Danbury Fair Mall in the 90s was a serious crowd crush situation. You often had to wait for people to leave a store before you could get in to look around.

Danbury does still have a fountain, it is just much smaller and is currently covered up for the Santa display.

The mall has never been dead. It's always done pretty well, though there have been times it dipped. In the early 2000s, there was a time when a few retail chains went out of business, and rather than scoop up new tenants for each, they knocked down walls and expanded neighboring stores. When Old Navy came in, for example, they had done exactly that. The carousel was the one piece of the original Fair that the original builders and owners got. Most of the rest of the stuff was auctioned off. There's actually a group in Danbury devoted to the history of the Danbury Fair, and have been at odds with the mall ever since the fair went defunct. Still, it's one of the only malls in Connecticut that weathered the storm during the retail apocalypse. Though again that isn't to say it had zero effect on it. But it never took the same toll malls as Enfield or Watertown did. Being so close to the New York border has always helped it too as many from cities like Brewster, Carmel, and Mahopac come over in addition to capturing the Danbury area of Brookfield, Bethel, Newtown, New Fairfield, and Ridgefield.

I lived in the Danbury area for over 25 years. There is still a lot of OLD MONEY here. It will soldier on after many have fallen.

She’s looking good! At least by today’s standards. I grew up 10 minutes from there. When I was a kid in the 80’s and 90’s that place was SUPER crowded during the holidays. Like shoulder to shoulder in some places. Always used to hit up McDonald’s in the food court and ride the carousel. Those were the days. Thanks for checking it out man!

this mall just wont die. its unstoppable!

It was just announced that Target will take over the rest of the Sears space. The vacant space below Dick’s Sporting Goods will be a Japanese arcade called Round 1. Barnes & Noble is also planning to move into the mall soon.

Mall was built at the site of the old Danbury Fair and that is the carousel from that fair.

The thing that makes this mall so great is how little child friendly it is. There are also many places in the mall to sit down and take breaks and there is an amazing family restroom area with changing stations, small potty rooms for kids and even two nursing rooms. My wife and I have been coming here very frequently since we had our daughter. Now, they even have a two floor Barnes & Noble and a Target!

This mall looks amazing! I may have to make a road trip there this Fall!

Was here as a kid in the early 00s. Not much has changed besides the stores, and even then much of them is the same. Wild.

I used to work at the Great Danbury State Fair. I was on the lawn maintenance team and worked mainly in the Dutch Village and did various other small jobs around the fair. Before that when I was a kid, the owner of the Fair, gave every kid in Danbury a free fair pass every September. The teachers gave the passes to their students and we could not wait to get to the Fair on Fair Friday!! I knew John Lehey in person. The free samples in the Big Top were always a hit. I was sorry to see the Fair go.

I was their twice apx 1989 or 1990 , during the summer . It was very nice . The thing I remember most was the merry go round . I believe all the proceeds went to charity, a children's hospital maybe . And their was definitely more people shopping or eating . I haven't been to any mall in years .

What they took to build this Mall, was a crime. Thank you Mr. Leahy for great memories.

Tame compared to the 80s & 90s xmas season. Back then it was conjested elbow to elbow walking to the various stores. BUT, ITS NOT DEAD, it's thriving. Target and multi level arcade are going in. 😊

That is the original location of Macy's. As your video shows, this mall is still active in 2024 and nearly all the store fronts are filled (there are a couple that are empty, mostly around the closed Lord and Taylor). When Sears pulled out, it got a Premark on the top floor (when Sears went to one floor) and then Target moved in on the ground floor after Sears left creating an undersized Target. Lord and Taylor you correctly identified. That space was not filled. The mall is less busy than it was 14 years ago. At that point, during the holidays, there was a backup line outside the Apple store. Today as you show as recently as 2022, there is no line outside the Apple store anymore during the holidays but it is still quite busy. The food court has deteriorated in the last 2 years. By the carousal used to be McDonalds which shut down although it was busy. You are right about the Sears entrance that Primark does not use. You also drove past right before that the former Sears auto center (the two garage doors you went past).

I worked as an Security Supervisor for 11 years here , 1994 to 2005

Beautiful mall. Love how bright it is.

It's great to see that this mall is still doing well overall, though I do see that stores have closed in a couple of places. The crowds also seem a bit thinner than I remember from the '00s, though it may just be a Thursday-Saturday comparison. I loved going to this mall growing up! There used to be a roller coaster simulator ride, and the carousel was fun to ride on.

Pet shop by Sears was a big attraction. % Below used to be a drug store. Dick's is in fact half the old Filene's/G. Fox. As others noted, in it's day, you couldn't park or go anywhere without a line a week before Christmas. Wife was a manager at Macy's when we met; many happy memories there.

Early 2000’s we took our kids here quite often. The food court and carrousel were the main attractions. Compared to the CT Post Mall, and especially the Westfield Shopping Mall, this mall was always a nicer experience.

