Northlake Mall: Charlotte, NC

Charlotte has it all retail-wise: one of the most upscale malls in the South, an enormous dead mall, funky older malls in various disguises and also one of the newest malls in the country: Northlake Mall.  Opened in 2005, Northlake is famously one of the very last malls built as malls have been falling out of favor due to the enormous costs of operation in conjunction with the decline of department stores.  Northlake also displays the best of mid-00's architecture featuring contemporary, attractive design throughout somewhat offsetting the total absence of fountains, planters and sunken seating areas.  It is a popular mall, but it is a bit unusual in its store offerings and controversial due to its direct influence in the death of near-legendary Eastland Mall.  While a conventional mall in every sense, the mall has attracted crowds looking for a quality mall without the inconvenience of driving across town and fighting red lights to get to South Park.

Northlake would be a perfectly situated mall if not for Charlotte's notorious gap in its relatively new belt route, I-485.  Currently, the mall is tucked at the southwest corner of where I-485 and I-77 converge, but with little traffic on I-485 due to its lack of nearby connection with I-85, it is not helping much currently.  It is still a mall in the "middle of nowhere" waiting for sprawl to catch up to it.  While some strip development has joined the mall, the area still has a ways to go.  It clearly was built on the model of so many malls in cities like Atlanta where it was built out in a semi-rural area with the expectation that subdivisions, apartments, office parks and strip malls would flock to join it.  While not outstanding by any stretch, it is pleasant to see a new mall for a change in lieu of the dated centers found most everywhere else.

This view is taken just outside of Belk on the lower level.  This is about the only thing I do not like about the mall is how the bottom floor is flush with nothing of any draw along the way.  I guess this allowed them to build "air conditioned sidewalks" on a narrower footprint.  The first photo is the inside of the front entrance, which is also the food court.

Walking along the lower level toward center court with more of the mall in focus.

I cannot deny that even with the absence of water features or sunken areas that the center court is very eye-catching.

Northlake faces some unique challenges not given to malls from the 90's back.  First, the mall did not open with a full deck of anchor stores.  While Belk, Hecht's (now Macy's) and Dillard's gladly joined the mall, Sears and JCPenney curiously wanted no part in the center.  Galyan's Sporting Goods (now Dick's) also joined the mall as an anchor proving how malls are more willing not to focus on department stores.  Nevertheless, the mall features a standard mid-market lineup of stores including a complete set of Limited stores, an elaborate food court and two levels of shopping.  It would have likely hurt South Park, but South Park had already made strides to better their shopping experience putting it in a different league.

Another view of center court.  Imagine if an artificial waterfall falling into a small "river" surrounded by lush ferns flowing slightly lower than the floor were built into this court.  That is the only thing keeping it from being amazing.

Dillard's mall entrance is a bit less than amazing.  Too bad Ivey's is not here instead.

Here is a map of the mall.  It doesn't look as intriguing on paper.

In a larger city, Northlake Mall would definitely be forming its own edge city, but in reality it is really not that far from Uptown Charlotte.  This is why the mall contributed to the demise of Eastland Mall, which itself was very close to Uptown.  This is also not the only mall it hurt as it, along with Concord Mills, has caused Carolina Mall in nearby Concord to struggle as well.  Carolina Mall will likely die if Sears and JCPenney decide to join Northlake at some point in the future, because they will definitely leave Carolina Mall in that case.  It seems overall that Charlotte can really only handle three major malls, so Northlake joins South Park and Carolina Place as the major malls in the city in the north, central and south, respectively.  They might handle more, but there is not exactly a huge mall-less rural area outside: the outer cities around it have malls of their own.

A view from the upper level shows one-sided high windows in lieu of overhead skylights.  Above is a latticework partial arch, which seemed to rule everything retail from this era.

Dick's Sporting Goods mall entrance.  I've noticed that the Dick's that started out as Galyan's were far larger than the stores they built on their own.

