Perimeter Mall

One of the things I especially like about the Dunwoody area is Perimeter Mall. It is the perfect suburban mall with some subtle features that are really important to me. First of all, Perimeter has several entrances like this that allow me to enter and exit away from the hustle and bustle of the main mall traffic. Entrances like this are situated between two anchor stores and you can usually find a pretty decent spot in these areas. Perimeter caters to a more professional crowd. Its anchor stores are Bloomingdales, Nordstrom, Dillards, and Macy's and surrounding the mall are several relatively nice restaurants like Cheesecake Factory, Garrisons, Maggiano's, and Goldfish. It also features stores that cater to a suburban, middle class crowd (mostly women) like Ann Taylor, Banana Republic, J. Crew, etc. What is missing from this mall is the urban element. The mall does not feature a great deal of stores that are trying to attract patrons who are looking for athletic wear or the more trendy urban wear brands.
Perimeter features a great deal of natural light. You still feel connected to the outside and even if you're on a long shopping spree, you don't feel like you've been cooped up inside all day.

Another feature that gives the mall an almost park-like feel is the greenery throughout. Although many malls feature greenery, Perimeter is different in that it doesn't have the amusement park cheesiness many other malls have. It's simplistic and family oriented without being over the top.

The huge open spaces with sitting areas within also makes this one of my favorite malls.

Instead of lighting the mall like a carnival at night, Perimeter features low light. This is around the time where I was interrogated by security about being a member of a terrorist shell so my pictures aren't quite as thematic as I wanted them to be.

One of the little side entrance hallways.

Notice the absence of bright, neon lights.

I wanted to get a close up of the map, but Fred the security guard didn't seem to be going away, soooo......

Lenox Square

Parking experience: To the extent that Crawford and Longstreth stress the centrality of accommodating the automobile in mall planning for enticing the consumer, Lenox Square’s parking deck is a disastrous manifestation of this concept. Longstreth surmises that “Easy access to the buildings from every part of the car lot became as important a concern as providing adequate space for cars themselves.” The parking deck at Lenox provides access to the mall at every other floor level. When my boyfriend and I were searching for a spot we both noticed that the floors without direct access into the mall were significantly less crowded. Walking (or taking an elevator) up or down a floor isn’t too inconvenient unless the weather is bad. On a recent trip to the mall to replace my laptop’s power cord, chewed up by my teething puppy, it was raining and the stairways provided no shelter from the rain. Large puddles formed at the beginnings of each stair case and in spots were the concrete seams do not completely meet in the deck. The most disconcerting aspect of the parking deck is finding the ramps to get to different levels. The internal arrangement of these ramps without clear signage to direct traffic causes cars to go down one-way aisles in the wrong direction. The pedestrian experience in this deck is potentially more horrifying as there is no separation of the two types of traffic.

Observing experience: I sat at the Starbucks kiosk located in a main atrium of the mall. The mall owners have done a nice job utilizing natural light during the day that requires little extra lighting along the corridors. In contrast to Crawford’s assertion that the suburban malls became an extension of the homogenous communities that they served, I noticed that the shoppers at the mall on this particular Sunday afternoon represented a variety of races; although, there were markedly more women than men and the majority of the people looked below middle age. When I could distinguish conversations, I heard languages other than English being spoken. The traffic across the atrium increased and decreased in 5-7 minute intervals. I have no explanation or even theory to present as the reason for this pattern, only that I could tell the difference in noise level and visual noted that people moved slower during the busier periods. Also there were many more people moving up the escalator than down. At this particular place in the mall, there was the Starbucks in the center, 3 jewelry stores, 3 handbag stores and 1 chocolate shop. If the mall is supposed to be replacement of public space (especially in suburbia), direct social interactions at Lenox were minimal. There was plenty of noise to be heard, but looking at each individual no one person seemed to be talking to another (unless via a cell phone). Like Northgate in Seattle, the corridors of Lenox are kept relatively clear of visual obstruction so as to provide views of distant store’s window displays and entice the circulation of mall-goers to the peripheral areas of the mall. The resting areas within the corridors are placed in the center. Kiosks, architectural features and staircases and escalators block vistas of the entire corridor giving the space a more humanized scale.

The Northlake Experience

From what other people tell me, Northlake Mall is the mall for those of us lower on the economic ladder. My observations of the mall suggest that this holds some truth. Northlake opened in the 1970's and although it has obviously had more recent renovations, you can still feel that it is an older mall. Just the approach to the mall screams "old mall", with their mature trees, and landscaping. It's easy to understand why this mall may be overlooked since "historic" and "fashion" aren't synonymous with one another.

