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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!
I didn't see anybody mention the near implosion of Perimeter.
Perimeter opened in 1971- by 1974 it was almost a ghost town- literally!
It even survived a tragic shooting spree of some nut-case (1990) along with anchor moves anchor "funerals", and the "birth" of new anchors from different parts of the country.
I guess I don't have to state the obvious of it's stature today.
Ownership may play a significant role in the vitality of a retail mall but, I believe the demographics of it's immediate surrounding area a prominent indicator of it's lifespan.
I had a lot of expectation of MEGA MART's grand opening to save Gwinnett Place Mall and was very disappointed. MEGA MART is split as a Korean grocery store on the first floor and a apparel store on the second floor. Duluth, Johns Creek and Suwanee does not need any more Korean grocery stores as HMART and Assi already has a domainant presence in the Korean grocery market in Atlanta. MEGA MART's apparel store upstairs is a complete embarrassment with cheap imitations and knockoffs. I was hoping to see a high end Korean made deparment store. MEGA MART better shape up fast or else they won't around for very long.
I am hoping to see some rich Korean investors either from NY, LA, or Seoul to turn the entire Gwinnett Place Mall into a K-Town Galleria like the one they have in Los Angeles. Then Gwinnett Place Mall would totally thrive! The K-Town Galleria is similar to that of the Lotte Shopping Center in Seoul with a lot of Korean made high end department stores.
The other option is to make Gwinnett Place Mall into an international Shopping Center, with Taiwanese, Japanese, Korean anchors. Pleasant Hill today is what Wilshire Blvd was in the 1980s. The location of Gwinnett Place Mall is the heart of Atlanta's vibrant Korea Town.
Is Gwinnett place the mall near Fry's? If so I just came from that area and the mall is a ghost town. Ironically I was on the way back from the Mall of GA... which is busting at the seams right now.
I share your passion for reviving Gwinnett Place Mall which is currently headed into a death spiral.
Why do you not think that Asians would not want an International Asian mall? I think it would be a huge success as an Asian international shopping center does not exist in Atlanta metro at the moment. Tourism into Altanta's new K-Town would sky rocket. ATLTJL, are you hoping that Gwinnett Place mall would reinvent itself as an traditional mall or as an Asian International Shopping Center? The shopping center would only enhance the Korean grocery anchors like Assi and HMART in that area. I just don't see how Sears and Macy's would want to hang on as the demographics in that area has changed night and day from 10 - 15 years ago. What the Asians in Gwinnett want is that Gwinnett Place Mall would reinvent itself as an Asian International Shopping center.
Quote:
Originally Posted by 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.
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.
Could not agree more. I remember working at our old office location right off Pleasant Hill Road back in the day when we used to walk around the mall area at all hours for exercise and shopping, overall a great location. As time progressed the area began to slide downhill, quckly. Once we got to the point of escorting our female employees to their cars, having B&E's into our office complex, and watching drug deals on a daily basis, our company came in and moved us further north.
Fast forward to the new "Koreatown" IMO they have did nothing but bring overall improvement to the place! Add that to the CID efforts of Gwinnett and Pleasant Hill has turned itself back around!. Granted it has a long way to go but each time seems to be an improvement. I have always found Korean's to be hard working, family focused, disciplined and business savvy from my days working / serving with their ROK soldiers in the past. Also, add to the fact that when they invest to improve they don't give two cats arses about being PC. If your bringing in crap, they will not hesitate to make sure you find the exit door.
As to the topic of GPM, again, an improvement. I fully agree with Eric that Simon can be as much a hinderance as an asset. Even at MOG Simon has seen some stores leave (Bed Bath and Beyond, ect) for example. Between the Simon overhead, their crazy antics when it comes to fining tenants over hours of operation, etc., and then turning blind eyes to thuggery etc., going on around their operations makes one wonder, what the ?????. Then again, maybe Simon is to busy suing locations such as Amazon, etc., on the sales tax issues, and looking to shake down states, counties, and towns for tax abatements, to worry about thier malls turning to crap. Hey! we can just build another someplace else if Mr or Ms. Politican gives us enough freebies to offset any potential future losses.
Then again, who knows the folly as we only know what is published. I hope Gwinnett Place continues to improve as it seems to be doing.
Ownership may play a significant role in the vitality of a retail mall but, I believe the demographics of it's immediate surrounding area a prominent indicator of it's lifespan.
Well your right... but in this case I would spot out one important detail...
Gwinnett at an early age was over-retailed, but it was mostly the same owner, Simon. They own Gwinnett Place, Discover Mills, and Mall of Georgia.
They built 3 really large malls in really close proximity to each other. They opted to build new rather than bring the existing area up to competing standards.
What I have noticed is alot of people who would otherwise be closer to Gwinnett Place Mall... like the wealthier suburban areas of Lilburn, Norcross, Duluth, and Lawrenceville are often still taking the extra 15 minutes to go to Mall of Georgia or... going to a smaller shopping area like the Avenue on Webb Gin or The Forum on Peachtree pkwy.
I just mention this because if they never built Mall of Georgia more people (and money) would still drive to Gwinnett Place for their mall type shopping than they do now. They probably would have spent more money updating the facilities as well.
Now I'm sure building the Mall of Georgia was more profitable, but I'm just spotting out there was a business choice made and local residents changed their behaviors based on those choices as well.
My overall two cents... I don't want to run away from Gwinnett Place as an international destination, but I don't want it to be what it is all about either!
I would rather eventually see the whole mall area slowly rebuilt as Gwinnett's downtown/CBD/ and residential center for people who want a more urban life who might be younger etc... That will be an uphill battle though.
Well your right... but in this case I would spot out one important detail...
Gwinnett at an early age was over-retailed, but it was mostly the same owner, Simon. They own Gwinnett Place, Discover Mills, and Mall of Georgia.
They built 3 really large malls in really close proximity to each other. They opted to build new rather than bring the existing area up to competing standards.
What I have noticed is alot of people who would otherwise be closer to Gwinnett Place Mall... like the wealthier suburban areas of Lilburn, Norcross, Duluth, and Lawrenceville are often still taking the extra 15 minutes to go to Mall of Georgia or... going to a smaller shopping area like the Avenue on Webb Gin or The Forum on Peachtree pkwy.
I just mention this because if they never built Mall of Georgia more people (and money) would still drive to Gwinnett Place for their mall type shopping than they do now. They probably would have spent more money updating the facilities as well.
Now I'm sure building the Mall of Georgia was more profitable, but I'm just spotting out there was a business choice made and local residents changed their behaviors based on those choices as well.
My overall two cents... I don't want to run away from Gwinnett Place as an international destination, but I don't want it to be what it is all about either!
I would rather eventually see the whole mall area slowly rebuilt as Gwinnett's downtown/CBD/ and residential center for people who want a more urban life who might be younger etc... That will be an uphill battle though.
Yea but Gwinnett Place..if its the mall I saw yesterday...is a dump compared to Mall of GA. Better store selection too. Hell we have Cumberland right in the area and people here still opt to go to Lennox instead.. it is what it is. That mall is pretty much done...will probably end up being another Shannon Mall. No way it'll be competitive with Mall of GA being so close. And retailers are going to opt for Mall of GA over it every single time.
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