Thanks to MyHeritage for sponsoring a portion of this video. Buy a DNA kit here: bit.ly/TheProperPeople and use the coupon code PROPERPEOPLE for free shipping and a 30 day free trial for their family research subscription. Check out more old photos and videos of this mall from when it was operational! kzfaq.info/get/bejne/Z7SlY7yc0LGunJ8.html

It's so weird seeing things like "wifi" and "like us on facebook" in a building that is starting to rot and fall apart due to being abandoned.

That intro was awesome!! 😄

The fact that they went out of their way to cover up all those high ceilings and natural light in the converted office space makes it extra depressing

VHS, light buzz sound, moist carpet.. welcome to the backroom

The animatronic bears were a whole little orchestra they would put out at Christmas and they would play like every 30 min, and each cycle was a good length of time.

It reminds me of a word I first learned from another urban explorer, Jon Revelle -- obsolescence. We build these huge structures with the idea that they will last forever or at least for an age, but they fall into disuse and quickly become irrelevant. It's a clear lesson about the passage of time and the utter temporariness of everything.

I have to be in the right mood to watch these because the emptiness of such once lively & occupied places reminds me of being at a funeral. It's this sadness at what has been lost to time.

For those who don't know. Richland Fashion Mall is now mostly torn down. I live in the area and drive by it everyday. It's being torn down and being replaced with a mixed used complex of Shopping and Apartments.

Yall have no idea how much this means to me! This is in my hometown and since my husband and I are in the military I have not been home in awhile. I remember going to this mall with my grandmother who is no longer alive. My father and I spent many hours at the Barnes and noble. I saw many movies there in college. It was emotional to see this. Thank you so much 🫡🥹

Mate that intro was probably an absolute pain in the ass but the result is spectacular. Bryan and Michael lots of appreciation for your dedication to content,from Australia

42:42 This is very high risk for legionnaires disease. Be careful in these situations, that's a very old and clearly unmaintained chiller system.

The locked room in the VZ call center with the Hazardous markings would have been a large UPS location to supply backup power to the call floor. Having a call center go down on customers creates more issues for customer perception so it is cheaper to power the call floor itself.

Wow, that cubicle hell with the cliche motivational quotes all over the walls - what a depressing place to show up to every day. "Cubicle 2333, why aren't you at your post?!!"

What a trip. Used to go here in high school for movies, Barnes and Nobles, and Christmas tree lighting each year. That was about 12 years ago now

25:57 A chair just chillin' _and_ Christmas decorations in one spot.

Hard to believe the theater was still in operation just a few months before this video. I actually live not far from this mall, and it's sad to see how bad of a shape it's in.

That original food court looked nice

It's interesting to see the rate at which a complex deteriorates once abandoned. It gives you an idea of how expensive and time consuming it would be to maintain such a huge complex for decades while it is open. Locating leaks, roof repairs, painting, etc. I imagine that's why the a/c systems are left on 24/7 to reduce the amount of moisture within the complex and prevent mold and mildew building up. Great video!

I used to walk with my grandparents around the mall and we would get to go to the bottom floor to dollar tree and get the grab bags. Good memories at that place. Makes me miss my grandfather a lot.

I have been watching y'alls videos religiously for years, and am always in awe with the level of detail and albeit charm put into these videos. But the icing on the cake for me will always be the music. I dont know where y'all find it or its original, but it never fails to always meet the atmosphere of every location. Kudos on another fantastic piece of abandonment.

I’ve lived in Columbia since 2016 and remember walking through this mall before they closed most of it off to the public and before it got so vandalized. I’m glad y’all came and documented it before they demolished it. Loved seeing the areas I’ve hadn’t seen before!

They dug up the time capsule and relocated it to a more, suitable location. IIRC, they are going to build a new community.

Much more than the primary colors and neon of stranger things, this sort of bluish green and bright brass with the soft pink accents is what I think of when I remember 80s design. Cool that you got to document it!

The curtain in front of the movie screen used to be the norm. All movie theaters used to do it. It would split down the middle and pull back to both sides or it would raise up into the ceiling. I don't know why or when they stopped doing it but I remember it well from being a kid in the 80s. I also remember there being just curtains on the edges and they would be in one spot for the previews then when the movie started they would pull back further. And then the curtains just went away completely.

Always find the Mall Management, Maintenance/Janitorial and Security offices. Sometimes you can find some interesting things there in regards to the Malls history.

