Meadowbrook Mall/Bama Mall: Tuscaloosa, AL

Blink and you would miss Meadowbrook Mall.  That is because it was one of those strange "community" malls of the 70's that were typically the first to join the ranks of dead malls.  Meadowbrook Mall, when opened, was anchored by Kroger and Murphy's Mart, a division of GC Murphy.  Kroger was on the top of the L-shaped mall while Murphy's formed the bottom.  Revco Drugs and a six screen theater later known as Bama 6 also anchored the mall.  In all, it was probably not much different than the Richway malls found in the Carolinas except for the discount store.  The mall featured 171,000 square feet and was constructed by Arlan Shopping Centers.  It opened in October 1977 and housed 30 total stores.  Morrison's Cafeteria, previously located at McFarland Mall, also relocated to the mall after it opened, and the mall was initially successful.  Unfortunately, that "success" was mostly local shops that were hardly a major draw.  Problems arose right away when the owners defaulted in 1979.  From then on, the mall would have a troubled history.

 

In 1982, Meadowbrook Mall went under new ownership and was then renamed Bama Mall.  This would just be the first of several changes through the decade as community malls nationwide quickly fell out of favor.  The next was the sale of Murphy's to Ames.  Ames obviously was disinterested in the store and put it up for sale in 1985, closing the store.  Soon after, Wal-Mart made its entry into the mall opening in the former Murphy's in 1987.  Wal-Mart had previously been located at Wood Square Shopping Center in an old Kuhn's Big K.  While the mall was in decline at that point, the traffic generated from Wal-Mart kept the mall marginally viable.  This changed drastically, however, when Wal-Mart decided to relocate their store to Skyland Blvd in 1993 after operating there a mere six years.

Aerial shot of the mall looking south with Murphy's on the left, the mall in the center and Kroger on the right.  The first image shows a map of how the mall was originally configured.  Note that part of the original mall corridor remains in front of Bama 6 Theaters.

Drawing of the Murphy's store at the mall.

Ad with logo and list of tenants at original Meadowbrook Mall.  Morrison's Cafeteria did not open at the mall initially.

Photo from 1982 at the renaming ceremony of Meadowbrook Mall to Bama Mall.

McFarland Plaza sign today.  It looks like it is supported on the same poles as the original sign.

Bama Mall died a slow death up into the early 90's.  However, the departure of Wal-Mart was the final blow to the enclosed portion of the mall.  In 1995, the last tenant in the mall left known as Alrenco.  Kroger had also left as well, replaced by Delchamps in 1994 and Bruno's later in 1998, which has also apparently since closed.  At that point, the mall owners felt the best course of action was to let the existing tenants fronting the mall expand their stores lengthwise through the mall corridor.  Two had already done so, Cato and Big "B" Drugs, thus the owners felt that the best use of the dead mall was to do the same for the rest of it.  At that point, the Bama 6 theaters were all that was left requiring mall access, and they continue to operate at the mall into the late 00's.  As a result, since the mid-1990's the original mall never really disappeared, it was simply filled in to appear like a regular strip mall.  By 2001, all of the mall was gone except for the portion immediately in front of Bama 6 Theaters.

A look at the Kroger wing of the mall, which today is subdivided into smaller tenants including Cato and Stein Mart.  Old Navy was on the left.

A look at the Murphy's/Wal-Mart wing.  The wing was subdivided into Toys 'R' Us, Office Max and Circuit City (closed, in the foreground).

Entrance to Bama 6 Theaters in the center, which was previously the only direct entrance to the mall before it was demolished.  This is all that remains of the original mall today.

Since 1995, the Wal-Mart was subdivided completely into smaller tenants.  Campo Electronics (today Office Max) and Toys "R" Us were included in the original redeveloped store.  When the rest of the mall was gutted into individual front-facing shops, the front was renovated and the name changed to McFarland Plaza after McFarland Blvd.  Tenants a few years ago included Circuit City, OfficeMax, Old Navy, Shoe Carnival, SteinMart, Toys R Us and Bama 6 Cinema.  Both Circuit City and Bama 6 Cinemas have since closed, but the redeveloped strip mall continues to do fairly well, but is showing signs that it is beginning to struggle.  The main problems are that Circuit City planned to move in 2007 and is now out-of-business, and Bama 6 Cinemas also closed in 2007.  Old Navy also left the center for a new lifestyle center constructed across from University Mall recently as well.   If not for the vacant Bama 6, however, there would be no way to tell this was ever a mall.  The subdividing of Kroger and Murphy's/Wal-Mart disguised its past even more.  Basically, Tuscaloosa's second mall is now long forgotten as a basic strip mall, but it formed an interesting chapter in a city that has been overmalled for over 30 years.