My dad use to take to the fair years ago. Use to go there a lot. Beautiful mall and a excellent food court, Have not been there though in 20+ years. Enjoyed the video.

I only went to this mall once in my life, with my Dad and Grandparents, I think it was 1999. I have a very core memory of being in the KB Toys that was in this mall and a little British girl was begging her parents for something and said "Please mummy I'll never ask for another toy ever again in my life!" in the thickest British accent I've ever heard in New England. I think it's the only time in my life I've heard a little British child speak in person and not in a movie or on TV or something lmao

I remember on Christmas that people would trip over each other in that mall. Now on the Holidays it only gets to about 60%-70% capacity.

In the 1970s I used to go there for the Danbury Fair. The Fair closed and they built the mall on the property in the early 80s

My family used to go to the Danbury Fair back in the 70's.

You should visit the Tanger Outlets Mall in Foxwoods next! It's pretty huge, and fairly new, I think opening in around 2015-2016, so one of the newest malls in the state! Good vid as always!

i grew up going to this mall trust me its a really active even today, Macys was always in that spot JC Penny was added in 1988 and Lord and Taylor in 1991. Freehold mall in NJ has the same design and layout as this one the old sears is becoming a Target. The education works store was once a Time out arcade back in the 1990's the opposite side once had a Mcdonalds

I didn't go here often when i lived in the area back in the day, but there were a few establishments I'd frequent. Back in the day, Sbarro's was actually good, and just about the only place in the food court I would eat at, there. It was named the Danbury Fair Mall, because it was built upon the old site of the Danbury Fair, a previously yearly event. The carousel was a legacy from those days. I would not be surprised if most of that has been changed out over the decades.

I was there on Saturday, 2 days after you filmed this video and the place was really busy. I'm sure it was because it was the weekend and the week before Christmas. Nice to see lots of people out at the mall Though, especially since most malls are dead these days, I would hate to see the Danbury Mall fade away and end up abandoned.

Haven't been to this mall in over 20 years. At least it's still doing well.

I frequent this mall. There’s a picture of my other siblings and cousin at the food court back in the day.

DFM is honestly one of the best malls period, I have been to a few and. Even when it was wearing its green paint it was a bright and open feeling mall. Others I have been to in the US feel so enclosing. I think they scrapped the fountain when making the mall more upscale because it was seen as kind of loud. When it opened the parking structure was not there and you could see the ride from the freeway. I will say unless they updated the glass, it does get slightly toasty in summer even if the AC is cranking. 11:35 on the right where it looks like there is some kind of foot store by the Primark that used to be a Radio Shack.

It used to be far more decorated during the Christmas season and looks like they're scaling back now. Danbury Fair Mall is one of my favorites and I have been there countless times since it opened. What's interesting is that the Freehold Raceway Mall, Freehold, New Jersey is its sister mall and has the exact same floor plan and looks so much alike to it, along with the carousel in the food court! The mall did go through some rough times when riff-raff started loitering around the food court area and that causes people to avoid malls as there have been shootings in other malls due to these types.

Love this mall. Love the carousel. There's a carousel in Hammonasett that uses the money they collect for a different charity every month. We didn't have any children but we used to buy tickets and give them to weary looking parents!

I was there at that mall a few years ago, when they still had the fountain, that went up high, close to the ceiling, but that fountain us a little smaller now. I've heard that they still have the carousel. I have to go back there someday soon.

When I was a kid this mall was always busy but not as much as say Poughkeepsie Galleria. However it feels just as busy today. A big part of it is major attraction stores make it a destination mall. Apple store is always packed. Target took over Sears, Barnes & Noble moved into the mall, LL Bean is connected and a new massive arcade bowling alley bar a la Dave and busters just opened. It's busier than ever especially at holiday times but gets slow during the day. I seem to recall as a kid the side entrance to JC Penny wasn't there or was very different. It may be false but I seem to recall before the parking garage was built the food court just had an exit to the back lot where the side entrance now is. ironically they built a McDonalds here but it closed which you rarely see. Worst thing about this mall is the parking lot floods constantly and it chokes traffic.

("she's on the other side of the mall..." 3:57 , 16:06 and 24:54 😆 Lol, that accent!) Enjoyed walking through with you. I miss nice malls like this, don't have them quite like this in Europe where I live now. It's also fun to see what ppl are wearing while running shopping errands - and don't know they're being filmed. When I was a kid in Alabama and Georgia in the '80s and '90s, all of the malls were pack shoulder to shoulder during the holidays on the weekends with long lines to ride the carousel and sit with Santa.

A top 3 mall in CT, my opinion.

Nice to see a live one. The santa display was pretty good. Some malls just have a sad chair.