Returning to center court on the upper level.  The brick columns definitely pay tribute to the late 60's malls even though they were intended to pay ode to new urbanism.

A topic of conversation lately in regard to Northlake Mall is what the effect will be on the mall due to Eastland's closing.  The belief is that the ghetto element that is perceived to have destroyed Eastland is going to drift up to Northlake with nowhere else to go.  This is a bit curious to me since Northlake is still a good ways out of the city and obviously the "ghetto" can get to South Park far easier and quicker than they could Northlake.  Of course, I do not know that much about the neighborhood around Northlake, so I really cannot say for sure.  South Park, however, has done a great job hiding the fact that they are far closer to that "bad element", and that they have problems of their own.  South Park may not have survived had it not been for the upscaling project that it undertook in the past decade.  What it did do, however, was keep Northlake down to an average upper middle mall when it might have otherwise become the dominant mall in the region.  Perhaps management at South Park knew this, and that was why they quickly lured in Nordstrom and later Neiman Marcus.  That's fair enough since South Park is far more interesting mall with a lot of history.

The upper level of center court is a sight to behold.  This carries into the food court and front entrance as well.  The underside of those skylights is wood trimmed.

Walking into the food court area.  At the end is the front entrance and a Borders bookstore on the left.  My first photo also shows this area.

Macy's, formerly Hecht's.  Unfortunately, this bland mall entrance is nothing compared to those of old.  Do they realize this makes department stores look less important and outmoded?  Macy's using black letters did not help either.

Another thing that truly benefited Northlake was the failure of the lifestyle center projects that were planned in the city.  Lifestyle centers should never be taken for granted: they caused the death or decline of multiple malls in Birmingham and are pulling down malls in other cities across the country.  Three dominant malls is probably sufficient for a city the size of Charlotte, and if a fourth were built it would need to be east of the city somewhere near where US 74 and I-485 intersect.   My guess is that if Charlotte starts growing again that Northlake will become a regional powerhouse, but right now it is already a decent A-list mall.  Regardless, it seems to have a bit of mid-market overkill in terms of department stores.  It is definitely just an average mall, and nothing is really substantial about it except that it's new, nice and clean with a contemporary look and decent stores for the average person that cannot budget for Armani, Burberry and Neiman Marcus.

Belk's mall entrance looks somewhat more substantial.  It should in its home turf, and it is a nice store inside, too. 

Here I am looking back from the Belk mall entrance.  This court seems to have more traditional skylights, and this shot gives a nice view of the upper level.

One of the entrances here looks quite tasteful, but I do have to wonder about the lower part deliberately hanging at the weird angle.  It reminds me of some of the Ripley's Believe It or Not tourist traps.  You expect to walk in and find an Eiffel Tower made of toothpicks.

I guess for me what was nice about Northlake was to see a new mall again.  When was the last time you saw a regional mall that still had its shiny luster, mildew had yet to overtake the exterior and the surrounding area had a smooth traffic flow with manageable strip mall clutter?  I can also say design-wise that there were definitely things I liked.  I though the ceiling treatments and skylight elements were fantastic.  I also thought the use of materials maintained a nice blend of moody without being depressing: a design I think overall will age gracefully.  I hope the mall does well, because so far it is one of the last of its kind.   I also hope that this is truly is not one of the last malls ever to be built.  Can we please do better than overblown inverted strips for shopping malls?

Macy's, formerly Hecht's, on the outside.  Hecht's was here so briefly that if you blinked you would miss it.

Belk has the most original and best looking design for a store at the mall.  I guess being privately held by the namesake family near the company headquarters helps them to care more about how their stores look.

Dillard's, however, put up their latest clone.  No fun allowed here.

Departing, I captured the mall sign.  This is something I fail to do when I cover these places quite often.

