Hey Dalton, if you're reading this, you were a good ExLog intern. Dalton taught me the correct way to pronounce Staunton, and that if you can't be bothered learning the correct pronunciation for his home town, that you shouldn't say it at all. You rock, Dalton. Great job! Thanks for watching, everyone!

Those old mercury vapor magnetic ballasts are what you hear buzzing. If this was an active mall twenty years ago, they would have been replaced as part of ordinary maintenance. You rarely hear that noise anymore as all lights either have electronic ballasts or are LED. Thorough and comprehensive historical background.

That Woolworths is how I got my Nintendo collection up as a kid because they always had them on deep discount .

I remember how great the mall used to be especially around Christmas time. Santa's Village was full of animatronic reindeer, elves and a singing Bear Jamboree. It's sad to see what it has become. Oh and by the way, Hot Wok is still there and they refuse to leave

The ride to the mall at the beginning was beautiful, stunning, nostalgic, and tragic all at once. The Staunton area is like a throwback in time.

Just finished watching it. Amazing how much freedom You had to film, they really had given up caring. No security chasing you about, nothing. Dalton was great hope he does get in touch with you. Thanks again for all the work you put into these . We do appreciate it. Cheers Mitch

52 minutes long! Hot damn. Definitely going to put this on the big screen and watch this over a bowl of the good stuff in a couple hours. Thanks again, Sal!

I just spent an hour watching a documentary about a mall in a city I’ll never visit, in another country. Why? Because you do such a great job of telling the life story of your subjects! From Canada. Stay Safe, Sal.

Sal,, As a young man in the seventies, I can definitely say the mall was the place to be, pretty much every mall was heavily populated with tenants and shoppers, it was a place to hang out at, eat, window shop and catch a movie, it was a magical experience back then, especially the malls in los Angeles and minneapolis, I really miss what used to be, I sure like your vids and the narrative,it's actually one of my favorite things about your vids,Good Up! Staysafe Full Views ads an all like always, Support your Creator Friends always

Me too sal, it's absolutely amazing how things used to be and how they are now. It makes me wish I had a time machine to go back to those very simple but good times.

I lived in Staunton in the 90's. Walmart put in a store, then within about a year closed that store and built a super Walmart, which hastened the decline of the mall. I enjoyed hearing the history of the mall and appreciate the hard work you put into your research.

The buzzing sound from the lights reminds me of the buzzing lights that my high school gym and field house had.

That abandoned merchandise is astounding.

This mall was my local mall growing up. Back in the late 80s / early 90s they used to pack a dozen reindeer in there during the Christmas season. You could pet them after you had your picture taken with Santa. That is the one memory that really sticks out about that mall.

All those huge boxes of used books...the book nerd in me was totally drooling LOL 🙂😁😀🙄

Excellent. Thanks Sal for all your work! Crazy that there were still stores open with it like that, so sad the owners of hot wok got needlessly screwed.

(Edit: thanks for the like Sal!) Also I can't begin to elaborate how much I appreciate your artwork, I usually keep a few doses of LSD on hand whenever you Premiere a dead mall video. My father and I bond so much over something that seems so simple, but we never take your work for granted. You're always wholesome Sal, there isn't many people that are genuine anymore like you. Thank you so much for what you do and how it brings not just us, but all of the community together. Keep it alive kind sir.

Hey! I'm a native in this area! Glad to see a video about this place before it gets torn down. I know it ain't much to look at, but this place gave me a lot of good memories.

I grew up in Staunton. I remember when the mall opened and the fanfare. It was open air and a great place. When they enclosed it, it went down hill. The movie theater was great. I saw Saturday Night Fever there when it came out. I saw Young Frankenstein there, also (I did not really understand some of the humor until I was older.) So sad to see the mall when I visit Staunton and the state it is in.

I'm afraid I missed this premiere. One can almost hear this mall crying out, "Don't leave me! I wanna live!"

That’s crazy that the bathroom was in a half torn out storefront. That’s next level weird

Hey Sal, my name is Matt! My mom and I shopped this Mall ever since i can remember. When this was an open air shopping center it was a beautiful place! I loved coming here! My mom worked at the Watsons in the Valley Mall in harrisonburg from 1979 till 1987 that is just 25 miles north of this place. When they enclosed the mall in 86-87 it was poorly done and after that the mall was popular for a bit but I always got the feeling people preferred it as an open air mall. I loved the arcade and theater at this mall. Some of the best times i ever had were days my girlfriend and I explored Staunton and shopped, ate and watched movies here at the good ol Staunton Mall! I am 46 now and I am so disappointed at how our old way of life has been practically been erased! I wonder what else is to change in the future? Its sad that all this is happening and I want you to know I appreciate your videos and I am happy you made such a great video about this mall! Even though this Mall is bieng torn down soon a piece of my heart will always be here at the site of this old place! I bid this place farewell! Your friend Matthew Peale

I started school at Mary Baldwin in August of 87 and spent quite a bit of time here over those 3-4 years. Great record store but can't remember its name! They'd give away their giant promotional posters every few weeks and I scored some good ones. Very nostalgic piece, thanks for taking the time on it.

