Tri-State Mall; Claymont, Delaware
With a name like the “Tri-State Mall,” you might expect a major, regional mall out of this Claymont, Delaware center. Of course, you’d also be completely wrong.
The tiny Tri-State Mall on Naaman’s Road in Claymont, Delaware, located right along the Pennsylvania state line, is easily one of the bleakest and most unappealing malls that we’ve visited. While we at Labelscar love the idea of the enclosed mall and find that it’s a rare occasion that we don’t enjoy one of these centers, Tri-State Mall is one of those rare cases where the place feels so forbidding that we’re in a bit of a rush to leave. These pictures, all taken in early August 2007 of the forty-year-old mall, should illustrate why.
Set between some middle class suburban areas to the west and an expanse of oil fields and other industrial areas to the east, the Tri-State Mall is organized in a relatively simple “+” pattern, with one hallway leading straight from the parking lot to a comedy club in the mall’s rear, and a cross hallway leading between Kmart and Value City, the mall’s two anchors. There is also a rather sad little strip mall in the parking lot that’s built into the lot’s grade.
Apart from the mall’s downright hilarious website–which includes a bunch of small photos that were very obviously NOT taken here–we can’t find very much about the Tri-State Mall on the web. Did the mall ever do any better? What were the original anchors–was something here before Value City?
EDIT 8/13/07: Ask and you shall receive. Michael Lisicky always comes through for us–he had this 1987 photo of the Wilmington Dry Goods store, which occupied the Value City space. He also says the mall was a much bigger draw at that time than it is today. Value City took over the space in 1990. Also, Lisicky says he’s pretty sure that the Kmart was a Grant City store originally.
on August 12th, 2007 at 9:48 pm
This is a kind of mall we won’t mind see going away. Demolish it! Place a Super Target there!
on August 12th, 2007 at 10:51 pm
That place is downright depressing and to be honest, I never even knew it existed! Much more quiet than Christiana Mall on the other end of 95.
Speaking of Christiana Mall, they are about to embark on a much needed redevelopment phase with the closing of Strawbridge’s and Lord and Taylor, half their anchor lineup (JCPenney and Macy’s are the remaining anchors). The former Lord and Taylor will become a store called The Epicenter Collection, which is something new for a mall…kind of an internet shopping showroom. Shopping Centers Today has an article about it. The former Strawbridge’s will be Nordstrom…I’m honestly surprised it took them this long to open here…Delaware’s tax free shopping (they make up for it in tolls along 95!) attracts shoppers from 3 different states and the Christiana Mall is extremely visible from 95. With the coming of Nordstrom, the mall will probably be renovated and that probably means the three really cool fountains in this mall will be gone…oh well.
Back to the Tri-State Mall…definitely the most depressing mall around.
on August 12th, 2007 at 11:34 pm
Before Value City it was the Wilmington Dry Goods, known also as “The Dry”. Its famous anchor store was located on Market St. in downtown Wilmington. “The Dry” joined Kennard’s and Braunstein’s as the anchors of downtown. It was a strange type of markdown store and actually operated more like a Filene’s Basement but was years ahead of its time. No prices were listed on the clothes and had a strict return policy. There were several branches and even found their way into NJ but this one had real odd signage. (If I can find my poor photo of it I’ll post it.) The downtown store closed in the 70s and was quickly demolished. This store, like many Drys, became Value City in the early 90s when the store just overexpanded a little too much.
I always loved the mall’s water tower. You’d be surprised how many Delaware Valley commuters know that sign.
on August 12th, 2007 at 11:48 pm
Distressed! That sorry scene with the broken “MALL” signs says it all about this place.
What a sorry little website. I think the mall they stole these pictures from ought to demand they be taken down or perhaps they, even worse, threw up some stock photos…
Kmart, specifically (or Value City) looks like it might’ve been a W.T. Grant originally. Any idea about the original anchors?
on August 13th, 2007 at 7:31 am
We can’t discuss the Tri-State Mall without mentioning Soul Line. On Comcast in central NJ there is this hypnotic African-American dance show on TV late at night called Soul Line, and at the end they always say come and see us in person at the Tri-State Mall in Delaware. This show has row after row of blacks of all ages and shapes dressed in their most funk-tastic outfits, dancing in unison (sort of) to the music. Makes me want to go to Tri-State mall.
on August 13th, 2007 at 8:41 am
I don’t know which is more amusing: “Man’s World” or “Yum Yum Bar”
on August 13th, 2007 at 8:43 am
Wow! I had no idea. That’s certainly a lot more festive than what’s here at the daytime. Do you know where it is in the mall that they do the Soul Line show? Is it in the back where the “Comedy Lounge” is?
