The Laguna Hills Mall in Southern California officially closed on December 31st 2018 after serving the community for 45 years since its grand opening in April of 1973. Goodnight sweet prince.
I forget the name of the arcade that was there back in the early 90's (before it moved to the food court), but it was, and still is, the best I had come across. I remember it went pretty far back, with a machine gun airsoft rifle arcade game at the very back. It was creepy back there and smelly, and had an attendant that was a jerk, making it the perfect embodiment of what arcades were like.
@@secretysecret1551 I think it was called TILT. It was next to the Orange Julius drink stand. You had to walk up a carpeted "ramp" to enter the arcade cause the door was tilted at an angle. And they had one of those scrolling LCD message boards from what I remember. As a child, truly a magical experience, only second to walking into a Toys R Us
@@prior242 that was it! I even remember the scrolling lcd sign wasn't a real lcd. It was a plastic ribbon with holes punched out to make it look like lights.
They replaced it with like a flea market on steroids. Just a bunch of artist and their respective kiosks. It sits in the anchor space that used to be the macys toward the end of the video.
So sad. Very symbolic of the entire country. Malls are the canary in the coal mine. Add to the retail destruction the massive escalation in blatant violence and murder, and “smash and grab” “flash mob” robberies, it’s all just a sign of the times. Strap up, prep up, and grow some eyes in the back of your head.
RIP Laguna Hills mall. My parents met here. My mom worked at the Hallmark and my dad worked at a kiosk. Literally would not exist without this place. Lots of memories of the movie theater, Disney store, Hot Topic, Hot-dog-on-stick...
I’m living in Scottsdale AZ and we used to have a couple of used book stores near where I live, but not anymore...the nearest one is half price books now, like 10 miles away.😰
I worked at Laguna Hills Mall from 86 to 96 in various places. Started as a ticket taker and concession stand worker at the SoCal Cinemas, then made pizzas at Round Table Pizza, then sold t-shirts from a kiosk, then I worked in the shoe department at JCPenney's, then at a kiosk that made custom t-shirts and coffee mugs, then I was a assistant manager at B Dalton bookseller upstairs in the food court. I was there when they did the total renovation in 94, and saw the mall really flourish for a long time. Unfortunately the Laguna Hills mall has had its day as it once was but they're renovating it into an outdoor style mall currently. I haven't watched all your videos yet but there's one thing that I see constantly as a symptom of a mall that's about to die. When you see the candy machines go up on each side of the mall, massage chairs down the middle of the walkway, and the little kiddy railroad train that goes in a circle in the very center of the mall. These are clear signs at the mall is struggling.
I grew up going to this mall! It was the nice mall before the Mission Viejo Mall was remodeled. All our family photos were taken in the Sears basement and we always got a Mrs fields cookie. It’s so creepy seeing it now...
This used to be the fancy mall when I was growing up. The shops at mission Viejo (down the freeway from there) was the joke mall - covered in gross old wood tiles and generally dark. So many good memories of Playing arcade games at Tilt!
Ha! Shops at Mission Viejo is now pretty upscale while the Laguna one has fallen to pieces. I'm sure someone is going to do something with the property but not soon.
Yo I lived in Tilt! Downstairs it was so fuckin big! Then downsized when it moved upstairs but Still played SF MK Tekken KI up there all day! Mission mall had the arcade, theater and hotdog on a stick.. That was all I needed. Arcades were the best in the 90s!
The food court and arcade was upstairs but I am sure it's closed now. I had been going to this mall since 1983 and still live a few miles away. I'm super stoked to have you at my home mall! Fantastic video! I also bought all my Nintendo games at the Sears which was occupied 2 levels, I always thought it was so cool to go underground.
Austin Bauman still a teenager ! Live close , my dad would take me all the time , we would go eat ice cream upstairs , and then go to the theater (in the summer cuz kids were free ) and just walk alll over the mall ! Now.... theres just jcpenny but theyre closing in october :(
Damn dude since 83?! I was probably going in 93. Going to tilt when it was still downstairs all day playing SF MK all the fighting games. Some of my fondest memories
OMG. That was my local mall in the 80s. >< Here's a story. It was 1988 and I was a 19 year old going to Saddleback College in Mission Viejo. I was working as a cartoonist on our community college newspaper called 'The Lariat' at the time, and a staff writer told me about a guy he met at an arcade-a guy working on a Nintendo game. I was skeptical, but I met with the guy at Round Table Pizza in the Laguna Hills Mall, right across from 'Tilt', my favorite arcade. The meeting went well. I remember, I ordered a Coke and garlic bread (too poor for pizza). Frank and I both met with the company, quit our jobs, and made our first-ever video game for the Nintendo 8-bit. When it shipped, we each got checks for $10,000....and it was hilarious depositing that check when I had 53 cents in my account and owed friends a few hundred bucks for living expenses. I've been in the video game ever since. The company? Color Dreams. The game? Raid 2020. No, not the best game ever and there were changes made that we vehemently disagreed-with, but it was a start. The tech was so primitive too. I used the Nintendo controller to enter in pixels (yes, even for animation), after drawing sprites and objects out on graph paper. The Laguna Hills Mall will always hold a special place in my heart.
Laguna Hills was THE PLACE to go when I was growing up.. From grade school all the way to early High School... There once was a nostalgic movie theater, food court on a second story that conjoined a Barnes and noble, hot topic, pacsun, vans, American eagle, Mrs. Fields (loved when my mom would stop there for me) a popular boutique that used to be across from Rubios that my friends and I would visit frequently, plus so much more... I’ll never forget this mall and it has been surely saddening to see it go store by store. But like mentioned in the video, it’s not a surprise with the newer surrounding shopping centers... Thanks for vid, was cool to watch.
I spent my youth in this mall (1980s). There was an arcade upstairs and a bookstore (in the food court area). I suspect those arcade games came from that arcade. In the 70s, 80's and part of the 90s, there was the main arcade called Tilt. It was located halfway down between Macy's and JCPenny on the Penny's side. K.B. Toys was in this mall for years. There was a cinema, owned by the mall, at the Sears end. Closed before 2016. I watched Romancing the Stone in that theater back in 85 I think it was (and Temple of Doom). I remember Miller's Outpost (mostly sold blue jeans and what not). I recall Buffums very well. Broadway was enormous with a restaurant (that no one went to, even in the 1980s). It was 3 stories. They used to sell ghetto blasters (boom boxes) on the third floor with Oriental rugs, housewares, and what not. There used to be a Hello Kitty store, a Carl's Jr. in the small arm across from JCPenny, and a Round Table Pizza with a walkup window (like a drivethru). You could order a slice of pizza and a drink and walk around the mall with it. There used to be a Walden Books way too many years ago (not the one in the food court). Wow. The mall is completely closed today. I doubt it will ever open again. Thanks for sharing the video!
Same here! But in the 90s, we used to love the arcade (I’ll never forget the first time I saw mortal kombat 3 and mortal kombat 4, both at that tilt!), loved the Sam goody they had, the tower records came in not much longer. Such a great malll filled with memories that are gone forever :/
Some Goodwills have active presences on eBay and Amazon. What you see on the floor in many of those is the junk that were scanned and deemed to have little to no resale value online.
I love your visits to the malls. As someone who lives in the UK, I used to watch US TV programmes and films and was envious when they showed malls. It's now actually quite sad to see these places deserted and being closed. 😕
Just a quick update: They are redoing the inside of the mall and all the outside stuff is open. I live about 3 miles from it and my dad and I go play pinball in the old Macy’s. They redid it and it’s now a furniture store/“open mall” place. It’s really epic.
