Virginia Center Commons | An Adolescent Dead Mall | ExLog 49
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On the last episode of 2019, come take a walk with me through the Virginia Center Commons in Glen Allen, VA. This dead mall is young, only built in 1991, and has lost some major tenants over the years. This video closes out the 2018 NC Chesapeake Dead Mall Tour...see you all in 2020!!
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Hey guys! Thanks so much for watching! Sorry for the mispronunciation of Henrico, I had a fever and pretty bad cold while recording this...I've since learned it's pronounced "Hen-rye-co"...apologies! I'll see you guys in 2020 for Episode 50!
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lol that was driving me nuts lol some use to say Hen rye ka
I think the saddest part was the prize section of the arcade. Utterly abandoned, lacking the bustle of youth clambering for cheap trinkets of victory. Great video, as always
I don’t need prizes I’d just want to play the games for the hell of it. I LOVE arcades and all in my area have shut down😔
its amazing how many dead malls there are in the USA, I think about all the memories, the people shopping, moms with their kids, families having fun, teens hanging out, now its all gone. Dead. Great Vid again.
And the smell... nothing smells like a mall
I know.
what sucks now is whenever you go to a store they more then likely speak in spanish to the costumers
I cannot get over the amount of dead malls in the U.S. I live in Canada, and most of the malls here are still full of those things you mentioned. It is sad to see. Especially since these malls were busy at one point.
That background music and those commercials are alone worth it to watch these videos 😎
I love you.
This is my local mall. It's vastly more dire now than when this video was originally shot.
I went a month ago and it's a tomb.
Pretty insane to see the current condition of this once thriving mall. Before leaving for Colorado 3 years ago this place was still doing decent, but nothing like it was during the early 2000s and late 90s. The FYE was my go to store for Metal albums, and it never disappointed. It's sad to see this young mall coming to an end, but malls have never really been my thing. This is just another reminder that leaving VA was one of the best things I've ever done. Farewell VCC!
Also, the county is pronounced Hen-Rye-Co. Hen-Reeko had me in tears! Great video as always though!
I thought the same thing when he said Henrico
This place was soo beautiful! I love how bright and sunny it is. It reminds me of going to the mall in the early-mid 90s when I was small. None of my local malls look like that anymore, so it was cool to see. Thank you and I look forward to log 50 :)
I lived in Richmond for a little over a year in 2009 and I went to this mall quite a bit since I was living in Short Pump. Hell our dishes came from that JC Penny. It was starting to die then but for the most part most store fronts were occupied. This mall has been sinking for years and every video I see it gets worse and worse. There wasn't all the mold on the outside like you showed at the beginning. It is a matter of time before this mall gets closed and boarded up. It was a nice mall in its day. You got a lot of good footage. Security there can be assholes and they don't like cameras. Chesterfield Town Center was another mall we went to a lot and it stayed really busy. South Park we went to a few times and we were there on one Saturday evening and it was downright scary. There were cops everywhere that night and some of the characters there looked dangerous. That was the last time I went to South Park. We were within a couple of miles of Short Pump Town center but the only thing I went there for was the Apple store. There was another outdoor mall we went to at the time but I can't think of the name. It was somewhat upscale too.
You really dug into the history. More than any other video I have seen and there are several out there on this place. It is sinking fast. You must have been sitting on this footage for a while since you made this in 2018. The most recent video I seen about 2/3 is empty now.
I'm from southern Chesterfield County VA, the only other outdoor mall in the Richmond Va area other than Short Pump is Stony Point Fashion Center or "Park" is what they call it today. Not a bad place.
This was my childhood mall. It's so sad to see it in this state. After Short Pump opened and the recession hit, this place was never really the same. Great footage and a great history. I even learned a few new things!
I grew up at this mall and worked here in the 90's. It's surreal to see it in such an abandoned state. It used to be the place to go if you lived in the area.
What’s crazy is how back in 2005 there was thousands of people in this mall. I was around ten then. As a teenager it was a slow degrade and by 2018 it was just like this. Makes me really sad because I had some good memories here.
You know a mall has problems if it caters more to walkers than spenders.
MysteryWolph most of the stores have been closed for some time so walkers are they can cater to.
If a mall has something worthy of spending on more malls would be in business!
Chesapeake square is the same way
Phillipsburg Mall *COUGH COUGH*
That arcade used to be the shit back in the day and actually used to be bigger. When the mall started to die they moved that back wall closer and put only non-redemption games in there to "entertain". I could tell you exactly what stores used to be there. I remember going there when I was 7 and there used to be this guy sitting at a two person table in the beginning of the food court charging people $5 to try and win a match of chess with him. I loved this video. Very nicely done.
What was the arcade originally called? Theres an identical former arcade in a now closed mall near me I snapped pics of and it has the same storefront as this!
There is so much beauty in this mall.
We have outgrown the model.. kept malls resuscitated for as long as possible....
Combination, living, commerce, shopping and education centers are the way to go... Big open areas dedicated to retail is the past.
Hans Kristian this is how Australian and New Zealand malls have evolved. Since the beginning of the 21 century, we call it experiences / destination malls that integrate all the functions of a town, things that bring people to a place beyond shopping. Hotels, apartments, day care, banks, supermarkets, inter grated public transport hubs, ...
@@craiggillett5985 this is how to should be.. the megalithic retail approach is long gone
For the next 20 years, until the next big thing.
Yes we had three wheeled cars in the UK and they were dangerous! Where in the heck Sal did you get this advert. Batman never came as an accessory
When I saw this... it’s cool to see this Mall. I used to work at this Mall for a short time, and I am glad it is documented for the future generations.
To answer your query; no. I don’t recall any major renovations to VCC since it opened.
I live in Richmond,VA. I remember when VCC opened I was just eleven years old. The mall never was updated for modern times and was the same until it was demolished. Henrico county is building a rec and sports center in which they are building now. But I will always remember the times I had at that mall.
That food court is incredible!!
Minus the 10-12 birds flying around lol 😂
Not anymore. I'm a local, it's in much worse state nowadays.
The SEARS at Prembroke Mall in Virginia Beach did something like this. They cut their floor space by like 40% and leased it out to a brand new FreshMarket grocery store. The remaining smaller SEARS store then reduced its floor space even further and leased that out to a Nordstom Rack. I believe the SEARS at Prembroke is closed now.
mat123YT there are no more Sears and even Kmarts in Hampton Roads anymore :(
This lamb noticed the Sears at Staten Island Mall was sublet.
The robin reliant, fond memories from ‘93 and when me and my mates had little to no worries as we were only 16/17 at the time and life was different back then and health and safety was the last thing on our minds, we used to jump in the reliant and purposely try to get it on its side going down a snowy hill/road (private land) as it made an excellent sled .... we had success on many occasions, needless to say booze and the odd joint was needed to ease the pain of being thrown about when the reliant tipped..... The sad thing is both my mates passed away a few years ago and memories is all I have now of the robin reliant.
Ah lamented youth. Those cars were seriously unstable and weird. My dad had one until he was blown across the road....luckily in the peak district so not much traffic. Soz your mates have passed.
And the car that Top Gear turned into a space shuttle.
Sal, there are many urban explorers and dead mall youtubers. Several of them I like. But you stand out as a poet among them. I like your meticulous recounting of a mall's history and your script and narration is on point. Melancholic is what comes to mind. Like an ode to a dying era.
This is so sad. I grew up here and still live here and as a kid my mom always took me to VCC. It makes me sad to see it close.
I grew up near this mall. I spent a lot of time there in the 90's and worked there for a brief time in the 00's. When my old greek grandfather would babysit me he'd take me to VCC and fall asleep in the food court, and I'd wander around the mall for several hours.
I had my 8th birthday dinner at the restaurant patio (4:55) that was a Ruby Tuesday's at the time. The arcade (6:00) was twice as big and had a DDR machine in the back corner. I think the FYE (11:30) used to be another music store called The Wall, and I remember buying from there everything from Weird Al Yankovic cassette tapes to Tool CDs as I grew older and my music tastes changed. I remember being held and questioned by a mall cop at the fountain (15:00) with a group of friends as a teenager for 'excessive mischief'.
