The Mall at Johnson City/Miracle Mall: Johnson City, TN

The Tri-Cities region of Tennessee and Virginia includes the cities of Kingsport, Johnson City and Bristol with the last straddling the TN/VA border. Johnson City is the second largest of these cities, but today hosts the most popular mall in the region, The Mall at Johnson City. As the current winner of the mall race, it is a fascinating mall with a history that is more variable than most malls and a surprisingly upscale roster of stores inside disguised by a relatively mediocre anchor line-up. While the mall has become dominant in the region, its story unfolded over time and events as it fought hard to compete with two other malls in the Tri-Cities that were bigger with better offerings for many years before winning the mall race.

When the mall arrived around 1970, it was then known as Miracle Mall Shopping Center, a tiny mall anchored by Sears, Kroger and Britts Department Store along with SupeRx drugs, whose outside entrance appears to still exist though blocked off. The name Miracle Mall I love, by the way, and it is a great old-school mall name that they should bring back. Britts, which I have discussed on previous posts, was an upscaled department store variation of the JJ Newberry's variety store that was introduced originally in 1962 and closed in 1981. I also covered another former Britt's location at Quintard Mall in Oxford, AL. Miracle Mall was also the second mall in the Tri-Cities with the lost Kingsport Mall arriving first in the mid-to-late 1960's. Miracle Mall clearly was the better mall to Kingsport's mall, but both were small and plain early shopping malls at the time they were built. Fortunately, Miracle Mall had room to expand and it never faced the threat of nearby competition that wounded and later killed Kingsport Mall.

Here, I am entering the original Miracle Mall portion of the mall from Belk Women's, formerly Proffitt's.  The first photo shows the escalators used to transition from the original Miracle Mall to the newer portion added in 1982.

Sears mall entrance looks relatively contemporary, but this is the only original anchor remaining at the mall opening with the mall around 1969-1970.

Looking along the main part of the original mall basically in the center part, though it appeared there was no actual center "court".  A wing extends off to the right at the Dick's sign in the distance.  This was the original location of Kroger, which closed their store there and relocated in the early 1980's.  To all appearances, Dick's is exactly in the original Kroger space.

Dick's mall entrance is positioned roughly just to the side of the main mall at the intersection of the main mall and the front entrance wing.

Looking along the original front entrance wing, it does not seem very substantial today.  The original Miracle Mall was quite simple to have such a dramatic name.  I guess they killed it because it envokes images of Wonderbread and other modern-era gimmicky names.

Belk Men's and Home could tell a lot of stories.  It opened as Britts, converted to Parks Belk in 1982, converted to Proffitt's second store in 1995 then back to Belk in 2006.  It is the only two-level anchor in the mall, and it looks somewhat threadbare inside in desperate need of a remodel.  The escalators inside are original Britt's escalators.

Looking back along the old Miracle Mall portion from the entrance of Belk Men's pictured above.

Miracle Mall, however, was not without concerns in the early years of its existance. The construction of Fort Henry Mall in Kingsport in 1975 directly threatened Kingsport Mall, but by extension it also threatened to marginalize Miracle Mall. Bristol Mall, similarly constructed to Fort Henry Mall, arrived in 1978 to further erode the mall's customer base. Fortunately, Miracle Mall was able to hold onto its original anchors up to the first major expansion in 1982 when Britts closed the previous year. Additionally, two downtown Johnson City department stores that remained downtown into the early 1980's were also interested in joining the mall during the expansion. One of those was JCPenney and the other was Parks Belk. Parks Belk took over the former Britts location and JCPenney built new as the larger anchor of the expanded mall. Miller's of Tennessee also joined on as a junior anchor on the western edge of the wing between JCPenney and the older part of the mall. During this expansion, Kroger left the mall, which was replaced with inline tenants including Piccadilly Cafeteria. It was also during this time that the malls name was changed to The Mall at Johnson City.

Here, I captured an image of the mall map.  You can see how the two levels of the mall are not flush by any means.  Note in the map.  The left anchor is the original Britts and later Parks-Belk.  The bottom anchor was originally Proffitt's.  The Dick's on the upper left was Kroger.  SupeRx is believed to be the elongated store between the two Belk stores and the big wing to the left of JCPenney on the upper level was all originally Miller's, later Hess's, Proffitt's Home and Goody's.

Here is the mall entrance to Belk Women's, which was the original Proffitt's store in the mall that opened new in 1992.