Buffums' was an upscale department store chain based in Long Beach and pretty much confined to Southern California. I remember visiting one of their San Fernando Valley locations when I was growing up there in the 60s or 70s. They were still open when I left California in 1989, so it took me visiting Wikipedia to find out that the entire chain went under in 1991, a victim of the recession.
There was a famous Buffum's add at the time (I think it was Buffum's), some lady standing in front of the store in the wee hours kind of chanting "Open, open, open". I know it sometimes comes out of my mouth without even realizing it. Eh, Wife just busted me! "Open, Open, Open" was Mervyn's. Buffum's I think was "I got it at Buffum's".
I used to work occasional seasonal jobs there in late 90s/early 00s. I’d pick up a PT job for Xmas cash. Worked at Suncoast Movies (that’ll bring back some memories) one year and then at Macy’s another year in the stock room. Decent jobs. The mall was much busier back then. The Gordon Biersch restaurant in the back parking lot was always packed but good food.
This mall officially closed on 12/31/18, and I decided to go check it out on that day. It was 4 pm, and there were maybe less than 10 shoppers total, most of them in the dollar bookstore. So sad, had a lot of memories shopping there as a kid.
In the 80's (maybe even to the very early 90's?) there was a Round Table pizza that sold slices in the storefront but had an extensive back area and a door to the outside. I never could figure out which storefront it was after the remodel.
Man, this mall used to have a Sanrio, a Hot Topic and a Disney store. I remember going to the Disney store with my grandma once after she babysat me. I remember my mom and my sister and I going to hot topic once. I remember before they closed one of the wings down they had a place you could buy pizza cones and Mrs. Field's cookies. This mall was a source of nostalgia for me for a long time, and I'm glad there's video evidence of it existing on here.
I used to frequent that Mall and surrounding areas in the mid to late 80's. The Mall had the Tilt arcade which was massive. The Round Table Pizza had a circular gas fireplace which we always sat around after a day of playing games eating slices. There was the Fiddlers Three Restaurant where my friend worked and would give us free draft beers. Then we would head over to the movie theaters off of El Toro Rd near Rockfield. I don't remember the name of the plaza but it looked like the old west. It also had big bird cages outside the theaters. After that Tower Records and McDonalds. Great memories, thanks for posting this!
I used to go here all the time! There also used to be a cheap little theater right across from the Macy's iirc. The Time Crisis guts you found outside are probably from the mini arcade area that was near the theater. I don't know if they've torn down the escalators to the food court yet, but it was a nice food court. Big skylight, really bright. There was also a cool bookstore up there aimed at kids/teens, lots of comics and boardgames. Right next to the escalators was the Bath and Body Works, idk if it's still there. Across from the escalators was a Disney Store, that one's definitely not there anymore. I think there used to be a Sanrio? Can't wait for footage of the outside! It's a HUGE area. They use part of the parking lot in the back for the yearly pumpkin patch. I haven't seen the area since the Sears was torn down so I dunno if that area is still accessible, but there also used to be an Elephant Bar back there. At least the In N Out is still there lol.
Great Video When I Was In High School I Worked At The Little Folks Shop - Kids Mart (sold kids clothes) As Well As The Sweet Factory (candy store) Both Long Gone But Lots Of Fun & Back Then The Food Court Was Still Open As Well As A Movie Theater Down By The Sears Wing.
This mall was 5 minutes from my house growing up. I got my first mall job working at the Jay Jacobs after I graduated high school. So many good memories in that mall. You would have really enjoyed seeing what it looked like back in the 1980's before any renovations. I visited this mall back in 2017 for the first time in over 20yrs, brine my heart to see what had become of it.
Those arcade games were there because game works owned the company that owned game master and decided to put a small arcade in a few doors down from a location they had to close. It was basically storage that hopefully made some money. When they decided to close their locations at literally the last min they didn't have anywhere to store that time crisis.
Patty Mayonnaise well I'm sure it can be more upscale than a standard flea market. And anyway it is just a suggestion since they clearly have a lot of real estate they can use.
downphoenix Yeah, I agree with Sleepy Finger. This area is filled with Orange County obnoxiousness. You’d have a 50 nimby soccer moms in their Porches screaming at a city council meeting with just the whisper of the word ‘flea market’.
Thanks so much for posting this video! I only recently realized that this mall has been totally demolished. I grew up going to both this mall and the Mission Viejo Mall in the 70s/80s/90s. After not going there for several years, I visited the Laguna Hills Mall around the same time you did, and was shocked that I didn’t recognize most of the stores anymore. I didn’t take any pics but I’m glad you got some great video. Back in the 80s, there was a Coco’s and Reuben’s restaurant where In-n-Out & King’s Fish House now stand. I worked at the Reuben’s and a store inside the mall called Sweats & Surf back in the 80s. I have so many fond memories of shopping at that mall with my friends and family. It will be missed. 😢
Oh, and back in 2013 when the mall was last sold, it was twice as big. They didn’t just remove an anchor, they had also already removed 1/2 of the length of the mall when you visited.
Awwww...a couple decades ago, I remember that by the main entrance to the right, there was a frozen yogurt/ice cream parlor. Sold the best tasting ice cream ever! My parents would take me to the mall and I would always look forward to having a nice ice cream cone 🍦
There was a Tilt arcade I went to as a kid in the upper-level food court, but this place never had a GameWorks. There was a Sega City/GameWorks at the Irvine Spectrum just up the 5, as well as at the Block in Orange, though.
You might be interested to know the Macy's building was the last standing building in this dead mall was brought down yesterday. The JC Penny building was demolished about 3 weeks ago. There are no more buildings of the mall standing anymore.
My grandmother used to live by the Laguna Hills Mall back in the 90s and 2000s and it used to be bustling with activity always. We used to go there almost every Saturday and visit the B Dalton Bookstore and food court upstairs as well as the little cheap movie theater downstairs by Sears. Good memories there was also a Tower Records outside in the parking lot that was really cool also.
About three or four years ago I went to the Laguna Hills Mall so I can say it has been dead for years even with Macy's and Sears anchoring the mall. When I went, Sears was having a final clearance sale so when I went inside, a lot of the inventory was sold so it was already more than half way empty with a lot of the fixtures moved out of the way. The interior architecture inside the store was typical of other Sears stores with the relatively low ceiling, large round air conditioning diffusers with paneled walls and ceilings in which some of the panels in the ceiling were yellowed and warped. My second stop in the mall was at Macy's. When I went in, it was like going back in time because it looked like it had not been updated since it has been built. The interior architecture was that it had high ceilings and it had a lot of arches. The walkways between the fixtures had a wood finish to them and the walls were lime green, white, and a little bit of dark brown of a wood veneer. The store was well stocked but very few people were inside, just me and a few elderly ladies. At times it seemed that I was the only person in a particular department.
This was one of my favorite malls growing up. Thank you for documenting the last of this place. I remember Buffums.. And the arcade was called Tilt, it was epic... They had the coolest round table pizza with a walk up window ~and down by Sears was an old- school diner that was so long it felt like walking into a dream everytime the hostest took me to a booth. So many stores with the neatest items. When I became a mom, I would take my 3 boys here.. My oldest's first movie was at that theater. Every Christmas photo was taken at that mall. I miss that mall. My boys and I took one last trip there in November 2018. ~33 years of memories I have walking up and down Laguna Hills Mall. Thank you again for taking the time to shoot that footage. 🌹
Used to shop at the Sears before the mall was there. Also worked at the Kaplans deli restaurant that used to be across from that rubios, back in the late 70s. It was remodeled in the 80s, and they added a 2nd floor food court above where the Buffums department store was. I don't even recognize that place. Loved going there as a kid in the 70s.
