Wow, thank you, Daniel! I haven’t been to River Valley yet; a few of our friends went there not long ago (Raw and Real Retail) so I was considering heading there soon to check it out because the drive would be pretty reasonable for an afternoon trip. Keep an eye out for the video!

I second River Valley. Holy hell that mall is dead. I only go there for Super Game Team. I didn't know Eastgate was dying. I was last there two years ago.

WOW. I always kind of wondered what working in one of those really old department stores was like--I worked at a Sears when I was in high school that opened in 1980 but it always felt SO much older than that, and there were always critters sneaking in.

I’m being told both of these malls aren’t doing nearly as well these days...it might be time for an update

I saw my first movie at that Showcase Cinemas! I'd love to go back and do an update on these--this was our third video and we have learned a lot since then, and a few things have changed at both malls.

UniComm Productions Please do! We were just at Eastgate about 2 weeks ago (I too showed my husband the best mall entrance lol) So awesome you did my 2 malls in one show 😁

Eastgate is in rough shape and I definitely plan to head back up there soon to do a “complete” episode. With the way the area is growing that land the mall sits on is only becoming more valuable so I’m not sure how long it’ll last if they can’t turn things around unfortunately

It seems to be doing much better since the time I'd been there before that...but with Sears gone, I hope that continues.

UniComm Productions went there on Black Friday and being from the chapel hill mall area it felt eerily similar. Hoping it stays alive along with chapel hill

Thank you so much! I like the look of the second one much better too-the first one was pretty Mills-lite in its decor and...meh

Thank you Lyna! What a nice thing to say. We’re glad you found us!

I did a brief follow up to this video in the second episode of “Overmalled” in early 2020, but I haven’t been back recently. I was told that there are big sections that are blocked off? (I’m probably due to do a follow up on both these malls!)

I saw that. I hate to say this but the one two punch of Sears and Macy’s along with the recent publicized rowdy kids may do this place in.

​@@UniCommProductions Not only Also, due to consistent crime, the area around Northgate Mall earned a bad reputation. Fast Eddie closed chunks of Sears store last year due to the stores are not good and the company was bankruptcy in 2018and Macy's decided to closed unperformance stores in 2020 due to low sale on Christmas sales of 2019.

@@CulinaryJoey I don't know what their plans are but this recent mention of converting it into a "lifestyle center" doesnt seem like the ticket. Seems to be an awful lot of bored teenagers around there, maybe some kind of community center would be a good idea.

When was the last time you've been to Tri County--it's even worse now. Both the malls in this video are due for an update, this video was shot in July 2018. I didn't really do either of them justice.

Good to know-which honestly makes more sense. I found several photos of it that referred to it being “at the mall” and I never really came across any old maps or directories so that’s where I got my that info. Thank you for watching!

@@UniCommProductions Thank you for doing these. I've been away almost 20 years and these bring back so many memories even though I hardly recognize them any more.

@@carmech001 You're very welcome--I really miss the way these malls looked when I was a kid sometimes. The "modern" look is very boring.

@@UniCommProductions Yea. When you were in Tri County I was like....I think that's where Petland used to be....Cinnabon should be right over there. lol. I don't recognize much in Northgate now. I think there was one part where the old upstairs restaraunt at...Pogues? was and in front there should have been a round either fountain or seating planter as I recall. It been a very long time but I'm leaning towards a fountain.

Steve Hester I seem to remember a fountain in the center also. It would have been in front of where the movie theater is now. (My memories of Northgate go back to the early-mid 90s.)

Thank you for watching!

That food court is a 90's wonderland of neon. I absolutely love it and hope it sticks around.

UniComm Productions me to it will be a sad day if it goes

I spent many quarters in that arcade as well!

@@UniCommProductions Ahhhh ... I'm older enough to remember getting my arcade fix on at the Aladdin's Castle in Beechmont Mall! (Just found your channel this weekend, and I am LOVING the memories! I grew up on the east side of Cincinnati (Mt. Washington, and Mt. Carmel), spent some time in Pittsburgh in the early 80's, then Columbus, then back to Cincinnati in the 90's, and for the last 20 years have lived in the Dayton area. So you have covered a LOT of malls that I've spent time in! Looking forward to more!)

I remember the Aladdins Castle at Eastgate a lot more! I’m glad you found us!

It's a pretty rural-suburban environment, they were hipper than JC Penney at the time at least!

Welcome! If you’re looking for Cincinnati malls there is plenty to see on my little channel. Thanks for your kind comment!

I am way overdue to check in there-It was definitely the mall I spent the most time at when I was growing up.

That's a really intriguing theory and honestly, I don't know! I should watch the analytics and see if it has an uptick in views! (and yeah, this mall has taken a bit of a turn since this video was released, however they now have a Discovery Zone!)

Oh yeah the mall in Lexington is doing incredibly well.

Full disclosure I go to malls in West Virginia all the time now and have yet to see someone with a chicken, and I am disappointed!

We may have crossed paths at one point! I worked in Eastgate Mall at a few different places between 1998 and 2003 during high school and college. I hate the “new” look of it-this was done during the same era all the Mills malls were built and they were trying to imitate that “whimsical” design. If you’re ever in the area and want a look at the old Eastgate design, Towne Mall in Middletown was Eastgate’s “twin” and it’s never been remodeled.

