This is the mall I grew up shopping at - as a kid/preteen the fountain was covered from when my mom (who was a kid when it opened) shopped there! And the only uncovered it ten-ish years ago. But they use to host back to school events and each store would have models and they would “walk the runway” up there. I would model for Penny’s. The plants are all in INCREDIBLE condition and always have been. I’ve done so many laps around this mall. It was heartbreaking when the cookie shop closed that was kind of the end of the mall but so glad to have the theater back!
I grew up in Claiborne County, Tennessee but this was our mall. I came here a lot with my parents in the 80s and was a mallrat here in the 90s as a teenager. We probably crossed paths in the arcade lots of times.
"The tracking knob in my brain had been set just right..." I wonder how many younger people watching this channel have no idea what the hell that means. 😂 📼
A lot of the younger people watching this channel are avid collectors of “vintage” electronics like that much like I was in high school covering my dad’s records…but kids now are doing that with CDs, which just kill me that they’re now considered “retro”! 😂😂😂
I was born in Middlesboro, grew up in Harrogate. I worked at KMART ,bought my Star Wars figures in PLAYLAND toy store, bought my tapes in the record store, and Aladdin's castle was my spot for years. Plus, that is the Cinema that i watched my favorite movies growing up: BACK TO THE FUTURE, INDIANA JONES LAST CRUSADE, EXPLORERS,ECT. Thanks for the video.
You know honestly it’s doing better than a lot of other malls I visit in similar settings. I am working on a video about the mall in Harlan that only has four stores in it.
That is why I love this mall. It's in the middle of nowhere but if you were an 80's kid it's EVERYBODY'S MALL. We had one really similar to this one back in Cincinnati called Cassinelli Square.
@@UniCommProductions The one near me..Cumberland Mall..used to look at lot like this when I was a kid before they updated it. Lots of browns and plants everywhere...had like 4 fountains. Btw you have the perfect voice for doing these videos. Very relaxing to listen too.
I had no idea vintage malls had such a following! Anyway, I’m from Middlesboro! Grew up there in the 90’s. Shoulda seen her in her glory days! It was a magical place. Used to be this amazing western/leather store. The SMELL! Oh, and you could still smoke in the mall until probably around 2000? I remember my family from Michigan being socked by that. Only in the mall, not in the stores.
Honestly I miss how crowded it was. It was my childhood and seeing it empty makes me sad and every time I go to watch a movie or go a little clothes shopping it brings a sense of nostalgia and sadness. I pray the mall gets back on the feet. By the time this video was filmed there was more stores but it’s almost all gone. On the bright side they are adding a Hobby Lobby so maybe it will boost place as a hang out spot. Honestly I just want it to be more popular again.
I am from the area and 22 years old. I grew up going to this mall on a weekly basis. I never realized how special it is, for me, it was normal and still is. Thanks for the vid!
@@UniCommProductions it smells terrific. I get compliments all the time. I heard they are discontinuing it though..why I ha e no idea because it smells great. But Im sure you can find it online.
I was just there a few weeks ago and I'm happy to say the movie theater has reopened! They definitely upgraded it from the way it used to be and the floor wasn't the least bit sticky. Lots of memories in this mall. This was "The Spot" when I was in high school. You hung out inside Middlesboro Mall for hours and if you were really lucky, somebody had a car and you cruised Cumberland Avenue and the Roses' parking lot (before it was ever in the mall) until you had to rush home to make your curfew!
I spent many a Friday and Saturday in this mall. It used to be so packed on the weekends. Now it’s almost a ghost town. I visit the boro and the mall every once in a while. This video brings back so many good memories. Thank you!!
I grew up here. I’m 14 so I never seen it in the 80s but I’ve grew up here. It seems like the more the years go by the more it dies down. It feels like a ghost town in there. It’s sad to see it like that. I wish it were more lively
Oh the stories I could tell about this mall, from just hanging around there in my misspent youth to actually working as member of the mall maintenance crew. I don't think they even employ security guards any longer; it's not like they're necessary now given how much the foot traffic has dropped off since its heyday. How it remains open I have no idea, because it cannot be squeezing out much of a profit.
I have a fantasy of winning the lottery and either buying out a mall that already looks like this, or finding a dead mall and remodeling it to look like this. Wood, brick, tile floors, angular shapes, with a little neon thrown in as accenting where it wouldn't look too jarring. I grew up in the 1990s visiting malls that had been built in the '70s and '80s, and back then many of them still looked like this. The Fox Run Mall in Newington, NH used to have a lot in common with the Middlesboro Mall in terms of looks; sadly, the Simon Property Group bought it and converted it into an aesthetic wasteland from which no taste escapes.
The last time I went to the Middlesboro Mall was two years ago, and it was on a special day. It was my mom Jackie's 62nd birthday. We shopped at Roses, where Kmart used to be located.
I grew up shopping here. It was a very busy mall up until about the early 2000's when the coal industry left. After that, lot of people moved out of the area and store started shutting down. It's really sad because that was the main hangout for kids when I was growing up. In the mid-nineties, people were shoulder-to-shoulder in that place. I came back home to visit in about 2005 then I will still fairly hopping.
Thank you for filming this! I grew up here and visited the mall back in the 80s til now. It was truly an awesome mall back in the day and it still looks the same as it did back then. The mall had Kaybee toys, Claire’s, fashion bug, taco casa, catos, fashion bug, foot locker, dawahares, and more. It’s sad to see so many stores gone but it makes me happy to see it’s still going.
i talk to the mall and mayor personally on messenger! the mall says they work diligently to fill space and the JCPenney space is being remodeled and re occupied soon by another store!!
I live in the small town where this mall is located. It’s so heartbreaking how much has left the mall just in the last 5-10 years. I remember being in high school and hanging out here every weekend, birthday parties in “Aladdin’s Castle Arcade” and eating with the family at Chinatown which also had a small gift shop. The restaurant was ran by the sweetest lady. Not much of a food court but the places it did have (i.e. taco casa and a little cookie show) we’re so good. Gosh sometimes I wish I could go back in time.
