Regency's Unrelated Sibling :: Aiken Mall, Aiken

     "If you build it, they will come," only rings true to an extent. What you build can't have numerous flaws. It has to be at least partially necessary. It can't be vulnerable and not be managed well. It needs to be in the scope of the community. Lastly, and maybe most importantly, the project can't be oversized, pointless, and have little reason to exist. However, the Aiken Mall broke pretty much every rule in the book. It was pointless, unnecessary, and had little reason to exist. And because of this, it's on life support and is irrelevant in the Midland retail scene.

Here's an unspectacular main entrance for the mall.

Entering the main entrance with Dillard's straight ahead. With two Dillard's locations, the mall was in a worse position. The stores are like Siamese twins ; if one dies, the other one does the same.

Seeing the old Belk logo on a directory isn't exactly making me optimistic. With a directory like this, you would have a pretty nice mall. That is far from the case though. 

     Before getting into the specifics of everything, I'll go over a brief history. Built in 1989, the mall boasted anchors Belk, Brendles (catalog store), Phar-Mor, Sears, and JCPenney. This anchor setup didn't last long, but perhaps for the better. Presumably during their first bankruptcy, Phar-Mor shut its doors at the mall. Brendle's fell in 1996 with the rest of the Elkin, NC company. With two anchors dead, the mall began to face financial struggles. A foreclosure and court case later, ownership switched from Zamias to Urban Retail Properties. With financial and vacancy problems in the mall's adolescence, the outlook wasn't looking as bright for the mall. It was likely that Aiken would be left without a mall as early as 10 years.

The only color that comes from the mall comes from these food establishments. You need a renovation when it gets that bad.

The Belk corridor remains bright thanks to having an open store. It's one of two pockets of life in the mall.

To the left of the entrance is this dark, long, flavorless hallway. That's pretty symbolic.

     Luckily, an unlikely hero came to the rescue in the form of Dillard's in 2000. Dillard's occupied the former Phar-Mor and Brendle's locations, giving the mall a full anchor roster again and improving the fortunes. With this newfound stability, the mall prospered well into the 2000's. Traditional mid-market stores filled the corridors. Aiken's mall finally appeared to be a place to hangout, shop, and have a good time. Yet one of the largest financial events in world history was on the horizon. In 2008, at the head of the Great Recession, Aiken, its mall, and its economy, began to flounder. Gap, an original tenant, was one of the first stores out. The creek became a flood though, and key tenants like Kirkland's, Belk Home, Dollar Tree, and FYE shuttered their locations from 2008 to 2011. The only real good news that came in that time span was the addition of Books-A-Million in 2008. In 2007, the mall had a promising, bright future ahead, following the mess in the 90's. In 2011, the mall was at 45% occupancy and on life support. The shopping center was in an odd phase where the mall was dead, but the anchors vibrant. However, the knockout punch wasn't far away.

Detail of a seating area between the food court and JCPenney. This looks like a toss salad in mall form. You just put benches and planters there and hope it works. You put little character in it and make it look like it was made in all of five minutes. Probably because it was made in five minutes.

I detailed some store fronts in the mall for vintage's sake. I'd imagine that most storefronts are original.

More stores. The odd-fonted store in view says Authentiks. There is a photo of an alive one at another mall I photographed on this trip. 

       Depleted and injured, the Aiken Mall pushed ahead as a shell of what it once was. This obviously wasn't sustainable for retailing success. And everyone's doubts were confirmed in 2016. Anchors and anything else feeding on dying dreams dropped like flies. Sears died. Penney's questioned their existence at the mall and left. Then Dillard's looked at the other anchors and called it quits. Whatever survived the store exodus woke up in the dumpsters of the zombified mall filled with elderly mall walkers. Maybe that wasn't really how it happened, but something of that variety occurred. Five stores remain today, giving out a whopping 12% occupancy rate. I don't know who is paying the bills at this point, but they wait not much longer.

Any ideas for this bubble-sided, two entrance store?

Looking back to Belk. The lighting looks both cavernous and psychedelic, which is a weird mix.

JCPenney rocks a plain, 90's look. Not much to say here.

     On November 21, 2017, major developments came out of the Aiken Mall. Owners Southeastern announced the demolition of the mall, as soon as February 2018. The mall is slated to become a lifestyle center similar to that of the Shelter Cove project on Hilton Head. Belk will anchor with possible big-box tenants joining alongside. Developers cite sales tax revenue as a benefit from the new retail center. Not much else is known on the mall's new life at the moment.

The Dillard's mall corridor is very spooky. The random green light gives off kind of abandoned vibes to the mall. It reminds me of the flickering lights you see in the parking lots of asylums.

