Exploring the Abandoned Knoxville Center Mall (East Towne Mall)
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- čas přidán 17. 06. 2021
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In this episode we're exploring the abandoned Knoxville Center Mall in Tennessee. The mall originally opened in 1984 as the East Towne Mall. It was closed permanently in January of 2020 and demolished in the first half of 2021.
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Welcome to Tennessee ❤️
I was at that mall for the grand opening!
Keep doing this, please. What you are doing is important. It is recording the history of our culture. By exploring these places and recording the things that were left shows a point of view you can't get otherwise. I hope those photo albums were saved. That's a part of our history that is gone now. Even you guys barely see what it was. Those times were great and gone. I wish you could have been there in those spaces when they were alive. It's was like nothing that exists anymore.
Hi, my names Emma. And I love ur channel btw. I live out in California and In Hayward we have a mall called “Southland Mall” and this mall reminds me of the mall but the opposite tho. Cause at that mall that you’re exploring now is that food court there’s up the stairs and the mall out here where I’m from is the food court’s down the stairs and the shops and stores is up the stairs.
Did you guys report those pictures to someone?? Did they get saved? Or any attempt to save that history? That was so cool.. Thanks for doing all this.. Your channel is becoming so important for history.. this is going to keep happening..
2021 = Exploring Abandoned U.S. cities, as the mandated poverty and brute force lockdown bankruptcies cleared out nearly all small businesses... cities looking like wastelands of FOR RENT and FOR SALE signs... businesses that have been around for 40 years, gone not becuase they lost their customers, but because of unconstitutional lockdown hysteria and government thug's paranoia.
I worked at the Sears here while in High School and spent many an evening in this mall growing up in the 90's/early 2000's, I moved to Orlando four years ago and missed seeing it prior to its closure so I thank you all for this footage! Anyway, here is a little background on the mall based off questions you all had during the video. Also throwing in some random facts (sorry in advance for the novel):
1) The mall underwent a massive renovation in the 1998-2000 range which saw the entire floor surface of the mall go away from ugly 80's brown tile work to the more neutral tone tile you see here. This is also when the 'plazas' earned their different theming. One thing that the mall did lose was the center waterfall that rained down from the upper level of the food court to the level below, which was kinda neat. It was at this time the name was changed from 'East Towne Mall' to Knoxville Center. A massive push by Simon (the owners) saw many new tenants added (including a Disney store) and saw the mall reach 100% occupancy with carts everywhere. Amazing how fast it went downhill.
2) JCPenney closed in late 2017. Rumor had it at the time that JCP had decided that while the store was still scraping by a profit it simply wasn't economically viable to replace the roof of a store in a dying mall which was apparently in dire need of it. Now we can see that was the truth. That much mold growth in just four years is astounding. I was there for the going out of business sale and they had buckets everywhere catching water then.
3) East Towne Vapor Lounge was originally an Aladdin's Castle arcade, hence all the neon and weird layout.
4) The Food Court (in order you walked) was a Mrs. Fields (later Great American Cookie), Taco Bell (which was something else before the mall closed), Oriental Express (think Panda), Chick-Fil-A, Sarku Japan, Petro's (a Knoxville classic), Subway, Sbarro and across the way was a Steak Escape that also became something else in the later years.
5) The movie theater was for a brief time the flagship theater of Regal Cinemas, which is headquartered in Knoxville. It was expanded during the mall's transformation which saw the addition of the larger auditoriums you saw. The grand opening was a star studded event with celebrities such as Peyton Manning and Dolly Parton on hand for the festivities. In fact, two of the auditoriums were named for them. I presume those plaques were removed before demolition.
6) At 35:44 this anchor was originally a Service Merchandise. The sales floor was on the second level and their warehouse was on the lower level. For those who never went to a Service Merchandise, they were a 'catalog store'. You would pick a slip for the item you wanted and took it to the register. The sale would go to the warehouse below and your order would come up a conveyer belt for pickup. Really cool for a small kid to see! This location was among the last to close when the chain went out of business and a couple of years later became a location of the locally owned Rush fitness center. They were later bought out by Gold's Gym. The Rush used both levels but Gold's closed off the lower level and subleased it for laser tag.
6) The open anchor space spotted on the directory and you saw walled off was a Dillard's that closed in 2008. It was the first big departure from the mall. I was hoping some UrbExer would find a way in there considering how long it had sat abandoned, I'm sure it was a real sorry sight. But alas, it seems no one did. The Dillard's had seen declining sales for a number of years but I personally think its closure had more to do with the next point.
7) The black walled off storefront at 49:04 is the scene of the mall's most heinous incident. In 2008 there was an altercation in that space which housed a Tuxedo store. A customer became upset with the owner of the store because he refused to refund him and the customer pulled out a gun and shot the owner, fatally wounding him. A lockdown immediately occurred and thanks to the very close proximity of the Mall Security office as well as the fact that Knoxville Center housed a Knoxville Police substation saw a near immediate response to the incident. Despite the fact that this crime could have occurred in any store anywhere, it added to the mall's declining reputation and helped spur the decline of the mall. That space was permanently walled off, never to be leased again.
Again, sorry for the novel. I felt follow up information would add value to this already excellent video. Thanks again for shooting this footage for those of us who didn't have a chance to see it one last time. It was demolished very quickly once they began! I've been a subscriber for years, never thought you all would tour somewhere so close to home!
They should have taken you with them, instead of 'I like to be in the frame' kid!
Wow, thanks for the fascinating information! It really added much more context and perspective to this dead mall!
This is so awesome! Thank you for the insight!
I remember every single one of these. The stores, the horrendous act, they mall was amazing when it was open.
What an awesome comment! Thanks for all the info dude! Love from the UK.
30 years from now The Proper People will be back on location exploring an abandoned Amazon Warehouse.
And the nation's capitol.
More like The Proper People KIDS will be doing the exploring.
That ain’t going to happen
That would be cool! Bring back local companies!
