Gwinnett Place Mall in trouble (Atlanta, Alpharetta: balloon payment, appointed, sales)

[ATLTJL]

Really? I went to Greenbriar a couple of years ago because I wanted to see it.

I was amazed it had a Macy's, but the Macy's was pathetic and depressing. It looked like it was built in 1971 and never renovated or even properly cleaned since then. I couldn't figure out how it was profitable at all.

I was surprised to see some stores I recognized like Radio Shack. But then an anchor store is freaking Maxway. Gross. Another anchor is Conway, which I actually like from New York, but this Conway was not kept up as well as those in Manhattan.

I would rather have Gwinnett Place abandoned and become an interesting place for urban explorers to rummage through than become like Greenbriar. If a bunch of dialysis centers start popping up around the mall like Greenbriar, that's when you know it's time to move. I still can't figure out whey there are so many there.

[cqholt]

Just cause the stores don't impress you doesn't mean they aren't doing good. At least when I went, 2 months ago, most store fronts were occupied. Greenbriar Mall has a different target audience than the other malls and it works for that area.

[ATLTJL]

Maybe what I'm trying to say is I hope that the area around Gwinnett Place hasn't become an area with a similar target audience to Greenbriar.

I mean, I know it's not what it used to be, but I don't think it's ready for Maxway yet. At least, I hope not. I hope the Gwinnett Place community improvement district does something soon.

[ericsonga]

From what I have heard through the grapevine, Gwinnett Place CID is often at odds with Simon management. They seem to not care in investing in Gwinnett Place, especially when it comes to remodeling. The retail area outside the mall is doing quite well with a very high retail occupancy rate. A lot of people think the mall could do much better without Simon. I also agree with that.

The CID has done an amazing job landscaping and sprucing up the area. They have great plans for the area, and I wish them nothing but success. I do not think that Gwinnett Place will fall as hard as some of the other malls in metro Atlanta have.

[weyesone7]

We are interested in relocating to Gwinnett from the north and the replies on the cultural/financial makeup of the area were sad! This made me want to look at Marrieta or Cobb!

[jazzcat22]

Originally Posted by weyesone7

We are interested in relocating to Gwinnett from the north and the replies on the cultural/financial makeup of the area were sad! This made me want to look at Marrieta or Cobb!

But the Gwinnett Place area is only one part of Gwinnett. Check out the demographics of the Avenue at West Ginn or the Mall of Georgia....

[ericsonga]

Originally Posted by weyesone7

We are interested in relocating to Gwinnett from the north and the replies on the cultural/financial makeup of the area were sad! This made me want to look at Marrieta or Cobb!

You do know that Gwinnett is a county of over 800,000 people and encompasses over 430 square miles. There are many many areas of Gwinnett. Oddly enough, most of them are decided by high school zoning. Decide on that before you write the entire county off.

[jazzcat22]

I have to admit it: I find Gwinnett Place very depressing. It pains me to acknowledge this since it's my closest mall, so sometimes I think it does reflect badly on where I live. I went there the other night just because I like the optometrist there. In the daytime it's dead. At night it had people and I think some were buying, but I guess not to the extent at more upscale malls. The Macy's is small and old. What really shows that it's downmarket is the Metro PCS store and a check cashing place!

But I don't know that it can be compared to Greenbriar. My understanding is that Greenbriar is in an area that is mostly African-American. GP has more Koreans and Latinos. Don't know that Greenbriar would ever have an Asian store like MegaMart! And for the poster who was wondering why there are so many dialysis places near Greenbriar, I think it's because African-Americans disproportionately receive dialysis. So it could be that all the dialysis places will never come to GP.

[ATLTJL]

I totally feel you, Jazzcat.

I lived in Gwinnett for a while in the late 90s and then moved to Buckhead.

A couple of years ago I wanted to buy a house. I concentrated on Alpharetta/Johns Creek, but Duluth just had the house I wanted on the lot I wanted in the price range I wanted. I had been told how bad Gwinnett Place had gotten, but I was shocked when I saw it. Not even 10 years ago there were tons of restaurants all around. They were mostly chains, but there were some pretty decent places, not just Chili's and Applebees.

I still feel kind of close to Gwinnett Place, even though I may technically live closer to Mall of Georgia or the Forum. I'm not sure, I never clocked it. But I can't stop thinking first about Gwinnett Place when I need something because long ago it was my "go to" place for whatever I needed. Slowly, I'm starting to realize that I'm better off hitting the Mall of Georgia, Northpoint, or Forum areas for most of what I need.

It makes me upset both because I'd like to have what is probably my closest shopping area be better. I'm also really afraid of the chilling effect it might have on surrounding areas. I believe strongly in Duluth as a city, the leadership is great and downtown is great (I know GP is unincorporated and not part of Duluth). I felt very strongly about what the CID was doing with the landscaping and their plans for Pleasant Hill and Jimmy Carter overpasses.

It really upsets me that so little progress is being made on the mall itself. I know a lot of people were counting on the Korean community, but you can't just call on an immigrant community to fix your mistake. I'm also selfish and I want an area I'm interested in, and I'm really just not very interested in most Korean businesses. And I'll admit it, I think seeing more Korean than English on signs makes an area look lower class. Maybe that's racist, I don't mean it to be. I'm fine with other languages and businesses mixed in, but when you can't find English anywhere anymore I don't think it's good.

I read an interview a while ago where even the mayor of Duluth admitted that she goes to the Forum more than Gwinnett Place. It's extremely sad.

After living in Duluth for a couple of years and meeting the people, I have a ton of faith in the area. I wish more Duluth residents would see GP as our problem even though it's not actually part of our city, though. The general idea seems to be people have written off Gwinnett Place and they just stay in Duluth, go up to Suwanee, down to Norcross, or over to Alpharetta to shop....but NOT to Gwinnett Place. I still believe it will eventually turnaround, I just think it's going to take longer than I want it to. I think that GP affects the value and desirability of my house, even though most of my neighbors don't think of it that way.

I want Simon out. They have no interest in making the mall great again. I read an interview with a Simon executive a while back and it was so obvious he didn't care about making the mall good. He was just talking about how to lease all the space out and it was clear he didn't care about the quality of businesses he leased to. He was the one who said he wanted doctors offices and maybe a college campus there. Great, go get your gonorrhea cleared up, learn how to fix a VCR or how to smith a gun, and then grab an Orange Julius. That's exactly what we need!

Right now I'm just hoping Sears and Macys can hang on long enough to help redevelop the area.

[ericsonga]

Originally Posted by ATLTJL

Right now I'm just hoping Sears and Macys can hang on long enough to help redevelop the area.

The anchor stores there tend to do very well. It's the actual inside of the mall that's suffering.