Towson Town Center | a posh mall and its metamorphoses from a strip plaza | ExLog 72
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- čas přidán 19. 09. 2020
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Drone Footage Provided by Mark W
The Towson Town Center in Towson, MD...just outside Baltimore, and in the County...this place is my favorite mall in Maryland, and I've been coming here for almost 20 years. From longboarding with Fritz to working at the Banana Republic, this place holds a dear spot in my heart. Come take a walk with me while I show you footage from 2018, 2020...and possibly 2001 and 2006 after the credits.
#salguido #dmodfam #Baltimore
Thanks for 40,000 subscribers, everyone! Big things ahead for the Expedition Log Series! Is anyone else hungry after Grill Skillz??
Yep! Wendy's burgers are pretty good 👍
Does the expedition log series involve other places or just malls? I would really like to see an exploration of the Old original area of the Enchanted Forest in Ellicott City and River Country Disney World would be cool-although dangerous. Great Memories as a kid that are completely gone...
Absolutely. I felt a sense of urgency to film the malls you’ve seen so far because of how quickly they’ve been dying. Make sure to catch up with the rest of my series, there’s a few nob mall episodes on here :)
*Keep up the great work Sal!*
Old school vhs LOL 😂
I currently work security in TTC. There is one era that you glossed over and I think would be interesting for your viewers. The 2010's were when the mall probably came closest to closing. Towson Town Center was and still is in very close proximity to not only Towson University and Goucher College, but also a fair amount of low income housing. This had a massive negative impact on the mall. The biggest concern was public safety. Every weekend there would be fights, random crimes, and general chaos which drove shoppers, and by extension their dollars, to other places. At one point 50% of the leasable area was sitting vacant. Something had to be done. Two options were weighed. 1: give security batons and supervisors firearms, or 2: get the source of the problem, the unruly juveniles, out. The latter option was chosen, and a modified curfew was imposed. Security would check ID's at the door, and those over 18 are allowed entry. Anyone without identification, or those underage, require a chaperone. This turned the atmosphere from total anarchy to a family-focused one. These restrictions are only in place on weekend evenings, targeting the measures to when they are most needed. Since these rules came into effect in mid-2016 money has flooded back into TTC, and now quite little of our GLA sits unused. In 2021, however, the super-luxury wing has fallen apart, Burberry, Louis Vuitton, and Tiffany & Co. have gone the way of the dodo. As have several other of our high-end retailers. But this is not a sign to be concerned about. There is literally a waiting list to open up here, and the addition of a Japanese arcade giant, Round 1, is reshaping how Towson Town Center will look in the future.
Fantastic context! Thanks for sharing!
around blax, never relax!
Towson Town Center was the first place that I had ever seen a Rain Forest Cafe.
Always wanted to try them out but only 1 within driving distance to me is yorkdale mall which is always so crowded I can never get a parking spot.
Me too I thought it was the coolest place when i was kid..its where the rich kids went for saturday lunch with thier parents lol
I had a birthday party thre
This mall was a major part of my life, and I thank you so much for this video. This mall had some of the most incredible stores back in its prime including the Nature Company, FAO Schwarz, five different music stores, The Game Keeper, the Sharper Image, an Arcade, Rainforest Cafe, so many more. Some of my happiest memories came from within these walls. I very much appreciate your adventures!
The TGI Fridays has been there since the 2-level Towson Plaza prior to the early 90s expansion. Great memories.
Yeah, I went there in the late 80s when I went to Towson University.
@@Scott__C I had my 21st birthday party back in 1991 while I was at Towson University. My first legal drink.
I live right around the corner from Towson Town Center and went to school at Towson University in the early 2000s which is also nearby so I have spent a ton of time here. Back before COVID, perhaps around the holidays or just other busy times, even with all of the massive garages, parking could at times become a nightmare. While the structures are huge, the lots themselves have weird traffic patterns and one ways which are probably a byproduct of the constant reinvention of the area. Trader Joe's used to share a parking area with the Macy's side of the mall before it moved to Kenilworth (perhaps a worthy subject for a future video) and was practically impossible to get to at times, so much so that I would just go to a Trader Joe's a few exits down 695 simply to avoid the parking mess. Looking forward to future videos!
Amazing piece, as always. Appreciate the personal history you shared of this mall. This place is freakin' ginormous.