So what draws people to this mall? It does have a JCPennys, Sears, and Macy's as their anchors but as far as shopping goes that's not very special. The supporting stores aren't very special with your normal compliment of shoe stores, a token bookstore, health store, video game store, etc. The Dollar Star is a testament to the clientele this mall brings in. The thing which stuck out the most was the shoe repair place. I find it hard to believe that people still bring their shoes in to have them repaired. Of course after browsing the shoe stores in the mall for hours, having your shoes repaired might look like a better option. That brings me to another issue about who I saw in the mall. I went midday Saturday, shortly after they opened and saw a fair mixture of all ages, but I would say the 30 to 50 crowd and the teenagers created the two larger groups. I think the reason the teenagers stuck out more to me, is not because they had large numbers but rather it was their behavior. They weren't unruly but they were just... different.

One last observation I had was about the traffic patterns in the mall. There is no sign but people generally travel to the right-hand side of the corridor, following our pattern for driving. The phone, jewelry, and benches serve as medians. They are clearly going for the median landscaping effect by having the occassional plant.

North Point Mall

I lived in the northern Atlanta suburb of Sandy Springs from the years of 1985 until 1991. At that time, Sandy Springs was known as the north central suburb and living outside of the perimeter (OTP) at this time meant you could scarcely call yourself an Atlantan. After moving out of state, I came back to visit friends in Atlanta in 1993. A friend suggested that we visit a new mall, situated just north of Sandy Springs, as a possible excursion for the day. As we drove to the outskirts of the little known town of Alpharetta, all I could see were trees, trees, and more trees. I remember saying, “Why on Earth did they build a mall way out here?”

In 2008, I find myself employed in Alpharetta and am a regular patron of North Point Mall. North Point Mall is no longer surrounded by just trees; office buildings, medical complexes, movie theaters, hotels, and various other commercial centers grace the mall’s boundaries. Countless residential areas, which provide a very viable consumer base, are positioned around this commercial core. Obviously the developers of North Point Mall had the foresight and insight to see possibilities in this location that I lacked. North Point is a bustling suburban mall.

North Point Mall is conspicuously tailored to a particular audience. Margaret Crawford coined this consumer group as the “achievers” and their “emulators,” who have money to spend, are status conscious, and materialistic. To be more exact, North Point Mall is tailored to this adult audience and their children. North Point Mall includes a child play area and a nearby virtual floor pad with above head projection that children can step on and play games. I witnessed an electrifying game of air hockey between four toddlers who moved in erratic patterns while uncontrollably laughing and running into each other. North Point Mall features the Build-a-Bear Store and the brand new American Girl Boutique and Bistro along with numerous other child-centered stores.

North Point Mall’s layout consists of one long hallway with numerous anchor stores jutting off in each direction. This two-story mall includes escalators and glass elevators at the end of a stretch of approximately a dozen stores. North Point Mall lacks a centralized food court, but as the website boasts, this classic mall element is now currently under construction and will be completed in June of 2008. The signs and advertisements in North Point Mall are high tech and graphic which fits the overall décor. The two signs which stuck out most in my mind include the Starbucks sign, which moves up and down in the opposite direction of the elevator that it is attached to. In addition, a sign with digital advertisements and messages flashes nearby.

The vaulted glass ceilings mimic the sensation of walking outdoors, but the mall maintains the quality of exclusivity and escape. North Point Mall offers the consumer a chance to escape the hectic outside and stroll freely through its clean, open pathways. Strollers and congregations of young teens are a common scene within this space. North Point is the mall for the affluent family. What is difficult to ascertain is whether North Point Mall was constructed and planned with this audience base in mind or whether it has become a cultural mirror of its clientele.

Lenox

Matt's admonition about taking photos in the mall scared me off of even taking my camera with me to the mall, but thinking of the mall in Crawford's terms was interesting enough.

On the face of it, Lenox Square Mall does not fit neatly into Crawford's model of confusion and contradiction. For that matter, it doesn't seem to me to claim to assemble the whole world, past and future, within its walls. Instead it seems to eschew the Disneyland paradigm, aiming for a much more coherent message of urban elegance, with nicely tiled floors, faux marble columns, etc., that appeals to "outer-directed achievers" and "emulators." But upon reflection, Lenox actually does conform to the closely managed constellation of disparate images. As Crawford, writes, the particular mix of a mall "is calculated to organize the disorienting flux of attributes and needs into a recognizable hierarchy of shops designed by cost, status, and life-style images" (p. 13). The upper levels of Lenox provide access to the anchor department stores like Macy's and Bloomingdale's as well as to a wide variety of upscale specialty shops like Benetton, Brooks Brothers, Ecco, the Apple Store, and among others, the Nike Store. The ground level, along with another level of access points to the department stores, has more nice shops like LaCoste and the Gap. Tucked into a corner behind one of the main stair wells that leads to a rather secluded underground level and food court, however, are some of the shops that would rank lower on the upper middle-class hierarchy of respectability. In this nook are the "urban" shops like Foot Locker and Champs, Urban Outfitters and The Game Stop.

