this is my hometown mall…i teared up watching the footage of the mall from the 90’s. i thought i would only see those halls and stores in my memories, i miss this mall so much. so many amazing memories there 🖤
It’s crazy to see my childhood mall through someone else’s perspective. I remember all of the places that used to be here and how fun it used to look. It’s so bare and bland looking now lol. I only go there for one store and the food places at this point. I really wish malls were revamped bc I like the physical act of shopping in person vs online
yeah, same! I remember that ice cream place in the mall that we’d always visit that served those ice cream monster things. My family also went to the bath and body works section for christmas. Gosh, I even remember the easter bunny and santa holiday events they did there. I think I also remember some guy selling taxidermy in one of the kiosks and he has some weird accent. Man, I miss going to that mall with my parents, especially my mom. Nowadays we only go to the Red Robin that’s connected to the building.
❤ hung at that mall in 1978 --> back then Corvettes was there , then it changed to Macys . Woolworths was at the center , the ORANGE BOWL was thee hangout . There was a cool place to hang out with the video games . And a Kodak cube outside to put your film at to get develop Also , there were 2 small movie theatres in the mall at back end . I watched the Exorcist there in 1979. ❤ be blessed in Jesus
HEY THAT'S ME! I'm the spikey mohawk punk with black nail polish in the beginning of the video, who was passing out flyers to an upcoming show with some of my bandmates. That was a typical Saturday night back in 1997. I went on to become a newspaper reporter and editor with the local paper, just a few blocks away, and made new Harford Mall memories. Like the day an armored truck driver opened fire into the food court on a non-English speaking employee during the Christmas rush. I was detained by mall security after repeatedly trying to get an interview with the mall Santa, who I was told had a child on his lap for annual holiday photos at the time of the incident, but threw the kid to the ground and Army-crawled to safety when the gunfire rang out. There are 8 million stories in the naked city; this has been one of them.
Bruh, my wife commented on you during the video and said that’s exactly the type of people she used to see when she worked there back in the 90s!! Great style!!
This is my child hood mall, I remember going there all the time in the early 2010’s and there being so much people, and always excited to go during Christmas time, now it’s so depressing to walk into
Man, this comment makes me prideful. I seriously try with my work, and I’m incredibly happy to see my audience take notice. That said, my next two episodes are going to be much smaller…but stick with me, phase V will be epic.
@@sal Hey Sal you should come to Tupelo Mississippi and do an expedition Vlog at the Barnes Crossing mall. I’m very surprised at how well the Barnes Crossing mall is thriving in this economic environment.
Oh wow you finally made the video on my mall! I live less than 30 minutes from it and it was a great place in the 80s. When they redid everything, they made it so bland and tan, got rid of the food court, and told Cactus Willie's (a decent buffet restaurant) to take a hike because they weren't bringing in the younger, upscale shoppers they were trying to court, and it became Red Robin. It still brings in customers, but not like it was, and I heard Macy's may be out next year.
Hey Sal, glad my old footage of the mall could be put to use in historical exploration! NOTE: That bank building you briefly look at in the beginning was called Sharon Bank and was only open for a couple of years in the early/mid 1980's and basically never occupied again. It's lain inexplicably dormant for well over 30 years
You amazing man without you I wouldn’t have gotten a chance to see what my hometown mall looked like back in the day everything was so beautiful and it was so packed crazy how it’s just been turned to shit nowadays they need to expand and put a movie Theater. Do you have any old footage of like around bel air back in the day?????
@@malleomusic The video Sal used is posted under this account called "Bel Air 1997" it's basically the Harford and Tollgate Mall plazas just before Christmas 1997. That's all I've got up now. I have VHS tapes to look through
When Sears closed at our local mall, they knocked it down right away and built 3 smaller store fronts that are now a DSW shoes, HomeGoods and a Ulta with walk up entrances. Pretty wise move. They actually try to make it a point to keep the mall lively. By allowing a Target to be an anchor as well, it pretty much makes sure the mall will be relevant. There is still a JC Penny's and Macy's that are both doing very well. Probably one of the few profitable locations left.
They are trying the same with our mall. They added a Whole Foods but haven't filled the Sears building yet. My grandpa was a teacher and worked every Christmas break at Sears. You've never seen presents wrapped so well under your tree lol He actually taught me how to wrap too!
@@horseathalt7308 Confusing names, for sure. In any event, TJ Maxx and its subsidiaries Marshall's and Home Goods are among the strongest retailers today. Most are in non-mall locations.
Harford Mall was the place to be on Saturday nights when I was in high school back in the mid-'70s. It's really ashamed that malls have died. They were a nice place for young parents to take their little ones in strollers in bad weather and during the winter. Plus, great places to wander around and shop at Christmas!
Yeah I was a mall rat there. The funny thing is I remember all the renovations since then. I feel it would have made it being right in the middle of everything but it too slowly died
@@CozyButcher I can't believe you don't like free public transportation. I also can't believe that made the place unsafe. One would think free public transportation would strengthen the city.🍭
@@CozyButcher you have to be an internet troll. It is a known fact that public transportation is only free to seniors and handicapped. If you have a mental or physical disability that prevents you from driving, you need approval from the MVA and /or Medical State Advisory Board. BTW, I never heard of anyone using or selling hardcore drugs, until Bel Air kids were bragging about it during the 90's.
Seeing so many of my teen and twenties haunts now dead or dying makes my heart hurt. I did notice in this video that you're actually a pretty good looking guy, thank you for coming out from behind the camera for a while.
As depressing as this place is… I love this mall because it gives me and my family somewhere to walk when it’s freezing ass cold/hot. I continue to make memories here with my child and it gives him a place to run. He absolutely loves it there. A rubber ducky and a ride on the car and life is simple. Dude did you see they are putting a high end organic grocery store where sears was?? I hope it stays open to the mall to promote foot traffic. Great job making this awesome video! I can’t believe how disjointed they made it?? What the heck??!
Fabulous ExLog, Sal . . . again!! The research you put in really sets you apart from many of the other DM chroniclers. The video quality, drone footage and running commentary are excellent. This could easily be a TV series . . . it's that good. BTW--I love your earlier ExLogs too, but I hear ya regarding how far you've come in such a short time!
I, for one, do love the perimeter checks! I think it gives some excellent insight into how the mall is doing based on the area surrounding it. I’m sure you probably saw how desolate the area around the Warren Mall was while you were there….the totally wrecked parking lot and mostly vacant movie theater really are like the preview reel at the start of a classic VHS home video. Love the content!!
I grew up going to that mall in the 90s. I think I purchased all of my school clothes and homecoming dresses there. Seeing County Seat brought back so many memories. DEB, 5-7-9 and Claire's all faves. Now as an adult, my anxiety can't handle malls. I want to get what I need from a store and get out.
I've been watching a bunch of these the last couple of days and I'm just fascinated! The only mall in South Florida that failed that I can think of went under about 15 - 20 years ago, back when malls were thriving.