This reminds me of the old Orange mall that is now the block. My step mom used to have a travel agency shop there but she closed down around 94 because of a rent hike during the remodeling. I think the downfall of this mall is that a lot of business came from Leisure World a retirement community that took a big hit during the last recession.
Buffum's was a locally based high end department store that I think appealed a lot to women and the older set that dressed well and expensively. It's been gone for almost 30 years. I know people that worked and shopped there that have fond memories of it, but it would definitely be out of place in today's world. All the Penneys mall stores built in the 70s and 80s had those same diffusers. I remember them well! :)
I remember Buffums and Robinsons from when i was a kid in Santa Monica CA. My grandma used to take me to lunch at these type stores as a young child and there would be models wearing various dressy outfits and walking the runway where lunch was served.
I always pass that mall on the freeway and have always wanted to go inside but now I see that it's not worth it. I had no idea that this mall was dead. No reason to stop now. Crazy. I feel like The Irvine Spectrum probably helped to make this mall deal among other things. The Mission Viejo Mall isn't too far away either. Oh and South Coast Plaza. There are so many malls here in Southern California. Love your vidoes!
Sadly the nearby Shops at Mission Viejo followed the footsteps of this mall too! It went downhill so much after the video was posted. It started to sink once the Saks Fifth Avenue closed in 2010. Can you believe now Dick's is about to take its spot?
In the mid 90s the Mission Viejo Mall was being renovated and the Irvine Spectrum Center was being built, both were higher end properties, and the up and coming upper income young families of South Orange County did not want to be caught dead here. This mall's proximity to the Leisure World Retirement community to me was the secret sauce that kept it going well past it's prime and was probably why they decided to invest the money in renovating it in the first place. I think the renovation was more of a facelift that cleaned up the architecture and added the food court vs. the full scale reconstruction that happened at the Mission Viejo Mall where they even changed the name to The Shoppes at Mission Viejo. Leisure World residents were numerous and well off, the community even ran low floor buses to the mall on a scheduled basis. Many of residents would "mall walk," spend cash on their grand kids, have something to eat, see a movie and take the bus back to Leisure World.
This place was my childhood. My aunt used to take my cousins and I here for our birthdays. I got my first Britney album here. The food court used to be on the second floor all on its own and there was some Borders owned spinoff store next to it. It makes me really sad that this mall didn't make it, but c'est la vie.
i realize i’m late to the party here, but still excited about it nonetheless. i bought my senior year winter formal dress there, there are years of christmas shopping memories there too.
This is the mall that got me interested in dead malls. It also, at one point, used to be MY mall. In it's heyday, it was the prime mall for southern Orange County before the Irvine Spectrum came to be and the Mission Mall was remodeled. The Mission Mall, I've been told by my folks, used to be a dead mall before that remodel, but it revitalized in the early 2000s (to tell you the truth, even though it's still not a dead mall, I'm starting to think it's in a slow decline, but that's a story for another time). The Laguna Hills Mall had prime real estate: right off the 5, directly on El Toro, a short mile or so from Leisure World and directly across the street from Saddleback Hospital. The stupidest thing the mall ever did before Merlin Geier purchased the property was get rid of the food court. I remember one of the last times I went to the mall for a bit in the late 2000s or early 2010s, the food court had closed for renovations. I returned again in 2015 to go to a Smash tournament my buddy was doing at one of those stores that you pay by the hour to play video games in. That was the day I discovered my love for dead malls, because Laguna Hills was DEAD. The culprit? The food court renovations never came to be. They gutted it and then used the space to lease one of those shitty animatronic dinosaur exhibits that maybe two families a week pay to visit. The mall was directly across the street from a hospital; they had guaranteed business at the food court and they let it slip away.
The old time crisis arcade game you found was from a generic arcade they put up in the food court area, probably to fill up empty space. I much perfered the Tilt that used to be in the mall, would go there in the late 80s early 90s, also loved the round table pizza. It was close enough to my high school to be able to run over there for lunch.
I'm so thrilled you filmed here! I grew up in Laguna Hills and was shopping here every Saturday. There was an arcade upstairs by the food court long ago.
I used to bring my son here when he was a baby. We'd eat at Ruby's diner and look through children's books at Walden books, shop at Disney store get a piece of See's candy, and during the holidays I'd buy him clothes from Gymboree and get Santa and Easter bunny photos. We were there in April and surprisingly Noerr was there. Wait time for Easter bunny pics the day before Easter was a 5 minute wait where the mall down the way had long lines. He's a preteen now and he said it made him sad to see how the mall looked dead. A few years ago they had the dinosaur exhibit and it brought in a good crowd.
This thing was dead for ages... I remember going there when they had a Tower Records outside and this food court upstairs that seemed completely cut off from the mall. My last memory here was taking my boyfriend for sushi for the first time back in 2016. I think they tore this bad boy down now
There’s a mall in Slidell, Louisiana that is so dead it makes me sad. The decor is very 90’s - you can tell they designed it to appeal to the youngsters back then. The owners live in Canada I think??? Or so i was told. I also heard they live in some state up north. I honestly think they’ve forgotten about it!
I just realized after a second of third watch of this video - the shelves in that book store are former Borders shelves. I know because I was a library assistant in high school and our high school got half of the local Borders' shelving when they closed at auction, the other half went to local Goodwills for their book sections. So just so you know, if you ever see shelves like that again at any independent bookstores, libraries, etc. - they are from Borders!
The Borders they were probably from was the one that closed down the 5 across from the Mission Viejo Mall (it will always be that to me, "Shoppes at" be damned.
Wow, I was just there last month when Game Masters was still opened. They sold not just Magic cards but also board games and action figures. I'll never forget the time a year or so ago I went in there and saw two old men in that store playing chess LOL. Sad to see it go though. I should have went in and browsed before it closed down unexpectedly...
I can name what most of those stores used to be! Part of why this mall died, I think, is because it's between the Irvine Spectrum and Shops at Mission Viejo, which are both very lively malls that kept with the times, while Laguna Hills didn't. I have a lot of memories from high school of going with friends to the revolving sushi bar on the outside of this mall, it's called Kula. Also, it made me sad to see that Game Master is closed after so long. Great video though, reminded me I should go to the Dollar Book Fair while I still can!
Laguna Hills Mall failed because bigger, better centers opened around that area. Plus, Laguna Hills is older, retiree community who doesn't spend a lot. FWIW, there was never a GameWorks there. If memory serves me correctly, there might have been either an arcade or movie theater from many years ago. MIller's Outpost? There's a blast from the past. Finally, the high amount paid was probably because the real estate that the mall was built on is so valuable in Orange County.
I grew up going to this mall. They used to have a Round Table Pizza there that had a walk up counter where you could buy pizza by the slice. My wife worked part time at the Broadway when we were college students at UC Irvine in the late ‘80s
I use to go to that mall when I was a kid and as an adult in my early 20”s. It’s now 7/6/21 & nothing has progressed. I remember the early days when Buffums department store was there. They also added a partial second floor for the food court. And for a former be Dalton bookstore. It is so sad to see that Small has stopped dead in the tracks,
Love how you research so well these dead mall vids. Wish I could have been there browsing and buying in the bookstore buying things there as well. Awesome vid.
