Houston Mall: Warner-Robins, GA

Once in awhile, I run across a mall so completely dead I wonder how it keeps the doors open. Malls like this tend to be creepy, run down, moldy and void of any reason anybody would want to go there unless they are, of course, a modern history photographer like myself. Houston Mall (pronounced "How-ston") is indeed a textbook example of a dead mall in one of Georgia's military towns. It is small, old, somewhat run down and creepy, but actually was not moldy at all and quite clean despite the fact it barely functions as a retail center in any form anymore. At 364,000 square feet, it was never much of a mall...a small, simple center with all of the trappings of a typical late 60's/early 70's mall. Nevertheless, finding malls of this vintage tend to be very difficult since those of this style in that period are centering on 40 years of business meaning they are either demolished, extensively renovated or expanded. The fact that the owners discovered that it could handle a myriad of uses is why the doors stay open and the air conditioner running in the sweltering Middle Georgia heat.

When the actual mall opened in 1971, it was more than just an enclosed mall. It was actually appended onto an existing strip mall that had opened in 1968, which made it a rare hybrid strip mall and enclosed shopping mall. The mall portion included anchors Belk Matthews and Sears with an existing Grant's tying onto the mall as the north anchor. Also previously existing in the strip mall portion was A&P grocery store, which was in a separate portion of the strip detached from the mall. In addition there was Elmore's, obviously a five-and-dime operation, that fronted the mall but had no mall access and may not have predated the mall. Eckerd Drugs was included in the mall with an old-fashioned soda counter [1]. Grant's was the first closure at the mall when it liquidated with the chain in 1976. After closing, Key Wholesalers Showroom took over the spot until it closed in the mid-1980's [1]. The former Elmore's location also saw new life operating as Goody's until it joined Belk and Sears at the new mall in 1994. It is curious as to why neither Burlington Coat Factory nor JCPenney ever considered that location. For the time it was built, Warner-Robins was a small town whose growth largely centered on Robins AFB (now Robins ARB), so the mall at that time was just right. Because it was a hybrid of the enclosed mall and strip mall, it also was one of the few true all-in-one shopping plazas where, as John Belushi said in Blues Brothers, "This mall has everything!".

Upon entering the mall, a few shops remain close to the outside entrance. Le Nails is the shop with the neon sign to the left. The first photo is of the mall sign, which is about as plain and old-fashioned as you can get.

Walking from center court towards the former Sears. The kiosk is original. It intermittently functions as a hot dog stand, but originally it was an Orange Julius.

Continuing toward what was Sears, no stores to be found here on the right. I wonder what the store was with the wood trim.

Approaching ahead is the former Sears. Medical billing offices took over the former Eckerd Drugs location on the left. Straight ahead is the Houston Medical Pavillion, which operated as Sears until 1994.

Looking back from the former Sears, this photo attempts to capture the entire length of the mall.

Inside, the mall is a basic t-shape with a non-functioning fountain in the center, a few planters, high windows, a few small skylights and flooring that looks original. About the only renovations that appear to have ever been done is the bizarre and depressing blue color painted on all the ceiling tiles and the addition of some new painting and trim. This mall has every reason to be boarded up or demolished, and the fact it hangs on 16 years after it was replaced is very odd. The only reason it is even open today is primarily due to the creative non-retail reuse. The old Sears is now Houston Health Pavilion, an outpatient center. Belk Matthews now houses the Air Force Reserve Command. Warner Robins Municipal Court uses one of the spaces in the mall in what was previously a book store. Also in the mall is a law firm, doctors office, tax service and janitorial service. The only actual retail left in the mall is near the front featuring a nail salon and a beauty supply store. Evelyn's, an upscale dress shop, obviously gave up before I arrived. Penny Pinchers Home Decor took over the former north anchor at some point once held by Grant's, but appeared to be either closed or out of business when I was there. In other words, with a few exceptions there is no real reason to go there. I did, however, observe two mall walkers while I was there so it still serves that purpose.

On the left is the former Belk Matthews mall entrance, which reminds me of a prop on The Price Is Right. The old fountain is visible to the right, which was completely dry.

Another view of the former Belk Matthews mall entrance. Were those doors there it or was some stuff plastered over with sheetrock?

