Growing up in Arizona, when Arizona Mills opened, I seem to remember it looking a lot more experimental and urban. Now it just seems to look like any random mall, with just a few unique touches. The Virgin Megastore and the Rainforest Cafe were both extremely impressive storefronts.
I camped outside Arizona Mills for 4 days to be one of the first to see The Phantom Menace. My GF got interviewed for Channel 10 news the morning of. I regret nothing ...... except seeing TPM
i worked @ the imax across the way & got to know a supervisor @ the harkins so when i got off, me & my girl @ the time simply walked across & went in to see the 1st screening so good chance i was in that with u!
Wow, such a cool mall! This place would actually inspire me to spend money. I used to work in a mall office and one of the hire ups asked me why I thought malls were failing. I guess I should have told him to study some places like this! In all honesty, I think people my age (late 20s) are hungry for this kind of experience again. We just don’t have the disposable income people our age had a couple of decades ago. Great video!
I miss the way malls used to be in the 80s and 90s. The 90s were amazing. Our local mall is still doing good as well. Hamilton Place Mall. Remember when all malls had a fountain? Ours had one only about 4 years. been gone 25 years or so. Ours was full of neon too but on a remodel they removed them all. Shame too.
Florida Mall in Orlando.gov went from super packed, no parking 🎅 Xmas 2008, Xmas 2018? Maybe 70% of the crowds, no problems walking around, lots of empty store fronts.
When I lived in Phoenix from 2009-2016, this was always my “go to” shopping place. I found AMAZING discounts there and Sweet Daddy Cupcakes from “Cupcake Wars” was a staple of my diet ahhaah. I would often stop there on my way from Phoenix back to Casa Grande just to get them! Best cupcakes EVER! The locals refer to this mall as “Minority Mills”... not the most PC moniker, but it does ring quite true. I swear, almost 80% of the clientele are Arabic or European. I very rarely saw local Phoenicians shopping here, less the teeny-boppers from the burbs. Some people complain about the crime here, but in my 100+ visits, I never had an issue. The mall also has a Harkins Theatres complete with the IMAX experience. It is definitely a must visit for shopping when in Phoenix!!!
Ah, Arizona Mills. It was probably the first mall I ever went to as a kid, having moved to Arizona when it first opened. Good to know the place is still alive. I have memories of going to the Rainforest Cafe, GameWorks, and seeing some 3D movies at the IMAX. Thanks for doing a video on this mall!
OMG! I was the security director there 2008-2010. The food court didn’t look like that when I was there. Sealife had just opened when I left. The Payless neighborhood ceiling has also changed. I always loved the hardwood floors. That was the funniest job I’ve ever had. Mall Management was just a pain in the ass.
I never realized there were other “mills” malls. Concord mills is a mall I’ve been going to my whole life. It’s spot on to this one in style and layout. And it also has an fye
Man this looks JUST like the Ontario Mills mall. Like, I'm not surprised since it was essentially a chain mall. I kind of miss the godawful decorations that the Mills Landmark malls had though, if only for nostalgia value. Especially the horrifyingly large food-shaped lamps.
I've actually been there funny enough. It's right next to the new Grand Ole Opry. Ate at the Claim Jumper before seeing an Opry show one Friday night in July 2013.
This was my childhood mall:) around 2000-2005 it has always been busy !harkins ,Gameworks food court ! Had a lot of fun memories in this mall as a kid!
The hall from Legoland and Sea Life to the food court was remodeled last year. Food Court was done prior to that. The wood floors are original. If you go to the mall entrance outside Legoland Sea Life, there's another Lego stTue that's part of a fountain.
I remember going to this mall in the late 90's when I went to college and lived in Tempe. Use to go to Virgin Music all the time there. Good to see it still doing well. Remember going to the Fiesta Mall in Mesa as I worked at the Toys R Us across the street at the time. Memories seeing these videos.
What a surprise! This mall is still looks pretty good. As I recall the opened in the late Fall. I got a holiday job at the Jcp outlet. For lunch break, it was a mad dash to get to the food court; cut though Virgin Music store, instead of walk run the circle. Thanks for documenting Valley of the Sun built environment.
I enjoy your videos for their laidback atmosphere and your reserved voiceover. When I moved to Phoenix my residence was near this mall just after it opened. Ah the memories.
When FYE closed at my mall, a Newbury Comics eventually moved in. Newbury Comics hasn't been the same though the last few years. Physical media is an afterthought there now and they're focused on collectables like GameStop. There's one local music chain that's been thriving though, a chain called Bullmoose music. While everyone else is getting out of physical media, most of the people left out of the cold have been discovering Bullmoose for music, movies, books and videogames 😎
I'm glad to see Arizona Mills doing decently. I remember when it had a Virgin Records store in the middle where those Nike and Forever 21 stores were. It had an entrance on either side so you could cut through the mall towards Rainforest Cafe without walking all the way around. There was also an "Alcatraz" restaurant where that Garcias is across from Rainforest. Closer towards the Food Court there was a Hilo Hattie Hawaiian store that later turned into a Sears Appliance store I believe. Also I checked in with Superstition Springs today and it seems to be doing relatively well.
I remember Rainforest Cafe was SO awesome when this mall first opened! And, there was also an "adult" video game place with a restaurant / bar in it...?? I forgot the name, but it was pretty good times for me in my early 20's! :)
I'm from San Diego and went to Arizona for the first time 2 weeks ago and stopped by Scottsdale Fashion Square and Arizona Mills. By far Arizona Mills is my favorite mall I've ever been to. This mall is has so many good stores and is full of life!
