The Maine Mall: A Visit to Maine's Largest & Most Successful Mall! No, It's NOT a Dead Mall!
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- Опубликовано: 15 сен 2024
- Join me as I take a look at Maine's largest and most successful mall, the Maine Mall in South Portland, Maine!
This video was filmed on a Tuesday at about 10:15am in July 2024.
If you liked this video, please don't forget to give me a thumbs up, leave a comment and subscribe to my channel. I plan to have more dead mall videos in the future. Thanks for watching!
Sources of Information & Photo Credits:
en.wikipedia.o...
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Photo from Portland Public Library Archives
sites.google.c...
www.mainebiz.b...
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www.pressheral...
wcyy.com/sport...
www.pressheral...
wjbq.com/a-new...
www.pressheral...
wcyy.com/sever...
www.pressheral...
wgme.com/resou...
wgme.com/news/...
wjbq.com/maine...
wgme.com/resou...
alchetron.com/...
alchetron.com/...
/ christmas_decorations_...
www.yelp.com/b...
#mall #maine #portlandmaine #portland #shoppingmall #shoppingmalls #retail #nostalgia #malls #mallshopping #fleabittenadventures
This is my local Mall! It’s definitely changed a lot over the years when it comes to stores, however actual design of the Mall has remained the same.
I worked at the McDonalds across from the Maine Mall in the late 90s. Was there for them building the brand new location in 99. Have so many fond memories of the area surrounding the mall from over the years.
My girlfriend and I try to go once every other week to the Maine Mall since it’s our local mall. On the weekends that mall is pretty busy. Every time we go I say “I’m glad we have a local mall that’s actually still busy and hasn’t been affected by online shopping.” If you go down to Portsmouth, NH there’s the FoxRun Mall. That mall used to be very busy when I was a kid, I am 24 just to put it into perspective. Go there on the weekend now and there aren’t many people there and A LOT of empty stores. I love the Maine Mall. Hope it sticks around for a few more decades
I lived in Portland from 88-94, lived in Maine all my life. I remember a Friendly's Ice Cream, and the food court was always where it is now. There was also a Dream Machine in the food court. I just the Discovery Store the most.
The dream machine was awesome. It was on the left immediately after you entered the food court.
JC Penney really is that girl. she's a day one, a true homie, and will drag you to the finish line, i know that's right😌
When I moved to Portland, ME last year, I was surprised at how busy this mall was on a weekday. It’s great to see!
I am impressed with your upload rate. You must be on the road constantly. Keep it comin!
Not really. I just film like 7 malls a day when I go on my mall trips every couple of months. I have a full-time job too, so being on the road constantly would not be possible. Maybe if I start making enough money on RUclips that could change! Thanks for watching!
This was such a walk down memory lane. This was my mall as a kid, and spent many weekends walking it as a teenager. I remember it before the first expansion when it's anchors were Jordan Marsh and Sears. I worked at Woolworths when I was in highschool and I can tell what every store was and it's location. Originally, there were places such as Fanny Farmer candies, York steak house and Hickory Farms, just to name a few. However, I don't ever remember there being an IGA. When the expansion was done in the 80's, there was a Filenes in the spot ur referring to. The food court was always in that area. If you exit out that door, there's a building to your left across the parking lot. I remember it being a Service Merchandise and later it was Filenes Basement. So many memories. Thanks for the sharing.
I moved to the area a few years ago and was blown away by how busy this mall is. Coming from CA where malls are all run-down ghost towns it was a flashback to the 80s with all the activity.
My mother used to work at a candy store at the mall called Sweets back in about 1984. It was located right around the Kay Jewelers. Where those escalators are was Wicks ‘n’ Sticks which sold candles. Right around the PAC Sun was Cutlery World which sold knives and swords. By the Best Buy there used to be a York’s Steakhouse and a Deering Ice Cream. The Woolworth there still had the dining counter up until the 90s.
Back in 1999 I used to work at the Borders Books and Music which is now the Books a Million.
We’re lucky that our mall is one of the few that continues to do business (though not as much as it did back in the 90s when my friends and I skulked around).
I've been stuck in Maine since 1988 & this is still a great mall to shop in. Back in the late 80's & 1990's this was where you would burn a hole in your wallet, because there was always, always something to do or something to buy.
0:42 Macy's has been part of the mall since The Clinton Era.
