Hickory Ridge Mall - Memphis, TN - A mall undergoing renovations due to a tornado

The Hickory Ridge Mall opened during 1981 at 6075 Winchester Road at Hickory Hill Road in Memphis, Tennessee. The mall with Sears as an anchor was expanded during 1986 and renovated during 1997 in order to compete with the opening of the Wolfchase Galleria the same year. The mall is open seven days a week from 10am until 9pm Monday through Friday and from 1pm until 6pm on Sunday.

The Hickory Ridge Mall is located in East Memphis and has three department stores. These are Sears, Goldsmith's and Dillard's in addition to over one hundred specialty shops. There is even a carousel in the mall to help keep the kids occupied when you need a break from shopping. The mall is only seven miles away from the Memphis International Airport making it convenient to travelers as well as the local population.

In addition to the major department store anchors the Hickory Ridge Mall is also home to stores such as Gold & Gifts, Puppets Galore and After Hours Formalwear. The mall even has options for eating when you need a break from shopping. There are fast food places like Subway and Arby's; patrons may have a picnic in the Picnic Square. The Hickory Ridge Mall also has an atrium with fountains and a stream. There is even a moat to be found in a sunken amphitheater.

A tornado hit the Hickory Ridge Mall during February of 2008 doing a great deal of damage to Macy's, Sears and the main entrance of the mall itself. Five days later the Sears store reopened after temporary repairs were made despite the fact that the mall's management had announced the facilities would be closed indefinitely. There are still more extensive repairs to be done to get the mall into shape.

The World Overcomers Outreach Ministries Church purchased the Hickory Ridge Mall for just below one and a half million dollars after the tornado. The purchase was made by the three thousand members church purchased the property during October of 2008. The goal of the church is to completely restore the Hickory Ridge Mall to the condition that it was in prior to the 2005 tornado.

By 2007 the mall was still only at approximately half occupancy. The new owners want the Hickory Ridge Mall to be a shopping center that attracts families. It is being modeled after Illinois Living World Christian Center. The newly renovated Hickory Ridge Mall will be a for-profit enterprise that is separate from the church with entertainment, retail and social services in the ninety store space.

The new facilities for the Hickory Ridge Mall are planned to include child care, a singles club for Christians, and a baby thrift store. There are also plans for a pharmacy, employment services, a movie theater and a fifteen hundred seat banquet hall. There are three phases to the reopening of the mall. The first is the social services and retail openings. The church hopes to secure at least fifty leases for the renovated building.