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jonrev.com
the jonrev projects
@jonrev.com
720 followers 110 following 1.7K posts
Observer of obsolescence.
Photographer & printmaker on Lake Wazzapamani.
Musings about retail/design/esoteric history/things on wheels/whatever...

www.jonrev.com

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jonrev.com
the jonrev projects @jonrev.com · Sep 12
📍 the jonrev projects encompass 20+ years of exploring, digitally preserving and infodumping about dead malls, commercial architecture, abandoned buildings and other such places of memories.

•••

blog ➡️ jonrev.com
prints ➡️ ko-fi.com/jonrev/shop
photog ➡️ flickr.com/jonrev
more ➡️ jonrev.com/dir/
Photograph. A gray brick building looms through the windshield of a 1980s Pontiac Fiero at blue hour. Signage on the building reads "Carson Pirie Scott" - a defunct department store. North Riverside Park Mall North Riverside, Illinois Photograph. An empty bilevel shopping mall. A large, vacant food court is seen on the lower level. Stratford Square Bloomingdale, Illinois Photograph. An abandoned bilevel shopping mall reflecting 1970s contemporary tastes, featuring brutalist ceilings, wood and smoked glass accents, conversation pit seating flanked by (overgrown) gardens, and a large public art sculpture. Lakeside Mall Sterling Heights, Michigan Photograph. An abandoned Sears department store at twilight, the labelscar of the SEARS letters is visible on five concrete columns separated from a brick building, behind. Sears, Salem Mall Trotwood, Ohio
jonrev.com
A: We need to stop killing legit third spaces for young adults and B: the old guard needs to seriously school the broccoli kids on urban exploring so they stop blowing spots up hotter than 100 suns in the span of less than a week.
Closed mall has elicited 402 calls for service since October; 30 arrests made this weekend alone
Authorities in Westminster are looking to spread awareness of vandalism at the Westminster Mall, which closed last October but has since become a hotbed of illicit activity.  According to the Westm…
ktla.com
January 12, 2026 at 9:39 PM
jonrev.com
"Everybody remember, we're parked under the Sunsphere"

The voyage home - August 2025
Photograph. jonrev's Pontiac Fiero in Knoxville, Tennesee with the Sunsphere from the 1982 World's Fair towering in the background Photograph. A trailer carrying USPS Next Generation Delivery Vehicles mail trucks viewed from a moving vehicle Photograph. jonrev's Pontiac Fiero. Buc-ee's sign in the background. Sun is setting. Richmond, Kentucky.
January 12, 2026 at 8:46 AM
jonrev.com
Tail of the Dragon, August 2025
Photograph. Small sunflowers against a series of hills in the mountains of Tennessee, Photograph. jonrev's Pontiac Fiero Formula at the start of the Tail of the Dragon -- a large dragon sculpture with its tail coiled around a motorcycle in the background, covered in stickers. Photograph. jonrev's Pontiac Fiero Formula at a pull-off along US-129, a winding road in the background disappears into dense tree growth.
January 12, 2026 at 4:14 AM
jonrev.com
Marquee update.
ABOLISH ICE ♥️ NEXT SHOW TIMES FOLLOW US ON FB & IG @BELVIDERECINEMA OUR 60TH YEAR BELVIDERE CINEMA GALLERY LET'S CELEBRATE IT TOGETHER!
January 12, 2026 at 1:53 AM
jonrev.com
Cold reception

Signal Hill Mall - Statesville, North Carolina
#deadmalls #abandoned #retail #NC #photography
B&W photograph. jonrev's Pontiac Fiero in center, parked under a concrete arch structure facing a vast, empty parking lot. Trash cans on either side of the columns. B&W photograph. A tall concrete canopy structure marks the entrance to the former Signal Hill Mall. Overcast skies, above. Photograph. Interior of an enclosed shopping mall that has been gutted to the bare structure. Only dead planters, a fountain and directional signage to JCPenney remain as any indicators this was once a mall.
January 11, 2026 at 9:26 PM
Reposted by the jonrev projects
retailpocalypse.bsky.social
Macy's in the mirror.

This store, at Buffalo's Boulevard Mall opened in 1962 as Sattler's. In 1983, it changed over to Sibley's, followed by a stint as Kaufmann's, becoming Macy's in 2006. It is a casualty of the latest round of closures.

