1:38 the house with a blue roof top is an outside entrance to the underground tunnels of the ford city mall. the tunnels also led to the sears next door. In some years I cant wait to see how even more vacant the mall will be. So many happy memories.
I used to shop there in the late 60s and the 70s with my mom. I haven't been there since early 90s. It still looks nice. It used to have a downstairs with a store called the Alley. Awesome video and thank you very much. Loved it.
I definitely remember the underground tunnel. It connected to another store, I forgot. But malls are becoming obsolete. Food court was much larger than what it is now.
I've been through the Connection 3 years ago as a repairman, it was flooded. all the spaces had water damage and removed the damaged walls and left the studs of the wall, even the bathroom walls. It was the first and only time I've been there since I was a kid in the early 90s and it was sad remembering the stores that used to be there. I kinda wish I've taken a video and posted in YT, but I didn't want to get kicked out.
I went there this Saturday, it was 3:00 pm and it was EMPTY, Me and my sister went there and ate at the food court, the food court was empty too and we were the only ones there besides the employees, we did see people when we went to other stores but I have never seen a mall that empty
I remember my mom taking me there in the 90's. It used to take us three bus rides to get there but I loved it so much. The downstairs was called Peacock Alley and you would get there directly from the parking lot through a staircase called The Connection. My mom would go through Peacock Alley to visit a beauty supply store there and then she always took my brother and I to ride on the Carousel that was inside. I wouldn't be able to tell you exactly where the Carousel was since I was so young but it was magical back then. Going there around Christmas used to be the biggest treat because the whole mall would be decked out and sometimes Santa would man the Carousel rides. WE kept going there up until the late 2000's. It got too dangerous and there was even a riot that took place with a bunch of kids running through and mall and looting. Then, another year when we actually moved into a home 10 streets away from the mall, something detonated under one of the parking lots and was so big it shook our home and the airport. After the recession in 2008 I tried going back with friends as a teen and it was just...sad. Everything was closing or already shuttered. I returned in 2011 in an attempt to maybe find a job there and not a single place would hire. My last visit was in June of 2019. The food court was dark and empty and nobody was really there save for another woman and her child. I got a very watery gross smoothie from some kid who was left running a smoothie stand by himself who had to call the owner so he could instruct him step by step on how to make the smoothie. There were buckets around collecting leaking rainwater, and by then Peacock Alley was completely closed off.
thanks for sharing! i’m 18 years old and i remember being really young and enjoying going to ford city mall with my parents. apparently i got my obligatory photo with santa as a baby taken there! i remember going from sears to the main mall via the connection which was peacock alley but it was already very sad and dark and gloomy. the mall itself is very depressing nowadays, but sometimes my mom and i will take the bus (it takes us two to get there!!) to browse around jcpenney or the strip mall on the opposite side. i love hearing stories from people who remember it from its time of prime ☺️ ps. i didn’t even KNOW they had a carousel and now i’m super jealous that there’s people out there that got to see that 😢
In the late 70s-early 80s I would ride the bus to get there and go down in peacock alley to the joke and trick shop downstairs!! Child world used to be around there also. Now it’s just bad elements that have taken over the area.
@@joshuamontanez3851There’s more security there now. Even the Round 1 there that was recently opened back in 2019/2020. Ford City Mall sadly is a ghost town (the movie theater and stores outside the main mall is still active tho).
I grew up around this mall. I shopped here all the time during high school. It used to be a great mall and I used to come here with my friends. After I got married I shopped here with my husband and bought baby furniture and a convertible baby buggy at JC Penneys. I remember when Wiebolt's and Ward's closed and I went to their liquidation sales. I miss Peacock Alley,too, which was the underground level with stores and restaurants. There was also a movie theater down there, I think. I know that Ford City had a movie theater. Anyway, I remember taking my kids to see Santa at this mall every year when we lived in the Chicago area. I miss this place since it was part of my early years as a teenager and young adult.