This actually ended a tiny mall just down the road when it opened where Big Lots is now. I remember when this mall had many stores but now due to coal mining ending most people in the area just don't have disposable income to do things like shopping. The theater has shut down during the pandemic and is going to be reopened in July as a Golden Ticket 4 screen theater. Roses being there is kind of ironic because when I was a kid in the 80s Rose's was actually where Big Lots now is in the old mall and a Service Merchandise was there where Goody's clothing last was. This mall I've seen so many places come and go, and sadly I've not been there in several years. Thank you for visiting this mall, filming it and showing it the respect and love it deserves. Maybe sometime you can take a trip to my other childhood mall Fort Henry Mall in Kingsport TN which isn't too far from this mall. Sadly just before the pandemic I went to Fort Henry Mall and it was sad seeing all the walled off shops and just how dead it was when I remember it booming. Just more proof getting older really stinks because you long for the old days!
That's interesting, I'll need to look up the plaza the Big Lots is in on Google Maps and check it out. There are a few more malls in Northern TN/southern KY that I really want to check out soon (I ran out of time on this day; I hit not only this mall but the ones in Williamstown and South Williamson too)
@@UniCommProductions The old mall in Middlesboro where Big Lots and Gamestop are is tiny, you'd miss it if not looking for it (when facing Big Lots it's to the left) and the last time I was in it had a Christian book store that sold vacation bible school supplies. I found this link showing a picture of it www.flickr.com/photos/120051008@N03/16726488095 from Jamie Middleton. I grew up in Lee Co Virginia so my family went to the Middlesboro Mall, Fort Henry Mall and I don't know if Jamie told you but there's also a tiny really dead mall in Harlan Kentucky that's straight out of the early 80s as well, it was once anchored by Belk and Magic Mart and is called Village Center Mall (I've noticed putting Village in a mall name happened in both Middlesboro with it's old tiny mall and in Harlan Kentucky and both aren't far away from each other). I was born in 1979 so I remember all these malls in the booming times and if you need any help with information I'll do what I can to help. Middlesboro Mall from the mall entrance at JC Penney when I was a kid had a store that I guess was like a Hot Topic in the 80s and didn't stay long, I'd love to know what it was called it was on the right directly outside JCP and I remember getting a punk rock bracelet and some buttons. It looked like on your video the decorated cookie place outside of JCP wasn't open and it's a shame if it's gone as it was always a treat for me. It took me until today to find the name of an old ice cream bar and lemonade place from Fort Henry Mall and my 80s childhood where they'd hand dip ice cream bars in chocolate and shake fresh lemonade and was called Bob's Old Fashioned Ice Cream Bar that was in several malls. I wish we'd had camera phones in the 80s and early 90s as I would love to see the old malls and shops from my childhood. I'm just grateful people like you guys are going out and filming them and you have the perfect voice for these videos. It's probably hard for some to believe but Middlesboro used to have a neat eye glasses place outside of JCP that was unique, a wood trimmed Foot Locker and large Hallmark shop. If I sat down I could probably list almost every store they've had however out near Belk it's always been a nail salon and military recruiting office. In Middlesboro I remember going to the drug store, Foot Locker, The, Sears, Hallmark, Kmart and the Steve and Barry's final days; I didn't make it to JCP closing and hope something takes it's place that does well! Middlesboro Mall I used to go to daytime movies where a ticket was $3! Lol In Middlesboro and Harlan it wasn't Amazon or over malling that killed it but just a coal economy coming to an end. It was too many ever newer shopping centers however that's currently killing Fort Henry Mall/Kingsport Town Center in Tennessee. Thanks to this pandemic sadly Piccadilly is gone from Fort Henry Mall. If you're ever back in the area and need any help just let me know.
Um...Big Lots moved from Village Square around October 2018. It moved to the old Food City building down the street. Yes, Roses was in the Village Square location many, many years ago (over 25). Shouldn't confuse those who are from out of the area and might want to come and explore.
I remember my youth pastor had Duke university jacket & I really wanted one. I just loved the blue & white ! I didn’t care bout the school or the team haha. I found a fake at Steve & Barry’s for $10 😂
Speaking of Roses, my hometown in North Carolina has a 1970s Roses location, dating back to when it was a competitor of Walmart and Kmart, before going bankrupt and becoming the type of store it is today. I had been in the store as a kid in the 1990s when it was still selling similar items to Walmart and Kmart at the time, but going back as a teenager in about 2012 was very surreal, the items were definitely of very low quality by that point and the ceiling hadn't been cleaned or painted in years. However, it seemed familiar in an eerie way.
I remember it very well back in the 80's, and early 90's when Rose's was competing with K-Mart/Walmart, as I use to buy a lot of video games there growing up as they a lot of times had the best prices, and one of the locations here has been open since the 80's, and you are right it is surreal seeing what it's become. We also have another one that was an old Walmart built in the late 80's(moved 5 mins down the road for a Super Center Strip mall where I worked the site prep construction for it in the early 00's) in which 1/2 of it became a Steve and Barry's before Rose's took it over, and later Tractor Supply taking the other 1/2 of the old Walmart. Man how Rose's has fallen.
About all the brown in the early 1980's ... it was about "Earth Colors!" The earth colors - shades of brown, tans, beige, sage green, avocado green, harvest gold, etc. - was a response to the growing awareness of environmentalism and celebrating nature. Even more so it was step away from the "psychedelic" late 1960's and early '70's with the funky bright colors and mind blowing shades of pinks, yellows, purples, turquoise. Believe me I know - I lived through that era.
I remember my high school was built in 1981 (I attended in the late 90s) and it was all the same quarry tile, orange carpeting, avocado green carpeting, wood railings, harvest gold appliances, and nothing was white, the closest color was a light cream they called "antique white" and everything was very angular. It had those spherical globe lights that look like moons. It was like the Brady Bunch house but half a million square feet. I loved it and I love that era but it's all but disappeared. This is amazing to see.
@@craigjensen6853 Sounds like a tour-de-force of 1980s aesthetic! The problem was all that carpeting - especially shag carpets ... yuck! So dusty and unhygienic!