#photography #retail #stores #mirrors #atrium #buffalo
A department store's central escalator atrium. It is covered in mirrors, offering a dizzying spectacle of reflection throughout, making it easy to get lost in ones sense of placement and direction. A department store's central escalator atrium. It is covered in mirrors, offering a dizzying spectacle of reflection throughout, making it easy to get lost in ones sense of placement and direction. A department store's central escalator atrium. It is covered in mirrors, offering a dizzying spectacle of reflection throughout, making it easy to get lost in ones sense of placement and direction. A department store's central escalator atrium. It is covered in mirrors, offering a dizzying spectacle of reflection throughout, making it easy to get lost in ones sense of placement and direction.
January 10, 2026 at 2:15 PM
jonrev.com
Little more than a year since Hudson's Bay Co. - themselves heading toward liquidation - spun off its American assets to form Saks Global: bankruptcy is imminent for the parent company of Saks Fifth Avenue, Neiman Marcus, Bergdorf Goodman, Saks Off 5th and Horchow as luxury retail collapses.
Photograph. Atrium of an enclosed, bilevel luxury shopping center anchored at the far end by Saks Fifth Avenue department store. Luxury retailers line both sides of the mall. A fountain, seating, trees, and escalators down the middle. Glass skylight and exposed trusswork, overhead. Somerset Collection - Troy, Michigan Photograph. Marble wall warmly illuminated by a skylight out of frame -- also casting shadows across the wall. Signage for Neiman Marcus department store. Bench seat, below. Parkay wood floor. Northbrook Court - Northbrook, Illinois
January 9, 2026 at 4:57 PM
jonrev.com
14 Macy's stores will close in the latest culling announced today that will definitely be the final nail in several malls' coffins.

📷 among those, Marley Station store - Glen Burnie, Maryland
#macys #retail #storeclosing #deadmalls #photography
Photograph. A Macy's store (former Hecht's) anchoring the dead Marley Station Mall; a spacious bilevel atrium with exposed trusses framed with neon accents. Escalators to the left (one broken) along with a vending machine.
January 9, 2026 at 4:07 AM
Reposted by the jonrev projects
harebrained.bsky.social
A graphic for our friends in Minnesota.
January 8, 2026 at 4:49 PM
Reposted by the jonrev projects
jonrev.com
The "good kind of American" means cheese at this point

A&W, Northridge - Milwaukee, Wisconsin
#deadmalls #abandoned #fastfood #urbex #mediumformat #photography
Photograph of a wrecked and vandalized A&W All-American Food eatery in the food court of the abandoned Northridge Mall. The drywall erected to cover the vacant unit has been destroyed and the mangled wreck of its frame rests in front of the counter, surrounded by drywall debris piles. Empty mall planters are visible on either side of frame. There are holes and graffiti tags on several of the walls. The menuboards and all foodservice fixtures behind the counter have been removed.
January 20, 2025 at 5:43 PM
Reposted by the jonrev projects
posts-cards.bsky.social
before it was the rainforest cafe, the building at clark and ohio in river north had a lame animatronic al capone show thing going on; there wasn't much demand for Chuck E. Capone and $4m and 3 years later it closed

www.postcard-past.com/capones-chic...
Capone's / the Rainforest Cafe, Chicago
Somehow the Rainforest Cafe might be the least schlocky concept to occupy this building.
www.postcard-past.com
January 7, 2026 at 3:48 PM
jonrev.com
If you have the space, means and collection: a northern Texas warehouse full of proto-Redbox VHS vending machines from the mid-1980s is being evicted. The machines are free and whatever isn't taken will imminently be scrapped.

www.facebook.com/commerce/lis...
Photograph. A large woodgrain-lined cabinet designed to hold and vend videotapes. On the right is the CRT screen interface and cash/coin insert. Instructional and "VIDEO VENDOR" signage overhead.
January 7, 2026 at 4:38 AM
Reposted by the jonrev projects
jonrev.com
The story it told of a river that flowed made me sad to think it was dead

"Picnic by the River"
Cincinnati Mills - Forest Park/Fairfield, Ohio (2021)
#deadmalls #foodcourt #y2k #mall #architecture #photography
Photograph of a brightly lit atrium in an dead bilevel shopping mall. There is a skylight spanning the entire width of the atrium, below which hang deflated fish and other early-2000s decorative pieces. Empty retail storefronts line the mall's upper level, below which is the Picnic on the River food court which is also empty. There are no shoppers present. Photograph of fish-themed mobiles hanging from a skylight above the atrium of a dead shopping mall Photograph of a row of vacant food court units in a dead shopping mall. From nearest to farthest, these close eateries are: • Oyishi Japan • Gold Star Chili • Pizza di Roma • Great Steak & Potato Company Photograph of a brightly lit atrium in an dead bilevel shopping mall. There is a skylight spanning the entire width of the atrium, below which hang deflated fish and other early-2000s decorative pieces. Empty retail storefronts line the mall's upper level, below which is the Picnic on the River food court which is also empty. There are no shoppers present. The perspective is viewed from the stairs of a disabled escalator.
March 3, 2025 at 4:22 PM
jonrev.com
Last December marked 12 years since Safeway finished running the 72-store Dominick's grocery chain into the ground and pulled the plug. While competitors acquired many of their stores (and Safeway, itself) in the dozen years since: this location in Buffalo Grove still stands in mothballs.
Photograph. A weathered vinyl cling promotes the Dominick's App for iPhone on a glass entry door to a vacant Dominick's supermarket. Reflection of jonrev from the neck-down in the glass. Photograph. Interior of a 12-year vacant Dominick's supermarket. Dirt on the tiled floor marks where checkouts and store fixtures once stood. The store is still lit and preserved since the closure of the brand in late-2013. Photograph. Brick building at the end of a salt and snow-covered parking lot on an overcast day. Former Dominick's supermarket in Buffalo Grove, Illinois.
January 5, 2026 at 8:13 PM
jonrev.com
"hot! hot! hot!"

