Salem Center

Because of this whole corona thing the whole place is like empty. There are not many people there so you wont half to wait in a line. Im not saying some days wont or in the future but right now its great.

The pandemic has taken a toll on Salem Center. This once thriving mall is now a shell of it's former glory. There is a lot of empty retail space, 3/4 of the stores are closed. The food court consists of one Asian style restaurant. The parking garage has become a haven for the homeless. Perimeter littered with garbage, I was waiting for Stallone to show up with guns blazing to rescue me from a bad science fiction movie set.

Getting pretty sketchy around the parking garage and sidewalks.safety is a concern.had one of the homeless walk up behind me with a stick within 1foot of me. I'm a big man.what would it had been if it were my wife or daughter alone?

They did covid santa photos and package deals for it. Pretty great experience service was awesome. They made sure we were all comfortably distanced. I appreciate that.

Stores have been hit hard do to covid, fhose that are left are friendly even with all the rude customers they put up with.

Of the two malls in Salem, this is the best. I haven't counted, but 2/3 of the stores are open and doing business. Very convenient location, lots of access points to enter the mall. Plenty of parking on street or in the two parades. Auntie Anne's Pretzels is my favorite go to for a portable snack/meal, and is typically why I'm in the Mall. I'd give Salem Center more stars if they simply had more stores. That's the only downside I'm seeing.

It's fun to window show and go to hot topic and gamestop. But it kind of sad to see all the closed stores on the ground floor.

They have limits on how many customers can visit a store at one time but with that I thought bath and body works was way too crowded, Kohl's was pretty crowded as well but maybe it seemed that way because everyone comes in and out from the parking garage there and the lines are pushed back to down the aisle by bedding so you are sort of squeezing past everyone until you hit the closing and walk into the mall.

Very nice atmosphere. Reasonable prices, very clean and everything in the food court smelled really good. It's a must see when are in the area.

In Store Pick-Up

"Please whatever you do don't ever, ever, ever make me pick up items that I have ordered online in the store again! " This is what I wrote in my comments section (or something close to that).

Why the drama you ask? Happy to tell you. Recently I found myself second in line for IN STORE PICK-UP.  There I was picking upl three items. "This is going to go way fast, " I thought out loud to myself, clearly I was mistaken.   I stood there, and stood there, and stood there some more so grateful I was not the guy in the flannel shirt behind me carrying a huge cardboard box.

Time clicked tick-tock, the wrap around line of glad for IN STORE PICK-UP unwrapped. TEN minutes, 15 minutes, 30 minutes, and at 40 minutes clock watching became a rather unfavorable activity. I was on my last day to pick up and so I had to stay.

I can't even tell you what the lady in front of me was asking of the Associate. All we, as patrons were to do was provide ID and bring the information in the email that was sent that's it that's all. Then the Associate would take the information printed from the register, go in the back, grab your stuff, bring it out, hand it to you, and you leave. "Next. "

Lady, 1st in line, did not care for her item. Just wasn't what she wanted. So she asked the Associate to  trade it for something else. "Well we'll have to do an exchange so since she was sure she didn't want it they did the exchange. Then there was a color thing.   Just could you go back and check?   This went on and on and then pulling different stuff out of a bag she asked, "Could you check on this cuz this color…. " One by one by one at least six more items went through the Exchange. I had quit counting. The guy in the flannel shirt holding a huge cardboard box, silently shifting his weight from side to side wasn't smiling.

We didn't speak. The line once serpentine, was now just me, him, and the lady with the never-ending shopping bag. We looked ridiculous in our masks.

No longer clock watching, I was so grateful I was in 3-in heels, Finally, my turn. Laying out all my information neatly before her, she actually said, "We usually get a printout, like a copy of your email. " Placing my oversized smartphone so she could easily scan the information, I then handed her my driver's license followed by my Macy's card. Showing me my info printout she told me actually everything she needed was in the information she scanned. And then she asked, "Now what's your name? '

I used to work at this mall 20 years ago, and it's a shadow of its former self today. I suppose it's partly my fault, I order too much stuff from Amazon just like everyone else.

Victoria Secret staff was offered or not so kind like when selling you the bras. My bras sucked they hurt and after 150.00 and not counting all dozen of my panties fell apart; after 3 month's! Made in XXXXX?

I love this mall, but due to COVID getting in and out is tragic so I won't go back until all entrances are reopened, EXTREMELY upset about Jcpenney closing. That's the reason for only 3 stars. Been going there since I was a young child. Sad to see it go, as weird as it sounds I have good memories from there.

If you don't mind parking on the street or in a garage, then playing a rousing game of "duck the tweaker", this is the mall for you! Once you get inside, it's not that bad. Not that bad! But, like many shopping centers right now, the financial uncertainty, not to mention COVID-19, has put a damper on things. So, cons, it's in downtown Salem. Pros, once you get inside, it's not too shabby. Diverse shopping but questionable restrooms.

We had a fun girls day we shopped a few stores, Macy's, Penney's, Kohls and ect. We had lunch at the place that serves the Japanese food in the food court. Stopped in at the rocky mountain choclate factory to grab our husbands a treat then ran into sees candy for our treat. Wr had great and friendy service everywhere we went which made the day even more pleasant.

The shopping center itself is nice and has a good variety of stores. However, the growing homeless population outside is a big turn off

They got rid of Nordstrom which was a key staple of the downtown Salem mall, real loss. Also as city has gotten bigger, the lack of downtown parking can be a tough thing to navigate.