Directly across from the Belk Matthews entrance is the opening to the main entrance corridor shown in the second photo.

A map I made of Houston Mall the way it was laid out when it opened.

The strip portion of the mall does not appear to be faring much better, but it is not empty. Tenants outside appeared to be those that were attracted to the low rents offered meaning all non-government were small mom 'n' pop businesses. One of those, a new/used office furniture store is located in the old Winn-Dixie, but did not appear to be open. A Disabled Veterans Services office is next door is there as well along with a hair salon, alterations shop and a local ministry in the corner. A local furniture store looks to be in what was either the Elmore's or the former Eckerd Drugs. In all, the mall inside and out reminds me of The Mall in Huntsville just before it was demolished except for the cheap stucco early 90's renovation.

I am now headed toward the former Grant's, which did not appear to operate as anything since then. On the right is the Warner Robins Municipal Court where those in the town treated to blue light specials often wind up.

This brick-fronted store piqued my curiosity as to what it was.

This is possibly one of my favorite shots of the mall. It reminds me of photos I've seen of Dixie Square Mall when it was still in business. A law office sits in the store with the faux arches.

The mall entrance to Penny Pinchers Home Decor, originally Grant's, obviously is not functioning as such anymore. It looked creepy with this brick entrance and Persian rugs piled up everywhere inside.

Houston Mall as it is was built in a strange location. It is situated on top of a hill at the intersection of Watson Blvd (SR 247 Connector) and Houston Road (Old SR 11). It is situated both away from the interstate and away from SR 247 (US 129), the major north-south highway connecting Macon to Hawkinsville through Warner-Robins. It was clearly built largely to serve the military families, and by and large it was a community mall since at that time the better shopping was found at Westgate Mall and in Macon. Since the area was largely undeveloped before the 1990's, the mall thrived for over 20 years.

A back entrance is found next to the old Grant's entrance. Apparently the entrance opposite to this one was sealed off years ago.

This shop next to that entrance was sitting empty. Was this where Evelyn's was?

Another view of the dead store, which looks 60's with its main-street style entryway.

By the time the 90's rolled around, Houston Mall was not adequately serving the needs of the area. With substantial growth taking place pulling away stores from the strip combined with a very basic mall, Zamias realty planned and constructed a new mall closer to I-75 in the Centerville community. Called the Galleria, the new mall was subpar by big city standards, but it was spectacular in comparison to the dreary Houston Mall. The new mall would also have far more anchor space as well, and in the process would easily lure away Belk Matthews and Sears. Both stores were joined by JCPenney and Goody's at the new mall, and in all it seemed that Houston Mall would have simply died and been demolished overnight. Many older malls were meeting the wrecking ball the year that Houston was essentially replaced in 1994, but Houston Mall's offbeat location close to the center of Warner Robins is probably why the mall found new uses in the years since.

Now, I am standing in front of the old Grant's looking back toward Sears on the opposite end of the mall. Here, I showed some detail of one of the four planters I noticed in the mall. The planters are located under the largest overhead skylights, which are a simple domed design.

Here, I am walking back toward the main entrance from the main mall. That seating area looks very odd.

Here, I am looking just inside the main entrance doors. The ceiling through here looks like shiny brass. From this angle, the mall looks lively and the parking lot outside was not exactly empty.

Other than that, I can only speculate as to why Houston Mall holds on. It is partly a strip mall, and for its size it could easily be transformed into a myriad of other uses besides a mall. The over-retailed environment along Watson Blvd has done little to make the mall appealing. Even worse, it is not facing Watson Blvd, and it is mostly removed from the bulk of the shopping that has sprung up around the Galleria. Despite the 3-4 stores that still operate in the mall, the medical center and government offices the fact that the lights are still on and anybody is even there is something to behold. The strip mall part outside is also just as dead as the mall itself, and the gray stucco retrofit only made the mall look worse.

"Penny Pinchers Home Decor", formerly Grant's, from the outside, which looks to be very much out of business. There is a small store on the end, which I understand was a Radio Shack. There is a small gap that separates the mall from the old Winn-Dixie strip portion just to the right.

The Winn-Dixie portion of the strip with the former Winn-Dixie in the center.

