Shannon Mall/Union Station

[mallguy]

I was distressed to see reports that the power was cut to Union Station/Shannon Mall, resulting in its closure, with only the anchors open, plus the departures of Chick-fil-A and other tenants before that.

I visited the mall a few years ago and it seemed fine; clearly not Phipps Plaza, but it had been renovated and was attractive, and with some OK stores.

Mall website: http://www.unionstationmallga.com

Any hope for this center?

[StevenRocks]

Nope.

[Lady Celeste]

Perhaps it would have stood a chance if the owner had spent more money paying the electric bill and less money buying his mistress a Bentley, Escalade, a townhome and a five carat diamond rings. At any rate, it probably needs to go away or transform into "malls" like Greenbrier and The Gallery at South DeKalb. There is a fairly lifestyle center within driving distance of Union Station that is doing extremely well so it faces an uphill battle. There is just waaaaaayyyy too much retail competition in the metro Atlanta retail market. I've picked out my good hat already for the ceremony.

[StevenRocks]

It's survival of the fittest. Some malls simply will not survive. Sad to say, Shannon Mall is one of the ones that will probably die.

[mallguy]

It's survival of the fittest. Some malls simply will not survive. Sad to say, Shannon Mall is one of the ones that will probably die.

Your thoughts about why Shannon Mall (and others, like Columbia Place) were renovated a few years before they really went downhill? Why dump money into malls such as those?

[StevenRocks]

Everybody in the industry underestimated the power of the internet and big box retail. For example, the old school holiday magic used to provide has been replaced with all-night big box frenzies where everybody tries to grab something for nothing.

[Kenneth Disraili-Jean]

I never really liked the layout of Shannon, and it was also disapointing to see that the mall was only one level. The origonal anchors, being Rich's, and Sears, were also one level, so the only department store that was two levels was Davison's, which at that time was still owned by R.H. Macy & Co.

[ironchapman]

Having been to Shannon Mall some over the past several years, I can honestly say I don't think there's much hope for the place. The community it's in isn't exactly the most vibrant place, and decay has hit the place. The addition of places like Arbor Place mall in Douglasville have also drawn away a lot of its traffic (in fact, I went to Shannon Mall MANY times before Arbor Place mall opened). Last time I actually went TO Shannon Mall (as opposed to just driving by it on my way to other places) was to get my driver's license.

[mallguy]

Macy's is closing.

[Kenneth Disraili-Jean]

Macy's is closing.

Ok, that is the last nail in the coffin as they say. So all that is left as far as anchors is a one level Sears.

You know the mall is attractive and maybe they could make it into a satellite college campus, or a company could make it their headquarters, or Fulton County could make a government center out of it.

[Kenneth Disraili-Jean]

Well this is it. The Fat Lady Has Sung, her last performance.

Sears is now closed, so there is nothing in operation that was once Shannon Mall, really sad, but then so is the area that it was built in. I always said if they had built in at the Peachtree City exit and over on the right side just before the Fayette County line, then it more than likely would have done well.