North DeKalb Mall facts for kids
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| Location | Near Decatur, Georgia, U.S. |
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| Coordinates | 33°48′31″N 84°16′34″W / 33.80861°N 84.27611°W |
| Opening date | July 29, 1965 |
| Closing date | October 2020 |
| Developer | Scott Development |
| Owner | Lennar Commercial Investors LLC & Sterling Organization |
| No. of stores and services | 85+ |
| No. of anchor tenants | 3 (2 open, 1 vacant) |
| Total retail floor area | 635,000 square feet (59,000 m2) |
| No. of floors | 1 |
The North DeKalb Mall was a large shopping mall located near Decatur, Georgia, in the United States. It was in an area of DeKalb County close to Atlanta, Georgia. The mall first opened its doors on July 29, 1965. It used to have more than 85 stores all on one floor. Some of its main stores, called anchor stores, included Burlington Coat Factory and Marshalls. The mall also had a food court where people could eat and a movie theater. You might even recognize its parking lot from the 2018 Clint Eastwood movie, The Mule, where some scenes were filmed!
Contents
The Mall's History
Early Days and First Changes
When the mall first opened in 1965, it was called North DeKalb Center. It started with 54 different stores. The very first big anchor stores were Rich's, a popular department store from Atlanta, and a Woolworth dime store.
In 1986, the mall got bigger and was updated. Two new anchor stores were added: Mervyn's, another department store, and Lechmere, a discount chain. At this time, the mall also changed its name to Market Square at North DeKalb.
More Stores and New Owners
Lechmere closed in 1989. After that, a discount pharmacy called Phar-Mor took its place, but it also closed in 1992. Eventually, that space became a movie theater and a furniture store called Rhodes Furniture.
Mervyn's closed all its Georgia stores in 1997. The Mervyn's store at North DeKalb was replaced by a store called Uptons, which then closed in 1999. After that, the space became the Burlington Coat Factory that was there until the mall closed.
In the early 1990s, Stein Mart was added to the mall. It took over a part of the mall that used to have restaurants and smaller stores. A store called Old Navy also opened but later closed. That space then became Ross Dress for Less. The Rhodes Furniture store later became Shoder Furniture for a short time before Marshalls opened there in 2010. Another furniture store also replaced the old Stein Mart.
In 2003, a company called Hendon Properties bought the mall. They had plans to bring a Costco store to the mall, but this never happened.
The Final Chapter
On May 15, 2014, new owners, Lennar Commercial Investors LLC and Sterling Organization, bought the mall. They planned to change the indoor mall into an outdoor shopping area.
In early 2016, the Macy's anchor store closed. For many years, people in DeKalb County joked that Costco was "almost" coming to the mall, but it never did. The mall stayed open mostly because employees from Emory University used its large parking lots to carpool to work. The AMC movie theater also brought some visitors, which helped keep the mall from closing completely for a while.
By 2019, many empty stores in the North DeKalb Mall were fixed up to be used for filming movies and TV shows. Some old store names like Casual Corner, Software Etc., B. Dalton Bookseller, Musicland, and Gadzooks were put up for these film sets.
Sadly, in October 2020, North DeKalb Mall officially closed its doors. This was due to low sales and the effects of the COVID-19 Pandemic. However, the Marshall's, Burlington Coat Factory, and AMC Theatres stores that were part of the mall complex remained open.