Holy cow this one is incredible! it looks exactly like my old high school built in 1981. Same floor, same brick, same ceilings. This one is definitely going on the list to visit. The whole 1976-1984 period should really go together as an era, the early-80s was more like the late-70s than the later '80s but people do always associate neon with the 80s. Neon was a product of the postmodern era. It's also interesting that it can take so long to plan and develop buildings like this that the design is already 5 years old by the time they open. You just don't see this era in shown in malls anymore at all. Most of them from this period were remodeled early on in the late-80s and early-90s into that stereotypical mall loo, the aesthetic mood changed that quickly in the '80s.
I just love how it’s just sitting there looking brand new in this out of the way place. You don’t want to use the word “best kept secret” too much but this might be the one
@@UniCommProductions It really is exceptional, and very well-maintained. I was looking at street view; new roof, fresh paint, nice parking lot, manicured landscaping, the owners clearly have pride in it. These rural/mountain malls seem to be doing much better at adapting to serve their area so I'll definitely be taking a road trip and dropping some quarters in that fountain and wishing them the best!
I spent several Friday and Saturday nights at this mall and no it's all original. We had a restaurant called taco casa that was there since I was a little kid in the early 80s. The arcade use to be killer and had everything. The K mart where roses is now had a restaurant in it too. China town buffet was some of the best food in town.
Saw this video an planned a road trip the last weekend. About 900 miles,1 thriving mall, this mall and a rax restaurant straight out of 1987 it was totally worth it. Great videos keep them coming!
I love the vibe of this mall! And the store front at the 7:00 mark is amazing -- it almost looks like an old Aladdin's Castle, but I could be wrong. Really enjoying your videos!
I think you're probably right about it having been an old Aladdin's Castle (or maybe a Tilt)...This mall is just so well maintained and pristine inside. It's a real rarity to see healthy plants and a fountain! Thank you so much for watching!
You are correct. It used to be an Aladdin's castle. I used to go there as a kid in the mid to late 1990's it was a great experience for a kid back in the day. Makes me miss what once was in this place......
That mall has some of the best preserved and beautiful vintage aesthetics I've seen in a mall video. I have a Steve and Barry's sweatshirt that I still wear. I was sad and angry when I heard they closed.
I love this mall, because it’s what most people’s’ local mall looked like when they were younger before they were renovated! I think Steve and Barry’s was operating on extremely tight profit margins and they expanded too fast. If they’d kept things small they may have stuck around. There aren’t a ton of places to buy cheap guys clothes-women have Forever 21 but just regular dude stuff is expensive!
All the planters, benches, and trashcans are original to the mall's opening. They also had matching ashtrays from back when you could smoke inside; big ol' honking things.
@@UniCommProductions Yeah, it's a small place, with only about 4-5 stores inside and the same amount on the outside. Like I said, it's part of the main campus.
Buenas Noches, Kristin! Wasn't home for a few hours (including like a couple of hours in one VERY FULL BY PANDEMIC STANDARDS, local mall) otherwise I would've commented earlier... You always HIT ON THE NAIL on the need for our local malls to be OURS, not just a place to shop and get out. The TRUE SOUL of this mall is in its' (contrary to popular belief) '70s aesthetic. Back then (was already an adult by '85) the biggest influencer of pop culture was the updating of the '70s aesthetic with something that was supposedly different. Pastels (purple, pink...) in larger cities / coasts and earths (brown, red....) in the smaller towns / inland.
@@UniCommProductions - yup! It was "Sam's* favorite mall" here (Plaza Del Sol), which has a Walmart and a Home Depot as bookends and do coexist with all size of other mall stores, both local and from The States. I hope we get to listen to your opinion on any of our malls and OUR WAY OF SEEING AT THEM sometime in the future... *as in Brick Immortar
So many memories of that place...going there with my grandparents on a Saturday and then off to the Tazewell flea market just up the road. Thanks for the vid!
this mall was more alive even when I was younger and i’m in high school it’s died over the years but me and my friends have had our fair share of adventures there in the 20s
It’s effectively unchanged since it opened, though. The title is referencing that there are malls in the US built in the 60s and 70s that are practically unrecognizable compared to their original appearance but since this one has never been remodeled it still looks like 1983. Sorry to disappoint; it was not my intention to be misleading.
UPDATE: the movie theatre is still open however not AMC it is now Golden Ticket Cinemas - Kay Jewelers has closed - I suspect Belks is looking into closing per some rumors I have heard and all the 50% mark downs store wide - roses is falling apart and needs serious remodeling work done a few months ago the mall was sold to a new company ( I cannot remember the name )
I could see that! I never got to see Westland; it was closed by the time I developed an interest in vintage malls (although I've walked around the outside a few times since it's been closed).
Yep the early - mid 80's where 100% brown as they where coming off the design ques of the very late 70's, and this mall brings back a lot of memories for me of the now long since closed Regency Mall in Augusta, GA that used the exact same tile patterns. Also here my area we had nearly the same happen with Steve, & Berry's only they took over 1/2 an old Walmart location, and for then Rose's to take their 1/2 over, and Tractor Supply coming just a few years ago to take the other 1/2. Lastly yep I still have some stuff from Steve, and Berry's like a shoulder bag I use when I travel, and a pair of their jeans I still do yard work in that are barely hanging on for dear life lol!
And it’s just there. Like this is normal and every day life. Like it always has been. It’s a really great place to walk around, it’s like a spa treatment for your mind.
My friend I’m glad you bang this one out because I was not willing to do it. I watch so many abandoned shopping videos in this mall is been in my life from day one but I’ve never had the nerve to go and actually do what you did thank you.
I have no idea why RUclips recommended me this but I'm glad it did, what a breathtaking mall! Closet thing to a time machine I've seen in a long while! Great video 👍
Thank you! The decline that's happening now is not the malls' fault. It's the economy itself. Even malls in my area that have always done well are suffering now. That mall is in AMAZINGLY great shape regardless of age. And as someone in my (early) 50's (someone who remembers "malls" before they were "closed in")- the purple neon and checkerboard tiles were the first remodels. ;) Glad to see you shopped - B&B Works is mecca - even though most of it is only good until you get it all home - but man, what a rush when you're in the store! Have a great day!
