Man thanks for the memories

I used to go to that mall a lot with my mom when I was young (1980s). My favorite place to go was Aladdin's Castle, which was an arcade (I had Pac-Man fever). There used to be a water fountain in front of JC Penney. Before there was Younker's, there was Prange's. Before there was Kohl's, there was Montgomery Ward. Before there was Sears, there was Prange Way. They also had Musicland, Sam Goody and FYE. Outside, there was an auto repair shop, Firestone. Before there was Firestone, there was JC Penney Auto Center. Good times!

1 of my favorite malls loved it and now it's totally gone except for Kohl's

I used to go there all the time back in the 90s. It was busy back in the day.

I used to go here my first ever date was here glad someone did a walk through b4 it got destroyed

I miss this place

Northridge Mall in Milwaukee. Go!

the mall is gone completely, it's no longer there, no more building of the mall, just the empty land where it used to be I really miss it especially the arcade that they had there

My family went to this mall from '73 to 80; took a few pictures with Santa in this mall, last memory of it was watching a Muppet movie; moved to another state in '80

As of 2021, this mall has mostly been torn down with some of the stores remaining as stand-alone. The city wisely saw this as an opportunity to make a good first impression with a new development.

It's about time someone does dead Malls in Wisconsin .I use to go here and in my town shut down .but put offices in an a over priced restaurant which when you walk through the old mall it smells moldy an mildew do and buckets for leaking roofs

My hometown stomping grounds when I was a kid/teen in the 1980s and 1990s. Thanks for getting this one preserved on video. It was such a hopping place up through the mid 2000s. It's dying a slow painful death. They're probably going to do much with this like they're doing to Memorial Mall (Sheboygan)....pull it down and put up a Meijer or something (which I honestly wouldn't mind.....give Wally World nearby a bit of competition). It would be sad in a way, but a sign of the times. The Kohl's still does well, but it seems Bon-Ton (they own Younkers and Boston Store here in Wisconsin) has decided to use our Younkers as a dumping grounds for unsold stuff. Uh-oh..... As for when the flooring was put in. The look you saw and filmed here was completed in the late Summer of 1998.

I went in here and slightly panicked because it seemed it was shut-down and I wasn't allowed in there. In think only a couple stores remain. This place is just plain creepy.

You should revisit. I live in fondy and decided to stop there the other day for fun. There are like 5 stores and the two main ones are closing.

It's too bad they charged too much for renting store space. They had to sell a lot of product just to pay for the outrageous rent. It's like a chain reaction. One store leaves, then another and another. They needed a nice food court to make people want to shop. Look at the Appleton mall. They have so many different types of food and that mall is flourishing. Nice video of a thing of the past that couldn't adapt to a rapidly changing market.

It was always packed when I grew up near Fond du Lac in the 70's and 80's. Sad to see it the way it is now. Big Box and Amazon are going to win.

Just a little update on this mall. It's all but dead. You walk down the aisles and all you see are chain gates covering old stores. Only a few places remain open.

God this hurts my heart! Such beautiful buildings just sitting and rotting! Bring back the malls & jobs!! Love from Wisconsin❤️ *Edited type error🤭

This is kinda cool seeing someone talk about this mall I remember going here when I was younger /last time I was 11 and since I've heard it's been really going down hill

This mall is even more dead. It’s a shame, even in the early 2010s it still had some stuff, but now, it’s a wasteland with only a few good stores, I have to go to Appleton if I want to go to the mall instead of going to the local one, I still remember that movie theater too, but unfortunately it’s gone, just like the whole mall.

This Mall is now completely dead, I just did a brief walk through. Only 4 businesses were left, outside of Kohl's and Staples. And is set to be tore down and replaced my a Meijer's, just like the mall in Sheboygan.

Please revisit! It's gotten infinitely worse. Love these videos. Keep at it. 👍

It was sad to see this Mall go! Some friends and I would come to this Mall often a few years ago, up until it closed, and just bum around the place, and play in the Arcade. Something about it's aesthetic and "stuck-in-time" feel and look just drew us in many times over. We never got to experience this Mall at it's peak, which is kinda sad to me personally. But I'm glad we got experience it before it's demolition! But if you back to it today, you can still see some remnants of the Mall, which does put a smile on face! But I will always reminisce on the times me and my buddies would just go there to walk around and play House of the Dead in the arcade, sometimes baked out of our minds 😂

I worked in this mall. for about a year. things are closing left and right now and it's really sad i had great memories growing up here.

I loved the old fountain

i live in fon du lac it sadly wont survive

Glad I found your channel. Haven't seen many of these Wisconsin malls. Keep up the good work.

Ease up on the background music volume.

So sad. Now it only has one anchor left(kohl’s) I remember when they had Aladdin’s castle for games, Walgreens was there in the 80’s, and my family bought most of our stuff at Prange Way!! Before Walmart came to fondy. Music land was there before Sam Goody. My first job was at the old country buffet.... now look at this mall. I would never have believed it would come to this.

