Southgate Mall: Elizabeth City, NC

A few years ago, I had a chance to tour for the first time one of the oldest malls in North Carolina, a simple dumbbell shaped mall that has now reached its end.  Plans to demolish the mall this year have already been announced and the JCPenney store has already been demolished, so I advanced this post to showcase this mall in its antique glory before it is lost to the dustbin of history.  As the last and only enclosed mall found in Northeastern North Carolina, it should have been so much more, but weak economic factors in the region made it unable to expand or survive.  As the location of one of the first ever modern Belk prototype stores, it deserves a mention despite being rather unimpressive by modern mall standards.

Constructed from 1967-1969, Southgate Mall opened with four anchors: Belk Tyler, Grant's, Winn-Dixie and People's Drugs.  It is unclear who originally built the mall, but it was owned throughout much of the 1970's and 1980's by Federal Realty.  Its design was essentially a small town mall combining typical strip mall tenants with a regional department store in an enclosed mall.  Its design features an front and rear entrance corridor, main corridor and spacious center court with high ceilings and high windows functioning as skylights: a design very common in malls constructed in the 1965-1973 period.  Next to the mall on the west side, a Gateway Cinema was opened in 1973 and right behind it to the right a Mammoth Mart discount chain.  This anchor lineup obviously could not last considering that Winn-Dixie has been gone from North Carolina for 12 years and none of the other stores still exist.  Grant's was obviously the first to go, closing their store at the mall in 1976.  Regional discount chain Roses arrived to quickly fill the void left by Grant's.  It was odd that Kmart did not actually take over that store, but Kmart itself would not appear in Elizabeth City until 1982!

Entering center court with view of the back entrance wing and center court skylights.

A view from the Belk wing to center court complete with the jewelry kiosk in the center

A couple more views of center court and the now-removed fountain.  I can only imagine that a far more substantial fountain was in center court prior to the 1990's.  From the flooring patterns in the photo, it appears that the fountains and planters stretched the entire length of the center court and likely included a sunken area.



Christmas display from January 1, 2014.  You got the feeling even then that the mall was not long for this world despite the festive feature.

A view to center court from the healthier Belk wing.  Photo from January 1, 2014.

A view to center court from the JCPenney wing.  Photo from Jaunary 1, 2014.

1982 saw the next anchor shift as Winn-Dixie left the mall to join that same Kmart at the then-new Holly Square shopping center.  This left a void in the mall at a time when, unlike today, department stores were actually expanding and looking for new malls to anchor.  Thus, around 1985 JCPenney relocated from their downtown store to take over the former Winn-Dixie space.  It was a compact apparel-only store for JCPenney, and it ultimately would prove too small for them.  The opportunity opened up when in 1993, Roses closed their store and left town.  At the time, Roses was still an actual discount chain and was feeling the sting from Wal-Mart's expansion.  JCPenney seized on the opportunity and relocated their store into the outer 2/3 of the former Rose's in 1996.  This project was coupled with a small expansion of the mall into part of the old Grant's space.

Belk's mall entrance is obviously one of the most uneventful they did in the 60's, but it is also one of the very oldest mall-based Belk stores, so it still was bound to look a lot better with "Belk Tyler" sprawled across the front.  Throughout the 1970's and 1980's, Belk built some of the classiest mall entrances in the industry.

A look at the front entrance corridor in both directions.  Plenty of unused space in this hallway suggesting they just covered up the empty stores.

Back entrance to the mall connecting to center court

It appears that the mall's last renovation coincided with JCPenney relocating their store into the old Grant's/Rose's meaning it also occurred in 1996.  Since the mall space was expanded into part of the former store to reach the new JCPenney, this makes sense.  That renovation appears to have also taken out what appears to have been a far more spectacular center court replacing what was likely a larger fountain and planters with a smaller, more subdued fountain and more floor space.  Hibbetts Sports took over part of the old Grants space next to JCPenney as part of this expansion.  The changes were not dramatic enough to completely rob the mall of its vintage appearance, however, and much of the mall still maintains much of that early 1970's look and feel: a situation that has not been beneficial in more recent years.  After JCPenney moved, Goody's would come into replace the former Winn-Dixie/JCPenney space in 1998, but they would only stay a few years.  The 90's closed out with Belk Tyler converting to just Belk and People's Drugs becoming Revco in 1993, then CVS in 1998.  While turnover was high, the mall was small enough to sustain this, thus it was pretty much running steady through all of this.

