A Visit to Charleston Town Center (Feat. Macy's)
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- čas přidán 13. 06. 2019
- Charleston Town Center. On the surface, it seems to be holding its own quite well for a downtown mall. However, as we dig deeper, it seems to be living on borrowed time more than anything else. Let's step inside, and see what the Charleston Town Center is all about.
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I worked in this mall for 5 years beginning in 1986. It was so fun in those early years. The fountain was great!
I wish there was video of the old fountain running
@@southfla2003 my husband has worked for E. L. Robinson Engineering which laid out the Charleston Town Center and the waterfall 40+ years..
Maybe they should change it into something everyone could enjoy- young and old. I bet I've been to the mall less than eight times yet when the stores were on Capital Street, I shopped all the time.
I love this mall and I hope it stays in business for a while. So many childhood memories and nostalgia made here. From eating in the food court with family, to hanging out after band competitions. I love this mall. I hate to see it go downhill.
It's sad, man. This mall was very busy in the 80's - mid 90's and had quite a few more stores. When the Wal-mart Supercenter/strip mall opened about 5 miles up the road, their business took a large hit and never fully recovered.
The mall was still popular during 2012-16 as I remember living there, I have great memories there.
I went to the Charleston Town Center in its early days, when it opened. And it was full of promise, and in the downtown area.
If that mall can’t make it, then the future of a lot of malls is in doubt. It’s shocking to me that it would ever get into any fiscal distress.
It was in fiscal distress long before your comment. It's sort of like watching retail evolution in action. Town Center opened in 83 and killed off all but a few of the most stubborn businesses downtown along Capitol Street and Summers Street. Walmart and the rest of Southridge opened in the very late noughties and killed off Town Center.
Some stores were smart enough to move to Southridge and some left Charleston entirely. If you look at the relocated stores, it's a fair number. Offhand--Kays, Olive Garden, Red Lobster, Lane Bryant, Hallmark, the WVU and Marshall store. Some others have a presence in Barboursville and figure that's plenty close enough since Charleston is gasping its last breaths anyway. No need to go down with the ship.
I would put a casino in one of the vacant anchors, a convention center in a second one and salvage the in line tenants as best you can
Won't happen. The three casinos in the state had to get special legislative approval with some very specific conditions. No way they authorize one in the middle of Charleston and only a 15-minute drive to Mardi Gras Casino in Cross Lanes/Nitro.
Edit: And our illustrious leaders already spent $90m that we can't afford remodeling our current convention center. Now they're getting ready to waste some more money building a "world-class sports complex." That'll show all the druggies, crazies, and criminals that they should get out of our city!
So sad, you should have seen this place in the 90s-00s during the holiday season. It was POPPIN. When I was in high school I worked at Pac Sun and Hollister. Ended up getting fired from Pac Sun for showing up to work high (weed). What can I say, it was a 2 hour early out! It was probably a blessing in disguise, as I was being stalked by a sketchy character in the mall my friends and I liked to call, "TheRapist". One time when I was folding clothes in the front of Pac Sun he came in and told me I shouldn't be bending over like that, as it was "giving him ideas". Later in the day when the mall had closed and we shut our gate, I saw him pacing back and forth. I imagine waiting for me to leave and walk to my car. I had to get mall security to escort me to the parking garage night. Subsequent times I'd go to the mall, even with my mom, I'd see him and he'd tip his hat to me. Talk about SCARY! Overall fond memories of this mall.
I did a stint at Camelot Music over a winter break from college, good memories for sure
I miss the the water fall in the mall
There was a Books' a Million in the town center at one point
This was a true show place in the beginning. Kaufmann's, Schwabe-May, Talbots, Bombay Company, Heaven (I recall was a store that sold mostly 50s-60s retro style items), The Gap, Abercrombie & Fitch, Pendleton, the Coffee Bean, Crabtree & Evelyn and even Coach had a store here. And my how times have changed. There are various reasons as to why this mall has fallen apart. Crime, gangs, the economy and people/residents that just don't care what they look like so they turned their noses to decent clothing for pajamas, military and hunting gear (walk around any WV Wally World and you will see for yourself). In fact, it's very sad to see my native state and Capital City fall down the tubes. Even though I moved away ten years ago, I made it a must to visit the CTC when visiting family, but once Macy's (formally Kaufmann's) closed up shop I simply never returned and likely never will. Macy's never caught on with WV. Like in other states, folks grew fond and familiar with regional nameplates like Kaufmann's of Pittsburgh and nothing will ever replace this fact. Anyway, this mall was recently sold to an outfit in Georgia I believe that is in the business of rehabilitating dead malls. However, their history and record says otherwise and is up for debate. Good luck to the CTC. Sadly, the best days have past.
