STAMFORD TOWN CENTER -1980s MALL SENSATION
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- čas přidán 24. 08. 2024
- STAMFORD TOWN CENTER -1980s MALL SENSATION
My video tour of the Stamford Town Center in Stamford CT
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• Stamford Town Center: ...
I grew up in Stamford and went to this mall often in the early days. The fountain where the double elevators are used to shoot up past the 7th floor up until the 90s. Some unique stores I remember were FAO Schwartz, a place called The Computer Network, Sam Goodies, 4 book stores?, KB Toys, Herman’s, A&W, Brookstones, Sharper Image.
My old stomping ground from 1985-2004. I had quite a few jobs in there. I worked at the Sam Goody in there in the summer of 1987 while home from college, and a year later at the Metropolitan Museum of Art shop- it was the Met’s first satellite shop outside of the actual museum. I also worked at Origins, The Body Shop, and the Bombay company in the 90s. Who else remembers hanging out in “the pit“? Stamford wasn’t as “high-end” back then but I do get nostalgic for it.
There was a KB Toys in this mall circa 1990, and an A&W on the top floor. Just going for a ride in those elevators was thrilling as a kid. So glad to see they've preserved the aesthetic.
Yes! I loved going to that KB Toys. And that A&W I remember seeing at the top. I used to go to Strawberries (if that's even the name). It was an electronic store similar to Sam Goody. Anyways, I bought some videos games there before it closed. Stamford Mall is nostalgic. I might have to go there soon. Haven't been there in 20 years.
I worked at KB toys back in 1981. A lot of memories
Stamford Town Center: Proof that a mall can still be successful even with most of it's original aesthetics still visible!
My mom and I are extras in that movie..we just happened to be there that day..it was July and the mall was decorated for Christmas...
The stainless steel, the mirrors, the Granite Marble, the tiny little incandescent light bulbs, the maroon and brown colors... I had "Luxury Elite's" music going through my head during all this... ;)
We used to call it a suicide mall. People were jumping from top floor and land in the fountain on the very bottom. I think there were at least 3 incidents during Christmas season.
Perfect movie set location, especially with those elevators
I looked it up, this mall is only 5 minutes away from WWE Headquarters.
patsflysfan2 wait what?
I live in Stamford and it’s trash
patsflysfan2 I pass by there everyday because it right by where I live
OlliePuffs I live in Stamford also and it’s type boring tbh
Yeah I passed that
I worked at Baker's Garden in 1993, The Rock n Roll Cafe in 1994 & Macy's too. I loved that mall.
Yup that is my Mall. Worked at Art Explosion (think Spencer Gifts) in 1986 and '87. Oh the memories... Mrs. Fields, Sam Goodie, Sharper Image, ChiChi's, Sabaro, The Gap, Benetton, Old School Abercrombie Fitch
Art Explosion was one of the best store's, and the reason teen's enjoyed hanging out at the mall
I remember Art Explosion. I worked in the Metropolitan Museum shop right next to it, but it might have already been gone when the Met Shop opened.
I've been to this mall once, and it's a cool mall. After watching your video, now that I think about it, it's really amazing how much of the original 1980's aesthetic is retained (mirrors, the architecture, elevators, lights, fountains, etc). In this case, that's classic Taubman center architecture for ya! It's also amazing how it complements some of the modern features, such as the restaurant area on the south side of the complex, as well as the renovated food court on the 7th floor.
Though a lot of Taubman built malls throughout the country share a lot of features (such as Marley Station as you mentioned in the video), I should mention that this also reminds me of CT's other Taubman owned center, WestFarms in Farmington/West Hartford which opened in 1974. That mall still has a lot of features seen in Taubman malls (such as the arrangement of the escalators in front of the Anchors, the architecture, same color tile, one elevator that looks similar to the ones here, etc). Sadly, I think it has gradually lost some of its character over the years through renovations (even having the center court fountains ripped out)...that one seems a little too modern now. On the upside, that one does have some cool sculptures on each end, while this one does not.
GREAT video by the way, you have captured the aesthetic of this mall well. It's refreshing to see a shopping center like this still thriving.
