🚀 go-pugleaf

"Steve Hall" <tunnlhll@catt.com> wrote in message news:<bi9hau$t9v@library1.airnews.net>...

Obviously, these suffer from what developers laughingly refer to as
"creeping jungleism" or "creeping spookism."

Gary




> One note on Riverbend Mall in Rome.  They may have stated they were
> rebuilding it on filled ground, but they are already going up with buildings
> with little or no filling.  I was through there just a few weeks ago.
> 
> -- 
> Steve Hall
> Commander - Lt. Col. Wm. M. Luffman Camp #938 SCV - Chatsworth, GA
> Moderator - Georgia Division Sons of Confederate Veterans E-mail groups
> 
> <sjohnson1010@hotmail.com> wrote in message
> news:ac410029.0306051940.babca32@posting.google.com...
> > *I reposted this snipped topic hoping that a better name for the post
> > would generate more interest, so here goes:*
> >
> > <snip>
> >
> > Here's my take on local malls that appear to be facing a bleak future:
> >
> > Shannon Mall
> >
> > Change in demographics, median income and a high crime rate in the
> > area is not faring well in this mall with two of four anchors gone and
> > a portion of the mall closed.  If you look at the graveyard of boarded
> > up outlots, it seems that the owners were too optomistic when they
> > renovated a couple years ago.  I guess those of us who know where this
> > place is may be looking at a Dixie Square in the future.  More
> > importantly is that this mall, built in 1980, is suffering horribly
> > from competition from the new Arbor Place Mall in Douglasville and
> > from northside malls, such as Perimeter and Lenox.
> >
> > Cumberland Mall
> >
> > From what I understand, this was in its time the largest mall in the
> > country.  Opened in 1973, it drew in customers from far away and
> > subsequently destroyed nearby Cobb Centre Mall which was finally torn
> > down in the late 1990's.  The irony these days is that Cumberland Mall
> > has earned a reputation as the "black mall", and is beginning to see
> > the effects that such a stigma has as the mall is loosing one of its
> > strongest anchors.  As I spent many childhood years in this mall, I
> > would hate to see it go, but I wonder what is ahead.  If it looses any
> > more anchors, it might not be good news.
> >
> > Gwinnett Place Mall
> >
> > A mall I am not very familiar with, but it is in a similar situation
> > with Cumberland, though it is more of a sister to Town Center than to
> > Cumberland.  It now faces stiff competition from the Mall of Georgia
> > and is in an area that has seen significant demographic change just in
> > the past few years.  It is my guess that it will have to form its own
> > niche to hold its own.
> >
> > Southlake Mall
> >
> > Don't know much about it, but I haven't heard that it's doing all that
> > well.  It seems odd considering that there is a large population base
> > that is starved for a mall in that area.  It almost seems that the
> > region has chosen big box over mall in attempts to avoid these malls
> > judging by the phenomenal complex built between GA 85 and GA 314 in
> > Fayetteville.
> >
> > ...and now for the totally dead and completely gone...
> >
> > Cobb Centre Mall (Smyrna)
> >
> > As one of the first regional malls outside Atlanta, Cobb Centre opened
> > in the post WWII inner ring suburbs around Smyrna.  I understand it
> > was very successful for many years after it opened in the 1960's
> > featuring a two-level Rich's, W.T. Grant, Woolworths, Turtles, Davis
> > Brothers Cafeteria, Dunaway Drugs and several other tenants.  It was
> > also originally an open air mall as well.  The slow and painful death
> > of this tiny mall began in the 1970's when Cumberland Mall opened.  In
> > response, the mall was enclosed in some of the dreariest 70's stylin'
> > ever seen.  I vaguely remember the architecture featured very dark
> > wood and dim lighting and looked very dated by the late 1980's.  This
> > is when the fatal death blow came: Town Center.  Opened in 1986, this
> > mall effectively wiped out the regional customer base, which could not
> > be matched with a local base.  In an attempt to save the mall itself,
> > which was dying despite the fact that Rich's continued to do better,
> > it was again renovated with a lighter more modern interior and
> > redubbed "Four Seasons Mall".  Howard's moved from a local bar and
> > grill into the old Davis Brothers and established itself as a bona