@@eastvilleholdingscorporate7881I thought it was called the connection btw doesn’t ya think it’s weird that on top of the exit doors from the food court there’s a sign that says amc for the movie theater yet the amc theater isn’t connected it’s a couple blocks down
I grew up across Cicero in Burbank and would sneak over to this mall all the time in the early 90's. The bus stops there kept getting shot up and I wasn't allowed to go over there anymore. Crime will kill a mall.
my neighborhood mall, im only 24 but the mall was ok back in the early 2000s, still had some life and i miss the alley and the arcade they used to have and THE TILES they used to have, i absolutely hate the carpet lol. im a fan of 80s/90s mall aesthetics so the carpet and painting made me upset. i hardly ever go anymore, if i do, its at the strip mall to run errands at 5 below 😂. i used to go inside to wait for my transfer bus when i went to Moraine or to go to Orland park mall 3-4 years ago but now not even the pace busses go through it. its weird how dead it is now compared to how lively it was when i was a child. Everyone in the neighborhood goes to chicago ridge now lol.
I'm 27, I feel you on the carpeting, I HATE it. The tiles on the floor were so smooth and sounded nice when you'd walk on them. Did you ever get to ride the Carousel before it was taken down? The arcade was okay-but the few people running it in the later 2000's were rude as hell. I remember going there in 2011 to apply for work and the employee straight up told me "no" while laughing at me.
This mall brought me so many great memories in the 2000's, I used to go into the Carsons, the KB Toys, the FYE and other stores that use to be there with my Ma, I wish I could relive those moments 🥹
Looks like a nice mall. I'm always torn on carpet though. I guess as long as they keep it clean. But all it takes is one person spilling their drink and its ruined.
Ford city mall it was my fav..back in 2002 to 2008 when i used to live in chicago damnnn good memories from that beautiful place,,, i miss ford city mall ❤❤❤
I was there in the 70s Downstairs was peacock alley Neighborhood now is very bad that's why it's empty Too much crime You have to be crazy to rent a store there now
The mall got remodeled not to long ago, but alot of the stores in the mall suck, all the hood stores left. It was the place to be in the late 90s but now it's so dead. it's ashamed alot of malls are dead today.
I used to live on laramine & st road and we used to walk there when we were like 10 in the early 70s. I remember peacock alley at the far end was a magic shop. Give me a shout out if you went to Owens Elementry.
I used to go there a often. It was a really nice mall. Then it went dark. It's destroyed now. What a shame. I would not go there if the stores were giving items for free. Soros kee wees yip yip. 🕶️
I remember the only reason id wanna go was for suncoast. Then only recently around 2014/15 I needed work pants and they had a shop for that. It's gonna be abandoned soon enough
Do you know the story on why that sears closed? Their lease was up and the mall owners at the time wanted to renew the lease for 100 years , sears told them to fuck off and left
@@saggin4853It’s worse now. It’s a dead mall with no food court, a brown and dirty carpet, bathrooms with locks that don’t work, and barely any stores inside. I don’t know why it hasn’t closed down already.
Patently untrue. It wasn't a fancy mall, but it was in no way "a dump." It had great stores & served the neighborhood well. Now, Evergreen Plaza... that was a dump.
1:38 the house with a blue roof top is an outside entrance to the underground tunnels of the ford city mall. the tunnels also led to the sears next door. In some years I cant wait to see how even more vacant the mall will be. So many happy memories.
My grandma was at this mall when a plane crashed near Midway in Dec. 1972 and the crash noise was heard from there.
That's scary
I used to shop there in the late 60s and the 70s with my mom. I haven't been there since early 90s. It still looks nice. It used to have a downstairs with a store called the Alley. Awesome video and thank you very much. Loved it.
You're welcome. I wish that underground tunnel was still opened.
There was also a comic store called moondogs down there , that same tunnel went to that sears that was outside
I definitely remember the underground tunnel. It connected to another store, I forgot. But malls are becoming obsolete. Food court was much larger than what it is now.
I've been through the Connection 3 years ago as a repairman, it was flooded. all the spaces had water damage and removed the damaged walls and left the studs of the wall, even the bathroom walls. It was the first and only time I've been there since I was a kid in the early 90s and it was sad remembering the stores that used to be there. I kinda wish I've taken a video and posted in YT, but I didn't want to get kicked out.
I went there this Saturday, it was 3:00 pm and it was EMPTY, Me and my sister went there and ate at the food court, the food court was empty too and we were the only ones there besides the employees, we did see people when we went to other stores but I have never seen a mall that empty
I used to shop there as a kid with my mom in the late 70s and 80s. They used to have big fountains in the mall that were amazing.