A dark, dirty, musty and lonely corridor leads from the parking lot to the Bama 6 Theaters.  These must have been quite seedy at the end.

Approaching the entrance to what is left of the mall corridor in front of Bama 6 Theaters.  What was that store to the right?

Oddly, where the mall continued on each side of the theater entrance was replaced with doors to the outside in lieu of just walling it off.  These doors enter to what is now the back of the strip.  It is rather spooky.

Looking straight on at the box office fronted with a hideous shade of purple carpet.

McFarland Mall Opening Day 1969 and 1978: Tuscaloosa, AL

McFarland Mall's opening on February 12, 1969 was the city's first attempt to stop the bleeding of shoppers to Birmingham only 60 miles away.  Shoppers were lured to their much larger neighbor drawn by the likes of Eastwood Mall, and the city would face even greater competition with the opening of West Lake Mall in Bessemer much closer to Tuscaloosa the same year.  By providing a viable local alternative, the hope was that local money would be spent locally.  Local builder Ward McFarland made just that happen with his namesake mall.  Operating for over 40 years, the mall would remain successful long after its early competition has vanished and local competition has squeezed its market share.  While today the mall is looking at its final days, it is not any failure of the mall itself but simply a reflection of the era it is in where too many malls dot the landscape for an economy not big enough to support all of them.

The images here are not the best quality, but they show how the mall has changed somewhat over time.  What is more striking is how much is actually the same about it.  While the mall has since gained a new food and entrance court, Gayfer's got a different name and Woolco is now a mini strip mall.  It is not difficult to tell from these pics that inside and out it is very much the same mall.  The pictures and ads here represent two dates: one from opening day and the other from 1978.  I have indicated which pics are from 1978 since most are from opening day in 1969.  Perhaps the mall lasted this long due to the overall growth of the city, but it would be interesting to see how different the mall's fortunes would have been had anything been different...for instance if Woolco had instead been JCPenney.  Whatever the outcome would have been, it is good to be able to provide perspectives from both eras.  I got there soon enough to be able to show both.

Overview of the mall in 1969.  Instead of the big overblown entrance in the center, a small tower resembling a water tower is found in the same general area.  Does anybody know what that is?

The original McFarland Mall sign with Woolco in the background.

A close-up of the McFarland Mall sign.

Images from advertisements for Woolco.

A view of the mall in 1969.  Back then, it apparently had shiny hard floors and triangular banners hanging from the skylights.

Aerial view of the early mall.  Winn-Dixie is at the bottom of the photo, Gayfer's is on the upper right and Woolco is on the upper left.  

Winn-Dixie opened on the outlot next to the mall where Books-A-Million is now.

Lawson's Gift Shop was one of the original stores in the mall.

This image of Thomas Jewelers is from 1978.  The glass wall to the right is the epitome of the era it was built.  I found an old shop like that in my post about Galleria Specialty Mall.

Another view of the mall, this time showing more clearly that the triangles were apparently banners.  They are annoying because they defied photography in the mall much the way ad banners in other malls do today.

Another view of the mall, apparently part of a boat show in these 1978 pics.  You can make out the Morrison's Cafeteria logo on the left.  Piccadilly moved in and renovated the location in 1978 to the gothic motif.  Too bad modern Piccadilly locations never bothered to renovate the Morrison's locations they took over.  Note how many have closed in the past few years as well.

The Pizitz Tuscaloosa logo.  It made up a 10,000 square feet junior anchor somewhere in the mall before it closed in 1981.  Ads at the time that Pizitz Birmingham operation operated at University Mall explicitly stated that Pizitz Tuscaloosa and Pizitz of Birmingham were separate operations.

McFarland Mall: Tuscaloosa, AL

Classic malls seem to be an endangered species these days, and McFarland Mall is no exception.  The mall came to life on February 12, 1969 featuring anchors Gayfer's department store, Woolco and junior anchor Pizitz Tuscaloosa (10,000 square feet).  Pizitz Tuscaloosa was a branch of the downtown Tuscaloosa store and operated independently of the Birmingham store.  Morrison's Cafeteria also was in the mall: its first of three mall-based locations in the city.  Also, a free-standing Winn-Dixie store was included on an outlot in the southeast corner of the mall.  It was a huge event when the mall opened, but its landlocked design, lack of department store anchors and small size meant it would be easily replaced with better competition.  What is amazing is that the mall overall held on along with its major department store anchor for 40 years, and for a mall its size that is a big accomplishment!

