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Richland Mall Redevelopment

lastweek

By lastweek
in Columbia

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sonofaque86 Burg

sonofaque86

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I'd guess that it is dying because, like Greenville Mall, it just never had a large enough mass of stores to attract people. I read a study about malls that stated that the main factor in the success of a mall is its size; the larger the more successful. I went to Richland Mall the first time in 1995 and it was pretty empty. Did the mall have more stores when it opened in 1989?

I'd also think that Columbia has too many malls for its size. When I first went to Richland, Columbia still had at least one department store downtown, plus Columbia Place/Mall, Columbiana Centre and Dutch Square, in addition to Richland. That is too many department stores at least for a city of Columbia's size.

Yeah we do have about 4 or 5 malls in Columbia, but I think we have alot because they serve the rest of the Metro...I'm sure most of the people who shop at Columbiana are from near Newberry and alot at Columbia Mall and The Village at Sandhill are from Fairfield and Kershaw Counties...Dutch Square doesn't really do bad considering the size of the mall....Richland....I don't know why it didn't do good, maybe because all of the other malls are right near the interstates and Richland Mall is like in the middle of town?

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Temeteron Burg

Temeteron

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Yeah we do have about 4 or 5 malls in Columbia, but I think we have alot because they serve the rest of the Metro...I'm sure most of the people who shop at Columbiana are from near Newberry and alot at Columbia Mall and The Village at Sandhill are from Fairfield and Kershaw Counties...Dutch Square doesn't really do bad considering the size of the mall....Richland....I don't know why it didn't do good, maybe because all of the other malls are right near the interstates and Richland Mall is like in the middle of town?

They should make Dutch Square a historical landmark :rofl: its the first mall ever in SC.....yeah I kinda do agree that people aren't very "pedestrian-like" in Columbia, and is probably why Richland went downhill.....and the fact that there arent really that many big box stores around it to bring in more traffic....Columbia is a very suburban city and not too many people are gonna want to shop at malls like Richland that aren't on main highways and/or thoroughfares such as Harbison and Two Notch.....There is an identical twin to Richland Mall in Boston its called the Atrium Mall...and it is actually 4 stories, but only has about 7 or 8 stores on each floor including Tiffany & Co. , The Cheesecake Factory, Bebe, Pottery Barn, Restoration Hardware, Borders Books and a few others, beautiful interior, and 3 elevators side by side, a parking garage that goes under groud.....and it is upscale and quite busy........its too bad that Richland couldnt be as successful, because I definately can imagine how it couldve been.....

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Temeteron Burg

Temeteron

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What stores did Richland have in it when it opened in 1989? Did they vacate quickly? When I went there in 1995 there wasn't a whole lot there.

At least Richland lasted a lot longer than Greenville Mall did.

Before the Food court moved, it used to be where the verizon call center is now......and close to the food court used to be Structure(express men), Blockbuster Music, Disc Jockey Music, Gloria Jeans Coffee, WaldenBooks(probalby didnt do well because of Barnes & Noble), Babbage's, there used to be a video arcade, there was a cookie store, Claire's, Hair Cuttery, Briar Patch, Talbot's moved out of the mall down Forest Drive, recently Bombay closed, moved to the Village at Sandhill, Victoria's Secret & Limited closed together a few years ago, Dillard's closed a couple of years ago, Eckerd's closed, and it just seems to get worse and worse; it seems like the only national stores in there now are Bath & Body Works, Express, GNC, & Sam Goody.....but for the longest time there would always be empty spaces in Richland Mall.....ever since I can remember there would be just walls instead of stores......its pretty sad

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StevenRocks City

StevenRocks

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I'd also think that Columbia has too many malls for its size. When I first went to Richland, Columbia still had at least one department store downtown, plus Columbia Place/Mall, Columbiana Centre and Dutch Square, in addition to Richland. That is too many department stores at least for a city of Columbia's size.
Columbia and Greenville were both over-malled and had too many department store chains. The market is readjusting itself to the actual needs of the community. Usually when that happens, it's not very prettty.
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mallguy Town

mallguy

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I would hope that Richland Mall would begin to reflect more of the neighborhood demographic in its retail options. Seems like it would make for a smooth(er) transition in that case.

I agree. The mall is located in a very nice area, similar to Augusta Road in Greenville. I'd think that some of those upscale gift-shop type places and locally owned upscale clothing stores that are along August Road would do well in a Richland-type development. But that fitness center occupying 1/2 of the Belk's-- that just screams "dead mall" to me!

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DigitalSky City

DigitalSky

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I don't know why it didn't do good, maybe because all of the other malls are right near the interstates and Richland Mall is like in the middle of town?