Also, does anyone have any idea what the “Comedy Lounge” was originally? It seems like it was a mini-anchor of some sort.
on August 13th, 2007 at 9:18 am
Gotta love the name Yum Yum Bar for a mall store!
As for my opinion of this mall, it unfortunately isn’t a very remarkable mall. To me, this one somehow screams as Delaware’s version of Pierre Moran Mall.
And BTW, I think it’d be interesting if labelscar eventually did an entry on nearby Christiana Mall, since I’ve always heard(and read) a lot about that mall over the years, since I became a geek interested in malls.
Also, what exactly do I have to do to submit info, pics, etc. about a mall I’d like to profile? Since I think I know a perfectly good mall that exists that I would be interested in profiling for this site(but obviously, I won’t reveal which mall it is, until I submit the info for this site to the webmasters of labelscar). Though keep in mind that I probably won’t be able to get pics of this mall right away onto the site, since I need to make one more trip to this mall to get pics of it(was too chickened out unfortunately, the first time I visited this mall, to get interior pics….
). Thanks to anyone who can help me out on telling me the procedures I need to do next, and I’ll see if at the same time I get pics on this mall I wanna profile, I also can find time someday soon to make a trip to Randhurst Mall to get pics of it, before it gets de-malled.
on August 13th, 2007 at 11:33 am
After seeing the huge “Tri-State Mall” water tower from I-95, I decided to stop here last year expecting a mall to live up to the grandness of the water tower. The strangest part was that I couldn’t find a restroom anywhere in the mall.
on August 13th, 2007 at 1:17 pm
Hahaha!! Soul Line is absolutely hypnotic (there isn’t any better adjective for it). Wednesday night at 8, you will get hooked … and it’s hard to explain why, you just will. They have huge commercial segways which promote the Tri-State Mall … this is literally 10 minutes away from me, so cool!
on August 13th, 2007 at 2:04 pm
Feet Like Fine Brass???????
on August 13th, 2007 at 3:16 pm
Did some work on Lexis-Nexis on the place, it seems to be fairly crime-ridden. In 1981, a sales clerk was abducted and killed, left in a nearby church parking lot. In 1991, an attempted drug deal led to a murder. There was a lawsuit in 1996 of some slip-and-fall at a Wendy’s there. I found a funny 1999 article about a loitering problem amongst teens there, and it actually claims that the mall was renovated around that time, and was built in 1967. Also around 1999, it appears that a Shoprite was an anchor.
Otherwise, what an ugly place.
on August 13th, 2007 at 4:11 pm
I think the Kmart used to be a Grant City.
on August 13th, 2007 at 4:11 pm
The first pic gives the wrong pic when I click on it, and the 3rd pic doesn’t work at all.
on August 13th, 2007 at 10:02 pm
Now that I’ve seen the WDGoods sign, I think I see a bit of labelscar under Value City’s logo…
on August 14th, 2007 at 11:44 am
There was also a Dry Goods in Dover across the highway from the old Blue Hen Mall. It’s now a Value City as well. When I was growing up we always shopped in Wilmington at the old Wannamaker’s ouitside of the city, but I recall being in Dry Goods a number of times, and the toy department was in the back right corner and they always had the best shit. When PeeWee’s Playhouse was big they had everything imagineable (I dont know why that sticks out). The Blue Hen Mall, though, is something else. For a mall that has been dead for 15 years, it is a relic to behold. I was in the old mall a few months ago and I took some pictures before I was hustled out by some 108 year-old security guard.
It had a gigantic Woolworths with the nice (relatively speaking) restaurant attached (not the food counter). Most of the store fronts are still intact actually … it’s now used as a corporate center — the old Penney’s store is now an Aetna call center and the old Woolco/Roses was a Nation’s Bank office.
