I originally released this in 2018, but due to audio and encoding issues, I pulled it for a while...this is the re-release! Thanks for your patience and engagement, everyone!

Please continue your historical commentary. It’s what sets you apart from everyone else! I love to hear the history of town and malls especially... reminds me of how malls in my area (Toronto and surrounding) started and what’s was there before they were built!

I lived about 4 miles from the Chambersburg Mall and left in 1999. This is eerie and kind of sad. When I was a kid there was a store near what became Victoria's Secret that sold electric pianos. They were often in demo mode or a store employee was playing them. There used to be a video arcade called Aladdin's Castle on the corner down near the theater. Birthday parties at the arcade were a big deal. My dad bought an Atari 2600 from Bee Gee's for what I thought was an enormous price of $99.99. I worked as a dishwasher in Bonanza in the late 90's and used my earnings to buy Magic the Gathering booster packs from George at Sea the Source. There used to be a lot of water features inside the mall, littered with pennies. Thanks for sharing this.

I loved this mall growing up as a kid in the early 2000s. When I go there now, I get extremely depressed knowing how magical this mall used to be to me. I used to go to Bonanza all the time with my grandparents and vividly remember the JCPenney store. It pains me to see it the way it is now. And quick note, I live in an even smaller town near Chambersburg and I have known about the burning of the town since I was a kid. Another note I believe that massage place you saw in town was right next to a daycare which was busted by the police for some funky stuff linked to the massage place. The Victoria secret in the mall also gets robbed extremely often from what I've heard around my town.

That telephone jack on the center court stage was probably there for a radio station remote broadcast. Back in the day, before cell phones, when radio stations wanted to do these remote broadcasts, they would order a special broadcast line from the phone company - no dial tone, just a direct connection from the location to the station. The reason I think this is because of the "double" jack box. If the radio station didn't have a modular plug on their equipment, they could open the other box and wire in directly.

15 dislikes? People don't appreciate things anymore.

Eyerly's was Hagerstown's department store, and that would explain a branch in Chambersburg that would eventually become the Bon Ton as you explain in the video. Also, Gee Bee was the discount division of Glosser Brothers department stores out of Johnstown, PA. Value City bought Gee Bee out of the Glosser bankruptcy in the early 90s. (Trivia: the Glosser Brothers downtown Johnstown store is in the background at the end of "Slap Shot".)

Love it- showing the city adds an awesome touch!

Very quaint, historical town. Very much enjoyed the stroll through the downtown and learning more about the area.

Was working at Chambersburg Mall for many years. Saw many "productions" on that stage where the lighting was used. Course ages ago. There was a woman's fashion store for like Tween girls and Twenty Something women. They would use the stage for fashion shoes and the like, sometimes the lights were used. A couple times there was a bridal show, some home shows, occassionally there would be speakers and the lighting would be used. Again that was sometime ago. Right now, with the push to get Alcohol served/sold in Greene Township & Scotland proper (Its a dry township area now) like at Sheetz & Rutters, there might be a revival for this Mall. Might. I still go to films there... Only place close to do so. My Son's Step Dad owned the comic shop - fyi, they're over by Walmart in Chambersburg now. At the end of the day I honestly think this could come back. Maybe not it's former Glory but remember... All those businesses out on Walker Road now (Target, Five Guys, Red Robin... etc) at one point wanted up at the mall but since alot of the restaurants wanted to serve and sell alcohol, they couldn't. Hell, people protested that exit and road for the longest time... Yet had they let a lot of these business come to the mall and drop the dry county nonsense... Well this would be a whole different story.

The amount of effort and work you put into these really shows. So good to watch!

One of the problems this mall has always faced is that the township it is located in is dry, so none of the big chain restaurants that serve alcohol could build in the area immediately surrounding the mall. That area is still empty land.

Appreciate the historical walkthrough of the town.

Everything you produce is gold! Keep up the good work!

I remember going here as a kid every weekend and it was amazing, they had shows on that stage and Santa claus pictures and it was always packed in the 90s!! It's a shame now and Burlington is no longer there now. I'm hoping someone buys it and finds a way to bring people back there. I live 30 minutes from. It makes me sad watching this.

