For those of a certain age, the mall used to be the vibrant hub of retail. Quite literally you could get everything under one roof. But with one in five malls failing, it may herald the end of the mall. Especially if these pictures are anything to go by. Across the country, malls are falling into disrepair. Some, as you’ll see, particularly those in the Rust Belt, are abandoned entirely. Others still maintain a 30% occupancy rating and house just a few remaining stores. Here are 84 pictures of abandoned or failing or flat-out dead malls across America.
Main image photo credit: Kyle Tate
Other image sources: Flickr & DeadMalls.com
August 23, 2012 at 4:18 pm, Stephen Badolato said:
84 pictures of dead malls.
August 23, 2012 at 5:06 pm, Nat Wolff said:
I'm fairly certain that all of these are in Ohio.
August 25, 2012 at 1:12 am, Valerie Cerreta said:
The first few pictures are from Rockford, IL. Though the mall is dead, the anchor stores are still in business. and in fact the Burlington Coat Factory just moved in there a couple of years ago.
August 26, 2012 at 5:49 pm, Melinda Mercer said:
One was in Atlanta…
September 18, 2012 at 12:23 am, Railyn Haines Mest said:
Some are Ohio, some are Illinois, and some are PA, as I took a fair amount of them, and others were taken by friends.
November 09, 2012 at 7:19 pm, Becky Talbot said:
One if from Plymouth, MN (The Four Seasons Mall).
November 09, 2012 at 7:19 pm, Becky Talbot said:
One if from Plymouth, MN (The Four Seasons Mall).
January 01, 2013 at 12:29 am, Jeff Tumidanski said:
I noticed a couple from W Michigan.
January 02, 2013 at 4:45 pm, Tommy Kozakiewicz said:
i know one was in nj
January 03, 2013 at 2:02 am, Lisa Eshleman Foster said:
It seemed like Pa to me.
January 09, 2013 at 8:00 am, Aaron Andrew Keith said:
The title photo is in northtowne mall in toledo ohio
August 23, 2012 at 7:26 pm, Jordan Munz said:
The one with the Media play is near me, it isn't closed down but they redid a lot of it.
August 23, 2012 at 7:27 pm, Nuff Syed said:
Glad to see someone's still watering the plants.
September 16, 2012 at 6:21 pm, Noreen Fiske said:
oh they're plastic just like everything else at the mall!
August 23, 2012 at 7:27 pm, Ed Hyde said:
To put a silver lineing on these sad images, what great places to film some disaster/zombie movie/show!
August 23, 2012 at 7:30 pm, Danny Powell said:
Something tells me that the people that used to work there don't think the economy is better.
August 23, 2012 at 7:30 pm, Mark Cole said:
Pictures to make Gruen groan…
August 23, 2012 at 7:38 pm, Adam Cole said:
I'm sure you're aware of Ulrich's work, but his photographs of 'dark stores' and disused malls have long been favourites of the bappus:
http://notifbutwhen.com/projects/copia/dark-stores/
August 23, 2012 at 7:31 pm, Tanner Corcoran said:
What they don't tell you is that most of these malls suck ass anyway.
August 23, 2012 at 7:32 pm, Rod Urand said:
Such a shame.
August 23, 2012 at 7:35 pm, Casey Mongillo said:
These are all great hangout spots for Slenderman.
August 23, 2012 at 4:45 pm, The Andy Warhol of Instagram, and Other Web Goodness said:
[...] It looks like mall rats will have to find a new home. Here’s a collection of 84 pictures of abandoned malls. [DeathandTaxes] [...]
August 23, 2012 at 8:46 pm, Aaron Brekke said:
Mall in the top was used for tim and eriks movie.
August 23, 2012 at 8:56 pm, Evan Buchholz said:
I'm sure one of these malls is where they filmed the Tim and Eric movie.
August 23, 2012 at 9:52 pm, Josh Welsh Quijada said:
Wow
August 23, 2012 at 10:03 pm, Turki Stu said:
well america is after all the shittiest country in the world.
March 02, 2013 at 6:21 pm, David Plutschak said:
Because there are no malls in Canada. (hint: the largest mall in North America is not in the U.S.) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/West_Edmonton_Mall
August 23, 2012 at 10:06 pm, Christopher Macsurak said:
So sad. I loved Northridge Mall in Milwaukee as a teenager. I'd buy Girbaud clothes, life was good. I saw Madonna's Truth or Dare at the Northridge Cinema. Buy a CD at Musicland.
August 23, 2012 at 10:11 pm, Kristopher Fjeldos said:
Green Bay, Wi's Port Plaza was flattened this year. We called it PP mall and had a lot of good times there. In the early 80's we used to get $.25 for free samples of arcade games. I actually kept getting free tokens and played every game there. Now it's gone, forever.