Retail Relics around North Park and Tryon Malls: Charlotte, NC

While exploring the uglier side of Charlotte, I could not pass up some of the more fascinating retail relics I noted along the way.  Here, I am covering three: an old Park-n-Shop, dated Captain D's and former Sizzler.  On the first, I really do not know that much about the Park-n-Shop, but I was quite impressed with the shell of the swanky, outlandish store in front of Tryon Mall/Asian Corner Mall.  While its original format has long since passed it by, its fascinating modernist design was worthy of a photograph.  At first I thought this was an old car dealership, but on closer inspection I realized it was an old grocery store, and I was able to confirm that.  Other than that, I really do not know very much about this store.

Remains of the old Park N Shop in front of Tryon Mall/Asian Corner Mall.  You can see the old Peeble's/Collins Company in the background.  This is not the best pic because I took it from the street while I was at a red light.

Once common, old-style Captain D's signs featuring an animated captain are a rarity these days.  This is why I was very happy to find one at the intersection of Eastway Drive and Tryon Street in front of North Park Mall.  I took no pictures of the restaurant, though, because it was completely renovated to look like all the other recent ones.  I have to wonder why they failed to replace the sign, though.  Possibly the offbeat, run down area may have something to do with why they didn't change it.

You have to admit this sign was more eye-catching and had more kid appeal than the oval today.  However, it is kind of corny.  This is looking south on Eastway Drive.

This was barely hanging on.  Part of the old Kroger Sav-On/Bi-Lo at North Park Mall is visible on the left.

Next to Captain D's, I also discovered the fairly well preserved remains of an old Sizzler.  The Sizzler chain was grouped with all the other family steakhouse chains that mostly tanked in the early 90's.  In typical low rent fashion, the once dark mansard roof now is painted a hideous turquoise color.  The style of entrance doors used always stood out to me.  Those truly fell out of favor after the the 1980's.

Steaks and hot bars were replaced with burritos and Dos Equis at this rather sleazy looking mexican restaurant located in an old Sizzler.

One thing that definitely surprised me about Charlotte was the amount of dead retail scattered around the city.  It is currently most pronounced along Independence Blvd (US 74), which was an area that I unfortunately did not get a chance to explore.  This will undoubtedly be a phase as the city eventually finds a way to tear down all of it.  Aside from Independence and Central Ave, all of this was found along Tryon Street (US 29), which was a thriving retail corridor in the 70's with the draw of Tryon and North Park Malls.  I would loved to have explored it further, but I did not have time.

Cotswold City Shopping Center: Charlotte, NC

Cotswold City has to be the most unusual shopping center I have ever covered.  While inconsequential today, it has a deep history in Charlotte with a rather unique set of anchors when it opened.  In all, it basically started out as a hybrid of an enclosed mall and strip mall.  Today, it still has a mall portion, though that part is now an open-air mall with new traditionalist design.  The rest remains a regular strip, but it is run down by no means offering quality stores today.  However, it functions more today like a regular semi-upscale strip mall than the destination it once was.  In all, this place is a bit difficult to describe but I have some background along with photos to show how it has changed.

Cotswold opened originally in 1963.  The early center had two department stores, a discount store and two grocery stores.  The department stores were The Collins Company and Ivey's.  Ivey's being there is especially curious, and I am assuming it became an outlet after South Park opened before later closing.  The discount store was the once major player and conventional discounter Rose's that has faded into a murky world of a closeout store masquerading as a discounter.  The grocery stores were A&P and Harris Teeter.  Of that original lineup, only Harris Teeter remains and in the same location as it always was.  A&P departed in the early 90's.

Comparing the Cotswald mall portion today (first photo) and yesterday (above), you can see quite a bunch has changed.  The first photo shows a modern open-air mall with faux new traditionalist themes while the older mall split by The Collins Company shows a rather dark, enclosed mid-60's indoor mall with a few mostly local shops.  Second photo submitted by Pat Richardson from when the mall first opened.

Photo of a court area with a small fountain.  I love the design of that skylight.  I really miss when malls were moody and funky like this...it felt homey somehow.  Photo submitted by Pat Richardson.

