Raleigh Springs Mall

Infobox shopping mall
shopping_mall_name = Raleigh Springs Mall


image_width =
caption =
location = Memphis, Tennesse, USA
address = 3384 Austin Peay Hwy.
coordinates =
opening_date = 1971
closing_date =
developer = Edward J. DeBartolo Corporation
manager = Simon Property Group
owner =
architect =
number_of_stores =
number_of_anchors = 4 (1 open, 3 vacant)
floor_area = convert|918217|sqft|m2
floors = 1
parking =
website = [http://www.simon.com/mall/default.aspx?ID=199 Official website]
footnotes =

Raleigh Springs Mall is an enclosed shopping mall serving the city of Memphis, Tennessee, USA. It is located on the north side of Memphis, on Austin Peay Hwy. just north of Interstate 40. Opened in 1971 as one of the city's first two shopping malls (the other being Southland Mall),cite web |url=http://memphis.bizjournals.com/memphis/stories/2007/01/08/story1.html |title=Wal-Mart negotiating for Raleigh Springs space (page 1 of 2) |accessdate=2008-05-03 |last=Ashby |first=Andy |date=2007-01-08 |work=Memphis Business Journal] Owned and managed by Simon Property Group, Raleigh Springs Mall features more than thirty stores and a twelve-screen multiplex, with Sears as its anchor store; three other anchors, formerly occupied by JCPenney, Goldsmith's and Dillard's, have been vacant since being closed in 2003.

History

Raleigh Springs Mall opened in 1971. Developed by the Edward J. DeBartolo corporation (now known as Simon Property Group) as one of the first two malls in the Memphis area, it featured four major anchor stores: national chains JCPenney and Sears, as well as local chains Lowenstein's (which was sold to Dillard's in 1982) and Goldsmith's. A Woolworth dime store also served as a junior anchor next to JCPenney; after the Woolworth store closed in the 1990s, it was replaced with a twelve-screen multiplex.

Initially the dominant mall in the Memphis area, Raleigh Springs Mall would lose several stores over time as newer malls opened, such as Hickory Ridge Mall and Mall of Memphis. (Hickory Ridge Mall, in turn, has lost most of its national tenants as well, while Mall of Memphis has been demolished; both of these malls lost most of their business to the newer Wolfchase Galleria, which opened in 1997.)cite web |url=http://www.memphisdailynews.net/editorial/Article.aspx?id=32341 |title=Malled by the competition |accessdate=2008-05-03 |last=Smith |first=Eric |work=The Daily News]

By the 2000s, Raleigh Springs Mall had begun to lose many of its tenants. In early 2003, Dillard's announced that its location at Raleigh Springs Mall would be one of several stores closed that year. [cite web |url=http://www.bizjournals.com/memphis/stories/2003/01/27/daily34.html |title= Dillard's to close Raleigh Springs store |accessdate=2008-05-03 |date=2003-01-31 |work=Memphis Business Journal] Goldsmith's parent company Federated Department Stores (now known as Macy's, Inc.), who was in the midst of significant corporate reorganization at the time, announced that the Goldsmith's location at Raleigh Springs would be shuttered by April of the same year. [cite web |url=http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-96545366.html |title=Federated Department Stores Closes Goldsmith's Store in Memphis, Tenn. |accessdate=2008-05-03 |last=Moore |first=Linda A. |date=2003-01-17 |work=] Finally, the JCPenney store (which had been downgraded to a JCPenney outlet center) was closed as well, leaving Sears as the only anchor store.

Starting in 2005, Wal-Mart began negotiations with Simon Property Group to open a Supercenter at the mall. These plans would call for the demolition of the former JCPenney space, as well as the mall's movie theater, to make way for the Supercenter.cite web |url=http://memphis.bizjournals.com/memphis/stories/2007/01/08/story1.html?page=2 |title=Wal-Mart negotiating for Raleigh Springs space (page 2 of 2) |accessdate=2008-05-03 |last=Ashby |first=Andy |date=2007-01-08 |work=Memphis Business Journal] As of 2008, however, the site of the former JCPenney store remains vacant.

References

External links

* [http://www.simon.com/mall/default.aspx?ID=199 Raleigh Springs Mall]