I just saw this video now 3 years after it was published. Like many others commented, I grew going to this mall in the 90s. The $5 movie theater was the best! The Time Crisis arcade game was from the upstairs arcade called Tilt! Thanks for documenting this!
Saw my first ever movie here at 4 years old, back when it was crowded and active. I also got to live some of its worst days a few weeks before closing.. so many memories in this place, still go to the in-n-out outside the lot weekly!
I was there shortly before Christmas. Hadn't been there for years, it was a shock. The land it stands on is prime South Orange County real estate Let's see what happen to it. wouldn't be surprised if it becomes residential.
Cool! You really should have been here when Sears and Macy's were still open, there was a beautiful fountain in the middle too. This is my home mall, not a very good one albeit, most locals just go to Mission Viejo for a mall and Spectrum for an open area shopping center.
Jason Love That mall had a JCPenney which closed last year. There’s also a Sears which nobody goes to anymore and a Walmart which pretty much takes up all the business of that mall. Inside of the mall is just mom-and-pop shops. The only thing that gets business apart from Walmart are the restaurants outside the mall and Trader Joe’s
Love this channel. My mom lived taking us to the mall. I hated taking my kids to the mall and now I find I'm grieving the decades, trends and afternoons wasted over stimulated by trendy crap. RIP malls of America.
I live very close to this mall and have done so for the majority of my life. The only other indoor mall in South Orange County is the Mission Viejo Mall, which has become a very popular destination. The whole property has been a huge eyesore since even before demolition began, but now that the anchors are all gone, the entire indoor area is closed and half the site being a pockmarked weed field dotted with piles of rusty, unused steel beams it is absolutely horrendous. Honestly nobody knows what is going on with the property, but the general opinion is that complete demolition and project cancellation is not too far away. Personally I believe that once the inevitable demolition and cancellation of the new mall happens the property will be sold off to various enterprises, most likely apartment developers and the neighboring hospital. Honestly anything would be better than what is there now.
They actually demolished part of the mall quite some time ago because they thought that they were going to make it an open air mall similar to the Irvine spectrum. I worked there. I worked at Contempo and I worked over at Sears. It’s a real shame. Back in the early 90s this mall was the best.
I remember coming here when I was 4 (12 years ago) the mall was ok, but visited more the mission Viejo mall. Once the food court closed about 10 years ago or so the mall pretty much died from there.
Thanks for another great video. If you ever come through Atlanta, stop by Gwinnett Place Mall. It's been on life support for 10 years and we heard that Sears will close in September. That will leave only Macy's for an anchor store. The mall is starting to get that "Chernobyl" feel.
In the early 90s there was a TILT arcade. It was downstairs and it was the most dark and dingy arcade around. People would smoke in there it was hilarious.
That was the best arcade when it was downstairs. Dark, arcade cabinets along the wall's that went so far deep back it was scary. I spent all my money playing SF and MK and primal rage.. All the bad ass fighting games.
When I lived in San Clemente, I loved going to this mall and hitting the book store, then the food court, then off to the movie theater, which was never busy. Everytime I pass by this mall now, from Orange, I always wondered what was happening inside. Thanks for the vid.
That arcade machine is from the arcade "TILT" that was upstairs in the foodcort, my friend greg who is now a pretty big time film maker worked there for years! I kissed my first girlfriend at that mall, went there with my family and my freinds during the holidays. My sister worked there and my best friend worked at one point. I even remember seeing the cheetah girls live if memory survives me right.. that was random! Haha any way it was where we would go for fun in the 90s and even though it was in Laguna hills it was for the people of lake forest... I'll always love this place..
I grew up at this mall... nothing too exciting ever happened here other than that I would always get chocolate camples at See's Sandeis right next to JC Penney's, or that I spent a lot of time at PacSun here as a teen. Used to also spend a ton of time at the Barnes and Noble upstairs as well as the arcade next door. $2 slices from Sbarro's. Browsing anime DVDs at Suncoast video... so many memories here. I bought my first Christmas ornaments here from the Macy's Christmas store, just acorss from the Macy's anchor. I became an adult in this mall. Very iconic.
The Laguna Hills Mall in Southern California officially closed on December 31st 2018 after serving the community for 45 years since its grand opening in April of 1973. Goodnight sweet prince.
I forget the name of the arcade that was there back in the early 90's (before it moved to the food court), but it was, and still is, the best I had come across. I remember it went pretty far back, with a machine gun airsoft rifle arcade game at the very back. It was creepy back there and smelly, and had an attendant that was a jerk, making it the perfect embodiment of what arcades were like.
@@secretysecret1551 I think it was called TILT. It was next to the Orange Julius drink stand. You had to walk up a carpeted "ramp" to enter the arcade cause the door was tilted at an angle. And they had one of those scrolling LCD message boards from what I remember. As a child, truly a magical experience, only second to walking into a Toys R Us
@@prior242 that was it! I even remember the scrolling lcd sign wasn't a real lcd. It was a plastic ribbon with holes punched out to make it look like lights.
They replaced it with like a flea market on steroids. Just a bunch of artist and their respective kiosks. It sits in the anchor space that used to be the macys toward the end of the video.
So sad. Very symbolic of the entire country. Malls are the canary in the coal mine. Add to the retail destruction the massive escalation in blatant violence and murder, and “smash and grab” “flash mob” robberies, it’s all just a sign of the times. Strap up, prep up, and grow some eyes in the back of your head.
RIP Laguna Hills mall. My parents met here. My mom worked at the Hallmark and my dad worked at a kiosk. Literally would not exist without this place. Lots of memories of the movie theater, Disney store, Hot Topic, Hot-dog-on-stick...
I remember being a little kid and being scared of the Hot Topic as my family took me to the toy store to buy Star Wars toys
@@bruhmoment1363KB toys huh? I remember that specific Hot Topic being very scary!
@@fatcat1 they definitely overdid it there lol.
I live about 5 minutes away from this mall and I can assure you it's been dead for at least 5 years now. This remodel isn't going to save it
I also live about 5-10 minutes away lol
That used book store tho 😍, could stay in there for hours.
My local mall has one of those and it's pretty amazing. You can find some great stuff.
That used book store sells books super cheep n they will make even better deals with u id ur buying a bunch of 📚😄
Kayla I bought a huge amount of VCS tapes for a few bucks.
You can also bring in books to trade. Love that store.
I’m living in Scottsdale AZ and we used to have a couple of used book stores near where I live, but not anymore...the nearest one is half price books now, like 10 miles away.😰
You know when a mall is anchored by a dollar book store, it might be dead
That wasn’t an anchor, it was just one of the inside stores, only anchor is JCPenney
The Boulevard Mall where I work has a Good Will as an anchor store. I have hope for it one day
What book store?
I worked at Laguna Hills Mall from 86 to 96 in various places. Started as a ticket taker and concession stand worker at the SoCal Cinemas, then made pizzas at Round Table Pizza, then sold t-shirts from a kiosk, then I worked in the shoe department at JCPenney's, then at a kiosk that made custom t-shirts and coffee mugs, then I was a assistant manager at B Dalton bookseller upstairs in the food court. I was there when they did the total renovation in 94, and saw the mall really flourish for a long time. Unfortunately the Laguna Hills mall has had its day as it once was but they're renovating it into an outdoor style mall currently.
I haven't watched all your videos yet but there's one thing that I see constantly as a symptom of a mall that's about to die. When you see the candy machines go up on each side of the mall, massage chairs down the middle of the walkway, and the little kiddy railroad train that goes in a circle in the very center of the mall. These are clear signs at the mall is struggling.
