Target (Former Richway): Gastonia, NC

Richway as a whole was rather limited in its presence outside of Atlanta.  In its early expansion years, it expanded to Charlotte and Columbia, later expanding into South Florida taking over former Gold Triangle locations and Chattanooga in the former Gibson's/Miracle City stores.  Gastonia, however, was a fluke because despite its proximity to Charlotte, it was not actually Charlotte itself making it not a typical market for Richway to open in.  One store was opened there close to then-new Eastridge Mall.  It was also distinct in that it opened as a standalone store adjacent to a strip mall in lieu of anchoring an enclosed mall. 

Today, that Richway store is the last in the Charlotte region still operating as a Target.  The signature wedge skylights are still there, and the store is going strong.  However, its future days may be numbered since a new Target is planned as part of the redevelopment of the former Gaston Mall just to the east.  How much longer is unknown, but this store is the only other former Richway still operating as Target.  The other is located in Smyrna, GA north of Cumberland Mall on US 41.  Let's hope this one sticks around awhile longer much in the way I wish that Richway had.

North Park Mall: Charlotte, NC

Federated Department Stores in the 1970's took a rather unique approach to expanding its regional discount format Richway, which it had just acquired as part of the sale of Rich's from the Rich family.  The Rich family started the concept, but on a far more limited basis with Roswell Mall in Atlanta one of its prototypes.  While the company built many freestanding stores, including one in Gastonia, the company also combined forces with Kroger to build small discount malls connecting the two chains.  Perhaps this was done to create a more grand entry into the market, but it clearly was a passing fad with the malls and stores both too small to be competitive long-term.  Columbia, SC was one of the markets that Federated (now Macy's, Inc.) tried this in, but they also did the same in Charlotte.  Like Columbia, these "Richway Malls" as I call them had two built on a similar design in Charlotte connecting Richway with Kroger Sav-On with a third older mall built on a different design.  North Park Mall is one of those malls.  The other was West Park Mall.  Freedom Mall was also a Richway Mall, but that was the one with a different design and opposite anchor.

Freedom Mall was distinct for several reasons.  I cannot give a completely accurate history, partly because the date of construction is a bit hard to pin down and I did not cover this mall on this trip.  The mall may have been older since it was anchored on one end by The Collins Company, later Peebles.  Labelscar, who did their own post on it, states it was built in 1964 and other sources cite 1974 and other dates.  If it was 1974, it was an original Richway built as a test market.  If 1964, then definitely Richway bought the location after Grant's folded.  This is rather important since an early date of construction suggests that this was originally a Grant City while a later date would be an original Richway.  The Freedom Mall store had the distinct wedge skylights, but it was configured much like a mall with Grant's would be meaning they may have been added later.  Freedom Mall was also converted to offices a couple years ago, so it bears no resemblance to its former retail purpose.  It is similar to former Woodhill Mall in Columbia where a local department store anchored one end of the mall in lieu of Kroger Sav-On and the mall carried a different design.  Perhaps Woodhill Mall's Richway was originally a Grant's mall also?

North Park Mall is plain and simple with rounded "space age" features.  It looks to have gotten a stucco refacing later in its life, however.  Compare to my earlier Decker Mall post to see the difference.  The first two photos here are of the entrance third from left.  Richway Malls always had four entrances, all front facing.  This is looking toward what was originally Kroger Sav-On.

Looking toward the former Richway/Target, now Kimbrell's Furniture.  The entrance in the background was actually the entrance to Target/Richway, which was accessible only through the mall itself.

West Park Mall was an original Richway Mall, but it is lost.  Located on Tyvola Road (City 4) just east of I-77, it was one of three malls within a short distance: the other two being Tyvola Mall (a de-malled former Woolco Mall) and South Park Mall.  West Park was demolished in the late 1990's after Target moved to the intersection of I-485 and Pineville Road/South Blvd. The mall was in a more prime location than the other two Richway Malls on Tyvola Road in a better side of town, so the property was quickly redeveloped into a new Costco.  Costco is also standing alone, so most of the mall buildings are now part of the parking lot.

Inside the only open part of the mall, which today is part of Kimbrell's Furniture but used to be the mall/outside entrance to Target/Richway.  A similar setup was in place at Decker Mall, but it was walled off from the open mall due to its current use as a storage place.

North Park Mall was also an original Richway Mall, and only because of lack of interest in the area is it still standing.  Its date of construction is unknown, but it was most likely built in 1977 considering the date of construction and design of the similar malls in Columbia.  Its design, however, was not entirely identical with a level, direct concourse and an architectural theme that likewise also did not match exactly.  Skylights around the entrance courts are definitely of a different look than those at Decker Mall in Columbia and entrances are located differently.  The mall is also in far worse shape than Decker Mall having been closed for some time.  This makes Decker Mall the last original Richway Mall still in operation.

A view from the entrance to the mall under the "North Park" sign.  Note that the skylights are identical to those used at Eastland Mall over the center court.

More advanced deterioration was underway at another entrance.  I cannot remember which one this was, however.  That looks like an old Foot Locker straight ahead, but I have a hard time believing they would locate in a discount-oriented mall.  Maybe it was a Hallmark shop? 

It is hard to say when North Park Mall closed.  The circumstances are rather mysterious, and it looks to have happened within the past 5 years.  The mall actually was not empty at all when it closed.  It had quite a few tenants inside that were basically forced out to a nearby strip mall.  I am guessing the owners simply went into foreclosure and the property simply has been abandoned.  Nothing outside even indicated anything has happened, but the doors are locked and the beginning of deterioration in the interior is underway as evidenced from the photos here.  The parking lot is also a mess of craters as maintenance has been deferred probably for decades.  Nevertheless, one tenant still holds on in the center...a local furniture store operating in the old Richway/Target.  It is a very low-rent type store that apparently did not even have climate control.

