Eastdale Mall: Montgomery, AL

The retail history of Montgomery seems to be a pretty disposable one.  With many dead strip malls, the city also is one of the few lucky ones to have two dead malls, which I covered prior to this post.  Eastdale is the newest mall in the city, if lifestyle centers do not count.  It has also shifted from an ancillary mall to the prominent destination mall providing the last traditional mall experience in the city since Montgomery Mall faded away two years ago.  Eastdale is quite an experience at that as well.  As Aronov Realty's premier mall, it effectively replaced Aronov's first center in the city as a super-regional shopping destination.  It is also the only mall in Alabama to feature its own ice skating rink, which is quite a unique element considering that ice skating is an unheard of activity in subtropical Southern Alabama.

The whole concept of Eastdale Mall to me seems to be roughly modeled on now-closed Eastland Mall in Charlotte.  Apparently Aronov must have visited the mall when it opened deciding to incorporate elements into his own mall.  Even the name suggests a connection, and definitely the ice rink in center court leads me to ponder that assessment.  Eastdale also hosted four anchors originally including stores never before in the city.  The mall itself opened in 1977, and despite renovations it holds much of its late 70's dusky charm with retro elements similar to Aronov's University Mall in Tuscaloosa.  With that, there was a lot to like about this mall, and the crowds in there confirm this.

Three pictures of the ice rink in Eastdale.  This is the only mall-based ice skating rink in Alabama. While never as impressive as the rink at Eastland in Charlotte, it is still quite a draw.

A map of the mall.  The ice rink is just south of one of the Belk stores, which originally was Pizitz and mainly McRae's.  The mall was otherwise pretty straightforward until it was greatly expanded in 2005.

The mall has seen many anchor changes since it opened, but several of the anchors still look original.  Its original anchors were Gayfer's, Pizitz, Parisian and Montgomery Ward.  Pizitz and Parisian were prominent Birmingham stores giving the mall a bigger city feel than its predecessor Montgomery Mall and a first for the city, though Pizitz itself carried over from downtown.  Eastdale Cinemas 8 was also an original anchor, and amazingly it is still there!  The first anchor change came in 1984 when Sears replaced the Montgomery Ward.  In 1987, Pizitz converted to McRae's and Gayfer's was folded into Dillard's in 1998.  The original mall was also last renovated in 2001, and I suspect it was renovated at least one time before during the 1980's most likely after Montgomery Mall updated itself.  Sears at the mall was also extensively renovated inside and out, and it bears no resemblance today to its former Montgomery Ward-styled appearance.  A food court was also added around 1989 along the original front entrance wing (now the JCPenney wing).  The new food court was attractive incorporating planters and fountains along with burgers and fries.  Nevertheless, the original mall was still not much different from the original Montgomery Mall...an older mall forming a straight shot.  Eastdale, though, has a memorable center court to distinguish it and always had more department stores.

The food court is lush and attractive, though not the most substantial I have seen.  The fountain in the center is nice.  It was added to the mall later.

A stroll down the main mall with not the best location for a photo.  This was on the Sears wing.  My camera did not like this darkness and artificial light.

In 2004, big changes began for the mall.  This was when a 30,000 square foot expansion was underway extending from center court to a new JCPenney store.  The JCPenney store would open in 2005 replacing the dated store at fading Montgomery Mall.  The expansion, however, was not just for the shoppers: it was necessary for survival.  The Shoppes at Eastchase, a new lifestyle center, had opened in 2002 and was stealing stores and shoppers from the mall.  The addition, along with the full anchor line-up, was the hopeful plan to keep Eastdale from succumbing to Eastchase.  The improvements definitely seem to work.

This part of the mall was the Dillard's wing looking toward center court.

The northwest entrance wing includes a mall movie theater, which in every respect appears to be original.

If not for the updated flooring, this could very well be a scene from 1977.  I'm sure the theater is updated inside, though.

Department store consolidation also had a huge effect on Eastdale.  Gayfer's was not the only victim, because Saks, Inc. really shook up the mall starting in 2006.  In 2006, this was when McRae's was sold off to Belk.  Apparently, instead of converting the store to Belk, Parisian doubled up at the mall.  This coincided with the closing of the Parisian at Montgomery Mall, which was a much larger store than the one at Eastdale.  Ultimately, Belk would come back to take over both stores converting both the former McRae's and Parisian over to Belk.  While this maintained five anchors, it reduced the actual department store count to four like it was originally. Belk had no presence in the market prior to 2007, and Parisian was committed to its existing stores, which is the likely reason why neither Parisian nor Belk opened at Eastchase.

Looking back toward the mall along the northwest entrance wing.

This should have been my best shot of the main mall, but the camera did not want to focus.  I am not meaning to show an empty store in all these photos, seriously!