August 23, 2012 at 10:36 pm, Bedford Crenshaw said:
There is little that is as depressing as a dead/dying mall. Sad.
August 23, 2012 at 10:43 pm, Heidi Elizabeth said:
Malls have been dying out for a long while…this isn't new or recent.
August 23, 2012 at 11:20 pm, Myranda Escamilla said:
Surely some zombie movie was filmed in one of those malls…
August 23, 2012 at 11:53 pm, Deanna Coleman said:
Every time I'm reminded of dead and dying malls I think back to the Rhode Island Mall. Ow, right in the childhood.
August 27, 2012 at 12:19 pm, Janis A Mooradian said:
So do I. When Rhode Island Mall first opened, we were all so excited. My aged aunts knew the malls wouldn't last. Their reasons proved true.
August 24, 2012 at 12:32 am, Rae Washington said:
This reminds me of Contagion.
August 24, 2012 at 2:00 am, David Rader said:
No big surprise there. Malls are one of the best places to get the least out of your money. If they're going to have the worst prices possible on almost everything, they need to cater more to the "hang-out" experience to get people in the mall. Even "strip-malls" usually say "no loitering," but that's one angle the price buster malls can actually hit since they practically encourage loitering. Who wants to hang when their buck can't get a bang though? What teen can "pay" to hang out with their friends every weekend?
August 24, 2012 at 2:34 am, Wm Maxwell said:
Without any people in them you really see how cheap & cheesy the designs & materials are.
August 24, 2012 at 3:31 am, Mo Arthur said:
this is really sad. I wonder where all those people work now? or if they do at all…. so much for the green recovering economy.
August 24, 2012 at 3:42 am, Steve Petterson said:
Just as Video Killed the Radio Star, the Internet has killed traditional stores.
August 24, 2012 at 3:43 am, Steve Petterson said:
Just as Video killed the Radio Star, the internet has killed traditional stored around the world. People can buy cheap and still get the same quality from online stores. Traditional stores cant compete with rent, electricity and wage costs factored into the costs
August 24, 2012 at 5:41 am, Carrie Marshall said:
When I saw the mall with Media Play in it, I felt so sad. I miss Media Play so much.
December 11, 2012 at 6:14 pm, Andrew Terranova said:
Me too, great store, so many memories.
August 24, 2012 at 5:49 am, Hunter Lance Narcilla said:
I can do skateboarding there and a franchise business!
D
August 24, 2012 at 1:23 pm, Maritzel Aue Fie said:
Creepy. But good places to film zombie and scary films, lol. They should make them into housing. It'd be a good place for homeless people.
August 24, 2012 at 8:10 pm, Deanna Medina said:
Pictorial evidence of the state of America's economy. These malls do look like they're from the 80's but still proof that dot coms are really taking over…
August 27, 2012 at 12:25 pm, Coyotes Corner said:
I think one of the worst aspects of 84 Pictures of Dead Malls is that this proves the extent to which we are a disposable society. From the beginning of the project, digging, etc, all was harmful to the Earth. Now, there are these sad, ugly empty spaces, markers to our continued love of disposability. Why aren't these apartments? Movie sets, skate boarding?
August 27, 2012 at 3:01 pm, Ryan Quinn said:
A little piece of Pripyat in the USA.
August 27, 2012 at 6:52 pm, Terrible back-to-school commercials | Death and Taxes said:
[...] are not much more creative.We get it, denim, backpack, graphic tees. As we reported earlier, malls could possibly be a thing of the past, and this might be because there is nothing that [...]
August 28, 2012 at 3:02 pm, Greg Johns said:
I don't think it is entirely the econmies fault, I believe that a big part is how America shops now. I make most of my purchases online. I like the ease, and it's usually the best way to find exactly what I'm looking for. Home delivery also saves me from driving.
August 30, 2012 at 7:14 am, Carrie Elaine Blair said:
wow! Not where we should be for the zombie apocalypse.
September 04, 2012 at 8:01 am, Logbook » Archive said:
[...] 84 pictures of dead malls across America. [...]
September 13, 2012 at 12:06 am, Ray Richards said:
Sad? I found these photos to be cool and uplifting.
September 13, 2012 at 3:26 am, Andrew Thomas Murray said:
I want to play airsoft in them…
September 15, 2012 at 3:28 pm, Rachel Timpanaro said:
"WE'RE STILL HERE."
*shat bricks*
June 02, 2013 at 1:58 am, Heather Rhodes said:
That was sad. Super depressing.
September 16, 2012 at 6:42 am, Alyx Martin said:
I wonder how many homeless people live in these malls.
September 16, 2012 at 12:24 pm, Stevil Kinevil said:
I bet they all still smell like buttered popcorn, leather and stuff imported from China.
September 17, 2012 at 1:45 am, Brian Bear Lund said:
This was the Mall close to where I grew up: http://dixiesquare.webs.com/
September 17, 2012 at 11:58 pm, Julia Griffin said:
gorgeous.