More outside detail here of the Richway/Target, now Kimbrell's Furniture with the signature wedge skylights clearly visible.  I can think of no discount store more distinct looking than Richway was.

North Park Mall holds the distinction of being on a rough side of Charlotte.  It is located at the intersection of Eastway Drive and Tryon St (US 29), and it never had the benefit of an ancillary major shopping mall to boost its business.  It is, however, very close to Tryon Mall (Asian Corner Mall), which offered absolutely no benefit to the center in the long term.  Even Decker Mall in Columbia was not in a neighborhood in this bad of shape. 

This peculiar side entrance shows exactly how Richway was incorporated into the mall.  The mall started right there inside the entrance shown continuing to Kroger Sav-On.  The fourth photo above shows that same side door from the inside.

North Park Mall had a somewhat different turn of events over time.  While Target pretty much followed the pattern of every Richway Mall, Bi-Lo took interest when Kroger Sav-On closed.  For several years after Kroger left, Bi-Lo operated in the old Kroger.  Richway, of course, became Target in 1989 after closing in 1988.  Target then abandoned the store around 1998 moving out to its current location at University City and Harris Blvd.  Dollar Smart was the last store to operate in the old Kroger/Bi-Lo, and it had to be one of the largest dollar stores ever!  Kimbrell's Furniture, the last tenant, has kept a small part of the mall opened to allow access to the store, but a sheet rock wall blocks access to the rest of the mall.

An overview of the mall from a standpoint closer to Eastway Drive.

I have to wonder what kind of plans, if any, are in store for the crumbling mall.  Charlotte has a lot on its hands trying to deal with the all the dead retail they already have.  I honestly wish they would just leave North Park be and try to redevelop the area around it to eventually attract interest in the existing structure, but would anything of any substance ever be interested in a place like this?  I'm sure the most likely candidate for the site would be a Super Wal-Mart, which would certainly take the undesirable approach of demolishing every last bit of the mall.  I believe the mall could be renovated and find new use in the future, though this will most likely not be retail.  Perhaps a medical center might work here?  I guess time will tell what happens as Charlotte is faced with the very real need to reinvent its inner ring suburbs.

Decker Mall and the Lost Richway Malls: Columbia, SC

Columbia once had an astounding number of enclosed malls for a city of its size: seven total malls.  Of course, three of these malls were not malls in any form of the traditional sense.  These three were all tiny one-level malls built around discount chain Richway, which is why I dub these malls "Richway Malls".  Richway Malls were indeed small, only containing about 15-20 stores including a movie theater.  They were all excellent concepts in their time, but the fickle big box nature of them left them obsolete.  Charlotte had three Richway Malls as well, and Atlanta had one.  Decker Mall is not unique in the Richway Malls group except in one aspect: it is the last one of the three still standing and operational.  In fact, a visit to this mall was a trip back to the late 1970's, so those of you hoping to find an unmodified 70's mall still operational will not be disappointed.  I definitely was not either.

Decker Mall opened in 1977 with anchors Richway, Kroger Sav-On and a theater.  Its location is on Decker Blvd just east of Two Notch Road.  Columbia Place Mall, originally anchored by Richway's parent company Rich's, is less than a mile away, and both opened almost simultaneously.  While Columbia Place is a major regional mall, Decker is a very tiny and simple mall that blends in architecturally with the former Richway.  What architecture is on the mall is a very rounded, dated and extreme 70's modern, however.  The former Richway, of course, has the famous wedge skylights as well, though the design of the store is less boxy than its Georgia counterparts were.

 

A look along the Richway/Target wing.  The first photo was one of the ramps in center court with detail of the old brown linoleum tiles around the planter.

 

Approaching Richway/Target.  Strangely, the orange wall on the left is a relic left over from Richway.  Target never bothered to paint this over to match their store, suggesting that this mall was not at all important to their store.  A similar orange-painted wall like this was found at the side of Richway at Roswell Mall.

 

 

A look at the Richway mall entrance area.  It appears that part of the entrance was actually walled over to eliminate the connection to the mall.  The door on the left was an emergency exit.  The design was apparently to funnel shoppers to the same front door used by the store so that there was a mall entrance without multiple entrances.

Decker Mall opened at almost the same time as Bush River Mall across the city.  Like Decker, the anchor lineup of Bush River was identical, and Bush River was also a clone to Decker in every way.  A visit to Bush River Mall was essentially the same as a visit to Decker Mall, so with this post I am roughly giving you Bush River Mall as well.  Bush River Mall, however, fell on extremely hard times later in its life and no longer exists.  The third Richway Mall, Woodhill Mall, was somewhat different because it lacked the Kroger Sav-On, instead anchored by Tapp's.  I understand, however, that it was otherwise identical to Decker and Bush River.

My one attempt at detail of the skylights.  It's very spooky looking.

Walking back down the Richway wing with the latter photo showing center court and its subsequent sharp left turn and ramp down.  The store ahead is the DMV office.

Decker Mall was not a mall I remembered in Columbia.  I also did not really remember much about replica Bush River except the view from Bush River Road.  Nevertheless, I went to it several times and was amazed I never remembered it as a mall.  In fact, all I remembered about Bush River Mall was the Richway, yet I am sure that I went to some stores within the mall at some time and seem to vaguely recall walking up a ramp toward Richway.  It seemed the Richway at Bush River complete with its big sunrise logo sign and Cinema sign on the highway stood out very strikingly to me at 6.  That sunrise, of course, was replaced with the Gold Circle "G" just after I moved away before being sold to Target in 1988.  Gold Circle, owned by Federated Department Stores who also owned Richway, replaced Richway in all the Columbia Richway Malls in 1987 and 1988.  The only other thing I noted at Decker Mall different from Bush River is that the word "MALL" was prominent in red letters on the Bush River location next to Richway, while no prominent signage was noted anywhere at Decker Mall, including along Decker Blvd.  Maybe that was removed.

