Infamously Dead :: Regency Mall, Augusta, GA

     Note : I was unable to capture any interior photos or exterior photos aside from the anchors and the sign. If you would like to fill in the pieces with photos, send them to skymallblog@gmail.com. Any amount, any angles, any date, would all be greatly appreciated. I hope you enjoy the following post.

     As Georgia's second largest city, Augusta has seemingly been avoided by retail metrics. This is especially odd, considering the amount of dead retail or interesting locales across the city. I'm looking to gradually cover all of these places, as I will drive through the city plenty of times in the future. But arguably the most famous of these we will cover today. Regency Mall is something of legendary in the topic, and I find myself proud to say I saw it. It's the perfect mall that mall owners can take notes from. It is an example of everything bad that can happen to a mall, and owners should look at the mall to know right from wrong. Today it is a creepy mall sat abandoned for 14 years. As one may expect, all that didn't come easily. The mall has a roller-coaster history.

Augusta Chronicle photo of JB White and the other anchors on the sign off the road. I find it hilarious that they bothered to put JB White on the sign when it is literally in front of you. 

Another Augusta Chronicle shot of the center court. Note the "Georgia's Largest" sign on the roof, a distinction true until Atlanta malls expanded and so did the Regency rival.

     The Regency Mall opened to both great fanfare and great competition in 1978.. Only 3.3 miles northwest was the Augusta Mall, which operated on a more Atlanta level, with Davison's and Rich's. Of course this wasn't to say the Regency Mall was far less superior. Regency opened with the national Chicago retailer Montgomery Ward, Augusta's JB White, and Belk (Howard). The only problem was, Ward's had been struggling since WW2, JB White was nothing new, and Belk hadn't fallen in love with Georgia yet. Regency also saw the problems most DeBartolo malls had. Poor location, weak anchors, and little fixes weren't helping the mall's cause. The only edge the Regency had over Augusta was that it opened a week earlier, and was larger. Despite this, Regency was successful for a good run.

Retail of Yesteryear. Here we have a photo of the Ward's area during Christmas. 

Augusta Chronicle. JB White mall entrance in much happier times.

     Being the 80's, both malls held their own but nothing lasted forever. Cullum's, a junior anchor, was shuttered in 1983, before being quickly replaced by a Meyers-Arnold. With an anchor pad empty, DeBartolo planned to add JCPenney to the mall. This Penney's instead joined the Augusta Mall with an expansion. Not only did this improve the competitor, it gave a sign that Regency wasn't going to be at the top for long. Still, somehow maybe a miracle, Regency gave its rival mall a run for its money for a decade or so from that point.

Augusta Chronicle photo of the mall presumably near closing. That is most likely the former Belk in the background.

HDImageGallery photo of the mall's MW. This was probably taken around 2000, when Ward's still existed and photos this decent could be taken. The interior looks like a large Kmart. I suppose great stores die alike.

     It was around 1985 when the problems really came to light. Store turnaround was increasing along with the vacancies. By 1982, really only one Augusta store remained in JB White. The location and security began to unravel throughout the decade, and two convincing incidents occurred. In 1986, a teenage girl was abducted from the parking lot, raped, and her body would be discovered some time later in a small town outside of Augusta. A second crime happened in 1989, with the paralysis of a girl during a carjacking in the parking lot. DeBartolo was sued shortly thereafter for security issues. If you were to place a mall near blue-collar inner-city neighborhoods, good security was a must. After all, if one could head to a similar, much safer mall and not risk injury, why wouldn't you go there? 

Eventually, even the cinema abandoned the pit of a mall. This was much larger than what was originally in the mall. FYI, the sign says "Theatre Closed", and doesn't advertise some creepy flick from 2000.

Former White's and Belk from the theatre parking lot. If you wonder for the expansive cinema parking, it's partially due to a small strip center to the right of me. In that strip is a daycare. I wonder what the vibes a parent gets from dropping their kid off next to a dead mall and urban blight.