Isn’t it amazing?
Sal,
Have you ever touched on Jim Rouse’s role in planning the city of Columbia, MD in any of your logs? A little beyond the scope of your work, perhaps, but would dovetail nicely with it; there is an organized, bubble-wrapped beauty but also eerie degree of planning to the whole place that stirs me a bit every time I drive through it. Love your stuff; I’ve been here five years and appreciate the added layers of richness your work brings to living in the Baltimore area. Thanks.
Ohhhh yes. I’m doing an entire Columbia episode dedicated to Jim Rouse!
@@sal I remember when Columbia was being built. I drove there to take a look. I was amazed to see a city with no one there. No cars, only one small business setting up, no trash ANYWHERE! It was really an experience I will never forget.
You made this guy from Columbia a very happy man.
Just wait for my Columbia Mall episode :)
That central fountain is sad AF for such a huge complex
I used to work at the Apple Store in 2005-2006 when it was on the 4th floor on the Macy's side. I loved the Rainforest Cafe, it was something unique and fun. Didn't really need another PF Chang's or Cheesecake Factory. Friday's was there in the late 80s when I attended Towson University.
I think K Mart screwed up when they purchased Sears and then the hedge fund guy took it over and screwed it up far more. The ones that were near us are gone - the stores didn't get updated and the merchandise was really hit or miss before they closed here. I can't see them surviving too much longer.
Brookfield has a huge presence here in Calgary in both the residential and commercial sector. They developed the land in the community next to mine, and are one of the home builders on offer there as well. Brookfield recently built the tallest building in Calgary. A 56 storey, 810ft office tower called Brookfield Place in the downtown core. By the way Sal, a big congrats on reaching 40000 subs. A job well done.
The mall is similar to Scottsdale Fashion Square. It also started as an outdoor shopping center with a Goldwater's and AJ Bayless supermarket anchoring it. It would eventually grow and become an enclosed mall that merged with the mall nextdoor. The mall even crosses 2 streets. It's a nice place.
I grew up with King of Prussia . From Korvets to today. What changes ! Thank you for this series; your commitment shows .
First, You are right! I watch your videos a lot and I realized I wasn’t subscribed. I am now! You deserve it. Also, this was a really well done video! Your are really getting very good at your craft. Much love to you from a 22 year long mall employee in PA.
Thank you so much for the sub!
My big sister and I used to come here all the time. We would walk from the old movie theater that closed down and go to the mall and hang out before our movie started. We would sit at the food court for hours and I hated hanging with my sister's friends but she couldn't leave me home. My family celebrated my mom at that rainforest cafe on almost all her birthdays before they closed down. I miss those days sometimes. I miss that Barnes and Noble too.
When I worked security at Tysons Corner, we had the same issues with kids using the decks as speed ramps, usually after or near closing when it was safer. I recall one injury though, kid broke his clavicle after colliding with a Mercedes all the parents were lawyers, what a cluster bunch
Sal- your content is so quality!! Thanks for all the hard work you do to bring us this info and beautiful footage.
Thank you!!! Lots more coming!
Congrats on 40K, you deserve it, since first exlog to now, always a great history and representation of the mall, Liked, Stay Safe!!!
Thanks so much, old friend! Be safe, yourself!
I was 6 in 2001 lol. I can say thanks for this video. In some terrible pain post op from wisdom teeth removal and this helps.
Feel better friend
So much history and natural light on beautiful stairways. Such a fantastic video!
Thank you for these videos, something about them is deeply touching. Like reaching back deep into forgotten memories. I was watching this one ( and the east point mall video) and I was getting very bothered by the fact that I remembered a mall in Maryland but I couldn't place it. It isn't any of the malls you've covered (I don't think). I grew up near White Marsh and I went to that mall often ( saw your video of that, nice) but sometimes my mom would take me to another mall. It exists in my memory as only a ghost of a place, with tactile memories, colors, and light. It was a small and dimly lit mall, one story, a lot of brown brick and ramps, a K-mart. I really liked this mall because of the ramps, running up and down was fun. Couldn't figure out anything about it, though. The place I was sure it stood has a shopping center, not an enclosed mall. I asked my mom if there had been an enclosed mall there at some point and she said yes and she used to take me there sometimes. That was "North Plaza Mall". It's called North Plaza Shopping Center now. Anyhow, not sure the real point of this comment. That mall is long gone (I think, unless the structure is still there and sealed off). there's no chance of a video being made of it. But there's something kind of haunted about it, in that sense. my memories of it are oddly well formed. Anyhow, thanks for these trips into the past and thanks for making a great record of all of this information before it's all gone.