As a young chap in the 60's, the closest thing to a "mall" then was the Sears & Roebuck Dept. store. They sold everything from eye glasses to Ted William's shotguns and rifles. You could even pay your light and phone bill while you were there. My dad was a minister and thusly we moved around a good bit. In the early 70's, he pastored a church in Livonia MI. They had an actual Mall there. Their "anchor" stores were, of course, a large Sears and a smaller J.C Penney. What fascinated my, 11 or 12 year old self, were all of the smaller stores that was in between them, under one roof.

The nice light buzzing of lights, the blank white walls in areas, you're like 2 steps from a liminal space. Also, I'm gonna count that messed up Gingerbread man as a a tally for Christmas decorations yall normally look for haha.

The bears were part of the Leonard beartsein symphony orchestra. They had arm, mouth, and head movements, they performed at the Milwaukee grand avenue mall from 1999-2017. I hope this was helpful.

Nothing beats a well done dead mall video. Well done gentlemen!

was looking up those “___ but it’s in an abandoned mall” videos and found this.. this was the mall my grandma took me to play at as a kid about fifteen years ago & this place was still nice but definitely a ghost town then. i now live across the country and it’s absolutely crazy to see one of my favorite childhood memories in such a decrepit state

I have lived in columbia sc since 1985. I have worked, shopped, and hung out in this mall. I remember the old food court. It was depressing to see that we lost that beautiful, big, bright food court for such a horrific office space. Thanks so much for covering this! My husband and i were saying how much we hoped yall would!

Wow, you guys! That intro was magic. I had so many memories come up when watching that, even though I've never stood foot into that building before. The classic shades of pink, teal and gold combo! I can only imagine how regal everything would have looked with the lighting. Its bittersweet to think about how the 80's-00's used to be so community based. Holidays, celebrations, fashion shows, time capsules, you name it; I even remember entering every colouring contests I could get my hands on when I was a kid... and for it to slowly fall apart and have it filled with cubicles, florescent lighting, covered windows and skylights creating a depressing grey abyss. Its heartbreaking... and makes you think...

That was a sick transition from the intro to title theme

I USED TO GO TO THIS MALL! I CANT BELIEVE YOU CAME TO MY HOMETOWN!

I used to frequent that mall at least once a month in the 90s and 00s. The Barnes and Noble, a sports memorabilia store that had Yu-Gi-Oh tournaments in the back. So many memories. It's sad to see it now.

I thought this looked familiar! My wife and I lived in Columbia, SC for 6 months in 2019. We visited here when there was just a few stores open still. Crazy how much more rundown it looks now. Excited to watch this whole video!

Very neat video guys, and excellent job on the intro and the audio, I thought both the music and effects were very fitting for an 80's mall. I bet that chemical sign in the callcenter was likely a door leading to their server type room and had something to do with a battery backup and/or fire suppresion system for said room.

That gingerbread cutout is giving me “Rolling Giant” vibes. Just needs wheels!

These abandoned malls make me sad to see them in such a state of decay, but the crazy thing is they’ve only been around for just under 35 years, wish they could be renovated back to their former glory and not into office complexes or completely destroyed to have new buildings built on top of them.

Very cool intro! One of my favorite things that you guys do is tell the history of the places you explore, and that took it up a notch! I also had to look into that time capsule and luckily it sounds like it will be reburied in the park that will be built in that area.

Awesome to see a local exploration here in Columbia! Would love to see more SC explorations.

Man, I miss the 1980s/90s aesthetic

Man, used to go to this mall for the theater and the Barnes and Nobles routinely when I was in college maybe 10 years ago. Would have loved to see this Mall in it's prime and not on the downward spiral.

The upside down chairs on the tables at 13:21 are a health department's nightmare.

My wife works across the road from the now almost completely demoed mall. She said that when the work started, people asked if they could park in her work establishment's parking lot, just to observe the mall being tore down. That makes me think that they had alot of memories there...or they just found destruction of the building interesting. Back when Barns And Noble was in operation there, we walked in and looked around, eventually making our way to the back of the store with this glass wall, and metal door type thing. I recall the smell at that door not being very pleasant. I also remember there being 2 or 3 cars being on the other side (mall side of course) of the glass wall. They looked like dirt track cars to me. I wonder what happened to them? 🤔...probably junked. Any any rate, I never went into this mall (as far as i can remember)...other than the time i went into the book store with my wife. I always ended up Columbiana Mall, off Harbison. Richland Mall seemed a bit more classier to me. More sophisticated, due to ceiling designs, lighting arrangements, and all the glass for skylights, and certain entrance points from the roof top parking. I bet that food court with the glass walls and ceiling was LEGIT back in the malls prime. Certainly something to experience. But...I tell you one thing. That call center was DEPRESSING. It's a textbook example of what a call center would look like. Cubicles everywhere. Not a window in sight. Stereotypical office lighting. RIP to the mall. But not that call center 😅.