Great video! I'm a 13-year Chambersburg resident that has seen this mall's decline in person. It has always played second fiddle to Valley Mall in Hagerstown, so it never was able to grow the way it should have. Since you recorded the video, Burlington and Payless have both closed, so I can literally count on one hand how many national retailers are left.

Dude. I am so sorry to say that this mall officially closed. Thank you for your videos. They've gone from a joke to a reality with many feelings from those of us who worked there. RIP Chambersburg Mall.

Sal I love seeing these small American cities, so please keep it up

Excellent video, Sal. I like listening to you speak because you don't repeat yourself, and trip over your words. Glad to be a new subscriber. 😎

Your content is great. I love how you touch on the historical significance of these places, and you show small details of how they were designed and how they have weathered over time. You should definitely continue to talk about not only the malls but their town/cities they are built in. Great narration too. Thumbs up man!!!!

😳Too many memories to count. 😢Damn. Thanks for that video. We all needed to see our mall one more time.

This mall is the smaller sibling to the former West Manchester Mall that was in York, PA and was my mall growing up. The WM Mall opened in 1982 with Hess's, Gee Bee, and Bon Ton as its anchors. With the exception of the sunken seating areas that were scattered throughout the WM mall's main concourses, this mall is nearly identical, down to the same brown tile and wood throughout. The WM Mall got an interior renovation in the late 90's, but unfortunately it didn't help. By 2010 the mall was almost totally dead. The mall no longer exists as of 2020, its now an outdoor shopping center which is doing well. Seeing the Chambersburg Mall like this brings back tons of memories of my days as a kid running around the West Manchester Mall!

This was one of the malls of my youth in the 80’s and 90’s. My Mom worked at Bon-Ton and later, Fashion Bug. I have lots of great memories from there.

I lived in Hagerstown MD in the 80s great memories thanks

This mall is amazing! I like the history you give with the mall and the town. I never knew this cute little town existed. 👍😎

Thanks for another video. One thing I enjoy about them is the through back commercial, and especially the retro music/announcements during your tour shots. Thank you.

i live here about 15 minutes away from the mall !! my mother worked at the mall for over 15 years , this video is soo well done !! great work

Sal I must agree with liking this mall. I too enjoy older style malls.

History if the towns is a great addition

Thanks for putting so much effort into your videos. I thoroughly enjoy watching them!

So, I grew up around that area in a place called New Cumberland which was right outside Harrisburg.Back in the mid to late 80s my grandmother would take me up to walk around it. Even in the mid-80s, you could tell that it was going more mom and pop. I can remember a T-shirt shop right in the middle in a kiosk, that you could get an iron on ironed on to any color shirt you wanted. With the actual stores being odds and ends of local or regional retail. I can remember a Murphy Mart or something going out, the very last time I was there which would’ve been in the 1987 or 88 range. I think the problem with this mall was that it was just too far out from the general public. That and you had huge malls like Capitol City, Harrisburg and Colonial Park that were closer to the larger populations of Harrisburg and surrounding cities. I moved to Ocean City Maryland about 20 years ago, so I don’t know exactly what is still up in PA as far as Malls. The last time I was up was probably five years ago. In any case, I really appreciate watching this. It brought back a ton of memories of my grandmother taking me up there when I was a kid. It’s sad to see it in its current state, but joyful to see it still looks exactly the same as it did so many years ago.

Love it when you give us the history! Keep going what you do....wonderful speaking voice....can only imagine what a good musician maybe a little sappy shot of that with you would be GREAT! Music lover! 😊👀

The mall use to have animal hedges throughout in the garden beds, themed weekends as a place to hang out and support local. Middle stage as a little girl I helped run fashion shows hosted by the anchor stores, holiday concerts, and I even sang on that stage with lights and all. Today there is only the movie theater but not for long. My first job was there at Fashion Bug. It is a dry zone in that area so restaurants didn't want to come to that exit.