Another view here of the escalators transitioning shoppers from the original Miracle Mall (lower level) to the upper level.  This creates the center court, which is the only truly two-level part of the mall.

Here is center court with detail of the skylights.  Note the mall continuing on the upper level but only doors on the lower level.  Those doors open to the car tunnel providing access between the front and rear of the mall.

Here is a better view of the rest of the mall combined with the doors.  A food court fills the bottom level, and it had pretty much everything you could expect in a food court including local favorite Petro's.

In the other side of the court, you see the lower level extending on as part of the mall (the original Miracle Mall) and the upper level greeting shoppers with a round window and down escalators.  Below patrons dine on overpriced food court fare.

The 1982 expansion resulted in a highly unusual design feature due to the terrain surrounding the mall. The original mall was built in a shallow ravine with the Britts store itself situated on a hillside with the northern outside store entrance one level higher than the mall itself. It was also the only two-level anchor with the rest of the mall on a simple one-level footprint. This meant that in order to expand the mall, either the expansion would require extensive excavation of the site or it would have to be placed higher than the rest of the mall. The result was that the new wing was built one level higher than the original mall. This required escalators and elevators to transport shoppers between the old and new parts, and it also made for an escalator-filled shopping trip for shoppers entering the second floor of Parks Belk heading to JCPenney. Also included in the expansion was a car tunnel under the new portion with a side entrance into the original portion retained. In all, it seems rather unusual that mall owners did not simply decide just to make the original Miracle Mall two levels to match the new wing, but the unusual stepped-up design remains to this day.

Here is a closer view of the top of the escalators transitioning to the lower level.

Here is a view of the upper level, which architecturally matches the original Miracle Mall exactly.  Both were renovated last in 1992, but they may have both looked very different before.  Abercrombie & Fitch is on the right.

Two angles of the front entrance wing on the upper level.  The first is facing toward the outside entrance and the second is toward the mall.  Use Victoria's Secret as a vantage point.

JCPenney's mall entrance is shiny, dark but otherwise basic.  It does remind me somewhat of the mall entrance at now-closed Oak Ridge Mall.

Here is a view back along the second level toward center court transitioning to the lower level.

Between 1982 and 1992, not much changed at the mall. The only significant change to note was the conversion of Miller's to Hess's in 1987, but 1992 onward proved to be a period of enormous transition for the mall, though all of it was positive. The first major change was the renovation of the mall coinciding with the construction of a new Proffitt's at the back of the mall on the site of the mall's original theater. Proffitt's entry was splashy with a center skylight along the length of the store and a contemporary look that began to solidify the mall's presence in the region, making it a very real contender against the three other Tri-Cities malls that by then were beginning to show their age. Somewhere in this time as well, an excellent food court was established on the bottom of the the two-level high court at the base of the escalators to the upper level wing. However, the mall would still have to face some growing pains as anchor changes and ownership changes would ensue.

A little over two years before, I would be standing inside of Goody's, which opened as Miller's and was later Hess's and Proffitt's Home Store.  After the store closed, the owners decided to cut a new wing right through it that looks nothing like the rest of th emall.  It is shiny and tasteful, but still quite plain.  Forever 21 took up a huge portion of the new mall space, and owners hope the doors at the end which once opened into the anchor will open to an anchor the other way around in the future.

Looking back along the "new" wing towards the main upper level wing.

Now a new secondary mall entrance and future mall entrance for a currently non-existant anchor, this is the outside door for the new wing shown above that originally opened to Miller's.

I am now standing outside Sears package pickup looking at the tunnel under the mall.  Above is the second level and inside the tunnel on the right are the doors into the food court and two-level atrium.

Inside the tunnel with the mall entrance doors on my left.  This might have turned out better if I could have used a flash.

Detail of the Sears store, which is very plain and simple.  Inside, the store has higher ceilings than modern stores.  Sears has occupied this location for 40 years.

The challenge the mall would face came first the same year that Proffitt's entered the mall when Hess's went out of business. Proffitt's then took over the location for a home store to augment their new store in lieu of the mall attracting a new anchor to the in-line space. Furthermore, the situation grew more complicated when Parks-Belk, a Belk partner with controlling interest, would sell out to Proffitt's temporarily eliminating Belk's presence in East Tennessee and giving Proffitt's a glut of space in the mall. Proffitt's ultimately took over the Parks-Belk space, which had originally been Britt's, and subsequently freed its home store in the old Miller's/Hess's space, which was then leased to Goody's. The newer Proffitt's that first opened at the mall converted to a women's store with the older Britts/Parks Belk space converting to a men and home store. I am sure most of you are confused by now, but this was not all that happened at the mall in the 1990's.