There seems to be a Foucauldian tenor to Crawford's understanding of the mall. Mall-goers certainly appear to be disciplined by the discourses, not to mention the physical form, of the mall, all of which is enforced by an unrecognized but nonetheless ever present system of surveillance. (Maybe that's why I felt so self-conscious when I was just sitting alone observing other people.) The flow of consumers seems to be under the control of what Crawford calls the "familiar tricks of mall design--limited entrances, escalators placed only at the end of corridors, [and] fountains and benches carefully positioned to entice shoppers into stores" (p. 13). There is no way to escape these discourses: even erstwhile deviant behaviors are incorporated into the system, as with the shops tailored to more "urban" or otherwise "nonconformist" tastes.

Yet, like Michel de Certeau, I am not quite ready to concede that the system of (shopping mall) planning and discipline completely dominates. Even if the mall is like an intricately planned city created strategically by governments and scientific planners, people are able to decode the symbols of the mall on their own terms and move in ways not anticipated by planners, meandering about with no discernible purpose even if the thoroughfares of the mall are laid out with utilitarian aims in mind. (Strangely, while I was there, women were more likely to be walking quickly and with a purpose while men seemed much more prone to strolling along and browsing. That was the opposite of what I would have expected.) People can buy or not buy anything they want in the mall and in the end, they can just leave.

Town Center Mall

Town Center is located 2 blocks east of I-75 off of Barrett Parkway in Kennesaw. There are 220 specialty shops, 5 anchor stores and a 12-unit food court. There is also a Ruby Tuesday attached to the mall with its main entrance right inside the mall. There are outparcel stores, restaurants and a movie theater around the mall as well which is indicative of the success of the mall . The closest mall is 11 miles away. Town Center is extremely popular because of its location off of Barrett Parkway (an extremely busy thoroughfare in Cobb), and its proximity to I-75. People from Cartersville, Calhoun and the like go to Town Center because of the easy access from 75.

The mall's website describes that at the mall "you'll find fabulous fashion, exceptional eateries, delightful diversions and superb shops that entice you to create a new look! Delectable treats tempt you at each and every turn. And opportunities to relax and refresh your spirits abound." All adjectives aside, this statement essentially supports Crawford's position that the enclosed mall is a place of escape and leisure-not just a place to go and get what you need and leave. I go to Town Center a lot, and I have never really noticed the position of the stores. But, besides the food court there are random snack food stores, vending machines and kiosks positioned at opposite ends of the mall and in the walkways to the side anchor stores. I suppose these are the "delectable treats" that "tempt you at each and every turn." There is also a nail place and random massaging chairs for you to "relax and refresh." There isn't a carousel, but there are play areas and video simulator machines on either end of the mall for kids.

The mall has glass domed skylights to let natural light in. While there aren't any Santa Maria statues, roller coasters, hotels, etc., there are plants in boxes that resemble window boxes on suburban homes. The escalators are at opposite ends of the mall, and there is a central staircase and an elevator that leads up to the food court. The walkways are divided on the upper level by an open space where you can see the stores below.

There are more women's stores and specialty stores catering to women than men, which Crawford suggests in the reading. Also, I noticed that jewelry stores and children's clothing stores were positioned in locations near women's clothing stores like Express and Limited. One thing I always noticed that Town Center is constantly changing its "mix" and moving stores around to different locations to attract new people to new stores or the same stores in locations that will attract customers to these new stores.

The mall wasn't very crowded when I went to observe. But, I noticed that people were really just strolling and window shopping. A lot of people were in the food court in the center of the mall. To me, it seemed like the kiosks on the lower level obstructed the views of the stores across from each other, and broke up the flow of traffic. The salespeople at these kiosks also detracts you from the stores because they call your attention to their products.

