Swansea Mall, MA | last days at a dead mall before it’s abandoned during redevelopment | ExLog 111

I worked at this mall for roughly 15 years, and worked at both Sears and F.Y.E. when they shut their doors there. The amount of memories I just relieved watching this video are wonderful and heartbreaking. And your right, some of the best conversations I've ever had took place in that conversation pit during my lunch breaks!

Sal, I’ve worked in a Sears that unfortunately had closed on the most shiftiest way possible. The mall was looking to “rejuvenate” itself for younger mall goers at the time. The problem was that the Sears was in their way. However, this very Sears was one of the bigger sales makers for the company at the time. While Sears Holdings was facing a series of closures, my mall had decided to end the lease the company had at the mall. Now while this Sears wasn’t on the initial list for stores to close (because it was actually doing the best sales), Sears actually agreed to the termination of a 50-year lease they had at the mall because the company was in dire straits. Fast forward to the final day and it was the saddest time I’ve ever experienced in my life. I literally watched the doors close at 6pm on a Sunday for the final time, surrounded by friends and family I’ve met in that store and knowing that I’d likely never get to see them after that day. Sal, thank you for all you do documenting these places. It’s not about “dead malls” but ensuring that we still have a piece of nostalgia to hold onto. I wished you could’ve seen and recorded our Sears before it closed on its last day; it’s truly a moving experience. Take care Sal and I look forward to the next one.

This is so sad to watch even though I don't live near this Mall I'm still drawn to these videos. Having worked for 35 years in our beloved Sears Clearview store in Metairie , Louisiana. It closed in 2019 and it is still hard to look at the construction going on at the present time. Ochsner Medical took over where Sears was and apartment buildings are going up behind Ochsner. It is difficult to get in a car each time to go from one store to another, especially as you get older. Malls had the convenience of stopping to get something to eat, to rest a little before you move on to the next store, bathrooms everywhere, etc,......how things have changed. Now it's basically about the internet and gift cards.

Nothing says RIOT like a good dog bite to the crouch!!!! LOL

Happy Halloween, Legion! Gruesome devoirs and dark greetings to all of you... Looks like Marna got drugs in her candy :( Sub and join my discord: discord.gg/dmod

I worked at Papa Gino's, American Eagle and the arcade over 25 years ago. I even met my wife while working there. Good memories all around.

So sad. I spent many hours grazing my hand over the tiles of memories in that mall recently. Got a ladder out from the maintenance closet and climbed high to the ceiling tiles and spoke to them and the memories they saw. I remember freddy kruger and pee wee herman in this mall. Echos of nostalgia spoke to my soul. Forever remembering the 80s.

I worked in the mall at Macy's my friend worked at Bath and Body Works we were always there after school it was strange to see the mall decline from the time I was in high school to the last time I was there in 2010.

I moved to south coast MA in 2001 for college, when I was still a frequent mall shopper. I went to all the malls you mentioned back then, and if you asked me to guess which one would still be doing well 20 years later, I wouldn’t have said the Dartmouth mall. But, I was there today and it was lively! Hope they can move forward with plans in Swansea soon!

This used to be my weekend hangout as a teen. I remember way back when they had a old school pet store with puppies. They also had a smoke shop that specialized in tobacco pipes and tobacco. That store smelled so good.

Oh man does this bring up memories. Somewhere in my parents photo albums I know exists a pic of me and my sister getting our picture taken with the Easter Bunny at this mall. I used to go to Caldor and Electronics Boutique all the time when I hung out there (especially the arcade) as a teen. It's easy to blame retail giants like Walmart for this Mall's demise but it's more a tale of corporate greed and mismanagement with companies like Sears, JC Penny, and Service Merchandise (it was down the street just before the mall, where Dollar Tree is now).

That mall was booming back in the day..so sad how all these malls are closing. I blame social media, people dont have to meet up and hang out to talk anymore, now they just put their phone on.

Watching from a dock near a spooky “ haunted “ home. Thanks for what you create and share 🎃

I think that might be my favorite Marna segment ever. 😂 great job on this one. Two thumbs up great Halloween family fun

We have a dead mall here in Jacksonville Florida (regency square), that refuses to die. It's been largely empty since 2008 lol. At this point, there are 21 stores left, which are closed more than they are open. The obligatory Bath and Bodyworks of course lol The mall has an obstacle course of rainbarrels, which are everywhere, as the roof leaks so bad that a couple days of nonstop rain would set the mall afloat lol. Crazy thing is, this mall was one of the highest dollar per square ft malls in the country prior to the 2000s. It was almost double most malls. 3/4 of the mall has been closed off and there is a dillards clearance center that used to be accessible from the mall, but is now opposite the side of the few remaining stores. The mall food court had been renovated in 2001, so it's in good shape, but the rest of the mall is decaying fast due to the water damage. I don't know why this mall is still open. I would imagine they have to inspect malls for safety, and I don't know how the hell this would ever pass. I mean there is roofing drywall dangling everywhere. Everytime I go there, I expect to see closed signs, but alas it's still open

Thank you for this memory I grew up in this mall going to get pictures with Santa and the Easter bunny! I miss this mall!!

Unfortunately the current situation for the mall structure is still in limbo, apparently there’s a ton of conflict between the developer and the town now. I wouldn’t be surprised if the whole structure gets demolished sometime soon

What I remember most about malls from the late seventies into the late 80s, is all the massive Christmas displays. Up here in the Pacific Northwest we had a mall called the South Sound Center in Seattle Washington. The Christmas displays were massive, they were animated and they were extremely lit up. The mall used to just feel so magical. I remember fishing out coins out of the fountain, knowing I wasn't supposed to be doing that, but did it anyway. Some malls had incredible water features and fountains. I remember the music that used to play. Definitely good memories being at malls when I was a kid. I'm 53 years old now so I definitely enjoyed the Heyday of the mall.

I'm from a local town in and (in the late 90s) highschool our concert band would have little Christmas concerts in that conversation pit. We'd get dressed in tuxes and play for a few hours in mid/late December. The three you mentioned were the trifecta of malls in the region. We'd go to Swansea, N. Dartmouth and Silver City in that order and they were PACKED on busy days, it was a great place to hang out as a kid, the call someone's mom to come pick you all up.

Gosh dang it WalMart, STOP IT! That kind of rule agreement should be illegal (it should have been rendered invalid after the mall got bought out and demolished) at this point since it got sold to a new owner who shouldn't be required to follow the previous owner's rule agreement with Wally World.