Now, I'm walking down the Kroger wing with the goofy designed place on the left, which I later realized was the former theater.  I think this was either a twin or triple screen theater, but definitely before the stadium seating era.  I absolutely dig the "space age" design even though it's tacky.

Decker Mall today is no longer a retail destination and to all appearances is at the end of its life, but mysteriously it hangs on due to the presence of a few key non-traditional tenants in addition to the general decline of the Decker Blvd area it is located.  Why that decline is significant is because it attracts more locally operated businesses and attractive lease terms, when such places would likely not locate there in a different area.  In fact, the mall is actually over 50% occupied!  At some point, Target closed and left the mall, most likely around 1999 much like what happened at Bush River.  Kroger Sav-On looks to have also left the mall for about as long as Target.  Today, Arcadia Storage, an air-conditioned storage facility took over the old Richway location along with the few retail and non-retail tenants operating in Decker Mall including the local DMV office, which is of course a major draw, and a church which operates in the old theater.  The mall is old, rough around the edges, dingy, but amazingly had no signs of roof leaks or neglect.  In fact, in a strange way the mall still has character.  While not glamorous, it is a definite a must-see for vintage mall aficionados along with Innsbruck Mall in Asheville. 

 

Now approaching Kroger Sav-On.  The Kroger Sav-On concept is actually no more than the standard Kroger today, but it offered a particularly wide selection and more complete shopping experience in the era it was introduced, making it a combination grocery/discount concept.  A few stores in the area still have this name.  That white and black rippled wall is a 70's design I have not seen in years, but I do not know what it is called.

A more standard-looking Kroger Sav-On is located across from Richland Mall for comparison and a view of the logo.

Decker, in comparison to the other Richway malls, is symbolic of not only its vintage, but also the ills of the area it is located.  Bush River Mall had a gruesome fate, but it has since redeveloped into a shiny new Wal-Mart Supercenter.  What happened to Bush River was that when Target left the mall in 1999, so did everyone else.  Absolutely nothing was left in the mall, and it was abandoned soon after.  The mall was essentially trashed at that point, and somewhere in that same period a significant portion of it burned to the ground, leaving odd parts of the mall standing as well as the former Richway.  The remaining shell was demolished for Wal-Mart in 2005, so no sign of Bush River Mall ever existing remains today.  Decker Mall also had a similar exodus of key anchor tenants, so why is this mall so different from Bush River?

Looking back along the Kroger wing back toward center court.

This goofy planter is wedged between the two entrances at the center of the mall.  No previous photos of this or Bush River made it clear where this exactly was, but it is located between the two entrances and is rounded on the outside as well.

The major planter in the center court, shown in better detail.  These plants are skinny, wild and woolly but still do not trump the jungle planters at Innsbruck in Asheville.

 

Why do old malls like this always have something kind of strange and a bit creepy?  Right off center court is this strange little back door, also including that accordion-type stuff like that next to the Kroger Sav-On entrance.

Woodhill Mall's failure was due solely to the failure of Tapp's.  Tapp's was the strength of the mall, and when it failed so did the mall.  Target, however, actually did not leave the mall at any point.  In 2004, the mall was simply torn down along with the Target and redeveloped with Target opening in the new shopping center.  The new shopping center still bears the Woodhill name despite the fact that it bears no resemblance to its former self.  The Woodhill location is the most affluent location of the three Richway malls while Decker is currently in the most depressed area.

Now, heading outside to look at some of the other quirkiness of Decker Mall.  Here is the entrance on the Kroger wing.  The Pharmacy sign o the left was a separate drugstore entrance right next to the mall entrance.  Note the old-style font used for "Pharmacy".

 

The center court entrance is outright bizarre.  Two entrances are beside each other with one set higher than the other.  Inside, this is the "center court" with a ramp dividing the two areas.

 

More detail of the main entrance.  Note the mall sign in the center, which is also a directory.  More detail is shown below.  Also note the rounded wall between the two entrances.  This is nook with the small planter shown in the photo above.

 

Decker Mall has nothing to be ashamed of.  It does look like they were a little more full further back, but this is impressive for an anchor-less archaic mall.  I am guessing the last two panels were for Kroger Sav-On and Target.  One of the labelscars read "A+ Learning Center".  I am actually most impressed with the actual retail stores operating in the mall even though they are all very small local businesses.

Today, there is not much to say positive in regards to the future of Decker Mall, but there is a lot to say positive on how the owners have managed to keep it partially filled with no major stores.  The scenario it is in right now is the best scenario period.  A possible remedy would be to somehow lure Kroger back to the center or Publix to the site by allowing them to rebuild the store.  Another is to just knock it down, but the economy in general as well as locally is going to make that more difficult.  Maybe Wal-Mart is also interested in that site, but it is not nearly as well located as Bush River Mall was.  Bush River has high visibility from an interstate while Decker is nowhere near one.  No matter what the outcome, Decker Mall remains and hopefully will continue to operate so that at least others can show their kids what the 70's and 80's were like.

I could have done a little better job showing the old Kroger Sav-On, but you can make out the labelscar i the photo along with a bit of an overview of the mall.

 

Lastly, I'm looking at Richway, whose final tenant was Target.  It operated as Gold Circle for a short time in 1987-1988.  I am guessing all Richway stores would have eventually become Gold Circle had they not been forced to sell off the chain.

Roswell Mall: Roswell, GA

NOTE: Post is currently in the process of being updated/corrected and still contains incomplete information and references.

