Mount Berry Square: Rome, GA

A previous post I made detailed Riverbend Mall, the predecessor to Mount Berry Square. From that post, I basically detailed how Mount Berry Square was directly responsible for the death of that mall when this mall opened in 1991. Built by Crown America, then owner of Hess's, this mall today is a troubled mall in a very odd location. Mount Berry Square is named as such for Berry College close the mall and Lavender Mountain to the north and west, thus the "Mount". Mount Berry Square was isolated when it was built, and today remains just as isolated. Basically, it is located about 2-3 miles north of Rome beyond Berry College near Armuchee and is located a considerable distance north of the by-pass. Shoppers must drive past the college campus to get to the mall. In fact, chain retail stores are few in number around the mall, and what stores are there are all located on outlots of the mall. While it maintains three major department store anchors, it was a poorly conceived and poorly planned mall that has never been completely successful, though it has maintained an A-list tenant roster since it is today the only mall in the city.

When Mount Berry Square opened, its anchor stores were Hess's, Belk Rhodes, JCPenney and Sears. JCPenney jumped ship from Riverbend Mall the minute this mall opened, but both Belk Rhodes and Hess's maintained stores at both malls for a time since their leases had not yet expired at Riverbend. This was problematic for the new mall as stores at Riverbend did not leave right away, meaning the mall was mostly empty when it opened aside from the anchors. However, it was not lost on the stores still at Riverbend that the mall was looking old, cramped, dated and had a history of costly, unpleasant things such as floods. The problem was that stores in Riverbend did not all go to Mount Berry Square by default. A few remained until the end and many others relocated to nearby strip malls or standalone locations in lieu of Mount Berry. As a result, Mount Berry never completely filled up. To say the mall is on death watch is a bit ironic since the mall has never been a really big hit. Maybe the mall is just too big.

Looking at the inside of the mall entrance on the Belk wing.

A look along the Belk wing of the mall. The mall is typical early 90's fare with a mostly whitewashed looks and a few well-placed plants and trees. They really went on the cheap with skylights, though. The Belk wing has always struggled and had few tenants even during its peak years.

After the Rhodes sign was removed off of Belk Rhodes, the facade was left with many holes. Nevertheless, from a distance the sign looks decent, and at least it was centered properly.

JCPenney has a mall entrance on the Belk wing, but not the ONLY mall entrance. The other comes off the front court across from the former Proffitt's.

 

Looking back into the mall from the JCPenney mall entrance.

In 1992, Mount Berry saw its first anchor change as Hess's was sold to Proffitt's. Proffitt's, however, was not at all interested in the old Riverbend location forcing Bon-Ton, which purchased Hess's northern division to take over the remainder of the lease at that store. Later in the 1990's, Toys 'R' Us and Circuit City both found homes on the available outlots. A couple other restaurants are found on outlots, but not of the variety of usual malls such as Applebee's, Red Lobster and Chili's: all of which are found near, you guessed it, old Riverbend Mall. The next anchor change came in 1998 when Belk Rhodes dropped the Rhodes family partnership to become a company Belk store. The 1990's were the peak success of the mall, though it can never truly be said it was raging. The part of the mall near Belk has many stores that were never occupied.

A look along the Sears wing, which looked way emptier than the last time I visited. 

This Sears store anchors the north end, and is relatively successful. Much of the mall business was found on this end until recently. This store moved from a free-standing location south of downtown when the mall opened.

Toward the center of the mall, the mall appears to have the most life.  Here, an American Eagle joins several other A-class tenants situated mostly between the Penney's and former Proffitt's in the main mall corridor.  The former Proffitt's entrance is to the right.

Proffitt's former entrance comes off the Sears wing, but like JCPenney it also has a mall entrance in the front court. This store also operated briefly as Hess's and at the last as a short-lived second Belk store.

Similar to Bradley Square Mall, Mount Berry had a quirky design. Both Proffitt's and JCPenney were built with two mall entrances accessable both from the main mall and the front entrance wing. The mall was typical 90's in design with light tones and very shiny faux marble floor tiles. The center court has a large fountain with muted planters, and a carousel forms the center of the front court. The mall also has a built-in food court, which is only about 50 percent full. The mall also contains a few other planters with trees, which were last common in malls built in the early 90's. No part of the mall has two levels, not even the anchors. In all it is a pretty standard mall for the time it was built, and the major advantage it held over Riverbend was size, a contemporary design and...no risk of flooding. Few other building sites in Rome proper are not at risk of a devastating flood, and the entire downtown sits directly in the flood plain.