     From that point onward, the weak anchors put the mall's weight on their back. JB White and Belk were only exclusive to the mall, which helped matters a little. The reason that I don't mention Montgomery Ward is that it was far too similar to Sears, with locations at the Augusta Mall and in kind-of-nearby Aiken. Not every anchor contributed though. Meyers-Arnold became Upton's in 1987, which closed in 1993. Upton's would never be replaced as a tenant. With that, even the anchors started to fail the mall. Belk became a clearance center, and lo and behold, was shuttered in 1996. The three-screen mall cinema was replaced by greener pastures only 2,617 feet away (I enjoy the Google Maps distance tool) in an eight-screen venue. JB White was basically replaced with a sparkling new, more aesthetically pleasing store at the Augusta Mall. The grand opening was combined with the Regency store's death. Montgomery Ward was left alone, and the remnants weren't so good either. Ward's was in ruins at the time, and was closed along with the rest of the once-venerable chain. The mall, now anchorless, lasted for a year longer and then died in early 2002. The mall more appropriately "existed" though, as no one was left looking for a suit, or lost memories during the mourning of yet another dead mall. It was the equivalent of mall garbage time.

Zoom-in of JB White. This store doesn't really invoke memories of another consolidated chain, but more like an industrial park.

Old Belk, with all of its labelscar and glassy entrance removed. In front of that is a truck rest area which also contained an entrance into the mall parking lot. I would have 100% entered the place, but people were sitting around the fenced off area. I needed to spend the night at my Atlanta home and not a jail cell. 

     Unlike maybe a few other dead malls, the reason for its death is pretty clear. The location was questionable, the anchors weren't special, and security couldn't care less. It also seemed that mall owners were against change, which could have turned the tides tremendously late in life. Rents stayed high, so when the powerful national chains left, mom and pops stayed away. If the owners lowered rents, embraced unusual tenants, and looked at the future, I may have gone inside. Such an urban-type mall, with mixed tenants like national chains and small operations could have done something. Security could have been improved, looks renovated, and anchors filled. You may have had a mall that still existed, was loved, and the history wouldn't be so bleak. But.....no. It's far away now from what could have been.

Here is a sweep of the Montgomery Ward. Note the orange accent, which I believe this Ward's is only one of two to have. The other is in NC.

Another Ward's photo with an emphasis on the Deans Bridge Road-facing side. 

Zoom-in of Ward's. Seeing the logo, though partially eroded, was a treat in itself.

     Needless to say, the future of the mall isn't retail. In fact, the mall was gutted in 2013, removing plans for an outlet mall, offices, and possibly a church. The same owners have had control since 2002, yet all that has been done is paying the property taxes. However, demolition is probably a priority for the city, so visit while you can. Something that large doesn't sit unnoticed for 14 years. You may have thought the numerous possibilities for a decent-looking mall, but what killed the mall isn't helping its redevelopment. It's truly a quandary that area politicians are going to have fun solving.

Believe it or not, this sign is original. It was only fitted with leasing signs giving a former mall remnant the boot.

     Because of the length of time since usage, it remains a mystery on what happens to Regency. Recent doings point to demolition, but what comes in its place? All the lot is today is a sad story of memories past. And if the mall weathers for much longer, all that happens is a lengthening of that story. All the mall is guaranteed to live is right now, but how long will "right now" last? All that's in the forecast is what it was on my visit. Clouds and an uncertain shower.

From the First to the Worst :: Dutch Square Mall, West Columbia, SC

     Columbia is seriously drowning in retail space. I've said it before, and it is no joke. Seven enclosed malls and one lifestyle center have existed at some point in the past 50 years, and this has put the hurt on various shopping centers in the region. Somehow the retail vacancy sits around 8%, similar to Atlanta (according to Colliers Realty in Q2, 2014, but little has changed), but the area malls aren't helped by statistics. Only one mall really rules king, but today we look at an underdog. Dutch Square Mall has taken Columbia shoppers out of the rain for nearly fifty years, and being the smallest, needs some love. Barely anything has gone in favor for the mall over that span, and it truly hurts to see a mall like this struggle. So today we immortalize it online.

The main entrance to the mall. On the right is Wes Bolick Bedrooms. This entrance looks a tad outdated, but blends in maybe too much. From Bush River Road, the mall looks like a strip mall anchored by a large white box and Burlington. More on that later.

     Dutch Square has a very "almost" history. When the mall opened, however, the history was pretty straightforward. The layout was a dumbbell for all practical reasons, with a slight curve to the western half of the mall. Towards the eastern anchor was another anchor coming off to the south. Filling in the south was Woolco, to the west was Augusta's JB White, and to the east was local store Tapp's. Heading off in the mall down towards JB White (literally down, the mall has a consistent slope throughout) would take you past Woolworth. Filling out the exterior lots were an A&P grocery store and a small twin-eater. This was enough for celebration, being it was Columbia's first enclosed mall and would be for a good while. Altogether, the mall was prosperous for a good run, but storm clouds were in the horizon.

