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
They look like giant vacuum tubes.
ReplyDeleteWell the entire entrance theme is a mild disaster.
ReplyDeleteBilly: I agree. My mom's old Electrolux vacuum was that color.
ReplyDeleteNitek: Belk's "variations on a theme" approach to exterior design was starting to lose steam by 1976, when this store opened, and this was one of the unfortunate casualties. Luckily, they updated a few years ago.
Does anyone remember any other Belk store having these awnings?
ReplyDeleteI wish I had pictures of the interior--it was equally bizarre. By the escalators they even had a huge old-timey water wheel (like you would find at a mill) creaking along.
There has to be at least one other Belk with awnings out there, but I don't know which store. They usually did things at least twice.
ReplyDeleteAs far as the water wheel, I want to say that the Belk in Hickory had a similar setup, but I'm not certain.
Yes! Hickory is correct (I remember that now)! I guess since both areas had heavy concentrations of mills--maybe they were giving a nod to the local industry?
ReplyDeleteEither that or Belk got a good deal on water wheels! :-)
ReplyDeleteThe scale of these awnings make them seem somewhat ominous and intimidating..well, at least to me.
ReplyDeleteThe do add color to a very neutral facade though.
ReplyDeleteThey do look like vacuum tubes, but I love them. I think they make the building look great!
ReplyDeleteIt's less generic than the new facade, that's for sure.
ReplyDeleteColumbia Place Mall had these as well
ReplyDelete