The Mall at Shelter Cove: Hilton Head Island, SC

South Carolina fascinates me with its attempts at upscale malls.  One of the reasons for that is that for some reason, it never quite works out.  It seems the demographics must be there, or they would not build an upscale mall.  So why does it not work?  In all, three upscale malls were formed in the state: Greenville Mall, Richland Mall and Mall at Shelter Cove.  While the first two have fallen on hard times, the Mall at Shelter Cove lingers on, adjusting somewhat over the past 20 years to a not as realistic image of large crowds of Lexus and Acura owners, but definitely showing signs of struggling.  The mall itself is located actually on Hilton Head Island itself, and it is named for a cove along the marshy waterway located on the land-facing side of the island.  It is also located on US 278 Business, which functioned as mainline US 278 before the toll Carolina Bays Parkway replaced it recently.  US 278 itself terminates not far from the mall, and likely only Edgewater Mall in Mississippi is closer to the ocean.

The Mall at Shelter Cove is located in a very popular tourist area that has grown substantially over the years.  It is actually now part of the Savannah metropolitan area, oddly grouped into Georgia despite being near the heart of South Carolina Lowcountry.  Indeed, Georgians make up a substantial part of the tourism of the island, and resort development abounds on the island.  However, this development has proven a bit more midmarket than originally assumed.  Cars in the parking lot of the mall did not suggest the crowds I am accustomed to seeing at the upscale malls in Atlanta.  In fact, I am not sure if a mall is even really appropriate on the island today as tourism wanes in the off-season and the crowd is noticeably more elderly than what is needed for a viable upscale mall.

Center court strongly focuses on the spatial and elaborate vaulted ceiling treatments that provide a grand presence for an otherwise small mall.  A similar style is noted at Oglethorpe Mall in Savannah and Shannon Mall near Atlanta.  It is still uplifting nonetheless, and it captures light in such a way to minimize excess shadow.

When The Mall at Shelter Cove opened on April 18, 1988, its original anchors were Belk and Jordan Marsh.  It is not known if this was a Belk partnership store originally, and if so I cannot find any evidence.  Jordan Marsh had its only South Carolina location at the mall.  The mall itself is rather small, but somewhat elegantly designed.  The mall is surrounded by trees and lush landscaping, and it is far more shady than the usual mall in the middle of a blazing hot reservoir-sized parking lot. In fact, the main mall entrance has a thick arbor canopy covering the walkway, which is a pretty unique touch that screens the mall quite well.  The mall's developers tried very hard to create an air of elegance and beauty at the center, and the design is very eye-catching.  It is in fact one of the prettiest malls I have seen for its small size.  I also vaguely remember this mall, since I was there with family in summer 1988 eating at the Fuddrucker's next to the mall while it was still brand new.  The last is one of those weird memories you wonder why and how you still remember.

The two main concourses are quite narrow, but not suffocating and office-like like many of the 1970's malls.  This is because the vaulted ceiling treatments complete with significant natural lighting continues throughout the mall.  It gives the mall somewhat of an outdoor feel while remaining climate controlled.  The last photo is looking east while the first two are west, and it includes the soon to be closing Waldenbooks.

If I had not shown you the previous pics, this mall would not seem as interesting.  Its layout is otherwise a very basic late 70's/early 80's mall, and it is nearly identical in footprint to West Georgia Commons Mall in LaGrange, GA.

Over time, the mall saw a few changes.  Jordan Marsh disappeared in 1990, and the space was taken over by JCPenney in 1991.  JCPenney apparently was marginally successful at the mall, closing in a restructuring in 2000.  That same year, the mall was dramatically upscaled when Saks Fifth Avenue took over the space vacated by JCPenney.  Saks Fifth Avenue continued to operate at the mall until 2004, when the store was then downgraded to an Off 5th outlet as the mall was beginning to have trouble and losing stores.  Somewhere in that time, Belk also added a second location to the mall off the back of center court, which surprisingly never was considered by Parisian.  The mall also changed hands in 2004 coming under management of Petrie Ross Ventures, who lobbied the city council to allow a 12 screen theater to be added to the mall in 2008, citing it was essential to revive the ailing mall.

