Florence Mall: Florence, SC

The Deep South, unlike other parts of the country, never was featured often in industry retail photography during the golden age of retail. It is difficult to find quality photos of old stores and shopping centers in these places, but a few exist. One mall oddly stands out: Florence Mall in Florence, SC.  What is curious is that this mall seems to have been featured in a couple postcards when it opened, thus preserving the memory of the long-demalled center in its glory days. As one of the first malls in the state, it was never a large mall, but it had high visibility as an oasis for travelers en route to and from Myrtle Beach: a drive with long stretches of nothing in between.  Located in a small city, this open-air center opened in on August 30, 1965 along U.S. 76 featuring department store anchors Belk and J.L. Coker Company as well as grocery store A&P and a Roses (five and dime).  JCPenney would not arrive at the mall for two more years, but it would become the mall's largest anchor tenant.

Another curious thing about the mall is its striking similarities to the original Richland Mall in Columbia and Tri-Cities Mall in Forest City, NC.  Were they all built by the same developer?  The developer of this mall was a partnership of Alexander Corporation and Masten-Langston Realty of Charlotte.  Downtown merchants were highly displeased with the opening of this mall, and they sought to steal some of the thunder by converting a portion of West Evans Street into a pedestrian mall in 1967.  However, that project was too little, too late as JCPenney was already in the process of moving to Florence Mall with Coker's and Belk already at the mall.  While the downtown mall would ultimately be removed, another mall rose up and overtake Florence Mall much sooner.  In all, Florence Mall was able to dominate the market for about 14 years until it was supplanted by larger, enclosed Magnolia Mall, which opened in 1979. Considering how much smaller it was than Magnolia Mall, it's not a surprise it lost its anchors, but the funny thing is it never really died.

Postcard image by Ernest Ferguson of the mall in its prime followed by an image posted in the Charleston News (now Post) & Courier showing the mall's Belk store.

People have asked if a mall still exists, and photographer Mike Kalasnik is about to find out.

A low fence did not hold back Mike Kalasnik from checking out what was beyond.

Scenes like this are why the old malls were so much better than the malls of today...a moody mix of dark tones and peculiar placement of skylights with trees and plants growing to them.  Belk was originally on the right.  Photos by Mike Kalasnik taken February 3, 2012.

According to the Florence Morning News, two years after Florence Mall opened, the mall underwent a major expansion that added 126,000 square feet.  This addition, which opened on August 17, 1967, brought in the forementioned JCPenney along with 20 additional stores and a Piggly Wiggly on an outlot on the west side of the mall.  Piggly Wiggly would later take over half of the old JCPenney years after JCPenney departed.  The former Piggly Wiggly today is subdivided among a Sprint store, Game Stop, Jos. A Bank, and other tenants and is unrecognizable.  In addition, Belk added 10,000 square feet to their store.  This addition brought the mall's square footage up to 288,000 square feet.  It was this addition that solidified the mall's position in the market while finishing off downtown Florence as a shopping destination.

While no actual picture is available, here is an add from the Florence Morning News showing us its classic "Funky P" store as it looked when it opened on August 17, 1967.

This Penney's ad not only shows an architectural drawing of the store, but also includes some awesome Penney's branded electronics.  JCPenney phased out electronics in 1985.  (Florence Morning News, August 17, 1967)

This ad here is golden.  Not only does it show us how AMAZING the original mall sign was, but it also gives us a glimpse of the old "Funky P" mall entrance that remained at this location until 1980 meaning that this store operated as JCPenney a mere 13 years!  (Florence Morning News, August 17, 1967)

Even Penney's Auto Center makes a cameo in the grand opening article.  It does not appear to still be standing and is most likely where Wells Fargo is today. (Florence Morning News, August 17, 1967).

Belk expansion ad.  This appears to have been just before the introduction of the big "B". (Florence Morning News, August 17, 1967)

Porter's Gift Shop apparently moved from downtown to the mall during the 1967 addition and continued to operate there years after JCPenney and Belk departed closing sometime after 2012.