I grew up going to this mall! It was the nice mall before the Mission Viejo Mall was remodeled. All our family photos were taken in the Sears basement and we always got a Mrs fields cookie. It’s so creepy seeing it now...
I grew up at this mall and mv mall the entire 90s. Back when tilt was still downstairs and there was no upstairs. No foodcourt.
Added to my “watch later” for later when I’m buzzed on rum and wanting some chill ass dead mall content
Update: it was a delight watching while feeling so relaxed. Love me some dead retail 🤤
This used to be the fancy mall when I was growing up. The shops at mission Viejo (down the freeway from there) was the joke mall - covered in gross old wood tiles and generally dark. So many good memories of Playing arcade games at Tilt!
Ha! Shops at Mission Viejo is now pretty upscale while the Laguna one has fallen to pieces. I'm sure someone is going to do something with the property but not soon.
Yo I lived in Tilt! Downstairs it was so fuckin big! Then downsized when it moved upstairs but Still played SF MK Tekken KI up there all day!
Mission mall had the arcade, theater and hotdog on a stick.. That was all I needed. Arcades were the best in the 90s!
Yes but Mission Viejo mall had A&W!
The shops of MV is awesome what are you talking about ?
@@mpneeb true. And even it is dying. 35 clothing stores with 75% off all the time. What else, a Claire’s and a Macy’s
The food court and arcade was upstairs but I am sure it's closed now. I had been going to this mall since 1983 and still live a few miles away. I'm super stoked to have you at my home mall! Fantastic video! I also bought all my Nintendo games at the Sears which was occupied 2 levels, I always thought it was so cool to go underground.
Austin Bauman still a teenager ! Live close , my dad would take me all the time , we would go eat ice cream upstairs , and then go to the theater (in the summer cuz kids were free ) and just walk alll over the mall ! Now.... theres just jcpenny but theyre closing in october :(
Damn dude since 83?! I was probably going in 93. Going to tilt when it was still downstairs all day playing SF MK all the fighting games. Some of my fondest memories
#OCmemories
OMG. That was my local mall in the 80s. >< Here's a story.
It was 1988 and I was a 19 year old going to Saddleback College in Mission Viejo. I was working as a cartoonist on our community college newspaper called 'The Lariat' at the time, and a staff writer told me about a guy he met at an arcade-a guy working on a Nintendo game. I was skeptical, but I met with the guy at Round Table Pizza in the Laguna Hills Mall, right across from 'Tilt', my favorite arcade. The meeting went well. I remember, I ordered a Coke and garlic bread (too poor for pizza). Frank and I both met with the company, quit our jobs, and made our first-ever video game for the Nintendo 8-bit. When it shipped, we each got checks for $10,000....and it was hilarious depositing that check when I had 53 cents in my account and owed friends a few hundred bucks for living expenses.
I've been in the video game ever since. The company? Color Dreams. The game? Raid 2020. No, not the best game ever and there were changes made that we vehemently disagreed-with, but it was a start. The tech was so primitive too. I used the Nintendo controller to enter in pixels (yes, even for animation), after drawing sprites and objects out on graph paper.
The Laguna Hills Mall will always hold a special place in my heart.
skinny boy burke !!! :)
thats actually really cool what did u guys develop the games on and in what language?
I think the avgn did a video on that
Haha Color Dreams. Had bad experiences with your games as a kid lmao. Still I gotta give you respect for giving me some entertainment.
@@outerspaceman7534 Please accept my humble apologies. ;)
Laguna Hills was THE PLACE to go when I was growing up.. From grade school all the way to early High School... There once was a nostalgic movie theater, food court on a second story that conjoined a Barnes and noble, hot topic, pacsun, vans, American eagle, Mrs. Fields (loved when my mom would stop there for me) a popular boutique that used to be across from Rubios that my friends and I would visit frequently, plus so much more... I’ll never forget this mall and it has been surely saddening to see it go store by store. But like mentioned in the video, it’s not a surprise with the newer surrounding shopping centers... Thanks for vid, was cool to watch.
I spent my youth in this mall (1980s). There was an arcade upstairs and a bookstore (in the food court area). I suspect those arcade games came from that arcade. In the 70s, 80's and part of the 90s, there was the main arcade called Tilt. It was located halfway down between Macy's and JCPenny on the Penny's side. K.B. Toys was in this mall for years. There was a cinema, owned by the mall, at the Sears end. Closed before 2016. I watched Romancing the Stone in that theater back in 85 I think it was (and Temple of Doom). I remember Miller's Outpost (mostly sold blue jeans and what not). I recall Buffums very well. Broadway was enormous with a restaurant (that no one went to, even in the 1980s). It was 3 stories. They used to sell ghetto blasters (boom boxes) on the third floor with Oriental rugs, housewares, and what not. There used to be a Hello Kitty store, a Carl's Jr. in the small arm across from JCPenny, and a Round Table Pizza with a walkup window (like a drivethru). You could order a slice of pizza and a drink and walk around the mall with it. There used to be a Walden Books way too many years ago (not the one in the food court). Wow. The mall is completely closed today. I doubt it will ever open again. Thanks for sharing the video!
Same here! But in the 90s, we used to love the arcade (I’ll never forget the first time I saw mortal kombat 3 and mortal kombat 4, both at that tilt!), loved the Sam goody they had, the tower records came in not much longer. Such a great malll filled with memories that are gone forever :/
That’s pretty modern looking for a 1994 renovation
M&N Distribution Yeah I always thought it aged very well. Sad to see it die like this.
They were ahead of their time
@@christopherhiggins2350 heartbreaking. It looks so lonely.
It's different. Nice!
Wow, I would love to have a dollar bookshop like that nearby.
Our Goodwill had books for 4 for $1. Lots of college textbooks in that bin.
Some Goodwills have active presences on eBay and Amazon. What you see on the floor in many of those is the junk that were scanned and deemed to have little to no resale value online.
Wish we would have another one. Boarders was close.
I love your visits to the malls. As someone who lives in the UK, I used to watch US TV programmes and films and was envious when they showed malls. It's now actually quite sad to see these places deserted and being closed. 😕
Just a quick update:
They are redoing the inside of the mall and all the outside stuff is open. I live about 3 miles from it and my dad and I go play pinball in the old Macy’s. They redid it and it’s now a furniture store/“open mall” place. It’s really epic.
Buffums' was an upscale department store chain based in Long Beach and pretty much confined to Southern California. I remember visiting one of their San Fernando Valley locations when I was growing up there in the 60s or 70s. They were still open when I left California in 1989, so it took me visiting Wikipedia to find out that the entire chain went under in 1991, a victim of the recession.
Vince Lamb, I used to shop at the Buffums in Fashion Island.
There was a famous Buffum's add at the time (I think it was Buffum's), some lady standing in front of the store in the wee hours kind of chanting "Open, open, open". I know it sometimes comes out of my mouth without even realizing it. Eh, Wife just busted me! "Open, Open, Open" was Mervyn's. Buffum's I think was "I got it at Buffum's".
I used to work occasional seasonal jobs there in late 90s/early 00s. I’d pick up a PT job for Xmas cash. Worked at Suncoast Movies (that’ll bring back some memories) one year and then at Macy’s another year in the stock room. Decent jobs. The mall was much busier back then. The Gordon Biersch restaurant in the back parking lot was always packed but good food.
I'm wondering if you can do a video on the Westminster Mall in southern California. It's real dead on weekdays but does decent on the weekdays.
This mall officially closed on 12/31/18, and I decided to go check it out on that day. It was 4 pm, and there were maybe less than 10 shoppers total, most of them in the dollar bookstore. So sad, had a lot of memories shopping there as a kid.
