Dead Mall: Shops of Grand Avenue
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- Опубліковано 1 жов 2024
- The Grand Avenue Mall is a shopping center in downtown Milwaukee. Over the past 15 years, foot traffic along with the appeal of an urban type shopping center has affected the health of this mall. Plans have been called to revitalize the mall into a business center and try to attract different types of non retail establishments.
I LOVED this mall while growing up in the 80s and 90s. The movie theater across the street (which has been closed for some time), was awesome. The bookstore, optical, clothing, pager then cell phone shops, memories of my youth! Wow, I'm sad to see it this way. I've lived in Florida for ten years. What a shame.....
The 1929-vintage Warner-Grand Theater is in the midst of being restored and renovated into the new home for the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra. I'm looking forward to seeing the grand reopening of one of Milwaukee's few remaining old movie palaces.
@@MsJamiewoods That was a beautiful theatre, I used to Luv those Victorian murals on the side of those big staircases going up. They were my favorite ,
You could have realistically ran into jeffrey dahmer
20 YEATS AGO ONE OF THE BUSIEST AMD BEST RUN MALLS IN AMERICA !! SO SAD TO SEE THIS. NICE JB ON THE VIDEO :)
This place couldn't hold a candle to Northridge before the area turned ghetto and people stopped coming.
Anyone remember the bear on the bicycle riding the high wire in the upper part of mall visible from the food court? His balance pole had a mug of beer at each end. By the arrival of the 2000s, he was gone.
Yes I do remember that amazing bear riding a unicycle on a wire back n forth across the mall. Wow what a place it was back then.
This is a nice mall - the food court is lovely - I think they just made it too big. Parking is always a problem and its not free - shoppers in the area prefer Mayfair and Southridge where there is free parking.
+Rita Baumann that's true. If you want to go to the mall you have to use the parking garage. The building is in really good shape they should just convert all the empty space into offices and maybe a restaurant.
That's essentially what's happening. The upper two floors are becoming offices and the first floor is becoming a food hall which will feature local restaurants vs. the mostly national and regional chains in the old third floor food court.
Milwaukee natives where you at?
Right here homie :) how’ve you been?
Pretty cool mall. I dig the open roof, lots of natural light. Whenever I think of Milwaukee I always remember this time in the 90s I went to Metal fest to see Cannibal Corpse etc....I was waiting in line for the urinal and the guy coming out yells I JUST SMOKED CRACK FOR THE FIRST TIME AND IT WAS GREAT! I decided to just hold it despite the many beers.
So this was jeffs favorite mall 😊
Back in '82/'83/'84, when I was in my mid 20's, the Grand Avenue Mall was one of two "premier" destinations in Milwaukee that I would specifically travel to, from my home in Chicago, to go girl-watching. There and the Milwaukee Summerfest. I always thought Milwaukee had an abundance of some really pretty girls, and the Grand Avenue Mall always seemed to have many walking its corridors. I never actually got around to meeting one for keeps, though I did share many a wine cooler with some, while being buzzed, at Summerfest. The things I remember most about the GAM were the candy store that sold the luscious dark chocolate-covered "Fairy Food"; Rocky Rococo Pizza; and the mechanical bear that used to ride a unicycle high above the food court atrium on a high wire. I was quite impressed with the GAM back in its heyday and thought it was the best urban shopping arcade I had ever experienced during that time in my life. I find it difficult to fathom, that this once hot spot for me has seen, its better days.
Rocky Rococo Pizza, yeah! WOW! Long time no see...👻
That is a nice mall with a decent food court. Downtown malls in America especially ones with 3 levels have historically struggled. The food outlets are the only businesses that seem to do well in these malls.
Blog Man so true. Downtown malls are seen the decline all over the country. Look at the Wausau Mall in Wisconsin. the Nicolet Mall in Minneapolis is losing a department store.
This one makes me sad. Grand Avenue is beautiful inside, or at least it was 20 years ago.
+Mike Murphy It still is. The new remodelling is going to make it nice. With a few stores and office space. It will be a better setup.
Am I the only one who came here after Jeffrey Dahmer 🙂
Me too
Me too
I loved this mall...in the 80s. It was packed all the time.
The parking in the evenings and on weekends then was reasonable -- just two dollars the entire evening/day if I recall. It was great -- just park car and use the skywalk to get to the MECCA convention center or arena or catch a bus to Summerfest. You also could park at Grand Avenue then and explore downtown. And it was safe to do so back then, too.
I just found your series on malls- addicted.
+carla pawlaczyk thanks for watching more to come.
I used to work at a place called Boardwalk Fries up on the 3rd floor food court. This was back in 89-91 and this mall was busy busy busy. Sad to see it this way now.
it is so sad, the mall was vibrant back then. i also used to visit apricot annie’s do you remember?! wow feels like yesterday.