This high resolution photo obviously fronts a brochure from when the mall first opened.  From this angle, it looks like an ordinary strip mall, but note the raised parts that appear to be skylights where the mall was.  Most of the early strip malls had a "mall" portion, but this one was more significant in that it was larger and had two major Charlotte department stores as anchors.  Photo submitted by Pat Richardson.

The most curious aspect of Cotswold was the small enclosed mall.  The mall started on the A&P side, curving around toward Ivey's.  In between was The Collins Company, which I have been unable to confirm on how it configured with the mall.  Were the malls separate, did the mall continue through the store or did it continue back behind it?  The mall that was there was ultimately a basic early 60's mall with polished concrete floors that was mostly dark except in the court areas, which included small fountains and funky skylights.  It was a funky mall, and in its later years attracted funky shops.

This 1986 circular shows a full map of the mall combined with the rest of the strip.  It appears from here that a mall-thru did exist between what was by then Peeble's.  As you can see, the mall here was very tiny.  Ivey's appears to have already left the center by then in contrast with the information I posted below.  What was the big empty store on the east end of the mall?

This ad from 1975 is for The Collins Company.  Note that it lists its other two locations at Freedom Mall and Tryon Mall.

This ad, also from 1975, shows Ivey's at Cotswald.  I can't believe not only that they had a store there but also how it could have stayed profitable after the one at South Park opened.  It seems they would have closed there the very day South Park opened, so that is why I think it must have become an outlet.

The mall began to fade in the 80's, but the strip mall around it continued to thrive.  However, the roster of anchors was destined to turn over with most of those original stores listed restructuring or disappearing.  The Collins Company was the first casualty, bought out by Peeble's in 1984.  Peeble's continued to operate in that location up to 1989.  Ivey's was the next to go as its small format store shut down in 1988.  Stein Mart took over that site the next year.  Rose's also eventually departed, replaced by Marshall's, though the date is unknown.  I am guessing 1995 since that is when Rose's ceased to be a traditional discounter.  By the time the dust settled, only Harris Teeter remained.  However, it has long since been renovated from its original 1963 store so that it is indistinguishable from any other store in the area.

Cotswald really bears almost no resemblance to its original 1966 self.  Books-A-Million on the left is actually part of an old subdivided old A&P.  A&P never had direct mall access.  The opening straight ahead was originally stores in the mall with the original west mall entrance to the left, and the store to the right apparently closed recently and is being reconfigured.  This place was completely full in 2007, but the economy has not left Charlotte unscathed by any means.

Looking down into the new smaller open-air mall.  Binders is where a back mall entrance was previously and "Phil's Deli" in 1986.

More of the modern outdoor mall along what would have previously been the middle of The Collins Company, which still hosts mostly local businesses.

With the original anchors gone, the enclosed mall portion would limp along offering almost exclusive local shops.  Apparently by this time the owners felt that keeping the mall would pull down the area, so beginning in 1997 work began to tear out the enclosed mall, replacing it with an open-air arcade of shops.  Completed in 2000, it was coupled with a re-tenanting and renovation of the center.  The old A&P was subdivided into Blockbuster Video, Eckerd Drugs and Books-A-Million.  The old Collins/Peeble's looks to have been demolished or at least structurally modified, and it today holds a series of tenants on four sides including Bath & Body Works and...a bunch of local shops.  The only real difference is that now there is no air conditioned comfort or cover from downpours so frequent in the South.  However, it definitely looks more modern or, should I say, post-modern.

This to me is the strangest thing.  The mall extends out past the second entrance back to the parking lot approximately where the east mall entrance to the main parking lot was to this.  This would have been the mall entrance to Ivey's historically, and today that should connect to what was Stein Mart.  I came up and looked in the open doors and noted a service corridor between that and the old Stein Mart/Ivey's.  Did Stein Mart ever have access here after this was done?  It seems businesses would really struggle right in here.

Here, I am looking back west along the length of the mall toward Books-A-Million (A&P).  The weather was actually becoming threatening when I was taking these shots.