If you enter the entrance on the last photo, here is the scene. Depressing and oddly bright in the same photo. 

And if you take a right at the junction shown last photo, here is the view. Very deserted. Note the interesting light fixtures on the roof.

     The first problem came up in 1988, but it really wasn't one. Richland Mall, in the southwestern neighborhood of Forest Acres, had been enclosed. Of course, this was a huge flop and Dutch Square shrugged it off with its much more palatable offerings. But the neighborhood around Dutch Square hurt the mall in two ways. The immediate area had aged since the mall's opening, and had struggled economically for a while. On the other hand, the far northwest environs of Cola had been booming with new money and new residents. This was still in the Dutch Square region of dominance, but it wasn't long before the potential came crashing down. A forest 4.9 miles to the northwest was chosen for commerce in 1986, and shortly after came the decline of Columbia's "elderly" shopping institution. Combined with the construction of Columbia Place Mall in 1977, the soon-to-struggle West Columbia mall needed to visit the operating room. Under the new leadership of hometown Edens & Avant, a blueprint was created. An expansion was proposed, adding Atlanta's Rich's and VA-based Miller and Rhoads, but bumps in the road told otherwise. Rich's parent company, Ohio's Federated Stores was dealing with bankruptcy proceedings and a minor recession slowed the dreams. Nothing ever came to fruition.

Views of the now-closed Belk. Pretty much anything along this wing is vacant, not particularly surprising. The open store on the left of the first photo occupies a former Woolworth's. On the topic of storefronts, what was the store on the left, second photo, closest to Belk? Restaurant? Record shop?

     One could say that the mall's decline started in 1983. This was when the mall's Woolco shuttered, leaving a major anchor vacant. This was further exacerbated with the death of the Tapp's chain in 1995, leaving JB White lonely anchoring the mall. The Band-Aid was placed on the mall in 1996, with anchor replacements, renovations, and new brains behind the mall. Burlington Coat Factory and Office Depot subdivided the old Woolco. The vacant Tapp's became a General Cinema, then AMC, megaplex. This renewed the mall's success, but this wasn't sustainable nor long-lasting. 

Detail of the storefront I was talking about. Nice doors.

From the closed Belk to the center court. If you couldn't tell, this mall is far from large. Given the pillars on the right, is that an old Express (not about the Bavarian storefront earlier)? On the left is a Planet Fitness.

Detail (or really none of it) of the Planet Fitness. I'm surprised they have a mall entrance being a gym of all places.

Looking inside the old Belk. Yes, it looks neglected, but part of the first floor is soon to be a new Planet Fitness location. According to family members, the old PF is quite dinky. I can imagine the second and third floors of the old Belk are spooky.

     What once worked stopped working, but it was only part of the mall's fault. Having a discount store and a theatre where someone can catch a movie and not really enter the mall didn't help. But it wasn't helping that competition was slowly squashing the mall. With two locations at Columbiana Centre, the new mall in town to the northwest, Belk saw little reason to operate another location at Dutch Square (JB White became Belk in 1998-99). Belk Simpson became simply Belk in 2011, and closed in 2015. The vacant Belk, or one-sixth of it, is slated to become a new Planet Fitness.

Looking into the old Woolco, now Burlington. Discount stores were never meant to be pretty, but on the inside, the store shows its age. Picture a KMart, but a tad less trashy and a lot more linoleum and questionable fashion. 

To the left of the AMC is this entrance wing. There was probably a cafeteria down that way decades ago. Down far on the right is what I think is a Hibbett Sports, or so Google Maps tells me.

     Dutch Square won't be Dutch Square for much longer, which is a pretty safe bet. I presume demolition is in the near future, given the state of its existence and the lackluster website. Grammar mistakes and old logos and old directories, the list goes on and on, aren't very inspiring. The real question is what comes in the place of Columbia's oldest mall. A Wal-Mart positions itself just down the street at the site of an old mall (go figure) so that won't work. Target probably doesn't want a location that close to Wal-Mart and the neighborhood folk are presumably more Bentonville-inclined. I'd say destroy the mall, place in a grocery store and place a strip mall around it. Surely it's nothing exciting, and the death of a mall is always sad no matter the circumstances, but what else? The area isn't exactly ready for a Nordstrom-anchored super The Domain-type lifestyle center, and nowhere else in SC is, for that matter. Schools or offices would require the emptying of all tenants, so what can you do? Strip malls can at least house displaced tenants.

Detail of the entrance wing I entered through and shown earlier. Took me a minute to even find out what this was.

