Macon Mall

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Coordinates: 32°49′01″N 83°41′40″W / 32.81692°N 83.69432°W / 32.81692; -83.69432
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Macon Mall
Total retail floor area
1,080,000 sq ft (100,000 m2).[2]
No. of floors2
Websitewww.maconmall.com

Macon Mall is a two-level, 1.1-million-square-foot

J.C. Penney and Macy's. Sears once occupied the space currently taken by Burlington. The lower level is still empty.[when?
]

History

Early history (1975–1986)

The mall opened in 1975 as a 1.08-million-square-foot shopping mall anchored by

Westgate Mall down the street. At opening date the mall was filled with hundreds of light bulbs in a disco-style theme. This appearance quickly became dated and expensive to maintain, leading to the mall's first renovation in 1983. The food court was added in 1986 and Davison's changed over to Macy's
, when Macy's decided to rename all of their stores at the time under the same name.

Renovation and expansion (1997)

For 14 years Macon Mall was one of the largest malls in the state of Georgia encompassing 1,448,200-square-foot (134,540 m2). The mall underwent a huge renovation and expansion in 1997 that nearly doubled the size of the mall and added

parking garages were constructed on the new wing to handle the increase in business and decrease in parking. An extra level was also added to the food court that brought in Atlanta Bread Company, Sbarro, and Time Out Arcade. Macy's changed over to Rich's in 1998. In the years following the expansion, Macon Mall ran a monopoly on regional retail. A new power center named Eisenhower Crossing opened down the street in 2001 and took Old Navy
from the mall. Federated integrated Macy's into Rich's as Rich's-Macy's in 2003, and in 2005 announced they were eliminating all of their regional names in favor of Macy's in 2005. This resulted in Rich's at Macon Mall changing back to Macy's. Belk also dropped the "Matthews" name from their store and Steve & Barry's opened a large store on the upper level of the Sears wing in 2005.

Beginning of the decline (2008)

Parisian was bought by Belk in 2006 and was closed in 2007. The mall entered foreclosure in 2008, and put under the operation of

Linens N Things, and KB Toys. The Movie Tavern that was supposed to open in 2009, in the former Parisian building, never did due to the mall's financial issues. The upper level of the food court has been abandoned. This exodus of retailers is a direct result of Dillard's vacancy, new competition, poor location, and the weakened economy. In 2009, Macon Mall introduced Art Space. This is the second art space concept in a mall in the U.S. The first is Crestwood Court outside of St. Louis
.

Renovation and demolition (2011)

The former Dillards remaining in August 2012 after demolition of the East Wing and former Parisian

The mall continued to leak in-line tenants in 2010 including

Aéropostale, and Justice (formerly Limited Too) leaving the mall.[6] Despite these closures, two stores opened in 2012: B. Turner's and Dry Falls Outfitters.[7]

Macy's interior entrance of the Macon Mall in Macon GA

Continued decline (2012–2021)

Men's Wearhouse & Tux, closing as well as the food court steadily emptying out.[citation needed] On January 6, 2020, it was announced that Macy's would be closing in March 2020 as part of a plan to close 125 stores nationwide which would leave Burlington as the only anchor store left.[10]

Redevelopment (2021-present)

On Wednesday, September 15, 2021, Macon-Bibb County announced that Hull Property Group had donated the mall to them and Mayor Lester Miller announced a $100 million investment to redevelop the mall and add a new amphitheater.[11] With this redevelopment, city officials are hoping this will result in new businesses coming to the Eisenhower Parkway corridor. The amphitheater will have seating for up to 10,000 and the mall will include new businesses, office space for the county, space for Central Georgia Technical College and Middle Georgia State University as well as space for the film industry. Plans are also in place to create the world's largest Pickleball facility in the area. Since the announcement of the redevelopment, several retailers have expressed interest in nearby shopping centers and the city announced plans for a Casino hotel as well as a new restaurant plaza called "Mac-Town".[12]

References

  1. ^ "Macon Mall wins battles to expans". Chain Store Age: 88. 1996.
  2. ^ "Mall Properties: Macon Mall". Hull Storey Gibson Companies, LLC. Archived from the original on 2011-07-12. Retrieved 2011-01-27.
  3. ^ "Macon Mall to Be Up for Sale Next Month". Istockanalyst.com. 2008-10-12. Retrieved 2012-03-21.
  4. ^ New Macon Mall owner plans remodel, demolition Archived October 18, 2010, at the Wayback Machine
  5. ^ "Sears at Macon Mall to Close". 13wmaz.com. 2011-12-29. Archived from the original on 2012-07-17. Retrieved 2012-03-21.
  6. ^ Goodridge, Harold. "Belk closing its Macon Mall store - Breaking News". Macon.com. Retrieved 2012-03-21.
  7. ^ "Macon Mall to get two new stores". www.bizjournals.com.
  8. ^ "Burlington to move from Westgate to Macon Mall". Archived from the original on 2015-02-27. Retrieved 2015-02-27.
  9. ^ Trawick, Ashley (2015-09-23). "Burlington Opens at the Macon Mall". 13WMAZ. Retrieved 2015-10-06.
  10. ^ "Macy's closing Macon Mall location by spring 2020". WMAZ.
  11. ^ "'Reinvesting in our people': $100M Macon Mall revitalization includes amphitheater plans". WMAZ. September 15, 2021. Retrieved 2021-11-27.
  12. ^ "Future Macon Mall plans could include casino, hotel and 'Mac Town'". WMAZ. October 14, 2021. Retrieved 2021-11-27.

External links

32°49′01″N 83°41′40″W / 32.81692°N 83.69432°W / 32.81692; -83.69432

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