Online shopping is a booming business. While it’s convenient for customers to pick and choose what they want from the comfort of their own homes, it’s resulting in retail locations shutting down across America and the rest of the world. Stores are cutting down on the number of locations they have, and entire malls are closing their doors. Thus, abandoned malls around the world have become a growing problem.
The malls are left in limbo — no business or any maintenance is done with their walls, resulting in some quite creepy photos. We’ve compiled a list of the craziest photos of abandoned malls, click through to check them out.
Rolling Acres Mall – Akron, Ohio
The Rolling Acres Mall originally opened in 1975 but closed in 2008 after 33 years of business. As more and more stores pulled out of the mall, the loss of sales forced it to shut down when electricity bills couldn’t be paid.
Check out how the abandoned mall fares in the winter months in the next slide.
Due to its failing structure, the abandoned mall becomes a winter wonderland with fresh snow.
The building went through a series of failed purchases from different buyers and was eventually demolished. As of 2019, all of its stores were demolished aside from the former Sears building, The mall’s site was purchased by Amazon in July of 2019 with the hopes of creating a new distribution center.
Jamestown Mall – Florissant, Missouri
Originally opened in 1973, this mall officially closed its doors in 2014. After losing all of its anchor stores, the failing business opted to shut down.
Hawthorne Plaza Mall – Hawthorne, California
Hawthorne Plaza Mall closed in March 1999. In 2016, the Hawthorne City Hall commission announced their plans to demolish the Hawthorne Plaza to create something like the outside Farmers Market in Los Angeles, California.
Despite it being shut down, you may have already seen this mall without knowing it…
You may have seen glimpses of this mall in your favorite movies, music videos and TV shows, including The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift, Teen Wolf, Agents of Shield, Rush Hour, and most recently, BTS’ “Black Swan.” As seen in the picture above, the mall served as the perfect filming location for many shows like Teen Wolf.
Randall Park Mall – North Randall, Ohio
Another abandoned mall turned Amazon distribution center, this mall closed its doors in 2009.
Randall Park Mall – North Randall, Ohio
Randall Park Mall had several movie theaters over the years. In 1976, they had a three-screen cinema, which later became a second-run theater in 1991. It was later used as a storage space for nearby stores after it was closed down.
Cloverleaf Mall – Chesterfield, Virginia
When it originally opened in 1972, the mall was a hub for families to have a family day out. When teens donning baggy jeans and chains started calling the mall their home, families of moms and young ones started steering clear of the mall, making the business start to die.
Metro North Hall – Kansas City North, Missouri
The mall officially closed in 2014. It is now set to be demolished and replaced with a mixed-use space, with plans for hotels, offices, retail, and housing.
North Town Square Mall – Toledo, Ohio
After nearly 30 years of business, the mall closed its door in 2005 and was later demolished in 2012.
Lincoln Mall – Matteson, Illinois
The mall began to see a decline in 2012 as talks of redevelopment began to rise. Town representatives tried to sue the mall owners and demanded for its closure because of safety and building code violations. By 2015, its closure was ordered and in 2019, it was demolished.
