Walnut Square Mall, Dalton, Georgia (Savannah, Rome: 2015, closing, shopping mall)

[Carolina Knight]

Walnut Square Mall is an enclosed indoor shopping mall located at the southwest quadrant of East Walnut Avenue and Airport Road in the City of Dalton in Whitfield County, Georgia. It is anchored by Belk #188 and Sears #2165 (with Sears Auto Center #6138).

Walnut Square Mall opened Wednesday, 23 July 1980, with Belk #188, Loveman's, J. C. Penney, and Sears #2165 as anchors. Loveman's was acquired by and rebranded to Profitt's. Profitt's was later acquired by Belk. Profitt's store became Belk #188's second Walnut Square Mall store. J. C. Penney closed in 2015.

Sears #2165 and Sears Auto Center #6138, 2150 East Walnut Avenue, Dalton, Georgia 30721-4526

Sears Holdings, parent of Sears, announced Sears #2165 and Sears Auto Center #6138 will close by fall of 2017.

It appears Sears #2165 has closed while Sears Auto Center #6138 remains open presently.

Further reading

• Flessner, Dave. "Sears, Kmart stores to close in Dalton, Fort Oglethorpe." Chattanooga Times Free Press. 8 June 2017.
• Pare, Mike. "End of an era: JC Penney to close Dalton store." Dalton, Georgia: Chattanooga Times Free Press. 9 January 2015.

[Newsboy]

It breaks my heart what's happening to legacy retail

[Carolina Knight]

Walnut Square Mall will have vacancies with two anchors closed. I wonder if there are opportunities to bring in retailers that are not present yet in Dalton.

[Newsboy]

Originally Posted by Carolina Knight

Walnut Square Mall will have vacancies with two anchors closed. I wonder if there are opportunities to bring in retailers that are not present yet in Dalton.

I'm not too terribly familiar with the Dalton market, but I do know that Walnut Square Mall is in a horrible location. Had it been built along the I-75 corridor a bit further north or south, to draw from both Calhoun to the south and Catoosa County to the north, it would likely still be healthy and thriving. The same exact thing can be said for Savannah Mall, which would no doubt be much better off had it gone at I-95 and 204 as originally planned (the investors considered that too far out at the time).

What's the status of Mt. Berry Mall at present? It's struggled from day 1 and appeared no better (or worse) last time I was in Rome.

[Carolina Knight]

I am not familiar with Mount Berry Mall in Rome. I can look into that today.

[brianesmith]

Originally Posted by Carolina Knight

Walnut Square Mall is an enclosed indoor shopping mall located at the southwest quadrant of East Walnut Avenue and Airport Road in the City of Dalton in Whitfield County, Georgia. It is anchored by Belk #188 and Sears #2165 (with Sears Auto Center #6138).

Walnut Square Mall opened Wednesday, 23 July 1980, with Belk #188, Loveman's, J. C. Penney, and Sears #2165 as anchors. Loveman's was acquired by and rebranded to Profitt's. Profitt's was later acquired by Belk. Profitt's store became Belk #188's second Walnut Square Mall store. J. C. Penney closed in 2015.

Sears #2165 and Sears Auto Center #6138, 2150 East Walnut Avenue, Dalton, Georgia 30721-4526

Sears Holdings, parent of Sears, announced Sears #2165 and Sears Auto Center #6138 will close by fall of 2017.

It appears Sears #2165 has closed while Sears Auto Center #6138 remains open presently.

Further reading

• Flessner, Dave. "Sears, Kmart stores to close in Dalton, Fort Oglethorpe." Chattanooga Times Free Press. 8 June 2017.
• Pare, Mike. "End of an era: JC Penney to close Dalton store." Dalton, Georgia: Chattanooga Times Free Press. 9 January 2015.

The Auto Center is still open and is remaining open through the end of the year. I work there. It's because of articles like this that tell people we're closed that has made us lose a lot of business and may very well make us close.

[Carolina Knight]

I liked Sears Auto Center years ago.

The first sign of a Sears closing has been the adjacent Sears Auto Center.

[brianesmith]

That's great that you liked it but you obviously don't know what you're talking about. The Auto Center has been doing better than the Sears store all year. Also Sears closing has nothing to do with the auto center. We're different companies under SHC and can operate as a standalone store.

[Carolina Knight]

Thank you for clarifying Sears Auto Center #6138 remains open.

I will disagree with you about me not knowing what I am talking about. Sears Holdings Corporation continues to make headlines every three or four months announcing more Kmart, Sears, and Sears Auto Center location closings. A customer wonders if/when the nearest store will close. An associate wonders if he or she will remained employed. Sears Holdings Corporation has ongoing grave concerns about staying in business.

[cdw1084]

Originally Posted by Newsboy

I'm not too terribly familiar with the Dalton market, but I do know that Walnut Square Mall is in a horrible location. Had it been built along the I-75 corridor a bit further north or south, to draw from both Calhoun to the south and Catoosa County to the north, it would likely still be healthy and thriving. The same exact thing can be said for Savannah Mall, which would no doubt be much better off had it gone at I-95 and 204 as originally planned (the investors considered that too far out at the time).

What's the status of Mt. Berry Mall at present? It's struggled from day 1 and appeared no better (or worse) last time I was in Rome.

The mall in Rome is worse off than the mall in Dalton. Rome has better shopping options throughout the city compared to Dalton but Dalton is much closer to Chattanooga.