I'll never forget the first time when my mom, my grandma and I had first went to the Arizona Mills Mall while were were visiting my uncle Tim (one of my mom's two brothers who just happens to live in Phoenix, Arizona) during the summer of 1998 and we had lunch at the Rainforest Cafe and seen the 1998 edutainment adventure film "T-Rex: Back to the Cretaceous" that was showing at the Harkins Theatre. Good times, good times. In November of 2020, we revisited my uncle Tim before and after he had hip replacement surgery and stayed with him for the whole month and on the last day of November, my mom, my grandma and I had lunch at the Rainforest Cafe to relive the memory of when we had first had lunch there and we returned to Ohio in December.
Cool you decided to cover this one. I spent almost two months in Phoenix back in the day for training for a job. We stayed at one of the hotels right across the street. We didn't have vehicles there so we went to this mall to take a break and eat dinner almost every night for a couple of months. Brings back memories.
I've always been in love with the look of Katy Mills Mall in Texas but didn't know there were other Mills malls. Kinda that quirky late 90s early 00s geometric patterns and shapes and bright colors.
If you're ever in Chicago, the Woodfield Mall, just a few minutes from O'Hare has been Illinois' top tourist destination. It is massive. Yes more popular than the Willis Tower and the Magnificent Mile. It is the largest mall in Illinois, it is a blend of 70s architechture, recently updated in a more contemporary design.
I only live one mile from the Arizona Mills Mall I go to Fye it's in a different spot than it was 8 years ago the other spot was where the Forever 21 is now that was the short cut across the mall and on a note who remembers Music Land record store
Our mall (Gurnee Mills) was recently purchased by the same Simon Group (who owns this mall also) not to long ago and it was busy before but they are putting millions into the mall to make it up to date as it was built in 1991 but it was never really outdated or slow. They are putting new wood floors throughout, updated food courts, new restrooms, new seating areas, new lighting and just tons of updates throughout.
I remember the 5 story firefighter arcade game and the Jurassic park game in the arcade. it was also the first time i used a card and not coin to play games.
BigDirtyBastard I remember GameWorks from back in it's heyday as well and it was awesome. I'm sorry to say though Tilt is not the GameWorks we knew and loved. Both the 5 story shooter game and the Jurassic Park game are gone. Not to mention last time I was there it was mostly ticket games. Honestly can't remember if the restaurant or bar were still open but this was a year and a half ago.
Very cool.. I remember when this mall opened. I was 14. The first time we actually went to it (around 2000) they had a brand new Chrysler PT Cruiser on display. They had JUST come out. I thought it was the coolest car with its retro styling.
Any mall that is owned by Simon Property Group is typically successful. The only ones that aren't successful I can think of are Circle Centre and a few others. I have a close friend who works for them and if a mall isn't doing well, they do everything they can to save it, and it usually works. If their strategies don't work, they jump ship before they really die
If you ever get the chance to visit Indianapolis, which is where the Simon headquarters are, you should visit Circle Centre Mall. When it was open, it was very upscale and busy. But in 2011 Nordstrom left, and this year Carson's left. The largest retail tenant is H&M, and that's only 25,000 square feet. They couldn't fill Nordstrom, so it's now offices. They are doing a $20 million dollar renovation, though I have a gut feeling that is too late.
Wow I don't recognize it at all...which is probably part of why it's doing so well now. On some level I understand that it looks better, but the outdated interiors of the other malls just kick up my nostalgia so much more.
Last time I was here was 2 years ago. It was still super crowded then. I also used to go here when I was 8-10 years old. I'm 24 now. Glad to see this mall is still thriving. I also used to go to a few other malls which are sadly dead now. those other malls we're metrocenter, fiesta, and a few others that I can't really remember the name of.
It's cool seeing a sister mall of my local mall, Gurnee Mills, but Gurnee Mills is shaped like a Z. It still has the same wooden floor as this mall has, maple color border and bleached center. I've seen some of the wooden boards buckle over the years and they do repair and replace it as needed. Gurnee Mills now in 2023 I feel is struggling but still trying to hang in there. We lost our Sears Grand (obviously) and now Hobby Lobby is now occupying some of their former space, not all, but only accessible from the parking lot. We're losing Bed Bath and Beyond, another anchor. I'm really impressed with the store we have called 2nd and Charles, which is like a competitor to Half Price Books.
I've been into these dead mall videos for several months now, starting with Dan Bell and moving onto Ace's Adventures and your channel (which I really enjoy). It's had me curious about how my local malls are doing -- McCain Mall (owned by Simon Properties) in North Little Rock and Park Plaza Mall in Little Rock. McCain has three anchors: Dillard's, JC Penney, and Sears. I went last Sunday afternoon, and the Sears is very sad, with a lot of empty space on shelves and displays, and I'm pretty sure they've put up walls to hide more empty areas. But otherwise both malls were very busy and happily not dead. Even the anchors were packed. And both malls have a Claire's store which was busy despite the bankruptcy. (Sadly the Claire's where I got my ear pierced back in 1999 was in University Mall, which is long gone.) If you ever make it to Central Arkansas, do check out Park Plaza. I think you'll love the aesthetic and the roof that's mostly glass. (It's also got a Dillard's at both ends of the building, which is unusual.)
My brother was a head mc at gameworks when it opened. I was the first one through the doors the first night of the soft opening. Man I miss that place. I'd like to see a history vid on that for sure.
Thanks fo the "Live Mall" Video. I love malls, and I love seeing them alive and thriving. I also love seeing what other malls around the country look like. Thank you.