@@rexlex1736 The National Mall = Red Square
7:13 "I wonder if you could smell it through the wall"...as someone who was here on its last day open in 2020, you absolutely could. The rest of the mall was more or less in great condition but if you got within 10-20 feet of the glass doors on JCP you could absolutely smell mold pretty strongly.
yep
OMG, that is me 42:20! I was in the train engine! I would give anything to have gotten these pictures! I literally grew up in this mall. My mom worked there and when I got old enough I got my first job in this mall at Morrows Nut House (An amazing Coffee / Candy / Fudge store). Thank you @The Proper People for exploring this mall and looking through the pictures! Wish I could have gave you a tour of it so I could have shown you many more cool things!
So cool, my parents owned 1st in graphics in there so I was there a crap ton too
My mom worked at Morrow Nut House!
@@williamsmith3349 Really? What was her name if I may ask?
That was a creative costume. You show your folks this video part?
@@AG-ni8jm Yeap, that was the first thing I did was send it to my mom. She worked there in the mall for many many years!
I had my first kiss outside of the movie theater. That was back before it got remodeled to its last look. Those ceiling fans in the smaller theaters were theaters you could smoke in. The bigger ones got added later when they remodeled on the early 2000s.
The main atrium was drastically decorated for the seasons and the various events they did there. Santa use to drop in every December 1st.....at least until the early 2000s. Thats also when the name changed.
The last year the mall was open I went through it several times. Its weird when you get old. There were probably only 6-8 stores even open in there but in certain spots its like all the sounds, smells and memories just over take you and you can feel it again. I remember getting separated from dad. The same area where the fish theme was in your video. I freaked out. I was so small and there were so many people I couldnt look anywhere and not see people. 20+ years later in the same spot, not a person in sight.
I've learned in my life nothing stays the same no matter how much you want it. But it sure is nice to see and feel it again. Thats one of the reasons I love your channel. Thanks for the videos.
Do you remember what year it was they allowed smoking in the theater there?
Wow, that’s amazing.
Good comment! Thanks for posting. Life and time are trippy!
@@carbide1968 Towards the end of the 90's. Really that was true everywhere. I remember going in the grocery store and people would be smoking. By the mid 2000s there were local laws passed that banned smoking in businesses open to the public. You use to go in restaurants and they would ask if you wanted smoking or non. Seemed pointless as the smoke was everywhere.
@@jordanslingluff287 I worked at Cracker Barrell in Knoxville in 2003 and 2004, and I remember there was still a smoking and nonsmoking section.
Oh man, this is seriously bittersweet. Used to bring my kids here all the time when they were little. We really loved the tent style food court and all of the kids play areas. Love your work fellas, I appreciate you covering this one before it was demolished.
DEAD 2 AMERICA EVERYTHING GONNA BURN
@@klayed speak English pls
shouldn't have stopped going then
@@klayed Big brain moment
@@XTS123456 I DONT CARE
A CZcamsr named Vol Boy made a video in June exploring the demolition site and he mentioned that him and his friends had went in office back in April and the photo albums were gone. Someone could have taken them around a few months after Proper left or maybe when demolition began but it's currently unknown what happened to them. Hopefully whoever took them has them in safe use somewhere.
This gives me hope!!!!! Those photos are priceless ❤
damn. i hope those photos are in good hands
Tried to look that name channel but couldn't find it, if it is true or not, it is indeed those people working here haven't realized how much history this mall gives for those nostalgic people.
@@MCcarlos235 He changed his name to Chris Xtreme
That's the only thing I would do differently if I was exploring these places. I don't get why they leave so much priceless things like that. In an abandoned asylum they also found potential unseen footage of NYC from the 80s and left it to rot. I would take things like that with me, digitize them, and archive them on the internet so we never lose it.
I'm glad you guys included the lengthy moment in the dark with the footsteps nearby. It really added to the drama of just how close you were to trouble! I was also captivated by the photo albums and happy that you shared some of it with us. Great video!
I fully understand and support the idea of not taking or damaging anything, but those photo albums should have been removed and given to a local historical society. I saved my county's official birth and death records for a period from around 1880 to 1900 from destruction and arranged to donate them to the local historical society. Sometimes you must do what is wrong to do what is right.
@JoeBidens Bunghole first of all what is that username lol
second of all, where that does make sense because its been abandoned and likely its all going to be destroyed ether by the elements or demolished to make way for something else, it however still remains the property of someone else so its just stealing and would give legitimate explorers like these guys a bad reputation.
@JoeBidens Bunghole people like you are the reason why some abandoned places are absolutely ransoned and left in a mess.
@@mitchystuff I agree. who cares if its picture albums of the place? just let the place be demolished, fuck all that historical BS. nobody cares about history in 2021
I was thinking they could call the historical society and let them know the pictures are there.
@@ffsn99b Just because it doesn't interest you personally doesn't mean others wouldn't have an interest. The world doesn't revolve around you, ya know!
This was my mall growing up!! Literally used to live in the apartments on the hill right behind the mall. So surreal seeing it in this state, esp with the proper people’s style of filming. Moved away in 2017 and last visited the mall in 2019 and yeah you could tell then that it was on its last leg. So many good memories :)
Also Justin looks really familiar lol
Oh man, I used to drive by those when parking as a teen always wondering what it would be like to live next to a MALL of all places !WHOAH! Seriously though, this video is surreal, the moment he said SciFi City I got goosebumps, so many hours there playing games.
I miss east town mall I'm young but that used to be my place to be when I was 5 or 6
Yes back in it's heydays it looked like a nice mall I miss those days !
@@MechaTheSpider Those apartments were haunted
Y'know I really admire how Brian admits when he's afraid. So few men do. It's kind of cute how he's like 'I ain't opening the door first.' He came to take pictures, not catch a crowbar to the head. Good instincts 👍🏽
'Only fools have no fear.'
