Abandoned Bruno's: East Montgomery, AL

Bruno's at the moment is completely on life support.  The company has been in shambles since the early 1990's and acquired many times.  All of this was due to a tragic plane crash over Rome, GA in 1990 which took out the upper level management of the company, mostly members of the Bruno family.  Unfortunately, the waning of Bruno's is all too evident across Montgomery.  Vacant Food World and Bruno's stores litter the city, even in the nicer areas.  It seems like Publix or Winn-Dixie would capitalize on this, but with the Bruno's stores so far behind in design and location much of these locations look straight out of the early 1980's in areas that likewise peaked in the 1980's.  The bad economy, which has also hit Alabama hard, is not helping either.

The location pictured here is one of the nicer stores.  Located at the northeast corner of Vaughn and Bell Roads, It looks very similar to a since repurposed location in Alpharetta, GA that closed sometime in the 90's.  The design here leads me to wonder if this might not have been an Ogletree's location since I had suspected that Alpharetta store was originally Ogletree's.  Perhaps Ogletree's also was in Alabama?  That might explain the 1987 acquisition if so.  While I cannot confirm that, it was nice to find this store with the logo still on the outside.  I wish I had done a little better job photographing more of the abandoned Food World/Bruno's locations, but I covered this one specifically because of its distinct 80's-style Charleston architecture that made me wonder if it was always a Bruno's. 

Pictured above is the whole front of the store and here is a close-up of the front entrance and logo.  In all reality, Bruno's does not sound like a store you would think would be from the South.  This is a very swanky looking store even today.

Looking inside the old Bruno's reveals a store that is pretty well trapped in the 1980's, but very nice for the time it opened.  Note the brick-like brown linoleum tiles in the front.

In all, Bruno's is one of the most significant tragedies of retail.  Once a giant in the Deep South along with Big "B" Drugs, this store serves as a reminder of what once was.  I have covered a couple other former Bruno's locations on this blog here and here. 

Meadowbrook Mall/Bama Mall: Tuscaloosa, AL

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

 

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

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

Drawing of the Murphy's store at the mall.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Anniston retail notes: Wakefield's, Winn-Dixie, etc.

Lots of strange things happen retail-wise in second-tier markets.  You know, those cities that aren't big enough to have name recognition outside the state nor the population and incomes to support many big city establishments.  What I mean by that is that not only do retail chains often put their outpost stores in such markets, but such markets also feature a few peculiar stores of their own.  While this is far less true today than it was 20 years ago, Anniston proved to have a few treasures.

The first of these treasures is Wakefield's, a small department store chain that seems to be on the line of Kohl's or Peeble's, but located only in Alabama.  All of its stores, however, are known as Martin's except one...a free-standing vintage mid-century store close to downtown Anniston.  It is a complete mystery to me why there is one store called Wakefield's and all the others "Martin's Family Clothing".  They also operate "Martin's Baby Depot".  I personally like the Wakefield's name, sign and logo better.  The nearest Martin's is extremely close with a store in Oxford at Quintard Mall and also right across the street from it!  Martin's is also located in Rainbow City (suburb of Gadsden), Florence and Decatur.  The latter two are quite far removed from their obviously strong base in Anniston/Oxford.

A couple more views of Wakefield's.  Note the "W" over the doors on the second photo.  All other Wakefield's locations are known under the Martin's Family Clothing or Martin's Baby Depot names.

Martin's is located here in a small strip mall on Quintard Avenue.  This one is located across from Quintard Mall with some departments located in a store across the street inside Quintard Mall. 

Second, Winn-Dixie, long a staple of the South, has mostly been erased in the more populous areas due to the ever increasing dominance of Publix.  Winn-Dixie once coexisted peacefully with Publix, but not so anymore.  Winn-Dixie was in a difficult position with many antiquated stores and a market that catered to the same crowd that also buys groceries at Wal-Mart...oops.  They were also pushed back in their northernmost markets by the upscaling of Ingles (same demographic) and continued regional popularity of Harris Teeter.  Since then, Winn-Dixie has retracted, retrenched and reinvented themselves.  The Winn-Dixie I stopped at in Oxford was far superior to the older stores. It was very clean and well-stocked with an attractive, semi-upscale design.  However, Winn-Dixie also dominates the Anniston market in part because they have been snubbed by Publix there, which I'm sure that the management of Winn-Dixie is definitely not complaining about.  I, for one, am not comfortable with only one or two chains having a stranglehold on whole states and regions so I'm happy to see Winn-Dixie still around.  Unfortunately, competition Foodmax seems to have withered away in the same town, their parent company Bruno's almost fatally wounded by the expansion of Publix into Birmingham.  I visited one of those Foodmax locations in 2006, which felt like a firm step back to about 1991.  At one point, they had stores in the Atlanta market along with Bruno's.

This Winn-Dixie looks to be of very recent vintage, and it sports the newest logo.  It is located on the new Anniston By-Pass about a mile north of I-20.

Third, small cities tend to not get hung up on the replacement store bandwagon found in hotter retail markets.  This is evidenced by the Rite-Aid located across from Quintard Mall.  This is not a former Eckerd; this is an original Rite Aid located in a very small strip mall with only one other local shop.  Inside, the store is a mid-century treasure with wall displays apparently never updated from around 1972.  If you'll note in the photos, these displays also do not generally match up with the merchandise being sold underneath.  Note the Cokes underneath what says "video"...that is, unless they're secretly chilling vintage VHS tapes back in the freezer.