This store showcases the Proffitt's prototype of the early 1990's.  It was flashy then, but looks gaudy and rough around the edges now.  It is still a sight to behold inside, though, with a skylight running the length of the store that is brighter than the rest of the mall.  Perhaps Belk should build a new store next to the old Miller's and let THIS become part of the mall.  Nah, never mind.

Belk went for a grand new entry when they took over the tired old Britts/Parks-Belk store.  Did they do this, though, or did Proffitt's actually?   I am curious as to what this looked like before, because the old Britt's store I saw in Alabama was quite plain.  I have also heard this had the strange greenish awnings on it like the other Tri-Cities Parks-Belk stores did.

Dick's here looks new, but apparently fills in what was once Kroger.  I am guessing something was here inbetween, because it couldn't have ALL been Piccadilly Cafeteria.

JCPenney sports a triangular tinted greenhouse look, which was common in 1982 models.

The last thing to happen to the mall in the 1990's was the purchase of the mall by Glimcher Realty. Glimcher, unfortunately, has earned a bad reputation for mall management with the failure of Eastland Mall in Charlotte being a high profile example, but this is not the case with Mall at Johnson City. In fact, Mall at Johnson City has emerged as the leading mall in the region with not only the best stores, but also the best anchors in the region. Glimcher's signature style of little to no renovations, however, is apparent at the mall as much of the mall still looks like it is trapped in the early 1990's. In a vastly under-retailed region with flagging competition, however, this seems to be a non-issue.

Two generations of mall signs here, and the first one is not only ugly but has not weathered well at all.  I sure wish I had the original Miracle Mall sign to show here as well.  With a name like that, it HAD to be awesome.

In 2006, The Mall at Johnson City began to see big changes again. This time, struggling Proffitt's was suddenly bought out by Belk with Belk muscling its way right back into East Tennessee Parks-free while the Parks family was most likely enjoying a prosperous retirement. Belk then absorbed both Proffitt's stores in the mall. Two years later at the start of 2008, Goody's would depart the mall leaving the original Miller's location vacant for the last time. As soon as they closed, Glimcher then converted the entire store to a new wing for the mall including a new Forever 21 store as a junior anchor. This new wing was designed with a very contemporary theme including orange and mild earthtones with the rest of the mall remaining unchanged. All of the mall entrances were also updated with a new look to compliment the new entrance in the rear of the mall. The new rear entrance was designed with a potential future anchor in mind, but the region currently is overlooked by many potential anchors including Dillard's and Macy's. Dick's Sporting Goods, however, opened in the front of the mall where Kroger was located originally restoring a unique non-traditional anchor in a region with significant outdoor recreation.

This mall entrance fronts the second level next to JCPenney and was added in 2008.  Another really nice (and different) one was next to Dick's, but parking was impossible making it impossible for me to get a picture.

Sears Auto Center still works the grease in front of the mall on Roan St.  It is also original, and it looks it, too.

With all the retail and economic gloom and doom, this mall is not going anywhere. The only real threat to the mall is the long-planned redevelopment of Fort Henry Mall, but that seems to be unable to commence with the mall actually struggling. Bristol Mall is also in a weak position as the city is too small to support it. Overall, all of the popular national specialty shops have chosen The Mall at Johnson City first, and on the day I visited the crowds were so heavy that finding a parking place was next to impossible. I have seen few malls that are as popular as this mall is, so its future remains bright even in a region that is generally not very prosperous. It also helps that East Tennessee State University is in Johnson City, which gives the mall an edge over its competition as well. My only doubt with the mall is that it will be able to attract another department store anchor, though the possibility of something non-traditional such as a large bookstore is decent if the real economy improves. Other than that, this seems to be a powerhouse mall with a weird design that brought down the mighty even as the oldest standing mall in the region.