Looking back along the rest of the Winn-Dixie strip toward the mall. The old Grant's store is visible on the left. To all appearances, this is still fully tenanted.

Houston Mall's main entrance from the outside. A store called "Furniture Express" next door I believe was either where Eckerd's was, but I cannot confirm this.

One thing I pondered on was to whether Houston Mall could be revived through an expansion. That would basically mean that on at least one side of the mall, a new two-level portion was constructed luring in JCPenney and subsequently luring back Sears and Belk. This would, of course, mean buying adjacent property and would also mean the death of the mall that killed Houston Mall, but this is pure harmless fantasy. Obviously, Belk and Sears would both have to be reconstructed, possibly as two level stores, to accommodate the addition. I see a couple scenarios on how this could be built. One would be purchasing the lot next to the southwest corner of the mall and expanding the mall over that area extending from the southwest entrance. This would give a new JCPenney high visibility, and the new mall addition would essentially have escalators drop down to the lower level portion since the adjacent lot is on a lower grade. The new wing would make the mall far more appealing from the road.

While not the best angle of Sears, it is the one I had to use because the sun was making photos of the mall from the east side near impossible.

Here is a side view of the Sears, which I should have taken from the opposite angle but for some reason didn't. This was obviously the old customer pick-up area.

Another idea to fix this dead mall would be to expand the mall through the former Grant's location and turn it back east toward the parking lot where the old Winn-Dixie and strip is. The strip would be demolished and replaced with the same JCPenney store. In the first scenario, the old Grant's would either be converted to mall space or a junior anchor such as Books-A-Million or Barnes & Noble could fill the spot. The second scenario could replace the old Winn-Dixie strip mall portion with the same bookstore connected to the mall. Any way it was done, though, the original mall would have to be extensively renovated inside and out to make it more appealing. Would anybody want this, though? Such drastic measures saved previously dumpy Oglethorpe Mall in the 90's.

A Belk Matthews labelscar is barely noticeable on the side of this building. While the logo is not there, you can tell by the holes in the side of the building.

I never remember Belk entrances looking like this, but I also never remember a Belk from 1972. Obviously no arches were put at this store, and the design is completely brutalist.

A side view of the store with the sun casting an eerie glow on the side of the building. Where was the sign from this side? I couldn't make any labelscars from this side anywhere.

In all, Houston Mall is one of many second generation malls that still litter the landscape. Way past its prime and no longer a retail destination, the mall has avoided redevelopment. This is most likely due to the huge amount of sprawl to the west and easily available land in the area that the mall found new life despite complete failure as a retail shopping mall. Its plain and dark design is probably the reason that nobody ever tried to remake the center, but there is still an outside possibility that one day someone might try to revive it such as what I suggested if they had enough cash to do it. The most likely scenario, though, is that the enclosed mall will eventually be sealed off with different parts reverting to various non-retail uses. Still, as the mall in its state approaches 40 years old it is amazing that it is still around and open to the public.



ALSO: Check out this video link above on You-Tube created by KA Turner of the mall. The video entitled "Ill Mall Housto" was designed as a parody of never-released Paw Filmworks DVD about Dixie Square Mall.

[1] Turner, KA. (2010, May 14). Houston Mall. [Electronic mail message].

Macon Mall: Macon, GA

The second largest mall in the state of Georgia is a mall located in Macon, GA.  It is one of Georgia's largest cities, but still a city located in a metro area just shy of 400,000 people with two other shopping malls to compete with.  In the mall race of the 70's and 80's, it seemed most every city in Georgia was aiming to have the biggest and the best shopping mall in hopes of creating not just a mall, but a tourist attraction.  For most of its existence, Macon Mall was just that: a particularly large shopping mall with much to offer that had everything by that standards of the day.  When it opened in 1975, it was a two-level mall with four anchors making it on par with the newest and largest malls in Atlanta.  Nearby Westgate Mall with no department stores was no match for the behemoth, which hosted Sears, Belk Matthews, Davison's and JCPenney.  Westgate itself was groundbreaking as Georgia's very first enclosed mall, but it also never had anything beyond a grocery store or five-and-dime store as an anchor...an unfortunately hopeless scenario.  While Westgate faded away, Macon Mall quickly became the shining star of Middle Georgia.  It would maintain this position for over 30 years, and for a short period of time it became the largest mall in Georgia.