As you know Sal, was there a few weeks ago and it's foot traffic is still aplenty on weekends with 60% occupancy currently. Bel Air just has so many strip malls in the area, and White Marsh not far away. The mall was so easy to navigate through. Miss visiting it.
You made me and my autistic brother cry our eyes out. Tears of joy and fondest remembrance! Oh man the cut scene commercial with Capt'n C just blew me away. I remember rushing home to see Capt'n C. WBFF TV Televison 45! THANK YOU. This was priceless.😂
When you were going through the mall, and you passed by the for lease stores, I was naming what they used to be. That mall used to be the main place I hung out with my friends in elementary/middle school, because it was local and close. I wish it was still as lively as I remember it, but this was still a great video!
You always find the most interesting snippets to illustrate the history of the malls & contrast the quiet, duller images of present-day hallways. It makes me wonder what kind of expectations (of the mall designer/owner) come with the plainer designs.
I think Sears was the number one retailer back around the mid 70s. At the time much of the sold products were made in the USA. IMO, government politics accelerated the push to drive manufacturing out of the country. Government benefited with tariffs, consumers benefited with lower prices but eventually many blue collar and white collar lost their livelihoods.
You have actually inspired me to look at the mall situation here in California, where I live. Out of some 270 malls, both indoor and outdoor, only about some 30 are considered dead, closed, or otherwise abandoned. Don't take these numbers as gospel since these were the best estimates I could find. Given how massive and populated California is, I'm amazed at how many malls we have and the ratio of dead malls to populated malls.
I think Malls can still do well in densely populated areas with relatively high household incomes. For 80% of the country, online is probably going to dominate except big-box retail that can compete on price or offer heavy items that are expensive to ship like home improvement retail.
So many of my favorite places are gonna now. I have some of my fondest memories from Harford Mall. Villa isn’t there anymore and just yesterday I saw the whole Sears being torn down. My mother would take my brother and I here on the weekends and I remember going to Villa to get pizza then Friendlys for shakes, then end the day by walking around in Sears or Macys
Great video as always! I used to manage a few Friendly's back in the 90's. It was the best of times, it was the worst of times. But we did serve some great fun food
Now if only movie theatres had countdown timers like this… Also, stop beating yourself up over ExLog 2! While not the greatest, you knew then what direction you wanted to take the channel and were determined then to make it great. It’s good bro.
Great video Sal! I loved the old footage and Friendly’s commercial. I remember seeing it when I was a kid. The closest Friendly’s is 2 hours away in Myrtle Beach. They used to be all over the place in NJ. My local mall Northwoods Mall is owned by CBL. It looks pretty much the same with decor but it’s doing well.
I remember walking through this mall in the early 2000’s so excited to go shopping with my mom for Christmas….every time I walk in there now as an adult I get kinda sad cause I remember what it used to be. This is an awesome video and it really shines light how the community all loved this mall
It wasn't the first enclosed mall in Harford county. Across the street was Bel Air mall. There is almost no information on that mall online. I used to work at the Subway in high school at the Harford Mall. Prior to the mall, the land was a race track (either dogs or horses). The property on the other side of the major road used to be farm land. The farmer left in his will that the land could not be developed until his cow died. That cow held on for a decade. This is the property that has CR Wings and the Chili's if those are still there. Also, there was Fallston mall that has an Acme by 152. That was a combo enclosed and open mall that I think is near the same age as Harford Mall. Somehow that has held on as well.
You're thinking of the Tollgate Town Center. It opened after Harford Mall. Bel Air Plaza is diagonally across from the mall, but was/is not enclosed. Bel Air Town Center is where the Chili's is
The Tollgate Mall never succeeded as an enclosed mall because the easiest way to get from the two anchor stores (K Mart & Giant Food) was to walk across the parking lot. No one walked through the mall and it was abandoned from day one until they converted both sides of it to a plaza.
In 1997 I would have been 17 and in my senior year of high school, malls were packed back then and it's where you went for everything from your prom dress/tux to just watch a movie or pick up a new CD or game. Those were the days!
My mother worked at Korvettes in her early 20s. I was always told that before it was constructed, there was a lot of pushback from Bel Air residents. The sears was torn down back in February 2022. I’ve heard heavy speculation and seen job listings that suggest that the high end grocer taking its place is an Amazon Grocery. As a fun aside, a friend helped with the liquidation and said all the back rooms still had the same red Montgomery ward design that the rest of the store had until it closed. My parents bought me one of my first bikes at that Wards; the Sears that replaced it never quite filled the gap it left. Everything else is pretty spot on! HarMa was really cool growing up in the 90s. Waldenbooks was really fun to look through and Waldensoftware was a great place to buy video games. It was later bought by EB and later GameStop and still occupies the same store some 25 years later. All the malls in Harco were essentially killed by Regal Cinema. It itself is now struggling to attract customers as it hasn’t kept up with the times. The local stores with actual variety, the smoke shop that smelled like leather and tobacco, KB Toys and those yipping little dogs, the monkey swinging endlessly in a window near the food court. So many good memories. My mom and aunt would take me to that Friendly’s often; I contend it’s still the best part of the mall and worth supporting. Of course, my favorite was the arcade. One room full of cabinets and the other full of ticket machines. A fantastic way to spend an afternoon. Another commenter got it right; things were starting to diminish even before the renovation. Several of the food court businesses were empty. The arcade had shrunk to just one room, a shadow of its former self, where a friend and I watched the teens play DDR. Old Navy moved a couple years back, taking my only source of Mall clothes shopping with it. The missus and I killed time there on Black Friday 2021 while waiting for the Christmas Tree lot to open. It felt *good* to see it moderately busy, even if vacancy is something like 60%. I desperately want to see it revitalized.
The Sears in the KIlleen Mall in Killeen TX closed around 2019, it was an anchor store since 1981 when the mall opened. Since then it has been taken over by the Dillards. It was sad to see Sears go, like something died from my childhood.
This makes me want to cry. I grew up in that mall. I lived on South Atwood Road and walked there almost everyday as a teen. I worked there at 579 which is no longer there but I have to say I'm glad they aren't there any longer. And I worked at Friendly's as a server and hostess. My kids will never know the life of hanging out at harford mall and then at night hanging out in the super fresh (Aldi now I believe or sprouts) parking lot n everyone came with their souped up cars n it was just FUN. I miss it.
Great video. I lived ten minutes from this mall for the first 24 years of my life. I saw many of the changes you described, and I really appreciate the history you provided.
Thanks for this great video! A friend and I sometimes like to go visit different malls around the area, and we were just at this one the weekend before Maryland went into covid lockdown 😮 That kind of seals this mall into a really unique place in my memory -- one of the last places I went out in the world in The Before Times.
