TLDR - Mall closing and will have renovations. Sudden, unnatural death. Heartbreaking. Granddad of Hampton Roads malls saying goodbye.

By the time you read this review, Pembroke Mall might be closed already. The interior of the mall will close the night of January 31, 2022, due to renovations to add apartments, assisted living, and a hotel. However, don't despair too much. If you're searching for Kohls, Nordstrom Rack, DSW, Fresh Market, Target, or other stores with outside entrances (except for the Halloween store in the old Stein Mart space), these stores will remain in operation. Unfortunately, the interior will not reopen until about 2024.

It's shocking that it is the end of an era. This was the first mall I visited in the Hampton Roads area after I moved to Virginia Beach 5 and a half years ago. I visited the mall for the first time in 2016. Sears and Stein Mart were still there. The mall was quiet but still well alive. I nicknamed Pembroke "the mall that would never die".

Nevertheless, the mall began to fall apart when Sears closed at the end of September 2018. Stein Mart inevitably closed in 2020 due to bankruptcy. Its decline is fast and sudden due to the pandemic.

The last time I visited this mall was January 12, 2022. The interior was clean but hollow and bleak. I knew from that moment that the mall was going to die really soon. More storefronts were empty compared to my previous visits. Signs warning the closure did not appear until after my last visit. I heard that around 40 stores are forced to close suddenly (and relocate) against their own wills. Was this a last minute notice from mall management to store owners?

I really want to rate this mall higher, but I am only willing to rate this 2 stars due to the current condition of the mall. If it was 2016, I would have rated it 5 stars.