Richland Mall Redevelopment

[The_sandlapper]

I always used to go to Dutch Square Mall with my teammates in middle school while waiting to go to basketball practice. I guess I should say I went to St. Andrews Middle.

[pinky]

That looks like it will be nice when it's completed...will have to go visit. How long are they expecting this to take?

[Spartan]

A couple of years I think? No less than that.

[GSP Tiger]

Richland Mall is already a very nice facility. The only drwaback is having both parts of the mall severed by Belk in the middle. Whoever thought that should feel guilty.

How is the mall's south side?

[Mr.Marc]

Richland Mall is already a very nice facility.  The only drwaback is having both parts of the mall severed by Belk in the middle.  Whoever thought that should feel guilty.

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Yeah it's very nice, but it kind of reminds me of a pretty girl with no personality.

[Spartan]

Yeah it's very nice, but it kind of reminds me of a pretty girl with no personality.

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LOL, great analogy

[DigitalSky]

so why, exactly, is Belk in the middle like that?

[StevenRocks]

so why, exactly, is Belk in the middle like that?

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Richland Mall was orginally open-air. I believe that the shops wrapped around J.B. White (the old occupant of the Belk space). When they enclosed the mall, they built shops on either side of White's, making its main aisle a de facto corridor of the mall. I believe that the theater was added on top of White's at that time.

Any locals that can tell this story better?

[Spartan]

To answer that, I have this description, which is from our long-lost friend, ResearchMan.

Richland looks different because of the original layout. Where

Belks is now used to be the one enclosed department store. 

The rest of the mall was two strips running to Forest drive with

perhaps a 75 foot wide median between the stores.  There was

no parking garages in the early years..just a large parking lot

with a small Russell Stovers candy store and Post Office

up next to the base of the hill. Work was done to enclose

the strip part around 1979-80. The second end of the mall

was built when a new anchor department store came

in. I believe this was Bonwit Teller around 1990.  The

original theatre was down past where the Bank of  America

now stands. It was standalone and set away from the mall.

I believe the theatre was added around 1969..I was in

elementary school and our class buried a time campsule there.

Even though it was one department store and a series of

smaller businesses (Winn Dixie, Eckerds, Happy Bookseller,etc)

I always remember it called Richland Mall.

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[StevenRocks]

Thanks for finding that, Spartan. I didn't know the whole story at Richland Mall. The last time I was there was probably 1980, and I was in low single digits in age back then.

Also, I know Bonwit Teller was at Richland Mall in the late '80s. Was B. Altman ever there?

[waccamatt]

Bonwit Teller was there until the chain went under. There was never a B. Altman at Richland Mall. When I was a kid I lived in Forest Acres near Richland Mall. ResearchMan's description is very accurate, although the mall didn't begin the enclosure construction until 1986 or 87, with the first section opening in '88, I believe and the last section opening in 1990, if I'm not mistaken. It was a nice open-air mall before that and was always popular. Unfortunately, the original developer of the enclosed mall, Hooker Corporation or Australia, went bankrupt, along with Bonwit Teller (they owned Bonwits) and this caused problems for the enclosed mall. When JB Whites was bought out by the Parisian/Proffitt's chain, the three Columbia stores were sold to Belks, allowing them to re-enter the Columbia market. (Parisian already had 2 stores in Columbia)

[vicupstate]

I remember Bonwit Teller. It was in the wrong market that's for sure. $80 ties in the late '80's. Someone in Australia must have confused Forest Acres with Buckhead (Atlanta).

[StevenRocks]

Is it me, or did Columbia have an unusually high concentration of department stores in the late '80s-early '90s? I remember Belk, Macy's, Tapp's, J.B. White, Bonwit Teller, Parisian, Rich's, Dillard's, and plans for Miller & Rhoads and B. Altman.

[waccamatt]

Actually. Bonwit Teller didn't do too bad at Richland Mall. It was the chain as a whole that went bankrupt. I don't remember any mention of Miller & Rhoads or B. Altman coming to Columbia, but the rest were all here.

P.S. I still have 2 of those $80 ties I bought at Bonwits in the late 80's. The adage is true: You get what you pay for.