I think a big part of why malls are failing that doesn't get talked about much is how no one seems to have time to spend the afternoon browsing anymore! (I always try to buy something at the malls I visit and have a really big B&BW problem--in my car, shower, candles...)
Holy BLEEP! This is incredible! What blows my mind is how clean it looks ! The brown.....brown brown on top of brown ! Reminds me of a classic Burger King. Great job :)
The plants and wood remind me of my old neighborhood mall, Stratford Square. Unfortunately, that mall has been taken over by the pestilent Namdar, so my hopes are no longer high.
I'd sure love to see your take on the Chicago mall scene! If you do get up to Stratford Square, you also ought to check out Fox Valley. There are quite a few thriving malls in Chicago, unfortunately these two aren't doing so well.
This is my towns mall i come here often, I suppose me being here all my life kinda dulled it down and i dont see how cool it is like everyone else does because im used to it, also whats the back ground music?? It sounds good
I wish it were 1983.in some ways the mall would be king.Sears would be the gold standard and we could communicate in person with our friends the way that we were meant to.
It absolutely has, which is to be expected. Most middle class malls are suffering in part due to the fact that the popular national chains that used to fill them seem to be succumbing to bankruptcy at an alarming rate over the last few years. It’s about half full-the end closer to Rose’s is completely lively but the other parts not so much
I'm honestly surprised MIddlesboro is big enough to have a mall. I've been driving to Harrogate, TN, which is about a 10 minute drive from MIddlesboro, regularly for work for years, and Middlesboro just seems like such a small, quaint little town.
I love your script writing for your videos so much; "the tracking knob in my brain" is such a fabulous reference for us kids of the '80s. Thank you for another wonderful stroll back in time! 💖
Great job. Reminds me of the old mall here that's been long torn down. I still have a Steve & Barry's Wisconsin hoodie. I'm surprised it hasn't fallen apart.
That’s a good question-and I’m not sure of the answer. It’s possible they have taken on less debt over the years than some of their now-defunct counterparts
The Algorithm was trying to keep me from this channel. I somehow got 3 videos behind. Bunch of bastards. Anyway, great video. I'd love to visit this place.
This is the mall I grew up shopping at - as a kid/preteen the fountain was covered from when my mom (who was a kid when it opened) shopped there! And the only uncovered it ten-ish years ago. But they use to host back to school events and each store would have models and they would “walk the runway” up there. I would model for Penny’s. The plants are all in INCREDIBLE condition and always have been. I’ve done so many laps around this mall. It was heartbreaking when the cookie shop closed that was kind of the end of the mall but so glad to have the theater back!
Im from Middlesboro. This was my mall! It was packed on the weekends for 2 decades. Thanks for this video! I lived at Aladdin's castle!
I grew up in Claiborne County, Tennessee but this was our mall. I came here a lot with my parents in the 80s and was a mallrat here in the 90s as a teenager. We probably crossed paths in the arcade lots of times.
"The tracking knob in my brain had been set just right..." I wonder how many younger people watching this channel have no idea what the hell that means. 😂 📼
A lot of the younger people watching this channel are avid collectors of “vintage” electronics like that much like I was in high school covering my dad’s records…but kids now are doing that with CDs, which just kill me that they’re now considered “retro”! 😂😂😂
My god.... the wood paneled trash cans are absolutely outstanding!
I was born in Middlesboro, grew up in Harrogate. I worked at KMART ,bought my Star Wars figures in PLAYLAND toy store, bought my tapes in the record store, and Aladdin's castle was my spot for years. Plus, that is the Cinema that i watched my favorite movies growing up: BACK TO THE FUTURE, INDIANA JONES LAST CRUSADE, EXPLORERS,ECT. Thanks for the video.
I love how your so respectful to my mall
Every mall I cover has someone like you who cares a lot about it and I never want to hurt that someone’s feelings by trashing it.
I grew up in Middlesboro and it was a great mall thru the mid-90's. Sad to see it so empty now.
You know honestly it’s doing better than a lot of other malls I visit in similar settings. I am working on a video about the mall in Harlan that only has four stores in it.
Thi is awesome. All of a sudden I was transported back to 6 yrs old!
That is why I love this mall. It's in the middle of nowhere but if you were an 80's kid it's EVERYBODY'S MALL. We had one really similar to this one back in Cincinnati called Cassinelli Square.
@@UniCommProductions The one near me..Cumberland Mall..used to look at lot like this when I was a kid before they updated it. Lots of browns and plants everywhere...had like 4 fountains. Btw you have the perfect voice for doing these videos. Very relaxing to listen too.
@@bahgawd8158 Thank you!
I have such affection for those wooden handrails.... so Brady Buchulous!
So many memories
I live in Middlesboro!!! Let's gooooo
I had no idea vintage malls had such a following! Anyway, I’m from Middlesboro! Grew up there in the 90’s. Shoulda seen her in her glory days! It was a magical place. Used to be this amazing western/leather store. The SMELL! Oh, and you could
still smoke in the mall until probably around 2000? I remember my family from Michigan being socked by that. Only in the mall, not in the stores.
Honestly I miss how crowded it was. It was my childhood and seeing it empty makes me sad and every time I go to watch a movie or go a little clothes shopping it brings a sense of nostalgia and sadness. I pray the mall gets back on the feet. By the time this video was filmed there was more stores but it’s almost all gone. On the bright side they are adding a Hobby Lobby so maybe it will boost place as a hang out spot. Honestly I just want it to be more popular again.
This mall reminds me so much of my childhood. It is gorgeous, having never been remodelled. Perfection!😍😍😍
I am from the area and 22 years old. I grew up going to this mall on a weekly basis. I never realized how special it is, for me, it was normal and still is. Thanks for the vid!
I’m a dude, but I also enjoy vintage trash cans and bath & body works products.
Shoutouts to the best little dead mall channel on the internet!!
Awwww damn now I'm blushing thank you :)
☺️ My pleasure - please keep up the great work!
I wear mens noir cologne from b&bw.
@@bahgawd8158 How is that I need to find out if my man will like it!
@@UniCommProductions it smells terrific. I get compliments all the time. I heard they are discontinuing it though..why I ha e no idea because it smells great. But Im sure you can find it online.