The east mall entrance is actually pretty close to the original.  At the back is a place called Charley's and on the left is a restaurant.  The sky above is frightening now.  It would open up in full fury by the time I arrived at Eastland Mall later.

Today, Cotswold sits in an awkward position as the boundary between nice Charlotte and not-so-nice Charlotte.  However, it has been helped extensively by the upscaling of nearby South Park Mall (yes, I know it's SouthPark, but I like two words better lol).  Cotswold also joins Park Road Shopping Center as strip malls that have become Charlotte legends.  Still nearly as popular today as it was in the past, the redevelopment is very fascinating in its own right.  Instead of just converting to a boring strip, they created an almost unheard of small open-air mall.  Today, the center is having some economic pains, however, as Stein Mart has since departed with Blockbuster headed soon behind it.  Nevertheless, if planned right they can easily fill the voids.  All this as a whole is pretty impressive for a center that will celebrating its 50th anniversary in 2013.  I only wish that most cities would have found a way to preserve their classic strips in the way that Charlotte has with Cotswold.

A look at the length of the strip up to the "mall" part with Harris Teeter in the foreground.  Harris Teeter gave their best for this rather elegant looking remodel.  It is the only remaining original tenant.

Many thanks to Bobby Peacock for assisting in the historical information for this post.

Target (Former Richway): Gastonia, NC

Richway as a whole was rather limited in its presence outside of Atlanta.  In its early expansion years, it expanded to Charlotte and Columbia, later expanding into South Florida taking over former Gold Triangle locations and Chattanooga in the former Gibson's/Miracle City stores.  Gastonia, however, was a fluke because despite its proximity to Charlotte, it was not actually Charlotte itself making it not a typical market for Richway to open in.  One store was opened there close to then-new Eastridge Mall.  It was also distinct in that it opened as a standalone store adjacent to a strip mall in lieu of anchoring an enclosed mall. 

Today, that Richway store is the last in the Charlotte region still operating as a Target.  The signature wedge skylights are still there, and the store is going strong.  However, its future days may be numbered since a new Target is planned as part of the redevelopment of the former Gaston Mall just to the east.  How much longer is unknown, but this store is the only other former Richway still operating as Target.  The other is located in Smyrna, GA north of Cumberland Mall on US 41.  Let's hope this one sticks around awhile longer much in the way I wish that Richway had.

North Park Mall: Charlotte, NC

Federated Department Stores in the 1970's took a rather unique approach to expanding its regional discount format Richway, which it had just acquired as part of the sale of Rich's from the Rich family.  The Rich family started the concept, but on a far more limited basis with Roswell Mall in Atlanta one of its prototypes.  While the company built many freestanding stores, including one in Gastonia, the company also combined forces with Kroger to build small discount malls connecting the two chains.  Perhaps this was done to create a more grand entry into the market, but it clearly was a passing fad with the malls and stores both too small to be competitive long-term.  Columbia, SC was one of the markets that Federated (now Macy's, Inc.) tried this in, but they also did the same in Charlotte.  Like Columbia, these "Richway Malls" as I call them had two built on a similar design in Charlotte connecting Richway with Kroger Sav-On with a third older mall built on a different design.  North Park Mall is one of those malls.  The other was West Park Mall.  Freedom Mall was also a Richway Mall, but that was the one with a different design and opposite anchor.

Freedom Mall was distinct for several reasons.  I cannot give a completely accurate history, partly because the date of construction is a bit hard to pin down and I did not cover this mall on this trip.  The mall may have been older since it was anchored on one end by The Collins Company, later Peebles.  Labelscar, who did their own post on it, states it was built in 1964 and other sources cite 1974 and other dates.  If it was 1974, it was an original Richway built as a test market.  If 1964, then definitely Richway bought the location after Grant's folded.  This is rather important since an early date of construction suggests that this was originally a Grant City while a later date would be an original Richway.  The Freedom Mall store had the distinct wedge skylights, but it was configured much like a mall with Grant's would be meaning they may have been added later.  Freedom Mall was also converted to offices a couple years ago, so it bears no resemblance to its former retail purpose.  It is similar to former Woodhill Mall in Columbia where a local department store anchored one end of the mall in lieu of Kroger Sav-On and the mall carried a different design.  Perhaps Woodhill Mall's Richway was originally a Grant's mall also?

