store hadn't changed much over the years. I think it was the last of the original stores from when the mall opened, in fact. They had so many unique dolls, stuffed animals, and I remember the Brio trains were big sellers too. Then came Beanie Babies and shipment days became.... interesting. Sad to see the mall dying, but also understandable.
That Ann & Hope was my moms go to for our school clothes. lol
I'm near this mall, and have been several times. I've seen this mall progress to the state it's in now. My childhood days consisted both visiting this and Northshore. Liberty Tree used to have a mostly filled food court back when I was a kid, but now, barely anything left. The center court would have a jumping course a few times prior. At this rate, I consider this mall to be partially dying. The outparcel stores are most certainly keeping this mall alive, along with AMC, Marshall's, and Old Navy. With retail being replaced with tenants such as a church, job counseling, and fitness centers, and places such as ALDI not having mall entrances, I really don't know how this mall's going to end up. Will it close? Will it be completely turned into these non-retail places? I just don't know. But it's even more puzzling, in the end, why Simon still owns this mall. (They previously tried to sell it last year).
Are you old enough to remember when it had a big metal tree in the center? And people use to be able to smoke there. Ya....crazy. I was really little but I remember that
@@jasonking971 No, I wasn't that old enough to remember it.
@biz-cb2sl Yes
Ya i was born in 1980, and I was little when it was allowed. So it was probably like 84 or 85. Smoking was allowed everywhere back then. Thank God they changed that.
@Mr.Freethinker2024 I'm not sure i remember that place. Was it at that mall?
I practically grew up in this mall. I seem to remember that Almy's was an anchor store. My favorite haunt was Paperback Booksmith. Most of my back-to-school clothes came from Ann & Hope, and we'd usually stop for lunch at the A&H restaurant, The Captain's Table. One Saturday afternoon, we (me, Mom, Sis) were on a routine shopping trip, and we ran into Leonard Nimoy. He was in a production at the North Shore Music Circus and was at the mall signing autographs. I do remember the Liberty Tree, and throughout the mall there were fresco type paintings about the Salem witch trials. The movie theater wasn't in the mall, it was maybe a mile up the road. I haven't been there in decades; thanks for the trip down memory lane.
I think Almy’s was the anchor at Northshore Mall, right?
Under that sky light there was a giant metal tree sculpture in the 80s. And that cell phone store was Empire clothing, where my grandmother worked.
Back in the 80s, this was the cool mall. The Northshore mall was the 'Old People Mall'.....The mall had a big metal tree in the center and several fountains all around. It had a really good arcade and a really good food court.
What a rec to get in the algorithm at 1am lol
This is my hometown mall too. When I was a teen in the late 2000s-early 2010s this mall wasn't in its peak anymore but there was still plenty to do, and I loved hanging with my friends just to window shop here. Now I only go in to get something at the Marshall's or Target, or to see a movie. It's depressing walking through those miles of empty dark hallway.
It's dying for sure, but I have a feeling the traffic from the Marshall's, Old Navy, and AMC will keep it puttering along for a good while longer. Just a shame to not have any fun smaller shops to accompany them anymore.
Some of the best days of my life were getting to skip school and go to Liberty Tree and North Shore mall in the same day with my Mom. As a kid both malls had their own perks.
Between the Liberty Pizza and the armed services recruitment center, there used to be a McDonalds. To the left of the hallway to the bathrooms in the food court was Chinese food, and then to the left of the Falafel Mom was a Subway.
I worked at the Target attached to this mall from 2010 to 2019.
Before Simon purchased them, the Liberty Tree mall was the cool mall, with Aladdin’s Castle, and the Northshore Mall was the run down one, that wasn’t fully enclosed. There was a smaller mall in nearby Swampscott, and a tiny one in Salem, on Trader’s Way.
I grew up in Wakefield, MA in the 1980s. It’s about 14 miles away and a quick trip on the highway. Both malls (this and the Northshore mall) both were busy until the late 80s. Then the Northshore mall started to die and the liberty tree mall was more popular. I did all my clothes shopping here (Chess King, Merry-go-round, etc.,). The Northshore mall got a refresh and won the battle in the 90s (I believe). The liberty tree mall is still around in my opinion because it relies on major anchor stores like BestBuy & Kohls.
Its been dying for about 20 years and still holds on. It had one of the last Sam Goodie stores in up until about 15 or so years ago. I use to go there here and there during the late 90s till mid 2000s. It looks way worse but honestly Simon owns most if not all the Malls in Mass so thats pretty much how they stay a float. I used to go to Burlington mall for the most part.
The tree used to be right in the center. After that it was replaced with a big carousel. Not sure when that was removed...