Currently live here it has been torn down

You should revisit it. Almost all the stores have shut down now.

Memories... They took the 'forest' aspect out of the map and jacked up the rent. I worked at the Fazoli's across the way for years. FdL is the only place I know where a Home Depot actually managed to close.

And here we are 2020 she met her final fate. Getting torn down as this comment was wrote 7-20-2020 RIP

Since Sears is dying, that is hurting malls. When a mall loses an Anchor store it hurts them. My local mall in Virginia also has ramps like this mall. It is a single level mall with 200+ stores

So sad. I remember the days when this place was packed. Yet just 45 min north the Appleton Mall seems to be quite healthy. I wish I could put my finger on the problem but I'm sure the owner is scratching his head too! Thanks for the memory. Hope this video stays up for a while. Good job.

When I was 6 I loved going to the movies there when everything was full and the mall was busy now I go there and there's only 5 people walking thru there's only 3 stores left and it's really sad

Very interesting video. Lots of good narration. It is a nice looking mall. I hope it survives. Thanks for uploading.

its all over for us

Malls are ancient history.

I've never seen a Staples in a mall. They are not usually in malls

I'm there as I'm typing this and the hot topic just went out.

here in 2021 its gone and turning into a tj max and some other stuff

Yes I’ve been here plenty of times as I lived with my mother in law, I’m Texan and stayed here for a few months and immediately gave me a dying mall vibe :( it’s so sad.

I too live in Fond du Lac and the main reason I stopped shopping in this mall was the quality and selection of merchandise in the anchor stores. I honestly could never find anything worth buying. It seemed as if the stores were s dumping ground for all the merchandise that other more successful stores couldn’t sell. Sorry about the mall but I have much better luck on line.

I live in a city relatively close to Fond Du Lac, and though it may be dying, It is a great mall. It has a Hot Topic, a hobby shop, and an amazing bookstore. To be honest, that's all I need in a mall.

Bay Park Square in Ashwaubenon seems to be doing well compared to its competitors, Port Plaza Mall, who went under and East Town Mall, whose days are numbered as a traditional shopping mall. Bay Park Square is located a few blocks south of Lambeau Field, home stadium of the Packers football team.

There are now only 3 stores left and they are all super small

Thanks for the video! I worked here in the 1990's and I can say one huge problem with Forest Mall is the people of Fond du Lac-they are not loyal, only follow their wallets. It is a very blue collar community and when Wal-Mart opened across 41-it slammed us hard in the mall. I had worked in retail management all over the Midwest and never saw such rude and cheap and cheap customers as I did in that town. When I worked there the JC Penney and Prange Way were still in the mall, but alot of local vendors already had space-I see this mall quickly going down like Memorial Mall in Sheboygan or the mall in Manitowoc.

Does anyone know if there was anybody that got a video of the Valley Fair mall in Appleton before that got demolished? I was looking but haven’t found anything.

Im 12 and its veary sad that its closing

lolololol there’s like 2 stores left there right now.

Scottsdale Fashion Square has split level floors because of how it was built up in different decades (including the coming luxury expansion). The original part from 1961 gained a 2nd floor and splits into 3 where the food court is located. It has short escalators.1st floor above food court sees a slight upward shift to match up with the same level in this part of the mall made from an old Diamond's/Dillard's. The 2nd level sees another slight rise going west. The 3nd floor has to rise slightly to match the 2nd level of Macy's. The floors stay level in this west section as it crosses over a below grade Goldwater Blvd and matches up perfectly with the massive Dillard's made from an old Bullock's AND another mall called Camelview Plaza. The mall has to elevate the 2nd level more though to line up with the 2nd level of Neiman Marcus. The first floor of the 1961 section at the eas end has steps and a ramp because the part of te mall at this end sits where Robinson's May used to stand since the 1st floor was a little lower. And the if you bo back to the food court, the food court level has stairs and an elevator for the Kona Grill entrance and the two mall levels have to climb quite a bit and continue to see a couple other rises further south because the mall has to cross above Camelback Rd and line up with the 2nd and 3rd floors of Nordstrom. It's a good walking mall since it's huge and has a bunch of level shifts.

I live in fond du lac and just closed a nother store

Nice mall, good thing both anchors on each end of the mall are still open. The future does not look very good for this mall though with so many empty store fronts and 2 shutdown anchors.

Awesome narrating. Great job Name of soundtrack?

It is sad how bad our mall became it used to be the place to go now no one wants to go there

That's the tiniest mall I've ever seen to have a Hot Topic, those tend to be in more metropolitan malls.

Anyone else used to get liquored up and take em to the peach tree dance?

Now I would agree this is dying mall. Fond Du Lac only has about 40,000 in population malls in small cities are becoming a thing of the past.

Update: they closed down the Claire's, some of the nail places, the shoe place This mall Serecly will not survive (sorry can't spell today).

I also think these malls have to rethink what to put in their anchor store spots. A Target or a Hobby Lobby or Joann's as an anchor store would perk this mall back up. Another idea is to turn it into outlet shopping like Gurnee.