During the 2000's, the interior mall courtyard was mostly closed off to the public.  However, most people do not realize that much of the old mall is still there with the mall portion hidden from the public behind an "employees only" notice.  Essentially, instead of converting the mall into a strip, the owners of the mall turned the mall inside out as basically a square strip surrounding a mostly walled-off mall corridor that now functions as a break area for employees and a back entrance for vendors, thus it is no longer open to the general public.  They achieved this by filling in all but one entrance corridor with stores.  How often are these malls hiding from our view that were supposedly redeveloped?

No 60's mall is every complete without a few faux-Colonial touches.  Photo by Mike Kalasnik taken February 3, 2012.

About to enter the mall.  Photo by Mike Kalasnik taken February 3, 2012.

Looking back from the main mall to the one remaining entrance wing.  Compared to the 1960's photo, the overhead walkways look completely different now.  The entrance wing that still exists is on the NE side of the mall.  Photo by Mike Kalasnik taken February 3, 2012.

Looking northeast to the north end of the mall where the "MERRY CHRISTMAS" banner and Belk entrance off to the right was posted.  In the background is now a wall for Ross, which filled in part of the mall corridor.  Photo by Mike Kalasnik taken February 3, 2012.

The wood-grained ceiling and update of the overhangs was most likely done sometime in the 1980's as a means of trying to renovate the mall back into legitimacy.  It clearly did not work to save the interior mall.  Photo by Mike Kalasnik taken February 3, 2012.

Walking toward the former location of JCPenney.  The planter itself might be original.  Photo by Mike Kalasnik taken February 3, 2012.

The curious thing about Florence Mall is that it did not follow the usual pattern of older open-air 1960's malls in that, while it died as a mall, it remains a major retail center as part of the retail corridor supporting Magnolia Mall nearby.  By filling in the main entrance corridor and making the other entryways less accessible, they have effectively demalled the center without demolishing a single structure!  Compare that to other similarly designed open-air malls like Tri-City Mall in Forest City, NC.  That mall is mostly vacant in the core despite two healthy anchors.  Also, unlike Tri-City Mall, the interior mall corridor apparently received a major update sometime in the 1980's or 1990's so that it does not resemble the postcard views of the mall with the A-frame canopies.

  Continuing toward the former JCPenney.  Cokers was originally on the left.  Photo by Mike Kalasnik taken February 3, 2012.

Mike finds a mysterious door off to the left.

Where did this door go?  Was this the mall entrance to the original Cokers or was it something else?  Photo by Mike Kalasnik taken February 3, 2012.

To the right, Mike finds what appears to be the southwest mall entrance corridor opened up.  It was sealed off after the 2000 "demalling"

Once upon a time, shoppers came upon the mall entrance to Funky P.  Today, a few mall employees come across a giant concrete slab with an overhang covering an emergency exit.  Photo by Mike Kalasnik taken February 3, 2012.

Looking away from the former JCPenney back into the main mall.  Why is the mall on the left suddenly a void here?  Photo by Mike Kalasnik taken February 3, 2012.

The loss of the interior mall was slow, but the anchor losses came very quickly.  When Magnolia Mall opened, Belk, JCPenney and Roses all fled to the newer, larger mall.  Belk and Roses left in 1979 while JCPenney left in 1980.  Coker's was sadly left behind, apparently unable to afford the move.  By 1982, they threw in the towel and closed the entire chain.  The loss of Coker's was not exactly a small deal.  It was a department store that had been in business since 1865, and it had locations in Sumter, Myrtle Beach and a half-block long flagship store in Hartsville in addition to the Florence Mall store.  While not much is known about the store today, it was one of several prominent department stores in South Carolina that found they were unable to compete with the influx of larger, improved chain department stores and enclosed malls.   Coker's was sold at the mall, but it is not clear what it was immediately after it was sold.  The loss of anchors did not mean that all of the empty stores anchors remained vacant, however, as it was still located on a hot retail corridor close to the new mall.  This meant that the once dominant mall was, for a few years, repurposed as an ancillary mall.

