Great update on the Berkshire Mall. So sad to see it this way. My wife and I have been coming here for many years. We live almost two hours away, but now and then we would come to the area to shop for the day and grab a bite to eat before heading home. I hope it doesn’t go the way the Fairgrounds Square Mall went or worse like the Schuylkill Mall. I know it’s hard for malls to survive these days, but they are still needed.
I met a whole bunch of people at a gaming convention back in 2004 at The Inn at Reading. After that, the arcade became the rendezvous point and hang-out. I got to meet people from Fleetwood, Muhlenburg, Wyomissing, Reading and Wilson, and we all became a huge friend group. I had never experienced such a rapid growth in people that I knew, so seeing this video was a huge reminder of all the crazy times and all the characters that I met at Berkshire. I live on the other side of the country now, so it's wonderful to see what you upload about "home". Thank you so much for making these.
This mall is following the Fairgrounds Square Mall footsteps with coming to an end. Just like Fairgrounds the stores are starting to disappear, and all the “no name” stores are coming in that last a few months, and then they’re gone. I was here a few months ago and couldn’t believe how bad it got. Pretty sad to see, I enjoyed my late teenage years here...
So sad. Berkshire mall was my go to place when I lived in Reading..after Penn Street in the last 60's. When I went home to Reading every year my entire family would go shopping at the great stores in the mall. Such great memories, it really was Christmas here back in the day..after Penn St was no longer. BonTon, Wanamakers, all the good shops ! My mom worked at the Hallmark store for years. Thanks for this update.
Grew up with this mall (early-mid 70s). My earliest memory was standing with mom in the front parking lot at night around 1976 (maybe 77) when she bought me Kiss's 'Alive' album! The two music stores then were Wall to Wall Sound (blasting the 8 tracks) and the Listening Booth. But yes the arcade, called 'Supercade', was another memory. A tradition was for the local schools to hold a Halloween party there, covering the arcade and the space next to it. Also remember Gadgets and we went there a few times. My mother worked at Merle Norman cosmetics between 75-78 or so.
I used to work at York Steak House in the berkshire mall. Loved Gadgets. Spent many of my paychecks in their arcade. We lived nearby. Sad to see both malls in Reading almost gone but it's happening everywhere. I moved south and only 2 malls here are thriving. One us more upscale and the other is more entertainment oriented. I don't go to either anymore, prefer to give my money to local struggling businesses rather than chain stores. Only wish we had Boscov's down here.
I grew up hanging out there in the 70' & 80's. I was a regular at Supercade & Listening Booth. (That's where all my paper-route money went). I still remember the good 'ol days of Tobbacoland, John Wanamaker, Waldenbooks, Radio Shack, Taco Casa, Spencer's, Hickory Farms, Woolworths, the movie theater & many more. You always ran into school friends there & could get whatever you needed in one place. On Saturday mornings, we'd wait along the wall in the upper parking lot (outside of what is now Boscovs) for Ticketmaster to open. A row of kids in old jeans & sneakers, bored & waiting for hours to get the best tickets they could for Black Sabbath, Blue Oyster Cult or some other band at the Philly Spectrum. The words Taliban & Coronavirus were a long way from being part of anyone's vocabulary and man oh man do I miss those days!
I'm a little late watching the video. I have the same memories of spending time at our mall. ( Grew up in Delaware) I never did much shopping, but spent a lot of money in the arcade. I hope your mall is still there when your kids are old enough to enjoy it. I'd give anything to relive those days.
when I was a little kid on the 2nd floor at that balcony I kept trying to stick my head thru to look down. My dad kept telling me knock it off , I stuck head thru and was stuck. I remember Mall maintenance, then fire rescue, it kept getting more people and im yelling their tearing my ears off. They were gonna cut the post , my dad figured out with rescue that if they picked me up horizontally and flipped me over they could bring me thru cause of my ears would be forward. That was a lifelong memory
I'm a lot more than 12, have memories of the Arby's--my late mother and I both loved the Roast Beef sandwich and Jamocha shakes, before she passed the Jamocha shake (from another Arby's) was about all she would eat. Don't live in Berks any more but enjoy these videos.