The Macy's Furniture building used to be a Montgomery Wards Auto Center, the Best Buy was a Basics Food Warehouse. Across the street was another mall, that shuttered in the 90's. Tollgate Mall was an outdoor style semi enclosed mall, more indicative of areas like Florida. Tollgate Mall was enclosed with skylights, but never gain good occupancy, its main anchors were K-Mart and Giant Food. Tollgate Mall also featured a 2 story Arcade called Plugged In. Tollgate was repurposed as a traditional shopping center through out the 90s, with a B.E.S.T. Showrooms, Circuit City, Barnes and Noble, Pier 1 Imports, and a Toys R Us. The former Sears at Harford Mall is now completely gone, save for the Sears sign near Steelfish restaurant, and prepped with building supplies and construction crews active. The new construction is to feature a "High end Grocer" (still unknown as of this comment, possibly a Harris Teeter or Whole Foods) and 8 other tenants, including 2 unnamed popular fast casual restaurants.
I worked in the arcade at Harford Mall back in 2000 and 2001. It used to be right next to the Vision Works that was on the right when you entered the mall (it looks like the space is now being taken up by a recruiting office and an empty space for lease). Actually, back then it was a music store, although I can't recall the name of it. (That Time Out Zone is pathetic, by the way.) That was kind of the beginning of the end for the mall, as stores started turning over and long-time tenants started to disappear. The mall still had a ton of foot traffic, but it was clear that they were starting to have trouble keeping the smaller spaces occupied. Additionally, the styling of the mall was very much late 80's/early 90's as it hadn't been updated at all since I was a kid, so eventually they did the big renovation back in like 2007. They were clearly trying to modernize the mall, but the new styling left a LOT to be desired. Everyone I talked to right after the changes were made agreed that the mall looked generic and boring. All the character (what little it had before) was gone. Additionally, they modified a lot of the floor space, and made room for larger stores in certain parts of the mall, like Old Navy. This had the effect of diluting what little store space there already was. Instead of going to the mall and having a handful of stores to pique your interest out of the dozens that populated it, now the number of stores were dwindling and with so many large stores, it just created fewer reasons to actually walk around and explore the mall. The few times I bothered roaming around I skipped half of the mall because of the completely uninteresting stores which now occupied large sections of floor space. But by far the biggest change, and what I think was the nail in the coffin, was the elimination of the food court. By moving all of the restaurants outside the mall, there was no reason to go inside to eat. Worse still, no food court meant yet another place to hang out and relax was gone. I won't deny that the changes definitely improved both the quality of the food and the dining experience, but the food court area was a key part of the mall to do something other than shopping. The food court, in my opinion, has always been a major component of what makes a mall unique, and it was a huge mistake to get rid of it.
Another awesome adventure thanks Sal. I love the aesthetics in this amazing video, Soundscape excellent, quality of images excellent, stop for lunch and choice of burger excellent (man did that French Dip look good), choice of music and filters for the drone footage excellent, historical research and writing excellent and last but not least I really like your walk around to get a feel of the surroundings. Thanks for your time and efforts on this I for one really enjoy looking at this type of media. Cheers.
Yo! My local mall! Haven't been there in years. I remember the neon days. Place was lit. Friendly's was absolutely my favorite restaurant as a kid. Something about that metal cup the sundaes came in. Radio Shack was across from it. And there was a book store in the same area too. My favorite part of the mall by far. The food court was super cool. I remember eating there with some friends from middle school just before the renovation. A lot of stuff was closed. I never expected them to completely scrap that wing of the mall. I remember when Montgomery Wards became Sears too. Wards was a way more interesting store. I think I bought an iPod at Sears. Never heard about the gas attack video. I did NOT know about Capetian Chesapeake and will be looking for more. I appreciate the Friendly's deep dive. But I do not know the rules!!!!!!!!
This was the mall of my childhood and into the early years of my adulthood, growing up in Harford County and living there until a few years ago. I worked for several years at the Best Buy across the road from it, got my hair cut at the Regis so many times, raided that Hot Topic well before it moved into the old Radio Shack's spot which made it WAY too bright, played fighting games at the Boardwalk Fun arcade until that closed (That one little spot you showed with all the cranes looked so sad in comparison), ate so many cheap burritos at the Qdoba in college... even seeing you drive past the Festival at Bel Air at the very beginning is so nostalgic for me. Never knew about that gas attack video you showed, that was certainly a mind-blower to see now!
Great voice and very funny guy; I subscribed immediatly! I grew up there in the 70s and 80s and moved away to San Diego in the 90s , thanks for the update and very well researched info...
One thing that I especially like more then anything about your video here, is that you patronized some of the locations within this mall while there, very admirable
Just finished rewatching this episode. You stated you hadn’t seen a shuttered Sears space made into anything other than storage space. Here in Cleveland TN, our shuttered Sears became a Dunham’s Sports
I moved to NC in 2006 from Bel Air and 2012 was my last time in Harford Mall when I was visiting. This is depressing, I was a 90's kid, and that mall just brings back so many memories. LOL, I remember smoking sections in the mall, and it had a cool little arcade. I was a big fan of the theater and I saw some great movies like True Lies.
There's a newly built bank that closed up near me and I've always wanted it for a house (it doesn't look like a box it's brick with pretty windows etc) and it would be great to have a giant vault to keep all your valuables in that if there ever were a breakin your stuff would be safe.
My childhood farm backed up to the racetrack. We used to sneak through the woods, past the stables, and get a real education about what goes on behind the scene on the backstretch. Later on we would take the old Model A farm truck over to the defunct track and race around until the caretaker chased us off. Good times
I used to fix copiers in the mid ‘90s. They ran me ragged Johns Hopkins Hospital to Cecil Co. Back then, that mall was a great place to stop mid way for a break.
While there are a lot of vacant stores in Harford Mall, there are still some good places to shop in there. I will admit the mall looks really wonky now with the Sears completely chopped off and the new building going up. At least there does appear to be a set of doors from the new grocery facing the old mall entrance to Sears so that pedestrians could go back and forth. I remember having Girl Scout sleepovers in the mall back in the 1980s...and the roller skating rink that used to be where the Best Buy is now. I also remember having to search for parking at the mall during the Christmas holidays; not the case at all now.
It's so interesting to see you tour Harford Mall. As a local, I'm just waiting for it to be torn down lol. No one is going here except for teenagers maybe. But, most people, like myself, just go straight to White Marsh mall. Harford has become a scary ghost town.
i've read a lot of comments under this video and it seems like most harford county residents here have come to the consensus that this mall is totally gone and dead, and i would just like to let you know that it's still alive. while i know it's not the same as before and likely never will, i grew up in the 2010s and i have a lot of nostalgia for the harford mall. i remember my siblings and i playing with those arcade truck things at 20:12 (even though our parents never gave us quarters to actually play in them). i remember buying back to school clothes and shoes at the mall. my family got our santa pictures and easter bunny pictures early every year and i still have all of them. i had lock-ins with my girl scout patch throughout elementary school. i got my ears pierced at claire's. and, while i think it won't even get back to its energy from the 2010s because of covid, that macy's was still the place to go to get homecoming dresses last fall. and i know that there are many people my age in harco that feel the same.
I feel like it's the chocolate sauce/hot fudge that made the ice cream too sweet, since those syrups are full of sugar. Since mint choco chip already has a form of chocolate in it having it swim in sauce is sacrilege. Syrups just do that to stuff since they're just mostly sugar or corn syrup. If I were to make that personally it would just be a scoop of mint choco ice cream with whipped cream on top, just keep it simple. I remember back in the day when everyone and their grandma (not literally) was making french dip sandwiches. I think for me it was Quiznos and Arby's.
I swear that the Sears had an escalator in the early to mid 2000's. They seemed to block that part off with a wall. Anyone have memories of this? Also great video!
I watch your videos because they provide an - earie - view of the manner in which our society has evolved away from the cultural foundations that made indoor shopping malls a growth phenomenon decades ago, and which has largely rendered shopping malls obsolete today. My personal experience with a - new mall opening - was the - Pheasant Lane Mall - in southern NH, back in the late 1980s. Everything that made that mall relevant then, makes it obsolete now, with most of the stores that existed there in the 1980s also gone too.
Damn, I just finished Thanksgiving dinner and it made ME hungry. BTW, Canadian Thanksgiving is Oct. 11. Earlier than the US. Probably because all our turkeys are frozen to death by Nov 25.
If I recall, Harford Mall is surrounded by hundreds of stores in the area. If they tear down Sears and build more stores, are there going to be any new stores wanting to open in that area? And with many stores closing, there is going to be plenty of places for new retailers to open.
The movie 'You've got mail' covered the small store mentality in the beginning that the 'big bad chain store' won't hurt us because we have so much charm and character. The closed Sears location at the Eastview Mall in Rochester, NY got turned into a a sporting goods superstore.
I know I shop more big box than local businesses because I need my money to go as far as possible. School loans + high cost of a home + stagnant wages idk how they expect us to shop small for everything.
Worked in a mom & pop bookstore for 14 years. It’s 40 years old this year. We outlived Borders, survived Barnes & Noble, and kept on chugging through the rise of the Kindle and Amazon. I know people demand a low price (and would frequently berate me in the shop over this), but we have a loyal clientele who don’t mind paying a bit extra to keep the doors open.
Hi Sal, That French dip burger looks delicious, one bite score 9.3, no Friendy’s in Cali tho. The plants in the mall looked very healthy or maybe your beautiful camera work .
Our biggest mall in town is converting their old 2 story Sears to a giant Scheels sporting goods store which includes a giant ferris wheel. Hopefully it livens up the struggling mall.
On your perimeter check you’re over by a very popular place kids used to have birthday parties called The Garage. Basically it was a teen centric space but had a ton of computers for LAN Parties. I had two boys in middle school in the 2010s and on weekends they were always going to an event there. Spent many a Black Friday there in the 00s to -10s, especially at the perimeter Best Buy camping out on Black Friday eve to get deals on Nintendo Gameboys, DS’s and PlayStations.
Harford Mall was a big part of my childhood/teen years in the 90's and early 00's. I moved to NC in 2004 and my last time going to Harford Mall was in 2012 during a visit and it was already looking a little dead at that time. It sucks because I use to love the old food court and that theater in the mall was awesome as a kid but that was taken out in the late 90's.
These people risking so much investing in retail and malls were nothing short of warriors, very, very, informative information you present in your vlogs.. don't stop what you are doing...we learn form history, it's very fascinating learning about retailers and the coarse businesses 5ake thru their history.👍😀🇺🇲
Yeah...Harford county... I bought a Pontiac there (Bel air) in 2004, a week later the dealership was boarded up. Funny, making a mock chemical agent release...in a city outside the U.S. Army chemical agent center.
We all have a story to tell about a local mall (s). My local mall still has a JC Penny and Macy's and a good food court. But, but for how long. Two other malls have closed in the 'too many malls' area. The dollars and jobs lost has to be huge. All the Friendly's are gone here now, most were free standing and have become Chinese restaurants. Both of the mostly closed malls have been repurposed into medical and community centers, etc. Covid drove a nail into even the healthiest malls. The survivors are hopefully recovering in some way. Where have all the shoppers gone? Thanks Sal for all your work!
this is my hometown mall…i teared up watching the footage of the mall from the 90’s. i thought i would only see those halls and stores in my memories, i miss this mall so much. so many amazing memories there 🖤
That French dip looked heavenly !!! YUM !!! It might be worth flying up, eating, and flying home !
Harford Mall is still busy! They are now building a open air addition in the place of Sears! I look forward to shopping there!
It’s crazy to see my childhood mall through someone else’s perspective. I remember all of the places that used to be here and how fun it used to look. It’s so bare and bland looking now lol. I only go there for one store and the food places at this point. I really wish malls were revamped bc I like the physical act of shopping in person vs online
yeah, same! I remember that ice cream place in the mall that we’d always visit that served those ice cream monster things. My family also went to the bath and body works section for christmas. Gosh, I even remember the easter bunny and santa holiday events they did there. I think I also remember some guy selling taxidermy in one of the kiosks and he has some weird accent. Man, I miss going to that mall with my parents, especially my mom. Nowadays we only go to the Red Robin that’s connected to the building.
Hung in that mall in mid to late 90s lol
❤ hung at that mall in 1978 --> back then Corvettes was there , then it changed to Macys . Woolworths was at the center , the ORANGE BOWL was thee hangout . There was a cool place to hang out with the video games . And a Kodak cube outside to put your film at to get develop Also , there were 2 small movie theatres in the mall at back end . I watched the Exorcist there in 1979. ❤ be blessed in Jesus
HEY THAT'S ME! I'm the spikey mohawk punk with black nail polish in the beginning of the video, who was passing out flyers to an upcoming show with some of my bandmates. That was a typical Saturday night back in 1997. I went on to become a newspaper reporter and editor with the local paper, just a few blocks away, and made new Harford Mall memories. Like the day an armored truck driver opened fire into the food court on a non-English speaking employee during the Christmas rush. I was detained by mall security after repeatedly trying to get an interview with the mall Santa, who I was told had a child on his lap for annual holiday photos at the time of the incident, but threw the kid to the ground and Army-crawled to safety when the gunfire rang out. There are 8 million stories in the naked city; this has been one of them.
that's amazing, I hope you have a proper hair style now..lol
Bruh, my wife commented on you during the video and said that’s exactly the type of people she used to see when she worked there back in the 90s!!
Great style!!
That was an awesome story!
This is my child hood mall, I remember going there all the time in the early 2010’s and there being so much people, and always excited to go during Christmas time, now it’s so depressing to walk into
I wish there was a "Friendly's" near me. Yum!
Enjoying the maturity of the production on this channel man. Great work Sal!
Man, this comment makes me prideful. I seriously try with my work, and I’m incredibly happy to see my audience take notice.
That said, my next two episodes are going to be much smaller…but stick with me, phase V will be epic.
@@sal Hey Sal you should come to Tupelo Mississippi and do an expedition Vlog at the Barnes Crossing mall. I’m very surprised at how well the Barnes Crossing mall is thriving in this economic environment.
Oh wow you finally made the video on my mall! I live less than 30 minutes from it and it was a great place in the 80s. When they redid everything, they made it so bland and tan, got rid of the food court, and told Cactus Willie's (a decent buffet restaurant) to take a hike because they weren't bringing in the younger, upscale shoppers they were trying to court, and it became Red Robin. It still brings in customers, but not like it was, and I heard Macy's may be out next year.
oh really? i had no idea that the red robin used to be cactus willies! The red robin is the only reason why my family and I go there anymore
When mall gets rid of food court down hill from there.
Hey Sal, glad my old footage of the mall could be put to use in historical exploration!
NOTE: That bank building you briefly look at in the beginning was called Sharon Bank and was only open for a couple of years in the early/mid 1980's and basically never occupied again. It's lain inexplicably dormant for well over 30 years
Dude!!! You legend! I still have questions…write to me?
quitestudios@gmail.com
Damn, I have been curious about this bank for so many years!! I’m so glad I know about this now… I’m so happy, any more footage of bel air from then ?
You amazing man without you I wouldn’t have gotten a chance to see what my hometown mall looked like back in the day everything was so beautiful and it was so packed crazy how it’s just been turned to shit nowadays they need to expand and put a movie Theater. Do you have any old footage of like around bel air back in the day?????
@@malleomusic The video Sal used is posted under this account called "Bel Air 1997" it's basically the Harford and Tollgate Mall plazas just before Christmas 1997. That's all I've got up now. I have VHS tapes to look through
When Sears closed at our local mall, they knocked it down right away and built 3 smaller store fronts that are now a DSW shoes, HomeGoods and a Ulta with walk up entrances. Pretty wise move. They actually try to make it a point to keep the mall lively. By allowing a Target to be an anchor as well, it pretty much makes sure the mall will be relevant. There is still a JC Penny's and Macy's that are both doing very well. Probably one of the few profitable locations left.
@Daniel Larsen
HomeGoods is a sears holdings company.
Some how the company is still just clinging to life with other brands.
They are trying the same with our mall. They added a Whole Foods but haven't filled the Sears building yet. My grandpa was a teacher and worked every Christmas break at Sears. You've never seen presents wrapped so well under your tree lol He actually taught me how to wrap too!
@@horseathalt7308 HomeGoods is not related to Sears in any way. It's part of TJ Maxx.
@@R32R38 correct..sears opened new home and life stores in the past few years and got them confused...thanks
@@horseathalt7308 Confusing names, for sure. In any event, TJ Maxx and its subsidiaries Marshall's and Home Goods are among the strongest retailers today. Most are in non-mall locations.
Harford Mall was the place to be on Saturday nights when I was in high school back in the mid-'70s. It's really ashamed that malls have died. They were a nice place for young parents to take their little ones in strollers in bad weather and during the winter. Plus, great places to wander around and shop at Christmas!
Diversity is our strength...free public transportation allowed city people to make it unsafe to even take a date there.
Yeah I was a mall rat there. The funny thing is I remember all the renovations since then. I feel it would have made it being right in the middle of everything but it too slowly died
@@CozyButcher I can't believe you don't like free public transportation. I also can't believe that made the place unsafe. One would think free public transportation would strengthen the city.🍭
Yup that’s what my mother did all the time with my brother and I
@@CozyButcher you have to be an internet troll. It is a known fact that public transportation is only free to seniors and handicapped. If you have a mental or physical disability that prevents you from driving, you need approval from the MVA and /or Medical State Advisory Board. BTW, I never heard of anyone using or selling hardcore drugs, until Bel Air kids were bragging about it during the 90's.
“One bite, everyone knows the rules.” The Portnoy ribbing was hilarious.
Seeing so many of my teen and twenties haunts now dead or dying makes my heart hurt. I did notice in this video that you're actually a pretty good looking guy, thank you for coming out from behind the camera for a while.
Yeah, he's definitely good looking
I appreciate that!
Yes, you are handsome.
As depressing as this place is… I love this mall because it gives me and my family somewhere to walk when it’s freezing ass cold/hot. I continue to make memories here with my child and it gives him a place to run. He absolutely loves it there. A rubber ducky and a ride on the car and life is simple. Dude did you see they are putting a high end organic grocery store where sears was?? I hope it stays open to the mall to promote foot traffic. Great job making this awesome video! I can’t believe how disjointed they made it?? What the heck??!
Fabulous ExLog, Sal . . . again!! The research you put in really sets you apart from many of the other DM chroniclers. The video quality, drone footage and running commentary are excellent. This could easily be a TV series . . . it's that good. BTW--I love your earlier ExLogs too, but I hear ya regarding how far you've come in such a short time!
Another factual film from a passionate creator. Awesome editing and thumbnail!
Omg you added a laugh to my day. Arguing with yourself! But now I need to go to Friendlys. Thanks uncle sal.
I, for one, do love the perimeter checks! I think it gives some excellent insight into how the mall is doing based on the area surrounding it. I’m sure you probably saw how desolate the area around the Warren Mall was while you were there….the totally wrecked parking lot and mostly vacant movie theater really are like the preview reel at the start of a classic VHS home video.
Love the content!!
Fun fact they couldn't build the mall till a local cow passed cause in the owner of the farm it was built on had it in his will
I want to rescue that Beatles' pinball machine and take it to a safer place.
I grew up going to that mall in the 90s. I think I purchased all of my school clothes and homecoming dresses there. Seeing County Seat brought back so many memories. DEB, 5-7-9 and Claire's all faves. Now as an adult, my anxiety can't handle malls. I want to get what I need from a store and get out.
these videos are still awesome, packed with knowledge, really a great watch
I've been watching a bunch of these the last couple of days and I'm just fascinated! The only mall in South Florida that failed that I can think of went under about 15 - 20 years ago, back when malls were thriving.
Captian Chesapeake!! That brings back memories for this Baltimore 80s baby
As you know Sal, was there a few weeks ago and it's foot traffic is still aplenty on weekends with 60% occupancy currently. Bel Air just has so many strip malls in the area, and White Marsh not far away. The mall was so easy to navigate through. Miss visiting it.
You made me and my autistic brother cry our eyes out. Tears of joy and fondest remembrance! Oh man the cut scene commercial with Capt'n C just blew me away. I remember rushing home to see Capt'n C. WBFF TV Televison 45! THANK YOU. This was priceless.😂
When you were going through the mall, and you passed by the for lease stores, I was naming what they used to be. That mall used to be the main place I hung out with my friends in elementary/middle school, because it was local and close. I wish it was still as lively as I remember it, but this was still a great video!