> > fide restaurant.  Howard's relocated soon after to a former steakhouse
> > and the movie theatre was getting in bad shape next to the mall.
> > After Woolworth's left, the only remaining tenants included Eckerds
> > and Friedmann's Jewerlry.  The mall was closed and finally gutted in
> > the late 1990's.  After the demolition, all that remained was Rich's
> > and the movie theaters.  The front entrance to the mall is now a strip
> > mall with a Publix and only the Rich's remains, but now only as an
> > outlet store and the future of this outlet store remains in doubt as
> > the area continues to further decline despite the best efforts of the
> > city of Smyrna.
> >
> > Riverbend Mall (Rome)
> >
> > This mall was a disaster area...literally.  It went from a small
> > regional serving Rome, parts of Alabama and parts of NW GA into an
> > empty shell within 10 years.  It would be reasonable to say it began
> > when the whole mall was flooded by muddy brown water from Etowah
> > River.  (photo of the flooding
> > here)http://gaia.fc.peachnet.edu/geology/images/riverbend%20photo.jpg
> >
> > Built in the river's natural floodplain, it was a poor choice for a
> > mall site, but it did well for about 15 years, opened sometime in the
> > 1970's with three anchors, a Belk Rhodes, JCPenney and Miller's.
> > Miller's later became Hess's.  In the early 1990's, this mall was
> > replaced with a very poorly located Mount Berry Square, but it
> > effectively emptied this mall in one fellow swoop with Belk Rhodes and
> > JCPenney opening larger, nicer stores at the new mall.  This was
> > pretty rough considering the mall had just opened a new food court a
> > few years earlier that included Chick Fil'A.  The old Belk's became a
> > shared outlet with the west end of the store becoming a medical
> > center.  The Hess's changed briefly to a very odd Bon-Ton (the only
> > one I have ever seen in the Southeast) and at last Ford's Furniture.
> > It is not known what happened in the interior, but CVS (formerly Reed
> > Drugs and Revco) was one of the last tenants remaining, and it had an
> > outside entrance as well.
> >
> > The mall as it was is now demolished in favor of new development built
> > on filled higher ground including a Barnes and Noble, Ross, Outback
> > Steakhouse and a new medical center to replace the old one located in
> > the old Belk's.
> >
> > I would appreciate any additional details on this old mall-it is of
> > great interest to me.
> >
> > Roswell Mall (Roswell)
> >
> > Opened in 1974 with Richway as its sole anchor, it was doomed from the
> > start.  Nevertheless, it was at the time the only regional mall north
> > of Perimeter.  It basically consisted of Richway, the mall itself, a
> > movie theater and Morrison's Cafeteria.  Kmart came as a new anchor
> > later and the mall became wedged in an uncomfortable position not
> > visible from the highway.  Morrison's later closed and the mall,
> > already basically empty in 1989, was completely dead by the 1990's
> > except for an Upton's that opened next to the Target that replaced
> > Richway.  In the 1990's, Upton's closed, Target changed to Value City
> > and Kmart is now closed.  Even with the mall recently gutted and
> > reconstructed with a better cinema, it still looks grim for this
> > ill-fated plaza in an area that is beginning to decline.  Once again,
> > further info appreciated on this mall.
> >
> > OTHER malls of curiosity:
> >
> > What did the Plaza Fiesta (obviously a Mexican shopping mall) used to
> > be?  I noticed it on the news recently and was amazed that a bona fide
> > shopping mall is now a mall with a unique niche.
> >
> > Avondale Mall: I hear this mall was very similar in its history to
> > Cobb Centre.
> >
> > Walnut Square Mall (Dalton).  I wonder how this mall is doing in a
> > city that is largely Hispanic.
> >
> > Lake Shore Mall (Gainesville): As the only mall in Hall County, this
> > mall has always gotten a thriving business, but as Hall County is a
> > major mecca for Mexican immigrants, it seems to have become a "Mexican
> > Mall".  Does anyone know anything about this mall, anchored by Sears
> > and Belk?  It looks to be very small but by no means dead.
> >
> > I would also LOVE to hear your other entries for dead, dying or sickly
> > looking malls across the state of Georgia.  There are a few others I
> > wanted to mention here, but avoided in fear of starting a flame war,
> > because I could be dead wrong.