Tuesday, September 12, 2017

Gwinnett Place Mall, Lilburn/Duluth (Atlanta), GA

     A retail anomaly is when something dies but not in the normal fashion. The "normal" way would be competition, demographics, or a shrinking store base. Instead, the mall dies out quietly, with other forces doing the job. In the case for superregional mall Gwinnett Place, the reason for death was partially the ownership, and partially competition. This forms a very interesting picture of a mall, and that mall we cover today.

We begin with a picture of the main entrance. To the right is a place called The Eye Gallery, since closed. 

You can imagine way back when, before MoG and Sugarloaf Mills, that happy kids would enjoy a cookie here. Now the store has, well, burnt out. 


First shot is of some '84 neon. Second is of the food court and Beauty Master to the left. About three places still locate in the food court, including trashy college desperation in Great Wraps.
      The Gwinnett Place Mall history is far from pleasant. Original 1984 mall anchors included Rich's, Davison's, and Sears. The Rich's gained a little popularity following its opening. Satellite Blvd. was originally Davidson Industrial Blvd., but Rich's didn't want to locate on a road similar to its main competitor, Davison's. This never truly mattered, with Davison's becoming Macy's two years past opening. In the same year, a Mervyn's was added to the mall, on a small wing. This would be a contributing factor in the reign of the mall, taking shoppers from as far away as neighboring states. This super-status was only a cent in the addition of Parisian in 1993. While Mervyn's closed in 1997, the mall wasn't declining yet. Only one year later, a JCPenney replaced the spot, giving the mall a full anchor roster once again.





I have seemingly collected a ton of redundant food court photos. Only eight years ago, CFA, Subway, McDonald's, and Dairy Queen had a part of The Eatery.

This is looking off the main mall to the Mervyn's/JCP/Beauty Master. I presume the façade isn't from JCPenney, given that isn't like them to have an entrance like that. If it was, props to them. On the left is an old The Pink, before that Gamestop, and below an old Things Remembered. I love Labelscar.
     Of course the honeymoon didn't last forever. The one-two punch came in the late of the 90's. This first bullet shot was the Mall of Georgia, a behemoth with six anchors and a massive retail strip around it. Only two years later, in 2001, then-Discover Mills was constructed under four miles away, completely oversaturating the market with shiny new options. Truth be told, the new malls were probably needed, given the spectacular growth Gwinnett and the rest of Atlanta was having at the time. Gwinnett Place didn't have much room to expand and had pretty simple offerings. If it wasn't for MoG, Lord and Taylor and Belk wouldn't be as accustomed to the market, along with tons of other stores. Interestingly, it wasn't just the competition that eroded the mall. As of a 2009 Labelscar post, the mall seemed to be holding its own. Based on comments, most vital chain closings happened shortly after that. This probably meant the recession wasn't exactly kind to the area and the mall.




This fountain is one of the best I've seen. Though I can't show much of it working, the water sprays at untimed intervals upward to the glass roof. It's seriously cool to watch.
     Even with new face(s) in town, GPM didn't show struggles for a while. Rich's became Rich's-Macy's in 2003, before becoming the full Macy's nameplate. Rich's took the new store, with the original Davison's closing. This would become the Mega Mart in 2011. Parisian turned into a Belk operation in 2007, before being downgraded to an outlet and closing in 2013. JCPenney left in 2015, to be replaced by Beauty Master, a regional beauty store. But truly the funeral was in 2012, when Simon unloaded the mall to Moonbeam Capital Investments, a move that will haunt the mall forever.


Dead Belk covered by an unsuspecting wall.

Despite being quite the thing on the outside, the interior Macy's entrance is leaving much to be desired.

Dead Belk from first floor. This mall is on the train southward.

     First, a little about the so-called retail rehabber. Moonbeam owns a few struggling shopping centers in the US to apparently fix them up. They tend to give out opulent plans to save the malls, but they sit there and do absolutely nothing. It doesn't matter how many tax incentives or how much money. Nada. This has led to plenty of well-deserved government hate across the country, and Gwinnett is no exception. Moonbeam had no comment on this matter. Ever since the purchase, vacancy rates have climbed, anchors have left, and the mall has become a lost cause. This holds a bit in my heart, given I spent part of my early childhood roaming and playing in the mall before MoG was of choice. My parents traveled to shop here years ago in Athens. It really shouldn't have died, but it did.


While not North Point or Mall of Georgia level, the mall isn't ugly. Marble floors were added following the birth of MoG. Sadly, I think a lot more than marble floors were needed.
     As much as I hate to say it, the future is unclear for the once-venerable center. Moonbeam is - sort of - trying to convert the mall into a international center such as Plaza Fiesta or the very nearby Santa Fe Mall. I don't think this will successful, however. While Atlanta has a large minority population, and is a cultural hub for the US, Buford Highway is quite the ethnic retail stretch, and nearby Plaza Las Americas and Santa Fe Mall do well enough. But what are the new plans for the mall? Believe it or not, a cricket stadium with a team is in the planning stages. While nothing has started yet, it's not out of the realm of possibility. I truthfully don't think Atlanta needs a cricket team, but if you put it next to the population most familiar with the sport, something could happen. There are also plans for an Avalon-esque lifestyle center by the Infinite Energy Center a couple of exits up, which I truly think is an awful idea given the retail indulgence of the area. Most wealth is by the Mall of Georgia anyway, so please no. That's a different story for a different day. Point given, the owners have to realize the mall won't get back to pre-MoG status.



Here's the entrance for the extra-special Sears I have a post on.
     The tune of the mall war is clear. It's a race of time in what could become a mess of Gwinnett's retail. It's only a matter of time before GPM dies off in little respect. Only a matter of time before MoG expands (while there are no plans for this move, it will probably happen eventually). Only a matter of time before said lifestyle center gets shot down, approved, or hopefully not built. It's a bitter battle, with GPM not the favorite. We will see how things wind out down the road.




Everything in this last photo has been here since 2009, except for the space to the left of Avon. That was once a Sleep Number store.
     Anyways, if you want to see a very stereotypical dead mall, that's about all the mall is good for at this point. As much pain it gives me to type this, but this mall is dead. It's indeed a sad time, but I really hope it lands in the hands of a caring owner, and something is done. The entire firm of Moonbeam just angers me, and I couldn't shake that on my two visits. I'd rather something else happened instead of that purchase. But I'm just dreaming, much like the owners.



I can say that if you leased this space, you would not be nearly as happy as this leasing feller.

Outdated directories? Great, I need to stop at JCPenney! 

I can't confirm what I accomplished in this shot, but I can confirm that palm trees aren't native to hilly northern Georgia and were trendy a couple of decades ago. The store behind it was once something called GITI.

While a weird angle, the Macy's is covered by glass and has a Rich's labelscar. I presume another labelscar will be found at the Cobb Center Mall, which had a Rich's before it's closure in the mid-2000's. That glass needs a cleaning, tbh.

2 comments:

  1. do you have any photos of the Subway there at The food court?

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    Replies
    1. Sadly not. What happened there was awful and I hope it wakes up the security. Incidents like that almost always leave lasting impressions on malls, and I'd assume this is the beginning of the definite end of an already embattled center. Condolences to her family, and I wish the best for them during this horrible tragedy.

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