Northgate Mall, Durham, NC

A dead mall

-UPDATE BELOW-

11 August 2024

(Source)

We did a lot of road tripping as a family during the late eighties and early nineties. As I mentioned before, one of our most traveled routings, especially during holiday periods, took us from Norfolk, Virginia to Huntsville, Alabama then to Orlando, Florida.

-UPDATE-  1- The original building under construction in 1960.  2 & 3- The original center.  4- Northgate Shopping Center from above in 1974. (Source for all)

While most of the hours were defined by endless stretches of greenery streaming by at 65 miles per hour, it was all worth it to pass through all of those medium and large cities punctuating the maps. And, on the southbound, one of the first we always passed was Durham, North Carolina.

-UPDATE-  Northgate Mall lease plan ca. 1986.  View the full PDF version here.

Unfortunately for me, though I’m sure my dad and his sense of urgency would argue, we never penetrated too far into the urban core as Interstate 85 merely skirted the northern edge of Durham. But there, at the interchange with US 501, was all I needed.

-UPDATE-  Northgate Mall lease plan ca. 1996.  View the full PDF version here.

It was a low slung, beige cinderblock monolith directly abutting the freeway to our south. And, for the first time I saw this strange new anchor store named Belk, with its B adorned in just the same way as the L in Leggett with which I was already familiar. This was Northgate, one of my very first road malls.

-UPDATE-  1- The Sears mall entrance. (Source)  2- Empty storefronts along the main corridor. (Source)  3- More shuttered stores.  4- A vacant kiosk.  5- Along the taped off food court.  6- The darkened food court.  (Source for 3 to 6) 

Northgate Mall opened as an open-air center in 1960 with Rose’s as the main anchor. It was expanded intermittently throughout the years until 1974 when, facing new competition in the form of South Square, the shopping plaza was enclosed and fully incorporated with anchors Sears and Thalhimer’s. In the nineties, the old Rose’s building was taken over by Hecht’s while Thalhimer’s became Hudson-Belk.

Northgate Mall Mallmanac ca. 2008.  View the full PDF version here.

In the 2000s, with a substantial new adversary coming in the form of The Streets at Southpointe, the eastern portion of Northgate was de-malled (how often does a center get enclosed just to be made open-air again?) Today, the old Belk is now a cineplex while the Hecht’s has become Macy’s, but, like the Sears that’s still hanging on, Northgate seems to be holding its own.

-UPDATE-  1- A barricaded entrance not long after Northgate Mall’s closure. (Source)  2- A former entrance. (Source)  3- The Stadium 10 theaters. (Source)  4- One of the mall’s outdoor plazas. (Source)  5- The former mall’s exterior. (Source)  6- The now closed center from the air. (Source)

-UPDATE-

-11 August 2024

(Source)

Northgate Mall and the surrounding area saw an increase in crime and a decrease in revenue during the 2010s with stores slowly departing for newer competition.  The second anchor to depart, Macy’s, announced their exit in 2017.  The building was subsequently leased as office space.  Sears, the last remaining original anchor, was shuttered in 2019.  With the writing already on the wall, the Covid 19 pandemic pushed Northgate Mall to the great parking lot in the sky in 2020.

Northgate Mall pamphlet ca. 2018.  View the full PDF version here.

Plans have been floated for a full redevelopment to more of a mixed use destination.  Not long after its closing, plans were released showing luxury high rise accommodations in addition to retail and office space.  These plans were shelved after push back from the surrounding community and proposals showcasing more affordable options have been brought forward.   Nothing has been finalized and for now, Northgate Mall sits empty.

A rendering of one of the proposals for the site. (Source)

Northgate Mall on Wikipedia

UPDATED- River Park Square, Spokane, WA

The post for River Park Square has been completely rewritten with new photos and mallmanacs.  

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Newmarket Mall, Chicago, IL

A dead mall

The eighties were absolutely the height of the mall boom. They had become a cultural icon, prominently featured and even starring in productions such as Fast Times at Ridgemont High (Ridgemont Mall,) Mama’s Family (The GalleRAYa) and the classic Chopping Mall (Park Plaza Mall.) Chicago is one of those big cities surrounded by countless suburbs and even more malls, many of which are long gone and forgotten to this day. Among them, tucked away in a non-descript bedroom community along the Windy City’s outskirts was the tiny, yet influential, Newmarket Mall.

