DEAD MALLS OF TEXAS III - Ridgmar Mall - Fort Worth
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- Опубліковано 7 січ 2024
- Hello everybody and after so many years I've finally found another dying mall to film for this series, hope you enjoy!
Tracks used in this video -
0:31 - welcome to the lobby! - WAYFARER
2:44 - Customer Information Desk - M∆RBLE PL∆Z∆™
5:03 - ガレリア - 死夢VANITY
6:55 - SHOPPINGMALL 1998 - Michellini
9:59 - can't - waterfront dining
12:16 - 波
#deadmall #ambient #deadmalls #urbanexploration #urbandecay #vaporwave #vaporwaveaesthetic #walkingtour - Ігри
Should turn these malls into retirement community for Gen X’ers. Keep the food court and movie theater, subdivide the retail stores to living spaces of various sizes. Add a dry cleaners and a gym. Medical
They are doing something somewhat related to this in Dallas Texas. Collin Creek Mall in Richardson (suburb of Dallas) is being converted into a living space. And condos are being built currently in what used to be the parking lot around the mall. I’m not exactly sure what will happen to the mall space itself. It’s been an ongoing project.
@@Surannhealz I live in DFW!!! Checking now!
Don’t forget the old arcade’s! I’m down 😆
@@minormunitions Oh heck yeah!!! How could I forget!!
There's a retirement community across the street from this mall
Completely dead mall. sad, it was so vibrant back in the day.
Mark my words...people will be begging for malls again one day.
Ridgmar used to be my stomping grounds in high school. I could spend hours in Waldenbooks and FYE back then.
I remember when that was a thriving mall. Maybe 12 years ago things were different. It's sad to see it like that now.
Yep bidenomics is working, and the scamdimic.
This is where I got my PS2 and Xbox back in the day... As well as a bunch of other various games from my childhood. Haven't lived in DFW in close to a decade, crazy to see such a ghost-town here.
Funny thing is, I live just up the street. In Westworth Village if you remember that place. It's basically a tiny speed trap between Ridgmar and River Oaks, but still. It's home.
Anyway, in the last decade there's been a concerted effort to gentrify the area. New stores, new shops, new everything. But still, Ridgmar sits there like a tomb. The only thing that brings anyone in is the RAVE cinema and it's located in such a way that you can enter and exit without ever seeing the mall proper if you choose to see a film here. It's coming into disrepair now too, even as the area just up the street continues to grow and add businesses that are doing well. Thriving even. We just got a 151 Coffee a few weeks ago and there's a new strip mall going in near the Super Target. Poor Ridgmar, I'll always remember it fondly.
I know the mall well, I remember when it was built. The reason it is the way it is today is the demographic has totally changed from 1976.
It was all over for Ridgmar after Carswell AFB shut down. All the old base housing was left empty and eventually either sold off or bulldozed. Funnily enough, where once sat the old base housing is now a walled off neighborhood full of million dollar homes and the area is being gentrified. But still, it's too late for poor old Ridgmar. It's a tomb while just up the street new businesses are popping up all the time. Strange how things work, I suppose. I'm old enough to remember when Ridgmar had an actual weapon store on the second floor, kinda like Dawn of the Dead. Mostly antiques, but still. This is Texas after all. lol
used to go here as a kid. hulen was closer. never could have imagined this would be empty
Same here. I went to TCU in the mid '90s and shopped at both malls, and I never would've imagined this mall would be so empty. In fact, my preferred movie theater was the little General Cinema (I think) that was right down the street, and there was a Half Price Books farther down that has now moved next to Target. I guess Hulen Mall thrives because of all the stores packed on Hulen Drive.
I grew up with this mall, used to hang out here, before the big decline when it was still reasonably full me and the wife would come shopping all the time ( they had the BEST pizza place in the food court). Took my kids couple months back, and it was, just heartbreaking. Hulen is starting to feel the affect as well
Except its not
That Italia Express pizza was the best!! The KB toys was the highlight of every trip. Hulen mall does seem to be heading that way too, last time I went to the Hulen mall was December of last year (2023) the food court had some empty spots, and there were more than a couple of unfilled retail spaces. But the area around Hulen mall is starting to go down hill fast unfortunately.
@@art23428 yeah it is.
The area around Hulen is great. Half Price Books, barnes and noble, kincaid's.
@@Caked5 I love that Kincaid's. I get some flack for this, but I think it's better than the original on Camp Bowie. Although, a new local place called Grumps opened up not long ago and it's as good as Kincaid's in my book. I go there now since it's closer and the burgers taste better, at least to my palette.
It will probably be demolished by the end of the decade, and replaced by a housing development, or mixed-use development. This used to be the place to be.
Miss going to Wicks and Sticks and Craig’s.
I'm a FedEx PM Courier that works the White Settlement area near Fort Worth. Ridgmar used to be part of my regular route. Mostly just one shoebox package to pick up at either Champ's and/ or Journey's. I would always go in thru the food court past the jewelry stall. The lady there would always bug me about buying from her. There was always at least 4 middle aged or elderly folk doing laps around the top floor.