Polaroid 669 triple-exposure using some rescued Musicland neon
Photograph of a Polaroid 669-type picture against a gray/yellow grid surface, weighted by a metal lever. The picture is a triple-exposure of a lighted neon tube bent to read "hot!". Film is nearly 20-years expired causing the color shift. Photograph. The aforementioned Polaroid 669-type picture with the Polaroid 195 Land Camera used to take it. A DIY cable release is attached to the shutter release.
January 5, 2026 at 7:42 PM
jonrev.com
Rattle & Hum version of "Bullet the Blue Sky" blaring in the supermarket
January 3, 2026 at 11:05 PM
Reposted by the jonrev projects
kendrawcandraw.bsky.social
"You shouldn't make art for the money" buddy I'll take it one step further and say we shouldn't have to labor for capital at all but in the meantime pay an artist
December 11, 2025 at 7:02 PM
jonrev.com
25 years ago today: Montgomery Ward throws in the towel, announces its final liquidation.

#retail #wards #electricave #IL #mediumformat #filmphotography #photography
Photograph. A brick building at the end of an empty parking lot. Red stripe signage underscoring the labelscar for Montgomery Ward signage. A metal awning over a double-door entry. Former Wards store in Southfield, Michigan - partially abandoned since 2001. Photograph. Abandoned pair of 18-wheeler trailers -- one branded as Electric Ave. at Montgomery Ward. Snow covers the ground. Trees and plant overgrowth surround the trailers. Dwight, Illinois.
December 28, 2025 at 10:28 PM
Reposted by the jonrev projects
jjvincent.bsky.social
another robot highlight for 2025: man wearing humanoid mocap suit kicks himself in the balls
December 27, 2025 at 5:27 PM
jonrev.com
Lexington, North Carolina (August 2025)
Photograph. Pulled pork smoked and served Lexington-style on a paper tray. Two cups of red dip (sweet and spicy) to the sides. Photograph. jonrev's white Pontiac Fiero at night, lighted sign behind reads "Lexington Barbecue".
December 26, 2025 at 6:13 PM
jonrev.com
From my video collection rescued from the ruins of Northridge Mall: here's B-roll footage of its identical, elder sister - Southridge - at Christmastime in 1990.
Christmas at Southridge Mall (1990)
YouTube video by jonreVHS
www.youtube.com
December 25, 2025 at 5:46 AM
Reposted by the jonrev projects
aoife.bsky.social
yellow line
skokie, illinois
photo of the inside of a cta train with a blur of lights outside
December 23, 2025 at 6:35 PM
Reposted by the jonrev projects
jonrev.com
I've always loved this concrete building at 326 S. Milwaukee Ave. Libertyville, but don't know any history beyond its construction in 1985. It's currently vacant after housing a bicycle shop for years.
Photograph. Corner of a white, concrete, trapezoidal building at night. Interior is illuminated but empty. Streetlight in the background. Tree shadows against the building. Photograph. Circular entry to a white, trapezoidal building at night. Entryway and interior are illuminated. Concrete stairs lead to the entrance. Monument sign in the lawn. Streetlight in the background. Photograph. South elevation, a white trapezoidal building with a circular entrance right of center, at night. Roofline of an older home peeks from behind. A large lawn in front. Building is illuminated inside but empty. Streetlight to the left.
December 23, 2025 at 4:59 AM
jonrev.com
Pickleball Kingdom has opened in Waukegan's long-abandoned, former Child World store. Thus removes the last piece of post-retail blight from the area which was once home to Lakehurst Mall.
December 23, 2025 at 3:19 PM
jonrev.com
I've always loved this concrete building at 326 S. Milwaukee Ave. Libertyville, but don't know any history beyond its construction in 1985. It's currently vacant after housing a bicycle shop for years.
Photograph. Corner of a white, concrete, trapezoidal building at night. Interior is illuminated but empty. Streetlight in the background. Tree shadows against the building. Photograph. Circular entry to a white, trapezoidal building at night. Entryway and interior are illuminated. Concrete stairs lead to the entrance. Monument sign in the lawn. Streetlight in the background. Photograph. South elevation, a white trapezoidal building with a circular entrance right of center, at night. Roofline of an older home peeks from behind. A large lawn in front. Building is illuminated inside but empty. Streetlight to the left.
December 23, 2025 at 4:59 AM