0:54 Express used to be a giant CVS. Next to CVS was The Hallmark store (it had gotten relocated, years earlier), next to that was a huge Sharper Image. Across from these stores there used to be a Crutchfields (high end audio/video store)
2:37 The giant alleyway that leads to Best Buy had a few different stores. On the right hand side was a huge coffee shop & then the pretzel shop. Before that it was huge outdoor equipment/sporting goods shop, then Lechmere's (Best Buy's forefather). On the left hand side, going out toward the mall, shops included a frozen yogurt shop, the pretzel shop, & a audio/video store (one of the cooler stores to check out. Lot of demonstrations going on).
3:30 Going to the center square (Paul Lynde!), where Pandora is, that used to be The Discovery Store, next to that was a shoe store then Woolworths.
4:59 R.I.P. Sears
Other stores I remember Gap/Baby Gap used to be next to where Jordan's is. The Garage store used to be where The Disney Store was. The Warner Bros Store was up closer to the food court. The Dream Machine was where the food court is. Looking across where Spencer's is thereiused to be a gigantic Record Store & Saturday Matinee.
I worked for Sears 1974-1977. Left Maine and haven't been back since. Nice to see it still exists. It was brand new in 1974 and was a busy place.
Thanks for touring us around Maines biggest Mall .
Very impressive and complete for the shoppers needs ❤.
Thanks for having us along 😊greetings from England 🏴 Simon and Beth 🔔❤️👋❤️
I like the mall concept. Shopping and entertainment indoors out of the weather makes great sense. Unfortunately, most have died. I would like to see a resurgence of the malls.
It’s a great mall! The original food court was located in that small corridor where record town use to be, a McDonald’s was located where the nail salon is now and York steak house was opposite to it. Also an orange Julius was located where KoKo now is. The Dinning area was remote to the small food court and located in the center court (near Round2) which use to be a recessed area for dining. It was later leveled off during the early 90’s renovation. From the prospective of a local one reason the mall is so successful is that its been a sable institution in the area, and locals are loyal to it as well. They’ve managed to keep the environment inside bright and pleasant, and modernized through the decades.
I know the manager of a store in that mall that somewhat recently opened, (who recently managed a store in Westfarms Mall) and he said that a lot of foot traffic comes in from Canada which helps keep it open
That makes sense. Thanks for watching!
There's also a tremendous amount of money that comes in during the summer from international cruise ships that dock in Portland. Many foreign travelers will come into the stores like Best Buy and spend a couple thousand on electronics or clothing then resell it in their home country. So much money in fact that the anchor stores (not sure about the smaller shops) have the dates of all the cruise ships that come in and staff extra people on those days.
The original, main entrance to the mall was located where the Lechmere/Best Buy was constructed. The back entrance, where the IGA was located, stretched across the hall from the Apple Store. The Apple Store location was the IGA location. If you notice, the main hallway just beyond Apple, widens out a bit. That is actually where the addition starts. You pronounced Porteous correctly...good job. The '83 food court was located in a long hall where the current food court is. The stores on the right were food locations and directly across the hall were more. The arches and pillars on the left were the locations of the rest of the food court. They essentially just bumped out the whole left side of the building and angled the new food stalls, almost doubling the original size. It also allowed for the seating to be added. Record Town was on one side of the entryway, and Tape World on the other side. It's still a pretty decent mall. Years ago, it was said that Nordstrom wanted to build here, but only wanted a spot located on the "front side" of the mall. At the time Sears was still operating so there wasn't a suitable location for them. I believe Sears owns the property it sits on, all the way to the Maine Mall Road, which is why it looks abandoned compared to the rest of the surrounding property. On the Border (the closed restaurant) also sits on Sears land.
With close to a half million people within a 40 mile radius and as you said, no competition, the Maine Mall has stayed relevant. Cold winters also help keep us Mainahs in the mall. Still clean and safe, so it's still popular.
Thanks for that info and for watching!
My childhood mall! I remember the Discovery Channel Store, the Disney Store (with the giant pile of stuffed toys), KB Toys, and FYE. Thanks for posting :)
Thanks for watching!
Thanks for visiting our local mall! Go almost every weekend with my daughter.
Theres a few Facebook groups and pages that have old pictures of the mall when it was a pig farm through the area's evolution.
That arcade is amazing I remember when it was the sports authority you took the escalator up.
