I'll post some videos here of actuall shopping mall/retail stores from the era. If you don't like it, just gag me with a spoon!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=klMDZBCtCUQ- Eastland Mall (Yes it's from December 1979), but it's close enough.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=diAMmj8Ej6Q- Polo Park Shopping Center, Winnipeg (also from Christmas 1979), but close enough to be "beginner 80s".

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7x5-zUe5OZs- Grand Forks- Columbia Mall Commercial (1980)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TqDxeppwVx4- Moorhead Center Mall Commercial (1980)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ymvrSZhRJyg- Sea-Tac Mall Commercial (1981)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qUvEDot1OMg- Long Ridge Mall (1981)- Still Images Only

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fjaRlfw-vw8- Maplewood Mall, MN Commercial (1982)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-ypOhNpcSps- Menudo Shopping Mall (1983)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JDIVBjyazQ8- JC Penney Portrait Studio Commercial (1983)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C6VL5JYdqHY- Toronto Eaton Centre Commercial (1984)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y8ioJZ9-uxI- Toronto Eaton Center Food Court Commercial (1984)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rbpHgMvM918- Katie Couric 163rd Street Mall, Miami (1984)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j4G0d4WINqY- BMX Action Trick Show (1984)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t1ZSYqw3hD8- Penn Can Mall, Cicero, NY (Mid-80s)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X9GFH1SwETo- Kings Mall Commercial (1985)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-jgUt0NYQmg- Promenade Mall, Toronto Commercial (1986)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vWaH8lGowwI- Camillus Mall, NY (1986)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SMzpcY6xxPA- Universal Mall Boat Show (1986)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U-yDeCN9G20- 1987 Tour of Zayre, Crystal Point Mall, and Jewel

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EtIRL9-9oTo- Magic School Marketplace Mall (1987)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bNMwLsy80-c&feature=related-MTV at the Hanover Mall (1988)- Part 1
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RHJTyDCSXa4- MTV at the Hanover Mall (1988)- Part 2

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pqE6pyKEZA0- Vernon Park Mall Commercial (1988)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ik-qBxRHxCM- MTV Museum in the Mall Miami (1988)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k1bYSg-MmPY- NBC Peacock Shop Penn Can Mall Commercial (1988)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CzOKaVJEgLI- Westwood Mall Commercial (1989)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q0kknD2mdX4- Demo at Eastgate Mall (1989)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CSmQiZGW3Ns- What do you want for Christmas (1989), Dublin Mall


I have similar selection on the '90s board as well (with half from 1990-92!).

1983 Canadian commercial - Toronto Eaton Centre

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rmO_KM9Mjro&feature=related

This thread deserves an award! What great sourcing skills! I'm gonna have fun going through all these. How I'd love to browse the toy stores in some of those vids now.

Ditto.

Indeud.  There's a veritable goldmine of cultural archaeology in that post. 

Advertisements for malls are cultural ephemera; nobody's supposed to remember much about them 3 years later, much less be able to play them 30 years later.  We learn the most about a culture, however, not from what they built to last forever, but from what they built only to throw away.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Eank5h8YIUU- RAW & annoying "man on the street" at the Perimiter Mall (Atlanta, GA area) from March 1988. It's like an angry hillbilly mall cop!

No more Mice being sold at this Ft. Lauderdale's Pet Shop (1987): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c4WV1YnAID8

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WJ4m9cwGpHk- Skateboarding in a Tyson's Corner, VA department store (1986). You probably couldn't do this today.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dm3gj4rd16c Dadeland Mall, Miami (1984)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NBAkuV5D4q4- Machesney Mall (1982)

Now we'll update more with actual videos here.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FnWyPvziCqU

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4379miZIzS4

And DISCTINCTIVELY 1984:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3IS2TBEH1W0

Another from whistledogland:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6RTsnmTVaHg

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mnVEnfeEDSA

I almost forgot how neat skating rinks were with all those neon lights:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QcYdfS78MHo

What malls in Honk Kong looked like from this action flick:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1RzOCrhBWfk

And don't forget this 1986 movie:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H4CGswjDDUQ&feature=related

Another from 1987:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3RlpWVMaBmY

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XqF8opP7MTg

I'm exactly sure when/where this was taken, but the hair pretty much sums "80s" here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xti-P3xpPzw

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UDW1KFZM3kg

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wvjbTsCdFFM

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2EhtfXpe9ag

And finally:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MsmWpUdRg0k

I laughed at the Guildford 1985 mall. Definitely the highlight of the bunch.

How I miss the more rustic and quirky 80s mall. They're all so clinical and uniform looking nowadays.

Wow,that is so retro. :)

Jiminy Christmas, that is a lot of links!  Here's another:

http://mallsofamerica.blogspot.com/2007/05/retro-mall-video-80s-mall-arcade.html

http://www.howtobearetronaut.com/2011/03/usa-shopping-malls-summer-1990/

Are photos acceptable for this page?  And they're technically '80s, don't be misled by the URL.

http://www.howtobearetronaut.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/Mall-64-520x349.jpg

http://www.howtobearetronaut.com/2011/03/usa-shopping-malls-summer-1990/

Are photos acceptable for this page?  And they're technically '80s, don't be misled by the URL.

http://www.howtobearetronaut.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/Mall-64-520x349.jpg


Wow,look at the clothing.  :o

Now, these are scenes from movies.

This is from 1978, but it shows what JC Penney's logo once looked like.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7zK_44APmbY

Classic '80s here!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=91xWXTIwTwM
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gU2k_a8TCw8&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RlCMxAaXf2U

Sorry, no Michael Jackson music playing here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i0i6jh3ukxY

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H2DeBG7pAXU

And probably the most famous of 'em all:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_oMtdXaqBx4