Malls need to think outside the big box and add things that can't be outsourced to online shopping: housing such as a 6 to 8-story condominium (would provide a built-in shopping base and needed foot traffic); gyms; medical care; farmer's market; etc.
Was my hangout in the mid 80's....when I was finally old enough to walk to or be dropped off there. Can still smell that elevator. Thanks for the update.
when i was in high school i used to go there every friday after work to buy cd's and tapes and get something to eat. then i would head to high street in pottstown and cruise to my new music.
Ive been digging for far too long trying to find ANY proof of this wooden box containing a coin operated train diorama being somewhere in the middle section of the main walkways. It was such an early memory of mine unearthed by a passing conversation with a stranger but i havent been able to let it go since.
You are correct! That train did exist in the one side hallway that has Ruby Tuesdays down at the end, & the water fountain in front of the main entrance to Boscov's at the other. I put coins in it myself to operate the trains for my kids when they were smaller. I believe that there were actually 2 trains inside that box display, both of which had their own simple layouts to run independently on. 🚂
This mall is still doing ok but the problem is the closed anchor stores will never be replaced by another anchor store because they all are struggling . The only anchor stores still opening new stores is Boscovs and they are already here . I think the Sears should become a Wegmans Berks country still needs one and this is the only area in Berks one will do well at . They taken over a Jc Penney at the Montgomery Mall and that worked out well . The Bon Ton should be split between a H&M and one of those movie taverns . They still have Ruby Tuesday here so this mall is doing something g right the only other one of those left is in Easton
I grew up in that mall, frequented it from 1979 until 1988 then I moved away. I worked at The Highlander, Philly Twist (both of which pre-dated the food court), Supercade (next to Philly Twist), and Pomeroy's. Lots of great memories shopping at Woolworth's, John Wanamakers, Walden Books and Spencer's. Got my ears pierced at the Piercing Pagoda. Remember the Susie's Casuals and Tower Records. Sad that malls are disappearing. It was just a different time and place.
I visited this mall 3 times once with an ex I used to date in Hamburg then 4yrs laters with my current gf and then for the final third time about 3 months ago when I took my sister back to her classes at KU. Sad to see how much this mall has changed from my first time I went in July of 2015 to December 2020. July of ‘15 I remember going into that pet store and holding a cute border collie mix puppy that really i wanted (i wish the phone that I had that whole day recorded on didn’t break or I would have uploaded the video). October of 2018 I went back to the mall again with my current gf and there was a car show going on(I have plenty of pictures of that) and the mall was thriving with people and lots of stores. Even my YT profile pic was taken at the mall. Im not even from the berks area and I have a lot of memories within that mall.
So sad to see this. Worked here at the pet store mid 70's, shopped here for years after. Then as the anchor stores closed down the changes were destined to lead to the demise of this once bustling mall.
I grew up there - worked in the Berkshire mall - I liked it there....but this mall is sad anymore...just went through it a couple months ago - end of 2021. not as bad as some malls, but certainly not thriving.
I spent way more time at the fairgrounds mall, but the berkshire was always a special treat to go to. But I havent been there since I left Reading in 1995 😆
King of Prussia and Mall of America have been constantly updating themselves for years. I'm mostly certain that they still have many years to come, plus they get crazy amounts of foot traffic.
I still live close to the mall and I recently worked there in housekeeping and yes the owners are letting this mall rot not fixing shit...if you guys got questions ask I got recent info on this mall
It's kinda depressing looking at the malls and remembering what they were and how they are now. I spent a lot of time at malls with friends and now the friends are gone and so are the malls.
Definitely! As far as I can tell, and I go there pretty regularly, this is surviving damn well compared to what used to be Fairgrounds Square. I see this living on for a while! I actually just got my dog there!
