Avondale Mall

Avondale Mall / Columbia Mall

Location	Near Avondale Estates, Georgia, United States
Coordinates	33°45′24″N84°16′04″W / 33.75667°N 84.26778°W / 33.75667; -84.26778 Coordinates: 33°45′24″N84°16′04″W / 33.75667°N 84.26778°W / 33.75667; -84.26778
Opening date	1964
Closing date	2001 (demolished February–March 21, 2007)
Developer	Macy's, Inc.
No. of anchor tenants	2
Total retail floor area	400,000 square feet (37,000 m2)
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. Macy's developed the mall, which consisted of 400,000 square feet (37,000 m²) of shop space on two levels and was the second-largest mall in Atlanta at the time. ^[1] 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 purchased by Cadillac Fairview and Scott Hudgens Co. in 1983, who announced plans to renovate the space. At the same time, Sears announced that it would close its store there. ^[2] 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. ^[3]

Demolition

Demolition of the mall began in February 2007. The last two walls of the old Sears came down on March 21, 2007. ^{[4] [5] [6]} The former mall was replaced with a Walmart Supercenter, as well as space for condominiums and commercial outlets. This plan met with strong resistance from residents of nearby Avondale Estates. However, the Walmart opened in March 2008.

List of anchor stores

Name	Year opened	Year closed	Notes
Davison's	1964	1986
Goody's	?	?	Replaced Sears Outlet Store
Macy's	1986	1995	Replaced Davidson's, Became a Clearance Store in 1992.
McCrory's	?	2001
Sears	1964	1984
	?	?	Occupied by a Sears Outlet Store

References

1. "Giant store center going up in Dekalb". The Atlanta Constitution. April 4, 1963. p. 52. Retrieved September 6, 2020.
2. Laurie Baum (December 29, 1983). "Columbia Mall will be sold, redeveloped". The Atlanta Constitution. pp. 2C. Retrieved September 6, 2020.
3. Greene, Kelly (16 December 2001). Tough times for the nation's older shopping malls, The Day (New London) (reprint from The Wall Street Journal )
4. MacDonald, Mary (February 21, 2007). "Avondale demolition may bring unwanted mall rats". The Atlanta Journal-Constitution . Archived from the original on February 23, 2007. Retrieved August 10, 2007.
5. "Additional Avondale Mall demolition article". The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. February 12, 2007. Retrieved August 10, 2007.^{[ dead link ]}
6. "Columbia Mall - March 2007: The Demolition of Columbia/Avondale Mall". Towers High School Now and Then Photos. Karen Griffin Dean. April 5, 2007. Retrieved April 5, 2007.