Yes, this reminds me a lot of another Taubman mall, Fairlane Town Center in Dearborn, MI, built in 1976. It has a very similar elevator to the twin elevators shown here, with slightly bigger lightbulbs on it. A lot of the original aesthetic remains. Hopefully Ace can get there someday.
Looks sweet, I love dead malls but it's great to see one that's this active.
They sure keep that place spotless.
They are closing it 😂😂
born in stamford and still am in stamford
Me to
Those elevators though.
Wild Bill there sick this is my towns mall
During my childhood we'd visit New York every summer and stay at our uncle's house in Greenwich CT; this always included a pilgrimage to the legendary Stamford Town Center Mall. It was the height of the late 80s -- As a 13-year-old, this was the most awesome place to aimlessly roam around -- the absolutely coolest thing about this mall is that floors 9 and 10 have no stores but just a ramp that connects them together (comes into view perfectly at @6:57 ) - add in some escalators and glass elevators and you have yourself a ridiculously awesome tag venue that my brothers and I would spend hours running around while the parents shopped. That huge red amphitheater-style seating area also acted as a huge staircase connecting the 4th to the 5th floors so you can jump between them easily. Fun fact: I don't know why but the mall labelled the levels 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 9 and 10. (The elevator didn't have a 1, 6 or an 8) .. anyway, fun times!
The New York Times article of the early 1980s was correct. The Stamford Town Center is not the success the narrator claims. It wasn't the best idea to have a large, enclosed, suburban type mall in the center of a densely populated small New England city. For years the mall sucked traffic from retail establishments just outside of the mall. One of Stamford's greatest attributes is it's dense, walkable downtown streets and neighborhoods. The mentality of the 1970s and 1980s among urban planners was to isolate people from the streets and neighborhoods of cities. Leave your suburban house in your car, drive to your office park or drive to a mall, park in an elevated massive parking garage and shield yourself from the unwashed masses. Now, cities have become all the rage again and Stamford, Connecticut has one of the best natural urban landscapes in the world! The mall's original design had terrible street access. Imagine getting off at one of the best commuter train stations in the United States and walking about a mile or taking the bus to the mall and not knowing how to enter. Now if you drove, the 7 story parking garage that surrounds the mall has great access to vehicle traffic. Politics and corporate demands from this corporate run city originally prevented architects from designing free street egress to the mall. Which was a shame, because surrounding the mall are several wonderful outdoor town squares, one of which has an outdoor, sunken ice rink. Recently, major renovations have opened up street access to the mall, with one entire side of the mall made in to an outdoor mall. With the very concept of the mall becoming obsolete due to the economy becoming less and less focused on what is left of a middle class and online shopping making brick and mortar retail an inconvenience, the heavily gentrified city of Stamford, Connecticut's retail experiment of the 1980s may be on it's downward trajectory. In fact, the next city to the east of Stamford, Norwalk, is planning it's own urban mall, no doubt due to the outrageous costs of Stamford's retail estate.
I used to go there when I lived in Greenwich, CT during the late 80’s. It really is a beautiful mall. I❤️It❣️
Seven floors that is vertigo inducing lol.
It is. I’m used to it by now.
And now like 2 they moved to downtown
This is an awesome video & a great design of a mall.
Thank you for all that you do .
I feel old... I remember when they used to have an A&W, and a F.A.O Schwarz
Do you remember the name of the French bistro during that era??? I loved their cheese onion bread
And Saks.
@@shanelle8689 Vive La France was the French bakery
Was that on the 1st floor if so my mom always used to buy warm crispy croissants there
Yes, A&W! I loved their curly fries. They had a Ranch One in the 90s that I also loved going to. And I was a regular at Chi-Chi’s.
Sadly this mall,while still active, is living on borrowed time. I used to work in Stamford in 90s/early 00s and spent many lunch hours walking around that mall. Rarely had vacancies back then but that was a different time. Used to be a shopping destination, especially at Christmas. I’m 51 and become more nostalgic with each day as I see videos like this and read of certain celebrities passing.
