Medlock Area Neighborhood Association reports that Georgia Power and Dollar Tree, along with a “Downhome Kitchen” are planning to open up in North DeKalb Mall in the coming months.
They also have a list of new potential retail prospects and updates from Golden Corral, the African American History Museum and the North DeKalb Mall Community Garden.
Check it out!
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Georgia Power would be the relocation of the downtown Decatur office.
An arcade? Sweet. Will they be getting a Turtle’s, too?
What was Turtles? A record store? I cannot remember
Yep. Record store chain. This is where you would camp out in line for concert tickets. I also recall large-ish “coins” for gift certificates.
Camped out for tickets a few times at the Turtles on Memorial Drive.
Curiously, I don’t remember a chain record store ever being in N. DeKalb Mall. There was an independent one there in the 80s, can’t remember the name. I do remember going to Record Bar at Northlake Mall. Of course, my favorite place to go was Wax n Fax in L5P. I think Tower came along after my peak interest in music had passed.
There actually was a record store in North Dekalb in the early to mid 90’s. Right around the bend near the arcade by the food court. They had shirts, cds, and magazines too. I believe it was turned into a books a million or something after.
All I cared about at Market Square (as it was known then) in the 1980s and early 90s was Merry go Round
I think that was a Camelot Records. damn, I’m old!!!
Yes, Camelot. They also had a store that only sold cassettes. Tape World, or something like that.
Wasn’t there an FYE music store in N. DeKalb Mall until a couple of years ago?
Yes
I applied for a job at Turtles but they rejected me because I told them, when asked in there battery of questions, that I would not turn in a family member if they shoplifted from the store. What a dumb question. But no problem, I’m not honest anymore.
I always wonder about those questions…I tried to get a part time job at a retailer many years ago and one of the questions was would I turn in a fellow employee for drinking a soda without paying for it. I checked NO (while actually thinking “are you f’ng kidding me?”) because I thought it was best to be honest. Didn’t get the job, but I always remember it because I vowed never to work for a company that asked those kinds of questions in an application. I’ve been fortunate to be able to make good on that vow.
I would bet that I still have a couple of half filled stamp books in a box at my parent’s house with my old tapes.
Doh…..Beat me to it.
Sure hope so. I’ve got some stamp books I need to redeem.
It disappoints me that you’ll run information about non COD retail but not the crime alerts (several breakins overnight in February while people were sleeping) that happened in my neighborhood less than 500 yards from the COD line. Love the blog – but just sayin’!
You can raise it yourself on Free for All Friday.
Good call. Thanks Russ.
I remember Peaches Records – any body else? Had a fried that worked at Turtles, got killer tickets a few times with no camping out!
I just realized that the incoming college freshman class have always lived in a world where people don’t have to camp out for tickets.
They still stand in line to be the first to see something and camp out at venues like the Tabernacle for good spaces.
And we can’t fathom a world where people camp out over night to buy a new cell phone…well, I can’t.
…or a video game.
…or sneakers. And be sure to pack heat.
I remember Peaches, especially the record crates.
I still have (and use) a Peaches record crate.
I remember the name, but don’t recall where one was or whether I went there. Mostly went to Turtles or to the aforementioned Record Bar at N’lake. And I got killer seats without camping out by dating a guy who loved to camp out for tix. I remember thinking concert tickets were getting outrageous as they passed the $20/seat mark (and I’m talking for really good seats). If I’d only known what a deal that was!
I used to get good seats by dating or knowing guys that worked in venues or as promoters, musicians, riggers and roadies so I never paid. I actually stopped going out much once I got married and had to pay for stuff
They should tear down the entire eye sore and put up a Costco at the North Dekalb Mall. It has become a place not worth visiting. We need clean up of this area to attract better businesses.
^ EXACTLY!!! Costco was considering it a few years back, but then there was resistance and it never came to fruition. I guess the GGD ppl prefer vast, empty parking lots and decimated shopping centers with the likes of Dollar Tree and thrift stores.
From what I read there were real environmental issues with the proposed Costco location. It wasn’t just NIMBY-ism.
Yeah, I think they wanted to use part of the nature preserve.
Folks wanted Costco but there were worries about flooding in an area where flooding is historically getting worse due to the increase of impervious paving all around the area. Costco had wacky notions about parking and how many gazillion spots needed to be directly by the store doors (even though lots of parking is available). Macy’s owns their lot and they weren’t willing to swap locations so Costco could have the location with “enough” parking spots. /I think this is accurate
Even the theater?
Are we supposed to be excited about these tenants? It doesn’t seem like an improvement at all!
Agreed. We just don’t stop at this mall any longer and seems there will be no reason to in the near future.
You been to this mall lately? These are pretty sweet prospects for this retail graveyard.
It’s all in how you look at things. Laura put it pretty brilliantly last week on the grocery store thread: “Baby Kroger is great once you start conceptualizing it as a highly expanded convenience store rather than a highly condensed supermarket.” Don’t compare North DeKalb Mall to Lenox Square or whatever your favorite mall is. (I’m assuming y’all are still mall shoppers because, if not, it means y’all are.. just being carpers?) Liken it being an informal and relaxed hub where you can go run errands, have a variety of shopping options, grab a bite, enjoy entertainment or crafty type stuff, and check out community goings on. There’s definitely added value when a destination includes handy places– rather that just hitting the mall every so often when after something particular, being able to take care of a couple of practical things + add an enjoyable thing…. chances are, it’ll convert a good many nearby folks into being more frequent visitors who’ll end up doing their “after something particular” shopping there more often too…
I guess I also view it through the lens of what all my senior neighbor can get done in one outing. For folks dependent on rides, being able to batch several “to do’s” on a trip lasts far longer than the splash of a “hot” tenant announcement.
