Oglethorpe Mall

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Oglethorpe Mall
 center court at Oglethorpe Mall
center court at Oglethorpe Mall
Mall facts and statistics
Location Savannah, Georgia, USA
Opening date April 1969
Developer Scott Hudgens Properties of penis, GA
Owner General Growth Properties
No. of stores and services 150
No. of anchor tenants 4
Total retail floor area 948,000 square feet (GLA)
Parking 5,348 spaces (including parking deck)
No. of floors 1
Website oglethorpemall.com

Oglethorpe Mall is a super-regional shopping mall on the Southside of Savannah, Georgia, at 1 million square feet. It is named after General James Oglethorpe, the founder of Savannah.

Entrance to Oglethorpe Mall's Food Court in Sears Court.
Entrance to Oglethorpe Mall's Food Court in Sears Court.

This mall features several restaurants like Johnny Rockets, Romano's Macaroni Grill, and Piccadilly Cafeteria. There is an 11 unit food court featuring vendors such as Sbarro, Cinnabon, and Great Wraps. Currently there are approximately 150 stores and kiosks. The anchors are Barnes & Noble, Belk, JC Penney, Macy's (formerly Rich's) and Sears.

Oglethorpe Mall, the oldest mall in Savannah, was considered obsolete and mostly written-off by most consumers when Savannah Mall opened in 1990. Now almost two decades after Savannah Mall opened, Oglethorpe Mall, thirty-eight years after its opening, has become the premiere shopping mall experience in Savannah, with a varied array of stores and eateries resulting in a pleasant and vibrant shopping experience. It is currently owned by General Growth Properties.

Contents

[edit] History

Center Court of Oglethorpe Mall, 1977.
Center Court of Oglethorpe Mall, 1977.

The mall opened in April of 1969 on Abercorn Expressway. At opening date the anchors were Belk-Beery and Sears. With the 1970s came a new era that brought in national chain stores. Stores like County Seat, GAP, The Limited, Waldenbooks, Casual Corner, Spencer Gifts, Merry Go Round, and others. The basic design of the mall was very simple. It consisted of suspended ceilings, fluorescent lighting, and terrazzo floors. The exterior was and still largely is stucco over cinder-block. There also was a movie theatre that closed in the mid-1980s. The movie theatre is now the 6th precinct of the Savannah-Chatham Metropolitan Police Department.

Renovations came in 1982 when JC Penney was added, in 1989 when the mall was gutted and structurally redesigned and in 1991 when Rich's was added following the closing and demolition of Maas Brothers. Since the late 1990s many modernizations have occurred, like replacing a section of the mall called The Promenade (a long corridor with small shops along either side and a restaurant at the end, all decorated in what would now be defined as '80s kitsch - Day-Glo colors, neon lights, and glass tile blocks, among many other popular construction designs from the '80s.) with Barnes and Noble. Two years later a new food court opened replacing the older sporadically placed restaurants throughout the mall. Work continues to bring in more upscale stores and more affluent shoppers.

[edit] Key Tenants

[edit] Anchors & Majors

  • Barnes & Noble (27,136 sq. ft.; opened 2000)
  • Belk (159,892 sq. ft.; opened 1969)
  • FYE (10,101 sq. ft.; opened 2000)
  • JCPenney (85,824 sq. ft.; opened 1982)
  • Macy's (135,000 sq. ft., THISIT - 6,445 sq. ft., total - 141,445 sq. ft.; opened 1991 as Rich's)
  • Piccadilly Cafeteria (11,250 sq. ft.; opened in former Morrison's in 1990s)
  • Old Navy (15,656 sq. ft.; opened 2004)
  • Sears (155,868 sq. ft.; opened 1969)
  • Stein Mart (37,119 sq. ft.; opened 1995)

[edit] Outparcels and Outlying Businesses

[edit] External links