Bro this has to be the most random theme for a RUclips channel, but after catching word that PV mall might close, I found your videos and have watched a bunch of them now! Great work man! Thanks for the content!
So funny that this is “busy” to you. I live in Anaheim, CA and we’d call this “dead.” I’d be so happy to shop with this amount of people because it doesn’t look like I’d had to weave in and out of crowds or fight any lines in stores. This is super light foot traffic by CA standards.
I've never visited Arizona Mills Mall, but it's a spittin' image of our own Katy Mills Mall. Nearly identical in size and layout, same overhead signage, many of the same stores, and even the food court furnishings are exactly the same. I haven't been to Katy Mills since my daughter started driving a couple of years ago, but I recall it seemed a bit quiet then, and a few stores were closed. The "anchors" of Bass Pro Shops and Rainforest Cafe were as packed as ever, though.
This reminds me of the Sugarloaf Mills Mall in the Lawrenceville/Duluth Georgia area. You should look into that mall as well as the mall of Georgia. Both are very busy malls and they're only like 10 or less miles from each other.
Looks nice, and nice to see people on Saturday night. I remember when malls were so full on weekend nights. I love the fact there is a band called Chess King.
In April 2019, me and my wife were flying back to Memphis from Las Vegas with a stop in Phoenix and the plane from Vegas to Phoenix was late which caused us to miss our Phoenix to Memphis flight, so we got stuck in Phoenix for the night till the next day(the airline put us up, never happened to us before ) we found out the hotel we stayed at had a mall in walking distance so we went to Arizona Mills and walked around and had lunch. We had no idea when we walked through the doors just how huge this mall was. Seemed like we walked forever lol! And the food court was huge! I noticed they have a carousel there and it made me sad cause we had one here in the Memphis Hickory Ridge Mall that was a favorite , now the mall is pretty much dead and not far from closing.Two things about Arizona Mills is that it’s an old school 80’s-90’s style mall, not a designer mall like Opry Mills in Nashville . And I love that Arizona Mills was so CLEAN!! This was the sparkingest cleanest mall I’ve ever seen (you can see in your video) ! Great to see that these malls are still very busy and that people enjoy them, IMO I think certain malls close because the area that they are in had gone bad and most people in the area where the mall is moved away to a newer nicer area . That has certainly been the case for Memphis malls in the last 30 years unfortunately . We have a few nice outdoor malls like Tanger Outlet now but the nicest indoor mall in Memphis is still Wolfchase Galleria. Great video as it brought back memories of our only time in Phoenix , don’t know when I will be back, will have to plan a real vacation there. Thanks, will subscribe!
Man...I remember this mall back in early 2002-2005...was waay different and also worked at Borders Outlet there when they were still in business...man has it changed. Good thing is they still have the Imax theater from when I was there. Wish I could go back now and see all the different changes from then to now. I also have a old directory from back in that time. Granted Black Friday was usually a mess there (dunno if it still is), but yeah Lived like 5 or 10 minutes walk from the mall and would visit it almost daily. Also Tilt Studio..was a Gameworks. I remember playing DDR there alot and also when they had an event night. I played against the host and won. She gave me a free Gameworks t-shirt...which I wore to death.
There used to be a toy store on the north side that had a garden scale train track running along the outer walls, out into the mall and arc'd back into the store. Fun for the kids. I think that was gone last time I was in and that's been years ago now.
Arizona Mills Mall was developed by the Mills Corporation. After the Mills Co went bankrupt, the Simon group acquired most of their malls. My local mall Potomac Mills Mall opened in 1985 was one of the first mills mall and in the 90s the mall became a popular tourist attraction. Many of the original stores are no longer there but the mall is still thriving with 225 stores. It brought the first Ikea to Virginia. Ikea is not in the mall anymore but in its own building across the street from the mall. Here is a video someone shot a few years ago and you can see the similarties: ruclips.net/video/lE_R87Dpn0c/видео.html
Wow what a rad mall and it still had some 80s in that beautifully remodeled mall and cool it was the mall u used to go as a teen. Man sweet fye I love that store sadly mine closed before the Sears went. I had great times at the mall in the late 80s and 90s we would spend alot of summer days there flirting w girls and hangin w the boys. I miss the mall arcades that mall has it all!
Yeah, Sam Goody is one store that really needs to make a comeback. I used to go to the one at the Queens Center mall in my state, New York, and back then I used to buy for the most part DVDs and a few CDs. At that time, CDs were a pain to buy because you had to buy the whole album just to get the one or two songs you cared about, and I hadn't gotten hooked on to MP3 players until a few years later.
Sam Goody and Suncoast were my go-to stores when I'd hit Fashion Square. Then it'd be Scrivners, B. Dalton, Walden, and that other book store that was up near the top floor. Oh, and can't forget Circles, which was a record store well before the vinyl revival.
Wow. One of the few successful Millscorp malls! So sad that Pittsburgh Mills wasn’t successful, and sad that Sears Grand had closed. This mall has a more modern design, but with that funky Millscorp style sprinkled in.
We had a mall designed just like that on here in Kansas City called The Mall Of The Great Plaines. It opened in 1997 and was demolished in 2016. It really died starting in the mid 2000's and as late as 2013 it only had a movie theater a Kansas drivers license station and a thrift store. Excellent video.
One of my favorite malls to visit. Unfortunately, it's been a few years since I've been there. Now I know to check out the ceiling decorations the next time I visit in the future!!