Quintard Mall: Oxford, AL

I have to say that Quintard Mall is one of the strangest names for a mall.  Of course, that name refers to Quintard Ave, which is also US 431.  Quintard is also one of the earlier malls in the state, taking advantage of a dual economy of military (Fort McClellan & Anniston Army Depot) and college (Jacksonville State University).  It also was built to serve a small city located part ways between Atlanta and Birmingham with high visibility from I-20, and it helped usher in a small but notable retail strip stretching from downtown to I-20 just south of the mall.  I-20 at that point was partially completed, but the mall was also adjacent to US 78, which previously funneled traffic from Atlanta to Birmingham before it was completed. 

Generally serving a smaller population, the mall was likewise a very small center for years.   However, that changed dramatically when the mall was substantially expanded into a regional mall 30 years after it first opened.  Nevertheless, the construction of a large shopping mall further west of Atlanta and continued shifting of the population (and retail) east of Birmingham has eroded its market over time.  It would be interesting if we could look in an alternate universe to see how the mall would have done had that expansion happened much earlier.  The closure of Fort McClellan in 1999 also was not helpful to the mall, though the Anniston Army Depot continues to bring military money into the mall.  What was worse was construction of a new (and incomplete) US 431 by-pass lured significant new retail further east, meaning that the older Quintard Avenue retail strip is now forced to compete with a plethora of shiny new retail that all popped up on a by-pass still several years from completion.  This small exodus of several stores has leaders in both Oxford and Anniston worried, but the economy itself, not just the by-pass should take some blame.  Stores such as Circuit City and Foodmax had nothing to do with immediate competition.  Circuit City did not leave because of the by-pass, and Foodmax's parent company Bruno's is on the brink of extinction. 

A look along the original mall.  Center court is just ahead and Sears is right behind me.  The first photo is a small court on the Dillard's/theater wing.

 

Martin's Family Clothing has a mall entrance in both the old mall main concourse and along a side entryway near Sears.  It is a local Alabama chain headquartered in Anniston, next town up.

 

Now looking from center court to JCPenney.  JCPenney is the mall's only original large department store anchor, opening with the mall in 1970.

 

 A closer look at the JCPenney mall entrance, which obviously is not original.  I am betting the classic "Penney's" logo lasted here longer than most.

 

Looking back along the old mall from JCPenney.  Doomed Goody's is to the left, which is top priority for replacement.  I'm rooting for a nice bookstore.

This problem is not lost on the mall owners nor the city that Quinitard needs another boost, and they have indeed noted the effects not only outside, but also inside the mall.  Its last expansion was nearly ten years ago, but its first major competition set in only two years ago.  This is the fundamental weakness of small city malls: often the tenants choose a nearby strip mall or newer, larger shopping mall over the mall itself, but the owners of Quintard have not been afraid to continually reinvent the mall to keep it competitive.  Other malls such as Cookeville Mall in Cookeville, TN did not do likewise, and failed completely.  These instances are very serious.  Lack of action in the event of a sudden vacancy problem in the mall or hinterland surrounding the mall can empty a mall almost overnight.  However, previous malls on my blog also found themselves at a disadvantage such as Oglethorpe and Asheville Malls.  However, both were very proactive, and all prevailed against big threats to become completely dominate and much beloved in their markets.  I am pleased that Quintard and the city sees this themselves, because just recently plans were announced to expand and revitalize the mall yet again [2].

What was once the east entrance to the mall since 2000 now goes into what has become the heart of the mall.  The entrance into the newer wing of the mall begins with a ramp.

 

Close-up of the ramp into the newer mall, which comes into a strangely placed court area that functions on one side as a very small food court.

 

More detail of the main court coming from the wing off the original east mall entrance.  This distinct little court is cozy.

Quintard Mall has been around quite awhile.  It is one of the oldest malls in the state still operational, opening for business in 1970.  It is also unique in that the mall is apparently still operated locally in lieu of being part of a major mall conglomerate such as Simon or GGP.  The mall is today owned by the James Grimmer family.  He also helped in construction of Eastwood Mall, Alabama's first mall and the South's first enclosed mall [1].  Quite a few malls of this vintage did not make it this far, so Quintard has done very well remaining viable for nearly 40 years.  Its anchors today include Sears, JCPenney and Dillard's in addition to a 12 screen theater and junior anchor Martin's Family Clothing.  Goody's also operated as a junior anchor, but closed with the chain early this year.  A Garfield's Restaurant and Pub was in the mall as well, also apparently closing with the chain.  Bankruptcies are leaving voids in many malls that are proving difficult to fill with fewer and fewer chain stores available to choose from enhanced by a malnourished economy, and this proves even tougher in second-tier markets.  I do want to note, however, that the vacancies in the mall mostly had to do with corporate liquidation.