There used to be fountains near the bottom of the elevators and lots of water features. They lost most of their anchors like Saks5th (replaced by a much smaller off 5th) and JC Penny and ended up renovating as you mentioned by replacing one of the anchors with the 4 restaurants that have street access and adding a few trendy but smaller store like H&M. It used to have wayyyyyy more stores but I’m glad it’s still alive. It’s ironic that a big chunck of the historic city center was needlessly demolished to build this mall, but the town recovered. Now the downtown area is thriving and is probably why this mall isn’t dead.
That car in the opening animation looks suspiciously like a Chevy Citation, and yes, I'm old enough to recognize a Chevy Citation.
@@the.original.K No. Wrong shape. Image search them both in profile. You'll see the difference.
I thought so too.
When summertime comes next year, I'm gonna go there.
i grew up around here, and this would be my go-to mall. since it was the only one around, i always thought it kind of sucked (it was a lot smaller than the white plains mall abt 30 minutes away and didn't have a hot topic, which i would have died for) but im really happy i saw this video. seeing so many others like this mall really made me appreciate its charm (the elevator bulb lights ARE very cool!). it elicits a very specific memory. Kona grill is closed now though (very sad lol)
Actually 5 people committed suicides in this mall over time. One jumped from escalator, 3 jumped from top floor landing around fountain on the very bottom. And one woman jumped out of top floor of parking landing on the street. People say very top floor ( 2:13 )of this mall is haunted.
One of the loveliest malls i've ever seen.....People say at present is almost another "dead mall".....I've also heard that Uconn is interested in it. (Maybe to transform it into an University Campus.)
The elevator tho it creeps me out when I go on it
when i was a kid i was scared it would go all the way up into the hole in the sealing
It always made me dizzy.
The fountain used to shoot water up the height of the elevators. Don't know if it still does.
There’s some fabulous architecture here! I’m glad it’s been kept mostly intact. It really is a beautiful mall.
The elevators look cool! Surprise some of the CZcams elevator filmers didn’t checked those out yet and nice looking living mall!
Awsome mall I love the vintage look of it thanks for sharing
I love this mall, but stores are closing left and right and I heard rumors that the mall will be closing and made into college dorms for Uconn stamford.
Yes I have heard the same thing, plus a new mall opened in Norwalk Ct.
Very very cool Mr. Ace! I love the retro feel of that place. It brings back very strong, fond memories of the years I worked in a busy mall. So many of them are dead and dying that to see a place so vibrant and cheerful is a rare treat
Connecticut has at least four malls. Stamford, the Meriden Square Mall, the Milford Post Mall, and the Waterford Mall which might be closing unless some new anchor can be found to replace the Sears that just closed.
That Filthy Weeaboo Trumbull, West Hartford, Brass City Center (Waterbury). JC Penney closures also creating an empty anchor spot in some malls. Milford added Boscov in its place.
You forgot the danbury fair mall
I just go to the Macy's here. I think they are trying to revamp it by painting the facade, make it look more modern. The sono mall a couple exits away is super sexy so they gotta compete with that now. Also close the AT&T, they are useless. It lost a lot of stores recently. Saks off 5th closed, cheesecake factory closed, apple store closed. I think bath and body works, Starbucks. Covid really threw a wrench in things.
Nice to see that you are changing up the content. Thriving malls like Stanford Town Center have a lot to offer. And it's nice to see they kept a lot of the early 90s asthetics and still kept it as sort of a luxury mall which I'm guessing is like the city of Stanford itself.
It' has different designs and colors, it's brighter and more welcoming than other malls. It's not like a cookie cutter Simon mall, and looks like every retail space is filled. The elevators are awesome and wish more had that gold plated spacey design.
Cosi as someone mentioned below is like Panera, famous for their flatbread. But unlike Panera they are mainly an east coast quick serve chain. Plus they expanded too fast and filed for bankruptcy in 2016 closed a bunch of locations. Wikipedia has it wrong: they have locations in Jersey City in Secaucus and my hometown of Jersey City. Food is good but a bit pricer than Panera.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cos%C3%AC_(restaurant)
Hope you do more of these explorations of thriving malls. Your look at the World Trade Center mall is still one of your best.