Wow a lot has changed since the last time I was there in 1991
Love the skate footage at the end. I never did learn to skateboard, but I could maneuver a Razor scooter around a parking garage pretty well.
Glad to see a mall or two still alive these days.
Surf Wisely.
Such memories. Used to work at Merry Go Round at this location. Also at Hecht's while in college. Great video! Thank you!
You missed a step. The mall was enclosed well before 1980. It was still just the two floors (not over top of each other), the 4 floors would happen in the late 1980s. No idea when it happened, but I'd guess 1973-1975 (easily earlier, but I'd think I'd remember it better if later).
I think there was a nearby mall (Eudawood) was enclosed in the 1980s and died in the 1990s (according to Google maps it got better). All I can say about it was that it had a Best store with a funky fascade and a toys r us. The toys r us (the only one neat Towson) was virtually the only reason I went there.
Actually, no. It was first enclosed in 1982. I have the receipts and articles. Feel free to stop by discord to discuss if you like.
Wow, that mall is amazing. That dome is crazy. Everything is clean and alive. That mall just goes places, the stairs, the escalators, and elevators! One day I would like to go there and enjoy it all. Thanks for a great video Sal.
Dude you are awesome. I'm a long time fan and finally have to write to tell you I love what you do. Your facts and figures are astounding. We all learn so much from you. Your attention to detail is over the top.
Thanks for the kind words, Mike! Much more on the way.
Love ur videos!!! Especially this one. LOVE the Towson Town Center and I learned a lot about it here.
I loved the sky lights, and the history of the renovation! I loved this!!! Thanks Sal!!
Thanks!
So much effort goes into these videos. Thanks so much.
I have early memories of my grandmother taking me here to buy snowballs, and she loved the Godiva chocolates store.
Went to school in the area, in high school we would walk to this mall all the time
Omg, I forgot about the Rainforest Cafe!! I took my kids there in the 90’s, I was sad when they left. Happy memories.
Love the skate footy at the end. I used to go to Towson U, and I would skate all the garages nearby with the skate club on campus. Good times.
Congrats On 40K❗️I love your work!.
It so massive I've been only once I remember the park garage was crazy
Congratulations on the big 40 Sal!!! I've been with you for a good while now and it never gets old my friend. Also thanks so much for not getting into all things political. I'm sure you have your opinions, but it's so nice to get away from it all and not have to listen to it when all I'm trying to do is to escape. You're the best Sal hands down!!!
Another great video Sal! I dined at that Rainforest Cafe a couple times long ago. Thanks for the hard work. Cheers
Thanks Sal!! Very well done.
Holy Hell, that brings back some memories! Wendy's and that superbar! Loved the retro film intro!
Dude I moved from baltimore a while back. Needed this nostalgia. Stores like Fire and Ice or Sharper Image really made this place feel like a fancy bazaar as a kid. Cheers
Hi. This is a great video for many reasons. One of which shows how there are winners as well as losers in the mall business. I frequented many of the dead/dying malls growing up in the Baltimore area you've featured (e.g. Security Square, Reisterstown Plaza, and Glen Burnie Mall). Owings Mills Mall used to be my go to for shopping and dining. This video is an example of how many of those malls have declined, leaving a few malls that thrive and attract shoppers that used to visit the places I mentioned. While retail is especially volatile in the COVID era, Towson Town Center, White Marsh, and Columbia are best equipped to survive now and into the future. Their management keeps investing into the properties,. These places offer a great experience, not just for shopping.
Great video Sal. I remember it as a 2 level mall and loved it. It's probably the closest mall to where I live, and i work right up the street from it, but i couldn't tell you the last time I was in it. Just too rich for my blood. If you're looking for a dying mall head up to Harford Mall. They're really starting to struggle, unfortunately. Keep up the good work.
Any history on the old Eudowood Towson marketplace? Where Wal-Mart and Target stands now.
I still call it Eudowood, lol
Man... Seeing a bunch of the shops like Harry & David's still open is strange.
Also, if you've never eaten at Stoney River, I highly recommend it.
