I decided to go to the movie theater at the Galleria at Pittsburgh Mills, called GQT Movies, for the new Kevin Smith movie The 4:30 Movie which they have exclusively. I'd never been out to the Pittsburgh Mills, and really didn't know anything about the area or mall. I probably would have gone to the theater before this point if they had PRT bus service going to it, but I had to connect to a Westmoreland Transit bus in New Kensington for the 10-minute ride to the mall. That began the day of low patronage as nobody else was on the bus in either direction.

I had some time before the movie, so was able to explore the Galleria mall. Wow, I was not prepared for this. I read mention of it being a "dead mall", but their website listed several stores, so I thought it couldn't be that bad. Never having been to a truly "dead" indoor mall except for Northway Mall before they revamped it, the state of this mall is truly surreal. "Depressing" might be too strong of a word, but that's what comes to mind. The mall is huge, even though it's only on one floor. It has at least as many storefronts as any mall in the region, maybe even more. It's laid out in four different areas.

The problem is that 90% of the storefronts are empty. It has a Macy's, a Dick's, New Dimension Comics, a memorabilia store, an Amish furniture store, a snack shop, the theater, and only two restaurants - Panera and an Asian buffet. The expansive food court is empty. The primary inhabitants of the mall were groups of mall walkers who also took advantage of the copious benches all around the place. I spotted a woman with her child taking her on a fun play date at the hallway playground, and they have several coin-operated kids' rides. Despite this barrenness, the mall is very well designed, has no look of disrepair, and no areas are closed off. No music was playing, however, which gives it a crypt-like feeling. You'd think that if they're going to keep the lights on, they might as well play music.

Then I went to the theater which used to be a Cinemark (though I recall years ago reading about a Galleria Cinemas - that's this, correct?). It was bought out by the outfit called GQT a few years ago, which currently only uses like half of its screens; a hallway is curtained off. Unfortunately, many theaters today have an empty feeling at least at certain times, but I'd be surprised if this is ever busy. The two employees were very nice, and the theater has the typical Cinemark style and is pleasant. The picture was very good - nice and bright and crisp. Not surprisingly, I was the only one in the theater even given it was the only theater playing this movie. I'd recommend this theater to anybody looking for a nice, laid-back movie experience.

What happened to this mall? Does anybody know when its heyday ended? It couldn't have been only in the post-Covid downturn for malls; it's too many stores to all leave like that. Strolling through it, you can tell what a great place it must have been. I don't know how they can keep the lights on. It's a real curiosity. As an aside, I was at the Monroeville Mall (also not my regular mall) a few weeks ago on a Saturday late afternoon, and that looks like it's headed for this fate as it was mostly barren.

By the way, The 4:30 Movie is pretty good; it's only playing through this week if you're interested. Not spectacular, but much better than Smith's last two Jay and Silent Bob Reboot and the miscalculated Clerks III. It was filmed at a theater that Smith went to as a kid and which he bought in recent years because it had fallen on hard times, so the barren location and theater was good context.