Now there’s like 2 stores open

I pretty much grew up in Forest Mall in the 80s

Sure seems like this mall last got some sort of renovation in the 1990s, and that it never got a single renovation since then. Other than those lights on the ceiling, and a few minor seating area renovations. That said, at least it looks like it's doing a tad better, than some of the other smaller Wisconsin malls that aren't regional draws that you've visited(i.e. Memorial Mall in Sheboygan, Regency Mall in Racine, and I'm not sure if I'd say if this is better or worse vs. Janesville Mall). Staples anchoring this mall is a little surprise to me, since I've NEVER seen Staples anchor any other malls anywhere myself. If you want to visit more malls and shopping centers to the south in IL, for successful malls I'd do Cherryvale in Rockford, Woodfield in Schaumburg(most successful mall in IL, though I'm disappointed Simon took away some of its classic look in a recent renovation), Orland Square in Orland Park, Oak Brook Center in Oak Brook, and Water Tower Place in Chicago. For deader ones or malls that are starting to die, I'd visit River Oaks Center in Calumet City(this mall was built as an outdoor shopping center in a design similar to Old Orchard and Oak Brook in the 60s, was enclosed in the 1990s, but has struggled in recent years), Stratford Square in Bloomingdale, Spring Hill in West Dundee(AND this'd be a closer drive for you than some of the other suggestions), to name examples. Although Stratford isn't much further of a drive south and east, in my opinion. If you want to explore some other dead/dying malls further east, you also could hit The Village Mall in Gary, IN(and don't worry, the area around it isn't as bad as other parts of Gary), and The Orchards Mall in Benton Harbor, MI. Keep up your series of vids, on malls and shopping centers!

Younkers is closing, Dunham's sport close on january 2018. Is dying fast

Great content. I hate that pulsing blur effect though. Makes it almost unwatchable.

I live in fond du lac and I shop at this mall. It is a great mall. My sister worked at rue 21, until they closed. The mall manager told her they are making it a outlet mall.

I’ve heard rumors of them wanting to turn part of the mall into a Meijer but tbh... that would mean Walmart would close down. Honestly Fondy is kinda dead now tho... I’ve lived here all my entire 19 years of life and I remember the mall used to be super packed! As I grew up I eventually stopped going there because online shopping became a thing! I also remember that Wet Seal was one of the first stores to close and ever since then I barely even set foot there.

i live in the mall and they recently just shut down the store rue 21

Younkers has since closed

Anyone remember the name of the Chinese restaurant? So goooood, back when I was 13 LOL

I loved the restaurant called Smack's

At 2:40, there's is a replica of a yellow VW bus, with games inside. A few year ago, Ideal Glass, and I, replaced the windshield in it. Vandalism!

Why Go To a HUGE MALL when You can buy ANYTHING Cheaper online ? Oh Course YOU MIGHT GET SHOT OR ROBBED in the MALL !

Just saw a recent video.... it's toast. :-(

I hope someone buys it out and makes it better

ITS OVER , MALLS ARE LIFE SUCKERS !!

I live in Fond du Lac and it is not getting better the only stores left that are worth going to are Bam! and Dunham’s

i love the music. what's this song called?

The mall is even more dead, do an updated video

It's not a bad mall and like killing time there when I go to WI every year. Their arcade has a House of the Dead machine (with a hard difficulty setting), but it works great regardless. And there's Hot Topic. :)

RiP old friend

All of the stores all closed now accept staples and kohls and are getting ready to tear it down and make it in to like a Sam's club

WELL II GUESS THE Plants are ALL THAT MATTERS !!!!!!!!!!!

It's hard to hear what you're saying, may want to turn the music down a little... But by the looks of it, that mall isn't too bad. Not like say, Schyulkill Mall....

And i heard they will close the whole store and making it into a cosco or a big grocie store

Its jonhson st not ave!!! Pet peeve of mine sorry. Grew up in didnt ON E Johnson st....

These are so played out I'm scared of life anymore, now covid so no return to norm🙂

Almost all of those games are rigged. It's luck, not skill. Don't waste your money.

BABY BOMMERS FILLED THESE MALLS IN THE 60 , 70, 80s THERE ALL DEAD OR RETIRED OR IN NURSING HOME :( And there kids and grandkids mostly LIVE IN SOME PARENTS BASEMENT ! PLAYING VIDEO GAMES VERY SAD !!

Urbex, have a go on a grabber arcade machine on your next video ;0)

Turn down the music.

SAD ,, JOBS FOR TEENS AND WOMEN GONE FOREVER

The old Yonkers? I like your videos but sometimes you get your facts mixed up.

can't you notice your camera shakes and gets all jello like. i noticed it in other videos. That is unacceptable. Anyone would get that fixed before they shoot more. If you can see this why upload it?

It was always packed when I grew up near Fond du Lac in the 70's and 80's. Sad to see it the way it is now. Big Box and Amazon are going to win.