North Park Mall is plain and simple with rounded "space age" features.  It looks to have gotten a stucco refacing later in its life, however.  Compare to my earlier Decker Mall post to see the difference.  The first two photos here are of the entrance third from left.  Richway Malls always had four entrances, all front facing.  This is looking toward what was originally Kroger Sav-On.

Looking toward the former Richway/Target, now Kimbrell's Furniture.  The entrance in the background was actually the entrance to Target/Richway, which was accessible only through the mall itself.

West Park Mall was an original Richway Mall, but it is lost.  Located on Tyvola Road (City 4) just east of I-77, it was one of three malls within a short distance: the other two being Tyvola Mall (a de-malled former Woolco Mall) and South Park Mall.  West Park was demolished in the late 1990's after Target moved to the intersection of I-485 and Pineville Road/South Blvd. The mall was in a more prime location than the other two Richway Malls on Tyvola Road in a better side of town, so the property was quickly redeveloped into a new Costco.  Costco is also standing alone, so most of the mall buildings are now part of the parking lot.

Inside the only open part of the mall, which today is part of Kimbrell's Furniture but used to be the mall/outside entrance to Target/Richway.  A similar setup was in place at Decker Mall, but it was walled off from the open mall due to its current use as a storage place.

North Park Mall was also an original Richway Mall, and only because of lack of interest in the area is it still standing.  Its date of construction is unknown, but it was most likely built in 1977 considering the date of construction and design of the similar malls in Columbia.  Its design, however, was not entirely identical with a level, direct concourse and an architectural theme that likewise also did not match exactly.  Skylights around the entrance courts are definitely of a different look than those at Decker Mall in Columbia and entrances are located differently.  The mall is also in far worse shape than Decker Mall having been closed for some time.  This makes Decker Mall the last original Richway Mall still in operation.

A view from the entrance to the mall under the "North Park" sign.  Note that the skylights are identical to those used at Eastland Mall over the center court.

More advanced deterioration was underway at another entrance.  I cannot remember which one this was, however.  That looks like an old Foot Locker straight ahead, but I have a hard time believing they would locate in a discount-oriented mall.  Maybe it was a Hallmark shop? 

It is hard to say when North Park Mall closed.  The circumstances are rather mysterious, and it looks to have happened within the past 5 years.  The mall actually was not empty at all when it closed.  It had quite a few tenants inside that were basically forced out to a nearby strip mall.  I am guessing the owners simply went into foreclosure and the property simply has been abandoned.  Nothing outside even indicated anything has happened, but the doors are locked and the beginning of deterioration in the interior is underway as evidenced from the photos here.  The parking lot is also a mess of craters as maintenance has been deferred probably for decades.  Nevertheless, one tenant still holds on in the center...a local furniture store operating in the old Richway/Target.  It is a very low-rent type store that apparently did not even have climate control.

More outside detail here of the Richway/Target, now Kimbrell's Furniture with the signature wedge skylights clearly visible.  I can think of no discount store more distinct looking than Richway was.

North Park Mall holds the distinction of being on a rough side of Charlotte.  It is located at the intersection of Eastway Drive and Tryon St (US 29), and it never had the benefit of an ancillary major shopping mall to boost its business.  It is, however, very close to Tryon Mall (Asian Corner Mall), which offered absolutely no benefit to the center in the long term.  Even Decker Mall in Columbia was not in a neighborhood in this bad of shape. 

This peculiar side entrance shows exactly how Richway was incorporated into the mall.  The mall started right there inside the entrance shown continuing to Kroger Sav-On.  The fourth photo above shows that same side door from the inside.