Funny you mentioned Cosi, since it seems like while I hadn't yet checked their locations on their website, I've suspected for a little while that it's very likely they quietly closed all remaining locations in Illinois. For sure, I'd agree they overexpanded in the Midwest. Since heck, I remember super briefly that there was one, in the downtown area of Normal, IL back when I went to Illinois State University! It must've only lasted a year or 2 in business, at most.
well this mall opened in 1982 so alot of what you see is from the early 80s and not too much was changed
That is sweet, your right it is totally 80s in there very cool
I wanna go to this place. SEVEN FLOORS?! Do taller ones exist in the country?
But yeah, I like it when a mall can modernize just enough, but still keep its retro/vintage looks and aesthetics to keep drawing back the crowds who originally went.
the upper floors mainly lead to parking lots theirs about 3 floors of retail.
@@Charmedone9805 Ah. Still, that's a lot of height for a mall, even if over half those floors are for parking.
I actually live in that area that mall is AMAZING
@@NightSprinter it is but this mall has alot its a nice mall
@@Charmedone9805 You should go quick. Rumor has it that it will be closing soon.
I love your new intro graphics/animation, Ace! Thanks for touring this mall. I wish I could see what the original lineup of stores was.
Nice job showing the highlights of this breathtaking mall!
Been to this mall my whole life, had no idea it was that old. It's pretty nice, I think, but I'm a bit sad that it's going to be knocked down sometime soon.
Hey Anthony, The Woburn Mall In Woburn Massachuetts is soon to be torn down and re-built for highline shopping and residential living. You might want to check it out before it is gone !
It is currently open to the public, But Not For Long.
It looks like it just opened yesterday! Excellent...
Pretty cool looking place. I see they have an Apple store? I read somewhere that mall traffic goes up 10% where there is an Apple Store.
Nice job Ace. My how things have changed in 18 months . It's now summer 2021, Covid is winding down, and the Sono collection mall in Norwalk CT, just a few miles north on I 95, which opened right around the time you posted this video, has sucked the life out of the Stamford Town Center, unfortunately. I have a few interesting tidbits to share about this place if you don't mind. I was in the Stamford HS marching band and in the spring of 1982 we played the Macys theme song for the ribbon cutting ceremony, very exciting. I worked at a little restaurant across the street from Macys, the Star Confectionary, and we fed the workers building the mall. My mother worked at Saks for over a decade (85 to 95) and she was an extra in the film you referenced Scenes from a Mall (she hated it. Long hours on your feet, late night because they filmed after the mall was closed for the day). I also worked there at J.C. Penney for a while right after it opened. Another interesting thing was that the J.C. Penney had an auto center installed with lifts built into the floors and everything but it never opened, I have no idea why. As for the NY Times article you mentioned, yes, there was opposition to the Malls location smack dab in the middle of town, and its "fortress like" design, not very inviting to pedestrians, but they did try to address some of those issues with the redesign of the southern end of the building, and they also connected it to the Landmark building. You have to take into context the fact that Stamford COMPLETELY erased the downtown area due to an Urban Renewal project that was conceived in the late 50's early 60's and to some extent is still ongoing today. If you look at an old map of downtown from the 50's it looks very different as whole sections of downtown were erased and redesigned. OK, that's enough of my ramblings, thanks again for posting Ace, keep up the good work. Oh, wait, ONE more thing. Scenes From A Mall wasn't the only film shot in Stamford. The 1947 movie Boomerang was filmed here, it's about a priest that is murdered, as well as the 1964 horror film " The Horror of Party Beach" . Go check them out, ok, that's it, thanks again.
I used to go to this mall when I lived in Westbrook, CT in the late 90's. I remember this mall very well.
Wow Amazing 😊 thank you for telling me about that movie and this mall and I'm sorry that happened in there so sad 😓
Interesting video. Thanks for filming.
This place is a gift from the mall gods.
Great video, Stamford Town Center reminds me of Water Tower Place in Chicago. Looking forward to some of your upcoming videos, would love to see you profile King of Prussia Mall outside Philly, one of the largest and most profitable malls in the U.S.