The Marshall’s is excellent. There is a mini Macy’s there. The movie theater is good. I do most of my mall store shopping online because deals and coupons are 1000x better at most retailers online and what I am not able to do there I can do either locally or at North DeKalb. I think the fact the mall can’t attract “better” retailers and that most of the stuff slated for Suburban Plaza is discount says something about this area and how it is perceived. What that is really I am not sure…
Retail’s a fascinating and always changing thing, and a whole lotta factors enter into the mix. In the case of North DeKalb Mall– and really, most aging malls in the metro area, they’re having to reinvent themselves for the very reasons you’ve given. Many of the chains from malls’ heydays have either disappeared, drastically downsized their number of stores, or, if in expansion mode, opt for shiny new power center type locations. In Suburban Plaza’s case– and let me be clear I’m very enthused about the named prospective anchors and having Walmart and LA Fitness as the two signed ones– with its total overhaul and locationlocationlocation, there was immediate interest from several chains at the regional level, but adding another location may not have fit plans at a national level. There were also a couple of categories of businesses that the neighborhoods had on the wish list that, for now, wouldn’t be ones to pursue because they’re either undergoing mergers or are have uncertain futures (due to the Amazon factor of folks’ window shopping big ticket items, then going home to order). It’s also really interesting to look at all the detailed demographics stuff. (Now y’all don’t be crashing Selig’s systems, but their site’s a really good one for seeing how developers/owners market their properties and for getting the detailed stuff that retailers want to know, including the population and income levels.)
* I forgot to add to last night’s comment: If the North DeKalb Mall folks hadn’t already won me over with their enthusiasm, they sure sewed it up Sunday when I met the friendly segway scootering senior citizen security guard! I still haven’t stopped smiling over that! :0)
To be clear, though, North DeKalb Mall is not “coming back,” in that it will never again thrive as the kind of mall we all remember. With the exception of a limited number of choice properties that continue to feed off surrounding affluence and lifestyle, the enclosed mall model is on life support. It ain’t gonna rise again. Even the up-scale mall mainstays know this and all their projections and plans incorporate it.
More than likely, it’ll go one of two ways. Either it will redevelop along a new model (which could theoretically range from a slow demo and conversion to a power center type environment up to a wholesale scraping of the site for something entirely new); or it will reinvent itself for something downmarket seeking lower rents in exchange for bringing a new angle (a la Plaza Fiesta). When they had a line on Costco, I thought maybe it’d be the former but, now that they’ve landed a few second and third tier tenants, and are trying some groovy things like the community garden, it’s looking more like the latter.
Along with Turtles, “Market Square” used to have a Woolworths, too.
Right about where the Rack Room is now. That was the end of the mall, which in those days was really just an outdoor mall that they put a roof over, like Lenox in the early days. Then there was the renovation when they added more square footage and included a Lechmere (out of Cambridge, MA), which was terrific. Also a movie theater, which closed and then reopened as it is now.
When Lechmere didn’t make it (bankrupt), they brought in Phar-Mor, which went under when the executives went to jail for embezzlement. Then we had Mervyn’s (bankrupt) out of CA, and then Uptons, which was a local chain, but they went bankrupt. Lots of bad luck with their choice of tenants. Miss the Old Navy, and the Stein Mart, both still in business.
That Macy’s (formerly Rich’s of course) is a good small department store, and they own the building. When I ask, they say they have a very loyal clientele there. IMO, it’s better than the Northlake store, which used to be four full floors.
The central core of the mall has always been covered. When it opened in the mid 1960s, the mall was advertised as the first covered mall in Georgia.
It is a nice Macy’s. It’s so convenient to run in if I need something like a wedding or shower gift. It doesn’t have everything under the sun, but it does have a pretty decent selection in most departments.
For taking a look at what all’s going on in retail, here’s a 2013 Forecast:
http://www.lwere.com/files/file/Chainlinks%202013%20National%20Retail%20Forecast-LWE.PDF
Sure, the mall isn’t very attractive, but if I want some decent jeans at a low price I can hit Ross, Marshalls and Burlington in 30 minutes and be done. I’d rather see Costco there, though.
I can remember staying up all night for concert tickets when I was a teenager (early 80’s). It just reminds me, again, that the “good ‘ol days” was not always that way. I moved here in ’89 and worked one summer at Atlanta CD. Turtles was still around, but Peaches may have been gone by then (?). There was a Peaches where I grew up (Indiana) and I just recently tossed the peach crate I had used for storing some vinyl… crap, now I’m wondering if that might have been worth anything. Probably not… the label was long ago torn off.
I still have a Peaches crate holding some of my vinyl. I doubt it’s worth much monetarily, but it’s priceless to me.
I still have 6 Turtles mini crates of cassettes! Priceless memories from those “back in the day” years!
What y’all know about Lechmere? I used to rent movies there at N. DeKalb Mall.
I probably served dinner to some of you at Spinnakers.
There’s a nice little history here:
http://skycity2.blogspot.com/2006/07/north-dekalb-mall-updated_01.html
I still miss that Rich’s.