We used to go up to PPgoenux for SCA events and would stop and have dinner at the rain tree Cafe then we would walk the mall and stop at Krispy Kreme donuts in the the way back to Tucson it was wonderful smelling donuts all the way back home this was before Krispy Kreme came to Tucson fun times😊
I don't know if you know the malls of Milwaukee Wisconsin where I am from but there's four malls in Milwaukee that are all full of active stores and busy as this one. Southridge, Brookfield Square, Mayfair, and Bayshore which turned into more of a town centre. The only mall that actually closed in Milwaukee was Northridge Mall which is the one I grew up going to. It closed completely in 2003 and sits abandoned to this day.
I remember when this mall first opened and my friends and I were at it every weekend. I have good memories in this mall and unfortunately bad memories. I miss this mall and glad to see it really busy still.
Okay I must tell say that the “futuristic” part of the mall is more like the recently remodeled look that Simon Malls has been using in its properties. Seems like the rest of the mall will be renovated in phases
Dang. That mall looks really good, and it proves not ALL malls are dying despite what some may say. And I agree that the neon lighting is extra cool. I miss that in malls as not a lot have that stuff anymore.
i grew up near Franklin Mills, now Philadelphia Mills. I haven't been there since they redid it, but it was never this nice when I went. Always busy though.
Tourists, business travel and re-sellers keep the retail places open in metro Orlando. The malls would be much worse if just local shoppers went there.
It's like Ontario Mills mall in Rancho cucamonga Ca. We had a Van's skatepark, gamesworks, virgin record store, and rainforest cafe when it opened. It also has the improv attached to it and a sam ash
No surprise but this is just like Concord Mills Mall in Concord NC. Has 8 “neighborhoods” and an arcade-Dave and Busters. It stays a lot busier though. What you saw times 3 on average. Should have waited til the end, also has 3 Auntie Anne’s Pretzels plus 1 other pretzel place.
I miss when this place still had a Virgin Records/FYE where forever21 is now, and when Gameworks was still a thing there- the industrial theme of Gameworks was always so interesting to me as a kid- aside from the vast amount of games and the big centerpiece game they used to have years ago- the big projector screen from floor to ceiling with 4 seats on vertical rails, some sort of shooting gallery where you'd shoot certain balloons/hot air balloons and get sent flying up or down in your seat- I never had the chance to try that one because I was too young/nervous at the time though.... The strange thing is, I can smell the smell this mall always had/still has just through the video o.o
You noticed that too, i vaguely remember Ontario being that kinda goddy look before they went through their huge redesign, i remember them having a whole bunch of projector tvs sticking out of walls, now its just kinda plain and normal.
Great work again, Mr. Erik! That LEGO sculpture was pretty cool. And vinyl records! Whaaat! I have my dad’s old vinyls!! Not ever getting rid of those.
That is a near carbon-copy of Grapevine Mills in Grapevine, TX; it opened in 1997 as well. I understand they recently finished renovations there. It's still a very busy mall, just like the one in the video.
We had a mall here in Tucson when it first opened that had clouds painted on the ceiling and if I remember right it neon bulbs that acted like lightning. It was foothills mall at one of the entrances
Growing up in Arizona, when Arizona Mills opened, I seem to remember it looking a lot more experimental and urban. Now it just seems to look like any random mall, with just a few unique touches. The Virgin Megastore and the Rainforest Cafe were both extremely impressive storefronts.
I camped outside Arizona Mills for 4 days to be one of the first to see The Phantom Menace. My GF got interviewed for Channel 10 news the morning of.
I regret nothing ...... except seeing TPM
Channel 10 news LOL
i worked @ the imax across the way & got to know a supervisor @ the harkins so when i got off, me & my girl @ the time simply walked across & went in to see the 1st screening so good chance i was in that with u!
Jar Jar Binks is now 😭. Jake Lloyd is huffing paint behind a check cashing store....
When Arizona Mills opened, Virgin Megastore was in what is now Forever 21 spot. Also remember the JC Penny in the At Home spot. The memories.
Wow, such a cool mall! This place would actually inspire me to spend money. I used to work in a mall office and one of the hire ups asked me why I thought malls were failing. I guess I should have told him to study some places like this!
In all honesty, I think people my age (late 20s) are hungry for this kind of experience again. We just don’t have the disposable income people our age had a couple of decades ago. Great video!
I miss the way malls used to be in the 80s and 90s. The 90s were amazing. Our local mall is still doing good as well. Hamilton Place Mall. Remember when all malls had a fountain? Ours had one only about 4 years. been gone 25 years or so. Ours was full of neon too but on a remodel they removed them all. Shame too.
Florida Mall in Orlando.gov went from super packed, no parking 🎅 Xmas 2008, Xmas 2018? Maybe 70% of the crowds, no problems walking around, lots of empty store fronts.
We used to go to Rainforest Cafe and Alcatraz at the AZ Mills. Thanks for taking us along.
So u saw the fake alligator...
Me too one time my brother was crying when we went to The RainForest Cafe
I'd like to see you at the Mall Of America
When I lived in Phoenix from 2009-2016, this was always my “go to” shopping place. I found AMAZING discounts there and Sweet Daddy Cupcakes from “Cupcake Wars” was a staple of my diet ahhaah. I would often stop there on my way from Phoenix back to Casa Grande just to get them! Best cupcakes EVER! The locals refer to this mall as “Minority Mills”... not the most PC moniker, but it does ring quite true. I swear, almost 80% of the clientele are Arabic or European. I very rarely saw local Phoenicians shopping here, less the teeny-boppers from the burbs. Some people complain about the crime here, but in my 100+ visits, I never had an issue. The mall also has a Harkins Theatres complete with the IMAX experience. It is definitely a must visit for shopping when in Phoenix!!!