From what I understood growing up in the area, Greene Township where the mall is located is a "dry" area, meaning they can't sell alcohol within the borders. Therefore, the mall couldn't have any larger crowd-drawing restaurants that would sell alcohol, unlike other shopping areas around. People went elsewhere because of that and the stores followed eventually.

8:30 - I always love how you guys put that background music in so it sounds like it was back in its heyday. Always fantastic touches like that that suck me into these videos. So good. :) 12:08 - I'm a sucker for them as well. Hell, half the time i'm there (in a mall) just to take in the ambiance.

Nice little town!

Thanks Sal . Really enjoy your narrative.

I saw many exciting productions on that stage. Also Thats where Santa Claus did his visits and pictures every year!

I visited this mall in June. Black Rose Antiques is the only anchor left, and it was in a very dismal state. The JCPenney and Bon-Ton signage are still on the outside of the building and on the faces of those former storefronts. I only visited because I'm into photographing declining malls (I'm working on a video of a different mall, but currently that project is stalled). My interest in touring these declining retail centers stemmed from watching videos like yours and Dan Bell's. Thanks for being an inspiration. Maybe one day, my videos will be as good as yours. I have a long way to go before then,

This is one of my favorite malls architecture wise. It really is like going back in time to the height of mall life in the 80's - so many great memories. I really wish more companies would redevelop these buildings into apartment / retail/ office space. There's so much great potential there. Another great video, as always.

I've been to Chambersburg it's very beautiful! The people are friendly, and very easy to speak to.

Firstly - Lets not kid ourselves - chocolate covered bacon is way better that you're imagining it to be. Secondly, I lived through the McDLT and it was my favorite!

Another great video. Your research is unmatched.

The mall looks perfect to hole-up in during the Zom-Poc.

I enjoyed the walk-through of the town.

From Cburg, worked at Carmike Cinemas 7 at mall. It has been going down hill for 20 years. You missed the wonderful fountain with sunken walkway and multiple pools and fountains. Used to be ibfron of Sears. Removed in 90s.

Very much enjoyed.

No way! I haven’t been to this mall in years! I didn’t think it was all that well known outside of southern/Central PA. It looks like they added a few more retailers in the last 9 years. It’s a bit of a drive from Shippensburg, there’s a mall outside of York city, the “York Galleria Mall” its been on life-support for 20 years more-or-less. It’s less of a low-key oddity than Chambersburg mall is, but might be worth checking out

I really like the history part in your video's ! please keep doing that. Great video as always !

Love this! I was born here but left as a small child and never knew much about the city! Keep up the good work.

great video, thank you!

That stage used to be a platform with benches and fountains around it, I remember them as a kid being up there, mainly cause I ran one of my hot wheels across the floor and it ended up in the fountain. Lol

Great speaking voice Sal.

Great video. I love Mall's and I am so sad that they are going the way of the dinosaur.

I really love your expedition log series! If you ever consider doing some videos in western/upstate new york malls, can I recommend the Main Place Mall in Buffalo NY? All thats left is like the food court and a data center.

Still an awesome vid sal, your video quality is epic !

You mentioned Shippensburg. I went through Shippensburg last year and passed a shop advertising expert repair of camcorders. Camcorders, really! The last time I was at Chambersburg Mall, you could see corn growing from the parking lot. That was maybe 12 years ago. The whole thing is conspicuously out of place. I am pleasantly surprised how that city has prospered over the years. There is no shortage of economic activity there. But the people have flatly rejected the whole mall model with the huge parking lots, the long hikes from end to end and the abusive prices. For example, not far from there is an Amish market. It’s not on a main road, deliberately hidden one could think. Someone would have to take you there to find it. It’s firmly folded into the countryside. But that place is packed. These people would sooner go to the moon than a mall.

