Greenville Mall

[motonenterprises]

I'd almost take you up on that wager, but then again...I've got one foot pointed towards Colorado Springs already.

[perrykat]

I agree motonenterprises. Regardless of what they say....I don't think Greenville Mall is going anywhere.

[jimgreenvillem]

I ran into Greenville Mall today after work and saw 8-10 guys working at the former At Your Table painting, putting in tables and bars, and unpacking boxes....Apparantely a new restaurant is going in.

I think the best thing for the mall would be to add anchors like TJMaxx, Burlington Coat and Steve and Barry's. Maybe that would help increase mall traffic and bring some more stores and eateries in. That's just about all that can be done. Poor Greenville Mall.

[csedwards72]

These posts are really interesting. As a former patron, I hope Greenville Mall comes back; I really enjoyed being able to avoid Haywood for the few years that GM had a good variety of stores in it. I do not doubt that there are new tenants coming in; I am sure that you are all 100% correct.

How about if we look at this from the perspective of national tenants' real estate offices: why would any currently-popular mall chain like Pottery Barn or the like come to Greenville Mall? I work in corporate America and I can just picture the real estate dep't team meetings at which one person would have to argue in front of plenty of others that the chain should put a store into a twice-dead mall, anchored by an antique furniture mart, a 10-year old Sports Authority and a vacant Montgomery Ward with the sign still on the front. I just don't see that happening. The mall needs those national chains that can pay high rents in order to really thrive economically. Getting local tenants will allow the mall to linger on for awhile but won't really probably give the owners enough cash flow to keep the mall kept up as a class A mall. Thus it will turn out in the best case like Richland Mall in Columbia, which used to be nice but now is headed towards fame on deadmalls.com.

I agree with the above poster: the only option I see that would allow the mall to be a successful even class B mall would be Bass Pro Shops and Burlington Coat Factory to come in as anchors, along with perhaps Steve & Barry's. How depressing. For the former Phipps Plaza of Greenville to end up like that is just sad.

[gs3]

Why all down and depressed guys??? Is Greenville's shopping glass half empty or half full.....I'll tell you, it's 100% FULL! With a remodeled 1.3 million sq ft. regional mall (Haywood) having and adding great stores (Pottery Barn, Williams Sonoma, Aveda, J.Crew, etc, etc).....new shopping up and down Woodruff (Greenridge with an upscale village area, Whole Foods)....a great downtown with unique local merchants......more shopping starting to pop up on the Eastside.....more shopping opening in the Cherrydale area......a booming Fairview Road.....whats there to be depressed about? Greenville's shopping is light years ahead of when I moved here a few years ago.

To compare Greenville Mall (in it's heyday) to Phipps is a bit of a stretch....Mongtomery Ward never anchored Phipps.

Open your eyes guys....Greenville is booming with new and great retail!

[Greenville]

I don't see the point in keeping Greenville Mall going (barely) just because it used to be a decent mall. The only way it's been able to keep its doors open are due to letting many tenants stay rent-free. It consists of several empty department store spaces, a Palmetto Home store, an Oshman's sporting goods, and a collection of local stores that are too specialized (a pool table store, an oriental jewelry store, etc.). That's pathetic, folks.

I went to the mall over the summer for the first time in years. It was depressing. Aside from a handful of other people, my girlfriend and I were the only ones in the mall (literally). I realize that Greenville Mall was never on Haywood's level, but man, it sure has slipped a lot.

I would much rather have developers raze Greenville Mall and put something more useful and beneficial there (condos, offices, new retail) than keep it going with crappy stores just to pay the bills. Greenville Mall was once a nice mall, but I think it's time to concede defeat on this one and start over. That site needs a jolt of enthusiasm and creativity, and I am optimistic that someone will decide how to do that in the best way possible.

[StevenRocks]

I wish Greenville Mall well, but empty, redundant enclosed malls aren't getting much love these days. It don't look good y'all

[perrykat]

These posts are really interesting. As a former patron, I hope Greenville Mall comes back; I really enjoyed being able to avoid Haywood for the few years that GM had a good variety of stores in it. I do not doubt that there are new tenants coming in; I am sure that you are all 100% correct.

How about if we look at this from the perspective of national tenants' real estate offices: why would any currently-popular mall chain like Pottery Barn or the like come to Greenville Mall? I work in corporate America and I can just picture the real estate dep't team meetings at which one person would have to argue in front of plenty of others that the chain should put a store into a twice-dead mall, anchored by an antique furniture mart, a 10-year old Sports Authority and a vacant Montgomery Ward with the sign still on the front. I just don't see that happening. The mall needs those national chains that can pay high rents in order to really thrive economically. Getting local tenants will allow the mall to linger on for awhile but won't really probably give the owners enough cash flow to keep the mall kept up as a class A mall. Thus it will turn out in the best case like Richland Mall in Columbia, which used to be nice but now is headed towards fame on deadmalls.com.

I agree with the above poster: the only option I see that would allow the mall to be a successful even class B mall would be Bass Pro Shops and Burlington Coat Factory to come in as anchors, along with perhaps Steve & Barry's. How depressing. For the former Phipps Plaza of Greenville to end up like that is just sad.

Malls with stores like BCF, TJX, BPS, S&B's etc usually do pretty well if planned correctly. I wish them well with whatever they try to endeavor

[perrykat]

Out of pure randomness I did a search for Greenville Mall..And stumbled upon this. Don't know why it lists JCPenney as an anchor, though.

http://www.archplus.com/greenville%20mall/...ille%20mall.htm

[StevenRocks]

Does Greenville Mall still look like that? That's goregeous!