(The pictures are from the mall's website: http://www.simon.com/mall/mall_info.aspx?ID=211)

On Tuesday night a co-worker and I headed to North point Mall in Alpharetta for mall research. Tuesday night must be a slow night for business as the mall was practically empty. North Point was constructed along GA400 between Mansell Road and Haynes Bridge Road in 1993. The two-story, enclosed complex is irregular in plan and surrounded by outparcels, a sea of 7,400 parking spaces and other shopping centers. This mall had five anchors; JCPenny, Dillard’s, Belk, Macy’s and Sears and a total of 183 retail stores. The total leasable area is 1,370,000 square feet.


I don’t particularly like to visit the mall but if push comes to shove I’ll choose North Point over any other as it is free from any replica of the Santa Maria, architectural nods to New Orleans or performing dolphins. It’s never very crowded and the building also features a vaulted glass ceiling which allows for natural light all corridor areas. In contrast to the circus of West Edmonton, the North Point Mall is no spectacle. It is austere, repetitive, even boring, a mirror of the larger community it serves. It is also clean, safe and controlled which Crawford suggested gave the mall importance as a community and social center. These appear to be much appreciated characteristics in the north metro area. As I checked out the directory I noticed that there was not one independent retailer and many stores which serve those with children. There is no movie theater or any real attractions other than an indoor play area and carousel for the kids. One behavior I always notice in this mall is that there are a few open spaces which are formed by escalator and elevator locations and people refuse to enter this open space. Also, the only place I noticed people congregating on my visit was around kiosks sited throughout the center of the main corridor. Perhaps the most interesting element I found during my visit (and had never noticed before) is that the mall is lighted by street lights. Also interesting to me is that there is a blog for reminiscing about retail memories in Georgia. Who knew? www.georgiaretailmemories.blogspot.com

Mall of Georgia

Based on the classifications in the Crawford reading the Mall of Georgia would be considered a super-regional mall. It is located just east of the I-85 interchange with SR 20 (Exit 115). The closest enclosed mall (discounting Discover Mills on Sugarloaf Pkwy which is more of a specialty mall) is Perimeter Mall (approximately 25 miles away). However, the closest enclosed mall to the north along I-85 is located in Greenville, South Carolina (approximately 100 miles away). The mall has 5 major department stores (Macy’s, J.C. Penny, Belk, Dilliards, and Nordstrom). Also, as mentioned the mall is located just east of I-85, which factored into the location of the mall.



The layout of the mall is shaped like an eyebrow. Dilliards and Nordstrom are located on the ends and Macy’s, J.C. Penny, and Belk are evenly spaced along the top of the eyebrow. Bed Bath and Beyond (1st floor)/Haverty’s (2nd floor) is located across from Macy’s and Dicks Sporting Goods is located across from Belk, both on the bottom of the eyebrow. There is also an area designated as ‘The Village’ located on the bottom of the eyebrow at the center of the mall. The Village has a Barnes and Nobles and a P.F. Changs. Although The Village is technically at the back of the mall it serves as the main entrance since people immediately access the center of the mall, the food court, and the movie theatre through its entrance. At first I wasn’t too sure of why the mall was shaped like an eyebrow, but then after walking through the mall I realized that you never could see too far ahead of you because of the curvilinear shape of the mall. You would be guessing at what stores were located around the bend forcing you to continue onward without constant glancing at the names of the store shops and store windows. The carousel is a kid favorite located in the food court. Watching the kids on the carousel reminded me of the fantasy atmosphere mentioned at the West Edmonton Mall.



The only real sign guidance within the mall directed you to all the major and minor department stores, the food court, and the movie theatre. It reminded me of a mall I grew up near in Lancaster, PA. The name of the mall was Park City. It was shaped like the spokes of a wheel radiating out from a center circle. At the end of each of the spokes (there were about 6 of them lined with stores) was a department store. You would label each spoke by the name of the department store located at the end and that was how you navigated throughout the mall. For example, the Waldenbooks was located along the J.C Penny spoke.

The most obvious nuance of the store layout at the Mall of Georgia was the scattering of toy stores or stores dedicated to young teenagers. The Disney store was located at the center of the mall, but K&B Toy Store was located at the end of the mall. I guessed that forced parents to traverse the majority of the mall to get the children to their favorite stores. I also noticed the scattering of shoe stores, sports related stores, and specialty candy stores. If you didn’t find the basketball shoe you wanted at one store you were going to walk a good distance to the next sports store.

As for people watching I observed two main behaviors. One was that people tended to hug the outside of the corridor nearest to the store fronts. The second was that people window shop a lot. I noticed many people walking through the mall with a purpose, but also many people meandering through the mall at a slow stroll. One common factor they tended to display was constant window shopping.

