Dead Malls.com

meangreendork · June 15, 2007

I found this website today when I surfing on Wikipedia. DeadMalls.com

It's got a listing and comments for a lot of defunct, soon-to-be-defunct, and possibly defunct malls for the US and Canada. They've got info about the BigTown, Forum303, and oddly, Willowbend. Looking at some of the malls, I noticed that they look a lot like GTM, and in some cases managed by companies like Simon. What really gets me is that a lot of these defunct malls are victims of weather or other malls opening in the same city that overtake that old mall. GTM really doesn't have an excuse for being what it is now. It's got the ability to be the first-stop shopping place for over 50,000 students and residents of Aubrey, Roanoke, and the other nearby towns. Makes me wonder if a better company will improve GTM or just raze it and make it a better place.

Big Town Photos

NT80 · June 15, 2007

Nice find. I'd say yes, that GT is on the way down the slippery slope. I was in there this spring after not being there for about 3-4 years and it's definately declined and lost business since. The mall buyer last year has promised ~$40 million in upgrades including food court and possible IMAX but that was before a couple anchor stores announced they are moving to Razor Ranch.

Willowbend is not far from me and an odd case. It's a beautiful very, very upscale mall and has little traffic but they must spend big $$ because there are few vacancies there. I like going there at Christmas because it is easy in and out. It's located along the Tollway between the bubble-gum young crowd at Stonebriar in Frisco and tah-tah Galleria at LBJ.

Edited June 15, 2007 by NT80

UNTflyer · June 15, 2007

"Is Golden Triangle next on that list?"

God, we can only hope...

meangreendork · June 15, 2007

When Willowbend first opened, I wasn't really that into it, it was really aimed at women, and I couldn't buy from a lot of the stores since I simply couldn't afford (though my girlfriend at the time could buy whatever she pleased). It's not as bad now, with more stores that a guy can reasonably walk into and not feel out of place, but for me, I'm not really motivated to go there since it's a little out of the way.

I still haven't visited the Razor Ranch site. It looks like it'll beat GTM into the ground and leave it empty or a vacant lot. There's hope in the surge of activity on 288, though. Once they're done with the road improvements, it should bring more traffic back to the area, and the GTM's old land can go to anyone. I don't know who would go there since most chains are headed to Razor Ranch. In some larger cities, duplicate stores in one city isn't a bad thing and that supports more than shopping center, but Denton isn't at that place yet.

About that road work on 288: If I remember properly, that road work started within 2 years of the high-5 work at the 75/635 join and the work at the high-5 was completed faster and without the kind of hassles at the 288 site. It's kind of sad, especially with that section of 288 that goes towards the WalMart and Super Target. Rather than taking out the overpass and having to build the road twice, I'd like to think they could've done it a simpler way, but I'm no city planner and I could be wrong.

There's a poster child for the dead malls thing--- Dixie Square in Harvey, IL. This was the scene for a part of the Blues Brothers movie. The mall shutdown in 1978 and it still stands, decrepit as ever, 30 years later.

LongJim · June 15, 2007

Now you're talking my (past career) territory. A few of the malls at Deadmalls are ones that I worked projects on in the late 80's/early 90's.

One of the most bizarre was the old North Town Mall in Dallas--which was one of the first, if not THE first enclosed malls in DFW.

At the time of it's closure, there were only 2-3 stores left, (OfficeMax, Burlington, and a movie theatre IIRC) and the entire interior was closed from the outside. You couldn't enter the mall from the remaining "anchors", but we could. Let me tell you, a dark, leaking place crawling with feral cats, and rats the size of a small dog is not somewhere you want to be. Bums would somtimes break in and squat. It was gross.

Another listed at DM.com is the 163rd Street mall in North Miami Beach. That too, was a weird one. I was there when the Rodney King verdict was announced, and the place erupted in near riots. I jumped in my pickup and hauled ass back to West Palm, where I was HQ'd. That mall had an old Woolworths with a coffee shop/luncheonette. It was a throwback , for sure.

