Dead Malls Season 6 Episode 10 - Village Square Mall

Up next! Ahhhh yes finally, a small town mall, back to my grass roots!😌

Village Square Mall was one of those that I just prayed would be open, as we drove up to it from the outside,, completely dead.. Since the early 2000s VSM has become merely a ghost of the thriving community hub it once was. At one time featuring stores like Playland, Browns Drug, Disc Jockey, GNC, DEB, Bath and Body, and RadioShack, among others.. VSM was THE go to spot in town if you wanted to hang out.. Oh how I wish I could’ve been around back in those better times..

VSM has sat practically empty since the mid 2000s, but remnants of its retro-ey small mall aesthetics still dot the halls. Reminding those that pass through, of the simple, yet, better times long gone..

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[wayneotis]

I own Effingham Computer, and had a store in this mall for two years, moving out in October of 2023. We bought a building next to the Dollar General store that sits directly in front of the mall.

Kohan was a terrible owner, but the mall is not "locally owned", as stated in the video. Durga Properties bought it from Kohan, and it's basically a tax write off for the guy. The City of Effingham has a lien against the property, and it could soon be foreclosed on. There are still 12 small businesses operating in the mall. Malibu Nails has been there nearly 30 years. Wish you would have talked to him, his name is Angus - he's my Vietnamese brother from another mother.

Great video, lots of memories.

[LukeoftheTauri]

This was my mall! When you came in that main entrance, there used to be an Arcade right by the Deb if memory serves!

[AlexusDelphi]

Being in the midwest, I highly recommend trying to find a way to see inside what's left of the Kokomo Mall in Kokomo, Indiana. It's been converted to a strip mall, but the connecting hallway from when it was a walk in mall is still there, unused. I've been trying to find a map from the 2000s and pictures from around that time as well. Very hard to find

[fuppljn]

Thanks for this. I haven't been inside this mall since 1978 when I was just a little kid, but I remember Dipper Dan, the movie theater, and Angelo's.

[chachilovesvinyl]

I worked at Disc Jockey from 1997 -2000. You could still smoke inside the mall then. 😂 I remember being jealous of my coworkers who smoked getting extra breaks. I loved it there, getting to share music with people. We sold a lot of metal and country, had a pretty extensive catalog for a small space, we were pretty busy with a lot of weird and wonderful regulars. I had such great co-workers and there were a lot of great people and memorable characters that worked in the mall itself. The renovation of the theater was a big deal! And did bring a lot of people to the mall. Great times. I moved to Birmingham, AL in 2000 to intern at a radio station and worked in music for a number of years and I have to say my few years working at the music store in this mall had a great impact on me.

[davidfeise]

Effingham is my home town. I grew up going to this mall, had my first kiss at this mall.. it had a Payless shoe store, Glicks, JC penny, Hallmark. In the late 80’s

[scarletfarlow]

My friend and I used to work at the old Dollar general down by the rural King back in 1986-1987, it was definitely the happening place back in the day. A lot of good times and good memories from then

[SaraAnn]

Thank you for this! I grew up in this mall and lived very close. Worked at Deb for a long time and then JC Penny and a short stint at Payless Shoe source.

[innercityprepper]

Perfect saturday evening. Cold beer, NHL playoffs in an hour, and Dead Malls ep drops.

[brookmoberly]

Gene Mayhood is my grandfather and I spent my entire childhood in this mall. My family (including my mom) ran the arcade (Playland) and Carousel (ice cream shop formerly Dipper Dan). 🥺🥺🥺

[homerjsmom]

I grew up going to this mall. I remember seeing the first Star Wars movie at the theater. I worked in a store there that sold plaster statues. Dad was a security guard there. I left the area in '82. I guess it changed a lot after that, because I don't remember a lot of the stores you mentioned.

[meattus]

Lots of great memories from when I worked in Disc Jockey circa 1997. STILL one of my favorite jobs lol! We had the best wall of cassette tapes...

Across the hall was Payless and Maurice's to the left. The chromed corner store was Debs. My mother worked at a Christopher & Banks up the hall.

The best was the arcade in the 1980s, such rad Donkey Kong and Frogger murals on the wall down the hallway.

I have some photos of a "fashion show" I was part of in the central hallway. It's sad to see how dead it really is now compared to the vibrance of the 80's and 90's.

I barely recall Lincoln Land, but I remember enjoying the rides. 😊

Thanks for sharing this!

[GVM]

I worked at the Rural King my senior year of High School in 1998-1999. I miss those days. Great memories at that mall while growing up.

[RawRealRetail]

Bro this was a great one. Especially for your excellent eclipse footage at the end. Thanks!

[nikicrypt]

This was the mall we went to when I’d visit my grandma who lives right down the road. I remember being a kid-teen going there. There used to be a movie theater, really cool candy store, DEB, Maurice’s, Fye (which a different music store turned into I believe), Bath and Body, Jc Penny and farm supply store. I remember even back then (early 90s) it being dead. Dawn of the Dead vibes,

[TiltedTripodMedia]

Crap I was just in Illinois last week filming all the malls in Urbana Danville champagne Decatur and Springfield and forgot about village square. I photographed thousands of photos of the eclipse from Indian and am still working on compiling them into a time lapse. Thanks for your awesome dedication to preserving malls.

[ERA_Productions]

Great Video! Always thought this mall was cool with it’s vintage charm!

[JoshYT]

I may be a little late to the upload, but nothing beats a NorthCdogg upload on a breezy and sunny spring day. I remember watching a dead malls video on this place from about 2017 (when Jcp was closing), and even then it still felt somewhat lively even though you knew it wasn't going to last much longer. Glad to see it still open even in 2024!

[tias]

I have a tiny strip mall im my neighborhood called village square mall too. Its quite empty, with the fountain drained and the food court chained off from access. Thees only about 7 stores left, the anchor store was also closed, its rumored they will replace it with a dollarama, it was a co op. Once a brick was missing and i got a full view on the inside of the co op. Back a few years ago it was packed all the time, it used to be the only shopping place in the NE. Though its very beautiful, the tops of the storefronts are built to look like house roofs, and in the hallways there are fake (fake as in dont light up) vintage lamps.

[SaraAnn]

The French Quarter started in that back hall. It was a hair salon by my pal, Sherry