North Park Mall had a somewhat different turn of events over time.  While Target pretty much followed the pattern of every Richway Mall, Bi-Lo took interest when Kroger Sav-On closed.  For several years after Kroger left, Bi-Lo operated in the old Kroger.  Richway, of course, became Target in 1989 after closing in 1988.  Target then abandoned the store around 1998 moving out to its current location at University City and Harris Blvd.  Dollar Smart was the last store to operate in the old Kroger/Bi-Lo, and it had to be one of the largest dollar stores ever!  Kimbrell's Furniture, the last tenant, has kept a small part of the mall opened to allow access to the store, but a sheet rock wall blocks access to the rest of the mall.

An overview of the mall from a standpoint closer to Eastway Drive.

I have to wonder what kind of plans, if any, are in store for the crumbling mall.  Charlotte has a lot on its hands trying to deal with the all the dead retail they already have.  I honestly wish they would just leave North Park be and try to redevelop the area around it to eventually attract interest in the existing structure, but would anything of any substance ever be interested in a place like this?  I'm sure the most likely candidate for the site would be a Super Wal-Mart, which would certainly take the undesirable approach of demolishing every last bit of the mall.  I believe the mall could be renovated and find new use in the future, though this will most likely not be retail.  Perhaps a medical center might work here?  I guess time will tell what happens as Charlotte is faced with the very real need to reinvent its inner ring suburbs.

Eastland Mall (Farewell Part 2): Charlotte, NC

Doing a series on Eastland Mall is a little strange for me.  The reason for this is because the photos I took were the very first time I had ever seen the mall.  I never remembered its prime or when it was new, but with my blog focusing on retail history in the Southeast, it would have been sinful for me to have ignored this.  It was funny how if this had happened 20 years ago it would not have gotten so much attention.  Quite a few "firsts" have departed with fewer tears shed.  Charlottetown Mall, which had faded and changed names twice finally fell into the dustbin of history four years before...likely with far less fanfare despite the fact it was the oldest enclosed mall in the Southeast.  Charlottetown, however, never became a superstar like Eastland.  It was pretty much sidelined for better malls within 11 years of opening.

With Eastland, I felt the need to present memories of a faded retail palace much in the way I have many other lost malls.  I am actually impressed and quite pleased at the amount of attention this place is getting as its era has come to an end.  When the giants fall, it always comes as a shock to people even if they saw it coming for years.  I only wish that so many of the other historic centers had garnered this much interest as its future prepares to be very different from the past 35 years.  To me, upon visiting the place it was difficult to grasp that despite the condition it was in that it was truly the end.  I felt much the same way as I saw other malls of my youth fade, vanish or morph into something unfamiliar.  Unfortunately in the volatile world of retail, change is far more drastic than any other.

Directory of Eastland Mall from 1975.  Scans from Pat Richardson.  The first photo is a road sign pointing to the mall with the mall's logo on it.

A custom map from 2007 made by Bobby Peacock.  I had forgotten about Freds and Prime Time in the last post.

Ad for Belk grand opening at Eastland.  Scan from Pat Richardson.

Ivey's grand opening ad.  Scan from Pat Richardson.

I guess that many of us do not realize the effect malls have on us.  It sounds corny, I know, but as I've said before malls were the downtowns of two generations.  So many of us spent our childhood and teenage years in them, and I remember when they were as a whole far more exciting than today.  The dead mall phenomenon is not just the area, the economy or a change in fashion: they just are not what they used to be.  They started out as an "all in one" shopping experience when today you do well to find anything besides marked-up clothing and bad Chinese food.   Eastland is also an example of the shift of interest from the mall "experience" that Eastland presented.  The fountains and trees are gone.  No Eckerd drug store with a soda fountain is to be found.  The ice skating rink became a costly liability.  Kiosks replaced nice seating areas to help pay the air conditioner bill before they, too, left.

