🚀 go-pugleaf

Seems that American development practices in general make Malls (and other
developments) a temporary fixture on the landscape.  As long as exurbs
continue to scatter a metropolitan area's population to places that can only
be reached by automobile, there will be no impetus to maintain and improve
the developments we already have.  This is the quicksand on which we build
our economy now.

It seemed like North DeKalb Mall was headed in the right direction before I
fled Atlanta for Iowa City.  The area around the mall was coming up after a
long decline.  The renovation was fairly nice and the businesses seemed to
do pretty well and the mall is an approchable size.  I just can't figure it
out though--Malls have gotten so large as to reach critical mass and be
unusable--they're houses of cards.

This is kind of a fun website with some good ideas:
http://www.deadmalls.com/

Donald Baxter
Iowa City, IA




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