Here is the center court, which is awfully lush and dated. I do enjoy the admittedly out-of-style palm trees and good ol' Murica. 

     Dutch Square appears to be reaching its last legs of AC. With demolition looming, I hope Dutch Square has a happy life from now. I usually don't hand out this type of respect to malls, but when you have lasted the longest in a brick-and-mortar bloodbath, love and loyalty has supported you. When other malls have passed you by, and you last, visits have supported you. When you aren't flashy or eclectic, careless shoppers have supported you. It's sad to see such a warrior of a mall that was so close to temporary invincibility back in the 90's die out. But I hope the property sees its second incarnation in happiness. (I will be off writing obituaries if you need me)

I didn't get a sign photo but I did Street View it. 

I got some exterior photos, but they disappeared somewhere, so another Street View will have to do. For all you know, this could be strip mall given the exterior. Note the old Belk and the blue BCF, with Woolco vestiges included.

The Decadence of the 80's :: Richland Mall, Columbia, SC

     Back in the day, the open-air mall was all the rage with its brother the enclosed mall. Over time, this certain mall became less fashionable and caused more than enough conversions of enclosing. While there are still vestiges of this seemingly mythical shopping center, it's not the same anymore. This called for more switches, and a few bad ones at that. While some can be blamed on the run-of-the-mill retail rules, some were best described as, "What the actual crap happened here?" And the Richland Mall in the fairly-affluent Columbia neighborhood of Forest Acres is no exception. We would partially recommend clearing your mind, as you seriously may wonder what is wrong with some mall developers. Trust us.

And we begin. Being a dead mall, not much can be said here. What you may see here is a whole lot of aging design. Whoever thought lightbulbs were a great mall lighting device was presumably fired shortly thereafter. I suppose the 15-year variety wasn't around in 1989. Dead Parisian is straight ahead on the second photo.

      For a mall of its type, it had humble beginnings. The mall started out as a small open-air center in 1961, with Augusta anchor JB White bookending the right of the mall. A small moviehouse, Colonial supermarket, Winn-Dixie, and an Eckerd rounded out smaller spaces. This original mall prospered until replacements moved in. In 1969, the city's first enclosed mall came in with Dutch Square Mall on the northwest environs of the city. Columbia Place had unique anchors and was two stories, anchoring the northeast of the city. Filling in the margins were the Bush River, Decker, and Woodhill Malls, which were smaller but rounded out their respective areas. Downtown also maintained a decent store core with Tapp's, Belk, Berry's on Main, and Davison's all having a piece of the pie. This all snowballed downhill until Winn-Dixie was shuttered in Dec 1987, being the pin drop before the bomb. And so Richland Mall as anyone knew it changed forever...

You can get on a dead directory, but a logo on a store that was last used 7 years ago is unexcusable. I truly thought I would never see that logo ever again but today we meet. Wait, does that say Parisian? What kind of a mall did I find...

Looking down to the old Bonwit Teller/Dillard's/The Department Store/Blacklion, now a ping-pong club. It was in use at the time of the photo, but I have a photo of it not in use (as in closed on the hours). In front is a long-disused fountain that is uberly large and surrounds the elevator.

If I moved my camera to the center of the escalator and took this photo I'd have something Dan Bell-worthy. Just place "Dead Mall Series" on the overhead sign area at the top and bingo.

     And so Richland Mall went from unsuspecting open-air mall to an over-the-top mall of uncertainty. JB White's remained, but anchoring the other side of the original mall was Parisian, a Birmingham store unfamiliar to the city. However, White's became a walk-through anchor with the third anchor being Bonwit Teller, an unknown New York retailer that was essentially Nordstrom on steroids. The company behind the transition was the infamous Hooker collective, an Australian company that was the brains (or more harshly, stupidity) behind the Forest Fair Mall project. Forest Fair Mall was another similar mall in Cincinnati with more unknown anchors and built too big for its shoes. While you may wonder how these anchors were brought to a middle-class market, it was more poor business practices. LJ Hooker was the owner of Parisian, BT, B. Altman, and Sakowitz at the time and placed more locations in all the wrong places. Forest Fair could be called even worse, with three of the four anchors mixed in with an Elder-Beerman and a Bigg's hypermarket being excessive.  The anchors however fared much worse with only Parisian surviving and storied institutions never being the same before succumbing to their struggles. On the bright side, both malls had no lack of odd architecture. Yet architecture didn't make a dent in the outcome. LJ Hooker found itself knees-deep in debt with 1.7 billion dollars sitting around unpaid. Chapter 11 bankruptcy came along before purchase by another Australian company.