The mall has cycled through a lot of stores since the '90s when I was a kid, some standouts I remember are The Disney Store, William Sonoma, Abrocombe and Fitch, KB Toy Works, Gamestop and Waldenbooks. This is my local mall, so I've been here a lot over the years!
Thank God there's no Abercrombie and Fitch anymore. I stopped going to the Mall altogether because I couldn't stand the pervasive stench from that place that managed to fill the entire Mall.
While I was in the US Air Force at Portsmouth, NH, in the early 1970's
I went to this mall, about the same
distance North, as Boston, MA was
to the South of my location. Thanks 😊
I remember Lechmere in the early
1970's at the Liberty Tree Mall near
Danvers, MA, north of Boston, MA.
I bought a Grundig portable Shortwave
radio back then for about $60.00 😅
Cool! Thanks for watching!
I worked for 2hrs at that JC Penny's in early 2000's. I left for lunch, went shopping, and never returned to that job. I love the Maine Mall.
Very nice mall! It's big. This one tweaked my heartstrings a little. Parts of it kind of remind me of my Chapel Hill Mall in Akron, Ohio which closed in 2021 (look it up-it's widely documented on YT). If I squint real hard and turn my head to the side I can imagine a renovated Chapel Hill looking a lot like this today. I'm still sad it's closed and think with proper planning, foresight and investment it could have been saved, and would have looked something like this if it had.
OK, so in viewing this whole video, this mall's a LOT bigger than CH ever was. But still...it got me to thinking.
BTW, that Round 1 is huge!
My old stomping grounds! So nice to see that it's doing relatively well. The comic shop you mentioned was Moonshadow Comics I believe - great spot!
Since you're aware of potential germs on VR Headsets(and I agree with you), just be aware about eating finger foods like candy from the vending machines, and any other handheld foods where you can accidently put bacteria in your mouth by eating without washing your hands first. Just like with the VR Headsets, alcohol wipes or maybe hand sanitizer could prevent getting sick in the future. And in my opinion. I don't buy the concept of "building up immunity" by leaving bacteria on hands as some say. I'd just rather not get sick.
By the way, great channel and videos as always! Flea Markets and Malls are the best.
It's not a "concept", that's the most basic proven knowledge of germ theory and immune function....
That's not to say you shouldn't wash your hands before eating, after using the bathroom, or using other publicly shared items/surfaces.
If you ever have kids, let them get dirty, let them be gross. Yes, they will occasionally get sick, but they will build immunity to those germs that got them sick.
If you lived your entire life in a sterile hospital room, washing your hands after touching everything, you'd actually get sick way more than if you let yourself bask in the germs. They are everywhere. You cannot escape them no matter how sanitary you are.
I agree about the candy machines. I got sick 2 days after coming back from my February mall trip and I'm guessing it could have been from the candy machines, so I'm not using them anymore. Thanks for watching!
Build your immune system reddit cuck
Great video. I love to see a good mall thriving. That Jordan’s entrance with the ropes course is sweet.
Thanks! Yes, I like that Jordan's is attempting to make shopping fun and interesting, even if they are kind of expensive. Thanks for watching!
Even in the first two minutes, you can tell it's clean , well maintained, and alive!
I read somewhere that the reason Sears is still vacant is because Sears still owns that part of the building (also the freestanding former On the Border Restaurant). Unless they sell those buildings, nothing can be done with them. I remember going to the Maine Mall in 1973 on vacation, and wishing Erie, Pa, where I lived had a mall like it. They later built the Millcreek Mall there, and when we moved to Maine in 1981, the Maine Mall looked so small compared to it, and the huge malls in the bigger cities.
Your videos always seem to relax me and not in a bad way but a good way. Eases my mind and are entertaining, thanks for the videos
Good Mall tour video and big arcade there too. The arcade claw machines, most of them seemed to be rigged with very weak grips once the claw clasps an item.
It looks like they have a mix of claw machines. I don’t think the UFO catchers (10:08 the ones to the left) are meant for grabbing, rather pushing the prize out of its current position. Those are based more on skill than luck.
I remember shopping at the Woolworth's and having lunch at the restaurant. Good food at a great price. Went there with my dad when we were in the area. That was our "respite" when my mom would go shopping. haha... I also remember a men's clothing store, Anderson-Little and York Steak House. Ahhhh the memories. Thanks for creating this video and also the one at the Auburn Mall!
