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 largely vacant shopping mall located in the Pleasant Hill Road corridor of Duluth, Georgia, in the United States. Once the leading mall in the region, the mall declined in the face of competition from newer malls nearby such as Mall of Georgia in Buford and Sugarloaf Mills in Lawrenceville. It was used as the Starcourt Mall filming location for the third season of Netflix's Stranger Things. It is currently owned by Gwinnett County, which has released plans to redevelop the property.
History
Construction of Gwinnett Place Mall began on January 21, 1982, and it officially opened its doors on February 1, 1984, with anchor tenants Rich's, Davison's and Sears. Mervyn's joined the lineup in 1986, and Davison's transitioned to Macy's (after briefly operating as Davison’s-Macy’s in 1985). In 1993, Parisian became a new anchor, leading to the addition of a northwest wing. After Mervyn's closed all seven of its Atlanta locations, J. C. Penney took over its space in 1997. By 2003, Macy's and Rich's merged to create Rich's-Macy's, a name that remained until 2005 when it was rebranded as Macy's. This left the mall with two Macy's locations, prompting the closure of the former Davidson's store, which reopened in 2010 as the first Mega Mart (a Korean Supermarket) in the US.
In 2007, Parisian rebranded as Belk, which eventually closed in 2013, marking yet another shift in the mall's history as it faced challenges in maintaining its status as a shopping destination.
The mall was challenged by the openings of the Mall of Georgia in 1999 and Sugarloaf Mills in 2001, and lost a large part of its customer base. The mall also failed to attract any new anchor stores for several years. The Gwinnett Place Cinemas just outside the mall closed in late September 2000 as General Cinema began winding down operations in Georgia ahead of its October bankruptcy. In 2008, Gwinnett Technical College opened an International Education Center in the mall, where students take foreign language classes. The downturn of the mall in throughout the early 2010s led to the mall’s owner, Simon Property Group, losing the mall to foreclosure in 2013, where it was acquired by Moonbeam Capital Investments LLC. JCPenney closed on April 4, 2015, and Beauty Master purchased the former JCPenney building in March 2016. Beauty Master opened on August 4, 2016.
In late February 2019, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution and Gwinnett Daily Post reported that sports developer CricRealty intends to redevelop the Gwinnett Place Mall site to build a mixed-use development anchored by a 20,000-seat cricket stadium.
On December 15, 2020, officials from Gwinnett County's Urban Redevelopment Agency agreed to purchase the 39-acre Gwinnett Place Mall site from Moonbeam Capital Investments LLC for $23 million. At this point, several tenants, including Macy's, Mega Mart and Beauty Master, owned their own property. The sale closed in April 2021 but plans for the site were not disclosed.
On February 28, 2023, the Gwinnett County Board of Commissioners announced a revitalization strategy focusing on housing, mobility and greenspace in response to feedback from the public. The Gwinnett Place Mall Site Revitalization Strategy will take place over the next 20 years.
On September 17, 2024, the Gwinnett County Board of Commissioners purchased Macy’s and the outparcel Macy’s Furniture Store for $16.5 million. This sale closed on December 2. The stores were included on Macy’s list of 66 closing stores, which was released on January 9, 2025. Both stores closed on March 23, 2025.