“You’re really hamming it up for the cameras huh” lolol
I know you guys never take anything but my gosh, those photo albums needs to be saved and given to the local historical society!!
I agree! I really hope they were retrieved and archived before they demolished the building :/. So much Knox history.
I thought the same thing when I saw the part where there were like “I hope they save these!”
I agree but unfortunately I watched the security office get crushed first hand. The photos were crushed as well. What a waste
@@Clozof OMG, that's so freakin sad! We'll at least we have this video footage. Better than nothing.
Ya. You know they most likely ended up on a dumpster. :-(
So many memories there. I couldn’t help but cry. I rolled my babies in strollers to shop there. They are now grown with children of their own. Just sad to see it gone.
I never been to this mall but malls in general are nostalgic for me. My mom would take me, my 2 brothers, and my sister quite often to our local mall when we were kids. I was about 8 years old and I remember my mom pushing my sister in the stroller. She would let us each pick out which place we wanted to stop at and let us pick something out
Same
same...definatly pulled on my heart strings
Ironically...in 1998 when my business partners and I were starting up our first e-commerce business, we took a bulky video camera into that very mall and asked a dozen random people if they thought the internet would be a fad or put traditional brick and mortars out of business. We would go on to do extremely well, but that mall will always hold special memories.
You look like a bag of money
Can you upload the footage to CZcams? That would get you Millions of views!!!
Places and objects can sometimes have their own spirit or energy, but it's really people which give these locations and things their meaning. Once people are removed from the equation, virtually all buildings and objects lose all purpose and value.
I think this is why abandoned structures fascinate us; they remind of us of how powerful and creative we are as humans.
Beautifully said
*Proper People try to quietly sneak away from mysterious voices*
World's Crunchiest Broken Glass: "This next one is from our new album."
Bryan: "Yeah, we have to be quiet so we don't attract their attention." *A Wild Office Chair Has Appeared*
Lmao I thought the same thing.
@@sarahcoleman5269 I legit prepped myself for impact and then was like oohhh crap that hurt.
🤣🤣🤣
Laughed out loud at him walking into that chair. Best part of the explore.
The fragrance you smell is b/c some stores used diffusers to emit a brand "smell" in their stores, and that smell is embedded in the walls. This helped cover up patron BO, smokers breath, etc, but was also used as a psychological marketing ploy so patrons would associate that smell with that company/brand. There's a whole psychology / marketing thing on using smell to entice customers to come in & purchase stuff.
I’ve never been in a Holister and didn’t know it was a scented store.
I know for sure, that IKEA uses this.
I also know that a previous employer bought some "christmas scent" for christmas and it actually upped the sale as people got into a christmas'y mood.
Phthalates baby!
Hollister has a cedar smell I believe. I remember going in once and wondering why it smelled like a hamster cage. 🤣 Apparently the only open storefront when Hollister came to my mall was smack dab next to teen me's favorite store: Hot Topic. Oddly only Hollister played the music unbearably loud... 🤷🏼♀️
abercrombie and fitch does that
Watching this literally brought me to tears. I spent all of my childhood and teens in this mall..it was my 1st experiences being away from my mom and out on my own as a teen. My 1st date with my husband was in this mall as a teenager. We played yugioh every thursday at cm games... and ate from oriental express every single week. My best friend caitlyn and I would just walk around for hours and talk, going into the same stores over and over and over again. On the last day, my husband and I walked our son around the mall and told him memories of his parents and how they fell in love while wondering around a mall.
I worked at the theater before the mall even opened. I remember the installation of the seats in the auditoriums. East Towne Mall was the place to be in my teen years. I remember it’s glory. Seeing East Towne Mall’s demise hurts my heart. I’m in tears as I watch this.
I can totally imagine some old mall administrator diligently photographing every event that ever happened at the mall, and then just before the mall closes either gets fired or retires and everyone just forgets about all of photo albums they'd assembled showing a complete history of the mall. Honestly all of those photo albums should have been saved for the Knoxville Historical Society.
@gbrading
True, retail can be historical.
I agree! Shame they're probably just going to rot there
@@yahstino the mall was demolished in early 2021
@@radimkolar2270 that bums me out. I know "urbex code" and whatnot but if I was going around to places to shoot I'd drop photos at local historical societies and just say, "Just don't ask my name or how I got them. The important thing is that they didn't get destroyed."
All for another effing Amazon warehouse. Amazon is turning into the Walmart of online retail. I used to love it but I'm starting to loathe it. Is it convenient? Yes. Is it cheap? Usually. Do they break my shit every 6th order and piss me off? Again yes.
That’s honestly disgusting, that nobody was gonna take those photo albums home. They auctioned off that whole place and just left all those memories to be destroyed. Those albums I would have definitely bought.
I would have paid $hundreds$ for those photo albums. My heart is broken
Wow. So many memories were made here. I had been going to East Towne since I was a baby-I won my first pageant at 3 in the lower level below the cafeteria, and have several photos of me and my family growing up there. Since they announced their closure, I’ve begged many CZcamsrs to cover footage of the mall when it closed before they tore it down. Thank you for allowing me to come back and cherish my memories this way!
Seeing the then and now-style video shots brought tears to my eyes. Despite having never been anywhere near this mall, the life that used to exist there is invigorating to see. It makes me reminisce about the mall outings I went on with my mom as a kid or the solo bum shopping days I might have enjoyed as a teen/young adult. It's a crime that yet another Amazon Warehouse now resides in the place this mall once stood.
Completely agree. It also brought me to tears! though I've never experienced mall the way it showed in the pictures because I was born in 99, I still feel a sense of nostalgia and sadness. Even when I was small malls were more alive and really had a certain magic to it but now every time I'm at a mall it's like a reminder that they are all going down hill
I really hope they saved all those photos and stuff, that was probably one of the coolest finds i've seen in a while.
Nope they didn't
Rule of excursions, don't take anything nor leave anything. It's a shame though.
