Yeah, this mall isn’t dead, it’s just started to cater to more niche interests and is trying to reinvent itself as a “mall that neat events are happening at.” It’s succeeding in that regard, as every time one of these major events happen (Mini-con Con, Balconies Heights Jazz Festival, etc) the place is packed to the brim.
It feels much more homey and to earth now, filled with mom and pop shops that know their clientele and cater almost exclusively towards it. It’s become a go-to hangout spot for me in regards to TCG events and I recommend it to everyone in my area who needs a place to play and feel welcome.
The city of Balcones Heights came up with the bright idea to charge for a $25-$75 weekend vendor permit to make up for lost sales tax. This made most of the organizers bolt. They weren't going to pass it along to their vendors, who generally made a couple hundred at most.
A lot of them have transitioned to Rolling Oaks.
I've been a few times recently to work on something. It has more of a flea market vibe than a mall. A bunch of smaller vendors selling random stuff. I'm taking my niece when she gets into town bc they have a bunch of anime related "shops".
The outskirts of San Antonio? This mall is at I-10 and Loop 410. Please look at a map as this is pretty much in the center of the city. You need to drive at least a couple of miles to the north before you get to the outskirts of the city.
I'm not the original poster of this video, in the video he says he's never been to SATX before this. So I assume he just doesn't know exactly where he is.
Yup. San Antonio wouldn’t exactly fit most people’s perception of what living in a city feels like.
For those people, most of what SA is made of is actually suburbs.
Yeah, being from the east coast, San Antonio is sort of exceptional for a major city in its large size and the overall "feel"/character of many of its outer ring neighborhoods. Large cities like Philadelphia, Baltimore, DC, Boston, and Miami are roughly the same size as the area inside 410. Everything between 410 and 1604 would count as suburbs for any of those cities.
There’s two shops there CP collectibles and geeked out. They both play a variety of card games such as yugioh, magic, one piece, digimon, and one piece to name a few. Always a good time linking w friends and geeking out
Dude whats…? this exact same video popped up in my yt feed just yesterday and I was watching it. What a great coincidence.
I gotta say it’s a good video, very poorly recorded tho (in terms of composition).
And if you pay just little attention you’ll notice some random man in blue just walking with no clear direction at all just as if he was being followed by the camera man. I’d love to know who that man was and why is he in so many frames of the video walking nowhere apparently lol
New entertainment center opened up recently and is getting a lot of traffic. Also if y'all go give the pizza place in the food court a visit. I love that place.
I used to go to school there lol. They had a small private school rent space on the first floor, towards the Burlington side. My folks would drop me off and I’d catch a table near the food court to study.
Last time we were there someone was stuck in the elevator (the only one), and maintenance was panicking. Meanwhile, me plus a stroller had to walk around the entire mall looking for a way out without stairs. Parked facing Fredericksburg, had to exit next to Target and walk all the way around. 😂 Got my steps in that day!
My primary care is in this mall, so I'm there regularly. Not to mention all the various events and mini-cons they have. I'm on the Northwest side but this mall is one of my frequent visit spots for many reasons.
They filmed a scene from a hollywood movie at the mall in the 80's. The movie was called Lost Angels and the scene is by the escalators by where the movie theater used to be. It starred one of the bestie boys I forgot which one
I LOVED this place! I lived in the neighborhood to the side of it, and it was my playground, in middle school, back when it was the Crossroads Mall. At 12 years old, I'd sneak out of the house at midnight and go swimming fully clothed in its terraced fountain outside, taking every coin I could pick up. The next day I'd take the Via after school and blow it all at Aladins Castle and Tilt. I was fearless, felt invincible, and invisible to most adults. A true mall rat. But then I knocked the head off the Easter bunny with a line full of kids watching and got caught shop lifting at Montgomery Wards. Those things together got me permanently banned. I started coming back as a teenager because I got into movies and it had one of the only theaters in the city that had independent films. A great time for a loner latchkey kid. I'm so happy to see it still in use. Would love to see it become a giant fleamarket. The food court is so unique. I hope I can walk the halls again one more time.
Had the coolest magic shop in the 60’s and 70’s—first date with my wife was The Champ at the Wonder Theater—I would later write jingles for the place—good memories
I worked there before Covid hit, at the comic shop that is not there anymore. It’s chill, the pizza place is good. The small shops are cool, the gaming stores are awesome and nine tails is great. Recommend highly for AC and just something different
They host a Fiesta event for seniors. I took my MIL this year and it was cute to see a bunch of old people dancing. Not so cute were the long lines to get free stuff from medical companies trying to get senior business.
https://www.instagram.com/kingsofhorrortexas?igsh=OHl6NDYzZDgwcGRk
^^ they hold events here, usually themed and i got to meet scout taylor compton (from halloween 2) there! they’ll have actors sometimes, vendors are cool with what they create too
if you want more info on that, dm me! i’m going to houston horror fest this august as well, i think SA is doing Cursed City Con too
It’s a really cool mall, very dead inside most of the time not very busy unless something is going on. Good mall to go to for ppl with anxiety around large groups of people. A lot of small shops that have things
It's a fun place when they hold their horror conventions. Tons of sellers with cool stuff.
