North Grand Mall, Ames

     Ames, Iowa is a thriving college town about 30 miles north of Des Moines, the capital and largest city in the state. Not only does the city house the Iowa State University, the area's largest employer and source of over half the city's population, Ames is the largest town between Des Moines and Minneapolis. It's also a successful one at that, posting a 2.1% unemployment rate and stellar growth rates as of late. It's mall, the North Grand Mall, could be said the same. It's a mall that's been doing as well as its location, with little vacancies and sustained success.

We start our walk in the JCPenney wing. The Penney's entrance is nothing unfamiliar to the other entrances the company built throughout the 70's. The same can be said of the exterior. The extra space in the signage area was likely due to the fact that the "New Look" logo took up more room on the entrances.

View down the JCP wing into center court. There's barely any breakup in the single corridor, as even anchor Younkers doesn't get even a short wing. Homes are located right next to the mall on the western side, limiting such a wing or really any expansion.

Looking back at a farther distance to JCPenney. This section is probably the weakest in the mall, but it's not really struggling.

      The mall has been remarkably unchanged since its opening in 1971. The opening anchors were Sears, JCPenney, and Des Moines-based Younkers. Only Sears has changed since then, being divided into a Kohl's, TJMaxx, and Gap Outlet in 2008. Even the interior of the mall itself has only received one renovation as far as I can tell. This renovation came in 2006, and there are still plenty of vintage elements that fell through the cracks. The biggest news coming to this mall in a decade was announced earlier this year. Younkers' owners, Bon-Ton Stores entered Chapter 7 bankruptcy in February, spelling the end of the historic department store, and later on, conglomerate. Younkers is a part of this conglomerate, meaning that the North Grand store will be closing in August 2018. Will the store be replaced with the same success as the former Sears? Only time will tell.

Looking downward from JCP and towards center court.

It's hard to get a simpler design that what NGM has to offer. The only thing to note would be that Younkers has no real wing, but as I said, there's no room to do so.

     While North Grand looked great on the day I visited (and it's overall doing well), with constant crowds and only two vacancies, the mall seems to be weakly fitted for the future. Not only is an anchor closing, but there was really no major draw that I could sense in the area. While the stores themselves would help bring in the masses from the smaller towns around Ames such as Boone and Nevada, there's not much of a draw for Ames or Des Moines residents. The only entertainment comes in the form of a small theatre that has been operating on and off through the years. A thirty-minute drive on I-35 brings you to more diverse shopping and entertainment in the capital, and numerous other draws. While a major university nearby gives the added benefit of thousands of students to draw off of, a bored college student may choose to rather spend a day in Des Moines instead of at the mall in Ames. In this case, perhaps North Grand is simply too small.

The main entrance is architecturally unremarkable from the rest of the mall. While some malls without food courts turn their main entrance into a de facto food hall, only a bakery exists in the entrance here.

Younkers entrance, closing signs included. The gray tint on this photo comes from the sun pouring in through the skylight on the court's roof.

Looking down to TJMaxx. Were there once more foliage and fountains pre-2006? For a mall that still retains some older aesthetic, the hallways (and especially center court) are very bare.

     While expansions can be dangerous, risky, expensive, life-saving, and all in between, it almost seems like the only way to go is up. And by that, I mean that we need a second floor. This floor would consist of a proper food court, a proper theater, more entertainment, and of course more stores. Of course, this expansion wouldn't have to stretch the whole mall. It may only go from TJMaxx to center court. But the point is, this mall will struggle if it doesn't adjust to today's standards. Oh yeah, and find a replacement for Younkers. Easy stuff, right? I've had many retail hot takes, and this could be my hottest yet, but something has got to be done. Might as well do it while the mall is alive and thriving.

Looking back to center court and Younkers. Sure it's outdated, but the tile works pretty well the whole feel of the mall.

Heading down to TJMaxx. This corridor feels a lot darker than the JCPenney wing. It also holds many of the more popular chains offered at the mall.

The TJMaxx entrance is nothing to write home about. On the topic of entrances, the Sears that once stood here had a relic of one until shortly before its demise.

Here's the aforementioned Sears. Note the beautiful interior and the entrances. How much I would have done to see this store. I'm not sure if there are any other remaining Sears that look like this.

     North Grand is currently a healthy mall, but where does the future lead? This mall will be an interesting one to watch over the next decade. Does it improve, stay the same, or hit tough times? The mall seemed middling to me on my trip, but does that affect the future? How will anchor changes affect the mall? This is a mall of many questions, and the future will tell how these questions will be answered.

Squeezed into the side of the mall is this tiny cinema. What occupied this space previous to it being a cinema?

JCPenney and Younkers both are as plain as you can get on the outside.

Not a great photo of Younkers, but the architects definitely slacked on this store.

Classic 70's Penney's on the front.

Wide view stretching the front of the mall.

Sumter Mall/Jessamine Mall, Sumter, SC

     Between the loopholes of eclipses, move-in dates, and quick planning, I found myself in Sumter, SC, very unexpectedly. Of course, the city has a mall, so I had my priorities up quickly. This mall didn't disappoint, and I was happy with the plan. I found an alive small town gem with good business at an odd time of the day. Anyways, here at SkyMall, we hope you enjoy this very unplanned post on a very odd mall.