Atlanta has an interesting diversity of mall types. In Buckhead there are Phipps and Lenox, major malls that draw from the entire metro area. In addition there are many smaller malls within the region. As the shopping mall is perceived by many to be a form of retailing that has passed its prime, I thought it would be interesting to observe a mall that I thought would reflect this trend. One sign of a mall that may be experiencing problems, or at least trying to fill its less desirable rental spaces, is one that includes non-retail non-dining functions and businesses in an attempt to attract patrons. Some examples include malls that contain educational institutions (Herzing college in Lenox) or DMV outlets (South Dekalb Mall), where I chose to observe. In addition, I found several examples throughout the country of public libraries in malls (Indianapolis, Miami, and others).

The Gallery at South Dekalb has a basic t-shaped plan with the entrance at the front, a movie theatre at the back and anchor stores, Macy's and Amazing Rooms, on either side. According to the website there are over 100 retailers and/or community services located within the mall. It is approx. 800,000 SF with 600,000 potential customers in the market area. In addition, the mall's area has "the nation's second-most affluent African-American base with an average household income at more that $60,000 for more than 257,000 people within a five-mile radius."



Although the suburban shopping mall form may be on its way out, this mall is by no means dead. There were a good number of people there for a week night, though few of them were carrying purchases. Overall, the mall was nice looking and the majority of the retail spaces were occupied. However, there were indications that the mall might be experiencing trouble, these included:

• Weak anchor store (Amazing Rooms)


• Out parcels occupied by low-profile businesses (food store and post office) rather than restaurants or other stores more likely to draw off-hours crowds.
  
• Presence of non-retail uses (DMV and Navy recruiting office), most likely to draw patrons during off-peak hours.

Despite these problems, this mall seems to serve the immediate community effectively. It is possible that residents choose to come here after work or on week days, but may visit larger malls in the area on weekends or days off. This and other malls like it could possibly experience an increase in business in the coming month/years as transportation costs continue to rise, and a visit to the local mall is more convenient and less costly than a trip to Lenox.

North Dekalb Mall

For my mall outing I chose North Dekalb Mall in Decatur, GA both because I thought it would be a nice contrast to other people's postings about more prosperous, high-end malls like Lenox, and because North Dekalb makes up my earliest mall memories. When I first moved to Atlanta in 1982 at the age of one we lived at most a half a mile from North Dekalb Mall. Today North Dekalb Mall is struggling. The mall was built in 1965, and today it has eighty-five stores, anchored by Macys, Burlington Coat Factory, Ross Dress for Less and an AMC movie theatre. I'm not sure why the mall isn't more succesful. It is in a middle class area, and located near several wealthy areas. The only mall that is very near by - Northlake Mall - is struggling as well. North Dekalb Mall is conveniently located near the intersection of I 285 and Hwy 78. As Crawford explains, Reilly's law of Retail Gravitation states that "all other factors being equal shoppers will patronize the largest shopping center they can get to easily" (Crawford 20). Perhaps once a person is in the vicinity of North Dekalb Mall, they can easily get to bigger, nicer malls at Stonecrest or Perimeter via 285. I visited North Dekalb Mall on Wednesday afternoon around two o'clock, and it was pretty much deserted. Most of the people that I did see were older women. I'm sure that the clientele at any mall is quite different on weekdays than it is in the evenings or on weekends though. I sat in a small atrium and immediately noticed the shoppers' zombie-like state, "strolling the aisles in numb fascination with fixed stares that make it difficult to tell shoppers from the living dead" (Crawford 14).


The Challenges video arcade is one of the few remaining tenants that I remember from the 1980s. Challenges was the hotspot for birthday parties in third and fourth grade. The Chick fil A has also been a long-time tenant. In the '80s, I'm pretty sure it was the only Chick fil A in this area and was a major attraction.

The mall's layout is all on one floor, and with three wings it is a variation of the dumbell style layout.

Arial views of the mall could be mistaken for the West Edmonton Mall based on Crawford's descripton: "Seen from above, the mall resembles an ungainly pile of oversized boxes plunked down in the middle of an enormous asphalt sea, surrounded by an endless landscape of single-family houses" (Crawford 3).

McCafe

Last August I spent a couple of days in Berlin with some friends of mine. While my friend Jens and I were walking down Kurfürstendamm, a long, broad boulevard and central retail/commercial district of the city, we came across a McDonald's that was embedded in a street-front building next along with several pretty swanky shops. I wanted to check it out so we waded through the requisite, front door-blocking glut of cigarette-smoking young punks. Inside was pretty normal, but I noticed a sign pointing upstairs to a "McCafe." I was shocked when we went up: it was like a nice coffee bar you might find elsewhere in the city--especially one not affiliated with McDonald's. See attached photos.