I took a photo of RadioShack for all the wrong reasons.

By Sears and BAM is this mall entrance.

This is by far the most unique Sears entrance I've seen. No tiled look here. This is full blown 90's, asymmetrical aesthetic.

     I have mixed feelings over this redevelopment. There are some factors worth mentioning that pushed the Shelter Cove project. Hilton Head keeps a year-long influx of wealthy tourists and people who have vacation homes there. Thanks to this, the island has a steady economy that is pretty safe and secure. Aiken is a city that has seen low growth and lacks a major economic sector. It lacks even a sliver of wealth and anything a bit more upscale than Belk would struggle. Anything built would immediately have competition. Augusta boasts a major mall that has suppressed Aiken's mall for years. The Augusta Mall is full of life and has a full anchor lineup. To the east of Aiken is Columbia, with its own set of retailing options. Columbia has a strong economy and population that easily beats out Aiken. I've taken the stretch between Aiken and Columbia many a times, and it's not a long drive at all. Thanks to this, Southeastern will have to attract stores that can survive in such an environment. Most of these stores would have experience in the Aiken market, and perhaps its mall. If these stores left the market because of its health, why would they come back?

Looking back from BAM/Sears to the Belk. The bland architecture blends together and becomes something of an ugly tunnel. 

Detail of the entrance near BAM. The developers went to town with those green lights. 

This part of the mall has the most life. I can imagine BAM attracts a decent crowd. 

     The reasons for the mall's death are eerily similar to that of Augusta's Regency Mall. Both malls were probably screwed from the start. Some similar problems killed the malls : poor anchors, bad location, and careless owners. If you have lived in Aiken for a while, say since the mall's opening, and can't remember Brendles or Phar-Mor, I can't blame you. Drug stores (Phar-Mor) and magazine floors (Brendles) are never strong anchors. Thanks to bankruptcy and weak management, both stores vacated their locations early. These spots were empty for too long, already hurting the vulnerable mall. The savior was Dillard's but in two places. Splitting the merchandise and traffic, both stores are as good as one. This means that essentially one anchor was still vacant. But the two mall's similarities don't end there. What happened in 1986 at Regency happened in 2007 at Aiken ; a teenage girl was abducted and raped, showing need for security. Management also slipped up with the rapid closing of stores. There was no backup plan, and with one anchor remaining, the writing was on the wall. The mall was dead. I won't speak much on the location. A simple trip to Google Maps does the trick. The mall is not close to the interstate, and the task of driving here from I-20 was tough enough for me.

A dead Hibbett Sports occupies part of the mall.

And I'm not guessing here. Here's proof.

Bath and Body Works doesn't actually need shoppers to exist.

The JCPenney court remains bright with no stores.

     In all, it's no wonder that the Aiken Mall died. The only good news we can take from this is the future. I'm no fan of lifestyle and power centers leading the shopping options of a fair-sized towns, but it's better than nothing. Honestly, I hope the best for what new comes out of this. A dead mall isn't helping anyone, but maybe something that does help takes its place. Maybe the citizens of Aiken won't need to drive for shopping. They can simply find it a short drive away. And maybe citizens can happily shop away the days, for once and for all.

Belk's entrance looks normal, but I'm not a fan of the horizontal stripes.

JCPenney decided to blend in rather than stand out.

Belk looks like a Dillard's.

Mall of Georgia, Buford, GA

     The Mall of Georgia, located in the Atlanta suburb of Buford, deserves its name. It's Georgia's largest mall, but that isn't all it can be proud of. It's a picture of what a mall can be with extensive planning after the main mall era. The mall is arguably the most unique of all of them in Atlanta, and quite appropriately, maybe even Georgia. Brought along with it was a major effect on Atlanta retail. Buford suddenly had a major retail scene and boomed following the mall's opening. Needless to say, the Mall of Georgia did some big things to Georgia, for better or worse.

Here's the directory for the crescent-shaped mall. By the way, there is another floor above the first floor map. In fact, there is a third floor too, with only a cinema. 

Here's the corridor from Dick's to the main mall. To the left of me, along with an entrance, is a bungee jumping structure. It's been there forever, though I don't know if it's been in operation since the mall opened. 

     The MoG opening goes beyond the opening itself. Even in planning and construction, it was obvious Simon expected a large-scale project. And the mall goes beyond the mall itself. Looking at old aerials, Buford Drive, the road the mall is on, didn't always look the way it did. What was once a simple stop-sign I-85 exit became sprawl, with the exit becoming a cloverleaf and stoplights on both sides. What was once farmland became strip malls and big-boxes. What was once quiet roads became median-filled trafficked streets. And don't forget that most of this happened in a short time span of only a few years. Malls can definitely change a landscape, but something this scale was scarily different. Mall of Georgia's impact can even be counted for the rapid expansion of northeastern Atlanta and the fact that the suburbs pretty much go all the way to Gainesville at this point. 