UniComm Productions...By 1998 I was long gone, out of college and working in my career that this year marks 25 years of service. I'm getting old. All my family are gone so there hasn't been much of a reason to return to the area except nostalgia. I hear the Eastgate area is heavily over built now; I'm sure traffic is worse than ever. I have so many memories and emotions tied up in that mall. I went there on a first date with my first real Girlfriend.. Our parents dropped us off and picked us up. LOL. I used to love the arcade and the Orange Julius. As one of the few "punk rock" kids in Clermont County at the time, the mall was always interesting. Most people there didn't know what to make of a bunch of kids with Mohawks and Sex Pistols t shirts. Simpler times I guess. I'm on the downhill slide to 50 now, so it seems like a lifetime ago. I worked at Forest Fair mall when they had the bars/club section. The stories from that place would surprise you. :)

That's really cool. I'm hoping this works for malls in general to bring in some interesting retailers.

Prime and Wine! That’s a name I haven’t heard in a long time! I used to love going to Northgate back in the late 90s.

UniComm Productions my father used to work there. He got me hooked on the candy they’d offer for dessert. ‘Reception Sticks”

The little hard candies dipped in dark chocolate?

UniComm Productions yeah. I’m sure you remember these flavors. Mint and cinnamon and orange and lemon.

I am not a big fan of its “remodeled” state and wish it still looked like it did in the 90s.

The whole mall used to be a lot of brick and dark terazzo (if you look at Towne Mall Galleria, it looked like that...but with fountains). I guess it's what they chose to leave that corridor looking like even after they remodeled. That wall is the other side of one that is part of Dillard's. Really interesting because that is the mall I grew up going to and worked at for many years and I never thought there was anything out of the ordinary about it...but now that you mention it it's a little weird. :)

I haven’t made it back out there in a while (I moved out of state in 2020), but that’s what I’m hearing. The last time I was there was in May 2020 right after malls reopened (there’s some clips in Episode 2 of a series I produced called Overmalled about all the malls in Cincinnati). I’ve gotten better at making videos since this was shot so I probably am due for a return visit

@@UniCommProductions I have watched and enjoyed all the your mall tours. With a special attention to the malls in the Cincinatti area. I appreciate the history you share about each mall in your productions. Unfortunately, as quickly as Northgate Mall is going down hill and the lack of upkeep that is obvious at the property I can't see it lasting much longer.

I unfortunately don’t either, the same for Eastgate Mall, which despite all the growth in the area is falling fast.

They were busy the day we were there...but it was the Friday of the "Tax Free Weekend" (which may have been a mistake to try to film during)...time will tell. They seem to be doing better than Tri County is, for whatever it's worth. It's unfortunate they're about to lose Sears. That can only make things worse.

I know. Tri-county has one foot in the grave and the other on a banana peel. That mall will be the next Cincinnati Mall within 2 years. This what happens when everybody gets their stuff from sites like Amazon etc...all that does is take away jobs and leaves dying retail stores in the process. It may not be the sole cause we see dying malls but it's definitely one of them.

No, and I liked the old look better!

Thanks! We wanted to come up with something fun to tie the two together

It's a really lovely food court. I hope whatever redevelopment plans there are dont include completely destroying the look of it.

@@UniCommProductions Every Sunday after church in the 70's til early 80's all my family would meet and eat at "The Forum" at North gate Mall very upscale cafeteria type restaurant! Good Times!

@@bruno8241 isn't The Forum still in business and just in another part of town?

@@UniCommProductions it could be.

Literally stuck in the early 2000s.

There is usually in both; however we have to dub over it because KZfaq’s content ID system will give us strikes for background music.

It seems fair is fair--strip malls have been poaching tenants from the mall for years! (I'm looking at you Liberty Centre and Bridgewater Falls!)

They are also extremely conspicuous. :)

It really is, especially for all of us 80s and 90s kids who remember when our whole weekend social life revolved around them.

YOU KNOW IT!!!

@@UniCommProductions DAMN STRAIGHT!!!!!!!

I TOLD U ..2 🎸..ROCKED!!!!!!!!

The countdown is on!

@@UniCommProductions BRING IT ON!!!!!

Something better...that we don't have to feed and doesn't have to be cleaned up after! :)

@@UniCommProductions Catching up on your older videos, love your work.

@@mike_mcgregor Thank you for your support! We've grown a lot since those first few videos.

Really? What did they upgrade? I haven’t been out there in quite a while.

It has a movie theater

Wilson Vasquez it absolutely does, and that was added after a long period of frustrating back and forth between the mall and a few different theater chains (it was originally supposed to be a RAVE cinemas before they backed out).

Interestingly, Northgate doesnt actually have a security guard--they have allowed their local police department to open a substation in the mall, and that is their Mall Security. Bigg's was sold to Remke (a Northern Kentucky grocery store) in 2010, and they operated as "Remke Bigg's" for a few years before they converted the remaining stores to Remke only...they're a grocery-only store now that has been de-"hypermarketed". The former Bigg's Place Mall that was near where Eastgate Mall is (the first location they opened) was purchased by Jungle Jim's International Market in the early 20-teens. It's a bit of a tourist attraction.

The original big building out near Eastgate mall is now a Jungle Jim’s which is an experience in and of it self! This is the second Jungle the original is in Fairfield Ohio. Here is the website for them a Biggs has been gone for several years ☹️ junglejims.com if you’re ever get near there, I think it’s worth the trip!

I love Jungle Jim's!