I was just there a few weeks ago and I'm happy to say the movie theater has reopened! They definitely upgraded it from the way it used to be and the floor wasn't the least bit sticky. Lots of memories in this mall. This was "The Spot" when I was in high school. You hung out inside Middlesboro Mall for hours and if you were really lucky, somebody had a car and you cruised Cumberland Avenue and the Roses' parking lot (before it was ever in the mall) until you had to rush home to make your curfew!
I spent many a Friday and Saturday in this mall. It used to be so packed on the weekends. Now it’s almost a ghost town. I visit the boro and the mall every once in a while. This video brings back so many good memories. Thank you!!
Aww thank you! I'm glad I was able to take you for a visit.
I went on my first date to the movies at the mall in the late 1980’s.
I grew up here. I’m 14 so I never seen it in the 80s but I’ve grew up here. It seems like the more the years go by the more it dies down. It feels like a ghost town in there. It’s sad to see it like that. I wish it were more lively
5:23 great to see a horse kiddie ride in that rare base.
I mostly remember those from K-Mart. It seemed like they always had one out front!
@@UniCommProductions yea but this one with that BASE [AKA the motor] is so rare.
This used to be the place everyone was at on Fri and Sat nights. Now it's a ghost town.
Yeah, I live around here. Very large tunnel.
I'm mad but not surprised that that beautiful JCPenney is closed.
Especially with that amazing court in front of it with the plants and fountain
Oh the stories I could tell about this mall, from just hanging around there in my misspent youth to actually working as member of the mall maintenance crew. I don't think they even employ security guards any longer; it's not like they're necessary now given how much the foot traffic has dropped off since its heyday. How it remains open I have no idea, because it cannot be squeezing out much of a profit.
I have a fantasy of winning the lottery and either buying out a mall that already looks like this, or finding a dead mall and remodeling it to look like this. Wood, brick, tile floors, angular shapes, with a little neon thrown in as accenting where it wouldn't look too jarring. I grew up in the 1990s visiting malls that had been built in the '70s and '80s, and back then many of them still looked like this. The Fox Run Mall in Newington, NH used to have a lot in common with the Middlesboro Mall in terms of looks; sadly, the Simon Property Group bought it and converted it into an aesthetic wasteland from which no taste escapes.
The last time I went to the Middlesboro Mall was two years ago, and it was on a special day. It was my mom Jackie's 62nd birthday. We shopped at Roses, where Kmart used to be located.
What a gentleman you are to take your mom out for her birthday even though you’re an adult. Hats off to you! Thank you for watching!
@@UniCommProductions Well, it was the least I can do for her, and even my family went shopping with Mom.
This is a serious timewarp...love it!
It's like time stopped one day and it's just been the 80s ever since in there. Thanks for watching, bruv.
Complete with an arcade. You can't get more "80s mall", than having an arcade still in operation.
Kristin you've taken me back to the 80s again and I love it! I've got a couple pennies to toss in the fountain. 😉
Looks like a movie set amazing
It really does, doesn't it? You could shoot a movie that took place in the 80s in there and not have to change a thing.
@@UniCommProductions yes it's amazing would.love to give it a visit but i'm in Europe..
Definitely going to this gem i am an hour away from this mall too!
I grew up shopping here. It was a very busy mall up until about the early 2000's when the coal industry left. After that, lot of people moved out of the area and store started shutting down. It's really sad because that was the main hangout for kids when I was growing up. In the mid-nineties, people were shoulder-to-shoulder in that place. I came back home to visit in about 2005 then I will still fairly hopping.
Great mall great video, thank you!!
Thank you for filming this! I grew up here and visited the mall back in the 80s til now. It was truly an awesome mall back in the day and it still looks the same as it did back then. The mall had Kaybee toys, Claire’s, fashion bug, taco casa, catos, fashion bug, foot locker, dawahares, and more. It’s sad to see so many stores gone but it makes me happy to see it’s still going.
i talk to the mall and mayor personally on messenger! the mall says they work diligently to fill space and the JCPenney space is being remodeled and re occupied soon by another store!!
I live in the small town where this mall is located. It’s so heartbreaking how much has left the mall just in the last 5-10 years. I remember being in high school and hanging out here every weekend, birthday parties in “Aladdin’s Castle Arcade” and eating with the family at Chinatown which also had a small gift shop. The restaurant was ran by the sweetest lady. Not much of a food court but the places it did have (i.e. taco casa and a little cookie show) we’re so good. Gosh sometimes I wish I could go back in time.
This actually ended a tiny mall just down the road when it opened where Big Lots is now. I remember when this mall had many stores but now due to coal mining ending most people in the area just don't have disposable income to do things like shopping. The theater has shut down during the pandemic and is going to be reopened in July as a Golden Ticket 4 screen theater. Roses being there is kind of ironic because when I was a kid in the 80s Rose's was actually where Big Lots now is in the old mall and a Service Merchandise was there where Goody's clothing last was. This mall I've seen so many places come and go, and sadly I've not been there in several years.
Thank you for visiting this mall, filming it and showing it the respect and love it deserves. Maybe sometime you can take a trip to my other childhood mall Fort Henry Mall in Kingsport TN which isn't too far from this mall. Sadly just before the pandemic I went to Fort Henry Mall and it was sad seeing all the walled off shops and just how dead it was when I remember it booming. Just more proof getting older really stinks because you long for the old days!
That's interesting, I'll need to look up the plaza the Big Lots is in on Google Maps and check it out. There are a few more malls in Northern TN/southern KY that I really want to check out soon (I ran out of time on this day; I hit not only this mall but the ones in Williamstown and South Williamson too)
@@UniCommProductions The old mall in Middlesboro where Big Lots and Gamestop are is tiny, you'd miss it if not looking for it (when facing Big Lots it's to the left) and the last time I was in it had a Christian book store that sold vacation bible school supplies. I found this link showing a picture of it www.flickr.com/photos/120051008@N03/16726488095 from Jamie Middleton. I grew up in Lee Co Virginia so my family went to the Middlesboro Mall, Fort Henry Mall and I don't know if Jamie told you but there's also a tiny really dead mall in Harlan Kentucky that's straight out of the early 80s as well, it was once anchored by Belk and Magic Mart and is called Village Center Mall (I've noticed putting Village in a mall name happened in both Middlesboro with it's old tiny mall and in Harlan Kentucky and both aren't far away from each other). I was born in 1979 so I remember all these malls in the booming times and if you need any help with information I'll do what I can to help. Middlesboro Mall from the mall entrance at JC Penney when I was a kid had a store that I guess was like a Hot Topic in the 80s and didn't stay long, I'd love to know what it was called it was on the right directly outside JCP and I remember getting a punk rock bracelet and some buttons. It looked like on your video the decorated cookie place outside of JCP wasn't open and it's a shame if it's gone as it was always a treat for me.
