My entire childhood was at this mall. My aunt would always bring me and my brother every weekend to check out KB Toys and hit up Thirsty's. I will miss this mall, lots of good memories and good time there, now just a faded memory of a bygone era.
my mom used to work at the hallmark there and i remember spending so many hours in the book store a few stores down reading naruto, swinging by thirsty to snag some free samples (eventually they started hooking it up with free small shakes bc they liked my mom), and looking at all the toys at KB toys. eventually i saw more and more stores close and once macys closed then the place was basically a ghost town and eventually hallmark closed and i never went back sad to see this place go.
It’s funny how much Houston has grown that Timbergrove is just northwest of downtown and not actually Northwest Houston anymore. Time passes, people move on and people move up and outward.
I think sprawl ultimately killed the mall. By around 2000, the majority of the surrounding area was really run down. We left Inwood around that time and moved closer to the JV area. I think Willowbrook was headed down the same path but I think the Willowbrook area has really improved in the last few years.
@montysport94 it's just malls in general. I used to live down the street from here but I travel around the country now. Malls like this are in every city in America. People just don't go to malls like they used to. Most cities have one or two malls that are thriving while all the rest are hanging on by a thread or closed down like this one
They need to go ahead and tear it down and purpose the land for something useful to Houston now, like an affordable housing project. That high speed railway will be in litigation with wealthy landowners for decades.
It's amazing to see your video shots superimposed with my memories of how the place looked when it was brightly lit, full of shoppers, noisy, and the smells of perfume and food filled the air. This is a great reminder of how quickly we can be at the top to being just a collection of unknown things and eventually a curiosity footnote in history.
The correct pronunciation is Pal lay Royal (as in "the Royal family"). It was a staple for those of us growing up and entering the work world in the 70's and 80's. For many of us, it was also our first credit card - they handed them out to everyone. I purchased my wedding dress at Palais Royal in 1983. This mall is in a bad part of town, but also prime real estate which is very valuable.
It was my very first credit card too! I used to shop at this mall all the time and as an adult worked nearby and would power walk inside during my lunch hours. This was right before they closed.
It's funny you would say that bad part of town. When we move to spring Branch in 1973 that was considered the good part of town really the best low crime and everything. We moved there from California. We lived about 5 minutes away in the old Afton village apartments. And my mom worked at the Woolworths there. They tore those apartments down too.
I'm from Houston and I can tell you from experience going to the Northwest Mall there's one place that you or nobody else probably hasn't discovered yet because it's in a wall.. Its the movie theater Northwest Mall used to have it back then but when nobody Harley wasn't going over there they just put a wall over that close it off I remembered it because me and my family used to go over there to go watch dollar movies back thin when I was kid.
One of AMC’s original 3 theatres in Houston, TX opening December 12, 1969 at the now defunct Northwest Mall. The theatre closed in 1992 and was a Mexican dance club called El Chaparral for a time. The building was demolished as part of the US Highway 290 expansion by the Texas Department of Transportation.
@@empoweru8617 Yeah I don't know what you got your information from obviously you got it from Wikipedia or somewhere else but the movie theater in the Northwest Mall by 290 it closed in 2000 i remember cuz it next to the entrance by Palais Royal. Is there trust me I was there when they put that whole wall over it. I always remember that place.
@@STREETNINJA26 you’re saying 2000 like it was yesterday. It was nearly 25 years ago, and the 290 expansion occurred between 2011-2019. So the information in the other comment is accurate, you clearly just don’t know that time moves on and places change from how you remember them.
@@josvah Wtf? that's what you're thinking I'm just saying there is a movie theater that is hidden in a wall in the mall I'm just saying that because Nobody has not discovered that anybody that was born in Houston over 40 would tell you the same thing that I'm telling you. I don't know what the hell you thinking like you think that years to me is like a day that is the stupidest s*** I've ever heard in my life.
I remember how nice it was i watched disney tarzan in the theaters and K.B toys they had some nice stores before it became ghetto with a bunch of arab vendors,i do remember around maybe 06 or 07 lil wayne went to visit that mall.
Northwest Mall was where we hung out in high school (early 80's) and I worked in that Palais Royal in 89-90! It was a boutique department store. Men's, women's, kids, shoes, jewelry and accessories. The section with all the chairs was the show dept. The mens section was to the left of the exterior doors (with the roll gate) and kids was to the right. Lots of memories there! All of
17:27 That started out as a movie Theatre, then long horn saloon, and finally El Chaparral. A trashy, Mexican dance club. All the ratchets from my school used to go there. 25:25 L’Patricia was primarily a women’s clothing store. 33:00 That was Cristalina’s boutique. I worked there. It was a bridal, and quinceañera dress store. Formal gowns, and tuxedos.
Dying and dead malls make me so sad. As a teen in the 80s, malls were the place to hang. Hope maybe one day we see a small nostalgic renaissance. I had great memories back then.
This was cool and depressing at the same time. I am 35 years old and I can tell you what each one of them stores were BEFORE they became off brand stores. YES ppl used to line up for shoes...the Champs and Footaction were always on fire! One of my very fist jobs was at this mall. Also the Picadilly there was amazing!! At the Image Shots place is I am 100% sure I am on that wall of pictures lmao! Loved this! this took me wayyyy back but it was extremely sad to see :/
I remember that one shoe store that had great deals. And I’d visit the food court during my lunch hours. Used to work at an office building close by (610 & TC Jester). This was shortly before they closed down.
That antique store was my favorite. It was what got me into antique shopping and collecting porcelain dolls as they had a section just for dolls. Most of my dolls I got from there. It still sucks that they were unable to relocate.
Great video! This place brings back so many memories, practically identical to Almeda mall, wow. Just for your safety, I recommend you have better shoes to protect yourself from glass and rusty metals, and bring a real flashlight so you can see. Oh and some sort of mask N95 or a proper gas mask when you're going to one of those super moldy areas. You don't want to be huffing potentially bad spores. I love your video! It's really fun and well-made!
Many great memories. I was born and raised in Houston, and this video was my discovery of the mall’s closure, which, ironically, happened around the time I lost my lovely mother. Change is truly inevitable. Farewell to a legend, indeed. Ending definitely brought on some tears. Thank you for respectfully exploring and sharing with us all.
OMG I loved Ferrels! But I think we used to go to the one in the Galleria. Loved the big ice cream bowl they’d run through the restaurant and had little plastic animals on top of the ice cream. And the long chocolate licorice string they’d sell by the foot at the candy shop in the front of the restaurant. Great fun as a kid.
Thanks for posting this. So sad to see that happen to what was once such a vibrant place. During the early 1970s, I spent much of my teenage years there, and even worked in the Promotion Department for awhile. I remember hanging Christmas decorations from the ceiling of the Promotion Court. Foley's, Chess King, The Tycoon, Spencer's Gifts, the Theatre. Lots of cool memories. RIP NW Mall
The area around the mall didn't decline. It actually became more affluent with less families. So most of those people shop in Uptown Park or Galleria right down the freeway. Also, there's a nice shopping center with good shopping that opened about 5 minutes away. That was the nail in that coffin.