Thank you so much for the video :-)
I couldn't stop chuckling at the Reliant Robin advert. Always remembered it as Mr. Bean's on-road nemesis and later on from a Top Gear segment.
As for albums I purchased at a FYE or similar stores, I somehow brought a Dream Theater CD many many moons ago--all thanks to a YTMND meme regarding 'speedpicking'. Likely still my most random purchase of all time.
14:15 - Does that mean we can blame the people who were either dropping food for the birds to eat and crap out for the lack of mall traffic~? Because we all know simply making it harder for the birds to get inside the mall makes too much sense for mall management. :P
At first I thought the mall looked really nice with the ample natural lighting that made things look brighter and lifted moods in the process, but the footage that Anthony at Faded Commerce took reminded me of how poor shape Virginia Center Commons is.
Congrats on the 30K subscribers and here's to a 2020 full of amazing Expedition Logs~! :D
Jeremy Clarkson shudders at the Reliant Robin advertisement.
i remember Fun N Games at Security Square Mall in the 80's.....Good to see another.
Love your Chesapeake Square video!! Never seen anyone else talk about it like that before!
Thank you Sal, this video was well worth it & it brought back to me good memories of this place before it went down the path it did today. This is one of my local malls that was part of my life. Its a bummer to see what had happened but I'm hopeful that the future project will go through.
Again, thank you for doing this mall in particular, I wish you could've seen Eastgate/Fairfield Commons before they tore it down & the only other mall that's in rough shape is in Regency Square but that's getting an overhaul on its own.
You rock Sal & so does Faded Commerce, Retail Archelogy, retailpocalypse, WallieB Ace's Adventures, Dan Bell & many more!
You called it by it's correct name the Reliant Robin. 😀👍. Its often called the Robin Reliant by mistake. Infact in the UK most people would call it a Robin Reliant.
Quite surreal seeing that on an American video. I'm sure most Americans have never heard of it.
@@philpaxton2078, that's unless you're a fan of Top Gear UK, since Jeremy Clarkson made quite a JOKE with one of them... Also, there's the fear of being "clocked" by RTL, the German owners of FreemantleMedia, today's IP owners of the Thames TV library...
As soon as Sal said a three-wheeler car, I knew he was talking about a Reliant Robin. I prefer the van version (the Regal) used in the British sitcom Only Fools And Horses which was iconic :)
Reliant were actually a massive manufacturer at one time.....
.....they even made the bodies for Ford to produce their World Rally Championship Group B RS200...
They also made an attractive V6 Sports Coupe calked the Scimitar GTE.......
........Princess Anne had one you know.....🤣
My Dad’s Brother drove a reliant from 1979 - 1987 and my Dad’s Brother made me drive when I was 18 and I flipped it round a corner
I worked for Simon when I was the Operations Director for Virginia Center Commons back in 1999-2001, I left there and started managing the Fashion Centre at Pentagon City until 9/11 happened and I was just across the street there from the Pentagon. Amazingly I had worked overnight for some holiday & related decoration planning for the upcoming shopping season; I left the property around 6:30am that morning and got home to Columbia, Maryland then I switched on the tv and seen the first tower being hit with plane #1.
I then left mall management in the VA area and started working with my partner doing operations for his architecture firm, now just managing medical issues with his cancer. Left one frying pan to another!!!
Man, what is it with Burlington, they are in all the dead malls. They are not even that great of a store, but they are huge spaces. Not even sure why they are around these days, but weird that they are always in the shadows of these dead malls. Great job Sal!
RVA I remember when that mall use to jump when I was teenager .... Had my first job there smh memories
so sad to aee the malls going down not good
Seeing that pretty awesome looking arcade with no redemption center makes me sad. I miss my local FYE, they wasted so much money on redesigning for a smaller location, just to fill it with junk instead of the stuff I loved to buy...movies and music!
Good video. Happy New Year.