A couple outside shots of the vintage Rite-Aid across from Quintard Mall.  The only other tenant with Rite-Aid is a men's clothing store.

A look at the inside of the Rite-Aid.  The wall displays remind me of pictures I've seen of the wall displays inside the Montgomery Ward at long-abandoned Dixie Square Mall.  I like them, though.  They are delightfully tacky, cozy looking and vintage.  Owners, please do not ever change them as long as the store is there.

Fourth, speaking of drug stores, I wanted to show you a vintage franchised drug store I found downtown known as Wikle's Rexall Pharmacy.  This seems to be an extremely popular site to photograph in Alabama, so if you want any daytime shots, they can be easily found in a web search.  This one is one of those drug stores of baby boomer youth...the ones where you knew the pharmacist by name and the place felt like home as well as a treat to shop at with its quirky selection of merchandise and vintage feel inside.  That was the case with a pharmacy my family went to as a kid known as Bells Ferry Pharmacy.  It was a Rexall franchise like this one.  We knew the pharmacist personally like a relative and the place fit that description completely.  The pharmacist finally gave up and closed in the late 1990's after the place was robbed, and he worked a few years longer in a group of pharmacists with CVS.

A couple night shots of the Wikle Rexall drug store.  It is a registered historic site.

Last, I wanted to note a local Alabama barbeque chain known as Golden Rule Bar-B-Que.  This chain attempted very unsuccessfully to move into the Atlanta market, but it is a standard in Alabama.  According to the website, its first location was built exactly a century ago in Irondale north or Birmingham.  I also remember an earlier attempt they made in another part of the Atlanta area west of Marietta.  Their failure was quick and abyssmal both times, and part of that nowadays is due to the popularity of another Atlanta-grown barbeque chain known as Shane's Rib Shack.  Nevertheless, Golden Rule seems very popular in Alabama, so I'm wondering why they never caught on in Georgia...oh wait, I keep forgetting *slap*.  Inversely, Shane's does not appear to be in Alabama at all.  One location of Golden Rule I know of actually converted to Shane's, and it has been a major hit ever since it reopened as such.  I personally never tried Golden Rule, but I did not hear positive feedback from those who tried it locally.

A recently-constructed location of Golden Rule Bar-B-Que in Oxford.  This location was identical to the two closed Georgia locations.

In all, part of Anniston's interesting retail history may be attributed to its location on a historically popular route to Florida, US 431.  US 431 basically functions as a continuous suburban highway its entire length with endless shops, strip malls and stores extending from Anniston to Huntsville.  With this, there were a couple things I failed to cover such as the closed Food Town and Foodmax stores I saw as well as the presence of Rally's Hamburgers...the same thing as Checker's with a different name.  I would love to hear your comments and memories of the area as well.

Bruno's Finer Foods

Another Birmingham-related post, this one directly affects Atlanta and that is the mention of Bruno's supermarket. Bruno's was a big player in the Atlanta market in the 1980's prior to the invasion of Publix. An upscale supermarket much like Publix, they came to Atlanta in 1987 when local chain Ogletree's was purchased. A picture of a former Ogletree's/Bruno's is found in an earlier post.

While Bruno's has long since left Atlanta (they left by 1995), they are still alive and well in their home city of Birmingham where they existed long before. While no longer an independent chain, a few of these are still around including a location at The Summit (pictured above). Bruno's was also notable for two now defunct retail ventures including a drug store chain (Big "B" Drugs), which was also in Atlanta and their Atlanta partnership with Kmart for one of the first discount superstores (American Fare) in 1989. Respectively, the Big "B" stores all became CVS and the American Fare simply Super Kmart before later closing.

While I have not found many locations, I know that they exist today in Birmingham owned by the same company that also owns Bi-Lo, Foodmax and a couple other grocery chains.

Sprayberry Crossing: Late 70's Bliss, 21st Century Eyesore

One of the more interesting dead shopping centers I've uncovered is a complicated strip mall located in eastern Cobb County near the intersection of two major county highways. Named Sprayberry Crossing, the thing that makes it significant is how completely retro the whole center is as well as how the design is much like an early version of today's "lifestyle centers".

Why I'd pick such a random strip mall is by and large the very outlandish 70's design of the whole place and the fact it was never updated. The entire center is designed with cedar trim in that usual 45 degree-angled cut they did during that time. At the time, this design very nicely matched all the cedar homes being built in the area around it. Not only that, but such design made for an extremely outlandish Ogletree's/Bruno's that looks like nothing you'd see today.


Sprayberry Crossing was originally anchored by an Ogletree's grocery store and a bowling alley, which is still operational. Ogletree's was a local grocery chain with about eight locations prior to being purchased by Bruno's. The Bruno's there closed when the chain scaled back operations and closed all Georgia locations. The center is at the northeast corner of Sandy Plains and East Piedmont Roads and is accessable from Sandy Plains Road.


When Bruno's closed, the rest of the strip went to hell with it and left a very blighted area around it. The bowling alley, however, holds its own hidden back behind the retail graveyard you have to drive through to get to it. That bowling alley is one of the few in the area.