The mall map is shown here.  Note the dual entrances for the former Proffitt's and JCPenney.  The mall is a pretty straightforward design, and definitely offered much more in terms of space and anchors to Riverbend.  The problem is, much of this space is not being used, and the mall today has the same amount of anchors of its predecessor in the early 1990's.

This mall, unlike Riverbend, is very front facing. There is absolutely nothing behind the mall. It is very much oriented facing US 27, yet there are still back entrances and ample parking behind the mall. After the 1990's, the mall pretty much was holding its own until 2006 when Proffitt's was sold to Belk. Belk suddenly had two stores at the mall: the last time two Belk stores operated in Rome since the Riverbend overlap. Apparently, the lack of sales and traffic in the mall drove Belk to quickly abandon this arrangement, closing its second store in 2008. Now, the mall faces a vacant anchor with few potential tenants and a bad economy. In fact, the mall has very recently actually seen a decline in inline stores: especially on the Sears wing. In addition, Circuit City closed their location at the mall with the rest of the chain.

Looking along the front entrance wing toward the center court and food court.

Now I'm looking toward the front court and carousel. It seems carousels were as essential in 90's malls as fountains in 80's malls.

A full shot of the carousel.

The carousel with the front court Penney's entrance on the right.

Next to the former Proffitt's is this very hopeful banner on an empty storefront asking local citizens what they would like to see at the mall. Their heart is in the right place, and I hope it works. A junior Dillard's would be nice in the old Proffitt's and Best Buy in the old Circuit City.

To the left of the closed Proffitt's front court entrance is this abandoned restaurant. It is impossible to tell what this was, and it looks to have been closed for quite awhile.

The empty front court Proffitt's entrance. Very depressing indeed. This store was open, alive and assumed well only three years prior before the buyout.

Today, Mount Berry has an uncertain future. Now 18 years old and on a national list of malls in danger of failure, the mall has much working against it and not enough for it. The only reason it has survived this long is due to the lack of any other legitimate mall options in the city. If anything resembling a mall or lifestyle center with department store anchors opened closer to the city, the chances of survival would be dismal. As it is, the mall has had difficulties due to the redevelopment of Riverbend Mall. While the old mall is today a strip center, it features many tenants normally found in or around malls. In addition, the majority of retail in Rome remains situated near Riverbend Mall. The fact that the big box stores have never moved closer to Mount Berry has always hurt the mall. In all, it seems to have been built assuming the retail chains would all move closer to embrace it. That just did not happen. The bright side is that at present no new major shopping centers have been planned in the area.

Center court is open, airy, lush and features this basic but attractive fountain.

The reality of the mall having to redevelop partially or completely in the future is quite high. This is not lost on the mall as they have placed a large banner and comment card offering the public suggestions of what they would like to see in the mall. The reality is that Rome does not have a strong economy on its own, and many people commute to Atlanta for work. If this was not the case, the mall would be in better shape. Mount Berry is not located in an area that takes advantage of that. In fact, what keeps the mall alive for the most part is the fact the city has three colleges, and much of their business comes from high school and college-age students. This is why what is in business in the mall tends to be A-list, and youth is the most important demographic in higher end retail.

The food court in the mall has always struggled with vacancies, and opened basically empty.  Today, it features a few restaurants that fill about 40-50% of the possible tenants.  This food court is just too far from most of the core market lunch crowd.

Mount Berry in the future will go one of three ways. It will either maintain status quo for several more years to come, the mall will see a renaissance due to a renovation and interest in the currently vacant stores or it will succumb to competition that does not currently exist. Of course, there is also the possibility the mall may just die with no close competition, but if so that would be a symptom of a greater problem (such as a complete economic collapse). Any way you look at it, I have cause to be concerned about the future of this mall. While I think it is a decent and relatively attractive mall, I think it is in dire need of renovation and I think it does not adequately serve the needs of the area. Maybe I am wrong, but this mall is not in a favorable position.

Shown here are exterior shots of the smaller mall entrance into the Belk Rhodes wing and the main sign on US 27. Note that there is not much in the way of retail development across the street.

Here is a look at the outside of the lost anchor, Proffitt's.  How I wish I had gotten a mall entrance photo!

Here is a look at all the anchors today fron the outside. A previous shot of the Proffitt's was included on my Proffitt's post.  The door to the former Proffitt's still says "Welcome to Proffitt's" despite being a second Belk briefly.

