Shoutout to the janitor who showed me the hidden food court at Oak Hollow Mall

I used to just hit the anchor stores at abandoned malls and skip the rest, but last year a retired janitor at Oak Hollow in NC walked me through the old food court. He pointed out the original tile pattern under 3 layers of carpet and told me where the Sbarro used to be. Anyone else had a guide like that or just wandered blind?

2 comments

2 Comments

rodriguez.cora16d ago

Wait, under 3 layers of carpet? Like they just kept piling new carpet on top instead of ripping the old stuff out? That's honestly both kinda gross and super fascinating at the same time lol. I love that the janitor knew the exact spot where the Sbarro was, that's the kind of mall history that doesn't get written down anywhere. I've walked through so many dead malls alone just taking pictures of the empty stores, but I never had a guide like that. Honestly that sounds like a way better experience than what I usually get which is just getting creeped out by the silence and stale food court smell. Kinda jealous you got to hear some real stories from someone who was actually there when the mall was alive.

robinwalker16d ago

Hold on, I gotta disagree a little. That just sounds like a guy reminiscing about the old days at a place that's clearly dead for a reason. Malls died because better options came along, not because someone forgot the tile pattern under the carpet.