67 replies to this topic

[GeorgiaRoadGuy]

Hot on the heels of the redevelopment of 32 year-old Cumberland Mall, looks like JCPenney there is throwing in the towel.  Are there any other JCPenney stores closing in the area?  What effect will this have on the mall, especially with Sears also likely to depart soon?  Any ideas on future tenants?

[monsoon]

Is this mall in disrepair these days?

[teshadoh]

Also another department store closed within the past year - I think one of the Macy's or Rich's after their merger.  Cumberland Mall is undergoing a major renovation & redevelopment - converting it into a more neighborhood oriented shopping district concentrating more on restaraunts.

[StevenRocks]

GeorgiaRoadGuy, on Apr 26 2005, 05:14 AM, said:

Any ideas on future tenants?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Probaly the new retail Holy Trinity: Target, Dick's Sporting Goods and Barnes & Noble.  Seems like every mall that needs new stores gets those three.

[teshadoh]

Nope - just read it:

http://www.cumberlan...l.asp?ecd=56278

[DigitalSky]

http://www.generalgr...Mall_aerial.jpg

Look at that pic! The place is packed, it seems to be doing good from an aerial perspective.

[StevenRocks]

From the renderings, the mall looks to have a definate plan for survival.

[GeorgiaRoadGuy]

The mall still does surprisingly well despite rumors of the mall phasing out.  I was in it several times over the past 8 months, largely to snap pics of the entrances to the Rich's store before it changed to Macy's.  The mall is doing better than most considering the demographics, but it has started showing signs of ail.  IOW, they're overhauling the place just in time.  

I still don't expect the mall to last forever, but this renovation will certainly buy some time for it.  I'd give it 10-15 more years now, when before I would have said about 5 more years.  The only trick is that they need good tenants for the vacant anchors.  It was very wise of them to demolish the old Davison's/Macy's store.  It was one of the most outlandishly early 70's-modern stores, much like most of the Davison's were, and the place was a drag on the mall.  The vacant anchor would have been difficult to fill and as we see now it wasn't going to be the last, either.  

Cumberland atm has one of the weakest anchor lineup of most of the Atlanta malls, right up there with Shannon Mall having only (Rich's) and Sears left, but that can be advantageous if they bring in stuff like Target where Sears is now and Dick's where JCPenney is.  In all, the mall has good access and is close to many office buildings and Vinings, but the ghetto is also a stone's throw away as well with parts of Smyrna and Marietta toping the region for urban decay and crime.

If I were the owner of that mall, I'd demolish most of the mall and turn it into a lifestyle center entirely considering how things are already going with malls, but time will tell if this will be the ticket that turns around the mall (Dillard's in the former JCPenney???) or if they're just staving off the grim reaper.

monsoon, on Apr 26 2005, 06:04 AM, said:

Is this mall in disrepair these days?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

[teshadoh]

Considering the Cumberland Mall area - known by Cumberland now, is most known for being an office center & not for shopping, the eventual redevelopment should be to build a town center.

[StevenRocks]

GeorgiaRoadGuy, on Apr 27 2005, 02:04 AM, said:

If I were the owner of that mall, I'd demolish most of the mall and turn it into a lifestyle center entirely considering how things are already going with malls, but time will tell if this will be the ticket that turns around the mall (Dillard's in the former JCPenney???) or if they're just staving off the grim reaper.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I think Dillard's may have an interest in locating at Cumberland Mall.

[SBrown]

I too am concerned about the efforts to fix up Cumberland Mall. It's definently in disrepair, and the clientele there has shifted to a more urban "hip-hop" crowd as the demographics in South and central Cobb have changed dramatically. They better do a good job when they spend all that money to fix it up, or it will go to waste. It will be difficult to attract the Vinings crowd, because most of them shop at Lenox or Phipps. Also, the mall has something of a bad reputation for carjackings, shoplifting, and the like.

I agree with the idea that it should be a "town center" kind of project. I also think they should try to cater to the diversity of the area, too. Maybe some ethnic resteraunts and stores to keep the current clientele coming. It would be dumb to fill Cumberland with high-end stores that most people from the area can't afford. It wil never be Lenox. Right now it looks more like South Dekalb with a little Gwinnett Place mixed in...

[socaguy]

So is the Galleria Mall right across the street from Cumberland still in existance?  Havent heard too much about that mall in a long time.

[SBrown]

Yeah, the Galleria isn't even a "mall" anymore, most of the resteraunts and stores in the "mall" part closed. It's really more of a convention center, and they still have a good number of events there. Thats another story what they oughta do with that place.

[monsoon]

Interesting to hear about the shift.  I have not been to Cumberland since they refurbished it in the mid-80s and the Galleria about the same time. (I think it was new and very upscale then)   Sounds as if the upscale stuff has moved on to another area.

[bobliocatt]

I haven't been to a mall in the Atlanta area since when my older brother lived near Cumberland Mall in the late 80's.  Is Cumberland starting to resemble Greenbriar Mall now?