I can’t help but have a soft spot for this place. I came of age just as it was dying out (born in ‘98) but as a teen it was still one of my favorite places to take the bus to. Especially with AMC and when AC Moore used to be there! The state of it now is pretty sad, though I’m glad that Northeast Arc seems to be doing well there and they held a small art market in the mall just this past spring! I think it’d be a good venue for more things like that. Could do without the misleading-looking church though…
Used to hang out there all the time when I was young. Sad to see how much it’s changed now. In the past decade or so I think I’ve only been to BWW, Best Buy, Kohls, and the theater. Probably longer since I’ve actually been inside the mall itself.
There used to be a giant tree in the middle under the giant skylight! We used to go there in the 80s every weekend in high school! The funny thing is that used to be the big mall and the North shore was the small one
I miss the Counter Strike LAN Parties!
we used to hop the freight train to liberty tree mall,hang out there for a while then cut across behind the dennys to the NS mall,..in the 80s malls were/was our social media:)
I went here all the time as a kid. Now I drive right by and go to North Shore. This place is empty as hell.
I actually do a lot of work for that Best Buy as well as other stores in that area, a good example of a dead mall can be found about 30 minutes south in watertown, the watertown bestbuy is attached to the mall, which is now just a DMV and a chinese restaurant, and theres a Target at the other end, you can tell it wasnt a big mall, but it at one point had several store spaces
I used to work at Expressly Portraits part time when I was a student at Montserrat College of Art in Beverly, MA in the early 90’s, It was located in the main open area. During the holidays Santa Claus was right in front of our store. We were ALWAYS busy.
I lived in the area 20 years ago, this mall used to be packed on weekends with kids and teenagers. I moved out of state in 2010, sad to see how it is now.
It is a frail, sad shell of what it was in its glory days. Damn you eCommerce, damn you.
The Liberty Tree used to be part of a huge fountain under the skylight. There were two smaller fountains also, and these animal statues kids could climb on.
I've been going to this mall since the mall opened and the large tree was in the malls center. Lechmere was one of the biggest stores of its day at the mall and one of the first places doing VHS rentals.
This mall makes me a bit sad. I worked security here from 2003-2006 and it was a great mall back then.
Unfortunately malls across the country are in the same boat. They are going down the same road as the drive in theaters. The pandemic gave birth to home delivery and people today would rather shop on line than physically go walk through a mall. I personally use to enjoy spending a day walking and shopping in the mall.
I still do all my clothes and shoe shopping in malls. I must be old now!
dont like to try on clothes at home, only to have them not fiit then have to deal with returns by mail.
I live behind this mall. I miss what it was like in the 80s and 90s. The movie theater gives it a reason to go and the businesses on the outside of the mall. Honestly they should convert it into something like the Lynnfield Market Place and open it up more.
Used to shop there a lot with my mom. We loved it. Hickory farms, Brighams, Thom McCan were among some of those empty stores. Very sad
This is crazy to see :( growing up I used to take the buses from Peabody with my dad and siblings on the weekend to go watch movies and get candy from Five Below and I always remember it being packed
I remember the bouncy thing. In that atruim straight ahead of the entrance where that car was being displayed, you could get strapped to these bungee cords and jump super high on these inflatable trampolines and do flips and stuff. Either that or it was in northshore mall, i cant remember too well. Either way, it is missed dearly by me and my family
Been here before. Some stores have gone out of business, but I still like walking around here. I was surprised that it's a walking distance to Northshore Mall.
I know Whitney Field got some flack for the murals/wall displays, but I’d prefer that to just long, bland empty hallways.
Definitely agree on the dying aspect, especially in that Kohls to Best Buy corridor.
There was an Alladins Castle arcade right there at the Kohls entrance inside the mall.
CompUSA in the parking lot was where it was at back in the late 90's/early 2000's. Was a great spot for Black Friday, remember seeing the Grinch over that holiday weekend.
I remember going here every single week as a kid. They used to have an actual tree in the middle of the mall and revolutionary war murals throughout the mall. There was also a small movie theater across the street where Dick's Sporting goods is now. I remember watching Independence Day there. There was also a kids clothing store in the 80s that had a huge slide in the back of the store. It was pretty awesome.
I remember when my mom would take me to this mall like 5-10 years ago and it had so many more stores, and the food court had the best food. Now no one goes there anymore 😢
Even in the 90s and 2000s it was much more like a normal mall. We went to ann and hope for a long time, and even the marshalls which is still there. The theater keeps this place alive.
Also SkyZone is always busy so is the Goldfish Bowl and can't forget Target and Best Buy is part of the Liberty Mall and eateries.
I live in Peabody mass and I go here all the time it just doesn’t feel the same anymore
2:16 To the left was Bed, Bath & Beyond. Can't nail down exactly when it closed, but it lasted FAR longer than most stores that opened up.
This is the mall that started my love of tabletop games. There was a Games Workshop that used to be located here, so sad when it closed in like 2010
This is probably a good contender for New England's deadest mall. Right next to Enfield Square
Head out west to the Berkshire mall...only 1 store left there (Target)mall looks like a zombie apocolypse!
