Gwinnett Place Mall in trouble (Atlanta, Duluth: foreclosed, loan, movies) - Georgia (GA) - City-Data Forum

ATLTJL · 12-14-2011, 06:33 PM

Gwinnett Place mall loan goes to servicer *| ajc.com

Well, Gwinnett Place has been in trouble for a long time, but I remember when it was great. Now you'd be lucky to see a restaurant whose name you recognize in the food court. The only reason I go there is for Sears, which is still a great store.

There have been a lot of ideas for Gwinnett Place over the years. There was a lot of hope for Mega Mart and turning it into a bit of an international mall, but I do not think this has worked.

There has also been talk of making it more of a mixed use mall, putting things like doctor offices inside. I'm against this idea, who wants to go to a doctor in a mall? The only other mall I have seen do this is Greenbriar, hardly a model of success worthy of emulation.

What do you think could be done to revitalize Gwinnett Place?

I'd like to see it have a turnaround on the scale of Cumberland Mall. Wouldn't it be great to have a Cheesecake Factory, Trader Joe's, and trendy shops in Gwinnett Place? I don't know how Cumberland did it, but could Gwinnett do it?

Mall of Georgia took the mainstream away. Does Gwinnett Place have the economic base to go higher end and be like the Forum? Is there any future for Gwinnett besides becoming a ghetto mall? If it does go downhill, we have another problem to think about....suppose Fry's goes under. Who in the world is going to take over that building? It's huge! We already lost Fuddrucker's. I'd like to see shops in the promenades around Gwinnett Place like West Elm, Z-Gallerie, and Crate & Barrell.

I say thanks for trying, Korean businesses, but you have failed to turn Gwinnett Place around. We're going to go high end. Is that even possible? Is it the best solution? How would it be done? Discuss.

peachstatehomegal · 12-14-2011, 07:33 PM

When they built Mall of Georgia up in Buford, it was sure to put the 'pressure' on Gwinnett Place Mall. I guess it's just this viscious cycle/system of the fittest surviving, the times they are a'changing and all those other cliche's.

GRS86 · 12-14-2011, 08:11 PM

Gwinnett Place isn't the only mall in trouble. I would also say that both Northlake and Southlake Malls are living on borrowed time, at least in their current configurations. Northlake, because of its proximity to both Lenox/Phipps and Perimeter. Southlake, because of the changing demographics of the market. I think that Northlake could once again thrive if they did a makeover to it similar to what the did to Cumberland Mall. As far as GP is concerned, between The Mall of GA, and the Forum, it's going to have to be creative in order to reinvent itself.

aries4118 · 12-14-2011, 08:22 PM

Solution:

Gwinnett Place...a Korean/Asian/Indian Stonecrest (mainstream middle/upper middle class American stores, but with Korean/Asian/Indian thrown into the mix).

Northlake...total remodeling along the exact same lines as Cumberland. The demographics in that area are such an untapped marked.

Southlake...reposition itself as the prime mall of the Southside...a mall for everyone...for middle, upper-middle, upper, and working class. The South metro does have all of these classe. An example to follow would be Town Center or the Mall of Georgia...or a downscale North Point.

ATLTJL · 12-14-2011, 08:41 PM

Quote:

Gwinnett Place...a Korean/Asian/Indian Stonecrest

Totally disagree, I do not think this will work, I don't believe the Asian community wants a mall. I think they prefer shopping such as Assi and H-Mart plazas. Plus, I do not want this. This does very little to make the area more desirable for anybody except Asians, and we want the area to remain diverse, not become 100% Asian. The Asians already have plenty of businesses in Duluth and Johns Creek and tons of shopping centers. They do not need, nor can they support, their own mall.

I think a big problem is that Simon owns too many malls. What incentive do they have to make Gwinnett Place viable? All it will do is cannibalize their largest investment, Mall of Georgia. A lot of people believe this is why Simon purposely allows some of their malls to fail. Why lure stores to Gwinnett Place or Northlake when they can charge higher rents at Mall of Georgia and Lenox? I think the only path to success is to get these malls out from under Simon, but I don't see them selling. Maybe if the lenders refuse to negotiate, they malls can be foreclosed and someone else can go in and run them properly.

By the way, what do you think about North Dekalb mall? Is it just totally dead in the water?

More food for thought....the other night I was at the Forum and freezing my behind off walking from where I had to park to Barnes and Noble. I know this shopping model is what people are into now, but I couldn't help wondering: Is walking around from store to store in the rain and the cold and the heat and crossing streets really the way we prefer to shop? Is the enclosed climate controlled mall model gone forever, or just temporarily out of favor?

I mean, I like the Forum. It's nice. It's neat. But is it really convenient?

muxBuppie · 12-14-2011, 10:20 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ATLTJL

More food for thought....the other night I was at the Forum and freezing my behind off walking from where I had to park to Barnes and Noble. I know this shopping model is what people are into now, but I couldn't help wondering: Is walking around from store to store in the rain and the cold and the heat and crossing streets really the way we prefer to shop? Is the enclosed climate controlled mall model gone forever, or just temporarily out of favor?

I mean, I like the Forum. It's nice. It's neat. But is it really convenient?

It seems to work better in real urban environments. Gwinett does not apply.

coolieandre · 12-14-2011, 10:22 PM

This is a tough call. It's too early to call Mega Mart a failure... I mean in my opinion Mall of GA was super lame the first 5 years it was open. It litrally just started getting good within the last 2 years, and still has a way to go to be a TOP NOTCH mall... But with the right management can come quicker.... I would like to see Gwinnett Place mall become a normal mall again, but I feel like there is too much competition near. Perhaps it will make an advantage as an international mall. Nothing like Global mall but, a mall with good bargains, good knock offs, international food, movies, etc... I mean every International City has an area of town like that, or a shopping district like that. Maybe Gwinnett Place Mall and the Pleasant Hill Rd area is that "place" for Atlanta. The question is how the people of Atlanta will take it. With open minds or with a frown since it's international? We have enough Express stores, Macy's, A/X, Penny's, etc, etc.... We need something different....

ATLTJL · 12-14-2011, 10:31 PM

coolieandre · 12-14-2011, 10:48 PM

Well Koreatown for Atlanta....

cqholt · 12-15-2011, 09:13 AM

Quote:

The only other mall I have seen do this is Greenbriar, hardly a model of success worthy of emulation.

I visited Greenbriar Mall and it was packed with people and stores. Now it may not be the stores that you want, but it caters to its target audience. Greenbriar is older, but it was more crowded than Cumberland.