Oh boy, I remember The Limited Too store, Natural Wonders, the Warner Brother's Store, the Pet Menegerie (it always smelled so bad, but you could play with puppies!), Friendly's,
Thacher 's, The Gap, The Dream Machine (the original Arcade), The Body Shop, Payless Shoes, and FYE!!!
Growing up in rural Maine in the years just before you could simply order everything online... this was where my parents took me once a year to pick up music, books, movies, etc that just couldn't be found locally
This is a really lovely mall. Wish I could beam myself over from Australia.😊 I'm only just realising that the stores I like in Australia are actually American - e.g. Lovisa, IGA, Target etc. Thanks, as always for sharing.
And I wish I could beam myself to Australia to see your malls! Thanks for watching!
I was just there last month. I was actually pleasantly surprised at how busy it was. I think it's sad that a lot of malls are dying. They do serve a purpose, so I hope they don't go away. Once they go away, you realize how much you miss them. I loved browsing through Radio Shack, Service Merchandise, Lechemere. Somehow Best Buy's just not the same. I wish Micro Center would expand to more convenient locations. Have you gone to the Jordon's Furniture in Avon, MA with the old Jordon Marsh Enchanted Village? It's worth it to check it out if you're in the area around Christmas.
I haven't been to that Jordan's yet, but I would love to see that village thing!
I live in Maine and I visit this mall whenever I go to Portland. I love Newbury Comics! I hope they add new exciting stuff to the mall in the future. I remember both the Disney Store as well as the Warner bros store. I have great memories playing in the spaceship at the Warner Bros store. They also had a K Bee’s toy store when I was a kid, sadly it along with the Disney and Warner bros stores are long gone.
It’s so nice to see a mall doing good! 👍🏻
Ever since Covid, the Mall closes now at 7 everyday and i believe 6 on Sunday. Im from Mass but i go to Portland a few times a year from May to October
Weird that it closes that early. I'm not sure why the hour of closing would make any difference regarding the big "C".
@fleabittenadventures the Mall closed at either 8 or 9 before Covid and ever since March of 2020 it's been 7 🤷🏾♂️
The big "C" changed a lot of store hours, other than gas station/convenience stores, nothing is 24/7 since the big C. Very lame.
The candy cabs are Vewlix / Chewlix fighter style cabinets that are new versions of Blast City and Astro City vintage cabinets. They are VERY comfortable to sit at and play games. They sit down and play on those cabinets overseas versus how we stand at arcade cabinets.
Japanese arcades are full of stools. The Sailor V game in Sailor Moon was a sit down cabinet it also trained Guardians on using there attacks because Minako only learned things via video games so her cat dragged the whole cabinet to crown arcade to train sailor v.
Interesting. I've never played any arcade machines like this. Sitting down at an arcade machine feels more like something you would do at a casino.
Thanks for the info!
@@fleabittenadventures oh, you gotta try it! The controls are at the perfect height and it’s very comfortable. I play games like xmen and moonwalker and turtles all the time on my vewlix. All the button smashers are awesome on these cabinets.
Wow! I feel like you read my mind. On your last video about Auburn Mall I left a comment about The Maine Mall. Here you are doing a video on it. I am originally from Texas but for 3 years in my childhood in the 1980's I lived in Cape Elizabeth. We frequented Maine Mall. I definitely remember Marshes, Filene's which my Mother loved shopping at, Woolworths where I would buy candy and baseball cards & there was a restaurant where often ate called The Ground Round. They had steaks. I loved that place. Great to take a walk down memory lane. Funny how despite the different stores many of these malls structurally really haven't changed. The facade on the anchor stores is pretty much identical to what it was way back in the day. Even with malls "dying" around the country I think there is starting to be a resurgence. Hopefully this one will stick around.
Glad you liked the video! Thanks for watching!
Come here on the weekend and it feels like 1996, I don't know of any other mall in the country that does this much business. Maine is crazy!
This and Bangor Mall were my childhood malls! I went here a lot in high school between 2012-2016. I'm glad to see the Newbury Comics is still there. There used to be a really neat carousel where the circular couches are next to the food court. I also vaguely remember a Nordstrom's before BonTon came in, but I could be totally wrong. I also think there was an FYE later on in the area that had Record Town...I could be misremembering that also.