The up running escalator was broken for over a year before it was finally fixed. I remember seeing so many families on the weekdays in the bottom area playing at the Bungee Swing or riding that Train or racing around on those large toy style motocycles. The Aquarium looked nice, but I just remember they have a Toucan in the window. It liked watching me walk by. Auntie Anne's station was super expensive last I saw it.
The food court needs some desperate TLC, it has a very old smell to it. Almost like a locker room. I wonder if that bird is still nested on top of the TV. Always wanted to try the food there, but they were always closed by the time I was at work. I wonder how old some of the gumballs in those machines near the food court entrance are.
Unfortunately I don't have many memories of this particular mall outside of my job. I was always more of a Parks Mall guy. :)
5:10-5:20 down below the balcony where the mats and the jump set is where i spent some good years of my child hood, when this place was still a real Mall, i got takin here a lot as a kid and it was always so busy then, but now its turned into this.
I delivered newspapers there in the 80s. It was happening then. A really nice small.
This is so depressing. Ridgmar was the mall of my youth. I spent so many days wandering around here, wide eyed and eager to earn enough to buy a video game or new toy at K-B Toys. That Journeys you showed early in the video used to be where the EB Games, later Gamestop, sat. I bought probably 300 games in that store. Always got a cookie at that cookie stand next to it (probably why I'm so fat today in my 50's). This place used to be so full of life, but once the air force base up the road shut down it was a struggle from then on. Even when they put in the RAVE cinema, which is still my favorite theater, even then it was all done but the crying. So so sad to see it all so lifeless and in disrepair.
There used to be the gigantic spiral ramp that led from the bottom floor to the top. It was right where the playground now sits. You can see it in an old episode of Walker Texas Ranger.
I have so many memeories from Ridgmar. My kid was in the school orchestra and every Christmas we used to get treated to a concert in the center of this mall. She played the bass and they'd do Christmas songs during the holidays.
Ugh. I'm gonna go mope now. Cheers, and thanks. R.I.P., Ridgmar. I will still remember you fondly. I mean, I drive by you every day on my way to work, but you're just a husk now.
So many memories growing up here. Honestly, it isn't as dead as I imagined. I heard it was pretty dire these days, but it seems like some stores weathered the storm better than others (Journeys being one of them, that has been there for ages.) My favorite place was an arcade that sadly only lasted for a few years in the mid-2000s, but it was a fun way to kill time while my parents and sister shopped.
I just went there today and there was probably three stores open lol… it’s definitely dirty now too… this video makes it look nice but it is for sure not anymore… so sad..
We used drive almost an hour to shop at this mall when I was growing up.
spent a lot of time here as a kid. i was so mad when i got to be too big to play on the weird gross rubbery playground they had. it remember really thinking the end must be near when the build a bear moved out. loved going to the rock & fossil shop before they moved out too, really nice old couple ran it. sad to see it so dead.
I miss the old ridgmar :( it was my childhood
My Home Mall...bought my first CD player there 😮
One of the anchors is now a storage unit - where I currently have some some stuff stored. If a self storage being one of the biggest draws to a mall doesn't tell the story, Idk what does.
anyone know the architect of the DFW 80s malls? that vibe is the same regardless which mall youre in.
Alot of stuff around the DFW area is rotting away. Covid did a number on so many of these businesses.
I was wondering about Ridgemar Mall a couple weeks ago. I used to go there a lot. I got my first cell phone there in the mid 90s from Radio Shack.
The mall of my youth. This was one of the best malls I have seen. I have traveled 39 states and saw a lot of malls in their peak. If I was making a top 10 list this would be on it.
The Chelsea Street Pub was here. It could be a wild spot for a place at a mall.
Firsts I remember at this mall.
I am pretty sure Chick-fil-A had it’s first store here and there was a great Italian fast food pizza here.
TGIF Fridays was a Satellite restaurant there’s also a really good Szechuan satellite stores.
Neiman Marcus on one end of Dillard’s on the other All the other typical stores that came and went. It was this mall where a friend was working at one of the record stores when Boston’s first album came out. I remember going up to see him and it was playing. I hated it but my taste was changing a lot at that time. Not so bad in retrospect.
Back in the 70s a trip to this mall often came with an air show. The F-16s made at General Dynamics and flown at Carswell SAC base would practice just overhead.
Many more stores
Thanks for showing this. If you want to know more ask as I might remember most all that was at this mall.
Wow there is almost nothing in this mall ..... havnt been there in AGES.....
Neiman Marcus was actually the vacant anchor that is shown from around 7:10 to 7:40! That wing of the mall, even when Neimans was still in business, was eerily quiet from around 2009 or 2010 on. There haven't been many stores in that area for years. The vacant anchor to the right around 10:11 used to be the Macy's! It closed in 2016. This and the Hulen Mall were my childhood malls. Visited Ridgmar yesterday and it is so sad to see how it has fallen.