[alexr15]

thelakelander, on Jul 16 2005, 08:18 AM, said:

I haven't been to a mall in the Atlanta area since when my older brother lived near Cumberland Mall in the late 80's.  Is Cumberland starting to resemble Greenbriar Mall now?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Cumberland is no where near as bad as Greenbriar IMO. The area around Cumberland is still quite nice esp. heading south on Cobb Pkwy towards Buckhead. I was up there last week and it's really not as bad as some are proclaiming. Sure it's past its peak but it is in no kind of disrepair or even close to it.

[SBrown]

Try going IN the mall. There are entire areas that are closed down. People loiter for hours in the parking lot, cruise around rattling windows and setting off car alarms with their speakers, panhandle at the entrances, etc. There have been several carjackings and armed robberies there recently. A woman was ambushed in a gang initiation at the parking deck a few years ago.

That defensive statement is very kind of you, and you do have a point, but you don't live in the area like I do. I live about 10 minutes away, whereas you live way down in Peachtree City. Of course it's not as bad as Greenbriar, or even Southlake, but it IS in decline. And yes, Vinings and the surrounding area is very wealthy, but south Marietta and most of Smyrna is not. Try driving up Franklin Road, Windy Hill, Austell, or South Cobb Drive. Furthermore, the bus station across Cumberland Parkway allows people from all over to visit. They sell Bankhead Highway and Southwest Atlanta T-shirts there: now tell me Cumberland isn't going ghetto!

Edited by SBrown, 17 July 2005 - 08:28 PM.

[derrickskugler]

I work right across the street from Cumberland Mall in the Galleria Office Park...  the area is just fine.  (I also live about 10 minutes away from Cumberland.)  It is not "going ghetto"...  some people will say anything to try to embelish their point.  Is it Town Center or North Point?  No.  Is it the ghetto?  Don't make me laugh.

If you think Cumberland Mall is 1/10th of a ghetto, please, please go spend some quality time down around Bankhead Highway.  Come on.  People that live in and around Cobb County wouldn't know the ghetto if it jumped up and bit them in the butt.  Cobb County has one of the highest overall quality lifestyles in the entire nation.  In Cobb County, I suppose that the "ghetto" is any area where the houses are less than 2,500 sq. ft...

Sorry if I got on my soapbox there a little, but let's try and put things in perspective.

[SBrown]

Ever heard of Boston Homes? Clay Homes? Louisville? Lymon Homes? Baptist Town? Do a little research, or take a sunday drive. By making that claim you are insulting a vast number of people. I suggest you spend some quality time somewhere other than East Cobb. I doubt you have ever visited Franklin Road, or Pat Mell Road, or Six Flags Drive, or any of the places I have named. You would be VERY surprised. Did you know the city of Marietta has the second highest percentage of rental properties of any city in metro Atlanta, right behind Clarkston? (I think it was something like 67%)

I grew up in Cabbagetown, so I know what the ghetto is and is not. I work with residents of the projects in Marietta, and have visited most of them. My cousin is a Cobb county police officer, and I hear his stories every time we talk. He works in Precinct Three, the southeast zone, where there have been at least 43 gangs identified. Look what happened last Wednesday in Smyrna: a drive-by shooting off Old Concord Road. A toddler was critically injured. But thats not ghetto at all, is it? That doesn't sound like something that might happen in Compton! Thats not gang graffiti covering the walls of those apartments and the surrounding stores!

You have this impression of Cobb county being some kind of utopian community isolated from the problems and realities of urban Atlanta, and you are completely misinformed and incorrect. It's not Bankhead highway, but it's NOT perfect or even the greatest place to live in metro Atlanta. Maybe it is if you can afford a $300,000 McMansion in beautiful, tree lined, exclusive East Cobb or West Cobb. but if you are an average middle class person like me, living in a Cobb county neighborhood isn't neccesarily the greatest thing since sliced bread. My circumstances cause me to have a less than optimistic outlook on Cobb county, but you are obviously seeing a totally different perspective than me. Which is yet another problem with this place. To be fair, Cumberland Mall isn't "ghetto", nor will it probably ever be. But it is 'hood, if you understand the difference.

Edited by SBrown, 18 July 2005 - 10:19 AM.

[derrickskugler]

See, that's what I mean.  You just spent the entire retort trying to back up what you said earlier, then agreed with me in your last sentance.  I rest my case.  :->

Oh, and I spent many years working in property management all over metro Atlanta.  Franklin Road certainly isn't Beverly Hills, but it's not as bad as you'd have people on here believe, either.  MOST of Cobb County, and MOST of the area around Cumberland Mall is just fine.  Anyone can pick out a road or a neighborhood and try to back up their arguement, but the proof is in the pudding.  

One of the most "ghetto" neighborhoods in all of metro Atlanta is right next to Lenox and Phipps in Buckhead.  Big deal...  doesn't make the area "ghetto".  A litle perspetive goes a long, long way, I think.