EDIT: Don't why my brain made up
Nordstrom's but it seems it was never there. So I take that part back! 😂
It wasn't Nordstrom it was Filenes then BonTon now Jordan's Furniture with rope course called "It.
Thanks for the info!
@@bonniecole6784 It must be the Filene's I'm thinking of then--thanks for the correction!
This is one of my local malls (Bangor being a bit closer) Im sure that comic shop you mentioned was Moonshadow Comics which was in the mall as long as I can remember in two different store fronts over the years. One was almost like a smaller building inside the mall at the end of a row of stores and later in it's own nice storefront with large glass windows. I really loved that store.
Sadly, I have no recollection of the name of it... I remember the store not being very large though. Thanks for watching!
18:31 That's one of the most insane entrances for an furniture store that I have ever seen.
I live outside of Portland and I remember going to the mall with my friends in high school back in the late 90’s early 2000’s - the place was MOBBED, especially around the holidays.
My wife and I will occasionally go over and walk around, especially during the winter. Before covid the mall closed at 9, now they close at 7.
First time watching your video. I will watch your other videos after this.
Here is what I observed as a viewer from the Philippines. The anchor stores in many malls there sells clothes. Anchor stores here in our country are mostly supermarkets (the mall owns the supermarkets). Another thing I also noticed are majority of the spaces here are different fastfood chains because we go to the mall to "eat out" a lot.
I think that mall survived because the allocation for individual stores are much bigger compared to the dead malls (once the anchor stores die, they die too). It also helps a lot that there is an apple store there as it helps attracting customers.
I live up in Bangor and I visit the Maine Mall a few times a year. There's a lot more things to see here than my own local mall and that's why I prefer to come here on occasion. This is the only place in the state that has an Apple Store from my knowledge. The Round1 arcade is a neat place. The last time I went in there, they had arcade machines imported from Japan and I thought that was pretty neat. Project Diva was what it was called. I plan on heading down to the Maine Mall again next week when the iPhone 16 goes on sale.
I live about 30 min from this mall. We go a couple times a month. I remember my 2 favorite stores in the 90's was The Disney Store and a pet shop whose name escapes me.
Ruby Tuesdays became a spectrum 😢 i don't go to malls much anymore but definitely years ago i chose this mall over the Fox Run in Newington, and im from Somersworth, NH
The renovated Books A Million next to this is amazing!
Never been to one of those.... Thanks for watching!
@@fleabittenadventures Great videos!
I would knock down the old Sears store and put up a giant play area for the kids, but as I was typing that I realize that doing that would be a giant liability, so I don't know. I like this mall and the giant screen and blue climbing thingie at the Jordan's. Thank you for posting this!
Glad you liked it! Thanks for watching!
In the hallway leading to the former Sears, there used to be seating areas in the middle of the floor, which have been removed. The spots with tiles that are slightly different are where they were. These were just below floor level, and you took a couple steps down to where the benches were. This was spot where people could smoke back in the day. They removed them sometime during the renovations in the 90s I believe.
I was 4 when the extension to the mall was being build, and I honestly don’t remember it. I do remember the old food court though. Since I don’t remember the extension being built, I can’t recall the location of the old food court. In my head, it was where the current one is. Really miss the arcade that was in the food court.
I grew up going to this mall and I love it as well as the area. I have been searching for historical pictures of the mall simply for my own reminiscing. Lots of stores that are now gone that I miss. This mall used to have quite a few upscale stores in it. I do recall the food court before the current one. It was basically like a long alley. I recall there was a pizza place in there that was a must stop anytime we went in the 80s but in the 90s expansion it didn't come back. I could tell you about a lot of stores that used to be in this mall and where they were located. Even though this mall has a nice variety of stores and I think is doing better than it was a few years ago it's nothing like the variety it used to have. I have so many great memories of being at this mall from childhood to adulthood. I recall going there with my family at Christmas when I was a kid and I would go with my dad for a while and we would get stuff for my sister and mother and then trade off and go with my mom where we would get things for my dad. Then we would all meet up under the clock. No cell phones in those days. After we would all go out to eat. Absolutely the BEST memories.
I had trouble finding historical photos too. There don't seem to be a lot out there. Thanks for the info and for watching!
The pizza place was All star deli....I remember the pizza being really good and I think they lost all their business when the food court was put in
@@markl1942 They place I am talking about was called Joe Angelo's Pizza or something like that. Joe something. I have often wondered if they moved to a different location in Portland like Thatchers did.