I'll post another entry based on my American Mall experience, but in reading Crawford's essay, I was reminded of this experience. She writes that while the mall evolved into a seeming replication of the city in the suburbs, that the reverse process has also occurred in which "the mall has transcended its shopping-center origins" (p. 29) and has been transplanted back onto the city. While there is a whole host of issues involved with a discussion of post-WWII American consumer culture in the context of a classic symbol of European bourgeois capitalism (see for instance Victoria de Grazia, Irresistible Empire: America's Advance Through Twentieth-Century Europe. [Cambridge, 2005]), I though it was quite fascinating that I found an icon of suburban America in the heart of one of the great European cities--posing as an authentic expression of European culture, no less!

Phipps Plaza

Phipps Plaza is located in the Buckhead neighborhood of Atlanta near Lenox Mall. The Plaza’s slogan is “Luxury begins with Service” and claims to be “the Southeast’s premier upscale shopping center.” It opened in 1969 as the first multi-level mall in Atlanta and possibly the southeast.
The mall is anchored by three department stores and includes several upscale “specialty” stores. The plan is what I would describe as a crooked T on its side, with the main entrance located in the center of the base line in the T. Each of the shapes three points is where the department stores are located. The remaining space of the mall is occupied by the upscale stores and restaurants with the food court and a movie theater on the top level. (This can be seen in the floor plan pictured.)
The majority of the Plaza’s parking is located underneath the mall in a partially underground parking deck. The escalators from this parking deck lead the shopper from their car into either the center of the mall or the center of a department store. Valet parking is also offered at the main entrance off Peachtree Street.
As for the circulation within the mall, Phipps Plaza incorporates the “familiar tricks of mall design” described by Margaret Crawford in “The World in a Shopping Mall.”—the most irritating to me being the placement of escalators. Maybe I have noticed this more than the “normal” shopper because I mostly frequent this mall to go to the movies when most of the shops are closing and I have little time for shopping. When I arrive I usually park in the parking deck under the mall, usually around the escalator that will take me to the center of the mall. However once I reach the main level, I am forced to walk into a corridor that will take me up one level to the movie theater’s ticket counter, which is located back in the main section of the mall. Once I have purchased my movie ticket, I must walk back into the corridor to take the escalator up another level and walk back into the main section of the mall to enter the theater. I always figured this was due to bad design but after reading Crawford’s article I realize that it’s a very clever design to get you walking around the mall even though you’re only there for a movie. So clever in fact that while I have only shopped at Phipps once or twice, I can picture in my head some of the store lining this walk back and forth. But it is funny how the escalators can provide a direct shot to your car when leaving the movie late at night.
As mentioned, most of the time I spend at Phipps Plaza has been to go the movie theater. But on the few occasions that I have shopped here I noticed two things—the lack of people when compared to Phipps sister mall Lenox and how early the shops begin closing. This lack of people is probably due to the amount of people that can actually afford to shop at the stores located at Phipps when compared to Lenox, which includes high-end shopping along with stores most middle-class people can afford (think Gap, Bath and Body Works, Macy’s) If this is the case Phipps Plaza may be trouble. Ben Carter Properties is currently developing a project called The Streets of Buckhead at the intersection of Peachtree and West Paces Ferry. This outdoor shopping development will offer upscale boutiques including Hermes, stylish restaurants, three world class hotels, 1,000 luxury residential units, and over 300,000 sq. ft. of office space. (http://www.bencarterproperties.com/)

On a comparison note…Crawford says in “The World is a Shopping Mall,” “For the consumer, the visible result of this intensive research is the ‘mix’—each mall’s unique blend of tenants and department store ‘anchors.’ The mix is established and maintained by restrictive leases with clauses that control everything from décor to prices.” (p. 8) This made me think about the kinds of store located at a mall like Phipps Plaza, which is meant offer upscale shopping for the urban elite. This results in department stores like Nordstrom’s and Saks Fifth Ave and “specialty” store like Gucci, Giorgio Armani, Jimmy Choo, Tiffany & Co., and Versace. But the differences are clear when you compare Phipps with a suburban mall geared towards the middle-class crowd and specifically their teenage daughters. Take Town Center at Cobb in Kennesaw, GA for example. The department stores offered here are JC Penney, Macy’s, Sears, and Belk. (Phipps also has a Belk but it is one of Belk’s four “flagship” stores that offer higher-end merchandise.) The “specialty” stores at Town Center are noticeably geared towards the teenage daughter with shops like Abercrombie, Hollister, The Buckle, Aeropostale, Express, 5-7-9, Charlotte Russe, dELiAs, Forever 21, and Rave.