Would be curious if the mall/land owners, or maybe someone on the demolition crew, tried to save some... but we may never know. Oh well /:3c
Yeah, it's amazing the history that is left behind and probably literally destroyed by wrecking balls and bulldozers (for many malls, not just this one). That was decades of history in those albums no one will ever see. Really wish developers or whoever got all those albums and donated them to a local library or something.
@@thickgirlsneedlove2190 source?
The fact that an Amazon warehouse is replacing the spot where this Mall once stood is even more depressing than the fact the Mall shut down in the first place.
I dunno, makes me feel kinda hollow.
Those photo albums were the best part though, wow Malls were a really big deal then, huh?
Makes me want to learn the history of my local shopping centre here in the UK!
Jobs for the area. Malls were closing before Amazon.
Honestly rather they put Walmart in it place than Amazon warehouse. Maybe amusement park would’ve been cool to
@@jsjazz12 amazon locks its employees in cages and prioritizes robot safety over humans, we dont want their jobs
It's a sad reminder that online shopping was really the catalyst for the demise of malls.
@@FreeSpeechisMyRight10 and now a lot of us would prefer to shop in Brick and Mortar shops, allows you to get a hands-on feel of the item(s) you're thinking of buying.
This heavily applies to clothing. I hate the hassle of returns via post.
I lived in Maryville, TN from age 1-13 (1990-2003). My father was a Senior Manager for the RadioShack within this mall, West Towne Mall, Foothills Mall, Midland Plaza and other standalone venues. I grew up spending weekends and school breaks spending time at my father's stores but primarily this one. I remember eating in the Cades Cookout food court, primarily at the Chik-Fil-A. In one of the shots I saw the architecture of the 2nd floor path directly above the old RS I spent so much time in. I got chills and teared up at the sight of it. Also, that random wall on the 2nd floor has for some reason always been there, no clue why.
My family ended up moving to Hawaii where my father transferred to stores here but was eventually fired from RS in a mass removal of experienced management for cheaper employees. My father was eventually diagnosed with a hereditary muscle disorder, became handicapped and passed away at the end of 2020 at the age of 57. Thank you for bringing back these good memories from my childhood.
And yes, the Great American Cookies were awesome
It was actually Mrs fields in the 90s which was when radio shack was pretty happening
Rip your pops thanks for the beautiful story
As a current bath and body works employee seeing you guys explore malls and seeing the old stores is crazy and I love it. The smell is permanent and always will be lol
I am 72 years old and this brings back many great memories. Thank you so much for sharing. Bittersweet memories.
Such memories. 17:53 was Japanese food. I used to live 10 minutes from there in 2014. The primary reason I went to that mall was to eat. Teriyaki chicken, rice and vegetables every time. They did a great job. The mall was definitely dated for the times. It was actually kinda depressing.
You go to sarku? It was always better at east town than west
@@szrgarage2503 it was always better
@@crazykid8651 their serving sizes and the food quality was unmatched. I'll miss that place.
I remember that place, by the Chik-fil-a
One time some dude shit his pants in their bathroom or something and I had to bring him new pants. He paid for them, of course.
The ending montage with the 80s music was so good, man. Saddening, I grew up in the malls of the 90s.
The loss of those photos is absolutely tragic. Great video.
:(
Someone outa scan them so they're not lost to history
theyre gone already@@olyboy420
Wow, surprised I haven't really seen anyone mention how terrifying that was when you all were hiding in the dark room and there were people looking for you. Also it's a major crime that those photo albums didn't get saved. :/
Yeah I got legit anxiety from the black quiet footage. Real tense moment. I love it.
Obviously people are more concerned about the guy they had with them than anything else in the video. It sucks the comments are mostly just hating on that dude. This was a really great video.
@@lunayoshi Yeah, it's one of those moments where I imagine the people in both parties are terrified of eachother.
@@CadgerChristmasLightShow it's legit criticism to let the guys know he ruined what could've been one of their best explores (at least of malls, if not overall), with the "bro" attitude and vaping his head off.
But, it's also a crime to take them, even if it's technically archaeological preservation.
You know, seeing those photos made me realize something. The 21st century as a whole, but especially as of recent, everything feels so... empty (no pun intended). You'll never see anything like the scenes depicted in those photos again. Or at least not for a very long time. You don't notice how much times have changed until you look back and compare it to what we have now. Life was much simpler back then.
Well said
Life wasn't simpler, but it was more colorful.
So true 👀
It's more of the 2010s that are like that. The 2000s had personality I feel, especially around 2004
I miss those times.
I appreciate you guys going to this location. I spent a lot of time here in my teenage years. They had a lot of the typical shops: Spencer's Gifts, Hot Topic, Bath & Body Works, Walden Books, but they also had a few places I can recall that were small local places like Crystal Visions. It is kind of crazy to me that it isn't there anymore but, thanks to you guys, I can walk through one more time.
Crystal visions was a goddamn INSTITUTION. I loved when they walked into the old Rave store and said it seems a little dated. 🤣 This mall peaked in 1997.
That photo book, that's how every mall was back 30+ years ago. Shopping for Christmas was like fighting your way through the worst zombie attack or a sold out sports arena game multiplied by 1000 in terms of people. Elbow to elbow with people, waiting in lines that were hundreds of feet long. The crazy thing about that was the fact that no one was hostile or rude to each other, you simply waited your turn. As far as malls in general go, they were full of life and happiness. Yes, there were real plants, trees and even water fountains, colored lights were inside of them and people often threw their spare change into them, which is why malls started taking fountains out of malls. Kids wanted to go after the coins,got their dirty hands in them, then they started getting funky, so the work to keep them maintained was difficult. Malls were great places, greater than anything you will ever know in terms of shopping and socializing.
ngl that vape scene transition was pretty funny, caught me off guard for sure lol
The only way to start a Proper Father's Day Weekend, is with a Proper People's fresh clip. Well done gentlemen, love the archive footage.