George Oberdorf minority mills, love it!
Ah, Arizona Mills. It was probably the first mall I ever went to as a kid, having moved to Arizona when it first opened. Good to know the place is still alive. I have memories of going to the Rainforest Cafe, GameWorks, and seeing some 3D movies at the IMAX. Thanks for doing a video on this mall!
Awesome - I've never been this early on a video.
Me either. High five!
OMG! I was the security director there 2008-2010. The food court didn’t look like that when I was there. Sealife had just opened when I left. The Payless neighborhood ceiling has also changed. I always loved the hardwood floors. That was the funniest job I’ve ever had. Mall Management was just a pain in the ass.
I never realized there were other “mills” malls. Concord mills is a mall I’ve been going to my whole life. It’s spot on to this one in style and layout. And it also has an fye
I frequented Arundel Mills in Hanover, MD in college.
@ZTO There's Grapevine Mills in Dallas/Ft. Worth (in the city of Grapevine) and Katy Mills in Houston (in the city of Katy)
In Southern California there's an Ontario Mills
@@enrique-ke2pk oh yes! Ontario Mills, now THAT'S a very busy mall. Especially during the holidays. Good luck finding a parking spot, right? lol
Man this looks JUST like the Ontario Mills mall. Like, I'm not surprised since it was essentially a chain mall. I kind of miss the godawful decorations that the Mills Landmark malls had though, if only for nostalgia value. Especially the horrifyingly large food-shaped lamps.
This reminds me of the Oprey Mills mall in Nashville. Organized similarly and it felt like walking for miles.
I've actually been there funny enough. It's right next to the new Grand Ole Opry. Ate at the Claim Jumper before seeing an Opry show one Friday night in July 2013.
Wow! That FYE still has music. All the ones near me have turned into glorified music themed toy stores.
Claire Osada mine is basically just a novelty shop at this point.
My sister and I use to go walk the mall often when we were board. I remember when the buses use to stop in front of what was Hi Health (now sea life).
That cloud-painted ceiling reminds me of the Dreamworks logo.....very nice!
This was my childhood mall:) around 2000-2005 it has always been busy !harkins ,Gameworks food court !
Had a lot of fun memories in this mall as a kid!
The hall from Legoland and Sea Life to the food court was remodeled last year. Food Court was done prior to that. The wood floors are original. If you go to the mall entrance outside Legoland Sea Life, there's another Lego stTue that's part of a fountain.
I remember going to this mall in the late 90's when I went to college and lived in Tempe. Use to go to Virgin Music all the time there. Good to see it still doing well. Remember going to the Fiesta Mall in Mesa as I worked at the Toys R Us across the street at the time. Memories seeing these videos.
What a surprise! This mall is still looks pretty good. As I recall the opened in the late Fall. I got a holiday job at the Jcp outlet. For lunch break, it was a mad dash to get to the food court; cut though Virgin Music store, instead of walk run the circle. Thanks for documenting Valley of the Sun built environment.
I enjoy your videos for their laidback atmosphere and your reserved voiceover. When I moved to Phoenix my residence was near this mall just after it opened. Ah the memories.
When FYE closed at my mall, a Newbury Comics eventually moved in. Newbury Comics hasn't been the same though the last few years. Physical media is an afterthought there now and they're focused on collectables like GameStop. There's one local music chain that's been thriving though, a chain called Bullmoose music. While everyone else is getting out of physical media, most of the people left out of the cold have been discovering Bullmoose for music, movies, books and videogames 😎
I've been there like a week ago, and I loved it, is probably the coolest mall that i've ever visited.
Awesome video, greetings from Mexico!
I'm glad to see Arizona Mills doing decently. I remember when it had a Virgin Records store in the middle where those Nike and Forever 21 stores were. It had an entrance on either side so you could cut through the mall towards Rainforest Cafe without walking all the way around. There was also an "Alcatraz" restaurant where that Garcias is across from Rainforest. Closer towards the Food Court there was a Hilo Hattie Hawaiian store that later turned into a Sears Appliance store I believe. Also I checked in with Superstition Springs today and it seems to be doing relatively well.
Oh yeah, I forgot about the Hilo Hattie! I liked the JC Penney outlet and Virgin Megastore.
I remember Rainforest Cafe was SO awesome when this mall first opened! And, there was also an "adult" video game place with a restaurant / bar in it...?? I forgot the name, but it was pretty good times for me in my early 20's! :)
I'm from San Diego and went to Arizona for the first time 2 weeks ago and stopped by Scottsdale Fashion Square and Arizona Mills. By far Arizona Mills is my favorite mall I've ever been to. This mall is has so many good stores and is full of life!
I'll never forget the first time when my mom, my grandma and I had first went to the Arizona Mills Mall while were were visiting my uncle Tim (one of my mom's two brothers who just happens to live in Phoenix, Arizona) during the summer of 1998 and we had lunch at the Rainforest Cafe and seen the 1998 edutainment adventure film "T-Rex: Back to the Cretaceous" that was showing at the Harkins Theatre. Good times, good times.
In November of 2020, we revisited my uncle Tim before and after he had hip replacement surgery and stayed with him for the whole month and on the last day of November, my mom, my grandma and I had lunch at the Rainforest Cafe to relive the memory of when we had first had lunch there and we returned to Ohio in December.
Cool you decided to cover this one. I spent almost two months in Phoenix back in the day for training for a job. We stayed at one of the hotels right across the street. We didn't have vehicles there so we went to this mall to take a break and eat dinner almost every night for a couple of months. Brings back memories.
