Monroe Mall: Monroe, NC

While nothing truly spectacular, Monroe Mall still holds its own in Charlotte retail.  Now located in Charlotte's metropolitan area, the mall is located just far enough from other malls in the region to remain marginally successful.  However, the mall is by no means a draw for the rest of the Charlotte region primarily drawing mainly from residents living in or near Union County and residents of nearby Charlotte suburbs still finding the mall convenient.  If closer to Charlotte, the mall would probably be on a death watch, but at around 25 miles from Uptown Charlotte, it stays comfortably far enough away with the added benefit of not being located on an interstate meaning that the drive to other malls in the region is still a major ordeal with congestion on U.S. 74.

Monroe Mall is also a very small, dark and basic mall for a small city in the South featuring the typical roster of Belk, JCPenney and Sears although this anchor line-up in the past was far more interesting than today.  At one point the mall was truly endangered as new retail projects in the sprawling southeastern suburbs threatened the mall, but mishaps coupled with a weak economy along the way have protected it for the near future.  The mall's recent renovation coupled with Belk's major expansion have also shown that the 3 anchors' commitment to the mall helps.

Despite its small size, there is much spooky about this mall.  I am unsure of what this entrance is, though.  The first photos is a photo in the middle of the mall showing how dark it is.  Typical of malls in that period, little natural light was planned in the design.  Photos by Mike Kalasnik.

Another mystery shop sitting vacant in a cove next to Sears.  Photo by Mike Kalasnik taken June 6, 2011.

A children's play area...a creative, while very non-lucrative way to fill a void.  Photo by Mike Kalasnik taken June 6, 2011.

JCPenney greets shoppers with a dark glass mall entrance typical of the era.  Photo by Mike Kalasnik taken June 6, 2011.

Another dark shop near center court.  The lack of many trendy shops will be the biggest factor in its eventual demise.  Photo by Mike Kalasnik taken June 6, 2011.

Next to Belk is this greenhouse fronted store.  Photo by Mike Kalasnik taken June 6, 2011.

Monroe Mall first opened in August 1979 as a somewhat lower-end shopping mall featuring the same Belk and JCPenney, but the other two anchors were quite different with Woolco forming the southeast end and regional player The Collins Company built in on the northeast as a junior anchor.  The most significant anchor, however, is Belk.  Why this is important is that this is where Belk got started opening a store in Monroe in 1888.  This same store is the one that relocated to the mall from downtown when the mall opened.  As the story goes, Belk as a company moved Uptown literally by snatching up Charlotte's Efird's Department Store, and the rest is history.  As to the mall, the mall would certainly be strange if it lacked a Belk, but at the same time it was sad to see the very first store downtown close down because of the mall.

Here is a brighter wing of the mall looking dead on the right, alive on the left.  Photo by Mike Kalasnik taken June 6, 2011.

More of the same.  Photo by Mike Kalasnik taken June 6, 2011.

Sears mall entrance originally opened to Woolco and, for awhile, Wal-Mart.  Wal-Mart always seems to be a VERY bad anchor for malls, but I never seem to understand why.  Photo by Mike Kalasnik taken June 6, 2011.

Belk here sports a new logo on one of their otherwise coolest 70's designs...but something is sadly missing.  Photo by Mike Kalasnik taken June 6, 2011.

A year before, this is how it looked.  Note the brassy overhang that was removed.  Photo by Mike Kalasnik taken May 2010.

Belk Kids, now Belk Children since the logo change.  I guess "Kids" did not sound very professional.  Photo by Mike Kalasnik taken May 2010.

Two of the original anchors did not last very long after the mall opened.  Woolco folded in 1983 leaving a dead anchor for several years and The Collins Company sold out to Peeble's in 1984.  Woolco would eventually be filled by Wal-Mart, arriving in 1986 in their expansion strategy in the state.  Nothing else drastic happened until 1998 when Wal-Mart decided it was time to trade up to a Super Center, leaving the mall in 1998.  Once again, the former Woolco found itself vacant until Sears finally took over the spot, opening at the beginning of March 2001.  However, despite all of these anchor changes, the mall never underwent a single expansion in that entire period.  Peeble's, however, appears to have made the mall a little smaller leaving the mall sometime after 2006.  Today that location is filled by Interior Solutions.

JCPenney here features one of its stores from its ugliest era.  While outlandish throughout the 70's, this is just plain as dirt.  Photo by Mike Kalasnik taken June 6, 2011.

Around the back side of the mall is this spooky looking mall entrance that was tempered by the addition of the new mall logo.   Photo by Mike Kalasnik taken June 6, 2011.

Here is another angle of that same mall entrance.  Photo by digitalsky taken May 7, 2011.

