Dead Mall Tour: Richland Fashion Mall in Columbia, SC (2018)

Exploring the Richland Fashion Mall

• 📍 The tour takes place in January 2018 at the Richland Fashion Mall in Columbia, South Carolina, a few years before its closure in 2022 and subsequent demolition.
• 🚶 The video captures two separate visits, showcasing the mall's emptiness and decay, with only a few vehicles in the parking garage.
• 📹 The creator received permission from a security guard to film extensively, aiming to provide a detailed look at the mall's final years.

Condition of the Mall

• 🏚️ The mall exhibits significant signs of neglect, including peeling paint, water damage, and numerous burned-out light bulbs.
• 🚪 Many storefronts are vacant and drywalled over, with only a few remaining businesses like Belk and a movie theater.
• ⚠️ Elevators and escalators are frequently out of order, with one parking garage elevator described as being in particularly bad shape.

Key Areas Explored

• 🍽️ The food court, once home to five restaurants, is now vacant, with former establishments like China Max and a Japanese restaurant boarded up.
• 🛍️ Former retail spaces like Parisian, GNC, and a Sam Goody CD store are explored, some with remnants of their past operations visible.
• 🏢 Service corridors, mechanical rooms, and electrical rooms are documented, revealing the mall's infrastructure and hidden spaces.

Observations and Features

• 💡 The mall features a glass elevator and a lone ATM sitting in the middle of a concourse, highlighting its diminished state.
• 🎬 A movie theater remains operational, serving as one of the few active parts of the mall.
• 🏢 Offices are present in some areas, suggesting continued use for administrative purposes, including a former Verizon call center.

The Other Wing

• 📚 The second wing of the mall shows more activity, with an open Barnes & Noble, a children's theater, and a LensCrafters.
• 🎭 This side of the mall is better maintained due to the presence of active businesses.
• 🚪 Service corridors on this side are also explored, though some are locked or out of service.