My mom used to work at Royal Optical in this mall back in the day. I remember when we were younger my brother and I would run around the mall while she was at work. On one occasion I got my leg stuck in the bars of the second story railing and an employee from the Gold Mine arcade came and helped me get my leg out.

Umm so I'm just gonna leave a comment here because you know....I FINALLY FREAKING CAN AGAIN!

That aesthetic af Sears photo. Jesus christ.

So we don't have Last Chance nationwide. Apparently it's the true Nordstrom clearance center after Rack, after online returns, etc.

I interviewed for a job at that Last Chance store when I was in high school, about six years ago I think. It was my first job interview ever and I didn't get the job but it was cool to see it again! Kind of glad I didn't get the job though since the store was ALWAYS busy and I heard it would take the employees a couple hours to clean up the store after closing time each night because of the amount of customers there were, even on weekdays. I was there one time with my mom and they had just put out a display of new stuff (can't remember what it was), but a mob broke out and security had to come and break up the fights. It was like black friday but it was a weekday afternoon. Great to see that the mall itself is still doing good!

@Retail Archaeology I give the owners of the property credit for allowing part of the malls history to remain in a very modified form, you don't see that often.

comments are back, YAY! also i love that vending machine, reminds me of a vending machine in a 90's high school.

I always thought the interior floor plan and lay out of this place was strange, it totally makes sense that used to be a bigger mall, I had no idea.

I lived in phoenix all my life, yet I've never heard of that mall. Then you showed the stairs and the escalators leading to that last chance store, I was like "oh yeah, I've been there." I went once with my daddy and my brother we all agreed that the "mall" was a bit strange, but it was very charming in its own way.

I love how when I watch these videos, I sortof go back in time to the 90's when shopping malls were cool, my friends and I were invincible, and life was simpler.

That’s my local shopping center! I’m there all the time very busy includes a grocery store and several fast casual restaurants. Had no idea that it used to be enclosed. Plus my boss told me he met his wife working at the Sears.

I just gotta say, being a kid in the 80s, I miss the mall culture from those days. It was all about the joy of visiting the arcade while the parents shopped. It was about walking up and down the malls and being in awe of all the stores, the lights, the hustle and bustle, and bumping into your friends while there. It was about traveling through neighborhoods built around the traffic that was going into and leaving the malls. I understand why/how the malls faded away. It's just that life seemed so much more innocent back then.

Great history on that mall. I would often fix the copier in the basement of the Sears. That was around 1987.

I remember going to the Sears with my dad to buy tools for his shop in the 70s. I remember the stairs vividly. I had a friend that lived near there and knew all the back roads to get to his place.

Grew up going there and Tower Plaza usually on the same day! The mall was quite dead in 1980s but not as bad as let’s say Thomas Mall which had those amazing haunted houses yearly! I love your channel and thank you for preserving my childhood and updating me.

That's the Nordstrom last chance I've always heard about? Wow that's awesome! As someone who has worked for the company for years I've always had customers tell me about the ultimate discount mecca in arizona but I didn't realize this was what it looked like! What a truly hidden gem!

I remember going to this mall as a kid on the 80's I used to love going to the Thriftys there and getting the good ole thriftys ice cream. Lol

I remember the enclosed mall. I worked at the Sears in the toy dept for Christmas help when I was a senior in high school. Rhodes was where Marshall's ans Staples is now. Before Mervyns that was an El Rancho supermarket that had the Highland Street entrance. Thrifty Drug store was in the front around where Bed Bath and Beyond and Famous Footwear is, and both stores opened into the mall. I remember the ice cream counter was on the Camelback side.

I actually love the fact that a tiny sliver of the old mall remains since it's almost like a historic relic of the past. You didn't go downstairs though! I wanted to see what it looks like from the below ground...

I would go there occasionally in the 80s/90s. It was quirky cool. I spent more time across the street @ Town & Country.

I've been told to comment for like the last 50 videos and I finally can.

Last Chance is the Best! It's basically Nordstrom's bargain basement that's a level below Rack in terms of discounts. The only other one is at the Yorktown Mall in Lombard, IL.

It's interesting you compare this place to an airport terminal. I've actually been to airport terminals that resemble malls, including Pittsburgh, which literally has a mall inside the terminal!

I used to work as one of those annoying survey people when the mall was still pretty much active. This was probably 1990 or 1991. Used to get ice cream at the Thrifty Drug that used to be in there. The upper part of that area is where we typically did the survey, as the lower area was part of the Marshall's (which was a major anchor for the mall forever) and was near the main entrance. It really wasn't dead at the time they changed it over; it was always quite busy. If I remember right there were some structural problems that finally led to their decision to do what they did - plus Sears started to die in the 1990s.