I agree, best way to start the weekend
I pulled the IT equipment out of the Victoria Secrets location in this mall, one of the last few tenants. I remember walking in and seeing for lease signs in all the empty spaces. The mall was really quiet. The food court had tables set for at least 100+ people with one open restaurant and nobody there. It was very creepy and sad at the same time. Nothing ever stays the same and everything has a shelf life. Get to living!
It’s crazy how fast something can go from nice to ugly with no regular maintenance
That always surprises me too, I guess flat roofs, and lack of hvac are factors with lot of these buildings. Seems to me, I don't really do much maintenance to my house, I just live in it, and it doesn't decay like that.
The "New Guy" is killin the vibe...
For real :/
He never shuts up. Jesus.
Yeah, if they additional videos in the future with him, Imma pass instantly.
Agreed, it’s really upsetting
Haha I knew there would be comments like this. I don't disagree though, Michael and Brian just have an aura of respect and chillness that no one can match.
"Ok let's go to bed" *one hour video comes up*
OK THEN 😂
You guys do the best editing. All of the thought that goes into it is so awesome. That was so crazy, going from clips of that grand opening, complete even with Disney characters, to a newscaster saying that things are only looking up, to, then, instantly flipping to a clip of the abandoned church room inside.
This must be among the most fascinating CZcams video I've ever seen. Everything from nearly getting caught, to the photo albums. Amazing.
That cache of photo albums was incredible. I know you guys follow a strict "take only photographs" policy when exploring, which is great, but seeing stuff like this makes me think how it would be a good idea to give a heads-up to the local historical society so they have the opportunity to recover stuff like that before it gets lost.
even if they took the albums they would still technically "take only photographs"
I would have taken them and found the people in the pics and gave the pics to them the proper people are jerks for not doing it
see this is where i'm kind of conflicted in the whole "take only photographs" policy. the fact those photos are still there days before demo, tells me no one cares enough, but i agree with you that something like that should be preserved.
idk if i found something in one of those places i knew was just going to end up in a land fill but i could otherwise use, id take it.obviously nothing big like tools ,hardware ,furnishing etc.
80s and 90s!! Golden years !
I just found this video and the memories came flooding back. Watching a movie with my mom and dad at the theater. Eating at the food court with my mom and sister after my parents got divorced. Going to EB games and buying an N64 game there, visiting what I called the crystal store, and seeing the map of the University of Tennessee. This hurt but brought back a load of good memories. Thank you.
The mall was renamed Knoxville Center in 1997 when it was renovated, but then apparently changed back to East Towne in 2017-18 when Simon Properties sold it (even though they never updated any of the signage). The movie theater actually closed Halloween 2019 without warning, the same day the closure of the mall was announced. Also, that vape lounge was an Aladdin's Castle arcade for about the first 15 years of the mall's life.
I was five when this mall opened and I lived about 40 miles away my whole life, but my grandparents only lived about 10 mins away from East Towne, so I hit this mall almost every weekend as a kid. Kay-Bee and PlayLand toys in the mall, plus Toys R Us up the hill from the mall. It was pretty sweet to be kid in the 80s with the abundance of toy stores, in the decade of GI Joe, Transformers, and TMNT. This was also a favorite hang out for my friends and me in high school because there was a sweet video store called Reel Collections and an awesome game store called GameBoard. East Towne was and always will be my favorite mall.
I shot a video here a couple days before the mall closed and found sets of the original mall blueprints in those offices where you found the photo albums. Ace's Adventures shot a video after the demolition started, and sadly the photo albums and blue prints were still there and apparently got bulldozed along with the building.
I find it ironic that when they remodeled the mall partly to "celebrate local wildlife" they also got rid of all the plants.
Remodeling of malls seems to always boil down to stripping them of all the things that made them pleasant environments in the vein hope of selling space to kiosk vendors. SMH Kiosks are the real reason malls are dying.
@@ANPC-pi9vu LOL, no, no they're not. I mean, yeah, they started things down the wrong path before Amazon was even a thing, but Amazon has killed literally almost every store-front mom and pop all the way up to mega malls like the one in this video. We have become a more and more reclusive society, obsessed with being lazy, getting the cheapest price, and dependent upon convenience to make any decision, so the effort of even so much as driving to a mall, much less walking around one and making purchases is just entirely out of the question for our lazy lifestyles.
Vape dude walks like he really has to sh*t 😂
I was thinking he walks like a video game character. Can't put my finger on which one though
I'm thinking that Bryan and Michael are NOT planning on giving this guy an invite to future episodes.
Jesus Christ thats hell funny 😅😆
Dude was higgggggh on something
@@joenwc lets hope so!
This is by far my favorite one of all your videos.
It has the thrills of almost getting caught in the theatre and the photo albums of the mall how it looked in the past.
don't know if anyone in the comments has mentioned it, but WWE Hall of Fame manager Mr. Fuji used to work at the movie theater to make some extra money while running a wrestling school. Met him once at the theater and told him I watched him manage as a kid and he was real appreciative
From Wikipedia: Fujiwara operated a training dojo out of Jefferson City, Tennessee, and Dandridge, Tennessee until 2001. He was a part-time usher at Knoxville Center's (formerly East Town Mall) movie theater.
when he put the bowl on his head it reminded me of all those “i’m such a crackhead” or “i’m so crazy you can’t take me anywhere” memes i-
literally insane thumbnail shot. and 54 MINUTES LONG. i love you guys.
the 80s feel so nostalgic to me despite me being born in 1998. i wish i could travel back to the late 70s and early 80s to see how life was. if we all got to choose one year to travel to and observe the past, i know my year of choice would be in the 80s.
I really appreciated the loving respect you paid to that mall, especially taking the time with all the old photos.
While living in a world so loud, there's something so calming about you guys walking through an abandoned decaying relic of a building. No one around cept those few people that you heard. Pure bliss.
Never thought of it that way. Pretty cool way to look at it, and I agree wholeheartedly!
Great comment.