I'm still kind of surprised about the sudden rapid fall of berkshire. Being honest, I dont think it can recover mostly because finding an anchor is going to be hard along with at least 3 major strip malls not even 5 minutes from that mall. That's not even factoring in all the other minor ones too. That whole area is oversaturated with retail.
They are doing the same thing as the jerks who bought the Fairgroundds Square Mall... it is a tax write off for whatever other buildings they have. They care not one thing for the building or it's clients. Malls, especially this one was the death of Downtown Reading and we are hearing the last gasps of breath for this building. They will say it's due to on-line purchases, but that is BS... in truth it's too expensive to operate. Malls were a gathering place for the youth, and the youth had money to burn. In 1973 we held our After Prom Party here and it was a great time..... sad, truly sad.
It's sad to say, since the introduction of the internet to the public 25 years ago, it has destroyed a lot of businesses, not to mention a lot of lives. I miss the days when we didn't have the Internet
The space is perfect for an indoor pool, waterpark or something reimagined. Of course, it would take a great undertaking but the space is there and the potential can be only limited to funds. Need to stop saving the mall for shopping and reimagine it into a new spot of entertaining value and tourism
Fuck you, this mall was a big part of my childhood/teen years. I don’t live in the area anymore so it’s great that someone went through the effort to make this.
They should convert these malls into housing for elderly people. It would be a nice community for them to walk and live in. Put a drug store and a urgent care with a security guard. It would be like their own enclosed town.
I remember the arcade on the upper level at the corner, next to the Bon-Ton. It was there for years before it closed in the early 2010s.
Was there in the 80's...spent many hours/quarters there.
@@jasonanderson927 // Yessirreebob...Space Invaders, Missile Command, shootin' pool... Great times!
I remember going there too and then getting a pizza at rays
@@SAMPLETEXT285 I remember the Burger King to the left of ChinaMax.
@@deathdragon6359 i think its a chick fil a now but the china max makes some good sesame chicken
Great update on the Berkshire Mall. So sad to see it this way. My wife and I have been coming here for many years. We live almost two hours away, but now and then we would come to the area to shop for the day and grab a bite to eat before heading home. I hope it doesn’t go the way the Fairgrounds Square Mall went or worse like the Schuylkill Mall. I know it’s hard for malls to survive these days, but they are still needed.
You forgot to mention how the Mall got national notoriety when that woman walked into the fountain as she was texting. That was epic.
That sucks. Thanks for the update. I no longer live in the area and subscribed to the channel just for this kind of content.
I met a whole bunch of people at a gaming convention back in 2004 at The Inn at Reading. After that, the arcade became the rendezvous point and hang-out. I got to meet people from Fleetwood, Muhlenburg, Wyomissing, Reading and Wilson, and we all became a huge friend group. I had never experienced such a rapid growth in people that I knew, so seeing this video was a huge reminder of all the crazy times and all the characters that I met at Berkshire. I live on the other side of the country now, so it's wonderful to see what you upload about "home". Thank you so much for making these.
This mall is following the Fairgrounds Square Mall footsteps with coming to an end. Just like Fairgrounds the stores are starting to disappear, and all the “no name” stores are coming in that last a few months, and then they’re gone. I was here a few months ago and couldn’t believe how bad it got. Pretty sad to see, I enjoyed my late teenage years here...
So sad. Berkshire mall was my go to place when I lived in Reading..after Penn Street in the last 60's. When I went home to Reading every year my entire family would go shopping at the great stores in the mall. Such great memories, it really was Christmas here back in the day..after Penn St was no longer. BonTon, Wanamakers, all the good shops ! My mom worked at the Hallmark store for years.
Thanks for this update.
Grew up with this mall (early-mid 70s). My earliest memory was standing with mom in the front parking lot at night around 1976 (maybe 77) when she bought me Kiss's 'Alive' album! The two music stores then were Wall to Wall Sound (blasting the 8 tracks) and the Listening Booth. But yes the arcade, called 'Supercade', was another memory. A tradition was for the local schools to hold a Halloween party there, covering the arcade and the space next to it. Also remember Gadgets and we went there a few times. My mother worked at Merle Norman cosmetics between 75-78 or so.
