Gwinnett Place Mall
| Location | Duluth, Georgia, United States |
|---|---|
| Opening date | 1984 |
| Developer | Simon Property Group |
| No. of anchor tenants | 4 |
| Total retail floor area | 1,278,000 sq ft (118,700 m2) |
| No. of floors | 2 |
Gwinnett Place Mall is an American regional shopping center located in Duluth, Georgia, in Gwinnett County. For the first 16 years, Gwinnett Place was the leading mall in the region, drawing shoppers from as far away as South Carolina and centering what was then one of the fastest growing counties in the nation until the opening of Mall of Georgia and Discover Mills.
Beginning
When it first opened in early 1984, its original anchors were Rich's, Davison's and Sears. In 1986, Mervyn's joined the mall and Davison's was changed over to Macy's. Further anchor shuffling occurred in 1993 and 1995 when Parisian joined the mall and Mervyn's left the mall, respectively. Macy's and Rich's joined teams after years to form Rich's-Macy's until 2006 when they separated and Macy's took over. JCPenney took over the Mervyn's spot the following year. In these aspects, the mall developed on a very similar fashion as Town Center Mall on the northwest side of Atlanta, and were in many ways sister malls. However, one of the distinct features about Gwinnett Place Mall is the Macy's (former Rich's), which features an exterior almost entirely covered in mirrored glass.
Today
The mall was seriously challenged by the opening of Mall of Georgia in 1999 and Sugarloaf Mills (formerly Discover Mills) in 2001 (both also owned by Simon) which both hurt Gwinnett Place Mall. Not only did the mall take a large part of its customer base and all of its out-of-state shoppers, but the mall was also unable to attract any new anchors for several years after the Macy's changed its location to the defunct Rich's on the other side of the mall. In 2008, Gwinnett Technical College opened an International Education Center there, where students enrolled at Gwinnett Technical College go to take foreign language classes, and other classes, such as general core (English, math, etc). Recently, the Korean store Mega Mart opened a location in the former Macy's. Currently, a number of the mall's store fronts and spots in the food court are empty and for lease. However, Gwinnett Place has the only Sears near Gwinnett outside of Northlake Mall and North Point Mall. The recent downturn of the mall has led owner and manager Simon Property Group to give up the mall to a special servicer, and they no longer own or manage the mall.
Mega Mart
In February 2008, the former Davison's/Macy's became Mega Mart. Mega Mart at Gwinnett Place is the first of this Korean brand in the US. Mega Mart sells both department store goods and groceries.
Anchors
- J. C. Penney (82,253 sq ft.) (former Mervyn's)
- Belk (126,822 sq ft.) (former Parisian) – closing 2013
- Macy's (232,000 sq ft.) (former Rich's)
- Sears (185,513 sq ft.)
- Mega Mart
Former anchors
- Davison's (1984-1986; later Macy's 1986-2001 MEGAMART today)
- Mervyn's (1984-1995; JCPenney today)
- Rich's (1984-2003; Rich's-Macy's 2003-2005; Macy's today)
- Parisian (1995-2007 Belk today)
References
Coordinates: 33°57′38″N 84°07′33″W / 33.960553°N 84.125953°W
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