Ct. post mall happens to be absolutely low end. Looks on the dead side to be frank. Back in the late 90’s Danbury Mall was jamming, especially weekends.👍

I used to work at the DFM back in the late 80's and Macy's back in the Mid-90's. The crowd compared now to back then has dwindled

There were plans to convert most of the old Lord & Taylor locations to WeWork-style coworking spaces, but those plans seem to have faded away.

Targets open, a round one arcade is open, the bookstore is open, theres been a lot of change in the food court, at least one of the new places ought to be there, the fountain isnt nearly as grand as it was when its there, but it is still a nice fountain

Yes, The Old Great Danbury Fair grounds

worked weekends at primark from when it opened (in 2016 actually) until 2018. its first year primark had the entire upper floor section of what used to be sears but cut its floor space by about i think 30 or 40% to save on its rent. I don’t know if the target that moved into the anchor space below it is utilizing any of that space. Baffling how our man always sweeps through on a weekday midday and is like “gee whiz not that crowded in here huh” idk if it’s a liability thing that you’d catch too many people on camera on a saturday afternoon or what

Arhaus was replaced by Barnes & Noble.

Dicks took over the Forever 21 space which prior was the old Filene's space. You are correct about the Lord & Taylor. With the pending JCPenny's closing on the horizon it will be interesting to see what they do with that space as its and 90 degree elbow footprint: it connects in the food court up top and then connects to the main mall after taking a sharp left to another wing. That mall is always busy but like every retail establishment it ebbs and flows. Time of day and what day dictates how big the crowd flow is. Near the holidays, it becomes swamped after 5 and Friday-Sunday have a pretty consistent crowd flow. Two interesting facts about this mall- Westfield has been trying to purchase this mall for the better part of two decades. It's got the perfect location as it's ten minutes from the NY border and Candlewood Lake always draws a huge crowd during the spring to fall. Many New Yorkers have summer homes or boats on that lake. The second thing is that mall is sinking. It's built on old swamp land and has been sinking since it was built. If you go into the service tunnels or look at the parking garage there's cracks everywhere on the walls but last I knew they were plastering/cementing over the ones in the parking garage. Also in response to escalators being shut down: companies can't get parts to service them. There's a huge shortage when it comes to parts and the labor rate to take the escalators apart is very expensive. They also need to clean them as if they go to long inbetween services it becomes a firehazard. There's dust, lint, oil/grease, animal/human hair and god knows what else under those tracks which like grain elevators is enough of a tinder to cause problems and the sparking can happen very fast.

My parents had concessions stands at the Danbury fair until it’s final year..

I miss being there around 2006-2008

Now they have a Barnes and Noble which is good to see. It is where the Banana Republic was.

1:23 - Primark took over the Sears space at King of Prussia, Pennsylvania.

I was there on Black Friday, Thanksgiving 2022!

I cone here all the time

As a boy working at WLAD I broadcasted “live” from the Great Danbury State Fair. And I worked Security there from 2014 to 2021.

Watching this video a year late, but yeah, Danbury Fair is still busy as hell a year later. The parking lot is never not packed, and not just at Xmas time, but all the time😂

I miss the fair.

I have seen this mall from I-84 many times.

I semi regularly go to this mall, and was there just a few days ago. The crowds have thinned out in general a little, but they've remained steady. New shops still open in the mall, and there is no sign it'll die anytime soon.

Christmas time and the mall is that dead? DFM used to always be a busy mall. But that was a long time ago. It can't survive like that.

That whole area (33:15 - 35:00) was a massive drive through Covid vaccination center. Hundreds of cars at a time. Processed on the Sears Auto (defunct) side (34:15) then drove around the parking structure to get jabbed and monitored for 15 minutes.

Good evening Yes this is the original Macy's it's 3 floors

I assume you have audio you dub over these videos?

Yes, that was Lord + Taylor.

Yes, old Lord & Taylor'

80s, 90s was mall rat era at its prime. It was packed, you'd see half of school there.

It would’ve been nice to see the different food options

It will truly be an end of an era if JC Penny vanishes.

Haha I actually prefer going during the weekday because it’s quieter. Friday and Saturdays especially Saturdays oh my god there’s so many people. It’s cool but also a little annoying LMAO But this is the only mall really in my area so it wasn’t until a few years ago trying different malls in CT did I realize how malls were doing 💀

There are two people who DON'T eat at mall food courts. You and your partner. 😁😁😁😁

Did you have to ask permission to film inside?

Doesn’t look that overly busy.

It's Thursday afternoon most people are working and have a job think about that before you post a stupid video still love your videos but wait till about 6:00 any given night and especially on the weekends that mall is jamming I live in Connecticut

Long Island audit should open the store there to sell his merchandise

Sort of dead

iabosatly love thismall espeshyatchrismta stiem iloveit my faverte secondmalal onext owestfamr small in ct

looks pretty dead to me.....

All families no pretty girls

This mall is dying!