1- A happy shopper crosses paths with a “celebrity.”  2- A pageant takes place at Newmarket Mall, just one of many events hosted by the center.

Built perhaps sometime between the mid and late seventies, the small neighborhood shopping complex was rather basic in design. Its corridor formed somewhat of a racetrack, with an island of stores in the center of the facility. Through its early years, it never really emerged as a popular choice in shopping, especially amongst heavy nearby competition. But then in the mid-80s, it all of a sudden became the place to be seen.

1- A scene from Muldin’s famed Timepiece Department.  2- Muldin’s entrance into the mall.

Anchoring the facility was Muldin’s Department Store, with their overwhelming selection of elaborate timepieces amongst their claims to fame. Other popular spots were Rainbow Toys, Gary’s Shoes and Accessories and the Newmarket Cinemas. The mall seemed to find its niche in the community until late in 1987 when the larger and more strategically located Lakeside Mall opened nearby. Newmarket immediately felt the pinch of competition.

A happy shopper displaying the logo for new competitor Lakeside Mall.

In a twist of fate, however, Lakeside seemed to be cursed with bad publicity from the onset. One notable incident involved the parachuting Santa accident and a subsequent loss of sponsors, retailers and thousands of dollars in gift certificates. Newmarket Mall immediately regained many of the customers it had lost and actually flourished in the shadow of its larger neighbors.

1- Newmarket Mall’s new logo after their only known renovation.  2- A view outside the Newmarket Cinema, with excited patrons waiting in line to see Rudy.

Newmarket Mall also seemed to attract both favorable and dubious notoriety. There were reported Elvis sightings within its concourse; the universally panned documentary A Day in the Life of a Shoe Salesman was filmed there, and their Christmas decorations and popular Santa were almost professional in appearance. But, alas, the drumbeats of time continued and, though updated at least once with brighter colors and a new logo, the mall was never expanded. This, and the absence of any nationally known retailers, led to the neighborhood mall’s inevitable decline.

1- Shoppers gather in the popular mall.  2- An eighties style seating area near the food court.  3- Rainbow Toys shines brightly in the dark corridors.  4- The documentary A Day in the Life of a Shoe Salesman as it was being filmed.

The surrounding neighborhood was changing as the children who used to call Newmarket Mall home were growing up and moving on. The neighborhood, and its mall, were dying. Newmarket remained until June 9, 1997, the day it was cancelled, and joined Dixie Square Mall as another of Chicagoland’s early generation malls that slipped into obscurity.

Christmas at Newmarket Mall.

Hilldale, Madison, WI

An extant asset

(Source)

I have only been lucky enough to pass through Madison on a few occasions; thrice by land and once by air. I always loved the central part of the city and its location on a narrow isthmus. In fact, since then I’ve lived in two major cities located on the same geographical feature, Manila and Seattle.

Hilldale’s former interior concourses.  (Source for all)

On either side of that narrow strand of land, the city rambles out into sprawl common to most American cities.  Each end has their own massive shopping mall, with East Towne and West Town representing their respective ends.  But closer toward older and more urban density is a long time player, Hilldale.

1- Hilldale Mallmanac ca. 2010. View the full PDF version here.

2- Hilldale Mallmanac ca. 2017. View the full PDF version here.

Hilldale first opened in 1962 and quickly became a prominent retail player. Gimbel’s anchored the open air facility, which later became Marshall-Field’s, while the Macy’s nameplate adorns the façade today. Its first renovation happened in 1969 with another in 2004 that added two new anchors, Target and Metcalf’s Market, a multi-plex, 2 large car parks and living space. Although some say it is “overbuilt” and a traffic nightmare, its success seems like it’s far from waning.

In and around Hilldale.  (Source for all)

Despite more than fifty years of change, Hilldale has remained more than relevant in this medium sized market.  The latest renovation came in 2013 when most of the interior concourses were eliminated. But through it all, Hilldale has managed to hold its own in the Wisconsin state capital, although various competitors have come and gone through the decades.

1- Hilldale Mallmanac ca. 2020. View the full PDF version here.

2- Hilldale Mallmanac ca. 2024. View the full PDF version here.

Hilldale official website