Anchors from east to west are shown here including the Saks Fifth Avenue Off 5th Outlet (formerly JCPenney and Jordan Marsh), Belk Men's off center court and Belk Women's.  The Belk Men's is fronted by a very small food court area offering no national chains.

This one of the two rear entrance corridors seemed a little odd in the planning.  Perhaps they were both added after Belk tacked on their second store, because they just seem like an elegant hallway with no stores.

The new owners, too, were really emphasizing the importance of the theater insisting, "If the theater does not get approved, this mall will be on deadmalls.com" [1]  The plan was to try to get Saks to vacate their Off 5th store and replace it with a movie theater, whick Saks refused to do.  The city also tabled the decision, so the future looks very frightening now for the mall.  The mall has lost Ann Taylor, Crabtree & Evelyn, Bombay Co., White House Black Market and Hallmark over the past year, and the owner then stated after the loss of the theater option that the mall will inevitably decline [2].  The Waldenbooks at the mall also made the nationwide closing list, taking yet another key tenant.  All of this is unfortunately a very sad course of events for the over 20 year old center that has aged extremely well otherwise.  The city should have tried far harder than they did to save this mall with the economy in the shape it is in, and the fact that Belk just finished expanding their store proves that with the right mix the mall is still viable.  However, the lack of planning for the national retail hurricane may leave Belk the last store still standing when its blows over.

The first photo was of the front entrance court, and this is the front entrance itself.  On the left is Jos. A Bank and on the right, Talbots.  Why does Jos. A Bank abbreviate anyway when they never say that in the ads?

Just outside the front entrance is this distinct arbor and sitting area.

Looking back at the almost concealed main entrance.  The arbor worked quite well if that was their intention to hide how to get inside.

The same main entrance a bit further back in the parking lot.

Inside, the mall tenant roster reads more like a modern-day lifestyle center, though that seems to be increasingly less so.  Jos. A Bank, Banana Republic, Talbots, Williams-Sonoma and Chico's are all found within the mall.  A few more regular stores are there as well, including Waldenbooks (closing by 2010) and Victoria's Secret.  Unfortunately, these will all be gone within the next couple years if nothing is done.  What is worse is that the economy is not just affecting retail, but also wreaking total havoc on the tourist market that the mall depends on.  Despite A-list tenants, the mall has quite a few vacancies throughout, and trendy stores catering to a typical teenage crowd seem to be very limited (I noted a PacSun).  Also, and most importantly, Saks Fifth Avenue obviously was a reach for the market.  Since then, the downgrading of the store has shattered the mall's upscale image, and this is made more difficult since Saks Fifth Avenue refuses to vacate their outlet store since they are in a long-term lease.  Of course, when that lease ends will anything fill that void?  Both Belk stores, however, are doing phenomenal.  It is a strange situation overall, and the fact an island has its own mall is quite unique at that.

Saks "Off 5th" Avenue, formerly JCPenney and Jordan Marsh.  Note the labelscar in the second photo.

Belk Men's and Belk Women's, respectively.

This rear mall entrance really does not seem dated at all.  For a struggling mall, it has aged very well.

As to the mall itself, it is one of the easiest to miss malls ever.  If you were not specifically looking for it, you might mistake it for a strip mall or office building of some sort.  It also does not have any concentration of retail around it since the major retail is not concentrated anywhere due to strict city covenants.  All commercial development on the island must adhere to specific codes on overall design, and a very strict sign ordinance makes an obvious mall or business sign not possible.  Overall, trying to find a chain store in general is quite an eye strain when attempting to read small, wood engraved signs in front of buildings that do not match their normal suburban equivalents.  With that, this mall blends into the scenery almost too well.  It seems that at that, it also is quite a sleepy mall compared to major city malls such as Oglethorpe in Savannah, the Charleston malls or the over-the-top Coastal Grand Mall in Myrtle Beach.  Considering everything, I would reasonably call the mall quaint to describe this tiny boutique mall in one of the most popular, but less hyped coastal resort towns on the Atlantic seaboard.  I just hope in the future this mall is still around.

From here, the mall looks like a junior "Mall at Columbia" in Maryland.

And, of course, the sign.  This looks straight 90's to me.