Original 1969 Belk including a rare design pre-dating the standard 1970's brick arches.  Belk is still committed to the mall and its redevelopment.

Belk Tyler included a garden center, a very rare concept that was only on a few Belk stores.  The former garden center is unused, but is not in disrepair.

Overall, the coming and goings in the junior anchors at Southgate Mall were like musical chairs.  The original Winn-Dixie space housed five tenants.  The former People's Drug housed two other drug store chains before becoming at least three other restaurants, the most current being Dragon Buffet.  The Grant's changed two more times, and the mall was expanded into part of it.  Roses, which departed the mall in 1993, came back with their "Roses Express" format taking over the former Winn-Dixie/JCPenney space.   Roses then quickly outgrew this space and relocated into the former Mammoth Mart that had just been vacated by a replacement store for the Holly Square Winn-Dixie.  The Mammoth Mart building had many uses itself operating as King's Department Store from 1980-1983 and Farm Fresh from 1983-1997 before becoming Winn-Dixie Marketplace and later Roses.  Yes indeed, the current Roses that is just west of the mall located in what had been a 1990's replacement store for the Winn-Dixie that replaced the original mall Winn-Dixie!  To make things more confusing, former anchors moved around the city fairly close to the mall.  Both Winn-Dixie and Kmart relocated from Holly Square by that time with Kmart the first to relocate in 1993 and Winn-Dixie in 1997.  Holly Square sat mostly vacant for a time before finally being demolished in 2004 for Lowes after its last tenant Big Lots relocated from the older dead Kmart to part of the newer dead Kmart!  CVS also left the mall around 2003, relocating to a free-standing location one mile to the east.

A look down the JCPenney wing in 2016.  Burkes Outlet (formerly Winn-Dixie, JCPenney, and Roses Express) is on the right.  The 1996 addition into what was Grant's/Rose's is visible just beyond the entrance hallway on the left.

A look back to January 2014 when JCPenney was still open.  You can clearly see here how the hallway was extended for the store.

JCPenney left their sign up after the store closed, but it has since been demolished (as of November 2017)

After 2010, the mall's struggles ramped up with the retail industry.  Despite a steady growth rate in the region due to the proximity to tourism in the Outer Banks, the antiquated mall coupled with industry changes and high poverty rates in the region led to vacancies becoming more difficult to fill.  This escalated when JCPenney finally gave up on the mall.  JCPenney closed their store at the mall in 2016 ending a 30 year run at the mall in two separate locations.  However, Belk proved to be far more established at the mall and renovated their store within the same year.  This ultimately meant that Southgate Mall was a dying mall anchoring a successful Belk and Burkes Outlet.  It was becoming painfully obvious that the location of the mall was not the problem, it was the mall itself.

Main mall entrance to Southgate Mall.  Close-up shot from July 1, 2016 and setback shot from January 1, 2014.

Detail of inside of interest with the brass panels.  It's a fascinating touch.

JCPenney front entrance with obvious details left over from Grant's.

When JCPenney took over the old Grant's/Rose's, they had to cut a new entrance into the back.  Otherwise, it looks like a typical unremarkable 1970's discount store from the rear.

Grant's Auto Center was obviously sold off long before JCPenney took over the store, but they were probably forced out for the store's demolition.

According to Dailyadvance.com, it was announced in February 2017 that the mall was sold in an auction for $2.3 million.  It had been sold the previous July for $8 million, and prior to that it was owned by ABC Properties of New York City since 2005 until they defaulted on the mortgage.  The new owners were not coy about their plans for the mall.  By July, it was announced that the interior mall of Southgate Mall would be closed and torn down after nearly 50 years of business.  This announcement came as somewhat of a surprise considering that the mall still has active tenants inside, Belk is committed to the mall, and Burkes Outlet is still operating in the former Winn-Dixie space.  In other words, the new owners simply do not think they can rework the interior mall in any way to make it successful again, thus the center will be transformed into a traditional strip shopping center with Belk as an anchor tenant.