Used to live over next to this mall. I moved there well after it was dead kinda sucked but Hulen mall is down the road
I remember that movie theater. That was around 2012? Been a long time, could not get around this place was packed. Last time i was here was year backs I remember being in a closing store and one of the employees telling us she didn’t care if we stole or bought anything.
I've been in that mall a few months back and I found out the many stores I used to go to when I was young are now gone. There's at least a movie theater downstairs and sea quest.
Went down hill pretty quick after Carswell Air Force Base shut down 😕
I remember when the mall was built...spent most of my time at the arcade ....Space Port ? ....they had a What burger....and a cafeteria style restaurant...Wyatts? ...then Hulen mall opened a yr later....now I only go there to see movies at the Rave....I never venture any further than the theater
I drive past the Ridgmar Mall once every two weeks, but I’ve never been inside, since I moved to DFW almost 2 years ago. What I hear about it are from people that live nearby, that go to the Hulen Mall.
You walked by the former stalls of Zales, Orange Julius, Hot Topic, Victoria's Secrets, Helzburgs, Neiman Marcus upstairs from the Sunglass Hut, The Gap, and Banana Republic...
Chilis too
I got my ear pierced at a kiosk by Hot Topic when I was a sophomore 😂
I own Easys smoke shop not to far from here. It's pretty weird. We go eat at the food court sometimes just to see how busy it is.
Now this is a liminal space
Physical media really did a major blow to the malls and toy stores I used to go to RM to buy CDs and videos at fye, Camelot I think there was a KB toy store there too back in 98 till 2004 I was in middle and highschool so chick's were everywhere we didn't know what a dating app would ruin everything and social media 😢
I've lived on the west side of Fort Worth since the early 80's and watched this decline myself. While many here have commented on the why's, It's puzzling to me why Ridgmar Mall became a ghost town while there are dozens of other businesses and strip malls that have sprung up and are thriving around it.
I spend a great deal of my youth at Ridgemar Mall back in the day
i used to go here all the time when i was little, sucks seeing it dead like this
Wow, this is cool.
Also the only thing keeping this place alive is the sea quest.
This mall at one time was booming, it is now dead!
Meanwhile Hulen mall is thriving just down the road several miles
cool vid, great music choices
Tbh Kane pixel should have put u in his vid for u to get the money too
Golden triangle still going hard
I believe the anchor space with the decorative rails and ramps was a Nieman Marcus good to see JCP still open
ya 32 yrs ago this place was alive I used to live in Fort Worth last time I was there with my nephews and niece and you can tell most of the stores was closing and they had them animal things for kids to ride I remember because I let my niece drive it with her second older brother we almost took out walls and peoplebut the movie place was around 2005 i think not for sure
looked dead when i went like 6 years ago
the projects from Dallas and downtown Fort Worth got moved near ridge mar and that is why it closed . true story .
There's a great war museum there
The Asian place here in like 2010 and the best potatoes ever so fucking good
You should go to Southwest Center mall (Red bird Mall) in Dallas that mall has no one in it too just like this one !
Dude I just went today and there is like 3 stores…
That is sears in middle in a mall
The music should be Elton John's Funeral for a Friend.
Ahh, home
W
Sad to see. It was more alive 30 years ago.
It was alive as recently as 2013 lol
Rave cenema was open in 1999, saw the matrix there
Why is the electricity still running? Nvm people still come here?
Also… looked very dirty…
Hm, you should have more views than this. You definitely deserve them.
JUST LET THE HISPANICS TAKE OVER AND WATCH IT SPRING BACK TO LIFE.... IT WAS DONE WITH TOWN CENTER NOW CALLED LA GRAN PLAZA.
🔥🔥🔥💪💪💪🇲🇽🇲🇽🇲🇽🌯🌯🌯🌮🌮🌮🗣️🗣️🗣️
This is true. La Gran Plaza is awesome
As far as the food court goes, there was a Subway to the far left nearest the doors, then a long corridor to restrooms, after that there is the old Sonic location with the yellow and red tiles, then if my memory serves me correctly, the lineup should be a Chick-fl-a after that, then a Chinese takeout place that would constantly offer free samples to people walking by (a great way to get free grub as a child with no money lol) and then a self serve frozen yogurt place which was abandoned shortly after 2014. Across the aisle they had a cheese stake place, a pizza place, and an Asian sort of grill, I never ventured over to that side of the food court, but I would constantly go and beg my parents to take me, so I have distinct memories from there. Hardly any of the food court restaurants would convert to anything else after they closed, so you can see the Subway and Sonic being completely abandoned and left in the state that they lie in today, years after they closed, nobody bothering at all to block it off or convert it into anything new. I myself live in the area, and explored many times the back areas of the abandoned restaurants (this is probs not legal but truthfully they haven't had a lick of security in years) and have found a few documents and old advertisements up to the year 2016, so I am going to assume that's when they closed or close to it? It's just a shame to have watched the death of this mall in real time over the course of my life, and not a single person is wanting to try and really renovate and use this massive property to it's potential. Too busy building worthless niche chain restaurants and single-purpose stores in the area to focus on something cool like fixing Ridgmar.