I really enjoy this and your voice is fantastic for this. Thanks for Sharing
Another excellent video! Thanks
Employee training films !The best. We had them at Jack In The Box. So embarrassing to watch this one now😂
Thank you! Great job! I like the throwback skateboarding 🛹 !
@13:46 that staircase reminds me of the Titanic main staircase
In the shot of the opening plaza, I saw a pantry pride (super market). It was gone for as long as I can remember the mall (I think we moved there before they enclosed it, but I don't remember that). I'm guessing the Pantry Pride in Timonium was gone by 1976 (probably should watch more before commenting).
Great presentation!
I remember my parents taking me to the Towson Plaza in the late 60’s and 70’s. It was a basic rectangle with an escalator to the second floor. If my memory is correct, the second floor was only about half the size of the first floor. Of course to me, it was fancy, as all I knew was that and Hutzler’s. Now Huztler’s was an amazing multilevel department store with a wonderful restaurant that looked over the valley-until the view was destroyed by the other development there.
I spent alot of my youth in the 70's at Towson plaza... buying records at music liberated...and books at Walden's...the fountain between the two escalators seems to have been moved a bit from the location i recall it being...it's the only resemblance left of the tp
Yup; the fountain was removed.
Grill skill. That was hillarious 🤣🤣🤣
Gosh dang it Sal! I wish I had footage of my home mall from the 90’s to early 2000’s.
I’m not into high end luxury stores normally but you’re video was absolutely amazing!
Hey thanks!! To be honest, I went in with trepidation, but I felt that the place was close enough for me personally to tell a decent story
Thank you for this! We moved away from Carney a few years ago and I've been feeling nostalgic for the golden age of Malls, Towson mall was a favorite! Seeing it again was so nice!
I'm scared to ask how it is doing now, in mid 2022, but curious to know too...
Love the cleanliness of this mall. Other mall owners should take notes on Towson on how to run a proper and clean mall.
Been here a few times. Used to go here for holiday shopping back in the day.
They also lost that gas station in the last expansion as well. I also went to hunt valley mall a lot as a kid in addition to Towson.
Hutzlers was great my mom worked there for 10 years. It was a great mall but I liked Eudowood Plaza myself.
Hess shoes was there in the mid seventies (mentioned during the 1990s) along with a mechanical girraffe (no idea how long they were there, but that's were my memories start. I think my mom bought me most of my kiddie shoes there). They later opened a running store next to it (the 'real' type that had race app!ications and could recommend the right shoes). It was gone about 2000.
Hey Sal, I grew up in Northeast Baltimore during the 70's. You should do a segment on the Goldenring Mall and Cedonia Mall!!!
He couldn't make a very good documentary about these malls except from vintage footage if he could even find any. Both these malls are long gone. The only remains of Golden Ring is that the Montgomery Wards store was modified and expanded on and is now the strip of stores on the Pulaski Hwy side of the complex. The Wards building wasn't torn down with the rest of the mall because it was actually owned by Wards real estate division and not the mall owner.
Yeah, I only cover places I can actually walk through. That’s half the fun!
Bro how often are you looking in the thesaurus 🤣
Love your videos and I love you just giving you a hard time
Lol thanks for watching bud
It's certainly impressive a structure, I go there semi-regularly, usually stick to White Marsh Mall myself. Tons of stores here, mainly clothing and shoes at the moment though, bit dull for my tastes so little draw for me. They *do* have actual livable apartments built on top now though, that's notable.
Great literary work, Century III Mall Jeff
Well damn now I want a Wendys single burger.
Omg me too
Nice video, I didn't go there much. Golden Ring Mall and White Marsh Mall was more for me.
The aesthetic here reminds me of a local mall, South Park Mall in Charlotte NC. Very similar design and layout.
Nice vid and history. Even though I lived in the DC area for almost 20 years, I never made it to Towson. There were always stories about high crime in the area. Maybe it has gotten better...
Wow sal i started watching your vids from the Lexington market vid i live in Baltimore and im a youtuber myself as you can tell by my channel but you have taught me more about my city than ive ever knew thank you 😊
Def just earned a sub 👌🏾
OMG...the last time i was there the place was packed with people! Every-time i went there i use to run into dozens of people i knew. So sad! i miss the Rainforest Cafe
The most frightened I have ever seen my children was when they were toddlers we took them to the Towson Rainforest Cafe (first visit) thinking it would be to their liking. Well, right at the beginning of the meal the monkeys up the dark ceiling trees go crazy from the fake thunderstorm that comes through and their eyes are as wide as saucers and pulling my hand to leave ASAP. We were sad they got scared, however I could see how the experience would be intense for young ones.