The original Macon Mall was supremely outlandish compared to today.  Filled with seemingly millions of lightbulbs, dark browns and dark reds it was a disco relic within a short time.  Nevertheless, it was attractively designed with plentiful fountains, space and popular stores of the period.  Its quickly dated and expensive to maintain appearance, however, led to the mall's first renovation in 1983.  Three years later, one of its original anchors Davison's would revert to Macy's.  At this point, its only competition came from smaller Houston Mall while fading Westgate would revert to an outlet mall and would lure Wal-Mart in a desperate bid to survive.  Nevertheless, both malls found themselves in a prime retail corridor as Eisenhower Pkwy (US 80) filled with new strip malls between the exits on I-75 and I-475 to take advantage of the traffic from the huge mall.  Macon Mall, however, was placed in a strange spot located halfway between the two interstates instead of within view of at least one of them.  Westgate had that advantage, but they were never able to take advantage of it since I-75 was not completed in the area until around the same time that Macon Mall opened.

The first photo shows Macon Mall in its 1970's disco-era glory.  Photo is from Malls of America.  The second photo shows a contemporary view of center court between Belk and Macy's (former Davison's and Rich's).  Note the presence of amazing fountains from the period built straight into the floor.  These fountains survived the 1997 renovation, and this is not the only fountain found in the older part of the mall.

Throughout most of its history, the mall was in a unique position in that it did not have any real competition.  This was hardly the case in Columbus or Augusta where a mall rivalry was ongoing that Macon Mall was spared from due to Westgate's poor timing.  It seemed like the mall was invincible and able to draw from all of middle Georgia from where it stood.  This led the mall to renovate again, this time expanding the mall on the other side of JCPenney in 1997.  Incorporating JCPenney as part of the mall, this allowed a huge new addition on the other side, which upscaled the mall bringing in Dillard's and Parisian.  It should be noted how odd it is that JCPenney ends up sandwiched in as part of the mall itself when the mall decided to expand straight through it.  Malls expanding through JCPenney seem to happen more than one would think.  As to Dillard's and Parisian, both stores were in major expansion mode in that time, and this solidified their presence in Georgia.  Curiously, neither Gayfer's nor JB White ever located a store in Macon, and Dillard's arrival came prior to the buyout of Mercantile Stores.  It is a shame that none of those stores had considered Westgate beforehand, however. 

A look from just outside of Macy's toward Belk across center court from the upper level.  This mall is so full of eye-catching appeal throughout if only it had retained some of the color that it had originally.

A look along the Sears wing reveals the troubles.  On the left appears to be a vacant Old Navy.  The Old Navy moved down the road to a very large power center a couple years ago.

Sears mall entrance view from second level.  The landings at the base of the steps surrounded by a rotunda of plants is something I wish I would see more often.

View down an entrance wing along the second level near Sears.  Baskin Robbins is on the right.

The same stairway as viewed from the base in front of Sears.

The addition of Dillard's and Parisian brought a four anchor mall to six anchors, and suddenly the largest mall in Georgia...until Mall of Georgia opened.  Now at nearly 1.5 million square feet, to all appearances the mall was invincible.  Two new parking decks were constructed to handle the increase in business and decrease in parking.  Rocky Creek was also relocated on a new course further away from the mall to allow for the expansion.  Previously, it flowed approximately where Parisian was.  In the years following the expansion, the mall was packed all the way to the highway due to its near monopoly on regional retail.  What is also nice is that in the last renovation that the mall did not strip out all of the planters and fountains, which is something I appreciated much.  Curiously, Macy's changed the following year after the 1997 renovation over to Rich's, apparently an early attempt to test how successful Rich's was outside of the Atlanta area.  Rich's would then change back to Macy's in early 2005.  As late as 2006, the mall was in a distinct position of dominance with a huge selection of stores and a complete selection of department stores from low-end to upper-middle.  How could this go wrong?

Any mall that refuses to put in planters quite frankly deserves to go under, so it is a shame that the ones that actually kept things like this are the ones that seem to be struggling the most.  This mall would feel a lot more empty and drafty without such features as this. This is on the lower level heading away from Sears.