This mall was only closed completely for about a year. I went past about a week ago and the whole thing is now demolished. I'm glad you guys got to explore is, as I was talking about it the whole time it was abandoned. Also, mold takes over very quickly here in East Tennessee because of the intense humidity, especially in a building with no circulation. I left my house abandoned for a year and when I returned everything was covered in a thick green layer of mold that took weeks to scrub off. Thank you guys
They demolished it already?
Be careful of that mold. I live in a high humidity place as well. The only way I've gotten it to keep out is by regularly spraying the place with vinegar and keeping the heater on in the wet months. Vinegar will help make it inhospitable to mold. I use it in place of alcohol when cleaning. But be warned, mold never truly leaves once it's set in. Take precaution with your health. If you live in a moldy place, even if you can't detect it, you will just get sicker and sicker until you can barely think.
@@waxy1309 Yes. It’s going to be an Amazon distribution center
@@joshjarnagin3161 One capitalist nightmare to another
Ur buddy does not stop moving ever, or talking, he's giving anxiety bruh.
i went to this mall in 2019 while there were still some stores open. was very eerie. especially when the music was playing but no one was in it. i felt so bad for everyone working.
OMFG THOSE PICTRUES ARE A TREASURE OF HISTORY.
I bet after this episode with Justin they were like "never again" lol
I hope so
@@smadanitsuj I know right lol Idk how these guys have survived so far
Nice pfp, I wonder where it comes from, hope it's family friendly.🗿
@@smadanitsuj just the one day of it wont kill u. I've been in places multiple times with black mold and my dr has always said no issues were found with my breathing. It's never gotten no worse. If ur around it daily with no masks then it will b a problem
Right? Did he have coke in that vape?
The last line was depressing. I hope those photos were saved, by either someone tasked with a last sweep or others who searched the building after you.
Yeah the photobooks was nuts! So many memories just laying around
I spent a majority of my memorable childhood in Knoxville, TN and this video brought on so much nostalgia. I got chills seeing the tile map of UT campus. I'm so glad you guys chose this place.
the chair just chilling is the highlight of my day LOL
“An Amazon warehouse will be built on the site”
Holy fuck, Bezos, you already killed them, you don’t need to dance on their grave by building a warehouse.
@The Rustiest Shackleford
I felt a little sick when I heard that another effing Amazon warehouse is the replacement.
I never shop at Amazon, and I hate Bezos. Did you know the work conditions and pay is horrible there? Bezos keeps all the $$$ for himself, the bastard.
@@drumstick74 I don't shop at Amazon too. I feel I'm like the only person at times who doesn't. Lol.
@@judeodomhnaill9711
Good choice♥. People should remember the power our wallets have. If we don't like a company, we shouldn't give them our hard earned money (imo).
@@drumstick74 same here
After the apocalypse, Amazon warehouses will become a host of small city-states. Survivors will be surprised to find just how many there are - and just how many people they can hold.
I hope all those pictures get saved before the mold and building decay destroys them. Your right. You can never go back again.
I was thinking the same thing. Be nice if someone bored got all of these, high speed scanned the pics and posted them.
@@guffaw1711 It may be that the video we just saw is the only remaining record of those pictures.
Wrong form of you're
@JoeBidens Bunghole I mean, it applies to historical objects such as old typewriters, vases, etc etc in old buildings, but I think they should've kept those pictures, they would've preserved them, they could've turned them into the historical museums they have in that town. In that case you are preserving history by saving it.
@JoeBidens Bunghole lets go into your house to steal some stuff i want cuz its your problem you dont have it anymore. the property and everything that is on it still has an owner, even if it doesnt seem that way. The place is still being payed for by someone and they probably chose to leave everything thats still there, you dont just go steal stuff, even if it seems or is abandoned.
Those footsteps while you hid in silence, was freaky! Its like that part in a video game where the anxiety bar raises.
I live in Montana and our mall is still thriving!! But not really anything has changed here since the 90’s. I work at the Cinnabon. As a kid whenever my family travelled anywhere I always wanted to go the mall!! I remember seeing a Tiffany concert at a mall when I was a kid
I live about two hours away from Knoxville, our mall in Johnson city is still doing pretty good business. I don’t think as well as it used to but it’s definitely not going under it seems to be on its last leg. Seeing this makes me thankful for that. If that one does ever go out of business it’ll be so sad. Makes me wonder why some are still going fairly strong and some can’t survive
I think I know what mall you’re talking about, it’s the one with the Cinnabon right across from Fuzziwigs right?
I love going to that mall, it’s nice seeing it do so well. I remember when Cinnabon moved in and everyone was making a huge deal about it, and fair enough, that store makes that whole corner smell amazing.
Sometimes I wonder what’s gonna happen to the mall, it’s such a big part of our town, it’s gonna be weird seeing it turn out like the mall in this video someday. I don’t imagine it happening for a long time, but it feels inevitable. Like Luckys for example, that store only lasted for a bit even with the activity in the rest of the mall. Who knows when..
There was more suspense in the theater closet part than any horror movie I've seen in years 😂
👌😅
It's sad seeing all these abandoned buildings that in previous times people were excited to go to. You guys do a nice job of covering them though....
Another shout out for Dan Bell.
Dan Bell is brilliant. I love his videos. He did an explore of an abandoned asylum with the Proper People as well. It’s on CZcams.
@Kajdien Ahbib same here. Brilliant channels!!
Watching this hurt. My mother worked at the Farmers Market just down the road where the Target is now. I spent so much time here with family, including my grandmother. She passed away a year before the mall closed. I lost a lot of my childhood in a very short period of time. Live in the moment and cherish those memories❤
I love the intro showing the opening of the mall, this is by far the best exploration channel on youtube.
You guys crack me up. In 1987, we didn't have cell phones or computers to play on. The thing to do was to walk the mall in high school on Friday or Saturday night if there wasn't anything else going on in town such as a football game. It was also the go to in order to escape parents who didn't know we were going elsewhere.
