Roswell Mall: Roswell, GA

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

186

Downloaded on Jan 21, 2025

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

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

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