September 18, 2012 at 2:30 am, Jacqueline Jauregui said:
Too much retail = lots of broken dreams for people with little businesses and franchises. Sigh. Did you see the great piece Bea posted a few weeks back about a shuttered Big Box store being turned into a huge public library? Very cool use of the space.
September 18, 2012 at 12:20 am, Railyn Haines Mest said:
A fair amount of these were taken my me, or friends of mine. It would have been appreciated if you asked before you took – or at bare minimum linked back to the Flickr account from where they came. My stuff is copyrighted and the stuff of my friends is too.
September 19, 2012 at 1:39 pm, FOUR CORNERS OF THE INTERNET v10 « This is my life… said:
[...] places. (Especially amusement parks!) You can see a picture version of the state of our economy here. Is there anything more sad than an empty [...]
September 19, 2012 at 6:01 pm, Your hometown dilapidated mall could soon turn into chain restaurant paradise | Death and Taxes said:
[...] that can exist without cutting business.Take a look at these modern day malls that just did not quite make the cut. The Wall Street Journal reports that the average vacancy rate for U.S. malls and strip shopping [...]
September 20, 2012 at 12:41 pm, Mammal Typography and Chapmania | The Goose's Roost said:
[...] Some people like gratuitous food photos or Instagramed cloud formations, but I prefer dead mall porn. Here’s 84 photos of dead malls. [...]
September 26, 2012 at 3:02 am, Anita Rose said:
Thanks for stealing my Giovanni's pizza & subs picture.
September 27, 2012 at 3:48 am, Παρατημένα Εμπορικά Κέντρα - Το σπιτόσκυλο said:
[...] εδώ 84, ναι, ογδόντα τέσσερις φωτογραφίες από εμπορικά [...]
September 30, 2012 at 12:28 am, Theo Michos said:
They could be transformed into schools!
October 14, 2012 at 12:08 am, Blake Day said:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6nwXHQeKR20
October 19, 2012 at 3:03 pm, Evidence Why America is Dead: Photos | Eradica said:
[...] 84 pictures of dead malls (deathandtaxesmag.com) [...]
December 04, 2012 at 2:16 pm, The future of retail in the age of the Internet | Institutional Real Estate, Inc said:
[...] happen to all the existing retail properties if more and more shopping moves online? They could die. Or they might become [...]
December 11, 2012 at 6:16 pm, Andrew Terranova said:
These pictures are very melancholy. Like the Parthenon or the Pyramids, here is a photo essay of the ancient ruins of capitalism. Soon well be looking at blogs of dead whatever-replaces-malls. Maybe dead Apple stores?
January 02, 2013 at 10:59 am, Eighty-Four Photos of Dead Malls | Disinformation said:
[...] Via Death and Taxes: [...]
January 02, 2013 at 12:08 pm, dead malls | Mr. Diggles & You said:
[...] click here to see 84 pictures of dead malls [...]
January 02, 2013 at 6:30 pm, Margo Mitchell said:
kinda sad. and I don't even recognize any of these malls.
January 03, 2013 at 11:17 am, Eighty-Four Photos of Dead Malls « Content Curated By Darin R. McClure & a few photos said:
[...] Photos of Dead Malls: Via Death and Taxes: [...]
January 04, 2013 at 3:50 am, Tomas Medina said:
One A Burlington Coat Factory hits your mall… it's OVER. The mall clientele changes and the mall slowly starts to deteriorate.
January 31, 2013 at 1:34 pm, Billy Talen said:
Just amazing, sad, Earth-revenging… The Stop Shopping Choir needs to get out into these scenes with songs of passage. —Rev Billy Watch.
February 05, 2013 at 3:38 am, Pezzi e bocconi – 05/02/2013 « minimo. said:
[...] di cui i lettori di minimo apparentemente non sono grandissimi fan, date un’occhiata qui. Il vero problema è che anche i centri delle città iniziano ad avere questo stesso [...]
February 28, 2013 at 1:04 pm, Social Change Project | D. Pottok said:
[...] http://www.deathandtaxesmag.com/187511/84-pictures-of-dead-malls/ [...]
March 25, 2013 at 5:30 am, Melissa Welch said:
My high school class of 1984 are going to have a 30th year reunion next year.These were the places of my youth on Saturday afternoon.I see DEB and Lerner's somewhere in my memory w/these pictures.I'm going to the reunion not because I was popular, it was the total opposite.I'm going to see if they remember me and how they treated me and to explain they are the reason for my self loathing.(that is very very true)Pretty harsh words.It's still ingrained in me.Hell, I don't really think I should go at all.Sorry for the off the subject thing at the end.
May 19, 2013 at 11:51 pm, tumblr backups said:
[...] 84 Pictures Of Dead Malls [...]