217 replies to this topic

[otherstream]

cityboi, on Oct 1 2006, 08:44 PM, said:

Didnt Dillards use to Ivey's before it changed to Dillards?

It was Meyer's through 1974, then Jordan Marsh through the late 1970s, then Ivey's until the late 1980s, then Dillard's. The Four Seasons branch opened just as the transition to Jordan Marsh occurred, so it was never actually a Meyer's; only the downtown store (which closed in 1978 as Jordan Marsh) ever actually bore the Meyer's name.

And yes, JC Penney and Jordan Marsh opened first. Prior to the opening of the rest of the mall, there was a boarded-up interior walkway between them. You could look though the cracks into the rest of the mall. I have a vague memory that the Piccadilly Cafeteria opened a little before the rest of the mall too, but I'm not 100% certain of that.

Edited by otherstream, 01 October 2006 - 09:41 PM.

[cityboi]

otherstream, on Oct 1 2006, 09:40 PM, said:

It was Meyer's through 1974, then Jordan Marsh through the late 1970s, then Ivey's until the late 1980s, then Dillard's. The Four Seasons branch opened just as the transition to Jordan Marsh occurred, so it was never actually a Meyer's; only the downtown store (which closed in 1978 as Jordan Marsh) ever actually bore the Meyer's name.

And yes, JC Penney and Jordan Marsh opened first. Prior to the opening of the rest of the mall, there was a boarded-up interior walkway between them. You could look though the cracks into the rest of the mall. I have a vague memory that the Piccadilly Cafeteria opened a little before the rest of the mall too, but I'm not 100% certain of that.

oh ok I didnt know that. I thought it was always Iveys.

[jasoniman24]

It would be cool if someone had some pictures of Four Seasons in its early years.

[DigitalSky]

cityboi, on Oct 1 2006, 08:39 PM, said:

There is actually department store space under the parking lot of the south side of the south side of the mall across from Dillards. It use to be Tallheimers which then changed to Hechts. But Tallheimers closed at the mall before the name changed to Hechts.

Where Rack Room Shoes is now??

[otherstream]

cantnot, on Oct 2 2006, 07:55 PM, said:

Where Rack Room Shoes is now??

Yeah. It was never a full-size store (obviously), just a small clothing-type store like the original Friendly Center store in Greensboro (where Harper's Restaurant is now) and the Parkway Plaza store in Winston. There was some talk of building a "real" store there, but they opted to expand at Friendly instead.

Miller & Rhoads actually had a much bigger store than Thalhimers at Four Seasons. It took up a significant part of the northeast store block on two levels near Belk.

[StevenRocks]

otherstream, on Oct 2 2006, 09:44 PM, said:

Yeah. It was never a full-size store (obviously), just a small clothing-type store like the original Friendly Center store in Greensboro (where Harper's Restaurant is now) and the Parkway Plaza store in Winston. There was some talk of building a "real" store there, but they opted to expand at Friendly instead.

Miller & Rhoads actually had a much bigger store than Thalhimers at Four Seasons. It took up a significant part of the northeast store block on two levels near Belk.

I have a letter from Four Seasons' general manager from 1993 that stated that Hecht's was coming, but as otherstream said, the deal fell apart.

Miller & Rhoads had a great store on Level 2.  I don't remember a whole lot about it, but the mall entrance was covered in white marble with black trim, and they had green signs.  Frankenbergers had a store on the opposite end of the mall near JCPenney that was configured in the same way and very nice as well. Thalhimers outlasted both of those stores though.

[StevenRocks]

otherstream, on Oct 1 2006, 11:40 PM, said:

It was Meyer's through 1974, then Jordan Marsh through the late 1970s, then Ivey's until the late 1980s, then Dillard's. The Four Seasons branch opened just as the transition to Jordan Marsh occurred, so it was never actually a Meyer's; only the downtown store (which closed in 1978 as Jordan Marsh) ever actually bore the Meyer's name.

And yes, JC Penney and Jordan Marsh opened first. Prior to the opening of the rest of the mall, there was a boarded-up interior walkway between them. You could look though the cracks into the rest of the mall. I have a vague memory that the Piccadilly Cafeteria opened a little before the rest of the mall too, but I'm not 100% certain of that.

Wow.  Thanks for the info otherstream.  Even Four Seasons' own timeline form 1998 says that the current Dillard's was a Meyer's.  