Does anyone else remember the Blue Hen Mall??
on August 14th, 2007 at 12:00 pm
Yes! I remember the Blue Hen Mall in Dover. It also contained a small branch of the Wilmington-based Kennard-Pyle (Kennard’s) department store. Blue Hen didn’t have a large Kennard’s but it had a presence there.
The old Wanamakers in Wilmington was a great store. It was architectually beautiful. I’m glad I was able to photograph it before it ended. If you shopped in Wilmington was Merchandise Mart (or Merchant’s Square) before your time? That was Wilmington’s true shopping center, along with Price’s Corner, and was anchored by a great Strawbridge & Clothier store. The whole large center sits there decaying, as it has been, for almost 30 years. It’s visible from 495. Centers like the Tri-State Mall with the Dry Goods hurt this mega-center back in the late 60s but Concord Mall was the last straw. Though it is not an enclosed mall it is a labelscar to the max and it is a massive retail graveyard. I have one photograph from the late 80s and not much has changed.
If I get to Dover sometime soon, Blue Hen Mall here I come.
on August 14th, 2007 at 12:21 pm
I remember Merchant’s Square too. I dont recall if I was ever in that Strawbridge’s or not but it’s all still there … and dead as well. When I send Jason my Blue Hen Mall pics, I’ll send the MErchant’s Square pics too. I got some amazing shots of the inside of the CineMart through abroken window. It’s like something from a movie (no pun intended).
Michael, have you ever posted the Wannamaker’s pics??? If not, you should share, that store was designed by the firm that designed the Pentagon. I drive by it every day on my way to work, it’s the coolest building in Wilmington, I think.
on August 14th, 2007 at 9:13 pm
No mall could ever be in great shape if they have a loan or check cashing place. This mall must be three times as bad … I counted three of these places from the pictures - Advance America Cash Advance, United Check Cashing, and ABC Title Loans. I definitely agree with the first commenter - just demolish it already and put a Super Target in its place.
on August 14th, 2007 at 11:05 pm
There seems to be a real push for a Super Target here but I’m not sure, at this location, it would make the best business sense. I love Target but that’s meant for Rt. 202.
on August 15th, 2007 at 5:15 pm
Can any Delaware natives confirm if there’s still a vacant Caldor in Wilmington?
on August 16th, 2007 at 8:40 am
Can you be more specific? There was a Caldor in Newark, and it sat vacant for a long, long time. It was turned into a BJ’s maybe 3 years ago. There was also a Caldor in Dover.
I’m not sure about Wilmington, though.
on August 16th, 2007 at 8:51 pm
Wow. Absolutely pathetic and hilarious. To hell with putting a Super Target here, this should stand as the national memorial to retail failure. That’s just unbelievable. Check cashing, wigs, dark hallways, a K-Mart…there’s a recipe for mall success!
on August 23rd, 2007 at 7:16 am
Is Yum Yum Bar a store? What do they sell? I want to drink and look at a K-Mart!
on August 24th, 2007 at 3:31 pm
I would like to know who owns the Tri State Mall? Can any one tell me?????????
on August 24th, 2007 at 3:51 pm
Yum Yum Bar does appear like a restaurant. It has seats and booths.
on August 24th, 2007 at 4:51 pm
I think “Rosen Properties” owns the mall, at last check.
on September 9th, 2007 at 9:21 pm
Oh wow, the Tri-State. I visit some friends in the Claymont area from time to time and I made the mistake of driving into this hellhole’s parking lot thinking it might be a real mall and I could get lunch there. That has to be the biggest dump of a shoppign center I have ever seen. I took one look from my car and never even turned it off.
Right now there’s actually a huge haunted house attraction set up in the part of the lot nearest to Namanns Road. They should really just gut the place, or firebomb it after everyone’s out, and move on. That particular part of Deleware is a deadzone for retail. Let it bcome an annex to the refinery or something.
on October 5th, 2007 at 4:16 pm
Wow, I found this site from DeadMalls.com and just had to comment on the very 1st mall from my memory. I lived in Claymont with my family from 1972 to 1979 and back then this mall was hopping. In no particular order
1. It should have been named the Borderline Mall instead of TriState because it does straddle the 2 states so closely but because it was so dinky. No more than 3-4 stores at most and then the fountain in the center. I fail to see how people from Jersey could have gotten to the Mall unless they were willing to drive 20-30 to the Delaware Memorial and up 95 and when you drive that distance what’s the attraction.