[StevenRocks]

Actually. Bonwit Teller didn't do too bad at Richland Mall. It was the chain as a whole that went bankrupt. I don't remember any mention of Miller & Rhoads or B. Altman coming to Columbia, but the rest were all here.

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Miller & Rhoads was considered as an anchor for a revitalized Dutch Square. They also were supposed to open at Carolina Place in Charlotte, but M&R went out of business before either of the projects could get off the ground.

B. Altman, I believe, was supposed to come to Richland Mall. At the time, the Hooker Corporation had bought B. Altman, Bonwit Teller, Sakowitz, and Parisian and were rolling them out to all their malls. Forest Fair Mall in Cincinatti (now Cincinatti Mills) got all four chains, but all but Parisian were dead within a year at that mall, much like the Hooker Corporation, which also went bankrupt.

[vicupstate]

Is it me, or did Columbia have an unusually high concentration of department stores in the late '80s-early '90s?  I remember Belk, Macy's, Tapp's, J.B. White, Bonwit Teller, Parisian, Rich's, Dillard's, and plans for Miller & Rhoads and B. Altman.

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It was often stated at the time that Cola had too many department stores and would experience a shakeout. That did happen as Tapp's, Bonwitt Teller, and Macy's all closed in a year or so. As I remember, Belk also closed their Columbia stores, but later came back to the market. Belk was experiencing internal struggles among the Belk family owners. That contributed to their problems.

Actually. Bonwit Teller didn't do too bad at Richland Mall. It was the chain as a whole that went bankrupt. I don't remember any mention of Miller & Rhoads or B. Altman coming to Columbia, but the rest were all here.

P.S. I still have 2 of those $80 ties I bought at Bonwits in the late 80's. The adage is true: You get what you pay for.

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I have plenty of ties from the '80s that are still wearable, and they all cost less than $30. I agree that you have to pay for quality, but quality doesn't cost that much IMO. Besides, I will spill something on them, long before a cheap tie wears out. LOL

[emerging.me]

Hey guys... the latest -- so I read in the Free Times -- is that they've got to rezone the area for the new plan to move forward. Forest Acres City Council is gonna meet on June 22nd to discuss and if they approve it then a public hearing will be held on June 28th. I may write a quick email of support. I don't see why they wouldn't rezone it.

BLURB:

"The redesign calls for at least 700 office and residential condominiums, 350 of which would be for a retirement community. But the city would have to rezone the mall from general-commercial to a planned-development district, says city manager Mark Williams."

[krazeeboi]

Forest Acres "City" Council.....that's funny.

[Hybrid0NE]

Forest Acres "City" Council.....that's funny.

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Yeah but they'll end up getting the last laugh when they swallow up 15k+ residents in an undercover annexation of NE richland county.

[sonofaque86]

[Spartan]

That would definately start an annexation war worse than the one in Charleston.

[jwilliek]

For those that are interested, I noticed there was an article about the recent Forest Acres Council Meeting on the front page of the Metro section of The State newspaper this morning. You can find the article online here: The State (click!)

I thought it was a pretty neat article. In a nutshell, they talked about how residents are in support of the plan, and that the developers plan to start after Christmas, but that it could take up to 20 years to finish in it's entirety. (yikes!) I'm liking the idea of adding two stories of condominiums on top of the parking garage (which is alaready 3 stories high). I wonder how much those will go for when they're finished!

[Mr.Marc]

In a nutshell, they talked about how residents are in support of the plan, and that the developers plan to start after Christmas, but that it could take up to 20 years to finish in it's entirety. (yikes!)  I'm liking the idea of adding two stories of condominiums on top of the parking garage (which is alaready 3 stories high).  I wonder how much those will go for when they're finished!

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Why would this have to take 20 years?

[GSP Tiger]

Why would this have to take 20 years?

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Costs; there are not enough funds to go around for designing, building, decorationg, labor, etc.

[Spartan]

Why would this have to take 20 years?

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Costs; there are not enough funds to go around for designing, building, decorationg, labor, etc.

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You also have to consider that it will be done slowly, but as each section is finished they will start selling it. It wont be 20 years before people an businesses start moving in, just 20 years before they can say "all done!"