[RestedTraveler]

Does Greenville Mall still look like that? That's goregeous!

Yes. That's mainly the food court in those photos, but it still looks the same (just a little older).

[perrykat]

Greenville Mall really IS a gorgeous mall. Here's a couple more pics I dug up looking on the internet.

Back of the mall from the interstate;

Former Proffitt's/Parisian, now Palmetto Home & Garden...The white building way in the distance is the former JB White's/Dillards;

Looking down the main corridor, the desk with the pendant things above it is the Customer Service desk (Which actually has someone still sitting there all the time);

[StevenRocks]

Nice.

[greenvilleguy]

Contacted April Cornell's corporate office to see if I could find out if they were going to stay in the Greenville Mall, or move, and this was the response (They will be one of the only few stores left once Eddie Bauer, Harold's, and the Finish Line leave):

It's funny that you should contact us about our Greenville store; as we

understand it, the mall was recently purchased by yet another party.

We're currently waiting to see what the fate of the mall will be in

their hands. We'd love to be able to open a store in Haywood or

Greenridge if the right situation presents itself...we will have to

wait and see.

Thanks so much for being a loyal customer...I hope you and your family

have a wonderful holiday season!

Sincerely,

Lisa McCormick

Lease Administrator

Cornell Trading Inc.

Phone (802) 879-5100 x.2263

Fax (443) 269-0484

[DigitalSky]

Greenville Mall really IS a gorgeous mall. Here's a couple more pics I dug up looking on the internet.

from these pics-it definately seems the mall has potential

[perrykat]

If they could snag Burlington Coat and Steve & Barry's, or maybe Stein Mart or TJMaxx to fill the anchor spaces (Or at least part of them), it would be a good addition. Maybe that would bring some more traffic out in to the mall.

Hey, I've been meaning to ask this -- What's that mural thing that's painted on a long wall out in the mall? It has a yellow background and runs from where At Your Table was (BTW, a new restaurant is going in a worker told be the other day) to Penn Art Galleries. It looks like a veranda or something...Looking on to a golf course. It has the mall logo with the sunburst on it and I think it says 1997. What's behind it? What's up with it? It is very strange.

[csedwards72]

Hey, I've been meaning to ask this -- What's that mural thing that's painted on a long wall out in the mall? It has a yellow background and runs from where At Your Table was (BTW, a new restaurant is going in a worker told be the other day) to Penn Art Galleries. It looks like a veranda or something...Looking on to a golf course. It has the mall logo with the sunburst on it and I think it says 1997. What's behind it? What's up with it? It is very strange.

That part of the mall was never leased after its 1995 redevelopment; the mural covers up vacant space. I always had hopes that Brooks Brothers, Pottery Barn, Banana Republic, etc. would fill that space but that never happened.

[perrykat]

That's what I was thinking - if they could've filled that space up with stores like Restoration Hardware, Sharper Image, PotteryBarn, Brooks Brothers, Discovery Channel Store, Lacoste, , J Jill, Crate/Barrel etc. maybe the mall would've done better.

Poor Greenville Mall - hopefully its next incarnation will be more successful than the first two.

[Version70-8]

There is no way that Greenville could support a Crate & Barrel or Lacoste at this time. I doubt that Restoration Hardware and J. Jill would be interested either. Now, I must add that it may not be many years away before these retailers would be interested but not now.

As far as adding a Burlington Coat Factory, TJ Maxx or other stores along this line, I would pass. I truly feel having worked in the mall, that the lack of stores is only part of the issue. Mall officials told me numerous times that the growth of Woodruff Rd. hurt the poorly designed traffic patterns at the mall. At Christmas, even when they (mall) aren't extremely busy, a line of cars builds up on one end with the theater and the other with the lack of a traffic signal. Looks can be deceiving!

I say, bulldoze the mall minus the anchor spots, lease them (Bass Pro Shops for one), and somehow connect the former mall areas in an outdoor town center style format.

[btoy]

I think that we could support a Locoste for the same reason that I hape they stay out of our market. Becuase we have local companies that carry their stuff, and I would hate to see them come in and hurt the business of Smith & James, Rush Wilson and other similar stores.

[RestedTraveler]

We could definitely support a Restoration Hardware, too, IMHO. It'd fit in nicely somewhere downtown.

[perrykat]

Hey - anybody been to the baseball card store since it reopened? It's really nice and the person that was working there said that it's been doing pretty well, lots of window shoppers. It's next to Mr. Knickerbocker, I'm not sure what used to be in that spot though.

[csedwards72]

I think Restoration Hardware has been having some financial problems. I think a developer needs to come in with a big project for downtown to lure national chains there; I think that if the continuing building-by-building revitalization occurs, rather than on a larger scale, it'll be local stores and regional chains coming in still.

[Greenville]

I agree. A nice urban mall downtown, perhaps with a small footprint and 3-4 stories up, would be nice. It doesn't even have to be anything big, but like you said, something to get some national, recognizable retailers downtown. I realize that some people enjoy shopping downtown, but for many of us, you eat and walk downtown, but shop somewhere else (like Haywood Mall, Woodruff Road, etc.).

I honestly think that it could work without duplicating Haywood's offerings too much or causing local retailers to lose too much business.

[GvilleSC]

I like the idea of an urban mall downtown, but I also like cities who have national retailers in old storefronts. I enjoy being outside when I'm downtown. I think I'd rather see street front retailers rather than a mall...