The area declined bigtime since the 1970's. The phase of becoming more affluent with fewer families did not start until fairly recently, like the last 5 or 10 years, when they started tearing down old properties and building anew. By that time, Northwest Mall and the area around had become a decrepit corpse.
This makes me a little sad. I went to this mall bunches as a child in the 80s, and again when I grew up and worked across the street. Farewell to a classic.
Wow I remember taking my then-gf there regularly in the 80s. My daughter attended CHCP there many many many moons later. I appreciate you filimg the interior as it is now. I keep expecting to see super mutants pop round the corner to start shooting but that's me having played too many hours of Fallout
@@joshuaperham7348I was just up in Tomball a few weeks ago I had a doctor's appointment and I walked to a nearby shopping center and there was a Bealls still there and open next to a hobby lobby. I went in and shopped it was very nice like a real department store. I'm old now 67 and I never get to go to malls or department stores at all just shop at Walmart for my clothes. I used to be a funky hippie chick and dressed in funky clothes. 70's style. Well now I'm just a little bit funky😅
TY for sharing this video. I remember this mall but I lived further south and mainly grew up going to Gulfgate and Almeda malls. Then Baybrook after it was built in ‘78 and I was a teenager. Please do more videos. These are wonderful!
Moved to Houston in 1970 and stayed in a nearby hotel until our house was ready. Spent much time here, daily meals at Piccadilly Cafeteria, and exploring the mall. Moved out of Houston in 79 (to Dallas) and only was back to visit family still there. Sad to see how much the mall, and many parts of Houston have deteriorated.
Great video. I love to reminisce about the malls I've been to when I was younger. I also live in Texas, and there's many great malls in Houston. Baybrook Mall is also excellent, it has a Dave and Busters right outside the mall. The dining selections on the outside are also amazing too. Man. Y'all got me thinking about malls and I love that. Thank you so much!
Baybrook mall is an amazing mall, I went there so much as a kid, and seeing stores go down like Sears and such made me sad, but at least it's still up and running and still has great stores. And for other malls like the abandoned ones were also fun to go to, but looking at them now makes me want to go back to when they were open again. So many memories!
*there are many (because "malls" is plural) there's = contraction of "there is" (singular) or "there has" *excellent. It (to fix your comma splice run-on)
Northwest Mall was a great place my last 2 years of high school, 1967/1968 thru 1968/1969. MY FIRST JOB WAS AT FOLEY’S 1969-1972!That space became Macy’s. There was a jewelry store on the corner of the Food Court walkway. My husband & I picked out and bought my engagement and wedding ring set there! ! I had looked at it in the window & wished while on my lunch breaks, as I went to Samperi’s Imports to buy provolone cheese & delicious po-boys! Spent a lot of time shopping in that mall, every Christmas with my daddy & mama for their gifts for each other, and with my boyfriend, who would become my fiancé Christmas Eve 1970, & then my husband April 15, 1972!!! We were married for 49 years 5 months, when he passed away!!! Oh the memories!!!!!!!❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️
My mom worked at JC Penny's in 1989. Still remember me and my dad going there to pick her up after work. I would walk around the mostly empty mall (it was past closing time and only the workers where there) with my dad until she would close out her register. My mom is still alive buy my dad isn't. Amazing how fast time flies.
My soon to be wife worked at a jewelry store there. I remember the miniature train station display. It was a treat to watch the trains travel thru towns mountains and tunnels! The food area had all kinds of choices of foods to eat!
Man, I remember this mall back in the '70s as a kid. It was a hell of a long drive from our home near the “Big Airport” (IAH) to Highway 290. Back then, even in a moderately sizable city like Houston, shopping malls were a rare commodity, and NW Mall was the closest to our home. It was always an adventure to hop into the Vista Cruiser and make that whopping 40-mile drive, all the while, my father cursing (under his breath, back then, foul language in front of the kiddies was frowned upon) about having to fill that land yacht at an outrageous .50 cents a gallon. Halcyon days…
I remember growing up in this mall. My grandparents live 2 minutes away and we spent every weekend hanging out! Breaks my heart to see this. I feel so old
great video, I used to go all the time as a kid and it’s kinda crazy but comforting to see all those old stores still somewhat intact, especially image shots I always would have family photos there
I spent a lot of my time here with my dad when I was little. Bought most of my school uniforms at that school bus uniform store and my dad would always pick up a pair of jeans at that macys. There’s something so eerie about seeing in in this state but thank you guys for preserving this small piece of Houston urban history!
Never been inside this mall when it was opened. Lived across the street from it for a couple of years. I was always curious to go inside and see what was left. This video satisfied that curiosity. Thanks!
Memories! Thanks for the video!! Me and a few friends worked there back in the 90s fast forward 20+ yrs later, the place i showed my daughter how to drive.
Did you know graffiti in abandoned buildings are actually secret codes? FUCK = you might be spotted in this area HOW OLD? = code word for good spot to sleep HELL = a way to get downstairs I LOVE LATINAS = I love latinas
Although Houston is very big, I think they built too many malls for the city. Especially when the bigger ones survived causing the small ones like Northwest mall to die off. Why go to a smaller mall when you could go to Memorial City Mall, Willowbrook mall, or the Galleria and experience more stores. It’s sad though because many memories were made there.
So many memories at this mall. My mom always went shopping at Foleys and Palais Royal. Then Foleys turned to Macy's. Mom was always in Palais Royal til the end. I remember one time I was in that store I broke an expensive snow globe, the shoe dept guy said it was fine. I'd always get my shoes from PR and Journeys! I never got to go to image shots but I always went to Thristy's each time we visited, pizza place used to be there and somehow I never discovered Chick-Fil-a while it was at this mall since most visits were on Sunday. Got to each lunch and dinner from Sesame Hut all the time.
My mom loved shopping at Palais Royal. Houston has several locations. The seating against the wall in the abandoned Palais Royal probably came from the food court. The Macys was originally a Foleys department store. I also remember when a club was located in the malls parking lot.
Sad to see. I vaguely remember when it was under construction and Foley's was the only store open, as it was built before the mall was started. We spent a lot of time shopping there as a kid and teenager.
This was my childhood mall. Only good memories there, it was so close I could ride my bike to it. Like others have mentioned I specifically remember the K.B. Toys and the Bookstore. For a long while it was the only place around where you could get Chick-fil-a which was a big deal at the time. Very sad to see it die such a slow death. Thank you for the footage!
This is so weird for me lol.. I worked at the Foleys in the 90s, when I was 16 years old. I also worked at the fragrance stand lol.. I can remember the smell of this mall.. I remember the game room, the everything..
L’Patricia was originally a late 1980’s / early 1990’s EXPRESS based on the store design. 31:58 was originally STRUCTURE… a men’s clothing store… they were later re-branded as EXPRESS MEN in 2001.