One of my most memorable CD purchases in a retail store was way back in the mid-'90s when I went looking for -- and actually found -- a copy of the score from the film "Aliens" on the Varèse Sarabande label, specifically the original 1987 release. At that point it was a 10-year-old film and I never expected to find an NOS copy of its score anywhere, and of course this was before the days of the web when you could just order whatever you wanted from eBay. I was super geeked over it.
Just a pedantic note...it's Henr-EYE-co County, not Hen-REE-co County.
Actually its Henr-I-co County, the I is a vowel not a consonant. I'm not disagreeing with you @Johnny Bravo I'm just helping people who don't know the county better understand how to properly pronounce the name.
Yep, I made a sticky comment with this. I learned the local pronunciation an hour after publishing. My bad guys!
@@sal Its all good. I wasn't scolding just informing.
@@KK-ex5zu I always explain it like this: Hen-rye-co
@@cmdrbubbles You didn't explain it like me but at least someone from or knows central VA got it right!
Sad to see such a beautiful mall like this
I can name a handful of malls that still have FYE: York Galleria, Park City Center (Lancaster), Capitol City Mall (Harrisburg), Berkshire Mall (Wyomissing, PA).
I was just rewatching this and weirdly you and I not only visited the same gas station on this trip but quite literally the SAME PUMP, 2-3 years apart! That’s wild.
truly a beautiful mall, sad that it's doing poorly, keep up the good content sal, I love hearing some of the history behind the properties.
I miss the Sam Goodie stores. They were very open to selling my music every time I released new albums. And in 1999, I was given placement in the listening booths throughout multiple cities in my area. I sold thousands of dollars worth of albums because of it! Good times to release music! And I thank them for giving me the chance at the time!
I love your videos, but they also make me sad!
Awesome video!! Congrats on your 2019 accomplishments! Can't wait to see what 2020 has in store!
Sal that Thames TV logo took me right back to my kidhkod - as does the Reliant Robin!!
I bought many albums at the fye in Chesapeake square. Even bought a five finger death punch poster lol
FYE is still operating here in Michigan and Pa. Love that store.
I remember FYE, Sam Goody, and Suncoast Motion Picture. I bought a lot of Star Trek TNG and DS9 episodes on VHS at Suncoast. I also remember the first TNG VHS I bought was at an Incredible Universe. It was not a mall store but it was an amazing store of its time.
Fye is still around in 2 of my local malls the apple blossom mall in Winchester and the valley mall in hagerstown md also York Galleria. Was in one tonight lol. They bought Sam goody and the wall.
Ha, people are leaving food and water for the birds!! Very cool. I'd do that too.
Thanks for the tour Sal! I always love your videos, the narrative and the history are great!! Happy New Year and congrats on 49 episodes!!💚
I remember Top Gear attempting to turn a Relant Robin into a Space Shuttle! A spectacular, entertaining failure.
In California, Warehouse was a huge music chain, Sal. What albums stand out to me are The Smiths, Madonna and Yaz. And oh yeah, I remember flipping through the poster racks.
I found you on Reddit.. I can't even put in to words how lost I've gotten in this channel. Can't stop watching I don't know why. Guy needs his own show for sure.
Another excellent vid Sal,amusing although slightly surreal to see an advert for Michaels of Selby a company who was just down the road from me here in the UK.A small wooden garage which held around five Robins not the massive dealership the advert would have you believe and it still stands today.
Happy New Year and looking forward to following you in 2020.
Oh wow!!! They’re still around??
@@sal the company went bust in 2002 and was bulldozed soon after(Reliant used to make a luxury car for the queens daughter Princess Anne called the Scimitar)its just the Michaels building is still there.
Subscribed. You do great work. Keep it up!
Thanks so much Jesse!!!
Great video thanks for sharing. Compared to other of videos of this type I particularly enjoyed hearing the historical research.
I saw Crystal Skull for free (I worked at a movie theater at the time). They lost me at the atomic bomb detonation.
My daughter worked at that FYE in the late nineties. Great job on the research and video!