Came here last year on a Saturday, it was PACKED! Yeah definitely not a dead mall.
I'm originally from Lewiston, Maine where there were decent malls in the Lewiston and Auburn area at the time. But back in the early 90s the Maine Mall was the best. I would go there Friday nights after work. There was the Dream Machine Arcade and a good sized eat in restaurant next to it, I forget the name, Thatcher's maybe. Went to York Steak house a few times back then. There was Electronics Boutique, Leachmere, and Software Etc. to get games. I mean, just about everything was there at one time. KB toys, a Waldenbooks and several music stores came and went. It's funny how often I would go back then but cant remember all the store names anymore.
After we would hit Toys R us across the street, then to eat at East Side Mario's when the Mall closed. Then to wrap things up, hit up Borders Books and Music store behind the mall that was open till 11. BTW, Newbury comics, now in the Maine Mall, was 1000% better when it was in the neighboring stip mall.
We used to go to Portland for shopping every Christmas until around 2016-17ish, but not really much anymore... it's just not the same. My daughter is old enough to have seen Toys R Us still open when she was little. She now goes to the Maine Mall with her friends once in a while so it still has some appeal for the kids.
I believe where the Vans store is used to be The Learning Store(?) or something similar named. It had a display of computers near the entrance, and big windows on each wall facing the mall. I remember playing tons of SimCity on those.
Some others were Disney, Warner Brothers, Discovery store, Electronics Boutique, Software Etc, Radio Shack...
I worked at Pretzel Time in mid 1990s at the Maine Mall when it was outside the old Lechmeres now Bestbuy
I live in Atlanta now and have to drive an hour to get to a decent mall. The stores I loved in high school and college are online only. It was The Gap and Banana Republic.They have only a few locations in Atlanta. I miss the whole vibe of a mall. You could go to many stores in one day.
I go there at least once a week it's not a dead mall thanks for sharing😊
Thanks for watching!
We were just there a couple weeks ago. The stores I miss the most from the 80s-90s are KB Toys and Radio Shack. There used to be a Country Buffet next to where Best Buy is. We used to drive the hour and a half just for the Best Buy after they opened the first one in the State. Now we've got one in Augusta, so that really curtailed our mall trips, especially after Toys R Us closed across the street from the West side of the mall. The arcade is a blast, expensive, but fun to bring the kids for birthdays with friends. We actually like to go any time we're in the area for lunch, just to get the Sarku teriyaki chicken and soba noodles. Actually a good value for mall food and really delicious.
If you ever wind up coming up to Augusta you could cover the old Turnpike Mall, and Kmart Mall and Shaw's Plaza. They had some awesome stores back in the day like Ames, Service Merchandise, and McRory's, along with arcades, and in store diners (in Kmart and McRory's). All of them are almost completely dead, but occasionally get new stores like Harbor Freight and Hobby Lobby.
Thanks for another great video.
Glad you liked it! Thanks for watching! Do you mean Augusta, Maine, Georgia or some other Augusta? Are any of those malls you mentioned indoor/enclosed malls? Thanks.
@@fleabittenadventures Augusta Maine. 😊 The Turnpike Mall has a walkway from one end to the other. Used to connect to Sears at one end and Ames at the other. Just a strip mall with a glass friend walkway in front of all the stores except the anchors that used to be there. There's almost nothing left.
The other two aren't enclosed. They're all tiny little strips.
Beautiful specticle thank you
Thanks for watching!
How about a trip to Jacksonville, they have three big malls there, Orange Park Mall, The Avenues, and Regency Mall. Not to mention the several open air malls that they call Town Centers.
Up until 1997 there was also The Roosevelt Mall, but it died a pretty slow and agonizing death and was "redeveloped".
I miss the Dream Machine arcade which eventually became a Lids Lockeroom in the food court. That he since left too. A lot of stores have come and gone over the years.
What a nice mall! Day trip!
They have a pottery barn.
A Lululemon?
They have a lot of stores I haven’t seen in awhile
Yes, they have a pretty big selection of stores! Thanks for watching!