When the mall was built, the new mall featured an enclosed, dark, air-conditioned corridor: something badly needed in the sickly humid heat of west central Alabama.  Located on one level, the L-shaped mall featured many regional and local tenants, basically duplicating the existing downtown stores but operating in tandem with them the first few years.  McFarland Mall was also locally built and operated, named for the original developer Ward McFarland who continued to own the mall up to May 2009 when it was sold to developer Stan Pate.

Along the northeast wing approaching the former Gayfer's, last operating as Dillard's.  An old Bath & Body Works is on the left.

Mall entrance to former Gayfer's/Dillard's.  The entrance to the Dillard's salon was on the right.  The stand in the center is the mall directory.

Looking back to center court, which is essentially the junction of the huge vaulted entrance/food court wing, which is pictured in the first photo.  Note the bucket on the left for the leaky roof.  It mostly looked to be in good repair, but it gets more difficult when the stores aren't there.

Preparing to turn the corner to the center court.  Goody's is in the background and Athlete's Foot, sporting an older logo, is on the right.

More detail of the classic-styled Athlete's Foot.

McFarland Mall at 400,000 square feet contained 40 stores and reigned dominant through the 70's.  However, in 1980 the mall faced a less certain future when University Mall opened.  Another mall had opened prior to that in 1977 known as Meadowbrook Mall, but there was no real threat from the small discount store-anchored mall.  The only tenant known to be lost to Meadowbrook was Morrison's Cafeteria, which was quickly replaced by Piccadilly complete with the famous gothic motif.  University Mall, however, opened with Pizitz, resulting in the closure of both the downtown and McFarland locations, subsequently ending the Pizitz Tuscaloosa franchise.  The Pizitz Tuscaloosa franchise officially ended business in July 1981.  However, dominant anchor Gayfer's was not included in the new mall line-up, which carved a solid niche for the mall.  Gayfer's retention kept the mall modestly successful throughout the 80's and 90's.  Woolco, however, closed at the mall in late 1982.  The old Woolco never remained vacant, though.  It was replaced by Zayre and later subdivided.  It is not known what happened to the former Pizitz in the mall when it closed, but it is believed this location ultimately became Goody's.

The map here shows the L-shaped layout of the mall showing that I am next to the old Dillard's.  Note the big front entrance wing and small rear back entrance wing.  Four separate stores fill up the old Woolco.  On the outlot in front of the old Woolco is Books-A-Million.

Another view of the front entrance wing with Goody's in the distance.

Looking along the back entrance wing with the doors straight ahead and the closed Fox 12 Theaters on the right.

Fox 12 Theaters in a little more detail.  I wonder when these closed.

Looking back to center court along the back entrance wing.  It is staggered from the main entrance wing with the focus on Goody's.  The "'s" in Goody's is on the left.  GNC still remains operational on the right.  It is usually one of the last chain stores to leave a dying mall.

In 1988, Zayre liquidated their entire chain.  At that point, the old Woolco was divided into four tenants.  Two of those were TJ Maxx and Michael's.  The others were Sticks 'N' Stuff and Shoe Station.  Unfortunately, the subdividing of Woolco made the mall seem more like a strip mall than before.  By the time the 90's started, it became a trying time for the aging mall.  For one, the mall was undersized.  Also, the increasingly saturated retail market combined with a shift in demographics at the mall resulted in the mall having numerous vacancies.  Nevertheless, the mall continued to have ample business, and it received its last renovation in 1993, bringing a fresh new look to the by then dated and dark mall.  The renovation brought in an elegant vaulted entrance wing that included a new food court.  This entrance wing and food court very strongly resembled what was done in Birmingham to Eastwood Mall in the early 90's.  At the back of the new entrance wing was a new Goody's, which arrived in 1994 to lure in business and provide the mall with another anchor.  Also, Dillard's bought Gayfer's in 1998 after operating there for nearly 30 years.  This was the only Dillard's location in the city since it never joined University Mall.  A small back entrance wing also featured a 12 screen movie theater, which was closed when I visited.  In addition, the old Winn-Dixie would ultimately become Books-A-Million, which remains today.

