Gwinnett Place Mall facts for kids
Gwinnett Place Mall in July of 2016
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| Location | Duluth, Georgia, United States |
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| Coordinates | Lua error in Module:Coordinates at line 614: attempt to index field 'wikibase' (a nil value). 33.961216, -84.126236 |
| Opening date | February 1, 1984 |
| Closing date | March 15, 2020 |
| Developer | Cadillac Fairview Simon Property Group |
| Management | Gwinnett County, Georgia |
| Owner | Urban Redevelopment Agency of Gwinnett County |
| No. of stores and services | 2 |
| No. of anchor tenants | 2 (5 at peak) |
| Total retail floor area | 1,278,000 sq ft (118,700 m2) |
| No. of floors | 2 |
| Public transit access | Gwinnett Transit Center |
Gwinnett Place Mall is a large shopping center located in Duluth, Georgia, USA. It was once a very popular mall in the area. However, newer malls like Mall of Georgia and Sugarloaf Mills opened nearby. This caused Gwinnett Place Mall to become less busy.
You might know this mall from TV! It was used as the Starcourt Mall in the third season of Netflix's hit show, Stranger Things. Today, Gwinnett County owns the mall. They have plans to give the area a fresh new look.
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History of Gwinnett Place Mall
Construction for Gwinnett Place Mall started on January 21, 1982. The mall officially opened its doors on February 1, 1984. When it first opened, it had big department stores like Rich's, Davison's, and Sears. These large stores are called "anchor tenants" because they attract many shoppers.
Changes in Stores Over Time
In 1986, another big store called Mervyn's joined the mall. Davison's later became Macy's. In 1993, a new store called Parisian opened. This led to a new part of the mall being built.
Mervyn's closed all its stores in Atlanta. So, in 1997, J. C. Penney took over its space. By 2003, Rich's and Macy's joined together. They became Rich's-Macy's, and then just Macy's in 2005. This meant the mall had two Macy's stores! One of them closed. In 2010, that space became the first Mega Mart, a Korean supermarket, in the United States.
In 2007, Parisian changed its name to Belk. But Belk also closed in 2013. These changes showed that the mall was finding it hard to stay a top shopping spot.
Challenges and New Uses
The opening of Mall of Georgia in 1999 and Sugarloaf Mills in 2001 made things tough for Gwinnett Place Mall. Many shoppers started going to these newer malls instead. The movie theater near the mall also closed in 2000.
In 2008, Gwinnett Technical College opened a center inside the mall. Students could take foreign language classes there. As the mall became less popular, its owner, Simon Property Group, lost the mall in 2013. Moonbeam Capital Investments LLC then bought it.
JCPenney closed its doors on April 4, 2015. A company called Beauty Master bought the old JCPenney building. Beauty Master opened on August 4, 2016.
Future Plans for the Mall
In early 2019, news reports said that a sports company wanted to rebuild the mall area. They planned to create a new space with a large cricket stadium that could hold 20,000 people.
On December 15, 2020, Gwinnett County decided to buy the mall site for $23 million. The sale was completed in April 2021. The county wanted to make new plans for the area.
On February 28, 2023, Gwinnett County shared its plans for the mall site. They want to add more homes, improve transportation, and create green spaces. This big plan will happen over the next 20 years.
On September 17, 2024, Gwinnett County bought the Macy's store and the Macy's Furniture Store for $16.5 million. These stores were on Macy's list of places to close. Both Macy's stores at the mall closed on March 23, 2025.