I love Friendly's burgers and ice cream, great choice. Nice seeing a restaurant that originated from my home state of Massachusetts in your video.
You always find the most interesting snippets to illustrate the history of the malls & contrast the quiet, duller images of present-day hallways. It makes me wonder what kind of expectations (of the mall designer/owner) come with the plainer designs.
I think Sears was the number one retailer back around the mid 70s. At the time much of the sold products were made in the USA.
IMO, government politics accelerated the push to drive manufacturing out of the country. Government benefited with tariffs, consumers benefited with lower prices but eventually many blue collar and white collar lost their livelihoods.
You have actually inspired me to look at the mall situation here in California, where I live. Out of some 270 malls, both indoor and outdoor, only about some 30 are considered dead, closed, or otherwise abandoned. Don't take these numbers as gospel since these were the best estimates I could find.
Given how massive and populated California is, I'm amazed at how many malls we have and the ratio of dead malls to populated malls.
I think Malls can still do well in densely populated areas with relatively high household incomes. For 80% of the country, online is probably going to dominate except big-box retail that can compete on price or offer heavy items that are expensive to ship like home improvement retail.
So many of my favorite places are gonna now. I have some of my fondest memories from Harford Mall. Villa isn’t there anymore and just yesterday I saw the whole Sears being torn down. My mother would take my brother and I here on the weekends and I remember going to Villa to get pizza then Friendlys for shakes, then end the day by walking around in Sears or Macys
Great video as always! I used to manage a few Friendly's back in the 90's. It was the best of times, it was the worst of times. But we did serve some great fun food
Now if only movie theatres had countdown timers like this…
Also, stop beating yourself up over ExLog 2! While not the greatest, you knew then what direction you wanted to take the channel and were determined then to make it great. It’s good bro.
Great video Sal! I loved the old footage and Friendly’s commercial. I remember seeing it when I was a kid. The closest Friendly’s is 2 hours away in Myrtle Beach. They used to be all over the place in NJ. My local mall Northwoods Mall is owned by CBL. It looks pretty much the same with decor but it’s doing well.
I remember walking through this mall in the early 2000’s so excited to go shopping with my mom for Christmas….every time I walk in there now as an adult I get kinda sad cause I remember what it used to be. This is an awesome video and it really shines light how the community all loved this mall
I get that same feeling about my local mall too
They just demolished the Sears, you should make a trip back and see it now.
Great video, I love the new cold opens you've been doing--sorry I missed the premiere I had gotten it in my head you were doing Sunday this week!
It wasn't the first enclosed mall in Harford county. Across the street was Bel Air mall. There is almost no information on that mall online.
I used to work at the Subway in high school at the Harford Mall. Prior to the mall, the land was a race track (either dogs or horses).
The property on the other side of the major road used to be farm land. The farmer left in his will that the land could not be developed until his cow died. That cow held on for a decade. This is the property that has CR Wings and the Chili's if those are still there.
Also, there was Fallston mall that has an Acme by 152. That was a combo enclosed and open mall that I think is near the same age as Harford Mall.
Somehow that has held on as well.
You're thinking of the Tollgate Town Center. It opened after Harford Mall. Bel Air Plaza is diagonally across from the mall, but was/is not enclosed. Bel Air Town Center is where the Chili's is
The Tollgate Mall never succeeded as an enclosed mall because the easiest way to get from the two anchor stores (K Mart & Giant Food) was to walk across the parking lot. No one walked through the mall and it was abandoned from day one until they converted both sides of it to a plaza.
Memories...going to Horn and Horn (buffet) on Fridays for lunch!
In 1997 I would have been 17 and in my senior year of high school, malls were packed back then and it's where you went for everything from your prom dress/tux to just watch a movie or pick up a new CD or game. Those were the days!
My mother worked at Korvettes in her early 20s. I was always told that before it was constructed, there was a lot of pushback from Bel Air residents.
The sears was torn down back in February 2022. I’ve heard heavy speculation and seen job listings that suggest that the high end grocer taking its place is an Amazon Grocery. As a fun aside, a friend helped with the liquidation and said all the back rooms still had the same red Montgomery ward design that the rest of the store had until it closed. My parents bought me one of my first bikes at that Wards; the Sears that replaced it never quite filled the gap it left.
Everything else is pretty spot on! HarMa was really cool growing up in the 90s. Waldenbooks was really fun to look through and Waldensoftware was a great place to buy video games. It was later bought by EB and later GameStop and still occupies the same store some 25 years later. All the malls in Harco were essentially killed by Regal Cinema. It itself is now struggling to attract customers as it hasn’t kept up with the times.
The local stores with actual variety, the smoke shop that smelled like leather and tobacco, KB Toys and those yipping little dogs, the monkey swinging endlessly in a window near the food court. So many good memories. My mom and aunt would take me to that Friendly’s often; I contend it’s still the best part of the mall and worth supporting.
Of course, my favorite was the arcade. One room full of cabinets and the other full of ticket machines. A fantastic way to spend an afternoon.
Another commenter got it right; things were starting to diminish even before the renovation. Several of the food court businesses were empty. The arcade had shrunk to just one room, a shadow of its former self, where a friend and I watched the teens play DDR. Old Navy moved a couple years back, taking my only source of Mall clothes shopping with it.
The missus and I killed time there on Black Friday 2021 while waiting for the Christmas Tree lot to open. It felt *good* to see it moderately busy, even if vacancy is something like 60%. I desperately want to see it revitalized.
The Sears in the KIlleen Mall in Killeen TX closed around 2019, it was an anchor store since 1981 when the mall opened. Since then it has been taken over by the Dillards. It was sad to see Sears go, like something died from my childhood.
This makes me want to cry. I grew up in that mall. I lived on South Atwood Road and walked there almost everyday as a teen. I worked there at 579 which is no longer there but I have to say I'm glad they aren't there any longer. And I worked at Friendly's as a server and hostess. My kids will never know the life of hanging out at harford mall and then at night hanging out in the super fresh (Aldi now I believe or sprouts) parking lot n everyone came with their souped up cars n it was just FUN. I miss it.
Sal - They are in the construction phase of the "Shops at Harford Mall"
Great video. I lived ten minutes from this mall for the first 24 years of my life. I saw many of the changes you described, and I really appreciate the history you provided.
Thanks for this great video! A friend and I sometimes like to go visit different malls around the area, and we were just at this one the weekend before Maryland went into covid lockdown 😮
That kind of seals this mall into a really unique place in my memory -- one of the last places I went out in the world in The Before Times.
I’m just trying to capture a sense of normality as we wade through the wastelands of the 20’s.