It took me until today to find the name of an old ice cream bar and lemonade place from Fort Henry Mall and my 80s childhood where they'd hand dip ice cream bars in chocolate and shake fresh lemonade and was called Bob's Old Fashioned Ice Cream Bar that was in several malls. I wish we'd had camera phones in the 80s and early 90s as I would love to see the old malls and shops from my childhood. I'm just grateful people like you guys are going out and filming them and you have the perfect voice for these videos. It's probably hard for some to believe but Middlesboro used to have a neat eye glasses place outside of JCP that was unique, a wood trimmed Foot Locker and large Hallmark shop. If I sat down I could probably list almost every store they've had however out near Belk it's always been a nail salon and military recruiting office. In Middlesboro I remember going to the drug store, Foot Locker, The, Sears, Hallmark, Kmart and the Steve and Barry's final days; I didn't make it to JCP closing and hope something takes it's place that does well! Middlesboro Mall I used to go to daytime movies where a ticket was $3! Lol In Middlesboro and Harlan it wasn't Amazon or over malling that killed it but just a coal economy coming to an end. It was too many ever newer shopping centers however that's currently killing Fort Henry Mall/Kingsport Town Center in Tennessee. Thanks to this pandemic sadly Piccadilly is gone from Fort Henry Mall. If you're ever back in the area and need any help just let me know.
Um...Big Lots moved from Village Square around October 2018. It moved to the old Food City building down the street. Yes, Roses was in the Village Square location many, many years ago (over 25). Shouldn't confuse those who are from out of the area and might want to come and explore.
I remember my youth pastor had Duke university jacket & I really wanted one. I just loved the blue & white ! I didn’t care bout the school or the team haha. I found a fake at Steve & Barry’s for $10 😂
Steve and Barry's was always a cheap way to pretend you cared about sports because you liked the apparel. I did the same thing!
I was born and raised in Middlesboro and they actually didn’t take the arcade out until about 2019
Beam me back to the 80's Kristin! Great job!
This is just the most vintage place I've been in a while, especially with so much life left in it.
@@UniCommProductions I definitely need to visit. Was Rose's the original Kmart?
Speaking of Roses, my hometown in North Carolina has a 1970s Roses location, dating back to when it was a competitor of Walmart and Kmart, before going bankrupt and becoming the type of store it is today. I had been in the store as a kid in the 1990s when it was still selling similar items to Walmart and Kmart at the time, but going back as a teenager in about 2012 was very surreal, the items were definitely of very low quality by that point and the ceiling hadn't been cleaned or painted in years. However, it seemed familiar in an eerie way.
I remember it very well back in the 80's, and early 90's when Rose's was competing with K-Mart/Walmart, as I use to buy a lot of video games there growing up as they a lot of times had the best prices, and one of the locations here has been open since the 80's, and you are right it is surreal seeing what it's become. We also have another one that was an old Walmart built in the late 80's(moved 5 mins down the road for a Super Center Strip mall where I worked the site prep construction for it in the early 00's) in which 1/2 of it became a Steve and Barry's before Rose's took it over, and later Tractor Supply taking the other 1/2 of the old Walmart. Man how Rose's has fallen.
About all the brown in the early 1980's ... it was about "Earth Colors!" The earth colors - shades of brown, tans, beige, sage green, avocado green, harvest gold, etc. - was a response to the growing awareness of environmentalism and celebrating nature. Even more so it was step away from the "psychedelic" late 1960's and early '70's with the funky bright colors and mind blowing shades of pinks, yellows, purples, turquoise. Believe me I know - I lived through that era.
That is terribly interesting and makes complete sense! Thank you for that!
I remember my high school was built in 1981 (I attended in the late 90s) and it was all the same quarry tile, orange carpeting, avocado green carpeting, wood railings, harvest gold appliances, and nothing was white, the closest color was a light cream they called "antique white" and everything was very angular. It had those spherical globe lights that look like moons. It was like the Brady Bunch house but half a million square feet. I loved it and I love that era but it's all but disappeared. This is amazing to see.
@@craigjensen6853 Sounds like a tour-de-force of 1980s aesthetic! The problem was all that carpeting - especially shag carpets ... yuck! So dusty and unhygienic!
@@MrButch-ls8vl Ha ha, yeah, a lot of it had the seams duct taped together by then too.
Holy cow this one is incredible! it looks exactly like my old high school built in 1981. Same floor, same brick, same ceilings. This one is definitely going on the list to visit. The whole 1976-1984 period should really go together as an era, the early-80s was more like the late-70s than the later '80s but people do always associate neon with the 80s. Neon was a product of the postmodern era. It's also interesting that it can take so long to plan and develop buildings like this that the design is already 5 years old by the time they open.
You just don't see this era in shown in malls anymore at all. Most of them from this period were remodeled early on in the late-80s and early-90s into that stereotypical mall loo, the aesthetic mood changed that quickly in the '80s.
I just love how it’s just sitting there looking brand new in this out of the way place. You don’t want to use the word “best kept secret” too much but this might be the one
@@UniCommProductions It really is exceptional, and very well-maintained. I was looking at street view; new roof, fresh paint, nice parking lot, manicured landscaping, the owners clearly have pride in it. These rural/mountain malls seem to be doing much better at adapting to serve their area so I'll definitely be taking a road trip and dropping some quarters in that fountain and wishing them the best!
Great vid 👍🏼
Thank you!
Those are the greenest mall plants I’ve ever seen, shout out to whoever is taking care of them.
I was honestly surprised they were real!