Great video. Thanks for filming.
Good one. Thanks Doomie G.
Although the Town Center was pretty nice when it was built, it went on a decline when the Southridge mall, with free parking and more modern storefronts, came into being. Combine this redirection of the traffic with an overall smaller population (around 70,000 versus 47,000) and you have the mall you see today.
You walked directly past three separate people that I know.
lol I only made out 1. he was at the food court in front of the mighty Sakio's
At least it's still clean - even if some of the patrons aren't. Bright and airy as well.
One problem, being downtown means a Tractor Supply/Rural King is unlikely.
Update on this: the Macy’s store, as well as the parking garage adjacent to it (the Lee Street garage) will, over the next couple of years, be renovated into a mega sports complex. There is also some legal wrangling involved, but they’re trying to make the seers into a hotel, deciding whether or not to tear it out and make the hotel freestanding separate from the mall or build it wall adjacent.
I think I read that they recently tore it down
god, even just looking at this mall 3 years ago is way less depressing. i went in september and it was terrible and eerie how many sealed storefronts there were.
I only go in to eat at Tidewater, Outback, or Chili's now. Even then I'm more likely to park on the street and walk, thus avoiding the inside of the mall altogether.
Bonus points for the MGS ! And music. Nice touch. Lol
I was just there yesterday, a lot of good stores have closed down especially the Candy Kraze and I think the books a million. I would always go here a lot when I was younger (I’m 17 now), I have a lot of good, nostalgic memories about this place and shopping. My favorite place to eat is the Sbarro’s and the Chilies on one end of the mall. Thank you so much for this video and a great choice of music as well.
It's really sad on what happening to the Charleston Town Center, with crime and various deals going on and how 2020 was like to everything. I don't see the mall surviving for much longer, various tenants have already left and the mall itself has been up for sale for quite a while. I do hope the mall gets a new owner soon because it's only a matter of time before the once-lively mall itself becomes a dead mall. Unless Hull Property Group finds a new owner for the Charleston Town Center, I only see it dying within the next 5 years after this comment is posted. A miracle needs to happen or else the once vibrant shopping destination of Charleston becomes another shell.
I used to go here like every day it makes me sad
I wanna see this mall get back on its feet
This mall has really went downhill since your video. There are huge amounts of former storefronts walled off. It is crazy how much it has lost so quickly. It was still doing fairly well in 2001 and 2002. It began declining soon after that, first slowly and now it is in free fall.
Yeah. For some reason they thought putting drywall over every single bit of empty storefront would make it look better. It did not.
Summer of 92, came down from Pittsburgh for the summer. Loved this mall. Charleston had a problem with crack then.
I remember christmas shopping for my siblings over there when I was 13!
Best Christmas ever!
My Dad was the developer of this mall when I was a kid.
My dad's done a shit, too.
We are The music Makers my husband works for E. L. Robinson Engineering who probably worked with your dad because they laid out Charleston Town Center.
@@Higherup1018 very cool. Forest City was the name of the development company that my Dad worked for.
@@sagedrummer Yes, my husband said that Forest City Dillon (as it was called then) developed town center and owned it for many years.
My husband, Wendell, has worked at Robinson 40 plus years, his dad and boss started the business together.
That mall was kind of lit when I moved there in 99. Had to park on 3rd floor on the weekends and holidays. I moved back to Florida in 21 and the mall was barely hanging on by then. They're still breathing I think. Best of luck to Town Center. Miss ya, Charleston
This is my 2nd most frequented mall. It is weird to see it now as it was a big place when I was a kid. But now, it literally has less anchors than my mall in my much smaller city, Beckley. At least my mall has all is anchors slots filled. It often seems more crowded too. It’s weird tbh.
