The California mall made famous by the Back to the Future movie is now a shell of its former self after more than 140 of the stores have shuttered due to a lack of customers.
The Puente Hills Mall, located in City of Industry, California, appeared as the Twin Pines/Lone Pine Mall in the iconic 1985 film.
It saw Marty McFly, played by Michael J. Fox, using the mall’s parking lot as the starting point for the time travel experiments conducted by Dr. Emmett Brown, played by Christopher Lloyd, using a DeLorean as a time machine.
In the famous scene, the department store JCPenney stands out in the background, but that too has long since gone, like so much else inside.
The mall opened in 1974 and was one of Southern California’s biggest, bustling shopping centers
Some of those visiting the Puente Hills Mall comes from people who are fascinated by fledgling shopping centers
Just ten tenants remain inside the once busy Puente Hills mall in City of Industry, California
YouTubers also take time to film themselves walking among what is now essentially a retail graveyard
Some of the vast 1.2 million square feet of commercial space is seen here
Foot traffic is down as several big chains and mom-and-pop stores have recently closed
It is hard to believe that at one point in history this was among the busiest malls in the state
The complex was made famous by the Back to the Future movie but is now a shell of its former self
The mall was seen with two different names during the film with a long-shuttered JC Penny store lurking in the background
Locals go back in time when they reminisce about how busy the place used to be, but customers are greeted with signs simply stating that the stores are closed – or about to.
The mall opened in 1974 and was one of Southern California’s biggest, bustling shopping centers with 155 tenants at one point, spread over 1.2 million square feet of commercial space.
In what must now feel like an alternative timeline, the mall’s website currently shows just 10 remain open including a movie theater.
The slow decline began in 2011 when Toys ‘R’ Us shuttered. In 2018, Sears closed as part of a plan to close 72 stores nationwide.
In 2019, Forever 21 announced it would also close its location in the mall as part of 90 closures across the county.
There was 155 tenants at one point, spread over 1.2 million square feet of commercial space
There’s no line for Santa with children able to come right up and make their wishes known
Customers are now more likely to be greeted with signs simply stating the stores are closed
There’s plenty of parking space available with virtually no stores left open to draw in shoppers
The deserted malls are chronicled on websites such as DeadMalls.com
Dozens of the stores have shuttered due to a lack of customers
.’It’s sad seeing a lot of stores closing,’ shopper Isaias Zambrano said. ‘We probably went to like three stores and we’re heading out already.’
Last year, Macy’s, one of the malls anchor (major) tenants pulled out leaving Burlington, Round 1 Bowling, and AMC Theater as the three final remaining anchors in the mall.
The pandemic coupled by the rise in online shopping only served to hasten the mall’s decline.
‘It’s sad seeing a lot of stores closing,’ shopper Isaias Zambrano said to ABC7. ‘We probably went to like three stores and we’re heading out already.’
Despite the lack of shops, there is still a chance for children to visit Santa – although in a five hour shift, only 10 families came by to make their requests.
‘To be honest, it’s a little worrisome,’ 40-year-old Albert Sanchez, playing Santa, said to the Los Angeles Times. ‘At this rate? Who knows how long this mall’s gonna last?’
The sign for the fictional Twin Pines Mall in Back to the Future. Its faux electronic clock is permanently set to 1:16am, the time Marty McFly arrives to see Doc Brown’s time machine
Christopher Lloyd, left, and Michael J. Fox in Back To The Future in a scene filmed at the mall
A scenes from the 1985 movie Back to the Future which featured the Puente Hills mall in California as the Twin Pines mall and the Lone Pine mall
Dr. Emmett Brown, played by Christopher Lloyd, shows Marty McFly, played by Michael J. Fox how to use the DeLorean time machine.
The parking lot of the mall is used for some of the show’s most famous scenes
Another shopper, Glory Bacon, 67, brought her grandson to the mall to visit the big man and remembers when the shopping center was glistening.
‘When it first opened and it was brand new. It was big and it was beautiful [but now] it’s heartbreaking.
‘Is it going to maybe not be here for much longer? It’s part of my growing up — not my childhood, exactly, but my growing up. My memories,’ Bacon said.
Some of those visiting the Puente Hills Mall comes from people who are fascinated by fledgling shopping centers and who then chronicle them on websites such as DeadMalls.com.
YouTubers also take time to film themselves walking among what is now essentially a retail graveyard.