View of the Belk court. This acts as a divider between the center court/food court area and the eastern section of the mall. 

Belk/Lord and Taylor mall entrance. Sure, this was Belk's first Atlanta location in decades, but they didn't turn it unique. The marble entrance gives away its origin. Photoshop the Belk logo out, and add L&T's script logo the sides and you wouldn't know the difference.

Opposite of Belk is this entrance. That's a Forever 21 on the left, one of many junior anchors. Spoiler alert : all of these entrances look the same.

     The Mall of Georgia opened up to a great start in 1999. It was one of the nation's most upscale and largest malls, and the benefits didn't stop there. The original anchors were very strong for being pre-consolidation and before the death of the various discounters. These anchors also provided a more diverse and far superior experience than other Atlanta malls. Those with money had Lord and Taylor and Nordstrom to play in. Traditional department stores had a space to exist, with Dillard's and JCPenney to shop in. Bed Bath and Beyond, Galyan's Sporting Goods, and Haverty's Furniture filled in niches for shoppers. And it wouldn't be an Atlanta mall without a Rich's, the local favorite store that entered the mall in a three-floor store. In 1999, you couldn't get much better than this. It also only seemed true that a Mall of Georgia would have top-class anchors to support it. However, only Rich's and Haverty's were actually based in Georgia. Only one would last past 2005 though, and in 2003 all was done for it.

Approaching the food court. This is where an architecturally excellent mall gets a step further.

This is the back area of the food court. If you thought this was expansive, your thoughts won't matter soon. The kiosks cluttering the area don't help though.

It wouldn't be a late-era mall without a carousel.

Looking from the carousel up to the roof, featuring the large clock and the cinema sign. This makes me dizzy somehow.

     The mall would experience some small turbulence throughout its early years, but nothing to be worried about. On June 22, 2004, news came that Dick's had purchased the Plainfield, Indiana-based Galyan's concern. Shortly after, the Galyan's was converted into a Dick's operation. Galyan's was more similar to REI and Dick's had more rec sports equipment, causing the merger. But a year before, Rich's started the original consolidation to Macy's, making the mall lose an anchor in a way. This was obviously not a problem though, with Macy's taking up the spot as soon as Rich's "closed". Rich's became Rich's-Macy's, and lastly Macy's in 2005. Also around this time, Lord and Taylor left the mall and all of its other Georgia locations. Yet even this couldn't stop the mall. With far less anchor choices those days, Simon opted for the addition of a store pretty much forgotten by then for Atlantan's : Belk.

Food courts don't get much better than this. This is supposed to resemble a former Atlanta train station. Why do all train stations seem to have the NBC peacock look?

This was taken to show the levels of the mall, from first to second to third. 

Here's one side of the food court area. Note the gingerbread house-designed roof. I find it a little weird with the rest of the mall.

     Belk brought much more than the Mall of Georgia store with it. Today, Atlanta is the biggest market for the store, with the 20 metro locations (soon to be 19, with the closure of the Phipps Plaza store) and a local liking. The markets include even Charlotte, which is where Belk is headquartered, and Dallas, Belk's newest market. It helped that Belk entered the market after Rich's left, clearing a strong competitor. In fact, Belk's entrance helped a lot for Georgia as a whole. It gave way to more urban Belks, when the store only had a knowledge of rural areas. If Mall of Georgia did hurt other malls, it at least did something for the state.

Now we head into the western section of the mall. This small area is probably the most toned-down section of the mall. I would go as far to saying it looks a bit plain and like every other 90's mall. 

90's corridor, meet 90's Penney's look. 90's Penney's look, meet 90's corridor.

Here's the JCPenney court. It at least looks a little different. Good news, things only pick up from here.

     The last anchor switch came pretty recently. Nordstrom left their anchor spot in 2015, giving way for Von Maur's third Atlanta store. I'm a little surprised with the closure of Nordstrom. The Buford area gained lots of new money thanks to the mall and Lake Lanier is nearby. Buford is far from poor, or even middle-class. It's also one of the hottest and cheapest real estate markets in the US. Buford could have easily handled a Nordstrom store, in my opinion. The reason behind the closure remains a mystery to me, and possibly Buford residents alike. 

Going farther down the mall. In the background is the start of the Plains section and the Macy's court.

Macy's, once Rich's, doesn't sport anything special. This is ironic, because Rich's was special, but Macy's really isn't. It's not a great sign when pretty much every mall had a Macy's at some point.