Fountains are a prominent built-in feature in center court.  The only problem I see is the risk of falling in this one.  It is like a bathtub in the middle of the mall.  This is the same fountain featured in the second photo.

My camera did not want to focus on this very well, but with some sharpening it came out almost right.  Here I got more detail of the sprayers in the fountain as well as the tiled "islands".  I like it a lot.  Now bring them back everybody else.

This one I think I liked the best of all of them...a terraced cascading fountain built around the stairway in front of the west mall entrance to JCPenney.  This used to be the east end of the mall until the mall was routed straight through it to a new wing added in 1997.

More detail of the fountain in front of JCPenney.  This reminds me of the terraced waterfalls found in parts of the Blue Ridge Mountains.  This also unofficially marks the entrance to the food court wing.

The problem was, trouble was brewing on the horizon in some very painful ways.  First, the wave of department store consolidation was about to hit Macon Mall.  Second, the area around Eisenhower had seen a noticeable decline since the mall opened.  In 2006, parent company Saks, Inc who owned Parisian was hoping to unload the chain, which was not performing to the company's expectations.  Hoping to focus all of their attention on Saks Fifth Avenue, the company went up for sale in 2006 with Belk outbidding Dillard's to purchase the chain.  Belk did not intend to keep the Parisian name, so this posed a big problem for malls with both stores.  In the case of Macon Mall, Belk simply closed the Parisian and kept their existing store in the old Belk Matthews, which had just dropped the "Matthews" part of the name the year before.  This was the first major vacancy.  The more glaring problem, though, was the obvious fact that the mall had a growing crime problem.  With no other options, the stores in the mall simply dealt with it, but General Growth provided the escape by opening up a new open-air lifestyle center called "The Shoppes at River Crossing" in 2008.  A tornado hitting the mall in May of the same year doing minor damage makes me wonder if that was some kind of omen...it also damaged Westgate Shopping Center on the former Westgate Mall site.

Entering the newer wing of the mall just outside of the east mall entrance of JCPenney.  This previously led to Dillard's and Parisian but now leads to nothing.  A few stores linger on this stretch as well as some local art shops, but it is largely empty.

A look down the Parisian mall entrance wing to a store that has been vacant since 2007.  If Parisian still existed, I wonder how the fortunes would have been for this part of the mall.  Belk might have used this store for awhile, but any hope of this was shattered when the lifestyle center opened.

Empty storefronts abound on this part of the mall, but this is by no means a slow process.  Much of these stores closed within the past two years, and they do not look dated at all.  If only...

Approaching here is what was once the Dillard's mall entrance.  While it is efficient in this horrible economy, it still makes me cringe to think of this becoming a courthouse.

When looking at this map, the answer seems pretty obvious: keep the Dillard's for the courthouse but knock down the rest of the 1997 mall addition east of JCPenney.  From this map, the rest of the mall looks like it would be fine if that excess space was removed.  I love the current mall logo by the way.  A mall named after the city it is in seems like a general good plan, but the alliteration of "Macon" and "Mall" has a nice ring to it.

"The Shoppes at River Crossing" has been a thorn in the side of Macon Mall.  The new center opened in the wealthier part of the city away from the crime and worsening decay on the opposite side of the city where Macon Mall sits.  This new center opened in former vacant land at the intersection of GA 87 and New Forsyth Road (Old GA 148) just north of I-75.  With it, the center took the Dillard's from Macon Mall leaving the whole east wing added only 11 years before void of anchors.  Even worse was what is taking place along Eisenhower.  Strip malls are emptying out, including the redeveloped Westgate, which once housed Media Play and Home Depot and now is down to nothing more than Burlington Coat Factory...a sure sign that all is not well in the area and that the area is overbuilt.  Nevertheless, a major strip mall down the road housing a relocated Home Depot, Dicks Sporting Goods, Best Buy and other tenants proves that the area is still viable.  Unfortunately, that strip alone is also pulling from the mall as well as much of the other retail in the area.

Another view of the dead weight on the mall looking back toward JCPenney.  A mere three years ago this was a swanky addition with two nice department stores.  Note the dead Hollister on the left.

The upstairs tells the same story.

I was 17 years old when this addition opened, and to me it doesn't seem that long ago.  Time flies too fast.