In the 80's (maybe even to the very early 90's?) there was a Round Table pizza that sold slices in the storefront but had an extensive back area and a door to the outside. I never could figure out which storefront it was after the remodel.
Yup! Led out to the parking lot where the tower records was.
I use to love Round Table pizza when i lived in CA.
Man, this mall used to have a Sanrio, a Hot Topic and a Disney store. I remember going to the Disney store with my grandma once after she babysat me. I remember my mom and my sister and I going to hot topic once. I remember before they closed one of the wings down they had a place you could buy pizza cones and Mrs. Field's cookies. This mall was a source of nostalgia for me for a long time, and I'm glad there's video evidence of it existing on here.
I used to frequent that Mall and surrounding areas in the mid to late 80's. The Mall had the Tilt arcade which was massive. The Round Table Pizza had a circular gas fireplace which we always sat around after a day of playing games eating slices. There was the Fiddlers Three Restaurant where my friend worked and would give us free draft beers. Then we would head over to the movie theaters off of El Toro Rd near Rockfield. I don't remember the name of the plaza but it looked like the old west. It also had big bird cages outside the theaters. After that Tower Records and McDonalds. Great memories, thanks for posting this!
I used to go here all the time! There also used to be a cheap little theater right across from the Macy's iirc. The Time Crisis guts you found outside are probably from the mini arcade area that was near the theater. I don't know if they've torn down the escalators to the food court yet, but it was a nice food court. Big skylight, really bright. There was also a cool bookstore up there aimed at kids/teens, lots of comics and boardgames. Right next to the escalators was the Bath and Body Works, idk if it's still there. Across from the escalators was a Disney Store, that one's definitely not there anymore. I think there used to be a Sanrio?
Can't wait for footage of the outside! It's a HUGE area. They use part of the parking lot in the back for the yearly pumpkin patch. I haven't seen the area since the Sears was torn down so I dunno if that area is still accessible, but there also used to be an Elephant Bar back there. At least the In N Out is still there lol.
LOBSTER In N Out is still across the street😄🍔🍟
The theater was just outside of the Sears on the other side, in the part that was already torn down.
the movie theater and the food court were my favorite parts of the mall
Great Video When I Was In High School I Worked At The Little Folks Shop - Kids Mart (sold kids clothes)
As Well As The Sweet Factory (candy store) Both Long Gone But Lots Of Fun & Back Then The Food Court Was Still Open As Well As A Movie Theater Down By The Sears Wing.
The mall used to be much bigger back in 2016 but they’ve teared down the corridors leading to the other department stores.
Yes because indoor malls are out, outdoor mall ous what they're making it.. Trying to compete with the spectrum
SoCal real estate is nuts. This is about the only place a dead mall will go for 7 figures
Eric Eberle would be more in New York
This mall was 5 minutes from my house growing up. I got my first mall job working at the Jay Jacobs after I graduated high school. So many good memories in that mall. You would have really enjoyed seeing what it looked like back in the 1980's before any renovations. I visited this mall back in 2017 for the first time in over 20yrs, brine my heart to see what had become of it.
Those arcade games were there because game works owned the company that owned game master and decided to put a small arcade in a few doors down from a location they had to close. It was basically storage that hopefully made some money. When they decided to close their locations at literally the last min they didn't have anywhere to store that time crisis.
I wonder why they mall operators don't open up some kind of indoor flea market shindig, that will bring in tons of shoppers.
That's pretty much what they did to Sharpstown Mall in Houston. I hear it's now a great place to get stabbed.
Patty Mayonnaise well I'm sure it can be more upscale than a standard flea market. And anyway it is just a suggestion since they clearly have a lot of real estate they can use.
downphoenix Yeah, I agree with Sleepy Finger. This area is filled with Orange County obnoxiousness. You’d have a 50 nimby soccer moms in their Porches screaming at a city council meeting with just the whisper of the word ‘flea market’.
@@icommented8606 No kidding! I think the city would find a way to run them out of town.
They did something similar to Pasadena Town Square Mall in Pasadena, TX. It’s now Plaza Paseo and it caters to a large Hispanic population.
Nice to see a bookstore in a mall.
Thanks so much for posting this video! I only recently realized that this mall has been totally demolished. I grew up going to both this mall and the Mission Viejo Mall in the 70s/80s/90s. After not going there for several years, I visited the Laguna Hills Mall around the same time you did, and was shocked that I didn’t recognize most of the stores anymore. I didn’t take any pics but I’m glad you got some great video. Back in the 80s, there was a Coco’s and Reuben’s restaurant where In-n-Out & King’s Fish House now stand. I worked at the Reuben’s and a store inside the mall called Sweats & Surf back in the 80s. I have so many fond memories of shopping at that mall with my friends and family. It will be missed. 😢
Oh, and back in 2013 when the mall was last sold, it was twice as big. They didn’t just remove an anchor, they had also already removed 1/2 of the length of the mall when you visited.
Mind boggling that it’s a dead mall despite being in one of the wealthiest, safest areas of the country.
Awwww...a couple decades ago, I remember that by the main entrance to the right, there was a frozen yogurt/ice cream parlor. Sold the best tasting ice cream ever! My parents would take me to the mall and I would always look forward to having a nice ice cream cone 🍦
There was a Tilt arcade I went to as a kid in the upper-level food court, but this place never had a GameWorks. There was a Sega City/GameWorks at the Irvine Spectrum just up the 5, as well as at the Block in Orange, though.
If you went to tilt upstairs anytime in the 90s, we definitely ran into each other. Played Killer instinct mortal kombat tekken SF all day
You might be interested to know the Macy's building was the last standing building in this dead mall was brought down yesterday. The JC Penny building was demolished about 3 weeks ago. There are no more buildings of the mall standing anymore.
That's a shame. I only got to visit this place once and I really liked it.
My grandmother used to live by the Laguna Hills Mall back in the 90s and 2000s and it used to be bustling with activity always. We used to go there almost every Saturday and visit the B Dalton Bookstore and food court upstairs as well as the little cheap movie theater downstairs by Sears. Good memories there was also a Tower Records outside in the parking lot that was really cool also.
About three or four years ago I went to the Laguna Hills Mall so I can say it has been dead for years even with Macy's and Sears anchoring the mall. When I went, Sears was having a final clearance sale so when I went inside, a lot of the inventory was sold so it was already more than half way empty with a lot of the fixtures moved out of the way. The interior architecture inside the store was typical of other Sears stores with the relatively low ceiling, large round air conditioning diffusers with paneled walls and ceilings in which some of the panels in the ceiling were yellowed and warped. My second stop in the mall was at Macy's. When I went in, it was like going back in time because it looked like it had not been updated since it has been built. The interior architecture was that it had high ceilings and it had a lot of arches. The walkways between the fixtures had a wood finish to them
and the walls were lime green, white, and a little bit of dark brown of a wood veneer. The store was well stocked but very few people were inside, just me and a few elderly ladies. At times it seemed that I was the only person in a particular department.
This was one of my favorite malls growing up. Thank you for documenting the last of this place. I remember Buffums.. And the arcade was called Tilt, it was epic... They had the coolest round table pizza with a walk up window ~and down by Sears was an old- school diner that was so long it felt like walking into a dream everytime the hostest took me to a booth. So many stores with the neatest items. When I became a mom, I would take my 3 boys here.. My oldest's first movie was at that theater. Every Christmas photo was taken at that mall. I miss that mall. My boys and I took one last trip there in November 2018. ~33 years of memories I have walking up and down Laguna Hills Mall. Thank you again for taking the time to shoot that footage. 🌹
I think the diner was called Kaplan’s. I remember getting cream cheese sandwiches there when I was really young.