What a beautiful mall!
wow that mall is very large a mega mall very rare!
I'm glad this mall still largely has its original Taubman look, left. This greatly renews my desire, that I hope to get to Fairlane Town Center in Dearborn, MI to see how much of the Taubman look is left there. Unfortunately when Simon renovated Woodfield Mall in Schaumburg, IL in the last few years, they took away a lot of the old Taubman look that I loved about that mall, such as the seating area that(thankfully) still remains at Stamford. Can't forget that I also was pissed, they removed Woodfield's original elevator in center court.
BTW you had the right approach, Ace. I wouldn't give a crap if a Blart stopped me, white lied if I had to(which I've done to get out of other situations where a Blart stopped me), and kept going.
great Mall. I wonder if it originally had the same neon skylights that Marley Station still has.
Nope, never had any neon.
oh this is a mall near me saks and Filenes/JC Penny use to be in this mall were the h&m is, they have hardly changed the inside of it there is a sister mall in white plains called the The Galleria they were built around the same time that one is worth checking out
They still have that big red art thing in there? I use 2 try running up it all the time as a kid
The big red art sculpture, by Charles O. Perry, was sadly moved outside underneath one of the parking ramps to sit and rust about 10 years ago. Last year, an art gallery owner bought it and is restoring it in Wilton! Perry was a Norwalk native and has other similar sculptures in Merritt 7 office park where I worked for many years.
It's nice to see that some malls can keep on surviving and doing well.
Thank you for your comment . Love ya Anthony .
Lol reminds me of Fast Times at Ridgemont High:)
That's an AMAZING structure
What ever happened to the geysers? The fountains used to spring up as high as the elevators went and now they don't do it anymore and I have no idea when or why they stopped :(
Tiffany Twisted they haven’t since the early 90s I think.
They didn't go up as high as the elevators went, but it was up a few floor's. The fountain's were damaged many years ago when a man committed suicide by jumping off one of the upper floors, into the fountain while it was on... and debris was sprayed all over
Now that’s a mall...stores open, full of people!
Same aesthetic as Fair Oaks Mall in Fairfax, VA and Lakeforest Mall in Gaithersburg, MD both originally built from Taubman. Fair Oaks Mall, had some recent remodeling in last couple of years.
My former home state. Trumbull Mall is adding aquarium and apartments to their mall.
I had no idea about the history of this mall. Everyone in my town just thinks it’s boring. I think it would be cool if they made it look more retro to give it a vibe.
Been to that mall a few times. First one, ACE has been to that I have too. That Subway is decent, eat there. Been to Stamford many times. The elevators are never racking if you are afraid of heights. One store that was empty either one floor below or on the same level as the Food Court was an FYE till last year.
Come back to Canada sometime! The Toronto Eaton Centre is worth the trek - busiest mall in Canada and while the stores themselves close at night, the mall itself is open 24/7
Who designed this mall? Some parts of it like where the glass elevators are and the stairs and sitting areas, reminds me of a mall that used to be here in Columbus Ohio called City Center Mall. It was a gorgeous mall but sadly didn't last and was knocked down and turned into a downtown inner city park. I miss City Center so much. I went there every week with my kids for years, to eat at restaurants and to shop. I was shocked when it closed. Wish someone had done a dead mall video of it before it closed back in early 2000's.
This was developed by Taubman Centers.
Anyone up for margaritas at ChiChi’s on Level 7? Ah, the good old days. 🙂
Who would new only 2 years later after this video the mall is dieing due to the brand new SoNo Collection. Really half of the stores in this video is gone includeing apple and H&M.
A little off topic; but it does relate to malls: You know I don't get it why these newer malls or even newly remodeled ones don't have any sunken seating lounge areas anymore (like this one has plenty of). Can someone explain that to me?
This mall reminds me of Buckand Hills Mall in Manchester, CT. Buckland definitely has ten the soul of Manchester.
