North Dekalb Mall
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North Dekalb Mall was one of the early major shopping malls in the Atlanta area, located in the suburb of Decatur at the split of US 29 and US 78. Originally an open-air mall anchored only by Rich's, the mall opened in 1965 providing the third major shopping center in the county in addition to Belvedere Plaza and Columbia Mall (later Avondale Mall). In order to compete, the mall was enclosed in the 1970's around the same time as Lenox Square and similar Cobb Center, both which had been open-air previously as well. Rich's was also expanded soon after the mall opened to accommodate the enormous popularity of the chain.
In 1986, North Dekalb Mall was expanded and renovated with two new anchors: Mervyn's and Lechmere. The additions helped the mall to remain competitive in a county that by then had a saturated market with six total malls. The mall was also renamed from that time up until after 2000 as "Market Square at North Dekalb", which was later scrapped for the original name. While Leechmere's eventually went bankrupt and Mervyn's eliminated its Georgia locations in the late 1990s, tenants quickly filled the vacancies. Phar-Mor discount drug store was opened after Lechmere closed; however, Phar-Mor closed in 1992 When Mervyn's closed all Georgia Locations, Upton's filled the retail space until the store closed and soon after the Upton's chain went bankrupt. Now a Burlington Coat Factory occupies the former Upton's location. A Ross Dress for Less store now occupies the space that once had Old Navy which relocated to Northlake Mall in Tucker, GA.
A movie theater was built into one of the empty anchors and the mall also attracted Burlington Coat Factory, Ross Dress for Less, and Stein Mart (which has since left the center).
In 2004, plans were made to further expand and improve on the aging center by adding a Costco as an anchor and a new parking deck. So far, those plans are on hold.
[edit] Current Anchors
- All About The House (40,093 sq. ft.)
- AMC 16 Theatres (63,395 sq. ft.)
- Burlington Coat Factory (75,000 sq. ft.)
- Little Bucks (23,232 sq. ft.)
- Macy's (195,752 sq. ft., formerly Rich's)
- Rhodes Furniture (31,500 sq. ft.)
- Ross Dress For Less (30,000 sq. ft.)