This is wing that goes off to the old food court. How much I would have given to see it.

Parisian is far off in the distance and the connecting food court side is to the left. If it wasn't that the Columbia Children's Theatre had an audition this day I doubt I would have made it in this wing.

     Financial hoobaloo aside, Richland Mall was stunning for its era. It was elegance second to none in Columbia and LJ Hooker thought it was foolproof. It was a near perfect location for a mall of its type, near downtown and in one of the wealthier parts of town, yet still far from interstates. This interstate problem was pretty much a lost cause, due to the mall's construction before such a thing could be accomplished. Yet Richland struggled for fairly obvious reasons. It's rebirth drowned Columbia in retail and hurt itself. The mall was way too upscale for what Columbia could handle. In a way, Hooker's expectations didn't help the mall. Parking garages were put all around the mall and on top, meaning skylights were impossible to use, creating a very dark mall. Columbians aren't usually fond of parking decks. All this combined to create a tough landscape for retail survival. All this escalated until Bonwit Teller closed in the early 90's (I've heard 1993, 1990, and 1992). Even with the much-less upscale Dillard's chain in its place, the slow decline didn't stop.

Here's the Belk entrance from the Parisian wing. Columbia Children's Theatre is the only operational store in this wing

A small snippet of the food court. China Max closed in 2014. This food court is one of the worst I've seen, and still feels like new, probably because no one ate here.

     By 1995, the mall was in full-blown dead mall status. Management was switching hands every time you blinked, never good for redevelopment. Anything started could be stopped after a new purchase. Around this time, Richland Fashion Mall became Richland Mall, as you had a greater chance of getting depression here than a new pair of pants. During the time, two small renovations were completed. One moved a TGI Friday's and added a Barnes and Noble. The other moved the food court to another location on the main mall's first floor, between then-White's and Parisian. The old food court then housed a call center for Verizon. All of this was topped off by the consolidation of White's to North Carolina's Belk chain in 1998. Little was done to the original White's, cool escalators included.

Finishing off the food court here. This is very blurry for some reason.

Elevator fountain detail. To the right is the old Dillard's.

Here's from the elevator to the B&N/Belk area. I'm oddly intrigued on what the store on the corner to the left once was.

Here we are going from Belk all the way to the Dillard's. This mall isn't very big without the old food court.

     Dillard's closed its doors in 2003, creating a vacancy that was barely filled. Blacklion, a furniture store, took the reins before giving way to the creatively named The Department Store. Parisian closed in 2007, just before their nameplate would become Belk. All through this time, management swapped even more times. Richland Mall was falling down the sink, and this problem was exacerbated by closings throughout. Bath and Body Works, yes, the dead mall king, closed in 2012. When your BB&W closes, you are doing terribly. And the mall is indeed doing terribly.

Coming from Belk to the food court area. What is with the colorful painting down on the left?

Looking down into the old food court. I like the hurricane simulator down there.

Looking inside the old Parisian, uncovered and to full view. You rarely see an anchor covered with clear glass and as visible to mall walkers.

     If you are such a dead mall, what can you do? Of course the solution here means a sad end to a visually assaulting mall, but the factors are there. I would destroy the main mall, parking decks

included, aside from the Belk, Barnes and Noble, and the front strip of stores. This would mean the mall would become a strip mall of sorts with major anchors. The Dillard's would be the replacement location for the rooftop theatre. Parisian could become a big-box tenant or more stores. Every remaining business in the mall would be given a similar-sized location in the new mall. It could become a new Trenholm Plaza and attract the same kind of stores. Trenholm Plaza is a historic, upscale strip mall a little to the east of Richland. It included a Tapp's store that was a key anchor for many years, and using it the mall had the ability to enclose. It never did so and is still successful today.

Escalators run from the second floor to the rooftop deck. That was once a clock as shown. 

From the balcony area to the Belk. Regal Cinemas is on top and is very hard to find unless you are looking for it.

The Parisian looks the same as always. This is from a skybridge between the food court and the parking garage.

     So, for obvious reasons, visit Richland while you can. I find it to be pretty underrated as cool dead malls go, and is a respectable alternative to Forest Fair. Belk is even a relic here, and shows its age. There is no doubt you can find anything of vintage here, and this is an age where vintage is quickly disappearing. You won't be doing any shopping here most likely, but you may find some cool sights. After all, visiting a dead mall doesn't have the end goal of purchase, but more or less the goal of memory.