The longest part of the mall extends from center court to TJ Maxx, which operates in part of the former Woolco/Zayre.  It does not have outside access, and continues to draw great business.  It was supposed to move to a new shopping center this year owned by the developer who bought the mall, but I am not sure what is happening with that.

Looking back to center court.  The lush planters have never been lost in the mall, but I wonder if there was ever a functioning fountain prior to the 1993 renovation.

Detail of TJ Maxx mall entrance with part of the former Piccadilly entrance on the left.  It was so nice to see those gothic trappings again.

The tiles around the TJ Maxx entrance look totally original and very 1969.

Another view lookign back along the main corridor with more detail of the old Piccadilly.  A "Piccadilly Cafeteria" sign used to be on the white part between the entry and the rock/window area.

Here, you can make out the "Dollar Tree" sign overhead, which took up most of the old Piccadilly.

Next to TJ Maxx is this southwest entrance wing.  Note more detail of the old Piccadilly with the dark wood and fake stone.

Piccadilly Cafeteria at the mall, located in the old Morrison's, continued to thrive as well.  It ultimately closed when Piccadilly bought out Morrison's Cafeteria.  After the buyout, Piccadilly relocated to University Mall where Morrison's operated previously most likely around 2000.  I know it was still at the mall after the 1995 buyout, so it must have not closed the dual locations immediately.  Also, TJ Maxx has done great business in the old Woolco along with Michael's.  Michael's, along with the other fore mentioned stores, are also in the old Woolco but not connected to the mall.  My major memory at the mall was eating with family at the Piccadilly Cafeteria in 1998, and it was fascinating to me at the time to see that one of those old-style Piccadilly locations still existed.  Piccadilly had its very own outside entrance as well as a mall entrance where shoppers can directly enter the Dollar Tree today.

This inline store between center court and the wing next to TJ Maxx has an outside entrance.  It looks to have originally been either the Pizitz Tuscaloosa store or an old Woolworth.  Whatever it was, it last functioned as a clothing store of some sort.

Another view of the mall back lengthwise toward TJ Maxx from center court.

Detail of former Goody's entrance in relation to the food court area.

Detail of the food court area.

Only one restaurant remains open in the food court.  This is not one of them.

In 2009, it was becoming clear that McFarland Mall was reaching its last days.  Dillard's closed its location in 2008 after a decade at the mall.  Apparently the store was losing money every day it was open.  About 15 stores remained in the mall with Dillard's closed, and most of those were in the process of closing when I visited.  Even stores like Bath & Body Works are gone, and seeing Dollar Tree in the old Piccadilly shows how far the mall has fallen, though the old gothic exterior strangely remained.  Piccadilly itself left the mall in August 2003 after running stores at both McFarland and University Mall for several years.  Goody's also left early in 2009 with the bankruptcy of the chain.  The Goody's there was a store that received little love by the company itself, still sporting its older logo.  Most likely the mall will end up closing within the next year or two, and the new owner has presented a multitude of plans, but nothing clear yet.  Most likely, the center will be converted into a strip mall much like what happened to its earlier competition Meadowbrook.  Only time will tell what becomes of the classic center, but de-malling is certain.

Overview of the mall from the main entrance area to the subdivided former Woolco.  The red overhang on the right gives a clue on what was in the empty store with the outside entrance.  The Dollar Tree was the old Piccadilly.

Mall entrance next to the old Woolco.

More detail of the old Woolco.

The big entrance suggests a far more elegant mall.  The design is straight up 1993, too.  It is out of character with the mall and gaudy both inside and out, but it provides presence the old mall never had.

View of the now empty Dillard's/Gayfer's that closed in 2008.  It was a considerably large store compared to the one level stores at University Mall, which may have helped keep the mall viable longer.

Dillard's failed to remove the sign indicating the Salon inside the mall itself.  I also took in the corner of the main store for artistic effect.

Books-A-Million is found on the outlot that once housed a Winn-Dixie Supermarket.  Winn-Dixie moved more than once from this location.  A Winn-Dixie they were constructing down the road that replaced it was destroyed by an F4 tornado in 2000.

Overview of the mall from the southeast looking northwest.

The McFarland Mall sign is subdued, ugly and uninspiring.  This was not always the case, however, as the mall opened with a huge and distinct sign that has long since been removed.

My next post will feature photo clips of the original mall to show how much it has changed over time.