LiveMalls: 2008

Saturday, November 22, 2008

An excerpt from WSJ.com - Bagging Holiday Shoppers

In a few weeks, Steven Swain will make his annual pilgrimage to New York from Rocky Mount, Va., to visit the Christmas tree in Rockefeller Center and see the holiday window displays at Macy's, Saks Fifth Avenue and Barneys New York.

You may have heard of this fellow....

Monday, October 13, 2008

Gourmet Gardens at Eastland Mall

Gourmet Gardens; Eastland Mall, Charlotte, North Carolina. Interior view, circa 1987. (photo courtesy Pat Richardson)

Gourmet Gardens at Eastland Mall in Charlotte, North Carolina was one of the first mall food courts in the Carolinas when it opened in 1975. It featured a then-revolutionary mix of ethnic cuisine, light snacks and fast food favorites.

Food courts revolutionized the mall dining experience, adding a variety of quick service establishments that crossed a broader spectrum of foodways than the then-standard snack bars, coffee shops and cafeterias most malls featured. Mall shoppers became food court diners and in less than ten years after Gourmet Gardens and other concepts like it appeared, the old-school restaurants were largely a relic of the past.

Even as Eastland approaches its twilight years, the food court is still intact, albeit altered from these great pictures from circa 1987, courtesy of frequent LiveMalls contributor Patrick Richardson. Many thanks to Pat for this blast from the past.

Gourmet Gardens; Eastland Mall, Charlotte, North Carolina. Interior view, circa 1987. (photo courtesy Pat Richardson)

Gourmet Gardens; Eastland Mall, Charlotte, North Carolina. Interior view, circa 1987. (photo courtesy Pat Richardson)

Previously on LiveMalls
Eastland Mall, Charlotte, North Carolina
Eastland Mall 1980

Tuesday, September 30, 2008

Nordstrom; The Streets at Southpoint, Durham, North Carolina. Photgraphed September 15, 2008

Previously on LiveMalls
Nordstrom; The Streets at Southpoint

Wednesday, September 10, 2008

former Belk, Eastland Mall, Charlotte, North Carolina. Upper level of escalator well looking toward mall entrance, circa 1987. (courtesy Pat Richardson)

former Belk, Eastland Mall, Charlotte, North Carolina. Upper level of escalator well, circa 1987. (courtesy Pat Richardson)

former Belk, Eastland Mall, Charlotte, North Carolina. Lower level, looking towards escalator well, circa 1987. (courtesy Pat Richardson)

former Belk, Eastland Mall, Charlotte, North Carolina. Men's Sportswear department, circa 1987. (courtesy Pat Richardson)

Previously on LiveMalls
former Belk, Eastland Mall

Monday, September 08, 2008

Macy's (former Hecht's), West Wendover Avenue, Greensboro, North Carolina. East entrance. Photographed 9/6/08.

Previously on LiveMalls
Macy's (former Hecht's), West Wendover Avenue

former Miller & Rhoads (later Montgomery Ward and Value City), River Ridge Mall, Lynchburg, Virginia. Building demolition. Photographed 9/7/08.

The Miller & Rhoads store at River Ridge Mall originally opened in 1980 and was the second anchor to open at the Lynchburg mall. At 90,000 square feet on one level with, it replaced a downtown location and eventually a small branch at nearby Pittman Plaza.

The exterior design of the building was Brutalist architecture, utilizing grooved concrete blocks, anodized aluminum trim, and heavily tinted glass windows.

In 1990, Miller & Rhoads was replaced by Montgomery Ward, after the former chain filed bankruptcy. Wards stayed until 1999 and was replaced by Value City, an off-price retailer, the following year.

Value City closed their Lynchburg location in 2008 and the space in now undergoing demolition. It will be replaced with a 14 screen stadium-seating theater and additional store space, a project scheduled to be completed in fall 2009.

Macy's (former Thalhimers and Hecht's), River Ridge Mall, Lynchburg, Virginia. Exterior entrance. Photographed 9/7/08.

Previously on LiveMalls
Macy's (former Thalhimers and Hecht's), River Ridge Mall

Friday, September 05, 2008

Saks Fifth Avenue, 5555 Wisconsin Ave, Chevy Chase, Maryland. Exterior entrance, June 21, 2008

Saks Fifth Avenue, 5555 Wisconsin Ave, Chevy Chase, Maryland. Exterior entrance, June 21, 2008

Previously on LiveMalls
Saks Fifth Avenue, Chevy Chase

Thursday, September 04, 2008

Neiman Marcus, Tysons Galleria, McLean, Virginia. Exterior facade facing International Drive. Photographed with camera phone 8/30/08.

Previously on LiveMalls
Neiman Marcus, Tysons Galleria

Macy’s (former Hecht's), Tysons Corner Center, McLean, Virginia. Exterior view. Photographed 8/30/08.

Macy’s (former Hecht's), Tysons Corner Center, McLean, Virginia. Exterior view. Photographed 8/31/08.