2. The “Mall” sign has been up since the ’70’s so therefore most likely since the opening. The reason being is that the Tri-State had a traditional non-enclosed shopping area on the other side of Wilmington Dry Goods so the sign for the Mall differentiated from the enclosed and non-enclosed areas.
3. The fact that the water tower has no graffiti on it is both amusing and astounding. When we visted friends and relatives in the Delaware Valley from 1979-1992 there was ALWAYS graffiti on the water tower with one exception in 1989 I think. The graffiti was there in the ’70’s as well.
4.The parking lot is so outsized for the amount of shopping space available. as to be laughable. Of course the mall was built on a hill so that explains that.
5. There used to be a Kinney Shoes where the Payless Shoe Source is and a WSFS branch right in front of what was then the Eric cinemas and is now the comedy club. There were no payday loan outfits there back in the ’70’s BTW. A healthy flow of all types of shoppers were in the mall during all shopping hours.
There was a Grant store in there before the K-mart moved into the mall as well.
6. I haven’t been back to the area since 1992 but the decline of the mall is emblematic of the decline of the area as well. I have lived all over the country and while the decline of Tri-State was predictable. Bannister Mall is the most shocking to me along with Metcalf Square in metro KC
on October 8th, 2007 at 9:58 pm
The “Comedy Lounge” used to be a movie theatre. First Sameric owned it, then United Artists bought it, and then it was owned by one or two mom-and-pop chains before it closed completely in or after 1994.
Believe it or not, that dump of a mall used to be hopping. The K-Mart and Dry Goods used to attract a lot of shoppers from PA seeking tax-free merchandise, and the movie theatre was a big draw as well. There were also lots of little specialty shops that did well, like the Hong Kong Shop, Keys ‘N Things, and the Tobacco Barrel.
I worked at the movie theatre in the late 80’s, when I was a teenager and young adult. The mall was declining then, but it was luxed out compared to what it looks like now. At least there were still stores, including the ones I mentioned above, in all those empty spaces.
To heck with a SuperTarget. I want to see a COSTCO put there!
on October 10th, 2007 at 11:11 am
I grew up outside philly and I remember going to this mall a few times in what I *think* was the late 80s. What I remember the most was this awesome (in my memory anyway) knife shop, fairly close to the entrance I think, because I know we didn’t have to walk far to get there. I say knife shop, but I almost certain they sold more than just knives, but my adolescent brain must have ignored anything not sharp and/or pointy there.
on October 11th, 2007 at 6:11 pm
Joe: That was probably the Hong Kong Shop. They sold all kinds of Asian-themed stuff there, including knives, numchucks, Chinese stars, and the like.
The Hong Kong Shop was really cool; that mall did have a few neat little niche stores like that one before it went completely downhill.
I’m still hoping for my Costco! I hate having to drive all the way to Christiana.
on October 15th, 2007 at 6:59 pm
Teresa Rothaar: No, it wasn’t an Asian-them store, by knives I mean “real” knives like Vintrox, Leatherman, and Buck. Knives you would actually use to cut things.
on October 16th, 2007 at 5:58 pm
Obviously Big Kmart isn’t the true hypermarket, it was one of the Big Ks Kmart halfheartedly converted from regular Kmarts. It obviously must be one of those depressing Kmarts without automatic doors.
on October 16th, 2007 at 10:53 pm
In the mid to late 70’s there was a Pantry Pride across from the Levitz. I wonder what supermarket (if any) it is now? One question to anyone in the area: On the other side of Levitz furniture was a ‘Kiddie City’. I imagine it became a Toys R Us. What became of it?
on December 5th, 2007 at 7:29 pm
XISMZERO:
As someone said, there was a Caldor in Newark and Dover. There were indeed two in the Wilmington Area which opened around 1992:
One was on Centerville Road between Price’s Corner shopping center and the GM Manufacturing plant (off Delaware 141 near Kirkwood Highway). It became a fairly nice K-Mart after Caldor closed, but closed during their restructuring. (I guess a nice, clean K-Mart is too expensive to maintain.) Then it sat empty for a while, eventually being gutted for Wal-Mart.