Cokers ad from 1975 from the Charleston Times (Post) & Courier.

  Photo by Mike Kalasnik taken February 3, 2012.

This one skylight is located near the "employees only" entrance in the main mall.  Photo by Mike Kalasnik taken February 3, 2012.

A very South Carolinian planter scene complete with palmettos.  Photo by Mike Kalasnik taken February 3, 2012.

Piggly Wiggly (former JCPenney) with the former store entrance rather obvious based on architectural cues.  Redbone Alley takes over part of the store in the second photo.  Photos by Mike Kalasnik taken February 3, 2012.

  Photo by Mike Kalasnik taken February 3, 2012.

Something to remember is that, despite its small size, Florence Mall was a pretty substantial mall for its day. The mall included a national department store, five-and-dime, two grocery stores, a local department stores, and a regional department store. This also resulted in many stores having both interior and exterior access making the stores easy to fill when the mall itself began to fail.  Belk was replaced by Peebles, and the vacancy left by JCPenney was later replaced in part by Piggly Wiggly in 1985. It is not certain about how long A&P remained, but it likely remained in the mall up until A&P pulled out of the market in the 1980's.  It is not clear what else was there in the interim, but it did appear that the vacancies remained high in the mall throughout the 80's and 90's.  Peebles most likely closed by the 2000's, consolidating with a nearby store that is today Goody's.

Blink and you miss it.  This is the narrow corridor that Mike found to access the real Florence Mall (what's left of it).  Photo by Mike Kalasnik taken February 3, 2012.

The back side of now-closed Porter's Gift Shop is the approximate location of the arched doorway found in the mall.  What was this originally?  This is inset next to the former JCPenney on the left.  On the right (not visible) is the former Coker's.  Photo by Mike Kalasnik taken February 3, 2012.

Cici's Pizza takes up part of the former Belk and covers up the northern mall entrance corridor.  This is the precise location of the "MERRY CHRISTMAS" banner next to Belk, but facing in the opposite direction.  Photo by Mike Kalasnik taken February 3, 2012.

Piggly Wiggly from this angle gives no indication of its former life as JCPenney.  Photo by Mike Kalasnik taken February 3, 2012.

Dress Barn fills in tenant space next to the one remaining interior entrance corridor.  Photo by Mike Kalasnik taken February 3, 2012.

Rugged Wearhouse is owned by Gabe's (formerly Gabriel Brothers) and Shoe Carnival filled in former mall space and the front entrance corridor.  Photos by Mike Kalasnik taken February 3, 2012.

In 2000, the mostly dead mall got its makeover by turning the mall inside out.  By that point, what stores were left mostly had parking lot access and closed off their access to the mall itself chosing instead to face the parking lot.  This resulted in a closure of the mall around 2008 to the public with the rest of the stores filled with mostly big boxes.  It helped that every anchor except for JCPenney was a smaller inline store.  Thus, quite a few anchor changes took place since 1979.  Peeble's later closed and was replaced by Ross, which uses part of the original mall area for storage and deliveries.  Coker's is today Stein Mart, which means it is possible this was an early location of Stein Mart (opened in the 80's).  T.J. Maxx also came to fill the A&P slot that had previously been subdivided into smaller stores.  Redbone Alley took over the vacant half of the former JCPenney next to Piggly Wiggly, and the former Rose's became Ulta.  Other stores would follow turning a dead open-air mall into a very healthy, but oddly shaped strip mall.  What was done was what needed to be done, but it is a shame these stores cannot open up into the courtyard to give shoppers an option to relax in the middle of shopping.

Stein Mart had originally operated as Coker's Department Store from 1965-1982.  Photo by Mike Kalasnik taken February 3, 2012.

Ross was Belk from 1965-1979 and was Peebles for an unknown period after Belk left the mall.  Photo by Mike Kalasnik taken February 3, 2012.

Ross's delivery entrance is what was originally the northern entrance to the mall corridor with Belk on the left and A&P on the right.  Photo by Mike Kalasnik taken February 3, 2012.

T.J. Maxx was formerly A&P and faces the front of the mall.  Photo by Mike Kalasnik taken February 3, 2012.

Petco, Ulta Cosmetics, and JoAnn Fabrics are under construction in this view.  JoAnn filled in what was a front mall entrance corridor next to JCPenney.  Ulta was originally the Roses location.  Photo by Mike Kalasnik taken February 3, 2012.

The mall's logo being an asterisk is highly appropriate since it is a *mall.  Photo by Mike Kalasnik taken February 3, 2012.

In a sense, Florence Mall has come full circle.  While new tenants filled in much of the mall's old space, many smaller tenants remain vacant in the middle of the closed-off mall.  Today, that interior mall is being marketed for office space while the exterior is the healthiest it has been since the 70's.  Meanwhile, nearby Magnolia Mall is starting to struggle from the troubles with the department store industry.  Both Sears and JCPenney have left the mall leaving only one traditional department store left with Belk.  These vacancies at Magnolia Mall may again pull stores from Florence Mall who will be seeking deals from desperate mall managers.  While it is good that the mall was not actually torn down, it would be nice to see what was there one day opened again to the public: perhaps in a time after larger superregional malls like Magnolia have run their course.

Grand opening ad with full list of original tenants.  Notice that JCPenney is not listed.  It did not arrive for nearly two more years.  Image from the Charleston Times (Post) & Courier.

Downtown's reaction to the construction of Florence Mall.  Image from the Charleston Times (Post) & Courier.



A crudely-drawn map produced in 2013 showing the approximate original anchor line-up in the mall and orientation of corridors.

Town Mall/Cranberry Mall: Westminster, MD

Town Mall of Westminster is a cozy mall nestled on a hillside on the north side of the the city of Westminster.  Situated at the southeast corner of the intersection of Routes 27 & 97, the mall sits in the transition zone between the outlying Baltimore suburbs and rural farmland.  Opening on March 4, 1987, the 430,000 square ft. mall came along during a time with a ton of transition in the retail industry, and it indeed opened up with a very unusual roster of anchors.  Today the mall remains marginally successful helped along by its unconventional anchor mix.  Its trade area serves Westminster along with several other towns and communities in the area in both Maryland and Pennsylvania.

Cranberry Mall as it was originally known was a mall that was delayed for many years.  Complications involving zoning, roadways, land use, and the original owner being unable to finance construction of the first mall.  This delayed the construction of the mall for over 15 years.  In fact, had everything fallen into place, this mall would have been built in 1972 instead of 1987.  Some of the original tenants that had considered opening at the mall included G.C. Murphy and Giant Food.  Perhaps the delay led to a mall that ended up being slightly higher end than the original mall would have been.  This is considering that a mall with the kinds of anchors originally proposed resembles several dead malls found across the Baltimore region that consisted primarily of low-end tenants such as North Mall, Chatham Mall, and Timonium Mall.  Each and every time that everything seemed to come together to build the mall, it was delayed yet again.  It wasn't until the land was sold to the Shopco group in 1985 did plans finally materialize for a mall.

The first view is the center court fountain with Sears in the background.  Sears was built for the defunct Baltimore-based Hutzler's.  The second two photos show the same fountain in respect to center court.  It's a cool fountain, but it looks a little lonely with no plants around it.  These days, you just have to be happy that at least the mall still has a fountain.  Mall fountains are a major reason I got into this hobby, so I'm very unhappy to see them go.

A couple views of the court outside of Belk.  The moody 70's-style skylights are one surprising feature to find in a mall built in 1987.  The whole mall looks like it was designed in the early 80's with few modifications when it opened.

One of two ramped sections in the otherwise one-level mall give the mall personality.  It is very appropriate considering that Carroll County is quite mountainous.

Boscov's has certainly been a positive for this mall given that it might have not survived had they not come in.  It was previously a Montgomery Ward.

Toy department inside Boscov's.

The unusual anchor mix was something original to the mall.  Built by the Shopco Advisory Group, the originally planned anchors were Virginia-based Leggett, Baltimore-based Hutzler's, and New York-based Caldor.  Caldor was expanded during that time as part of a legacy of Baltimore-based Stewart's (both were owned by the same company).  Hutzler's, however, was going under during the mall's construction meaning that the store was built but never opened.  After three lawsuits against the failing chain for non-payment of construction and non-completion of the store, the Hutzler's space was taken instead by Sears.  Montgomery Ward later joined the mall in 1990, resulting in one of a few malls around the country with both Sears and Wards as anchors.  In all, it looked like a situation that would end badly, but the mall is still hanging on 30 years later.

Leaving Boscov's with the mall directory on the right.

Town Mall (Cranberry Mall) directory.  Sears was built for Hutzler's (opened as Sears), Belk was Leggett, Boscov's was Montgomery Ward and the cluster of Dick's Sporting Goods, Paradise of Fun, and Gold's Gym was previously discount chain Caldor.  Caldor opened original to the mall, but most Baltimore-area locations were formerly Stewart's Department Store.

The second fun little ramped section includes a very cool greenhouse dome in one of the stores.  They were very popular in the late 1980's, but it is unclear what that originally was.  Chick-Fil-A still going strong is a good sign.  They are the chicken in the coalmine.  When they go, so does the mall.

Approaching Dick's Sporting Goods.  It is hard to tell how this looked as Caldor since it has been so heavily modified unless the entrance on the right in black is original.  In any scenario that the mall gets redeveloped, Dick's will definitely be one who stays.

Although Leggett was mostly found in Virginia, the logic of Leggett opening in the mall was not as strange as it seemed.  Leggett was previously located in Westminster Shopping Center and had opened there in 1963 before moving to the mall.  Today, Belk occupies the former Leggett space.  The older shopping center is situated less than a mile from the current mall and is currently doing well, although it is no longer a true regional shopping center.

A look at the two entrance wings next to Dick's Sporting Goods.  I'm not sure which one is which, but I'm pretty sure the second one is the northwest entrance wing since it appears the mall's theaters are on the left in the background.  The other is the northeast entrance meaning shoppers have to enter the mall to go to Dick's.  It's a bit ironic that the mall's Chick-Fil-A is not in this food court.

Sears is sporting the dual entrances on the east wing off of center court suggesting this was a Hutzler's idea.  

Somehow I knew that Toys 'R' Us Express stores in malls were going to be a novelty.  .  Now that the company has announced at least 100 stores closing, we likely will not be seeing these ever again.  This is sad in a sense considering that this same chain likely killed a real toy store chain such as Circus World or Kay Bee Toys within the same mall in the past decade or so.  Photo from May 4, 2013.

Since the 1980's, a number of anchor changes have taken place.  In fact, the mall does not have a single original anchor.  The first to change was Leggett, which was sold to Belk in 1996.  Belk largely passed on most of the former Leggett stores in Maryland leaving this as one of only two Belk stores in the state although a store is proposed to open soon at Valley Mall in Hagerstown.  It is also the second most northern Belk store in the entire chain (the northernmost store is in Morgantown, WV).   While Leggett was affiliated with Belk as part of the Belk family of stores, it was a separate chain operating in Virginia, West Virginia, Maryland and Delaware.  Following the change from Leggett to Belk, the next anchor to change was when discount chain Caldor folded in 1999.  From 2003-2009, Steve & Barry's University Sportswear used part of the former Caldor space.  Today that store is divided between Dick's Sporting Goods, Gold's Gym and Paradise of Fun.  Dick's also has a mall entrance.

Climbing back up the second of two ramps with Belk emerging on the horizon.

Belk mall entrance from the south court.  What wonderous water feature was covered up by this garish maroon carpet?  This carpet at least needs a dripping snow cone justification.

Shortly after Caldor faded into history, Montgomery Ward shut down for good in 2001.  However, it did not remain vacant long as Reading, PA-based Boscov's stepped in to fill the void shortly after.  At the time, there was real concern the mall would not survive, so Boscov's was seen as a godsend.  The resulting anchor changes meant that this is the only mall where Boscov's and Belk share a store.  Piedmont Mall (now Danville Mall) in Virginia also once shared a Belk and Boscov's, but the Boscov's in that mall was short lived.  The result of this anchor shuffle fortunately did not lead to a dead mall.  However, the unconventional anchor lineup has not resulted in a healthy mall.  The mall today has many vacancies, and it is questionable how much longer Belk will continue to operate this store so far from their base with the nearest Belk store over 80 miles of that location.  Unless Belk expands in the region, this store will remain a very isolated outpost.  It is a worry that Belk will close this store when they open in Hagerstown despite them being in entirely different markets.

Belk, formerly Leggett, sporting an exterior that looks more like 1982 than 1987.  It is still quite attractive in a 1980's brutalist sort of way.

When it was Leggett.  Images from The Baltimore Sun from February 21, 1987 and March 8, 1987.

Cranberry Mall became Town Mall in 2000 when the mall was sold to Strategic Resources.  In addition to the new name, the new owners commenced a renovation that was completed in 2002, thus the look was somewhat updated.  However, the updates to the malls were not extreme, thus the mall still looks somewhat vintage.  In addition, the design itself looks older than its age with design cues that look more early than late 1980's such as ramps, a center court fountain, and recessed skylights giving it a few distinctive vintage elements not present in most other malls of the region.

Sears and Boscov's.  Notice that the Sears looks nothing like a Sears, but the Boscov's looks everything like a 1990's Wards.  It is unclear if the Hutzler's sign ever even made it to the exterior of the Sears.

I'm sure this mall entrance update from 2000 took the greater part of 15 minutes to design.  Exactly why did the mall have to be renamed in the first place?  Also, it is actually TownMall, but I am not willing to refer to two words in a name like that.  If it was CranberryMall, it would be ludicrous.

Caldor grand opening flyer with a real treat...a list of all the locations open in the area in 1987.  So many are long gone and several anchored long-demolished community and regional malls across the region that were hammered by a combination of industry changes, anchor loss, and severe economic decline in the Baltimore region.  The Baltimore stores are probably the primary culprit for Caldor liquidating in 1999.  Image from The Baltimore Sun from March 1, 1987.

Not much out there shows the mall's original logo, but this ad certainly does.  It was definitely one of those very classy and attractive logos used in the late 1980's.  I still do not understand what was wrong with the name.  Image from The Baltimore Sun from March 1, 1987.

These days, Town Mall looks to be one that will likely be demalled within the next 5-10 years.  Both Sears and Belk are stores likely to exit the mall in the near future.  The mall also has a very awkward layout with poor access to the north end where Dick's and Boscov's are located.  The likely future of this mall will be that when Belk and Sears finally do depart that the interior mall is demolished, anchors relocated, a small outdoor lifestyle center portion is constructed and Wegman's brought in as a new anchor.  A mall with those three anchors would likely be far more popular than the current mall, and it would be more appropriate for a smaller city that likely lacks the demand for an enclosed mall.  For 30 years, however, this retail anomaly has held well enough on its own despite many bumps in the road proving that the long wait for it to be built might have been for the best.  It will be interesting to see what becomes of the place within the next few years and how well it survives.