I grew up near the Buckland Hills Mall and I was always disappointed that they didn't take advantage of the hilltop site to show off the great views of Hartford to the west. Instead, they covered the former golf course with a huge parking lot and an insular mall with no exterior windows.
For a number of years after 9/11, the lightbulbs on the elevator fronts made an American flag pattern. I was a little disappointed when they switched them back to plain white bulbs!
I like those multi level malls
I thought it was open in 76 same yr I was born but maybe 82. I remember as kid going here alot mall was pack to the brim you had to walk side ways to get around no joke. At one time it had alot of gang activity in the mid 90's.
Elevators are awesome I went too a hotel that had those Elevators.
Hyatt Regency? It's interesting how often you run into Regency hotels, that have this type of elevator. Hyatt Regency O'Hare is an example of one of their hotels, that has a distinctive elevator like this. Not quite exactly the same elevator design per se as Taubman originally used for mall elevators like here, but it's along similar lines.
Also speaking of their hotels, it's too bad I've gotten word that the former Regency in Dearborn(which went through like one or 2 rebrandings after that, and is across the parking lot from Fairlane Town Center in Dearborn, MI) has been decaying in condition. Plus remember somewhere seeing new pics, that showed the inside is sadly starting to decay there. I will see if I can also look there, if I ever get to Dearborn in the future.
So cool, you're in my state! If you get the chance to check out the other malls in Ct!!
Good old taubman malls makes me miss its other sister mall lake forest mall
2:28 I wanna jump off and die, it encourages me
people have
If you can get to Colorado you should check out the Chapel Hills mall and the citadel mall in Colorado Springs the citadel mall is much older looking than the chapel hills mall.
i went to that mall in the 90s when they were redoing it. do they still have the ice rink?
Charmedone9805 which one Chapel Hills or Citadel?
I don’t recall seeing an ice rink in either one when I went there a few years back
@@randomstuffchannel4327 chapel hills i went to that mall in 1997 and again in 1998 its been years though since i have been there, i have family that live out there
Charmedone9805 ah ok yeah I don’t think they do. If there is still one I didn’t see it or just wasn’t paying enough attention. I’m only 17 so I’m not even old enough to know what it looked like back then. Though I think it would have been cool to have grown up in the 80’s considering all the stuff I see on CZcams with malls and old stores.
i go to this mall almost everyday. been going since i was a kid. im also from stamford CT
Loved the intro
Another thriving and successful Mall is King Of Prussia Mall just outside of Philadelphia. Another one is Bal Harbour Shops near Miami. I think you give us an insight why some malls succeed in just two words you mention at 4:40 - HIGH END. Elegant, clean, upscale Malls attract customers. The mediocre ones that do not keep up appearances or renovate slide down hill. Just my opinion.
Love the title intro
Awesome! Great vid
Gosh you have a lot from my home state. Do you live in CT or something? I really like your videos.
40% off at Talbots. Good sale.
THATS MY MALL Y'ALL YASSSSSSSSSSSSSSs
Nice new intro. Congrats!
How many floors is that mall? It looked like 4, but that news announcer said the lady that committed suicide jumped from the 7th floor?
Anyway, this mall is is pure 80's glory! I would take a trip to that area just to go to spend a day in that mall.
there are 3 floors that are all retail and there is several below and above for parking though some have a few stores. im like 20 mins away from this mall
Mall I near it 😌
This looks like Woodfield! Is this a Taubman mall?
Claire Osada yep
Woodfield with more levels!
Norwalk and Bridgeport use 2 have small malls . Hi-ho center had a popeyes
Im from here there used to be an a&w rootbeer and used to live a street behind wwe headquarters
Really, there used to be an A&W here? That's interesting, since there's still one at Woodfield Mall in Schaumburg to this day. I guess many years ago, Taubman would often encourage A&W to open locations in their malls?
YES!!! I remember that being the only A&W near by they closed it in the 90's i also remember they had a TCBY near one of the entrances to the parking garage
The A&W was awesome, I managed to visit there in december 2000 right before it closed. Frosty root beer in a glass mug!
be funny if it had a video store renting out VHS and NES Games...cool music
Marley's less neon drenched sister
A successful downtown mall!