What is preposterous to me is how the original mall entrances have remained in place from day one, but even more so how they really do not look dated at all.

More detail of "Entrance A".

Burlington Coat Factory labelscar on the hideous old JCPenney.  Ivey's and Belk were attractive and distinct, but I cannot say the same for JCPenney.

Nondescript Sears, which opened in 1979 and closed in 2009.

Dillard's stripped away all of the old Ivey's and made it ugly.  It was classy looking before.

Now, look back in time.  Imagine your mom dragging you through the mall at five years old as you tugged her toward the toy store, candy store or pet store.  Imagine spending half-a-day as a preteen milling around the mall to see and be seen while you slurped on Orange Julius.  Imagine you might have had your first job at the mall.  Now, you're looking and seeing how much of your life was spent there.  That may not have mattered at the "always dead" mall, but in a "place to be" like Eastland that really mattered.  In no way can it not be sad, because it is an old friend.  I am a bit unusual in this because I have just felt that way about more than one of such places.  I realize that every one I have been to has a distinct feel and personality even if it looks much like another one.

Some would call this Belk ugly, but designs like this really had an outlandish mystique to them.  This is my favorite store outside by far, and the inside looked spectacular in the late 80's remodel.  All photos of that remodel can be found on LiveMalls.

Belk and Entrance A.

The redevelopment of Eastland, in my opinion, will be very tough.  Eastland had so much working against it at the end.  I think what works against it the most is the lack of a hinterland.  The mall used to have that, but that was largely lost due to the US 74/Independence freeway project, which killed off much of the nearby retail.  Malls need stores like Best Buy nearby.  With that, keeping the mall as a mall likely would only work as what Boxer has planned, because in reality I do not see this site as retail anymore: especially not as a mall.  As much as I hate to say it, I think it would probably be best to just demolish most of the mall and convert what is left to offices and condos.  While a "downtown" type project would be nice, I do not think the neighborhood is quite ready to support it.  In fact, this would have probably been a good place for Charlotte/Mecklenburg offices, but because they chose Freedom Mall for that first, this negates that option.  Honestly, I would love to hear what others would think would work best on this site putting their wishes aside that it could be a mall forever.  I know the feeling, because I never want to see a mall die.

A view from the ice rink level.  Cutlery World is in the background.  Photo by Pat Richardson from 1989.

Another store at side of ice rink area/center court.  Photo by Pat Richardson from 1989.

Another view inside the Radio Shack from the previous post.  Photo by Pat Richardson from 1989.

Outside Lerner Shops.  This is very old school looking.  The Lerner I remember had a more elegant logo but in the same blue neon.  Photo by Pat Richardson from 1989.

Eastland was a big mall that captured the love of the populace, so included here are more photos from its past along with more of my own parting photos.  This post captures more historic images of the mall from its first 15 years.  I am glad most of you liked my first post, and I have more to come with Charlotte.  Much more can be found on Eastland Mall at LiveMalls

Pat Richardson provided these architectural drawings showing how the 1989 renovation would look when completed.

Renovation work here underway.  What did this look like before?  Photo by Pat Richardson from 1989.

One of the upper level entrance courts with work underway.  I think I liked the original mall better.  Photo by Pat Richardson from 1989.

A corner shop with barren floors.  Photo by Pat Richardson from 1989.

Random location.  Photo by Pat Richardson from 1989.

Florsheim Shoes and part of chandelier at center court.  They were once a standard in nearly every mall back then.  Photo by Pat Richardson from 1989.

Upper floor view.  Photo by Pat Richardson from 1989.

Waldenbooks and JCPenney mall entrance in the background.  The original fountains were already gone.  Too bad they weren't allowed to remain unlike those at Century Plaza.  Photo by Pat Richardson from 1989.

This is a scan from Pat Richardson from 1973 showing how the then-proposed mall would look.

Pat Richardson also sent this photo he took in 1979 or 1980 showing JCPenney with Ivey's on the left.