The other Caldor was in north Wilmington on Miller Road. It briefly became Ames in 2000, even though they were struggling at the time! It is now a Home Depot I believe?
None of the stores were built by Caldor, but were remodeled buildings left vacant by other chains. The location in Newark at the former Castle Mall opened around 1995 I think. It had been a long-empty K-Mart (which had moved up the road to College Square to take a spot left empty by Bradlees around 1989). The Newark location was spacious for Caldor, and was my favorite big box retailer. The Prices Corner Caldor location MIGHT have been a Bradlees or Jamesway. I don’t know anything about the Miller Road Wilmington location’s history. It may have previously been Jamesway as well?
All the northern Delaware/Wilmington locations have since been remodeled into new stores, so there are no skeletal Caldors left. I should also add that Caldor did very well in this area. Neither Target nor Wal-Mart had arrived in northern Delaware, Jamesway was gone, and Ames and K-Mart were both lacking.
Hope that helps. I really miss Caldor.
on December 7th, 2007 at 11:50 pm
Joe,
your right about the kinfe shop. I believe it was just inside the main entrance, on the right. The Hong Kong shop was towards the theater. There was also a great pet shop that once had a gorilla for sale and a great record store (Wow”record” store, really showing my age). The middle of the mall had a Fanny Farmer candy store, a jewerly store, Stride Rite and some kind of snack bar (not Yum Yum). Across from the pet store, there was the Carridge House resturaunt and an ice cream shop.
The movie theater was pretty nice once, but went down hill after spliting into 4 screens.This mall was really nice at one time. Every Christmas, it was the first place decorated and Santa was there at all times. They had a Silo appliance shop in the lower section, a real nice chinese joint and I believe the Pantry Pride became a Pick and Save. Further down was the Kiddie City/Toys R Us.
on January 9th, 2008 at 6:53 pm
This mall is str8-up GHETTO. While we were there it became clear that the Value City is closing down. My husband say on the internet that it might become a Burlington, but if it does I’d say that’s a corporate mistake for Burlington.
on January 11th, 2008 at 3:02 am
I was an assistant manager at the Wilmington Dry Goods store in Dover DE in the late 70’s. It was something else. All transactions were cash or check. We had a huge business of Amish customers. There was even a row in front of the store dedicated to horse and buggys with a water and hay triogh. I would love to see some pictures of that if anyone has those. When we bought goods for the store, we always bought Arrow white shirts, black, gray or blue Haggar slacks and lots of dark bolt fabrics for the ladies. Another memory was that every morning before we opened, all personell would come to the front of the store and listen to a recording of “The Stat Spangled Banner.” I was told the owner was a Russian Immigrant and thought “America was the best place on eath to live!”
I remember the Yum Yum shop in the mall as a candy store that had lots of jelly beans (pre Reagan) and nickle candy.
Great memories!
on January 12th, 2008 at 7:36 pm
They should tear the entire mall down and upen a Costco, Target and Wal-Mart, keep the Kmart thought, it seems to be making great business
(What the hell is a Yum Yum Bar! Sounds perverted!!!
)
on January 15th, 2008 at 11:02 pm
i have lived in claymont for 30+ years. tri-state mall was a great place even through the mid/late 80s. i have some terrific kid memories from that place. every store was in use up to the late 80s. movie theatre was great, there was a lounge/billiards in the back corner, shoe stores, chess king(haha), toy store, book stores, arcade, and lots of weird, stereotypical 70s/80s mall-type novelty stores. the yum yum bar was half candy store, half roller-rink style snack bar. geez…i have dreams about that place….oh well. i hate all the talk about knocking it down. it could be a really cool relic if some businesses were really serious about investing in it. open the movie theatre back up, fill the retail space back up, and ditch the friggin loan/check-cashing place, and the crappy k-mart and value city. beefed up security would be a must though. claymont is still predominately a respectable blue-collar town, but a few bad neighbourhoods, and some seriously worthless imports from chester, pa present issues with theft, loitering and vandalism. like i said though, invest in some worthwhile security, which the mall has not. people would come:) wish i had a couple hundred million dollars to invest.
by the way, someone asked about what happened to the kiddie-world toy store next door. it was abandoned for quite some time, was turned into a cabinet/kitchen/bath outlet, and that now looks like it’s on the way out. all things must pass….it’s sad. no more knockin the tri-state around here:) it means a lot to some of us.
by the way, the pictures on tri-state’s site really are of the mall, just in much better days long ago. adios.
on January 15th, 2008 at 11:05 pm
btw, steve whitman, i’d love to chat and trade mall stories if you’re interested. i have been thinking about trying to get ahold of some old pictures and maybe trying to do anarticle in the news journal about the place. let me know.
on January 24th, 2008 at 10:01 am
The best was when someone went on the big water tower and doctored the Tri state Mall to say TRI STATE MALE.