I've always been in love with the look of Katy Mills Mall in Texas but didn't know there were other Mills malls. Kinda that quirky late 90s early 00s geometric patterns and shapes and bright colors.
If you're ever in Chicago, the Woodfield Mall, just a few minutes from O'Hare has been Illinois' top tourist destination. It is massive. Yes more popular than the Willis Tower and the Magnificent Mile. It is the largest mall in Illinois, it is a blend of 70s architechture, recently updated in a more contemporary design.
The crazy thing is that THAT is still kind of Dead. Before it use to be so Packed that you couldn’t even walk w/o having to move around someone else.
I only live one mile from the Arizona Mills Mall I go to Fye it's in a different spot than it was 8 years ago the other spot was where the Forever 21 is now that was the short cut across the mall and on a note who remembers Music Land record store
We all live here!
Our mall (Gurnee Mills) was recently purchased by the same Simon Group (who owns this mall also) not to long ago and it was busy before but they are putting millions into the mall to make it up to date as it was built in 1991 but it was never really outdated or slow. They are putting new wood floors throughout, updated food courts, new restrooms, new seating areas, new lighting and just tons of updates throughout.
I have been here the summer of 2016 and it was great. Glad to see it again
At 2:22,that NIKE. Clearance store back in the day use to be a VIRGINS MEGA MISIC & BOOKSTORE
I remember the 5 story firefighter arcade game and the Jurassic park game in the arcade. it was also the first time i used a card and not coin to play games.
BigDirtyBastard I remember GameWorks from back in it's heyday as well and it was awesome.
I'm sorry to say though Tilt is not the GameWorks we knew and loved. Both the 5 story shooter game and the Jurassic Park game are gone. Not to mention last time I was there it was mostly ticket games.
Honestly can't remember if the restaurant or bar were still open but this was a year and a half ago.
Very cool.. I remember when this mall opened. I was 14. The first time we actually went to it (around 2000) they had a brand new Chrysler PT Cruiser on display. They had JUST come out. I thought it was the coolest car with its retro styling.
Any mall that is owned by Simon Property Group is typically successful. The only ones that aren't successful I can think of are Circle Centre and a few others. I have a close friend who works for them and if a mall isn't doing well, they do everything they can to save it, and it usually works. If their strategies don't work, they jump ship before they really die
If you ever get the chance to visit Indianapolis, which is where the Simon headquarters are, you should visit Circle Centre Mall. When it was open, it was very upscale and busy. But in 2011 Nordstrom left, and this year Carson's left. The largest retail tenant is H&M, and that's only 25,000 square feet. They couldn't fill Nordstrom, so it's now offices. They are doing a $20 million dollar renovation, though I have a gut feeling that is too late.
They own Lenox Mall in Atlanta, and it is doing very well right now.
Wow I don't recognize it at all...which is probably part of why it's doing so well now. On some level I understand that it looks better, but the outdated interiors of the other malls just kick up my nostalgia so much more.
Last time I was here was 2 years ago. It was still super crowded then. I also used to go here when I was 8-10 years old. I'm 24 now. Glad to see this mall is still thriving. I also used to go to a few other malls which are sadly dead now. those other malls we're metrocenter, fiesta, and a few others that I can't really remember the name of.
It's cool seeing a sister mall of my local mall, Gurnee Mills, but Gurnee Mills is shaped like a Z. It still has the same wooden floor as this mall has, maple color border and bleached center. I've seen some of the wooden boards buckle over the years and they do repair and replace it as needed. Gurnee Mills now in 2023 I feel is struggling but still trying to hang in there. We lost our Sears Grand (obviously) and now Hobby Lobby is now occupying some of their former space, not all, but only accessible from the parking lot. We're losing Bed Bath and Beyond, another anchor. I'm really impressed with the store we have called 2nd and Charles, which is like a competitor to Half Price Books.
This is the coolest mall I have ever seen! I want to travel to Arizona just to visit this mall! Thank you for sharing!
My local Mills mall is spot on with this layout lol. Ontario Mills is really busy all of the time.
10:33 Last time I want to AZ Mills, I saw 3 Wetzel Pretzels stores like that one and 3 carts around the mall
I've been into these dead mall videos for several months now, starting with Dan Bell and moving onto Ace's Adventures and your channel (which I really enjoy). It's had me curious about how my local malls are doing -- McCain Mall (owned by Simon Properties) in North Little Rock and Park Plaza Mall in Little Rock. McCain has three anchors: Dillard's, JC Penney, and Sears. I went last Sunday afternoon, and the Sears is very sad, with a lot of empty space on shelves and displays, and I'm pretty sure they've put up walls to hide more empty areas. But otherwise both malls were very busy and happily not dead. Even the anchors were packed. And both malls have a Claire's store which was busy despite the bankruptcy. (Sadly the Claire's where I got my ear pierced back in 1999 was in University Mall, which is long gone.)
If you ever make it to Central Arkansas, do check out Park Plaza. I think you'll love the aesthetic and the roof that's mostly glass. (It's also got a Dillard's at both ends of the building, which is unusual.)
they have a sea life that is cool just like MOA! its a awesome looking mall the colors at night are awesome.
This is really cool.. glad to see busy mall. What I remember in 90s.
My brother was a head mc at gameworks when it opened. I was the first one through the doors the first night of the soft opening. Man I miss that place. I'd like to see a history vid on that for sure.
Thanks fo the "Live Mall" Video. I love malls, and I love seeing them alive and thriving. I also love seeing what other malls around the country look like. Thank you.