Used to shop at the Sears before the mall was there. Also worked at the Kaplans deli restaurant that used to be across from that rubios, back in the late 70s. It was remodeled in the 80s, and they added a 2nd floor food court above where the Buffums department store was. I don't even recognize that place. Loved going there as a kid in the 70s.
This reminds me of the old Orange mall that is now the block. My step mom used to have a travel agency shop there but she closed down around 94 because of a rent hike during the remodeling. I think the downfall of this mall is that a lot of business came from Leisure World a retirement community that took a big hit during the last recession.
Looks like a cool bookstore.
Buffum's was a locally based high end department store that I think appealed a lot to women and the older set that dressed well and expensively. It's been gone for almost 30 years. I know people that worked and shopped there that have fond memories of it, but it would definitely be out of place in today's world. All the Penneys mall stores built in the 70s and 80s had those same diffusers. I remember them well! :)
I remember Buffums and Robinsons from when i was a kid in Santa Monica CA. My grandma used to take me to lunch at these type stores as a young child and there would be models wearing various dressy outfits and walking the runway where lunch was served.
I always pass that mall on the freeway and have always wanted to go inside but now I see that it's not worth it. I had no idea that this mall was dead. No reason to stop now. Crazy. I feel like The Irvine Spectrum probably helped to make this mall deal among other things. The Mission Viejo Mall isn't too far away either. Oh and South Coast Plaza. There are so many malls here in Southern California. Love your vidoes!
Sadly the nearby Shops at Mission Viejo followed the footsteps of this mall too!
It went downhill so much after the video was posted. It started to sink once the Saks Fifth Avenue closed in 2010. Can you believe now Dick's is about to take its spot?
I love this video the mall has that 90s look and the music in the background sounds like sega
This mall is no longer open , it closed 12/31/2018
My sister lived in an apartment complex down the street. I went there a few years ago and could tell it was dying then.
In the mid 90s the Mission Viejo Mall was being renovated and the Irvine Spectrum Center was being built, both were higher end properties, and the up and coming upper income young families of South Orange County did not want to be caught dead here. This mall's proximity to the Leisure World Retirement community to me was the secret sauce that kept it going well past it's prime and was probably why they decided to invest the money in renovating it in the first place. I think the renovation was more of a facelift that cleaned up the architecture and added the food court vs. the full scale reconstruction that happened at the Mission Viejo Mall where they even changed the name to The Shoppes at Mission Viejo.
Leisure World residents were numerous and well off, the community even ran low floor buses to the mall on a scheduled basis. Many of residents would "mall walk," spend cash on their grand kids, have something to eat, see a movie and take the bus back to Leisure World.
This place was my childhood. My aunt used to take my cousins and I here for our birthdays. I got my first Britney album here. The food court used to be on the second floor all on its own and there was some Borders owned spinoff store next to it. It makes me really sad that this mall didn't make it, but c'est la vie.
Your first Britney album.. Lol youre so hay. Hahaha everybody remembers their first britney album.
i have been WAITING for one of my dead mall channels to find this one! i grew up going here.
i realize i’m late to the party here, but still excited about it nonetheless. i bought my senior year winter formal dress there, there are years of christmas shopping memories there too.
This was the spot back in mid 90s. I miss it.
I love the Laguna beach and hills area. Its a nice place to live.
There also used to be a mrs fields 🍪 vendor store that I was treated as a kid
This is the mall that got me interested in dead malls. It also, at one point, used to be MY mall. In it's heyday, it was the prime mall for southern Orange County before the Irvine Spectrum came to be and the Mission Mall was remodeled. The Mission Mall, I've been told by my folks, used to be a dead mall before that remodel, but it revitalized in the early 2000s (to tell you the truth, even though it's still not a dead mall, I'm starting to think it's in a slow decline, but that's a story for another time). The Laguna Hills Mall had prime real estate: right off the 5, directly on El Toro, a short mile or so from Leisure World and directly across the street from Saddleback Hospital. The stupidest thing the mall ever did before Merlin Geier purchased the property was get rid of the food court. I remember one of the last times I went to the mall for a bit in the late 2000s or early 2010s, the food court had closed for renovations. I returned again in 2015 to go to a Smash tournament my buddy was doing at one of those stores that you pay by the hour to play video games in. That was the day I discovered my love for dead malls, because Laguna Hills was DEAD. The culprit? The food court renovations never came to be. They gutted it and then used the space to lease one of those shitty animatronic dinosaur exhibits that maybe two families a week pay to visit. The mall was directly across the street from a hospital; they had guaranteed business at the food court and they let it slip away.
I'm pretty sure I owed money to both Hollywood and Blockbuster as well. I sure bought a lot of cheap movies when they closed. Some were 25 cents each.
8
My father worked on this mall when it was owned by Simon. He said it was doomed long before problems began to show.
Oh yea ! Simon! Lol
The old time crisis arcade game you found was from a generic arcade they put up in the food court area, probably to fill up empty space. I much perfered the Tilt that used to be in the mall, would go there in the late 80s early 90s, also loved the round table pizza. It was close enough to my high school to be able to run over there for lunch.
So many memories, dates, pokemon card purchases, and general life that went on during my youth in this mall. Crazy
I'm so thrilled you filmed here! I grew up in Laguna Hills and was shopping here every Saturday. There was an arcade upstairs by the food court long ago.
Rachel Cadenas me too i used to chill there every saturday I certianly miss all the ppl in the mall through I have such alot of memories there
The arcade used to be downstairs, across from the round table pizza. Then it moved upstairs. Boy I miss the bourbon chicken bowls from the food court.
I used to bring my son here when he was a baby. We'd eat at Ruby's diner and look through children's books at Walden books, shop at Disney store get a piece of See's candy, and during the holidays I'd buy him clothes from Gymboree and get Santa and Easter bunny photos. We were there in April and surprisingly Noerr was there. Wait time for Easter bunny pics the day before Easter was a 5 minute wait where the mall down the way had long lines. He's a preteen now and he said it made him sad to see how the mall looked dead. A few years ago they had the dinosaur exhibit and it brought in a good crowd.
This thing was dead for ages... I remember going there when they had a Tower Records outside and this food court upstairs that seemed completely cut off from the mall. My last memory here was taking my boyfriend for sushi for the first time back in 2016. I think they tore this bad boy down now
There’s a mall in Slidell, Louisiana that is so dead it makes me sad. The decor is very 90’s - you can tell they designed it to appeal to the youngsters back then.
The owners live in Canada I think??? Or so i was told. I also heard they live in some state up north.
I honestly think they’ve forgotten about it!
1994 was 24 years ago and if malls don't get updated they die. Malls can't survive without anchor stores. Old Kmarts have those air difusers
"Quality is Possible"
I used to come here for lunch a lot when I worked in the area in 2012, but it's really gone downhill since.
Its going back up. Its gonna be outdoor mall. And they built lots of apartments next to it
I just realized after a second of third watch of this video - the shelves in that book store are former Borders shelves. I know because I was a library assistant in high school and our high school got half of the local Borders' shelving when they closed at auction, the other half went to local Goodwills for their book sections.
So just so you know, if you ever see shelves like that again at any independent bookstores, libraries, etc. - they are from Borders!
The Borders they were probably from was the one that closed down the 5 across from the Mission Viejo Mall (it will always be that to me, "Shoppes at" be damned.
