The memories I have of this place.... I could write a book.

I used to go to this mall, back in the 70s and early 80's when it was covered in cool black marble and indirect lighting. It was like shopping on the Death Star.

This is my local mall, been watching it decline the last 10 years. The video makes it seem like more stores are closed, I think he was there early in the morning, it's probably 40% occupied. They've done a decent job adapting to stay open, bringing in office space and whole foods, but I still think it's days are numbered, which is a shame, it's beautiful inside with all the plants, marble and skylights!

I worked as a manager at the LensCrafters in that mall from 2001 to 2003. I always liked working there. It was bright, airy, very well maintained , and busy. There was a store upstairs that made cookies. I can still remember the smell of the vanilla cookies and coffee when I opened up the shop in the morning. Such a shame to see it slowly die. It was a very nice property. The food court was a nice place to have lunch, and the trees inside usually had a few birds that made their way in. Felt like you were sitting outside.

Kinda reminds me a little of the "Granite Run Mall" in Media, PA. It's been demolished.

Sad, Exton is such a great location. King of Prussia is extremely close, however, unless you're going to the higher end luxury stores navigating the mall is overwhelming, parking is a nightmare and at sometimes can be surprisingly unsafe.

I used to skip school in this mall in the mid 80’s. Great memories

My middle school stomping grounds back in the 2000’s. So many memories of Friday nights of my and my friends just fooling around and getting kicked out. My first ever date was here to. It’ll be a sad day when this place is done in for good.

Damn! It's crazy how time flies by. I remember shopping at that mall when my mom and dad lived in WC on Nield st. Catching buses before I got a car, hitting Fashion bug, Models and Salad Works, were some of my favorite stops. As we get older, new things are discovered; Leaving what we recall a memory of our past, which brings life to new beginnings and the future.

It’s a real shame. When I was growing up my mom took my brothers and I to this mall all the time. Some days the food court was completely packed and it was hard to get a seat. I hope the library next to it is still thriving.

When they start adding the random gumball machines you know the mall is failing.

Penn Medicine has taken some of the space for medical offices. There is plenty of parking and public transit making it an ideal location. I hope they can repurpose more of the site.

I live in Downingtown which is right next to Exton. Been here a million times. I miss the movie theater that use to be right next Kmart. Ah, the memories.

Your videos are so well made. The ending celebratory moment made me cry while writing this. Also, props to that Chik-Fil-A for sticking around to feed people.

So sad such a beautiful mall not run down at all

Excellent tribute to Exton Square Mal, Anthony! Many of the other older Boscov's here around Philly (Plymouth Meeting, Granite Run, Concord Mall, Coventry Mall come to mind) have some of the same neon department lighting. I was just at Exton myself on Sunday 11/15/20 (in mid-afternoon) & there could not have been more than a handful of people there even then. About the only action there was at Boscov's and Round One. If you ever get back to the area soon, you should check out Coventry Mall about 30 minutes up PA 100 (just outside Pottstown). Now THAT is a dead mall!!

Lived in Exton / Downingtown my whole life. Growing up in the 2000’s and going to the exton mall on a Friday night was the place to be. Such a bummer to see it go down hill like this. I live in Philadelphia now and haven’t gotten out to the area in a good 2-3 years but man oh man this hurt to see.

I live 5 minutes south from this mall and IV been goin there my whole life since the 80s and it's amazing how much it's changed over the years. I was hoping Dan Bell would do this dead mall but I'm really glad somebody did at least. 😎

The neon inside that Boscov's is so great.

That use to be my hang out back in the day every Friday and Saturday night.... Me and my friends used to shop in every store..

Great video! It's amazing that their sister in Grand Rapids, Woodland is doing so much better. The tribute to Trebek couldn't be more beautiful.

As young marrieds in the late seventies, early eighties we traveled over an hour to spend time here. It was a lovely little mall and had a lot of special local stores here, unlike all the chain stores at KofP. We would shop here and then on the way home pick up some discount Enteman’s nearby. This was indeed my favorite mall.

Thank you for continuing to make and upload quality videos. Honestly I’m surprised you don’t have more subscribers. I personally look forward to them. Thanks.

Ace, great work on the intro graphics and the music really fits the mall asthetic!