Commenting just because I can. But a great video, a local mall did a similar remodel in the 90s.

2:25 - Oh there should *definitely* be some Fruitopia in that vending machine for how 90s it looks.

Great look at what is left of that mall and I can totally see how you feel like it is an airport terminal it does have that look to it for sure. Great video as always

Have lived in Phoenix forever and have never been to this "mall" There is a large Frys grocery store on the 20th street side. However this place has very little parking and its intense trying to find a parking spot. Lots of activity attached to this "mall"

I actually work in Town and Country across the way. I've found some great stuff at last chance, but it's definitely a lot to deal with. I was wondering what was up with the weird interior mall area, I had no idea it used to be an actuall mall!

I grew up not to far from there. The only thing I remember was Sears. I do have a memory of the mall having a ice-rink, but I might be confusing it with Tower Plaza(another one for you to look into).

Good ole Mervyn's, that was my first job. Took them forever to fill in their vacant spaces in malls up in Utah.

I remember that mall back in the 80's. Their used to be a water fall step type fountain next to those stairs. Their was a thrifty drug store ,and I remember a arcade called the" gold mine" not sure if that's the correct name. I was not a teenager so I did not go in to that arcade.

This was my neighborhood mall growing up in the '80s & '90s. I remember all of the different phases of it being remodeled -- it was so sad when it was turned into mainly an outdoor shopping center.

I remember this place as always being a sleepy mall. Its most distinctive feature was a floor that was visibly uneven, as if they had simply poured concrete over a couple of small hills. I haven't been there in decades. Looks like it's finally prospering a little nowadays.

In the early 80s, I was a teenager and was taken to a haircut place in the old Mervin section of Great Expectations. They're also used to be a tilt Flash Gold Mine arcade in the same area. Dismal had bread brick tile throughout on the floor and there used to be a Thrifty's Ice Cream shop down in the main portion of the mall. It was a nice small back in the 80s.

Dude that 'Last Chance' spot used to be a mad house back in the 90's. Their Saturdays were like Black Friday every week....just craziness.

Im an Arizona native (born and raised in Chandler) and never in my entire life even heard of this mall😲

Used to go there once in a while when Miracle Mile Deli was still there on the SE end of the center. Once they moved to their own stand-alone building south of there on 16th St. I don't find any reason to go as it is a long drive for me from N Glendale.

My dad is actually the operations manager of the mall now and has been since 2007. The mall has definitely changed however the style they went with was definitely worth it because it’s always busy. There actually is a penthouse that’s closed off to the public however you can see the outside of the original mall when your up there.

I live not far from that center and after watching this video with the quirky designs like the pass thru at the beginning, it all makes sense 👍

I used the storage facility under the best buy. Really neat. It was the basement of Sears.

First off, great content once again! Secondly, thanks for linking to that bandcamp site.

i went to that Last Chance one time years ago, I wasn't sure if the customers were human or animal. Suffice to say I lasted maybe five minutes.

Madison Wisconsin has nice malls. They're still alive though.

This mall was a morgue! The company I worked for asked a few managers, including myself what we thought of opening a store there. "HELL NO!" Was our unanimous reply, which they ignored and opened there anyway. I don't think it lasted more than a year. The stores I remember there were Sears, Joske's, Marshall's (downstairs), and Mervyn's.

Last chance shopping! Before Nordstrom rack. Biltmore shopping at its finest.

Last Chance was originally located at maryvale mall on 51st ave and Indian school it moved to colonnade mall in the 90’s from what I remember there was also a Bullocks at the colonnade and of course Mervyn’s (rip) my favorite store I really miss Colonnade Metrocenter Maryvale mall and Valley west mall😭

I worked at a sunglass store & Mervyn's. I have a lot of fond memories of The Colonade.

You’re right there is almost NOTHING available about this mall, no photos, no Wikipedia, etc. I’d love to see old photos of this mall when it first opened. Another mall with close to no information is the former Tower Plaza near 40th st and Thomas. It’s interesting however that the skating rink which was part of the original mall, was extracted and still stands, and relics of the old architecture still exist.

The photo of the mid-60s Sears that you have in the video from 0:47 to 1:10 is also used for the Fallbrook Square Sears in Canoga Park (now West Hills), California. That's the Sears my family shopped at when I grew up, so I remember it looking like this. If it's not the Fallbrook Square Sears, then it's a dead ringer for it.

Worked at old MCI World Com years ago. Bought clearance electronics at the old Radio Shack. Ate ice cream at old Thrifty Drugs when it was twenty five cents a tiny scoop. Some odd electronic device at old Rhodes made an awful shriek that made my ears ring, but my parents couldn't hear it. I enjoyed the old Souper Salad across the street, and found tasty Asian imported snack food at Tang's Imports.