Makes my day every time a notification pops up for a new video :)

This is the video I've waited for from you guys. I have so many memories of this mall. I grew up going, and have made several nostalgia-driven visits in the last few years before it finally closed for good. It's sad to see it in a state of disrepair and now being demolished, but I'm glad that it has been documented for everyone to see. Thank you for the video.

One thing I noticed whenever something gets repurposed for office space it closes not long after.

I visited this mall in 2018, my wife needed to visit a glasses store. It was dark and mostly abandoned already. Funny coincidence about your sponsor, we also used MyHeritageDNA tests that year to see our own heritage. It was interesting and we've enjoyed the conversations that resulted from it. Actually, I think I can give this mall credit for me eventually finding your channel. I was intrigued by it and started watching Dan Bell's dead mall videos. That linked my youtube to recommend The Proper People.

That gingerbread snowman was definitely the star of the episode. Nice one, guys! Thanks for the great video!

Being from Birmingham, seeing that old Parisian logo is sending me back in time! 🤩

Malls were such a staple of my childhood and teenage years. It's incredible to watch them all just...fall down now.

This really hits me in the feels considering my own local mall, the Charleston Town Center mall in Charleston WV, has been being slowly demolished. The core of the mall is still there but the two anchor stores of Sears and JC Penny were demolished with the latter in the last month.

You guys are always stretching it a bit - I appreciated the use of the original promo, slipping right into your intro. Nice. As a former mall rat, I was surprised by the rooftop parking and that a mall of that size had unknown anchor tenants. This was a great way to kick off the weekend, thanks!

now this is something i can watch while im supposed to be asleep

I used to shop at the barnes and noble regularly, right up untill its last day there. It even leaked in the store while it was open, with trash bags on the shelves and trash cans out to catch drips, so they werent doing much hiding it from the customers outside the bookstore. There was an old car parked inside the mall by the bookstore and gymboree as well. Its so sad seeing this mall rot.

In the wisdom of Mitch Hedberg, a broken escalator is basically a flight of stairs😅😅😅.

I went here as a teenager back in the day! Moved, decades later came back around 2013 and it was sad spooky. Much love Columbia.

Thank you for doing this thorough documentation of what was a beautiful mall before it was torn down. The Teddy Bear Orchestra was brought in around '04 or '05 to boost Christmas shopping traffic. We took our young daughters there to visit Santa and watch the Teddy Bear Orchestra. It was animatronic, and while those things are often creepy, that orchestra was really cute. The Jackson's Buffet was an S & S Cafeteria for years, we'd go after church as they had 99¢ kids meals. Thanks for the trip down memory lane

This was before DIY mechanical keyboards were a thing. 12:03 That dead space is not likely because they weren't expecting big crowds. Malls of that era were packed. Most likely the tables were removed and sold/stored as the place was shutting down.

Thumbnail has some serious Rolling Giant energy

They must've had an insane electricity bill with all the incandescent lighting. Also the janitors problably spent most of their duty constantly changing light bulbs and (in the recent years) building improvised waterslides or emptying water buckets. Crazy job.

I could literally cry. It's like all of my hopes for seeing everything about this mall have finally been answered! It's been over a decade since I first discovered this place and I've been extremely intrigued about it ever since. I never thought I'd get to see anything of the original food court (either vintage photos or what it looks like today), but you guys made the impossible come to fruition. Thank you so much! I thought no one would be able to top Sal's video back in 2020, but this is the true ultimate Richland Fashion Mall adventure. You guys covered every nook and cranny of this place. I can't thank you enough! This feels like a proper complete farewell to this extremely interesting, yet cursed piece of Columbia, SC retail history.

Used to do mold removals. When you guys walked into this area, my chest tightened a bit. I would recommend a respirator, bros. 42:00

The special intro really set the mood! I super appreciate the full run time (feels like forever since we've had a proper nearly 1 hour video). Excellent exploration as always.

I live next to a mall that is alwyas changing - office space, empty stores, shifting food court, ever-changing stores - feels like the beginning of the end. I enjoy your videos but I find myself feeling sadly nostalgic for my youth when watching you wander an abandoned mall

This intro was one of the best ones you guys have done! I love the transition from the old video of the mall to your video! Excellent work fellas!