Crossroads Mall in Beckley is the only Crossroads Mall that's Thriving (not crossroads center in st cloud mn or the crossroads in kalamazoo)
Yeah I remember the same it had so much and now it has so little so I go mainly to crossroads mall even though it's dying as well sadly. It would be nice if it picked up again.
I'm honestly sort of jealous of Beckley anymore, and I never expected to say that. There is far better shopping in Beckley, Parkersburg, Barboursville, and even Huntington than in Charleston and South Charleston combined.
We used to go to Charleston for conventions and always shopped and are at the mall.
Need to come back and compare. You wouldn't believe.
It appears this mall has really went downhill since you made this video
I live about an hour away and would visit this mall and one other down the road when I was a kids Ive know for probably a few years now that this mall was going away soon and have actually been filming just for the memories you know. You want to know what the deal is with the needles well they opened a needle exchange RIGHT NEXT DOOR. So yes there was a big problem with needles in the mall even though the program only lasted a few months before they shut down the exchange after police and locals protested against its usefulness. Sears is supposedly getting torn down and a Holiday Inn is going in to replace it.
Yikes!!! Don’t come back now (2021). It’s booming here compared to today. Very sad.
Put a hardware store, a grocery store and build condos inside just have a few stores with basics and professional services.
Wow, I didn't
Realize they still
Existed, our malls
Died years ago,
It use to be practically a weekend social event, especially
Around Christmas,
very sad....
One of ours actually became a community college,
In Austin Texas.
The only reason why this mall is still alive is because of chick fil a
Very nice looking mall. I felt this was one of the best you'd been to. Surprised me it was W. Virginia. Liked the glitter pillows, should have put a cuss word on it.
BrickStreet/Encova bought the Montgomery Ward property and leases the WOWK Channel 13 space. They do not lease the property.
Kanawha is pronounced by most people in this area as 2 syllables: Kuh-Naw. Also, occasionally with a very brief 3rd syllable: Kuh-Naw-uh.
He didn't butcher it as badly as most (Can-a-wha comes to mind) so I give him a B- for effort.
I miss how the mall use to be jam packed with people and now I went there In a recent trip, It was lifeless, barely any people and it was scattered with homeless people.
sad fate for this mall. i remember when it was lively, but now it’s dying so quickly and it’s becoming a ghost town.
Yeah I miss the older times
The problem is it's downtown. That means it's more stressful of a drive to get to and you have to pay for parking. Downtown malls have been failing for many years.
Doomie Gear?
It’s a lot worse now, it’s officially a dead mall. A lot of wings and empty store fronts is walled off.
Personally I've Been There 5 Times Mostly Late 90's Good Memories. Also Really Like The Greenbrier Mall in Chesapeake Virginia.
Lynnhaven Mall Just Outside Virginia Beach. Enjoyed The Mall in downtown Lexington Kentucky in Between The Hyatt Hotel & Rupp Arena Seen Several WWE Shows There. Live About 20 to 30 Minutes From Huntington Mall or Ashland Town Center Mall.
A little inside info…
Brickstreet insurance (now Encova), was formally the West Virginia state workers compensation commission until Governor Joe Manchin privatized them in 2006.
Also, the reason that the Dillards department store did not occupy the mall was that the city of Charleston would not cave into their demands for $5 million in tax payer “seed money“ to locate there. Yes folks, we live in a society where governments now pay upscale department stores tax money to “develop jobs in the economy“.)
WOWKTV 13 is the CBS affiliate in Charleston.
Downtown is pretty trashy, but if you go on the other side of the Kanawha (by the college and corridor g) its pretty nice. (not including s. charelston)
If only this were still true three years later. Our fine mayor has forbidden the police to enforce any laws against the homeless, crazies, or junkies. Especially the crazy, homeless junkies. They're extra special and must be protected against the police and law-abiding citizens at all costs. The worst parts of Charleston in the 90's (East End around Roosevelt and West Side around Stonewall) are safer than the best parts of Charleston now.