I remember when the mall was thriving. In the late 80s, when I was a kid, my mom used to take me to the pica dilly buffet after church. And she loved shopping at Palais Royals! Seriously, it is shameful to let a mall die. But with online shopping being ubiquitous this is bound to happen
I only experienced the mall during the later years but I have nothing but good memories from this mall. I always loved the nostalgic vibe this place had all the way up to its last days. I fell in love with my spouse there because the antique mall was our #1 date location. I even visited after it closed, exploring in there was one of the best urbex trips I've been on to date. Gonna miss visiting it whenever they finally tear it down.
Palais Royal was a department store, clothing for the most part, small cosmetics and Jewelry sections. They also owned Beales, Stage and Peeples all the same department store.
My mother dragged my sister and I there the week that they opened and many times after that. This was before there were arcades in malls, so we just chased each other around the fountains and got yelled at. Foleys was actually a Texas based department store chain that was bought by Macys. A lot of the fixtures that were shown here are not what was original to the mall, but that big clock was there from the beginning.
I used to work for Palais Royal for 20 months until I became a security officer. I worked at the one in League City. It's now a GFS. I have lots of memories from there. That was back in 2008-2010. I miss those department stores but they were very antiquated. It was definitely a man's world as the good old boys mentality ran it into the ground. Ike hit that store and I couldn't work for 2 weeks. When I returned we were closed for an additional week to get it back to normal. Northwest Mall looks very similar to a lot of malls of that era. ❤️
0:37 Fun fact, if you know the controversial channel ryansworld, Ryans mom stole $93 worth of jeans at the JCPenney in the Almeda Mall according to some news articles
In 2013 there was a College for Health Care Professions (chcp) attached to this mall and I got my medical billing and coding certificate there. I ate in that food court almost everyday. Thanks for sharing!
Mannn my dad use to always go pick up chick fil la here. It was here before it had its own restaurants and the manager sold sandwiches at my high school. Waltrip. Soo many memories at this mall. This image place use to have kids lined up to take pics. And the shoe store between visible changes and the center stage always had good sells! This mall had a lot of life at one point! Sad to see it go
WoW brought back soo many memories, there was a long driveway from the feeder rd. As you entered Firestone was on the right and next to that was Longhorn Saloon nightclub (which was the cigarette smoke u smelt 😂) Demeris bbq, Sound Warehouse, JRiggins store! Ur video is hilarious also "Be Back in 10 minutes" 😂😂😂😂
That Sound Warehouse tried to charge me $80 for a crappy vhs rental cassette that they lost. This was when SW just started renting tapes -- and everything was done on paper. And $80 meant something back in 1983.
I learned to drive on Sunday afternoon's in that mall's parking lot. I worked for KB Toy's a year later over Christmas, and my sister worked at one of the stores as a live model. I am so old I remember my dad smoking as we shopped for clothes or shoes inside the stores.
Yes, I butchered the pronunciation of Palais Royal. I corrected it in my most recent video over Macroplaza Mall. I’m not from the South guys! Cut me some slack!
Palais Royal was a women's clothing store, not overly-hip styles but good basic stuff for mature women. Macy's was Dillard's when I was a teenager (in the 70's). In high school and a little beyond I worked at JC Penney's as did a buddy of mine. I, too, miss those days. Last I heard, "they" were saving the building as a station for the Super Train someone thinks they're going to build between Houston and Dallas. Ri-i-i-ght... Yes, a Luby's is a restaurant and they are still all over Houston! Good job on this your first video!
This was my family's go-to mall when I was a kid, throughout the early-to-mid 90s (we moved further out to the suburbs when I was a preteen and we ended up closer to Willowbrook, which is currently going through its own slow decline). I feel like my last visit to Northwest (fully in decline) was more recent than 2017, but it could be my brain mushing all of 2011-2019 together in one big folder. That said, I still drive by it quite often... my company's corporate office is like two blocks east of there off of Hempstead Rd.
I use to go that antique store. They only used the first floor, a vendor there told me the second floor was unchanged so it still looks like a 70s era JC Penney up there.
I have very vague memories of this mall. Me and my twin were toddlers.. my grandma would take us here sometimes. Then we practiced driving in this empty parking
I work in Macy's at almeda. Seeing this makes me realize Almeda will also reach the same fate and the experiences I had as a child I once took for granted will now be a distant memory. :( Almeda looks super similar so it hits home. We're closing in January.
This was my mall when I was a teenager/young adult in the early 90's. I would either walk from the Heights or take the bus as I worked at the Malibu Grand Prix near the mall.
17:30 Many years ago. me and my dad set up a satellite and tv system for a sports bar called SRO in Northwest mall It eventually turned into a tejano bar you see in the video. We lived not far from the mall about 10 min away. I kinda miss that place. My dad and I spent alot of time in that bar.
I thought this was Gunspoint (Greenspoint) at first. That mall got shut down as well. It’s a shame though. I remember Sharpstown, West Oaks, and later First Colony as being the places to go back in the 90’s. Then again I lived on the southwest side of town.
HOLY SHIT I KNOW WHERE THAT IS! I never thought that somewhere near me would be on these kind of urban explorer channels lol. I remember going there with my mom once at the Macy's
I took photos before it closed in 2017. I worked off post oak and would go to palais royal after work for clothes and get my nails done inside the mall. I bet there’s mice in there. Went there all throughout the 90s and 2000s. In the 90s there were name brand stores a woolworths by JCPenney (had photos taken there and still have dresses from childhood from that Penney’s ), old navy on the Penney’s wing , visible changes , Kb toys , a dollar tree , Payless, express, christalina boutique for formal wear , later in a journeys , on Macys / foleys when I was a kid wing. Graffiti etc little Novelty and dirty gag store , Walden Books, chic FIL a , sesame Hut, sbarro, baskin Robbin’s(later dreyers), Piccadilly we went to all the time when I was a kid. Also a Sam goody next to Piccadilly in the 90s where I got all my cds but there was a blockbuster music in the shopping center in the parking lot where Demeris bbq used to be. There was never a Lubys that I know of because there’s a Lubys on 34th and 290 that’s busy and has always been there about a mile away, it was a Piccadilly. There was a trashy bar X something by Penney’s and before across the parking lot that was once an AMC was longhorn saloon later on a generic trashy Mexican club. They tore that building down. In the early days my mom said there was an El Chico restaurant which was sued because a drunk driver was overserved and killed someone driving. Oh and am office max when I was a kid over there where the college was and a cicis pizza briefly was there towards that area. There was even a busy bath and body works. Used to know the Bundt cake people she is a veteran and they’re very nice. I was good friends with the lady at body luxuries and always got a hug from her we knew her since she was there in the early 90s. That Dr at TSO eye doctor was rude he told my mom I was “faking” not being able to see . She took me to an ophthalmologist who confirmed I couldn’t see and gave me glasses and contacts. Bought a lot of Tommy at foleys (Macys ) still have coat hangers , a fur coat, bags, etc from that foleys . Willowbrook was closer to my mom’s house as we lived in inwood forest but my grandma lived in timbergrove and I live in her house now. Willowbrook had a Tommy store inside cosmetics with their own line of beauty products
Wow, glad to know I'm not the only one who remembers the AMC that was in the parking lot. I grew up in Inwood Forest (Inwood North), so Willowbrook Mall was only about 8-9 minutes away (the trip was a lot faster without all the traffic lights). Still, I preferred Northwest Mall..