The Robin Reliant 3 wheeler!!! We still have some of those going today!
I have been to Virginia center Commons mall probably hundred times,I use to love that mall after cloverleaf mall closed
Robin Reliant!
I'm from Yorkshire UK.
A few are still in use.
We had a huge Burlington ( for some reason I think it was called Burlington Coat Factory) it was a repurposed Builder's Square or D.I.Y, next to an AMC 6 movie theatre & Toys-R-Us. . All gone. Tumbleweed Plaza😂
The Burlington's at Horsepen and Broad St. in Richmond, Va., is still there. It used to have a section called "Baby Depot." I once asked an attendant there how many babies they got to the pallet. :)
*I enjoy watching this channel when I'm high on cannabis, like right now.*
Great work man!!!!
The robin, guaranteed to flip over from a sneezing passerby! :D
Local here, the mall is currently in the process of being demolished!
I live nearby. Yes that mall is terrible!!!! My last visit the freaking air conditioner wasn’t working, it was hot as hell. I literally had the entire mall to myself just walking around feeling lost.
Yes, let's provide a water feature for guest enjoyment. Here's the twist: It will never be turned on.
These dead malls hurt my heart. I grew up in St. Louis, and my first experiences with them are Jamestown Mall and Northwest Plaza. So many icons from my youth just gone.
15:53 one penny could have made my day man..
I was thinking the same exact thing, @Sal this would be a completely wholesome and different way to give viewing nostalgia in mall's through your lens. One penny would of been the stuff.
It's the simple things in life that brings pleasure.....
Lol this is the second video in a row where you mentioned Indiana Jones and the cursed 4th movie XD
I remember I bought Smashing Pumpkins - Siamese Dream at a sam goody in 93'. One of my favorites of the 90s
It was a great space back in the day. It is sad to see it go.
Here in California we used to have a mall in Pomona called the Pomona Valley Center, then after some time it changed into the Indian Hill Mall, now it's the Village at Indian Hill...a lot changed in that area. There used to be Sears, Zody's, etc. Still remember going there as a kid now...well...not really sure I haven't been there in years. I know the local school district bought some of the property and converted part of it into a school or something. If I'm not mistaken, the Sears is now a swap meet. If you ever make it to CA, check it out some time. I know there is also another local mall called Montclair Plaza, but that one is still hanging on.
Very pretty entrance. We had a ton of birds too. One little Finch =-*- splat.. Jus kidding.
Sorry that I missed the Live Chat, Sal. You did a great job with #49, and I was deeply struck from the beginning when I saw the blackened brick exterior of the Mall. There was so many closed stores, and I couldn’t help but wonder just how those that work there feel as they have to travel to a job where staffing is inevitably minimal at best, and they are battling sales that would be near or close to $0 in sales for the day or on a majority of days in the week. It has to be demoralising, from part-time worker to manager.
I want to thank you for the extensive mileage that you have made in 2019, and I look forward to seeing your ExLogs in 2020!
(BTW I have driven a Reliant Robin! The gearshift has to be the WORST I’ve ever had to battle with in my experience with many a horrible motors!)
Happy New Year!
Great assessment of Eddie Lambert
Definitely add Midway Mall in Elyria, OH to your 2020 schedule before it closes as well as Peru Mall in Peru, IL and Ford City Mall in Chicago
Thanks for covering my middle school mall 👍
About Fye: My local mall (Singing Hills Mall in Sioux City) still has an Fye and they show no signs of closing soon. It's still a staple in my (still ongoing) childhood/adolescence.
I went by there today. Completely closed to the public except for a temporary COVID19 testing facility in the parking lot near the former American Family Fitness.
The FYE in the mall near me is still alive and kickin'. The whole mall is, really. Granted, it's in a small town in West Virginia so there really isn't a whole lot to do other than go to the mall!
I'm in Harrison County, WV... We have the Meadowbrook Mall, I've been going there since the 80's... I don't know too many malls in the state, but this one does good, with some in-and-out stores from time to time. Then a while back the Toys'R'Us by it went out of business, that was rough, everybody loved that store.
and on this note, on all hallows eve, Virginia Center Commons have officially closed their doors for good.