In Macy's court is this decent fountain. This isn't the only fountain in the mall, but one of five. A fountain is also located in The Village, a lifestyle section outside the food court. I didn't photograph that as it was raining and cold.

     The Mall of Georgia is pretty much on top of the world now. The mall is in its prime, and has never looked better. This felt obvious to me as I visited on a Sunday afternoon and struggled to take pictures. The mall was packed by the thousands. Every food place had a solid line and the food court was filled with people. This isn't a small, dinky food court, mind you. This is a cavernous food court with oodles of seating. The situation was so bad that I saw people eating on the benches on the second floor. Included in the fun were the anchors, all decked out for Christmas and filled with people. It was a splendid scene to see. Sure, lots of malls are dying nowadays, but not every one is. Mall of Georgia has the look, vibe, and crowd to show it can be a contender decades down the road. Days like this are helping its cause.

Here we enter the Coastal section, which looks like a plantation in mall form. This section includes Dillard's and Shoe Dept., a major junior anchor.

Dillard's entrance is easily complemented by the surrounding architecture. Dillard's could have put an all-white entrance and it still would have looked good.

Dillard's from close-up.

     Mall of Georgia is a unique case for a mall. Despite its size and opulence, you could say there's only one thing to be worried about. JCPenney is the only anchor I'm worried about. I'm interested in what the plans for the store are given that the company isn't really doing so hot as of late. Does Nordstrom reenter the picture? For replacements, all I can think of are upscale options. This puts an interesting scene in the movie, given that Buford has money. Wealthy folks spend their weekends often at their Lanier lakehouses, giving the mall a regular boost of rich consumers. The Buford area is also home to a few notable people, including Atlanta Falcons receiver Julio Jones. A man getting paid multi-million dollars isn't moving to the bad side of town. 

Dillard's from the second floor. Should I be worried that a mall is ready for Christmas over a month before the actual holiday?

Near Dillard's is this unremarkable entrance.

Macy's from the second floor.

Entrance wing across from Macy's. Haverty's entrance is down there.

     Anyways, future aside, the Mall of Georgia carries some architectural clout. The mall is divided into multiple sections, representing the terrain of Georgia. One section shows the mountains, the piedmont, the coast, and the plains. Also included are two arcades near the food court. Numerous fountains populate the mall throughout, with the grandest one being in the Village. This fountain is the largest and opens up, meaning children can play in it during the summer heat. The other fountains are still special though. Each section has its own fountain, except the food court. These fountains fit in with the theme of the section they are located in. In an era where it seems fountains are being neglected, seeing them aplenty in a mall is refreshing (no pun intended). 

Here's the second floor view of the Plains section. 

I didn't take this photo to show Finish Line but instead the interesting accent feature. Throughout the mall, signs like this list off municipalities, towns, and counties in Georgia. This would probably only work in, well, the Mall of GEORGIA.

The end of the Plains section. Each section greets shoppers with a large sign sporting the main theme.

JCPenney entrance wing. All the entrances look the same for the most part.

JCPenney from the second floor.

     If you like it or not, the Mall of Georgia changed the norm of shopping in Atlanta. If you are unhappy with this, you must realize that MoG isn't only to blame. Not far south is the Mills-developed Sugarloaf Mills. These malls opened back to back with a common target. Gwinnett Place Mall reigned supreme for 16 years and was beginning to age. Atlanta had boomed through the 90's and carried a strong economy. And so the two shopping pillars were constructed. Gwinnett Place was pretty much doomed from then on. It currently operates in dead mall status with Macy's, Sears, and two nontraditional anchors (more info elsewhere on this blog). Sure, a perfectly good was ruined, but does it matter when it's replaced by a perfectly good, even better, mall?

Theatre.

To put in perspective on the sheer size of the mall, here's a photo from the third floor to the first. It's trippy.

Technically, this is the main entrance. This is the opposite of the food court on the second floor.

Back towards Von Maur is this empty anchor pad. If Simon ever felt the need to expand, this is probably where it would go. This was possibly for Parisian, but that's out of the question with Belk here and the fact that Parisian died out 11 years ago.

     It's safe to say that you shouldn't be in a rush to visit the Mall of Georgia. So often we love dead malls, but sometimes you need to step back and look at the bigger picture. Live malls aren't always washed down and tasteless. MoG is an example of this. It's one of the best in the US, yet by no means is it boring. The architecture is excellent and the enjoyment is endless. I love a dead mall too, but do they check these boxes? 

Now for the decadent mountain wing. The Christmas décor takes this to a new level.

Von Maur from up closer. 

Barnes and Noble.

Dick's look as it normally would.

Von Maur's newest stores look nice as always.

The only other decent outdoor photo I have is this one of Macy's.