Yo! I work directly across from this mall. HTown! LOL It was sad to see it close and also there were rumors that it was going to be used as the HQ for the bullet train they wanted to build between Houston & Dallas. I think that dream died, though. Great video. Hope you do more Houston spots.
Surprisingly, Almeda Mall is STILL open, but it also has those wierd-branded stores in it. As of December 2024, the Macy's is still open, but the JC Penneys has closed. It often has a carnival in the parking lot near where the JCPenneys was on weekends.
i remember coming to the palais royal when it was the only store left and staring at the abandoned rest of the mall through those storefront gates in the back of the store, it looked so eerie 😳😳
My dad used to take me to the Chick-fil-A in the food court after getting a haircut in the 90s. The Luby’s stuff being there is strange because there was never a Luby’s in that mall. There was a Piccadilly cafeteria for a while which is basically the same thing as Luby’s though.
Spencer's, The Gap, Gold Mine, El Chico, Farrell's, Piccadilly's, H&H Music, there was a small diner like restaurant across from Visible changes. Something like a Woolworths lunch counter. The tobacco shop with the wooden Indian. As mentioned below Northwest 4 was in the parking lot about 100 feet behind where the Shell gas station sits now. Bought our school clothes there. Good times back then. Never understood why a investor wouldn't refurbish it and open it back up. The area is now heavily populated with all the town homes which could be potential customers.
Yeah I remember getting banned from that theater, my friend and I bought a bottle of morning breeze at Spencer’s (smells like rotten eggs) and threw it under the seats during a movie and emptied the place out 38:37 . Unfortunately we were seen doing it 😂😂
I loved that mall and would make the 1st Ward to NW Mall trip weekly. I loved Sesame Hut and glad Mr. Moon kept it open. Its now in Long Point and Silber Rd. Tell him the mechanic, Daniel sent you. 🧑🔧 PS those long benches in Palais Royal are probably from the old Picadilly's Cafeteria. ?
@@michaelrodriguez3148northwest also had a cafeteria, two actually. Piccadillys was at the food court entrance to the right next to the record shop. And foleys had a cafeteria in the second floor.
@michaelrodriguez3148 They both had one. Then Lubys bought it. At NW Mall if was at the front entrance by where Footaction was entering thru the food court. Northline was by where the magic Johnson theater side.
It was a great place for people watching. I got a fabulous framed Maxfield Parrish print at the Antique Center, too. As you can see, it's a vast complex, and just outside the inner loop 610. That's a lot of very desirable property up for grabs. It will definitely be razed and redeveloped into something more profitable.
You don't have to wear a uniform when you are on a school bus? So the kids are supposed to change into their uniform when they get off the bus? At the entrance to the school is where they should change into their uniform?
The last time i was in Northwest mall it was way back when i was in late middle school. Palais Royal was one of the stores we go to a lot…. I still got the shirts that my mom bought for me there. NorthWest Mall and Greenspoint Mall Both Gone. Those are the Mall i remember i know theres few more.
I used to go to this mall with my mom as a kid, but my memories of it are pretty vague. We started going to Willowbrook mall more often when I was 9/10. Even back in the mid 2000’s it was declining. I did go there a handful of times to visit the antique center but you couldn’t go past the JCPenney area.
I went there once around 2005. For a few years there was a carnival that would set up in the parking lot. It was for a week or so in September. I think it was in the 2010s.
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Black mold is bad. Probably should use a respirator with the correct filters for future exploring...
@@peoplenoisehtx H-Town girl here. following! 🤓
My entire childhood was at this mall. My aunt would always bring me and my brother every weekend to check out KB Toys and hit up Thirsty's. I will miss this mall, lots of good memories and good time there, now just a faded memory of a bygone era.
Remember them orange Julius
What a shame. I went there.
Thirsty's with strawberry banana shake
Same here
Circus world turned into KB toys
Orange Julius was so good
I miss it
Same. My aunt always brought me here when I was little.
It’s crazy to be from here and see places I’ve been on an abandoned places UA-cam video.
Like you never think it’s gonna be you
You a victim bro
this is what you get when you vote for democrats and your city becomes a sewer run by liberal ideology.
my mom used to work at the hallmark there and i remember spending so many hours in the book store a few stores down reading naruto, swinging by thirsty to snag some free samples (eventually they started hooking it up with free small shakes bc they liked my mom), and looking at all the toys at KB toys. eventually i saw more and more stores close and once macys closed then the place was basically a ghost town and eventually hallmark closed and i never went back
sad to see this place go.
I use to work at sunglasses hut kiosk in front of hallmark, I probably worked w your mom at the same time…
My first summer job was as a cashier at Woolworth in 1976.
Got my car stereo stolen from the parking lot there. Never went back after that.
i still have it.
Lmao 😂😂😂@@mhujdxioghjfxxv4805
@@mhujdxioghjfxxv4805 dam bud you really wanted that walmart stereo
Classic houston
You should go to the mall and steal something from there as Revenge.
The fact that I have such vivid memories walking through that already mostly dead mall as a kid… wow…
@@egggwommb4292 same. I also remember as a kid shopping at town & country mall before it was bulldozed. 😵
It’s funny how much Houston has grown that Timbergrove is just northwest of downtown and not actually Northwest Houston anymore. Time passes, people move on and people move up and outward.
Yup, now it takes one hour to get from one end to the other because of traffic.
I think sprawl ultimately killed the mall. By around 2000, the majority of the surrounding area was really run down. We left Inwood around that time and moved closer to the JV area. I think Willowbrook was headed down the same path but I think the Willowbrook area has really improved in the last few years.
Yes. I remember when Antoine was far northwest Houston
@montysport94 it's just malls in general. I used to live down the street from here but I travel around the country now. Malls like this are in every city in America. People just don't go to malls like they used to. Most cities have one or two malls that are thriving while all the rest are hanging on by a thread or closed down like this one
@@nomaderic That too. I'm sure you also heard about Gunspoint mall closing down. Supposedly they're building a housing project there.
The mall is being demolished soon to be the train station for the Texas Central High Speed Railway from Dallas to Houston.
Yeah they said that 4 years ago 😂
That boondoggle is never going to be built 😂. They're grifters that are sitting on prime real estate. And trying to use imminent domain.
they should use the building as is...
@@alexander1902I been hearing about that train since 2008 🤣
They need to go ahead and tear it down and purpose the land for something useful to Houston now, like an affordable housing project. That high speed railway will be in litigation with wealthy landowners for decades.
Cool!! I drive past this all the time now I finally know what’s inside!
Me too. I had a feeling it was a mall the way it looked
So sad!!! Have so many memories with my family! Walking through, eating and shopping!
It's amazing to see your video shots superimposed with my memories of how the place looked when it was brightly lit, full of shoppers, noisy, and the smells of perfume and food filled the air.
This is a great reminder of how quickly we can be at the top to being just a collection of unknown things and eventually a curiosity footnote in history.
