I've been on this earth for 16 years and I've been around long enough to soak up some good info on malls.
With this info, I can now easily determine if a certain mall will close. Unfortunately when Carolina Circle Mall was open, I didn't have a good sense and I actually thought that Carolina Circle was going to be around forever. The biggest mistake was when it closed. I didn't take any pictures of the inside so I now have to rely on the Internet.
More recently when my school Pendle Hill Christian School became a "Dead School", the last day I took a lot of pictures and video. I learned from my mistake at Carolina Circle.
Anyway, we are going to look at local malls and see if it is dying or not.
Four Seasons Town Centre: This mall opened in 1975 one year before Carolina Circle did. So it pretty much shares the same generation with Carolina Circle. However, the theory "Only the Good Die Young" reared its ugly head in 2002 when Carolina Circle closed. Today, the mall is thriving and shows no sign of doom. It's always packed whenever I go there and it seems like you always have to park in Panama.
Hanes Mall: This mall opened the same year Four Seasons opened. In 1990, they opened their new South Mall. Earlier this decade, they did a complete renovation including a new carousel. But in the mid 90's, the mall included a Camelot Music and a dollar store side by side just like at Carolina Circle. Add that to the new carousel and you get one of two Next Generation Carolina Circles. As for the "Dying", it shows no sign of doom except for the Hecht's corridor that concerns me.
Oak Hollow Mall: This is a fairly new mall. I think it opened sometime around 1996. Anyway, I really think this is the ultimate New Carolina Circle Mall. Why? It has a similar color scheme, I think a carousel, and a similar food court shape. I only go there about once a year so I don't really know its condition. I'm assuming it's good to go.
Burlington Square Mall: This opened around 1969 or the early 70's. It's had 3 names: Holly Hill Mall, Colonial Burlington Mall, and Burlington Square Mall. I'm actually a little bit concerned about this mall. Not many people go there, a few stores are gone, and there is only one restaurant open at the food court. We'll have to keep a good eye on this one.
Pennrose Mall: Ho boy. Hello next Carolina Circle. I'm surprised that this mall's still open. I've been there a handfull of times and my last trip was about 10 years ago. The JC Penny is gone leaving Belk and Rose's. I hear it hasn't changed since I last went though.
6 comments:
Four Seasons is pretty much in the safe zone. Friendly Center has a chance of stealing many of the upmarket stores there by virtue of a slightly better neighborhood demographic, but this mall is definately safe.
Hanes Mall is pretty much okay. the Hecht's wing is finally picking up a little momentum, but the Sears wing is just sad. past Old Navy it's badly in need for some new blood (chain store bloood at that, the mom and pops are repettitve and unproductive)
Oak Hollow Mall is pretty much dead. I never figured out how Dillard's stays afloat there. The specialty stres are slowly dying off (or not updating, another bad sign), and the anchors aren't in great shape, except for JCPenney, which always seeems to do well there.
Burlington Square finally looks like it's turning a corner right as the new mall on University Drive is getting underway. If they lose Belk, Sears or JCPenney, it's gonna get ugly.
Pennrose Mall? Eh, it's been dead for decades, if the labelscars and lack of maintenaece asre any indication.
I can't speak for Carolina Circle, but I'm definitely been obsessed for over a decade with several existing and foregone Georgia malls. I added them all to wikipedia with one I had to fight to the death to keep from getting deleted on.
I met a friend at college who is also obsessed w/ retail history and we never shut up about Riverbend Mall in Rome, GA, Rich's and we both just *had* to tour what is left of old Cobb Center Mall (the second mall in Georgia with nothing left but a vacant Rich's) and a Publix-anchored strip mall situated where the former mall entrance and Davis Brothers Cafeteria were.
If you love malls, you gotta come to Atlanta. We've got one dying and a couple others in danger right now. We also have a HUGE abandoned mall that has a lot of similarities to Carolina Circle in Augusta that I accidently stumbled across in 2003. Wow what a sight! All have former Rich's as anchors. I miss Rich's (and Richway) so much :( Steven Swain here knows that all too well, doesn't he? :-P
Correction: the mall in Augusta did NOT have Rich's as an anchor and Richway did not anchor those three malls I mentioned. Columbia, SC, however, had THREE Richway/Target anchored malls.
Don't pay Xoz much mind. He and I are friends, but there are several fundametal differneces in our beliefs. ;-)
Thanks guys for slamming on the Pennrose Mall. Since you don't seem to know much about it other than to talk smack about it, it was recently purchased by a northern company with plans to do a complete overhaul. Rumor has it that if they can at least remodel some of the interior portions, two major mall retailers have expressed interest in opening there. The outside is supposed to undergo a major facelift this summer too. It's nice that you guy want to live in the past of the glory days Carolina Circle, which I personally thought was a crummy mall in the ghetto side of town, but don't start throwing the dirt on the Pennrose Mall's grave when it isn't even dead yet. Sign me: Think before you offend!
I could tell you about the Triangle area malls. However, I don't know much about University Mall in Chapel Hill, but:
First and foremost, Crabtree Valley. Despite only having 3 1/2 anchors left (Hudson Belk opened a new men's store on the upper level of the former Lord & Taylor), there's no end in sight for this mall. It's also got a rich history.
Next, North Hills. This is what one could call a renaissance mall. Instead of tearing down Raleigh's only JC Penney, they rebuilt the whole thing around it, thus restoring North Hills to beyond its former glory. Dillard's is gone, replaced with Target and REI, and a new 14-screen theater is there.
Then, there's Triangle Towne. This is one of the two new-generation malls that opened in 2002. As such, it's quite popular. Hey, it has Saks.
Moving SW, there's Cary Towne. Same company as TT, by the way. This opened in 1979 with two or maybe even one anchor. An expansion in the early-90s added at least 3 more. It can be considered THE mall in Cary, so it has a bright, yet boring future.
South Hills: This one is hard to explain. It's only recognizable anchor is Burlington Coat Factory, though there is also locally-owned Grand Asia Market. Most of the interior corridor has been taken out for expansions of the bigger stores. There's still a small corridor that goes to the offices and a couple small stores.
Southpoint: One word: NORDSTROM. This is the other of the new-generation malls that opened in 2002. Plus, it has the "Main Street" outdoor shops that inspired the rebirth of North Hills.
Northgate: This is one I'm concerned about. With only Sears, Macy's, and a movie theatre remaining, it either looks like a long battle to stay alive, or eventual surrender to Southpoint. It's on the North side of Durham, and that seems to have helped.
The same was not true for South Square: After 27 or so years, it gave up. If its Belk and JC Penney hadn't defected, it could have stood a chance. The fate of Dillard's (which once was Montgomery Ward) is unknown.
Crossroads, Brier Creek, White Oak, Beaver Creek, et. al: I have low respect for these sprawling big-box centers. It's not really a mall if you can't walk from one end to the other. However, they're the next big thing, and I'm not the kind of guy who can stand up to trends.
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