Dillard's wing near Dillard's and Belk Women's (former Parisian)

The problem with Eastdale is that it is still part of the same original by-pass road that Normandale and Montgomery Malls faded and died on.  Less than five miles away, the failure of Montgomery Mall attracted to Eastdale the same element that helped to kill Montgomery Mall and Normandale.  That, unfortunately, is not a small problem for the mall as it now must compete with Eastchase, which is in a newer, nicer area with better stores in the area to support it.  Eastdale, in comparison, is at a crossroads.  The real or perceived fear of crime has killed many malls, and this is exacerbated when race or class is a factor, which unfortunately is an underlying major issue in this city.  Eastdale, however, still offers the better and more interesting shopping experience.  This is why it is my belief that had it not been for the 2005 expansion, the mall likely would be in trouble.  Eastdale's strength is in its anchors and excellent management, but if any choose to leave for Eastchase, it may itself be facing a future one day like its predecessor Montgomery Mall.  Since I always prefer the mall to survive over the tacky lifestyle center, I hope that never happens.

Dillard's here is an original Gayfer's.  This store design is almost a clone to the original Greenville Mall (SC) JB White store inside and out.  Both were Mercantile stores.

Inside, you can definitely tell Belk started out as Parisian.  Parisian takes up some of the mall space, and it is only one level.

JCPenney is new to the game, so the design is not original, though it shares the theme.  This whole court was not built until 2005.

Sears is original to the mall, but the store was renovated extensively inside and out around 2004.

Belk Men, Home and Kids here was formerly McRae's and originally Pizitz.  It was the only Pizitz mall store in Montgomery.  It is just north of the ice rink/center court.

When visiting Eastdale in March 2010, it seemed to be a vibrant mall, but I definitely detected a hostile element from some of the patrons.  Looking at the current lease plan today, I am wondering if what I noticed is starting to have an effect as vacancies have creeped higher in the mall with eleven empty shops counted on the latest leasing plan.  Perhaps it is just the economy, but I also visited Eastchase on that trip where I noticed a full parking lot, upscale stores and an obviously wealthier clientele.  The only thing, in fact, that keeps the two shopping centers complimenting each other is much the same that kept Montgomery and Eastdale doing so before: a more limited anchor overlap.  Eastchase has only Dillard's while Eastdale has Dillard's plus three other department stores stores.  What if Dillard's closed or downgraded that store followed by Belk and JCPenney deciding that Eastchase was the place to be?  I am really surprised that did not already happen and am even more surprised that JCPenney chose Eastdale over Eastchase.  JCPenney's move I am not complaining about, though, as Eastdale is fun and air conditioned while Eastchase is another boring cookie-cutter lifestyle center in the boiling Alabama sun.

The mall's Parisian, for a brutalist design, is actually very neat looking.  Today it is Belk Women's.

Dillard's, formerly Gayfer's, is unmistakably close to the original Greenville Mall JB White.

Pizitz kept it simple.  Unfortunately, most of their mall-based stores were rather weird looking and bland.  McRae's was here 1987-2006.

Sears attempted to renovate away any resemblance to the late 70's.  What a shame.

JCPenney took a trip to stucco land for this soon to mildew post-modern mess.

Here in 2010, the economy seems to be barely functioning mainly due to the freeze on lending combined with government instability.  Any major retail projects are likely to be halted or else financed internally, which will only help Eastdale in the long term.  If this same scenario had played out five years earlier, the picture would look very different today.  I am glad of this, though, because this mall was special despite its age.  To me, I also really enjoyed seeing some of the older elements mixed with the new such as the older ceiling treatments (which resembled older Taubman malls), fountains, vintage anchor designs and such combined with the updated appearance.  In an era of sameness and blandness, this is one of those malls I love to cover, because it offers something different.  I hope you will agree and can shed some light on the future of this mall.

I absolutely LOVE the way that Aronov keeps at least one mall entrance original in their malls.  No, that is not sarcasm.

Nothing original here, though.  This sign came with the last renovation.

Riverchase Galleria: Hoover, AL

Not too long ago, Labelscar did a post on Riverchase Galleria.  For me, I was reluctant to cover a mall they had already done, but since I am covering Birmingham in general, others encouraged me to cover it as well.  I guess it does not hurt to have a second set of photos of anything, because I photographed pretty much every little angle of this mall.  While it definitely manifests the effects of consolidations, excessive competition and a rocky economy, this mall has nothing to be ashamed of unlike quite a few these days.  At the time it was built in 1986, it was probably one of the largest malls in the country and a unique one at that.