Located just east of Sears is this empty store.  It is unclear what this was, but it appears to have been a former grocery store of some kind, probably Winn-Dixie or Food Lion.  It last operated as Big Lots closing this past year.  Photo by Mike Kalasnik taken June 5, 2011.

A high resolution map image is provided here of the mall's directory.  Sans vacancies, it's a pretty typical small town mall now in an increasingly tough position.  Photo by digitalsky taken May 7, 2011.

A look along the Sears wing.  Photo by digitalsky taken May 7, 2011

In 2011, Monroe Mall has the potential to grow, but it seems to be continuing the organic route partly due to the relatively limited footprint the mall is on...a typical problem for the oldest malls in the state.  The only expansion at the mall that has taken place is the new addition to Belk underway.  Coupled with this is a renovation of the mall completed in 2010.  Despite these changes, competition from Charlotte does continue to have an effect on the mall.  Mall offerings remain limited, and vacancies are a problem in the 32 year old mall.  Still, it could be far worse.  Belk's expansion shows that there is still plenty of faith in the mall even with a struggling mall and economy.

Sears is here to inform you that they are far too cheap to make an old Wal-Mart not look like one.  You could just change the sign out front to "Goodwill" and nobody would know the difference.  Photo by digitalsky taken May 7, 2011.

Luckily, Belk was captured prior to its remodel on the outside in these images. This is one of my very favorite late 70's designs Belk used although the 90's teal paint-over was very inappropriate..  You can almost hear The Eagles song "I Can't Tell You Why" if you stare at this long enough.  Unfortunately this has now been torn off in the remodel and expansion.  Photo by digitalsky taken May 7, 2011.

Here, we see new tacked onto the old.  Photo by digitalsky taken May 7, 2011.

Here, a chained off former outside entrance now peers into the new part.  I assume Belk Kids, Children, Young'ins, whatever will probably move into this space when completed.  Photo by digitalsky taken May 7, 2011.

Here's the Belk store for the little whippersnappers for now.  Photo by digitalsky taken May 7, 2011.

Monroe Mall could have been headed in a very different direction, though, if a planned regional mall had opened to the northwest.  Plans were set in the middle of the last decade to build an enclosed shopping mall where U.S. 74 meets I-485, and plans remain in the works to build a lifestyle center two exits north on I-485 known as the Bridges at Mint Hill.  I-485 has definitely not been a help to the mall as the city was formerly much more isolated from Charlotte, but now traffic moves more freely in the area with once far-removed Carolina Place Mall now a much faster drive down the interstate, which opened a decade ago.  While I-485 pulls enough on the mall, a new regional mall at the fore mentioned location would have devastated the aging mall, pulling away all the anchors and leaving the mall deserted.  Economic-influenced delays coupled with General Growth's bankruptcy have combined to stall both projects, so Monroe Mall at least for now is able to survive.

These old "Open Tonight Until X" should make anyone wax nostalgic.  The time was usually lit up as well.  Some old photos I saw showed a Loveman's in Birmingham having one of these classy features, too.  Now we just get the dorky door stickers.  Photo by Mike Kalasnik taken June 5, 2011.

Ongoing construction on the Belk store.  Photo by Mike Kalasnik taken June 5, 2011.

Belk here features its "new" look.  Belk still builds attractive stores, but this one doesn't hold a candle to the older look.  Photo by Mike Kalasnik taken June 5, 2011.

Close-up of the Belk entrance.  At least it has brick and metal instead of just a blob of stucco.  Photo by Mike Kalasnik taken June 5, 2011.

Belk is here to inform you they are still open, but no longer cool.  Photo by Mike Kalasnik taken June 5, 2011.

Pathetic, just pathetic.  Photo by Mike Kalasnik taken June 5, 2011.

Monroe Mall's good luck, though, should not mean they should relax and forget about what almost happened.  It would be wise for the owners to consider expanding the mall, luring in a new, solid anchor such as Dillard's or a big box anchor to broaden the mall's appeal.  Obviously land issues would make this difficult, but at the same time not impossible with most likely expansion through the existing Sears.  Located a hair from Charlotte's most sprawling suburbs, the mall still has a fighting chance, but not for long.  As the smallest and oldest operating mall on the eastern side of Charlotte, it is important to consider that a few cosmetic renovations will not keep the mall competitive in the long term especially with the amount of vacancies it has.  With areas between Monroe and I-485 prime for a huge retail expansion, when this growth comes it can work either as a compliment or detriment to the mall.  So far, though, the mall has been pretty lucky.

View Larger Map

A Google Maps image of the mall.  On street view, you can see how the mall looked outside before the last renovation.