The correct pronunciation is Pal lay Royal (as in "the Royal family"). It was a staple for those of us growing up and entering the work world in the 70's and 80's. For many of us, it was also our first credit card - they handed them out to everyone. I purchased my wedding dress at Palais Royal in 1983. This mall is in a bad part of town, but also prime real estate which is very valuable.
It was my very first credit card too! I used to shop at this mall all the time and as an adult worked nearby and would power walk inside during my lunch hours. This was right before they closed.
the area isn't bad anymore .. gentrification definitely has taken over
My moms favorite store growing up
My mother LOVED Palais Royal. She was obsessed.
It's funny you would say that bad part of town. When we move to spring Branch in 1973 that was considered the good part of town really the best low crime and everything. We moved there from California. We lived about 5 minutes away in the old Afton village apartments. And my mom worked at the Woolworths there. They tore those apartments down too.
I'm from Houston and I can tell you from experience going to the Northwest Mall there's one place that you or nobody else probably hasn't discovered yet because it's in a wall..
Its the movie theater Northwest Mall used to have it back then but when nobody Harley wasn't going over there they just put a wall over that close it off I remembered it because me and my family used to go over there to go watch dollar movies back thin when I was kid.
One of AMC’s original 3 theatres in Houston, TX opening December 12, 1969 at the now defunct Northwest Mall. The theatre closed in 1992 and was a Mexican dance club called El Chaparral for a time. The building was demolished as part of the US Highway 290 expansion by the Texas Department of Transportation.
@@empoweru8617
Yeah I don't know what you got your information from obviously you got it from Wikipedia or somewhere else but the movie theater in the Northwest Mall by 290 it closed in 2000 i remember cuz it next to the entrance by Palais Royal.
Is there trust me I was there when they put that whole wall over it.
I always remember that place.
@@STREETNINJA26 you’re saying 2000 like it was yesterday. It was nearly 25 years ago, and the 290 expansion occurred between 2011-2019. So the information in the other comment is accurate, you clearly just don’t know that time moves on and places change from how you remember them.
@@josvah
Wtf? that's what you're thinking I'm just saying there is a movie theater that is hidden in a wall in the mall I'm just saying that because
Nobody has not discovered that anybody that was born in Houston over 40 would tell you the same thing that I'm telling you.
I don't know what the hell you thinking like you think that years to me is like a day that is the stupidest s*** I've ever heard in my life.
I remember how nice it was i watched disney tarzan in the theaters and K.B toys they had some nice stores before it became ghetto with a bunch of arab vendors,i do remember around maybe 06 or 07 lil wayne went to visit that mall.
Northwest Mall was where we hung out in high school (early 80's) and I worked in that Palais Royal in 89-90! It was a boutique department store. Men's, women's, kids, shoes, jewelry and accessories. The section with all the chairs was the show dept. The mens section was to the left of the exterior doors (with the roll gate) and kids was to the right. Lots of memories there!
All of
Spartan or Ram?
@rolledbrim2326 assume you're asking which high school? Neither. I was an Eisenhower Eagle!
Yes masm. C/O 86” here, Waltrip Rams..
Remember Farrell’s Ice Cream Parlor across from the game room?
@@tiffinyboulet8694holy shit i almost went there. how was eisenhower when you went? that school and hoffman are so hopelessly ghetto now
17:27 That started out as a movie Theatre, then long horn saloon, and finally El Chaparral. A trashy, Mexican dance club. All the ratchets from my school used to go there. 25:25 L’Patricia was primarily a women’s clothing store. 33:00 That was Cristalina’s boutique. I worked there. It was a bridal, and quinceañera dress store. Formal gowns, and tuxedos.
Dying and dead malls make me so sad. As a teen in the 80s, malls were the place to hang. Hope maybe one day we see a small nostalgic renaissance. I had great memories back then.
This was cool and depressing at the same time. I am 35 years old and I can tell you what each one of them stores were BEFORE they became off brand stores. YES ppl used to line up for shoes...the Champs and Footaction were always on fire! One of my very fist jobs was at this mall. Also the Picadilly there was amazing!! At the Image Shots place is I am 100% sure I am on that wall of pictures lmao! Loved this! this took me wayyyy back but it was extremely sad to see :/
I remember that one shoe store that had great deals. And I’d visit the food court during my lunch hours. Used to work at an office building close by (610 & TC Jester). This was shortly before they closed down.
omg the Picadilly!!
That antique store was my favorite. It was what got me into antique shopping and collecting porcelain dolls as they had a section just for dolls. Most of my dolls I got from there. It still sucks that they were unable to relocate.
Great video! This place brings back so many memories, practically identical to Almeda mall, wow.
Just for your safety, I recommend you have better shoes to protect yourself from glass and rusty metals, and bring a real flashlight so you can see. Oh and some sort of mask N95 or a proper gas mask when you're going to one of those super moldy areas. You don't want to be huffing potentially bad spores.
I love your video! It's really fun and well-made!
He is new, good suggestions though need he needs to protect himself.
Many great memories. I was born and raised in Houston, and this video was my discovery of the mall’s closure, which, ironically, happened around the time I lost my lovely mother. Change is truly inevitable. Farewell to a legend, indeed. Ending definitely brought on some tears. Thank you for respectfully exploring and sharing with us all.
Anyone remember the Farrell's Ice Cream Parlour?? Loved going there as a kid.
OMG I loved Ferrels! But I think we used to go to the one in the Galleria. Loved the big ice cream bowl they’d run through the restaurant and had little plastic animals on top of the ice cream. And the long chocolate licorice string they’d sell by the foot at the candy shop in the front of the restaurant. Great fun as a kid.
Had many birthdays there 😢This was my family mall from 1975 to 1983
Absolutely, across from the game room..,
Yep. Spent many quarters at the Gold Mine arcade that was across from it as a kid in the late 70s and early 80s.
@@michaeldiaz4942 Moms $5 babysitter for about an hour...
Thanks for posting this. So sad to see that happen to what was once such a vibrant place. During the early 1970s, I spent much of my teenage years there, and even worked in the Promotion Department for awhile. I remember hanging Christmas decorations from the ceiling of the Promotion Court. Foley's, Chess King, The Tycoon, Spencer's Gifts, the Theatre. Lots of cool memories. RIP NW Mall
The area around the mall didn't decline. It actually became more affluent with less families. So most of those people shop in Uptown Park or Galleria right down the freeway. Also, there's a nice shopping center with good shopping that opened about 5 minutes away. That was the nail in that coffin.
I feel like it declined. I used to work across the street at the HISD admin building and that whole area was pretty desolate.
The area declined bigtime since the 1970's. The phase of becoming more affluent with fewer families did not start until fairly recently, like the last 5 or 10 years, when they started tearing down old properties and building anew. By that time, Northwest Mall and the area around had become a decrepit corpse.
*fewer families (because "families" is a count noun)
@ 17:25
Bro discovered El Chaparral 🍻 lmaooo I went there A LOT back in High School 💀 great times !