NT80 · June 15, 2007

When Willowbend first opened, I wasn't really that into it, it was really aimed at women, and I couldn't buy from a lot of the stores since I simply couldn't afford (though my girlfriend at the time could buy whatever she pleased). It's not as bad now, with more stores that a guy can reasonably walk into and not feel out of place, but for me, I'm not really motivated to go there since it's a little out of the way.
There's a poster child for the dead malls thing--- Dixie Square in Harvey, IL. This was the scene for a part of the Blues Brothers movie. The mall shutdown in 1978 and it still stands, decrepit as ever, 30 years later.

Yes, Willowbend is mainly a women's mall, which is why I'm normally only there at Xmas...shopping for the wife. I agree, otherwise men feel out of place there, although now there is a decent sports bar there.

There is a shutdown and boarded-up outlet mall in Allen at 75 and hwy121 which dates back to about 1978 also. I've heard another developer has bought the land and will tear it down (hopefully) someday soon. Those abandonded malls just bring blight to the area they are in.

NT80 · June 15, 2007

One of the most bizarre was the old North Town Mall in Dallas--which was one of the first, if not THE first enclosed malls in DFW.
At the time of it's closure, there were only 2-3 stores left, (OfficeMax, Burlington, and a movie theatre IIRC) and the entire interior was closed from the outside. You couldn't enter the mall from the remaining "anchors", but we could. Let me tell you, a dark, leaking place crawling with feral cats, and rats the size of a small dog is not somewhere you want to be. Bums would somtimes break in and squat. It was gross.

Interesting. We moved to Dallas in 1965 from Iowa and saw NorthPark. We thought it was a giant sprawling hospital when we first saw it because it was all white brick and had no signage on the exterior. Someone said it was a "mall" and we had never heard that term before. I believe it was the first covered mall in Texas.

The North Town Mall seemed to have trouble from the opening keeping traffic. They tried several times to convert it to a high tech/computer mall and now looks like a campus for tech type companies.

meangreendork · June 16, 2007

North Town thread

Found this when I was looking for photos of NorthTown. You're right though, these emptied malls are a major problem when they're no longer being occupied. A structure that large can be great when it's used, so many good things can come out of it. When it's abandoned, just as much bad can come from an unsecured and dangerous structure. I'm worried that when Golden Triangle closes down, it won't be taken down and replaced in short order. I don't think it'll make a great impression on incoming when they see ruins of a mall when they're here for freshmen recruitng. Hopefully the city council realizes

that Denton depends on the universities for a lot and they'll do something smart to remedy the situation at the mall. Most of 288 is great to look at, I'd hate for people to skip that area.

gksmith · June 18, 2007

The sad part is that the Golden Triangle Mall is only about 25 years old. It opened in the early 80s. There are a lot of malls in Dallas that are a lot older and still open. Not sure if there is a mismanagement problem or exactly what. Denton was trying to keep people in Denton instead of spending their money in Dallas.

If Razor Ranch opens a mall it will be the death of the GTM.

meangreendork · June 18, 2007

The sad part is that the Golden Triangle Mall is only about 25 years old. It opened in the early 80s. There are a lot of malls in Dallas that are a lot older and still open. Not sure if there is a mismanagement problem or exactly what. Denton was trying to keep people in Denton instead of spending their money in Dallas.
If Razor Ranch opens a mall it will be the death of the GTM.

Isn't North Park Mall one of those older malls? I call it "The Castle" and it underwent a really, really major overhaul in the last few years and it's a fantastic mall now.

gksmith · June 18, 2007

Isn't North Park Mall one of those older malls? I call it "The Castle" and it underwent a really, really major overhaul in the last few years and it's a fantastic mall now.

North Park is older but I am not sure how old.

Before GTM, we shopped at Valley View on LBJ. That is an OLD mall.