There was a similar situation at Hanes Mall.  The current Dillard's was supposed to be Ivey's but never opened as one, due to it's aquistion by Dillard's.  They put the Ivey's signs up and even placed Yellow Pages ads as Ivey's, but when that wing of Hanes Mall opened in 1990, it was Dillard's, albeit with a very late-'80s Ivey's interior that still survives today.

[otherstream]

StevenRocks, on Oct 3 2006, 08:54 PM, said:

Miller & Rhoads had a great store on Level 2.

Actually, I'm pretty sure M&R had a two-level store at Four Seasons. It was great, with the marble and all. They also had a separate (but connected) men's department with its own mall entrance, as I recall, that almost looked like they'd expanded into an adjacent space.

I think most if not all of their NC mall locations were two levels, which always looked a little odd since none of them were in anchor positions.

[otherstream]

StevenRocks, on Oct 3 2006, 09:04 PM, said:

Wow.  Thanks for the info otherstream.

I was a very observant (and annoying) ten-year-old. I'm sure lots of us here know the feeling...

[StevenRocks]

otherstream, on Oct 3 2006, 10:48 PM, said:

I was a very observant (and annoying) ten-year-old. I'm sure lots of us here know the feeling...

Yeah.  But we're what makes the internet the unbeatable resource it is.  

[StevenRocks]

otherstream, on Oct 3 2006, 10:45 PM, said:

Actually, I'm pretty sure M&R had a two-level store at Four Seasons. It was great, with the marble and all. They also had a separate (but connected) men's department with its own mall entrance, as I recall, that almost looked like they'd expanded into an adjacent space.

I think most if not all of their NC mall locations were two levels, which always looked a little odd since none of them were in anchor positions.

It could have easily been two levels.  The typical M&R prototype for their '70s mall stores was two floors with an escalator connecting the levels.  They expanded cautiously with a lot of midsized "specialty stores" in new markets, which is similar to what Thalhimers was doing at the time (except that Thalhimers typically had a large downtown store to augment the branches' selection).  

I guess the reasoning was that if they caught on, they would be relocated and expanded, but it never came to pass at M&R.  Thalhimers did end up expanding most of their small stores though.

Miller & Rhoads fell apart when Allied Stores took over.  They pretty much exited North Carolina, save for Raleigh, under them.  I think one of the reasons that the North Carolina stores got axed is because of their size and secondary anchor postitions.  Most of the latter day M&R stores that survived were in the 100,000 square foot range and rather prominent, and most of those stores were in Richmond and Tidewater

Edited by StevenRocks, 04 October 2006 - 07:21 PM.

[blburton]

whats miller and rhoades?  ive never seen nor heard of such a thing..... yea, im an 80s baby!

[DigitalSky]

Former dept store based out of Richmond http://en.wikipedia....Miller_&_Rhoads

[StevenRocks]

cantnot, on Oct 5 2006, 02:45 AM, said:

Former dept store based out of Richmond http://en.wikipedia....Miller_&_Rhoads

Largely written by yours truly

[otherstream]

Strangely enough, I was going through a pile of old newspapers last night that I'd stored at my parents' house for several years. In a 1927 copy of the Greensboro Daily News, there was an ad for the Miller & Rhoads store in Richmond. It must have been a pretty great store if they expected people to make that much of a trip to visit it.

[cityboi]

Mapp Construction announced the construction of a movie theater in the Four Season Retail village.

http://www.bizjourna...tml?jst=b_ln_hl

Edited by cityboi, 20 March 2007 - 09:58 AM.

[transitman]

None of these developments you are talking about are villages.  Villages have RESIDENTS.

[cityboi]

transitman, on Mar 20 2007, 10:16 AM, said:

None of these developments you are talking about are villages.  Villages have RESIDENTS.

That may be true but it was refered to as a Village. Many Shoping Centers all over the country have Village in the name.

[DigitalSky]

With Four Seasons Mall's [and High Point Road's] relative deterioration/decline over the past few years, how you think this movie theater will perform compared to new ones in more suburban areas (i.e. Palladium, Grande, etc)

[transitman]

cityboi, on Mar 20 2007, 01:26 PM, said:

That may be true but it was refered to as a Village. Many Shoping Centers all over the country have Village in the name.

The fact that strip malls and shopping centers label themselves "villages" is only an indicator of the generally brain-dead approach the commercial real estate industry in America has towards the construction of our cities and towns.  Let's not encourage them.  This is a shopping center we're talking about.  

Below, now that is a village. (Gordes, France)