The Macy's Furniture building used to be a Montgomery Wards Auto Center, the Best Buy was a Basics Food Warehouse. Across the street was another mall, that shuttered in the 90's. Tollgate Mall was an outdoor style semi enclosed mall, more indicative of areas like Florida. Tollgate Mall was enclosed with skylights, but never gain good occupancy, its main anchors were K-Mart and Giant Food. Tollgate Mall also featured a 2 story Arcade called Plugged In. Tollgate was repurposed as a traditional shopping center through out the 90s, with a B.E.S.T. Showrooms, Circuit City, Barnes and Noble, Pier 1 Imports, and a Toys R Us. The former Sears at Harford Mall is now completely gone, save for the Sears sign near Steelfish restaurant, and prepped with building supplies and construction crews active. The new construction is to feature a "High end Grocer" (still unknown as of this comment, possibly a Harris Teeter or Whole Foods) and 8 other tenants, including 2 unnamed popular fast casual restaurants.
They Sears at Hanover Mall in Hanover, PA was closed off from the mall and became a Rural King.
Nice Raven Simone, pretty sure that's how she got her 'celebrity stardom', great videos you make like the retro 80's style music 🎶
I worked in the arcade at Harford Mall back in 2000 and 2001. It used to be right next to the Vision Works that was on the right when you entered the mall (it looks like the space is now being taken up by a recruiting office and an empty space for lease). Actually, back then it was a music store, although I can't recall the name of it. (That Time Out Zone is pathetic, by the way.)
That was kind of the beginning of the end for the mall, as stores started turning over and long-time tenants started to disappear. The mall still had a ton of foot traffic, but it was clear that they were starting to have trouble keeping the smaller spaces occupied. Additionally, the styling of the mall was very much late 80's/early 90's as it hadn't been updated at all since I was a kid, so eventually they did the big renovation back in like 2007. They were clearly trying to modernize the mall, but the new styling left a LOT to be desired. Everyone I talked to right after the changes were made agreed that the mall looked generic and boring. All the character (what little it had before) was gone.
Additionally, they modified a lot of the floor space, and made room for larger stores in certain parts of the mall, like Old Navy. This had the effect of diluting what little store space there already was. Instead of going to the mall and having a handful of stores to pique your interest out of the dozens that populated it, now the number of stores were dwindling and with so many large stores, it just created fewer reasons to actually walk around and explore the mall. The few times I bothered roaming around I skipped half of the mall because of the completely uninteresting stores which now occupied large sections of floor space.
But by far the biggest change, and what I think was the nail in the coffin, was the elimination of the food court. By moving all of the restaurants outside the mall, there was no reason to go inside to eat. Worse still, no food court meant yet another place to hang out and relax was gone. I won't deny that the changes definitely improved both the quality of the food and the dining experience, but the food court area was a key part of the mall to do something other than shopping. The food court, in my opinion, has always been a major component of what makes a mall unique, and it was a huge mistake to get rid of it.
Another awesome adventure thanks Sal. I love the aesthetics in this amazing video, Soundscape excellent, quality of images excellent, stop for lunch and choice of burger excellent (man did that French Dip look good), choice of music and filters for the drone footage excellent, historical research and writing excellent and last but not least I really like your walk around to get a feel of the surroundings. Thanks for your time and efforts on this I for one really enjoy looking at this type of media. Cheers.
You're shots get more and more cinematic. Always enjoy your videos.
Hey thanks!!
The Countryside Mall in Clearwater Florida also closed their Sears. You should come check it out.
SAL............... Your awsome... One bit, Everybody knows the rules. keep up the best documentary series on youtube.
Yo! My local mall! Haven't been there in years. I remember the neon days. Place was lit. Friendly's was absolutely my favorite restaurant as a kid. Something about that metal cup the sundaes came in. Radio Shack was across from it. And there was a book store in the same area too. My favorite part of the mall by far.
The food court was super cool. I remember eating there with some friends from middle school just before the renovation. A lot of stuff was closed. I never expected them to completely scrap that wing of the mall.
I remember when Montgomery Wards became Sears too. Wards was a way more interesting store. I think I bought an iPod at Sears.
Never heard about the gas attack video.
I did NOT know about Capetian Chesapeake and will be looking for more.
I appreciate the Friendly's deep dive. But I do not know the rules!!!!!!!!
I did want to see a walk.
This was the mall of my childhood and into the early years of my adulthood, growing up in Harford County and living there until a few years ago. I worked for several years at the Best Buy across the road from it, got my hair cut at the Regis so many times, raided that Hot Topic well before it moved into the old Radio Shack's spot which made it WAY too bright, played fighting games at the Boardwalk Fun arcade until that closed (That one little spot you showed with all the cranes looked so sad in comparison), ate so many cheap burritos at the Qdoba in college... even seeing you drive past the Festival at Bel Air at the very beginning is so nostalgic for me. Never knew about that gas attack video you showed, that was certainly a mind-blower to see now!
Great voice and very funny guy; I subscribed immediatly!
I grew up there in the 70s and 80s and moved away to San Diego in the 90s , thanks for the update and very well researched info...
Thanks for the sub!! Much more on the way.
One thing that I especially like more then anything about your video here, is that you patronized some of the locations within this mall while there, very admirable
5:10 that's actress Raven-Symone in the Friendly's ad. I miss Friendly's; my nearest one closed about three years ago.
We had an old Sears converted to a Round 1 here. Pretty fitting, since I went to Sears to play their NES/SNES/Genesis demos when I was a kid 😅
Just finished rewatching this episode. You stated you hadn’t seen a shuttered Sears space made into anything other than storage space. Here in Cleveland TN, our shuttered Sears became a Dunham’s Sports
I moved to NC in 2006 from Bel Air and 2012 was my last time in Harford Mall when I was visiting. This is depressing, I was a 90's kid, and that mall just brings back so many memories. LOL, I remember smoking sections in the mall, and it had a cool little arcade. I was a big fan of the theater and I saw some great movies like True Lies.
Bravo Sal! Captain Chesapeake and a (future) star studded Friendly's commercial.
Great episode as always, Sal. The abandoned bank looks like it would be a promising place for a stealth camp. Somebody call Steve Wallis!
There's a newly built bank that closed up near me and I've always wanted it for a house (it doesn't look like a box it's brick with pretty windows etc) and it would be great to have a giant vault to keep all your valuables in that if there ever were a breakin your stuff would be safe.
My childhood farm backed up to the racetrack. We used to sneak through the woods, past the stables, and get a real education about what goes on behind the scene on the backstretch.
Later on we would take the old Model A farm truck over to the defunct track and race around until the caretaker chased us off.
Good times
The closed store with the wooden pillars when you first went in is the store I got the tuxedo for my wedding. Time hasn't been kind to the mall.
I always enjoy the history. And glad there are still a few remaining food court winners. I have not been to a big mall since I moved from Houston.
I used to fix copiers in the mid ‘90s. They ran me ragged Johns Hopkins Hospital to Cecil Co. Back then, that mall was a great place to stop mid way for a break.