@Rudy Casso I miss them too.
And malls usually had a good arcade in them.
The JC Penney closed in 2017. Crazy how fast the mold set in.
Rumor had it that the only reason JCPenney closed was due to the high cost of repairing the roof. They decided it wasn't worth it. Now I see why!
"Still smells like a gym."
The sign: "Next Level Gaming"
Yep, still checks out.
Thank you guys so much for making this video. This mall was such a cool place back in the 80's and 90's. As a kid, I remember the waterfalls around the food court, and it was so cool having lunch there and listening to the sound of the waterfall. This video was a walk down memory lane for me and brought back many happy memories. I did feel a tug at my heart when y'all found those pictures. I grew up in a small town 50 miles north of Knoxville so going to the mall there was a "once-a-month" treat.
I'm sad that the era of malls is almost gone. It was great to be able to find what you needed in real time , where you could try something on to see it it fit. The online experience is not nearly as satisfying.
True. I hate shopping online as I need to see if the clothes /shoes fit instead of buying and realizing it's too small
It really is a shame to see the mall era fade. I am younger and don’t know much about the way malls used to be, but I know of a few malls that are still going strong to this day. I guess the main reason for that is the higher income clientele or more bargain-focused experience, but especially since COVID hit I really have missed the in-person shopping experience just as much as anything else.
I prefer online shopping. Going to shops is stressful and you get ripped off and manipulated. Most introverts would agree. It uses up time and most people look depressed i see out. Id rather walk in the woods, go to a cafe or watch some music. Its a shame there is no positive leisure activity replacing it (except maybe the cafes).
That said im not giving the federal state of Amazonia my money, taz evaders who have my bets will act like some fascist state by 2050 and cause WWIV
Higher taxes@@chiare5236
You needed a tour guide? You shoulda called me. I knew EVERY store location n that place, and I was there during that malls grand opening when I was only 5 years old. It held anything from Kay Bee Toys, Radio Shack, Zaires jewelry to several different athletic stores like Champs, Foot Action, Footlocker, and Finish Line. I only live 2 miles from it, and it's heartbreaking to witness it's current status as Sears remains the last standing piece of the structure. Why's it heartbreaking? Well what teenager didn't hang out there during their teen years or go see movies or hang out at the arcade. I saw my 1 movie in a theatre there, which was The Karate Kid, and famed wrestler, Mr. Fuji, worked at that cinema tearing tickets and just loved meeting and talking to people. A lot of history went on there, and it was apart of my life just as much as anyone's from this city. Sucks to see it go
Malls all over are closed its actually because big investment groups bought them and they stopped having onsite management and events and raising rents it has not as much to do with online shopping as most people think
@@angiek3538 this mall in particular is located on the lower class side of town. I have witnessed this city cater to the wealthier end of town while the remaining three sides don't get the new businesses that could always help their local economy prosper. Anything from Costco, whole foods, best buy, Publix, and many smaller chains and restaurants open up shop in the rich side of Knoxville, TN, and that leaves consumers from the other 3 sides to travel further and waste more high priced gasoline if they choose to wanna shop with these proprietors. Meanwhile, not only does it create heavier traffic problems on the west side, but it also helps to flourish that local economy while the other three go without much at all. I've noticed this trend in other cities as well, and honestly, I think it's to help create the wedge from poor to rich class, as the potential to eliminate the middle class remains an active motivation like it has for several decades. I really see this as a marketing strategy to ensure the prosperity of the wealthy lead on by the political figures they help support, donate towards, lobby with, and help keep in office.
@@vaccumsealed like the 68 charger :)
@@fanawbpvp that's it
@@vaccumsealed 5 years old in 1984?? Same age as me!! 👍👍
This is crazy seeing this mall abandoned. I grew up going to this mall. It's like seeing my childhood in a ghost town.
My mom worked at the Jcpenney for 2-3 years in the mid '80s and I saw Aliens, Platoon, Prince of Darkness and Big Trouble in Little China multiple times in that movie theater. A sizable part of my young life was spent there. RIP East Towne Mall.
Oh wow! SO glad this mall got the “Proper People” treatment and coverage!
me to when I saw it being tore down the other day!
I know you guys have respect and have a thing against removing stuff from locations this would have been the one case I would have liked to of seen those photo albums rescued and given to somebody so the history could be preserved because chances are they got destroyed along with the rest of the mall and that is quite sad
This hands down is the best video of this mall. Those pics were awesome. I used to go to this mall around 2005. I was closer to WestTowne but liked this one better. Thanks for making these videos. Nostalgia at its finest.
I will always remember going there back in those 2010s, it just really was some great times back in my day and I just am sad that I'll never get to see those days again, but I love to thank you all for this video giving me some memories back and seeing what this mall was like back then, even before my time, so thank you all.
LOVED hearing you guys talk about the 80's ! Malls were exactly like you guys think they were. What a moment in time it all was.
I feel so lucky I lived when the mall was the place to be. As a kid, teen or adult. Going out for the night? Time to hit up the mall for a new outfit! Those were the times!
Malls were AWESOME for my friends and I back in the 90’s! My best friend’s grandmother would drop us off at 11:00AM and we would spend the entire day there in our teens! My Mom would give me $20 and we would be able to eat at the food court, go see a movie, sneak into another 😂🤣, then still have time and money left over to buy a shirt or a hat on the way out to get picked up at 9:00PM when it closed. Not only would we be there, but all of our other friends and all the girls! Cheesy but true!! Those were the days!!
Aladdins Castle arcade! Spending all my allowance for the week one quarter at a time...
Honestly, if malls were still like that, people would still go to them. A big part of the problem is people or companies buying them who just want to load them full of kiosks and not do any upkeep on the landscaping and decorative elements. That's what happened to the small mall where I grew up. Fuck Westfield.