[1] Faber, Jim.  "Will a movie theater be coming to a mall near you?"  Island Packet.  February 9, 2008. 
http://www.islandpacket.com/news/local/story/230444.html
[2] Faber, Jim.  "Questions still linger about doomed mall theater"  Island Packet.  April 3, 2008. 
http://www.islandpacket.com/news/local/story/269794.html

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.

Roswell Mall: Roswell, GA

NOTE: Post is currently in the process of being updated/corrected and still contains incomplete information and references.

Long before North Point Mall ever arrived in North Fulton, Roswell Mall came on the scene as a tiny two-level enclosed mall on the then-northern extent of Atlanta's suburbs, but its arrival was chaotic and, sadly, anticlimactic. Originally developed by Howard Chatham, a mostly residential developer and owner of Northside Realty, he had bigger ideas than experience in commercial real estate. The mall would "open" in 1974 as essentially a two-level half-built mall where apparently only the upper level was enclosed while the lower level was unfinished, but other sources say it was entirely open-air [1]. With framing in places for eventual enclosure, the not-quite finished mall looked like a skeleton next to a completed Richway store as the mall's sole anchor. Chatham's vision was to build an upscale mall of half a million square feet anchored by Rich's, but when the tenants learned that the only anchor was a discount store, upscale tenants like Muse's backed out of the project [2].

This image is one of the very rare photos showing the interior of Roswell Mall as it looked from 1979-1994 (Photo by Lynn Felton from The Atlanta Constitution, North Fulton Extra, page H4, November 15, 1979)

Chatham would ultimately give up on the mall and would sell it in 1978 while the mortgage was already in default. It took a developer out of New York, Walter Samuels of Shopco properties, to fix it. Samuels developed malls for Kmart, which he of course brought in as the mall's second anchor to finally finish the mall. Samuels would enclose the mall and expand it with the expansion along a new wing connecting Kmart to the upper level of the original mall. This expansion would create essentially the only enclosed strip known to be built in Georgia. Of course, this addition was problematic since the front of the mall did NOT face the intersection of Holcomb Bridge and Roswell Roads although Richway and Kmart did. It is rather curious that the front of the mall would be built looking away from main roads, and it was one of many problems that doomed it. The then-enclosed center would hold its grand opening on November 15, 1979 [3]. With ribbed concrete and big red "MALL" signs over the entrances, the Kmart mall footprint was all over the redesigned center, and it did not appear as if Richway was even granted mall access to the center after it was enclosed.

This ad from 1976 shows a drawing of the horrendous skeleton that made up the first five years of Roswell Mall. It appears that much of it was essentially a two-level strip center with a courtyard for eventual mall expansion. Although I do not remember well enough, it is possible that the strip portion you see here also became an enclosed strip on the upper level, but I do recall that Morrison's Cafeteria had windows directly to the parking lot with an unusually long entrance into the main part of the cafeteria from the mall. (Image from The Atlanta Journal, April 7, 1976, page 3NF)

Throughout most of its history, the mall would be a showcase for mostly local stores with only a few regional or national chain stores. T Shirts Plus, Radio Shack, Friedman's Jewelers, Fashion Bug, and Morrison's Cafeteria were some of the few that were in the mall during its history. Morrison's Cafeteria would actually open at the mall on April 7, 1976 bringing at least one popular restaurant to the mall. The biggest draw would be Hoyt's Roswell 8 Theaters that opened on the lower level in the back. In those early years, it felt like everybody that was at Roswell Mall was ashamed to be there, including anchor tenant Richway that apparently did not even post ads promoting their new location at the mall. 

Despite being what was perhaps one of the most poorly planned shopping malls ever built, the timing of its construction allowed it to survive throughout the 70's and 80's although traffic was always light, and vacancies were always high. The problem was that even though Kmart and Richway were big draws, that mall in-between was not. Morrison's Cafeteria would close at the mall a little over 10 years after opening at the mall, and the Roswell Library took up space on the upper level that otherwise would have remained vacant. Curiously, a portion of the mall would be taken in 1985 for the first location of startup retail chain Upton's, which opened next to Richway [4]. Upton's would have mall access, and as a highly promotional chain and division of American Retail Group, would kick off a chain that rapidly expanded all over Atlanta in the late 1980's and into other states before closing all its stores in 1999. 