First off Wolfman Jack hosted awesome concerts on the Midnight Special in the 70’s, Secondly the 70’s were a Blast. I can’t recall a mall video where you had such access without interference. Maybe because there were such clear health hazards all over the place. Where were the weed police, guess they didn’t care much about the inside of the mall. Most of the malls you have featured gave a sense that there was still a better level of care. Not this one, their dirty laundry was all over their yard. One of those emptier spaces looked like a Fight Club-Stripper Pole double feature. I loved the two signs on the door and those awesome winding benches. Massive props to Dalton. Great job🌝

I loved the intercom announcement

I love love love that you found a companion to come with you along your adventure! nothing better than a fellow curious adventurer!

Now this is the kind of visit that makes mall documentations worth all of the time and money it takes to pull things together. Well done Sal and Dalton. Dalton is living a dream of mine to skate in a mall. I never had the guts to try. I certainly agree that this is the weirdest mall you have visited. Open storefronts with actively leaking roofs, a young man skateboarding inside, and some friendly storekeepers. Not to mention, the restaurant getting screwed over while trying to renovate an old spot for their new location. From an open air center to an enclosed mall with tons of anchor changes over the years. This mall had it all including the poor management of Kohan.

It was a beautiful mall back in the day

Staunton resident here. 29 years old. This mall was awesome when I was a preteen. But they never updated. A million jewelry stores. A Christian bookstore. A bunch of belk and belk-esk clothing stores. As I got into my real teenage years- The Booksamillion closed. The toy store closed. No music stores, No hot topic/American eagle/Hollister etc. One crappy shoe store. The only reason to go for a long time in my youth was the theater and the arcade. And that wasn't enough to keep it open. They marketed to the heavily Christian/elderly community and paid the price for putting all their eggs in a one demographic basket. It's a pretty sad story really 😞

The salty PA system announcements kill me every time!

Dang. Another tear-jerker from The Sal Man. Guess that means I'm a silly old softy. Okay, I admit it. Sadly, nothing stays the same.

I lived on North Augusta Street in Staunton in the late 80's. My wife was a sales associate in the men's dept. At Penney's in the Staunton Mall. It's sad to see this mall in this kind of shape. It was such a thriving place when I lived there from 1987-88.

Sal the dead mall niche market from the before times gave me an priceless view into the writing on the wall remember 3 or 4 years ago and the nervous questionable "nope" elevator ... You're pioneer amigo good luck in the future 🤙🍻

I wonder, what was the last item to ever be sold at that Peebles? All the years it was open and all the sales it made came down to one, last, item. Then decay.

The stage was probably used for a fashion show for girls. I remember my sister doing a girl's prep school kind of deal in one of these bigger stores and they did a show of sorts on a stage. It's kind of foggy in my memory, I'll give her a call later on. Thanks for this.

I like to think that you may have sparked Dalton's interest in dead malls.

Casual skateboarding in a mall... reminds me of an 80s movie. 😅

Just finished watching, Sal! You are truly a wordsmith. I’m also in awe of your research prowess. This did not feel like 52 minutes. As with all of your videos, I absolutely loved this too! Thanks so much for what you do! Sammy Joy Jeff Patricia 🌸💗

This was a fascinating place back in the day! I would come here with my mom while we visited my aunt for a few days in the summer. GameBoy Color, Bionicles, and no AC! Certainly a particular time. One year we visited the mall had begun its decline, but the rents had fallen enough to have not only a D&D store (dragons hoard, which has since moved over to the lovely downtown area - I'd highly recommend a visit!) and an anime store, but ALSO a sword store! Man, that was great.

Absolutely an AMAZING send off to the mall. This is one of the best works ever. Thanks for the detailed history and some of the best walkthroughs of any mall. You continue to bring even more amazing work as you make it to Exlog 100. Thank you, Sal. Thank you, Dalton for keeping Sal company during the walkthrough.

Plot twist: Dalton was a mall ghost... Great stuff, as always!

I grew up in Staunton, Va most of my life. I used to hangout at this mall with my best buds. We were little mall rats back then. Used to go walk around, hit the arcade, catch a movie, skate around. It was just something to do back then. Staunton is not a very big city and there wasn't much to do or alot of places to hangout, so it was a place you would often find me and my friends being little heathens. We used to pull pranks on people and video tape it.. super hilarious stuff and I wish I could say I still had the videos.. Man I have so many memories from my younger teen years at this mall, sad to see it go. It really has become a dilapidated piece of property over the last 5 years or so, about the time I moved out of staunton. Thanks for the video! It has brought back some good memories and also a lot of history I didn't know.