This is my mall lol. You gave the tour justice thank you. I grew up in Downingtown and worked in this mall, shopped in this mall, and watched this mall evolve over the years. I am so sad by the way the economy has shutdown so many local businesses and hope the stores are able to recover. The kop mall is close HOWEVER unless you want to spend half of your time searching for stores or in traffic I never went there. Plus I think someone mentioned it above, they had all of the Exton stores plus high end stores and that's not what really where I was spending my money. Exton was clean, big enough, and had everything I needed. Kop is over the top for no reason.

Great music!!! Thanks Ace.

Incredible. This reminds me of a Sci Fi movie depicting the last man on earth. The utilities alone must run 10 grand a month which most likely exceeds the all-inclusive profit from the stores combined. The "hiring" sign at 18 minutes is really peculiar. Stellar production Ace. Thanks for your hard work.

Awesome as always!! Great job!

Love your videos but especially loved seeing this amazing mall. It does have a unique aesthetic and is one of the cleanest dead malls I’ve seen.

I was just here yesterday 2/13/23 with my son because we were in the area for a dentist appointment & I knewthat the food court is opened. It's only Chik-Fil-A & a small pizza shop still operating in the food court. So we decided to walk around until he decided what he was hungry for. I got to experience his excitement of riding down on a huge escalator, smiling ear to ear. To me, I've riden down countless escalators many times in my life, but for him it was an exciting experience because as he stated "I've never seen an escalator this big!" If I had to put a percentage on retailers that are in here still, besides Macy's & Roumd 1 amusement & bowling, I'd put it at between 10-20%, but it's easier to say that there's more "mall walkers" than retailers. So many "mall walkers" that the management put a notice sign on the mall entrance doors stating specifically what time the mall would be opening for the "mall walkers". Nice to see that the management is still providing a controlled area for people to come & exercise. I've been to this mall many times throughout my life & it was bigger than the Coventry Mall in Pottstown, but always an easier mall to navigate than the King of Prussia mall.

Love the KB Toys-esque department interior at the Boscov's especially the Lego shelving unit with the lit up logo :)

Funny this is the first time your channel popped up on my recommendations feed, for one I watch Retail Archeology and Dan Bell and two I live only twenty or so minutes from the Exton Mall and have been to Round One a number of times. Great video. Instant subscriber. Love the aerial exterior shots.

Same thing happened to Granite Run Mall in Media, Pa. It is a very sad to see this happen where many memories were made.

I grew up at this mall and it has definitely changed overtime. But I still love to go there just because of the memories

i also grew up with this mall but in the 2000s. i love reading everyone in the comments talking about what this place was like in the 70s and 80s! what i miss is the old playground. i remember other kids getting stuck in the twisty pole, i wonder if that's why they took it down lol

Ahhhh,,, The mall where I ratted as a teen in the 80's. The weird part is that retail in the immediate surroundings is booming, so the main culprit here is more changing shopping patterns than competition from KoP.

When I was 2 we moved to Exton from Boothwyn. I remember when the mall was actually still square. And I remember hanging out there in high school, it was PACKED every day. Kind of sad to see it as a ghost town. Lots of fun memories there. I even worked at the bath and body works there in high school.

Every store I worked at in this mall has closed which stinks. I remember as an awkward teen in high school my friends and I would wander around and grab food at the food court and it was PACKED. Parents would drop us off and we would push through the crowds to Hot Topic and eat pretzels on some sofas in the department stores like little weirdos. It’s crazy watching it go from such a booming mall to almost nothing

I attended West Chester university from 2001-2005 I had several jobs at exton and it is where I formally started my shopping addiction lol. I just have so many fond memories of this mall 🤗🤗

What a gorgeous space!

Weird seeing the inside if the Boscov's. I haven't been inside one since 15 years ago. It still looks the same as it did when I went to mine. Gotta love the neon signs.

These are excellent videos. Congratulations!

Keep em coming, really enjoy your work

the memories we made it this mall this and king or purssia are my two favorite malls

I used to go the Exton Square mall in the early 90s as well as the Exton Public Library. I lived on the border of Chester and Lancaster counties and it was a little closer the Park City. I think what really starting hurting the mall was the completion of the bypass around Exxon in the early to mid 90s, it made getting to King of Prussia much quicker. It was a nice video and brought back some nice memories.