Very Awesome video and you did a great job on the history of the mall!👍👍👍👍👍👍
Thank you. This had a lot of history.
I remember my mom taking me there in the 90's. It used to take us three bus rides to get there but I loved it so much. The downstairs was called Peacock Alley and you would get there directly from the parking lot through a staircase called The Connection. My mom would go through Peacock Alley to visit a beauty supply store there and then she always took my brother and I to ride on the Carousel that was inside. I wouldn't be able to tell you exactly where the Carousel was since I was so young but it was magical back then. Going there around Christmas used to be the biggest treat because the whole mall would be decked out and sometimes Santa would man the Carousel rides. WE kept going there up until the late 2000's. It got too dangerous and there was even a riot that took place with a bunch of kids running through and mall and looting. Then, another year when we actually moved into a home 10 streets away from the mall, something detonated under one of the parking lots and was so big it shook our home and the airport. After the recession in 2008 I tried going back with friends as a teen and it was just...sad. Everything was closing or already shuttered. I returned in 2011 in an attempt to maybe find a job there and not a single place would hire. My last visit was in June of 2019. The food court was dark and empty and nobody was really there save for another woman and her child. I got a very watery gross smoothie from some kid who was left running a smoothie stand by himself who had to call the owner so he could instruct him step by step on how to make the smoothie. There were buckets around collecting leaking rainwater, and by then Peacock Alley was completely closed off.
thanks for sharing! i’m 18 years old and i remember being really young and enjoying going to ford city mall with my parents. apparently i got my obligatory photo with santa as a baby taken there! i remember going from sears to the main mall via the connection which was peacock alley but it was already very sad and dark and gloomy. the mall itself is very depressing nowadays, but sometimes my mom and i will take the bus (it takes us two to get there!!) to browse around jcpenney or the strip mall on the opposite side. i love hearing stories from people who remember it from its time of prime ☺️ ps. i didn’t even KNOW they had a carousel and now i’m super jealous that there’s people out there that got to see that 😢
In the late 70s-early 80s I would ride the bus to get there and go down in peacock alley to the joke and trick shop downstairs!! Child world used to be around there also. Now it’s just bad elements that have taken over the area.
Out of all the malls in the chicago area, this is probably the most dangerous one
North riverside is probably worst
@@joshuamontanez3851 it use to be pretty shit but it's gotten better, ford City has really gone down
@@joshuamontanez3851 yo I didn’t expect yo to see you here😂 I have you on fb but man crime kills malls. I had good memories here as a kid.
@@joshuamontanez3851There’s more security there now. Even the Round 1 there that was recently opened back in 2019/2020. Ford City Mall sadly is a ghost town (the movie theater and stores outside the main mall is still active tho).
Chicago Ridge is just as bad these days.
I grew up around this mall. I shopped here all the time during high school. It used to be a great mall and I used to come here with my friends. After I got married I shopped here with my husband and bought baby furniture and a convertible baby buggy at JC Penneys. I remember when Wiebolt's and Ward's closed and I went to their liquidation sales. I miss Peacock Alley,too, which was the underground level with stores and restaurants. There was also a movie theater down there, I think. I know that Ford City had a movie theater. Anyway, I remember taking my kids to see Santa at this mall every year when we lived in the Chicago area. I miss this place since it was part of my early years as a teenager and young adult.
The old creepy abandoned underground hallway that connects to the bathrooms, the one with the empty offices; it was called peacock alley?
@@eastvilleholdingscorporate7881I thought it was called the connection btw doesn’t ya think it’s weird that on top of the exit doors from the food court there’s a sign that says amc for the movie theater yet the amc theater isn’t connected it’s a couple blocks down
I grew up across Cicero in Burbank and would sneak over to this mall all the time in the early 90's. The bus stops there kept getting shot up and I wasn't allowed to go over there anymore. Crime will kill a mall.
Yes! Poc always have to ruin everything I hate my people.
my neighborhood mall, im only 24 but the mall was ok back in the early 2000s, still had some life and i miss the alley and the arcade they used to have and THE TILES they used to have, i absolutely hate the carpet lol. im a fan of 80s/90s mall aesthetics so the carpet and painting made me upset. i hardly ever go anymore, if i do, its at the strip mall to run errands at 5 below 😂. i used to go inside to wait for my transfer bus when i went to Moraine or to go to Orland park mall 3-4 years ago but now not even the pace busses go through it. its weird how dead it is now compared to how lively it was when i was a child. Everyone in the neighborhood goes to chicago ridge now lol.