One more thing… Kind of doubtful it would be purchased as a “tax write off“. At least in WV, abandon properties actually pay a higher property tax rate. It would take a special act of Charleston city council or even per hats the state Legislature to get them around this.
Which, I guess given our political climate, is not totally impossible…
Good times
Doom my ass this mall is doing good
The Sears building was taken down. With a new hotel going up in it place.
Boscov’s need to come to Charleston town center also along with JD Sports, HIBBETT SPORTS, Maurices and Donna’s Unique Gifts to go along with other stores if still there. That could help try and bring people back to the mall and check out West Virginia’s capital city. Both Boscov’s and JD Sports just opened at the end of last week at Meadowbrook Mall. Now if only Meadowbrook Mall could find some use for the old Gardfield’s restaurant and coffee shop at the beginning of the Boscov court and try and figure out what to do with the old elder-beerman home store. If planet fitness wasn’t in the way expecting Meadowbrook Mall could be an option also if they could they could flatten the large mountain with parking spaces in front just like on Jerry Dove to bring Menards also could bring more business right beside the mall like how in Huntington and Saint Clairesville there’s other stores and shopping places , restaurants and hotels beside the malls
I remember my mamaw and granny lineing up outside the old Macy's store whenever they had a sale there, i remember my mamaw shopping there thats where she bought most of her jewelry from, ever since my granny passed away and my mamaw passed away the mall just keeps going down hill, oh not to mention they just tour down the old macys to build a boring sports complex there now 😢😒, i remember the old days of the mall.
czcams.com/video/u2mT58ZaDKs/video.htmlsi=gMWCHrQ84cq2dKOv heres a video of the malls opening in 83
I went there earlier this month and bro it was dead af there was barely anything in the mall
Looking at it now the store's are all gone sad fact
I went to the mall the other everything is gone my favorite store
Went gone 😭😭😭
The Charleston Town Center is going to converted into a Sports Center.
is that true ? I left Charleston over a year ago
So what is the most upscale mall in Charleston?
you just seen it
Japanese restaurant is holding that place up 😂
It and Chick-fil-A will be the last two places to shut up shop. I hope the Japanese place finds somewhere nicer to reopen. Probably somewhere along Southridge.
Maybe Marshall's can fill up an anchor slot?
Nah. Marshall's, Homegoods, and TJMaxx have all been safely ensconced in much safer areas with lower rents about ten to fifteen minutes away for years, if not decades. You couldn't drag them kicking and screaming into Town Center.
Town center malls falling to its fate
ive been to the hawaiian grill that shit is good
not better than Sokio's tho
Did you ever go in the Kanawha Mall in Kanawha City, a neighborhood of Charleston ? It was dead as a door nail when I walked through it one time.
It's been converted from a strip mall to regular retail locations. Only part of the old mall accessible is the DMV.
The Kanawha City Mall was nice in 1997-99. It was a good place to socialize and shop. Once the nearby movie theater and Hills/Ames closed the mall was boring.
@@chrisstuart6651 I moved there in 99 and I could tell it was on it's way out. It was stone cold dead in 2021 when i left
@@MrGST360 The mall was long gone by 2021. You could tell it was on its way out in 1999? I doubt highly that. Too much business. You're probably thinking @ 2002.
@@chrisstuart6651 no sir . 1999 . I’m from South Florida. There’s a mall every 10 miles. I know a dead mall when I see one . Kanawha Mall looked like a fancy flea market damn near.
Oof it hurt when they took out PacSun
I live in Charleston I go to that mall
I wish they would leave Macy’s alone
To be honest, this mall didn't look too bad except for the vacancies closer to where(now former, if their store closing is now finished) Macy's is, in this mall. Still though, with a good mall owner who tried to lure new tenants into this mall, I think this mall could possibly continue to do fine. Thank goodness it isn't say like Grand Avenue Mall in Milwaukee, which is mostly dead today.
I do wonder if more likely in a worse case scenario, this mall may start to have more vacancies a la Circle Centre in Indianapolis, but that it might still do okay? Like I've said before a bunch of times, I'd like to see the owner(or soon to be new owner, PLEASE do NOT let it be any of the 3 companies I don't trust: Namdar, Moonbeam, or Mike Kohan!) try to lure a new tenant into the Macy's space. Maybe for all I know, they could get lucky and lure Boscov's to this mall? Also, didn't the now out of business department store chain Dawahares, once have a store at Charleston Town Center? I do hope someday, I get to visit this mall myself.