So sad to see this mall die down. I live down the street from it and haven’t been there in about a year 😔😔😔

Only 1 of my childhood malls has gone into decline, but is being revitalized with small businesses. So, it’s still doing okay.

Wow I remember working in this mall around 1997 at Gantos. Really enjoyed the mall and the people.

Love hearing the history

Wow. I used to come here with my friends when we were in high school. I had no idea it had gotten that bad in such a short amount of time. You’re right about the King of Prussia mall. It’s a shame, because I hate that mall. Like others have said, the parking is a nightmare and it’s unsafe. Somebody was shot there very close to my car 😕

Went here back in January, it was almost as dead then as it is now. So sad because of how awesome and busy it used to be, even just five years ago. But when a lot of big name stores began to pull out, a huge decline in customers went with them. Awesome video!

Thank you for doing this video. Wish it could help it to stay open. It is a beautiful Mall. I have personally liked Exton Square Mall way more than KOP Mall.

Oh my I grew up in this mall the memories ... ... gosh I'm old

I really like the floor tiling work.

I used to beeeeggg to be able to go to the mall on a Friday night in 8th grade because it was where all the cool kinds hung out and every single store was operating! It's crazy how much can change in 9 years!! This video made me so happy because I'm not sure by the time I visit home next if it's still gonna be here but this video will make it live on!! Thanks so much!!

I grew up in that area, and still go back to visit relatives. It is a beautiful space in that mall, and I hope it can be used in a new way, maybe put the stores in one part, offices in another, possibly a school in another? - the lighting is fabulous, and it has beautiful flooring.

Thanks for sharing!

I worked at that Sears for a while after high school. This video makes me both so sad and nostalgic

Man!!!! I miss this place

Love the mall, but even more, love the Alex Trebek tribute! I might want to read his book now.

There would probably be more people there if the mall were fully open, this was clearly shot early in the morning before all the stores opened for the day lol. But I get it, it was probably the most "safe" time to film.

Wow. For a Mall constructed in the 1970's, the Exton Mall has really kept up, and shows well. New tiling, high quality railings, nice patterned steel. And it is clearly bright with the large skylights, and there is a consistency throughout of its cleanliness. Those wood trussed centered arboretum's really held up well, I believe if they were from the original 1970's build. The decor with the planters along side the upper deck is quite nice. High quality build, let's hope that they can rebound well after all of this! I like! Thank you for the great videos you do a fantastic service, and so much history you review is methodical. Well done Ace!!!

I had my first waffle fries at this Chik-Fil-A back in the mid-80s with a great friend.

Wow, my old stomping grounds. I'm 49 years old now, but this was my home in my teens and before. I became long time friends with the operator of the aforementioned import games store. I spent a lot of time in the sam goodie record store and remember very well the indoor playground as a child. This was always my favorite place to go as a child. The memories.....

Wow...Exton mall was our "go to" when I attended West Chester University from '03-'06....things have changed a lot since then!!

The only place that my sister and I like to go to in there is Round 1. We plan to go every three months there. It’s a gorgeous mall. There just isn’t any other place that makes me want to go to that one more often. That would be awesome if you covered the Montgomery Mall next in North Wales, PA!

Used to come here all the time as a kid into my teen years. I’m 21 now. My fiancé and I came here in the beginning of our relationship. Many memories here. Crazy to see that it’s dying. My family and I always came to here or Concord as they are much closer. KOP was 45 mins away as opposed to Exton/Concord being 20 mins abt.

I used to work in this mall in 2018. Even pre-covid, it was pretty dead.

Loved the ending.

Hey, local here, great video! I'm not sure if anyone else shared however Mallbrats fell through when Kevin Smith couldn't get the project picked up. I was working in the Exton Mall at the time and it was very disappointing as the mall was already on the decline. Thanks for making a trip and documenting as it's sad to see the place so empty now.

I grew up in King of Prussia and went to Exton on occasion. I live in Florida now. I remember when K of P only had the Plaza. Last time I was back up there was over 3 years ago. Crazy how much it changed. K of P has gotten crazy expensive.

My best friend and I used to spend so much time here as kids, so sad

I moved to Exton from Tampa, FL about two years ago. I went to the mall exactly one time and never decided to go again.

The Exton area is starting to grow, so that should help the mall. Two cool things in the exton Mall are Round1 (A large arcade) and Red Star (A pretty good bar) .

grew up in the area. had an odd layout originally since Strawbridge's was in the center of mall and all sections fanned out from that.