I'm 27, I feel you on the carpeting, I HATE it. The tiles on the floor were so smooth and sounded nice when you'd walk on them. Did you ever get to ride the Carousel before it was taken down? The arcade was okay-but the few people running it in the later 2000's were rude as hell. I remember going there in 2011 to apply for work and the employee straight up told me "no" while laughing at me.
Man I miss the arcade I wish I would have seen this mall at its prime I’m only 19 but I do remember the arcade. Crime kills malls
@@RaulMiner same this mall is dead compared to how it was when we was kids and I miss how it use to be
Turnstyle was like Kmart. There was one in Davenport IA
Jewel owned TurnStyle, but I forgot who they sold it to. The Menards at North Ave and Glen Ellyn Rd used to be a Venture.
This mall brought me so many great memories in the 2000's, I used to go into the Carsons, the KB Toys, the FYE and other stores that use to be there with my Ma, I wish I could relive those moments 🥹
It is very interesting how they converted a factory into a mall.
Looks like a nice mall. I'm always torn on carpet though. I guess as long as they keep it clean. But all it takes is one person spilling their drink and its ruined.
Yeah, carpet collects everything. Hopefully they have machines that can deep clean even the padding.
You are correct it was a war factory
Ford city mall it was my fav..back in 2002 to 2008 when i used to live in chicago damnnn good memories from that beautiful place,,, i miss ford city mall ❤❤❤
What happened to Ford City Bowl?
I was there in the 70s
Downstairs was peacock alley
Neighborhood now is very bad that's why it's empty
Too much crime
You have to be crazy to rent a store there now
Forgot all about Wieboldts! Thanks for the memory jog!
The mall got remodeled not to long ago, but alot of the stores in the mall suck, all the hood stores left. It was the place to be in the late 90s but now it's so dead. it's ashamed alot of malls are dead today.
It is now owned by Namdar. The same company that owns Stratford and River Oaks. I believe they also just bought North Riverside Park Mall
Great video! Thanks!
This is a pretty cool video. Thank you for the information.
This is a great video! Now, according to Google - Namdar owns it. Hoping they don't ruin it. The history behind this really impressed me.
They use to have a lower level to the mall called peacock alley
I would much rather go to the nearby Chicago Ridge Mall than this dump
ridge mall isn’t that good. I prefer orland park.
Both ridge and orland are ghetto these days
I used to live on laramine & st road and we used to walk there when we were like 10 in the early 70s. I remember peacock alley at the far end was a magic shop. Give me a shout out if you went to Owens Elementry.
I used to go there a often. It was a really nice mall. Then it went dark. It's destroyed now. What a shame. I would not go there if the stores were giving items for free. Soros kee wees yip yip. 🕶️
There was also a bowling alley here too. Great video though
I remember the only reason id wanna go was for suncoast. Then only recently around 2014/15 I needed work pants and they had a shop for that. It's gonna be abandoned soon enough
I remember the tilt game room and the movies
Your not old enough to remember Aladdin’s Castle down stairs back in the 80’s
Did you visit Lincolnwood town center in Skokie or Lincolnwood?
@@retailadventures6 Skokie or lincolnwood?
Do you know the story on why that sears closed? Their lease was up and the mall owners at the time wanted to renew the lease for 100 years , sears told them to fuck off and left
Pal the Parrot: Hello!
Man that was my hang out mall way back in the 80s! It used to be buzzing with business and white people!! What happened!?
Ford City Mall was a dump back in the 70’s.
Still is! Lol
Really? Was it worse back then or now?
@@saggin4853It’s worse now. It’s a dead mall with no food court, a brown and dirty carpet, bathrooms with locks that don’t work, and barely any stores inside. I don’t know why it hasn’t closed down already.
Patently untrue. It wasn't a fancy mall, but it was in no way "a dump." It had great stores & served the neighborhood well. Now, Evergreen Plaza... that was a dump.
I went here February. It was super empty.
They just had another shooting, this place needs to be torn down
This mall is shit and has been for years, all the crime ruined it
There is mama lees popcorn there
😂
after 10 minutes i could see why security guards were needed