Bro this has to be the most random theme for a RUclips channel, but after catching word that PV mall might close, I found your videos and have watched a bunch of them now! Great work man! Thanks for the content!
So funny that this is “busy” to you. I live in Anaheim, CA and we’d call this “dead.” I’d be so happy to shop with this amount of people because it doesn’t look like I’d had to weave in and out of crowds or fight any lines in stores. This is super light foot traffic by CA standards.
I've never visited Arizona Mills Mall, but it's a spittin' image of our own Katy Mills Mall. Nearly identical in size and layout, same overhead signage, many of the same stores, and even the food court furnishings are exactly the same. I haven't been to Katy Mills since my daughter started driving a couple of years ago, but I recall it seemed a bit quiet then, and a few stores were closed. The "anchors" of Bass Pro Shops and Rainforest Cafe were as packed as ever, though.
This reminds me of the Sugarloaf Mills Mall in the Lawrenceville/Duluth Georgia area. You should look into that mall as well as the mall of Georgia. Both are very busy malls and they're only like 10 or less miles from each other.
Looks nice, and nice to see people on Saturday night. I remember when malls were so full on weekend nights. I love the fact there is a band called Chess King.
In April 2019, me and my wife were flying back to Memphis from Las Vegas with a stop in Phoenix and the plane from Vegas to Phoenix was late which caused us to miss our Phoenix to Memphis flight, so we got stuck in Phoenix for the night till the next day(the airline put us up, never happened to us before ) we found out the hotel we stayed at had a mall in walking distance so we went to Arizona Mills and walked around and had lunch. We had no idea when we walked through the doors just how huge this mall was. Seemed like we walked forever lol! And the food court was huge! I noticed they have a carousel there and it made me sad cause we had one here in the Memphis Hickory Ridge Mall that was a favorite , now the mall is pretty much dead and not far from closing.Two things about Arizona Mills is that it’s an old school 80’s-90’s style mall, not a designer mall like Opry Mills in Nashville . And I love that Arizona Mills was so CLEAN!! This was the sparkingest cleanest mall I’ve ever seen (you can see in your video) ! Great to see that these malls are still very busy and that people enjoy them, IMO I think certain malls close because the area that they are in had gone bad and most people in the area where the mall is moved away to a newer nicer area . That has certainly been the case for Memphis malls in the last 30 years unfortunately . We have a few nice outdoor malls like Tanger Outlet now but the nicest indoor mall in Memphis is still Wolfchase Galleria. Great video as it brought back memories of our only time in Phoenix , don’t know when I will be back, will have to plan a real vacation there. Thanks, will subscribe!
I love Arizona Mills. Its far from my city but its worth the drive :] I love going Black Market Minerals and checking out their stones and incense
If anything fashion square mall is WAY bigger
Man...I remember this mall back in early 2002-2005...was waay different and also worked at Borders Outlet there when they were still in business...man has it changed. Good thing is they still have the Imax theater from when I was there. Wish I could go back now and see all the different changes from then to now. I also have a old directory from back in that time. Granted Black Friday was usually a mess there (dunno if it still is), but yeah Lived like 5 or 10 minutes walk from the mall and would visit it almost daily. Also Tilt Studio..was a Gameworks. I remember playing DDR there alot and also when they had an event night. I played against the host and won. She gave me a free Gameworks t-shirt...which I wore to death.
i used to work @ the imax :p
There used to be a toy store on the north side that had a garden scale train track running along the outer walls, out into the mall and arc'd back into the store. Fun for the kids. I think that was gone last time I was in and that's been years ago now.
Great video. Thanks for filming.
Arizona Mills Mall was developed by the Mills Corporation. After the Mills Co went bankrupt, the Simon group acquired most of their malls. My local mall Potomac Mills Mall opened in 1985 was one of the first mills mall and in the 90s the mall became a popular tourist attraction. Many of the original stores are no longer there but the mall is still thriving with 225 stores. It brought the first Ikea to Virginia. Ikea is not in the mall anymore but in its own building across the street from the mall. Here is a video someone shot a few years ago and you can see the similarties: ruclips.net/video/lE_R87Dpn0c/видео.html
Hurray! I love these so much. This is my favorite channel for videos like this.
Wow what a rad mall and it still had some 80s in that beautifully remodeled mall and cool it was the mall u used to go as a teen. Man sweet fye I love that store sadly mine closed before the Sears went. I had great times at the mall in the late 80s and 90s we would spend alot of summer days there flirting w girls and hangin w the boys. I miss the mall arcades that mall has it all!
Who remembers Sam Goody?
I do, bought a lot CDs from them as a highschooler, still have the collection, oh memories
I do...we had 2 or 3 locations in malls and I believe all of them closed.
Yeah, Sam Goody is one store that really needs to make a comeback. I used to go to the one at the Queens Center mall in my state, New York, and back then I used to buy for the most part DVDs and a few CDs. At that time, CDs were a pain to buy because you had to buy the whole album just to get the one or two songs you cared about, and I hadn't gotten hooked on to MP3 players until a few years later.
Sam Goody was one of my first jobs when I was in high school, it was a lot of fun working there :)
Sam Goody and Suncoast were my go-to stores when I'd hit Fashion Square. Then it'd be Scrivners, B. Dalton, Walden, and that other book store that was up near the top floor. Oh, and can't forget Circles, which was a record store well before the vinyl revival.
Wow. One of the few successful Millscorp malls! So sad that Pittsburgh Mills wasn’t successful, and sad that Sears Grand had closed. This mall has a more modern design, but with that funky Millscorp style sprinkled in.