Lenox vs. West Edmonton

It is 9:50 AM and I'm sitting on one of the many benches dotting the carefully landscaped corridors of Lenox Square. Although the mall began its existence as an open space, it now epitomizes the enclosed, regional malls described by Crawford. In the "dramatic atrium" with "infinite vistas" I'm watching the mall start the day. Some people wait impatiently outside still-gated stores, clearly intending to dart inside, make a purchase, and head to their own jobs. Others, mostly pairs or small groups of women, dressed too casually to be Buckhead fashionistas, meander by the windows, apparently visiting from out of town. I imagine that they are the shoppers most desired by the mall designers--there for the day, to partake of the restaurants, shops, and entertainment options of the mall, with no real goal.  As the stores open, I spot some of Crawford's "destination buyers" (also when I look in the mirror...)--focused, determined, headed for a specific store. 

I am struck by the contrast with the "main street" shopping experience. Growing up in a small town, I would go into stores with my parents and be warmly welcomed by the staff and often, the owner. There would be exchanges about personal health, the weather, the neighbors' yard, etc. In the mall, people are far too absorbed, either with the purpose of their errand, or the lack of purpose, focusing on the consumer abundance surrounding them. 

On my last visit to West Ed, it was -22 degrees outside. The mall was mobbed. Much more than a place like Lenox, which does cater more to shoppers, West Ed is about entertainment first. Granted, on the weekends, Lenox does have a bit of a carnival atmosphere, with people from all over apparently "cruising" more than shopping. But with its range of stores, especially tending to the higher-end, Lenox differs quite dramatically from its Canadian big brother. Entire families spend the day at West Ed in the winter--there is something for everyone, from the movies to the water park. And it certainly beats fighting frostbite walking around the eclectic renovated shopping areas in older neighborhoods of Edmonton. Crawford points out that there is a very limited selection of stores at West Ed--each wing repeats the same groups of mid-level retail outlets. There is a section entirely devoted to Asian shops, including an enormous market with fresh foods, live foods, and all manner of imported household items. As for the fabulous Fantasyland Hotel attached to the mall, I can only attest to the Polynesian floor, which boasts a molded plastic volcano replica outside the elevator, complete with flickering flame and lava effects. Fantasyland, indeed.

I chose to look at Southlake Mall in Morrow this week. It is located south of the Atlanta Metro area near the intersection of I-75 and Jonesboro Road (Highway 54). Southlake is emblematic of the modern mall model described by Crawford. It is a two-level, enclosed, super-regional mall featuring 120 retail stores. Anchor stores consist of JC Penney, Macy's, and Sears. It opened in 1976 and was expanded in 1999. It boasts 1,010,000 sq ft of leasable space and 5,500 parking spaces.

Its layout was typical featuring primary escalators at the ends of the main corridor, near the anchor stores, and other second floor access near the central anchor store. The selection of stores catered was weighted toward emulators featuring numerous clothing stores dedicated to trendy youth apparel.

Other amenities provided by the mall include an old-style carousel in the food court, as well as a small runway and kiosk associated with a local talent show called “Model Search.” More Model Search kiosks were found other points in the mall. Advertising took the form of print media as well as electronic displays throughout the atrium. One area advertised Mountain Dew soft drink by enticing people to sit on specially constructed benches in the middle of the atrium and watch videos of extreme sports on flat panel monitors. Strange.

All activity was conducted in the safe reassuring atmosphere of Southlake mall. However, mall management expressed their desire for order by placing signage outlining Southlake Mall’s behavior policy in corridors adjacent to bathrooms.

As Crawford illustrated in the closing sections of the chapter, Southlake Mall is coming full circle by spawning commercial growth of its own in the areas around the mall. “Olde Morrow” is currently an odd collection of recently moved older structures and recently constructed structures (in familiar vernacular styles) in an area between the mall and the interstate. Apparently the older structures were historic components of the City of Morrow. “These homes will be renovated and transform the area into a family oriented entertainment destination. Look for all sorts of excitement here over the coming months… it will be a major component of the revitalization of the Southlake Mall area.” (www.cityofmorrow.com). Additionally, the 5,000+ parking lot attracted a traveling carnival on my visit.