Good point ... i think generally the older malls that aren't off interstates have a different feel altogether... like in Charlotte (Eastland, SouthPark) versus Carolina Place, C Mills and Northlake which are off interstate hwys

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Temeteron Burg

Temeteron

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Good point ... i think generally the older malls that aren't off interstates have a different feel altogether... like in Charlotte (Eastland, SouthPark) versus Carolina Place, C Mills and Northlake which are off interstate hwys

There are exceptions, SouthPark is not on an interstate and it definately has done a major turn around in the past few years.....

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StevenRocks City

StevenRocks

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There are exceptions, SouthPark is not on an interstate and it definately has done a major turn around in the past few years.....
SouthPark's got some exceptional demographics, a strong regional pull, and a lot of support from its anchors, particularly Belk. Richland has pretty much been abandoned by comparison.
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  • 2 weeks later...
xyhamiltonboi Whistle-Stop

xyhamiltonboi

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Just to let you know. Sam Goody and Suncoast are closing the following stores in South Carolina

188 Sam Goody HAYWOOD MALL GREENVILLE SC 29607

723 Sam Goody COLUMBIA PLACE COLUMBIA SC 29223

4727 Sam Goody NORTHWOODS MALL CHARLESTON SC 29406

4734 Sam Goody WESTGATE MALL SPARTANBURG SC 29301

5177 Sam Goody RICHLAND MALL COLUMBIA SC 29204

3164 Suncoast COLUMBIANA CENTRE COLUMBIA SC 29212

3363 Suncoast HAYWOOD MALL GREENVILLE SC 29607

3627 Suncoast WESTGATE MALL SPARTANBURG SC 29301

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CorgiMatt Town

CorgiMatt

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Interesting article in the State and on plainvanillashell.com re: Richland. Sounds like a strange mix: retirement home, hotel, individual offices, and Parisian (?).

Cities are made up of a little bit of everything and their vision is to create a small city within the town of Forest Acres

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Infinite1 Whistle-Stop

Infinite1

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What stores did Richland have in it when it opened in 1989? Did they vacate quickly? When I went there in 1995 there wasn't a whole lot there.

At least Richland lasted a lot longer than Greenville Mall did.

Richland Mall re-opened as a "fashion mall" and there intent was to bring in higher dollar less common type stores. They hung there hopes on an upscale chain called Bonwit Teller. Many were skeptical if Columbia could support a store like Bonwit Teller, and the skeptics proved psychic. Bonwit Teller couldn't make it, which left it as a mall missing one of its anchors (JB Whites was the other). Plus, they took forever to "renovate" the mall. Because it took so long, the rushed to open little pieces as they became available. The last piece to be completed was the food court. With no 2nd anchor and no food court it was tough to draw tenants. While all this was going on Columbiana Centre mall opened. Alot of the tenants that were eyeing Richland at that point just went to Columbiana. By the time they landed Parisian and remodeled the old Bonwit Teller store it was too little too late.

Hope that helps.

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mallguy Town

mallguy

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Thanks for the info. Is Parisian leaving? That store looks kind of dated and isn't as good as the other Parisians I've been to (the one at Greenville Mall that closed and the one at Citadel Mall in Charleston). I am still surprised that Parisian at a thriving mall (Columbiana) would close, leaving an aging store in a dying mall, unless the Richland Parisian is doing great- and I'd be surprised if it is.

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emerging.me Burg

emerging.me

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here is the latest... this came in yesterday... i signed up for their email updates on the website:

*We have sold 70% of the hotel units!!! (phase 1)

(units curently for sale to individuals, managed by branded hotel operator, owners receive share of hotel proceeds)

---contact Jennifer Elliott for details, see below

*The first building of residential condominiums (approx. 50 units) is expected to be available for pre-sale in the next 45-60 days. ---contact Jennifer Elliott for details, see below

*We are currently scheduled to start construction on the hotel and other components in approximately 30-45 days.

If you wish to be removed from future update emails, please notify me accordingly.

Best Regards,

Jennifer Elliott

Midtown at Forest Acres

3400 Forest Drive #1031

Columbia, SC 29204

803-665-1681

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  • 2 weeks later...
waccamatt Town

waccamatt

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There is an article in The State today that construction of the 3 story condo/hotel will begin this summer as it is 92% sold out. It will be located at the former Dillards end of the mall. I'm glad construction is ready to begin. The article also mentioned engineering problems with putting condos on top of the parking garage and a second article briefly talked about which stores will be staying in the rebuilt center.

Condo/Hotel construction to begin

Should we stay or should we go?

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