So sad😥. We lived in Wauwatosa from 1987 to 1991. I worked in the Henry Ruesse (sp?) Federal building across the street from it. We spent many lunch hours there. I really hope it doesn't completely go out of business.
I went to visit recently to do and 2nd film and the whole building was blocked off because they're in the midst of a redevelopment to turn the mall into a giant community space with offices where the stores used to be.
Update. The redo is well under way with a December 2019 estimated completion date. The new facility will be called the Avenue. The upper two floors of the New Arcade building are being turned into rental office space. The first floor is being turned into a food hall featuring local Milwaukee area restaurants. The second floor of the 100-plus-year-old Plankinton has been turned into apartments.
I have a funny story regarding this mall.
It was a cold rainy morning and I just got done with a job interview. I was walking back to my car and suddenly had to take a huge dump. I walked inside the mall only to find the restrooms still locked as the mall was not officially open yet. The outside doors were only open to provide a warm place for the homeless. Alright, cool, but it was still extremely frustrating navigating the mall and trying not to poop my pants. Finally I found salvation in the Boston Store that WAS officially open, and I managed to make it to a toilet before all hell broke loose in my drawls. I did get nice views of the architecture in the meantime, even if it was during a rushed attempt to not wreck one of my good suits lol.
I will miss the mall, as the second and third floors have been converted to office space and the other stores have closed, leaving only the Walgreens and the TJ Maxx in the Plankinton Arcade left. I do look forward to the first floor food hall though when it opens (it had some delays due to COVID). I'm happy something will come of the space, as opposed to Northridge Mall, which sits empty and decaying due to vandalism and illegal scavenging.
I'm sitting in the food court right now watching this video. Boston Store filed for bankruptcy a few days ago. I'm glad someone got some good footage of the place just in case it closes up.
great video, great memories, hope grand avenue mall gets better. Still remember radioshack, hair saloon, godaiva, jewerley store and the food court back in 2000...too bad things are not getting better
Jeffrey’s hunting ground 🧑🏫🪓🥩
Please please please go back now, they completely updated the mall
I visited Milwaukee in July 2012 and yes, there were many people in this mall but I'd say about half of the stores were vacant already then. It was my first account of seeing these 1980s malls going into decline.
It just reopened as a food court/ entertainment district. Hope it bounces back
I walk thru there everyday to get to work. They are now closing off the 2nd level floor above TJ Maxx. I've heard they are supposed to be apartments, but per this video they will be offices.
+Mike L it be cool if they could have both apartments and offices. It's a great area for meeting people.
I worked in the Federal bdg that is attached to Grand Ave mall, in 2009. I used to go over and eat at lunch The Chocolate Factory. Was weird, never a lot of people there. Now, Northridge was the coolest mall ever.. RIP
Great video. Thanks for uploading. Liked the architecture of the mall.
Nancy Darling Thanks for viewing. Glad you liked it.
I've seen all types of fuckery at this mall and I will miss it all
it truly was grand!
What a beautiful looking shopping precinct.
+TedShatner10 it's done well but a shame that it's not nearly what it used to be.
How is the area around the mall doing? I can't imagine having to compete with the mall of America?
+Alex Summy the area around the mall is quite good. The issue more is there's not a lot of foot traffic around the mall to Warrant a lot of the stores they have.
The Mall of America is pretty far away from this one... about 350 miles.
My mom used to take my and my sister there the day after Thanksgiving as a tradition from the late 90s and to the early 2000s. I remember how gloomy and creepy the place felt, there was one elevator on the top floor that was lit up but not working and the place was usually pretty empty. Last time we went there was in 2002 and we went to Sam Goody so I could check out the games and I was shocked that they were still selling Game Gear games despite the system being dead for five years at that point, I got Kirby Tilt n Tumble so at least the trip wasn't a complete waste.
I heard what you said about Payless. All Payless stores are now closed all across the country. Really love your channel. Keep up the good work
Remember the Nature Company? That I remember it fondly. I'm honestly surprised the Grand Avenue Mall hasn't closed yet.
Shocked the Grand is still open that mall is damn near empty.
Is apparments now
Just found this. (2021). Boston Store gone. I worked Downtown 30 years retired in 2009 thank goodness. Working, shopping and stopping for lunch days are gone now. I also cherish the shopping sprees with my mom in my younger days.
I have lived in milwaukee all of my life and we would opt to go to other malls because it was expensive to park anywhere near what we called The Grand.
When I was a really little kid in the 90s it felt like a magical busy place, then when I was just a little older it was diminished, by the time I was in middle school the mall was completely dead, it held out for so long after it truly is a wonder. I miss the bear orchestra that’s all
TJ Maxx is called TK Maxx here in the UK.....love the video
+Chris Dans That's interesting. Thanks for sharing.