First went here when I was in college back in the mid 80s. The place we used to like to grab a bite to eat before catching a movie at the now gone theater (now a Carmax) across the street from the mall was Deering Ice Cream. Deering was similar to Friendly's but had better ice cream IMHO though the food like burgers and sandwiches were probably about the same. Sadly the chain went out of business in 1992. I think it may have been about where Best Buy is now if my memory of it is correct.
being close to the airport and right across the street from a hilton doubletree probably helps this mall a lot
I got my first set of golf clubs at that sports authority.
Thanks for watching!
I live in Maine and I have not walked through this mall in about 15 years I live closer to New Hampshire so I always go to the Ridge in Rochester which is a great strip mall.
There used to be a Papyrus store in here.
It's a very busy mall and one of the few indoor malls that I know of.
The Fox run Mall in Newington is a travesty compared to this.
I know Yankee Candle moved about three times, I know there used to be a Hallmark here.
I lived closer to New Hampshire so we always went to the Newington Mall and then the Fox run Mall was created.
My family didn't like the small because it was always so busy, at Christmas you can't find a place to park.
The food court moved with the expansion but it has been in its current location for decades it just expanded again.
Other than the stores you mentioned I can't think of many more stores that have come and gone other than companies that have gone out of business like KB toy store, Spencer and things like that.
I know the Old Navy has no access from the mall You have to leave, I know it's one of the few thriving malls in New England I don't know why that is?
I don't know if it's because you can see it from the highway and we are a tourist state That's the only thing I can think of. The Bath & Body Works also moved it used to be around the corner and much larger.
I was literally just here on Monday visiting Round1 with my friends! As we were leaving we were literally discussing whether you would make it up here to do a video. I wish I'd had more time to walk around the mall itself, but I was only visiting and didn't have time. I always liked Round1 more than Dave & Busters for the vibes and much better variety of games, but I agree it can never compare to Funspot
Thanks for watching!
I think the Maine Mall's success is due to Portland being Maine's most populated city and the fact that the mall is literally right off I-95.
Originally, the Maine Mall was roughly the same length and layout of the now defunct Eastfield Mall. The additions really enlarged it.
Yes, I saw that it doubled in size in 1983. That's an enormous expansion! Thanks for watching!
I forgot to mention something. About 20 years ago or more when the whole Black Friday shopping things was big one of those channels like Travel or Discovery had a one off show on I happened to stumble across one day. It was all about black friday shopping and they followed 3 or 4 groups of people who went black friday shopping to see what kinds of deals the got. These groups were from all over the country. The Maine Mall was featured as one of the spots and I recall the group there would go in a huge RV. They men pooped out first and they would go back to the RV and watch TV while the women kept shopping. I remember the MM used to have a huge BF thing with a big outdoor concert. I never went but I do remember hearing about it.
Interesting!
It's amazing to think that you used to come here and it would take hours I can see why these malls don't succeed now because people don't have the time.
It's not convenient to take 15 minutes just to walk to the store you need our lives are completely different I miss the way it was.
I use to hang out here when i was a teen, like 20 years ago. My favorite stores where hot topic, pac sun, and spencers, forever 21 was a store, along with kb toys and others. There also use to be a per store that sold puppies
Thanks for watching!
The Jordan's Furniture at this mall is the worst of the stores, but it's the 2nd best mall store! Warwick Mall's Jordan's Furniture means a lot more to me than MM's.
The photos of the ropes course on the wall come from the New Haven Jordan's Furniture, which houses the World's Largest Indoor Adventures Ropes Course!
New Haven has the best rooes course of the 3 JF Stores to have them, and I've been on all 3!
This is only the second Jordan's I've been to. The other one I've been to is at Westfarms Mall and they don't even have a ropes course at all. How much bigger is the one in New Haven?
@@fleabittenadventures It's enormous! 2 60ft High Ropes Courses Connected via 4 45 & 60ft Ziplines nestled on either side of a water show housing 1,000 water nozzles! I've been to the store twice, and on the ropes course once. It's real fun! I know you've been to Warwick Mall and seen their Jordan's Furniture, but that location is fairly small.
My wife and I were at a mall in Wi and we were the only people in the food court. Kind of funny because I remember when it was packed with people. Now only 3 restaurants open in it. Kind of sad.
Used to be a starbucks if I recall across from the escalators.
Yep! They just closed recently within the last few months, I think there's another location in the mall, but I'm not sure.
Definitely do more arcade videos. Gotta enjoy them while they're still around.
Ok! Hopefully they start getting some views!