It’s really funny that KZfaq’s caption feature calls the lights buzzing “music “. Here’s hoping that you don’t get a content strike for “buzzing lights at a dead mall”. Lol

I miss the Statler Brothers shows in Staunton, VA

Thank you for documenting these old malls to prove I'm not losing my mind and they were part of my childhood.

This video was awesome. I cant believe the Peebles was open. So dangerous. Also with power on in the wet ceiling and floor. That store at the end looked interesting. I love the vintage look of the mall. Thanks for the great video. I enjoyed every minute of it.

I lived in Staunton from 2012 to end of 2014 and at that time, I was surprised that this mall was still open! It's so sad to see how bad the conditions had gotten but it's been ready to go for awhile. Between the Super Walmart and everything available in Harrisonburg & Waynesboro, this mall hasn't stood a chance in awhile.

This episode was so freaking awesome. It’s now my absolute favorite ExLog episode.

As an Australian, seeing these gigantic abandoned malls never ceaces to astound me. Aus cities tend to always be located closer to the ocean ( with only so much land available at one time for sale) so when one mall closes, the land is quickly overtaken, redeveloped and repackaged.

If there were competition amongst other Dead Mall KZfaqrs I'd say Sal just keeps throwing down the gauntlet! Phenomenal research. Steady and thorough footage. Content to rival the best the Dead Mall genre has to offer! Fantastic work Sal! For the first time in my life I'm actually thinking about becoming a patron!

Your videos are such a vibe bro. You capture the essence of these locations FLAWLESSLY. I first started watching these when you captured a local mall in Atlantic City. Please keep the log series going

This is by far my favorite ExLog you’ve done. This one just hit differently man.

man the memories i have in this place. thank you for including the commercials, i’m glad to see it back from when i was growing up and not just a let go ghost town. it’s been so sad to see this place go, theyve struggled for years but it’s for sure a good thing. they still haven’t torn it down but there is a fence up around 90% of it. the only store that’s still open there is belk. they closed the theater and arcade and are supposed to tear it down and rebuild something similar soon.

Id be nervous that id get locked inside the mall with all the lights going out. See thats what i miss about pre-pandemic: meeting new people where you didnt think youd meet new people. Dalton seemed like a cool dude. One thing i hate with masks is that people cant see me smiling.

I'm so stoked to see a video about this mall, even though I've only been there a few times! When I worked in Staunton in 2017 I would go here to play at the arcade and try to win shitty prizes out of nostalgia lol. I was surprised that there was still someone around to run the prize counter in an otherwise silent mall.

This poor mall had nothing but bad management from day one. I moved to Staunton in 2012 and it was very bare then. I think it had about 7 or 8 open stores. It was very interesting to hear the whole story. Thank you. (Stage would be for fashion shows for charm schools and things like that.)

The「Dalton eating shit」subtitle had me dying~ I'd love the opportunity to skate in an empty mall. I'm jealous.

Thanks for what you do! So much to see and share and thanks to you it is documented. 🐺

A well documented beginning and ending of Staunton Mall.. thank you

Worked at the Bath and Body Works up until it closed the day after Christmas 2020. Got the notice on Black Friday that all the tenants had to be out by end of January 2021. It was so wierd and sad closing a store that had been open for over 20 years. We had some very loyal customers that had shopped here since it opened. Corporate did not decide to relocate us anywhere in Staunton.

One big liminal space. This feels like a mall exploration in a dream I would have.

This was fascinating! I’ve watched it three times now.

The 70’s and early 80’s were awesome. The 60’s were pretty awesome as well. And I was there to see it. Things have changed so much.

Bravo! Hardly felt like an hour. Looking forward to your next release. And thanks for bringing back memories of Wolfman Jack!

Now its just a pile of rubble. Thanks for preserving the memories man, i truly appreciate this video

Sal, excellent video- I love your work and your style. Still housebound a year later and I miss the malls, but I’ve enjoyed traipsing through them vicariously through your channel. Thank you!

Exactly what we all needed, thanks Sal. You're the man.

I remember the mall in its heyday! When the food court was up beside of JCPenny, Woolworths and their little diner like food court inside. Regal Cinemas was such a fun place in my teenage yrs to meet friends to see movies like Terminator 2 or Jurassic Park. It’s sad to see these malls just die out.

A great episode as always. Between Dalton, the creepy back rooms, and oh so many buckets of water, this one was really something special. Thank you for doing what you do!

The footage from the Peebles is easily some of my favorite you ever shot, its quite insane to me that people could just walk in there with the state of the place.

Awesome... this may be your best ExLog yet! Thank you so much, Sal!!!!