Macy’s (former Hecht's), Tysons Corner Center, McLean, Virginia. Exterior view of expansion area. Photographed 8/30/08.

Previously on LiveMalls
Macy's (former Hecht's), Tysons Corner Cente r

Tuesday, August 26, 2008

Matthews Belk, Eastridge Mall: The Way It Used to Be

Matthews Belk, Eastridge Mall, Gastonia, North Carolina. Unremodeled exterior, circa 1998. (Photo by Pat Richardson)

Frequent LiveMalls contributor Patrick Richardson unearthed some great old photos of the Matthews Belk at Eastridge Mall (Westfield Eastridge) in Gastonia, North Carolina, His comments are in italics below.

Here are some super pictures of the Matthews Belk at Eastridge when they had the amazingly-bad Belk-blue awnings above the entrances. I'm not sure of any other Belk stores had these. These photos were taken in the late-90's as the awnings were coming down (see last picture).

Matthews Belk, Eastridge Mall, Gastonia, North Carolina. Unremodeled exterior entrance, circa 1998. (Photo by Pat Richardson)

Matthews Belk, Eastridge Mall, Gastonia, North Carolina. Unremodeled exterior entrance detail, circa 1998. (Photo by Pat Richardson)

Matthews Belk, Eastridge Mall, Gastonia, North Carolina. Exterior entrance undergoing renovation, circa 1998. (Photo by Pat Richardson)

Previously on LiveMalls
Matthews Belk, Eastridge Mall

Wednesday, August 20, 2008

Dillard's (former Ivey's); Orange Park Mall, Orange Park, Florida

From the photo collection of frequent LiveMalls contributor Brian comes a series of recent photos from the Dillard's (former Ivey's) at Orange Park Mall in Orange Park, Florida (just outside Jacksonville). This store has not been renovated since Dillard's took over the location from Ivey's in 1990. Brian's comments are listed in Italics below:

001 - Mall entrance, center court of the mall. As was typical, the glass on the second level was a restaurant as Ivey's, but is currently Dillard's offices for, according to the sign, all of North Florida. Sort of ironic that they would have their offices at a store that is decidedly less upscale than the other Jacksonville-area stores.

002 - Women's wear, first level. Notice the pink and purple walls, which, to my memory, have not been touched. On the wall, there are scars from various brand logos that have been taken down over the years.

003 - Dresses, looking toward cosmetics. Note the original Ivey's pink marble floor.

004 - Outside entrance to men's department. Classic Ivey's Florida exterior. The stores in Daytona Beach and Merritt Island are very similar.

005 - Dillard's, time, and the Florida weather have done a great job of eliminating the Ivey's labelcar. I've found in my travels that Dillard's does a better job than anyone at covering up old labelscars. In person, you can make out where the old sign anchors were, but nothing else.

006 - Side of building. Oddly, there is only a sign, but no entrance on this side.

007 - More womens. The men's department was crawling with overbearing sales trainees that weren't conducive to picture taking.

008 - The classic Ivey's glass elevator. I dreamed of these as a kid.

009 - A look at cosmetics from above. I was actually trying to get a shot of the blonde Lancome chick, but she walked off. :-(

010 - A closeup of the pink marble and the extremely nasty and well worn pink carpet. Both original to the store.

Many thanks to Brian for his generous contribution.

Thursday, August 14, 2008

Eastland Mall | 1980

Eastland Mall, Charlotte, North Carolina. Aerial view, circa 1980 (courtesy Pat Richardson)

Eastland Mall in Charlotte, North Carolina, was in full bloom when these pictures were taken. I would estimate the date to be either 1979 or 1980, because Sears opened in 1979 and is featured in the photos. Many thanks to frequent LiveMalls contributor Pat Richardson who supplied the photos.

Eastland Mall, Charlotte, North Carolina. Exterior view showing Ivey's, JCPenney and the Sears roof sign, circa 1980 (courtesy Pat Richardson)

Eastland Mall, Charlotte, North Carolina. Interior view, circa 1980 (courtesy Pat Richardson)

Eastland Mall, Charlotte, North Carolina. Interior view of Center Court and the Ice Capades Chalet ice rink facing Sears, circa 1980 (courtesy Pat Richardson)

Eastland Mall, Charlotte, North Carolina. Interior view of Center Court and the Ice Capades Chalet ice rink facing Ivey's, circa 1980 (courtesy Pat Richardson)

Previously on LiveMalls
Eastland Mall, Charlotte, North Carolina
Belk, Eastland Mall
Dillard's, Eastland Mall

Monday, August 11, 2008

Moonlite Madness at SouthPark | August 11, 1976

From the extensive collection of frequent LiveMalls contributor Pat Richardson comes this gem: an entire newspaper supplement advertising the annual Moonlite Madness Sale at SouthPark from August 11, 1976.

This ad set was published in the long defunct Charlotte News and gave a pretty good picture of what the mall was like in the mid 1970s.

Thanks to Pat for his continued donations to this site.