Long before North Point Mall ever arrived in North Fulton, Roswell Mall came on the scene as a tiny two-level enclosed mall on the then-northern extent of Atlanta's suburbs, but its arrival was chaotic and, sadly, anticlimactic. Originally developed by Howard Chatham, a mostly residential developer and owner of Northside Realty, he had bigger ideas than experience in commercial real estate. The mall would "open" in 1974 as essentially a two-level half-built mall where apparently only the upper level was enclosed while the lower level was unfinished, but other sources say it was entirely open-air [1]. With framing in places for eventual enclosure, the not-quite finished mall looked like a skeleton next to a completed Richway store as the mall's sole anchor. Chatham's vision was to build an upscale mall of half a million square feet anchored by Rich's, but when the tenants learned that the only anchor was a discount store, upscale tenants like Muse's backed out of the project [2].

This image is one of the very rare photos showing the interior of Roswell Mall as it looked from 1979-1994 (Photo by Lynn Felton from The Atlanta Constitution, North Fulton Extra, page H4, November 15, 1979)

Chatham would ultimately give up on the mall and would sell it in 1978 while the mortgage was already in default. It took a developer out of New York, Walter Samuels of Shopco properties, to fix it. Samuels developed malls for Kmart, which he of course brought in as the mall's second anchor to finally finish the mall. Samuels would enclose the mall and expand it with the expansion along a new wing connecting Kmart to the upper level of the original mall. This expansion would create essentially the only enclosed strip known to be built in Georgia. Of course, this addition was problematic since the front of the mall did NOT face the intersection of Holcomb Bridge and Roswell Roads although Richway and Kmart did. It is rather curious that the front of the mall would be built looking away from main roads, and it was one of many problems that doomed it. The then-enclosed center would hold its grand opening on November 15, 1979 [3]. With ribbed concrete and big red "MALL" signs over the entrances, the Kmart mall footprint was all over the redesigned center, and it did not appear as if Richway was even granted mall access to the center after it was enclosed.

This ad from 1976 shows a drawing of the horrendous skeleton that made up the first five years of Roswell Mall. It appears that much of it was essentially a two-level strip center with a courtyard for eventual mall expansion. Although I do not remember well enough, it is possible that the strip portion you see here also became an enclosed strip on the upper level, but I do recall that Morrison's Cafeteria had windows directly to the parking lot with an unusually long entrance into the main part of the cafeteria from the mall. (Image from The Atlanta Journal, April 7, 1976, page 3NF)

Throughout most of its history, the mall would be a showcase for mostly local stores with only a few regional or national chain stores. T Shirts Plus, Radio Shack, Friedman's Jewelers, Fashion Bug, and Morrison's Cafeteria were some of the few that were in the mall during its history. Morrison's Cafeteria would actually open at the mall on April 7, 1976 bringing at least one popular restaurant to the mall. The biggest draw would be Hoyt's Roswell 8 Theaters that opened on the lower level in the back. In those early years, it felt like everybody that was at Roswell Mall was ashamed to be there, including anchor tenant Richway that apparently did not even post ads promoting their new location at the mall. 

Despite being what was perhaps one of the most poorly planned shopping malls ever built, the timing of its construction allowed it to survive throughout the 70's and 80's although traffic was always light, and vacancies were always high. The problem was that even though Kmart and Richway were big draws, that mall in-between was not. Morrison's Cafeteria would close at the mall a little over 10 years after opening at the mall, and the Roswell Library took up space on the upper level that otherwise would have remained vacant. Curiously, a portion of the mall would be taken in 1985 for the first location of startup retail chain Upton's, which opened next to Richway [4]. Upton's would have mall access, and as a highly promotional chain and division of American Retail Group, would kick off a chain that rapidly expanded all over Atlanta in the late 1980's and into other states before closing all its stores in 1999. 

I created this mall "map" from an old aerial photo.  I would show interior corridors and tenants, but all I remember is what is shown.  The main mallway extended from the northwest entrance to Upton's, and the path to Kmart was one-sided.

Roswell Mall's design features certainly were pure 1970's in its updates with some "Kmart" touches such as the tan ribbed concrete on the exterior, dark glass entrances, high window skylights in the court areas, a ribbed aluminum mansard along the exterior roof line, and all of that further accented with those funky wedge skylights on the old Richway. It was brutalism at its finest with that combination of sinister and warmly tacky that was so typical of that period.

Roswell Mall would eventually go bankrupt in the early 90's as new competition in the area caused it to become further obsolete after the opening of North Point Mall. Jim Schlesinger of Coral Gables, FL bought the mall in April 1994 with the intent to redevelop the mall into a front-facing power center that would be renamed Roswell Town Center. Work to redevelop the center was completed in 1996 including the demolition of much of the old mall and front-facing tenants that reoriented the center to face the major intersection at Holcomb Bridge and Roswell Roads. At the time of the purchase, the mall was anchored by Kmart, Target, and the eight screen theater, but Upton's and later Ethan Allen had both departed. The new center would bring in a new Burlington Coat Factory and Waccamaw Pottery, and the theater would be renovated in conjunction with a new entertainment complex that opened in 1998. [5]. Part of the entertainment complex was built into where the old mall corridors originally were while a new corridor was built to deal with the difference of elevation between the front and back of the center. Many believe this was the old mall corridor, but this was new construction that was never part of the original mall despite it having mall elements such as an entrance to a two-level Burlington and to the entertainment complex.