What makes Riverchase Galleria stand apart is that it is a mall that incorporated two mid rise hotels into its design.  In other words, they didn't just want it to be a mall: they wanted it to be a major tourist destination.  On top of that, the mall incorporated four anchors and 1.2 million square feet...a very large mall for that time.  Original anchors included Rich's, JCPenney, Pizitz and Parisian.  The following year, Macy's, then part of R.H. Macy, built onto the front of the mall under the Galleria Tower as a three level store...the first in Alabama meaning previous parent Davison's of Atlanta had never had a presence in the state.  Pizitz, however, was very short-lived as it was converted to McRae's the same year Macy's joined the mall.  However, the Pizitz family still owned the building McRae's moved into despite selling the store operations to them.  In all, this was a pretty solid lineup for a moderately upscale mall.  No mall in the region had Rich's, Pizitz and Parisian all together like that before.

The first photo is a view from the small third level balcony over the center court, food court and view through the glass of the Winfrey Hotel in the background.  The second photo is a typical escalator in the mall.

An ad in the mall was advertising Alpharetta, GA.  That is too funny.  What are they saying?  You can do better than this place?  Please fill me in on this!

A typical mall concourse is pretty typical mid-80's as well.  Outside of center court, I wouldn't call the skylights spectacular.  This reminds me a bit of Town Center at Cobb in Kennesaw, GA.

A map of how it all comes together today.  The mall was definitely Belked for sure!

If not for the hotel, office tower and the amazing huge all-glass atrium throughout, this otherwise would probably be just another conventional large 80's mall.  Most of the mall is on two levels, and the center is shaped overall in a simple Y fashion with a big food court on the lower level in the center.  The mall does, however, contain many smaller wings including one to the Winfrey Hotel and two for Parisian.  A small third level overlooking the food court also exists providing access to the office towers as well as offering an overlook.  All of the anchors are multi-level, and the 1990's brought significant expansion to the mall, which was something that unfortunately negatively affected other malls in the area.  1995 would see Parisian greatly expand its store in the mall into a new flagship...an expansion that gave the store an oblong design as well as the fore mentioned two mall entrances on separate wings.  In 1996, Sears would close at tiny now-demolished Todds Mall in Vestavia Hills to join the mall along with a new wing.  These changes pushed the mall from four to six anchors and 1.2 to 1.9 million square feet.  This would prove to be the peak of the mall's success as it firmly establish itself as not only a premier shopping destination in Alabama, but also much of the Southeast.

The skylights make the court in the center...it is impressive how this much glass is held up without a system of trusses.

Looking from center court into the more typical parts of the mall.

This is bound to look pretty scary during a severe thunderstorm.  Thunderstorms had rumbled through before I took these photos.  Note the third level on the left.  The former Macy's mall entrance was on the two levels below that.

Looking straight on at the old Macy's/Proffitt's/Belk entrance and the lower levels of the office tower.  The office tower here is accessible from the third level visible here.

Department store consolidation proved to be challenging for the mall after 2000.  With six anchors, the mall found itself somewhat overbuilt for a shrinking anchor market.  Macy's merger with Rich's was when things got problematic.  When Macy's closed and moved into the old Rich's, apparently Dillard's was not invited to the party.  Instead, of all things, Proffitt's of Maryville, TN opened up in the old Macy's in 2004 after the subsequent closure of the original 1987 Macy's.  This store was there so briefly that if you blinked you would miss it much like Pizitz originally.  With Saks, Inc. then owning three positions in the mall, they then conveniently closed McRae's, which was the smallest and least visible of all of the mall's anchors.  This move angered the Pizitz family who still owned the building.  Apparently, the McRae's had a major roof leak problem that the Pizitz family, once the head of Alabama's largest regional department store, did not address and Saks, Inc. was unwilling to deal with.  The result was that Saks, Inc was smacked with a lawsuit apparently for breaking terms of their lease.

A view of the upper level entrance wing between Belk Men's (former McRae's/Pizitz) and Macy's (former Rich's).

Looking along the same entrance wing.

A view of the mall near a smaller court area from the second level.

A view from the third level balcony toward JCPenney.  This was kinda cool.  Third levels in mall are rare in any form.

The wing connecting the center court to Winfrey Hotel lacked the grandeur of the other parts.

When Belk came along, the lawsuit simply fell into Belk's hands.  Belk opened in the former Macy's/Proffitt's with no intentions of opening in the old McRae's initially.  Apparently, the agreement was settled when Belk ultimately opened a Home store in the upper level of the old Pizitz/McRae's while moving their store otherwise to the former Parisian.  Belk moved again into the old Parisian since they bought them out the same year.  Apparently, Belk decided that the old Parisian was a more appealing store than the old Macy's, so by 2007 the 20 year-old Macy's would finally go dark.  Today, this leaves 1 1/2 anchors in the mall dark in a mall designed for far more department store anchors than are typically available today.  In a reasonable scenario, Dillard's would take up the old Pizitz/McRae's spot, but so far that has obviously not been considered.  The original Macy's, however, awaits a Nordstrom.  It is rumored that Nordstrom plans to open in that spot, and the Nordstrom would be the first in the state.  No doubt if this works out this will be a huge deal.  Apparently the success of the Saks Fifth Avenue at the Summit has created the right conditions for a further upscaling of Alabama's (and one of the South's) largest mall.  Whether they will use the existing Macy's building or not is unknown, however.

