Built along I-95 right past a toll booth and directly out of view behind several truck stops, the Perryville Outlet Mall sits empty and destroyed, a shell of what was for a short time a booming shopping center. Opening its doors somewhere around 1992, it seems as if the center was doomed for an eventual failure and later closing. \
At the time it was a premier discount marketed outdoor shopping plaza that boasted stores such as a Nike Factory Outlet and eventually a Sears store as well as family brands like Osh Kosh B'Gosh. The outlet mall seemed to be a booming success with locals until 1998 when ownership was changed to and the shopping mall was renamed The Perryville Prime Outlets. Not long after the mall would see fewer visitors as tolls rose and other better shopping options became available without taking the toll road out of the way for the few big brand stores that were offered.
By the early to mid 2000's the Perryville Outlet Mall would see a mostly Asian crowd of visitors and some others from tour buses stopping along the interstate. With this, it seems stores offered began migrating to those of small businesses and thrift stores leaving only a few name brand factory stores in business. With its closure in 2016, multiple plans have fallen through to build some variant of warehouse structure in the mall's place and in just 3 years the existing structure has been destroyed by vandals and the elements. The city of Perryville has given the owners 90 days to either secure the property or demolish it as of February 2020 but no plans have actually followed through at the time of our exploration.
Our Exploration:
We first arrived at this location at night to find it wide open, the only thing remotely blocking entry being a gate shutting off the parking lot. Almost every single window inside the mall has been smashed and all of the greenery has taken over the walkways in between. I'm not exaggerating when I say this is truly only a shell of what once was. The ceilings have also begun to give way to allow black mold growth in almost every single retail space.
We scoped out the location and returned the next evening just before sunset. Jake, Brennan, and me split up to film which took around 2 hours. As it began to get dark however we began to realize we were not alone as Emmy and Dan noticed someone walking around with a small flashlight. Upon trying to talk to the person we got no response and they disappeared only to have 2 more people pop up around us. At first we thought it was Jake and Brennan but we soon figured out that was not the case. After regrouping we decided it would be best to leave and not investigate further. We never found out who or how many people were in the mall other than a strange man walking around a nearby property we were parked at acting suspicious.
For a in depth exploration check out mine or Bright Sun Films videos
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