Augusta Mall

Infobox shopping mall
shopping_mall_name = Augusta Mall


caption = Augusta Mall food court
location = Augusta, Georgia, United States
opening_date = August 3, 1978
developer = The Rouse Company
manager = General Growth Properties
owner = General Growth Properties
parking = 5,590 spaces
number_of_stores = 162
number_of_anchors = 6
floor_area = 1.3 million ft²
floors = 2
website = [http://www.augustamall.com/ Augusta Mall website]

Augusta Mall is a two level super-regional shopping mall located in Augusta, Georgia. It opened on August 3, 1978, one week after the now-defunct Regency Mall. It is one of the largest malls in the state of Georgia, and it is the largest mall in the Augusta metro area. Unlike Regency Mall, Augusta Mall has been very successful since it opened, so much so that Regency is now closed due to crime and location.

History

Augusta Mall has four anchors: Dillard's, JCPenney, Sears, and Macy's. When it first opened its anchors were Rich's (now Macy's) and Davison's (now site of The Promenade), both out of Atlanta. It had 100 stores at that time. JCPenney moved into the mall in 1979 after deciding not to build at Regency Mall. Davison's was acquired by Macy's in 1986. Sears joined the mall in 1987.cite news |first=Melissa |last=Hall |work=The Augusta Chronicle |url=http://chronicle.augusta.com/stories/043099/bus_top_mall.shtml |title=Mall competes with Exchange |date=1999-04-30] J.B. White was the last anchor to join the mall; it closed its Regency Mall location and joined in 1998. Many of the stores that opened were exclusive to the Augusta market such as Abercrombie & Fitch, Nine West, The Body Shop, Helzberg Diamonds, and Sbarro. Just as it joined, J.B. White immediately became Dillard's, after the J.B. White chain was sold.

After poor sales and loss of customers, a certain number of Macy's stores were to be closed in the late 1990s/early 2000s, the Macy's store at Augusta Mall was one of them, they closed in 2000. Federated Department Stores (which was the owner of both Rich's and Macy's) began transitioning its Rich's/Goldsmith's/Lazarus stores into the Macy's moniker, in hopes to revitalize the Macy's name and keep their stores simply under the Macy's or Bloomingdale's name (which is currently a successful change). Macy's came back to the mall into the Rich's location and became Rich's-Macy's in 2003. At the same time, The lower level of the original Davisons/Macy's building was converted into Macy's Furniture Showroom, the upper level was shut up from the public. In 2006, Rich's-Macy's became Macy's after the company decided to change most of its stores to the "Macy's" moniker. Later that year, the Macy's Furniture Showroom was closed, and the entire abandoned upper level was demolished to make way for the new lifestyle center, The Promenade. Now, Dick's Sporting Goods sits in the original lower level location, which is now the only remains of the original Davison's/Macy's building. The Promenade lies directly above it where the original upper level of the building used to be.

During the construction of the lifestyle center, a new shopping center, The Village at Riverwatch, was also underconstruction at the time, but was held back for unknown reasons.

The Augusta Promenade

The Augusta Promenade, is the newest addition to the Augusta Mall, and is convert|180000|ft|m|abbr=on². [ [http://www.ggp.com/Properties/Expansions.aspx?smuid=45 GGP: Expansions & Redevelopments ] ] Construction of the development started in the Summer of 2006, with a grand opening of November 8, 2007. [ [http://www.nbcaugusta.com/news/business/10721316.html Augusta Mall Prepares For Grand Opening | Breaking News, Weather, Sports and Entertainment for Georgia and South Carolina | Business ] ] It brought many upscale stores and restaurants new to the CSRA, many that are new to Georgia outside of Atlanta. Some of these stores and restaurants include Williams-Sonoma, [http://www.thewalkingcompany.com The Walking Company] , and P. F. Chang's China Bistro.

Anchor stores

Current

*Dillard's ("formerly J.B. White, became Dillard's in 1998 shortly after the J.B. White store was built.")
*JCPenney ("opened in 1979")
*Sears ("opened in 1990 and replaced the downtown's free-standing location.")
*Macy's ("formerly Rich's, originally opened in 1978, became Rich's-Macy's in 2003, store didn't change exterior Rich's sign until they officially became Macy's in 2005.")
*Dick's Sporting Goods ("opened in October 2007 in the original lower level of the old Davison's/Macy's building")
*Barnes & Noble ("opening in the Fall of 2008 to replace current location")

Former

*Macy's Furniture Showroom ("opened in 2003, closed in 2006 to make way for lifestyle center addition, The Promenade.")
*Rich's ("opened in 1978, became Rich's-Macy's in 2003, then became Macy's in 2005.")
*Davison's ("opened in 1979, became Macy's in 1986, Macy's closed in 2000, lower level became Macy's Furniture Showroom in 2003, closed in 2006, upper level demolished for "The Promenade", the lower level and its exterior remodeled for Dick's Sporting Goods.")

References

ee also

*List of shopping malls in the United States

External links

* [http://www.augustamall.com/html Augusta Mall official website]