I heard one of the reasons why you see so many vacant Sears stores in malls is due to Sears owning the mall space, not the mall itself. The company refuses to let those spaces go leading some to think they are using the properties for some kind of tax shelter scheme or to stave off another bankruptcy filing.
I think you are correct. There's nothing the mall can do about it as they don't own the property.
Love the bowling pin, by the mall directory sign
Yeah, it's pretty cool. Thanks for watching!
I miss being able to buy those wooden katanas in this place.
Dave and busters would be awesome. As always great video 👍.
Dave & Busters and Round 1 are major rivals. I don't think they'd want to be opening in the same mall.
I could do that. I have one not too far from me! Hopefully they don't freak out about me filming.
I agree.
There used to be a Mrs Fields cookies and they always had flies in the case😅😅
There used to be a Godiva chocolate store and it wasn't like the loose stuff well some of it was but you could get fresh truffles in a case like a real chocolate shop that's gone.
I don't believe the food court ever moved I just think it expanded and was completely remodeled.
Malls were completely different in 1982 the boom for malls happened around 1986 through 1995 and by 2000 this place was bustling right before the internet and internet shopping took over.
Love the maine mall I live nearby go there all the time haha so do all my friends
Just a few of the stores from back in the day....yorks steak house, deering ice cream , chess king,thom mccan shoes, hickory farms, the plum tree, record town, tape world, perkins tobacco, all star deli, and it had at least one if not 2 water fountains , and where the sun hanging from the ceiling is it used to be a clock there that was where everyone would meet after shopping.
We ALWAYS met at the clock. Fanny Farmer candies was right there. 2 fountains, one on each end. We always threw pennies in there .
Great mall! I was just there for the long weekend!! I dont like that they close at 7 tho
Yeah, that is kind of early. Thanks for watching!
The one thing about the Maine Mall is that the parking sucks. Even if you have a handicapped tag. We used to go to the mall every time we were in that area, but now we just go to Marden's or Target mostly. If we're with the grandkids, we do go to Round 1, but it gets incredibly expensive. Bull Moose Music a few miles down the road has a better selection of the same kind of things as Newbury Comics and Hot Topic. The Jordan's furniture is incredibly impressive, though. They did an amazing job there. Unfortunately, there was a Hometown Buffet near the Best Buy that got killed by the pandemic and never reopened.
Agreed the parking always sucked
I remember back in the day the Maine Mall use to be packed with people but not so much today😞
I live in Portland and I haven't shopped at the Mall since 1999
Thanks for watching!
I occasionally go to the Maine Mall Old Navy with my sister and nephew, and there are always people in there who are just trying to get into the mall.
man i havent been to that place in ages... it used to have a nice bookstore right next to that entrance you came in from
Holy shit didn’t know that my state mall would be on RUclips
Not to sound like an old-fogey but I'd spend quite some time in that Jordan's Furniture store looking at all of the stuff that's out of my price range. I've never seen a furniture store setup like that. Of course we don't have a lot of big stuff around here.
I've never been to Maine but if I had to guess the compass rose and sun chandelier are probably a nautical reference to Maine's lobster fishing industry. We have a Mainly Lobster restaurant here in our area and while they offer other fish dishes their lobster is only shipped in from Maine.
Now I'd like to take a visit to the Cross Gate Mall in Albany someday after watching your previous video on it. I'd probably take a look at some of the other stores in it but I mostly care about visiting the FYE. Our FYE store was closed several years ago and was replaced by yet another shoe store. As if we needed more shoe stores around here.
I know what you mean about jut wandering around a store like that. It's fun!
Thanks for watching!
Loved Jordan Marsh.
I can’t imagine what the electric bill is for that arcade. Running all of those machines and lights with not one customer in sight.
He did say he went to the mall pretty early in the morning.
You said Porteous correct!
I remember Foxmoor, Chess King, Woolworth, Regis, Fanny Farmer. Loved that mall in 70's and 80's
@@Blondy321 Regis lasted until 2020. It seems like most of them closed up around then.
I'm glad I got it right this time. Someone commented on my Auburn Mall video that I said it incorrectly. Thanks for watching!
I'm in this mall all the time, wish I was there when you were recording
Well, if you're ever at any other mall in northeast, keep an eye out for a middle-aged guy with a GoPro strapped to his chest! Thanks for watching!
@@fleabittenadventures Have you visited the Rockingham mall in Salem, NH?