Congrats on the 30k subs. This place brings back some memories. Haven't been there in years and its right down the road.
Missed the premier! But thanks for ending the year with a great Exlog! Happy New Year to you and your family! Thanks again! You rock!
I do remember FYE. I also remember how the one nearest me devolved and finally died.
It went from a mega-store in the middle of the mall at its height, to a tiny store at its end.
Another excellent video, Sal. Well done.
Same here...we had a giant FYE at Eastview Mall in Rochester, NY that bridged two hallways. It became a Forever 21...which is now on life support as well. In my area we have a closed mall(Irondequoit Mall), two dead malls(Greece Ridge & Marketplace) and one sickly mall(Eastview Mall). I knew Eastview was starting to wane when saw little traffic at Christmas...and very few patrons had shopping bags. Then I saw the clusters of massage chairs...
My local mall, Pheasant Lane Mall in Nashua, NH (a thriving mall) still has an FYE.
Arcade! At least they’d have one customer if I were there. 🤷🏻♀️
My place I remember as a child was called Camelot Music at the OLD (and long gone) Salisbury Mall.
Been to this mall before remember buying things at the Sears before it closed
We had an FYE at our local Mall (Viewmont Mall) ages (it seems) ago. I used to get posters there and I think I bought my son, a young teenager at the time, a Five Nights At Freddy's T-Shirt for Christmas one year. :D I think I also bought a CD there...I THINK it was CW McCall's CD with Convoy and Roses For Mama (that makes me cry to this DAY!) on it. Wow. That was a LONG time ago.
Yes! Thank you Sal, with this video you've made it to my backyard. Now this isn't my hometown mall, but this is a mall I visited alot between 09-18. I still work about 5min south of Virginia Center Commons off US 1 Brook Road. I never got to visit this mall in its prime but I witnessed its demise!
The first time I visited this mall they were in the process of closing the last Dillard's location. It was all down hill from there then when the Macy's closed it spiraled down really fast. The last time I walked the entire mall was around 2016. Up until early last year I would grab lunch occasionally from Great Steak but I would only walk into the food court being on lunch break.
Update: Both access roads leading to the mall off of route 1 where the big VCC sign is at and the other entrance next to the Wendy's have been repaved. Did the county do that because that's their domain or did the mall pay for that I don't know, nor do I know if they've done anything with the parking lot or other county coding violations. I'm on vacation the rest of this week. When I go back to work next week I'll swing by there and keep everybody informed of what I hear.
On a lighter note my favorite memories of this mall is buying my Iron Maiden North American Tour 2012 t-shirt from Hot Topic 2months before I saw the band play live in Northern VA. I also remember the last 2 CD's I bought at the now closed FYE. Halestorm The Strange Case Of........ and Avenged Sevenfold Hail To The King! Both great modern day albums IMO. Thanks again Sal, you're the #1 dead mall guy!
Sal, I was waiting for this!! The way you do these just keeps me intrigued. You’re amazing. Have a safe & happy New Year.
I realy enjoy watching your ExLog series.
I lived in that area and was in high school when it opened. It looks exactly the same other than expansions. It never did all that great, but it did kill 2 other malls. I bought a copy of Heart's Dreamboat Annie on vinyl in that FYE, which had been a Wall to Wall sound and video. That part at the end that was blocked off wasn't originally there.
I should also say that this mall killed two others. Azalea Mall which is simply the concrete pad it was on and Fairfield Commons which was torn down and redeveloped as shopping center, but the old Sears building is still there as a storage place.
I enjoyed this video very much, and I appreciate your taking the time to make such an excellent, and informative video.
I remember when they built this mall. I was living in Ashland at the time. Sad to see it like this. :(
Update 9/21/2022: Apparently the stores left in the mall have been told by mall management to get out by October 31, 2022. Supposedly the mall will be converted/torn-down-and-rebuilt? into a "sports complex." For many of the remaining shops, this short notice will hit them hard.
Sad this mall is gone I miss going there with friends