Avondale Mall

Avondale Mall / Columbia Mall
Location Near Avondale Estates, Georgia, USA
Coordinates 33°45′24″N 84°16′04″W / 33.75667°N 84.26778°WCoordinates: 33°45′24″N 84°16′04″W / 33.75667°N 84.26778°W
Opening date 1964
Closing date 2001
No. of anchor tenants 2
No. of floors 1

Avondale Mall, originally known as Columbia Mall, opened in 1964 as an enclosed mall in the state of Georgia, United States. The mall's original name came from its location at the intersection of Columbia & Memorial Drives near Avondale Estates. It was demolished in 2007.

Anchors

The mall's original anchors were Davison's and Sears. After Sears closed and before renovations began, some indoor and outdoor shopping mall scenes for the Chuck Norris movie "Invasion USA" were filmed here. The "entry" crash of the Chevy pickup into the mall was shot at the mall's main entrance. The scenes inside the mall with the Nissan pickup were inside the mall nearest the Davison's end. The escalator scene was inside the old Sears building, and the "exit" crash through the window was on the western side of Sears on the first level (the movie then cut to an exterior scene of a mall in South Florida).

After the filming, Columbia Mall was renovated and renamed "Avondale Mall" in an effort to reverse years of decline. The mall was expanded into both floors of the former Sears store, which were subdivided into smaller tenant spaces. At one time, the lower level of the old Sears building housed a new, smaller Sears Outlet Store, which became a Goody's for some time. The mall also featured a McCrory's.

Later years

The decline at the mall began in the 1970s and 1980s. When the two anchor stores left in 1984 and 1995, the mall was unable to attract replacements. Management tried in 1995 to increase foot traffic. After Davison's/Macy's left the mall, that anchor building's upper floor was converted to a 16 screen movie theater, while the lower floor remained vacant except for a newly built stairwell leading from the lower level mall to the upper level theaters. This addition to the mall may have helped keep them up and running for another 6 years, but the mall was closed at the end of 2001.[1]

Demolition

Demolition of the mall began in February 2007. The last two walls of the old Sears came down on March 21, 2007.[2][3][4] The former mall was replaced with a Wal-Mart Supercenter, as well as space for condominiums and commercial outlets. This plan met with strong resistance from residents of nearby Avondale Estates. However, the Wal-Mart opened in March 2008.

References

  1. ↑ Greene, Kelly (16 December 2001). Tough times for the nation's older shopping malls, The Day (New London) (reprint from The Wall Street Journal)
  2. ↑ http://www.ajc.com/metro/content/metro/stories/2007/02/20/0221metrats.html AJC article about demolition of Avondale Mall
  3. ↑ http://www.ajc.com/metro/content/metro/stories/2007/02/12/0213metavondale.html Additional Avondale Mall demolition article
  4. ↑ http://karendean.net/thsnowandthenphotos/page33.html Demolition Pictures