This mall faced two major problems. 1. A MAJOR lack of local public transportation. There are shared ride services sure but nothing fixed that includes daily rides to the mall. The 2nd is location. It's in a dry town which means a lot of potential restaurants could not serve liquor which meant the choose to move elsewhere in Chambersburg it's self. Comic world recently moved to the strip mall besides Walmart. (Where harbor freight is.) The fight for downtown public transportation has been a struggle for years. Turns out there are 4 long term "transportation plans" for the area (The state's, The borough's, The County's and Rabbit's plan) NO one from the 4 are willing to sit at a table and figure it out leaving Chambersburg and it's surrounding areas with out proper transportation for general public. This Mall suffered from this and is in the state it's currently in. IF the plans to build a theater on Norland get approved and the theater moves The mall will become abandoned with in a year or as soon as leases for the stores currently in the mall will end. As someone immersed in history and lived in the downtown district for 7 and a half years I know of the burning.

FYI, despite the fact that the Mall is called "The Chambersburg Mall", it is actually located in Greene Township, and is not actually "attached" to Chambersburg.

this is cool and great info to know about the town we live in Chambersburg. We make concrete statues there currently in Chambersburg.

Love the look of the "smalltown USA" thing in the beginning. Great idea. :)

Back in the eary 2000’s they had a christmas play on the stage in the center of the mall. I watched the Christmas play on the stage.

Also during Halloween, stores would hand out candy and kids would stand in lines outside the stores

I remember hanging out in that mall as a teenager! On my last visit home, I paid a visit to the Chambersburg mall and was totally shocked as to the state of the place!

Those lights were for the Christmas and Easter pictures on that stage. My mom took us to get pictures with the Easter bunny and Santa Claus. Also near auntie Ann’s there was a jungle gym on the bricked area. There use to be an icee place at the corner of burlington and the old subway

These little and charming malls are leaving, because people much less social, and more online. many old malls get re purposed into other businesses. interiors also get gutted and malls get turned into outdoor shopping plazas, or they become office space. I remember that happening to a small mall in Dover, Delaware. Traditional malls are sadly going away, and I'm just glad to have the memories of malls from my childhood.

BOH NAHN ZAH, I LOVE IT!

Looks like a fun place to skate.

I hope if the mall have to close, the greenery isn't left to die. What a waste of life that would be.

Not a bad looking mall from the inside, but definitely one that's seen better days. It's better than others you've explored, that's for sure!

Interesting video-didn't this mall once have a movie theater? So many malls are falling the way of the dinosaurs. You need to do videos of two dying shopping malls: Harrisburg Mall in Swatara Township AND Colonial Park Mall a few miles away in Colonial Park. Both malls are emptied out/dying!

I also believe one thing that really killed this mall was simply the location. Instead of being in the city with all the businesses, it’s far away out near farmland on the outskirts of town.

>Owned two cannons Ohhhhh Yeeeahhhhh!

Love this idea of adding city history to the mall tour. Gives a lot of context to why a mall is not doing well I.e by seeing the economic and safety in the surrounding town. Additionally consider, expense wise this doesn’t cost you much more in filming since you need to travel there anyways to film the mall. I guess doing the history is pretty good.

my parents lived in chambersburg when i was growing up, they were mall walkers in the mall

I've heard from a number of people who have worked at the mall that mall management is a big part of the problem as well. On a seperate but related note, a year or more ago I heard that Rural King, a farm and home store, was talking about opening a location at the mall, but I haven't heard anything since. I've been to a Rural King, and have shopped them online as well, so I contacted them recently for more info. Was told there are no definite plans as of this time. Would be a nice addition if they do move in.

I love the skylights and courtyards too. Love the plants. The plants at this mall looked better than those at some other dead/dying malls. That tree was amazing! Every time I watch these dead mall videos I wonder about what happens to the plants? Saw one where the mall was being prepped for demolition. There were all these plants in buckets in the same storage area as the equipment. Guess the person shooting the vid doesn't give a crud about the plants, but I was practically screaming at him to ask what was happening with them? lol! If any of our local malls close I'm going thru with snippers to take cuttings before they lock the doors.

I used to work for Brooks Clothing Store in the Mall from 83-84. I also did modeling for the jewelry store where I believe Zales is now.