Next to the food court is this dead restaurant with no attempt made to even hide it.  Was this Panera Bread?

Looking along the upper level of the food court wing, which seems to be a combination of mostly vacant shops and seating areas.  In the back is a carousel, but I was unable to get a better shot.

Macon Mall is surviving, and it is hardly dead by any means.  The original part of the mall continues to keep all four of its anchors filled including Belk, which maintains its location in the mall.  However, the number of vacancies is creeping higher and many national stores have fled the mall recently.  While I would hardly say the situation is hopeless, I definitely think these are serious problems the mall is facing.  What the mall should do right away is to force all tenants in the old Dillard's/Parisian wing to relocate into the older part of the mall.  After this is completed, the mall should then seal off this part and demolish it like it had never existed.  The spirit of competition has historically discouraged such drastic measures as simply downsizing a mall, but in this case I think that it is pertinent for them to seriously consider this.  The chance of anchors coming to fill these spots is slim, and the mall is successful enough right now to maintain itself in its original size.  Pride aside, the mall has four successful anchors that appear to be staying right where they are, and the oversizing of the mall in 1997 came more than 20 years after the original mall opened. 

I was having so much trouble getting my camera to focus on this trip.  Better pics from "cantnot" can be found on LiveMalls. 

Looking down below is a fountain I absolutely did not notice when walking through before.  This one is just east of center court.  I feel like I need to get more of this place, but at its size it was quite difficult to cover everything.

One other shot of the fountain in front of JCPenney looking toward center court with a corner of the food court on the left.  I was unable to get any pics of the food court, either.  It was half-empty.

This is showing the Belk mall entrance when it was still Belk Matthews.  This was taken by Edric Floyd in 2006.

Personal views aside, Macon Mall did not rate high in comfort when I visited.  The huge Macon police presence suggested that the crime problem has soared, and this was confirmed after doing a little research.  Not only that, but the mall has been changing hands and losing value.  Its last owner, Colonial Properties, went into foreclosure with the mall today owned by Jones Lang LaSalle.  Furthermore, apparently plans are underway to convert the old Dillard's into a new Bibb County Courthouse.  While that sounds highly efficient, that also sounds highly tacky if they keep the mall in between.  I can't think of many stores that would want to locate on the "courthouse" wing.  In my opinion, if that is the grand plan then definitely tear down the mall back to JCPenney so that a tasteful degree of separation exists.  Of course, perhaps the idea is if the mall fails it will all convert to county offices, which is still a bit presumptuous at this point.

Macy's, which opened as Davison's and also operated as Rich's.  This store was a little different from the prototype used in the early 80's.

This photo from 2005 came just barely after the change from Rich's, and left behind here is a Rich's label scar hidden under the new sign.  Why I didn't just photograph everything at the mall that day I will never know.  I would have loved to have seen this mall in its prime, because I didn't expect what happened would actually happen.

Dillard's is gone, but the evidence remains.  It closed in late 2008.

JCPenney is plain, blocky and sandwiched between a very big mall.

Belk, which operated as Belk Matthews later than most Belk partnership stores.  This store is a clone to the store at doomed Carolina Circle Mall in Greensboro, NC.

In March 2005, I captured this photo of the same building when it was Belk Matthews.  I included this photo on an earlier post. 

Parisian attempted to bring upscale retailing to the Deep South, but today the store is vacant as a victim of consolidation with Belk in 2007.

In all, I hope for the best for Macon Mall and it is a bit sad to see a mall that was once a shining pinnacle of retailing lose its luster.   It is just hoped that while the mall remains in a viable position that the owners will consider downsizing to remove the obvious weak points of the mall.  Many factors are hurting the mall including downward shifting demographics, new competition, a souring economy and a retail market that is overbuilt, possibly on purpose in order to move the better stores away from the area.  Whatever happens, hopefully it will work out because it is one of the more fascinating malls I have visited with a rather grand history.

Curiously I still covered this mall directory just because it said Rich's.  This shows when the mall was owned by Colonial Properties Trust.  Then it was called "Colonial Macon Mall".  Note Belk Matthews shown here as well.

