Rivergate Mall, Goodlettsville, TN

 A dead mall

One of the only Nashville area regional enclosed centers that I have never visited, Rivergate Mall’s location far to the north of the city center usually meant it was out of the way when we ventured northward for a visit.

1- The site where Rivergate Mall now stands in 1968. (Source)  2 & 3- Rivergate Mall’s original footprint in the mid-seventies. (Source for both)  4- Inside the newly opened mall in 1971. (Source)

Located in one of the few municipalities in Davidson County not called Nashville, the low slung, single level monolith makes its home in the suburb of Goodlettsville.  Not far from the intersection of I-65 and the highway Vietnam Veterans Boulevard, it seems as though the respectable 54 year run may soon be coming to an end.

Rivergate Mall Mallmanac ca. 1998.  View the full PDF version here.

Rivergate Mall came to be in 1971 as the largest enclosed retail complex in Tennessee.  The original three anchors included Nashville legacies Castner Knott on the west end and Cain-Sloan to the east as well as national name JCPenney in the middle.

1- The Cain Sloan store exterior in 1971. (Source)  2- The Cain Sloan mall entrance in 1986. (Source)  3- Rivergate Mall at Christmastime in 2005. (Source)  4- A 2011 event at the mall. (Source)

In 1978, Rivergate’s first expansion opened on the front of the facility which included twenty or so new shops.  Cain-Sloan was replaced by Dillard’s in 1987 while, just two years later, a new wing housing a food court and the fourth anchor, Sears, opened perpendicular to the rest of the complex between JCPenney and Dillard’s.

Rivergate Mall lease plan ca. 2017.  View the full PDF version here.

Arguably at the apex of its popularity, the nineties saw damage and recovery from a tornado, the introduction of Knoxville based Proffitt’s taking the place of Castner Knott and the acquisition and ensuing renovation by CBL.  Opry Mills, an enclosed but non-traditional retail competitor opened in 2000 on the site of the defunct amusement park Opryland (R.I.P.)

1- A Rivergate Mall parking lot entrance sign in 2001. (Source)  2 & 3- Two of the Rivergate Mall entrances.  (Source for both)  4- The JCPenney exterior. (Source)  5- Rivergate Mall’s packed parking lot in 1988. (Source)  6- Rivergate Mall from above in the 2010s. (Source)

But the ensuing decades haven’t been as prosperous for the aging stalwart.  CBL offloaded the property in 2013 while Sears became the first anchor to shutter in 2019.  Macy’s departure came soon after in 2020.  Despite these vacancies, the 1978 expansion was converted into another short lived anchor, Smart Buys Furniture, that sits empty today as the third darkened anchor space.

Rivergate Mall Mallmanac ca. 2024.  View the full PDF version here.

The only retail destination of its type north of I-40, even its relative isolation hasn’t been enough for it to escape the realities that traditional shopping malls face today.  Though Dillard’s and JCPenney continue to hang on, in my unfortunate opinion, Rivergate Mall will soon be joining market peers Bellevue Center, Hickory Hollow Mall and Harding Mall in the giant parking lot in the sky.

1- Recent shots of Rivergate Mall’s interior.  3- The JCPenney mall entrance.  4- The food court. (Source for all)

Rivergate Mall official website

The Mall of Memphis, Memphis, TN

 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 its 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)

Mall of Memphis remembrance site

Northgate Mall, Tullahoma, TN

 A dead mall

(Source)

Although I grew up not far from the southern Middle Tennessee town of Tullahoma, I don’t recall ever having visited.  With no interstate traversing the hamlet, I don’t think I ever even passed through.  But they do have a large military presence at Arnold Air Force Base, their own regional airport and, of course, Northgate Mall.

Northgate Mall lease plan ca. 2011.  View the full PDF version here.

Northgate Mall opened in 1976 on the town’s main northwest to southeast oriented thoroughfare.  JCPenney was the original anchor while Nashville based Castner Knott joined the lineup a year later in 1977. 

1- Christmas at Northgate Mall’s center court.  2- Community events at the mall entrance to the vacant at the time northwestern anchor.  3- Hibbett Sports mall entrance.  4- The mall entrance to Burkes Outlet.  5- The main corridor looking to the northwest.  6- Looking toward the southeast.  (Source for all)

In the first decade of the new millennium, JCPenney remained in business while Castner Knott was bought out by Dillard’s and wore the Little Rock based retailer’s nameplate.  They were joined by junior anchors Goody’s and Big Lots, the latter of which had moved into a space formerly occupied by a Kroger supermarket.

Northgate Mall pamphlet ca. 2019.  View the full PDF version here.

By the late 2010s, the mall was still doing well enough and its interior concourse served as a community center for the small town.  JCPenney was by then the only remaining traditional department store but was joined by stores like Publix and Hibbett Sports.

1- Northgate Mall’s main entrance.  (Source)  2- The northwestern entrance next to the vacant anchor.  (Source)  3- The old school façade of the old school former anchor Bog Lots.  (Source)  4- The view along the front face.  (Source)  5- Renovations at the mall include the addition of Marshalls.  (Source)  6- Exterior facing only spaces being added to where the enclosure used to be.  (Source)

However, in the early 2020s, changes were on the way.  The interior concourse was eliminated and newcomers like Old Navy and Marshall’s took its place.  That’s too bad as this mall seemed to do pretty well as community center.  I dread that small town peers like The Crossroads and Selma Mall may one day see the same fate.

Northgate Mall pamphlet ca. 2021.  View the full PDF version here.

Northgate Mall on Facebook