Derelict shopping destinations

A thriving shopping mall is a hive of activity that entices businesses and customers alike, but countless spaces across the world are being abandoned, creating desolate places even in some of the most affluent cities. Some have been left to rot after falling out of favor, while others have felt the impact of financial crises, or even war. From a derelict building housing refugees to a long-forgotten underground market, click or scroll through the shopping malls that time, and money, forgot.



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Zhoekvara shopping mall, Gagra, Abkhazia, Georgia


Since the collapse of the Soviet Union and separatist fights in the early 1990s, many former Communist-era buildings in the region of Abkhazia, northwest Georgia, have been abandoned.



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Zhoekvara shopping mall, Gagra, Abkhazia, Georgia


Situated by the Black Sea, the Zhoekvara mall once housed stores for the Soviet elite who spent summers in the area. Now in a state of disrepair, only crumbling ruins remain.



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Acropolis shopping mall, Mexico City, Mexico


The decaying remains of the Acropolis outdoor shopping mall stand in Ciudad Satélite, one of the oldest suburban developments of Mexico City. Built in the 1980s, the mall’s popularity declined in the 1990s.



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Acropolis shopping mall, Mexico City, Mexico


Reports indicate that it failed due to high pollution levels in the area, making the outdoor shopping experience somewhat unpleasant.



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Central Market, Hong Kong


Hong Kong’s Central Market, a 1930s Bauhaus style-building, was abandoned for more than a decade before permission was granted to redevelop the site, thought to be worth $1.6 billion.



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Central Market, Hong Kong


The building stands largely empty with a few stores along a renovated pedestrian corridor. There are plans to turn the Grade II-listed historic building into a cultural and retail center, preserving some original features including the atrium and the external facades facing Jubilee and Queen Victoria streets.



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Hawthorne Plaza Mall, Los Angeles, USA

Hawthorne Plaza Mall in Los Angeles County was a popular shopping destination when it opened in 1977, but two decades later the 40-acre retail site was shut. Plans to redevelop the mall as part of a $500 million overhaul have yet to come to fruition.



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Hawthorne Plaza Mall, Los Angeles, USA

In the meantime, it has played an apocalyptic backdrop in music videos for singers Beyoncé and Taylor Swift, as well as for films including Minority Report and Gone Girl. Pictured are the remnants of a former Thom McAn store.



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New World shopping mall, Bangkok


The New World shopping mall in Bangkok was built in the early 1980s but was shuttered in 1997 after it was found to have breached planning regulations, standing at 11 stories when the planning permissions only allowed for seven. Two years later a fire destroyed the roof, and so the floor quickly became swamped with water whenever it rained. This led to a major mosquito problem, much to the frustration to local residents, who introduced freshwater tilapia fish to eat the pests.



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New World shopping mall, Bangkok

The fish quickly multiplied and soon filled the makeshift pond on the 5,000-square-foot ground floor of the abandoned mall. Tourist Jesse Rockwell came across the derelict mall while backpacking around Thailand, and told the Daily Mail that splashing could be heard from the building, despite it being in a busy area of the city. Thousands of tilapia, carp and catfish were eventually relocated in 2015, but the derelict and roofless mall is still home to a variety of plant life and the odd fish. It has also played host to a number of art exhibitions.



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Manchester underground market, Manchester, England

Manchester, England’s underground market opened in 1972 and was the place to go for everything from shoes to perfume for nearly 20 years. It was the place to hang out on Saturdays with nearly 100 stalls including Stolen From Ivor – the first place in the north of England to stock Levi’s jeans. However, the market was shut down in the late 1980s as the nearby Arndale shopping mall proved to be increasingly more popular.



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Manchester underground market, Manchester, England


Escalators and stairs were stripped from the street and the main entrance was concreted over. Today the only way to access the site is through a discreet manhole cover on the road above the abandoned market.



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Poolway Shopping Centre, Birmingham, England


Poolway Shopping Centre in Birmingham was a vibrant community hub when it was built in 1961, with a post office, fountain and a medical center, as well as a good mix of stores. But time took its toll and the independent stores eventually started moving out.



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Poolway Shopping Centre, Birmingham, England


The last companies left in 2018, leaving the shopping area as something out of a ghost town. The area is now earmarked for redevelopment and plans for the area include more than 130 homes along with 161,000 square feet of new stores and businesses.



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Al-Waha Commercial Center, Lebanon


Just outside of Tripoli in northern Lebanon, the Al-Waha Shopping Complex is almost devoid of stores, despite elaborate plans for development on the site. Construction juddered to a halt and the building was deserted. Years went by, and instead of a steady jostle of customers, in 2014 the derelict mall was reported to be housing more than 1,000 people who had fled the civil war in Syria.



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Al-Waha Commercial Center, Lebanon


Families had taken refuge in what should have been clothing and electronics stores and the building’s owners were reportedly charging between $100 and $250 per space depending on which floor was being occupied.



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Rolling Acres Mall, Ohio, USA

Once boasting 140 stores, images of the decaying Rolling Acres Mall in Ohio became symbolic of the US retail apocalypse. Having opened to great fanfare in 1975, it slowly lost customers and also became known for criminal activity, with the body of an apparent murder victim found behind the mall in 2011.



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Rolling Acres Mall, Ohio, USA

The last tenant left in 2013 and demolition began three years later. Online retail giant Amazon has since snapped up the site and built a fulfilment center where the mall used to sit. The company celebrated its first day of operations on 1 November last year and has taken on hundreds of members of staff at the site. These photos of the derelict mall were captured by photographer Seph Lawless.



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Randall Park Mall, Ohio, USA


Randall Park Mall was the largest mall in America when it was built in 1976. Located in North Randall, Ohio, the mall featured more than 200 stores spread across 1.6 million square feet of space. It’s reported the mall cost around $40 million to build. When then owner Edward DeBartolo passed away in late 1994, the mall went to the bank with various management companies attempting but ultimately failing to revive the once popular shopping destination.



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Randall Park Mall, Ohio, USA

In 2002, tragedy struck when a Dillard’s security guard killed a shoplifter in a tussle. Soon afterwards the department store closed its doors, citing poor sales, but many reports speculated it was the $2.8 million court case they endured with the deceased’s parents. Multiple buyers planned on buying Randall Park with hopes of restoring it to its former glory, but to no avail. Randall Park Mall shut its doors in 2009. Amazon went on to breathe life back into this abandoned site too, and the company started fulfilment center operations on the plot in 2018. 

You can see more of photographer Seph Lawless’s abandoned places photography and buy his books at sephlawless.com.

Now take a look at some adandoned industrial buildings



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