One of the three entrances to the main Belk store (former Parisian).

The second entrance to the main Belk store (former Parisian).  This is probably the original 1986 store in lieu of the 1995 addition.

Here is the third entrance to the main Belk in the wing next to Winfrey Hotel's entrance.  Behind me (not pictured) is the side entrance to Belk Men's (former McRae's/Pizitz).

Nothing too terribly unusual about JCPenney right here from the inside.

Since Sears and Macy's make up different ends of a Y-shaped split, these overhead signs are in place.  These remind me of similar found all over Oglethorpe Mall in Savannah, GA.

Macy's entrance is the most elegant.  It was Rich's up until 2003, and their 80's designs inside and out were elegant and very cutting edge.  I couldn't say the same for their stores from the 1990's on.

Sears...meh...very cookie-cutter.

In all, while not my favorite mall design-wise, it is a truly massive and impressive structure in every way.  Its glass skylights are the most expansive and open I have ever encountered giving the mall an almost outdoor feel, and its massive size is almost overwhelming.  The two towers over the mall also make the mall feel like it is part of a huge downtown instead of a typical suburban center...a rare and unique arrangement in malls at any point.  Few malls have ever incorporated either an office tower or hotel, much less both, into its design like Riverchase has.  Its array of six huge anchors, two mid-rise towers. a large food court and such an enormous amount of stores speaks of optimism and excess we may never see again.  It was a time when malls seemed to be in a race to be the biggest and the best...finally culminating with a few monoliths in the 90's such as Mall of America and many leaner versions such as Mall of Georgia.  It is also still a traditional mall in every sense...maintaining its size without the trendy "lifestyle" addition that flanks many malls today including later-built Mall of Georgia.

Macy's original store was...um...sunny?  The huge arched design over the small doors was pretty stark indeed.  This is still a pretty brutalist three-level store here I must say.

JCPenney's store here was apparently cloned for Asheville Mall.  The designs are identical pretty much.

The old Parisian, now Belk, was kinda neat.  Of all the anchors, this one had the most appealing and eye-catching design features while still keeping it simple.  Winfrey Hotel is to the left.

Sorry this picture came out blurry.  The McRae's/Pizitz here was all about arches as well.  

This had to be one of the best designs for a Rich's department store ever.  It is so classy looking.  The Macy's logo intrigues me.  It actually looks like it must have come off of its original 1987 store and was replaced on the old Rich's.  It is definitely not the newer "red star" logo, and this must have been done at the request of mall owners.  Was the original Rich's sign here white?  I never saw this store with Rich's nor have I ever seen any photos of it.

I kinda figured Sears arrived fashionably late when I saw this store.  It opened here in 1996 and is a match to the store at Arbor Place Mall in Douglasville, GA that was built in 1999.

While the mall today may seem excessive, it brought Birmingham a true big city shopping experience that most other malls in the city never offered.  With exception of two-level Century Plaza and the peculiar Brookwood, all other malls in the city were not only quite small but also plain.  Their success relied on the lack of competition from a major shopping destination like Riverchase.  Perhaps Eastwood, West Lake, Century Plaza, Todds Mall and even the Five Points West mall addition might still be around today if this mall would never have been built, but you can be sure that local patrons would be disenchanted with what they would see as outdated, second-rate and outmoded offerings.  This is a problem that would have led to Birmingham residents skipping the city altogether to go to Atlanta instead.  Local developer Jim Wilson, who originally built Riverchase, was not about to let that happen.

I did manage a night shot in 2007 of the Belk store at Riverchase when it was still Parisian.  I should have done more.

This older photo from 2005 I believe came from Birmingham's newspaper, but I am not positive who to credit this to.  This shows McRae's at the mall after it closed. 

Indeed, it seems that Birmingham has been moving full speed ahead both before and since.  Even today, only Riverchase and Brookwood remain viable malls in the city as both now have to deal with another Birmingham first...the lifestyle center.  Both malls today compete with tony The Summit in Mountain Brook and the newer Pinnacle at Tutwiler Farm while Western Hills Mall seems to be making the last stand in the older suburban retail scene.  Even Riverchase may have to change soon to adapt to a market far different than the mall was when it opened in 1986.  I would expect the future to bring a demolition of one or more anchors and possibly the creation of a lifestyle-type addition in the place of those anchors.  Perhaps the mall may even be turned inside out with the roof removed and replaced with an outdoor plaza.  Time will tell, but for now the mall is a stunning monument to the runaway popularity of the mall era.