 

A look along the 2000 wing, which increased the size of the mall by 2/3.  It is anchored by Dillard's and AmStar 12 Cinemas.

 

Southeast entrance wing near Dillard's.  The military tends to dominate this wing, which is not surprising considering the strong military history of the area.

 

The new main entrance wing with Gap on the left.

Now-closed Garfield's Restaurant.  The only other location I have seen was at Biltmore Square Mall.  I know very little about this chain.

Historically, Quintard was much smaller.  It was originally a straight up-and-down mall directly aligned north-to-south connecting Britt's Department Store and JCPenney.  At less than 300,000 square feet, it also had less than 30 inline stores.  The original mall reminded me significantly of just-mentioned Cookeville Mall, which is part of why I brought it up.  However, different from Cookeville Mall, both anchors were constructed as two level stores, but only Britt's operated its second level originally.  Britts today is Sears.  Sears left downtown Anniston in 1983, moving into the former Britt's location after it closed [1].  Both Britt's/Sears and JCPenney are two levels, but neither Sears nor JCPenney operated the second level for many years.  Sears reopened the second level in 1997, and they also expanded the store as well [1].  It appears, however, that JCPenney either removed or never even constructed an escalator well while today Sears operates a two level store.  Both Martin's and Goody's also located in this original part of the mall as well.

Quintard Mall definitely has an interesting (and jagged) layout.  The original mall is quite obvious from this map.  Notice how incredibly small it was.

The first 30 years of the mall's existance were also pretty static.  The mall gained a small renovation in 1985, but this was the only undertaking for yet another 15 years.  This was when owners replaced the original polished concrete floors with terrazzo floors [1].  In 1991, the owners began work on an attempt to turn Quintard into a major regional mall in lieu of a small local mall.  This was a long and harrowing process, as owners had to go through many hurdles to obtain permits to build over a creek flowing along the then-eastern side of the mall.  That was the same situation that delayed completion of Arbor Place Mall in Douglasville, GA as well.  The original expansion was to have Gayfer's department store anchoring the new eastern end of the mall.  However, Gayfer's was bought out in 1998 by Dillard's.  Regardless, Dillard's did not fail on their obligation to join the mall.  Dillard's at this location is quite unusual, and it is even more unusual to have a small city mall that is not anchored by Belk in the South.  Work on the addition was completed in August 2000, completing the long anticipated addition [1].  This addition was very well received, and when completed the mall was more than doubled in size to just shy of 800,000 square feet.  AmStar Cinemas, the 12 screen theater, also was included in the new addition.  The 2000 wing is also elevated above the original mall, possibly due to concerns of flooding and difficulties surrounding capping Snow Creek.  This addition to the mall was extremely important.  The original mall was so vastly undersized that it would have definitely failed had that addition not been built when it was.

Dillard's mall entrance features a very strange angle.  It is also one of the smallest I've seen with only one level of shopping.  Dillard's has a more unusual assortment of locations in the state since they came here largely through buying out Gayfer's and Castner-Knott's parent company.  This store was slated to be Gayfer's.

Quintard Mall in terms of store offerings, though, seems to be a mixed bag.  The newer part of the mall definitely fits every definition of a successful, conventional mall.  However, the older part of the mall truly seems to be having some vacancy issues.  The poor store setup in the older mall I think is partly responsible for this.  Martin's and Goody's were not exactly the best traffic generators, and Goody's bankruptcy has had a drastic effect on malls in this South overall.  It was a weak junior anchor at best, but its closure has dumped several malls into the murky "dying mall" category when they otherwise just had a few vacancies.  Almost every second-tier mall had one, too, which was what was an even bigger issue.  Since these took up significant mall space, these mall owners are all still left at a quandary on what to do with this space, but apparently a plan is in place through a public-private partnership in conjunction with the City of Oxford exploring ideas on what to do with the mall [2].

Sears mall entrance.  It is nice to see it does not have the ugly tiles that most I've seen do have.  This store distinctly did not open as Sears, but instead as J.J. Newberry's ill-fated attempt at a department store, Britt's.  I think it looks classy, but would look even better if Sears returned to their 1950's script logo.

Inside Sears, I took this picture of the narrow gauge escalators.  These definitely do not look like 1997 escalators, suggesting they were original to Britts and hidden from view for years before the second level was reopened.