@@lgannawa tell me More I Love this😢 how much would you spend on an outit back in the day?? What stores were poppin‘ ??Tell me all about it 🥺🥺
I love the new resolution settings on mobile. "Higher picter quality: 144p"
Picture*
I hate when CZcams messes with stuff that ain’t broke.
the fact that you need to click on advanced settings just to see all options is utter bullshit
@@RangerRickTV they pay people to invent things like that now, instead of ... Idk, working in commerce in a tangible shop.
I spent so much time at this mall over the years! The last time I was here was in 2019, and now it isn’t there anymore. It was really cool to see this!
Wow, I am from Knoxville and when this opened it tried its best to compete with West Town Mall. I used to shop at this mall so many times growing up. This video is bringing back so many memories. This mall just kept dying and stores moved out quickly. I actually had a friend that got married at the mall. Those church pews was what was used inside the tiny church. Man, this makes me kinda sad seeing it in this condition. Now, that location will be an Amazon warehouse.
I love how he smashes into the chair while they're all trying to be quiet. haha
I don't
The JCPenney store makes me so sad knowing that my mom worked there for so many years and I grew up there
Our Intrepid Heroes:
- nondescript clothing
- 5.11 backpacks (full)
- knowledge of respiratory protection
- documentarian equipment ($$$ cameras)
- plenty of water
- low tolerance for clowning
- deep understanding of abandoned structures
Our Guide:
- high school t-shirt
- vape
- vague memories that may or may not be accurate
- clowning for camera
Oh he was an absolute fool!
worked as a theater projectionist back in the day. We used to take our old xenon lamps, tape 'em up in a cardboard box, and drop them from the outside 2nd floor fire escape balcony into the alley behind the theater (making sure the alley was clear and blocked off, of course.). The "POP!" when those suckers burst was always entertaining!
(And little did we realize at the time, because it really wasn't a "thing"..the anodes in those bulbs are made of tungsten. Gather up enough of them, and you can get some cash from a scrap metal dealer for them.)
I know you all don't take things, but hell when you run into pictures in the security office like that, you really should take them and get them scanned on online for the rest of us as those will eventually just be trashed and lost forever.
I agree. It's not like anyone else is going to.
I understand the desire, but between copyright and model releases, you'd be asking for legal trouble.
I mean... they did record the photos. They're not all there, but they got a lot of them. Plus, that was a whole rack of albums, how were they supposed to carry those out without the white van people noticing?
@@russellhltn1396 They could have just anonymously mailed the photo albums and blueprints to a historic society. It's a damn shame that they were left to the bulldozer.
@@ANPC-pi9vu The problem is as soon as you remove things, you're a thief. I think a safer move would be to send the video clip to a historic society to alert them.
I know that malls have been slowly dying for years, but it's a big punch in my heart to see the down fall, I feel bad for the young peeps not knowing how fun these malls used to be to work or hang out in. Who knows, maybe after this pandy there might be a resurge of back to the basic people malls, but I'm not holding out any hope, only a joyous remembering of how it used to be.
Great show boys!
It’s super sad because I’m not even that old and hanging out at the mall was *the* thing to do for entertainment lol. There’s a huge amazing mall near my house and I saw an article on how a few years from now it’s gonna be demolished, which I think is absolutely stupid because it brings tons of people over and demolishing it is gonna make them lose tons of money. Thankfully there are two more good malls around here so hopefully the future generations get to experience the wonder of going to a mall haha.
It is sad.Bog Town mall in Mesquite was the first mall in Dallas County and we loved going there.Then they build bigger and better malls and Big Town eventually closed and more and more have closed.Always had fun hanging out in the malls as a teenager. Sad they are disappearing.
It's because of corporate greed. It was 4 to 10k a month to rent a fucking spot. Even a table booth cost a minimum of 2500. And then Amazon happened. And that was the end. The price of everything at the mall became insane.
Finding those photo albums was EVERYTHING… what an amazing visual history to stumble across…
I feel like crying watching this :’) as a Knoxville life long person, I spent so much time here when I was little, I learned how to drive in this parking lot just a few years before it shut down, and now it’s been turned into an Amazon warehouse, it’s a bit heartbreaking to see
My mom spent many many of her teen years working there, it was my favorite place to go see movie w my best friend in high school, I jumped on the trampoline there, I got pictures taken with Santa clause there, my parents bought me my first ever phone from that mall, we went school shopping there every year, in middle school they had my favorite hot topic to go too, now it’s pretty nostalgic watching it be an abandoned building video on CZcams
I wish you would have picked someone who actually had a connection to this place. So much misinformation provided by your guide. I spent so much time in this place. It’s so sad to see it, but great video. I was so upset seeing those photo albums. I’d love to see all those photo albums and I’m sure they got destroyed.
I would grab that photo album and donate that to a local library or local museum or local gov't historical society. Anything pre-internet is hard to find.
They were destroyed :( I watched the security office get destroyed from the old toys r us with a beer in hand......
For example, me. I was with my mother with other employees we hired. Our family owned store was called Wayward Art. Anyone remember during October they had costume contests?
You’re just butt hurt it wasn’t you or somebody you know.
I REALLY hope those photo albums have been rescued. That’s so much great documentation of recent history!
I grew up close to this mall. The East Town Mall name was changed at least 20 years back. Me and my parents had a a small shop there back in the mid 1980's. The JCpenny at one time had a hair salon in the back that my grandmother would get her hair done at. I probably saw at least a dozen movies in the movie theater. Yes- the 3D neon camera was suspended from the ceiling. That Neon was there back in the 80s so that was original. There used to be a lot of decorative water fountains and stuff inside. I remember it was pretty loud. The mall was already on its way out when I moved away back in 1999. The last time I came to visit my parents the bulldozers were busy tearing it all down. I think they left the ornamental metal facade for the Amazon center that was built in its place. Man does this bring back memories.
Cool to see you guys do this. I worked at this mall through most of college up until 2014. By then, half of the mall was already a vacant ghost of it's former self. I remember coming here as a child with my parents in the 90s. Surreal!