15 FORGOTTEN Things You Could Do at the Mall in the 80s and 90s

15 FORGOTTEN Things You Could Do at the Mall in the 80s and 90s The mall in the 80s and 90s was more than a place to shop. It was a chapel, a gym at dawn, a photo studio, a phone booth, and on Friday nights, the place your parents dropped you off. These are 15 forgotten things you could do at the mall back then, and what happened to each one. Some were killed by technology. Some by a new law. Some by a decision made in an office you never saw. From the payphones by the restrooms and the Fotomat hut in the parking lot to the Sears catalog desk and the walkers who came in at six in the morning, this is the mall the way you remember it. In this video: • The mall chapel that paid retail rent and closed on Sundays • Why Fotomat's own chairman blamed "our own ineptitude" • How a twin theater in a Kansas City shopping center grew into AMC • The last Glamour Shots left in any mall, and when it announced it was closing • The 1996 rule that ended unsupervised Friday nights at Mall of America Chapters: 0:00 When the mall was more than a store 1:17 #15 Going to Mass at the mall 3:28 #14 Calling home from the payphone 4:30 #13 The photo booth 5:22 #12 Dropping off film at the Fotomat 7:19 #11 Getting your ears pierced with a gun 8:20 #10 Seeing a movie at the mall 10:05 #9 Glamour Shots 12:49 #8 The Sharper Image massage chair 14:19 #7 A penny in the fountain 15:41 #6 Waiting in line to see Santa 17:36 #5 The pet store window 19:30 #4 The Sears catalog desk 20:38 #3 Smoking at the mall 22:27 #2 Mall walking before the stores opened 24:48 #1 Friday nights at the mall, no grown-ups 27:33 The mall was never a town square Research note: Dates and details come from the FCC, the CDC's mall walking guide, Mall of America, company filings, and newspaper coverage including the New York Times, the Washington Post, the Star Tribune, the Christian Science Monitor, the Roanoke Times, and The Columbian. Where sources disagree, the video uses the best-documented version. Store and program details are as of October 2026. Watch next: 25 FORGOTTEN Things $20 Bought at Sears in the 1970s    • 25 FORGOTTEN Things $20 Bought at Sears in...   Which one was yours? The fountain, the Fotomat, or the Friday nights? Tell me in the comments, and tell me which mall. Subscribe to Storefront Memories for a new piece of vanished America every week. #VanishedAmerica #80sNostalgia #MallNostalgia ──────────────────── THE COOKBOOK Christmas at The Recipe Counter: 100 old-fashioned candies, cookies and holiday treats (digital PDF download) https://storefrontmemories.com/produc... THE WEBSITE More stories from the America we shopped in: https://storefrontmemories.com/ SUBSCRIBE A new documentary every week:    / @storefront-memories-usa