I used to work at York Steak House in the berkshire mall. Loved Gadgets. Spent many of my paychecks in their arcade. We lived nearby. Sad to see both malls in Reading almost gone but it's happening everywhere. I moved south and only 2 malls here are thriving. One us more upscale and the other is more entertainment oriented. I don't go to either anymore, prefer to give my money to local struggling businesses rather than chain stores. Only wish we had Boscov's down here.
I grew up hanging out there in the 70' & 80's.
I was a regular at Supercade & Listening Booth.
(That's where all my paper-route money went).
I still remember the good 'ol days of Tobbacoland, John Wanamaker, Waldenbooks, Radio Shack, Taco Casa, Spencer's, Hickory Farms, Woolworths, the movie theater & many more.
You always ran into school friends there & could get whatever you needed in one place.
On Saturday mornings, we'd wait along the wall in the upper parking lot (outside of what is now Boscovs) for Ticketmaster to open.
A row of kids in old jeans & sneakers, bored & waiting for hours to get the best tickets they could for Black Sabbath, Blue Oyster Cult or some other band at the Philly Spectrum.
The words Taliban & Coronavirus were a long way from being part of anyone's vocabulary and man oh man do I miss those days!
great video.. had so many memories at berkshire. I always used to play in the arcade next to the food court for hours. Shame its all gone to crap.
my earliest memory was of the bridge over the fountain by sears......it was probably 1975
I'm a little late watching the video. I have the same memories of spending time at our mall. ( Grew up in Delaware)
I never did much shopping, but spent a lot of money in the arcade. I hope your mall is still there when your kids are old enough to enjoy it. I'd give anything to relive those days.
A sure sign of a mall's imminent closing is the appearance of the massage chair stand. No failing mall has ever survived his presence.
Weiser class of 96 here, this was the spot Friday nights.
I used to go to this mall because the Fairgrounds was still a race track. Always loved it. Still do. My grandmom used to work at John Wanamakers.
Thanks for this great video! Shared experiences do bridge generations, and this mall holds so many memories for me.
when I was a little kid on the 2nd floor at that balcony I kept trying to stick my head thru to look down. My dad kept telling me knock it off , I stuck head thru and was stuck. I remember Mall maintenance, then fire rescue, it kept getting more people and im yelling their tearing my ears off. They were gonna cut the post , my dad figured out with rescue that if they picked me up horizontally and flipped me over they could bring me thru cause of my ears would be forward. That was a lifelong memory
Looks like Arby’s is gone? I worked there in the 80’s. Loved the Berkshire mall!
It is…. I’m 12 and i have never seen it lol
I'm a lot more than 12, have memories of the Arby's--my late mother and I both loved the Roast Beef sandwich and Jamocha shakes, before she passed the Jamocha shake (from another Arby's) was about all she would eat. Don't live in Berks any more but enjoy these videos.
auntie anne’s is still there!!
Malls need to think outside the big box and add things that can't be outsourced to online shopping: housing such as a 6 to 8-story condominium (would provide a built-in shopping base and needed foot traffic); gyms; medical care; farmer's market; etc.
Great video. Thanks for the work you put into it. It's a shame. 2020 really was a roundhouse kick.
Was my hangout in the mid 80's....when I was finally old enough to walk to or be dropped off there. Can still smell that elevator. Thanks for the update.
Jason Anderson now that you mention it, the elevator always smelled so distinct.
gadgets also had an salad with an edible bowl......was a hot item!
when i was in high school i used to go there every friday after work to buy cd's and tapes and get something to eat. then i would head to high street in pottstown and cruise to my new music.
Me too
Then Pottstown killed that too.
The Bon-Ton and Sears closing within a year of each other really hurt, but even before then, the Berkshire Mall had seen better days.
i remember shopping with my dad on penn street in the 70's.......dad liked pomeroys.