We begin this with two exterior shots. The mall is plain and small, and the Belk is origin-all? I'm trying to be creative here.

     The history of the mall is unique and interesting in many ways. It opened in 1980 as Jessamine Mall, "named for the state's flower," as called. The flower is actually the yellow jasmine, which through slang and the constitution, was called the jessamine by the developers. Leave it to rural SC to do that.

    The original anchors were Belk-Stroman, Capitol (Sumter department store, closed after two years), Wilson's (catalog store), and JCPenney. Wilson's was something rare for a smaller mall to see, being that with most people living nearby, they could go in and out easier. Capitol joined a list a stores that lost excitement after leaving downtown, and heavily declined. It would be interesting to see how life would have been if Capitol stayed in downtown, then left for Richland or Columbiana. Capitol instead closed after two years in operation. Only three years later, Wilson's was purchased by Service Merchandise which switched the Sumter store to their own. Columbia's own Tapp's chain entered the mall in 1986 via Capitol closing. In 1995, Tapp's went belly-up and closed their only store outside of Cola-Town. Another three years later, and Belk-Stroman became simply Belk. Sumter Mall was the only location ever for Mr. Stroman. The proverbial revolving door continued with the bankruptcy and shuttering of Service Merchandise in 2000. With two vacant anchors, one was replaced by Sears, and the other by Sykes Enterprises, a call center, in 2009. Apparently, Sears became Roses sometime between now and then. Roses is a Southeastern discount chain based in North Carolina. 

And here are some very exciting mall entrances. Said no one ever. To the left of Belk is an unconnected Belk Kids store. 

In Hull Storey Gibson malls you get a Hull-lot of carpet. And there will be a Hull-lot of puns in this mall.

So stop, read, and smell the Roses! Bwahahha!

The Sumter, SC photos and history throughout the mall is a sneaky way of covering vacant space. American Eagle would do well in that location.

Not much to be Syke-d about on this mall entrance, but they tried. 

     Aside from the history, there isn't much to be excited about elsewhere. The mall was purchased by Hull Storey Gibson in 2000, and renovated (or more fittingly, 'refitted') in 2002. Like literally every other Hull mall, fountains were stripped, carpet was added everywhere, and the mall lost its character. I can imagine center court being beautiful back in the day, but that is the opposite of today. Carpet and a semi-nice skylight/atrium fill up the court. It doesn't have the feel of a meeting place, but more like a place to sit down and people watch. If there is one thing that irks me about this mall, it's clearly the lack of color.

Looking out of Belk. To the left would be a good location for Shoe Dept., which is on an outparcel on the outside. Ross Dress for Less, Ulta Beauty, IHOP, maybe a local appliance shop, Michael's, and some local college shop would fit well in the eventual demise of JCPenney or the vacant space.

Chains still have a large presence here. Cato, on second thought, would also work somewhere. Vacant space has very little Foot-ACTION in a mall.

     At this point, Sumter Mall is in an odd position. It's been doing well for what it has to deal with, but who knows how sustainable this is. Sumter has a fairly strong, stable economy with Shaw AFB, general life jobs, parks, a growing population (over 60,000 people at the moment), and a few local colleges. This makes it unique in that the city has a decent future to see. The big problem is that Sumter isn't directly on I-95, which leads up to better malls in Florence, or bigger ones a couple hours away in Charleston. Only forty minutes west is Columbia, with strong retail, population, and a stronger economy. Sumter probably needs a mall, but the pickings are slim. If there isn't a quick fix whenever JCP closes, then Sumter Mall gets placed in a bad position (view up for store options, on third thought Burlington is preferable but would work). If the response is solid, then Sumter has a major shopping venue for years to come.

     If I were Hull, I would put a plan in place. This would include a new renovation, small expansion, and store options for vacancies. I wouldn't be afraid of doing something completely radical and different, as this often can work if pulled off correctly. I would advise as to not make stupid mistakes or go completely mindless. 

Jewelry World is one serious local shop. Looks pretty legitimate and has top-line jewelry. While I have a problem with mom & pops in city malls, it shows interest when placed in smaller town malls.

Main mall entrance with a few restaurants to the right. Sykes probably gets these eateries some business for lunch.

Here's the weird inline Belk Kids store. I have no problem with using vacant space, but I would have a problem fixing up the family's wardrobe.

     If there was one Hull mall to visit, I would probably go with Sumter. While I've only covered this one so far on this blog, it's one of the more successful ones. It has a future and interest. It's a sunny forecast for malls when there is cloudy for most. If you make a mall a destination, it brings people. If you make a mall look like a guest bedroom, you deal with the consequences. I seriously hope Hull is listening and takes my advice. That is probably not the case though.

Sumter teens enjoy the options of Rue 21, given that Belk or Penney's are the other main options. 

Yes, there is a CFA here. Clearly something went right.

How nice would a grand fountain look here?