2024 update. If you plan to visit, you better do it soon. Town Center is deader than a door nail. The only businesses that can stay open are the restaurants, and those are much diminished since it's heyday. They get Brickstreet (now Encova) traffic at lunch, and the lawyers come from Laidley Tower to drink at the nicer restaurants after work. The former Macy's area will be demolished next month as part of an idiotic spending spree the city is on to build a "world-class sports center" that we can't afford and don't need. The Sears area was supposed to have been demolished four or five years ago to build a hotel, but the construction company and the city locked hornsover permitting. They finally started demolishing it in early 2023.
Dawahares was never in Town Center. It may have been in the Huntington Mall at some point. As far as I know, there is exactly one Boscov's in WV, and that is in Bridgeport--nowhere near Charleston. I seriously doubt they would have wanted to open a store in Town Center when Southridge and the new shopping area that's being built in South Charleston are both safer and actually have customers.
Long story short, Town Center's death certificate was already signed when Southridge took off. The insane mayor, crime, drugs, and homeless just hurried it along.
@@morrigan908This is sad to hear. I had a bad hunch that Hull probably wasn't going to attract a lot of new, big name tenants to this mall. And sadly to see, I was proven right in my worry.
Pre-Macy's yes this mall was holding its own, but sadly I think you're right too many shops have moved out of this mall, for it to be viable long term.
This mall now actually sucks.
They are taking out the best stores here.
Also, This is the mall I go to all the time and I never knew people made videos of it🤣
Regis closed sadly and master cuts
North Carolina Malls?
West Virginia
Be patient. We'll get to more NC malls in time.
I live near this mall
Lmfao at the guy at dippy dots. It's sad the mall destroyed the city in the 80s. The city streets we so packed! Not you can walk a mile and hardly pass anyone. The diamond and all the other places all gone! Now if the mall dies all there will be is the internet...
It's not the Kanawha mall, it's the Charleston Town Center in Kanawha (ke-naw-wa) County.
E. L. Robinson Engineering laid it out.
There used to be a mall in Kanawha City called Kanawha Mall. It’s a strip mall now.
"Nice and creative videos, englightening. I can see A lot of thought has been put into the content and editing of the video， This is really my favorite channel.:) .🌴🌴🌴nice job 👍👌👍👌👍 🌴🌴🌴 🌴🌴🌴 🌴🌴🌴 🌴🌴🌴 " From Peterborough[note 18] Peterborough 2021
"Nice and creative videos, englightening. I can see A lot of thought has been put into the content and editing of the video， This is really my favorite channel.:) .🌴🌴🌴nice job 👍👌👍👌👍 🌴🌴🌴 🌴🌴🌴 🌴🌴🌴 🌴🌴🌴 " From Port Colborne Niagara 2021
9:56
I bought my baby clothes ar Mothercare and Mont. Wards, 1985
Well, you didn't butcher the pronunciation of Kanawha as badly as some, so... Congrats I guess.
They have no drip
It sucks. One time it was great.
To be honest, you weren't stealing or destroying anything and not blatantly shooting heroine, sucking on a bong, or smoking crack. Mall security in Town Center has way bigger problems than you filming. It's been four years since you were here and the city continues to deteriorate along with the mall. There are fewer mall cops and more actual city cops patrolling around inside now. Going downtown, nevermind into the mall, is an activity best undertaken as a group or at least armed. An armed group being the ideal situation.
I haven't been to the Town Center since April of 2023. When I went, it was practically abandoned, not even the bums wanted it. Has it gotten worse since then because I will honestly be suprised.
they should have left Downton alone. I wish they'd never built this. If Macy's goes out this is done.
Ivnvite Kmart
We stopped here while passing through on a long distance trip. I hated this mall. It wasn’t even quite average. Salespeople talking to each other at Macy’s but not one acknowledged us. Typical Appalachia hospitality (or lack of). The sales people even looked Appalachian - mismatched clothes, bad posture, bad teeth.