After about a year of watching Dan Bell, Retail Archaeology (and binge watching all of their vids) and The Proper People, I found myself waiting for them to post something new, so I thought about trying to find another dead malls channel. After 2 or 3 I've checked, I'll be subscribed to this one. I'm glad you got a better mike cause I started watching an older video of yours and then this one and I can notice the sound quality improved :-)

Was there on Black Friday and might have seen like 150 people. I remember going there like 5-6-7 years ago and it use to be packed!

I live like 3 minutes out from this mall so it was really cool to see someone check it out! nice video! dropped a sub!

We lost our Children's Place here in Cornwall, back in October. Our only inside mall is slowly dying. The food court has only 3 restaurants right now. We used to have a grocery store in it which really helped. The Exton Square Mall is a beautiful looking mall. Aesthetics are amazing. Especially those 80's neon signs in the Boscov's.

Another great video, Ace! Sorry I wasn’t able to be there for the premiere

When I worked for a construction company out of Denver CO, we built the Chick-fil-A in the Exton, Granite Run, Berkshire, and Philadelphia Penn Central malls. Great company!

used to go here all the time in middle and early high school. sucks to see it so stark and empty

This is one of the best dead malls.

I absolutely love this mall!!!! It is absolutely beautiful!!!! As always Anthony you did a fantastic job filming it for us!!!! Your videos are so beautiful and wonderful!!!! I really hope this mall survives because I love the colors and the aesthetics!!! I wish I had malls this beautiful close to me. I really love the nostalgia of your videos!!!! Thanks again so very much!!!! Awesome video and job as always!!!! Take care and Happy Thanksgiving and Happy Holidays Anthony and everyone!!!! 👍🏻😬🙏🏻

The opening music is pretty 🔥🔥🔥🔥 you have good taste! It definitely sets the mood properly!

Many people have doggone the way of online shopping which never take the place of actually going to the store and trying it on and taking a friend or two along and making memories and then actually deciding if the garment is the right fit or not. Don't get that experience shopping online. We will always need our malls. A great place to eat, have family time, go on a date, bring grp of friends and make memories while you shop at your fav stores. This is my neighborhood mall and I appreciate this mall. Many memories and I pray for it to stay open. Round 1 is also a fun place. When people stop connecting and reaching out, more malls will close and not just because of stupid causes pandemic. Wish my mall well and glad it's still here.

Pretty sweet mall. The anchors are certainly classics while the mall interior looks modern.

I worked at Strawbridges, at Radio Shack when I was in the corner, & at Claire's at the other end of that hall. Sad to see what it's become.

Thinking about Christmas shopping with my Mother and my daughter. Beautiful decorations. And I took my granddaughter to see Santa for the first time. I'm sad but at least of I have good memories.

this mall is so cool lots thing was close ty for showing this video

Hey, the Crystal Mall in Waterford, CT was just given back to the bank by the Simon Group - you should take a look, it's sad...

The last time I went here I was shocked! This was always the mall we went to growing up, even preferred it to KOP.

You correctly mention a number of the drivers as to this mall's decline including nearby King of Prussia...I'd also include that Exton's close proximity to tax-free Delaware is a drag on local retailers.

I used to go to this mall with my friends every Friday in middle school. So sad to see it go from such a lively place to this :(

Exton itself is a growing area and Chester County is the most affluent in Pennsylvania so this being a dead mall is perplexing. Exton has two busy Targets and a busy Walmart. It had three other major shopping centers that are mostly occupied. A thousand new apartments are coming online within a mile of this mall along a few new housing developments. There is a lot of redevelopment potential with the property and I feel that’s why it’s in decline as a 70’s era mall.

I was on the roof of that mall in 1998. I was working for AT&t wireless. We had a store in the mall which had no signal, so I had to go on the roof and put up an antenna and have people install a repeater.

I spent SO much time in this mall between 1990 - 1994!!! Back then Strawbridges was the anchor - right in the center of the mall!! Good memories! Sorry to see it in decline.

I lived in Exton untill I moved 3 years ago. I remember when this mall was full and always crowded. I used to go to JC penny and Sears all the time. I used to see Santa hear to. Sad to see the food court only has 2 businesses now

I grew up in this place.

Scary... I grew up in this mall. Times change.