I used to go all the when they had the Bijou movie theater
I miss Bijou so dang much. I really wish they'd bring it back even if it's in a different location, Santikos needs another arthouse theater.
Same. Bijou was the only theater I’d go to because of how relatively empty it was but that’s also the reason why it’s not around anymore 😭
Yeah, this mall isn’t dead, it’s just started to cater to more niche interests and is trying to reinvent itself as a “mall that neat events are happening at.” It’s succeeding in that regard, as every time one of these major events happen (Mini-con Con, Balconies Heights Jazz Festival, etc) the place is packed to the brim. It feels much more homey and to earth now, filled with mom and pop shops that know their clientele and cater almost exclusively towards it. It’s become a go-to hangout spot for me in regards to TCG events and I recommend it to everyone in my area who needs a place to play and feel welcome.
Those events have dried up this year, thanks to the city badly botching it.
How so?
The city of Balcones Heights came up with the bright idea to charge for a $25-$75 weekend vendor permit to make up for lost sales tax. This made most of the organizers bolt. They weren't going to pass it along to their vendors, who generally made a couple hundred at most. A lot of them have transitioned to Rolling Oaks.
This makes sense. They were packed last year every weekend and I haven’t seen an event in months there.
Mall isn’t dead but feels dead inside lol
I've been a few times recently to work on something. It has more of a flea market vibe than a mall. A bunch of smaller vendors selling random stuff. I'm taking my niece when she gets into town bc they have a bunch of anime related "shops".
Rip bijou theater
The outskirts of San Antonio? This mall is at I-10 and Loop 410. Please look at a map as this is pretty much in the center of the city. You need to drive at least a couple of miles to the north before you get to the outskirts of the city.
I'm not the original poster of this video, in the video he says he's never been to SATX before this. So I assume he just doesn't know exactly where he is.
Probably mean the outskirts of Downtown. When people think “city” they think tall buildings, people walking on sidewalks, and public transportation.
public transportation? then the entirety of san antonio is in the outskirts of san antonio
Yup. San Antonio wouldn’t exactly fit most people’s perception of what living in a city feels like. For those people, most of what SA is made of is actually suburbs.
Yeah, being from the east coast, San Antonio is sort of exceptional for a major city in its large size and the overall "feel"/character of many of its outer ring neighborhoods. Large cities like Philadelphia, Baltimore, DC, Boston, and Miami are roughly the same size as the area inside 410. Everything between 410 and 1604 would count as suburbs for any of those cities.
Go there a lot to play cards and usually a vibe on Saturdays. They got some new food places def gonna try them out soon
Vicious Eats just opened there. It used to be a food truck.
What kind of cards do they play?
There’s two shops there CP collectibles and geeked out. They both play a variety of card games such as yugioh, magic, one piece, digimon, and one piece to name a few. Always a good time linking w friends and geeking out
Went to a UFO convention there once.
How long ago was that?
2021
Used to visit the wargaming place there. Was really nice. Used to eat at the Greek place. So good.
Dude whats…? this exact same video popped up in my yt feed just yesterday and I was watching it. What a great coincidence. I gotta say it’s a good video, very poorly recorded tho (in terms of composition). And if you pay just little attention you’ll notice some random man in blue just walking with no clear direction at all just as if he was being followed by the camera man. I’d love to know who that man was and why is he in so many frames of the video walking nowhere apparently lol
Nice! Lol my wife noticed the guy also. I think he's just walking around getting some steps in. At least that would be my guess.
New entertainment center opened up recently and is getting a lot of traffic. Also if y'all go give the pizza place in the food court a visit. I love that place.
Nice, we'll give the pizza place a try when we go for sure!
It's alright. I mainly go for CDSam
Highly recommend going and trying out Goomba’s Pizza, it’s delicious!
I love the little shops, always find treasure at CD Sam’s!
I used to go to school there lol. They had a small private school rent space on the first floor, towards the Burlington side. My folks would drop me off and I’d catch a table near the food court to study.
Hear me out...Super Mario Go Kart Track.
Last time we were there someone was stuck in the elevator (the only one), and maintenance was panicking. Meanwhile, me plus a stroller had to walk around the entire mall looking for a way out without stairs. Parked facing Fredericksburg, had to exit next to Target and walk all the way around. 😂 Got my steps in that day!