Omg my wife loves that Last Chance. Im always stuck upstairs watching our kids while she fights for clearanced purses lol

Glad to see the owners changed the place up instead of just letting it die and blaming "online" like so many other mall ownership groups.

Love the video and grateful we can comment again.

Great video, keep up the great work

if you want to know what the exterior looked like back in 2008, go to google maps and select "street view" for Camelback Rd or Highland Ave, then in the top left hand corner (gray box) where it says 'March 2019' change the date to April 2008 by sliding the date bar back and clicking in the gray box. It will show you what it looked 10 years ago when the Mervyns was open.

They keep tearing down all of our malls. All we have are the East and West Town Malls in Knoxville. East Town kind of sucks while West Town is always alive and bustling. West Town has regular Game and Card tourneys at the Card Shop and EB Games too.

I love your videos. So nice to be able to leave a comment saying that now!

Good video. Very interesting. Thanks for filming.

You and I have something in common we both like malls, I remember when we had Tower Plaza Mall on Thomas and Thomas Maher also on Thomas. And then therefore Los Arcos Mall in Scottsdale. And the Tri-City Mall. Most of those faded away.

Only 5 minutes? I wanted more. 🙂 When are you going to do Spectrum mall?

Please please please do hilltop mall in Richmond California. It used to have a forever 21 and an old navy and now it only has a Macy’s and Walmart

All of your old mall videos remind me of the mall in my hometown. I think the only store in it that still gets regular customers is the dress barn Love your vids💖

We have a similar mall here in eastern PA. The tiny, half-wrecked Whitehall Mall sits just across the street from the thriving Lehigh Valley Mall. I'm actually convinced that the only reason there's still a small chunk of mall there (and believe me, it's only one corridor with a gym, half a dozen stores (half of which are closed anyway) and a secondary entrance to Kohl's) is because the front door to Kohl's is way around the back and is basically invisible if you don't know where to look. Some of the former mall is now a strip mall. Some is now an Old Country Buffet which is in and of itself failing. There's even a Sears which used to connect to the former mall and has a completely abandoned, empty walkway behind it, which was obviously meant at one time to be a concourse between Sears and what's left of the mall.

@Retail Archeology #Late *but I absolutely love the content you produce and don't stop!**BTW I can leave a comment because I can now*

They had a Thrifty there. I would get a triple chocolate double malted crunch and just people watch. I also used to shoplift at Mervyn's! 😲

I’ve only been to Last Chance once maybe twice and it’s always crowded. Always busy.

That Last Chance is bonkers, it's the returns/closeout/clearance outlet store for Nordstrom. Bought way too many shoes here ;)

Holy moly - I remember Last Chance. I didn't even realize it was still alive and apparently kicking! I remember I got like 3 watches over a bunch of years as a kid in the mid-late 90s. They all had like LLO or 770, 00L (I doubt 007 since that would have been cool) or something like that etched on the back. I had relatives that really liked to shop there while me and my sister milled around

Thanks for the video. I love AZ!

bodyendtag - great band

Love your vids

What exactly does "power center" mean? I've never heard a shopping center with that description.

If Sears made their stores look like that again and sold MCM style furniture, they may just dig themselves out of the grave.

Have you ever done a video on Christown mall on 19th ave and Bethany Home Rd? Or "phoenix spectrum mall" or whatever it's called now.

The last chance at Yorktown is a complete dump but it's always crowded.

Almost wonder if that little basement was bigger - it certainly feels "walled in" to me.

Great video as always! I very much love that album by and have purchased it because of your use of it in the past on other videos. Keep up the good work. Out of curiousity, which model go pro are you using?

I lived up the street from Colonnade Mall. NYPD pizza was the worst. Broadway Shoes was Designer Shoe Warehouse. I had a really awful job interview at the Great Clips chop shop outside the mall. There was a really large call center located in the mall. A lot of druggy types worked at that place. Don't know if that's still there. Last Chance was like the worst garage sale you've ever seen. They had a Miracle Mile deli once that was OK. A girl I knew used to do her grocery shopping at the Fry's in back. She'd use self checkout because "that way half my groceries are free." Fun times. I did like Town and Country Mall across the street, but the recession hit that place really hard.

Cool and creepy at the same time. Great video!

when i was in 6th grade, my Stepmom took me to Great Expectations Hair Salon to get my Hair Cuu, also there used to be a #GoldMine #Arcade there... the Colonade mall had Brick Tile and a Thrifty's ...

