Tuesday, June 24, 2014

A "Big Apple" is Coming to Cumberland Mall

Apple's vintage logo
Cupertino, California-based Apple (NYSE: AAPL) is coming to Cumberland Mall in Cobb County.  

Rumored for months, Apple will soon open a new location on the first level, "Zone E," of the General Growth Properties-owned (GGP) mall, according to well-placed sources.  

The new Apple store replaces a number of smaller stores near center court, directly below the Best Buy Mobile store. The new Apple store will reportedly be about 7,300 square feet, making it the second largest in Georgia, just behind Lenox Square, which is 8,100 square feet. 
The new Apple store should provide visibility / signage from two sides

Cumberland Mall has been through its fair share of changes over the years.  The mall opened in August, 1973 and was originally anchored by J.C. Penney, Davison's, Sears and Rich's.  J.C. Penney was demolished in 2005 to make way for Costco, which opened in 2006 in place of the department store, but not attached to the mall.  Davison's became Macy's in 1986 and after the merger with Rich's, the store was closed in 2003.  The vacant department store was demolished for an outdoor "lifestyle area" which today is home to The Cheesecake Factory, Ted's Montana Grill and Maggiano's Little Italy, among others.   The Rich's store was for a time branded as "Rich's-Macy's" but the store was rebranded as simply "Macy's" in 2005.  Sears was then, and remains today, the mall's other anchor.  

Apple's other Atlanta area stores are at Mall of Georgia in Buford, North Point Mall in Alpharetta, and Perimeter Mall in Dunwoody.  In addition to Cumberland, North Point and Perimeter are all owned and managed by General Growth Properties, while Lenox Square and Mall of Georgia are owned and managed by Simon Property Group.  

Reportedly originally scheduled to open in late July, the new Apple store is now on track for a "mid-to-late fall opening," surely in advance of the start of holiday shopping.  

Cumberland Mall has seen the addition of a number of retailers over the past year or so including Clarks, Sephora, Teavana, and House of Hoops, the basketball-centric store from Foot Locker.  Others like Torrid and Buckle are coming soon. 

Microsoft, which competes with Apple, entered the Atlanta market in 2011 with a roughly 8,000 square foot store on the first floor of  Lenox Square, added a second store last month. Far smaller than its Lenox Square sibling, Microsoft's new first floor Perimeter Mall location is located directly beneath the Apple store.  

There have been rumors for months, if not years, of an Apple store coming to either midtown or west midtown, but to date those have not been confirmed.  

12 comments:

AJ said...

Happy to see "lower end" stores leaving the mall and "higher end" stores coming in. Looking at median income in the area it always shocked me how bad Cumberland mall was. I guess it's the same issue that Northlake Mall has - close to 285 so many people from areas that don't have malls drive to these malls. By the way, this is an economic evaluation, not a racial one. If you look at the median incomes surrounding both malls, they're rather high. If you drift south of both malls on 285, it starts going down...

Anonymous said...

I work near the mall, and am happy to see more changes around the Cumberland area. I would have to think this is all due to the new stadium coming, but whatever the cause, it's welcomed!

Amy said...

this deal has been done and public for months!!

Atlantan99 said...

@Amy,

While an Apple store at Cumberland Mall has been rumored for months, it was never confirmed, until now. The size, location and confirmation of the planned fall opening had never before been made public.

Thanks for your comment and for your readership.

Anonymous said...

I'm sure Apple folks were thrilled to find out about yet another black on black shooting recently in the parking lot of Cumberland.

KMacColeman said...

Thanks for the history on Cumberland Mall and Apple's move into Atlanta. I'm with Hope-Beckham and would like to include you on our mail list about Cumberland. Can you email me your contact info and I'll send you info on happenings at the mall. kmaccoleman@hopebeckham.com

Anonymous said...

This is great! I live nearby and am happy to hear that more upscale stores are opening. The Sephora at Cumberland seems small, but it's better than none at all. I wonder how long the Sears will stay open? I've bought a lot of Lands End clothing at that location. I enjoy your site and check it often!

Anonymous said...

Yawn x ∞. Somebody needs to invite Angela Ahrendts to town and show her Buckhead Atlanta, Westside Provisions, and Ponce City Market. Tired of walking through the mall to get to an Apple store.

Anonymous said...

Yikes! What's up with the uninformative racial comments by the OP's? This is a business based web site, not a teenagers Facebook page !

The Cumberland mall shooting was a simple domestic dispute , irrespective of race, and the shooter immediately killed himself upon returning to his home.

I worry more about the perimeter mall shooting - and killing - by the "mall security" of someone who was driving erratically. This was last holiday season.

Malls are public places with many visitors , things happen.

Incidentally, a woman of any race is much more likely to be killed by a significant other with a gun than almost any other way.

And that is definitely a feminist and a gun control issue.

But then, those type of issues don't exactly belong in this thread either.

My takeaway from the article was that we are seeing the beginning of a corporate battle between apple and Microsoft. Up until now Microsoft had made zero effort to fend off apple. That has recently changed. And Cumberland mall is one of the first battlefields!


Anonymous said...

Shootings happen. The race of those involved in the shooting is irrelevant. Apple is coming either way, Anonymous.

Anonymous said...

Anonymous 3.16.

Cutting the PC crap, your comments have everything to do with a culture in the redneck community that is numb to, at best, and glorifies , at worst ignorance and intolerance.

Rumor has it there's an opening for a dumb white person in West Virginia. Maybe you should apply.

Unfortunately in West Virgina there aren't any Apple stores, or anything else except for bait and tackle shops and gun ranges.

But it's a nearly 100% white state, so you'll be happy there....


Anonymous said...

The Sephora at Cumberland doesn't carry the high end products that others in Atlanta do...and they won't bother to order them for you and have you pick them up there. Until another strong anchor retailer comes in, it will remain a second class mall. Now, with the Braves coming nearby in 2017. there's hope!

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