2009 - 2012 for me lol
Chaparral was wild af to the point they closed it down after some foo got shot.
This makes me a little sad. I went to this mall bunches as a child in the 80s, and again when I grew up and worked across the street. Farewell to a classic.
Wow I remember taking my then-gf there regularly in the 80s. My daughter attended CHCP there many many many moons later.
I appreciate you filimg the interior as it is now. I keep expecting to see super mutants pop round the corner to start shooting but that's me having played too many hours of Fallout
Being a Houston resident, I've driven pat this location a few times and always wondered what the story was and what it looked like inside. Good video
Keep up your work. Don't stop. Makes me glad to watch/support video of a newer channel
@@johndoughcrypto9688 Thanks man! We have a video coming out tomorrow!
That antique store is the pure definition of the back rooms
Palais Royal was a smallish department store, much like Macy's or JC Pennys.
Some might be familiar with Bealls. It's the same company, same type of store.
@@joshuaperham7348I was just up in Tomball a few weeks ago I had a doctor's appointment and I walked to a nearby shopping center and there was a Bealls still there and open next to a hobby lobby. I went in and shopped it was very nice like a real department store. I'm old now 67 and I never get to go to malls or department stores at all just shop at Walmart for my clothes. I used to be a funky hippie chick and dressed in funky clothes. 70's style. Well now I'm just a little bit funky😅
TY for sharing this video. I remember this mall but I lived further south and mainly grew up going to Gulfgate and Almeda malls. Then Baybrook after it was built in ‘78 and I was a teenager. Please do more videos. These are wonderful!
Moved to Houston in 1970 and stayed in a nearby hotel until our house was ready. Spent much time here, daily meals at Piccadilly Cafeteria, and exploring the mall. Moved out of Houston in 79 (to Dallas) and only was back to visit family still there. Sad to see how much the mall, and many parts of Houston have deteriorated.
as if dallas remained the same
This is actually really well made. I'm proud, man :)
ride up 290 and you will see all the retail that replaced this mall.
Lol yup, Blinn College is in Waller now too
Great video. I love to reminisce about the malls I've been to when I was younger. I also live in Texas, and there's many great malls in Houston. Baybrook Mall is also excellent, it has a Dave and Busters right outside the mall. The dining selections on the outside are also amazing too. Man. Y'all got me thinking about malls and I love that. Thank you so much!
@@kyaban5192 Baybrook is my local mall! It’s the place I shop for clothes.
I got my first job in 1978 at Burger Express in Baybrook Mall. It opened that same year. I have such great memories of that mall.
Baybrook mall is an amazing mall, I went there so much as a kid, and seeing stores go down like Sears and such made me sad, but at least it's still up and running and still has great stores. And for other malls like the abandoned ones were also fun to go to, but looking at them now makes me want to go back to when they were open again. So many memories!
*there are many (because "malls" is plural)
there's = contraction of "there is" (singular) or "there has"
*excellent. It (to fix your comma splice run-on)
Northwest Mall was a great place my last 2 years of high school, 1967/1968 thru 1968/1969. MY FIRST JOB WAS AT FOLEY’S 1969-1972!That space became Macy’s. There was a jewelry store on the corner of the Food Court walkway. My husband & I picked out and bought my engagement and wedding ring set there! ! I had looked at it in the window & wished while on my lunch breaks, as I went to Samperi’s Imports to buy provolone cheese & delicious po-boys! Spent a lot of time shopping in that mall, every Christmas with my daddy & mama for their gifts for each other, and with my boyfriend, who would become my fiancé Christmas Eve 1970, & then my husband April 15, 1972!!! We were married for 49 years 5 months, when he passed away!!! Oh the memories!!!!!!!❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️
My mom worked at JC Penny's in 1989. Still remember me and my dad going there to pick her up after work. I would walk around the mostly empty mall (it was past closing time and only the workers where there) with my dad until she would close out her register. My mom is still alive buy my dad isn't. Amazing how fast time flies.
My soon to be wife worked at a jewelry store there. I remember the miniature train station display. It was a treat to watch the trains travel thru towns mountains and tunnels! The food area had all kinds of choices of foods to eat!
You sure you want to be married bro?
Man, I remember this mall back in the '70s as a kid. It was a hell of a long drive from our home near the “Big Airport” (IAH) to Highway 290. Back then, even in a moderately sizable city like Houston, shopping malls were a rare commodity, and NW Mall was the closest to our home. It was always an adventure to hop into the Vista Cruiser and make that whopping 40-mile drive, all the while, my father cursing (under his breath, back then, foul language in front of the kiddies was frowned upon) about having to fill that land yacht at an outrageous .50 cents a gallon.
Halcyon days…
I remember growing up in this mall. My grandparents live 2 minutes away and we spent every weekend hanging out! Breaks my heart to see this. I feel so old
great video, I used to go all the time as a kid and it’s kinda crazy but comforting to see all those old stores still somewhat intact, especially image shots I always would have family photos there
*Great video. I (to fix your comma splice run-on)
*Image Shots. I (to fix your run-on sentence)
*there.
i have passed by this mall pretty much all of my life, and never got a chance to explore it before it closed down. thanks for this !
I spent a lot of my time here with my dad when I was little. Bought most of my school uniforms at that school bus uniform store and my dad would always pick up a pair of jeans at that macys. There’s something so eerie about seeing in in this state but thank you guys for preserving this small piece of Houston urban history!
Never been inside this mall when it was opened. Lived across the street from it for a couple of years. I was always curious to go inside and see what was left. This video satisfied that curiosity. Thanks!
Memories! Thanks for the video!! Me and a few friends worked there back in the 90s fast forward 20+ yrs later, the place i showed my daughter how to drive.
Did you know graffiti in abandoned buildings are actually secret codes?
FUCK = you might be spotted in this area
HOW OLD? = code word for good spot to sleep
HELL = a way to get downstairs
I LOVE LATINAS = I love latinas
wow the resemblance between this mall and Almeda is insane! too bad that mall is on its last leg too :(
@@cel3ast Yeah, the Macys is set to close soon, that’s the nail in the coffin for that mall.
yikes! yeah the mall has honestly been dead for years now. it literally feels empty inside :/ great video btw!!
They replacing it as a station for the new proposed high speed train station between Dallas and Houston
I stayed by this mall and my cousin stayed right by Alameda. We used to say the same thing. It was basically the same mall
They had almost exactly the same major stores in both males.
Although Houston is very big, I think they built too many malls for the city. Especially when the bigger ones survived causing the small ones like Northwest mall to die off. Why go to a smaller mall when you could go to Memorial City Mall, Willowbrook mall, or the Galleria and experience more stores. It’s sad though because many memories were made there.
So many memories at this mall. My mom always went shopping at Foleys and Palais Royal. Then Foleys turned to Macy's. Mom was always in Palais Royal til the end. I remember one time I was in that store I broke an expensive snow globe, the shoe dept guy said it was fine. I'd always get my shoes from PR and Journeys! I never got to go to image shots but I always went to Thristy's each time we visited, pizza place used to be there and somehow I never discovered Chick-Fil-a while it was at this mall since most visits were on Sunday. Got to each lunch and dinner from Sesame Hut all the time.