Grew up in AZ, now at the east coast... I miss AZ and hope to come back someday
We had a mall designed just like that on here in Kansas City called The Mall Of The Great Plaines. It opened in 1997 and was demolished in 2016. It really died starting in the mid 2000's and as late as 2013 it only had a movie theater a Kansas drivers license station and a thrift store. Excellent video.
The Arundel Mills Mall in Maryland is just like this one. With the traffic and the whole different neighborhoods aesthetic.
Arizona Mills and StoneBriar Mall in Frisco, Texas will be thriving for years!!!!
cool to see a mall that's not deserted! definitely looking forward to that arcade video, I imagine it must be pretty epic!
Cool Lego sculptures. Modern malls look like more square feet of kiosks than stores.
Isn't fashion square mall bigger?
Nah its either mills or scottsdale or superstitious mall
what about arrowhead
@@clout7679 I am wondering if they meant Scottsdale since that is Fashion square. Chandler is Fashion Center.
I've been to this mall, and nothing has ever matched my aesthetic as much as Arizona Mills did.
I grew up going to Ontario Mills. It’s a lot more generic now, but it was the coolest mall!
One of my favorite malls to visit. Unfortunately, it's been a few years since I've been there. Now I know to check out the ceiling decorations the next time I visit in the future!!
We used to go up to PPgoenux for SCA events and would stop and have dinner at the rain tree Cafe then we would walk the mall and stop at Krispy Kreme donuts in the the way back to Tucson it was wonderful smelling donuts all the way back home this was before Krispy Kreme came to Tucson fun times😊
I don't know if you know the malls of Milwaukee Wisconsin where I am from but there's four malls in Milwaukee that are all full of active stores and busy as this one. Southridge, Brookfield Square, Mayfair, and Bayshore which turned into more of a town centre. The only mall that actually closed in Milwaukee was Northridge Mall which is the one I grew up going to. It closed completely in 2003 and sits abandoned to this day.
Remind me of how one of my local malls is set up With the different sections having different floors
Simon always does something right. The one closest to me, albeit a 2 hour car ride, is always SUPER BUSY
But in terms of visuals, it looks a bit bland.
I remember when this mall first opened and my friends and I were at it every weekend. I have good memories in this mall and unfortunately bad memories. I miss this mall and glad to see it really busy still.
Okay I must tell say that the “futuristic” part of the mall is more like the recently remodeled look that Simon Malls has been using in its properties. Seems like the rest of the mall will be renovated in phases
I remember my family HAD to go to Mills for IMAX when it was new. It was such a big deal, haha.
Dang. That mall looks really good, and it proves not ALL malls are dying despite what some may say. And I agree that the neon lighting is extra cool. I miss that in malls as not a lot have that stuff anymore.
Dan Bell visited a Dead Mall in Pittsburg that used the neighborhood concept
i grew up near Franklin Mills, now Philadelphia Mills. I haven't been there since they redid it, but it was never this nice when I went. Always busy though.
Here in Lubbock, Texas we have south plains mall and it’s usually really busy on weekends , food courts and they just built a imax theatre as well
Tourists, business travel and re-sellers keep the retail places open in metro Orlando. The malls would be much worse if just local shoppers went there.
It's like Ontario Mills mall in Rancho cucamonga Ca. We had a Van's skatepark, gamesworks, virgin record store, and rainforest cafe when it opened. It also has the improv attached to it and a sam ash
No surprise but this is just like Concord Mills Mall in Concord NC. Has 8 “neighborhoods” and an arcade-Dave and Busters. It stays a lot busier though. What you saw times 3 on average. Should have waited til the end, also has 3 Auntie Anne’s Pretzels plus 1 other pretzel place.
This is the kinda mall every city deserves!
I miss when this place still had a Virgin Records/FYE where forever21 is now, and when Gameworks was still a thing there- the industrial theme of Gameworks was always so interesting to me as a kid- aside from the vast amount of games and the big centerpiece game they used to have years ago- the big projector screen from floor to ceiling with 4 seats on vertical rails, some sort of shooting gallery where you'd shoot certain balloons/hot air balloons and get sent flying up or down in your seat- I never had the chance to try that one because I was too young/nervous at the time though....
The strange thing is, I can smell the smell this mall always had/still has just through the video o.o
its a smaller clone of the Ontario Mills, guess they didn't bother changing between them all that much..
You noticed that too, i vaguely remember Ontario being that kinda goddy look before they went through their huge redesign, i remember them having a whole bunch of projector tvs sticking out of walls, now its just kinda plain and normal.
My thoughts exactly, but Ontario Mills is waaaayyyyy more busy at whatever time you go.
Beautiful looking Mall.
Great work again, Mr. Erik!
That LEGO sculpture was pretty cool.
And vinyl records! Whaaat! I have my dad’s old vinyls!! Not ever getting rid of those.
904 CZV *viynl
Love that mall! Watched dark night at their imax in 08.
We have Vaughan Mills Mall here. Even during a pandemic the mall is stupid busy.
By contrast, the Pittsburg Mills Mall is not a Simon Mall and is dying. It has many vacant stores.
My family's business does the upholstery for the play areas and food court of this mall. We also do the upholstery in rainforest Cafe.
That is a near carbon-copy of Grapevine Mills in Grapevine, TX; it opened in 1997 as well. I understand they recently finished renovations there. It's still a very busy mall, just like the one in the video.
We had a mall here in Tucson when it first opened that had clouds painted on the ceiling and if I remember right it neon bulbs that acted like lightning. It was foothills mall at one of the entrances