Thanks for giving us another great mall video. I really like how you give the history of the malls you do. Keep up the great work.

You visited Staunton Mall the day before I visited for the final time. I grew up with Staunton Mall, and it was a bittersweet moment to see it like this. Sure, the mall was never amazing, but I remember when it was much better than it looked in your videos, as well as the photos that I took.

Thanks for this, Sal. Your documentary back-work is excellent. As with so many, “touring” these spaces with you always makes me think of The Langoliers.

Your level of reaserch detail is stunning. Thanks.

24:15 - Everyone suddenly becomes ex special-ops with a Discord server when they start exploring the abandoned Peebles. 😂

Here in Jacksonville Florida, we have a mall that's been going through a long drawn out death for well over a decade. They had done a food court remodel in 2001 and it still looks good to this day. 2007 was when it started to fall apart. Throughout those next few years, stores were dropping like flies. Then they had a couple shootings in the mall in 2012 and that sealed its fate. Since then, 2/3rds of the mall is now closed off. The mall has been well maintained all these years, but now the roof has turned " open air" on its own lol. Just went there yesterday, and with the amount of rain we've been having, you now have to weave through an obstacle course of rain-catching barrels in the main walkway of the mall. It was an indoor pond. The only remaining dept store/ once anchor is a Dillards clearance center. With most of the mall shuttered, that Dillards is stand alone and quite a distance from the only remaining portion of the mall. Sears gone, Jcpenney gone, Montgomery ward long gone. The food court still looks great and has 75% occupancy, but that's where the good news ends. I can't imagine they will pass any safety inspections, so this might be the end of the tenacity of Regency Square Mall. This was once one of the top dollar per square foot malls in the WHOLE country

16:11 - A "Sears Outlet store" was a part of the Sears Catalog division, selling overstock, unsold, out-of-season, discontinued items from past catalogs. All such stores closed when the Catalog division was shutdown in 1993.

There is something so saddening about dead malls. All the good times and memories made in this place and now just an empty shell. I feel the same way about abandoned Drive Ins too. Great video!

You are an artist. I wish I could have seen the portrait you would have painted of my long passed home town mall - Memorial Mall in Sheboygan, Wisconsin. I t was tiny, but it held vast memories. Keep up the exlogs. Just started a new job. I'll kick in some cash when I can. Peace Out. And thank you Dalton!

Damn, what a sad ending. One of the weirdest malls I’ve seen for sure. What was up with that murder room with the random pole 👀😂. Great video ✌️✨

Utterly satisfying in so many ways. Thanks Sal -keep it up! 👾

Your descriptions of 2020 keep getting better and more accurate in each log.

Something about the buzzing noise fading right into THE vaporwave anthem, Lisa Frank 420, hit pretty hard. Those hallways are surprisingly pretty, too. Good stuff!

Thanks so much for this episode. I really enjoy videos like this. Great work bro

I used to go to this mall pretty often in the late 80s through the 90s when I was a kid. Country Cookin was the after-church place to eat. I remember when Woolworth’s was there before Peebles took the space. Also Montgomery Ward. And Leggets before it was changed to Belk. And of course, KB Toys where I used to get Nintendo games. And the movie theater was where I went to see Home Alone, Beethoven, The Sandlot, Jurassic Park, Titanic, Toy Story, etc. Lot of good memories here.

Dang, you did your research! Great video.

Thanks for your insight and video and Dalton thank you for your insight. Sal stay safe and amazing and look forward to more videos of yours.

Watched every minute! Loved it!!

This has to be my favorite ExLog so far!

That Peebles stage and chairs...wonder if it was some sort of a mall church ⛪? Nice work as always, you're research is second to none.

Great job Sal! I really enjoyed this video.

Also....why is there always a Bath and Body in these Dead Malls?? Damn, they really are ride or die, huh.

Your descriptions of 2020 are beyond epic!

Watching these dead mall videos reminds me of Red Dawn: "Dad, why are you here"? "Doesn't matter.... one way or another... for one reason or another... we're all going. it's all going". Thank you for documenting these places. While watching these videos is bittersweet, at least there's a record of the way things used to be. Also, if it's pronounced "STANTON", why is there a U in it? shouldn't it be "Staughnton"? :P

Just checking in a few days later, another great video Sal, as always Keep on rockin!

Great job , Good pronunation thanks.

This breaks my heart this mall is one the very few good memories I had with dad. He hide change in the pay phones and candy ball machines and act like he some secret trick to get the change. We would then by candy with it

28:40 - The back/store-room of Peebles/Woolworth .. After the store closed, the back-room of an adjacent store was added on. The room with little tiles was the employee toilet / wash-room.

OMG! That guy on the ads...that's Wolfman Jack. The most popular DJ in the 1970's. He was a legend.