Next to Sears entrance is the northwest entrance corridor.  This is very original including the long brick wall (indeed wasted space) and second entrance to junior anchor Martin's in the background.

Nevertheless, Anniston is a decent sized city, and the mall is in a good location, so I think a few ideas could alleviate this.  I hope that Goody's can quickly be filled.  One quick, but not the best, solution to Goody's in my opinion is to encourage junior anchor Martin's to expand their store that is partly across Quintard Ave. into the former Goody's.  Martin's is strange in how they have part of their store in the mall and part in a strip mall across from it.  A second (and better) idea is to lure Borders or Barnes & Noble into the mall in the former Goody's location.  All Barnes & Noble locations are over 50 miles from the mall, and Jacksonville State students might appreciate having one of these at the mall.  Borders is even less available with the nearest location at the mall in Douglasville.  This is the perfect location for either of these two.  The former Garfield's, also, might be a good fit for one of these book stores, assuming Martin's takes up the former Goody's.  However, Martin's may not be the best choice to drive traffic into the old part of the mall, and I have another idea for the Garfield's area.

An older-style mall entrance is found at the northwest entrance adjacent to Sears.  Note the plaque in the first photo, which lists the owners and date of original mall construction.  I think those are a really nice touch.  I wish all malls did that.

 

An updated entrance flanks the east entrance to the mall.  The owners made sure that the addition to the mall matched the original mall in brick and design.

Martin's is marked outside the mall as a junior anchor.  That "M" looks sinister to me.

A more drastic consideration for Quintard is to move JCPenney to the wing next to Dillard's as a new mall anchor and add a second level to the original mall, chain bookstore included.  JCPenney would be built into that mall wing, absorbing that ailing entrance wing as part of the store with the rest of the store extending into the parking lot...essentially a built-in anchor.  The existing JCPenney would become either Belk or Macy's, provided a commitment was obtained from either.  One of those two anchors is necessary to make the mall super-regional, and Belk or Macy's would be willing to use the second level that is needed to draw more interest.  This second level is important, because it would make it possible to construct an effective second level into the mall between Sears and existing JCPenney.  In addition, the new Border's/Barnes & Noble should be constructed with two levels as a junior anchor, tying the upper and lower level together.  On top of this, I would consider bucking the trend of plain, pasty malls and would do a showy renovation with lots of color and cutting edge architectural touches to make the center stand out.  In addition, a large fountain should be constructed in the main court of the old mall or the smaller court at the start of the new wing (if it is not already there...it was hard to tell with the Christmas display).  While none of these suggestions are likely, this is what I think would make me want to spend my money at Quintard in lieu of making the trip to Birmingham or Douglasville.

 

Sears (former Britts), JCPenney and Dillard's.  Dillard's has the usual stucco arch, but it looks quite different with only one level.  JCPenney definitely looks two levels to me, but I could still be wrong.  Because only one level is used, it looks much bigger from the outside than inside.

With all of this considering, Quintard is a very interesting mall and with a few changes it would become a lot more interesting and a real destination.  It is currently not my favorite in design, but its history is long and fascinating.  I also love the spunkiness of its forward planning and small scale ownership.  All of this I had no idea about when I visited.  While it may not be Riverchase or Arbor Place, I hope that the people in the city will continue to patronize this classic retail center, because it is a decent mall compared to the typical small city malls I know of that offer a boring design flanked by a few low end stores and anchor choices uninteresting to the under 30 crowd.  I also hope that the mall will solicit from the public what stores they would like to see in the mall like the survey that was offered at Mount Berry Square in Rome, GA.  Anniston is an interesting town in the most scenic part of Alabama.  I think the mall alone should not have to market the place.  I believe the city itself should strive to make itself more of a destination for both jobs and retail.  It has always been one of my favorite parts of the state, so likewise I hope for continued success of their one and only mall.

[1] Dube, Kathryn.  "Ten Years and $40 Million Later, Alabama mall gets expansion".  Shopping Centers Today.  May 2001.  "http://www.icsc.org/srch/sct/sct0501/page141.php

[2] Whisenhunt, Dan. "Quintard Mall: Exciting news is coming soon". Anniston Star. 17 June 2009. 
http://www.annistonstar.com/pages/full_story/push?article-Quintard+Mall-+Exciting+news+is+coming+soon%20&id=2737350-Quintard+Mall-+Exciting+news+is+coming+soon&instance=home_news