I created this mall "map" from an old aerial photo.  I would show interior corridors and tenants, but all I remember is what is shown.  The main mallway extended from the northwest entrance to Upton's, and the path to Kmart was one-sided.

Roswell Mall's design features certainly were pure 1970's in its updates with some "Kmart" touches such as the tan ribbed concrete on the exterior, dark glass entrances, high window skylights in the court areas, a ribbed aluminum mansard along the exterior roof line, and all of that further accented with those funky wedge skylights on the old Richway. It was brutalism at its finest with that combination of sinister and warmly tacky that was so typical of that period.

Roswell Mall would eventually go bankrupt in the early 90's as new competition in the area caused it to become further obsolete after the opening of North Point Mall. Jim Schlesinger of Coral Gables, FL bought the mall in April 1994 with the intent to redevelop the mall into a front-facing power center that would be renamed Roswell Town Center. Work to redevelop the center was completed in 1996 including the demolition of much of the old mall and front-facing tenants that reoriented the center to face the major intersection at Holcomb Bridge and Roswell Roads. At the time of the purchase, the mall was anchored by Kmart, Target, and the eight screen theater, but Upton's and later Ethan Allen had both departed. The new center would bring in a new Burlington Coat Factory and Waccamaw Pottery, and the theater would be renovated in conjunction with a new entertainment complex that opened in 1998. [5]. Part of the entertainment complex was built into where the old mall corridors originally were while a new corridor was built to deal with the difference of elevation between the front and back of the center. Many believe this was the old mall corridor, but this was new construction that was never part of the original mall despite it having mall elements such as an entrance to a two-level Burlington and to the entertainment complex.

The Atlanta Constitution (Atlanta, Georgia) · Thu, Apr 14, 1994 · Page

186

Downloaded on Jan 21, 2025

By the time the 2000's rolled around, the scene around Roswell Mall had changed drastically. With far more development, far more traffic, a super-regional mall nearby taking many big box stores away, and changing demographics in the immediate area, and a center whose design was no longer meeting the needs of its two main anchors, its fortunes would turn again. Target would depart for two new larger stores in 1999, and Kmart would leave in 2003. Waccamaw Pottery went out of business in 2001. Kmart was subdivided into Shoe Gallery and Gold's Gym and Value City would take over the former Richway/Target. The problem was, this would all die off in a short time. Burlington Coat Factory closed around 2005. Startime entertainment complex and the comedy club both closed in 2008, and Value City liquidated its entire chain in 2008 as well. Whirly Ball lasted a big longer, but would also close around 2016. Today, the center has multiple vacancies with increasingly low-end tenants including a Dollar Tree in part of what was Burlington Coat Factory, Gold's Gym has departed, and Floor and Decor is where Richway originally was. In essence, Roswell Mall's curse proved irreversible.

Roswell today has moved past this center, but it is becoming today more of a blight than it ever was as a mall. Showing how prosperous the times were, the mall was redeveloped at a time when the interior mall was about 50% vacant with its original anchors still going strong. Compare that to now where we might just shop at a mall with 35% occupancy, nearly every anchor vacant, water damage everywhere, and serious structural problems visible to the naked eye, and crumbling parking lots. It looks like again it may be time to redevelop the property, and Roswell has certainly been on that as they explore how to better utilize the again ailing property that is still somewhat serving the community. Seeing how times have changed, and the owners may have zero interest in Roswell's plans, perhaps this might be more complicated to accomplish than it was in 1994. Pretty much anybody could bet with near certainty that the next use will be "mixed use" with, you guessed it, a faux village of mostly apartments and some retail. One thing you can be assured it will never again be is a mall. 

The image here shows a slightly different shape Roswell Mall.  A large structure was added to the backside of the mall after 1978, which I can only assume was the Roswell Mall branch of the city library.  I wish someone could provide me a sketch of how these hallways worked.  It looked like a pretty bizarre floor plan overall.  If Rich's or another department store, instead of Kmart, got built, would North Point Mall have ever happened?