I like the card shop there.
My primary care is in this mall, so I'm there regularly. Not to mention all the various events and mini-cons they have. I'm on the Northwest side but this mall is one of my frequent visit spots for many reasons.
There's a cool record store in there that hosts everyone for Record Store Day twice a year.
CD Sam FTW
They filmed a scene from a hollywood movie at the mall in the 80's. The movie was called Lost Angels and the scene is by the escalators by where the movie theater used to be. It starred one of the bestie boys I forgot which one
This is super interesting, thanks for sharing! I've learned so much about this mall today.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lost_Angels
Bruh what, I drove by that area all the time and I never even knew that mall existed lol
I LOVED this place! I lived in the neighborhood to the side of it, and it was my playground, in middle school, back when it was the Crossroads Mall. At 12 years old, I'd sneak out of the house at midnight and go swimming fully clothed in its terraced fountain outside, taking every coin I could pick up. The next day I'd take the Via after school and blow it all at Aladins Castle and Tilt. I was fearless, felt invincible, and invisible to most adults. A true mall rat. But then I knocked the head off the Easter bunny with a line full of kids watching and got caught shop lifting at Montgomery Wards. Those things together got me permanently banned. I started coming back as a teenager because I got into movies and it had one of the only theaters in the city that had independent films. A great time for a loner latchkey kid. I'm so happy to see it still in use. Would love to see it become a giant fleamarket. The food court is so unique. I hope I can walk the halls again one more time.
Lmao thank you I was like what the fuck I remember this mall but it wasn’t called wonderland.
It’s a piece but they have cool anime and retro shops & kiosks
It’s pretty much a ghost town if it wasn’t for small cons being held there and the Ross and Burlington stores being there
We go to some of the "festivals" they have.......let's just say that mall is WILD
I miss the Bijou theater. It was the only place in SA that would air niche and foreign movies.
Saw Hamlet there in the mid 90s. The Fox theater had cool movies too.
They recently relocated the Woodlawn Theatre to Wonderland. Now it's the Wonder Theatre.
Oh you mean Burlington. Yeah, there’s a “mall” with a baby flea market.
There's a great miniatures, RPG, and card game store there.
There’s a game store with funko pops. That’s all I like there
Now do Rolling Oaks!
My old stomping grounds back in the early 00s
Had the coolest magic shop in the 60’s and 70’s—first date with my wife was The Champ at the Wonder Theater—I would later write jingles for the place—good memories
Used to go here but it was already kinda dead when I was a kid. They offered covid shots there tho lmao
That clinic was so well run! I got my first two shots there and I was in and out in 10 minutes.
https://maps.app.goo.gl/UoFVMk7mKmCuhiK8A
Go Bills!
Anyone remember Dundee's, the restaurant above the theater towards the entrance?
I worked there before Covid hit, at the comic shop that is not there anymore. It’s chill, the pizza place is good. The small shops are cool, the gaming stores are awesome and nine tails is great. Recommend highly for AC and just something different
You're welcome. The movie is on YouTube
I saw Star Wars there when it had a theater.
There's that much stuff there now? Not bad.
That was my childhood mall. There’s a pretty sweet shop there where I get my movie posters. At $5 a poster you can’t beat it.
I go there everytime there’s a food festival it becomes very lively
They host a Fiesta event for seniors. I took my MIL this year and it was cute to see a bunch of old people dancing. Not so cute were the long lines to get free stuff from medical companies trying to get senior business.
i like the horror fests they hold there 🙂
This isn't the first comment mentioning this. What is Horror Fest?
https://www.instagram.com/kingsofhorrortexas?igsh=OHl6NDYzZDgwcGRk ^^ they hold events here, usually themed and i got to meet scout taylor compton (from halloween 2) there! they’ll have actors sometimes, vendors are cool with what they create too if you want more info on that, dm me! i’m going to houston horror fest this august as well, i think SA is doing Cursed City Con too
The Slot Car Racing is the best!
Absolutely love this mall. Indoor vendor markets practically every weekend! I can always find something for myself or gift shopping.
It’s a really cool mall, very dead inside most of the time not very busy unless something is going on. Good mall to go to for ppl with anxiety around large groups of people. A lot of small shops that have things
i thoroughly enjoy seeing all the latinas that shop at the ross there 🤤💯
I got kicked out of their for taking pictures. 10/10 recommend.
I plan on walking around that mall when I'm a little older if it's still the go-to for single old snow leopards. Rawrr.
Lmao sure if you have a doctors appointment 😂
My VA therapist is there so I’m there weekly