I worked at this mall in 2010 and it used to be jumping then. Watching this is depressing, this place used to be very active.
Ive been digging for far too long trying to find ANY proof of this wooden box containing a coin operated train diorama being somewhere in the middle section of the main walkways. It was such an early memory of mine unearthed by a passing conversation with a stranger but i havent been able to let it go since.
You are correct! That train did exist in the one side hallway that has Ruby Tuesdays down at the end, & the water fountain in front of the main entrance to Boscov's at the other. I put coins in it myself to operate the trains for my kids when they were smaller. I believe that there were actually 2 trains inside that box display, both of which had their own simple layouts to run independently on. 🚂
Great video! Glad I found your channel!
This mall is still doing ok but the problem is the closed anchor stores will never be replaced by another anchor store because they all are struggling . The only anchor stores still opening new stores is Boscovs and they are already here . I think the Sears should become a Wegmans Berks country still needs one and this is the only area in Berks one will do well at . They taken over a Jc Penney at the Montgomery Mall and that worked out well . The Bon Ton should be split between a H&M and one of those movie taverns . They still have Ruby Tuesday here so this mall is doing something g right the only other one of those left is in Easton
I grew up in that mall, frequented it from 1979 until 1988 then I moved away. I worked at The Highlander, Philly Twist (both of which pre-dated the food court), Supercade (next to Philly Twist), and Pomeroy's. Lots of great memories shopping at Woolworth's, John Wanamakers, Walden Books and Spencer's. Got my ears pierced at the Piercing Pagoda. Remember the Susie's Casuals and Tower Records. Sad that malls are disappearing. It was just a different time and place.
How does your channel only have 461 subscribers!? Count me in as 462!
Welcome to the fold, my friend 😎
I been here once....again 5 years before this upload. heh heh.
and yes it was poppin with business.
As busy as an airport =P
I visited this mall 3 times once with an ex I used to date in Hamburg then 4yrs laters with my current gf and then for the final third time about 3 months ago when I took my sister back to her classes at KU. Sad to see how much this mall has changed from my first time I went in July of 2015 to December 2020. July of ‘15 I remember going into that pet store and holding a cute border collie mix puppy that really i wanted (i wish the phone that I had that whole day recorded on didn’t break or I would have uploaded the video). October of 2018 I went back to the mall again with my current gf and there was a car show going on(I have plenty of pictures of that) and the mall was thriving with people and lots of stores. Even my YT profile pic was taken at the mall. Im not even from the berks area and I have a lot of memories within that mall.
Definitely a hang out in the mid seventies, I also worked at the restaurant in Woolworth , still had God memories
So sad to see this. Worked here at the pet store mid 70's, shopped here for years after. Then as the anchor stores closed down the changes were destined to lead to the demise of this once bustling mall.
I grew up there - worked in the Berkshire mall - I liked it there....but this mall is sad anymore...just went through it a couple months ago - end of 2021. not as bad as some malls, but certainly not thriving.
This mall isn't dead for me.
I spent way more time at the fairgrounds mall, but the berkshire was always a special treat to go to. But I havent been there since I left Reading in 1995 😆
Sad...Covid 19 probably will be the final blow...not just to this mall but to all of them...even Mall of America and KoP are struggling...
Definitely not all of them. But a good chunk of the already struggling ones.
King of Prussia and Mall of America have been constantly updating themselves for years. I'm mostly certain that they still have many years to come, plus they get crazy amounts of foot traffic.
Got my little pomeranian ziggy at the petstore there , hes 6 now and doing great. I still like this mall
I still live close to the mall and I recently worked there in housekeeping and yes the owners are letting this mall rot not fixing shit...if you guys got questions ask I got recent info on this mall
Thank you, i spent many days there growing up. I no longer live in the area but it was nice to see this.
This makes me sad. Now i have to un sad myself somehow
And for the people who say its dying, Park City killed it...
It's kinda depressing looking at the malls and remembering what they were and how they are now. I spent a lot of time at malls with friends and now the friends are gone and so are the malls.