My mom loved shopping at Palais Royal. Houston has several locations. The seating against the wall in the abandoned Palais Royal
probably came from the food court. The Macys was originally a Foleys department store. I also remember when a club was located in the malls parking lot.
palais royal was a clothing /shoe store... they also sold colonge and perfume...i thnk
Enjoyed going there as a kid in the early 70's. It was all so new and modern. I remember Spencer's gift shop and eating at Woolworth's.
Sad to see. I vaguely remember when it was under construction and Foley's was the only store open, as it was built before the mall was started. We spent a lot of time shopping there as a kid and teenager.
This was my childhood mall. Only good memories there, it was so close I could ride my bike to it. Like others have mentioned I specifically remember the K.B. Toys and the Bookstore. For a long while it was the only place around where you could get Chick-fil-a which was a big deal at the time. Very sad to see it die such a slow death. Thank you for the footage!
Them saturdays on a Jordan or Air Force release at almeda mall was unmatched
This is so weird for me lol.. I worked at the Foleys in the 90s, when I was 16 years old. I also worked at the fragrance stand lol.. I can remember the smell of this mall.. I remember the game room, the everything..
Foleys ! Hadn’t heard that name in oh so many years and I’m telling ya Foleys was a great store !! 🙏👍🥰👀
thank you for doing this and posting this - i've been wondering how this mall is doing. drive by it every day.
I somehow have such a strong memory of that hearts diamonds from when I was a kid. Crazy to see this. Makes me feel old AF.
L’Patricia was originally a late 1980’s / early 1990’s EXPRESS based on the store design. 31:58 was originally STRUCTURE… a men’s clothing store… they were later re-branded as EXPRESS MEN in 2001.
so cool u were able to get in! Used to luv that mall and that palais royal lol
I remember when the mall was thriving. In the late 80s, when I was a kid, my mom used to take me to the pica dilly buffet after church.
And she loved shopping at Palais Royals!
Seriously, it is shameful to let a mall die. But with online shopping being ubiquitous this is bound to happen
I only experienced the mall during the later years but I have nothing but good memories from this mall. I always loved the nostalgic vibe this place had all the way up to its last days. I fell in love with my spouse there because the antique mall was our #1 date location. I even visited after it closed, exploring in there was one of the best urbex trips I've been on to date. Gonna miss visiting it whenever they finally tear it down.
Palais Royal was a department store, clothing for the most part, small cosmetics and Jewelry sections.
They also owned Beales, Stage and Peeples all the same department store.
My mother dragged my sister and I there the week that they opened and many times after that. This was before there were arcades in malls, so we just chased each other around the fountains and got yelled at. Foleys was actually a Texas based department store chain that was bought by Macys. A lot of the fixtures that were shown here are not what was original to the mall, but that big clock was there from the beginning.
I used to work for Palais Royal for 20 months until I became a security officer. I worked at the one in League City. It's now a GFS. I have lots of memories from there. That was back in 2008-2010. I miss those department stores but they were very antiquated. It was definitely a man's world as the good old boys mentality ran it into the ground. Ike hit that store and I couldn't work for 2 weeks. When I returned we were closed for an additional week to get it back to normal. Northwest Mall looks very similar to a lot of malls of that era. ❤️
0:37 Fun fact, if you know the controversial channel ryansworld, Ryans mom stole $93 worth of jeans at the JCPenney in the Almeda Mall according to some news articles
In 2013 there was a College for Health Care Professions (chcp) attached to this mall and I got my medical billing and coding certificate there. I ate in that food court almost everyday. Thanks for sharing!
*every day (meaning daily)
everyday = adjective meaning ordinary/average (e.g. "He's just an everyday Joe.")
Mannn my dad use to always go pick up chick fil la here. It was here before it had its own restaurants and the manager sold sandwiches at my high school. Waltrip. Soo many memories at this mall. This image place use to have kids lined up to take pics. And the shoe store between visible changes and the center stage always had good sells! This mall had a lot of life at one point! Sad to see it go
WoW brought back soo many memories, there was a long driveway from the feeder rd. As you entered Firestone was on the right and next to that was Longhorn Saloon nightclub (which was the cigarette smoke u smelt 😂) Demeris bbq, Sound Warehouse, JRiggins store! Ur video is hilarious also "Be Back in 10 minutes" 😂😂😂😂
That Sound Warehouse tried to charge me $80 for a crappy vhs rental cassette that they lost. This was when SW just started renting tapes -- and everything was done on paper. And $80 meant something back in 1983.
I learned to drive on Sunday afternoon's in that mall's parking lot. I worked for KB Toy's a year later over Christmas, and my sister worked at one of the stores as a live model. I am so old I remember my dad smoking as we shopped for clothes or shoes inside the stores.
We drove past this mall many many times and to see that this whole time it was actually abandoned is crazy stuff.
Palais Royal sold beautiful high quality clothing. I still have a real silver ring and satin blazer from the store at that location. 😊
Yes, I butchered the pronunciation of Palais Royal. I corrected it in my most recent video over Macroplaza Mall. I’m not from the South guys! Cut me some slack!
Palais Royal was a women's clothing store, not overly-hip styles but good basic stuff for mature women. Macy's was Dillard's when I was a teenager (in the 70's). In high school and a little beyond I worked at JC Penney's as did a buddy of mine. I, too, miss those days. Last I heard, "they" were saving the building as a station for the Super Train someone thinks they're going to build between Houston and Dallas. Ri-i-i-ght... Yes, a Luby's is a restaurant and they are still all over Houston! Good job on this your first video!
This was my family's go-to mall when I was a kid, throughout the early-to-mid 90s (we moved further out to the suburbs when I was a preteen and we ended up closer to Willowbrook, which is currently going through its own slow decline).
I feel like my last visit to Northwest (fully in decline) was more recent than 2017, but it could be my brain mushing all of 2011-2019 together in one big folder. That said, I still drive by it quite often... my company's corporate office is like two blocks east of there off of Hempstead Rd.
I use to go that antique store. They only used the first floor, a vendor there told me the second floor was unchanged so it still looks like a 70s era JC Penney up there.
I have very vague memories of this mall. Me and my twin were toddlers.. my grandma would take us here sometimes. Then we practiced driving in this empty parking
This is where i learned to drive too lmaoo 😂
I work in Macy's at almeda. Seeing this makes me realize Almeda will also reach the same fate and the experiences I had as a child I once took for granted will now be a distant memory. :( Almeda looks super similar so it hits home. We're closing in January.
@@luisvillegas528 I’ve visited that Macys, is it formerly a 2 story store?
This was my mall when I was a teenager/young adult in the early 90's. I would either walk from the Heights or take the bus as I worked at the Malibu Grand Prix near the mall.
17:30 Many years ago. me and my dad set up a satellite and tv system for a sports bar called SRO in Northwest mall
It eventually turned into a tejano bar you see in the video.
We lived not far from the mall about 10 min away. I kinda miss that place. My dad and I spent alot of time in that bar.