The Atlanta Constitution (Atlanta, Georgia) · Thu, Apr 14, 1994 · Page

186

Downloaded on Jan 21, 2025

By the time the 2000's rolled around, the scene around Roswell Mall had changed drastically. With far more development, far more traffic, a super-regional mall nearby taking many big box stores away, and changing demographics in the immediate area, and a center whose design was no longer meeting the needs of its two main anchors, its fortunes would turn again. Target would depart for two new larger stores in 1999, and Kmart would leave in 2003. Waccamaw Pottery went out of business in 2001. Kmart was subdivided into Shoe Gallery and Gold's Gym and Value City would take over the former Richway/Target. The problem was, this would all die off in a short time. Burlington Coat Factory closed around 2005. Startime entertainment complex and the comedy club both closed in 2008, and Value City liquidated its entire chain in 2008 as well. Whirly Ball lasted a big longer, but would also close around 2016. Today, the center has multiple vacancies with increasingly low-end tenants including a Dollar Tree in part of what was Burlington Coat Factory, Gold's Gym has departed, and Floor and Decor is where Richway originally was. In essence, Roswell Mall's curse proved irreversible.

Roswell today has moved past this center, but it is becoming today more of a blight than it ever was as a mall. Showing how prosperous the times were, the mall was redeveloped at a time when the interior mall was about 50% vacant with its original anchors still going strong. Compare that to now where we might just shop at a mall with 35% occupancy, nearly every anchor vacant, water damage everywhere, and serious structural problems visible to the naked eye, and crumbling parking lots. It looks like again it may be time to redevelop the property, and Roswell has certainly been on that as they explore how to better utilize the again ailing property that is still somewhat serving the community. Seeing how times have changed, and the owners may have zero interest in Roswell's plans, perhaps this might be more complicated to accomplish than it was in 1994. Pretty much anybody could bet with near certainty that the next use will be "mixed use" with, you guessed it, a faux village of mostly apartments and some retail. One thing you can be assured it will never again be is a mall. 

The image here shows a slightly different shape Roswell Mall.  A large structure was added to the backside of the mall after 1978, which I can only assume was the Roswell Mall branch of the city library.  I wish someone could provide me a sketch of how these hallways worked.  It looked like a pretty bizarre floor plan overall.  If Rich's or another department store, instead of Kmart, got built, would North Point Mall have ever happened?

Richway Early 80's TV Ads

I've waited quite awhile for these, but looking back you have to admit that pretty much any TV from the early 80's was pretty cheesy. Hope you enjoy!



Richway Back to School ad from Fall of 1982.



Is this Lake Lanier or Lake Allatoona? Remember, Richway was headquartered in the old Rich's building the whole time even after Federated bought them, so an ad featuring a local man at a local lake was not unlikely.

Also, maybe I'm imagining it, but I swear I recall a Richway ad from the late 1980's playing the intro part of Laura Branigan's "Gloria". Since using pop songs in ads is nothing unusual today, I wonder if my memory served me right. I was a little kid then. Thanks, J, for the heads up on these!

1983 Richway flyer and more

Here is a treat for what I found to be more than a few people sentimental about Richway. A contributor who chooses to be known only as "J" sent me scans of a flyer made in 1983 for Richway. The story is that he found this in an attic of his grandparents house along with a newspaper from that era. In all, they are very well preserved. Also, he included a low resolution scan of a postcard for the Atlanta Expo Center, which I have outside pics of. The Atlanta Expo Center, located on Jonesboro Road today fills what had been the Richway in addition to the Treasure Island/Home Depot locations mentioned in the previous "Treasure Island" post.


In these pics, I am largely including ones with the logo, but will include a couple others for amusement. You have to admit that times sure have changed since these pics.

I'm guessing Richway had a better selection of hardware than snob-appeal Target that took its place did. Nevertheless, I've heard both are very similar in many ways, though obviously Target is much less fun.


How about a $400 VCR? And this is in 1983 dollars, folks. Also take your pic at Urban Cowboy overkill for $6.99 on your choice of LP or cassette so you can go and replace them all with CD's ten years later just to download them illegally another 10 years later.


One thing you've got to admit: since the 80's the men's shorts have gotten longer and women's a lot shorter. Considering the big gay rights push since the late 80's, it is definitely no coincidence. It's a reaction that mirrored the disco backlash a couple years before this ad. Can you imagine most men being caught dead in most of this stuff today unless they were running on the cross country team?


Hey buddy, you want THAT much for a boom box that doesn't come with high speed dubbing? No way, man!


Nice moehair suit, fella. Imagine the days when you could be a hairy bastard and still be considered smoking hot? I wonder if that guy later joined the other silver hair dudes in a new Vette hoping to land a girl half his age.


Also provided here was this postcard of the Atlanta Expo Center featuring our most well-preserved Richway off of Jonesboro Road. Just don't go there at night.


Here is a close-up outside shot of the Richway on Jonesboro Road taken by yours truly. I understand this was the only Richway not to make it into a Target. That says a lot about that area, unfortunately.

Richway: The Discount Division of Rich's (Updated February 15, 2018)

"Everything under the sun" could be found at Richway if you believed the ads.  In the 1960's, discount stores were an explosive trend across the United States, and this was not lost on department stores.  These new discount stores were making a hit on department stores with their lower prices and wide selection of merchandise, but a few department stores saw an opportunity to expand their footprint and operations by diversifying into this then-new concept.  In 1968, Rich's decided that it, too, needed to enter the discount store business by opening its namesake Richway stores.  Like other similar stores, Richway was an "upscale" discount store that operated more like an actual department store with general merchandise than a discount store.  Their slogan in the 80's was "Richway doesn't look like a discount store, but our price tags give us away".  Richway would last until 1988 when the store was sold to Target.  At its peak, Richway had 31 stores.  While Richway had an interesting history, it was not the first of such "discount divisions" of their parent department stores.  Others included:

• Ayr-Way
• A division of L.S. Ayres in Indianapolis founded in 1961
• Purchased by Dayton-Hudson in 1980 and reopened as Target in 1981
• Target
• A division of Dayton's in Minneapolis founded in 1962 and the last of its kind today
• Almart/J.B. Hunter
• A division of Allied (Department) Stores founded in 1962 and liquidated around 1975
• Treasure Island/The Treasury
• A division of JCPenney founded in 1962 and liquidated in 1981
• Gold Circle
• A discount division of Lazarus/Federated Department Stores founded in 1967 and liquidated in 1988
• Most stores sold to Hills and some to Target
• Prange Way
• A division of Prange's founded in 1965 and dissolved in 1992 when parent company Prange's was sold to Younker's
• Venture
• A division of May Department Stores also founded in 1968 and liquidated in 1998
• Many locations became Kmart
• Clover
• A division of Strawbridge & Clothier founded in 1971
• Liquidated in 1995 and 1996 as part of sale to May Department Stores
• Jefferson Ward
• Purchased by Montgomery Ward in 1973 (originally Jefferson's in Florida)
• Divested and liquidated around 1988

This slide shows the very first Richway store opened located on Covington Highway in Decatur, GA.  (Photo by Stevens & Wilkinson used by permission)  

Richway opened its first stores in 1970 with four locations in Metro Atlanta: all near an interchange with the recently completed I-285.  These original stores were large for their time featuring very distinctive architectural detail with eight large alternating green and orange wedge skylights on the roof.  Inside, the ceiling featured canned sodium vapor lights giving the store an ethereal tone to match the unique effects of the skylights, which were positioned in every direction on the roof.  The store also featured high ceilings making the store feel more spacious.  The original stores also featured a Richway Foods, which was operated by Big Star (formerly Colonial Stores).  Richway Foods was notable for delivering groceries to customers on a conveyor belt for outside pickup.  The original stores also had an auto center in or next to every store, and they were larger than later stores.  The four original locations were located at:

• Decatur: 4000 Covington Highway (Opened in 1969)
• Store #1
• Now Peace Baptist Church
• Store was not replaced when Target vacated the site
• Smyrna: 2201 Cobb Parkway SE (Opened in 1970)
• Still operational as Target
• Last Richway operating as Target
• Richway Foods was later Big Star, A&P, then CompUSA
• Sandy Springs: 235 Johnson Ferry Road (Opening date unknown, probably 1971)
• Operated as Target until 2007
• Demolished in 2013 for Sandy Springs City Hall and Downtown
• Richway Foods was later successively Big Star, A&P, Harris Teeter, and Goodwill
• College Park: 5025 Old National Highway (Opened 1971)
• Operated as Target from 1989-1998
• Target roughly replaced by store at Fayette Pavilion 11 miles south
• Abandoned ever since

This bag carries the original Richway logo that was used from approximately 1970-1977.  Note that the sunrise is far more detailed with the logo in a mixed-case font in a pill shape.  The stores built with this logo had the signs accommodated to fit this logo.

Scan from an original credit card

Richway in Sandy Springs showing the updated logo in a the original pill shape, Richway Foods as Big Star, and the Richway Auto Center on the right.  This undated photo was most likely taken in the late 1970's.  (Photographer unknown)

The success of those four locations led to expansion across the Atlanta region, although the growth of the chain occurred mostly after Rich's was sold to Federated Department Stores.  The next stores that were constructed after the original four in 1970 within the Atlanta area were:

• Atlanta/Forest Park: 3650 Jonesboro Road SE (Opened 1974)
• Never re-opened as Target, now Atlanta Expo Center North
• Atlanta/Druid Hills: 2400 North Druid Hills Road (Opened 1974)
• Reconstructed in 2002 as Target Greatland, now Target
• Land still owned by Macy's/Federated
• Jonesboro: 6525-B Tara Blvd (Arrowhead Mall, Opened 1974)
• Target (now closed) relocated to Mt. Zion Road in 1996
• Was Burlington Coat Factory, now Southside Discount Mall
• Roswell: 610 Holcomb Bridge Road (Roswell Mall, opened 1974)
• Target closed store and relocated to Super Target on Woodstock Road in 1999
• Was a Value City up until chain liquidated
• Presently Home & Decor
• Tucker: 4136 Jimmy Carter Blvd (opening date unknown, probably 1975)
• Torn down in 2001 for Home Depot
• Replaced by current Target at I-285 and LaVista Road
• Doraville: 5766 Buford Highway (opening date unknown, probably 1977)
• Originally a Grant City location (opened 1968)
• Was later a Value City
• Currently a Burlington Coat Factory since 2013

The Atlanta Expo Center North on Jonesboro Road stands as the best preserved former Richway.  Because it was the only former Richway that did not reopen as Target, the skylights were not covered up with the original architecture left largely unchanged.  The orange exterior is original to when it was Richway.

This interior shot of the Atlanta Expo Center shows how all of the original Richway stores appeared inside.  Note the "canned" lights in the ceiling in the backgroung (Photo by J. Fillow).

All of the early Richway stores had an auto center just like Rich's suburban locations did (Photo by Stevens & Wilkinson used by permission)

Expansion of Richway in the 1970's did not, however, include just Atlanta.  Before the sale to Federated Department Stores, four Richway locations opened in the Carolinas.

• Charlotte [Northwest]: Freedom Mall [offsite link] (Opened 1974)
• Converted to government offices
• Charlotte [Southeast]: Independence Blvd (Opened 1974)
• Target relocated to Matthews in 1995
• Torn down for BJ's Wholesale in 2001
• BJ's that replaced it is now Hendrick Automotive Group
• Columbia: Woodhill Mall (Opened 1974)
• Redeveloped with Target on site

Image of Richway in Charlotte after the location closed as Target.  It is assumed this is the Independence Blvd location.  (Photo by J. Fillow)

The curious thing about Richway's expansion outside of the Atlanta metro area is that it did not tend to open in markets that its parent Rich's was located.  While Columbia did gain one Rich's location, Richway never opened a location in Greenville (where Rich's was located).  Likewise, neither Charlotte nor Gastonia ever had Rich's.  Of even greater curiosity is why Richway avoided Birmingham entirely.  A total of three Rich's operated in the Birmingham market, but no Richway ever opened in the city.  Memphis was also overlooked, which contained Rich's sister store Goldsmith's.

SALE TO FEDERATED DEPARTMENT STORES AND FURTHER EXPANSION

Richway was sold along with parent company Rich's to Federated Department Stores in 1976.  This sale resulted in several changes.  For one, the company got a more streamlined logo with a more simple sunrise and the same Helvetica font that was already in use on the Target logo.  In addition, an orange theme was employed throughout the store including orange fiber glass shopping carts, and orange smocks for employees.  Richway Food stores were sold off to Big Star, and new stores were smaller with less emphasis on hard lines.  The distinctive skylights were also dropped from eight to six then dropped altogether by 1980.  Auto centers, which were on all the stores built under Rich ownership, were dropped on newer stores.  However, growth of Richway was already in the works with four mall-based stores that opened in 1977 co-anchored by Kroger Sav-On.  These locations included:

• Columbia [Dentsville]: Decker Mall
• Closed in 1998 when Target relocated, now a storage facility
• Columbia [West]: Bush River Mall (twin store and mall to Decker)
• Closed in 1998 when Target relocated to Harbison Blvd.
• Mall and site demolished and rebuilt as Wal-Mart in 2004
• Charlotte [Northeast]: North Park Mall 
• Closed in 1998 and has since operated as Kimbrell's furniture
• Adjoining mall is abandoned and will soon be demolished for expansion of Charlotte transit lines
• Charlotte [Southwest]: West Park Mall (twin store and mall to North Park Mall)
• Target relocated to Carolina Pavilion
• Store and mall demolished around 2000
• Costco is currently on site today

The last store opened in the Carolinas opened in Gastonia in 1978.  Interestingly, it was not mall-based:

• Gastonia, NC: Akers Shopping Center
• Operated as Target until 2011 when Target relocated to Gaston Mall site
• Now subdivided between Gabe's and Conn's

Image of the Gastonia store prior to closure.  Photo is from 2010, and store closed/relocated in 2011.  The store was built in the parking lot of a previously established shopping center with Akers Shopping Center behind me in the photo.

Additional Georgia locations opened included:

• Marietta: 805 Sandy Plains Road
• Opened in 1980
• Closed in 1998 when Target store relocated to current location on Cobb Place Blvd
• Has since been offices for Wellstar Medical
• Mableton: Austell Road (GA 5) & Hurt Road
• Opened in 1980
• Abandoned after Target closed in 1998 and relocated to East West Commons Shopping Center
• Snellville: Main St (US 78) & McGee Road (Fountain Square)
• Opened in 1983
• Target relocated in 1994 to current location at Presidential Market
• Conyers: 1618 GA 138 (free-standing)
• Opened in 1983
• Target relocated to Conyers Commons in 2006
• Part of store torn down for LA Fitness with about 1/3 of original building standing open and vacant
• Athens: 3505 Atlanta Highway (Clarke Crossing Shopping Center)
• Opened in 1984
• Now Academy Sports

Former Richway on Austell Road in Mableton

The Richway in Snellville featured an updated look that resembled 1980's Wal-Mart stores.

EXPANSION TO TENNESSEE AND FLORIDA

Federated Department Stores was seeing that they had a big success in Richway, so they sought to expand the chain elsewhere.  In Florida, Federated already had a presence with their ownership of Burdine's and the Gold Triangle chain.  In contrast to what was said before on this blog, Gold Triangle stores were not replaced by Richway.  However, they did go out of business in 1981 prior to the entry of Richway into the market in 1982.  It was curious that Richway was chosen considering that Rich's was never located anywhere near Florida, but it still functioned as the discount division of Burdine's, which had been part of Federated Department Stores since 1956.  The list of Richway stores that opened in South Florida in 1982 included:

• West Palm Beach: 1760 Palm Beach Lakes Blvd
• Operated as Target until 2008 when store was demolished and rebuilt as a two-story Target on the same site
• Plantation: 8201 SW 3rd St
• Original address was W. Federated Roadway
• Original store was torn down and rebuilt as Target on same site according to aerials
• Sources claim the store was located elsewhere
• Deerfield Beach: 1200 S. Federal Highway
• New store built just to the south with parking deck on site of original store
• Tamarac: 8399 N University Drive
• Now Renaissance Charter School at University
• Palm Springs: 1941 Military Trail
• Now Sunshine Flea Market

An additional location opened in 1983 in a former Woolco:

• Oakland Park: 5091 North Dixie Highway
• Originally constructed in 1973
• Partially demolished and subdivided with Publix the primary tenant currently
• Was the largest South Florida location for Richway

Richway in Florida had an updated look, but some of their stores featured this interesting sloped front look in lieu of the design used on the store shown in Snellville, GA.  This the Palm Springs location.  (Image from Google Street View, June 2017)

This 2007 Google Street View capture shows the West Palm Beach Store, which was identical to the Palm Springs Store, but it was demolished and rebuilt on site the following year.

Map of South Florida locations using Google Earth

Additionally, Richway saw an opportunity to enter the Tennessee market by acquiring two former Gibson's stores in Chattanooga that had opened originally as Jubilee City.  It is not certain when these stores opened, but it is believed to have been 1982.  These locations included:

• Chattanooga [Brainerd]: 5600 Lee Highway
• Store was torn down for expansion of Chattanooga's airport, but the parking lot remains
• Chattanooga [Hixson]: 600 Northgate Mall Drive
• Located on an outlot of Northgate Mall
• After Target closed and relocated, store was subdivided between Ross and T.J. Maxx

This was the Richway on 5600 Lee Highway in Chattanooga.  Since this store looked new in the image, apparently the front of the store was gutted and rebuilt when it was taken over from Gibson's.  (Image by Stevens & Wilkinson used by permission)

Map of Chattanooga locations using Google Earth

CONVERSION TO GOLD CIRCLE AND SALE

Federated Department Stores changed their corporate strategy and decided that they no longer wanted to operate their two discount stores separately, so the decision was made to merge Richway and Gold Circle in 1986.  In 1987, work began slowly to convert stores to the Gold Circle name.  However, things were not going well with Federated Department Stores as part of the Campeau takeover.  The debt that had been created from frenzied acquisitions and mismanagement by the French-Canadian financier's parent company had left Federated with a tough decision: save the department stores or save their discount stores.  The decision was made to focus on the department stores, thus the combined Richway-Gold Circle would have to be sold to a competitor.

These 1987 photos from Hank McNeely show the conversion of the Independence Blvd Richway in Charlotte to Gold circle.  The Richway logo was in a pill-shaped sign in an ice cream cone shaped support in some of their earlier stores supporting the older logo originally.  Target would again use this sign.

During the conversion from Richway to Gold Circle, tags in the stores began to display Gold Circle logos, but only a few stores actually got the new name.  All seven of the stores in the Carolinas (Columbia, Charlotte, and Gastonia) were converted to the Gold Circle name, but the other stores remained Richway.  Gold Circle seemed like a strange fit at the time considering that the name was not known in the Southeast.  Gold Circle was primarily located around Pittsburgh, Northern Kentucky, Ohio, and New York.  However, no other Richway stores would ever see the Gold Circle name.  In fall of 1988, all of the Richway and Gold Circle stores would be liquidated.

Map of Charlotte area locations using Google Earth

Target, then part of Dayton-Hudson, was in aggressive expansion mode having already expanded massively in the Midwest, and the sale of Richway was the primary vehicle for their growth into the Southeast.  However, it was not Campeau Corporation via Federated Department Stores that sold Richway to Target.  Instead, the entire chain was sold to Kimco Development Corp. who then sold the chain in two chunks.  31 stores were sold to Target.  This included all of the Richway stores, including those converted to Gold Circle.  The most likely reason that the entire 67 store chain was not purchased was probably due to the fact that Target was a much smaller company then and was not capitalized to purchase that many stores.  The risk was great for a chain that was unknown outside of the Midwest at the time.

Maps of Atlanta area locations and Athens location using Google Earth

The remaining 35 Gold Circle stores, all located in the North, were leased to Hills Department Stores, a now defunct chain that had very little overlap with Richway.  Hills had two locations in the Chattanooga market, but nowhere else did they compete.  However, they were a major competitor to Gold Circle in Pennsylvania, New York, Kentucky, and Ohio giving them at the time a greater share of the market.  Had Target not purchased Richway, it is questionable if they would have expanded into the national chain they are today.  It is notable that nearly every major discount store we have today grew rapidly through a major acquisition or takeover of stores from a defunct chain.  This is true with both Wal-Mart (Kuhn's Big K/Edward's) and Kmart (Grant's).

Target reopened all the former Richway and Gold Circle stores it acquired in May of 1989 after extensive remodeling.  In the end, Target proved to be the perfect fit for Richway.  Like Richway, it was a division of a major regional department store, and it marketed to the same demographic.  Their acquired stores proved to be highly successful for them, thus allowing them to expand and modernize throughout the 1990's.  However, Target did not share the same love for the distinctive feel of Richway.  Green and orange skylights were painted black and boarded up with ceilings in the store dropped.  The canned lights were covered up and replaced with regular tube lights.  The orange decor was replaced with the usual Target red, and storefronts repainted with a dull gray cast.  Target had the stores in body, but not in soul.  A celebrated division of Rich's in Atlanta had likewise become a soon to be nationwide corporation operated by a distant company in Minneapolis.

One of the former Richway locations in the North Druid Hills community of Atlanta was rebuilt on-site as Target Greatland in 2002.  Target Greatland is a now canceled concept that was larger than a regular Target, but smaller than a Super Target.

RICHWAY FADES AWAY

As Target has grown, the company proved to have outgrown the old Richway stores.  One by one, the stores were either replaced with a newer location or rebuilt with the bulk of those stores relocated to newly built locations.  The last few stores still operating as Target in 2005 were in Gastonia, Sandy Springs, West Palm Beach, and Smyrna.  By 2011, only one original Richway was left operational as a Target: the Smyrna store.  That same store received likely its final renovation and update around 2009.  Even then, the store is likely on borrowed time as the area around it is rapidly urbanizing since the construction of the new SunTrust Park.  It is believed that Target is looking to relocate to Cumberland Mall at some point in the near future where Sears is currently.

The last operational Richway.  Photo from 2006.

Pictures of the same Richway store after Target updated it in 2009.  The update made the store look more in sync with its original design with the clean lines and large glass front than the rounded stucco.  Note that the wedge skylights are still there painted white.  This store had the distinction of having its auto center in an outlot (now demolished).

RICHWAY REMEMBERED

When this post was first written, almost nothing was available online about the once venerable chain.  As the first post ever written on Sky City, much has been learned about the store since then including former locations and events in the store's history.  Because of that, the original post has been completely rewritten and replaced with this much more detailed post that more accurately depicts the history of a discount store that started as an extension of Georgia's most famous store.  This rewrite includes extensive photos that were not available at the time with better information about former locations.  Hopefully this post this time gives an accurate and complete history of one of many stores that Sky City has not allowed to have been forgotten since this post and blog was first published in 2006.