A couple front view of the mall with the top photo looking from JCPenney to Belk and the bottom photo looking at Burkes Outlet (former Winn-Dixie, original JCPenney), and later JCPenney in what was Grant's/Rose's.  Rose's is now located in what was the third Winn-Dixie just west of the mall.

Southgate Mall sign from W Ehringhaus St (U.S. 17 Business)

The mall theaters to the right of the mall.  They did not open at the mall and were instead added in 1973.

Historical map of the mall showing anchor history of the mall and its outlots 1969-present.  The 2018 date refers to the pending demolition of the remaining interior mall.

Too many things in the past 15 years have begun to work against the mall.  The primary issues were newer competition, an antiquated mall design, and traffic pattern changes.  First, the construction of The Shoppes at Tanglewood (a strip adjacent to a Wal-Mart Supercenter) helped pull traffic, inline tenants and customers away from the mall.  Second, as a mall much closer to downtown, the mall also suffered from a change in traffic patterns as US 17 was relocated to a new by-pass west of the city. While not particularly unique for its time, Southgate Mall is one of the very last representations of early enclosed malls, and its demolition will be another stinging loss as it joins many other malls across the country closing for good.  At least these photos will help us to remember this quaint little mall.

OTHER RESOURCES:

Mallmanac: Southgate Mall (Another post with information about the mall)
Ajsanjua's Flickr Page (A wealth of information and photos about both the mall and Elizabeth City retail.  Information from these galleries was used to write a proper history for this mall with permission.)

Ashley Plaza Mall: Charleston, SC

In South Carolina as in much of the South, things are said to move at a slower pace.  Perhaps it is the humidity, but at least this old saying proved to be very true for Charleston who had to wait until 1972 to get their very first enclosed mall, Ashley Plaza Mall.  Opening on August 10th of that year, shoppers I am sure were frantic to escape the heat in order to check out this place.  The only problem was that this was probably not the mall they had hoped for.  It featured none of the major department stores like Kerrison's or Belk Robinson, nor were there any national ones such as Sears, Montgomery Ward or JCPenney.  This mall was just not like that, and it was just one reason it had a short life.

Anchors of the original Ashley Plaza Mall included local department store Condon's (that's with an "N", thank you), Edward's discount store, J.M. Field's discount store and Pantry Pride supermarket.  Neither J.M. Fields nor Pantry Pride were accessible to the mall corridor, and both actually predated the mall by a couple years as part of an existing strip mall.  In essence, Ashley Plaza was a hybrid of strip mall and enclosed mall.  Edward's and Condon's, however, both had mall entrances.  Not counting the anchors, the mall otherwise had 32 shops and a General Cinema theater flanking the north side.  Thus, removing the hype surrounding its opening, it was basically an undersized mall with mostly local shops that was dated and doomed from the day it opened its doors.

From left to right: JM Fields, Pantry Pride, Revco, mall entrance, Condon's Department Store.  From the Charleston Post-Courier from August 9, 1972.

Skylight construction.  From the Charleston Post-Courier from August 9, 1972.

Finishing touches being made on the enclosed mall.  From the Charleston Post-Courier from August 9, 1972.

It should be fairly obvious by now that none of the mentioned anchors exist in any form today, and aside from Radio Shack and General Cinema not much in the mall had lasting power, either.  It only took five years for changes to start hitting the mall.  In 1977, Edward's would be purchased by Kuhn's Big K.  While Big K would take the spot, the Edward's purchase was detrimental to the company and Wal-Mart passed on the location when they purchased Big K in 1981.  According to Randy Barton on the Deadmalls.com post about the mall, the old Big K location was then filled with "an unfinished wood furniture store, a mattress store and an imports store".  In 1979, the next change came to the mall with the closing of J.M. Fields and its grocery division Pantry Pride.  Fortunately, Woolco came and picked up the J.M. Field location, opening in March 1980.  Red & White supermarket would also take over the former Pantry Pride space.