This is sad. I used to go here all the time to go to the movies with friends, and I'd hang out at Gamestop, Sam Goody, Games Workshop, and FYE. FYE was great! It had an arcade built right into it, so that was fun! And Harrison's Comics. They had a small store in there for a bit...I had some good times there, and such a crush on the girl who worked there.
I spent countless hours there as a teen in the late 80s to early 90s (and worked at Ann&Hope and then GNC). The tree was definitely still there when I graduated high school in '91. Those wavy ceilings existed back then also. Ironically, back then the Liberty Tree Mall was the hot mall and the North Shore Mall was the weak one.
If you want a dead mall emerald square in north Attleboro. You’d swear you were in the movie dawn of the dead. That place is a hallow shell of what it used to be
Berkshire mall should also be a Walking Dead movie set
I remember it used to have a newbury comics store and i loved going in there
I would say the peak of this mall was late 90s early 2000s. I worked at that Best Buy from 2004-2007. It was filled and mostly busy. It took a dive sometime around 2010s. That Best Buy door used to be open all the time so you had direct entrance to the mall.
There’s no more McDonald’s in that food court!!! What! That place is empty!
Where that cotten candy machine used to be a conveniences store.
I had a store in that mall between 2001 and 2005. That mall manager was extremely difficult to understand and deal on a daily basis. She purposely made it difficult to operate and when it came time to renew my lease the Simon Property Group quadrupled (4X) my rent. I walked. Retail is dead between paying unbelievable square footage for rent and $25/hr for employees. Malls are basically a place where you drop off your kids and let the mall security guards babysit them. I am in that mall at least once a month and I don't see anybody making any money.
i am so glade you your mommy are doing good ty for video
Reminds me of going to the mall back in the 90's, doesn't feel like much has changed to be honest. Glad there are at least some things still drawing in patrons.
I visit the actual plaza fairly regularly for Best Buy, Aldi, and Total Wine, but I honestly don’t remember the last time I was in the actual mall
Dead..but they took interior mall space and made it exterior with Target, Best Buy and Kohls and Total Wine, Aldi all accessible like a shopping center now.
Every mall is dead or dying, for one simple reason - not too long ago, my youngest, (10), wanted to buy a new Lego set he had seen in aYT video. Instead of asking about "going to the mall", he simply hopped online, found the Lego set he was looking for, and asked me to buy it for him.
Kids today don't care about hanging out anywhere but "online", and have grown up in a world where anything they could ever want can be purchased online, and delivered right to the front door.
I was there a little bit ago and it was so empty, it made me sad to see something that was such a big part of my childhood be so dead.
LTM was so much better than the NSM up through 2000. Once the movie theater moved in, it closed down too many little shops and made the left wing feel liek a cave. I worked at Ann & Hope from 97-98 and I will alway have fond memories of the mall.
I'd point out, the main area isn't so lively, but the anchor stores: Now an Aldi, a Best Buy, a Target, and a Total Wine are all going strong.
I went to this mall a lot in the 80s and worked there in the early to mid 90s. There used to be a metal tree in the middle that looked like the Liberty Tree in the logo, Ann & Hope used to be where Kohl's is and had a Ticketmaster and cafeteria inside, if you took a right down the hallway where Kohl's is there was the Aladdin's Castle arcade at the very end near the doors. The Best Buy end used to be a Lechmere store. But yeah, the Liberty Tree Mall used to be jam packed all weekend with kids hanging out, going to the arcade and food court etc... The hallway going to Jump Zone was added in the mid to late 90s sometime and was originally a Sports Authority, the outer doorway was where the hallway starts. The North Shore Mall used to be the desolate dying mall until it got a major renovation in the mid 90s and became the newer better mall.
It seems like the Khol's concourse was mostly offices based on those two NortheastArc entrances I saw there, so that's why I think that corridor was just wall. By the way what service does that offer?
sports authority turned into total wine next to buffalo wild wings. Buffalo wild wings fell off a damn cliff after 2019. used to go to the movies, game stop was at the wow arcade, and buffalo wild wings around ten years ago w my cousins. those were the days
When I lived around the area rarely ever visited the small was always at Square One or North shore, This mall looks like the Woburn Mall, Medow Glenn Mall, and Assembly Square Mall, a few years before thosee malls were torn down are redeveloped. Liberty Tree looks like a lot of development has already taken place around the mall structure, if you notice the Best Buy and Aldi, and maybe even can't be accessed from within the mall.
I’m there all the time for the movies. And I used to work at Marshall’s. The clock is definitely ticking on all of our malls!
i feel like when FYE closed it all went down hill. combined with the upgrades at the north shore mall. growing up the north shore mall was boring and the liberty tree mall was the place to go.