A dead mall
Today it’s become commonplace for what were at one time large, dominant super-regional centers to see their own declines and closings. Venerable names such as the Cleveland area’s Randall Park as well as Pittsburgh’s own Century III have met their ends. Formerly the state of Tennessee’s largest, in 2003 the Mall of Memphis became one of the earliest retail behemoths to close their doors for good.
1- The Mall of Memphis site during the early days of construction. 2- Aerial of the complex just before its opening. (Source for both)
I’ll always regret never having visited the Mall of Memphis for myself. In the late nineties and early aughts, I worked for Northwest Airlines and made numerous trips to their hub in Memphis. Though just a short drive east on I-240 from the airport, I never made my way out there. It wasn’t until 2005 when I finally drove out to its location only to see an expansive empty space where the entire complex had rested less than a year before.
The Mall of Memphis Mallmanac ca. 1981. View the full PDF version here.
The Mall of Memphis made its debut in 1981 as Tennessee’s largest shopping mall, a title it would hold until usurped by Chattanooga’s Hamilton Place in 1988. Strangely built in between and within close proximity to two established centers, Oak Court Mall and Hickory Ridge Mall, one can assume that its developers imagined that it’s expansive, double tiered layout and four anchors would quickly displace these smaller competitors. Instead, it met its own demise just a little over two decades later.
1- A Mall of Memphis sign. 2- A main entrance. 3- One of Dillard’s former locations. 4- What was once JCPenney. 5- Service Merchandise’s old exterior. 6- The sign for the Ice Chalet. (Source for all)
Debuting with anchors Dillard’s, H.J. Wilson, and JCPenney with Thalhimer’s opening later in the year, the facility’s unmatched variety of brands as well as being host to the metro area's only public ice skating rink, the Mall of Memphis enjoyed years of popularity throughout the eighties and early nineties. But as early as the late eighties, changes in the surrounding area were already affecting the retail destination as several shootings earned the place it’s moniker the Mall of Murder by the turn of the century.
The Mall of Memphis lease plan ca. 1985. View the full PDF version here.
What remains as the region’s top performing shopping mall, the Wolfchase Galleria, opened in 1997. Though located a significant distance from the Mall of Memphis in the northeastern suburb of Germantown, it still managed to pull shoppers from the extant center as it further declined. Service Merchandise, located in what was once the space for H.J. Wilson departed soon after due to the company’s bankruptcy while JCPenney and Dillard’s, then housed within both their original and Thalhimer’s old walls, departed in 2001.
1 to 3- The Mall of Memphis main concourse. 4- Dillard’s mall entrance. 5- Where JCPenney met the mall. 6- The entryway to Service Merchandise. (Source for all)
A desperate hail Mary of a renovation was undertaken not long after and a proposed name change to Memphis Park Galleria was announced. However, the renovations did nothing to reverse the Mall of Memphis’s fortunes as the new branding was never fully implemented and seemed to only hasten the inevitable. Barely twenty years old at the time, the facility was completely shuttered in 2003 and demolished the following year.
The Mall of Memphis lease plan ca. 2000. View the full PDF version here.
At the time, the Mall of Memphis was one of the largest enclosed retail facilities to have closed. All that remains is the ring road just to the north of American Way. A Walmart Supercenter was slated to be built on the site though this was never realized. Today, a TAG Truck Center resides where Benneton, Radio Shack and B Dalton used to sit, though a good portion of the land remains undeveloped.
The Ice Chalet (lower level) and food court (upper level.) (Source for all)
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