The Centre at Golden Ring

Golden Ring Mall, formerly owned by Simon Properties, was a shopping mall located in Eastern Baltimore County, Maryland. It is located at Route 40 and Interstate 695, and was at its peak when it opened in 1974. The grand opening, a resplendent affair was set amid the fine artwork and spacious courtyards at the mall. The grand opening was created by George Reavis "Buck" Sappenfield III, a native of Sherman, Texas, who brought the "bigger than Texas" celebration to East Baltimore. Sappenfield had created programs of similar largesse at Mounds Mall in Anderson, Indiana and Irving Mall in Irving, Texas. It would later face competition from White Marsh Mall, Hunt Valley Mall, and Eastpoint Mall. It has now been revitalised, and is known as The Centre at Golden Ring

History

The Mall had three anchors: Hecht's (known as The Hecht Company at the time), Montgomery Ward, and Stewart's (a local Baltimore area Department Store). When they closed their doors in the early 80s, Caldor took over the lease space. Golden Ring's demise began in the early 1990s, when Hutzler's at White Marsh Mall closed. Hecht's opened a new location in White Marsh's former Hutzler's space in 1992. Later, due to lagging sales, the Hecht's at Golden Ring closed. In 2001, the other two remaining anchors, Caldor closed in 1999 and Montgomery Ward, filed for bankruptcy in 2000, and closing in 2001 leaving the mall anchorless. Simon closed the mall in late 2001.

In early 2002, Simon Properties sold the failing mall to Petrie Ventures Inc. and Heritage Development Co. of Chagrin Falls, Ohio, for $14 million.

The Centre at Golden Ring

The new owners brought by about the successful revitalisation of the mall, which has daily traffic estimated at 150,000 cars. In 2002, the two-level Golden Ring mall was demolished, and the space reconfigured. The site is now occupied by an open-air shopping center called "The Centre at Golden Ring" [ [http://www.southeastrebusiness.com/articles/DEC04/snapshot2.html Southeast Snapshot, Baltimore Retail Market] , Thomas Fidler Jr., Southeast Real Estate Business, December 2004] .

Retail space has been downsized from 700,000 square feet to convert|480000|sqft|m2. New property agents were brought in to put together a good tenant roster, which offered products and services that better matched the demographics of the area [http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4183/is_20031021/ai_n10058674 Revitalization of Golden Ring Mall predicted to be an economic] , Chet Dembeck, The Daily Record, Oct 21, 2003]

Wal-Mart ("157,500 sq ft."), Home Depot ("138,000 sq ft.") and Sam's Club ("131,500 sq ft.") now serve as anchors [ [http://www.petrieventures.com/port-goldenring.html The Centre at Golden Ring] Petrie Ross Property Ventures, Accessed April 27, 2007] . Leases for the final phase of the project were quickly signed with a variety of retailers and restaurants including Petco, Mattress Warehouse, GameStop and Panera Bread.

References

Links

* [http://external.bcpl.lib.md.us/hcdo/cfdocs/photopage.cfm?id=14983 Picture of Original Golden Ring Mall sign in front of Hecht Company]
* [http://www.deadmalls.com/malls/golden_ring_mall.html Golden Ring Mall] Deadmalls.com