This interesting how you're touring the city. It reminds me of Retail Archeology

Mmmm. Chocolate 🍫 covered 🥓 bacon! 😋

Thinking there was a water fountain / wishing pool in front of Sears and/or Penneys that was removed many years ago.

Also, I'd invite you to look into Danbury Fair mall in Danbury, CT. It is far from dead as it is in an incredible location but there is an immense amount of history there. The mall was built in mid-80s on a massive fairground that held a renowned state fair for decades. There is a wealth of information online about it, and even if you never visit the mall I think it would be worth it to you to learn about it :) keep it up.

I stopped here at the beginning of 2021. There are about five stores open, including Black Rose. The theater is closed for the pandemic. There are two or three national chain stores. Black Rose is a rather expensive antique store and it also has plenty of booth space. It closed its NJ store and it seems some of the merchandise was moved here. There were customers here but OT vast numbers. For the rest of the mall, it was walkers, to the extent there was anyone. How it remains open is beyond me.

This mall is closing at the end of January, 2022. Would love to see you do one final visit before it closes permanently! I am a local so I frequent here... all that remains is Black Rose (it is closed off to the inside of the mall now), Bath & Body, T Mobile, Extreme Themes / As Seen On TV (very limited hours), AMC Theatres, and an army recruitment center. After Burlington closed, they did a quick stunt turning it into a blood drive space, then a covid vaccine clinic, but that wing of the mall has been closed off for months due to water damage and "making repairs".

Burlington is now also gone. And so is the massage parlor downtown... just Google why 🤦‍♀️

I haven't lived in Chambersburg for more than a decade, and it saddens me to see how much this place has declined.

Alec here on my friends profile . You definitely got a new camera !!

IIRC Jason Alexander was on Broadway before he was on Seinfeld. He's a talented guy. I seem to really go for Crown American malls, especially ones that had Hess as an anchor. I have worked at the Hess's South Crown American mall, and they have a distinctive architectural style that runs through all of their many PA malls.

You got a iPhone X sal? Good quality picture

I walked through the mall a couple weeks ago on a Saturday night. There was a total of maybe 12 people there. I did a store count and got 19 total (including kiosks) and I'd say about 1/2 of those aren't worth setting foot in. In it's prime it had 75 stores. About half the stores you show here are gone now. This is sad, the mall was too far out of town and the rents were too high, but it was our mall. R.i.p.

I was there in 2019. Burlington is gone. Payless and Annie's are gone. There are almost no stores there except the antique store and cinemas. It was nice at one time but building it 6 miles outside of Chambersburg was a dumb move. Maybe they thought placing it between Chambersburg and Shippensburg would draw from both areas. Or maybe the land was cheap.

I’ve been there several times to see movies with my ex who lived nearby they had expos that utilized the stage

You make me think of the mall in my city it would be awesome to see you do a video of the Lakeland square mall just so there is some kinda of memory. I dont feel that it is going to be here for much longer it might have 2 anchor stores left in it. We just lost Sears in February.

I would also like to see the surrounding areas of the malls you visit, it gives somewhat a perspective of why these malls are dying.

I use to work at the mall about 6ish years ago. It really should just be shut down what with it unable to keep stores in there. That stage used to be a fountain - and I saw lots of dance troupes on it, along with the easter bunny and santa photo shoots every year. Interestingly enough all of the plumbing and fixtures for the fountain are still in place under the stage platform. Those lights were never used while I was working there.

I don't know why I find these interesting, but I do. It boggles my mind that the owners of these places can't seem to find a way generate cash using these properties.

It really bothered me that they didn't have the cheese on the hot side 😂😂😂

People don't have $. Internet has replaced recreational shopping.

I probably haven't been in that mall since 2015 I didn't even know they still existed I was in there when Sears was closing down I bought a workout bench from that Sears in still have it to this day good video buddy have you ever been to Apple Blossom Mall and Winchester Virginia

Sal! You should do Washington Mall in Washington, PA outside Pittsburgh! Place is dead af, kinda reminds me of century iii but smaller