Greenbriar Mall (Update from July 16, 2006 post)

It was the first major shopping mall on the southside of Atlanta and the second enclosed mall in Georgia. When Greenbriar Mall opened on September 23, 1965, it brought first-class shopping to the largely overlooked southside. Flanking the then under-construction Lakewood Freeway (SR 166) and I-285, the mall opened with anchors Rich's, JCPenney and Piccadilly Cafeteria. JCPenney moved there from its smaller, undersized location located at open-air Lakewood Mall on the other end of the new freeway. The Rich's there was the fifth suburban location and offered three floors of merchandise, further drawing traffic from the downtown store. Greenbriar Mall also became a landmark, because it was the site of the very first Chick Fil-A, which opened there two years later in 1967. Chick-Fil-A itself was founded in nearby Riverdale as a local diner, so this was the nearest location for their new store concept, which grew dramatically since and has remained a staple of malls today. A Chick-Fil-A continues to operate in the mall today, though not in the original location.

Arial shot of the mall from a 1965 postcard. Image is from Malls of America.

Greenbriar Mall was typical of most early shopping malls: two multi-level anchors, one story and an underground section of the mall used for offices and a bowling alley. The presence of a bowling alley in this mall was not known, however. Also like the original malls of the era, the mall contains stores only accessable from the outside as well as in-line tenants. Since the mall opened, it had an interior renovation in 1987 and an exterior renovation in 1997. Also, Greenbriar Mall was distinctly positioned to be a major mall at the intersection of two Atlanta belt routes. The problem is that one of those, I-420, was never completed and the designation canceled. This would have made a by-pass for I-20 extending from Douglasville to I-20 east of Atlanta including the completed Lakewood Freeway. If that would have actually helped the mall, though, is unknown since the project was canceled in 1983.

View of northeast entrance corridor.

Looking along the main mall concourse. The first and third photos show detail of the open-air mall-like overhang and the last of the skylights. The original makeup of this corridor was likely much boxier. The last photo shows the escalator/stairs to the small basement level in the background.

Looking at the northwest entrance corridor. Piccadilly Cafeteria is on the left, and it still looks somewhat gothic on the inside. Outside this entrance is an outdoor sidewalk that leads to the former Circuit City building and entrance.

While the mall maintained stable tenants for the first 20 years, the mall began to see many stores come and go. However, these were met with a strong local interest and investment to keep the mall viable. JCPenney closed there location on September 28, 1985 after 20 years of operation. The local community met the closing with protests that included then-mayor of Atlanta Andrew Young, but to no avail. However, the mall has kept this location filled since aside from a couple brief periods of vacancy. In 1987, Upton's took over the former JCPenney along with the opening of a new Circuit City outside the mall next to JCPenney. Later, in mid-1992, Cub Foods opened a location on a mall outlot facing Lakewood Freeway. Unfortunately, later in 1992 both Upton's and the McCrory's in the mall closed for good, but the mall continued to move forward.

Coming down the escalator to the small lower level basement area. Escalators and steps back up are visible in the background. This area is today used for mall offices and conferences.

Looking back at the down escalator and stairs from the main mall level.

Blurry shot with detail of the downstairs level. The mall management office is the lighted room on the left.

Looking at the up escalator and stairs back to the main mall concourse from the main mall level. A barrier is placed on three sides.

In 1995, the former JCPenney site was resurrected again, bringing Burlington Coat Factory in as an anchor. While not what the mall had hoped, it has been a lasting anchor in the mall. The Burlington Coat Factory opened on September 1st of that year and remains today. In November 1996, former basketball star Magic Johnson opened his Magic Johnson Theaters on the southwest outlot of the mall. Magic Johnson had a personal interest in the area, and its opening created a lot of press at the time. Also, at some point during that time an IHOP was added on the southwest corner of the mall connected to south side of the Burlington Coat Factory. Still, that did not mean the mall did not have new challenges to deal with. Cub Foods closed in 2001 along with all of the other Georgia locations and remains vacant today. In addition, Circuit City closed at the mall when it relocated to nearby Camp Creek Marketplace in early 2006.

Current mall directory. The basement level is shown above the main mall map.