Your abandoned malls episodes are my favorites because I get the 80s nostalgia .. You really made my day

The only other rooftop parking I've seen was a video about this..... Burnaby, British Columbia, Canada. "On April 23, 1988, within minutes of the grand opening of a new Save-On-Foods store, a 6,400 square foot portion of the roof collapsed, sending the rooftop parking deck and 20 automobiles crashing into the produce section below."

I am so excited to watch this! I LOVE EVERYTHING you guys do- but for some reason the Malls and the Power Plants are my favorite!

I can almost guarantee that the developer was in the business since 1982 and was like "I know what a fancy mall should look like!" Commence with neon lighting and pastel tile art. Also, that theater seating wasn't just the "old style" it was vintage. It wasn't too long after that when theaters started introducing a greater angle that you had to use stairs to go up. Also entering in at the bottom and going up, rather than entering at the top and having a slight slope down.

Another Classic Abandoned Mall Video ❤

Wow! Thanks for doing this video. Trips to Richland fashion mall were one my early childhood memories. It was a big loss to the community when it closed, but its nice to see it being rezoned and revived into something new.

The old food court was so much better. It also had an arcade. Looking back it really did feel like the beginning of the end when they made those changes. Also, you are correct in that it was very awkward having to go through Belk to get to the other side of the mall.

They should convert old abandoned malls into retirement homes for Gen X and Millennial's. Keep the food court, arcade, theater and cvs or something and turn the rest into apartments.

Possibly the most backrooms feeling place you have yet recorded. That storage room made of stained timbers and chicken wire (7:02) seemed particularly creepy. 46:59- that background growl and animatronic bears do give the chicken wire storage room a run for it's money though,

I live 10 minutes from here. I’ve always wondered, but I wonder no longer! Thanks for awesome upload PP!

When I looked at the thumbnail I thought the new episode of The oldest view dropped 😂

those 3 colors gold teal pink always seem be a theme

It’s really sad that malls will soon become forgotten things of the past

I've watched this so many times. Your photography skills blow me away.

I’ve been following you guys for many years , seeing your channel grow in professionalism and cinematography is amazing. Your knowledge of the places you explore is fabulous. Most importantly your respect that you have for the places you visit. Keep up the awesome work , be safe .

"An escalator can never break. It can only become stairs."

Aw man that’s so sad to see it decaying like that

I live near here! This is my mall! I was last here in 2022, and it's facinating to see how fast things decay in just 2 years. They stopped actively maintaining the place a few years before covid, like they cleaned things and kept the elevator working but when lights went out they'd wait to put a new one in for months. Covid was just the nail in the coffin. The china max you saw, I don't remember ever being open, so it must've closed down before 2011 when I first visited. You should have tried using the elevator, the bell makes the most forlorn ding. I never knew the display cases near the front used to be stores, so much space back there. That hazard diamond you saw, if it is to be believed, means "extreme danger: health hazard", and based on the rest of the building, probably black mold. Be glad you couldn't open the door. Those verizon offices are straight up just the backrooms. That mold in dillards looks like its dissolving the mall. Pretty sad, and also understandable why they've decided to just demolish the whole thing. Thank you for this video.

I never miss an episode of 'The Proper People' You guys show so much history that everyone should see. It's truly amazing. Love your work.

Abandoned malls, peak Proper People videos

That mall was awesome back in days

Your channel is always filled with amazing and cool content! You never disappointed me once!

Great video! 👍🏻😀 I enjoy these abandoned Mall videos. Hope you both will be doing more of these.

“You’re nothing but a number here”. That’s pretty much 85% of all call centers.

The electricity bill was probably sky high with all of those 75w/100w incandescent lightbulbs! (And some CFL’s)

Super nice, thanks for sharing!

Getting Dan Bell vibes from the opening.

Aw yes, grate for eary liminal spaces Sorry I don’t know English that well to type.

Great video,Thanks and Keep em Rolling!

So cool to finally have been somewhere you guys went. I grew up going to that mall, last time was in 2019. Was in sad shape even then. I never remember it being more than 75 or 80 percent full. Love what you guys do thanks for sharing with the rest of us!

31:27 that symbol stands for ETHANOL Clear, colorless liquid with a strong odor. Irritating to the eyes/ respiratory tract. Also causes: inhalation of high concentrations can cause headache, dizziness. qausea, and stupor Chronic: dermatitis, liver cirrhosis via ingestion. Flammable.

Richland Mall was never a super busy mall. It is where all the "mall walkers" went so they could do laps without too many crowds. It only ever got busy around the holidays. Columbia Mall saw a lot more traffic, especially with the younger crowd. Columbiana Mall is still doing pretty good. As hot as it gets here, I wish indoor shopping malls weren't on the way out.