Coffee and TV · June 20, 2007

I check in on that site every once in a while, its a really interesting read. Its almost depressing to read the history of how urban decay took its toll on some of those places. I remember going to Prestonwood Mall when I was 12-13 years old (1995/1996) and it was a really neat place with an ice skating ring. I decided to go there to do some school shopping in August of 2000 or so and was shocked to hear that it was closed by that time. Read one of the submissions about how teens used to meet there to do heroin in the late 90's. Crazy crazy stuff. The Dixieland Mall near Chicago is one of the best reads, you may know it as the chase scene mall in the movie Blues Brothers. It's been closed longer than it was ever opened.

FirefightnRick · June 20, 2007

Anyone from Fort Worth here remember Seminary South...aka Fort Worth Town Center on Seminary and I-35W?

It started out(as the parents and grandparents tell me) as a swampy, snake filled lake. Then became Seminary South and I only remember this Mall from childhood and no others in Fort Worth. I don't recall if it was the first of it's kind or not in Fort Worth? Around the late 70's you didn't go there unless you wanted to end up taking a cab home. You at least would lose your hubcaps and stereo if nothing else. Today you could easily lose your life. But later it became Fort Worth Town Center and remains today but it's a real pit. It reminds me of a giant Guadalajara Bizaar flee market now or something. I remember the first ever Orange Julius I ever had was there. I remember Woolworths and Sears? Back in around 199...? something Mickey Rourke filmed that retarted movie(exuse me as the name doesn't come directly to mind) of his about terrorists taking over a mall there. I actually felt life had come full circle for me during this time as I worked on that set for one night by signing up for some overtime with the fire department by standing by on set with a fire truck during the explosion scenes that were to take place out in the parking lot. By full circle I mean when I was 5 I was chosen to do a photo shoot commercial for Fort Worth National Bank and the Mall was nice then(1971). My mom worked at the bank and the guys doing the commercial saw me at her desk during a christmas party and asked if I would stand in for the photos. I remember they used a 1971 StingRay Corvette for the backdrop of the commercial and some hot babe that walked around holding my hand and posing with me and the car. Pretty funny. Anyhow, during the Mickey Rourke filming we broke for lunch at 1:00 a.m. that night and I walked into the lunch room and about three people called my name. It turned out to be several Dallas crewmembers from Necessary Roughness that remembered me. I sat down and ate with them directly behind Mickey Rourke. He seemed like a pretty cool dude and laughed it up with everyone.

Anyhow, I can't see how that Mall isn't on this list.

Rick

Edited June 23, 2007 by FirefightnRick

Coffee and TV · June 20, 2007

Rick, the town center you speak of is still open, albeit in different form. Its sort of a flea-market type of discount center place. Actually doesn't look in bad shape considering its history.

LongJim · June 20, 2007

Anyone from Fort Worth here remember Seminary South...aka Fort Worth Town Center on Seminary and I-35W?

Yep!

WBAP used to play commercials for that mall and Big Town back in the early '70's. I remember the jingle for SS was set to "Here Comes The Sun" by the Beatles--so that shows how old that mall is.

"Here comes the sun..."

"Semi-nary south..."

Weird. A snippet of Big Town's jingle ended with "...at Biiiig Towwn, inn BIIIG DEEEEE!"

Strange I can remember these, but get my kids birthdays confused. :lol:

meangreendork · June 20, 2007

My girlfriend's mom used to go to Big Town, reportedly. Before the demolition, it looked pretty sad.

FirefightnRick · June 23, 2007

Rick, the town center you speak of is still open, albeit in different form. Its sort of a flea-market type of discount center place. Actually doesn't look in bad shape considering its history.

Yes, in fact, here's their website for the new version of it.

La Gran Plaza de Fort Worth

Here is an article about it's purchase in 2004 with hope to revitalize the mall. They had to of purchased the mall pretty cheap with having any hope of a return on the place?

http://www.bizjournals.com/dallas/stories/...14/daily38.html

Maybe there's hope for that place afterall but I still wouldn't shop there without the CHL handy of course and I certainly wouldn't be there after dark. Fairly rough side of town still but at least things seem to be improving if you go by that website?

Rick

Edited June 23, 2007 by FirefightnRick