Edward's discount store and Condon's department store logos from the opening of the mall.  From the Charleston Post-Courier from August 9, 1972.

One of the mall entrances while still under construction.  How I miss the days when you just had this bold imposing "MALL" over the doors.  From the Charleston Post-Courier from August 9, 1972.

The 80's were absolutely catastrophic for Ashley Plaza Mall.  First, the mall no longer could carry the torch for...well...anything.  Charles Towne Square mall opened fully enclosed in 1976, so air-conditioned comfort for shopping could be found elsewhere.  Next, Citadel Mall opened in 1981 rendering the little mall even more useless bringing the anchors that Charlestonians were deprived of the first round.  By then, the mall was already emptying out coinciding with the closing of Big K/Edward's.  Woolco came next, closing with the chain in 1983.  All hope was not lost, however, as Brendle's catalog showroom took over the former Woolco site a couple years later.  This still, however, came on the heels of the closing of the General Cinema at the mall.  With the mall going downhill fast, the situation was about to get a whole lot worse.  Charleston, as history has shown, is extremely disaster prone.  Two earthquakes leveled the city in the 1800's and the forecast was doomsday as one of the nation's most powerful hurricanes barreled down on the city in 1989 otherwise known as Hurricane Hugo.

Mall directory for the original 1972 mall.  It was never much of a mall.  From the Charleston Post-Courier from August 9, 1972.

Here is a snapshot of the mall's tenants today as Ashley Landing.  Photo by Mike Kalasnik.

According to Randy Barton's commentary, the mall was heavily damaged by the storm with portions of the facade removed and Brendle's completely leveled by the Category 4 storm.  What was a mall gasping for life was suddenly completely dead, and it was one of the first dead malls in the country, lasting a mere 17 years.  However, the mall was not abandoned.  Brendle's was rebuilt, the Red & White grocery store became a new location of then-rapidly expanding Big Lots and the rest of the mall was demalled with Burlington Coat Factory taking over much of the space where the mall was before.  Condon's proved to be the the last original tenant, closing in 1999 not due to poor business, but due to a dispute over the center constructing a new Publix store that they claimed was hurting their business.  However, the logic of that seems dubious, and probably the chain was finding an attractive excuse to why they were going under.  It was the last operating location of the 100 year old chain.

Main entrance of JM Fields/Woolco, now a gym.  Photo by Mike Kalasnik.

Citi Trends operated as Condon's until 1999.  Photo by Mike Kalasnik.

Big Lots is located in the former Pantry Pride/Red & White.  Photo by Mike Kalasnik.

Dollar Tree is on the left side of the center and takes up part of the former JM Fields/Woolco space.  Photo by Mike Kalasnik.

Burlington Coat Factory takes up much of the original mall space with the other portion now used by a church.  Photo by Mike Kalasnik.

After renovations were made, the new center, Ashley Landing, would then become a conventional strip mall...sort of.  Burlington Coat Factory filled in much of the mall, Citi Trends took over Condon's and the Woolco/JM Fields has been subdivided into smaller tenants including Dollar Tree.  Big Lots replaced Pantry Pride/Red & White and what was left eventually became a church.  About the only near original tenant is CVS, which still operates in the old Revco.  Publix, which opened in 1999, sits across from the shopping center itself in the parking lot and is the only newer portion of the center.  From the outside it still appears to be an old mall, and the old mall entrances are still visible deceiving would-be shoppers into thinking a fossilized mall awaits them.  From an aerial shot, you can still make out the corridors of the mall.  The center, while not dead, is definitely catering to a different market from when it opened.  As one of the earliest mall redevelopment projects ever, this may explain why the mall was simply reconfigured in lieu of being torn down.  Today, the center is essentially an urban complex catering to lower-income shoppers, but otherwise the city's oldest mall is only a mall in form not function.