I thought this was Gunspoint (Greenspoint) at first. That mall got shut down as well. It’s a shame though. I remember Sharpstown, West Oaks, and later First Colony as being the places to go back in the 90’s. Then again I lived on the southwest side of town.
HOLY SHIT I KNOW WHERE THAT IS! I never thought that somewhere near me would be on these kind of urban explorer channels lol. I remember going there with my mom once at the Macy's
I took photos before it closed in 2017. I worked off post oak and would go to palais royal after work for clothes and get my nails done inside the mall. I bet there’s mice in there. Went there all throughout the 90s and 2000s. In the 90s there were name brand stores a woolworths by JCPenney (had photos taken there and still have dresses from childhood from that Penney’s ), old navy on the Penney’s wing , visible changes , Kb toys , a dollar tree , Payless, express, christalina boutique for formal wear , later in a journeys , on Macys / foleys when I was a kid wing. Graffiti etc little
Novelty and dirty gag store , Walden
Books, chic FIL a , sesame
Hut, sbarro, baskin Robbin’s(later dreyers), Piccadilly we went to all the time when I was a kid. Also a Sam goody next to Piccadilly in the 90s where I got all my cds but there was a blockbuster music in the shopping center in the parking lot where Demeris bbq used to be. There was never a Lubys that I know of because there’s a Lubys on 34th and 290 that’s busy and has always been there about a mile away, it was a Piccadilly. There was a trashy bar X something by Penney’s and before across the parking lot that was once an AMC was longhorn saloon later on a generic trashy Mexican club. They tore that building down. In the early days my mom said there was an El Chico restaurant which was sued because a drunk driver was overserved and killed someone driving. Oh and am office max when I was a kid over there where the college was and a cicis pizza briefly was there towards that area. There was even a busy bath and body works. Used to know the Bundt cake people she is a veteran and they’re very nice. I was good friends with the lady at body luxuries and always got a hug from her we knew her since she was there in the early 90s. That Dr at TSO eye doctor was rude he told my mom I was “faking” not being able to see . She took me to an ophthalmologist who confirmed I couldn’t see and gave me glasses and contacts. Bought a lot of
Tommy at foleys (Macys ) still have coat hangers , a fur coat, bags, etc from that foleys . Willowbrook was closer to my mom’s house as we lived in inwood forest but my grandma lived in timbergrove and I live in her house now. Willowbrook had a Tommy store inside cosmetics with their own line of beauty products
This mall will never reopen due to the fact all the scrappers have already stripped all the copper wire out of the entire Mall
Wow, glad to know I'm not the only one who remembers the AMC that was in the parking lot. I grew up in Inwood Forest (Inwood North), so Willowbrook Mall was only about 8-9 minutes away (the trip was a lot faster without all the traffic lights). Still, I preferred Northwest Mall..
Farrell's Ice Cream Parlor was one of my favorites as a kid.
Don't forfet Two Pesos
Yo! I work directly across from this mall. HTown! LOL It was sad to see it close and also there were rumors that it was going to be used as the HQ for the bullet train they wanted to build between Houston & Dallas. I think that dream died, though. Great video. Hope you do more Houston spots.
Surprisingly, Almeda Mall is STILL open, but it also has those wierd-branded stores in it. As of December 2024, the Macy's is still open, but the JC Penneys has closed. It often has a carnival in the parking lot near where the JCPenneys was on weekends.
i remember coming to the palais royal when it was the only store left and staring at the abandoned rest of the mall through those storefront gates in the back of the store, it looked so eerie 😳😳
My dad used to take me to the Chick-fil-A in the food court after getting a haircut in the 90s. The Luby’s stuff being there is strange because there was never a Luby’s in that mall. There was a Piccadilly cafeteria for a while which is basically the same thing as Luby’s though.
The last time I went here was to see the antique mall. It was huge inside on top of that the upstairs was closed
24:13 'Their coming'.. this tickled me as i realized I might have been spooked had it been spelled correctly and fitted properly.
That train brings back memories. I loved it
HAHA I used to set the train up when I worked there as a teenager.
there’s gonna be a video like this about the greenspoint mall one day
Spencer's, The Gap, Gold Mine, El Chico, Farrell's, Piccadilly's, H&H Music, there was a small diner like restaurant across from Visible changes. Something like a Woolworths lunch counter. The tobacco shop with the wooden Indian. As mentioned below Northwest 4 was in the parking lot about 100 feet behind where the Shell gas station sits now. Bought our school clothes there. Good times back then. Never understood why a investor wouldn't refurbish it and open it back up. The area is now heavily populated with all the town homes which could be potential customers.
Yeah I remember getting banned from that theater, my friend and I bought a bottle of morning breeze at Spencer’s (smells like rotten eggs) and threw it under the seats during a movie and emptied the place out 38:37 . Unfortunately we were seen doing it 😂😂
😂🤣
I loved that mall and would make the 1st Ward to NW Mall trip weekly. I loved Sesame Hut and glad Mr. Moon kept it open. Its now in Long Point and Silber Rd. Tell him the mechanic, Daniel sent you. 🧑🔧
PS those long benches in Palais Royal are probably from the old Picadilly's Cafeteria. ?
The Picadilly's Cafeteria was at Northline Mall not Northwest Mall. Northwest Mall had a food court.
@@michaelrodriguez3148northwest also had a cafeteria, two actually. Piccadillys was at the food court entrance to the right next to the record shop. And foleys had a cafeteria in the second floor.
@michaelrodriguez3148 They both had one. Then Lubys bought it. At NW Mall if was at the front entrance by where Footaction was entering thru the food court. Northline was by where the magic Johnson theater side.
22:45 was a location of Vitamin World originally… it was GNC’s competition in most malls in the 1990’s / early 2000’s
It was a great place for people watching. I got a fabulous framed Maxfield Parrish print at the Antique Center, too. As you can see, it's a vast complex, and just outside the inner loop 610. That's a lot of very desirable property up for grabs. It will definitely be razed and redeveloped into something more profitable.
You don't have to wear a uniform when you are on a school bus? So the kids are supposed to change into their uniform when they get off the bus? At the entrance to the school is where they should change into their uniform?
I've been to the Katy Mills Mall an the Galleria many times. Miss those days
The last time i was in Northwest mall it was way back when i was in late middle school. Palais Royal was one of the stores we go to a lot…. I still got the shirts that my mom bought for me there. NorthWest Mall and Greenspoint Mall Both Gone. Those are the Mall i remember i know theres few more.
I used to go to this mall with my mom as a kid, but my memories of it are pretty vague. We started going to Willowbrook mall more often when I was 9/10. Even back in the mid 2000’s it was declining. I did go there a handful of times to visit the antique center but you couldn’t go past the JCPenney area.
4:51 Palais Royal is a clothing store with more than one Houston location.
I went there once around 2005. For a few years there was a carnival that would set up in the parking lot. It was for a week or so in September. I think it was in the 2010s.
“I dont know what a palis royal is” Thanks for making me feel like a old man
I’m not from Texas lol, never had heard of it