How did you avoid being stop by the mall cops I recently tried to film and got stopped and told I couldn't do ir
Sorry about the late reply but I did have them stop me that's why the film is not as long as I wanted it to be.
@Aimee Webber It more or less has to do with September 11th and the war on terrorism.
Part of the problem here is that this mall closes to early. Downtown malls are a dying breed.
+dvferyance definitely. The likes of the Nicollet Mall in Minneapolis. To the small city of Wausau and their tiny Mall which is also dying.
They shoudn't have put their mall downtown that was a huge mistake you can also mention the small mall in Union Station in St Louis that failed. As someone else mentioned having to pay to park is also a factor.
The Grand Avenue was built in 1982 as way to bring life back to downtown Milwaukee. It was said even the bars closed at 6 p.m. in downtown Milwaukee circa 1980. About the only businesses west of the Milwaukee River open past 6 p.m. in the late 70s were hotels, porn shops and two theaters running porn films. Back in the 80s and early 90s the Grand Avenue Mall was successful.
This mall took a lot of inspration directly from early bayahore mall in ottawa canada amd did it own custom are scheam amd even give the upgraded bayshore mall in ottawa canada a few 2010's update
+captianjessie1 the mall is supposed to get a huge renovation. That's funny because there also is a Bayshore Mall in Milwaukee to.
How did u get away with filming the mall in without the mall cop stopping you and saying you couldn't film
It was a nice Mall when it first opened it was beautiful but now there is nothing there but maybe seven stores and the funny thing is three of the stores at T-Mobile and Boost Mobile and MetroPCS and the big one is TJ Maxx
The mall police did stop me that's why the film got cut short.
Yep all Payless stores gone .
It just reopened as a food court/ entertainment district. Hope it bounces back
Except for the ugly floor tiles, this mall is pretty nice.
+Eric K mall is great. It's being converted to a hybrid office and Retail environment.
Ive been here
That's a big mall.
+Emma Leishman indeed. It's in the process of a remodel to turn the empty parts into offices and Conference rooms.
Originally the Grand Avenue was Gimbel's, the turn of the century Plankinton building renamed the Plankinton Arcade, the 1982 New Arcade and the then-six story Boston Store plus bargain basement. By the time this video was made Gimbel's was long gone (having been Marshall Field's circa 1986-1996 and Boston Store was only two floors. By the time of the video very little retail remained in the Plankinton building.
there's a uber driving center in there where my mom got her uber job
+Charles Pawlak really didn't know that.. Thanks for sharing.
I'm a Milwaukee native that left the area in 2009. In the early 00s, security was tasked to also catch retail tenants that would either abandon their lease overnight or do a "bust out" (buy the business on credit, sell the merchandise on the cheap, pocket ALL the proceeds, and disappear). They even tore down the old Randolph Hotel to build that mall. What a disaster!
Almost 1 year later, the mall has not gotten any better. In fact It's now in even more trouble as the Boston Store (which also houses the headquarters for its parent company, Bon-Ton) is closing its doors.
Currently the western half of the mall (the old Plankinton Arcade building, where TJ-Maxx currently is) is being converted into small apartments as part of the mall's planned renovation.
Thanks for the video. FYI, the word is supposeDly, not supposoBly. Not a big deal, but it’s one of those words, along with “eXpresso” that tend to make people cringe.
Who wants to negotiate four floors just to purchase a few baubles? Shoppers are aging and don't want to have to walk so far. What about people in wheelchairs? Strip malls are so much more convenient.
There's a recording studio in the basement that is awesome!!
+KATANGATUNES USA it's awesome hopefully it will stay when their model goes on.
Was there any piano here?
Was the Boston Store here always under that label or was is originally something else?
+Claire Osada I think it was always a Boston Store.
It was always a Boston Store going back to at least the 1920s. In it's last 16 or so years of life it was owned by Bon-Ton Stores and went out of business along with the entire Bon-Ton family of stores. This was a big loss for the Milwaukee area.
I was there in the early 80s and I remember there was a ice skating rink in the middle of the mall
What’s the music? I really love it, and it compliments the feel of the video perfectly 👍
Used to skip school and sell dime bags outside that mall in the 90’s. Great customers
Unless I'm thinking of a different mall, I could have sworn this mall was still busy in 2012.
I visited Milwaukee July, 2012 and yes, there were many people in the mall but I'd say about half of the stores were vacant already then.
ATTACHED TO AN NBA TEAM AND LOOKS LIKE THIS?
This mall is so vaporwave. 🍔
I guess :)
The last time I've ever been to the mall was back in 2017 during Anime Milwaukee. The mall looked like a shell of its former self. Everything was closed, and the few stores that were open were devoid of any life aside from the employees. The only life the mall truly had was the other people attending the convention going there for the food court. There is a weird kind of charm having a food court on the second floor. It's a very specific little detail that I'll miss about the Grand Avenue.