Phipps Plaza: Atlanta, GA

Phipps Plaza is the kind of mall that is not found in most cities, especially not in the South: a truly upscale mall with upscale stores intended for the upper class and very wealthy.  Opened in 1968, this posh mall originally served as sort of an outpost for Manhattan shopping.  When it opened, its original anchors were Lord & Taylor and Saks Fifth Avenue.  The original mall was quite small, but it had two levels and served as an elegant supplement to Lenox Square whom at the time had only local stores Rich's and Davison's.  Undoubtably, the presence of this mall has helped establish the Buckhead community of Atlanta into what it is today: the wealthy part of a major city.  Its location on Peachtree Road (SR 141) off of the GA 400 toll road sits in the middle of the premier shopping district of the city, which has overall grown upward over the past decade.

Phipps Plaza has stores in the mall not found elsewhere in the city.  Phipps and Lenox Square are both owned by Simon, so their owner sees fit to make sure that each mall is in its own niche.  Lenox is more of a designer showcase, featuring concept stores from major designers and only recently has the mall turned completely upscale.  Phipps, in contrast, holds to its status as New York, Jr. with locations of exclusive stores such as Barney New York and Tiffany's among its tenant roster.  Armani, Gucci and Versace also are found among the clothing stores in the mall.  A $1000 shirt can definitely be found in this mall.

A view of the upper and lower level Saks Fifth Avenue mall entrances.  The upper level was extended into the mall, creating an overlook inside the store that looks extremely elegant from the bottom level.

The center court of the original mall is unbelievably posh.  That is a Bentley on display on the bottom level.  I know of no other mall with a winding staircase, and that ceiling treatment looks like it would fit in the Biltmore House.  Let nobody deceive you on what an "upscale mall" really is.  THIS is upscale.  I have not been in any other mall that deserved that description.

The other mahogany escalator also has access to the parking deck below, including a hidden fountain at the base.  It almost seems from some angles as if the escalators drop down into an underground lake.  Was this parking deck constructed under the original mall AFTER it was built?  If so, that must have been quite a feat.

A view along the second floor of the original two-level portion.

Up and down escalators from the bottom level to the upper level of the original two-level portion.

I was a bit intrigued by the design of this specialty children's store.  The tile treatment on the floor is very similar to the Lorch's shop pictures in my photos of The Mall in Huntsville in an earlier post.

While Phipps started out small, the mall undertook a major expansion in 1993, adding a new three level wing, parking deck and a new anchor, Birmingham-based Parisian.  This expansion directly coincided with the grand opening of the last section of GA 400, directly connecting Atlanta to the wealthy suburbs northward.  When it opened, Parisian essentially created a flagship store at the mall for the store in the city.  The expansion also gave the mall a 14 screen theater and a new food court, which offers more fast casual dining such as Moe's Southwest Grill and Johnny Rockets in comparison to the typical mall food court.  The expansion also created a series of escalators that is not for those with vertigo.  With three levels of parking deck underneath, the escalators going up to the third floor and theater climb six stories with open sides.

This mall map explains the odd configuration of the mall.  The part on the right was the original mall, and the portion with Belk and three levels was the 1993 addition.

The mall also features many elegant touches not found in the usual mall such as a winding staircase in center court, elegant trim and flooring and a huge chandelier in center court.  Instead of Toyotas and Fords, cars on display in the mall included a Bentley and an Aston Martin.  The mall also has two upscale restaurants, The Tavern and The Grape, both of which draw huge weekend crowds.  In addition, one of the few remaining locations of The American Cafe, formerly known as Silver Spoon, is found on the Parisian wing.  Aside from upscale tenants, a few more mid-market tenants are in the mall as well such as Talbots, and the mall also features some tenants typically found in lifestyle centers such as Chicos and Coldwater Creek.

Gracefully ascending escalators like steps lead up to the Belk (former Parisian) in the three level portion.

Looking back down from the third floor.

This fountain is found in the main court on the three level wing near Belk shown in the first photo.  An identical fountain is on the opposite side of the court beneath the mahogany elevators.

A view of the three-level court from the second level.  The lights at the top are the food court.  The fountain pictured above is at the bottom.

Another view of the escalators to Belk pictured above.

