Death of the Mall: Valley YouTuber captures the pain, nostalgia of dead retail spaces
YouTube channel Retail Archaeology documents the slow demise of malls and strip malls throughout the Valley and across Arizona.
Credit: Erik Pierson via Retail Archaeology on YouTube Author: Caylee Scott Updated: 3:49 AM MST January 28, 2021
PHOENIX Fiesta Mall in Mesa was Erik Pierson’s mall growing up.
He’d meet up with friends there on a hot Saturday afternoon, maybe get into a little bit of trouble (but not too much, of course), enjoy being a kid and all that sweet, free air conditioning.
At some point, though, Pierson stopped going to Fiesta Mall. And then 15 years went by. Out of the blue, a friend of his who had a job delivering office supplies to the mall asked him if he had been there recently.