Have there been any changes since this update?
Unfortunately not. Still declining.
Definitely! As far as I can tell, and I go there pretty regularly, this is surviving damn well compared to what used to be Fairgrounds Square. I see this living on for a while! I actually just got my dog there!
even worse.
The group that bought the Berkshire Mall also bought the Phillipsburg Mall, Phillipsburg, NJ.
I'm still kind of surprised about the sudden rapid fall of berkshire. Being honest, I dont think it can recover mostly because finding an anchor is going to be hard along with at least 3 major strip malls not even 5 minutes from that mall. That's not even factoring in all the other minor ones too. That whole area is oversaturated with retail.
Well said.
Subbed and clicked the bell
I hope this mall can get through covid its already struggling and im sadly expecting the news of its closure any day now but i hope not
They are doing the same thing as the jerks who bought the Fairgroundds Square Mall... it is a tax write off for whatever other buildings they have. They care not one thing for the building or it's clients. Malls, especially this one was the death of Downtown Reading and we are hearing the last gasps of breath for this building. They will say it's due to on-line purchases, but that is BS... in truth it's too expensive to operate. Malls were a gathering place for the youth, and the youth had money to burn. In 1973 we held our After Prom Party here and it was a great time..... sad, truly sad.
WOW ! 2 BERKSHIRE MALLs zool your the last of the BERKSHIRE MALLs
like everything else in Reading.....dead and gone
The mall needs updated stuff and attractions. Online retail will be the death of everyone
It's sad to say, since the introduction of the internet to the public 25 years ago, it has destroyed a lot of businesses, not to mention a lot of lives. I miss the days when we didn't have the Internet
The space is perfect for an indoor pool, waterpark or something reimagined. Of course, it would take a great undertaking but the space is there and the potential can be only limited to funds. Need to stop saving the mall for shopping and reimagine it into a new spot of entertaining value and tourism
The area has turned to shit, can't even go to the wallmart close. Trash everywhere.
It’s all the illegals coming in
And yet Boscov’s continues to live on ... I think should they close, the rest of the town will be in a sad state of affairs.
Totally great tremendous
Want to save malls....stop buying shit on-line!!
I took a doo doo in the fountain as a small boy
That's the reason the mall is in the shape it is today 😡.
It's not looking good. As of June 2021 their is only Target and the movie theater opem.
The 3rd place is disappearing.
woolworths sold rifles
That's Awesome.👌
Blooey!
What's going on ? We need bora bora moving in . Ok .
I wasted more time in that mall then I care to say. 😂
Wow your mall is lucky the BERKSHIRE MALL In Massachusetts is long gone and will be turn down soon
To bad. Namdar= Moonbeam. Ugh.
I mean I’ve seen worse
It's not pronounced "Berk-sheer" it's pronounced "Berk Shy-er"
I lived in this area for over a decade and I’ve never once heard anyone say “berk shy-er”
@@FitzFingers How do you pronounce the word "Shire", like from LOTR movies? Put Berk and Shire together and you get the proper pronunciation
@@FortniteDad39 ua-cam.com/video/1hOoJQVBUzE/v-deo.html a news broadcast from 2007, they clearly pronounce it berk-sheer. Just stop.
@@FitzFingers Put the two words together. Berk and Shire. What do you get? Shire is pronounced SHYER
@@FitzFingers You are going by local dialect and accents. The word Shire is pronounced Shy-er. The definition even fits a shopping mall.
This is the weirdest video I've seen in my entire life. Why do you care about that depressing mall?
Because this is a channel dedicated to landmarks, buildings, etc in Berks county. The subscribers like it.
Fuck you, this mall was a big part of my childhood/teen years. I don’t live in the area anymore so it’s great that someone went through the effort to make this.
Because it's history. It's our past.
They should convert these malls into housing for elderly people. It would be a nice community for them to walk and live in. Put a drug store and a urgent care with a security guard. It would be like their own enclosed town.
Well done video