I spent several Friday and Saturday nights at this mall and no it's all original. We had a restaurant called taco casa that was there since I was a little kid in the early 80s. The arcade use to be killer and had everything. The K mart where roses is now had a restaurant in it too. China town buffet was some of the best food in town.
Saw this video an planned a road trip the last weekend. About 900 miles,1 thriving mall, this mall and a rax restaurant straight out of 1987 it was totally worth it. Great videos keep them coming!
That sounds like my kind of trip! Thank you for watching!
Used to love going to Aladdin’s Castle there… 6:55 is the location and it’s still an arcade!!! That mall is full of memories
When did they start putting drink machines out in the mall? Seems like they all used to be down some creepy hallway. lol.
I feel like that phenomenon probably started in the early 2000s.
I love the vibe of this mall! And the store front at the 7:00 mark is amazing -- it almost looks like an old Aladdin's Castle, but I could be wrong. Really enjoying your videos!
I think you're probably right about it having been an old Aladdin's Castle (or maybe a Tilt)...This mall is just so well maintained and pristine inside. It's a real rarity to see healthy plants and a fountain! Thank you so much for watching!
Yea it was an aladdins castle
You are correct. It used to be an Aladdin's castle. I used to go there as a kid in the mid to late 1990's it was a great experience for a kid back in the day. Makes me miss what once was in this place......
That mall has some of the best preserved and beautiful vintage aesthetics I've seen in a mall video.
I have a Steve and Barry's sweatshirt that I still wear. I was sad and angry when I heard they closed.
I love this mall, because it’s what most people’s’ local mall looked like when they were younger before they were renovated!
I think Steve and Barry’s was operating on extremely tight profit margins and they expanded too fast. If they’d kept things small they may have stuck around. There aren’t a ton of places to buy cheap guys clothes-women have Forever 21 but just regular dude stuff is expensive!
I bet the blue benches are reupholstered. I would expect they would have originally been orange or yellow
I think you’re probably right-I definitely could see brown there too
Omg the shiny brown floors, you had me at “fan girling over the trash cans”.
This was a mall I was ready to move into! I was like a time traveler "LOOK AT THE BENCHES OH MY GOD *be cool Kristin be cool*"
I’m still stunned and excited to see that shiny black tiled AMC! I remember that teal blue gold, black 1986 Art Deco vibe
@@kimmers220 If it ever reopens I'd love to know what the lobby looks like!
All the planters, benches, and trashcans are original to the mall's opening. They also had matching ashtrays from back when you could smoke inside; big ol' honking things.
Kristin, Thanks for giving me a day in my youth at Middleboro Mall. I love the brown tones and comfort in a mall that I remember.
I would love to go back and revisit 1983, in fact I might just stay there.
You and me both
I don't know why, but I had gotten flashes of the mall that the main N.A.S.C.A.D. Campus, that's in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada, was part of/above.
I need to look that up it sounds like my kind of place.
@@UniCommProductions Yeah, it's a small place, with only about 4-5 stores inside and the same amount on the outside. Like I said, it's part of the main campus.
Buenas Noches, Kristin! Wasn't home for a few hours (including like a couple of hours in one VERY FULL BY PANDEMIC STANDARDS, local mall) otherwise I would've commented earlier...
You always HIT ON THE NAIL on the need for our local malls to be OURS, not just a place to shop and get out. The TRUE SOUL of this mall is in its' (contrary to popular belief) '70s aesthetic. Back then (was already an adult by '85) the biggest influencer of pop culture was the updating of the '70s aesthetic with something that was supposedly different. Pastels (purple, pink...) in larger cities / coasts and earths (brown, red....) in the smaller towns / inland.
I grew up in the midwest, our malls were INCREDIBLY brown (and really dark by modern standards).
It sounds like you had a fun day!
@@UniCommProductions - yup! It was "Sam's* favorite mall" here (Plaza Del Sol), which has a Walmart and a Home Depot as bookends and do coexist with all size of other mall stores, both local and from The States.
I hope we get to listen to your opinion on any of our malls and OUR WAY OF SEEING AT THEM sometime in the future...
*as in Brick Immortar
So many memories of that place...going there with my grandparents on a Saturday and then off to the Tazewell flea market just up the road. Thanks for the vid!
this mall was more alive even when I was younger and i’m in high school it’s died over the years but me and my friends have had our fair share of adventures there in the 20s
I was hoping to see how it actually looked back then.thats just the mall now.
It’s effectively unchanged since it opened, though. The title is referencing that there are malls in the US built in the 60s and 70s that are practically unrecognizable compared to their original appearance but since this one has never been remodeled it still looks like 1983. Sorry to disappoint; it was not my intention to be misleading.
This mall is definitely a time capsule. So cool
I have driven past this mall many times on the way to my aunt's house in Virginia, but I have never stopped inside. Thanks!
It's a neat place. You should stop and stretch your legs on your drive next time!
UPDATE: the movie theatre is still open however not AMC it is now Golden Ticket Cinemas
- Kay Jewelers has closed
- I suspect Belks is looking into closing per some rumors I have heard and all the 50% mark downs store wide
- roses is falling apart and needs serious remodeling work done
a few months ago the mall was sold to a new company ( I cannot remember the name )
Now this reminds me of the mall I grew up with, (Westland Mall, Columbus). Not exactly but lots of brown everywhere.
I could see that! I never got to see Westland; it was closed by the time I developed an interest in vintage malls (although I've walked around the outside a few times since it's been closed).
Reminds me of one of my childhood malls, Heritage Park Mall in Midwest City, OK. It had the same wood, tile and stairs.
Yep the early - mid 80's where 100% brown as they where coming off the design ques of the very late 70's, and this mall brings back a lot of memories for me of the now long since closed Regency Mall in Augusta, GA that used the exact same tile patterns. Also here my area we had nearly the same happen with Steve, & Berry's only they took over 1/2 an old Walmart location, and for then Rose's to take their 1/2 over, and Tractor Supply coming just a few years ago to take the other 1/2. Lastly yep I still have some stuff from Steve, and Berry's like a shoulder bag I use when I travel, and a pair of their jeans I still do yard work in that are barely hanging on for dear life lol!
