Montgomery Mall (Alabama)

Montgomery Mall was an enclosed shopping mall in Montgomery, Alabama, United States. Opened in 1970, it closed in 2008 after several years of declining traffic. In February 2013, redevelopment began on the vacant mall property. There are 3 vacant anchor stores that were once Steve & Barry's, JCPenney, and Parisian.

Montgomery Mall

Entrance to Montgomery Mall, March 2013
Location	Montgomery, Alabama, United States
Coordinates	32.3293°N 86.2460°W / 32.3293; -86.2460
Address	2899 E. South Blvd.
Opening date	1970
Closing date	2008
Developer	Jim Wilson & Associates
No. of stores and services	approx. 100
No. of anchor tenants	3
Total retail floor area	726,882 sq ft (67,529.5 m2)[1]
No. of floors	1

History

Montgomery Mall opened in 1970 with Montgomery Fair and JCPenney as its anchor stores. Other major tenants at the time included Lerner New York, Morrison's Cafeteria, Singer Sewing Center, and Elmore Variety Store.^[2] The Montgomery Fair store was later rebranded Gayfers.^[3] An expansion, begun in 1987 and completed in 1988, added a new wing anchored by Parisian.^[4]

In 1998, Glimcher Realty Trust bought the mall for $70 million.^[5] By the early 2000s, several stores had begun to close in the mall, including Piccadilly Cafeteria,^[6] Gap, Eddie Bauer, Ruby Tuesday,^[7] and American Eagle Outfitters.^[8] Both JCPenney and Dillard's, which acquired the Gayfers chain in 1998, closed their stores at Montgomery Mall in 2005. JCPenney relocated to a new store at Eastdale Mall,^[9] while Dillard's moved to The Shoppes at Eastchase.

Although Steve & Barry's replaced the former Dillard's in early 2005,^[10] Parisian closed in 2006,^[11] as did several other stores. In 2007, Montgomery mayor Bobby Bright criticized Glimcher as using the mall for a tax write-off, and said that they "never showed willingness" to improve it.^[12] Glimcher sold off the mall in May 2007.^[13] The mall closed in 2008, with Steve & Barry's staying until September of that year.^[14]

In May 2011, Keith Corporation announced plans to purchase 440,000 square feet of mall space, including the former JCPenney store, for conversion to health offices.^[15] Redevelopment began in February 2013. Under the redevelopment plans, the former Steve & Barry's building will become a fire station, the former JCPenney will become a library, and the former Parisian will be used by Montgomery Technical Education Center.^[16]

Sign for Montgomery Mall, March 2013