Used to Skate a board 🛹 when I was a kid 😁 I had a Tony Hawk board with Clear grip tape with POWELL PERALTA STICKER'S UNDERNEATH! And Tracker Truck's. Spit Ball Wheels! NO Rails.
Please don't extoll the virtues of Nordstrom. They are a disgusting, heinous corporation. I worked for them for a few years. They are NOT good to their employees.
Not sure what store you worked at and what department but I too worked for them for several years at two different locations and have nothing but amazing memories. I’m sorry you are left with negative views but they are an amazing company and very good to their employees. I’ve had the pleasure of meeting a couple of the Nordstrom brothers and they were so nice to talk to.
Nordstrom is fantastic
Good video. Thanks.
Holy Hell that's a bad training video.
Also, as a boyfriend of a chef, I was taught to not press the hamburgers to keep the juices in. Now I know why I don't like Wendy's burgers.
They're all that bad. I should take it back cause most are worse. McDonalds training videos are on the killer tomato level of video villainy.
Fun to see this one. I grew up in Towson in the 60s and 70s, when Towson Plaza was an utterly unexceptional shopping center. Then I migrated to New England for college and career through the 80s and 90s. But my parents still lived in Towson, so I'd be back from time to time -- and was surprised by Towson Plaza morphing into "Towsontown Centre," as it was originally called. I found that name to be risibly pretentious, and it seems other people did, too, as they dialed back the pomposity to what it's called now. I hope it manages to weather the Covid storm.
Please make a video about East Towne Mall (Knoxville Center Mall). It is my local mall and it has already closed. It would be really cool if you did it.
OMG, I never knew Dave Thomas used to pronounced Old-Fashioned as "Old FAY-shioned". I remember it tickling me as a kid that he used to pronounce fresh as "Fraysh".
What a beautiful mall. Smart, well run business.
23:03 - 2007-08 - That is about the time that Cherry Hill Mall (GGP/Rouse) converted the original Strawbridge & Clothier to build a new Nordstrom along with more luxury in-mall shops.
Seeing Dave Thomas again feels like seeing my grandpa again.
Same
GGP the most corrupt greedy company known to mankind. Glad they are gone. Nice video looking forward to more.
This mall might be dying next. The luxury stores are pulling out, it was never the same once the rainforest cafe left
Burberry, LV, and Tiffany have all closed :(
Damn. I want Wendy's now...thanks a bunch SAL. :D
I love your vids. Been binging them for 2 days now. :D
Impressive for the high end brands. Since you are from New Jersey, could you do an expedition log on the Mall at Short Hills?
LOVE LOVE LOVE
that video at the start is the most 80s thing I've ever seen. More 80s than Duran Duran or Max Headroom
Even pre-Covid this mall wasn't that busy.
this was a fun video
Hey thanks :) more to come!
Man those grill skills! LOL
Wished I had a friend called Fritz. How cool! 🛹
Could you do a updated mall of all the malls in Montgomery County and Arlington County?
I have always hated this mall and grew up not far from it, I moved from Md in 2003.
Abercrombie sprays it's men's fragrances directly onto the stores individual furnace filters.. or so I have been told
Id love to see this mall at Christmas. I bet its beautiful.
I enjoyed the early 1980's Wendy's training video. I remember when Wendy's had ayce salad and pasta bars like they show in the video, I really wish they would bring them back. I also remember from that period of time Wendy's had delicious fried chicken. In fact my favorite meal at Wendy's in the '80s to early '90s was the 2 piece chicken and the ayce salad and pasta. Cheap and very filling. Sad they discontinued all of them.
Last time I went to Towson Town was around Christmas time 2020 I think. Or maybe early 2021? Anyway. It was PACKED. Wall to wall people. Huge line at the Apple store. I ended up leaving quickly because I was worried about the lack of social distancing.
Ah. Bridgewater Commons. My home mall. Of course Lord and Taylor is gone. Stern's was replaced by Bloomingdales in 2002.