Here is a video taken in 2010 by Mike Kalasnik of the mall prior to the Belk renovation and with Big Lots operating a store in the now vacant store pictured above.

Eden Mall: Eden, NC

The South is littered with tiny malls that probably should never have been built.  They are usually isolated enough in small cities that they really do not do very well, but offer enough to the community to linger.  Usually, the mall opened in better times before the city's main industrial base declined and retail outside of downtown was not yet established.  Nearby, there might have been a grocery store, but nothing that could really compete with the mall.   Eventually, as the suburban retail offerings in the city expand, and the base of shopping dwindles due to the local economy, the mall either drifts to alternative uses or outright fails.  Stores that remain in the mall begin to vacate to nearby strip centers.  Better stores in nearby larger cities also begin to move closer to the mall's market area chipping away at any market share it might have had.  This is because growth in the area was too stagnant to insulate the mall when this occurred.  In the case of Eden, probably all of this applied.

The town of Eden itself has a strange history as the consolidation of three separate towns in 1967 known as Leaksville, Spray and Draper.  The town got its name from its origin as a large estate that existed in the 1700's that was also named Eden.  Today it is a city with nearly 16,000 residents: a population not adequate for much more than a Wal-Mart and a couple grocery stores.  Add to this that better shopping is available close by across the state line in Danville, Virginia.  Additionally, the larger municipalities of the Piedmont Triad to the southwest offer a broader range of choices that have grown increasingly upscale.  Thrown all together, the mall was destined to fail from the very beginning.

Views of this mall take you back to a simpler time...architecturally.  It was hardly one of the showier malls built in 1980, and from this angle it looks like a middle school.  The first photo, however, shows that the retro skylights found in the former Kmart wing are basic, yet profound.  The photo above is in the Belk wing.  All photos in this post were taken by digitalsky on February 19, 2011.

Center court features a few small skylights and the cylinder light fixtures, which still look classy today.

Here is a former restaurant in the mall.  Fast food?  Morrison's Cafeteria?

The wall mural in the background was originally the Kmart mall entrance.  I would so love to see a pic of any Kmart mall entrance prior to the logo upgrade in 1992.

While you're probably out of luck on finding a summer outfit in the mall part,  you can still get your nails done!

Eden Mall's origins dated to 1980 when the mall first opened.  With its disco-themed appearance, the mall sported anchors Belk Cline, Kmart and Globman's, a Martinsville, Va. based store.  Belk is located on the west end of the mall, Globman's was on the north end and Kmart on the east end.  The first few years were most likely also its most successful as well.  The mall joined an enormous boom in mall construction in smaller cities that came on the heels of phenomenal success for malls in larger cities.  In North Carolina, Belk was heavily influential in this boom of small town shopping malls as they attempted to upscale their image, market share and offerings.

You know it's vintage when you see the diagonal wood.   You know it's sleazy when a no-name cafe with a letter board is the only hot meal in the mall.

I'm assuming mall management is too strapped to fix this train wreck storefront.  This is on the opposite side of the Globman's/Peeble's wing.

Mail Boxes, Etc, high speed internet and Publisher's Clearinghouse Gimmicks all wrapped into one neat little package!  Seeing that this store took up some space, I would love to know its history.

Diagonal wood and lattice.  I assume the store on the left was Foot Locker, but I have no clue on the right.

Funky and sinister looking diagonal wood sits next to a shop sporting a faux Colonial facade.  This is found on the former Globman's/Peeble's wing.

The mall's fortunes came into question by the early 1990's.  With a high vacancy rate, the mall was also in a time warp.  By this time, national chain retailers within the mall started to flee.  First, Globman's closed at the mall, but the store was then immediately filled by Peeble's.  The worst hit came, however, when major anchor Kmart closed at the mall.  The closing of the store was also not part of the later restructuring, but came much earlier when it shut down at the mall in 1994 when Kmart was still truly competitive with Wal-Mart and the discount store market had more players.  By this point, the mall was already being re-purposed as a haven for non-traditional tenants.  This was a move made by many of the ailing shopping malls in that era before the building boom of the 2000's resulted in the demolition of many of these failing malls.  Eden Mall, however, did not enjoy the building boom that gripped the larger cities of the South, thus it managed to survive in its diminished capacity.

Belk here blends shiny copper with fake stone, but they have the mall entrance firmly shut.  Nevertheless, they are still putting up a new sign.  I guess this is a reminder to the few patrons of the mall that yes, there is still a Belk here, but no, they are not going to lose any air conditioning to this hole.

Close-up of mall entrance doors with "Used Front Door Entrance" on the mall side and "Not An Exit" on the other side.  

Inside Belk, store merchandise is placed in front of the former mall entrance.