Wow, I was just there last month when Game Masters was still opened. They sold not just Magic cards but also board games and action figures.
I'll never forget the time a year or so ago I went in there and saw two old men in that store playing chess LOL.
Sad to see it go though. I should have went in and browsed before it closed down unexpectedly...
I can name what most of those stores used to be! Part of why this mall died, I think, is because it's between the Irvine Spectrum and Shops at Mission Viejo, which are both very lively malls that kept with the times, while Laguna Hills didn't. I have a lot of memories from high school of going with friends to the revolving sushi bar on the outside of this mall, it's called Kula. Also, it made me sad to see that Game Master is closed after so long. Great video though, reminded me I should go to the Dollar Book Fair while I still can!
Laguna Hills Mall failed because bigger, better centers opened around that area. Plus, Laguna Hills is older, retiree community who doesn't spend a lot. FWIW, there was never a GameWorks there. If memory serves me correctly, there might have been either an arcade or movie theater from many years ago. MIller's Outpost? There's a blast from the past. Finally, the high amount paid was probably because the real estate that the mall was built on is so valuable in Orange County.
Paul's Products? Could there be a a name that less effort was put into coming up with?
Mister Hat 😂
Mister Hat 🤣
Paul's Products is a wig shop
^ I thought of the salon hair products (Paul Mitchell) when I first saw that sign...lol I was close enough.
Funny as hell Mr Hat, I thought so as well!
I grew up going to this mall. They used to have a Round Table Pizza there that had a walk up counter where you could buy pizza by the slice. My wife worked part time at the Broadway when we were college students at UC Irvine in the late ‘80s
I use to go to that mall when I was a kid and as an adult in my early 20”s. It’s now 7/6/21 & nothing has progressed. I remember the early days when Buffums department store was there. They also added a partial second floor for the food court. And for a former be Dalton bookstore. It is so sad to see that Small has stopped dead in the tracks,
This mall used to be great! I love the food court, the movie theatre, and the arcade. Now it is all gone...
Love how you research so well these dead mall vids. Wish I could have been there browsing and buying in the bookstore buying things there as well.
Awesome vid.
I just saw this video now 3 years after it was published. Like many others commented, I grew going to this mall in the 90s. The $5 movie theater was the best! The Time Crisis arcade game was from the upstairs arcade called Tilt! Thanks for documenting this!
I used to work at this mall in 2013. It was still dead back then lol I also remember the food court and the arcade upstairs too!
Saw my first ever movie here at 4 years old, back when it was crowded and active. I also got to live some of its worst days a few weeks before closing.. so many memories in this place, still go to the in-n-out outside the lot weekly!
I was there shortly before Christmas. Hadn't been there for years, it was a shock. The land it stands on is prime South Orange County real estate Let's see what happen to it. wouldn't be surprised if it becomes residential.
Drove by today and they're almost finished demolishing the entire mall except for the old Macy's and J. C Penny buildings
Cool! You really should have been here when Sears and Macy's were still open, there was a beautiful fountain in the middle too. This is my home mall, not a very good one albeit, most locals just go to Mission Viejo for a mall and Spectrum for an open area shopping center.
One more thing to note was the very 90s aesthetic Disney store and movie theater.
I used to work at that mall in a store called the "Sweet Factory". I transferred there from Fashion Island mall in Newport Beach back in 1994.
Used to be fun to browse around those pop-up clearance book stores.
Up the freeway is the Village at Orange, in Orange, CA. It is almost dead. Worth looking at. It's got a bookstore, too.
Jason Love That mall had a JCPenney which closed last year. There’s also a Sears which nobody goes to anymore and a Walmart which pretty much takes up all the business of that mall. Inside of the mall is just mom-and-pop shops. The only thing that gets business apart from Walmart are the restaurants outside the mall and Trader Joe’s
Love this channel. My mom lived taking us to the mall. I hated taking my kids to the mall and now I find I'm grieving the decades, trends and afternoons wasted over stimulated by trendy crap. RIP malls of America.
I live very close to this mall and have done so for the majority of my life. The only other indoor mall in South Orange County is the Mission Viejo Mall, which has become a very popular destination. The whole property has been a huge eyesore since even before demolition began, but now that the anchors are all gone, the entire indoor area is closed and half the site being a pockmarked weed field dotted with piles of rusty, unused steel beams it is absolutely horrendous. Honestly nobody knows what is going on with the property, but the general opinion is that complete demolition and project cancellation is not too far away. Personally I believe that once the inevitable demolition and cancellation of the new mall happens the property will be sold off to various enterprises, most likely apartment developers and the neighboring hospital. Honestly anything would be better than what is there now.
Nourish Cafe was so good. It was a one person operation. The owner prepared the food and served you. I hope she found another location.
They actually demolished part of the mall quite some time ago because they thought that they were going to make it an open air mall similar to the Irvine spectrum. I worked there. I worked at Contempo and I worked over at Sears. It’s a real shame. Back in the early 90s this mall was the best.
I was looking for someone to mention that the current map is only about half of the original structure.
8:33 The bright sun and the deep blue of the sky makes that corridor look pretty striking. Like something out of a video game.
I remember coming here when I was 4 (12 years ago) the mall was ok, but visited more the mission Viejo mall. Once the food court closed about 10 years ago or so the mall pretty much died from there.
Thanks for another great video. If you ever come through Atlanta, stop by Gwinnett Place Mall. It's been on life support for 10 years and we heard that Sears will close in September. That will leave only Macy's for an anchor store. The mall is starting to get that "Chernobyl" feel.
soldierblue72 that sounds creepy and cool at the same time.
Great job love the dead mall series that you do I look forward to seeing your adventures thank you
In the early 90s there was a TILT arcade. It was downstairs and it was the most dark and dingy arcade around. People would smoke in there it was hilarious.
That was the best arcade when it was downstairs. Dark, arcade cabinets along the wall's that went so far deep back it was scary. I spent all my money playing SF and MK and primal rage.. All the bad ass fighting games.
Yeah back then social media was setting your quarter on The arcade letting the guy know you got next game
When I lived in San Clemente, I loved going to this mall and hitting the book store, then the food court, then off to the movie theater, which was never busy. Everytime I pass by this mall now, from Orange, I always wondered what was happening inside. Thanks for the vid.
I used to work at the Macys there, I hated after a while, literally no customers and huge sales goals. I only loved the dollar book store in the mall
Man, that Game Master store hasn't been closed for very long. Those banners on the outside aren't that old.
That arcade machine is from the arcade "TILT" that was upstairs in the foodcort, my friend greg who is now a pretty big time film maker worked there for years! I kissed my first girlfriend at that mall, went there with my family and my freinds during the holidays. My sister worked there and my best friend worked at one point. I even remember seeing the cheetah girls live if memory survives me right.. that was random! Haha any way it was where we would go for fun in the 90s and even though it was in Laguna hills it was for the people of lake forest... I'll always love this place..
EXCELLENT observation regarding those semi-ancient round air-diffusers in the old JCP!
I have so many memories in that mall!
I grew up at this mall... nothing too exciting ever happened here other than that I would always get chocolate camples at See's Sandeis right next to JC Penney's, or that I spent a lot of time at PacSun here as a teen. Used to also spend a ton of time at the Barnes and Noble upstairs as well as the arcade next door. $2 slices from Sbarro's. Browsing anime DVDs at Suncoast video... so many memories here. I bought my first Christmas ornaments here from the Macy's Christmas store, just acorss from the Macy's anchor. I became an adult in this mall. Very iconic.