Phipps Plaza never saw any anchor changes from when it opened until more recent times.  Troubled Lord & Taylor started it when they closed their location at the mall in 2005.  By the time it closed, the store was actually looking rather dated inside, and it showed the signs of a poorly operated store that had transitioned from upscale to frumpy mid-market under its then-owner May Department Stores.  It took no time at all, however, for Nordstrom to open up their third Atlanta location at the mall the following year.  Nordstrom renovated the store before they opened it and brought class back to that end of the mall.

A look at the lavish mahogany elevator and three levels.  The top level is the AMC theater, the middle level goes to American Cafe and the bottom level goes to the south mall entrance.

Looking toward the AMC theater and the down escalator to the second floor.  This escalator well drops down five floors to the parking deck level, and it is not for those with vertigo.

The American Cafe, known originally as Silver Spoon, seems a bit inappropriate for the mall, and it seems to be one of the few locations left.  It is owned by Shoney's, but it is one of three restaurants in the mall.  The other two are Grape and Tavern at Phipps, both far more upscale and very, very popular.

In 2007, Belk bought out Parisian, and they became the second anchor change in the mall when Parisian was converted to Belk.  Belk's entry was very controversial as the owners saw the store as too downscale for the former Parisian.  Belk, unlike other department store chains, has a three-tiered system of stores if A, B and C stores.  "A" stores are upscale, "B" stores are a cross between Penney's and Macy's and "C" stores are basically Penney's with a Southern touch.  Occassionally they run A-class stores, which are stores somewhat equivalent to Nordstrom or Bloomingdale's.  The problem is, Belk doesn't have many A-class stores, and this is the only one they currently operate in the Atlanta market.  Their failure to run a similar A-class store at North Point Mall led to its closure in September.  Nevertheless, the store has proven successful and operates as the Atlanta flagship.  Of course, most of us do not understand why they could not have just kept the Parisian name for their A-class stores to make it more clear which is which.

Belk (former Parisian) mall entrance from the second level.  I know this is an upscale A-class Belk, but it still doesn't feel right.  At the time it was built, even Parisian was viewed as somewhat too downscale for the mall.

Three levels of escalators inside the Belk.

Phipps today remains a popular mall, but Atlanta has had much trouble as an up and coming city trying to join the ranks of New York and Los Angeles.  Since a lot of the money is new wealth, and much of that wealth was centered around the building industry, undoubtably this is putting a strain on the higher end retail of the mall.  Even worse, Saks Fifth Avenue is struggling and Nordstrom also has rumors of troubles as luxury spending is the most directly affected by the deepening recession.  Even those with six figure incomes might be thinking twice about a $2000 outfit if they see layoffs or bankruptcy in their future.  Quite a few millionaires in the Atlanta area have lost it all practically overnight betting too high on sprawl development.  Whether this will affect the mall in the future is yet to be seen, but for right now the mall looks like it is still doing well.

The Nordstrom mall entrance is located in the older two-level portion, and it bears no resemblance to its former Lord & Taylor entrance.  I was in Lord & Taylor here once probably around 2001 or so.

Overall, Phipps is a very fascinating place with one of the best mall designs to ever come out of the 1990's.  Even if those visiting cannot afford much of the merchandise, it is still worth seeing it just to see a truly elegant mall with all sorts of special touches.  If nothing else, just go and check out all the different levels and catch a movie there.  This is what is fun about covering malls across Atlanta is not only the sheer size of most of the malls, but also the wide variation of malls from small and old to large and elegant.  Phipps Plaza is one of a kind in the South.  None of the other major cities in the South has anything like this aside from South Florida, which is why I am glad to feature this mall for the first time.

 

Two views of Saks.  The first is a modified 1993 stucco facade, while the second maintains some of its original 1968 design.  Honestly, the second design looks quite classy and more noticeable.  Modern architecture in the 60's was far more stately than its more brutalist variations in later decades.

Nordstrom is a hybrid of 60's and mid-00's architecture.  The store entrance was completely reconfigured whlie the rest of the building is pure 60's on the exterior.  The two styles do not clash at all unlike most "upgrades".   The store as a Lord & Taylor did not exactly look bad, but a bit more plain.

 

Belk has no 60's pretenses.  It is a bulky structure with a more 90's industrial design complete with a mixture of brick and mildewed stucco (part of why I loathe stucco).  At the time if was built in 1993 as Parisian, retro facades and matching contemporary design to its vintage was definitely not in vogue.