Cullum's of Augusta

Cullum's of Augusta, GA was a store that historically would be easier to overlook if it had not been part of Georgia's most famous dead mall, but it is a store that deserves mention coming from an era where high class department stores found in only one city - possibly even one location - were once the norm.  In fact, it is the disappearance of stores like this that have left a void in smaller cities for people looking for high fashion merchandise when giants like Nordstrom and Neiman Marcus are most likely never going to consider coming to such places.  Cullum's was that for Augusta...a better shopping experience that was lost at the close of the modern era of retailing.

Cullum's got its start after 1944 when Saxon-Cullum, Augusta's oldest and most prominent department store, was sold to Davison-Paxon of Atlanta, later Davison's and Macy's.  It is assumed that the Saxon partner simply took the money and retired, but apparently the Cullum half of Saxon-Cullum took the cash earned from the sale to start their own department store in downtown Augusta, which became Cullum's.  The new Cullum's would cater to the elite of the city while Davison-Paxon would continue to market to the same carriage trade demographic previously held by Saxon-Cullum.  Thus, for 34 years Cullum's would become a relatively short-lived tradition in Broad St. retailing with the chain itself lasting a few years longer after the downtown store closed.

These two ads were from the Augusta Magazine in 1978 forwarded to me via Sandy Lewis promoting the opening of their Regency Mall store.  The first shows a beautiful drawing of the now long-abandoned store.  Their logo surprised me at how thin and stringy it looks...I didn't even realize I was looking at the name first time I saw it.

Cullum's popularity brought it to additional locations in Augusta and Aiken, SC.  A couple of these locations, however, were very small stores that would classify more as a shop than a department store, and all of these stores were located in strip malls in lieu of enclosed malls.  Other locations besides Broad St. included Kalmia Plaza (Aiken) and West Town Shopping Center (Martinez/West Augusta).  Smaller boutiques were also found at Daniel Village and National Hills Shopping Centers.  Two of those locations were aided by the presence of larger department stores with Kalmia having a Belk and National Hills having White's [1].  While malls were never previously a part of Cullum's history, their last location to open would be their only mall-based location.  That location was at the Regency Mall location in South Augusta, which opened with the mall in 1978.  Regency Mall would also draw the only other location of Ruben's, another standard of Downtown Augusta that remains to this day.

This pic shows a crowd of baby boomer teenagers waiting in a considerably long line for the showing of "A Hard Days Night" at the Miller Theater on Broad St.  The movie dates the image to 1964 with the Cullum's sign captured to the right of the theater.  This photo is also from Sandy Lewis.

The opening of Regency Mall in 1978 was devastating to downtown retail.  Nearly every major department store left Broad St. for the gleaming new mall, but little did people know the trouble that would come of the fact that Regency was poorly planned, poorly located and that it would be quickly supplanted by Augusta Mall.  For a city its size, two very large two-level shopping malls were bound to cannibalize each other, and Regency was in second place from the day Augusta Mall opened.  Nevertheless, then-new Regency took White's from downtown in an era of blind optimism in regards to malls.  Cullum's would also leave downtown to join the mall as well in a 60,000 square foot two-level junior anchor, and it was an unwise decision for the store.  After all, it was their largest suburban store that was also the furthest removed from its wealthy base.  The competition from Davison's and newcomer Rich's at Augusta Mall also pulled business away from the store meaning that it began struggling as it was unprepared for the newer mall environment.

This image, which looks far more recent, shows the lengthwise Cullum's sign on the side of the building on the right, though the other logo in the photo above is not visible anywhere.  Photo sent by Sandy Lewis.

Sometime in the early 1980's approaching its 40th anniversary, the entire Cullum's chain was liquidated.  While it is unclear what happened to the other locations, the Regency location was later sold to Greenville-based Meyers-Arnold, which opened in the former location around 1985.  Not only did Augusta lose a truly upscale department store, but this also spelled the beginning of troubles for Regency Mall as well.  Locals did not take to the unfamiliar and far more downscale Meyers-Arnold, which would soon be bought out itself by Upton's of Atlanta.  Today, residents of Augusta have to travel to Atlanta or Charleston to find a store like Cullum's, so for those that can remember it, it is a store that is undoubtedly lamented with nothing like it to take its place today.

This image from Jarrett Edwards is apparently from a yearbook, and it suggests the elegance that this store once had.  I tend to wonder, though, if the claim here that a high brow magazine rated it "Fashion Store of the Century" is true.  If so, this must have been a veritable Neiman Marcus, Jr.

Upton's, the last tenant in the old Cullum's at Regency Mall, closed in 1993.  This means that this store has been abandoned for 17 years, though the mall continued to operate until 2002.  Meyers-Arnold was also here briefly before Upton's arrived.  This photo is from 2003, 10 years after the store first closed.  Apparently Upton's just wasn't what people were looking for in Augusta.

[1] Lewis, C. (2010, May 3). J B White. [Electronic mail message].

JB White at Greenville and Savannah Malls

The JB White stores at Greenville and Savannah Malls proved to be two of three outpost stores of the relatively small chain of department stores.  While White's had a history in Greenville, it was a definite latecomer to both the Savannah and Spartanburg markets.  While the one in Spartanburg anchored a very successful mall (causing the immediate death of Hillcrest Mall), the Savannah and Greenville stores seem to have been relatively quirky, flanking malls filled with big promises but last-choice anchors.  The Greenville Mall store is now long gone and forgotten.  However, the Savannah Mall store continues to hang on in an otherwise troubled mall as the lone remaining department store anchor basically stuck due to a lack of suitable replacement sites.  Both malls had ill-fated Montgomery Ward, and both tried Parisian as an attempt to present a fresh, upscale image that apparently instead led to the sale of Parisian later.  While Savannah Mall seems to be on the downswing, it successfully reinvented itself a few years ago.  Millions spent on Greenville Mall, on the other hand, failed to turn around its fortunes in the long term and most of the mall has been demolished.

The JB White at Savannah Mall was among the most unattractive location in the entire chain.  With a combination of brutalism and postmodern design, the store looked like a big brick block with a couple stucco arches thrown in.  They did, however, use the nice script logo found on the stores built in the 70's and 80's.  Dillard's continues to operate here today.  Photo by C. Lewis.

Ill-fated Greenville Mall was one of several malls that the mere presence of White's seemed to be the main thing that kept them viable.  Greenville Mall was largely a failure from the day it opened, and had it not been for White's, the mall would likely have failed sooner than it did.  As one of three malls in the city, only one survives today, which is Haywood Mall.  The White's at Greenville Mall as a whole was a bit of an anomaly...it was essentially carried over from its downtown Greenville location in a market considerably more competitive than Columbia or Augusta.  When it came along, it competed with both Belk Simpson and Meyers-Arnold on the lower end and Ivey's on the higher end.  Rich's complicated the issue when it arrived in 1980.  With such a glut of stores and all choosing to flank the other two malls in the city, this left White's as the only real draw to a mall otherwise anchored by Montgomery Ward.  The sale to Dillard's created an overlap with Haywood Mall as they had already built anew onto Haywood Mall along with a massive addition.  Dillard's was hardly interested in maintaining two stores cannibalizing each other in the long term, and its closure of the Greenville Mall store devastated the mall.

JB White at Greenville Mall prior to the 1995 expansion and re-design of the store.  This store looks exactly like a JCPenney from about 1970.  In such a knock down, drag out retail environment it was in I can see how its design was outmoded rather quickly.  Photo by C. Lewis.

White's reinvented itself into this beautiful, gleaming (appropriately) white store.  Unfortunately, it was still knocked down and drug out less than 15 years later after Dillard's failed to maintain the sparkle.  Photo by C. Lewis.

One of Dillard's major difficulties today is the backlash from the amount of local department store chains it bought out.  While they have managed enough success to remain viable, this change alienated quite a few shoppers who felt Dillard's did not cater to them in any way.  This was very true in the failure of Dillard's at Greenville Mall, but this may have not had any bearing on what happened in Savannah.  In Savannah, White's was hardly a familiar store, but the disappearance of Levy's a few years before made it possible for them to fit into the market better than if they had arrived a decade prior.  This is why the Dillard's location at the mall has remained successful despite the problems in Savannah Mall.  In all, Dillard's has still performed well in the former market of White's, but in these two malls it has proven to be more of a challenge.  How much better really was White's doing in these places before the buyout?  It tends to make me wonder what the company's long-term strategy really was such as White's moving closer to the Atlanta or Charlotte markets.