I’ve seen some photos of Regency from before it closed and I can absolutely see that!
This is absolutely incredible! Gwinnett Place Mall had similar looks in 1984 when it opened! What a time warp!
And it’s just there. Like this is normal and every day life. Like it always has been. It’s a really great place to walk around, it’s like a spa treatment for your mind.
My friend I’m glad you bang this one out because I was not willing to do it. I watch so many abandoned shopping videos in this mall is been in my life from day one but I’ve never had the nerve to go and actually do what you did thank you.
What a GEM ! love the asthetics !
It’s beautiful isn’t it? Thank you for watching!
I have no idea why RUclips recommended me this but I'm glad it did, what a breathtaking mall! Closet thing to a time machine I've seen in a long while! Great video 👍
Thank you! I’m so glad you found me!
Thank you! The decline that's happening now is not the malls' fault. It's the economy itself. Even malls in my area that have always done well are suffering now. That mall is in AMAZINGLY great shape regardless of age. And as someone in my (early) 50's (someone who remembers "malls" before they were "closed in")- the purple neon and checkerboard tiles were the first remodels. ;) Glad to see you shopped - B&B Works is mecca - even though most of it is only good until you get it all home - but man, what a rush when you're in the store! Have a great day!
I think a big part of why malls are failing that doesn't get talked about much is how no one seems to have time to spend the afternoon browsing anymore! (I always try to buy something at the malls I visit and have a really big B&BW problem--in my car, shower, candles...)
Holy 70's Batman - that was awesome!
The mall did most of the work on this one!
Omg I wish i would've known you guys were in town!!!! Thank you for this!
This was part of the trip that I shot Cumberland Regional and South Side---I think I drove a total of 7 hours that day!
Just absolutely beautiful...nice work, Uni.
Yet another Kentucky mall I didn’t know existed!
This one is on the way to nothing, it's an easy one to miss.
I live in Elizabethtown and I rarely venture to that side of the state.
Holy BLEEP! This is incredible! What blows my mind is how clean it looks ! The brown.....brown brown on top of brown ! Reminds me of a classic Burger King. Great job :)
I am in love with that tile and I don't care who knows it.
This mall makes me want to just hang out and loiter with a mall pretzel 🥨 in the beautiful halls.
It does desperately need some food places, which it doesn't have. ESPECIALLY pretzels.
Love this mall's brick and tile. Seriously cozy vibes. Awesome vid!
When I walked in I was not prepared for what was in store. It was like "I'M HOME!"
a definite artifact. Glad you covered it.
Delightful! It was just like malls of my 80s childhood. Thank you for posting and sharing!
Glad you enjoyed it--this is a mall I was really excited to share with the world because it's hidden away in the hills as it is.
Can’t believe this beautiful retro mall is still open! Love to visit
The plants and wood remind me of my old neighborhood mall, Stratford Square. Unfortunately, that mall has been taken over by the pestilent Namdar, so my hopes are no longer high.
Stratford Square is one that's high on my list should I get a weekend to travel further (I live in West Virginia so it's pretty far for me)
I'd sure love to see your take on the Chicago mall scene! If you do get up to Stratford Square, you also ought to check out Fox Valley. There are quite a few thriving malls in Chicago, unfortunately these two aren't doing so well.
Great tour Kristin!
This is my towns mall i come here often, I suppose me being here all my life kinda dulled it down and i dont see how cool it is like everyone else does because im used to it, also whats the back ground music?? It sounds good
I wish it were 1983.in some ways the mall would be king.Sears would be the gold standard and we could communicate in person with our friends the way that we were meant to.
We call those "earth tone" colors in the early 80s. It doesn't appear to be much open? You have a nice soothing voice to listen to
It absolutely has, which is to be expected. Most middle class malls are suffering in part due to the fact that the popular national chains that used to fill them seem to be succumbing to bankruptcy at an alarming rate over the last few years.
It’s about half full-the end closer to Rose’s is completely lively but the other parts not so much
The vintage aesthetics, the fountains, everything. I love it all, including your video!
Yay, thank you!
I'm honestly surprised MIddlesboro is big enough to have a mall. I've been driving to Harrogate, TN, which is about a 10 minute drive from MIddlesboro, regularly for work for years, and Middlesboro just seems like such a small, quaint little town.
I love your script writing for your videos so much; "the tracking knob in my brain" is such a fabulous reference for us kids of the '80s. Thank you for another wonderful stroll back in time! 💖
You have to be "of a certain age" to get that reference for certain. Thank you for watching!
Great job. Reminds me of the old mall here that's been long torn down. I still have a Steve & Barry's Wisconsin hoodie. I'm surprised it hasn't fallen apart.
The aethestics reminds me of my old childhood mall(now demolished). Kudos and YAY I found another urbex/dead mall channel!
Welcome aboard! I love how universal the look of this mall is-because I feel like everyone went to a version of it at some point
Did the theater survive covid closures?
I have been told it reopened at some point since I visited.
@@UniCommProductions I'm glad to hear that.
To be honest I have no idea how I found your channel but great video though keep up the great work :)
Welcome aboard! I'm glad you found us!
i am so glade that mall still going also that lady show is keeping up with you??
She's trying her damnedest that's for sure
I can see some stoners in Van Halen baseball tees hanging out on the benches
We can only hope.
"The first half of the 80s was very brown."
Other then the ceiling which looks filthy the rest of the place seems okay. Dreary and depressing, but okay.
Being that this is in Kentucky I’d blame the ceiling on decades of indoor smoking, considering that the mall has clearly never been remodeled much.
@@UniCommProductions Yes, good call.
I am curious how Roses is still around and hasn't gone the way K-Mart, Ames, Caldor, etc
That’s a good question-and I’m not sure of the answer. It’s possible they have taken on less debt over the years than some of their now-defunct counterparts
The Algorithm was trying to keep me from this channel. I somehow got 3 videos behind. Bunch of bastards. Anyway, great video. I'd love to visit this place.
It’s such a cool place if you ever happen to be passing though (and a pretty drive from the highway to boot!) I’m glad you found us again!
I like the channel awesome video just subscribed better than Ace what I can tell.
Thank you and welcome aboard!