Can you do a video about Charlestown mall in illinois? I remember one time my mom needed to visit one of the anchor stores and me and my brother being very disappointed with all the stores in the mall completely vacant. I just remember looking back that I walked around the dead mall and having a general zombie apocalypse type feeling lol

We used to walk through the mall in the 70’s and early 80’s. It was quite large with a mixture of big box and local businesses. I don’t think it was referred to the Colonnade at the time. Maybe Camelback mall…?? Colonnade was more of a mid to late 80’s thing.

I was about to comment that it looked like an airport and then you said it. I would have also loved to have seen that waterfall.

I always wondered what exactly this was. I wish you do one on Los Arcos

This is the mall I hung out at in the 80s. There was a recoy store on the 2nd story. Also a drug store in the mall that sold thrifty ice cream for a dime a scoop. We would go between this mall and town and country across the street

That inside of the mall reminds me of the original indoor Buena Park Mall from years ago which I believe had changed its name and now is an outdoor shopping center across from Knotts Berry Farm. I don’t live in California anymore but visited there six months ago.

That's odd and unique. Plus, it's interesting to learn about dead malls that died or started to die before the time most did. And I thought the mall in my town died early. Like I live in a college town called Hammond, which is between Baton Rouge and New Orleans, and because we're less than an hour away from both, a lot of the business a college crowd would grow (not to say we're a hick town) seems to be reduced by better stuff in the two cities. We had a mall from the 70's to maybe the mid 00's, but it started dying in the late 90's or maybe before, when we didn't have stores like Hot Topic, The Gap, Abercrombie, etc. It just started getting emptier and emptier, especially because 1997 was the year Mall of Louisiana in Baton Rouge opened, which brought in stores no other mall in this area of the state had. That mall is still doing well. My town's mall however was demolished in 2007 and a lifestyle center was built in its place right after. It;s funny though. The Dillards and the Sears (until recently. It was demolished after closing months ago) were not demolished with the mall, so you have these outdated buildings connected to these new ones lol. I kinda miss it. There weren't many places to shop, but I had a friendly rapport with the people at the Sound Shop and some video game store I forget the name of. It wasn't a big chain. I also loved the look. It looked weird. You can see it here: www.labelscar.com/louisiana/hammond-square-mall The paint job wasn't always like that. It was supposed to be a last ditch effort to give the mall a "face-lift" as they put it. It just made the mall look like someone threw up wild colors on it, and the parquet floors were noticeably worn. It was also odd for a building to have a basement like that one did in Louisiana. Basements and Louisiana don't mix.

People use to always run around and bags from the mall stores. Some of the stores had really high quality ones suitable for many uses. Kind of a status thing as well. Now they use the reusable bags bought at Dollar stores.

If you’re ever in the Boise area you must check out the Boise Factory Outlets. Booming in my youth. Unbelievably dead now.

Fiesta Mall is probably in its death throes. Sadder yet is on the North side of Southern Ave. We used to frequent a hamburger restaurant in Scottsdale, called Round the Corner. It had telephones at the tables and you would call in your order. On the West side of Alma School Rd just a tad bit North of Southern Ave is an empty building that originally was a Round the Corner. It's distinctive with its big round window near the entrance. It was something else after RtC pulled out. At least they kept the architecture on the outside.

The first mall I remember going to as a child was the Sears Rhodes mall. Sears was divided into 2 sections, one was the catalogue pick up area and the other was the main Sears. It was great in the summer because it was undercover(so cooler in the summer) In my top 5 mall's president 1990. The years I remember were from 1970 (I was born in 66) to the fall of the small malls in the 1990s. Ask me anything about these malls and I will probably be able to answer it. 1) Thomas mall 44th street and Thomas 2) Scottsdale fashion square before the remodel. 3) Tower Plaza. 40th street and Thomas 4) Sears/ colonnade mall. 20th street and Camelback 5) Los Arcos Scottsdale rd and Mc Dowell rd

I live near Colonnade and now it's a bustling shopping center.

I don’t know if you’ve ever checked out this mall but have you ever been to Boulevard Mall in Las Vegas? it’s a pretty old mall and is really dead not to the point where it’s closed but it never really has people there.

could you do a video on Hastings? idk if theres any stores still left but it was a massive part of my childhood and i was just gutted when they closed :c

On the next adventure, Can you go to the Mall of america in Minnesota? I would love to see how that place works now.. the shops would be mostly empty... full of drapes and scarfs I am only guessing?

You should do a video about the many small walrlmarts that were built and then closed within a year or so.

Visit the Dubai Mall one day!

What a beautiful dead mall, I'm sure mine will be just as dead soon too.. It's the month of May and already over 6,000 retailers across the country have closed.

You should buy a vending machine just like that