When Camp Creek Marketplace opened, it was the first major retail development in the southside since Greenbriar itself opened. In an area shunned for retail because of a predominantly African-American population, this was a very big deal. The problem was that it also was competing with the mall for business, which has led to redevelopment talks. In 2006, a redevelopment plan was announced after Hendon Properties bought 50 percent interest in the mall in conjunction with the existing owners. The discussion is to redevelop the mall most likely with a lifestyle addition similar to other Atlanta malls as well as attempting to upscale the mall. What also helps the mall is the strong commitment that Rich's, now Macy's has to the mall. In 2001, Rich's owners Federated Department Stores signed a 10 year lease with the mall. Recent renovations to the store inside and out prove the company's commitment to Greenbriar Mall.

Burlington Coat Factory mall entrance and BCF court. This was Penney's from 1965-1985 and Upton's from 1987-1992. Note the Upton's design elements. Also note the Maxway in the court. Maxway is owned by the same company as Rose's, but is located in urban neighborhoods. In the last photo, the northwest entrance court (behind me) leads straight to the southwest entrance court (ahead).

Much fear has surrounded the future of Greenbriar Mall for over two decades, however. By the mid-1980's, the neighborhood around the mall had transitioned from a predominantly white to predominantly African-American community. Stores and businesses in the area began to close all around the mall, and the fear in the time was that the mall was in danger of failure. In that era, the mall attained a strong image as ghetto, and the closure of JCPenney at the mall caused panic. The funny thing is that the new community around the mall really cared about what was going on and was determined to keep that from happening. Since that time the mall has continued to maintain high occupancy, and the neighborhood around the mall has seen substantial improvement in the past decade. A new Kroger was built near the mall and empty shopping centers found new tenants.

Rich's/Macy's court. This photo was taken at a better angle and further back than the previous Rich's photos I took in 2005. See below for actual Rich's photos. The second photo is looking back into the court. The fountain had water in it, but for some reason was not operational. BCF court had a fountain, too, that was covered.

However, that is not to say the mall does not have its problems. The community is looking to erase these problems, but notorious events that tend to be difficult for any mall. However, these can be overcome such as the food court shooting incident at Perimeter Mall in 1989. Perimeter Mall is alive and very well today, and to say there is no urban element at the mall is blind, but it is the third most upscale mall in Atlanta. Nevertheless, Greenbriar is still ranked highly as one of the most dangerous malls in the nation, likely due to incidents such as the Freaknik looting of the Rich's in 1995 and the recent murder of two teens by a gunman at the mall in 2008. Is this a deserved bad reputation or just a media misperception? It is a bit hard to cast a completely positive image to the city as a whole when the mall has hardly any white customers and shoppers of higher income, regardless of race, have reservations about shopping there.

Outside view of the JCPenney/Upton's/Burlington Coat Factory. The ribbed design is original, but the greenhouse design is all Upton's. The second photo shows an IHOP making up the southwest corner in front of the JCPenney. Apparently JCPenney never had an entrance on this side.

Greenbriar today is on the inside actually a very attractive mall in a convenient location. Its interior decor and history make it appealing above many other malls in the city, but it remains a mall that caters exclusively to an urban demographic. Don't expect to find American Eagle, Old Navy or H&M in the mall, but do expect to find the mall is doing much better than people will tell you. The mall is full of stores and gets plenty of customers, but those in the area with more money are driving past it to better shopping. Southlake, another predominately African-American mall, has a lot of the trendy national clothing stores. All of those left Greenbriar before 1990.

The Lakewood Freeway side has many shops open only to the outside of the mall.

Southeast mall entrance with outside shops on the left and Rich's/Macy's on the right. A Rich's labelscar is still visible next to the Macy's sign.

Maybe I do not understand the market well enough, but I have to wonder if this mall can support better stores than urban fashions and knock-offs considering that there is a much larger middle class population in the area than in the past. Would a store like Belk or a return of JCPenney make it at the mall? For the time being, the mall is doing quite well considering its challenges over the past 24 years. When Macy's lease runs out in 2011 will its fortunes stay bright? As its age approaches half a century, it is hoped the mall never gets a post on deadmalls.com or ends up in the retail graveyard like comparable classic River Roads Mall in St Louis did. Of course, all of that depends on if the neighborhood is really on its way back and further investment in the mall is successful in making it competitive against Southlake and a potential comeback of Shannon.

Exterior view of Rich's/Macy's from lower level south entrance. Most of the glass display windows are covered up and extra entrances sealed off. It is wondered if this was done in response to the 1995 incident.

Rich's photos from 2004 and 2005: