Talk about struggling/dead malls?

[livingdeadgrrl]

ohhh yeah dead malls are pretty interesting. i had a phase its not a phase i still wanna do it where i was REALLYYY into grunge-y stuff on tumblr and came across pictures of dead malls. i would LOVEEEE to explore (and skate) around one, honestly. One of the reasons is cus there really isnt any dead malls where im from, probably because "mall culture" is still very much alive where, very like bustling and well-maintained. It is very much THE most convenient and accessible place for most people. I do know of DEAD dead malls that has been struggling maybe 10-ish years ago,, but theyre p much completely closed down and i dont think they would let ppl in there anymore.

heres one that i usually see and its getting demolished (or already has been im not too sure of its current state)

[musicobsessed107]

The mall closest to me is doing alright so far and has at least a decent amount of people walking around it on any given day.

However, there is a mall that's about an hour away by bus (my folks and I don't have a car) that's dying and has become a ghost town, with maybe only 1 or 2 people walking around it at any given time. I'm pretty sure Nordstrom leaving that mall for another, larger mall nearby in late 2015 is what really started this mall's decline and its decline became especially apparent after the pandemic (though I did notice some warning signs of its decline even before then when I went there shortly after my 13th birthday in August and September 2019). It feels eerie yet sad at the same time. It's honestly a shame that this mall isn't doing so well anymore, especially when you see how beautiful its interior still is (although they sadly removed the water fountains on the 1st floor that surrounded the elevators at one point). There's something quite sad about walking past entire rows of abandoned stores, especially when you remember that it didn't used to be like this at all.

There's also a mall I used to go to sometimes as a kid (though again, not nearly as often as the one closest to me that's still alive and sort of thriving) that shut down in 2019. I will never forget the fun food themed play area in the food court of that mall, though. Hell, whenever I drink Snapple, I always think of that particular mall, since that was the only place I'd be able to find it sold at as a child. :( I'm pretty sure the property has been bought out by a local university as of late.

[devils]

Grew up on an apartment complex that was connected to a mall that was really popular when I was younger but got steadily worse as I aged, mostly due to poor financial decisions on the owner's part. When I was 14, the last store they had closed down and since you still could walk around inside it I often used it as a shortcut. This was years before the liminal space craze, mind you. Otherwise I'd definitely have taken pictures...

Last time I went there it had a big renovation, but it was still almost entirely empty and the way it was rebuilt was almost like a labyrinth. Very strange, especially since the staff was mostly on vacation (this was around Christmas of 2024) and the security was outside, making it so the entire mall was quiet except for the Christmas songs playing on the speakers.

[b-lly]

Look at this wonderful small mall in my area!

(the sound is a broken escalator. they fixed it, I think)

it's small but it's still mostly empty, the underground floor looks abandoned, it even has graffiti (second photo)
I think it carries on because it has a big supermarket... I have NO idea why it was built, it's next to another small mall that is more lively but still has some empty shops. I don't think there was the demand for another one, it was like this from the start... or maybe rent is too high, idk

(edit: fixed missing photos)

[Cele]

The only mall in my town is a shadow of what it used to be. There was a hamburger place, clothes shops, and cafe. Maybe other shops, I don't quite remember. Now there's a pharmacy, 1 clothes shop, 1 other shop, that's it. They completely walled in the section that had the cafe. Obviously a place with 2 stores and a pharmacy pulls in less people to hang out at the mall than how it used to be. I think a food place would be a necessity to give it some life. (It's not very big so it's not like there's room for a lot of stores but there's is definitely room for more than 2!)

[Horsey Chobunso]

https://imgur.com/a/o0YASpz


These are from my local dying mall. I still love being in there even when it's end is known and coming. I get a weird nostalgia every time. I am lucky that the other mall somewhat nearby is still going strong, so I don't completely miss that part of my childhood, but its still sad to see it go, even with the problems that come with malls.

I took these on a Pentax K1000 with Ilford HP5 Black and White film then developed and scanned myself. I definitely could've shot these digital, but the film just felt right. The artifacting is cause I goofed it.