While there are a lot of vacant stores in Harford Mall, there are still some good places to shop in there.
I will admit the mall looks really wonky now with the Sears completely chopped off and the new building going up. At least there does appear to be a set of doors from the new grocery facing the old mall entrance to Sears so that pedestrians could go back and forth.
I remember having Girl Scout sleepovers in the mall back in the 1980s...and the roller skating rink that used to be where the Best Buy is now. I also remember having to search for parking at the mall during the Christmas holidays; not the case at all now.
Beautiful mall. Wow.
Moved here in 1991. That mall was amazing then.....now it's just blah.
It's so interesting to see you tour Harford Mall. As a local, I'm just waiting for it to be torn down lol. No one is going here except for teenagers maybe. But, most people, like myself, just go straight to White Marsh mall. Harford has become a scary ghost town.
i've read a lot of comments under this video and it seems like most harford county residents here have come to the consensus that this mall is totally gone and dead, and i would just like to let you know that it's still alive. while i know it's not the same as before and likely never will, i grew up in the 2010s and i have a lot of nostalgia for the harford mall. i remember my siblings and i playing with those arcade truck things at 20:12 (even though our parents never gave us quarters to actually play in them). i remember buying back to school clothes and shoes at the mall. my family got our santa pictures and easter bunny pictures early every year and i still have all of them. i had lock-ins with my girl scout patch throughout elementary school. i got my ears pierced at claire's. and, while i think it won't even get back to its energy from the 2010s because of covid, that macy's was still the place to go to get homecoming dresses last fall. and i know that there are many people my age in harco that feel the same.
I feel like it's the chocolate sauce/hot fudge that made the ice cream too sweet, since those syrups are full of sugar. Since mint choco chip already has a form of chocolate in it having it swim in sauce is sacrilege.
Syrups just do that to stuff since they're just mostly sugar or corn syrup.
If I were to make that personally it would just be a scoop of mint choco ice cream with whipped cream on top, just keep it simple.
I remember back in the day when everyone and their grandma (not literally) was making french dip sandwiches. I think for me it was Quiznos and Arby's.
I swear that the Sears had an escalator in the early to mid 2000's. They seemed to block that part off with a wall.
Anyone have memories of this?
Also great video!
Not at Harford Mall but the one at White Marsh does/did.
Man...Your burger eating was hilarious!!!
I watch your videos because they provide an - earie - view of the manner in which our society has evolved away from the cultural foundations that made indoor shopping malls a growth phenomenon decades ago, and which has largely rendered shopping malls obsolete today. My personal experience with a - new mall opening - was the - Pheasant Lane Mall - in southern NH, back in the late 1980s. Everything that made that mall relevant then, makes it obsolete now, with most of the stores that existed there in the 1980s also gone too.
I grew up coming to this mall as a kid, and the day they got rid of the food court is when it started to decline.
I live here. Great video man!
You made me hungry with that burger.
I made myself hungry too!!
Damn, I just finished Thanksgiving dinner and it made ME hungry. BTW, Canadian Thanksgiving is Oct. 11. Earlier than the US. Probably because all our turkeys are frozen to death by Nov 25.
@@sal please, PLEASE tell me what the One Bite thing means!
If I recall, Harford Mall is surrounded by hundreds of stores in the area. If they tear down Sears and build more stores, are there going to be any new stores wanting to open in that area? And with many stores closing, there is going to be plenty of places for new retailers to open.
Great video! I used to love the teriyaki chicken at Sino Wok.
The movie 'You've got mail' covered the small store mentality in the beginning that the 'big bad chain store' won't hurt us because we have so much charm and character.
The closed Sears location at the Eastview Mall in Rochester, NY got turned into a a sporting goods superstore.
I know I shop more big box than local businesses because I need my money to go as far as possible. School loans + high cost of a home + stagnant wages idk how they expect us to shop small for everything.
Worked in a mom & pop bookstore for 14 years. It’s 40 years old this year. We outlived Borders, survived Barnes & Noble, and kept on chugging through the rise of the Kindle and Amazon. I know people demand a low price (and would frequently berate me in the shop over this), but we have a loyal clientele who don’t mind paying a bit extra to keep the doors open.
Now that I watched all the video, I love the perimeter walks. lol
Great video...awesome commentary and really nice drone footage as well! Looking forward, as always, t the next adventure! 1👍😉🥰
Hi Sal, That French dip burger looks delicious, one bite score 9.3, no Friendy’s in Cali tho. The plants in the mall looked very healthy or maybe your beautiful camera work .
Our biggest mall in town is converting their old 2 story Sears to a giant Scheels sporting goods store which includes a giant ferris wheel. Hopefully it livens up the struggling mall.
Well the north Hanover mall in Hanover pa turned their vacant seats in a rural king and it’s always busy however the mall itself is pretty much dead
On your perimeter check you’re over by a very popular place kids used to have birthday parties called The Garage. Basically it was a teen centric space but had a ton of computers for LAN Parties. I had two boys in middle school in the 2010s and on weekends they were always going to an event there. Spent many a Black Friday there in the 00s to -10s, especially at the perimeter Best Buy camping out on Black Friday eve to get deals on Nintendo Gameboys, DS’s and PlayStations.
ROTFLMAO, I remembered watching Captain C every day as a kid and still remembered the words to the intro 😂
Unfortunately the few remaining restaurants in my local mall closed during the March 2020 shutdown and never reopened.
I miss Friendly’s they were all around MD and when I moved to Florida in 2011 there were still some hanging on scattered around.
Harford Mall was a big part of my childhood/teen years in the 90's and early 00's. I moved to NC in 2004 and my last time going to Harford Mall was in 2012 during a visit and it was already looking a little dead at that time. It sucks because I use to love the old food court and that theater in the mall was awesome as a kid but that was taken out in the late 90's.
These people risking so much investing in retail and malls were nothing short of warriors, very, very, informative information you present in your vlogs.. don't stop what you are doing...we learn form history, it's very fascinating learning about retailers and the coarse businesses 5ake thru their history.👍😀🇺🇲
Yeah...Harford county... I bought a Pontiac there (Bel air) in 2004, a week later the dealership was boarded up.
Funny, making a mock chemical agent release...in a city outside the U.S. Army chemical agent center.
Edvard Grieg music in the Dead Mall series...This is when you understand that Sal is a true legend!
I remember the arcade it took up two stores and the left side was all dark and black lights then they downsized and added that drum machine room
We all have a story to tell about a local mall (s). My local mall still has a JC Penny and Macy's and a good food court. But, but for how long. Two other malls have closed in the 'too many malls' area. The dollars and jobs lost has to be huge. All the Friendly's are gone here now, most were free standing and have become Chinese restaurants. Both of the mostly closed malls have been repurposed into medical and community centers, etc. Covid drove a nail into even the healthiest malls. The survivors are hopefully recovering in some way. Where have all the shoppers gone? Thanks Sal for all your work!