I briefly worked at the flower shop owned by Manny Klein and also at the Wendys (1.85 hour)
on February 4th, 2008 at 7:59 pm
Does anyone know what year the Tri State Mall was opened and what the original stres were then?
on February 4th, 2008 at 8:01 pm
I am looking for the year that the Tri State Mall was opened and the names of the original stores that were there then. Does anyone know? Does anyone have any old pictures of the mall also?
on February 12th, 2008 at 1:05 pm
Village Records was at the rear, next to the movies (where I saw Star Wars when it was first released). The record store had two rooms, records in the front and a black light room at the back, where they sold posters. The back room ended up full of pinball machines and it was a great place to hang out. There was a bookstore too on the arm towards the west anchor.
on February 15th, 2008 at 1:21 pm
Grew up in Wilmington in the 80s and went to the movie theater there sometimes. One day there was an article in the paper about a shooting at that mall and my mom forbade me from ever going there again!
I didn’t miss it.
on March 19th, 2008 at 3:04 pm
I remember the mall and specifically village records, pet store, friends used to work at the orange bowl and pocket on the side all the $$$ they could, Hash was cheep thiose days, Claymont class of 79. Tina used to discount my movie tickets. It is a sad commentary to have gone back there some time ago (many years) and witnessed such a depressing decline. One of the reasons I rarely venture north of Boca Raton! The confluence of Brookview (”Crookview”) and the ever declining corridor from Philly/Chester to Wilmington, how could one not one see the demise. For those of you wishing to see a costco or anything of substance taking its place, don’t nold your breath. Having been on the development side of commercial RE, “it’s ain’t gonna happen” in REIT speak. My suggestion, bull doze and plow, then sow salt into the wounded earth and hope that nothing of such evil can ever sprout its seed again.
on March 24th, 2008 at 5:54 pm
Found this site . . . I lived in Wilmington till my family moved around 1987 and I was in high school. Claymont had a pretty poor reputation even then, as it was pretty much white trash and so forth. My family used to go to the Dry Goods on occasion, and they had one of the Kiddie Worlds there too. I believe there was a Jamesway that I can remember looking at Steve Martin records but my mom wouldn’t let me buy them.
In high school, the mall was the place to go to get pipes to smoke some herb, but otherwise there wasn’t any good reason to go there - it was a depressed area and I was less disadvantaged in comparison. I bet there was a lot of loitering by undesirables at that point, but I had just gotten my license and wanted to drive all around town.
Anyone remember the water tower where someone climbed all the way up and spray painted a segment on the “MALL” so it read “Tri State Male”?
on March 24th, 2008 at 6:01 pm
“Feet Like Fine Brass”. That sounds kind of perverted too (it is in the mall directory).
on March 26th, 2008 at 8:58 pm
442w30
I would caution you against labeling any one area as “white trash and so forth” not only because it demeans others but it demeans you as well. I haven’t lived in Claymont since 1979 so I will not contest that there probably is an undesirable element that lives in places like Brookview (R.I.H) or Knollwood. I also know firsthand that there were (and remain) decent people living in Claymont who may be trapped for lack of a better word, and they are the ones whom you demeaned as “white trash”. Their future given the undesirables that seem to be spreading is probably questionable at best. Very sad and their fate is shared by many in declining suburbs all around the country. The Claymont I remember from the 70’s had regular carnivals,little league and parades. Just like any other suburb in Delaware or the country.
But this blog is about the Tri State Mall and since you knew that pipes could be procured there it only confirms your assessment of the relatively poor lowbrow nature of Claymont. Please please don’t paint every area with such a broad brush. Not everyone is “white trash” or even white for that matter.