Monday, January 15, 2007

former Proffitt's (former J.B. White), Westgate Mall, Spartanburg, South Carolina. (photo taken 12/30/06 by cantnot)
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9 comments:

  1. DewN NitekTuesday, January 16, 2007 12:54:00 AM

    The glass atrium seems like a very good design and probably provides a smoothing transition from the noisy parking lot/expressway; I also like the way the corners of the facades are handled.

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  2. toddTuesday, January 16, 2007 12:56:00 PM

    This is a nice store... spacious and airy inside. Since there are so few choices left I think it shoud becomw a Macy's.

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  3. LivemallsTuesday, January 16, 2007 6:25:00 PM

    Nikek: I agree. The design seems to work well overall. Mercantile Stores (former parent of J.B. White) was producing some great stores before they got bought out by Dillard's.

    Todd: Unfortunately, I think this store will see the wrecking ball soon. A recent site plan for the mall shows a Costco in its place.

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  4. AnonymousWednesday, January 17, 2007 1:47:00 PM

    Costco? Blech. Not that I'm particularly surprised. I liked this store, too, although I always thought it was a bit on the smallish size inside...I guess I was always used to the Proffitt's flagship at West Town in Knoxville.

    Now that I look at it, I'm wondering if the Westgate JBW store and the Columbiana JBW store weren't built near the same time -- both have a glass atrium type structure. Thoughts?

    When was that picture taken, Steven/cantnot? I was last there about a year ago, well after the store had closed, and was surprised to still see the signage on the building. If that picture is recent, that has to be some sort of record. Well, except that the Greenville Mall still shows Monkey Ward's...

    Keep up the great work, Steven.

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  5. LivemallsWednesday, January 17, 2007 10:13:00 PM

    Both the Westgate and Columbiana stores were built about the same time, somewhere around 1996. They were White's last gasp, but they were touted as the future of the chain. Considering the vintage, both look suprisingly fresh, though I hated the scaled-back logo both sported.

    Proffitt's West Towne was originally Miller's and Parks-Belk, so, even though I've never been, I know they had good bones to start from, combined with Proffitt's extra gloss.

    That picture at Westgate is as recent as a few days ago, which i agree is a awful long time to leave up an old logo on a closed store in an otherwise healthy mall.

    I didn't put a date on because cantnot wasn't real specific about when he took the pictures.

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  6. BrianFriday, January 19, 2007 10:51:00 PM

    Proffitt's at West Town in Knoxville was never anything else. It was built as a Proffitt's and was the third store in the chain at the time. The store expanded to its present size in 1993 when a new wing opened at West Town, allowing Proffitt's to take over a former stretch of in-line stores, a former restaurant (Spinnaker's) and a former mall entrance. Most of the displaced in-line stores moved to the new wing, with the exception of Champs Sports, which moved to right next to the soon-to-be completed Dillard's.

    There was never a Parks-Belk in Knoxville, in fact the first time Belk appeared in Knoxville was in early 2006 when the free-standing location opened in Turkey Creek, just a month before Proffitts converted to Belk.

    The Miller's West Town was purchased by Hess's and converted in 1987. The store closed in 1992 and was gutted and doubled in size before re-opening as Dillard's in late 1993.

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  7. LivemallsSaturday, January 20, 2007 1:17:00 AM

    I stand corrected. I may have been thinking of Johnson City instead of Knoxville. In any event, thank you Brian for giving us the facts. :-)

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  8. GroceryingSaturday, January 20, 2007 1:57:00 AM

    Matt, the pic was taken on December 30, 2006. My friend was driving his car so I tried to snap pics as fast as I could.

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  9. LivemallsSaturday, January 20, 2007 7:03:00 PM

    I updated the entry to reflect the date the photo was taken :-)

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