Crawford was not kidding when it came to “The Science of Malling.” Below are two links to the marketing material disturbed by General Growth Properties. They feature demographic information on the surrounding areas, including maps depicting income. Scary.

http://www.ggp.com/Content/Data/BusinessOccupation/SOUTHLAKE%20MALL%20Rings%20BizOccRpt.pdf

http://www.ggp.com/Content/Data/HHIncome/Southlake%20Mall%20Average%20Household%20Income%20Map.pdf

Lenox Square Mall

As I walked through Lenox Square Mall I was struck by how it fit Margaret Crawford’s “The World in a Shopping Mall.” She begins by describing the West Edmonton Mall, “the largest shopping mall in the world.” Today, Lenox boasts a similar claim; it is the “Southeast’s premier shopping destination.”  Like West Edmonton, Lenox Square consists of “corridors of repeated storefronts and in wings that mimic nineteenth-century Parisian boulevards and New Orleans’s Bourbon Street.” (See Crawford) Yet from the sky both shopping malls are merely collections of boxes in a sea of asphalt.

A brief history of the development of Lenox Square Mall demonstrates that it reflects the economic transformation of Buckhead, from suburb to the city’s most exclusive residential enclave of neighborhoods. As the mall outgrew its middle-class beginnings it underwent a series of upgrades. Through the 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s the mall sought to compete with other regional shopping centers. Crawford explains, “existing malls renewed themselves by upgrading their décor and amenities.”

A Brief History of Lenox Square Mall

After World War I, more and more homes for the wealthy were built on the north side. One of these estates, the country home of the Ottley family, became the site of Lenox Square Mall on May 22, 1956, when the Samuel Roberts Noble Foundation purchased the land. Joyeuse was de

molished and clearing for Lenox Square began in July 1957 with grading the following December. The grand opening for Lenox Square, designed by architect Joe Amisano one of the pioneers of modernism in Atlanta, was held in August 1959. Much like Crawford’s description of the first shopping malls with a dumbbell shape, two anchor stores, and a sea of parking spaces, the original mall was two-levels with flaring arches on the exterior. The first level off of Peachtree Road, had the Rich’s store and an open-air, landscaped main corridor, which extended toward East Paces Ferry Road. On the backside the mall descended into a large, open court with tree planters and two fountains. The second anchor store, Davison’s, and the parking lot off of Lenox Road was on this lower level. It was, in the words of Atlanta newspapers, the largest regional shopping center south of New York.

In order to compete with newer malls, Lenox Square was enclosed and expanded in 1972 to include an additional corridor that anchored Neiman-Marcus. The soaring concrete arches were also ripped out. A second expansion followed in 1980, which tore out the open-air, lower level court and added a three-level section, food court, and connection to Marta’s Lenox Station. The Lenox Road parking lot was also converted to a multi-level garage to meet the additional parking demands. In 1995, Lenox Square Mall completed its largest renovation, adding a second story to the main corridor, the façade modernized, and a second multi-level parking garage was built off of East Paces Ferry Road. This third renovation made it the largest shopping center in the Southeast.

Bloomingdale’s was added in 2003, taking the space of the former Macy’s, which moved to its 1959 Rich’s location after the two changed names. Even the present mall’s floor plan reflects this change in image and suburban status. The three major anchors create points, with exclusive retail stores facing the glassed-over corridors. However, I noticed that the high-end boutiques, including Diesel, Betsey Johnson, Burberry, Club Monaco, Hermes, Kate Spade, Louis Vuitton, and Ralph Lauren, are all situated along smaller breaks. As described in the later half of Crawford’s article, Lenox Square Mall has created a “niche” for Atlanta’s wealthy. Those who passed me at the Starbucks counter were “dressed” despite the noon lunch hour. As my mother likes to joke, this is how we find our “therapy.” The architectural disjuncture of Lenox Square Mall creates a space of “white noise” for its shoppers. Limited entrances, along with fountains and benches, entice Atlanta’s wealthy and upper middle class, especially women during the weekdays. At the same time the sprawling atriums, multiple levels, and reflective surfaces create a variety of spaces for escape and private thought.

Today the area around Lenox Square Mall is congested with traffic and set against increasing numbers of high-rise condominiums, hotels, and low skyscraper office buildings. Crawford demises the centrifugal pattern of suburban growth has been reversed; “malls became magnets for concentrated development, attracting offices, high-rise apartments, and hospitals to their vicinity, thereby reproducing a central business district.” The “Southeast’s premier shopping destination” of today does indeed contrast with the open-air, distinctly middle-class element of the 1950s mall.