OK, so I'll be honest, I work in Buckhead and live near Emory, but have been to Lenox Square about 1000 more times in the past 10 years than I've been to the nearby North DeKalb Mall. Just this week, I learned that Marshalls would be opening in the one time Rhodes furniture store adjacent to the former Stein Mart and current AMC Theatres. The space was built for Rhodes in the early 2000s. When Rhodes filed for bankruptcy in 2004, and later closed all locations in 2005, the space reopened as Shoder Furniture (switching the location of the S and R from last to first.) That store later made way for K L Furniture, which closed as well. It's hard to get excited about anything at this mall.My hope for the resurgence of this mall rested with plans for a new Costco store, now seemingly DOA. The mall itself has seen its fair share of closures over the years, leaving it with little to draw customers. Woolworth's closed near Mervyns and Lechmere closed in the early 90's giving way to Phar-Mor, which closed in 1992 amidst a bankruptcy filing. An existing Gap store relocated within the mall to a larger space before closing too. Gap's discount line, Old Navy, opened a large store in the Macy's wing, occupying a portion of the relocated Gap store. It didn't last long, and is now a ROSS. Johnny Rockets, Chick-Fil-A, Dippin' Dots, Buffalo's and Taco Bell have all closed, leaving the mall with Applebee's, Subway and few other dining options. An Rich's, which now operates as Macy's, is the last remaining original anchor. Mervyns became Upton's and is now Burlington Coat Factory. Little Bucks barely got off the ground before closing too.
Anyway, the point of this story was Marshalls. Marshalls should be open by late fall, as signage is already up and the building is already there. Over at TOWN Brookhaven, where a new Marshall's is also coming, construction delays have caused that opening to be pushed until next spring. Once said to be a replacement to the Marshalls at Peachtree and Piedmont in Buckhead, instead it will replace the aging store within Plaza Fiesta on Buford Highway. Marshalls entrance into North DeKalb would seem to be in preparation for the closure of Plaza Fiesta as they have some demographic overlap. With any luck, Marshalls opening at North DeKalb will spur further development at the mall and maybe, just maybe, I'll finally get to have my beloved Costco a little closer to my ITP home. ToNeTo Atlanta
4 comments:
According to a Marshalls rep, the store will open October 21st.
Wow, how far TOWN Brookhaven has stooped. Once intended to be an upscale enclave for local boutiques, they're now going to have a Marshalls. Nice.
Sign of the times I suppose.
If memory serves me, that wing was originally built in the early 90's for the AMC theaters plus a PharMor store (competitor to the defunct Drug Emporium chain). PharMor later became a SteinMart before Rhodes came in, I believe. In any event, I'm looking forward to Marshalls but wish Costco had been able to come in. Anything to help DeKalb generate retail sales tax revenue, too.
I was at North DeKalb a few days ago and talked to a merchant. Marshalls is the first of three new anchors. The ownership is stable and committed to making this an intown discount oriented shopping center. Sort of a scaled down in town Discover Mills. They also have deals to bring in three to four national smaller tenants. People in the area need to support the mall in order for the owner to be able to bring in better tenants.
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