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The Last Disco Ingles: Hendersonville, NC

Since the late 1990's, Ingles has been feverishly replacing their aging stock of stores. For a long time, they actually pretty much owned their markets since they were located in small towns otherwise void of any significant competition. Most other supermarkets in these towns were made up of locally-owned stores with higher prices and an extremely limited selection. Meanwhile, most big city chains snubbed these towns in favor of the higher margins found in the suburbs. Discount store competition was also no threat as Ingles often anchored shopping centers with the earlier and smaller Wal-Mart, Rose's, Lay's and Sky City (and possibly Kuhn's Big K) who were all at the time tiny, cramped stores with a very limited selection in grocery items.  Occassionally, they also anchored Kmart shopping centers as well, such as the case with two stores in Acworth, GA.

Ingles just south of downtown Hendersonville, NC in September 2009.

This all changed when Wal-Mart emerged as a retail superpower. Wal-Mart began replacing their old, tiny stores with their supercenters, and these new stores of course offered a grocery section that rivaled Ingles in both selection and price. At that point, Ingles could no longer rely on tiny stores that looked very dated by the mid-1990's. This is when Ingles took action. At this point, they closed weaker stores and markets while tearing down and rebuilding more successful ones.

Walking in the door, the overhang reminds me of a carnival.  The floor goes from this brown linoleum with raised circles to alternating white and green diagonal striped tile.

 

Left entrance and dairy section.  Cheese here describes the color of the whole section as much as what's underneath the sign.

The closure of the older Wal-Marts, however, actually played in the favor of Ingles.  The advantage Ingles had in locating in shopping centers with discount stores was that when they closed, they had an opportunity to purchase and tear down the old discount store nobody else wanted and build a new, larger store on that same footprint or in the same shopping center. Otherwise, they went and rebuilt on site, demolishing the existing store and replacing it with a larger modern store. The abandonment of many 80's models of Wal-Mart and the closure of Sky City left many ample opportunities to upgrade their stores in the framework of an existing shopping center, eliminating the cost of grading and building a whole new site.

"Best Meat in Town" was oddly not as prominent in this section.  Usually, this was put at a 45 degree angle repeating along the length of the wood overhang, but not in this case.

Of course, the "Green Grocer" made up for that with this very funky style repeating the words over and over.  It's so amazing this place was most likely built in the mid-80's in lieu of the 70's, which it looks like.  All the ones I knew of like it were built in 1984 and 85.

Of course, this conversion of Ingles to a more modern store format is not entirely completed. While most stores have either been reshaped or left behind, a few classic stores remain in operation. The best preserved specimen is the store at the intersection of US 25 and US 176 in Hendersonville, all pictured here. This store features all of the classic designs inside and out. I took this series of photos to let people see what these now rare stores looked like inside and out.

"Thank you for shopping at ingles".  No, thank you for preserving this cool freaking store long enough for me to get these photos.

The bakeries in the original stores were quite small.  In the background, a labelscar for "Wine" is visible.  Apparently they removed their wine department, but the Innsbruck store still featured a "Wine Cellar" until the last.

This store is ironically one of about 3-4 different Ingles stores in the town. In fact, a recently opened newer model is located only short distance down US 176, and a Harris Teeter is next door! I really wonder how this store makes it with so much market saturation, but I guess this is why this relic has held out so long is because it as more profitable to maintain an older store than to simply abandon it.  I wonder if the CVS has anything to do with it, because it is interesting they are still in that shopping center. A new Harris Teeter (correction on Kroger) under construction across the street replacing the existing next door may be the straw that broke the camel's back. The Hendersonville Ingles joins the now-closed Innsbruck Mall store as reflections of Ingles early days and the end of the first generation stores, but luckily a few are still around.

A look at the checkout area.  Track lights abound!

The word repetition continues into the small magazine and book area shown as "Reading Center".  I wanted a closer picture, but a store employee was standing where I was not able to do so, so you instead see it behind the checkout lines.

Now looking at the adjoining CVS, which I am reasonably assuming opened as Revco.  The small CVS sign to the right of the door suggests it covered up the famous Revco medicine jar logo.  Revco typically anchored Ingles shopping centers in the 80's.

Lou Corsaro took these last two pics for me back in 2007 of the sign and front of the store.  At the time, I did not think I would make it back before the store was gone.  Luckily, it held on a little longer for me!  Mr. Ingle, please do not change this store!