Overhead lights inside Belk

Here is some vintage decor inside the Belk.

Today, Eden Mall is in the twilight zone.  The mall is effectively dead with no chain store operations at all except for Belk.  Almost the entire mall is made up of small shops and offices filling less than 50 percent of the empty shops, and the mall is in near disrepair never having received a single renovation since the day it opened 31 years ago.  Curiously, however, Belk hangs on at the mall.  I assume that Belk just has not found a strip shopping center to anchor onto.  Peeble's did, however, relocating to Kingsway Plaza in 2008.  Belk, however, simply snubs the mall having sealed off their mall entrance since Peeble's fled to higher ground.  The Belk store itself looks as old as the mall, but even then it still got the new sign treatment with the blue flower and loopy letters: even on the mall entrance.

Inside Belk, it is obvious that maintenance of the building is lacking judging by this water damage.  This was a brand new sign and was already falling apart!

In front of Belk is, well was, a mall directory.  Leave your business card there, though, and you might get a free lunch!

NC DMV must be in partnership with all the dead malls, because this brings in guaranteed business.  The ceilings above this "store" also seem to look a bit older than 1980.

Here is the former Peeble's, originally Globman's, mall entrance at the end of the smaller north wing.  Note the lights on inside on what is now the Eden Events Center.

Inside the Eden Events Center, it still looks like a department store...sort of.

The mall today hangs on with obviously the bare minimum for upkeep.  New uses have been rather creative, however, such as the events center situated in the former Globman's/Peeble's store.  What once sold blouses and perfume recently hosted a wrestling match.  A DMV office also draws frowning traffic into the mall, and "Eden Business Center" seems to be an odd hybrid of Mail Boxes, Etc., a sweepstakes portal and internet cafe.  DMV offices seem to be a good fit for dead malls considering at least two other malls I covered had them.  Still, with the many dead malls I have covered, this one may possibly rate as one of the trashiest, most forgotten and most forlorn malls ever to still have the lights on.

THIS has to be one of the best examples of an unsightly Mom N Pop makeover of a mall tenant.  They even put in their own doors and painted on "awnings".  It's somewhat endearing, I guess.

This florist here captures more of that "last chance" spirit next to the mural that appears to depict a big waterfall.  The only thing I expect to be falling here are ceiling tiles.

The reference is clearly to the Garden of Eden having this apple here, but I can't help but have Ruckzuck from Newton's Apple playing in my head when I look at this.

Full-scale view of the front mall entrance shows that the mall sought to use staggered geometrics to draw in customers.  It must not have worked very well.  Is the sign original?

Another view of the Eden Mall main entrance looking east (it faces south).

Judging by the appearance of the mall, the days for this mall may have been prolonged about 15 years or so, but its days are numbered at least as a public retail operation.  With Belk being the last legitimate retailer, it does absolutely nothing for the rest of the mall.  I believe they will eventually relocate if given the chance, but they may have to build their own store considering the complete lack of new shopping centers in the area.  Why that has not already happened I cannot figure out.  Once Belk goes, I expect the mall will probably close.  What will take its place is anyone's guess.  I am sure that it could function well as a school, church, medical center, corporate offices or government multimodal facility.  It could also sit empty until it deteriorates beyond repair as well.

The Belk store at the mall now has the new logo and one of its most popular styles from the era of single level stores as well.  The clean looking store stands at contrast to the pothole-filled empty parking lot.

Closer inspection, though, shows some details have been overlooked such as the burnt out and damaged light fixture in front of Belk.

Kmart from the front of the mall looks to be in pretty decent condition considering it has been abandoned for 17 years.  It looks like it got an early remodel, too, with the red K with the cursive "mart".

Peebles here is a plain vanilla box with an awning that has all the charm of a garage door on a warehouse.

Close-up of the awning with "Eden Events Center" down in the Everlast branding style.  It's a perfect fit for "rasslin'".

Eden Mall pretty much can be summed up by the average person to be a total economic loss and a complete dump.  The Biblical Eden probably was as well after it's two most famous residents were evicted.  For modern history buffs and retail enthusiasts, however, this mall is amazing.  The chance of finding any well-preserved, largely unmodified 1980 shopping mall in 2011 is remote, but they do exist if you know where to look.  I personally have not yet had the chance to visit this mall, but I hope to see it one day to get a few pics of my own.  I might not have even known about it had I not been tipped-off about it, but thanks to digitalsky here I have this excellent collection of photos of a mall that clearly has seen better days.

Thwe back entrance to Kmart, which was like all mall-based Kmarts only accessable through the mall.

The back parking lot of the Kmart found new use as a Go-Kart track.  

Words fail me.