Books-a-Million is great to see here. Once a Waldenbooks, small town mall bookstores bring another group of people to a mall. If you're the only bookstore in town (highly unlikely for Sumter), then you must go to the mall for reading material.

Northlake Mall, Tucker/Decatur, GA

     It is becoming increasing hard to find a vintage urban mall, but if you know where to look, it's possible. One of these trapped malls is trapped between the trendy Decatur and Tucker, thirteen and a half miles from downtown Atlanta. Northlake is unique, in that it has a chance to survive the apocalypse if stupid mistakes are avoided. While you can find bigger and better in the Atlanta area, Northlake still exists primarily due to its anchors. On the day I visited, Macy's and Sears showed good business, yet mom & pop dominate the interior. If the inside is saved, Atlanta's own Aiken Mall scenario is avoided. If little is done, something similar to Columbia Mall (now a Wal-Mart on Memorial Drive) will form in its wake, and the Two Eyesores of North DeKalb will exist. Not good.

Two views of the infamous sign. Inviting, huh? Original, too.

Looking down the mall. Looked pretty busy on the outside, which is always a good sign.

The Penney head is original according to prior knowledge.

~swervy~ . Second time I've said that on this blog.

Main entrance to the mall with Penney head behind. Nothing worth going insane about here.

     Northlake Mall joined the scene as the final mall built in DeKalb until 2001. It was located on I-285 at the LaVista Road exit, completed only two years earlier. JCPenney, Davison's, and Sears were the original anchors, without a Rich's. This was due to the nearby North DeKalb location. If Rich's opened a store at Northlake, the NDM location would suffer and probably close by 1975. NDM would be dead by 1990, being that all replacements were in the area already. Rich's would eventually join the merchandisers at Northlake in 2003, in a way probably taken more as offensive and half-minded.

Hidden third floor in Macy's. As I entered, nostalgia swept over me as the form of Christmas presents of years past awakened. It was raining outside and we sprinted in, greeted by this outlandish entrance (and before I knew its secrets). Walking straight to the jewelry department and selecting 14-karat earrings. I'm not old enough to have experienced the true golden age of malls and stuff like this still happens to me. Pinch me if I'm asleep. And I have more dank memories of this from Mall of Georgia, NDM (declining as I grew) and more area malls. 

     Northlake opened up to a grand start, all 97 stores open with then-governor Jimmy Carter officiating. The three-level Davison's and two-level Penney's opened on the same day as the mall, October 6th, 1971. Immediate competition came with Perimeter Mall and the North DeKalb Mall. What carried Northlake over the others was how much more it had. Three anchors, a McCrory's, Piccadilly, and all of the 70's architectural bits made it just a tad more special. A hidden piece is that Northlake killed off the Avondale/Columbia Mall and gave what else the area had a push. If Northlake wasn't built, A/C would have still been dead for about eighty other reasons.

Sears and salmon colored tile sighting. Younger me remembers buying a fridge here on the day before Labor Day, and it was rainy again. Being the bored self I was, not caring much for stainless steel, I roamed the mall and visited the food court where I would sit with my brother, celebrating his newfound independences of starting high school a month earlier. Aaannnnddd.....

...this fridge has not disappointed.

     As DeKalb continued to grow and succeed, so did Northlake. The first huge problem came with newer ventures up I-85, forming Gwinnett Place Mall, a massive superregional mall bringing in shoppers from as far as Chattanooga, Greenville-Spartanburg, and Macon as early as 1984. This was the mark of the growth of Gwinnett, now a county of over 1 million residents. Only Penney's wasn't a duplicate, and well, that's called speaking too soon.

This Penney's would look good with the "new look."

     To deal with the greater forces against it, Northlake underwent a large-scale renovation adding the Food Garden and Birmingham-based Parisian to the mall. This pushed the mall over the one million mark of square footage. This would be successful, and improve fortunes. In 2001, Discover Mills and Mall of Georgia were completed, and were very successful with numerous anchors. This would almost help the mall indirectly, hurting the much closer Gwinnett Place Mall and essentially killing off North DeKalb. In 2007, Parisian closed as part of the Belk purchase. This would be occupied by Kohl's, which closed in 2016. 

Kohl's is.....still there?

The dollar store to the right has been there for a loooong time. Pranks were done with their supplies.

Dead Best Buy Mobile looks fairly recent. Down that hallway is the food court.

Food court detail. I like the glass atrium at the end. Another JCPenney entrance is down there. Memories of eating at CFA and Wendy's come up here, before shopping for wares.

     Being completely honest, I seriously hope Northlake doesn't die. I have trust in ATR Corinth to rehab this mall like the others they have helped. Filling in Kohl's and other vacancies will go a long way, and while I love the look, a renovation would do something. Atlanta shoppers are simply too picky and ignore Northlake like NDM, Gwinnett Place, and South DeKalb. Don't let Northlake join those ranks, save it. I grew up here, and let those like me do the same.

Second floor planter detail.

Macy's fountain/planter detail.

Sears court on first floor. Payless is dead. 

I love this fountain in the middle. Not wacky, but practical.

Photos from June 2017: